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Post by exit322 on Nov 19, 2008 13:12:51 GMT -5
I know the NIFL team that played at Travis drew "okay" while having pitiful management. I think a well-run team there should do fine.
Low ceilings aren't a big deal at this level, like you say. If anything, call it home field advantage.
It all boils down to quality of ownership. If the SIFL owners are good owners and the business plan makes sense (and my sources tell me the business plan is at least a heck of a lot closer than what we've previously seen out of the IFL and like leagues), we've probably got something here.
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Post by phydeaux72 on Nov 19, 2008 15:29:17 GMT -5
Luedecke Arena is a great facility in a great market. Hats off to the SIFL for grabbing that one before anyone else. The failure of the Wrangles and the Knights/Rockers had nothing to do with the market and everything to do with poor ownership.
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Post by exit322 on Nov 19, 2008 15:46:49 GMT -5
Sounds a lot like Katy. Oh, wait, teams are destined to fail in and around Houston because the area doesn't support minor league teams.
Yeah, Chicago had that problem, too. Not sure how the Slaughter drew 6000-plus a game last year despite no one ever supporting minor league sports (save the Wolves, which half the time outdraw the Blackhawks), but I'm sure Houston's teams will fail just because they always do.
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Post by Caballo Diablo on Nov 19, 2008 16:07:13 GMT -5
Luedecke Arena is a great facility in a great market. Hats off to the SIFL for grabbing that one before anyone else. The failure of the Wrangles and the Knights/Rockers had nothing to do with the market and everything to do with poor ownership. I disagree with all of the above - lol The Travis County Expo Center is far from a "GREAT" facility, I've sat in the seats for many events, helped out on the floor and behind the scenes at a few events and have even been a participant performing at some events. It doesn't meet the AFL arena qualifications and the original Wranglers couldn't have played there even if they had wanted to. It would have been a huge mistake for the af2 Wranglers to move there, but I'm not sure it even meets the af2 arena qualifications. The Wranglers failure wasn't market related, it was only because of poor ownership? haha, surely you jest. Have you noticed how many AFL teams are losing money, oh wait, the league itself lost $50 mil last year. maybe that's why they're looking for new ownership and changing the business structure to "Single Entity." The af2 Wranglers weren't losing money but it was dumb to pay the kind of rent the Erwin Center was charging. Let's see, the Wrangler owner had 9 af2 teams and he even won the championship this past season with the Tennessee valley Vipers. It's hard to believe a poor owner could have that kind of success, he's only had af2 teams for 2 years. Will the Wranglers be back in 2010 or have they seen their last game, the owner is rumored to be moving from Austin to Colorado which probably gives him less interest to turn the lights back on here. Austin is a terrible minor league market, they've got baseball, hockey, basketball, mens football, womans football, etc and all have struggled attendance wise. Basically if you aren't the University of Texas Football you aint sh*t. UT owns the only real arena in the area and treats the entire city like crap from high atop their marble pedestal. I'm a UT sports fan but don't like the Universities attitude towards the fans and citizens of the Austin area. UT can't even attract a decent crowd for their own sports besides football and have been putting very competitive teams on the field. Their 15,000 seat arena is pretty empty for mens and womans basketball. Austin is a great place to live but a weak sports town. The UT students don't care about much besides partying and UT football. Much of the masses are made up from transplanted west coast nerds that don't care about sports, let alone minor league sports. There are not enough diehard fans to keep the ship afloat, this new team will have to market cheap entertainment to the masses because they could care less about football. I love Arena/Indoor football and hope someone can keep a team here, but I'll remain skeptical and wait for some proof of solid ticket sales. The SIFL is a long ways from the AFL, that's what the masses were accoustomed to, only time will tell.
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Post by phydeaux72 on Nov 19, 2008 16:08:54 GMT -5
Winning championships has to do with good coaches, not good owners.
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Post by Caballo Diablo on Nov 19, 2008 16:29:26 GMT -5
Winning championships has to do with good coaches, not good owners. Ay-yi-yi That's an awful short sighted statement. You need a good owner, whether he's hands on or let's the football people handle it. He needs to put a good GM in place and let him put together a good office staff. Then comes the coaches, but many a good coach has been brought down by a foolish owner or poor front office. In the AFL the GM was very involved with hiring coaches and signing players, in the af2 the coaches have more power over who they want to sign. Doug also had a team, the Amarillo Dusters that went from laughing stock to the conference championship game in one season. Yep, had a great coach that was an AFL coach for the Wranglers the year before. Then he sold them after the season to the same guy that owns the Austin Ice Bats. It takes a package to be successful, just having a good coach isn't enough. He sold Amarillo Lubbock folded, weak attendance and sponsorship. Texas Copperheads, ?folded? had terrible attendance in a beautiful facility. Wranglers ?Dark/folded- weak attendance in a huge over priced facility. .............................................. Still playing next season; Corpus Tri-Cities Peoria Boise Tennessee valley He must be doing something right somewhere - lol His original intent was to support these franchises and try to find local ownership to eventually take over. He wanted to assist them with a soild football company and finances to keep the sport alive. I'm not saying he's perfect or the best owner to ever walk on a field but he's done some amazing things with the sport.
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mace
Cleans the Towels
BUCKLE UP!!
Posts: 19
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Post by mace on Nov 24, 2008 13:45:16 GMT -5
Phydeaux is aweful negative! I agree that staying with the IFL would have been fun for the fans, but seriously I understand the cost of tickets for the "family" oriented fans is fair now, and to travel as much as it would take to play in a national league would raise the cost for the family fan. It doesnt matter what anyone else thinks about the Swashbucklers leaving the IFL anyway, I didnt leave because of one loss... if you would have come here to play the game, by our rules... STORM would have lost. So, get ready to travel and remember... that we came to YOUR house and almost beat you playing by your rules. Storm was a good team but defintaly beatable.
