The 8th Man

Rochester Raiders Join AIFA

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:43:00 -0500

From the AIFA website......... ROCHESTER, New York (June 13, 2008) � The American Indoor Football Association announced the addition of the Rochester Raiders for the 2009 AIFA season. The Raiders will likely play in the league's competitive North Division. Rochester becomes the third defending champion of a competing league to join the AIFA. The NIFL champion Fayetteville Guard and the WIFL champion Augusta Colts previously switched leagues, along with the WIFL finalist Columbus Lions. The Raiders reigned as defending champions of the Continental Indoor Football League in 2007, and they finished the 2008 regular season undefeated with a 12-0 record. Over their three seasons in the CIFL, Rochester was 33-6. They leave the league with a 24-game indoor football winning streak. �The Raiders are a perfect fit for our league,� said AIFA co-founder John Morris. �Their record speaks for itself, and they have solid fan support. I am most impressed by their commitment to excellence. Our teams and our league share that kind of commitment.� To help introduce the league and its member teams, the AIFA has scheduled two special exhibition games for the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. The games will feature two future North Division rivals, the Erie Riverrats and the Baltimore Mariners. Dates for the games are June 21st and June 28th respectively. �Our league is growing,� said AIFA National Director Jack Bowman. �We are continuing to receive inquiries regarding league franchises. Based on the number and quality of these inquiries, I believe we can anticipate additional growth in our future.� The AIFA will provide special coverage and reaction to this news story through its weekly Internet Radio program, This Week in the AIFA. Future shows will provide continuing updates on the Raiders, as well as all other league teams and news items. The program is available for download at the AIFA web site (www.aifaprofootball.com), or through the OurSports Central web site (www.oursportscentral.com). .

Rochester Raiders move to AIFA

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:46:00 -0500

Breaking News!...Breaking News!...Breaking News!

The Rochester Raiders dropped out of the CIFL after Flint was a no show on June 8th and Bob and league officials had a disagreement over the security deposit that he paid and no other teams paid, a deposit that was put in place to compensate owners when teams failed to show for games.

On Friday June 13th the Raiders officially joined the AIFA (www.aifaprofootball.com) and will play two games, one on Saturday June 21st, the other is Saturday June 28th. Both games are at 8PM at Blue Cross Arena and will be free to all fans! Bob has decided it was best for the fans after the mess they were put through the last 2 weeks and we appreciate it very much. Bob stands to lose somewhere between $50,000-$100,000 to do so but believes in taking care of his Rochester Raider loyal fans!

So come out and support YOUR Rochester Raiders on June 21st and June 28th!!! .

Fehrenbach autographed game worn jersey raffle

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:13:00 -0500

We have been selling tickets for this since week 1 and we will continue selling tickets for this jersey at every home game and you can buy tickets through The 8th Man at djbigdog1@hotmail.com.

There has been a slight change in the reason for the raffle. Half the money raised will be donated to Jamie 'Ice man' Isome' of the Milwaukee Bonecrushers and his family. Please read below to find out more about Jamie's life threating disease.

On April 15th, Jamie underwent surgery to remove a 5-inch tumor. Doctors were able to remove 90% of the tumor, however test results show that it is cancerous. Making things more stressful for the family his wife, Tenille, is pregnant with their first child. Jamie and his family are in need of help. As caring human beings that the Rochester people are I am asking you to please do what you can to help this family. We all know the Rochester community is about giving and caring and here is another chance for us to show the rest of the country this. A man from Chicago today bought $50 worth of tickets, I will do the same and I will find kids to put their names on the tickets as I do not want the jersey, I want to help this man and also put a smile on the kids faces.

The prices are as follows:

1 ticket $1
5 tickets $3
10 tickets $5
***Best deal*** Anyone who donates $15 will get 40 tickets and a free 8th man t-shirt.

Please help us help this family through a crisis that any one of us could face sometime in our lives. Yesterday I buried a lady who I considered Mom from a bone cancer, she lived 3 long years and fought the cancer until she could not fight anymore. I am determined to help as many people as I can, this is #1 of many.

For more information or to purchase tickets through Paypal please e-mail me at djbigdog1@hotmail.com .

