Fast start for Mudcats

[Tatonka]

By John L. Pitts and Russell Scott
Daily Journal
TUPELO – It was a winning effort all around for the Mississippi Mudcats.

They were winners on the scoreboard Saturday night, 54-34 against the Pittsburgh RiverRats, in the season opener for both American Indoor Football Association teams.

And they were winners in the stands, as a lively crowd estimated at about 5,000 turned out at BancorpArena for the return of pro sports to the area after a year’s hiatus.

www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=236429&pub=1&div=Sports

[1stDownStorm]

Wow, 5,000 turned out to the game! That is very impressive, especially considering the city has a population of 35k. Looks like this team is going to be a model franchise for the AIFA.

[alcrowe13]

Any game pics from this one?

[Tatonka]

1stdownfreeze said:

Wow, 5,000 turned out to the game! That is very impressive, especially considering the city has a population of 35k. Looks like this team is going to be a model franchise for the AIFA.

Remember, this is a town that's had indoor football for several years before, so they know what to expect. The franchise is an expansion one, but i wouldn't call Tupelo an expansion town...

[1stDownStorm]

True that, although the article entitled "Pro sports don't usually 'pack the house' in Tupelo" in the Tupelo paper doesn't really indicate that a 5k turnout was likely.

[Tatonka]

Also a good point... many thought the market had been "burned" and needed more time to recover. Maybe the one year off was enough...

[123yathatsme]

i just saw 5,000 thats nuts and good for them wow, they start off with a win to

nice to see the support