Caballo Diablo
07-25-2009, 01:35 PM
This "journalist" has a reputaion of bad info, can anyone shed some light or insight on the subject?
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http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x...we-ll-know-more-Monday
The following is not the entire article.
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN? Peoria Pirates majority owner Doug MacGregor is spearheading a group of af2 owners meeting this week with counterparts from the rival IFL in Oklahoma City to examine the possibility of a new league for 2010.
It would essentially be a merger, although a few teams would not be invited.
MacGregor’s vision, according to sources, is for a 32-team league, set up in four eight-team divisions.
“In the scenario that is being investigated, rebound nets and (af2) rules will be used,” said MacGregor, when asked about the source reports. “I can promise that we’ll be playing some version of arena football. It will not be indoor football, but arena football, like the AFL/af2 plays. The arena game that fans love and support will be preserved.”
Known to be on the invite list, from the af2, are Peoria, Quad City, Arkansas, Bossier-Shreveport, Rio Grande, Corpus Christi, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Boise, Tennessee Valley and Tulsa. Among the IFL invites are Bloomington, St. Louis, Wichita, San Angelo (Texas), Omaha, Odessa, El Paso, Colorado (Loveland), Sioux City (Iowa) and Richmond (Va.).
The Pirates would operate in a division with Quad City, Bloomington, St. Louis, Sioux City, Omaha and a seventh member as yet unknown.
A 14-game schedule would be played, entirely within the division, to limit travel costs. Head coaches would be capped at $35,000 and be declared seasonal employees, which means no insurance benefits or unemployment checks in the offseason.
Coaching salary caps likely won’t fly. A guy like Mike Hohensee isn’t going to work for that.
Owners also want to create an “AFL Light” in which current af2 teams Tulsa, Spokane, Iowa and maybe defunct Louisville, would move up and join some of the original AFL clubs — remember, that senior league ceased operations over the winter — in a rebirth.
The new AFL would cap player salaries at $500 per week.
The new af2 — or whatever it ends up being called — would maintain its current $250 per week pay rate.
Rebound nets will be a major argument between the af2 and IFL owners. The IFL is 8-man football without nets. The af2, of course, uses the rebound nets and uniform field kits. It has proven to be a better product.
The patents on the arena football rebound nets and concepts — held by the AFL and af2 for 19 years — have expired this summer.
That means a newly-formed, or reforming league, like MacGregor envisions, could use the nets, too.
“I am a fully participating owner in the af2,” MacGregor said. “My focus is on making the af2 stronger. But it’s just good business to examine options, investigate things.
“I’m not saying another league would happen. The AFL (which suspended operations in 2009) is such an unknown as to whether it comes back in 2010, and that is going to impact things.
“If the AFL does not come back, I am fairly certain some of those teams will want to join a new league and operate.
“Right now, it’s all exploration for us. I don’t even know what such a league would be called. But I think everything will be clarified one way or another by the end of August.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x...we-ll-know-more-Monday
The following is not the entire article.
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN? Peoria Pirates majority owner Doug MacGregor is spearheading a group of af2 owners meeting this week with counterparts from the rival IFL in Oklahoma City to examine the possibility of a new league for 2010.
It would essentially be a merger, although a few teams would not be invited.
MacGregor’s vision, according to sources, is for a 32-team league, set up in four eight-team divisions.
“In the scenario that is being investigated, rebound nets and (af2) rules will be used,” said MacGregor, when asked about the source reports. “I can promise that we’ll be playing some version of arena football. It will not be indoor football, but arena football, like the AFL/af2 plays. The arena game that fans love and support will be preserved.”
Known to be on the invite list, from the af2, are Peoria, Quad City, Arkansas, Bossier-Shreveport, Rio Grande, Corpus Christi, Amarillo, Oklahoma City, Boise, Tennessee Valley and Tulsa. Among the IFL invites are Bloomington, St. Louis, Wichita, San Angelo (Texas), Omaha, Odessa, El Paso, Colorado (Loveland), Sioux City (Iowa) and Richmond (Va.).
The Pirates would operate in a division with Quad City, Bloomington, St. Louis, Sioux City, Omaha and a seventh member as yet unknown.
A 14-game schedule would be played, entirely within the division, to limit travel costs. Head coaches would be capped at $35,000 and be declared seasonal employees, which means no insurance benefits or unemployment checks in the offseason.
Coaching salary caps likely won’t fly. A guy like Mike Hohensee isn’t going to work for that.
Owners also want to create an “AFL Light” in which current af2 teams Tulsa, Spokane, Iowa and maybe defunct Louisville, would move up and join some of the original AFL clubs — remember, that senior league ceased operations over the winter — in a rebirth.
The new AFL would cap player salaries at $500 per week.
The new af2 — or whatever it ends up being called — would maintain its current $250 per week pay rate.
Rebound nets will be a major argument between the af2 and IFL owners. The IFL is 8-man football without nets. The af2, of course, uses the rebound nets and uniform field kits. It has proven to be a better product.
The patents on the arena football rebound nets and concepts — held by the AFL and af2 for 19 years — have expired this summer.
That means a newly-formed, or reforming league, like MacGregor envisions, could use the nets, too.
“I am a fully participating owner in the af2,” MacGregor said. “My focus is on making the af2 stronger. But it’s just good business to examine options, investigate things.
“I’m not saying another league would happen. The AFL (which suspended operations in 2009) is such an unknown as to whether it comes back in 2010, and that is going to impact things.
“If the AFL does not come back, I am fairly certain some of those teams will want to join a new league and operate.
“Right now, it’s all exploration for us. I don’t even know what such a league would be called. But I think everything will be clarified one way or another by the end of August.”