Chuck the Writer
04-21-2007, 07:23 AM
This is just too ridiculous. This from the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/SPORTS02/704210363/1063/sports02
'Cats silent no-show
# Fans, players left clueless
By David Brandt
david.brandt@clarionledger.com
What Wayne Dollar, his wife Anita and son Samuel wanted on Friday night was a little bit of basketball entertainment - Jackson Wildcats-style.
Instead, they arrived at a locked-down, dimly-lit Mississippi Coliseum and realized this United States Basketball League franchise might be finished before it even plays its first home game.
And that's a tough thing to swallow for Dollar, who has shelled out nearly $1,000 for three season tickets.
"I'm just so disappointed," Dollar said with an incredulous look on his face. "How many basketball teams can this city have before one decides to stick? Makes you wonder if it will ever happen."
There was no announcement from team officials that the Wildcats' game was canceled.
Instead, fans found out minutes before game time, when Dollar and a handful of other people gathered around one of the Coliseum doors to read the following: "Because of the Jackson Wildcats, Inc., not fulfilling their contract with the Mississippi Fair Commission, all games scheduled at the Mississippi Coliseum (are) cancelled."
Also according to the sign, tickets can be refunded by the venue of purchase. Those who bought tickets from the Coliseum box office may pick up their refunds from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Coliseum director Mike Brinkley said the Wildcats failed to fulfill their contract by not providing $1 million worth of liability insurance or a new basketball court - both of which were conditions of the contract. All 15 home games were voided at 12:01 p.m. Friday because of the violations.
"We gave (team owner Carlos Moore) every opportunity to come up with the money and the floor," Brinkley said. "I hate to do it because we had 15 dates at the Coliseum booked for him and now they are gone. But in business, you have to honor the contract and (Moore) didn't do that."
In addition to Friday's canceled game, the Wildcats are supposed to play at 7:05 p.m. today against Albany (N.Y.) and at 4 p.m. on Sunday against Oklahoma.
Whether those games will be played - and where they will be played - remains to be seen. Moore did not answer phone calls and his voice mail was full. Senior vice president Tanya Holmes answered her phone, but would not comment.
Wildcats assistant coach Thomas Billups - who is also the Lanier basketball coach - said today's and Sunday's games have been moved to the Mississippi Basketball & Athletics facility in northeast Jackson on Westbrook Road, but no one else associated with the team could confirm that location or if the game would be open to the public.
Most Wildcats' players and coaches seemed confused by news of the cancellation. Julius Young - a former Jackson State standout - said simply: "I have no clue what's going on right now."
Wildcats coach Wallace Bryant said his family came from Dallas to watch the opener, and that the team didn't know the game was canceled until about three hours before Friday's tipoff.
Despite the setback, Bryant said he was confident the Wildcats would continue operations. The team played two road games in Indiana, losing both, before Friday's Coliseum fiasco.
"I think it was just the complication with the insurance," Bryant said. "Our team's ready to go. Once we get the problems ironed out , we'll be back on the court. I don't have any doubts about this organization."
Even if the Wildcats had played on Friday night, turnout appeared to be dismal. Approximately 100 people checked the signs on the door, shook their heads in bewilderment, and then got back in their cars for the ride home.
Oh, and there's more...
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/COL0504/704210359/1063/sports02
Jackson Wildcats: Shut out
USBL team commits giant turnover
Vickie D. King/The Clarion-Ledger
The Jackson Wildcats double-dribbled before they played their first home game. The few fans who bought tickets for that home opener feel double-crossed.
Do you blame them?
Take Gillian Gray and her 13-year-old daughter, Jewelee, of Jackson, who got to the Mississippi Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. Friday for the scheduled 7:05 tipoff. It was Jewelee's 13th birthday, and she was going to see a pro basketball game matching the Delaware Stars against the Jackson Wildcats.
"I'm so disappointed; my daughter is very, very disappointed," Gillian Gray said, shortly after she read this sign on the Coliseum door:
"Due to the Jackson Wildcats not fulfilling their contract with the Mississippi Fair Commission all games scheduled at the Mississippi Coliseum is cancelled. (For) ticket refunds please go to the outlet you purchased your tickets from. If you purchased from the Coliseum box office, you can get your refund from 9 to 5 Monday-Friday."
This was supposed to be the Wildcats' grand opening. Nothing like making a really strong first impression. ...
