Maybe we all need a life

[whataleague]

As a frustrated fan of an ABA team who thought this could work, maybe its time we all just deal with the fact that this joke of a rec league isn't worth the time and attention we all seem to give it.
Let's face it, we are obsessing over some whacko wearing a five dollar toup sitting in his cellar scamming morons out of $10,000 a piece one by one.
Maybe we should all step away from the keyboards and find something else in life to worry out instead of this charade.
I'm done. Life's too short.:)

[TheStandard]

no we complain about him because he's harming a sport

[dmbishop]

Nah, it too much fun! It's kind of like watching a '70s over-the-top soap opera with a bunch of people.

Better yet, the ABA (and the NIFL) are like watching one of those Discovery Channel shows about crashes when you see the train heading for the tractor-trailer in slow motion from lots of different angles. You know what's going to happen, you've seen it all before, but you just can't turn away. So you sit there with a little smirk on your face waiting for the big event.

[tbayz1]

ya know we do talk about other things that Joe and his work, but its the offseason and Joe & Co. is all there is to talk about!! Its soo much fun!

Pretty soon though Joe will be gone and we wont be able to have as much fun :(

[Sam Hill]

As a frustrated fan of an ABA team who thought this could work, maybe its time we all just deal with the fact that this joke of a rec league isn't worth the time and attention we all seem to give it.

You mean maybe it's time now?

Most of us have known for years that the league is a joke and that Newman is a menace. At this point, most of us are just taking shots at him for sport, not because we expect anything to change. We've just gotten kinda used to Mr. Hairpiece doing stupid stuff and lying through his false teeth.

[SignGuyDino]

We're all rooting for David Stern to buy out the rights to everything involving "ABA" and save it.

The fact we root for David Stern on this one should tell you all you need to know about how much we hate what Uncle Joe has ruined the great name of the ABA.

[logoguru]

This league had an oppurtunity to be something when it first started....

Vegas
Kasas City
Juarez
Jersey
Pittsburgh
Long Beach
Tijuana
etc....

I thought it could compete with the CBA, but after the first season Joe announced something like 40 new teams and I emailed him and told him it was the worst thing I had ever heard, but I guess he had too much rent to pay to pay any attention. He did email me back and told me how great this would be for teams travel costs, etc. and thanked me for my interest in great family affordable entertainment.
________
LIVE SEX (http://livesexwebshows.com/)

[TheStandard]

Jersey was a disaster. The owner couldnt afford the rent. The arena in asbury park allowed them to play one game without heat due to the fact that the guy payed half of the rent for that game. The league was a sham then and a sham now

[psbf]

Jersey will have better luck under their new name and location. Although I lost my faith in the league long ago(under current ownership). Aside from all the reports of the teams having tryouts, I keep waiting for the league to just stop and teams to switch to others, although my instincts tell me another season will be played by the ABA. I feel Jersey(formerly Newark) has potential, but they need a new league.

[TheStandard]

with a broke owner? who cant run herself??? What favor did she do for Joe because Joe payed the rest of the way for them.

[psbf]

of my last message did I say that Joe was a responsible guy? Because I don't recall saying that. If anything, I think Marsha Blount is more responsible(the Express owner) and I don't know her.

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

psbf -

there is absolutely no relation between the Jersey Squires franchise (the moved eventually to Philly) and the Express. Nobody involved in the former is with the latter.

The closest relation to the Squires were the SkyCats (nee Jaguars); team owner/coach Ron Eford took over the Squires basketball operations late in the season, but left to run his own team in 2004-05.

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

As to the title of this post - surely ABA Insider will wholeheartedly agree with the idea of a group of people posting on a minor-league message board.........



........by posting his thoughts on a minor-league message board.

[psbf]

are talking about different teams, here. I know nothing about the Jersey Squires. The only Squires to my knowledge are the old Virginia Squires.

[Sam Hill]

Man, pay attention, will you?

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

Thanks, Sam
The fact that someone 'knows nothing" about a failed franchise doesn't mean it didn't exist. Hell, by all appearances - even their home market knew nothing about the Squires..

I and other long-time members here can't keep doing the heavy lifting; there is plenty out there on the intertubes about buswrecked franchises. Today's flashback - the Jersey Squires:

Owner threatens to move Squires


Published in the Asbury Park Press 12/01/03
By SCOTT STUMP
STAFF WRITER
ASBURY PARK -- The return of professional basketball to Asbury Park may be over almost as soon as it began.

The owner of the New Jersey Squires franchise in the American Basketball Association said yesterday at the team's inaugural game that if "major changes" are not made at Convention Hall, the team's home, by the Squires' next home game on Dec. 9, the team "will not be here."

Owner Wayne Butler, 50, said he was "very disappointed in the way the facility turned out." He said he has had conversations with owners of other venues in the tri-state area, which he did not specify, about a possible move.

