Champions again.

[gonzo13]

First off I'd like to congratulate my team, the Rome Gladiators on their second consecutive WBA title. Second I'm curious about the teams financial status. I've heard from sources close to the team (I know thats cheesy but it's the best I can do right now) that the Glads may not be back next season.It would be pretty sad if the two time champions were to fold due to lack of financing. The fact is that the franchise is poorly run. That's evident if you go to a game or even live in Rome. They do nothing to draw attention to themselves. We have two other minor league teams here (The Rome Renegades of the AIFL, and the Atlanta Braves class A team) and they are on top of the advertising end. Billboards, news paper ads, local radio spots, and public appearences. The problem starts ofcourse with ownership. The Glads are owned by NBA player Theo Ratliff. I think he has been to maybe 5 games since he bought the team.It looks like it may be just a status thing to him. To be able to say " I own a basketball team." And now it looks like he's thinking he's may have gotten in over his head with the money it takes to run a team. Again reiterating the fact that chapter one of the "minor league teams owners manual" shoule be titled, THIS IS NOT A GET RICH QUICK SCHEME. Our Coach/General Manager Harold Ellis is another part of the problem. To his credit, he does a great job getting tallented players to come to Rome. But he's not from here, he doesn't live here and I don't think that he has any idea about what goes on here outside of game nights. The few times I've had any communications with him, it almost seems like he thinks he's doing us a favor by being here. Now I know that he's a big time scout for the Atlanta Hawks....Well maybe that's not so big time, but I'm just glad he takes a little time out of his more important NBA job to help out us little people. Another thing, our games NEVER start on time, they're usually at least a half hour late in starting.....Anyway, without dragging on any further I would just like to know if these problems sound familiar to other WBA towns.

[MrDuke]

yea...not to mention coach ellis bears a striking resemblance to Steve Harvey. seeing as how as gonzo stated his "real job" as an NBA recruiter isnt going so well maybe he should try his hand at being a comedian on the WB again.

[one way]

be thankful- you could have had that idiot steve tucker coaching your wba club. I heard that the owners could not have had the season end soon enough in order to get him out of town

[MrDuke]

What team did he coach?

[jack b]

this team will never learn that small towns remember i have been here for several years and witnessed outstanding bills left and broken promises someone should hold these team responsible for what they do and if they hire staff to represent them they need to accept the responsibility for what they do. instead of "this person or that person was not authorized" the team also needs to think about the community and the people who live here we are the ones who support them and a thank you or something would be nice like the renagades or the braves do each year.

[gonzo13]

Nice to see somebody else locally is concerned. And it looks like you may have some insider information. And by that I think I know who you are,if I'm right we've met before. Do you have any answers for any of the questions in my first post?

[jack b]

all i can say is watch for press release;)

[gonzo13]

I doubt if the Gladiators will have a press release...That's just how they do things...

[jack b]

hey the gladiators had a press conference at the begining of the year
they just didnt let anyone really know about it. if you want to suceed you have got to get out in the public and support the communities around you
they just had someone in charge that was more about promoting himself than the team and it will continue to be that way cause the owners will not get
involved and be seen. your suppose to lead by example. if upper management doesn't get involved and are active in the daily opperations then the local staff manager want do his job either he'll just take credit for everone elses work and dump on the ones doing the work. plus it was pretty sad when the team won on sat and was gone on sunday they didnt even have the dignity
to thank the people of rome and its not the players its the head coach and management.

[gonzo13]

So are you saying they arent coming back at all?

[jack b]

i hope they will return as a team but maybe they need to change management staff and get owners who show interest in the team and show up at a game or 2

[gonzo13]

Amen to that. I like the style of basketball that is played in the WBA And I enjoy going to the Gladiators games.But if the owners and management of the team are going to act like they could give a hoot about the people that come out to watch the team, then I'd rather them not even be here....Afterall if I just want to see some WBA action, Cartersville isn't that far away.

[jack b]

i was impressed with marietta they start on time are respectable to the fans and promote all their staff not just the team players i heard that 3 or 4 of the dance team will be goining to the falcons this coming season.
but cartersville shouldnt be allowed to do anything in this league those owners are absolute thugs the championship game they treated the people volunteering to staff everything like crap yelling curse words at the girls from the college spitting on people and bringing weapons to that game they yelled and made comment about and to the guy playing the music and anouncing as well let alone they had a we got cheated attitude when they lost. which they had 2 great chances to when and the players didnt seal the deal by missing the shots.fact is their record resulted from 5 or 6 forfeted games so they really didnt win as many as some team.

[gonzo13]

OK, well...They wont be getting any more of my money. I went to Cartersville and watched them play against Marrietta one time this season. I was impressed with the tallent of their players and their style of play. But there is NO place of the things you said they were doing. I wasn't at the championship game, but if I had been and seen all of that I would have left.

[jack b]

there are teams that carry themselves with dignity rome is one of those
you have to be somewhat impressed with them the coaches and players both you dont hear them yelling at the staffs of other teams they carry themselves as though their mother is right there with them and if the fans go up to them after a game they loose they dont tell them to get away they suck it up and go on. another team that carries themselves well is murfreesboro plus their owner is seen at the games as is arkansas, druid city marietta and those are the teams doing the best but they are also the teams not lying to the community they represent either. if rome comes back the actual owner needs to be involved

[darcherjr]

With a little more inside knowledge of the situation, I must tell you that you are very much wrong in regards to your comments about the Cartersville team at the WBA Championship Game. Maybe you should dig a little deeper before you accuse people of negative actions, much less bringing weapons to a basketball game. You should be ashamed of yourself for saying that.

