Fran
05-07-2007, 11:39 PM
Stampede may be done
By MIKE MATHISON, Sports editor
STEUBENVILLE — The Steubenville Stampede may be done.
What started out as a promising season may end short of completion.
Owner Ramone Davenport is in financial difficulty and is actively shopping the organization to a new owner or new investors.
“It’s kind of hard to run an operation when there’s no support,” Davenport said. “I know in other cities, there is a need for indoor football and it draws well.
“In comparison to other cities, I need to see if it’s just Steubenville or the league (Continental Indoor Football League) in general.
“Coming in I knew it was an uphill battle, but, I didn’t know it would be that difficult. I’m an ego-driven person and I think I can do everything. I got into a situation where some things happened last year and I thought I could overcome them where people would see a new owner, a new team, a new league and people would flock to it if done correctly.
“The intentions and the effort is there. In actuality, I’m not getting the support for whatever the reason. Only the fans know the truth of why they are not coming out and supporting it.
“It’s hard for me to stay in business if I’m only getting 100 fans per game. If I’m only getting x-amount of people each game, I can’t stay in business that long.”
The players have not been paid in almost a month.
The Stampede, who started 4-0, are now 4-2 and the morale is as terrible as the fan support. It appeared there were more people in the stands at Vaccaro Field to watch Catholic Central and Toronto battle than in the stands at St. John Arena to watch Steubenville and New England battle.
“That’s what’s killing us,” said Stampede head coach Demetrius Ross. “It’s not the on-the-field stuff that’s killing us, it’s the off-the-field stuff that we can’t control like lack of support, lack of financial stability, bad ownership. It’s just pulling this team apart.
“How can I ask my guys to go out here and give me the effort that it’s going to take to win us a championship and to be successful on the field when we can’t practice. We don’t have trainers. We can’t practice because guys are scared of getting hurt and guys can’t get to practice because they haven’t been paid in four weeks and they have no money to put in the gas tank.
“I’ve got local guys that can’t eat. I’m begging restaurants to allow my players to eat. I don’t know what more I can ask from them. They’re giving me everything they got under the circumstances.
“And, this community, along with the ownership, is just killing this team. And, it’s a shame because we are a good team. We are truly a good team.
“And, we’ve been hit with adversity off the field and, finally, it’s caught up to us on the field.
“It’s not us. It’s nothing that we’re doing.”
Davenport admits the players have not been paid.
“There is some back pay that needs to be paid,” he said. “Just based on five home games we’ve had, we haven’t hit 1,500 people in five home games combined. That’s probably a record right there.
“It is rough for me right now to stay afloat. I’ve spoken with other investors within the city and hopefully somebody steps up and wants to invest in this thing to keep this thing in Steubenville.
“Right now is extremely difficult for myself. You can be a millionaire and come into a situation with a lack of sponsorship dollars from the start, and not getting fan support on top of that, how can you survive like that? I am stuck in a situation where I don’t know what to do other than get the guys paid up the best I can.
“I do not have the answer why people aren’t coming. I don’t foresee it getting any better.
“My pride is telling me let’s get through the year, moving the team or possibly selling it to local ownership. I may look at it that fans aren’t coming because they want local ownership. I don’t know.
“I take full responsibility for it. I don’t like to give excuses why, it can be a number of things. The bottom line is, it’s happening and I have to get through it the best way that I can.
“I am actively trying to get the players paid up.
“People not been paid. But, look what I’m working with. I’m not even getting 500 fans a game and why? That’s the golden question. No one can really give me the answer that I’m looking for or what can be done better. People are pointing fingers at me, which is cool, I can deal with that. But, at the same time, help the situation out.
“This has been a strain on me mentally, physically, emotionally. It’s a strain on my family to hold onto something that may be possibly out of my league. Even with the things I possibly might do, people still may not come.
“If I spend $10,000 in advertising, what if that’s not the answer.”
This is not the same team that began the season. They are the same players, but not the same team.
“It’s not the same team. It’s not the same team, morale is down,” said Ross. “How do you build morale? How do you boost morale? You do you have guys that get up and are afraid to go out here and play hard because, if they get hurt, we got to tell them, ‘you’re on your own, our insurance is not going to cover everything because we decided to go the cheapest route because we have no money.”
