Augusta indoor football icon announces retirement

Indoor football in the city of Augusta has experienced more unpredictable bounces and twists than a fumbled football. Through the city’s first venture into the sport with the Augusta Stallions, to its dormancy for a few years, then return with the Augusta Spartans and then transformation into the Augusta Colts, only two people remained as a constant through all the changes: head coach Bubba Diggs and lineman John Cratic.

One of those two announced his retirement after the Colts’ last game of the season.

“This is it. I’m going out,” Cratic said. “I’ve had a lot of injuries this year, and I keep going back through therapy and treatment. It’s just age.”

The 36-year old Cratic has played for all three Augusta indoor football teams. He even followed Diggs to Columbus when there was no indoor football to be played locally.

“He’s been my main man,” Diggs said. “There’s a mutual respect we have for each other beyond what’s on the field. He’s been with me since 2000, and it’s going to be tough without him.”

Cratic’s decision came after a tumultuous season with the Colts that started with a promising 5-1 record through the first seven weeks of the season but ended with the team three games out of the playoff hunt and a mediocre 7-7 mark. His retirement announcement came immediately after the Colts posted their lowest offensive output of the season in a 36-21 loss to the Mississippi Mudcats.

“It’s definitely disappointing,” Cratic said. “But that’s life. Sometimes you just got to deal with it and move on.”

Diggs said he respects Cratic’s decision. Though he wouldn’t fully guarantee anything, Diggs took a little time to speculate on the possibility of bringing Cratic back in some type of coaching or administrative role.

“This comes at a time when he’s a family man, and he’s got a full-time job to worry about,” Diggs said. “Every year there’s been indoor football in Augusta, John Cratic’s been a part of it. Maybe we can try to get that to happen again.”

League notes: The American Indoor Football Association announced its postseason schedule on Tuesday. The owner-friendly, not-so-fan-friendly schedule calls for first-round match ups against teams from the same division. The move rewards owners of second-place teams and slaps the faces of first-place teams.

No doubt, the playoff schedule was made with travel expenses in mind. With a first-round match up against a team from your own division, the travel costs for the second-place team is minimal.

Then again, that makes the first-round match ups a bit unbalanced. The Mississippi Mudcats own the best record in the entire AIFA with a 13-1 mark, but they must face the 10-4 Columbus Lions in the first round. Meanwhile, the Florence Phantoms, who posted a 10-4 mark that the Mudcats topped by a full two games, get to play a team with a losing record because that’s the best their AIFA East Division could produce.

There are other potential problems that could play out with such a postseason format, but the first-round pairings alone are enough to make you scratch your head.

Then again, at least there are more than four teams in this “World Championship”.