1988 New York Knights season
{{short description|Arena Football League team season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox NFL season
| team = New York Knights (arena football)
| year = 1988
| record = 2–10
| division_place = 6th
| coach = Jim Valek
| owner = Russell Berry
| stadium = Madison Square Garden
| playoffs = Did not qualify
| previous = N/A
| next = N/A
| teamdisplay = New York Knights
| shortnavlink = New York Knights
}}
The {{AFL Year|1988}} New York Knights season was the first and only season for the Arena Football League franchise.
The Knights became an expansion team of the Arena Football League in 1988.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/09/sports/improvisation-lies-at-the-heart-of-arena-football.html |title=Improvisation Lies at the Heart of Arena Football |author=William N. Wallace |date=May 9, 1988 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=February 27, 2013}} The team announced Jim Valek as the first coach in franchise history. The team featured a couple of players from the 1987 New York Giants replacement team, including starting quarterback Jim Crocicchia and his primary receiver Edwin Lovelady, but its desire to fans was questioned before the team began playing games.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bN5GAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tDMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2151,1029871&dq=new+york+knights+arena&hl=en |title=Any arena football fans here? |date=May 10, 1988 |author=Damian Becker |newspaper=The Evening News |accessdate=March 27, 2013}} The Knights won their first game in franchise history, 60–52 over the Los Angeles Cobras. During the Knights home opener, fight erumped in the stands, and items were thrown on the field.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7B5IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cAANAAAAIBAJ&pg=5282,3485865&dq=new+york+knights+arena&hl=en |title=In New York, arena football mirrors NHL |date=May 12, 1988 |newspaper=Record-Journal |accessdate=March 27, 2013}} After winning the season opener, the Knights lost 4 straight games before returning home to a smaller crowd, losing 22–36 to the Cobras.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/07/sports/knights-lose-36-22-slip-to-last-place.html |title=Knights Lose, 36–22; Slip to Last Place |author=William N. Wallace |date=June 7, 1988 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=March 27, 2013}} The Knights would lose 8 straight games before they defeated the Cobras 40–30 in Los Angeles.{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/59773805.html?dids=59773805:59773805&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+03%2C+1988&author=LONNIE+WHITE&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Arena+Football+League+Knights+Follow+Bouncing+Ball+to+Victory+Over+Cobras&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411164407/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/59773805.html?dids=59773805:59773805&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+03,+1988&author=LONNIE+WHITE&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Arena+Football+League+Knights+Follow+Bouncing+Ball+to+Victory+Over+Cobras&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 11, 2013 |title=Arena Football League Knights Follow Bouncing Ball to Victory Over Cobras |date=July 3, 1988 |author=Lonnie White |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=March 27, 2013}} The team folded after a disappointing 2–8 season.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/09/sports/arena-team-is-returning-to-the-garden.html |title=Arena Team Is Returning to the Garden |author=Tarik El-Bashir |date=April 7, 1997 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=March 27, 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=85tTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=koYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3526,2710125&dq=new+york+knights+arena+fold&hl=en |title=Arena Football may be sacked |date=December 9, 1988 |newspaper=The Bulletin |accessdate=March 27, 2013}}
Regular season
=Schedule=
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 92%;" "align=center" | ||||
| rowspan="2" | Week | rowspan="2" | Date | rowspan="2" | Opponent | colspan="2" | Results | rowspan="2" | Game site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final score | Team record | |||
| style="background:#cfc"
