ESPN Visits Stockton for Arena Football Tilt, Three Days Away

February 12, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Stockton Lightning News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Lightning of the arenafootball2 league are hosting a preseason scrimmage between the San Jose SaberCats and Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League at Stockton Arena this Thursday, February 15, 2007, Lightning team president Dan Chapman announced today.

"The Stockton Lightning are very excited to host the San Jose SaberCats and top level arena football in the Stockton Arena," said Chapman. "The SaberCats are one of the premier franchises in the AFL and with Coach Darren Arbet being a native Stocktonian, this is a perfect fit for them to play in our facility."

The scrimmage will begin at 6:30 p.m. PT, with general admission tickets on sale for $5 at the Stockton Arena ticket office, and available for purchase online through www.stocktontickets.com. Both teams will play under traditional Arena Football League rules with 14-minute quarters. Teams will not be allowed to rush on kickoffs.

ESPN, who will return to Arena Football in 2007, will be present at Stockton Arena for three days leading up to the matchup. ESPN will be gathering footage for the broadcast introduction and other taped elements for its upcoming season of AFL telecasts from Tuesday, February 13 through game day.

Last season, the SaberCats won the American Conference's Western Division title with a 10-6 record and advanced to the American Conference Championship game. San Jose has captured two ArenaBowl titles, six Western Division championships, seven consecutive playoff appearances and owns the league's best regular season record this decade.

SaberCats Head Coach/General Manager Darren Arbet is returning to his hometown of Stockton for the game. Arbet is entering his ninth season as San Jose's head coach and is a two-time AFL Coach of the Year. He is a graduate of local Edison High School and was recently inducted into Stockton's Black Sports Hall of Fame.

"I'm excited about bringing the SaberCats to my hometown," said Arbet. "I was born and raised here (Stockton) so this truly is a homecoming for me."

Grand Rapids is entering its 10th season in the AFL and is led by head coach Sparky McEwen. The Rampage won the franchise's only ArenaBowl title in 2001 and have been to the AFL Playoffs five times.



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