STRANGER THAN FICTION
I've covered some mighty strange happenings in four decades of scribbling about Mississippi sports, but nothing stranger than what happened Friday.
Since this was going to be the first game in the history of Jackson's new United States Basketball League franchise, I decided to go 45 minutes early. When I pulled up to the Coliseum, only one car was in the vast parking lot. One.
I drove all around the lot to the other side of the building. Nobody was there.
That's when I parked and found the sign on the locked door.
So, I decided to stay around and see what happened. Pretty soon, a few people started driving up with puzzled looks.
Jimmy Mills, 44, of Benton parked and walked up with two tickets in his hand. He was supposed to meet his son. Then, he read the sign.
"Seems like they'd have let somebody know," he said.
Dennis and Rebecca Chandler of Brandon were among the 100 or so who parked and walked up to see what wasn't happening.
"We used to live in Delaware, so we said what the heck," Dennis Chandler said. "We thought we'd have a night out on the town and watch some basketball."
Hopefully, they went somewhere and got something good to eat.
STARS CROSSED UP
And that brings us to perhaps the strangest part of this. The Delaware Stars left Wilmington in two vans Tuesday headed for Jackson. And I know what you're thinking: They left Tuesday, for a Friday game?
Well, see, the Stars thought the game was going to be on Thursday. That's how it's listed on the USBL Web site. The Stars found out en route that the game was Friday instead, which raised a huge problem. They were supposed to play in Dodge City, Kan., on Saturday. You can't play a game in Jackson one day, drive and play in Dodge City the next.
The Stars called the league office and the commissioner told them to head for Kansas instead. And they did.
So while fans were pulling up at Mississippi Coliseum to watch the Wildcats play the Stars, the Stars were 730 miles away. And the Wildcats? Well, the Wildcats were trying to find out what the heck was going on. The owner wasn't taking calls. Nobody answered at his door.
The players swore they didn't know. Some of them were at The Admiral Retirement Center on State Street, where they are staying for what might be a mighty short time.
And where they might as well have been retired Friday.
So that's three teams out of what started as a ten-team league, going down the funnel. Granted, the Wildcats may play their games at another venue (maybe), but this stuff is almost making the ABA look legit.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/SPORTS02/704210363/1063/sports02
'Cats silent no-show
# Fans, players left clueless
By David Brandt
david.brandt@clarionledger.com
What Wayne Dollar, his wife Anita and son Samuel wanted on Friday night was a little bit of basketball entertainment - Jackson Wildcats-style.
Instead, they arrived at a locked-down, dimly-lit Mississippi Coliseum and realized this United States Basketball League franchise might be finished before it even plays its first home game.
And that's a tough thing to swallow for Dollar, who has shelled out nearly $1,000 for three season tickets.
"I'm just so disappointed," Dollar said with an incredulous look on his face. "How many basketball teams can this city have before one decides to stick? Makes you wonder if it will ever happen."
There was no announcement from team officials that the Wildcats' game was canceled.
Instead, fans found out minutes before game time, when Dollar and a handful of other people gathered around one of the Coliseum doors to read the following: "Because of the Jackson Wildcats, Inc., not fulfilling their contract with the Mississippi Fair Commission, all games scheduled at the Mississippi Coliseum (are) cancelled."
Also according to the sign, tickets can be refunded by the venue of purchase. Those who bought tickets from the Coliseum box office may pick up their refunds from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Coliseum director Mike Brinkley said the Wildcats failed to fulfill their contract by not providing $1 million worth of liability insurance or a new basketball court - both of which were conditions of the contract. All 15 home games were voided at 12:01 p.m. Friday because of the violations.
"We gave (team owner Carlos Moore) every opportunity to come up with the money and the floor," Brinkley said. "I hate to do it because we had 15 dates at the Coliseum booked for him and now they are gone. But in business, you have to honor the contract and (Moore) didn't do that."
In addition to Friday's canceled game, the Wildcats are supposed to play at 7:05 p.m. today against Albany (N.Y.) and at 4 p.m. on Sunday against Oklahoma.
Whether those games will be played - and where they will be played - remains to be seen. Moore did not answer phone calls and his voice mail was full. Senior vice president Tanya Holmes answered her phone, but would not comment.
