ABARedWhiteBlue
10-31-2005, 06:38 AM
Colonels basketball team owes city $32,400
Its second season at Gardens in doubt
By Sheldon S. Shafer
sshafer@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
The Kentucky Colonels basketball team, which played last season at The Gardens, is in default on its deal with Louisville metro government, casting doubt on a second season for the franchise.
The minor-league team owes the city $32,400, mostly in back rent for The Gardens, said Matt Kamer, a spokesman for Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson.
The team signed a lease with the city in mid-2004 to play its 18 home games a season for two seasons at The Gardens.
But the Colonels are "not playing any more until they get balanced out and back in good standing," Deputy Mayor Rick Johnstone said.
Stephanie Roach, the Indianapolis businesswoman who owns the team, said in an interview earlier this month that she hoped that the Colonels could play this winter at The Gardens.
She didn't return later calls, however, and the Colonels' phone number has been disconnected.
There hasn't been a new entry on the team's Web site for months, and the site said the team's schedule is "to be announced," even though American Basketball Association play is to begin around Thanksgiving.
The league Web site still lists the Colonels as one of 47 teams for the 2005-06 season; the Colonels are in the Freddie Lewis Division of the White Conference, along with the Pittsburgh Xplosion, the Indiana Alley Cats, the Toledo Ice, the Lake Erie Rockets and the Detroit Wheels.
Joe Newman, an Indianapolis-based businessman who co-founded the league and is its chairman and spokesman, didn't return phone calls.
The Colonels made the playoffs last season. But the history of minor-league professional basketball franchises in Louisville is checkered, and the Colonels' attendance fell far below what the team's management had expected.
The team said last fall that it hoped to sell 3,500 season tickets, but attendance often was well under 1,000 in the 5,500-seat Gardens.
Among the Colonels' top players were former Kentucky Wildcats Anthony Epps and Antwain Barbour and former University of Louisville Cardinal Luke Whitehead.
The ABA is a fairly new league that uses a red, white and blue basketball and had hoped to capitalize on nostalgia surrounding the old ABA that included a Kentucky Colonels franchise in Louisville from 1967 to 1976.
The Colonels disbanded, and the National Basketball Association absorbed several ABA teams.
City officials signed the two-year deal in the hope of putting some activity in The Gardens. Under the agreement, the Colonels are to pay $250 a month for an office and $1,500 a game for use of the arena.
The city is to receive a $1 surcharge on every ticket sold at the door and 50 cents per game on every season ticket sold. The city also is to get a share of concessions.
Kamer and Johnstone said they aren't sure how much the Colonels had paid the city under the lease for last season.
"We understand that it was a startup venture," Kamer said. "If they continue, we hope they begin to develop a broader base of support."
Johnstone said the team is in default on the lease and the matter has been turned over to the Jefferson County attorney's office.
The city is prepared to file suit, or "do whatever it takes" to recover what's owed, he said. "We owe it to our citizens to get payment on what they (the team) agreed to pay," he said.
The Colonels might have a hard time finding another home court in Louisville with the outstanding debt.
Harold Workman, Kentucky State Fair Board president, said the team has not approached him about trying to play at Broadbent Arena or the Kentucky International Convention Center, two Fair Board facilities.
"Their past track record in terms of keeping up with their bills" would be a factor in any talks, he said.
To me, the most striking part of this article is this:
Joe Newman, an Indianapolis-based businessman who co-founded the league and is its chairman and spokesman, didn't return phone calls.
Seeing as he sat breathlessly by the phone waiting for the NBA to return a call he never made, I wonder why he hasn't returned this call yet? He's probably thinking up more ways to rip the NBA dress code...
Its second season at Gardens in doubt
By Sheldon S. Shafer
sshafer@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
The Kentucky Colonels basketball team, which played last season at The Gardens, is in default on its deal with Louisville metro government, casting doubt on a second season for the franchise.
The minor-league team owes the city $32,400, mostly in back rent for The Gardens, said Matt Kamer, a spokesman for Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson.
The team signed a lease with the city in mid-2004 to play its 18 home games a season for two seasons at The Gardens.
But the Colonels are "not playing any more until they get balanced out and back in good standing," Deputy Mayor Rick Johnstone said.
Stephanie Roach, the Indianapolis businesswoman who owns the team, said in an interview earlier this month that she hoped that the Colonels could play this winter at The Gardens.
She didn't return later calls, however, and the Colonels' phone number has been disconnected.
There hasn't been a new entry on the team's Web site for months, and the site said the team's schedule is "to be announced," even though American Basketball Association play is to begin around Thanksgiving.
The league Web site still lists the Colonels as one of 47 teams for the 2005-06 season; the Colonels are in the Freddie Lewis Division of the White Conference, along with the Pittsburgh Xplosion, the Indiana Alley Cats, the Toledo Ice, the Lake Erie Rockets and the Detroit Wheels.
Joe Newman, an Indianapolis-based businessman who co-founded the league and is its chairman and spokesman, didn't return phone calls.
The Colonels made the playoffs last season. But the history of minor-league professional basketball franchises in Louisville is checkered, and the Colonels' attendance fell far below what the team's management had expected.
The team said last fall that it hoped to sell 3,500 season tickets, but attendance often was well under 1,000 in the 5,500-seat Gardens.
Among the Colonels' top players were former Kentucky Wildcats Anthony Epps and Antwain Barbour and former University of Louisville Cardinal Luke Whitehead.
The ABA is a fairly new league that uses a red, white and blue basketball and had hoped to capitalize on nostalgia surrounding the old ABA that included a Kentucky Colonels franchise in Louisville from 1967 to 1976.
The Colonels disbanded, and the National Basketball Association absorbed several ABA teams.
City officials signed the two-year deal in the hope of putting some activity in The Gardens. Under the agreement, the Colonels are to pay $250 a month for an office and $1,500 a game for use of the arena.
The city is to receive a $1 surcharge on every ticket sold at the door and 50 cents per game on every season ticket sold. The city also is to get a share of concessions.
Kamer and Johnstone said they aren't sure how much the Colonels had paid the city under the lease for last season.
"We understand that it was a startup venture," Kamer said. "If they continue, we hope they begin to develop a broader base of support."
Johnstone said the team is in default on the lease and the matter has been turned over to the Jefferson County attorney's office.
The city is prepared to file suit, or "do whatever it takes" to recover what's owed, he said. "We owe it to our citizens to get payment on what they (the team) agreed to pay," he said.
The Colonels might have a hard time finding another home court in Louisville with the outstanding debt.
Harold Workman, Kentucky State Fair Board president, said the team has not approached him about trying to play at Broadbent Arena or the Kentucky International Convention Center, two Fair Board facilities.
"Their past track record in terms of keeping up with their bills" would be a factor in any talks, he said.
To me, the most striking part of this article is this:
Joe Newman, an Indianapolis-based businessman who co-founded the league and is its chairman and spokesman, didn't return phone calls.
Seeing as he sat breathlessly by the phone waiting for the NBA to return a call he never made, I wonder why he hasn't returned this call yet? He's probably thinking up more ways to rip the NBA dress code...