Tombstone
Born: 1999 – AF2 founding franchise
Folded: Postseason 2002
First Game: April 7, 2000 (W 31-27 vs. Roanoke Steam)
Last Game: August 3, 2002 (L 43-31 vs. Florida Firecats)
ArenaCup Championships: None
Arena
Leon County Civic Center (10,200)12000 Greensboro Prowlers Media Guide
Opened: 1981
Marketing
Team Colors: Black, Silver & Blue22000 Greensboro Prowlers Media Guide
Dance Team: The Lightning Girls
Mascot: Thunder King (the Lion)
Ownership
Owners: David Elmore & Donna Tuttle
Background
The Tallahassee Thunder were founding members of Arena Football 2, the small market development offshoot of the Arena Football League, during the spring of 2000. Like many of the original 15 franchises that launched AF2 that season, the Thunder shared ownership and administrative staff with an East Coast Hockey League franchise, in this case the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks.
The theoretical efficiency of that arrangement expired in midway through the Thunder’s second season in June 2001 when out-of-state owners Dave Elmore and Donna Tuttle moved the Tiger Sharks hockey franchise to Macon, Georgia. Though the Thunder stayed put in Tallahassee, the lack of local ownership or shared infrastructure with a higher-revenue team called the team’s future into question.
In Competition
After a 5-11 debut season in 2000, the Thunder got off to another slow start in 2001. In late May, Tallahassee’s record stood at 3-5. But then the team got hot at the right time and reeled off an eight game winning streak to enter the 2002 Arena Cup playoffs as one of the league’s hottest teams. The Thunder’s hot hand cooled off with a 70-52 opening round playoff loss against the Tennessee Valley Vipers in Huntsville, Alabama on July 30th, 2002.
The Thunder were solid again 2003, earning another playoff appearance with a 9-7 regular season ledger. The Thunder would host their first ever home playoff game against the Florida Firecats on August 3rd, 2002. The match up seemed promising as the Thunder had defeated the Firecats twice in the regular season. But the visitors got the best of it on this evening, hanging a 43-31 loss on the Thunder.
Worse yet, the playoff game against the Firecats was played before an announced crowd of just 2,142, the smallest in the Thunder’s three-year history. The game proved to be the Thunder’s last hurrah. The club quietly closed its doors during the offseason that followed.
Arena Football 2 went out of business after ten seasons in September 2009.
Tallahassee Thunder Shop
Tallahassee Thunder Video
Raw video & audio (seems to be scouting footage, not broadcast) from the Thunder’s final game on August 3rd, 2002 against the Florida Firecats at the Leon County Civic Center.
Links
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