THE NEWLY MINTED SPHL

[Houston Caldwell]

I read the press release where the ownership groups of the SEHL and the SHL met, and agreed to merge and form the new 9-tam SPHL.In the press release, I noticed an interesting omission.The omission was the new Pelham,Alabama franchise which had joined the SEHL in June,a league that,due to the merger, no longer exists.DID SOMEONE FORGET TO TELL PELHAM WHAT WAS GOING ON?

[Big Chris]

Can you say TRAIN WRECK?

[kcarroll67]

The SPHL's office, for now, is also the Cottonmouths' office and this is what was reported by Cottonmouths' new head coach Jerome Beachard on a Columbus radio station today. The press release was not official and some of the SPHL teams jumped the gun releasing it today. Today was the original date that the announcement was to be made but the teams were to wait for the go ahead. There are still a few more details to work out before the an official announcement is made which should be early this coming week.
Could be that the Birmingham Bulls will be included by the time the official announcement is made. Maybe they are one of the details to be worked out.

[Global-Hockey]

Are we sure that Mike K. is not involved in this somehow. This is a situation that has gone from funny to just plain scratch your head in wonder what these folks will come up with next.

[BCRantzilla]

Are all southern businessmen a bunch of used carsalesman yahoos? It sure looks that way when you look at the sorry state of pro sports down there...

[Houston Caldwell]

To BCRantzilla---I don't hold it against you,because I know who you're really talking about, especially in the context of this topic----but I'm a Southern businessman.I,however, don't own a sports franchise in the region.Me and my girlfriend,who is also my cousin,still love ya.Keep ranting!



P.S.-JUST KIDDING ABOUT THE COUSIN THING.

[Global-Hockey]

To Houston-LOL I love a guy with a sense of humor.

[BCRantzilla]

To BCRantzilla---I don't hold it against you,because I know who you're really talking about, especially in the context of this topic----but I'm a Southern businessman.I,however, don't own a sports franchise in the region.Me and my girlfriend,who is also my cousin,still love ya.Keep ranting!



P.S.-JUST KIDDING ABOUT THE COUSIN THING.

Things that make me go hmmmmmmmmmmm.

N-E-way, There has always been serious problems with every sports venture I have encountered when following the minors in the southern region. That is why I ask that question. Why is it that only baseball teams can be run legitimately out there? Hockey has been a trainwreck from day one out there dispite some loyal fans. Basketball only seems to work at the college level out there as the owners seem to be dropouts of those colleges who think they know it all when they don't.

Frankly I am at my wit's end watching how badly these new sports ventures are going. It seems that everyone who is rejected by the bigger and better run minor leagues or junior leagues go out and start their own league and ruin untold amounts of markets for the sport in question. It hurts because the long term ramifications turn certain cities into sports graveyards. (Birmingham and Memphis anyone?) This ruins their credibility with bigger leagues when they want to find new territory.

I sincerely hope hockey can work in the south. There are some dedicated fans out there and they deserve better than they have been given. They need people with money and credibility and a connection with the community to make a go of it. This is why the junior leagues work so well in Canada. All of the owners, (with the exception of some of the bigger markets like Quebec City and Toronto,) are local. They know their own backyard and know when a right and wrong time to schedule home games is. They also know that it isn't wise to pull up the stakes and walk out in mid season. When fans aren't coming out, those owners know why and either do what they have to in order to right the ship or they sell the team to someone who can. It takes committment from the local business communities in order to make this work and if that doesn't exist then it isn't a good place to put a team or a league.

[preeths]

I'm not sure why this new league/merger is perceived as a bad thing. This should have happened last year. Instead, hockey fans had to deal with one four-team league and another five-and-a-half team league. This consolidation can only be good for hockey fans and the teams themselves. Now, arenas can't play one league off another to get higher rent, which was good for the arenas, but bad for teams' bottom lines. Travel costs should drop, old rivalries will be renewed, and fans won't have to watch the same handful (or less) of teams visit their arenas time and again. To many in these cities, these teams have finally seen past the personality conflicts that have kept them apart and have gotten it right.

[BCRantzilla]

The problem Paul, is that there were hostile takeover bids with the arena operators from people runnin WHA2. When the local owners all were forced out, the yahoos took over who have no qualms about shutting down in mid season if big profits aren't seen right away. This makes the new league a crap shoot to even finish the season next year.