2007 8th Man MVP Selected

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:31:00 -0500

After all the votes were tallied the 2007 season 8th Man MVP went to..... Mike Mikolichek!!!!

Mike had a great year and led the team to a championship game despite separating his shoulder during the game! Mo Jackson was a close 2nd. We look forward to 2008 and to the players--DON'T FORGET YOUR FAVORITE FANS SIT IN SECTION 122, throw some footballs there, huh? :)

A hot night on the Roc

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 22:36:30 -0500

It was hot all around as the raiders took the field and the Stampede could not even hold on to the ball. The Raiders ran over the Stampede with no trouble at all. The Raiders are ready for the playoffs and the big showdown with the Surge and then The Pirates. Keep up the good work and see you in the playoffs. Pirateman

Working As A Team

Sun, 27 May 2007 14:47:54 -0500

I see as a fan the importance of including everyone in the game as the Raiders do. If you catch a ball during the game you can keep it. catch anything the Raiderrette's throw your way, you can keep. Also, if a community group comes to the game the Raiderrette's are the first to welcome them and make sure they are part of all the fun. They are open to autographs, pictures and cheering hard for the raiders. They have been coached well in their roll to the success of the Raiders. Keep up the great work and GO RAIDERS Pirateman

Great Night on the field

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 00:21:42 -0500

I found myself at the Armory watching the raiders give the Tide another smashing. The seats were full of excited fans and the kids race at halftime was a big hit. I hope that this league stays in Rochester and gets better each year. One thing I think the raiders need to invest in is a better scoreboard. I see that the raiders are close to their fans nothing but good things I see will come for this team. I am proud to be a raider fan. Pirateman

Rochester vs Lehigh Valley Summary

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:11:00 -0500

Original post by: Ducej11

Hey guys, I wanted to give you some feedback about the game, besides just a 63-25 score.

The offense was only stopped like twice all night. And one of them was because Noah had dropped a wide open touchdown pass. It seems like he lost his concentration on it. But boy, he can make some tough catches. The quarterback for Lehigh Valley had no one to throw to all game. He was scrambling almost every play because he had no where to go with the ball.

Dias and Hostetler played a great game. Coley and Gibson were putting on some serious hits. We had a couple of guys suit up that have not played yet this year. They have been on the practice squad, so they go to see some action.

One of those guys was Makis Witaker, and he ended up returning a kick for a touchdown. Another one of those guys was Dee Glaton, he had a great game on the defensive line. If you take a look at the score, I don't remember a single turnover that we had. All the talk recently about the huge scores, they were talking about how its all because of turnovers. We went in their, and dominated every aspect of the game, and ended up not getting a turnover. So that says a lot about how lopsided this game really was. And we did not miss Darius at all, Mo returning 2 kicks for touchdowns.

I am not sure our offense even saw the field in the third quarter, we returned 3 kicks for touchdowns in the quarter.

It was a great crowd on hand to watch the game too. One thing that I saw in Lehigh was tailgating. A large crowd about 2 hours before the game, cooking out, throwing around the football. It was great. But, boy did we look, good.

New QB #5

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:11:59 -0500

A little more insight. I have known Mike for years and he is an absolute Proto-Type. He is 6'2, 220 pounds with great vision and great accuracy. Throw in a sub-4.9 forty speed and he can create with his feet as well. Barring an injury, this move at QB probably would have come a lot sooner. Pardon the clich?, but the sky is the limit for this kid and I think this means absolutely nothing but big things for the Raiders organization and the city of Rochester. No disrespect to the former 'MVP', but I think last weeks showing against New England was just the tip of the iceberg.

Mike Mika..mika..mika who?

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:18:45 -0500

Hey guys, thought I would give ya'll a little insight in Mike Mikolaichik, the new starting QB. He played well this past week, passing for just over a hundred yards, 3 td's, and 1 int. He is from Hilton, NY and his playing career excelled at Buffalo State. He was 2nd team all Atlantic Central Football Conference his senior season. He passed for 2,122 yards, 14 td's to only 7 ints. That resulted in a 114 efficeincy rating. He also rushed for 337 yards and another 4 td's.