ABA schedule change?

[meyes]

From today's story in the Long Beach Press-Telegram--
"Guard Geno Carlisle added 28 points for Long Beach in its final road game of the season."

According the the ABA schedule the Jam have games left at Tijuana March 6 and at the Squires March 9 & 10.

Yesterday the same paper reported that the Jam had beaten Fresno at Fresno when, in fact, Fresno won.

[mexican fan]

Seems like the ABA has done it again. Cut the sched and announce his Playoff tournament. At least this year they almost finish the season. No respect, like Rodney says.

[Sam Hill]

Good to see things are so much better with Jim Clark at the helm.

Tournament games on TV? I'll believe it when I see it. Will this be English-language TV? Watch, they put the quarters and semis in Mexico because Televisa or somebody will televise the games, and the final in Long Beach because (a) that's the only place they can draw flies and (b) that station that carried the Rodman game (of which there have only been two, remember) will carry the final, as they hope and figure the Jam will be in it.

That's not exactly what having a TV contract means, Joe.

Complete and utter morons over there.

[meyes]

This won't exactly have people lining up to buy season tickets next year, but I guess that is not really a concern. It is hard to miss something you never had.

JC says all teams will have a chance to win the championship. I wonder how many are included in the playoff format.

At least next season seems more assured at this point than in any of the previous years. Maybe BEFORE next season, the post season format will be announced and the season and post-season will be played as announced.

[meyes]

This won't exactly have people lining up to buy season tickets next year, but I guess that is not really a concern. It is hard to miss something you never had.

JC says all teams will have a chance to win the championship. I wonder how many are included in the playoff format.

At least next season seems more assured at this point than in any of the previous years. Maybe BEFORE next season, the post season format will be announced and the season and post-season will be played as announced.

Upon further review...

The only teams to lose home games under this plan are Jersey, Las Vegas and Juarez. The first two obviously won't be missed and Juarez is taken care of so fans who have actually supported teams at home really won't be shorted.

Still, to me, it is better business to play a schedule as announced.

[Sam Hill]

The ABA's colors: red, white, blue, and the silver lining that only meyes can see.

meyes, this isn't simply a matter of "no harm, no foul - nobody's going to really miss those games." It's a matter of once again, this league has promised something and not delivered. For the third straight year they will have cut the season short (it matters not if it's by a month or a week) to go straight to the tournament, which renders what they did play of a season completely meaningless because it's who plays the best on three days in March that matters.

But, hey, in only two of those three years have they claimed the tournament would be on TV. I guess that's progress.

Things were supposed to be different under Jim Clark, but let's look at the things that aren't different:


Season cut short;
Games mysteriously "postponed";
Teams moving mid-season;
At least one completely noncompetitive team;
Bad attendance at most games;
No league TV contract;
Releases in which they point to how great things are, despite the fact they're not;
No official statistics;
The promise of expansion teams; and
At least one completely horrible and inept owner


But, hey, just keep intoning "Master P, Jellybean Bryant, Dennis Rodman" like it's a mantra, or like it means something.

When's the last time Master P played? He's lucky we don't have boxscores of all the games out there, or else it would be obvious that he can't play.

Jellybean Bryant is not Kobe Bryant. Nobody buys tickets to see Jellybean Bryant, who, oh, by the way, is four games under .500 as I write this (we think, the standings may or may not be quite right).

And as for Dennis Rodman - has anybody ever gotten more mileage out of 47 minutes of playing time in the history of basketball? Holy Cow, if the over/under on how many ABA games Rodman would play was 3 and you had the under, you win!

This league is doing so well and it's so exciting and such a great opportunity that they were able to find five people who actually haven't been indicted on 82 counts of fraud or declared bankruptcy three times and have an outstanding arrest warrant to be owners for next season.

This used to be sad, but now I think it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen in sports. How these people can continue this charade day after day, week after week, and how people can continue to put their professional livelihoods in these people's hands is unreal. How they're still paying the electric bill is totally beyond me.

And how you continue to spin everything as a positive is beyond me, too. God bless ya, meyes, but geez, get real, will you?

