Crush win Central Division title
May 15, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Colorado Crush News Release
DENVER â With the combination of the Colorado Crush's last-second 52-49 win over the Nashville Kats on Friday coupled with Chicago losing 51-40 to Grand Rapids on Sunday, the Crush have clinched their first Central Division championship and will host an Arena Football League divisional playoff game on Sunday, May 29 at 1:30 p.m. MT.
Tickets for the first home playoff game in Crush history go on sale Monday morning at 10 a.m. at the Pepsi Center box office and all Ticketmaster outlets, as well as online at Ticketmaster.com and through (303) 830-TIXS (8497).
The Crush (10-5) officially clinched their second straight playoff appearance on Saturday when the Las Vegas Gladiators fell in Los Angeles to the Avengers, 63-60. Chicago's loss on Sunday dropped the Rush to 8-7 and clinched the division crown for the Crush. With the Crush and Los Angeles (10-5) having clinched the Central and Western Divisions of the American Conference, the Crush will host either San Jose, Chicago or Las Vegas (all 8-7) in the divisional round. Those three teams are vying for the two wild-card positions in the conference.
If the playoffs started today, the Crush would own the top seed in the American Conference. The Crush can assure themselves of that top spot and would own home-field advantage for both an AFL divisional game (May 29) and American Conference championship (June 5) leading up to ArenaBowl XIX in Las Vegas on June 12 with either a win at New York, or a Los Angeles loss at Grand Rapids, in the final weekend of the regular season. Although both the Crush and Avengers own identical 10-5 records entering their regular season finales, the Crush own the tiebreaker by virtue of their 58-40 win over L.A. at Pepsi Center on February 27.
The Crush have never hosted a playoff game, having advanced to the AFL semifinals in 2004 where they fell in Arizona after a quarterfinal victory on the road at New Orleans. The Crush are 13-3 in two seasons at Pepsi Center under head coach Mike Dailey.
The Central Division Champion Crush (10-5) travel to New York (9-6) to face the Eastern Division Champion Dragons on Saturday night at 5 p.m. MT in the regular season finale. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Net Rocky Mountain (tape delay) and broadcast live on AM 630 KHOW.
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Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from May 15, 2005
- Crush win Central Division title - Colorado Crush
- Destroyers take Soul out of Philly - Columbus Destroyers
- Rush fail to clinch playoff spot in 51-40 loss to Rampage - Chicago Rush
- Late Field Goal lifts Columbus to 55-52 win over Soul - Philadelphia Soul
- Storm Extinguish Dragons to Open Playoff Door - Tampa Bay Storm
- Gladiators fall to Avengers, 63-60 - Las Vegas Gladiators
- Rampage stop Rush, 51-40 - Grand Rapids Rampage
- Avengers Claim First Western Division Crown - OSC Original by Tim Peterson
- Rattlers sting SaberCats - Arizona Rattlers
- Rattlers Defeat SaberCats 54-44 - San Jose SaberCats
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