New Orleans VooDoo
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- For the magic-related topic, see New Orleans Voodoo.
| New Orleans VooDoo | ||
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| Conference | National | |
| Division | Southern | |
| Year founded | 2004 | |
| Home arena | New Orleans Arena | |
| City, State | New Orleans, Louisiana | |
| Wild card titles | none | |
| Division titles | 1: 2004 |
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| Conference titles | none | |
| ArenaBowl championships | none | |
Contents |
[edit] History
The New Orleans VooDoo is a team in the Arena Football League, and is owned in part by Tom Benson, who also owns the National Football League New Orleans Saints. The VooDoo competes in the Southern Division of the National Conference, playing their home games at the New Orleans Arena, which they share with the National Basketball Association New Orleans Hornets. The Arena is located directly across from the Saints' home, the Louisiana Superdome.
An AFL expansion team, the VooDoo played its inaugural game on the road against the Philadelphia Soul on February 8, 2004. The team logo, consisting of a skull wearing a top hat and sunglasses, is unique—even by Arena Football standards.
In their first year, they drew big crowds to their "Graveyard", as they became the first team other than the Orlando Predators or Tampa Bay Storm to win the AFL's Southern Division. The team's average attendance of 15,240 ranked fifth in the league and was a major factor in the VooDoo's 7-1 regular season home record.
In 2005, the team started strong, getting a win over the defending Arenabowl champions San Jose Sabercats, but later found itself on the wrong end of some close, hard-fought games. After 5-1 and 6-2 starts, respectively, the bottom dropped out as the team became wildly inconsistent. Last-minute losses to the Georgia Force and Austin Wranglers dropped the Voodoo's record to 6-4, but were made up by a 64-28 blowout over the Columbus Destroyers and a 49-40 road win at the Grand Rapids Rampage, whom along with the Destroyers had only one win before facing the Voodoo. However this led to the climax of the season, with the Voodoo still having road games against rivals Orlando and Tampa Bay and a home date with Colorado. The offense sputtered against Tampa, bowing out 46-35. The defense that showed up, however, must have been left in Tampa, as Colorado made scoring look easy and put a wrench in the Voodoo's playoff hopes, 63-57. Next, long-since-eliminated Austin travelled to the New Orleans Arena the next week and almost nailed the coffin shut on the Voodoo's season by taking a 14-point lead thanks to another non-existent Voodoo defensive effort. However, a fourth quarter comeback ended Austin's season and extended the Voodoo's one more (meaningful) week with a 69-68 win.
With a national television audience and sold-out T.D. Waterhouse Centre looking on, the Voodoo ended their second regular season against Orlando with both needing a win to reach the playoffs. After the first series of the game, it looked to be the Voodoo's to lose. However, the rest of the first half was a lost cause, with Orlando taking a 28-7 lead into the locker room. A second half rally featuring a fumble return for a touchdown by Thabiti Davis brought the deficit to a single score, but the Voodoo's backs were broken when a Jay Taylor kickoff hit the iron surrounding the nets and was recovered by the Predators, which, after another touchdown to bring the lead up to 15, effectively sealed the game and ensured the Voodoo would watch the playoffs from home. The final score was 51-40, ending the Voodoo's season at 9-7, a disappointing result for a team widely expected to challenge for the ArenaBowl championship.
Despite the underachievement, the Voodoo proved to be hits with New Orleans for the second consecutive year, with an average attendance of 15,338, good for third in the 17-team AFL, and again had the New Orleans market lead the nation in television ratings for Sunday AFL broadcasts on NBC.
The Voodoo's success and popularity led the AFL to consider placing the ArenaBowl in New Orleans. Although it had already signed a deal with Las Vegas to have the ArenaBowl in that city for 2005, 2006 and 2007, the league had considered terminating that deal. Had the bidding for ArenaBowl XX begun, New Orleans would have been an early favorite, along with Orlando and Arizona. To read a New Orleans Times-Picayune article on this issue, click here.
The VooDoo's official mascots are Bones and Mojo.[1]
[edit] Hurricane Katrina
On September 28, 2005, it was announced that due to the extensive damage suffered by Hurricane Katrina to the New Orleans Arena, the VooDoo would suspend operations for the 2006 season. Fifteen of the players under contract with the VooDoo were "loaned" to the expansion Kansas City Brigade for the 2006 season. The team will return for the 2007 season with Neu as the head coach, a full roster, and a renewed effort to play in the ArenaBowl in their home arena.
[edit] Season-by-season
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff Results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1st NC Southern | Lost Week 1 (Colorado) | |
| 2005 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 4th NC Southern | -- | |
| 2006 | Did Not Play | |||||
| 2007 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Totals | 20 | 13 | 0 | (including playoffs) | ||
[edit] Head coaches
- 2004-2005: Mike Neu, 20-13
[edit] Notable players
- 2004: Dan Curran
- 2004: John Fitzgerald
- 2004-2005:Monty Montgomery
- 2004-2005:B.J. Cohen
- 2004-2005:Aaron Bailey
- 2004-2005:Lamont Moore
- 2004-2005:Chris Pointer
- 2004-2005:Bruce McClure
- 2004-2005:Brian Schmitz
- 2005: Thabiti Davis
- 2005: Andy Kelly
- 2005: Leroy Thompson
[edit] External links
| Arena Football League | |||
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| American Conference | National Conference | ||
| Central Division Chicago Rush |
Western Division Arizona Rattlers |
Eastern Division Columbus Destroyers |
Southern Division Austin Wranglers |
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