Utah is officially in!!

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GoCavs1
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Utah is officially in!!

Post by GoCavs1 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:37 pm

AIFA Awards Franchise To Utah For 2008


BALTIMORE, Maryland (December 3, 2007) – The AIFA's Western Expansion continued today, as the American Indoor Football Association awarded a franchise to Utah for the 2008 season. The team will be known as the Utah Saints.

The Saints will play their home games at the famed Utah Olympic Oval, located 25 miles southwest of Salt Lake City in Kearns, Utah. The facility hosted speed skating competition at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and boasted the “fastest ice on Earth.” Ten Olympic or world records were broken there during the Games. The arena's capacity will be increased to 2,500 for AIFA competition.

The ownership group for the franchise is headed by CEO Michael Curran, who has considerable indoor football experience through his involvement with the Utah Indoor Football League.

“We have been working 'round the clock to cross our T's and dot our I's in preparation for joining the AIFA West,” said Curran. “This is an exciting time for us! We have a large pool of talent all around us, mainly in the Utah Division I schools.

“We know the kind of talent that Wyoming (Cavalry, a member of the AIFA West) puts on the field, and we intend to be competitive. The Saints will be composed of men with the greatest integrity, both on and off the field.”

“We are pleased to welcome the Utah Saints ownership group to the AIFA,” said AIFA co-founder John Morris. “They are a great addition to our ongoing Western expansion. We are also very fortunate to have such a unique venue – rich in history and resources – available for the Saints.”

The addition of the Saints bring another significant television market into the AIFA fold. Salt Lake City is the 35th largest television market in the country, with approximately 840,000 television homes

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Post by Minor League Man » Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:49 pm

Hope they don't get sued for copyright infringement, because the Utah Saints are a techno band from the UK:

http://www.utahsaints.com
Proud to be a veteran of these boards for the last 5 years...

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Post by mel3476 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:01 pm

I am not so sure what the excitement about being in another large television market. That same market already has an AFL team that is actually in Salt Lake City. And has a real television deal. And is made up of a real team, not an all-star team of recreational players.

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Post by preeths » Mon Dec 03, 2007 9:17 pm

Here is an old bio on Mr. Curran, circa 1997, when Curran owned the Utah Catzz of the Proffessional Indoor Football League, the first non-Arena indoor league.
Michael Curran is the founder, owner, and general manager of the Utah Catzz Professional Football team. Utah's newest professional franchise was introduced at a press conference on Wednesday October 29th, 1997, Mr. Curran has a great background in football. He played semi-pro football as a quarterback for the Utah Vikings in the Wasatch Football League, leading them to the Wasatch Football League title. Incidently, not only did he play quarterback, but he was the coach and the owner!


Michael later became the Commissioner and a charter member of the American Football Association with over 300 semi-pro teams and 15,000 members nationwide. Defensive Tackle Eric Swann of the Arizona cardinals came out of the American Football Association to play in the NFL.


Aside from football, Mr. Curran has been quite successful in business. As corporate trainer for Smith's Management Grocery Stores, he was responsible for over 200 stores.


Michael and his wife, Carla, own one of the fastest growing telemarketing businesses in the country. O'Currance Telemarketing is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah.


Volunteer work has been an important part of his life. he has served as Vice President of Public Relations of the Intermountain Division of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and is currently serving as a board member with the muscular dystrophy committee on the corporate public relations board.


In addition to bringing professional football to Utah, Michael is building the Utah Catzz' first farm club, the Salt Lake Lions. This semi-pro football team will help talented athletes improve their skills to become members of Utah's premier professional football team. Michael will also serve as owner of the Salt Lake Lions.

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Post by exit322 » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:44 pm

Didn't the Catzz make it like 4 games before folding?
What are you doing here?

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Post by rams80 » Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:18 am

[quote=""Minor League Man""]Hope they don't get sued for copyright infringement, because the Utah Saints are a techno band from the UK:

http://www.utahsaints.com[/quote]

Somehow I think that will be the least of their problems.
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Accused of being a Cyber Terrorist by Joe Newman.

This league (NIFL) is like a frickin' cockroach. You could throw a nuclear bomb at it and it would still survive
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So I'd rather spend a quarter of an ABA franchise to repair my car, as opposed to spending a franchise and a half to get a new car that might have some planned obsolescence that causes it to break down 5 days after the end of the warranty period.
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From The Beginning

Post by From The Beginning » Tue Dec 04, 2007 2:56 am

This is an old bio on Mr. Curran pulled off the Utah Indoor Football League website from their 2006 season. http://www.eteamz.com/uifl

"Michael Curran, Founder/Pres. of the UIFL. Inducted into the Minor League Football Hall of Fame in 2004. First Player,Coach,Executive in Utah to be inducted into the Minor League Football Hall of Fame. Mr. Curran is also now one of the board members on the Minor League Football Hall of Fame. Mr Curran was one of the founders of the PIFL and owner of the first professional Indoor/Arena football franchise in the state of the Utah, (Utah Catzz of the PIFL). Former owner of the Utah Lyonzz of the USIFL out of Las Vegas. Founder and first commissioner of the UFL (semi-pro outdoor league). Former owner/coach and quarterback of the Utah Vikings, he led his team to the WFL (semi-pro outdoor league) Championship title in '96. Former head coach for a youth team in the UTE football conference. Oldest walk-on QB at age 39 for the University of Utah in 95/96. 04/05 Offensive Coordinator of the Kamas Valley Muddogs in the UIFL. Now at age 50, Mr Curran is now building a new team (The Salt Lake Swarm) for the UIFL 2006/7 season, and will make his final comeback as starting QB/Coach/Owner. Mr. Curran is beleived to be the oldest active quarterback in Professional and Minor League Arena/Indoor football history".

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preeths
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Post by preeths » Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:39 am

If memory serves, the Catzz played all but their final game, against Madison, I believe. Here's a little page on the Catzz: //www.oursportscentral.com/footbal ... ?t_id=1763

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Post by Tatonka » Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:32 am

Seriously, the Catzz and the Lyonzz?

I guess we should all just be thankful the AIFA team ain't the Saintzz.

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Post by BananaCat » Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:40 am

[quote=""exit322""]Didn't the Catzz make it like 4 games before folding?[/quote]
Utah went 5-8 in games played. Their last game was a forfeit which brought their total record to 5-9.

Minnesota played 4 games on the field before folding (going 1-3). The rest of their games were forfeits. The only win they had was later taken away by the league, so they ended up 0-14.
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