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110-542: The league was originally called the Ohio-Penn Indoor Football League, but then executives decided to increase the league's appeal to the entire Great Lakes region . Initially, the league was relatively successful, having a cumulative attendance over 75,000 in the inaugural regular season. However, the league, like other indoor football associations, was plagued by folding franchises and unenforceable policies throughout its existence. For example,

220-538: A 1-4 seed based on their W-L-T records. The one seed hosted the four seed, and the two seed hosted the three seed. The winners advanced to the Great Lakes Bowl I , and the highest remaining seed hosted. Due to expansion in 2007, the playoff format was expanded to eight teams making the playoffs. The top team in each division would clinch homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. The rest were wild card teams that are seeded second through fourth. From that point,

330-641: A 6-team single-elimination playoff beginning in April, culminating in the CIFL Championship Game in May. Traditionally, American high school football games are played on Friday nights, American college football games are played on Thursday nights and Saturdays, and most NFL games are played on Sunday. Because the CIFL season is played at a different season from the high school, college, and NFL seasons,

440-1146: A concentration of economic power , industrial workers organized the Congress of Industrial Organizations , a coherent agricultural cooperative movement, and the Progressive politics led by Wisconsin's Governor and Senator Robert M. La Follette . State universities, professional social work, and unemployment and workers' compensation were some of the region's permanent contributions to American social policy. The Great Lakes region has produced globally influential breakthroughs in agricultural technology, transportation and building construction. Cyrus McCormick 's reaper, John Deere 's steel plow, Joseph Dart ( Dart's Elevator ), and George Washington Snow's balloon-frame construction are some of innovations that made significant, global impact. The University of Chicago and Case Western Reserve University figured prominently in developing nuclear power . Automobile manufacture developed simultaneously in Ohio and Indiana and became centered in

550-452: A depression in the upland area, independent of the overlap of Palaeozoic strata. The western half of the basin occupies a trough of synclinal structure. The Great Lakes receive the drainage of a small peripheral land area, enclosed by a water-parting from the rivers that run to Hudson Bay or the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on the north and to the Gulf of Mexico on the south. The three lakes of

660-827: A distinctive historical, economic, and cultural identity. A portion of the region also encompasses the Great Lakes megalopolis . State and provincial governments are represented in the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers , which also serves as the Secretariat to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Compact and the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement . The Great Lakes region takes its name from

770-807: A fabled Northwest Passage to Asia generated sporadic but intense competition among the three most powerful northwest Europe imperial nations to control the territory. A century and a half of naval and land wars among France, The Netherlands and Britain resulted finally in British control of the region, from the Ohio River to the Arctic, and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Beyond the region, North American claims remained disputed among Britain, France, Spain and Russia. Britain defeated France decisively at

880-554: A fall of 326 feet (99 m) (160 feet (49 m) at the cataract) in 30 miles (48 km), is thought to have been of recent origin, as an older river would have a mature valley. The original valley that is thought to have connected the two depressions through the Niagara Escarpment is thought to have been at the present route of the Welland Canal , and to have been completely filled with glacial drift . The same

990-463: A kickoff leaves the field of play after making contact with the field or a player on either team, the ball comes out to the 5-yard line, or the point in which it leaves the field of play, whichever is closest to the kicking team's goal line. Offense – No punting is allowed. The offense must attempt to gain a first down or touchdown, or may attempt a field goal (by placement or drop kick). Coaches – Starting in 2013, coaches were permitted to coach on

1100-681: A network, such as the Arena Football League with the CBS Sports Network . Individual teams are free to work out deals with their local affiliates to broadcast their games. Each CIFL team usually works out its own radio network deal with local stations, and the stations employ its announcers. Nationally, the CIFL is heard on the CIFL Radio Network, which can be used online via the CIFL GameCenter on

1210-554: A result of industrialization, the population became more concentrated into urban areas. In part to balance democratic representation against the economic and political power of these corporations, the region hosted industrial labor organization, consolidated agricultural cooperatives and state educational systems. The Big Ten Conference memorializes the nation's first region in which every state sponsored major research, technical-agricultural, and teacher-training colleges and universities. The Congress of Industrial Organizations grew out of

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1320-790: A roster full of Port Huron's championship team. The 2007 season brought big changes, as the league changed its name to the Continental Indoor Football League , and the league expanded to 14 teams with only the Crunch not returning. The league suspended operations in October 2014, when the league's five remaining teams, the champion Erie Explosion , the Saginaw Sting , Marion Blue Racers , Chicago Blitz , and Northern Kentucky River Monsters , either suspended operations or joined other leagues. Shortly thereafter,

1430-603: A smaller stake in the team, which immediately dropped the RiverRats name. On January 5, 2010, the team announced the four finalists of the name-the-team contest; Storm , Blizzard , Pulse , and Punishers . On January 14, 2010, the team was officially named the Erie Storm via a press conference, in which the team logo and colors were also released. On May 5, 2010, the Painesville, Ohio -based Lake Erie College sued

