Spin

Is it big enough for hockey?

+1

Whether or not spring college football will work or not is irrelevant as we're talking about the Akron Fire and the USFL. I was using the USFL as an example of why it's extremely difficult to break even with a minor league that travels cross country. If you notice, all other minor leagues are regionalized. The CFL is one exception, although it has network TV and plays teams games in their region more times than not. This is one part of the new USFL plan that IMO is a bad idea. If they were coming into being with a fat network TV contract that would be different, but as of yet, they aren't. They'll live and die at the gate. And travel expenses. The new USFL is using the successful MLS player/salary concept. Each player will work for the league and get paid by the league. That will prevent the rampant spending the original USFL had which put several franchises out ofbusiness. I remember San Antonio sneaking onto high school practice fields to practice, and showing up for a game and their jerseys had been repossessed. There still may be players out there owed paychecks. We had the Breakers moving every off-season. And nothing says "legitimate" like Arizona and Michigan trading teams. This concept didn't jive with the Akron Fire owners, at least that's the story. And they're looking for a new league. There are several more out there.

Yeah, NBA players aren't expected to play back-to-back games on the road.

...almost as boring as reading some old hen whining in a thread they're not interested in.

I don't think some understand the depth of sustainable minor league sports in the US. We know about the Eastern League because we have a team. And it is well attended. We don't hear about the other minor leagues if we don't have local teams. According to OurSportsCentral which has been around for years, there are 176 minor league games tonight. Here's a list of the leagues they recognize. Some are fly-by-night and come and go (along with their teams). Some are well managed and have been around for decades. Ohio has 9 baseball, 1 softball, 1 basketball, 3 football, 5 hockey, 4 soccer, and 1 lacrosse minor league teams. 24 teams recognized by OSC. Minor league sports are very sustainable.

The USFL with it's future hall-of-famers making high salaries was NOT commercially viable. The salaries took it out of it's scope. A minor football league could be commercially viable IF they remained in their scope. Question. Are the Lake Erie Crushers commercially viable? Unlike the other three minor league teams in NEOhio, the players aren't paid by a major league team. Yet they break even. They sell tickets, sell ads, and their longest road trip is an 8 hour bus ride. They don't pay MLB salaries or are forced to fly everyone to Portland Oregon for road games like the USFL did. That's where I see the new USFL failing. You're not paying them very much, but you're still flying 50-60 people across the country for a game you don't make any money on. MINOR LEAGUE SPORTS WORK IF REGIONALIZED. The Akron Aeros don't play the San Jose Giants. The Canton Charge don't play the Idaho Stampede. The Wooster Oilers don't play the Seattle Thunderbirds. Boise State doesn't travel to UConn, errrrr nevermind. The old and new USFL had teams criss-crossing the country for games. The WLAF had teams travelling across the Atlantic for regular season games. That's not sustainable. The skill level of the players doesn't matter (as long as you're not charging NFL admission). High school football fans who attend games on Friday night don't care that the skill level is sub-NFL. A minor football could be commercially viable if they live within their means, stay regionalized, and don't blow millions of dollars on 75 year old stadiums.

Well shit that's a vast improvement over the restrooms there when the Zips had it.

Sorry, sore subject for me. But that's all in the past, thanks to my Univ of Akron education.

I thought it was relevant to the topic, but whatever.

Done!!!

Welcome to 2013. People act like there aren't hundreds of other employers screwing their employees over every chance they get. They're no worse than several of the employers I have worked for. Hell the last private ambulance I worked for was taking child support out of my check, but not paying the county. I got hauled into court twice. They were handing out fraudulent medical insurance cards, after taking the money out of people's checks. Failing to pay vacation pay after it was approved and the employee took the time off. Late pay checks. AND they were government contractors... Getting paid vacation time after you leave a company? That's funny. I don't remember the last time that ever happened. If you want a real witch hunt, I'll provide you with names.

He can kiss goodbye to any type of licensure, he really has very few options in the US. His best bet is to finish out his college career anywhere he can, play in the minors, and hope to get into coaching somewhere. That IMO is his best bet to getting a paycheck.

Well said

Racing is a different sport. You work for an individual, not an administration, athletics dept., coaching staff, alumni, etc. And if all else fails you can make your own way as an owner-driver. Interesting analogy between moonshine and marijuana.

What I know is that Dambrot believes in second chances, as he said after the arrest, being he is a product of a second chance. Being in the business I'm in, I don't buy for a minute the BS about the "safety" of marijuana. But at the same time I agree to a point with GP about the severity of the offense. In my business I take a very different look at someone who commits DUI than someone in possession of a certain amount of weed in his house. One is putting everyone else's lives in jeopardy, the other is a felon? Marked for life? There have been much worse felonies by college athletes who returned to the game, not very far from here.

I can see D getting him back on the team. from everything he said after the incident

Abreau pled guilty to felony possession today. Will you cheer him when he comes back?

Gee and Spanier held college football back to their elitist ideals for decades. They built and maintained a world of only a dozen or so programs eligible for the National Championship and the Heisman. These two asshats finally falling by the wayside is the first step to college football becoming a sport for everyone. Not just the "legacy" schools. Don't let the door hit you in the ass, Gord.

Continued conversation: Richard Cotton Will you join back up later? It would be great if you did. 31 minutes ago · Like Mike Spinelli What are your plans now? 30 minutes ago · Like Akron Fire USFL We still hope the USFL at some point will add independent teams 6 minutes ago · Like Richard Cotton So you are still interested then? I thought they said they were looking for 3 indies. So what the hey? 4 minutes ago · Like Akron Fire USFL We are looking at a few other league. We do feel that there are still some great opportunities out there for us and we are working on some plans of our own stay tune. about a minute ago · Like

Well, it won't be the USFL. 7 minutes ago on Facebook: Akron Fire USFL We see that the USFL will be going with 5 league owned Teams and no independent teams we wish them the very best and hope the can build a strong successful league. Guess they have to find another league now?

Saw that. Several years too late IMO. That doushbag should have been fired long ago.

You mean we could someday be back to watching college students again someday?

Zeke came because of the engineering program IIRC, but I agree with what you're saying. What has LeBron done for the program that didn't have his name all over it?

And that would be different from the post-LeBron era how? The team was better with Ted Stepien making trades. and rich.