“Workman’s comp already is initially paid to get it started,” said the owner. “We pay that in six-month premiums and we haven’t been around for six months. People don’t know how workman’s comp is actually set up.”
“It’s just crazy. It’s just crazy what we’re asking these players to come out here and do,” said Ross. “I feel bad about asking them to play another game under these circumstances. We need community support. We need community stability in order for this team to succeed.”
So, will there be a game at 7 p.m. Saturday against Springfield at St. John Arena?
“It’s hard for me to answer that, I haven’t spoken with the coach,” said Davenport. “I can’t really guarantee that, I can only hope. I can’t also step up and say these guys have to play. These guys are grown men, like myself.
“I’m looking at definitely more investors and looking toward the league to come in and give some guidance and assistance on what to do to make it through the year.”
Davenport also owns the Summit County Rumble.
“I bought both teams late,” he said. “I bought Steubenville in January. I bought Wayne County in July, but we moved in January. I have not had a full year to advertise and have sponsorship dollars. The Akron market is not a burnt market.
“Honestly, Steubenville is going to be difficult after what happened last year and what is going on right now. It’s going to be difficult for anyone coming in and be hard for them to do indoor football.
“That person has to have deep, deep, deep pockets. It’s going to take a lot of money to resurrect it where people actually are coming out.
“I think the interest is gone.”
“I signed up for the good and the bad,” said Ross. “I signed up with every intention of having help — help by the community if I did my part by putting a successful great team out there with great character and great ability.
“Because everyone told me, ‘you’re going to get the support if you win.’ Well, we were 4-0 and we still only had maybe 600 or 700 people here and most of them were giveaways.
“It’s hard to get up for things like this and keep morale up on my players when every time they come out of the tunnel and want to celebrate and look up and there’s nobody there to enjoy it.
“It’s tough. It’s real hard and it is frustrating. But, you know, it comes with the territory. So, am I taking it? I don’t have no choice. We’re going to do the best that we can under these circumstances.
“But, I don’t know if I can ask them to play another game under those same conditions.”
By MIKE MATHISON, Sports editor
STEUBENVILLE — The Steubenville Stampede may be done.
What started out as a promising season may end short of completion.
Owner Ramone Davenport is in financial difficulty and is actively shopping the organization to a new owner or new investors.
“It’s kind of hard to run an operation when there’s no support,” Davenport said. “I know in other cities, there is a need for indoor football and it draws well.
“In comparison to other cities, I need to see if it’s just Steubenville or the league (Continental Indoor Football League) in general.
“Coming in I knew it was an uphill battle, but, I didn’t know it would be that difficult. I’m an ego-driven person and I think I can do everything. I got into a situation where some things happened last year and I thought I could overcome them where people would see a new owner, a new team, a new league and people would flock to it if done correctly.
“The intentions and the effort is there. In actuality, I’m not getting the support for whatever the reason. Only the fans know the truth of why they are not coming out and supporting it.
“It’s hard for me to stay in business if I’m only getting 100 fans per game. If I’m only getting x-amount of people each game, I can’t stay in business that long.”
The players have not been paid in almost a month.
The Stampede, who started 4-0, are now 4-2 and the morale is as terrible as the fan support. It appeared there were more people in the stands at Vaccaro Field to watch Catholic Central and Toronto battle than in the stands at St. John Arena to watch Steubenville and New England battle.
“That’s what’s killing us,” said Stampede head coach Demetrius Ross. “It’s not the on-the-field stuff that’s killing us, it’s the off-the-field stuff that we can’t control like lack of support, lack of financial stability, bad ownership. It’s just pulling this team apart.
“How can I ask my guys to go out here and give me the effort that it’s going to take to win us a championship and to be successful on the field when we can’t practice. We don’t have trainers. We can’t practice because guys are scared of getting hurt and guys can’t get to practice because they haven’t been paid in four weeks and they have no money to put in the gas tank.
“I’ve got local guys that can’t eat. I’m begging restaurants to allow my players to eat. I don’t know what more I can ask from them. They’re giving me everything they got under the circumstances.