1540-672: A strong, established Lutheran tradition (as established by populations from Nordic and Germanic countries), but this tradition has become more diversified in recent years. Large professional sports leagues such as the National Football League (NFL), the Canadian Football League (CFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) have team franchises in several cities in

1650-438: A time. This player can blitz from any direction, but must be at least five yards off the line of scrimmage/goal line prior to the snap. Players do not have to announce their eligibility to blitz. Defensive backs are not allowed to blitz. Linebackers – At least two defensive players must line up at least 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The other two nonlinemen must either line up face-to-face with an offensive non-lineman on

1760-424: A travel team being in the league since 2009. The current rule reads: The CIFL regular season consists of a schedule of 10 games for each team. This allows for travel teams to play all their games on the road, and gives every team in the league an extra home game for each travel team in the league. Although this scheduling formula determined each of the 10 teams' respective opponents, the league usually did not release

1870-533: Is a binational Canadian – American region centered around the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois , Indiana , Michigan , Minnesota , New York , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin and the Canadian province of Ontario . Canada's Quebec province is at times included as part of the region because the St. Lawrence River watershed is part of the continuous hydrologic system. The region forms

1980-420: Is an eligible receiver if he is wearing an eligible receiver number (1–49, 80–89). Defensive linemen – The three defensive linemen must line up on the nose, or can line up inside foot-to-outside foot outside of an offensive lineman. Linemen must rush inside if nose up or slanted into if shaded, and they must make contact before any movement to the outside is made. Blitzing – Only one non-lineman can blitz at

2090-611: Is served by Interstate 94 , Interstate 75 , Ontario Highway 401 , Amtrak Lake Shore Limited and VIA rail services. The three largest international airports in the Great Lake region are Chicago O'Hare , Toronto Pearson , and Detroit Metro Airport . All three airports are major airline hubs that provide nonstop connectivity to other regions and continents. Erie Explosion Southern Indoor Football League (2011) Ultimate Indoor Football League (2012) Continental Indoor Football League (2013–2014) The Erie Explosion

2200-740: Is true for the St. Lawrence , where there may not have been an original valley. The Ontarian River that was a precursor to Lake Ontario is thought to have drained westward, and the St. Lawrence drainage to have been created by subsidence due to the weight of the ice sheet. Paleo-Indian cultures were the earliest in North America, with a presence in the Great Plains and Great Lakes areas from about 12,000 BCE to around 8,000 BCE. Prior to European settlement, Iroquoian people lived around Lakes Erie and Ontario , Algonquian peoples around most of

2310-817: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham near Quebec City in 1759, and the Treaty of Paris (1763) that ended The Seven Years' War , known in America as the French and Indian War ceded the entire region to the victor. Indian Reserve is the historical term for this largely uncolonized area set aside in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 for use by Native Americans , who already inhabited it. The British government had contemplated establishing an Indian barrier state in

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2420-1012: The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the "Merc"), which is owned, along with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) by Chicago's CME Group . The CME Group, in addition, owns the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the Commodities Exchange Inc. (COMEX), and the Dow Jones Indexes ., as well as headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (the Seventh District of

2530-540: The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). Liotta needed to replace McKenna, who had left Erie for the Saginaw Sting (also of the CIFL). Liotta chose rookie Aaron Smetanka to lead the Explosion offense, and he did not disappoint. The Explosion finished with an undefeated regular season record of 10-0 securing the 2013 CIFL regular season championship and the #1 seed in the leagues playoff format. The Explosion hosted

2640-512: The Detroit area of Michigan . Henry Ford 's movable assembly line drew on regional experience in meat processing , agricultural machinery manufacture, and the industrial engineering of steel in revolutionizing the modern era of mass production manufacturing. Chicago -based Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck companies complemented mass manufactures with mass retail distribution. Chicago , Detroit , and Cleveland carry important roles in

2750-605: The Georgian Bay from Lake Huron . From there, it heads westward through the land-arm between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan and southwestward into the narrow points dividing Green Bay from Lake Michigan. Finally, it fades away with the thinning out of the limestone and is hardly traceable across the Mississippi River . The arrangement of the Great Lakes closely matches the course of the lowlands worn on

2860-539: The Great Lakes Basin , defines a unit of sub-national political entities defined by the U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario encompassing the Great Lakes watershed, and the states and province bordering one or more of the Great Lakes. The Palaeozoic strata are parts of a great area of similar layers hundreds of feet in thickness. These strata decline gently southward from the great upland of

2970-547: The Kentucky Xtreme in a league Semi-Final game May 5, 2013. They defeated the Xtreme 55–6. The Explosion defense held the leagues number 1 offense to 1 first down in the first half. The Xtreme did not score until 13 minutes remained in the game. The defensive charge was led by Ricardo Kemp who had 2 interceptions in the game. The Erie Explosion hosted the CIFL championship game on Mothers Day, May 12, 2013, where they beat

3080-496: The Laurentian Highlands of eastern Canada. The visible upland area of today was a small part of the primeval continent with the remainder of it still buried under a Palaeozoic cover. The visible part was the last part of the primeval continent to sink under the advancing Palaeozoic seas. This district may be considered an ancient coastal plain. The weaker layers are worn down in sub-parallel belts of lower land between

