Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz was a member of the new Arena Football League. The team began play as a 2004 expansion team of the original Arena Football League's now-defunct minor league af2

Af2

AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...

. Formerly a tenant of the Ford Center from 2004 until 2008, the Yard Dawgz were forced out when the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

's Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a professional basketball franchise based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ; their home court is at Chesapeake Energy Arena....

moved into town; starting in 2009, the Yard Dawgz played across the street at the Cox Convention Center

Cox Convention Center

The Cox Business Services Convention Center is a multi-purpose complex, located in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma....

. On October 25, 2010 Yard Dawgz owner Phil Miller announced that he decided not to play in the Arena Football League for the 2011 season.

Three straight winning seasons

The Yard Dawgz had a successful first year on and off the field by leading the league in attendance and finishing the regular season with 10-6 record to finish second in the Southwest Division of the National Conference.

In 2005, The Yard Dawgz had another successful year, despite changing divisions, by coming in third in attendance and finishing the regular season with 10-6 record to finish second in the Midwest Division of the National Conference. The Dawgz lost in the first round to the Amarillo Dusters

Amarillo Dusters

The Amarillo Venom are an professional indoor football team in the Lone Star Football League. The Venom began play in 2004 as the Amarillo Dusters, a charter member of the Intense Football League, a small indoor football league based in Texas. They won the championship in their first and only...

.

The Yard Dawgz had their best showing in 2006 with a record of 11-5 and their third playoff appearance. Kicker A.J. Haglund won the af2 Kicker of the Year award and Quarterback Craig Strickland became the only player in af2 history to reach 20,000 career passing yards.

First losing season

In 2007, under head coach John Fitzgerald

John Fitzgerald (quarterback)

John Fitzgerald is an American football quarterback. He most recently played for the Kansas City Brigade of the Arena Football League. He was previously the head coach of af2's Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz where he compiled a 7-9 record in his one season.At Tulsa University, Fitzgerald finished as...

, the Yard Dawgz had the second leading offense in the league - averaging 310.9 yd/game. Despite finishing 7-9, the team made its fourth consecutive playoff appearance. Three members of the 2007 Yard Dawgz earned All-af2 First Team honors - WR/DB Al Hunt, Center Gene Frederic, and OL/DL Barry Giles.

Historical News from 2008

On June 28, 2008 against the Lubbock Renegades

Lubbock Renegades

The Lubbock Renegades were an expansion member of the af2. The team played its home games at the City Bank Coliseum, which was the former home of the IFL/NIFL team, the Lubbock Lone Stars/Gunslingers. The team was owned by Doug McGregor, Rick Dykes, and Bart Reagor. It was coached by former Texas...

, Wide Receiver Al Hunt became only the third player in af2 history to record 1,000 points.

2009 season

After starting out the season with a promising team record 4-0 record, the Yard Dawgz dropped five straight games in a row, the longest in team history, to drop to 4-5. Since then, the Dawgz have won 3 straight to push their record to 7-5 with an eye still on the playoffs.

On June 20, the Yard Dawgz faced off against the Corpus Christi Sharks

Corpus Christi Sharks

The Corpus Christi Sharks were a 2007 expansion member of the af2. They played their home games at the American Bank Center. Michael Trigg was the team's head coach. Trigg previously was a head coach in the Arena Football League with the Milwaukee Mustangs, Grand Rapids Rampage and Philadelphia...

. The Yard Dawgz beat the Sharks 93-41 and set an af2 record for points scored in the first half (59) and beat the franchise record of points scored in a game that was originally set against the Tulsa Talons

Tulsa Talons

The San Antonio Talons are a professional arena football franchise in San Antonio, Texas that plays in the Arena Football League.The Talons began in 2000 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Tulsa Talons, a charter member of the defunct minor league Arena Football 2, also known as af2...

.

Despite a loss to the Spokane Shock

Spokane Shock

The Spokane Shock is a professional arena football team of the Arena Football League from Spokane, Washington, USA. They play their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena...

on June 26, the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz clinched a playoff berth after a loss by Central Valley to Boise the next night. The playoff appearance will mark the 5th time in 6 years the Dawgz will be in post-season play.

The Yard Dawgz season ended on August 1 at the hands of the Tulsa Talons in the first round of ArenaCup playoffs. With the loss, the Dawgz has dropped five straight post season games and is winless in the team's history in the playoffs. The Dawgz franchise is selling season tickets for the 2010 season.

