Anderson Shoots For Two

[LeRoy Muckunfuss]

Anderson, Indiana, a town of under 60,000 people, located more than 40 miles from Indianapolis, will soon have two "pro" basketball teams, when the Anderson Champions of the ABA and the Anderson AlleyCats of the CBA begin play. Like many medium-sized cities, this is a town merely looking to survive economically on a day-to-day basis, yet the genius masterminds who run both leagues simply can't see what is apparent to anyone with an ounce of integrity and accountability.

It would appear that a group of stable, loyal, hard-working people are about to get ripped-off once again by league leaders who have absolutely no shame.

When will someone force them to accept responsibility, both fiscally and professionally, for what they are perpetrating upon the sports world?

[panchess]

..not Anderson.

Quite honestly, Joe Newman got mad and ginned up "competition" to the Alley Cats when they jumped leagues.

I am personally worried about whether the AlleyCats can survive the season, but the ABA "competition" has little to do with it.

The Anderson Champions use a myspace.com address for their Web site, play in a high school gym, and don't even have the name of the team on their jersey. Just a red number, there are pics on the abalive.com Web site.

The Champions may last the season, but it wouldn't be surprising if they don't.

[bdaly]

I think your right on how this team came about. However, given that Anderson drew 1,100 on opening night, it could be an interesting competition. The Alleycats have been lucky to get close to that in the past (as you can see from the pictures in their photo gallery), and it doesn't appear their practices are changing (on their website at least) despite the move to a more costly league. So, I wouldn't put my money on the Alleycats--it looks like nothing has changed despite the change. Depending on how things go, I agree there's a chance both could crash and burn. If the Champions have any money behind them (I have no idea, and while the Myspace page isn't as bad of an idea as many make it out to be, the practice jerseys are a little concerning and make you wonder), I might bet on them...

[Sam Hill]

Indeed. Joe did that move totally out of spite, and it's going to turn out as well as drunk-calling your ex-girlfriend late one Saturday night.