2010 Arkansas Diamonds season

The 2010 Arkansas Diamonds season was the franchise's eleventh season as a football franchise, first in the Indoor Football League, and only season as the "Arkansas Diamonds". The team, led by head coach Danton Barto, played their home games at the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas.[1] The Diamonds finished the regular season with an 11-3 record (6-1 in division play) and first place in the 2010 Lonestar East Division. The team's playoff run ended with a loss to the Billings Outlaws in the Intense Conference Finals. For the 2011 season, the team relocated to Texas as the Allen Wranglers.

2010 Arkansas Diamonds season
OwnerJim Smith
Head coachDanton Barto
Home fieldVerizon Arena
North Little Rock, Arkansas
Results
Record11-3 (regular season)
Division place1st, Lonestar East
Conference place2nd, Intense Conference
Playoff finishLost in conference finals

Off-field moves
Logo presented when the name change was first announced.

After the af2 league folded following the 2009 season, the Arkansas Twisters initially joined the newly formed Arena Football 1 but shifting league structure and concerns for stability lead to a November 2009 announcement that the team had jumped to the Indoor Football League.[2] However, the rights to the names and logos of the former af2 teams belonged to Arena Football 1.[3] Given the option of paying to buy or lease the trademarks, the Arkansas franchise chose instead to hold a "name the team" contest in late January and became the "Arkansas Diamonds" for the 2010 season.[4][5][6] (There had been another unrelated "Arkansas Diamonds" in the Southwest Independent Soccer League from 1989 to 1991 and in 1994 in the United States Interregional Soccer League.[7] Arkansas is the site of the only diamond mine in the United States.[8]) The new team colors for 2010 were Carolina blue, black, and gray.[9]

Diamonds head coach Danton Barto had been coaching the Manchester Wolves in af2 for the 2008 and 2009 seasons.[10] He was the head coach of the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League in 2007. In 2005, Barto was head coach of the Memphis Xplorers and led them to win ArenaCup VI, the 2005 af2 championship.[9]

As the season came to a close, rumors circulated (later proved true) that the team's ownership wanted to move the franchise as soon as possible for financial reasons.[11][12] One reporter compared the team's playoff run to the 1989 comedy Major League in which the players rally to win in order to frustrate the owner's relocation plans.[1][11] Two months after the playoffs, in September 2009, team owner Jim Smith announced that the franchise was relocating to Allen, Texas, a prosperous suburb of Dallas.[13]

Roster moves

The team held its first open tryout for the 2010 season on December 12, 2009, at the D1 Sports Training Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Prospects paid $50 to register and were judged on their performance in the 40-yard dash and 20-yard shuttle, vertical jump and agility challenges, plus select skills specific to each position.[14] To expand its search for players, the team held a second open tryout on January 17, 2010, on the campus of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.[15]

On December 15, the team announced that its first official player signing for the 2010 season was arena football quarterback James Pinkney. He had spent the 2009 season as the quarterback of the af2's Manchester Wolves.[16]

The Diamonds opened their 2010 training camp on February 15, less than two weeks before the start of the 2010 season. The camp used the practice facilities at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Arkansas, and Cabot High School in Cabot, Arkansas.[17]

In post-season honors, Diamonds defensive lineman Luis Vasquez was named all-IFL second team.[18][19]

Schedule

  Win   Tie   Loss   Bye

Regular season
Week Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location
Final Score Team Record
1 Sunday February 28 4:05pm at Corpus Christi Hammerheads W 26-18[20] 1-0 American Bank Center
2 Bye
3 Friday March 12 7:35pm San Angelo Stampede Express W 33-26 2-0 Verizon Arena
4 Saturday March 20 7:05pm Austin Turfcats L 29-31 2-1 Verizon Arena
5 Saturday March 27 7:00pm Abilene Ruff Riders W 53-34[21] 3-1 Verizon Arena
6 Saturday April 3 7:05pm Corpus Christi Hammerheads W 35-21[22] 4-1 Verizon Arena
7 Bye
8 Saturday April 17 7:05pm at San Angelo Stampede Express W 23-10[23] 5-1 San Angelo Coliseum
9 Saturday April 24 7:00pm at Abilene Ruff Riders W 26-23[24] 6-1 Taylor County Expo Center
10 Saturday May 1 7:05pm West Texas Roughnecks W 71-28[25] 7-1 Verizon Arena
11 Saturday May 8 7:05pm Omaha Beef L 33-71[26] 7-2 Verizon Arena
12 Saturday May 15 7:11pm at West Texas Roughnecks W 41-29 8-2 Ector County Coliseum
13 Saturday May 22 7:05pm at Amarillo Venom L 20-35[27] 8-3 Cal Farley Coliseum
14 Saturday May 29 6:30pm at Austin Turfcats W 21-16 9-3 Luedecke Arena
15 Friday June 4 7:35pm Amarillo Venom W 68-41[28] 10-3 Verizon Arena
16 Bye
17 Saturday June 19 6:30pm at Austin Turfcats W 54-40 11-3 Luedecke Arena