[BBall Fan]

Not that I would be surprised if they shortened the season, but where are you guys getting this from?

Its quite possible that the Long Beach reporter just made a mistake isn't it? The ABA website certainly doesn't mention it (not that they've ever had any factual info on there).

I don't think that they've even announced the location or format for the tournament, have they?

Fill me in.

[Sam Hill]

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3003832&l_id=64&t_id=

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3003925&l_id=64&t_id=1208

They send out the release, but they can't be bothered to put it on their own site. It's the rudimentary stuff that they struggle with.

[BBall Fan]

Okay, thanks for that info.... not a surprise though.

Maybe they didn't want to post anything on the website because they are still basking in the glory of the Gwizzlies.

A couple questions regarding their press releases:

1) The American Basketball Association (ABA) announced today that the first place Long Beach Jam will host the league championship game Mar. 9 at 7:30 p.m. The Jam’s final regular season game will be Mar. 2. The Jam have been in first place all season, winning their first seven games en route to its current 19-7 record.
--- Is this because they are in first place, or because they are the only team that can draw more than 500 (assuming they tell everyone that Rodman will be there). Technically, Kansas City's has more wins, and a loss by Long Beach this weekend would mean KC would have a better record.


2) Newman stated, "This (Gwinnett) is our first team in the southeast and we are extremely excited about the city, the name and the ownership group that has been assembled. It should be a very successful ABA team."
--- I guess the failed teams in Jacksonville, Memphis, Kentucky, and Tampa Bay weren't really part of the south east. By the way Joe, what qualifies a team as "very successful" in this league? Finishing the season? Keeping the ownership group out of jail?

Now that this pathetic excuse for a league will wrap up in 2-3 weeks time, will Dennis Rodman ever play another game?

[/b]

[Sam Hill]

--- Is this because they are in first place, or because they are the only team that can draw more than 500 (assuming they tell everyone that Rodman will be there).

Gotta be the latter.


2) Newman stated, "This (Gwinnett) is our first team in the southeast and we are extremely excited about the city, the name and the ownership group that has been assembled. It should be a very successful ABA team."
--- I guess the failed teams in Jacksonville, Memphis, Kentucky, and Tampa Bay weren't really part of the south east. By the way Joe, what qualifies a team as "very successful" in this league? Finishing the season? Keeping the ownership group out of jail?[/b]

Answer: Joe meant first new team in the southeast. Oh, wait, I guess Nashville's not the southeast, even though it's in Tennessee.

Oh, well, Joe's a moron.


Now that this pathetic excuse for a league will wrap up in 2-3 weeks time, will Dennis Rodman ever play another game?

Unlikely. But they won't exactly dissuade anyone of the notion that he might play, just in case they want to buy a ticket.

I've never understood the fascination here. I mean, no one buys a ticket to watch a guy rebound. They're buying tickets in case the guy goes postal on somebody during the game, and he doesn't even do that anymore. He's 42, and if he can't get into shape and stay in shape long enough to play in this league, he's not getting a look in the NBA, you figure? He wanted to be back in the league by the All-Star Break, which, unless I'm mistaken, was last weekend.

[not so fast]

as a once critic of this league, then a fan of this league, then a critic once again (I change my position more than this guy John Kerry), I am now a fan once again, thanks to the Long Beach team signing one of my hometown guys (and former Rockford Lightning player) John Jones.

I will say this, if the ABA could get three more franchises that are run like long beach and Kansas, and get rid of teams like jersey and Vegas, They could be a real solid league.

LETS GO Long Beach!!!!!!!!

[Sam Hill]

Now they've added Vancouver. This will make for a local rival for the Portland team they previously announced, meaning Portland will have to spend less of the money that the owner doesn't have because she declared bankruptcy three times.

[BBall Fan]

How about this one in reference to the Gwinnett team ...

“We’re not competition to the Atlanta Hawks,” ABA co-founder Joe Newman said. “We’re as different as McDonald’s is from Burger King is from Wendy’s. We’re two different products.”