2011 season

On October 25, 2010 Yard Dawgz owner Phil Miller announced that he decided not to play in the Arena Football League for the 2011 season. However the Indoor Football League

Indoor Football League

The Indoor Football League began in 1999 as an offshoot of the troubled Professional Indoor Football League. Keary Ecklund, the owner of the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs, left the PIFL after its first, financially-troubled, season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, the IFL was an...

announced the sameday that a new team would play in Oklahoma City in 2011.

2010 Results

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Week
! Date
! Opponent
! Home/Away
! Result
! Attendance
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|1
|April 3
|Jacksonville Sharks
Jacksonville Sharks
The Jacksonville Sharks were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They competed for part of the 1974 season in the World Football League, a failed attempt to launch a major professional football league in the United States in competition with the National Football...

|Home
|L 38-54
|5,542
|-
|2
|April 10
||BYE
|
|
|
|-bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|3
|April 17
|Cleveland Gladiators
|Home
|W 63-50
| 5,422
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|4
|April 24
|Iowa Barnstormers
Iowa Barnstormers
The Iowa Barnstormers are an arena football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Arena Football League , which they joined in 2010 following the organization's restructuring...

|Away
|L 60-68
| 8,312
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|5
|April 30
|Dallas Vigilantes
Dallas Vigilantes
The Dallas Vigilantes were an Arena Football League team based in Dallas, Texas. Like its AFL predecessor, the Dallas Desperados, the Vigilantes played at the American Airlines Center. The Vigilantes and the Jacksonville Sharks began play in the 2010 season, the first after the league's...

|Away
|L 34-55
| 7,051
|-bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|6
|May 8
|Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
The Bossier Shreveport Battle Wings were an Arena Football League team based in Bossier City, Louisiana. They played at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and represented both Bossier City and Shreveport...

|Home
|W 88-79
|4,775
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|7
|May 16
|Spokane Shock
Spokane Shock
The Spokane Shock is a professional arena football team of the Arena Football League from Spokane, Washington, USA. They play their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena...

|Home
|L 63-68
| 4,415
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|8
|May 22
|Tulsa Talons
Tulsa Talons
The San Antonio Talons are a professional arena football franchise in San Antonio, Texas that plays in the Arena Football League.The Talons began in 2000 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Tulsa Talons, a charter member of the defunct minor league Arena Football 2, also known as af2...

|Away
|L 41-67
| 7,235
|-bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|9
|May 28
|Alabama Vipers
|Home
|W 65-39
| 5,139
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|10
|June 5
|Tampa Bay Storm
Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm are an Arena Football League team based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. They play their home games in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa....

|Away
|L 48-50
| 16,200
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|11
|June 11
|Arizona Rattlers
Arizona Rattlers
The Arizona Rattlers are a professional arena football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Conference in the Arena Football League . The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team. They play their home games at US Airways Center...

|Away
|L 55-56
| 11,922
|-
|12
|June 20
|BYE
|
|
|
|-bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|13
|June 26
|Dallas Vigilantes
Dallas Vigilantes
The Dallas Vigilantes were an Arena Football League team based in Dallas, Texas. Like its AFL predecessor, the Dallas Desperados, the Vigilantes played at the American Airlines Center. The Vigilantes and the Jacksonville Sharks began play in the 2010 season, the first after the league's...

|Home
|W 35-31
| 5,114
|-bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|14
|July 3
|Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
The Bossier Shreveport Battle Wings were an Arena Football League team based in Bossier City, Louisiana. They played at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and represented both Bossier City and Shreveport...

|Away
|W 70-44
| 3,382
|-bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|15
|July 10
|Iowa Barnstormers
Iowa Barnstormers
The Iowa Barnstormers are an arena football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Arena Football League , which they joined in 2010 following the organization's restructuring...

|Home
|W 52-42
| 5,415
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|16
|July 17
|Cleveland Gladiators
|Away
|L 39-44
| 7,682
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|17
|July 24
|Orlando Predators
Orlando Predators
The Orlando Predators are an Arena Football League team based in Orlando, Florida that was founded in 1991. Their playoff streak is currently 19 seasons in a row, as of the season, becoming the ArenaBowl champions in 1998 and 2000...

|Away
|L 21-49
| 12,343
|-bgcolor="#ffbbbb"
|18
|July 30
|Tulsa Talons
Tulsa Talons
The San Antonio Talons are a professional arena football franchise in San Antonio, Texas that plays in the Arena Football League.The Talons began in 2000 in Tulsa, Oklahoma as the Tulsa Talons, a charter member of the defunct minor league Arena Football 2, also known as af2...