3190-835: The Pittsburgh RiverRats at the Rostraver Ice Garden in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania . The RiverRats played their first game at Tupelo, Mississippi on February 3, 2007, losing 54–34 to the Mississippi Mudcats . Their first home game was on February 18, 2007, which they lost 35–28 to the Reading Express . Pittsburgh won its first home game on March 4, 2007, defeating the Danville Demolition 47–21. On May 19, 2007,

3300-645: The Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) prior to the 2011 season. On May 21, 2011, the Explosion set a single-game franchise record, including an indoor football record, for the most points scored in a 138–0 decisive win over the Fayetteville Force . This result was due to the Force's ownership change, with second-string players taking the field. This margin of victory is the third-highest in all of professional football, and

3410-967: The original thirteen . Five states evolved from its provisions: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The northeastern section of Minnesota, from the Mississippi to St. Croix River , also fell under ordinance jurisdiction and extended the constitution and culture of the Old Northwest to the Dakotas . The surge of settlement generated tension culminating in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Britain, fearing that fast American settlement could lead to annexation of its western provinces, countered with The Constitution Act of 1791 , granting limited self-government to Canadian provinces and creating two new provinces out of Canada: Lower Canada (today's Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario). Settlement and economic expansion on both sides accelerated after

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3520-482: The 1825 opening of The Erie Canal , an astonishingly successful public venture that effectively integrated markets and commerce between the Atlantic seaboard and the region. The region on both sides of the border became a vast research and design laboratory for agricultural machinery and techniques. Owner-operator family farms transformed both demographics and ecology into a vast terrain of farmlands, producing primarily wheat and corn. In western New York and northeast Ohio,

3630-529: The 2006 champion Port Huron Pirates were found to have been paying some of their players over the league salary cap . In 2007, several teams folded during the season, and during the 2008 season, the league's most successful team, the Rochester Raiders , moved to another league due to frustration over the failure of the league to provide notice of an opponent's forfeiture, resulting in lost ticket and advertising revenue. The league also failed to return

3740-485: The American Revolution, the region was contested between Britain and rebellious American colonies. Hoping for favorable claims of territorial control in an eventual peace treaty with Britain, American adventurers led by Kentucky militia leader George Rogers Clark briefly occupied village settlements, including Cahokia, Kaskaskia and Vincennes unopposed, with passive support from Francophone inhabitants. In

3850-475: The Atlantic seaports and the U.S. interior. In Wisconsin , the inner lowland is a knob of resistant quartzites, known as Baraboo Ridge, rising from the buried upland floor through the partly denuded cover of lower Palaeozoic strata. This knob or ridge can be thought of as an ancient physiographic fossil, as it is an ancient monadnock having been preserved from destructive attacks of weather by burial under sea-floor deposits. It has been recently re-exposed through

3960-1112: The Big Five, have their global operational headquarters in Toronto. Outside of Chicago and Toronto, many other cities are host to financial centers as well. Major bank headquarters are located in Ohio including Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, and KeyCorp in Cleveland. Insurance companies such as Anthem in Indianapolis, Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, American Family Insurance in Madison, Wisconsin, State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, Illinois, and Progressive Insurance and Medical Mutual of Ohio in Cleveland. The Great Lakes region has

4070-474: The CIFL scheduled Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and (new for 2013) Monday games. During minicamps in the winter, CIFL teams typically played one or two exhibition games from early January through early February. Each team was free to schedule these games, but all games were approved by the league. No games were allowed within one week of the team's first regular-season game. The games were useful for new players who were not used to playing indoor football. Following

4180-558: The CIFL to Indoor Football Incorporated, which included Rob Licht, Jim O'Brien, and Stuart Schweigert . The group also owned the Saginaw Sting. The new ownership of the league sought to help current teams brand their product better, as well as look to expand the league, but its primary goal was to have competitive franchises. The Great Lakes Indoor Football League was founded in 2005 by brothers Eric and Jeff Spitaleri and their friend Cory Trapp. The league's first franchise accepted

4290-418: The CIFL was a very unstable and somewhat informal organization. Many teams entered and left the league annually, with the worst instance of teams exiting occurring when the new Indoor Football League was formed and the league lost five teams. The league fielded at least six teams in each year of its existence, gaining and losing teams each year from both expansion and teams shifting leagues. The Saginaw Sting

4400-606: The CIFL. Excluding all-female leagues, the CIFL is one of only three professional football leagues (the Atlantic Coast Football League in 1970, the Indoor Football League in 2014) to have hired female players; the CIFL is the only league to have hired more than one, and the only one to have allowed its female players to score points. Since 2013, the CIFL season featured a 10-game, 12-week regular season running from February to April and

4510-556: The Federal Reserve). Toronto is an international centre for business and finance. Generally considered the financial capital of Canada, Toronto has a high concentration of banks and brokerage firms on Bay Street, in the Financial District. The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is the world's seventh-largest stock exchange by market capitalization. The five largest financial institutions of Canada, collectively known as

