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Arena Bowl champion San Jose faces Kansas City, tickets now on sale

STOCKTON, Calif. -The Stockton Lightning of the arenafootball2 league are scheduled to host an Arena Football League preseason game between the San Jose SaberCats and Kansas City Brigade on Tuesday, February 19, starting at 7:00 p.m. from Stockton Arena.

The occasion marks the second visit to Stockton for the defending Arena Bowl champion SaberCats, who defeated the Grand Rapids Rampage 56-29 at Stockton Arena last February. Last season, the SaberCats captured their third Arena Bowl championship in franchise history (2003, 2005, 2007). San Jose has won seven Western Division titles, captured eight consecutive playoff appearances and owns the league's best regular season record this decade.

Notables on the SaberCats roster include Head Coach and Stockton native Darren Arbet (10^th season), a graduate of  Stockton Edison (Calif.) High, a member of the Stockton Black Sports Hall of Fame and a four-year letterwinner at Sacramento State as a defensive end (1981-85).

Additionally, SaberCats quarterback Mark Grieb, a product of University of California-Davis (NCAA), returns for his 11^th season in the AFL alongside backup quarterback Scott Rislov, who shattered the arenafootball2 and Arena Football single-season touchdown mark with 106 touchdown passes in 2006 as a member of the Central Valley Coyotes in 2006 and set the mark at Stockton Arena against the Lightning.

The Kansas City Brigade advanced to their first AFL playoff berth in franchise history last year, guided by Head Coach Kevin Porter, who garnered Arena Football Coach of the Year honors last year by igniting a seven-win turnaround with a 10-6 record in his first season as head coach.

Porter once held the best record in af2 history at 45-27 before moving up to the AFL in 2004 as a defensive coordinator. Porter was named the first head coach of the expansion Brigade in October 2005. A third-round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs (NFL) in 1988, Porter played five seasons as a defensive back with the Chiefs and New York Jets. Porter led Kansas City's second-year Arena Football franchise to a 10-6 regular season record after a 3-13 inaugural year, becoming one of only four teams in the 21-year history of the AFL to make a seven-game turnaround.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are on sale for the AFL preseason game between the defending Arena Bowl champion San Jose SaberCats and Kansas City Brigade and can be purchased for $5 (general admission seating) by calling the Stockton Arena ticket office at (209) 373-1700 or by visiting http://www.stocktontickets.com/. Lightning season ticket holders will receive free admission to the game if 2008 season tickets are renewed or purchased by February 15th.

Season tickets for the 2008 Lightning regular season are on sale now and start at $80 for the entire year. Season ticket holders enjoy savings off the game day walk-up price, merchandise discounts, access to premiere "Meet the Team" events and much more! Information on special Lightning ticket packages, mini plans, group tickets and promotional nights will be announced soon.

Season tickets for the 2008 Lightning regular season are on sale now. For more information on season tickets, merchandise, or other information, please call the Lightning at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonlightning.com.