Post by 50yardfan on Mar 22, 2011 14:35:31 GMT -5
by Jerry Hewitt - Yesterday I took the SIFL to task on its poor start to the 2011 season, but that doesn't mean I haven't been keeping my eye on the other leagues as well.
I mentioned yesterday that it appeared Fayetteville didn't keep stats. Others have said stats were kept, but not submitted, and the league's Monday release stated, "No stat report filed," for the game. Whatever the case, the stats were not available to fans, the media or even the league. The story was that one of the owners didn't know what to do with them. This may be a league problem more than just a team one. It goes right back to the league not communicating or helping teams get underway. Teams need to know how to keep stats and what to do with them before the season begins.
Over in the CIFL I found it interesting that the defending champion Cincinnati Commandoes destroyed the new Indy travel team by a final of 82-2. In my opinion there is no excuse for any team playing at this level to only manage two points. I don't fault the Indy guys for this poor performance, but the CIFL leadership for even allowing a team in that would be so ill prepared as to only score two points. Let's be honest, CIFL, you could and should be doing better after this many years.
It's a rip off to fans, in my opinion, for leagues to allow teams on the field who are less than competitive at this level. This also goes to leagues who bring in replacement teams to fill gaps in schedules, such as we witnessed in the SIFL at Mobile Monday night. It's simply nothing more than cheating fans out of a competitive game.
I was out of town last week and missed the games for two straight weeks, so maybe some of my issues were already taken care of over in the IFL. In the first couple of weeks I noticed a problem with PointStreak, with some games not being updated or missing info such as the game time not being accurately displayed. I might not have had a problem had occurred with any of the new teams, but it was teams in their second year of using the program that were having issues. I contacted the league and was told they were addressing the issue and even handing out fines.
I didn't find news of Fairbanks experiencing problems surprising, but I expected travel costs to be the reason for team's financial instability, not workers comp. Be that as it may, I was happy to see area fans, businesses and even politicians jumping in to help save the franchise. Just goes to show how important these minor league teams are to a community at times. Good job to the Grizzly faithful up there!
Arizona appears to have hit a rough patch, with rumblings that some players haven't been paid. I questioned Arizona's viability from the start, but the IFL assured me there was very strong money behind the team. It appears management and coaching are still big issues.
The biggest question mark entering the season was the new UIFL and it seems funny right now that there appear to be fewer obvious problems in that league than in some of the more established circuits. The biggest problem I could find was Saginaw is now on its fourth head coach. That's not exactly showing stability, but it's not totally unheard of either. There has been some talk about coaches not being paid and insurance to cover players not being in place. Though I couldn't find anything to back up either of those claims, the situation bears watching.
I mentioned yesterday that it appeared Fayetteville didn't keep stats. Others have said stats were kept, but not submitted, and the league's Monday release stated, "No stat report filed," for the game. Whatever the case, the stats were not available to fans, the media or even the league. The story was that one of the owners didn't know what to do with them. This may be a league problem more than just a team one. It goes right back to the league not communicating or helping teams get underway. Teams need to know how to keep stats and what to do with them before the season begins.
Over in the CIFL I found it interesting that the defending champion Cincinnati Commandoes destroyed the new Indy travel team by a final of 82-2. In my opinion there is no excuse for any team playing at this level to only manage two points. I don't fault the Indy guys for this poor performance, but the CIFL leadership for even allowing a team in that would be so ill prepared as to only score two points. Let's be honest, CIFL, you could and should be doing better after this many years.
It's a rip off to fans, in my opinion, for leagues to allow teams on the field who are less than competitive at this level. This also goes to leagues who bring in replacement teams to fill gaps in schedules, such as we witnessed in the SIFL at Mobile Monday night. It's simply nothing more than cheating fans out of a competitive game.
I was out of town last week and missed the games for two straight weeks, so maybe some of my issues were already taken care of over in the IFL. In the first couple of weeks I noticed a problem with PointStreak, with some games not being updated or missing info such as the game time not being accurately displayed. I might not have had a problem had occurred with any of the new teams, but it was teams in their second year of using the program that were having issues. I contacted the league and was told they were addressing the issue and even handing out fines.
I didn't find news of Fairbanks experiencing problems surprising, but I expected travel costs to be the reason for team's financial instability, not workers comp. Be that as it may, I was happy to see area fans, businesses and even politicians jumping in to help save the franchise. Just goes to show how important these minor league teams are to a community at times. Good job to the Grizzly faithful up there!
Arizona appears to have hit a rough patch, with rumblings that some players haven't been paid. I questioned Arizona's viability from the start, but the IFL assured me there was very strong money behind the team. It appears management and coaching are still big issues.
The biggest question mark entering the season was the new UIFL and it seems funny right now that there appear to be fewer obvious problems in that league than in some of the more established circuits. The biggest problem I could find was Saginaw is now on its fourth head coach. That's not exactly showing stability, but it's not totally unheard of either. There has been some talk about coaches not being paid and insurance to cover players not being in place. Though I couldn't find anything to back up either of those claims, the situation bears watching.