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4620-678: The Great Lakes, the British continued to supply not only their own troops but a wide alliance of Native American nations through Detroit, Fort Niagara , Fort Michilimackinac , and so on, until these posts were turned over to the United States following the Jay Treaty (1794). During the Confederacy Period of 1781–1789, the Continental Congress passed three ordinances whose authority was unclear regarding

4730-536: The Indian population. The ordinance prohibited the establishment of state religion and established civic rights that foreshadowed the United States Bill of Rights . Civil rights included freedom from cruel and unusual punishment , trial by jury , and exemption from unreasonable search and seizure . States were authorized to organize constitutional conventions and petition for admission as states equal to

4840-464: The Peace of Paris (1784) Britain ceded what became known as the Northwest Territory , the area bounded by Great Lakes, Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and the eastern colonies of New York and Pennsylvania, to the fledgling United States. Britain, which may have entertained ambitions to repossess the area if America failed to govern it, retained control over its forts and licensed fur trade for fifteen years. By well-established trade and military routes across

4950-400: The Pirates, and the Raiders defeated the Revolution 71–13. The league's first playoff format was a four-team setup with the number-one seed hosting the number-four seed, and the number-two seed hosting the number-three seed. The semifinals featured a pair of blowout games, with Port Huron and Rochester advancing to Great Lakes Bowl I , which was to be played at McMorran Arena as Port Huron was

5060-439: The Raiders' owners' emergency fund deposit, which was collected specifically to protect against such occurrences. The CIFL is among several indoor football leagues that maintained a mostly regional operation, with most of its teams clustered in the Midwestern United States . Teams went back and forth between the CIFL and the other regional leagues, as well as the Indoor Football League (a national league of similar caliber), over

5170-406: The RiverRats got their first win of the season on a last second field goal by Joe Lindway. The RiverRats ended up finishing with a 3–11 record, and missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. On September 8, 2009, the RiverRats announced that Liotta would return to Erie as the head coach for the 2010 season. In December, it was announced that owner Jeff Hauser had sold a stake in

5280-533: The RiverRats named Steven G. Folmar as the franchise's second head coach. In December 2008, owner Jeff Hauser sold the team to a group of local businessmen, headed by Jeff Plyler, Bob Foltyn and Frank Herman. The RiverRats had to replace many players on the roster, as most of the 2008 roster followed Liotta to Wheeling. As a result of all the changes, the RiverRats struggled all season to score points, resulting in offensive coordinator Paul Pennington's resignation after an 0–3 start. After dropping to 0–7,

5390-438: The RiverRats set an AIFA single-game record when they scored 86 points. On January 8, 2008, the RiverRats announced they would be relocating to Erie in time for the 2008 season, rebranding themselves as the Erie RiverRats . They replaced the city's previous AIFA team, the Erie Freeze . In August, 2008, head coach Shawn Liotta resigned as coach of the RiverRats and left to coach the Wheeling Wildcats . In September 2008,

5500-788: The St. Lawrence, Mohawk, and Hudson rivers provided outlets for commercial corn and wheat, while The Ohio River let agricultural products from western Pennsylvania and southern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois journey downstream to New Orleans. Mining, primarily soft metals of copper, zinc, and lead; and timber to supply rapidly expanding sawmills that supplied lumber for new settlements. Agricultural and industrial production generated distinctive political and social cultures of independent republican producers, who consolidated an ideology of personal liberty, free markets, and great social visions, often expressed in religious terms and enthusiasms. The region's alliance of antislavery with free soil movements contributed troops and agricultural goods that proved critical in

5610-400: The Sting, 37–36, to win the 2013 CIFL Championship Game . The 2013 CIFL Championship is the Erie Explosion's first championship, as well as the city of Erie's first championship in any league of indoor football. In June, 2013, the Explosion agreed to terms with the CIFL to return for the 2014 season. The team eventually won a second straight championship over the Marion Blue Racers . With

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5720-425: The Union's victory. The Homestead and Morrill Acts , donating federal land to extend the agrarian economic franchise, and support state universities, modeled western expansion and education for all future states. The British-Canadian London Conference of 1866 , and subsequent Constitution Act of 1867 analogously derived from political, and some military, turmoil in the former jurisdiction of Upper Canada , which

5830-405: The ball makes its way through the uprights. Backfield in motion – One player may be in motion in any direction behind the line of scrimmage prior to the snap. Offensive linemen – Three linemen must be in a three- or four-point stance prior to the snap. They must line up guard, center, guard and next to one another. Any offensive lineman not covered up by the fourth man on the line of scrimmage

5940-481: The circuit. On January 18, 2016, the Explosion announced they would not participate in a 2016 season, citing an inability to secure medical staff for the upcoming season. WICU-TV reported that the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine had pulled its sponsorship of the team after a high number of injuries in the 2015 season. With the suspension, 2016 was the first season since 2004 that no indoor football team played in Erie. Professional football has not returned to

6050-443: The corresponding geological formation of the Great Lakes Basin , a narrow watershed encompassing the Great Lakes, bounded by watersheds to the region's north by the Hudson Bay , to the west by the Mississippi , and to the east and south by the Ohio . To the east, the rivers of St. Lawrence , Richelieu , Hudson , Mohawk and Susquehanna form an arc of watersheds east to the Atlantic . The Great Lakes region, as distinct from