Playoffs
Round Day Date Kickoff Opponent Results Location
Final Score Team Record
1 Saturday June 26 7:05pm Corpus Christi Hammerheads W 44-29[29] --- Verizon Arena
2 Saturday July 3 7:05pm Amarillo Venom W 46-31[30] --- Cal Farley Coliseum[19]
3 Saturday July 10 7:00pm Billings Outlaws L 42-53[31] --- Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark[9]

Standings
2010 Lonestar East Division
W L T PCT GB DIV PF PA STK
y-Arkansas Diamonds11300.786—6–1533423W3
x-San Angelo Stampede Express10400.7141.04–2603521W3
x-Corpus Christi Hammerheads6800.4295.03–4501567L2
Austin Turfcats21200.1438.01–7428606L10

Roster
2010 Arkansas Diamonds roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  • 10 Dedrick Poole

Wide Receivers

  •  4 Graylin Allison
  • 15 Bradly Chavez
  • 11 Eric Ware
Offensive Linemen
  • 67 Dwayne Delaney
  • 75 Sam McNaulty
  • 56 Cody Pree
  • 73 Korey Raymond

Defensive Linemen

  • 92 Ell Ash
Linebackers

Defensive Backs

  •  1 Martel VanZant

Kickers

  •  2 Brian Umstead
Injured Reserve
  • Currently vacant

Exempt List

  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
Roster updated July 10, 2010
23 Active, 0 Inactive

→ More rosters

References
  1. Carlisle, Candace (November 1, 2010). "Cowboys disappointing? Check out Wranglers". Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  2. "Arkansas Twisters Join IFL". Our Sports Central (Press release). Arkansas Twisters. November 19, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  3. "Legal issue forces change by Dusters". Amarillo Globe-News. January 29, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  4. "Twisters taking suggestions for new name". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Associated Press. January 29, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  5. "Twisters now the Diamonds". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. February 4, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  6. Walker, Nick (February 5, 2010). "Twisters fans take shine to Diamonds nickname". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. p. 25. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  7. "Sockadillos cruise past Diamonds". Austin American-Statesman. February 25, 1991. p. D3.
  8. "Twisters Change Name to Arkansas Diamonds". KARK-TV. February 5, 2010. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  9. Zimmer, Mike (July 8, 2010). "Arkansas to test Outlaws on both sides of the ball". Billings Gazette. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  10. "Arkansas Twisters Name Barto Head Coach". Our Sports Central. November 19, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  11. Henry, Dave (July 6, 2010). "The Short List". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  12. Irvin, Lindsay (September 16, 2010). "Diamonds Update: Indoor Football Unlikely to Continue in Arkansas". Arkansas Sports 360. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  13. Welch, Matt (September 16, 2010). "Indoor football team bound for Allen, team name contest begins". Allen American-Star. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  14. "Arkansas Twister Announce First Open Tryout Date". Our Sports Central. December 8, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  15. "Twisters Looking Statewide For Players". Our Sports Central. January 11, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  16. "Arkansas Twisters Sign James Pinkney As Signal Caller". Our Sports Central. December 15, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  17. "Arkansas Diamonds Training Camp Begins". Our Sports Central. February 15, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  18. Hirsch, Jeremy (June 24, 2010). "Storm's Terry, Tubbs Named 2nd Team All-IFL". KELO-TV. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  19. Henry, Dave (July 3, 2010). "Fancy meeting you here; Venom WR started year with opponent". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  20. Rivera, Rudy (March 1, 2010). "Hammerheads fall in opener". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  21. "Diamonds rough on Riders, who lose 3rd straight". Abilene Reporter-News. March 27, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  22. "Hammerheads allow early TD off open kickoff, never recover". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. April 4, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  23. Whitson, Mike (April 18, 2010). "Stampede slip after half". San Angelo Standard-Times. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  24. Richards, Joey D. (April 25, 2010). "Riders blow 11-point lead in loss to Diamonds". Abilene Reporter-News. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  25. Buehler, Kevin (May 1, 2010). "Indoor Football League: Roughnecks fall in Arkansas". Odessa American. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  26. "Football: Sankey engineers win by the Beef". Omaha World-Herald. May 8, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  27. Henry, Dave (May 23, 2010). "Venom defense takes shine off Diamonds". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  28. Crise, Doug (June 5, 2010). "Arkansas blasts Venom". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  29. "Arkansas ousts Corpus Christi from playoffs". Corpus Christi Caller-Times. June 28, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  30. Henry, Dave (July 4, 2010). "Amarillo bows out; Arkansas tops Venom, 46-31". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  31. Zimmer, Mike (July 10, 2010). "Outlaws move on to the title game". Billings Gazette. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
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