Post by Banana Cat on May 21, 2011 5:57:11 GMT -5
Another list of excuses from an owner not giving a $%# and putting little effort into the org. I have doubts this team was even sold, sounds like an excuse to wash his hands of it really. He is a lawyer, so he knows shady methods better than most.
fayobserver.com/articles/2011/05/21/1095870?sac=Sports
fayobserver.com/articles/2011/05/21/1095870?sac=Sports
Fayetteville Force sold to undisclosed party
May 21, 2011
By Larry Graham / Sports Editor
After owning the Fayetteville Force arena football team for less than a season, former team president Andrew Bondarowicz announced the sale of the Force to an undisclosed party earlier in the week.
Financial details were not revealed.
"We essentially handed over the keys, so it's almost a complete wash from our perspective," said Bondarowicz, who also practices law in New Jersey. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars were invested in this team."
According to Bondarowicz, the Force will play out the remainder of the season. However, some of the players have already found new squads.
The Force are 3-5 in the Southern Indoor Football League, with a game at Erie tonight.
"The way the schedule broke, there's essentially three games on the road until it plays its final home game," Bondarowicz said. "So, for all intents and purposes, there's not much of a local team that's needed other than to work the gate and operations."
Nothing about April went well for the Force. The team lost three out of four games and is currently on a five-game losing streak.
In addition to the poor performance on the field, several problems surfaced off the field. With the help of local businessman Franco Webb, owner of Core Computer Tech Inc., Bondarowicz was in negotiations to sell the team to a group of local investors
But that attempt proved a bust.
"We thought we had a group that was going to take an interest and partner up on the team, but at the 11th hour they essentially did an about face from what our expectations were," Bondarowicz said.
"Essentially people got scared because they were hearing all these things and the line of communication was not the best. You leave people to their own devices and a lot of times they're going to assume the worst."
That could sum up the impression of the Force since preseason.
They failed to supply the playing turf for a tryout camp and had to postpone. Then, they lost their general manager prior to the start of the season.
And at one point, players even lost their housing.
"The hotel unilaterally broke the contract and just woke up one morning and started to kick our players out of the hotel," Bondarowicz said. "All of the sudden, that got pinned on us and we're an organization of failure, when it's a breach of contract situation that's still going to be dealt with legally."
However, reports later surfaced about players not being paid, and reportedly former head coach Marquette Smith canceled a Tuesday practice and informed the team they weren't getting paid and the season was over.
Smith was later fired and replaced by former defensive coordinator Charles Gunning.
Calls to the Fayetteville Force home office went unanswered.
"It's difficult to manage a business from afar. And what happens when you don't control it well, it tends to get away from you. That's kind of what happened here," Bondarowicz said. "It became apparent to me in April it just wasn't going to be a happy road."
May 21, 2011
By Larry Graham / Sports Editor
After owning the Fayetteville Force arena football team for less than a season, former team president Andrew Bondarowicz announced the sale of the Force to an undisclosed party earlier in the week.
Financial details were not revealed.
"We essentially handed over the keys, so it's almost a complete wash from our perspective," said Bondarowicz, who also practices law in New Jersey. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars were invested in this team."
According to Bondarowicz, the Force will play out the remainder of the season. However, some of the players have already found new squads.
The Force are 3-5 in the Southern Indoor Football League, with a game at Erie tonight.
"The way the schedule broke, there's essentially three games on the road until it plays its final home game," Bondarowicz said. "So, for all intents and purposes, there's not much of a local team that's needed other than to work the gate and operations."
Nothing about April went well for the Force. The team lost three out of four games and is currently on a five-game losing streak.
In addition to the poor performance on the field, several problems surfaced off the field. With the help of local businessman Franco Webb, owner of Core Computer Tech Inc., Bondarowicz was in negotiations to sell the team to a group of local investors
But that attempt proved a bust.
"We thought we had a group that was going to take an interest and partner up on the team, but at the 11th hour they essentially did an about face from what our expectations were," Bondarowicz said.
"Essentially people got scared because they were hearing all these things and the line of communication was not the best. You leave people to their own devices and a lot of times they're going to assume the worst."
That could sum up the impression of the Force since preseason.
They failed to supply the playing turf for a tryout camp and had to postpone. Then, they lost their general manager prior to the start of the season.
And at one point, players even lost their housing.
"The hotel unilaterally broke the contract and just woke up one morning and started to kick our players out of the hotel," Bondarowicz said. "All of the sudden, that got pinned on us and we're an organization of failure, when it's a breach of contract situation that's still going to be dealt with legally."
However, reports later surfaced about players not being paid, and reportedly former head coach Marquette Smith canceled a Tuesday practice and informed the team they weren't getting paid and the season was over.
Smith was later fired and replaced by former defensive coordinator Charles Gunning.
Calls to the Fayetteville Force home office went unanswered.
"It's difficult to manage a business from afar. And what happens when you don't control it well, it tends to get away from you. That's kind of what happened here," Bondarowicz said. "It became apparent to me in April it just wasn't going to be a happy road."