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The San Jose SaberCats are an Arena Football League team.

History

The SaberCats began play in 1995. The team plays at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, also the home of the San Jose Sharks franchise of the National Hockey League and the San Jose Stealth of the National Lacrosse League. The SaberCats are one of Arena's premier organizations, having never drawn below 10,000 fans at any of their home games. The SaberCats compete in the Western Division of the American Conference. The SaberCats were ArenaBowl champions in 2002 and 2004, both times beating their rivals, the Arizona Rattlers, for the championship.

On June 5, 2004, the SaberCats were fined $20,000 for violations during their Quarterfinal Round playoff game against the Tampa Bay Storm. They were first fined $10,000 for distributing cowbells, without advance approval, to fans entering the building, which was cited as a violation by the AFL as an intentional competitive advantage generated by the creation of artificial noise. Also, during the game itself, the SaberCats refused to apply microphones to certain players and coaches during the NBC broadcast, which led to an additional $10,000 fine.

The San Jose Sabercats team colors are Green and Gold.

San Jose was 9-7 in 2005, earning the 4th seed in the American Conference playoffs. They lost to #1 seed Colorado Crush 56-48 in the first round, after failing to score on 6 goal line opportunities in the final minute of play.

The SaberCats went 10-6 in 2006 and won their division title in the process, along with the AC's #2 seed. They got a Bye Week from the Wild Card Round and then, they won over the Arizona Rattlers in the Divisional Round 62-48. Because the Colorado Crush (the AC's #1 seed) lost in the Divisional Round to the Chicago Rush, they hosted the American Conference Championship game. Unfortunately, they ended up losing 59-56.

Season-by-season

1995 8 4 0 1st AC Western Lost Quarterfinals (Orlando Predators) 1996 6 8 0 3rd AC Western -- 1997 8 6 0 2nd AC Western Lost Quarterfinals (Iowa Barnstormers) 1998 7 7 0 2nd AC Western Lost Quarterfinals (Tampa Bay Storm) 1999 6 8 0 3rd AC Western -- 2000 12 2 0 1st AC Western Lost Semifinals (Nashville Kats) 2001 10 4 0 1st AC Western Lost Semifinals (Nashville Kats) 2002 13 1 0 1st AC Western Won ArenaBowl XVI 2003 12 4 0 1st AC Western Lost Semifinals (Arizona Rattlers) 2004 11 5 0 2nd AC Western Won ArenaBowl XVIII 2005 9 7 0 2nd AC Western Lost Quarterfinals (Colorado Crush) 2006 10 6 0 1st AC Western Lost Semifinals (Chicago Rush) Totals 122 70 0 (including playoffs)

Head coaches

Notable players

External links

Arena Football League teams | Sports in San Jose, California | 1995 establishments

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "San Jose SaberCats".

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