Response to Questions

[Pounder]

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3605196

There's a part of me that doesn't want to glorify Joe Newman by actually addressing the answers to questions posed. That's called letting him set the agenda, and I'm long past giving a damn about that.

However, it does strike me funny that the leaque only discovers- while one team is supposedly in transit to a playoff game- that neither team had players supposedly playing enough games in the leaque to qualify for playoff competition.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT. Render unto me a ******* break.

Either that's complete incompetence on the part of the leaque office, or the statement is an embellishment. Arguments for both, well, overfloweth.

[Sam Hill]

Hilarity ensues:

When asked why just over 38 percent of scheduled ABA games were played this season:

"I am not sure what percentage of games were played this season; I will check to see if that is accurate. It is obvious that the ABA lost some teams and it was difficult to schedule games. The ABA teams worked diligently to play as many games as possible - including 10-15 teams to Singapore to play games (which took many teams out of action for a week or more)."

It doesn't matter if it was 38% or 48% - it wasn't 100% (or even 95%) and that's ridiculous.

When asked why he changed the quote from the Halifax Rainmen's Andre Livingston, who expressed disappointment in the league over the schedule change:

"In retrospect, it might have been better to delete the quote.* But it is not a matter of ethics. The fact is that many teams, many, send in raw facts and ask me to edit, re-write, create, etc their releases and to include quotes.# It is done regularly and with the permission of most. Like you, I am sensitive to the written word and want what is on the ABA web site to be in the best interests of the ABA and its teams.@

As you know, I write anywhere from 3-6 releases a day, five days a week. An average, I would suggest of about 13 release per week - or over 600 releases a year. In the three years I have been doing this, I have sent out about 2000 releases.$ This is the second time in those 2000 releases that anyone has EVER questioned anything I've written, including quotes.% Many of my quotes in the releases come from conversations that I have with the people who send me the information.** With all due respect to Halifax, I have edited quite a few grammatical and punctuation errors in their releases and have never been questioned.## I apologized to them this morning for the change. Perhaps I should not have taken the liberty with such a sensitive subject.

*Or, you know, not delete the quote.
#Why the hell don't you ask the Gwizzlies to do that?
@What about the best interests of the fans?
$And this is exactly what we want the league CEO to be doing - sending out releases. But it explains why in 2,000 releases, you've given the same quote about how great an ownership group is and how you're sure they're going to be a big success as a team 2,000 times.
%Except for all those meanspirited bloggers, who have questioned about 2,000 of my releases.
**And many more of them I've just made up out of whole cloth.
##Again, Georgia.

[Sam Hill]

When asked why the Georgia Gwizzlies and West Texas Whirlwinds dropped out of the playoffs Friday, hours before a scheduled postseason game:

"The Georgia Gwizzlies and the West Texas Whirlwinds did not drop out of the playoffs today. To be eligible for the ABA playoffs, a player had to have played at least 3 regular season games with the team. West Texas was on their way to Macon when we found that neither team had a complete roster with players who had played at least 3 regular season games and the league advised them that they were playoff ineligible."

Because, first and foremost, the ABA is about adhering to its own rules.

[SignGuyDino]

I'm very disappointed.

He didn't blame mean spirited bloggers ONCE.

[SignGuyDino]

Cuba played with 10 players against Honduras yesterday (seven of them "disappeared").

You only need 4 players to play. So there wasn't 4 players who played 3 games.

Uh-huh.

[preeths]

Here is the Gwizzlies playoff roster email we received Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Central. Mr. Newman has told us he will get back to us with the names of the ineligible Georgia players.

The email titled "Gwizzlies new release:Gwizzlies official playoff roster 2008":
The following ballplayers have played in 3 or more ABA basketball games for the ABA Georgia Gwizzlies: A.J Stallworth,Mike Davis,Ron Jackson,James Webb,Dominic Hassan,Chad Thomas,Terico Smothers,Joquain Oneil,Ron Camon,Xavier Morton and Mike Toth.

