ALERT: Great Falls in trouble?

[Aaronhere]

Show goes on for Explorers

By GEORGE GEISE Tribune Sports Editor

The Great Falls Explorers begin a three-game road trip in Oklahoma tonight despite reports that the Continental Basketball Association team is in danger of not finishing the season.

"It looks like we will go forward at this point," Explorers coach Scott Wedman said Wednesday night from Kansas City. "It looks like Mr. Tuckman will stay in place and the league will help out a little bit."

Wedman has been in the Midwest during the Christmas break, and several of his players joined him for practice sessions in Missouri. They had planned to take a six-hour bus trip to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, but some personnel problems developed when players said they hadn't been paid in full by new owner Michael Tuckman.

Dennis Truax, acting commissioner of the CBA, intervened in the crisis and arranged to have the Explorers continue with their schedule.

"I really don't have any comment right now," Truax said late Wednesday night. "They (Explorers) will play tomorrow (Thursday). Then they'll have a travel day and will play Rio Grande in McAllen, Texas, the next two days.

"We're working on some stuff," he added.

Wedman said he was hopeful at least nine players will arrive in Lawton, Okla., for tonight's game against the Cavalry. Great Falls takes a 4-12 record into the contest, while the Cavalry is 6-6.

Wedman said he had hoped to try out some new athletes during the holidays — especially some post players — but that didn't happen.

"With the problems going on, we just weren't able to bring any guys in," he said.

The next scheduled Explorers home game is Jan. 2 at Four Seasons Arena against Minot.

I am starting to worry that the CBA is on shakier ground than we might want to think. Oklahoma was having payroll issues before the new ownership came in. Pittsburgh is drawing flies, and Atlanta had rumored cash flow issues. Thoughts?

[Aaronhere]

Do Silverados have long-term future?
Todd Mavreles
December 22, 2007 - 11:29PM
McAllen mayor Richard Cortez still believes in the Rio Grande Valley Silverados. If he could just get more of his constituents to attend home games at the McAllen Convention Center, the Silverados would be forever indebted.

Enticing fans to watch the first-year Silverados, a Continental Basketball Association expansion team, has been a challenge equal to defeating the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA playoffs. Through five home games, many of the seats at the McAllen Convention Center have been empty, begging the question as to whether there is enough interest to sustain the franchise past this season.

“We’re in the black,” said Silverados co-owner Art Gonzalez, who declined to say how far in the black the organization was. “Of course, we could be doing better, but we’re OK.”

Tracking fans

Per the attendance figures turned into the CBA, the Silverados have averaged an announced attendance of 1,542 (52.1 percent capacity) through five home games, but anyone who has been to a game other than the opener knows less than 1,000 were at the McAllen Convention Center for each of the past four games. Most professional teams count tickets sold, not fans in the seats, for their attendance totals and don’t release the amount of no-shows for public consumption. As such it’s difficult to gauge just how legitimate announced attendance totals are.

The announced figure of 1,622 for the Silverados’ Dec. 16 game against Atlanta seems a bit of a stretch when an actual head count of 200 to 300 would have been more accurate. It’s difficult to believe over 1,000 people from one of the poorest areas in the country (Hidalgo County has the 26th lowest per capita income according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and nearby Starr County is fifth lowest) purchased tickets and decided not to go.

CBA Deputy Commissioner Dennis Truax believes the Silverados’ light attendance is a symptom of the season — the holiday season. Truax isn’t worried about a team which already has replaced its general manager and coach since the start of the season, he said.

“The viability of the franchise is great,” he said. “I see the Silverados as a very stable team and being a staple of sports in the Valley. Traditionally for all leagues this is the lull time. I don’t care if it’s the NBA, NHL and CBA. These times are difficult to get fans out because of everything that’s going on. This is a tough, tough time.”

Quality of play lacking

Compounding matters is the Silverados’ start. They began the year 0-10 before firing coach Steve Tucker, who they lauded as one of the “top four coaches not coaching in the NBA” when they hired him. They replaced Tucker with Oklahoma Cavalry (CBA) assistant Derrick Rowland, who won his first game but now has lost five straight after their 125-75 loss at Yakama on Saturday night dropped them to 1-15 this season.

David Sykes was relieved of his GM duties through “mutual agreement” per Gonzalez, who promoted Norge Stout to the position.

While success on the court can be hit or miss, the novelty of having a new professional team in the Valley has proven to be a winner at the gate during Year 1 in the past. The Sports Business Journal earlier this year named the Valley one of the nation’s top 25 minor league sports markets.

But for whatever reason, the Silverados unfortunately have bucked the trend.

Here are examples of how previous Valley professional expansion teams fared attendance-wise the first year their sport was introduced:

>>The Edinburg Roadrunners of the Texas-Louisiana League drew an average of 2,707 spectators (67.7 percent capacity) to their 50 home games at Edinburg Baseball Stadium in 2001.