! 1 |style="text-align:center;"| April 30 |style="text-align:center;"| at Los Angeles Cobras |style="text-align:center;"| W 60–52 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–0 |style="text-align:center;"| Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 2 |style="text-align:center;"| May 9 |style="text-align:center;"| Detroit Drive |style="text-align:center;"| L 48–54 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–1 |style="text-align:center;"| Madison Square Garden | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 3 |style="text-align:center;"| May 14 |style="text-align:center;"| at Chicago Bruisers |style="text-align:center;"| L 7–30 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–2 |style="text-align:center;"| Rosemont Horizon | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 4 |style="text-align:center;"| May 21 |style="text-align:center;"| at New England Steamrollers |style="text-align:center;"| L 13–24 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–3 |style="text-align:center;"| Providence Civic Center | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 5 |style="text-align:center;"| May 27 |style="text-align:center;"| at Pittsburgh Gladiators |style="text-align:center;"| L 36–46 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–4 |style="text-align:center;"| Civic Arena | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 6 |style="text-align:center;"| June 6 |style="text-align:center;"| Los Angeles Cobras |style="text-align:center;"| L 22–36 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–5 |style="text-align:center;"| Madison Square Garden | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 7 |style="text-align:center;"| June 13 |style="text-align:center;"| Chicago Bruisers |style="text-align:center;"| L 34–64 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–6 |style="text-align:center;"| Madison Square Garden | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 8 |style="text-align:center;"| June 18 |style="text-align:center;"| New England Steamrollers |style="text-align:center;"| L 28–33 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–7 |style="text-align:center;"| Madison Square Garden | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 9 |style="text-align:center;"| June 23 |style="text-align:center;"| Detroit Drive |style="text-align:center;"| L 9–49 |style="text-align:center;"| 1–8 |style="text-align:center;"| Madison Square Garden | ||||
| style="background:#cfc"
! 10 |style="text-align:center;"| July 2 |style="text-align:center;"| at Los Angeles Cobras |style="text-align:center;"| W 40–30 |style="text-align:center;"| 2–8 |style="text-align:center;"| Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 11 |style="text-align:center;"| July 11 |style="text-align:center;"| Pittsburgh Gladiators |style="text-align:center;"| L 28–44 |style="text-align:center;"| 2–9 |style="text-align:center;"| Madison Square Garden | ||||
| style="background:#fcc"
! 12 |style="text-align:center;"| July 15 |style="text-align:center;"| at Detroit Drive |style="text-align:center;"| L 17–48 |style="text-align:center;"| 2–10 |style="text-align:center;"| Joe Louis Arena |
=Standings=
{{1988 Arena Football League Standings|team=Knights}}
y – clinched regular-season title
x – clinched playoff spot
Roster
| class="toccolours" style="text-align: left;" |
| colspan="7" style="background:navy; border:2px solid #C40233; color:white; text-align:center;"| 1988 New York Knights roster |
|---|
style="font-size: 95%;" valign="top" | Quarterbacks
|
| -}} Mark Casale
|
| -}} Stan Yagiello
Wide Receivers/Defensive Backs
|
| -}} Lewis Bennett
|
| -}} Vince Courville
|
| -}} Elbert Gray
|
| -}} Stan Hunter
|
| -}} Edwin Lovelady
|
| -}} Jim Mauro
|
| -}} Pat Morrison
|
| -}} Rex Motes
|
| -}} Peter Raeford
|
| -}} Ken Sanders
|
| -}} Al Washington
| style="font-size: 95%;" valign="top" | Fullbacks/Linebackers
|
| -}} Derek Hughes
|
| -}} Al Neri
Offensive Linemen/Defensive Linemen
|
| -}} Alec Gibson
|
| -}} Mark Grandy
|
| -}} Chris Jones
|
| -}} Quinton Knight
|
| -}} John Reed
|
| -}} A. J. Sebastianelli
|
| -}} Pete Walters
| style="font-size: 95%;" valign="top" | Wide Receivers/Linebackers
|
| -}} Mark Streeter
Kickers
|
| -}} Jack Kratochvil
|
| -}} Eric Schubert
Rookies in italics 29 Active, 0 Inactive, 0 PS → More rosters |
Awards
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="20%" | Position
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="20%" | Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="20%" | Award ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="20%" | All-Arena team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| align="center"
| Offensive/Defensive Lineman | Quinton Knight | none | 1st |
| align="center"
| Wide Receiver/Defensive Back | Vince Courville | none | 2nd |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.arenafan.com/teams/?page=history&team=8&year=1988 1988 New York Knights season at arenafan.com]
{{New York Knights (arena football)}}
{{1988 Arena Football League}}