Butler pays $2,200 per game to rent Convention Hall.

A move would affect the ABA's first All-Star Game, which is scheduled to be played at Convention Hall at the end of March.

New Jersey lost 108-103 to Juarez (Mexico) in front of about 80 fans at frigid Convention Hall yesterday. It was the first professional basketball game in Convention Hall since the New Jersey ShoreCats of the United States Basketball League played their final game in July 2000.

"It's cold in here," Butler said about Convention Hall. "I've been assured that by the next game it will be fixed, but we'll see. I wouldn't pay $10 to come and watch a game in this facility as it is."

Reached later, Asbury Park City Manager Terence Reidy said, "I know there are improvements that are being made (to Convention Hall), but this is the first I'm hearing of any complaints. It's something I will get to first thing (today). I can't imagine that what needs to be done is that daunting."

"(Butler) has not talked to the city about this," said Deputy Mayor James Bruno. "The whole building needs renovation, but it's not going to happen overnight."

The ABA closed its doors last season to reorganize financially and is trying to make a comeback this season. Butler said yesterday's attendance was the smallest at any ABA game played this season, and part of the reason may have been little or no marketing to let people know the Squires existed.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to play in this league because I had heard of things like this situation happening," Squires guard Mike Campbell said. "(Butler) said that this is the way he wanted it to be. It's like he wanted to sneak up on people or something."

Butler said he had conversations with Larry Fishman, the chief operating officer for Asbury Partners, which is leasing Convention Hall from the city, about improving the heating system and locker rooms before the season. Fishman could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Butler admitted that the team could have been "marketed better" before yesterday's opening game. The Squires are the only East Coast team in the seven-team ABA, and were originally supposed to play in Trenton this season but could not negotiate a deal to use Sovereign Bank Arena, which is owned by Comcast Spectacor.

Some fans in the building yesterday were either family members of Squires' players or parents or siblings of the two local 12-and-under Amateur Athletic Union boys basketball teams that scrimmaged at halftime. Most other fans said they read about the team, either in the Asbury Park Press or on the Internet.

"We got here late, so we're trying to sell sponsorships and do what we can," Butler said.

Some fans paid for tickets yesterday, while others just walked in because there was no one taking tickets. Also, there were no programs and the game started 45 minutes late.

However, the few fans who stayed until the end had a positive view of the afternoon.

"It was a lot of fun, and it was a good thing for the kids," said Allenhurst resident Pete Mavrookas, who was there with his son, George, 6, and daughter, Gabriella, 7.

"We need to bring people into this city on a positive basis, and I think something like this will bring more families in," said Asbury Park resident James Grabe.

"You've got to give up something to fill the seats," said Lloyd "Sweet Pea" Daniels, the coach of the L.D. Rebels, one of the AAU teams that played at halftime. "Talent doesn't mean anything if you don't fill up the seats. You have to give people a reason to come out.

"I live in Colts Neck and the only way I knew about the team was because my friend Ricky Benitez (the Squires' head coach) called me and told me about it."

Daniels has some background knowledge, having played in the USBL, ABA and overseas as well as for the San Antonio Spurs during his professional career.

"You've got to crawl before you walk," Daniels said. "You've got to put a good product out there."

[Chuck the Writer]

Oh man you guys are griping about good old Convention Hall? :)

Teams have been complaining about how drafty and cold that building is ever since the Asbury Park Boardwalkers of the Eastern League (1966-1968 ) played there. They were complaining when the Jersey Shore Bullets (1976-1979) spent time in that freezer.

Funny though about Convention Hall - 40 years since the Boardwalkers, the building still hasn't done anything about warming up the place; like maybe adding some of those pink carpets of fiberglass to keep out the drafts?

[Hoops101]

Yes you all need to get a life. It seems that all you people do is complain and talk trash. It is so 8th grade. I hate Joe Newman as well and all the ABA represents. Move on.

[Sam Hill]

Wayne Butler was a huge liar.

[TEN]

Man this is a topic that brings back memories!

I took my USBL team in there in 2000 and played the Shorecats in early May. I can only imagine how cold that building must have been in the WINTER! I was sick for two weeks after getting a cold after a night in that place. The visitors lockerroom was the all time worst! It was incredibly dirty and smelled like urine and other disgusting things...We didn't go back in there at halftime, but met behind the beer stand on the stage.

Everybody in the USBL talked about how great that place was....It was a DUMP!

[nksports]

"I remember one cold and dark December night. Me and Clarence and Miami Steve were all backstage at a game at Convention Hall. We played at halftime. I think it was back in 71 or 72. And it was cold out there. But the basketball was good. Those were the good days, the glory days. ARE YOU READY TO ROCK! Johnny was a big baseball player back in my high school, boy he could blow that speedball by you, make you look like a fool boy. Saw him just the other day at this roadside bar. He was walking in, I was walking out. ..."

Sorry, it had to be done :)