>>The Central Hockey League’s Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees attracted an average of 5,114 fans (93 percent capacity) to their 32 home games at Dodge Arena during their inaugural 2003-04 seasons.

>>The Rio Grande Valley Dorados of arenafootball2 recorded an average attendance of 5,456 (99.2 percent capacity) to their eight home games at Dodge Arena in 2004.

In their inaugural seasons, the Roadrunners won the Texas-Louisiana League championship, and the Bees qualified for the playoffs. The Dorados were 6-10 in their first season yet still sold out Dodge Arena six times. Though it is early, the Silverados haven’t come close to emulating the success of the Roadrunners, Bees or Dorados, and are lagging behind their local first-year expansion basketball rivals, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

The main question for the Silverados is fan support, or lack thereof. They lined up plenty of sponsors (over 60 when the season tipped off last month) but putting fans in the McAllen Convention Center seats has been a challenge.

The continued losing certainly doesn’t help matters.

They opened strong, drawing an announced crowd of 2,508 to the first game in franchise history, a 103-99 overtime loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 17. It was a standing-room only gathering inside, while fans were still in line outside the building at halftime waiting to enter. Since then, however, the reaction to the Silverados has to be considered lukewarm at best as they remain winless at home.

The unexpected apathy toward the team can perhaps be explained by a few factors: their struggles on the court; going 19 days between their third and fourth home games; and competing against an NBA Development League team, the Vipers.

Direct competition

The Vipers are averaging an announced attendance of 4,063 (72.1 percent capacity) through their first seven home games, dwarfing the Silverados’ numbers. The Vipers have been aided by hiring recognizable names such as coach Bob Hoffman, who guided the local University of Texas-Pan American Broncs to their best season in recent memory earlier this decade, and Spurs legend George Gervin, the team’s head of basketball operations.

In addition, the Vipers are aided by an affiliate agreement that already has seen the Houston Rockets send their No. 1 draft choice from the 2007 NBA Draft, point guard Aaron Brooks, to the team.

But why the wide disparity in perceived popularity among local fans between the teams who are housed less than 10 miles apart?

“The caliber of the play of the Vipers is a much higher level of basketball and the atmosphere is more of a basketball atmosphere,” said Joey Ordaz of Pharr, who has attended multiple games for each team.

“The Silverados have 200 fans and the Vipers have 3,000 fans. The service at the Silverados games, you have one concession stand. You have to stand in line for an hour to get concessions.”

Future of the Silverados

Despite their difficulties, McAllen’s mayor isn’t giving up on the Silverados and still looks at them as “McAllen’s Team.”

The question is, how much longer will that moniker stick?

“They play in our convention center and we want to wish them all the success in the world,” said Cortez, also noting that he supports all the sports teams in the region.

“It’s a shame that their win/loss record is not any better. I think we’re just real excited to have them here, and we hope that with time they’re going to do better. We all want to
have a winner.”

Gonzalez believes the love for the sport he and fellow co-owner Kevin Mitchell share will eventually provide McAllen with a winner. Gonzalez says he and Mitchell brought pro basketball to the Valley and their franchise is in it for the long haul, however long that
may be.

“I’m not going to sit here and guarantee we’re going to be around for 20 years,” Gonzalez said. “As long as we can we’re going to try, and as long as the support is there from the Valley we’ll be around.”

If I had to rank the franchises, here is how I would grade them:
YAKAMA - A (Good attendance, but some concerns about the tribal ownership)
ALBANY - B (You have to wonder how much of a financial bath they took on the USBL experiment)
EAST KENTUCKY - B minus (Still some worries about the population base they have to draw on)
OKLAHOMA - C (New ownership raises hopes. I would have given them a D a week ago)
MINOT - C minus (New ownership on the horizon could help)
BUTTE - C minus (Say they need 1800 a game to break even, but are struggling to draw 1,000 a night)
ATLANTA - D (Hard to figure if this franchise has a future)
GREAT FALLS - D (Low attendance, and now payroll issues. Not good)
RIO GRANDE VALLEY - D (Poor record has killed their gate. May not be able to compete with D-League in the neighborhood)
PITTSBURGH - D minus (Ownership seems committed, but there has to be an increase in attendance)

[psbf]

both articles in the online versions of their newspapers and I believe there is reason for hope. According to the GF Tribune, the game will go on tonight, soo I believe things will be ok. I believe the same about RGV, since we went thru the same thing last season(posters eeem to forget that).
I don't know if the loss of Antonio Graves to France will hurt or if the team will step up tonight vs. Yakima. If we have any chance, I believe the later has to be true and I think head coach Knox will motivate the team. I would hope that having the Sun Kings visit will bring our attendence up even more, while I don't want to count on that. The X put on a good show on Friday. Unfortunately we got blown out on the return trip and fans notice that too(on away trips).
What hurts the X is their lack of promotion(from what I've seen), although we did have our largest crowd on Saturday(126-116 win). I just hope we get more x supporters in and not have to rely on visting fans to fill the place.
I've emailed suggestions on things to improve on to the team(promote, more merchandise, etc. Things they had not done in a while).
Overall, I have to believe that the CBA will be stronger as the season progresses. Some may disagree, but everyone has a right to their views.)

