Post by 50yardfan on Jun 18, 2011 22:38:24 GMT -5
Barons doing best to overcome economic obstacle course
Barons (4-3) took their third loss to the Stockton Wolves (6-1) two weeks ago, and Barons head coach James Terry says he could feel the lack of motivation before the team even got on the bus.
“They just weren’t focused and you could feel it,” Terry said. “That has to do with the front office and you can talk to them about that.”
Terry didn’t elaborate, but he may be referring to $7,500 in bounced paychecks written by Barons owner Cesare (Chez) Jennings. It became first come first serve, as Barons employees that were slower to cash their checks had to incur the loss.
“We had some issues with a wire transfer into the team’s account and what I did was I paid (employees) the whole week out of my personal checking account,” Jennings said. “I had thirty-two thousand in my checking and wrote thirty thousand worth of checks so I thought everything should clear.
“Then I had some automated payments come out of my account for mortgage, health care, child support, and stuff like that for like five thousand dollars.
“So if I write thirty thousand dollars worth of checks and five thousand extra comes out that puts me upside down about seventy-five hundred.”
That math doesn’t add up as you can probably tell, but nevertheless Jennings admits his mistake and says the matter will be handled.
Barons running back and return man Keithen Valentine jokingly put up a video on his Facebook page Thursday titled “Lockout: Day 9.” Although the video mentions nothing about any bounced checks, the timing is just a little too good for it to have no correlation.
The team’s morale still seems strong though even in the video. The team clearly has faith in their owner’s story.
“I’m horrible with my own personal money and accounting, but not the teams so I know everyone is taken care of,” Jennings said.
Players’ confidence in Jennings was further displayed in attending “Fan Appreciation Weekend” last Saturday at Harrah’s and Sunday at Paradise Park.
The events were held when Reno Barons cancelled last week’s game against the Pacific Islanders because a player on the Hawaii team, David Henderson, was shot on May 26 and eventually died Monday June 6 (the week of the game), according to the San Francisco Examiner.
Barons raised “a few hundred dollars in donations” for the family of the player that passed away during the weekend, according to General Manager Tim Pierce.
“The Barons have had a few missteps,” Vice Mayor of Reno Dan Gustin said at the Sunday BBQ in Paradise Park. “But the organization always does its best to make it right.”
“They knew the fans would be upset there was no game this weekend so they put on this event for a good cause and tried to give back to the fans.”
Jennings says he’s learned a lot from the “hiccups” of this season and plans to give Reno a better experience next season, as he says the Barons will be much stronger in a better league like the AFL or IFL.
Jennings also says he plans to buy a house here in Reno and start up a hockey team in town next year that he’ll own a third of. Jennings wouldn’t specify who his business partners would be.
All these prospects aside, the game tonight at 7:00 will be against the Placer County Bears who typically play outdoor football much like many opponents on the Barons independent schedule.
“We’ll be gunning for that scoring record again,” Barons head coach James Terry said.
Barons were originally scheduled to play the North Texas Crunch, but the Texas team wanted the Barons to chip in $13,000 in travel expenses for them to come play in Reno, according to Texas Crunch owner Larry Hendrix.
“We were looking forward to the game in Reno,” Hendrix said in a phone interview. “I think it would have been a good matchup.”
“I watched some film on them and they have some division one athletes like (Luke) Lipincott that look really good so I hope we can work out something in the future.”
Although that price tag was a little too high, Barons have paid the way for several teams to come play here in Reno. The first game against the Tucson Trojans racked up a tab of nearly $5,000, and the games against Sacramento Warriors and Las Vegas Cobras were comparable bills, according to Barons General Manager Tim Pierce and Director of Football Operations Steve Matson.
“We paid for travel expenses, hotel rooms at the Ramada, and meals,” Pierce said. “Vegas paid for their own travel and Stockton always pays their way, but for all those teams we’re talking about nearly eleven, twelve thousand dollars to bring them in.”
The Barons organization is bringing football to Reno, but they’re seemingly doing so at a loss of profit.
“By the time this is season in over, I will probably spent about $400,000,” Jennings said. “With insurance, venues, paying other teams, tv priduction, salaries, staff, housing, food, security, field maintenance, water boys, we employ about 200 people at a time and are spending about thirty-five thousand a week.”
Although the math is not yet confirmed, Jennings said he would provide financial reports at the end of the season, and he reiterated in interviews that the “Barons never asked the city of Reno for any money.” Jennings also said he “understands it will take time and some improvements before the Barons are a profitable business.”
Tonight may not be the biggest indicator of whether the players will be affected by the economic woes since the Placer County Bears are “comparable to the Sacramento Warriors,” according to former Barons head coach Anthony Bartley, but time will tell whether the organization can weather the storm.
Until then, Jennings has assured Reno locals that they will have indoor football in their town for at least the rest of this season and next.
