The Bakersfield Blitz were a professional arena football team based in Bakersfield, California. They are a 2004 expansion member of the af2 and play their home games at Rabobank Arena.
In 2002, the original Blitz was owned by Casey Wasserman, owner of the Arena Football League team Los Angeles Avengers, who owned and managed the team for two seasons. In 2004, the team was sold to an investment group that moved the team to Fresno to become the Central Valley Coyotes, while a new Bakersfield Blitz was formed. In 2005, the af2 owned the team, and was operated by the owner of the Bakersfield Condors.
In 2006, a combination of local Bakersfield and professional sports investors bought the franchise from the af2. Since that time, season ticket sales increased by over 25% per year, and the team won their first-ever playoff game in 2006. However, the Blitz unexpectedly folded after the 2007 season. Although this followed a season in which two players faced rape charges, it is unclear what role, if any, this played in the Blitz's folding.
Read more about Bakersfield Blitz: Owners, RB Julian Yearwood's Death, Season-by-season, Notable Players, Rape Allegations
Famous quotes containing the word blitz:
“Timothy Winters comes to school
With eyes as wide as a football-pool,
Ears like bombs and teeth like splinters:
A blitz of a boy is Timothy Winters.”
—Charles Causley (b. 1917)