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

...What hurts the X is their lack of promotion(from what I've seen), although we did have our largest crowd on Saturday(126-116 win). I just hope we get more x supporters in and not have to rely on visting fans to fill the place.
I've emailed suggestions on things to improve on to the team(promote, more merchandise, etc. Things they had not done in a while).
Overall, I have to believe that the CBA will be stronger as the season progresses. Some may disagree, but everyone has a right to their views.)

If you really want to help the Xplosion, then you should purchase at least one group ticket package per season (20 or more seats). Get your friends to do the same. I bet you'll have the Xplosion's undivided attention after that.

...and no. No, the CBA will not grow stronger as the season progresses. It's pretty obvious how this scenario will play out.

[panchess]

..RGV is in the black, according to the owner, and has a bunch of sponsorships. While being in the same market as a D-League team may not be a good idea (and the market is good-size, though low per capita income), and the team on the court has been bad (drying up walk-up sales), I would be very surprised if they didn't survive the season.

Great Falls, on the other hand, probably shouldn't have started the season given how shaky the ownership and finances were. Tuckman evidently thought he would be able to get ticket sales back up to last year's level to operate through the season, and that hasn't happened. It's a very small market in any event, and it's likely they won't have a team in the near future (I could see the team folding, moving to Washington State or Vancouver as per Tuckman's original plan, or finishing the season in Great Falls and then moving).

Oklahoma and likely Minot have been sold to local ownership, which should ease concerns about those teams in the near-term.

On Ken's other comment on due diligence with Oklahoma and the checkered history of their minister owner, I agree to a point. I do wonder what the Colisieum owners were thinking, though, putting up their cash without having the owner's cash at least in an escrow account. Lawton does seem potentially large enough to support a team, and there isn't a ton of competition.

[ChumpDumper]

I think the Silverados will be back next season, just in some other city.

[besl]

So it appears the curse of Michael Tuckman continues. Everything he touches seems to turn to crap.

With Great Falls' future pending, Tuckman has amassed a considerable number of failed franchises: Bellevue's CBA team that exisited for about a month, Bellevue's ABA team that played half of two seasons, Tacoma's ABA team that never traveled, Everett's arena football team that folded last spring, and last year's Vancouver CBA team that seemed to exist just long enough to participate in the draft.

How people continue to let this guy try and run anything baffles me.

[MontanaFella]

I think it all comes down to the line of credit situation. The league didn't require it and now there are players, coaches, and sponsors that will inevitably get screwed out of the money or sposorships that they were promised.

In Great Falls, there are no programs, the local printer is sitting on 3000 magnet schedules that were printed and not paid for, even though there is a sponsor on the magnets. The team's housing has not been paid for, the company who supplied the uniforms have not been paid. The furniture for the housing has not been paid for. Advertising has not been paid, and the arena has not recieved rent. Even if the team plays, they may not have a facility to house them.

Tuckman claims he didn't know the severity of the situation, but he told local people that he was going to put $100,000 in cash into the team right away to make things work, he didn't and things definitely didn't.

[one way]

If there are no sponsors on the magnet schedules, the blame falls on Acra. Where is all of the money from sponsors and advanced ticket sales?? Your season sales should be done in the summer months, you cannot wait for walk up to bail you out. That is not happening. My question is this. How much did Acra sell in the summer and where is the money? Also, if he knew that Apex wasa problem, why did he not sell the team to local investors like Minot and Oklahoma did??? That falls upon on Acra's shoulders.

[LandRoverUT60]

I sure hope that none of the teams simply fold. I don't hope that they move, either. With that said, is Washington state the only place for the teams to move? Why not try Yuma, AZ? St. George, UT? Bend, OR? Chico, CA?

[preeths]

If there are no sponsors on the magnet schedules, the blame falls on Acra. Where is all of the money from sponsors and advanced ticket sales?? Your season sales should be done in the summer months, you cannot wait for walk up to bail you out. That is not happening. My question is this. How much did Acra sell in the summer and where is the money? Also, if he knew that Apex wasa problem, why did he not sell the team to local investors like Minot and Oklahoma did??? That falls upon on Acra's shoulders.

He said there is a sponsor on the magnet schedules. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Acra didn't own the team, did he? How could he sell something he didn't own?