If you can’t make it to the game tonight, check here for halftime updates and post-game reports.
Barons (4-3) took their third loss to the Stockton Wolves (6-1) two weeks ago, and Barons head coach James Terry says he could feel the lack of motivation before the team even got on the bus.
“They just weren’t focused and you could feel it,” Terry said. “That has to do with the front office and you can talk to them about that.”
Terry didn’t elaborate, but he may be referring to $7,500 in bounced paychecks written by Barons owner Cesare (Chez) Jennings. It became first come first serve, as Barons employees that were slower to cash their checks had to incur the loss.
“We had some issues with a wire transfer into the team’s account and what I did was I paid (employees) the whole week out of my personal checking account,” Jennings said. “I had thirty-two thousand in my checking and wrote thirty thousand worth of checks so I thought everything should clear.
“Then I had some automated payments come out of my account for mortgage, health care, child support, and stuff like that for like five thousand dollars.
“So if I write thirty thousand dollars worth of checks and five thousand extra comes out that puts me upside down about seventy-five hundred.”
That math doesn’t add up as you can probably tell, but nevertheless Jennings admits his mistake and says the matter will be handled.
Barons running back and return man Keithen Valentine jokingly put up a video on his Facebook page Thursday titled “Lockout: Day 9.” Although the video mentions nothing about any bounced checks, the timing is just a little too good for it to have no correlation.
The team’s morale still seems strong though even in the video. The team clearly has faith in their owner’s story.
“I’m horrible with my own personal money and accounting, but not the teams so I know everyone is taken care of,” Jennings said.
Players’ confidence in Jennings was further displayed in attending “Fan Appreciation Weekend” last Saturday at Harrah’s and Sunday at Paradise Park.
The events were held when Reno Barons cancelled last week’s game against the Pacific Islanders because a player on the Hawaii team, David Henderson, was shot on May 26 and eventually died Monday June 6 (the week of the game), according to the San Francisco Examiner.
Barons raised “a few hundred dollars in donations” for the family of the player that passed away during the weekend, according to General Manager Tim Pierce.
“The Barons have had a few missteps,” Vice Mayor of Reno Dan Gustin said at the Sunday BBQ in Paradise Park. “But the organization always does its best to make it right.”
“They knew the fans would be upset there was no game this weekend so they put on this event for a good cause and tried to give back to the fans.”
Jennings says he’s learned a lot from the “hiccups” of this season and plans to give Reno a better experience next season, as he says the Barons will be much stronger in a better league like the AFL or IFL.
Jennings also says he plans to buy a house here in Reno and start up a hockey team in town next year that he’ll own a third of. Jennings wouldn’t specify who his business partners would be.
All these prospects aside, the game tonight at 7:00 will be against the Placer County Bears who typically play outdoor football much like many opponents on the Barons independent schedule.
“We’ll be gunning for that scoring record again,” Barons head coach James Terry said.
Barons were originally scheduled to play the North Texas Crunch, but the Texas team wanted the Barons to chip in $13,000 in travel expenses for them to come play in Reno, according to Texas Crunch owner Larry Hendrix.
“We were looking forward to the game in Reno,” Hendrix said in a phone interview. “I think it would have been a good matchup.”
“I watched some film on them and they have some division one athletes like (Luke) Lipincott that look really good so I hope we can work out something in the future.”
Although that price tag was a little too high, Barons have paid the way for several teams to come play here in Reno. The first game against the Tucson Trojans racked up a tab of nearly $5,000, and the games against Sacramento Warriors and Las Vegas Cobras were comparable bills, according to Barons General Manager Tim Pierce and Director of Football Operations Steve Matson.
“We paid for travel expenses, hotel rooms at the Ramada, and meals,” Pierce said. “Vegas paid for their own travel and Stockton always pays their way, but for all those teams we’re talking about nearly eleven, twelve thousand dollars to bring them in.”
The Barons organization is bringing football to Reno, but they’re seemingly doing so at a loss of profit.
“By the time this is season in over, I will probably spent about $400,000,” Jennings said. “With insurance, venues, paying other teams, tv priduction, salaries, staff, housing, food, security, field maintenance, water boys, we employ about 200 people at a time and are spending about thirty-five thousand a week.”
Although the math is not yet confirmed, Jennings said he would provide financial reports at the end of the season, and he reiterated in interviews that the “Barons never asked the city of Reno for any money.” Jennings also said he “understands it will take time and some improvements before the Barons are a profitable business.”
Tonight may not be the biggest indicator of whether the players will be affected by the economic woes since the Placer County Bears are “comparable to the Sacramento Warriors,” according to former Barons head coach Anthony Bartley, but time will tell whether the organization can weather the storm.
Until then, Jennings has assured Reno locals that they will have indoor football in their town for at least the rest of this season and next.
If you can’t make it to the game tonight, check here for halftime updates and post-game reports.