[tops804]

To be eligible for the ABA playoffs, a player had to have played at least 3 regular season games with the team. West Texas was on their way to Macon when we found that neither team had a complete roster with players who had played at least 3 regular season games and the league advised them that they were playoff ineligible.

1 - Is that in the operations manual?
2 - Didn't you realize that before West Texas was on the road?

the league was not involved in any of the scheduling

Sometimes when things don't happen as you hope they will happen, there is a hasty reaction.

3 - One, has been leading to the other, all season.

I am not sure what percentage of games were played this season; I will check to see if that is accurate.

4 - Check with OSC. or better yet.
look at the number of teams in the standings.
add up wins + loses of each.
divide that number, by the number of teams, divide that by 36. (realize that number, not including
many suspended teams, is very generous...)

One second thought, I fired up the TRS-80 to help you
out...26 teams played a combined 412 games (44.02%)

This is the second time in those 2000 releases that anyone has EVER questioned anything I've written, including quotes.

5 - Exactly how long did your nap last? Four years?

[preeths]

Just received this from Georgia's Embry Malone:
All my players had played FOUR or more ABA games:Stallworth,Davis,Smothers,Webb,Jackson,Oneil ,Thomas,Camon,Hassan,Morton and Toth,we were legit and had played 10 ABA games since November 25th.

[tops804]

West Texas forfeits...

...and Georgia should be playing Atlanta on Sunday. In other words, there's more to this...

I wish we would hear something about the games from Maywood...or lack of, therefore.

[TheStandard]

After what I have read today in emails. I am not only dumbfounded but I am still laughing hysterically.

[nksports]

Here is the Gwizzlies playoff roster email we received Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Central. Mr. Newman has told us he will get back to us with the names of the ineligible Georgia players.

The email titled "Gwizzlies new release:Gwizzlies official playoff roster 2008":

I know I'm stating the obvious here, but in a real league, a real commissioner could find out in seconds (or at least a couple of minutes depending on how fast his computer is) who the members of a team are. In real leagues, you have to send a copy of the player's contract to the league office after you sign them, as well as a copy of player waivers, injury lists and the like.

Most leagues have hard trade deadlines and signing deadlines, where a roster is certified. Usually change after this date is only allowed in the case of injury.

Only in the ABA could a commissioner not know a team's roster just before a playoff game. Also only in the ABA (where box scores and stats don't seem to be a requirement) could a commissioner not be able to find out how many games a player played in.

I have a solution (although it's too late now). Since I'm sure neither the Gwizzlies or West Texas played its full slate of regular-season games, they should have played three games in the morning (8 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. For the sake of the players' health, I would allow a running clock until the last two minutes of each half) and then their playoff game at night. The players would have been tired, but eligible. The survivor then moves on.

But this is the ABA, where the playoffs are clustersnuggle every year.

[The Magician]

ABA Playoff Best Practices 101

Pretty easy to figure out ...

Bahama Pro Show were a no-show in Halifax
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/1043627.html

And ... Halifax owner Andre Levingston has managed to bring in the Atlanta Vision as a replacement. Thursday’s game was postponed, but the Rainmen will play Atlanta tonight (Friday) and Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

So ... The Atlanta Vision are off on a nice little road trip to Halifax!

Hmm ... But need to back in Georgia for an ABA Play-off, Play-in Game on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m ... Hmm

West Texas Whirlwinds in Georgia for Playoffs
http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3604663

The winner (West Texas/Gwizz) will face the Atlanta Vision with the right to advance to the ABA finals on Sunday March 16 at 4:00pm at the Gwinnett center,Gwinnett County,Georgia

And to cover it all up, we have ...

ABA CEO Joe Newman responds to cancellation, playoff questions
http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3605196

When asked why the Georgia Gwizzlies and West Texas Whirlwinds dropped out of the playoffs Friday, hours before a scheduled postseason game:

The Georgia Gwizzlies and the West Texas Whirlwinds did not drop out of the playoffs today. To be eligible for the ABA playoffs, a player had to have played at least 3 regular season games with the team. West Texas was on their way to Macon when we found that neither team had a complete roster with players who had played at least 3 regular season games and the league advised them that they were playoff ineligible.

