The End

Well, I just got the news yesterday that, "The CIFL is sad to announce that the operations of the Owensboro Rage, in Owensboro, KY have been suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season."

I don't know about you, but I felt stunned when I read this.

The Rage has been a great thing for Owensboro, and I truly hope we see professional sports in town again.  AND, I honestly feel that a lot of good came out of this team.

For one thing, there are a couple dozen guys out there that can add "professional football player" to their resume.  This was a good opportunity for them, and adding that to their list of accomplishments will always impress.

It was exciting getting the chance to see coaches Mike Goodpastor and Brian Schmidt doing what they do.  Those guys are obsessed with winning, and building quality teams.  I have described them as legends, and they are.

If you were ever around them after a loss, you know how much they hated that.  I know Brian especially was upset after the 78-0 WIN over the Bulldogs.  He was frustrated about the rule changes made by the refs in the game to compensate for what he felt was weak play by the other team.  I listened to the archived WVJS radio broadcast from the game, and it seemed that the team had eyes on breaking the CIFL scoring record on this night.

Also, I chatted with one of the coaches after a game at BW3 one night.  He mentioned that he had never been a part of a team doing so much with so little.

The Rage were, without a doubt, scrappy and hard working.  I personally love an underdog with a big heart, and that was the Rage.  You know that starting an independent minor league type team is a HUGE gamble, especially in a market like Owensboro.  The odds were against the Rage, but they still fought hard.

I love Owensboro, and I get very excited when I learn about someone trying to do something special and unique in the area.  I would like to see more distinctly Owensboro businesses and sites.  Sadly, it seems that a new Mc or Wal chain type place goes over huge in the area, while the independents are ignored.

There are many towns that have unique, established minor league teams that help define the city.  Just look at Florence KY, York PA, Jackson TN....  I could go on.  These are all towns with their own identity, but their well established minor league sports teams are a huge part of who they are.

When I tell people I am from Owensboro, they usually bring up regional food, defunct hotels, or the last public hanging.  Other than burgoo, it is hard to take pride in the other areas of notoriety.

We almost had a pro football team to brag about.

There are a lot of other great people involved with the Rage...  I loved watching Brent Clary do the onfield announcing at the Next Level.  The guy doing Twitter for the team was totally awesome.  Chris Cooke and Allen Buck of WVJS did an amazing job too, and I appreciated their roster updates and calls.

There was another part of the CIFL release that I feel is quote worthy.

"The CIFL is extremely proud of the efforts put forth by the owner of the Rage, Melissa Logsdon, who -- while working three jobs -- has been trying extremely hard to fulfill the dream and aspirations of her late fiancée and former GM of the Rage, Eddie Cronin."

Melissa's efforts were almost supernatural.  It is inspiring that a young person was able to bring professional football to the area.  It wasn't a group of business owners, or several investors, it was one very motivated person.

Melissa's family was incredible helping with the team too.  This is a solid, classy family in the area, and I am proud of the friendship I have with the Logsdon family.

Oh, I think it is important to still patronize the good people who sponsored the team.  It was very generous of those cool businesses.  Here are the sponsor links-
https://owensbororage.com/en/sponsors/sponsors.html

This weekend in Owensboro.....

There is ONLY one more regular season home game for the Rage this season, so you know that you have to be at the Next Level this Saturday!

Should be a good weekend for the Rage.  The team will be appearing at Towne Square Mall Friday night from 5-7, and they are playing the Detroit Thunder on Saturday night at the Next Level.

It is fan appreciation night too, so adult tickets are only $10!

Saturday's game against the Chicago Pythons has been cancelled

From the Rage's official site:

"Due to circumstances that are out of our control, the games vs chicago will not take place this Saturday. We apologize to our fans for this situation and want to extend our special fan appreciation night pricing to our next and final regular season home game, Sat April 20th. Thank you to all our fans for your unwavering support during our inaugural season. Spread the word about our final home game of the season as we welcome back Jared Lorenzen. Lets help cheer our team into the playoffs!"