Wildcats assistant coach Thomas Billups - who is also the Lanier basketball coach - said today's and Sunday's games have been moved to the Mississippi Basketball & Athletics facility in northeast Jackson on Westbrook Road, but no one else associated with the team could confirm that location or if the game would be open to the public.
Most Wildcats' players and coaches seemed confused by news of the cancellation. Julius Young - a former Jackson State standout - said simply: "I have no clue what's going on right now."
Wildcats coach Wallace Bryant said his family came from Dallas to watch the opener, and that the team didn't know the game was canceled until about three hours before Friday's tipoff.
Despite the setback, Bryant said he was confident the Wildcats would continue operations. The team played two road games in Indiana, losing both, before Friday's Coliseum fiasco.
"I think it was just the complication with the insurance," Bryant said. "Our team's ready to go. Once we get the problems ironed out , we'll be back on the court. I don't have any doubts about this organization."
Even if the Wildcats had played on Friday night, turnout appeared to be dismal. Approximately 100 people checked the signs on the door, shook their heads in bewilderment, and then got back in their cars for the ride home.
Oh, and there's more...
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070421/COL0504/704210359/1063/sports02
Jackson Wildcats: Shut out
USBL team commits giant turnover
Vickie D. King/The Clarion-Ledger
The Jackson Wildcats double-dribbled before they played their first home game. The few fans who bought tickets for that home opener feel double-crossed.
Do you blame them?
Take Gillian Gray and her 13-year-old daughter, Jewelee, of Jackson, who got to the Mississippi Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. Friday for the scheduled 7:05 tipoff. It was Jewelee's 13th birthday, and she was going to see a pro basketball game matching the Delaware Stars against the Jackson Wildcats.
"I'm so disappointed; my daughter is very, very disappointed," Gillian Gray said, shortly after she read this sign on the Coliseum door:
"Due to the Jackson Wildcats not fulfilling their contract with the Mississippi Fair Commission all games scheduled at the Mississippi Coliseum is cancelled. (For) ticket refunds please go to the outlet you purchased your tickets from. If you purchased from the Coliseum box office, you can get your refund from 9 to 5 Monday-Friday."
This was supposed to be the Wildcats' grand opening. Nothing like making a really strong first impression. ...
STRANGER THAN FICTION
I've covered some mighty strange happenings in four decades of scribbling about Mississippi sports, but nothing stranger than what happened Friday.
Since this was going to be the first game in the history of Jackson's new United States Basketball League franchise, I decided to go 45 minutes early. When I pulled up to the Coliseum, only one car was in the vast parking lot. One.
I drove all around the lot to the other side of the building. Nobody was there.
That's when I parked and found the sign on the locked door.
So, I decided to stay around and see what happened. Pretty soon, a few people started driving up with puzzled looks.
Jimmy Mills, 44, of Benton parked and walked up with two tickets in his hand. He was supposed to meet his son. Then, he read the sign.
"Seems like they'd have let somebody know," he said.
Dennis and Rebecca Chandler of Brandon were among the 100 or so who parked and walked up to see what wasn't happening.
"We used to live in Delaware, so we said what the heck," Dennis Chandler said. "We thought we'd have a night out on the town and watch some basketball."
Hopefully, they went somewhere and got something good to eat.
STARS CROSSED UP
And that brings us to perhaps the strangest part of this. The Delaware Stars left Wilmington in two vans Tuesday headed for Jackson. And I know what you're thinking: They left Tuesday, for a Friday game?
Well, see, the Stars thought the game was going to be on Thursday. That's how it's listed on the USBL Web site. The Stars found out en route that the game was Friday instead, which raised a huge problem. They were supposed to play in Dodge City, Kan., on Saturday. You can't play a game in Jackson one day, drive and play in Dodge City the next.
The Stars called the league office and the commissioner told them to head for Kansas instead. And they did.
So while fans were pulling up at Mississippi Coliseum to watch the Wildcats play the Stars, the Stars were 730 miles away. And the Wildcats? Well, the Wildcats were trying to find out what the heck was going on. The owner wasn't taking calls. Nobody answered at his door.
The players swore they didn't know. Some of them were at The Admiral Retirement Center on State Street, where they are staying for what might be a mighty short time.
And where they might as well have been retired Friday.
So that's three teams out of what started as a ten-team league, going down the funnel. Granted, the Wildcats may play their games at another venue (maybe), but this stuff is almost making the ABA look legit.