|Home
|L 61-74
| 7,702

Season-By-Season

{| class="wikitable"
|bgcolor="#8B4513"|ArenaBowl Champions
|bgcolor="#000000"| ArenaBowl Appearance
|bgcolor="#C0C0C0"|Division Champions
|bgcolor="#800000"|Playoff Berth
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; width:70%;"
|-
!rowspan="2" style="width:5%;"|Season
!rowspan="2" style="width:5%;"|League
!rowspan="2" style="width:5%;"|Conference
!rowspan="2"|Division
!colspan="3"|Regular season
!rowspan="2"|Postseason results
|-
!Finish
!Wins
!Losses
|-
|Colspan="8" align=center style="background:#000"|Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz
|-
|align="center"|2004

2004 af2 season

The 2004 AF2 season was the fifth season the AF2. The league champions were the Florida Firecats, who defeated the Peoria Pirates in Arena Cup V.-Standings:* Green indicates clinched playoff berth* Purple indicates division champion...

Peoria Pirates

The Peoria Pirates were a professional arena football team that last played in af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League. They played their home games at Carver Arena, part of the Peoria Civic Center in Illinois, and were coached by Mike Hohensee...

45-36
|-
|align="center"|2005

2005 af2 season

The 2005 AF2 season was the sixth season of the AF2. The league champions were the Memphis Xplorers, who defeated the Louisville Fire in Arena Cup VI.-Standings:* Green indicates clinched playoff berth* Purple indicates division champion...

Amarillo Dusters

59-56
|-
|align="center"|2006

2006 af2 season

The 2006 AF2 season was the seventh season of the AF2, the Arena Football League's minor league. The league champions were the Spokane Shock who capped off an impressive inaugural season with a win over the Green Bay Blizzard in Arena Cup VII.-Standings:...

Arkansas Twisters

The Allen Wranglers are a professional indoor football team based in Allen, Texas play in the Indoor Football League. The Wranglers play their home games at the Allen Event Center.-History:...

47-43
|-
|align="center"|2007

2007 af2 season

The 2007 AF2 season was the eighth season of the AF2. The regular season began on Friday, March 30 and ended on July 28. The league champions were the Tulsa Talons, who defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers in ArenaCup VIII.-Standings:...

Tulsa Talons

62-27
|-
|align="center"|2008

2008 af2 season

The 2008 AF2 season was the ninth season of the AF2. The regular season began on Friday, March 28 and ended on Saturday, July 26. The league champions were the Tennessee Valley Vipers, who beat the Spokane Shock in ArenaCup IX.-Standings:...

2009 af2 season

The 2009 AF2 season was the AF2's 10th and final season. The regular season began on Friday, March 20 and finished on Saturday, July 25. The league champion was the Spokane Shock, who defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers 74-27 in ArenaCup X.-Standings:...

Tulsa Talons

90-75
|-
|align="center"|2010

2010 Arena Football League season

The 2010 Arena Football League season was the twenty-third season in the history of the league. The regular season began on April 2, 2010 and ended on July 31...

|align="center"|AFL
|align="center"|American
|align="center"|Southwest
|align="center"|2nd
|align="center"|6
|align="center"|10
|NO PLAYOFFS
|-
!align="center" rowSpan="3" colSpan="5"|Total
|align="center"|57
|align="center"|55
|colSpan="2"|(includes only regular season)
|-
|align="center"|0
|align="center"|5
|colSpan="2"|(includes only the postseason)
|-
!align="center"|57
!align="center"|60
|colSpan="2"|(includes both regular season and postseason)
|}
Head Coaches=

2004 Gary Reasons
2005–2006 Jeff Jarnigan
2007 John Fitzgerald
2008 Gary Reasons and Sparky McEwen
2009–2010 Sparky McEwen

Notable players

Timon Marshall
Timon Marshall
Timon Marshall is an American football wide receiver who currently plays for the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of the Arena Football League...
A. J. Haglund
Al Hunt
Fred Shaw
Kelly Butler
Mike Brown
Danny Howard
Freddie Rollins
Aaron Chavers
Anthony Hines
Big Steven Coleman
Tonga Tea
Mike Hunt
Fabio Castelli

Notable former players

Craig Strickland
Pete Martinez
B.J. Barre
Evan Gray
Ben Scott
Jarrail Jackson
Barry Giles

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.