The Pythons were a last minute change to replace the Kane County Dawgs, and I am guessing that the Pythons are unable to keep this obligation (I KNOW the Rage are available this weekend).

So, the Rage's final regular season home game will be NEXT weekend (4/20).  Make sure you are there!

This weekend in Owensboro........

Another big weekend is about to go down in Owensboro!  AND, with only two home games left, all Rage fans should make the most of it!

Friday, the Rage will be at the mall from 5-7.

Saturday, they will be taking on Chicago Pythons, game starts at 7.

If you haven't been to a Rage game yet, get down there!  You definitely want to have bragging rights to seeing the Owensboro Rage during their first season!

Rage defeat the Bulldogs (again) 78-0!

I had a great time in Owensboro this weekend at the Rage game!

The Rage again beat up on the Cincinnati Bulldogs.  I don't know how else to put it exactly, but for the second time this season, the Rage defeated the team from up north not allowing them to score one time.  In fact, the combined score from the two games is 138-0.

The Bulldogs are a more loosely put together team of players ( I heard a rumor that they actually recruited some locals to play for them this weekend) but they sure played with a ton of heart.

Also, after what happened earlier in the season, it says a lot about them that they were willing to play in Owensboro again.  I tip my hat to them.

Check out their site at:

http://www.northernkybulldogs.com/

This was a cool game too because Jared Lorenzen made his home field debut! Man, is he fun to watch!

I overheard one person comment that it looked like his teammates were not used to catching a ball thrown so hard and accurate. They ARE obviously starting to get used to it now.

I really like the other new additions too.  Our new kicker, Dustin "Uno" Zink is extremely skilled and accurate.

Jared Lorenzen was his usually hammy self during and after the game.  He tossed the ball to kids during breaks in the game (there's a story for the grandkids!) and he signed autographs for everyone afterwards.

I talked with him briefly after the game and told him it was great seeing him playing in Owensboro.  He very humbly thanked me for saying that and said that he was happy to be doing it.

I think that says a ton about him.  Jared played in the NFL and has really done just about everything.  Its not like he needs to be playing in the CIFL right now, but he obviously still enjoys playing.  And, its a big deal (for Owensboro) that he is in town right now.

Jared Lorenzen's old teams

I was going through some of my old photos I took from indoor games long ago and I found a few that might be interesting for Rage fans!  Our favorite QB, Jared Lorenzen is shown in each picture.

 

The top two photos I took at Northern Kentucky River Monster games.

 

This was a fun team that played just south of Cincinnati.  They played their games in a spectacular newer stadium and the vibe there was exciting.  The fans were in to the game and they were getting good crowds.  The River Monsters logo was awesome, as it was a tough looking green fish with an under bite, and an old school leather football helmet on (check it out on wikipedia).

 

Jared played for them, as did our kicker Uno.  Rage coaches Mike Goodpaster and Brian Schmidt coached there too so you know this was a solid crew.

 

The last two photos I have scanned in are of Jared when he played for the Lexington Horsemen.  The Horsemen drew great crowds- probably a few thousand a game.  Still, a crowd of several thousand can look small in a place like Rupp Arena.

 

The Horsemen were a fun organization and I remember the team intros and the video they would show before games were a lot of fun.  I remember Jared throwing a lot of souvenir footballs in to the stands! 

 

This team had some other NFL alumni on it at various times (I remember Craig Yeast spending time with them).  Their logo was not as cool as the River Monsters logo, as the Horsemen's logo looked suspiciously like the logo for the Broncos.

Tomorrow Night at Towne Square Mall

This is going to be a great weekend for Rage fans!  Tomorrow night (Friday April 5th) make sure you stop by Town Square Mall to say hello to your favorite Rage players!  The team will be hanging out there between 5-7.

Then on Saturday night, catch the team in action at the Next Level!  The game starts at 7!