6160-439: The course of the league's history. Prior to its disbanding, the CIFL claimed itself to be the longest continually operating current indoor football league in the United States, noting that older leagues such as the Arena Football League and American Indoor Football had suspended operations at least once since the CIFL's founding. In July 2012, the CIFL changed ownership for the first time in its history, when Jeff Spitaleri sold

6270-446: The entire field acted as an extension of the ground (only "out of bounds" if contact made by opposing player that forces player into the dasher wall, much like a 'down by contact' rule). Goal posts – Goal posts are 12 feet (3.7 m) from the floor to the crossbar. The crossbar is 10 feet (3.0 m) in width. Anything used to hang the goalpost is considered a part of the upright. Number of players – Eight players per team were on

6380-406: The erosion of its cover. The occurrence of the lake basins in the lowland belts on either side of the Niagara escarpment is an abnormal feature. Glacial erosion has formed them through the glacial drift obstructing the normal outlet valleys and to crustal warping in connection with or independent of the glacial sheet. Lake Superior is unlike the other lakes. The greater part of its basin occupies

6490-461: The establishment of their brand names as purveyors of consumer goods. The region's natural features, cultural institutions, and resorts make it a popular destination for tourism. Advantages of accessible waterways, highly developed transportation infrastructure, finance, and a prosperous market base make the region the global leader in automobile production and a global business location. Henry Ford 's movable assembly line and integrated production set

6600-446: The field again, which improved communication between their players and them. Overtime – Overtime is played with NCAA-style rules (each team gets one possession), but each possession is started with a kickoff rather than at the 25-yard line. Teams must go for a two-point conversion (by scrimmage play) starting with the third overtime session. Co-ed play – Two female placekickers, Katie Hnida and Julie Harshbarger , have played for

6710-487: The field at one time. Starting in 2013, teams were allowed to expand their active rosters from 19 players to 21, and are required to carry a backup quarterback and kicker. In the league's earliest seasons, the GLIFL/CIFL played with only seven players on each side, one less than the standard eight used in other indoor football leagues. Playing time – Four 15-minute quarters were used, with a running clock. Clocks stopped only for incomplete passes and out-of-bounds plays during

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6820-614: The field of architecture. Chicago pioneered the world's first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building designed by William LeBaron Jenney . Engineering innovation established Chicago from that time on to become one of the world's most influential epicenters of contemporary urban and commercial architecture. Equally influential was the 1832 invention of balloon- framing in Chicago which replaced heavy timber construction requiring massive beams and great woodworking skill with pre-cut timber. This new lumber could be nailed together by farmers and settlers who used it to build homes and barns throughout

6930-408: The final minute of the second and fourth quarters. A 25-second play clock also was used. Scoring – Six points were awarded for a TD, 2 points for run or pass conversion, or drop-kick PAT, 1 point for place-kick PAT, 2 points for defensive conversion following TD, 2 points for a safety, 3 points for a field goal, and 4 points for a drop-kick field goal. Teams score a single point on their kickoff if

7040-404: The final regular schedule with specific dates and times until the winter; the CIFL needed several months to coordinate the entire season schedule so that, among other reasons, games are worked around various scheduling conflicts. The CIFL has gone through many teams, so the playoff format was changed several times throughout the years. In the league's first season, 2006, the playoff format featured

7150-455: The final stanza to advance to the UIFL North Conference final. The Explosion faced the Cincinnati Commandos , who had only lost two games all season, one of which was to Erie. The Commandos defeated the Explosion 62–40 to advance to the Ultimate Bowl . The Explosion left the UIFL after the 2012 season. The team remained idle for about a month, while fielding offers to join four different leagues. Owner Bill Stafford ultimately decided to join

7260-419: The franchise to a local group that included Jeff Plyler (owner of Plyler Overhead Door of McKean, Pennsylvania) and Bill Stafford (owner of several Subway restaurant locations in Erie), among others. The team remained in the AIFA, and the team adopted the corporate name "Erie Professional Football, Inc." in December 2009, in anticipation of a new franchise name to be announced in January 2010. Hauser maintained

7370-428: The highest in over 100 years. Only the 1904 Massillon Tigers (who won a game 148–0) and the 1904 Watertown Red & Black club (who won a game 142–0) have had wider leads. The Explosion finished the season with a 9–4 record, winning the Northeast Division, but were defeated 68–43 by the Albany Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the playoff loss, DiMichele was named SIFL MVP, finishing

7480-511: The largest city in Canada and the fourth largest city proper in North America behind Mexico City , New York City and Los Angeles. Cities along the Great Lakes have access to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway , making them international ports. Chicago is the largest economic and financial center. Chicago was named the fourth most important business center in the world in the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index. The 2017 Global Financial Centres Index ranked Chicago as

7590-401: The largest economic units on Earth (with a $ 6-trillion gross regional product). This region also contains what area urban planners call the Great Lakes Megalopolis , which has an estimated 59 million people. Chicago is emerging as the third megacity in the United States , after the New York City and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, with a metro population approaching ten million. Toronto is

