Reported by: Jason Bristol / cbs21.com 30 March 2012
PALMYRA -- The Harrisburg Stampede hopes a new ownership group and playing in a new league with an old coach will help the team become a winner again.
The Stampede opens the inaugural season of American Indoor Football at the PA Farm Show on April 7.
"It's built 100% different," said head coach Bernie Nowotarski of this year's team. "Different type of player. Different character of player. It's different from the ground up."
There's also a change at the top. The franchise has a new ownership group, consisting of local businessman Justin Coble and New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston.
Harrisburg started the 2011 season with an 0-6 record, which ultimately cost Nowotarski his job. But now that's he's back, Nowotarski signed a number of championship-caliber players, including quarterback E.J. Nemeth.
Harrisburg believes it has the right mix to return to the postseason. "We've got a lot of guys with a lot of rings on their fingers," said returning linebacker Fearon Wright.
"A lot of veterans who know exactly what it takes to make big plays at the end of the season and basically bring home a championship this season."
"Minor league pro football is a weird universe filled with bounced checks, unpaid bills, empty promises, out-right lies, empty arenas, endless women, endless booze, occasionally drugs, endless trips on rented buses to towns on the outskirts of the Big Time and, for one night a week, a football game." -- Bill Shea
Harrisburg Stampede have new ownership, plan, for fourth season in Harrisburg
April 06, 2012 By GREG PICKEL
New majority owner Justin Coble, a Stampede coach a year ago, has returned to Harrisburg to help the Stampede expand their footprint in Central Pennsylvania, and put fans in the seats for an organization that has been sparsely watched its first three years in Harrisburg.
"I felt like we were missing some things on the market here, because it's a great product and I've never talked to anyone come that didn't like it," Coble said.
"It's great for kids, [and] ticket prices are well within reason compared to high professional sports, which makes us very disappointed with attendance numbers."
The Stampede begin their inaugural season in the AIF with a 7 p.m. tilt against the Maryland Reapers at the Farm Show Complex's Equine Arena.
But it's not just Coble that has decided to back the Stampede franchise, but also Susquehanna Township product and current New Orleans Saint Marques Colston, who, after leaving the original ownership group in 2007, has latched on to Coble's vision, and shares his drive to make the Stampede a staple in Harrisburg.
"Speaking with Justin before I got back on board, the direction he wanted to take the team and his vision are what sold me to rejoin the ownership group," Colston said.
"I want to try to be a part of it and build something that is going to a staple in Harrisburg."
And for those who think Colston will just be a figure head who shows up every once and awhile to sign autographs, think again.
"We didn't want someone who didn't care about the city and wasn't hands on, but with Marques, we have someone who is very hands on about strategy and the business model and the direction involved with day to day operations," Coble said.
"Marques is involved with players and sponsors through online video chatting, and he'll be at the games because fans and kids all want to see him, but he didn't want to sign just for that, he wanted to come on board to build his business portfolio, and he's a very high character guy that cares about the community and city."
So what does Coble and company plan to do differently? Well for starters, get the community, especially children, involved and interested in the indoor game.
"Harrisburg needs an alternative right now, because there are a lot of things that they can get into, and Marques and I both carry the same passion for the children in Harrisburg. With that in mind, we donated about 800 tickets to local elementary schools per game to reward kids for hard work. We want the stadium to be full and give back to the kids, so we are going to be having a candy rain, where every time we score, the spirit squad will throw candy out to the kids, and we'll have a couple of mascots there, too," Coble said.
The Stampede will also have a variety of business owners in attendance on Saturday, as Coble begins to show local businesses the ways in which the Stampede will now be run from a business standpoint.
"We've seen sponsors come and go, and going off the most recent numbers, Harrisburg is the best minor league sports market in the country," Coble said.
"So we see this as a great opportunity to expand our market, and there is a lot of opportunities in Central Pennsylvania."
Last Edit: Apr 7, 2012 5:03:44 GMT -5 by Banana Cat
"Minor league pro football is a weird universe filled with bounced checks, unpaid bills, empty promises, out-right lies, empty arenas, endless women, endless booze, occasionally drugs, endless trips on rented buses to towns on the outskirts of the Big Time and, for one night a week, a football game." -- Bill Shea
Administrator: #LFL-US Pacific Cup: Seattle Mist 27, Los Angeles Temptation 25 (FINAL) #IndoorScores
Dec 7, 2013 2:03:30 GMT -5
Banana Cat: This board was revised and updated on 7 December in preparation for the 2014 season. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
Dec 7, 2013 6:38:21 GMT -5
Banana Cat: LFL-AU kicks off inaugural season; New South Wales Surge 44, Queensland Brigade 6 (FINAL)
Dec 7, 2013 7:47:46 GMT -5
Banana Cat: LFL-AU: Victoria Maidens 32, Western Australia Angels 26 (FINAL)
Dec 14, 2013 21:58:09 GMT -5
Banana Cat: Seattle Seahawks vs Denver Broncos for the Super Bowl. Who will win?
Jan 22, 2014 22:00:38 GMT -5
CF4L: Grand Island is up 13-0 early on over Lincoln
Feb 10, 2014 20:24:08 GMT -5
CF4L: 19-0 GI after a quarter.
Feb 10, 2014 20:38:55 GMT -5
Banana Cat: Did you go to the game CF4L?
Feb 17, 2014 11:34:51 GMT -5
danger10: Watching first night of IFL Regular season lets go Danger!
Feb 21, 2014 21:21:56 GMT -5
BNDC: Football bandits.
Mar 2, 2014 17:26:50 GMT -5
dubyaessoh: Sure is quiet in here this year!
Mar 14, 2014 19:15:50 GMT -5
halaroo: Does anyone know where I can watch away games for the AIF online?
Mar 22, 2014 9:53:41 GMT -5
Doom: this shoutbox at the bottom noone really sees it is prolly why its always quiet
Apr 12, 2014 19:11:41 GMT -5
Banana Cat: Everyone's on the facebook group now too, which makes it even more quiet. This shoutbox was quiet when it was at the top this past year, so maybe I should just shut it down.
Apr 14, 2014 20:55:38 GMT -5
Bring Back CFL to KC: so what are the guess about chances for indoor football back in kc
Sept 8, 2014 20:19:30 GMT -5
superpicker: Merry Christmas to all.
Dec 25, 2014 9:29:43 GMT -5
superpicker: Happy New Year 2015 to all fans, friends, players, owners, coaches and anyone else involved with the great sport of Indoor Football.
Jan 10, 2015 12:00:39 GMT -5
superpicker: Happy 2016 to all fans, friends, players, owners, coaches and anyone else involved with the great sport of Indoor Football.