Post by 50yardfan on Jul 1, 2010 10:32:35 GMT -5
www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100701/FOOTBALL09/307019891/-1/SPORTS
Playing indoor professional football for 10 seasons has been a passion for Roosevelt Benjamin.
But the defensive star didn't always agree with how he says he was treated at times with the Erie Freeze and RiverRats.
The Erie native said his paychecks were late, he did not receive proper care and he generally felt unwanted -- all of which led to Benjamin playing for teams in Pittsburgh, Charlotte, N.C., and Canton, Ohio, in the past five seasons, rather than for his hometown franchise.
This season, as a member of the Erie Storm, which is operated by the first-year ownership group Erie Professional Football Inc., Benjamin's experience has been different, and welcome.
"It's been nothing but great things with the new ownership," Benjamin said. "The biggest thing was, when I played here before, players weren't getting paid or getting treated right. We just feel wanted (now)."
While the new owners have succeeded in keeping players satisfied, there are ups and downs in any business, and they were on the wrong end of a big downer, too: Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, whose athletic teams are known as the Storm, filed a lawsuit in Ohio to force the football team to change its name.
"How would you like to have a loaded gun pointed to your head? That was the exact position they put us in. Either you change your name or we shut down your team," said Bill Stafford, the Storm's managing partner.
What the franchise will be known as in the future is yet to be determined. But for the moment the majority owners -- Stafford, Jeff Plyler of Plyler Overhead Door, Jeff Hauser and another person whose name has not been made public -- are, like the players and staff, celebrating a happy few days.
The team not only capped a regular season in which they went 8-6 -- a marked turnaround from 2009's 3-11 record -- but also squeaked into the playoffs when Baltimore beat Reading on Saturday.
The Storm are scheduled to play Friday at 7 p.m. at Harrisburg in the first round of the AIFA playoffs.
Erie is 0-3 against the Stampede this season, but maybe those losses will show the Storm what they need to do to win the most important matchup between the teams.
Stafford might know just how the Storm players feel heading into the game.
"You're on the front end of a learning curve when you put in a new defense. Same thing with an offense. You have to get a feel for it. It becomes instinctive," Stafford said. "For me the same way, (owning a team) has been very much a learning curve, and I've sought out many other owners. I've tried to cut this learning curve down. The other owners have been very helpful to help us move along."
Stafford, a retired teacher who also owns a string of Subway franchises in Erie County, said he has continually worked with sponsors and advertisers to promote the team this spring and summer. Stafford said such grass-roots work is vital because indoor football teams do not have the inherent draw that NFL teams have.
Stafford said the marketing has paid off. He estimated that the team drew 1,300 to 1,500 fans in its first two home games compared to 3,800 in its final two.
"Word of mouth is a big, big part of things. Positive word of mouth can help you. Negative word of mouth will destroy you," Stafford said.
As for the pending name change, Stafford said the owners will meet with professionals from Forte Marketing to discuss potential ideas once the season ends. Forte Marketing helped the team relaunch after the ownership change and assisted in the public naming contest that resulted in selection of the Storm as a nickname to replace the RiverRats.
Whatever decision is made, Stafford said he will keep the community in mind.
"This group wants to get involved and wants to be a part of this community. Improving upon the product is paramount," he said. "We're using the mindset 'our team, our town.' As local owners, we want to be involved that way."
Playing indoor professional football for 10 seasons has been a passion for Roosevelt Benjamin.
But the defensive star didn't always agree with how he says he was treated at times with the Erie Freeze and RiverRats.
The Erie native said his paychecks were late, he did not receive proper care and he generally felt unwanted -- all of which led to Benjamin playing for teams in Pittsburgh, Charlotte, N.C., and Canton, Ohio, in the past five seasons, rather than for his hometown franchise.
This season, as a member of the Erie Storm, which is operated by the first-year ownership group Erie Professional Football Inc., Benjamin's experience has been different, and welcome.
"It's been nothing but great things with the new ownership," Benjamin said. "The biggest thing was, when I played here before, players weren't getting paid or getting treated right. We just feel wanted (now)."
While the new owners have succeeded in keeping players satisfied, there are ups and downs in any business, and they were on the wrong end of a big downer, too: Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, whose athletic teams are known as the Storm, filed a lawsuit in Ohio to force the football team to change its name.
"How would you like to have a loaded gun pointed to your head? That was the exact position they put us in. Either you change your name or we shut down your team," said Bill Stafford, the Storm's managing partner.
What the franchise will be known as in the future is yet to be determined. But for the moment the majority owners -- Stafford, Jeff Plyler of Plyler Overhead Door, Jeff Hauser and another person whose name has not been made public -- are, like the players and staff, celebrating a happy few days.
The team not only capped a regular season in which they went 8-6 -- a marked turnaround from 2009's 3-11 record -- but also squeaked into the playoffs when Baltimore beat Reading on Saturday.
The Storm are scheduled to play Friday at 7 p.m. at Harrisburg in the first round of the AIFA playoffs.
Erie is 0-3 against the Stampede this season, but maybe those losses will show the Storm what they need to do to win the most important matchup between the teams.
Stafford might know just how the Storm players feel heading into the game.
"You're on the front end of a learning curve when you put in a new defense. Same thing with an offense. You have to get a feel for it. It becomes instinctive," Stafford said. "For me the same way, (owning a team) has been very much a learning curve, and I've sought out many other owners. I've tried to cut this learning curve down. The other owners have been very helpful to help us move along."
Stafford, a retired teacher who also owns a string of Subway franchises in Erie County, said he has continually worked with sponsors and advertisers to promote the team this spring and summer. Stafford said such grass-roots work is vital because indoor football teams do not have the inherent draw that NFL teams have.
Stafford said the marketing has paid off. He estimated that the team drew 1,300 to 1,500 fans in its first two home games compared to 3,800 in its final two.
"Word of mouth is a big, big part of things. Positive word of mouth can help you. Negative word of mouth will destroy you," Stafford said.
As for the pending name change, Stafford said the owners will meet with professionals from Forte Marketing to discuss potential ideas once the season ends. Forte Marketing helped the team relaunch after the ownership change and assisted in the public naming contest that resulted in selection of the Storm as a nickname to replace the RiverRats.
Whatever decision is made, Stafford said he will keep the community in mind.
"This group wants to get involved and wants to be a part of this community. Improving upon the product is paramount," he said. "We're using the mindset 'our team, our town.' As local owners, we want to be involved that way."