2008 Milwaukee Bonecrushers season
The 2008 Milwaukee Bonecrushers season was the 1st season for the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) expansion franchise. The franchise made an immediate splash in Milwaukee when it announced former Green Bay Packer Gilbert Brown signed a three-year contract to be the team's first head coach.[1] However, the optimism quickly faded when Brown announced he was resigning from the position after just three games on April 8, 2008. Much of the team's staff and many of the team's players also left at the same time, raising eyebrows among the Milwaukee media and fans.[2] The Bonecrushers finished 2008 with a hodgepodge of players and coaches, winning just one game, a 51-46 road contest against the Muskegon Thunder featuring a 26-yard touchdown run by Bonecrushers' quarterback Brian Ryczkowski on the final play of the game.
2008 Bonecrushers season | |
---|---|
Owner | Bonecrusher Ent. |
General manager | Chris Kokalis(resigned on April 8) Jordan Kopac (interim) |
Head coach | Gilbert Brown (resigned on April 8; 0–3 record) Michael Tumbleson (interim) |
Home field | U.S. Cellular Arena 400 W. Kilbourn Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53203 |
Results | |
Record | 1-11 |
Conference place | 4th |
Playoff finish | did not qualify |
The rumored reasoning behind the exodus of many of the original members of the franchise was the team's inability to pay its bills or personnel. This was confirmed when a judgment was entered against the Bonecrushers in favor of Challenger Industries, the company that sold the team its game field AstroTurf, in the amount of $29,539.29 on October 15, 2008. Challenger resolved its claim against John Burns, one of the owners of the Milwaukee Bonecrushers, prior to the matter going to trial.[3]
Schedule
Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
---|---|---|---|
March 21 | Chicago Slaughter | Home | Lost 41-64 |
March 29 | Muskegon Thunder | Home | Lost 35-60 |
April 6 | Flint Phantoms | Home | Lost 53-62 |
April 12 | Marion Mayhem | Away | Lost 19-43 |
April 19 | Chicago Slaughter | Away | Lost 18-56 |
April 27 | Miami Valley Silverbacks | Home | Lost 42-43 |
April 30 | Saginaw Sting | Away | Lost 28-51 |
May 9 | New Jersey Revolution | Away | Lost 32-56 |
May 17 | Muskegon Thunder | Away | Won 51-46 |
May 23 | Rock River Raptors | Home | Lost 3-56 |
May 31 | Saginaw Sting | Home | Lost 28-54 |
June 7 | Rock River Raptors | Away | Lost 29-53 |
Standings
Team | Overall | Division | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||
Great Lakes Conference | |||||||||||
East Division | |||||||||||
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 |
References
- "Packers Star Gilbert Brown Named Head Coach of Bonecrushers". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. October 23, 2007. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- Rick Braun (April 9, 2008). "Bonecrushers coaches, GM send message to management: We quit". www.jsonline.com. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- Milwaukee County Courthouse, Case No.: 2008-CV-008105