2008 Kalamazoo Xplosion Schedule Preview
by Randy Snow
November 23, 2007 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Kalamazoo Xplosion
The 2008 schedule for the Kalamazoo Xplosion, as well as the rest of the Continental Indoor Football League, was released on November 21. The schedule featured 12 regular season games, six home and six away, over 14 weeks.
Kalamazoo will play in the Great Lakes East Division this year along with the Muskegon Thunder, the Miami Valley Silverback (from Troy, Ohio) and the expansion Fort Wayne Freedom.
The Xplosion begin the 2008 season on the road on Friday night, March 7 at the Chicago Slaughter, a team they beat in the first round of the playoffs last season. Their first home game is on Friday night, March 14 against a new team in the League, the Rock River Raptors from Rockford, Illinois. The Raptors played last season in another indoor football league, United Indoor Football, where they posted a 10-5 regular season record. The Raptors were then eliminated in the first round of the UIF playoffs.
The following week, Kalamazoo will host an as-yet unnamed expansion team in Flint, Michigan.
After back-to-back road games at Fort Wayne and Muskegon, Kalamazoo returns to Wings Stadium to host Chicago on Friday, April 11. The Xplosion then travel to Flint for a game the following weekend.
After a bye week, Muskegon comes to town on Saturday, May 3. The next two games are on the road at Rock River and Miami Valley.
Following road and home games against Miami Valley, the Xplosion end the regular season with a home game against Fort Wayne on Saturday, June 7.
Noticeably absent from the schedule this season are the Port Huron Pirates, the team that won the League title in 2006. The Pirates defeated the Xplosion in the Great Lakes Division finals last season, only to lose to the Rochester Raiders in the CIFL Championship game on July 28. The Pirates had an overall record of 26-1 in their two seasons in the League.
Two other CIFL expansion teams that are not on the Xplosion schedule next year are the Milwaukee Bonecrushers and the Saginaw Sting. The Sting, as well as the Flint team, are assigned to the Atlantic West Division along with the Marion Mayhem in Ohio and the Rochester Raiders in New York. Former Port Huron head coach Karl Featherstone will coach the Saginaw team, which is also owned by the same ownership group that owns the Kalamazoo Xplosion.
Along with Port Huron, three other CIFL teams from last season will not be returning to the League next season, the Springfield Stallions from Illinois and the Summit County Rumble and Steubenville Stampede, both from Ohio.
The CIFL Championship game will be played on Saturday, June 28 at the home arena of the team with the best record.
2008 Kalamazoo Xplosion Schedule
All games begin at 7:30 PM local time
Fri, March 7 at Chicago Slaughter
Fri, March 14 ROCK RIVER RAPTORS
Fri, March 21 FLINT
Thur, March 27 at Fort Wayne Freedom
Fri, April 4 at Muskegon Thunder
Fri, April 11 CHICAGO SLAUGHTER
Sat, April 19 at Flint
BYE WEEK
Sat, May 3 MUSKEGON THUNDER
Sat May 10 at Rock River Raptors
Fri, May 16 at Miami Valley Silverbacks
BYE WEEK
Sat, May 31 MIAMI VALLEY SILVERBACKS
Sat, June 7 FORT WAYNE FREEDOM
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Randy Snow is a freelance football writer from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Since 2003, he has covered the Arena Football League, arenafootball2, United Indoor Football, the Continental Indoor Football League and the All American Football League. Randy has been a member of the Arena Football League Writer's Association since 2005 and can be reached at randysnow22@yahoo.com
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
