With the Chicago Rush arena football team now gone, Steve McMichael (coach) and the Chicago Slaughter have stepped into the arena football spotlight (CIFL). Joining the Chicago Slaughter are some of the former Chicago Rush players, which is sure to make the Slaughter a sure fire team to beat. The fans and cheerleaders filled the stadium to see the Chicago Slaughter’s home opener against the Milwaukee Bonecrushers and anticipation was building, and building, and building, and then nothing happened?          | Photogallery |

Yes, that’s right. The Milwaukee Bonecrusher’s equipment failed to arrive with their players. So, the Sears Centre fans received a good dose of cheerleaders, which every fan seems to love for some reason. Finally after 40 minutes the, Milwaukee Bonecrushers’ equipment arrived and we were underway at the Sears Centre.



One thing about arena football is that they always put on a show. There are a lot of hits, touchdowns and cheerleaders, but who could have known the referees would also put on a “show”. The refs tossed the coin and the teams took their sides. It looked like the game was under way, but not before the refs flagged Milwaukee for delay of game which resulted in a 5 yard penalty. Yes, delay of game was called for their equipment not showing up with the team, thus delaying the game. The press box was arid with laughter.

Now with the show finally kicking off, the Chicago Slaughter scored on the first possession of the game after a few quick passes from Russ Michna and a 1 yard touchdown run by Nick Cosentino (RB – College of DuPage). Russ Michna (QB – Western Illinois) came to the Chicago Slaughter this year from the Chicago Rush, where he led the team with his striking left arm. With his gun slinging arm, the Slaughter’s season looks to be in good hands.

Chicago then scored, again, on Milwaukee’s first possession, after the snap went into the endzone instead of their QB’s hands. The Chicago Slaughter’s Austin Smith (DB – Boise State Univ.) pounced on the ball and elevated the score to 14-0.

Milwaukee soon came back down the field and scored on a QB keeper by Steve Lucas (Illinois Wesleyan). The kicking team then came on and in the process, Milwaukee’s #34 Zach Pederson (LB – North Central (IL)) rushed onto the field, helmetless, and took the helmet of another player and placed it on his head. I wonder if all their equipment made it onto the bus?

On a side note, after digging a little deeper, I found in the Milwaukee Bonecrusher’s Official Team Statement for 2009 the following

Russ Michna (QB) came to the Chicago Slaughter after an amazing season with the Chicago Rush.

statement, “The Bonecrushers will operate on as small an internal budget as possible. This includes limited or no spending on external marketing and running the operation with as small a staff as is feasible.” They should have also included, “As few helmets as possible.” This may also describe their one win season in 2008.

From the beginning of the game and their delay of game call on the Bonecushers, the refs made sure they were going to blow as many calls as possible, thus Milwaukee benefited with a pass interference call on the Slaughter, which brought the Bonecrushers to the goaline.Wwith 3:10 left in the 1st half of play, the Bonecrusher’s Randy Bell (RB – Carson-Newman, Tenn.) ran the ball into the endzone from 3 yards out, to take the score to 21-12, Slaughter.

With 27 seconds left to play in the 1st quarter, Chicago, again, scored on a 2 yard run by DeJuan Alfonzo (LB – Indiana State Univ.), bringing the score after the first quarter to 27-12, Slaughter The game was quickly shaping up into a score that the Chicago Bulls would like to have. By halftime the score had widened to 56-18.

The Chicago Slaughter were doing what their team name indicates, “slaughtering” the Bonecrushers. The highest score in league history was 90 points by one team. Could the Slaughter reach this pinnacle? In the 2nd half of play the Chicago Slaughter continued to march toward that record. With 1:20 left to play in the game the Slaughter had gone up 84-18 after Russ Michna tossed a 9 yd. pass to Jason Baksas (OL – Western Illinois). Now, there’s a play that Michna and Baksas could not have completed down at Western Illinois. Indoor football allows for offensive linemen to be eligible receivers.

The game ended with the Milwaukee Bonecrushers finally scoring their first points of the 2nd half with a 25 yd. pass from Steve Lucas to JoJo Moore (WR – UW-Whitewater). The Chicago Slaughter win their home opener, 84-24.

After the game Russ Michna had this to say about the game, “I almost felt bad for the Bonecrusher’s offense. Our defense is so good! We’re extremely talented at receiver. I threw a few bad passes, but our receivers still caught them.”

Russ Michna was a standout last year in the Arena Football League with the Chicago Rush and earned a 122.9 passer rating, threw 57 touchdowns, with only 7 interceptions in 2008. Russ was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Rams on June, 2004, where he spent time on the team’s practice squad. At 6’3”, 225 lbs, Russ Michna, should be getting some more looks in the NFL.

The Chicago Slaughter are off to a great start for 2009, and the remainder of the season looks to be a treat for Chicago football fans. With Steve “Mongo” McMichael as the Slaughter’s coach and a solid group of players, the Slaughter should be able to “Mongo Spike” many more opponents.

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