Peoria vs. Dayton game cancelled?

[JBNPeoriaFootball]

Anyone else hear this? I guess the playing field is not ready and considered dangerous.

They've only had half a year to get this ready. What a joke.

[hawkeye]

It was "postponed" but has not yet been "canceled" .

My thoughts...this is more than a "blackeye" on the UIF...this is like getting your head stomped in for 12 rounds. The UIF needs to do some damage control and fast.

People can sit there and blame Dakota Crow all they'd like but this league is run by owners...it is not run by Dakota Crow. Mr. Crow is only there to help ensure things run as planned. And right now they are not running as planned.

So where does the blame fall? It falls all over the board but it maily lies within Dayton management.

Oh and to close...this is simply my opinion. I don't want it to be anymore or any less than that. But if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

[exit322]

It's a horse!

[Fez]

I'd like to hear Jamie's take on this. But it doesn't look good at all.
Here's the local paper's story:

Delay of game angers Warbirds owner

League hasn't given new indoor football team green light
By Kyle Nagel
Dayton Daily News

FAIRBORN | The 29 players were announced one by one, some simply running onto the field and some doing a half-shake, half-dance for the crowd of approximately 1,300. Then the Dayton Warbirds played their first football inside the Nutter Center, although is was an impromptu scrimmage and not the postponed franchise opener against the Peoria Rough Riders.

Other than missing padding on the boards surrounding the field, it seemed to be business as usual Thursday night for the Warbirds, an expansion team in the United Indoor Football Association. The debate now concerns whether it will remain that way.

The UIF, a first-year league of 12 teams, postponed the opener on Wednesday evening because, in part, the Warbirds did not have the correct wall padding, said team President and General Manager Jeff Jodway. The team received the appropriate foam padding from its Cincinnati supplier on Wednesday evening, but the league decided to postpone.

Internet message boards and phone lines burned Thursday with rumors about the team, including mass player exodus and shaky finances that could cause a season cancellation for the 7-month-old franchise.

Jodway disputed those claims Thursday, saying before the scrimmage that the only obstacle Dayton faces is the UIF giving the team a green light.

"They decided within the last two weeks that they wanted to start asking these different questions, asking who our sponsors are, what our finances are," Jodway said. "Every time we showed them what they were looking for, they would dream up something else."

Dakota Crow, who became the UIF commissioner when 12 former National Indoor Football League and Arena Football League 2 teams formed the league in November, said the entire "game system" — everything including the pads and turf — was not up to league specifications on Wednesday.

"We had hoped that it would be ready," Crow said. "I will say that the dasher pads were the largest part of that. We're just looking out for the safety of the players and coaches and fans."

Jodway said a communications error in ordering the protective padding on the boards surrounding the field — known as dasher pads — caused Styrofoam pads to be shipped instead of the softer foam pads.

A release on the UIF Web site cited "safety concerns with the game system and playing surfaces as well as compliance issues with the league" as reasons for the postponement. A make-up date has not been set.

Crow declined to specify the meaning of "compliance issues," but Jodway said the term meant paperwork that the league considered missing or inadequate.

"They'll claim that we didn't have (general liability) insurance, but we do, because if we didn't have insurance we wouldn't be in the venue right now," Jodway said. "They claim that we didn't have our (workers' compensation) posted, but we did, and it's dated January 1st. They'll claim that we do not have a letter of credit, but we do, we just won't post it with them because at this point I flat out don't trust them."

Jodway produced copies of what he said were the team's workers' compensation and insurance. The State of Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation document listed a policy covering the "Dayton Indoor Football Club" for the period of Jan. 1 to Aug. 31. According to the paperwork, the team also has an insurance policy with K&K Insurance Group Inc. — a Fort Wayne, Ind., company — that went into effect on Wednesday.

"We do not have money problems," Jodway said.

As far as quitting players, the only Warbird missing Thursday was wide receiver Billy Back, whom coach Matt King said was excused for his honeymoon.

"You get this adrenaline, and you get ready to play, and they put the brakes on," King said. "I understand it's a business, and I understand these are issues, but I just want to play football."

Tom Tomaszewski, Peoria's general manager, said the Rough Riders' bus was preparing to leave on Wednesday at noon when the team was notified the game was postponed. So instead of leading his players into the Nutter Center to begin its seventh season, legendary Peoria coach Bruce Cowdrey sat in his living room watching the NCAA tournament on Thursday.

"I've been in football for 30 years," Cowdrey said, "and it's the first time I've been pulled off a bus."

Crow stressed that Thursday's postponement was just that — not a threat to the Warbirds' season.

"We're ready to play (Thursday), we're ready to play April 2 (the team's next scheduled home game), we're ready to play whenever they want us to play," Jodway said. "If we don't play, that will be a league decision."

Contact Kyle Nagel at (937) 225-7389.

[Jamie]

I'd like to hear Jamie's take on this. But it doesn't look good at all.

Agreed. The whole situation stinks.

I know only a little more than what has been publicly announced. But what I do know is encouraging. Contrary to what the Internet goons say, I do not believe Dayton is folding.

[Pounder]

Doesn't sound like folding will be the problem. It sounds like "revoking the franchise" could be the outcome.

[exit322]

That's what I'm thinking, too.

[Tater]

Wonder what Jodaway's good friend from Ft. Wayne, Rich Coffey, has to say about this. I would believe that his word got Dayton in the UIF in the first place, because they basically had nothing to start with when the UIF was formed. Is he standing in the back this time, or is he going to make a phone call and get this issue resolved?

[Jamie]

Dayton is not going anywhere except forward. I spoke to the GM today.

They are still working with the League and the Nutter Center to reschedule the postponed game.

The first game will be the previously scheduled Game 2 on April 2.

There should be a press release out very soon followed by a press conference.

[Pounder]

Dissection time

Jodway disputed those claims Thursday, saying before the scrimmage that the only obstacle Dayton faces is the UIF giving the team a green light.

"They decided within the last two weeks that they wanted to start asking these different questions, asking who our sponsors are, what our finances are," Jodway said. "Every time we showed them what they were looking for, they would dream up something else."

Put it this way... the league is your team's product as much as the team is. This is one heck of a way to assure your fans that your schedule is anything worth watching. This doesn't strike me as the best way to increase your walkup crowd. Possibly of more importance is putting league officials in a bad light PUBLICALLY.

Crow declined to specify the meaning of "compliance issues," but Jodway said the term meant paperwork that the league considered missing or inadequate.

"They'll claim that we didn't have (general liability) insurance, but we do, because if we didn't have insurance we wouldn't be in the venue right now," Jodway said. "They claim that we didn't have our (workers' compensation) posted, but we did, and it's dated January 1st. They'll claim that we do not have a letter of credit, but we do, we just won't post it with them because at this point I flat out don't trust them."

Here we go again. Frankly, that doesn't sound like an owner who's sticking around in the league he jumped to. Shall I point to the MISL this year regarding what happens if you let a team play without requiring that the letter of credit be posted with the league?

I cannot see how this works out without a real gusher of a public apology from Mr. Jodway.