Port Huron Pirates

Port Huron Pirates
Founded	2006
Folded	2007
Arena	McMorran Place
Based in	Port Huron, Michigan
Colors	black, blue
League	Continental Indoor Football League
Head coach	Karl Featherstone
President of Football Operations	N/A
Official Dance Team	Port Huron Pirates Dance Team

The Port Huron Pirates were a charter member of the Continental Indoor Football League from 2006-2007. They began their existence playing their home games at McMorran Place in Port Huron, Michigan. The logo features a fierce pirate, symbolic of the surrounding Great Lake Huron. In the background is a depiction of the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse.

In their inaugural season (when the league was called the Great Lakes Indoor Football League), the Pirates went undefeated (10-0), defeated the Battle Creek Crunch in the semifinals, and won the inaugural Great Lakes Bowl I 40-34 over the Rochester Raiders, with DL Ed Bynes winning the game's MVP title. Over 2,500 fans witnessed the game, marking one of the biggest crowds to watch a sporting event at McMorran Place. Adding some more great news was the fact that QB Shane Franzer was named the inaugural GLIFL MVP of the All-Star game and Rayshawn Askew was named the inaugural GLIFL Running Back of the Year.

After the season, head coach Brian Hug left the Pirates to become head coach of the Pahrump Valley High School Trojans football team, leaving the Pirates to hire Karl Featherstone as their new head coach. In March 2007, Hug was hired by the Las Vegas Gladiators as an assistant offensive/defensive line coach. [1]

Unfortunately, at halftime of the May 26 game against Marion, in front of an announced crowd of 1,216 fans, the team announced this would be their final season in Port Huron, as they could no longer pay the bills with such lackluster attendance. Speculated relocation cities include Binghamton, New York, Flint, Michigan, and one other Michigan city. [2]

Afterwards, the team announced they would be playing their playoff games at the Perani Arena and Event Center in Flint, Michigan. They were using the playoffs as a test of the arena and the city of Flint for potential relocation. They then renamed themseleves The Michigan Pirates for the rest of the season.[3] Also, the team has announced that they are changing their name to the Michigan Pirates. [4]

After winning their first 26 games, the team finally met their Waterloo in the 2007 CIFL Indoor Championship Game, losing to long-time rival Rochester Raiders by a score of 37-27 at Rochester's Blue Cross Arena.

After an offseason of uncertainty regarding whether the team would return, the CIFL moved the Port Huron Pirates from the "Active Teams" section of their message board to the "Defunct Teams" section of their message board, indicating the team has left the league. It was later confirmed by league officials that The Pirates were no more.

Regular Season and Post Season History

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

Season	W	L	T	Finish	Playoff results
Port Huron Pirates (GLIFL)
2006	10	0	0	1st League	Won Semifinal (Battle Creek) Won Great Lakes Bowl I (Rochester)
Port Huron/Michigan Pirates (CIFL)
2007	12	0	0	1st Great Lakes	Won GLD Semifinal (Marion) Won GLD Championship (Kalamazoo) Lost CIFL Indoor Championship Game (Rochester)
Totals	26	1	0	(including playoffs)

2006 GLIFL Standings

2006 Great Lakes Indoor Football Leagueview · Rochester Raiders-x												7	3	0	.700
Lehigh Valley Outlawz-x	4	6	0	.400
Battle Creek Crunch-x	4	6	0	.400
Marion Mayhem	4	6	0	.400
New York/New Jersey Revolution	0	10	0	.000

2007 Season Results

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
March 17	Rochester Raiders	Away	Won 62-30
March 24	Miami Valley Silverbacks	Home	Won 54-7
March 30	Rochester Raiders	Home	Won 60-13
April 14	Springfield Stallions	Away	Won 54-6
April 21	Muskegon Thunder	Away	Won 47-13
April 28	Summit County Rumble	Home	Won 70-34
May 4	Miami Valley Silverbacks	Away	Won 78-19
May 12	Muskegon Thunder	Home	Won 76-37
May 19	Summit County Rumble	Away	Won 63-0
May 26	Marion Mayhem	Home	Won 56-9
June 8	Kalamazoo Xplosion	Home	Won 55-20
June 16	Chicago Slaughter	Away	Won 46-12
July 7	Marion Mayhem (Playoffs)	Home (Flint)	Won 70-20
July 13	Kalamazoo Xplosion (Playoffs)	Home (Flint)	Won 37-29
July 28	Rochester Raiders (CIFL Indoor Championship Game)	Away	Lost 27-37

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