Kalamazoo Xplosion 2007 Schedule Preview
by Randy Snow
Published on January 29, 2007 under Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Kalamazoo Xplosion
The inaugural season of the Kalamazoo Xplosion professional indoor football team is fast approaching and the team's schedule features six home dates at Wings Stadium, all on Saturday nights. Fans will really get to know the Continental Indoor Football League expansion team when they kick off a four-game home stand beginning on April 14.
The Xplosion will play in the Great Lakes West Division, which will consist of four teams that are all new to the two-year-old league, the Springfield (Ill.) Stallions, the Muskegon Thunder, the Chicago Slaughter and Kalamazoo. The home schedule has the Xplosion facing three other league expansion teams and two teams that joined the CIFL after playing last season in other leagues.
Kalamazoo kicks off the season on the road in Ohio against the Marion Mayhem on March 24. The Mayhem finished last season with a 4-6 record and just missed qualifying for the final league playoff spot.
After a bye in week two, the Xplosion will travel to Illinois and take on the Springfield Stallions. The Stallions played last season in a semi-pro league called the 8-Man Football League. While the other teams in the league played outdoors on a 50-yard field, the Stallions were the only team in the league that played indoors in an arena. They advanced all the way to the 8FL championship game last season, but lost.
The home opener for the Xplosion at Wings Stadium is on April 14 against the Chicago Slaughter. The Chicago team has reached way back into the city's football history to launch its first season. The head coach of the Slaughter is Steve "Mongo" McMichael, who was a member of the 1984 Chicago Bears Super Bowl team. His Bears teammate, William "The Refrigerator" Perry, is the Slaughter's Director of Football Operations.
The next three home games will see Marion, Springfield and the expansion Muskegon Thunder come to town. Kalamazoo will then hit the road again the next week traveling to Troy, Ohio on Friday, May 11 to take on the Miami Valley Silverbacks. The Silverbacks played in the American Indoor Football league last year and finished the season with a 5-9 record.
After a second bye week, Kalamazoo will host the expansion Wayne County Rumble from Ohio on May 26. The Xplosion will play their final home game of the regular season the following week on June 2 against Miami Valley.
Kalamazoo finishes the regular season with three road games, two of them against teams in Michigan. They will travel east to take on the defending league champion Port Huron Pirates on June 8, then make the short trip north to take on Muskegon on June 16. In the final week of the regular season, Kalamazoo travels to Chicago for a rematch with the Slaughter on June 23.
"I actually like being on the road (the first two weeks of the season), getting a couple of games under your belt and then coming home," Kalamazoo head coach Bob Kubiak said of the schedule. "I also like having the bulk of the home games in April and May. The weather is good and Western Michigan University is still in session so I think that works out well for us."
The Xplosion may be an expansion team, but coach Kubiak already has a year of experience in the league. He was the head coach of the Battle Creek Crunch last season and guided the team into the playoffs. The Crunch folded after last season, having the lowest attendance in the league.
Kubiak's assistant coaches with the Crunch, Scott Ashe and former Western Michigan standout player Anthony Allsbury, have also re-joined him to coach the Kalamazoo team. Their combined experience in the league should be a big help in getting the team ready to make a run at a playoff spot during the upcoming CIFL season. Allsbury also played defensive end in seven games last season for the Crunch, registering 5.5 sacks and 16 tackles.
The team has already signed a couple of former WMU players for 2007, linebacker Bryan Lape and kicker Brad Selent. Selent also played for the Crunch last season. Other former Crunch players who have already signed with the Xplosion are quarterback Tim Kubiak, receivers Brian Dolph and Eric Gardner and lineman Kyle Lackscheide.
ABOUT THE LEAGUE
In 2006, the league debuted as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League and featured just six teams and a 10-game schedule. For 2007, the league has been renamed the Continental Indoor Football League. It has expanded to 14 teams and will feature a 12-game regular season schedule over 14 weeks. Teams are divided into two divisions, six teams in the Atlantic Division and eight teams in the Great Lakes Division.
The league plays a unique brand of 7-on-7 football, whereas all of the other indoor and Arena leagues play 8-on-8 football. The league headquarters is located in North Canton, Ohio.
2007 CIFL KALAMAZOO XPLOSION SCHEDULE
7:00 pm, Sat, March 24 at Marion Mayhem
BYE WEEK
7:00 pm, Sat, April 7 at Springfield Stallions (former 8FL team)
7:00 pm, Sat, April 14 CHICAGO SLAUGHTER (expansion team)
7:00 pm, Sat, April 21 MARION MAYHEM
7:00 pm, Sat, April 28 SPRINGFIELD STALLIONS
7:00 pm, Sat, May 5 MUSKEGON THUNDER (expansion team)
7:30 pm, Fri, May 11 at Miami Valley Silverbacks (former AIFL team)
BYE WEEK
7:00 pm, Sat May 26 WAYNE COUNTY RUMBLE (expansion team)
7:00 pm, Sat, June 2 MIAMI VALLEY SILVERBACKS
7:30 pm, Fri, June 8 at Port Huron Pirates (2006 league champions)
7:00 pm, Sat, June 16 at Muskegon Thunder
7:00 pm, Sat, June 23 at Chicago Slaughter
Continental Indoor Football League Stories from January 29, 2007
- Rochester Raiders Announce First 2007 Rookies Camp - Rochester Raiders
- Kalamazoo Xplosion 2007 Schedule Preview - OSC Original by Randy Snow
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.
