Post by sportznut on Apr 26, 2011 21:55:05 GMT -5
I was asked as the season came to an end for 2010, "how big do you see the league for 2011?" My reply was 12-14, no bigger then 14. We had 2 seasons with basically 5, growing larger then that may be a stretch.
That being said, if the SIFL was made up of just 14 teams and not 16, It may not be as much of a mess as it is in now. Bare with me. Mobile was a stretch from the jump. They never seemed to have what was needed or asked, ever. After i left, i was told that the SIFL was still waiting on "$things$" from Mobile.. Way past deadlines. So not even playing with them should have been the only option. Lafayette, I realize, well i guess since still no official word from the SIFL, folding at the last minute caught them off guard. Maybe... There was rumblings last year that they didn't want to play in 2011, or even jump leagues.
So without Mobile and Lafayette, there would be no off the field issues. (Ok outside of Houston not starting the season with a venue). Louisiana could have slid over to the western teams and made 2-7 team divisions. That is a home and away against every team in your division and DONE!!!! Balanced schedule!!! Easy as that! BUT the greed of lets get as many teams as we can in won over.
We started the SIFL envisioning it being only a 12-14 team league, regional. Why? so that the fans could travel to follow their team on the road. Helps build the fan base, planed bus trip for fans. It also helped the home team cause that is ticket sales they may not have had. Year 1, the longest trip was a 9 hour, most were 2-4 hour drives. Year 2 we added the east and that blew the fans traveling out, except for the regional games. They did travel. In the final game of regular season in 2010, Lafayette brought in hordes of fans, dare i say equaling the Swashbucklers fans. This season, the east went north and the west went way west.
Whatcha gonna do... It is what it is, and man its a mess
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That being said, if the SIFL was made up of just 14 teams and not 16, It may not be as much of a mess as it is in now. Bare with me. Mobile was a stretch from the jump. They never seemed to have what was needed or asked, ever. After i left, i was told that the SIFL was still waiting on "$things$" from Mobile.. Way past deadlines. So not even playing with them should have been the only option. Lafayette, I realize, well i guess since still no official word from the SIFL, folding at the last minute caught them off guard. Maybe... There was rumblings last year that they didn't want to play in 2011, or even jump leagues.
So without Mobile and Lafayette, there would be no off the field issues. (Ok outside of Houston not starting the season with a venue). Louisiana could have slid over to the western teams and made 2-7 team divisions. That is a home and away against every team in your division and DONE!!!! Balanced schedule!!! Easy as that! BUT the greed of lets get as many teams as we can in won over.
We started the SIFL envisioning it being only a 12-14 team league, regional. Why? so that the fans could travel to follow their team on the road. Helps build the fan base, planed bus trip for fans. It also helped the home team cause that is ticket sales they may not have had. Year 1, the longest trip was a 9 hour, most were 2-4 hour drives. Year 2 we added the east and that blew the fans traveling out, except for the regional games. They did travel. In the final game of regular season in 2010, Lafayette brought in hordes of fans, dare i say equaling the Swashbucklers fans. This season, the east went north and the west went way west.
Whatcha gonna do... It is what it is, and man its a mess
__________________