Chicago Soldiers Is No More????

[BooBear]

I checked the ABA site and I notice that the Chicago Soldiers is no longer on the team roster! They went out of bussiness in four months that quick?!?!

[Houston Caldwell]

Actually,it was a lot quicker than that.

[Sam Hill]

I think they played, what, one home game?

Said Newman on August 27 when the team was announced: "'Fortunately we had a tremendous young man very familiar with Chicago and Chicago basketball to step in and help the ownership group."

Apparently that young man couldn't do too much with it.

[toad8098]

Chicago is one of many. Orange County Crush has now changed to the California Buzz. The following teams have changed ownership DURING the season: California, Detroit, Georgia, Atlanta, Pennsylvania, Calgary, Carolina, Harlem, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Philadelphia & Visalia - 14 teams. Detroit, Louisiana, Cincinnati, Colorado, Fresno & Jacksonville have all folded.
I'd expect the ABA to be down to 20-25 teams by the time the league finishes. A drop of 13-18 teams from when the league started in November.

What a shame. A to think they same thing will happen next season when 40 more teams join and half of them fold mid-season.

[dshaw62197]

Apparently the ABA website is behind the times a bit, or at least in a state of denial. Cincinnati, Detroit and Jacksonville are still listed in the standings, while the California whatevers are still listed as the Orange County Crush. Also, one of the Mexican teams - the Hermisillo Seris, I think? - has gone under. Too bad; they were "bubbling under" the top 16 teams in the playoff listings just two weeks ago.

Keeping up with this league is a job in and of itself.

[Sam Hill]

And is Philadelphia the Colonials now?

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3117738

Note to the ABA: It looks bad when you change a team's name in midseason. You give so much lip service to being fan-friendly and thinking of the fans first. How about keeping a name for more than 10 or 12 games on the off chance someone actually bought a Philadelphia Fusion t-shirt?

I have a feeling they might actually not have 16 teams for their playoffs, or if they do, the last few "seeds" are going to have really bad records.

[Houston Caldwell]

I agree; there have been many occasions when franchises changed ownership in the season in other leagues, BUT THE TEAM NAME REMAINED THE SAME.
And if this is a technique to take ownership of a franchise without assuming that franchises' debts, it is downright unethical.

[dshaw62197]

Actually, Sam... the Philadelphia team was originally named the Squires, waaaay back in August, when the name was changed to the Fusion. Apparently that name wasn't right either... but I agree with you, it's pretty bad when you can't keep track of a league's teams, let alone players, without a scorecard. :roll:

[dshaw62197]

And concerning the once-Orange County Crush changing their name, I found the following on Hoopsworld.com:

• The Califonia Buzz are proud to announce that Coach Burrel Lee III and Former NBA greats Cedric Ceballos, A.C. Green, Walt Hazzard and Jamaal Wilkes are all going to help us pay for team costs. We are going to take over California Buzz for the rest of the 2004-2005 season. We hope you will come and see what all the Buzz is about, yes that's right its the California Buzz.



Wah! And I just put an O.C. Crush bumper sticker on my car... not.

[dshaw62197]

And finally (last post tonight, I promise!), an article from the NY Daily Post on the ABA and Joe Bryant... WITH PICTURES!!!!

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/271720p-232725c.html

Of particular interest to readers of this board is the last section of the article, which deals with the "new" teams in Philly and Harlem. Read it and weep! :?

[Sam Hill]

And concerning the once-Orange County Crush changing their name, I found the following on Hoopsworld.com:

• The Califonia Buzz are proud to announce that Coach Burrel Lee III and Former NBA greats Cedric Ceballos, A.C. Green, Walt Hazzard and Jamaal Wilkes are all going to help us pay for team costs. We are going to take over California Buzz for the rest of the 2004-2005 season. We hope you will come and see what all the Buzz is about, yes that's right its the California Buzz.



Wah! And I just put an O.C. Crush bumper sticker on my car... not.

Did everybody in this league fail English in school, or what?

Note to ABA teams: Having your sister or your girlfriend or your neighbor write your press releases for you is not a good idea. Strangely enough, most cities in America have someone who is well-versed in written English. It's not like you have to go find a monk or something who is the only guy in town with the feather pen and the ink pot who understands grammar and writes everything longhand in a big ol' book with gilded edge paper and a lock on the front.

I cringe every time I read something one of these teams puts out for public consumption.

[dshaw62197]

I notice on the ABA's online schedule that one of today's (1/22) games is between Chicago and Cincinnati. Didn't Cincinnati fold? Are the Chicago guys going to play a game of pick-up with the locals?

[Sam Hill]

I've heard Philadelphia has folded now as well. Though it may be one of those "The name changed. The owners changed. The venue changed. Some of the players changed. That's the story" things. Not really folding, you know?

Some newspaper story referred to Philadelphia as the "Colonials" recently, so maybe they did just change everything. If it got Wayne Butler out of the league, that's a positive.

[Houston Caldwell]

Philadelphia HAS folded. They were on our schedule (Nashville Rhythm) for January 28 and 29, and have now been replaced by Kansas City.

[dshaw62197]

Has anyone kept a tally of what teams have folded so far this season? I've lost track... :?