Mississippi Miracles, Tijuana Dragones dropped from ABA 07-08 sched

[Chuck the Writer]

We are now down to 40 "official" franchises. The Mississippi Miracles, who were scheduled to play 40 games in the ABA's original draft schedule release, will now play exactly ZERO games this season.

Tijuana has also been dropped from 07-08. Both teams, however, are part of the 08-09 listing.

So we officially have 40 squads - 41 if you count the Virginia Ballerz, because they're supposedly playing some of the Eastern teams.

[Fells]

Rumor has it that there are a couple of new teams coming as well. With the problems Mississippi had with the league last season, their dropping out does not come as a surprise to me at all.

[OneBetter]

The ABA bank account should be running dry here in the next few weeks based on previous financial data submitted to the SEC.

It'll be interesting to see if ANY of these teams get to play a game this year under the ABA banner.

It's no surprise that Joe is accepting more franchises at this late date based on their all too well known financial troubles.

The surprising thing is that these potential owners don't even take 10 minutes to do a Google search on the ABA before sending off their checks to Joe. I can't see how any rational human would invest in this league after reading the SEC reports.

[ABARedWhiteBlue]

Tijuana leaving means that the ABA has lost its franchise with the longest tenure in one city (The HeatWave moved from Fresno to Sac-town).

Of course, 'longest-tenured ABA team' isn't really a high bar to leap anyway. But still, I have heard some stories of the crazy fan atmosphere at their games, including groups that would congregate behind the baskets and go nuts at the opponents.

[Pounder]

The surprising thing is that these potential owners don't even take 10 minutes to do a Google search on the ABA before sending off their checks to Joe. I can't see how any rational human would invest in this league after reading the SEC reports.

Never, at any point after ABA2000 went dormant for a year, has Joe Newman catered to rational human beings. The fact that he actually snared a couple anyway could be considered either accidents or mistakes Joe made, depending on your POV.

[OneBetter]

Pounder, I think you hit the nail on the head. America is littered with irrational human beings. This is Joe's target audience to a T.

If you look at the backgrounds of many of the owners, especially the owners of failed franchises, there are some common threads.

[tops804]

If you look at the backgrounds of many of the owners, especially the owners of failed franchises, there are some common threads.

...to see statistics of these owners and where they made their money.

Business owners, failed business owners, borrowed over their heads for
Joes league....Even the few who had their act together.

The A.B.A. claims a diverse ownership group. Why not show it in numbers?