Smallest city in ABA joins for next year.........(yawn)

[Paul S]

ok trivia time???????

Name a city closer to a foreign country than another state.

Name a city with 37000 people

Name a city where there are NO ABC, NBC, CBS or Fox affiliates.

Name a city where the 3 radio stations and one tv station get 50 percent of the advertising income from a foreign country?

Name a city in America where you can get a ferry to Alaska???


Well friends its the friendly town of Bellingham Washington. Yes Bellingham which is very beautiful (visited the place in 2001) and only 12 miles from the Canadian border and greater Vancouver. The most northern most city in Washington so a ferry goes to Alaska (another -larger- one goes out of British Columbia) and now the most exciting news since ...................................well GOD knows what.....but Joe Newman has lined up an ABA basketball team. Yes friends the Bellingham Slam of the ABA are due to take off shortly. An airport is either 14 miles North in Canada or 250 miles South in Seattle but seeing as away games are hard to come by in the Assinine Basketball Abomination (ABA for short) we'll probably not see any games.


I guess I should have titled this Another sucker signs 10k check.

OH yes I almost forgot. In typical assinine basketball abomination style none of the links on the website really work and the words "COMING SOON" seem to lurk all over the place. HEY why take my word for it go to http://www.bellinghamslam.com/

[Paul S]

Oh ya..................two more things.

1/ there is no arena just yet to play in yet thats been announced. However people "close to the situation" are scouring Bellingham all over town to find the right venue to launch a ABA franchise. I mean lets be honest here folks a town of 37 000 people must have.........what..........10-12 venues that can house prop hoops and open dates who have been waiting for this "opportunity" to house a pro team.

2/ Tryout camps to find players are coming. Just make the checks payable to ...............................................oh you know the drill.

[SeattleHoops]

Not sure where you got your facts, but Bellingham has a population of over 70,000 within the city limits and over 160,000 in the general vicinity.

Also, the city does have an airport, and Seattle is 90 miles to the south, not 250 miles. There are at least 8 radio stations in the city, not 3.

By my calculations, the smallest markets in the ABA are either the Greenville, Mississippi or the Greenville, South Carolina franchises with populations of 41,600 and 56,000, respectively.

[SeattleHoops]

Scratch that... Gallup, New Mexico earns the distinction of smallest ABA market with a population just over 20,000.

[Sam Hill]

As of the 2000 census, Bellingham had a population of 67,171.

Bellingham International Airport (http://www.portofbellingham.com/airport/default.htm) ain't much, but it's there. And Seattle is 90 miles south.

There are several radio stations in and around Bellingham, Washington (http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/locate?select=city&city=Bellingham&state=WA&sid=&x=13&y=8), including an all-sports station.

I'd be more concerned that supposedly 20% of the population is below the poverty line.

[BBall Fan]

I thought that one of the "new guidelines" was that teams had to play in venues with at least 3-4000 seats?

I can't imagine Gallup and Bellingham having that, do they?

[Pounder]

Guidelines... believe them when employed, not just seen.

Bellingham has- or maybe had- an ice arena out by the airport that used to host BCJHL. Didn't strike me as holding 3,000, however.

Western Washington University is a growing concern out there. Can't imagine them giving a pro team many good dates at their gym, though at least the "league" season goes Thursday-Saturday (don't forget the women, BTW). http://wwuvikings.collegesports.com/facilities/wwu-facilities.html

[tony-o]

My company logo could be there!