Baltimore Blackbirds
Founded	2007
Arena	1st Mariner
Based in	Baltimore, Maryland
Colors	Black, Red, Silver
League	AIFA
Head Coach	Chris Simpson
General Manager	John Wolfe

The Baltimore Blackbirds were an indoor football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They played the 2007 season as an expansion member of the American Indoor Football Association, at the 1st Mariner Arena

1st Mariner Arena

1st Mariner Arena is an arena located in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2003, it was renamed by 1st Mariner Bank, which purchased naming rights to the arena for 10 years. It was reported that 1st Mariner Bank will need to pay the city $75,000 for the next ten years to keep the naming rights to the complex...

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History

The team was originally going to be a member of the Eastern Indoor Football League

Eastern Indoor Football League

The Eastern Indoor Football League was an extremely short-lived Indoor American football league that comprised teams located in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. Play under the auspices of the league began in 2007 amongst four new teams: the 3 Rivers Rats , Mahoning Valley HitMen,...

, but left for the AIFA soon after the "League Showcase/Jamboree" held inside the Mahoning Valley HitMen

Mahoning Valley HitMen

The Mahoning Valley HitMen were a team in the Eastern Indoor Football League, a United States-based American football arena league, which was based in Masury, Ohio, United States, and coached and owned by Jim Terry...

's "ThunderDome".

The Blackbirds played a predominant road schedule (8 away games, 5 at home), finishing with a record of 1-12. The team suffered severe financial problems, which resulted in players and coaches not receiving paychecks from their last two games for several months.http://www.examiner.com/a-868238~Blackbirds__AIFA_cut_ties.html Simpson resigned as head coach on August 3, 2007, expressing doubt about the future of the team. Three days later the AIFA moved to expel the Blackbirds from the league for breach of contract resulting from the Blackbirds negotiations with other leagues.http://www.examiner.com/a-868238~Blackbirds__AIFA_cut_ties.html

The arena lease was held by the league who opted to replace them with a new team which brought about the creation of the Baltimore Mariners

Baltimore Mariners

The Baltimore Mariners were an indoor football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The team was founded when the American Indoor Football Association expelled the Baltimore Blackbirds for negotiating with another league. The AIFA maintained the lease rights to 1st Mariner Arena, so the Mariners were...

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2007 Season Schedule

Date	Opponent	Home Home team In team sports, the term home advantage describes the advantage–usually a psychological advantage–that the home team is said to have over the visiting team as a result of playing in familiar facilities and in front of supportive fans... /Away Home team In team sports, the term home advantage describes the advantage–usually a psychological advantage–that the home team is said to have over the visiting team as a result of playing in familiar facilities and in front of supportive fans...	Result
March 10	Reading Express Reading Express The Reading Express are a professional indoor football team based out of Reading, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the Indoor Football League, having begun play as a member of the American Indoor Football League 2006...	Away	Lost 6-78
March 16	Lakeland Thunderbolts Lakeland Thunderbolts The Lakeland Thunderbolts are a professional indoor football team. They are a member of the American Indoor Football Association. They play their home games at the Lakeland Center.- History :...	Away	Lost 14-69
March 24	Mississippi Mudcats Mississippi Mudcats The Mississippi MudCats are a team of the American Indoor Football Association. They play their home games at BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo, Mississippi.-History:...	Away	Lost 20-80
March 31	Carolina Speed	Home	Lost 25-48
April 6	Canton Legends Canton Legends The Canton Legends was a professional indoor football team based out of Canton, Ohio. They were a charter member of the American Indoor Football Association, which played their first season under the name Atlantic Indoor Football League, and their second season as the American Indoor Football...	Away	Lost 2-38
April 14	Montgomery Bears Montgomery Bears The Montgomery Bears were a professional indoor football team that played their home games at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Alabama. They are a member of the American Indoor Football Association. The team began play as the Montgomery Maulers of the National Indoor Football League and won the...	Home	Lost 22-51
April 21	Florence Phantoms Florence Phantoms The Florence Phantoms was a professional arena football team based out of Florence, South Carolina, in the United States. They are a 2006 expansion member of the American Indoor Football Association, and the current AIFA Champions as of the 2008 season's end...	Away	Lost 40-65
April 29	Gulf Coast Raiders	Home	Won 44-10
May 5	Carolina Speed	Away	Lost 32-52
May 12	Montgomery Bears Montgomery Bears The Montgomery Bears were a professional indoor football team that played their home games at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Alabama. They are a member of the American Indoor Football Association. The team began play as the Montgomery Maulers of the National Indoor Football League and won the...	Away	Lost 11-58
May 21	Reading Express Reading Express The Reading Express are a professional indoor football team based out of Reading, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the Indoor Football League, having begun play as a member of the American Indoor Football League 2006...	Home	Lost 32-58
May 25	Tallahassee Titans Tallahassee Titans The Tallahassee Titans were an American Indoor Football Association team that began play as a 2007 member. The team played its home games at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Florida.-History:...	Away	Lost 40-73
June 1	Johnstown Riverhawks Johnstown Riverhawks The Johnstown Riverhawks was a professional indoor football team based out of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. They were a charter member of the American Indoor Football Association. They played their home games at Cambria County War Memorial Arena....	Home	Lost 17-19

Trivia

The first Touchdown in team history was scored in the 4th quarter of the First game of the season, on the road against the Reading Express. It was a 15-yd. Touchdown pass from Quarterback Joe Urso to Wide Receiver Kevin Dixon.

The logo was created to resemble the Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

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External links

• Official website Website down as of 9/19/07
• Blackbirds' 2007 Stats