Saginaw Sting to Play Kalamazoo for CIFL Title
by Randy Snow
June 24, 2008 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Kalamazoo Xplosion
Just two days after his Kalamazoo Xplosion captured the Great Lakes Conference title in the Continental Indoor Football League, Mike Johnson's other team, the Saginaw Sting, won the Atlantic Conference championship. The Sting defeated the Lehigh Valley Outlawz 63-25 Monday night (June 23) at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan.
Johnson, along with co-owners Mike Trumbull and Esteban Rivera, saw their Kalamazoo team make it to the conference finals last year, only to lose in the closing seconds to the Michigan Pirates. They started a second team this year in Saginaw and the two teams will meet in the CIFL championship game this Sunday, June 29, at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo. Kickoff is set for 3 PM.
"It's been a lot of fun," said Johnson. "Both teams are well coached. They are all good guys. They play hard. It's going to be a good game, a very good game. We've got our work cut out for us. Now we have to market a championship game and get the fans in Kalamazoo to rally around it and get them there."
Kalamazoo and Saginaw did not play each other during the regular season. The only time they have been on the same field together was during a preseason scrimmage in Kalamazoo on back on February 23.
CIFL co-owner Jeff Spitaleri commented after the Saginaw game about the two teams in the championship game being owned by the same ownership group. "We obviously knew, coming into the season, that this was a possibility any time you have somebody with multiple ownership. We separated them, division-wise, because we really didn't want them playing each other during the season. That way no one could say they were favoring one team over another. There are other leagues that have owners who own more than one team. It's not that big of a deal."
Kalamazoo is 13-1 this season and has not lost a home game in the two-year history of the team. Saginaw is 12-2 and was also undefeated at home this season.
When asked if he had a favorite team in the championship game, Johnson gave the appropriate, politically correct answer. "It's every man for himself at this point!"
In the world of minor league sports, there are always stories of turmoil concerning teams and leagues. Obviously, the ownership group of Johnson, Trumbull and Rivera is doing something right.
SAGINAW COACH IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, AGAIN
For the third straight year, Karl Featherstone is going to the league championship game. In 2006, when the league was known as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League, Featherstone won a title as an assistant coach with the Port Huron Pirates. Last year he was the head coach of the Pirates, but the team lost in the title game. It was the Pirates only loss in two seasons. This year, as head coach of the Saginaw Sting, Featherstone once again has his team playing for a league title. "It never gets old," Featherstone said. "I never make predictions. I just know that we are going to come to play football. I honestly think it's going to come down to how both defenses play, and I think special teams will play a large part in that also."
- - -
Randy Snow is a freelance football writer from Kalamazoo, Michigan and is the organizer of Operation Gridiron Airlift, which is collecting footballs that will be sent to our troops serving overseas. Since 2003, he has covered the Arena Football League, arenafootball2, United Indoor Football, the Continental Indoor Football League, the All American Football League and the Canadian 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
Continental Indoor Football League Stories from June 24, 2008
- Saginaw Sting to Play Kalamazoo for CIFL Title - 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.
