Semi-pro football grows in popularity

The Moses Lake Bulls change name, make room for new Moses Lake Stallions

 

It wasn't a first season dream.

It wasn't a dream at all, maybe a nightmare, but the Moses Lake Bulls are still pushing for greener pastures.

Starting with a name change. The 2005 season will see the Moses Lake Bulls as the Columbia Basin Bulls. The Bulls will also move onto the Evergreen Football League, leaving behind the Inland Northwest Football League.

"We changed our name so we could get other areas and weren't isolating them with our name. We feel we can get a little more support and sponsorship," said team owner Jared Crum.

The winless season that accumulated a total of 26 points in 10 games was full of hard lessons. From coaching staff to player personnel, the Bulls fumbled through its inaugural season.

With the recent change of name and move to a new football league, Crum and his Bulls are feeling the room for improvement. One area being recruitment and expanding of coaching staff.

One hole still to be filled is where the Columbia Basin Bulls will play during the 2005 season. Crum said Moses Lake is still a possibility, but added that Othello and Ephrata have shown interest to bringing the semi-pro football team away from its major fan base.

"A lot of that has to do with support and we are going to run a poll in the Grant County Journal and the Othello Outlook to see where our fans are," Crum added.

Meanwhile, Moses Lake will still have a semi-pro football team no matter where the Bulls end up.

Chuck Love, commissioner of the Inland Northwest Football League, plans to open the Moses Lake Stallions for the 2005 season.

"I look at the communities and what they consist of like Yakima, Walla Walla and Spokane," Love said. "If you get the right personnel for Moses Lake, they will support it, they have always supported it."

A head coaching decision has not been made for the Stallions at this point, but Love is convinced with the right staff, Moses Lake should have no queries about recruitment with another semi-pro football team in the area.

But, like the Bulls, the Stallions are still searching for a place to play. Tentatively, Love said he is working with the Moses Lake School District about playing at Lions Field in 2005, but so is Columbia Basin.

"We are waiting to see, we haven't committed to letting anyone play there, but we have time to figure out what is going on," said P.J. De Benedetti, special assistant to the Moses Lake School District superintendent.