7700-424: The last game of the season. While still securing a home playoff game, the Tullio Arena had begun a 45-million-dollar renovation, which forced the Explosion to find a new place to host the game. The Explosion announced that they would play at Erie Cathedral Prep 's Dollinger Field. The Explosion trailed going into the fourth quarter against the Marion Blue Racers , but McKenna ignited the Erie offense to 22 points in

7810-435: The league was able to sell ownership to four of them. In December, it was finalized that the league would begin with six teams in their inaugural season, with each team playing a 10-game season over a 12-week span. On April 7, 2006, the league held its first games with the Battle Creek Crunch hosting the Port Huron Pirates and the Rochester Raiders hosting the New York/New Jersey Revolution . The Crunch were defeated 62–22 by

7920-530: The league website redirected to American Indoor Football. On August 23, 2015, it was announced that the CIFL would return for the 2016 season (playing an interlocking schedule with another proposed league, Supreme Indoor Football, as part of the Indoor Football Alliance ) and the Explosion, Sting, and Blue Racers will return to the CIFL as a result. However, the league effectively disbanded again later that fall after no other teams agreed to join

8030-532: The league's website. In 2010, the CIFL introduced the CIFL GameCenter which allows statisticians wired to into the CIFL Network. As they use the stat software to record the game, it is updated live in the GameCenter. Base player salaries must be no less than $ 50 per game and no more than $ 200 per game. There are no win bonuses since the 2010 season, as agreed at the owner meetings. For the 2010 season,

8140-580: The league. On August 23, 2015, the Explosion announced that they would rejoin the revived CIFL, which was to be a member of the Indoor Football Alliance . However, the league disbanded on November 4, leaving it uncertain where the Explosion would play in 2016; the Alliance announced it would continue as a six-team league in and of itself, with the Cape Fear Heroes , Explosion, Buffalo Lightning , Atlanta Sharks and two expansion teams playing in

8250-478: The line, or be 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. After the snap, this rule is eliminated and the players can roam anywhere they wish, provided it does not violate blitzing rules. Linebackers can line up at the goal line if the offense is within five yards of scoring. Kickoffs – If a kickoff leaves the field of play on the fly, the ball comes out to the 25-yard line. The sideline walls and end zone walls are not out of bounds, and balls can be played off of them. If

8360-473: The matchups would remain the same as the previous year, with the exception that the winners of each divisional playoff would meet in the CIFL Championship Game . In 2009, the league returned to its original format of a four-team playoff. This stayed in place until 2012, when the league decided to just have the regular-season first and second seeds meet for the championship. The league put on an All-Star game once, in its inaugural 2006 season. In its early years,

8470-594: The middle group: Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Erie stand at practically the same level. Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are connected by the Straits of Mackinac with the Mackinac Bridge spanning the straits. Lake Huron and Lake Erie are connected by the St. Clair River and Detroit River , with the small Lake St. Clair between them. The land northeast of the rivers is undergoing a slow elevation. The Niagara River connecting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, with

8580-510: The model and standard for major car manufactures. The Detroit area emerged as the world's automotive center, with facilities throughout the region. Akron, Ohio became the global leader in rubber production, driven by the demand for tires. Over 200 million tons of cargo are shipped annually through the Great Lakes. According to the Brookings Institution , if it stood alone as a country, the Great Lakes economy would be one of

8690-401: The nineteenth century Grange , which in turn generated the agricultural cooperatives that defined much of rural political economy and culture throughout the region. Fraternal , ethnic, and civic organizations extended cooperatives and supported local ventures from insurance companies to orphanages and hospitals. The region was the political base, and provided much leadership political parties in

8800-468: The number-one seed on July 22. The Pirates were able shut down the Raiders' offense for most of the second half, earning a 40–34 victory for Port Huron, thus completing the first undefeated season in league history. At the conclusion of the first season, the league also put together an All-Star Game at Stabler Arena , where they split up three teams each for an East vs. West matchup. The West dominated, with

8910-590: The partial collapse of the CIFL in the 2014 season and the exodus of several of its teams to X-League Indoor Football the following offseason, the Explosion were left without a league to play in. On October 13, 2014, the Explosion announced they would be joining the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The team experienced a reversal of fortune upon joining the PIFL, losing all but one of their league games in their first season in

9020-453: The pattern of American centralized industrial consolidation and eventual global dominance. The region hosted the world's greatest concentrations of production for oil, coal, steel, automobiles, synthetic rubber, agricultural machinery, and heavy transport equipment. Agronomy industrialized as well, in meat processing, packaged cereal products, and processed dairy products. In response to disruptions and imbalances of power resulting from so vast

9130-690: The political protocols by which American states south of the lakes would enter the union as political equals with the original thirteen colonies. The ordinance, adopted in its final form just before the writing of the United States Constitution , was a sweeping, visionary proposal to create what was at the time a radical experiment in democratic governance and economy. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery , restricted primogeniture , mandated universal public education , provided for affordable farm land to people who settled and improved it, and required peaceful, lawful treatment of