SCARAMOUCHE!!
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Post by Bouncer_Texxx on Nov 24, 2008 16:25:13 GMT -5
getting outscored 28-10 in the second half is hardly keeping it close.
But I do not disagree that it would have been a different game under the old IFL's rules, on their turf.
Loosing the bucks from the IFL hurts, but if they weren't ready to go big time, I guess we can't change that.
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Post by phydeaux72 on Nov 24, 2008 17:42:06 GMT -5
Phydeaux is aweful negative! I agree that staying with the IFL would have been fun for the fans, but seriously I understand the cost of tickets for the "family" oriented fans is fair now, and to travel as much as it would take to play in a national league would raise the cost for the family fan. It doesnt matter what anyone else thinks about the Swashbucklers leaving the IFL anyway, I didnt leave because of one loss... if you would have come here to play the game, by our rules... STORM would have lost. So, get ready to travel and remember... that we came to YOUR house and almost beat you playing by your rules. Storm was a good team but defintaly beatable. SCARAMOUCHE!!
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Post by Caballo Diablo on Mar 18, 2009 16:01:53 GMT -5
SIFL Announces 2009 Officials and Procedures To Insure Credibility Posted on March 18, 2009 by Dan Ryan
LAFAYETTE, La. (March 18, 2009) – Striving to providing the best officiating both on and off the field, Southern Indoor Football League commissioner Dan J. Blum has announced the four officiating crews for the 2009 season and administrative procedures to assure objectivity.
The SIFL office will rotate the crews among the five charter franchise sites as well as handling compensation, a radical departure from other indoor leagues where individual teams were responsible for payment of officials that stayed in one geographical area.
``My goal is to ensure that SIFL games are the best officiated in all of football,’’ Blum said. ``Of all the leagues I’ve been associated, I know that this goal is finally possible with this league.’’
Austin Turfcats coach Chris Duliban appreciates the league’s efforts to provide the highest quality of officiating and the implementation.
``What Commissioner Blum is doing really helps out with the professionalism of the league and legitimizes the desire for the SIFL to be unbias,’’ Duliban said. ``It is good you don't have hometown refs .. the Austin area refs like this because they’ll see other arenas. This makes it fair for all teams in the SIFL and it cuts down on the poor perception of `homer refs.’"
Blum hosted the 22 officials for a day-long symposium last weekend in Lafayette, highlighted by a presentation by Greg Gautreaux, who served as Field Judge for Super Bowl XLIII. Eighteen of the SIFL’s inaugural crew have at least one season of indoor experience.
``I think they’re the best indoor football has to offer,’’ Blum said. ``The football official in me is excited about what they’re going to do for the SIFL in 2009."
The 2009 SIFL officiating crews are as follows. Referee - Michael Bell, Bell City, Louisiana Umpire - Frank Wittenberg, Lafayette, Louisiana Head Linesman - Jessie Moore, Lafayette, Louisiana Line Judge - Bryan Borill, Crowley, Louisiana Back Judge - Scotty Melancon, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana .............................
Referee - Brian Ernest, Pflugerville, Texas Umpire - Darren McDaniel, Cedar Park, Texas Head Linesman - Brad Morrow, New Braunfels, Texas Line Judge - Wayne Elliott, Austin, Texas Back Judge - Brian Burkhart, Georgetown, Texas Alternate - Wade Wagner, Hutto, Texas ...............................
Referee - Tommy Garrett, Rayne, Louisiana Umpire - Troy Savage, Metairie, Louisiana Head Linesman - Daniel Gautreaux, Broussard, Louisiana Line Judge - Tony Meyer, Kenner, Louisiana Back Judge - Jesse Dupuy, New Iberia, Louisiana ................................
Referee - Mike Young, Humble, Texas Umpire - Rodney Norton, Cypress, Texas Head Linesman - Jimmy Salinas, Houston, Texas Line Judge - Glen Branch, Friendswood, Texas Back Judge - Marv LeBlanc, Friendswood, Texas Alternate - Jorge Zapata, Friendswood, Texas
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Post by CF4L on Mar 18, 2009 19:25:31 GMT -5
the refs thing is pretty darn impressive.
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Post by Banana Cat on Mar 18, 2009 22:11:09 GMT -5
I think the rotating of officiating crews is a great idea, especially for the current configuration of the SIFL. Once they expand into Florida next year and depending on other expansion, it might not work as well, but the model could be applied regionally as well I think.
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Post by Caballo Diablo on Apr 21, 2009 23:48:20 GMT -5
April 20, 2009 SIFL LEAGUE OFFICE -- The SIFL League Office has issued a Fine to the Texas Pirates for Dress Code Violations for an undisclosed amount.
April 20, 2009 SIFL LEAGUE OFFICE -- The SIFL League Office has issued a Fine to the Houma Conquerors for Dress Code Violations for an undisclosed amount.
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Post by Banana Cat on Apr 22, 2009 0:53:15 GMT -5
April 20, 2009 SIFL LEAGUE OFFICE -- The SIFL League Office has issued a Fine to the Texas Pirates for Dress Code Violations for an undisclosed amount. April 20, 2009 SIFL LEAGUE OFFICE -- The SIFL League Office has issued a Fine to the Houma Conquerors for Dress Code Violations for an undisclosed amount. Shirts not tucked in?
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Post by Caballo Diablo on Apr 22, 2009 12:25:12 GMT -5
No last names on back of jerseys
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