|
|
|
|
New York Dragons
|
| |
|
| |
The New York Dragons are an Arena Football League team who were formed in 1995 as the Iowa Barnstormers. In 2001, the team relocated to New York. They currently play in the Eastern Division of the National Conference.
team is based in suburban Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, also home to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League.
franchise played in Des Moines, Iowa from 1995 to 2000, as the Iowa Barnstormers.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'New York Dragons' Start a new discussion about 'New York Dragons' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
The New York Dragons are an Arena Football League team who were formed in 1995 as the Iowa Barnstormers. In 2001, the team relocated to New York. They currently play in the Eastern Division of the National Conference.
History
The team is based in suburban Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, also home to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League.
Iowa Barnstormers (1995-2000)
The franchise played in Des Moines, Iowa from 1995 to 2000, as the Iowa Barnstormers. The team had been successful in Iowa, having reached the ArenaBowl in 1996 and 1997 From 1995 to 1997, the team's starting quarterback was the relatively little-known Kurt Warner, who moved up to the National Football League in 1998 and turned out to be one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks ever.
The need for a more modern venue as well as the league's desire for a larger market led to the move to the New York City area, despite two failed past attempts in the region: the New York Knights (1988) and the New York CityHawks (1997-1998), both of which played at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. The team was purchased by Charles Wang, who is also the Islanders' majority owner.
The Arena Football organization did award an af2 franchise to Iowa for the 2001 season also called the Barnstormers, but that team folded after that season (only to be brought back in 2008). The Barnstormers were noted for their unique uniforms, which in keeping with the aviation theme included the depiction of goggles on the helmets, wings on the shoulders of the jerseys, and propellers on the pants legs. The primary figures in the original Iowa organization were Jim Foster, the inventor of Arena Football, and Kurt Warner, the quarterback who went on to play for the St. Louis Rams and win both the NFL MVP and Super Bowl XXXIV MVP.
Aside from the league's desire to re-enter the New York market, another major reason cited for the team's relocation was the inadequacy of their Des Moines venue, the Iowa Veterans Memorial Auditorium, also known as "The Barn". Most of the seats in this venue were located directly along the sidelines as is typical of high school sports venues. The Barnstormers organization constantly lobbied for the construction of a better facility during their time in Des Moines, to no avail.
In 2005, the Wells Fargo Arena opened in Des Moines, directly across from what the locals call "Vets", as part of the newly expanded Iowa Events Center. A new Barnstormers af2 franchise began play there in the 2008 season.
New York Dragons (2001-present)
Nassau Coliseum, where the franchise relocated, is generally regarded as one of the most marginal venues currently used in major American professional sports, and is often proposed for replacement, so the improvement of the situation with regards to a venue has been fairly minimal to this point. In late September 2004, Islanders' ownership announced an ambitious project to renovate the Coliseum, surrounding it with housing units and construction of an adjacent tower, resembling a lighthouse, at a total cost of over $200 million (US). Since then, the lighthouse has been taken out of the design plan.
The New York Dragons currently compete in the Eastern Division of the National Conference. They are coached by former Barnstormer defensive back Weylan Harding. In the 2006 season Weylan Harding became the winningest Arena Football league coach in his first two seasons as a coach, winning twenty games throughout the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
The Dragons have one of the biggest stars in the Arena Football League today, in quarterback Aaron Garcia. Garcia has the honor of most touchdown passes in a game (11), and second most touchdown passes in a season (104 in 2001). Through his 10 year career, he has thrown over 800 touchdown passes.
The Dragons set the league record for most points in a game, scoring 99 against the Carolina Cobras on July 7, 2001, surpassing the previous record of 91, which had been set by the New Jersey Red Dogs in 1997 against the Texas Terror. It also set a record for the most points scored in one game (167).
On Saturday, February 11, 2006, the Dragons won against the expansion team Utah Blaze 84-81 on the road and they made AFL history for the second-most points scored in one game with 165.
