West Michigan ThunderHawks

West Michigan ThunderHawks
West Michigan ThunderHawks
Founded 2007
League CIFL 2007-2008
IFL 2009-2010
Team history Muskegon Thunder 2007-2009
West Michigan ThunderHawks 2010-future
Arena DeltaPlex Arena
Based in Walker, Michigan
Team colors navy blue, powder blue, gold
President Don Pringle
Head coach Terry Foster
Championships 0
Division titles 0
Cheerleaders NA
Dancers The Rumble Dance Team
Mascot Boomer

The West Michigan ThunderHawks are a member of the Indoor Football League L The team is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, starting in 2010 the ThunderHawks will play their home games at the DeltaPlex Arena in nearby Walker From their inception in 2007 until 2009, the ThunderHawks were known as the Muskegon Thunder and played at L.C. Walker Arena (in their first two seasons they played in the Continental Indoor Football League). In 2010 the team moved to Grand Rapids, MI. This is where the downfall of the team took place. The season started off hopeful with a 5-2 record. After week 7 the players were promised money at a later date as long as they played (money that they never received). THe Thunderhawks did not field a team in 2011.

Contents

History

Muskegon Thunder logo

For their first season, the Thunder had Shane Fairfield as head coach. A well-respected figure in local high school football, he took the Holton Red Devils to a conference championship as well as two back to back district championships against Muskegon Catholic. Prior to that he coached his alma mater Muskegon Catholic Central, and Muskegon High School.

For their first season with their brand-new identity the Head Coach and defensive coordinator will be Detroit native Terry Foster, once a star for the Grand Valley State University team. Foster played in the AFL for the Grand Rapids Rampage and last year was assistant coach there. Offensive coordinator Brent White almost mirrored Fairfield's path from Muskegon to Holton, playing for the Big Reds from 1999 to 2002 and then stepping off the field as assistant JV coach at Holton. He quickly became offensive coordinator for the Holton Red Devils where he led his team to some record-breaking performances.

Season-By-Season

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties

Season W L T Finish Playoff results
Muskegon Thunder (CIFL)
2007 4 8 0 5th Great Lakes Lost GLD Qualifier (Marion)
2008 5 7 0 2nd Great Lakes East Lost GLD East Finals (Kalamazoo)
Muskegon Thunder (IFL)
2009 1 13 0 5th United Atlantic --
West Michigan ThunderHawks (IFL)
2010 5 9 0 3rd Atlantic East --
2011* 0 0 0 -- --
Totals 15 39 0 (including playoffs)

* = Current Standing

2007 Season Schedule

Date Opponent Home/Away Result
March 24 Summit County Rumble Neutral (Steubenville) Won 42-21
March 31 Marion Mayhem Away Lost 20-48
April 13 Summit County Rumble Home Won 54-12
April 21 Port Huron Pirates Home Lost 13-47
April 28 Chicago Slaughter Home Lost 40-57
May 5 Kalamazoo Xplosion Away Lost 37-41
May 12 Port Huron Pirates Away Lost 37-76
May 19 Springfield Stallions Away Won 49-25
May 26 Springfield Stallions Home Won 52-36
June 9 Chicago Slaughter Home Lost 34-58
June 16 Kalamazoo Xplosion Home Lost 28-34
June 23 Lehigh Valley Outlawz Home Lost 54-55
June 29 Marion Mayhem (Playoffs) Away Lost 57-68

2007 CIFL Standings

2007 Continental Indoor Football Leagueview · Michigan Pirates-y
12 0 0 1.000 10 0 0 1.000
Kalamazoo Xplosion-x 10 2 0 .833 10 2 0 .833
Chicago Slaughter-x 9 3 0 .750 8 2 0 .800
Marion Mayhem-x 6 6 0 .500 6 5 0 .545
Muskegon Thunder-x 4 8 0 .333 4 7 0 .364
Miami Valley Silverbacks 4 8 0 .333 3 7 0 .300
Summit County Rumble 1 11 0 .083 0 7 0 .000
Springfield Stallions 0 12 0 .000 0 11 0 .000
Atlantic Conference
Rochester Raiders-y 10 2 0 .833 90 0 0 1.000
New England Surge-x 8 4 0 .667 8 3 0 .727
Lehigh Valley Outlawz-x 7 5 0 .583 5 5 0 .500
Chesapeake Tide-x 7 5 0 .583 6 5 0 .545
Steubenville Stampede 5 7 0 .417 2 6 0 .250
NY/NJ Revolution 1 11 0 .083 0 11 0 .000