9240-661: The portion of the reserve west of the Appalachian Mountains , and bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and the Great Lakes . Britain's claims were intensely disputed by a confederation of Indians during Pontiac's Rebellion , which induced major concessions to still sovereign Indian nations; and by the Iroquois Confederacy , whose six member nations- Mohawk , Oneida , Onondaga , Cayuga , Seneca and Tuscarora -never conceded sovereignty to either Britain or, later, The United States. During

9350-416: The preseason, each of the 10 teams embarked on a 12-week, 10-game schedule, with the extra weeks consisting of a bye to allow teams a rest sometime in the middle of the season. The league had been using a scheduling formula to determine which teams play which during a given season. Under the formula since 2010, each of the six teams' respective 10-game schedule consisted of: This format was tweaked due to

9460-500: The region became the global epicenter of motorized land vehicles, including cars, trucks and jeeps, as well as a major supplier of engine, transmission, and electrical components to the wartime aeronautics industry. Despite extreme labor shortages, the region increased mechanization, and absorbed large numbers of women and immigrant labor, to increase its food production. Navigable terrain, waterways, and ports spurred an unprecedented construction of transportation infrastructure throughout

9570-493: The region's coal and iron mines; steel, automobile and rubber industries; and breakthrough strikes and contracts of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. The role of government also grew during the early 20th century. In the rural areas, most people obtained food and manufactured goods from neighbors and other people they knew personally. As industry and commerce grew, goods such as food, materials, and medicines were no longer made by neighbors, but by large companies. During World War II ,

9680-623: The region's governance on the American side. The Land Ordinance of 1784 established the broad outlines of future governance. The territory would be divided into six states, which would be given broad powers of constitutional instituting, and admitted to the nation as equal members. The Land Ordinance of 1785 specified the manner in which land would be distributed in the Territory, favoring sale in small parcels to settlers who would work their own farms. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 defined

9790-511: The region. Blue collar industry traditionally represent in the Great Lakes region. In the United States, it is a stronghold of the Democratic Party although in recent years many states in Great Lakes region have become swing states . In Ontario , it has long been divided between rural and urban districts, with many rural ridings voted more conservative, and larger urban and Suburban areas voting Liberal or NDP. The Great Lake region

9900-439: The region. The region's greatest institutional contributions were major corporate, labor, educational and cooperative organizations. It hosted some of the most influential national and international corporations of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century monopoly age, including John Deere Plow, McCormack Reaper, New York Central and Erie railroads, Carnegie Steel, U.S. Steel, International Harvester and Standard Oil. As

10010-681: The region. The region is a global leader in advanced manufacturing and research and development, with significant innovations in both production processes and business organization. John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil set precedents for centralized pricing, uniform distribution, and controlled product standards through Standard Oil, which started as a consolidated refinery in Cleveland. Cyrus McCormick 's Reaper and other manufacturers of agricultural machinery consolidated into International Harvester in Chicago. Andrew Carnegie 's steel production integrated large-scale open-hearth and Bessemer processes into

10120-573: The rest, and a variety of other indigenous nation-peoples including the Menominee , Ojibwa , Illinois , Pottawatmie , Huron , Shawnee , Erie , Fox , Miami , Meskwaki and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago). With the first permanent European settlements in the early seventeenth century, all these nation-peoples developed an extensive fur trade with French, Dutch, and English merchants in the St. Lawrence, Hudson and Mohawk Valleys, and Hudson's Bay, respectively. The prospects of fur monopolies and discovery of

10230-498: The revived league; the Blue Racers and Sting joined American Indoor Football, and the Explosion eventually announced they would not play in 2016. Field size – fields were 50 yards long by 25 yards wide, with end zones a minimum of 5 yards in depth. Fields may vary in size due to physical constraints within facility, with CIFL permission. End zones may be rounded due to hockey board configurations. Padded dasher board walls around

10340-739: The season with 91 touchdown passes. On August 25, 2011, the Explosion left the SIFL and joined the United Indoor Football League . The change reunited Erie with Andrew Haines, who founded the city's previous indoor football team, the Erie Freeze . (The Explosion's departure came two weeks before the SIFL broke up into the Lone Star Football League and the Professional Indoor Football League , neither of which included Pennsylvania in its territory). Erie

10450-400: The side towards the upland, and a long gentle slope on the other side. Its relief is seldom more than 200 or 300 feet (91 m) and is generally small. Its continuity and its contrast with the associated lowlands on the underlying and overlying weak strata make it an important feature. The escarpment would lie straight east–west if the slant of the strata were uniformly to the south. However,

10560-603: The single lowland is continued under the name of the Mohawk Valley . This is an east–west longitudinal depression that has been eroded on a belt of relatively weak strata between the resistant crystalline rocks of the Adirondacks on the north and the northern escarpment of the Appalachian Plateau ( Catskills - Helderbergs ) on the south. Early in U.S. history, this provided a vital economic route between

10670-478: The strata are somewhat warped and so the escarpment's course is strongly convex to the north in the middle, gently convex to the south at either end. The escarpment begins where its determining limestone / dolomite begins, in west-central New York . There, it separates the lowlands that separate Lake Ontario from Lake Erie . It curves to the northwest through the Ontario province to the island belt that divides

