ABA at ProBasketballNews.com

[The Magician]

Does anybody have an online subscription to ProBasketballNews.com

I'd like to see what this article had say???

Minors Notes: Is the ABA Bad for the Game?
1/29/2007
By Sam Amico
Basketball Journalist

It's possible the ABA's lack of stability is ruining opportunities for other minor leagues ...

[AConcernedCitizen]

I would very much like to read that...

[The Magician]

Basically, just some bullet notes:

Minors Notes: Is the ABA Bad for the Game?
1/29/2007
By Sam Amico
Basketball Journalist

News and notes from basketball's underground:

• Actually, minor league basketball is a tough sell anywhere. Just ask the ABA's Hollywood Fame -- whose ownership group includes pop singer Nick Lachey and former baseball star Brady Anderson, among many other big names. Still ,despite all the financial pull, the Fame lost coach Don Casey and son, Mike, who was acting as the team's publicity man. There have also been rumors that players have been forced to take paycuts. One person familiar with the situation said, "We can expect to say farewell to the Fame soon."

• Former NBA guard Jamison Brewer was on the Fame's roster, but left the team after Casey and son were let go. Brewer reportedly split out of allegiance to the Caseys. As you know, Don Casey spent time in the NBA as head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers and Washington Bullets.

• In case all that’s not enough, the ABA’s Richmond Ballerz are expected to fold by the end of the week.

• What’s it all mean? It means that the D-League is slowly taking over the minor league universe. Unlike the other struggling operations, D-League teams have the financial muscle of the NBA.

• At the same time, the ABA could stick around for a while, as the system put in place by commissioner Joe Newman will, at the very least, provide money for the league office. Basically, teams pay a league entry fee and then are on their own. This has led to a constantly changing league lineup and even a few lawsuits naming Newman as the key defendant. Of course, not one suit has even made it to court.

• So every year teams come and go -- while the ABA league office gets rich. In the end, it makes for a lot of bad basketball and frustrated fans.

• At its worst, the ABA system is turning cities against minor league sports. As one minor league basketball executive said, “When a city gets burned, it’s not likely to cooperate when another legitimate franchise from a legitimate league tries to get some financial backing. And because the ABA gobbles up so many wannabe owners from so many different parts of the country … it’s going a long way in ruining minor league basketball.”

• The executive followed with this prediction: “It won’t be long before the D-League is putting everyone else out of business. And the NBA realizes it needs to get rid of the ABA to save the reputation of the game at (the minor league) level.”

• Last season, three of the CBA’s strongest franchises (Idaho, Dakota, and Sioux Falls) and one expansion team (Colorado) bolted for the D-League. The year before, Arkansas left the ABA. That trend should continue, as a lot of teams enter the other minor leagues with the hopes of getting an invitation to the D-League. Eventually, the strongest franchises will make the cut -- as NBA commissioner David Stern hopes to have at least one D-League “farm” club for each of the NBA’s 30 franchises. There may even come a time when each NBA team has its own Triple-A, Double-A, and Single-A club -- just like baseball.

[Pounder]

Hmmm... that article makes it sound like Idaho, Dakota, and Sioux Falls jumped the ABA (without actually stating it, just leaving out that important detail). I mean, Joe Newman deserves being blamed for many things, including the death of many cute kittens everywhere "just because," but he always takes the ammo that incompetence gives him. He's consistent that way.