The Northern League, (the model for indy leagues everywhere,) started with 5 teams and didn't go beyond 6 until their 4th season. The Major Indoor Larosse League took 5 years to get beyond that many teams. Bigger isn't necessarilly better in the minors. The biggest problem of all was that the arena operators left the local owners out to dry over the amount of teams in their league. This leads one to wonder if those people were any better than the deadbeats that ran WHA2 into the ground. Either way the arena operators are partially to blame for what is going down at this point. However, the big losers in all of this is the fans. Worse yet these markets are probably dead hockey-wise now. This hurts the AHL, ECHL and UHL's chances of floating teams there.

It has gotten to a point where I think these leagues and the yahoos who run them be completely scrapped and a new group who actually know what they are doing come in and start from scratch.

[wncsport.com]

I'm not sure why this new league/merger is perceived as a bad thing. This should have happened last year. Instead, hockey fans had to deal with one four-team league and another five-and-a-half team league. This consolidation can only be good for hockey fans and the teams themselves. Now, arenas can't play one league off another to get higher rent, which was good for the arenas, but bad for teams' bottom lines. Travel costs should drop, old rivalries will be renewed, and fans won't have to watch the same handful (or less) of teams visit their arenas time and again. To many in these cities, these teams have finally seen past the personality conflicts that have kept them apart and have gotten it right.

That may be true for future deals, if they get to that point. But the problem is the contracts are already done when they were two warring fledgling leagues. Let me beat the dead horse called "Asheville" once more. The rent scale for this level of hockey in a city this size is insane. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

The arenas won't just reopen negotiations out of the goodness of their hearts. They are finally getting wise to these soap operas and to their credit more and more of them are insisting of mininum number of teams in a league to maintain the lease.

If they were smart they'd have single elimination playoffs and do anything else to shave costs and just survive the first year and admit as much. But I doubt it, they are already saying 60 game regular season, which is way too high for this level.

This may be too little too late...

[preeths]

It may be true that it is too late to re-negotiate with arenas, but the one-league setup doesn't hurt right now, either. If teams would try to renegotiate during or after the season (it happens in the minors), the arenas now have had one major point of leverage removed.

Plus, having one league may actually keep some under-financed ownership groups out this year. The SEHL was scratching and clawing to ice six teams this season due to stipulations in some of their arena contracts, and they were almost going to have to allow a weak sister ownership group or two in, just to have a league this season. The SPHL doesn't have to accept any ownership groups because between the two leagues, it has enough teams already.

Waronker couldn't afford to have an entire league to himself again this year, and the SEHL was going to be lucky to get six teams, at least two of which would have had almost no time to market their product. It could be argued that maybe it would be better for these markets to sit empty for a year or two, but beyond that possibility, this was the best outcome.

[Houston Caldwell]

By the way, I don't have a problem with the merger of the two leagues,something that will benefit the health of independent pro hockey in the region. However, by not addressing the Pelham situation in their first public statement as a unified league, the SPHL got off to a rocky start in terms of how regional sports observers will perceive their management.

[Geoff]

It's not a merger. The SEHL is still trying to get four more teams (they have Pelham, Ala. if they get six, and Tupelo signed a letter of intent).

Anyway, the true nature of this post:
For anyone looking for a largeversion of the logo:
http://www.huntsvillehavoc.com/upload_images//news/sphllogo.jpg
http://www.huntsvillehavoc.com/upload_images//news/sphllogo.jpg

[ssgtdad]

Lemme first say I love hockey...I have been in middle GA for 2 years now and have been a faithful supporter of the MACON TRAX...but 3 leagues in 3 years?...YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN ME!!!How am I supposed to get behind this team when from one year to the next if I dont have any clue if they are even going to be here?...I am all for these "so-called" owners to get their act together and get this league formed but for what?...next year we can be a part of another league?...and then to top it off...the team from ORLANDO is going to be sold (again)...Is it any wonder why the people wont come out and support hockey in MIDDLE GA...STOP JERKING THE FANS AROUND AND GET IT RIGHT!!!!!!!!

[Geoff]

No not "again". If you are refering to the first deal with the WHA, it never happened DW still owned the team.

[Pounder]

The history of minor pro in American is littered with substandard owners and myriad league changes. Stability is the freak of nature here, not the norm. To the largest degree possible (perhaps including AHL teams), a minor pro hockey team is born to die.

Get over it, enjoy the ride while you can, and save up some pesos to try it yourself someday. It's not like you have a choice if you're a hockey fan, anyway.

[ssgtdad]

pounder, you're right...i do enjoy it...and will (while it lasts)...just gets frustrating at times