No Cartersville supporters, staff or players had anything negative to say to the Music guy or anyone else. The music guy for Rome is a close personal friend of mine. He was even in the Cartersville locker room after the game congralulating the players on a great season and championship game. If he had been verbally assaulted by Cartersville staff or players, then he would have personally told me abou it. It did not happen. Also, no one "spit" on anyone. The Cartersville staff and players showed the utmost of respect and took the defeat with pride and dignity.

No Cartersville supporter, staff or players accused the referees of cheating for Rome. They did not cheat, rather they were simply very, very untrained for professional basketball rules. The referees were absolutely "terrible" in the WBA this year -- and in the Championship Game - for both teams.

Also, the Cartersville team was every bit as good as its record indicated. The team suffered through forfeits because of no fault of its own. The team travelled severel times, only to not be able to play games. How can you question the quality of the Cartersville team? The Final game went to two overtimes. The game was obviously up for grabs, with each team getting their opportunities to win. Rome won. They deserved to win. Don't tarnish what many people at the game called the "best game they have ever seen."

Verbalizations during the course of the game are natural and often with reason. You apparently are not a "basketball person," and must not understand the nuances of the game when it comes to trying to gain psychological advantages. Rome's Coach is very good at gaining psychological advantage. It has helped them win consecutive WBA Titles. For example, Rome's coach had to be told to stay on his side of the court. Several times he was practically coaching from only a few feet away from Cartersville's bench. In each instance, he had to be verbally told to go back down the side to his side. No hard feelings, just fact of the matter. What you don't know is... the owner's, coaches, players in the WBA are a close-knit group of people, who have daily contact with one another during the season. Some verbal exchanges between players, coaches, owners were quite simply attributed to the spirit of competition.

By the way, I saw Marietta play four or five home games. They very rarely started their home games on time. You contradict yourself repeatedly. You down-talk Rome's entire organization, then turn around and state they carry themselves with dignity. You are obviously an instigator, who speaks before listening.

If you truly had inside knowledge about things related to the Rome Gladiators, Cartersville Warriors, other WBA teams (or any other WBA-related issues) then you would not be putting out such vague accusations. But, the fact is... you really don't know what you are talking about. I would advise you to refrain from such comments on a public forum such as this. You should take this advisement literally and keep your comments to the positive side of the spectrum.

[martin p]

it would be expected that the general manager/ coach of the cartersville team would try to do damage control about the championship game but the fact is i also witnessed the spitting and the weapon being pulled out let alone one of your own team members having to pull a team owner away from this man. you are only trying to save face in the community the fact is i will never support any team in that league again. also you can deny what happend all day long but the parking lot was full of witnesses spectators and team players. and due to the fact both of your owners where a part of it i find it even more ridiculous you are trying to out right lie about it happening.

[gonzo13]

Since this thread started I've heard a few more eye-witness accounts of whta happened at the championship game, and they pretty well go along with what Jack B and Martin P have said. And in the words of a Cartersville PLAYER, the owner "is a thug." I went to a game in Cartersville this season, and I noticed the owners being very vocal. But being on the other side of the gym,I didn't pay much attention, I figured they were just really competitive. But after 6 people (including jack and martin,and a Cartersville player) told me about what happened at the championship game, I think it's safe to assume otherwise.

[jack b]

i find it funny that the coach wants to down play what happened i talked with several people following the event and heard the same stories.

[darcherjr]

The comments placed on this thread makes it appear that during the game the Cartersville contigent was spitting on people, yelling obscenities at the music guy, wielding guns in the gym and accusing the referees of cheating. These events did not occur. Now, it is obviously clear that you are referring to the parking lot incident following the game. That issue had nothing to do with the game and/or who won or lost the game. I re-iterate, you do not have full knowledge of the situation, nor of who is even considered be "owners," who were employees and who were supporters - as it directly relates to the situation that took place in the parking lot. If you knew what actually occured, you would not be quite as judgemental about the situation. And, trust me... you don't have the proper information.

Nevertheless, this is not the forum in which to make such accusations, especially with out full and correct information.

By the way, you are absolutely correct if you think I am backing up the people who were associated with the Cartersville organization. Call it "damage control," or whatever. There were a lot of good people/players involved with the Warriors, contrary to what you all are posting here -- and I will not allow you to paint anyone with the organization in a unnecessary light.

I will not participate in this discussion any further, because additional defense is not warranted. I [again] urge and request you to refrain from future accusatory remarks.

Why don't you all include who you are in your profile?

[gonzo13]

Because message boards are about being able to slander people anonymously :roll: ........Actually, It's because we're nobody's man! None of us are coaches or players, we're just fans! So it's not really important who we are! Don't try to discredit people because they won't post their actual name. But if you really want to know who I am, just PM me.




GO GLADIATORS! BACK TO BACK WBA CHAMPS!!!

[martin p]

way to go gonzo,
its really funny that when more than one person witnessed what happened
and spoke up about it that david archer jr. doesnt want to be a part of it anymore. thats becouse he had no ground to stand on. anyway i wish mr archer good luck in his future endeavors.