While he may have a point that they don't compete with the Hawks (based on ticket price), what's with the comparison to the fast foot joints? He isn't trying to tell us that McDonald's doesn't compete with BK and Wendy's, is he? While they do try to differentiate themselves, they do so because they ARE COMPETING WITH EACH OTHER!!!

Why do they let this idiot open his mouth anyways?

And by the way, what's with the Vancouver team? All chinese players? I will be interested to hear what their venue would be.

[Sam Hill]

Joe makes a lot of food analogies because his agency used to be the ad agency for KFC in Indianapolis. They're not anymore. I wonder why.

The difference is that Wendy's and Burger King keep their stores open until their scheduled closing time. They don't say they'll be open until 10pm and then close at 7:30pm.

And McDonald's doesn't say Ronald is going to show up at a certain place and time and then not have him show up, or have him show up for only 47 minutes before he leaves.

[TEN]

After following the ABA on this site for the past three years, I've come to realize that we must look at the postives.

I used to spend entirely too much time worrying that the ABA would give all of minor league basketball a bad name.

Now, I marvel at what the ABA has been able to accomplish...They have people thinking that they are a legitimate league despite the fact that they have a commissioner (Joe Newman) that can't possibly believe the crap that comes out of his mouth...and there is media in large cities around the country that print this stuff as gospel truth. It's hard to believe that an adult can get away with saying this stuff...and even more hard to believe that adults take him seriously.

They haven't come close to finishing a legitimate season schedule, yet nobody questions them in the mainstream media when they tip off the next season.

But the most important thing is that they out do themselves when you think they can't get any more ridiculaus ...THEY DO!

And people still take them seriously!

You've won me over....the ABA IS great entertainment! And the best part of it is that they don't even need to schedule or play a game. The game has nothing to do with the entertainment value!

I CAN'T WAIT for the movie!

[BBall Fan]

From a recent press release..


"American Basketball Association officials confirmed Thursday that Juárez will play host to the league's 2004 quarterfinal and semifinal playoff rounds on March 4 and March 6. "

Six of the ABA's seven teams are scheduled to take part, according to league President Jim Clark. But the first-place Long Beach Jam, which fostered the return of 42-year-old former NBA superstar Dennis Rodman this year, is not expected to be on hand.

"(Rodman) is still on our team and we're expecting him to play for us this weekend," Long Beach Jam President Steve Chase said Thursday. "But we will not be in Juárez."

"Clark said he will officially announce the playoff bracket next week, but expects there to be at least three games per day at Juárez's Gimnacio Universitario. "

"The winner of the tournament will play at Long Beach in the ABA finals," Clark said.


So Long Beach isn't even going to the tournament!!!!! How can they possibly give them a bye into the final? The season isn't over, and based on the way they are playing of late (inuries, callups, etc.) it is very likely that KC will be in first place by the end of the weekend.

The logic of these geniuses escapes me!

[meyes]

I can see pairing six teams for three games on the first day, but how do they come up with three games for the second round? :?

[Sam Hill]

A losers' bracket?

Oh, wait, the whole thing is a losers' bracket. :)

Their only chance to get a crowd for the final is to have the Jam in it. If Long Beach is in first place when the season ends, then they can say they earned it by virtue of finishing first. If Kansas City passes them, they can say as the host, they get a bye to the final.

Or, they could do what they usually do:

1) Make up scores; or
2) Not say anything and hope no one but the people on this board ask, so they don't ever have to explain how they came up with it.

[Rocky]

I'm still waiting for patience to pay off with the ABA. 3 seasons cut short. The most laughable playoff system ever. Even the usual fanboy (He of many names... :wink: ) couldn't spin blame away from anywhere but the shoulders of the ABA.

I'm with TEN. Very entertianing. Demented and sad, but entertaining.

[mexican fan]

:oops: I have to admit that i was hoping that this season will be different, but now I'm glad that is almost over. Here in Tijuana, the media just started to realized that this league has no organization. With all the postponed games, the changes in the sched, etc. They recently called a semi-pro league, after giving them a lot of good publicity in the beginning.