New England Surge

2007 season

The Surge started their inaugural season by losing their first two games before Defeating New York/New Jersey by a score of 61-6 in front of a home crowd of 4,724 fans. However following a 1-3 start, team owner Roy Lucas Jr. fired Rick Buffington and named himself as coach. The team would dramatically improve under Lucas winning 7 of their final 8 games en route to a #2 seed in the playoffs. The Surge would defeat the Lehigh Valley Outlawz 58-34 in the Atlantic Division Semifinal game before losing 80-45 to the Rochester Raiders in the Championship game.

Notable players

2007 CIFL standings

Surgeo the Leopard {{{1}}}29 kilometres (18 mi) Surgeo is a yellow and orange spotted leopard. He loves to be the mascot for the New England Surge.

2008 season

The Surge would start the 2008 season with a 5-0 record, highlighted by a dramatic 49-41 victory over the Chesapeake Tide and a ferocious rally to defeat the Flint Phantoms 49-48, before losing a 62-20 game against Rochester. They would finish the season with an 8-3 record and won the Atlantic Division East regular season title. They would go into the playoffs as the #1 seed. On the eve of their semifinal playoff matchup with the Lehigh Valley Outlawz, Offensive Coordinator Jerry Snay abruptly resigned from the team, stating that he had not been paid in two years. The Surge would go on to lose the game by a score of 27-21. This would end up being the last game played by the Surge.

Team demise

After only two years in existence as a franchise the team investors stated that the Surge had lost a total of about $577,000. Still on January 29, 2009 Lucas told the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, "we can guarantee there will be indoor football in Worcester in 2009." Shortly thereafter the investors voted 5-1 to remove Lucas as president. The same investors, mostly small business owners and retirees who borrowed some of the money they put up and had no experience in professional sports, allege that Mr. Lucas buried the team with sloppy bookkeeping, poor business practices and out-of-control spending on hotel rooms, restaurant tabs, rental cars, airline tickets and marketing expenses. The Surge announced that they would be leaving the CIFL and would be starting a new league (the United States Indoor Football League) along with the Lehigh Valley Outlawz. Three other teams were announced but despite promises, the league never produced a schedule and is presumed defunct.

Reasons cited for the huge losses include the $40,000 plus tab the team ran up the first season with the Hilton Garden Inn hotel to house players, as well as money for plane tickets. Several out of state players were brought in and housed in the hotel rather than the Surge using local talent. Others cite that Lucas took on too many duties when he named himself the team’s coach and tried to handle on-field duties and the general manager’s job at the same time. Last, the Surge spent the large amount of $107,000 in advertising costs in its first season. On April 3, 2009, Lucas notified The DCU Center that it would be voiding the third and final year on its lease with the Arena. Several court cases have been filed as investors, creditors as well as players and coaches have all attempted to recover money owed to them.