“And, this community, along with the ownership, is just killing this team. And, it’s a shame because we are a good team. We are truly a good team.
“And, we’ve been hit with adversity off the field and, finally, it’s caught up to us on the field.
“It’s not us. It’s nothing that we’re doing.”
Davenport admits the players have not been paid.
“There is some back pay that needs to be paid,” he said. “Just based on five home games we’ve had, we haven’t hit 1,500 people in five home games combined. That’s probably a record right there.
“It is rough for me right now to stay afloat. I’ve spoken with other investors within the city and hopefully somebody steps up and wants to invest in this thing to keep this thing in Steubenville.
“Right now is extremely difficult for myself. You can be a millionaire and come into a situation with a lack of sponsorship dollars from the start, and not getting fan support on top of that, how can you survive like that? I am stuck in a situation where I don’t know what to do other than get the guys paid up the best I can.
“I do not have the answer why people aren’t coming. I don’t foresee it getting any better.
“My pride is telling me let’s get through the year, moving the team or possibly selling it to local ownership. I may look at it that fans aren’t coming because they want local ownership. I don’t know.
“I take full responsibility for it. I don’t like to give excuses why, it can be a number of things. The bottom line is, it’s happening and I have to get through it the best way that I can.
“I am actively trying to get the players paid up.
“People not been paid. But, look what I’m working with. I’m not even getting 500 fans a game and why? That’s the golden question. No one can really give me the answer that I’m looking for or what can be done better. People are pointing fingers at me, which is cool, I can deal with that. But, at the same time, help the situation out.
“This has been a strain on me mentally, physically, emotionally. It’s a strain on my family to hold onto something that may be possibly out of my league. Even with the things I possibly might do, people still may not come.
“If I spend $10,000 in advertising, what if that’s not the answer.”
This is not the same team that began the season. They are the same players, but not the same team.
“It’s not the same team. It’s not the same team, morale is down,” said Ross. “How do you build morale? How do you boost morale? You do you have guys that get up and are afraid to go out here and play hard because, if they get hurt, we got to tell them, ‘you’re on your own, our insurance is not going to cover everything because we decided to go the cheapest route because we have no money.”
“Workman’s comp already is initially paid to get it started,” said the owner. “We pay that in six-month premiums and we haven’t been around for six months. People don’t know how workman’s comp is actually set up.”
“It’s just crazy. It’s just crazy what we’re asking these players to come out here and do,” said Ross. “I feel bad about asking them to play another game under these circumstances. We need community support. We need community stability in order for this team to succeed.”
So, will there be a game at 7 p.m. Saturday against Springfield at St. John Arena?
“It’s hard for me to answer that, I haven’t spoken with the coach,” said Davenport. “I can’t really guarantee that, I can only hope. I can’t also step up and say these guys have to play. These guys are grown men, like myself.
“I’m looking at definitely more investors and looking toward the league to come in and give some guidance and assistance on what to do to make it through the year.”
Davenport also owns the Summit County Rumble.
“I bought both teams late,” he said. “I bought Steubenville in January. I bought Wayne County in July, but we moved in January. I have not had a full year to advertise and have sponsorship dollars. The Akron market is not a burnt market.
“Honestly, Steubenville is going to be difficult after what happened last year and what is going on right now. It’s going to be difficult for anyone coming in and be hard for them to do indoor football.
“That person has to have deep, deep, deep pockets. It’s going to take a lot of money to resurrect it where people actually are coming out.
“I think the interest is gone.”
“I signed up for the good and the bad,” said Ross. “I signed up with every intention of having help — help by the community if I did my part by putting a successful great team out there with great character and great ability.
“Because everyone told me, ‘you’re going to get the support if you win.’ Well, we were 4-0 and we still only had maybe 600 or 700 people here and most of them were giveaways.
“It’s hard to get up for things like this and keep morale up on my players when every time they come out of the tunnel and want to celebrate and look up and there’s nobody there to enjoy it.
“It’s tough. It’s real hard and it is frustrating. But, you know, it comes with the territory. So, am I taking it? I don’t have no choice. We’re going to do the best that we can under these circumstances.
“But, I don’t know if I can ask them to play another game under those same conditions.”