10780-467: The team over the "Erie Storm" name because their athletic teams use the "Storm" moniker. In July 2010, they dropped "Storm" in favor of "Erie Professional Football", which remains the name of the team's corporate entity. On December 3, 2010, the team announced its new Erie Explosion identity, albeit retaining the same color scheme as the Storm. The Explosion was also one of six AIFA teams which merged with

10890-473: The twenty-fourth most competitive city in the world, behind Toronto, also in the Great Lakes region, at seventh. The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first ever standardized "exchange traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts . As a world financial center it is home to major financial and futures exchanges , including the Chicago Stock Exchange ,

11000-465: The two belts of weaker strata on either side of the Niagara escarpment. Lake Ontario, Georgian Bay and Green Bay occupy depressions in the lowland on the inner side of the escarpment. Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan lie in depressions in the lowland on the outer side. When the two lowlands are traced eastward, they become confluent after the Niagara limestone has faded away in central New York, and

11110-485: The upland and the belts of more resistant strata, which rise in uplands . Illustrations of this type of forms are found in the district of the Great Lakes . The chief upland belt or escarpment is formed by the firm Niagara limestone/dolomite , which takes its name from the gorge and falls cut through the upland by the Niagara River . The Niagara Escarpment has a relatively strong slope or enfacing escarpment on

11220-493: The weekly team salary cap was $ 3,000 per week. Any team in violation of the salary cap will be fined and could have either players suspended for the season or forfeiture of games in which they violated the cap. Since then, the league has changed to a weekly salary cap of $ 2,500 per week, with every player making anywhere from 50 to 200 dollars in a single game. Great Lakes region (North America) 14,755,211 (Canada) The Great Lakes region of Northern America

11330-551: The western prairies and plains. Wisconsin-born, Chicago-trained Sullivan apprentice Frank Lloyd Wright designed prototypes for architectural designs from the commercial skylight atrium to suburban ranch house. German-born Pennsylvania immigrant John A. Roebling invented steel wire rope, a pivotal part of suspension bridges he designed and whose construction he supervised in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Buffalo, based on earlier successful canal aqueducts. His most famous project

11440-466: The world's most efficient and profitable mills. The largest, most comprehensive monopoly in the world, United States Steel , consolidated steel production throughout the region. Many of the world's largest employers began in the Great Lakes region. Mass marketing in the modern sense was born in the region. Two competing Chicago retailers— Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck —developed mass marketing and sales through catalogues, mail-order distribution, and

11550-584: Was a professional American indoor football team based in Erie, Pennsylvania . Founded in 2007 as the Pittsburgh RiverRats , the Explosion played in the Professional Indoor Football League , the United Indoor Football League , the Southern Indoor Football League , the Continental Indoor Football League and the American Indoor Football Association and operated continuously from 2007 to 2015. The Explosion began play in 2007 as

11660-505: Was renamed and organized in the new dominion as the province of Ontario . Like the provisions of the ordinance, Ontario prohibited slavery, made provisions for land distribution to farmers who owned their own land, and mandated universal public education . Industrial production, organization, and technology have made the region among the world's most productive manufacturing centers. Nineteenth-century monopolies such as International Harvester, Standard Oil, and United States Steel established

11770-540: Was tasked with replacing MVP quarterback DiMichele, who had signed with the Arena Football League 's Philadelphia Soul . The job fell on the shoulders of rookie Colton Hansen. In the second game of the season, Hansen struggled in a loss to the Johnstown Generals , and he was replaced by A. J. McKenna. McKenna led the Explosion to an 8–3 regular-season record, losing the top seed in the UIFL North during

11880-584: Was the Brooklyn Bridge . Contributions to modern transportation include the Wright brothers ' early airplanes, designed and perfected in their Dayton, Ohio mechanics' workshops; distinctive Great Lakes freighters , and railroad beds constructed of wooden ties and steel rails. The early nineteenth century Erie Canal and mid-twentieth century St. Lawrence Seaway expanded the scale and capacity of massive water-born freight. Agricultural associations joined

11990-710: Was the Lehigh Valley Outlawz , who joined in late June, 2005. During the league's first season, it cost a new owner a $ 15,000 franchising fee, with a capped salary of $ 5,400 per team, per week, with no player earning more than $ 300 per game. While trying to attract teams, the league agreed to arena contracts before securing owners in efforts to attract owners in those specific market areas. They reached agreements with markets in Danville, Illinois , Battle Creek, Michigan , Rochester, New York , Port Huron, Michigan , Toledo, Ohio and Marion, Ohio . Of those markets,

12100-691: Was the franchise with the most time in the league; they completed their fourth season at the end of 2014. The Erie Explosion was the league's oldest team; it has been in operation since 2007 and joined the league in 2013. A potential for a merger with the American Professional Football League was expected in 2013, but this never came to fruition; likewise, a proposal to form an Indoor Football Alliance between three former CIFL teams and an upstart "Supreme Indoor Football" league for 2016 also collapsed. Motor City Reapers The league does not have its television rights sold to

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