Английская Википедия:2009 Arkansas Twisters season

Содержание

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

The 2009 Arkansas Twisters season was the franchise's tenth season as a football franchise, last in the arenafootball2 league, and final season as the "Arkansas Twisters". The National Conference team, led by head coach Chris Siegfried, played their home games on Allstate Field at Alltel Arena (which changed names to "Verizon Arena" mid-season) in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Diamonds finished the 2009 regular season with an 11-5 record and 2nd place in the Southwest Division. The team's playoff run ended with a 36-77 loss to the Boise Burn in the first round.

Off-field moves

After two seasons in the Central Division of the National Conference, the Twisters were realigned to the Southwest Division for the 2009 season. They joined the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings, Corpus Christi Sharks, and Rio Grande Valley Dorados in the Southwest Division.

The Twisters re-signed head coach Chris Siegfried for a second season after leading the team to a winning record and a short playoff run in 2008. The assistant coaches for 2009 were former Dallas Cowboys fullback and first-year coach Robert Thomas, four-time ArenaBowl champion player and 2004 ArenaBowl Defensive MVP Omar Smith, plus veteran assistant coach and East Tennessee State University alum Travis Crusenberry.

In April 2009, the team was alerted that two active players had been assigned the "retired" jersey numbers of former Twisters players Reggie Swinton and Kahlil Carter. The team blamed the error on a "former employee" who had ordered the team's new uniforms without checking with veteran front office staff.

2009 was the final year for Arkansas in arenafootball2 (af2) as the league was merged with remnants of the original Arena Football League to create Arena Football 1. Although they signed on as a charter member of Arena Football 1, Twisters ownership soon had issues with league restructuring and financial stability so they jumped to the Indoor Football League. To avoid buying the rights to the team's name and logo, the Arkansas franchise held a "name the team" contest and became the Arkansas Diamonds for the 2010 season, their last before relocating to Texas. Arkansas is the site of the only diamond mine in the United States.

Roster moves

When pre-season training camp began on March 6, 2009, players included the 2008 AF2 Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback Kyle Rowley, plus defensive back Lawrence Richardson, wide receiver Robert Johnson, kicker James Paul, and prospect Xavier Lee.

Receiver Rod Harper left the team mid-season in June 2009 when he signed with the NFL's New Orleans Saints. Harper was the second Twisters player to jump directly from AF2 to the NFL. (The first was Reggie Swinton who played for the Twisters in 2000 before being signed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2001.)

Schedule

Pre-season

Week	Day	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Location
					Final Score	Team Record
1	Wednesday	March 18	7:05pm	at Spokane Shock	L 28-35	---	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena

Regular season

Week	Day	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Location
					Final Score	Team Record
1	Saturday	March 28	7:05pm	Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings	W 39-38	1-0	Alltel Arena
2	Saturday	April 4	7:00pm	at Amarillo Venom	W 45-24	2-0	Amarillo Civic Center
3	Saturday	April 11	7:05pm	Rio Grande Valley Dorados	W 77-64	3-0	Alltel Arena
4	Saturday	April 18	7:05pm	Tennessee Valley Vipers	L 60-61	3-1	Alltel Arena
5	Friday	April 24	7:30pm	at Green Bay Blizzard	W 62-47	4-1	Resch Center
6	Saturday	May 2	7:00pm	at Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings	L 61-69	4-2	CenturyTel Center
7	Saturday	May 9	7:05pm	Florida Firecats	W 55-42	5-2	Alltel Arena
8	Saturday	May 16	9:00pm	at Central Valley Coyotes	W 68-51	6-2	Selland Arena
9	Bye
10	Saturday	May 30	7:05pm	at Corpus Christi Sharks	W 82-59	7-2	American Bank Center
11	Saturday	June 6	7:05pm	Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz	L 54-56	7-3	Alltel Arena
12	Saturday	June 13	7:00pm	at Tulsa Talons	L 47-56	7-4	BOK Center
13	Saturday	June 20	7:05pm	Amarillo Venom	W 63-62	8-4	Alltel Arena
14	Saturday	June 27	7:05pm	at Rio Grande Valley Dorados	W 57-54	9-4	Dodge Arena
15	Bye
16	Saturday	July 11	7:05pm	Corpus Christi Sharks	W 57-47	10-4	Verizon Arena*
17	Saturday	July 18	7:05pm	Tulsa Talons	W 81-55	11-4	Verizon Arena*
18	Saturday	July 25	7:00pm	at Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings	L 50-64	11-5	CenturyTel Center

• Because of the sale of Alltel to Verizon Wireless, the Alltel Arena was renamed "Verizon Arena" on July 1, 2009.

Playoffs

Round	Day	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Location
					Final Score	Team Record
1	Saturday	August 1	7:00pm	at Boise Burn	L 36-77	---	Qwest Arena

Roster

2009 Arkansas Twisters roster
Quarterbacks Running backs Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern Wide receivers Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern		Offensive linemen Defensive linemen Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern		Linebackers Defensive backs Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern Шаблон:Playern Kickers Шаблон:Playern		Injured Reserve currently vacant Exempt list currently vacant rookies in italics Roster updated July 25, 2009 20 Active, 0 Inactive → More rosters

External links

• 2009 Arkansas Twisters Team History at ArenaFan.com
• Texas Revolution official website