On July 8, 2008 a group of investors, led by Steve Silva, announced they are buying the team from Charles Wang. With the purchase the team would change its uniforms, logo, and colors. The team also announced that the Dragons will continue to play in the Nassau Coliseum despite rumors that the Dragons would move to Manhattan and play their games at Madison Square Garden.
On September 23, 2008, the Dragons announced their new logo & color scheme. Gone are the red and yellow from their color scheme, as green and grey will now accent the black.
The Dragons official mascot is a dragon named Sparky, who is also the mascot of the NHL's New York Islanders.
On December 14, 2008, the Arena Football League announced it would shut down for 2009, but hoped to return in 2010. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/rush/chi-15-arena-rushdec15,0,5514573.story)
Historic moments
- On Saturday, July 7, 2001, in a Week 13 home game against the Carolina Cobras, QB Aaron Garcia has a prolific performance. He would throw a league-best 11 touchdown passes in the highest scoring game in league history. The Dragons would win the game 99-68. This is at #11 on the AFL's 20 Greatest Highlights Countdown.
- On June 28, 2008, the Dragons, making the postseason even after finishing the season 8-8 (fourth in the National Eastern Division), went on to defeat the favored Dallas Desperados in the wild card round of the playoffs. Dallas finished second in the National Eastern Division with the record of 12-4, yet fell to an underdog New York team 77-63. They would go on to lose to the Philadelphia Soul in the following round, 49-48 on a last second touchdown pass that replays showed to be a questionable call.
Season-by-season
|-
| colspan="6" align="center" | Iowa Barnstormers
|-
|1995 || 7 || 5 || 0 || 2nd AC Central || Won Week 1 (Arizona)
Lost Week 2 (Orlando)
|-
|1996 || 12 || 2 || 0 || 1st AC Central || Won Week 2 (St. Louis)
Won Semifinals(Albany)
Lost ArenaBowl X (Tampa Bay)
|-
|1997 || 11 || 3 || 0 || 1st AC Central || Won Week 2 (San Jose)
Won Semifinals (Orlando)
Lost ArenaBowl XI (Arizona)
|-
|1998 || 5 || 9 || 0 || 3rd AC Central || --
|-
|1999 || 13 || 3 || 0 || 1st AC Central || Won Week 1 (Milwaukee)
Lost Week 2 (Orlando)
|-
|2000 || 11 || 5 || 0 || 1st AC Central || Lost Week 2 (Nashville)
|-
| colspan="6" align="center" | New York Dragons
|-
|2001 || 8 || 6 || 0 || 2nd NC Eastern || Lost Week 1 (Toronto)
|-
|2002 || 3 || 11 || 0 || 4th NC Eastern || --
|-
|2003 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 1st NC Eastern || Won Week 1 (Chicago)
Lost Week 2 (Orlando)
|-
|2004^ || 9 || 7 || 0 || 1st NC Eastern || --
|-
|2005 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 1st NC Eastern || Lost Week 1 (Orlando)
|-
|2006 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 2nd NC Eastern || Lost Week 1 (Georgia)
|-
|2007 || 5 || 11 || 0 || 4th NC Eastern || --
|-
|2008 || 8 || 8 || 0 || 3rd NC Eastern || Won Wild Card (Dallas)
Lost Divisional (Philadelphia)
|-
!Totals || 124 || 100 || 0
|colspan="2"| (including playoffs)
|}
^Despite winning their division in 2004, the Dragons failed to make the playoffs.
Coaches
| Head coach | Tenure | Regular season
record (W-L) | Post season
record (W-L) | Most recent coaching staff | Notes |
|---|
| John Gregory | 1995 - 2003 | 66-48 | 6-6 | | 1995 and 1996
Arena Football League
Coach of the Year. | | Todd Shell | 2003 - 2004 | 17-11 | 1-1 | | 2003 Arean Football League
Coach of the Year | | Weylan Harding | 2005 - present | 33-31 | 1-3 | OC:Chad Lindsey
OL / Co-ST Coordinator: Jerome Brown
DL / Co-ST Coordinator: Corey Mayfield | | |
Current Roster
Notable players
AFL Hall of Famers
External links
|
| |
|
|