2008 Season Schedule

Date Opponent Home/Away Result
March 8 Marion Mayhem Home Lost 34-33[1]
March 21 Rock River Raptors Home Won 44-36[2]
March 29 Milwaukee Bonecrushers Away Won 60-35[3]
April 4 Kalamazoo Xplosion Home Won 44-37 (OT)[4][5]
April 12 Fort Wayne Freedom Home Won 39-33[6]
April 25 Chicago Slaughter Home Lost 10-27
May 3 Kalamazoo Xplosion Away Lost 19-49[7]
May 10 Flint Phantoms Away Won 55-42[8]
May 17 Milwaukee Bonecrushers Home Lost 46-51
May 24 Fort Wayne Freedom Away Lost 38-42
May 31 Chicago Slaughter Away Lost 35-38
June 6 Saginaw Sting Away Lost 23-60
June 14 Kalamazoo Xplosion (Playoffs) Away Lost 33-50

2008 CIFL Standings

2008 Continental Indoor Football Leagueview · Kalamazoo Xplosion-y
11 1 0 .917 5 1 0 .833
Muskegon Thunder-x 5 7 0 .417 2 2 0 .500
Fort Wayne Freedom 5 7 0 .417 2 4 0 .333
Miami Valley Silverbacks 3 9 0 .250 1 2 0 .333
West Division
Chicago Slaughter-y 8 4 0 .667 3 1 0 .750
Rock River Raptors-x 7 5 0 .583 3 1 0 .750
Milwaukee Bonecrushers 1 11 0 .083 0 4 0 .000
Atlantic Conference
East Division
New England Surge-y 8 3 0 .727 5 1 0 .833
Lehigh Valley Outlawz-x 7 5 0 .583 4 2 0 .667
New Jersey Revolution 3 9 0 .250 2 5 0 .286
Chesapeake Tide 2 10 0 .583 0 2 0 .000
West Division
Rochester Raiders-z 12 0 0 1.000 4 0 0 1.000
Saginaw Sting-y 10 2 0 .833 3 1 0 .750
Marion Mayhem-x 7 5 0 .583 0 2 0 .000
Flint Phantoms 1 11 0 .083 0 4 0 .000

Standings

2010 Atlantic East Division
view · Richmond Revolution 13 1 0 0.929 --- 10-1 663 489 W10
x-Rochester Raiders 9 5 0 0.643 4.0 6-5 641 554 L1
West Michigan ThunderHawks 5 9 0 0.357 8.0 4-5 606 728 L4
Maryland Maniacs 1 13 0 0.071 12.0 1-10 370 644 W1

Tragedy

On January 18, 2009, Adam Pringle, player, part-owner of the club, and son of the club's president, died from injuries sustained in a snowmobile accident.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Mayhem open season with victory". The Marion Star (Marion, Ohio: Gannett Company). 2008-03-11. http://nl.newsbank.com/cgi-bin/ngate/MSTB?ext_docid=mri44231965&ext_hed=Mayhem+open+season+with+victory&s_site=marionstar&ext_theme=gannett&pubcode=MSTB&usefield=sqn. Retrieved 2008-04-23. Archived 2008-04-23.
  2. ^ "Raptors fall on the road". WREX TV. http://www.wrex.com/Sports/index.php?ID=27439. Retrieved 2008-04-28. [dead link]
  3. ^ Nickel, Lori (2008-). "'Just atrocious' loss". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwalkee, Minnesota: Journal Sentinel Inc.). http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=733645. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
  4. ^ Kendra, Tom (April 5, 2008). "XplosionD-fused". Kalamazoo Gazette (Booth Newspapers). http://www.mlive.com/sports/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/sports-2/120737100645400.xml&coll=7. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
  5. ^ "Kalamazoo vs Muskegon (Apr 04, 2008)". CIFL Statistics. http://www.ciflstats.com/leaguestats/2008/games/week5/MUS0404.HTM. Retrieved 2008-04-23. 
  6. ^ Clardie, Stacy (April 13, 2008). "Freedom's offensive woes spell doom in loss". Journal Gazette. http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080413/SPORTS0602/804130340/-1/SPORTS. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
  7. ^ "Xplosion get payback vs. Thunder". Kalamazoo Gazette (Booth Newspapers). May 4, 2008. http://www.mlive.com/sports/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/sports-2/120987840626570.xml&coll=7. Retrieved 2008-06-06. 
  8. ^ "After slow start, Thunder explode in CIFL win over Phantoms". Muskegon Chronicle (Booth Newspapers). http://www.mlive.com/muskegon/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1210500922198100.xml&coll=8. Retrieved 2008-05-12. 
  9. ^ Muskegon Thunder rocked by Adam Pringle's death MLive.com article. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.

External links