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Arena football is a variety of eight-man gridiron football. The game is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game that can be played on the floors of indoor arenas. The sport was invented in 1981, and patented in 1987, by Jim Foster, a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League. The name is trademarked by Gridiron Enterprises and had a proprietary format until its patent expired in 2007.
The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit Drive and was a member of the AFL in 1988 and in all subsequent years through 1993. The club then moved to Worcester, Massachusetts in 1994 and played in that city through the end of the 1994 season.
The Chicago Bruisers were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They were founded in 1987 as a charter member of the Arena Football League (AFL). They played their home games at Rosemont Horizon.
The Los Angeles Cobras were a professional arena football team based in Los Angeles, California that played one season (1988) in the Arena Football League.
Allstate Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Rosemont, Illinois, United States. It is located near the intersection of Mannheim Road and Interstate 90, adjacent to the city limits of Chicago and O'Hare International Airport. The facility opened in 1980 as the Rosemont Horizon and seats 17,500 for basketball and 16,692 for ice hockey.
Nicholas "Nick" Mike-Mayer (MICK-uh-myur) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League from 1973–1982 for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Buffalo Bills. He made the Pro Bowl in his rookie year. He later played with the San Antonio Gunslingers of the United States Football League. His brother Steve Mike-Mayer also played in the NFL. Mike-Mayer would later go on to play in the Arena Football League for the Chicago Bruisers and Los Angeles Cobras, earning All-Arena honors in 1987.
Arena Bowl '88 was the Arena Football League's second championship game. The game featured the number 2 Detroit Drive (9–3) against the number 1 Chicago Bruisers (10–1–1). With 37 combined points it is the lowest-scoring ArenaBowl in history. Chicago's 13 points are the fewest points by a single team in Arenabowl history.
The 1987 Arena Football League season was the first season, also known as the "demonstration season", of the Arena Football League (AFL). The league champions were the Denver Dynamite, who defeated the Pittsburgh Gladiators in ArenaBowl I.
Ray Jauch is an American former gridiron football player and coach. He served as a head coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL), the United States Football League (USFL), and the Arena Football League. He won 127 regular season games in the CFL, the sixth highest win total by a head coach in the league's history.
Steve Thonn is an American football coach. He was previously was a head coach in the Arena Football League (AFL) for the Houston Thunderbears, Grand Rapids Rampage and Cleveland Gladiators. Thonn is also a former AFL player. He played WR/DB for the Chicago Bruisers (1988) and the Albany Firebirds (1990–1993). He was the offensive coordinator of the Georgia Force from 2004 to 2007 before being hired as the Rampage head coach.
Durwood Roquemore is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League, United States Football League, and Arena Football League. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round of the 1982 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas A&I.
The 1988 Detroit Drive season was the first for the Drive.
The 1988 Los Angeles Cobras season was the first and only season for the Cobras.
Gary Mullen is a former professional American football and Arena football player who played wide receiver and defensive back for eight seasons for the Denver Dynamite, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Cobras, Detroit Drive, Cincinnati Rockers and the Milwaukee Mustangs. He was elected into the Arena Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
The Los Angeles Kiss were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise did not return as a part of Arena Football 1. The team's ownership was a group of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, members of rock band Kiss, as well as their manager Doc McGhee. The team played its home games at the Honda Center in nearby Anaheim, which they shared with the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. The team was featured in the AMC series 4th and Loud.
Carl Kenneth Aikens Jr. is a former American football wide receiver/defensive back in the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football at Northern Illinois University.
Michael Mendoza is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the Los Angeles Cobras of the Arena Football League. He first enrolled at Los Angeles Harbor College before transferring to Northern Arizona University. He attended Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California. Mendoza was also a member of the Oakland Raiders and Ottawa Rough Riders.
Before the Arena Football League collapsed after the 2008 season, the league included the Los Angeles Cobras and the Los Angeles Avengers. The Cobras played one season at the Los Angeles Sports Arena before folding, mostly due to lack of attendance. The Avengers played their home games at the Staples Center until they folded as well. The AFL was revived in 2010 and returned to the Los Angeles area in 2014 with a new team, the Los Angeles Kiss. The team, owned by a group that included Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, members of the rock band KISS, played in Anaheim at the Honda Center until folding in 2016.
The Chicago metropolitan area was also home to the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League, who played at Allstate Arena in Rosemont. The Rush won its first championship in 2006, ArenaBowl XX. Chicago was also home to the Chicago Bruisers from 1987 to 1989, an original team in the AFL's inaugural season in 1987. The Bruisers hosted ArenaBowl II.
In 1988, Mike and Marian Ilitch fielded an indoor football team, Detroit Drive, in the Arena Football League. In 1992, he purchased the Detroit Tigers. Purchasing the Tigers led Ilitch to sell the Drive in February 1994 given the leagues' overlapping schedules.
References
- ↑ Lonnie White (July 24, 1988). "Cobras Fall One Short of Arena Football Final : Chicago Bruisers Knock Los Angeles Out of Playoffs With a 29-16 Victory". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 6, 2013.