Atlanta was award the bye seat in the playoffs from the South joining Texas as one of the two South representatives in the playoffs. There will be four from the Northeast, two from the west and two from the south.

When asked what repercussions there would be for Bahama cancelling a road trip to Halifax the day of a game:

The repercussions from Bahama's last minute cancellation were considerable. It caused Halifax to have to move a game from Thursday until Friday. Atlanta stepped in and will play both tonight and tomorrow night. I'm sure fans were disappointed, but Friday/Saturday should increase the attendance over Thursday/Friday. It also created some "hard feelings" between Halifax and the league as to who's blame it was for Bahamas failing to make the trip. Bahama's was at the airport ready to fly to Halifax, but their flight through Toronto would have gotten them to Halifax too late on Thursday and Halifax decided to change the game dates.

The decision of Bahamas to play in Halifax was made by the two teams; the league was not involved in any of the scheduling and was unaware that a problem existed until earlier this week. The league did everything it could to encourage Bahamas to make the trip and got a commitment from them to make the trip. They also said that they would send me an email with the sequence of events and indicate that the league was not involved. It has not been an easy season for Halifax because it is not easy to get to and from Halifax. But they have done a tremendous job getting teams there and meeting their US/Canada commitment and deserve a lot of credit for the outstanding effort they have made. I do not want to be at odds with them. Sometimes when things don't happen as you hope they will happen, there is a hasty reaction.

This league CEO is nothing but shameful ...

[williamhughes11]

Let's see: Halifax has to reschedule two games at the last moment from Bahama (a non-playoff team) to Atlanta, who is scheduled to play their regional playoff game the day after the second game with the Rainmen. All of a sudden, Georgia and West Texas are eliminated from the playoffs without a game being played, as their rosters "did not play enough games during the regular season", leaving Atlanta as their regional winner by default. Halifax's owner is ticked off with ABA management and is the one of the best run teams in the league. The Halifax media is clearly calling for the Rainmen to move to another league. Halifax's playoff game is scheduled to be played at the host site of the Final VIII the day before the tournament begins.

With all of this in mind, call me crazy, but am I the only one who thinks that Halifax will advance to the Final VIII by default? I'm beginning to suspect the Jersey-Montreal game will only happen if the Maywood regional winner doesn't show up.

Come to think of it, I'm also beginning to think Montreal will get into the Final VIII, thus bringing three Canadian based teams into the tournament. Maybe Jersey will conveniently not be able to show up at Quebec (but I could be wrong. They may not have the richest owners in the league, but they do try to get their games in.)

At this rate, I could even see the Utica Wreckers getting to the Final VIII! :mrgreen:

[nksports]

At this rate, I could even see the Utica Wreckers getting to the Final VIII! :mrgreen:

Like Budweiser, they are the undisputed, undefeated heavyweight champions of (imaginary) minor-league basketball.

[Sam Hill]

Cuba played with 10 players against Honduras yesterday (seven of them "disappeared").

You only need 4 players to play. So there wasn't 4 players who played 3 games.

Uh-huh.

Actually, I believe you can continue a game with four players if everyone else fouls out. I don't believe you can begin a game with four players.

I don't have an ABA rulebook (is there one?) but in most basketball leagues, the game cannot begin if one team only has four players.


All my players had played FOUR or more ABA games:Stallworth,Davis,Smothers,Webb,Jackson,Oneil ,Thomas,Camon,Hassan,Morton and Toth,we were legit and had played 10 ABA games since November 25th.

If only there was some way...perhaps a method of counting the various accomplishments of players in each game...adding them up in some manner...and keeping all of the numbers for each player.

Then...presenting the numbers for each player's accomplishments in some tabular format...perhaps on a system of interconnected computers.

Nah, that's crazy talk.