The Battle Creek Crunch were a professional indoor football team based in Battle Creek, Michigan. The team was a charter member of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League joining the league in 2006 as an expansion team. The Crunch were the first professional indoor football team to be based in Battle Creek. The Crunch were owned by Mike Powell. They played their home games at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, Michigan.
| Battle Creek Crunch | |
|---|---|
| Established 2005 Folded 2006 Played in Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, Michigan | |
 | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
| Great Lakes Indoor Football League (2006) | |
Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Black, Orange, White |
| Cheerleaders | Illegal Motion |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Mike Powell |
| General manager | Mike Powell |
| Head coach | Bob Kubiak |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (0) | |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Playoff appearances (1) | |
| Home arena(s) | |
| |
Franchise history
editThe Crunch were announced to the City of Battle Creek in September 2005 that they would begin play in 2006 as an expansion team in the newly formed Great Lakes Indoor Football League by owner and general manager, Mike Powell. On September 27, 2005 the team named Bob Kubiak as their head coach.[1] The Battle Creek Crunch office is officially open to the public on January 16.[2] In their first ever game, the Port Huron Pirates defeated the Crunch by the score of 62-22.[3] The team was also featured on ESPN.com, as writer Ted Kluck tried out for the team. He participated in the first game as a long snapper for two extra point attempts.[4] Kluck wrote a book called, Paper Tiger which captured the entire 2006 season from a player's prospective.[5] Despite the team's lackluster 4-6 record, the team qualified for the playoffs as the league's 4th and final seed. The team was eliminated from the playoffs by the Port Huron Pirates by a score of 74-3. Despite the team's struggles on and off the field, Eric Gardner was named the inaugural GLIFL Defensive Back of the Year.
2006 GLIFL standings
edit| Team | W | L | T | PCT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Huron Pirates-y | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | |||||||
| Rochester Raiders-x | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | |||||||
| Lehigh Valley Outlawz-x | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | |||||||
| Battle Creek Crunch-x | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | |||||||
| Marion Mayhem | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | |||||||
| New York/New Jersey Revolution | 0 | 10 | 0 | .000 | |||||||
Even though they hoped to play in 2007, financial troubles and the forming of the Kalamazoo Xplosion marked the end of the Crunch's only year of existence.[6][7]
Logos
editThe team name refers to Battle Creek's position as the corporate headquarters of the Kellogg's cereal company. The tiger in the logo is derivative of Tony the Tiger.
Players of note
editRoster
edit| Battle Creek Crunch roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
Linebackers
|
Defensive backs
Kickers
|
Injured reserve
Exempt list
Practice squad
rookies in italics | |||
Awards and honors
editThe following is a list of all Battle Creek Crunch players who won GLIFL awards.
| Season | Award | Player | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Defensive Back of the Year | Eric Gardner | WR/DB |
Coaches of note
edit| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Bob Kubiak | 2006 | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 0 | 1 | |
Season-by-season results
edit| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | League Leader |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||||||
| 2006 | 2006 | GLIFL | 4 | 6 | 0 | Lost GLIFL semifinals (Pirates) 3–74 | |||||
| Totals | 4 | 6 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2006) | |||||||
| 0 | 1 | - | All-time postseason record (2006) | ||||||||
| 4 | 7 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2006) | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Battle Creek Crunch announce first Head Coach". September 28, 2005. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
- ^ "Crunch News and Notes - January". January 16, 2006. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
- ^ Randy Snow (April 8, 2006). "Crunch Lose Opener to Pirate". Retrieved March 26, 2012.
- ^ Ted Kluck. "A day in mini-camp". Retrieved March 26, 2012.
- ^ Paper Tiger:One Athlete's Journey to the Underbelly of Pro Football. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
- ^ "None". Archived from the original on 2012-04-15.
- ^ "None".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Quest for Great Lakes Bowl I - Battle Creek Crunch Season Preview". March 28, 2006. Retrieved March 26, 2012.