Post by fwp on Nov 20, 2009 16:06:19 GMT -5
www.tri-cityherald.com/1026/story/800323.html
Teri Carr jumped back into the indoor football business in September to save the sport in the Tri-Cities.
She made another unforeseen move to further that commitment Thursday.
With the ongoing collapse of the two-tier model of the new Arena Football One league, Carr is moving the Fever to the Indoor Football League for the 2010 season.
The Fever was expected to play in the AF1's Tier 2 division, but that model was scrapped by AF1 owners Wednesday night because of a lack of teams.
The division, which started with seven teams, was down to five earlier this week, putting Carr in a compromising position.
It was a position she said had only one right answer.
The Fever could not survive in the top tier of the new league that consists of former Arena Football League franchises, and folding the team "was not an option."
"I didn't really have a choice," said Carr, the team's co-owner and general manager. "It's a good decision.
"It's the best thing we can do in Tri-Cities."
Carr, and her husband J.R., bought back majority ownership of the team in the offseason with the intention of keeping them in the arenafootball2 league.
But that league collapsed and the offshoot AF1 was created, but it turns out AF1 wasn't the best alternative for smaller-market franchises like the Fever, especially without a Tier 2.
"I can't compete with those kinds of teams," Carr said of the AF1's Tier 1. "I don't have the resources of like an Arizona or a Chicago."
According to Carr, the AF1 will let the franchise keep the Fever name and release the players and coaches it has already signed from their contracts. Pat O'Hara confirmed he will stay on and coach the team next season.
"We are thrilled to have Tri-Cities on board," said IFL commissioner Tommy Benizio, whose league offices are in Richmond, Va.
The IFL expects to have 26 teams for the upcoming season, including former af2 teams Green Bay and Amarillo, along with Billings, a former rival of the Fever in the National Indoor Football League.
The other Tier 2 teams, Carr said, are still weighing their options. She said that Tennessee Valley and Bossier-Shreveport will stay in the AF1. Central Valley and Oklahoma City are still undecided.
The rise and subsequent fall of the AF1's two-tier model came after the league announced its 16 original members in late September.
The two-tier model was expected to be divided into a big-market and small-market division, with the smaller market expected to consist of mainly former af2 franchises.
But slowly as the former af2 teams either folded -- Kentucky -- or moved to the IFL -- Green Bay and Amarillo -- the two-tiered model appeared doomed.
Then when Arkansas backed out of the AF1 earlier this week to head to the IFL, teams were sent scrambling.
Carr had the Fever accepted into the IFL on Tuesday night, but waited to make her final decision until Wednesday night after an AF1 conference call.
During that call it was confirmed that only a top tier would exist, and Carr knew that in order for indoor football to survive in the Tri-Cities she would have to switch leagues.
"I think she definitely made the right move," said Spokane Shock owner Brady Nelson, whose team will play in the AF1 next season. "There was no way they could (move up)."
Since the Fever's inception in 2005, it has had its share of movement. The Fever started in the National Indoor Football League and played there for two seasons, winning the league championship in 2005.
When the troubled NIFL neared extinction, the Fever moved to the United Indoor Football League prior to the 2007 season, but never played a game there. Doug MacGregor subsequently bought the team and put the Fever in the af2, where it has been the past three seasons.
The af2 folded this past summer, prompting a move to the new AF1.
Now, the Fever has landed in the IFL, a spot Carr hopes is permanent.
"It's a fresh start," Carr said. "This isn't a bad thing. It's just something new.
"It came down to the question: Do we want football or not? We chose football. You just hope people understand that."
Teri Carr jumped back into the indoor football business in September to save the sport in the Tri-Cities.
She made another unforeseen move to further that commitment Thursday.
With the ongoing collapse of the two-tier model of the new Arena Football One league, Carr is moving the Fever to the Indoor Football League for the 2010 season.
The Fever was expected to play in the AF1's Tier 2 division, but that model was scrapped by AF1 owners Wednesday night because of a lack of teams.
The division, which started with seven teams, was down to five earlier this week, putting Carr in a compromising position.
It was a position she said had only one right answer.
The Fever could not survive in the top tier of the new league that consists of former Arena Football League franchises, and folding the team "was not an option."
"I didn't really have a choice," said Carr, the team's co-owner and general manager. "It's a good decision.
"It's the best thing we can do in Tri-Cities."
Carr, and her husband J.R., bought back majority ownership of the team in the offseason with the intention of keeping them in the arenafootball2 league.
But that league collapsed and the offshoot AF1 was created, but it turns out AF1 wasn't the best alternative for smaller-market franchises like the Fever, especially without a Tier 2.
"I can't compete with those kinds of teams," Carr said of the AF1's Tier 1. "I don't have the resources of like an Arizona or a Chicago."
According to Carr, the AF1 will let the franchise keep the Fever name and release the players and coaches it has already signed from their contracts. Pat O'Hara confirmed he will stay on and coach the team next season.
"We are thrilled to have Tri-Cities on board," said IFL commissioner Tommy Benizio, whose league offices are in Richmond, Va.
The IFL expects to have 26 teams for the upcoming season, including former af2 teams Green Bay and Amarillo, along with Billings, a former rival of the Fever in the National Indoor Football League.
The other Tier 2 teams, Carr said, are still weighing their options. She said that Tennessee Valley and Bossier-Shreveport will stay in the AF1. Central Valley and Oklahoma City are still undecided.
The rise and subsequent fall of the AF1's two-tier model came after the league announced its 16 original members in late September.
The two-tier model was expected to be divided into a big-market and small-market division, with the smaller market expected to consist of mainly former af2 franchises.
But slowly as the former af2 teams either folded -- Kentucky -- or moved to the IFL -- Green Bay and Amarillo -- the two-tiered model appeared doomed.
Then when Arkansas backed out of the AF1 earlier this week to head to the IFL, teams were sent scrambling.
Carr had the Fever accepted into the IFL on Tuesday night, but waited to make her final decision until Wednesday night after an AF1 conference call.
During that call it was confirmed that only a top tier would exist, and Carr knew that in order for indoor football to survive in the Tri-Cities she would have to switch leagues.
"I think she definitely made the right move," said Spokane Shock owner Brady Nelson, whose team will play in the AF1 next season. "There was no way they could (move up)."
Since the Fever's inception in 2005, it has had its share of movement. The Fever started in the National Indoor Football League and played there for two seasons, winning the league championship in 2005.
When the troubled NIFL neared extinction, the Fever moved to the United Indoor Football League prior to the 2007 season, but never played a game there. Doug MacGregor subsequently bought the team and put the Fever in the af2, where it has been the past three seasons.
The af2 folded this past summer, prompting a move to the new AF1.
Now, the Fever has landed in the IFL, a spot Carr hopes is permanent.
"It's a fresh start," Carr said. "This isn't a bad thing. It's just something new.
"It came down to the question: Do we want football or not? We chose football. You just hope people understand that."