[Pounder]

I sure hope that none of the teams simply fold. I don't hope that they move, either. With that said, is Washington state the only place for the teams to move? Why not try Yuma, AZ? St. George, UT? Bend, OR? Chico, CA?

When Yuma's arena is completed, we'll talk.

Bend doesn't have an arena. The Blazers did make a pre-season visit 17 miles away at the county expo center in Redmond... which is kind of dodgy for hosting CBA, even if Redmond is growing just as fast as Bend.

Chico? St. George? An owner wants to sell beer. Two college arenas, would they cut it? I have my doubts. Of course, that begs the question of the Roadrunners in the StG.

Wenatchee will be ready next fall, it's kind of a growing area (it's an 80,000 metro plus, FWIW)... with an incoming and rather oversized arena. Have court, will travel.

[jbirdmontana]

That is right that Acra was just the GM, he didn't have anything to do with the sale of the team. Apex owned them which everybody should know by now, and also owned in Butte and Minot. It is sad that NorthCentral Montana is supposed to be basketball country and no one is going to the games, yes the team sucks and is boring to watch but at least you could go and check out the other teams, that is what I do. The CBA is supposedly helping GF out so that they can play their next few road games, but then what. If they don't have any money they are not going to be able to bring in any new players to make the team better. So the attendence will stay down and the team will fold, thanks Tuckman for taking a chance on the team, but better yet thanks to you Coach Wedman for giving us a crappy team that no one wants to watch play, after all these guys are all your handpicked players.

[sj2u]

If there are no sponsors on the magnet schedules, the blame falls on Acra. Where is all of the money from sponsors and advanced ticket sales?? Your season sales should be done in the summer months, you cannot wait for walk up to bail you out. That is not happening. My question is this. How much did Acra sell in the summer and where is the money? Also, if he knew that Apex wasa problem, why did he not sell the team to local investors like Minot and Oklahoma did??? That falls upon on Acra's shoulders.

Apparently, One Way, you're unfamiliar with the role of General Manager... Ryan Acra had difficulty in this community (yes, I live in Great Falls) selling sponsorships to anyone who was familiar with the "Apex way of doing things" and believe me people knew, word travels fast here. Additionally, Ryan was a paid employee - he had nothing to do with the sale - that was all Apex, specifically all Joe Clark who sold to Tuckman - a close personal friend of Joe's, and therefore (as far as I'm concerned) guilty by association.

Seems like the guilt by association thing may not be too far off the mark, considering how Tuckman has been doing business.

Having lived in the Philly area previously, I have to wonder, maybe this league would be better off selling teams to the Mob. They would be more likely to keep their word than the majority of the owners!

I'm disgusted by how the ownership of so many of the teams is running them (and the league) into the ground! In a community our size, this is quality entertainment, but if you wonder why attendance is so low, you don't have to look any further than the reputation the ownership has deservedly built. No one wants to come to the games because they don't want to support owners who have run roughshod over so many local businesspeople!

[sj2u]

That is right that Acra was just the GM, he didn't have anything to do with the sale of the team. Apex owned them which everybody should know by now, and also owned in Butte and Minot. It is sad that NorthCentral Montana is supposed to be basketball country and no one is going to the games, yes the team sucks and is boring to watch but at least you could go and check out the other teams, that is what I do. The CBA is supposedly helping GF out so that they can play their next few road games, but then what. If they don't have any money they are not going to be able to bring in any new players to make the team better. So the attendence will stay down and the team will fold, thanks Tuckman for taking a chance on the team, but better yet thanks to you Coach Wedman for giving us a crappy team that no one wants to watch play, after all these guys are all your handpicked players.

I agree with you JBird, that Wedman is a big factor in why ticket sales are so low... not only is north central Montana basketball country, but we also have a lot of military members at our Air Base who are huge basketball fans. Joe Clark narrowed down finalists for head coach to Wedman and Micheal Ray Richardson. He went with Wedman (BIG BIG BIG Yawn!) over Richardson... who admittedly is a hothead, but at least knows how to pick and coach players and is NEVER boring to watch. Additionally, Richardson has a big fan following in Montana being one of the biggest players ever to graduate from U of M (Krystowiak being another notable alum). It seems as though ownership for this team has made poor decision after poor decision - ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

[jjbballfan]

I am actually surprised Tuckman is keeping the team there.... The guy has talked big game for the past 2 seasons saying how he wants to own a team in Vancouver, suburban Seattle, Bend OR but nothing had happened then he buys a team I thought he would move it.... Great Falls is a tough situation but he bought the team pretty cheap I think 10K but if you can't get sponsors it ain't going to work its hard to make it work selling out the arena with no sponsorships.... I think the CBA in whole is in a tough situation on where to expand, they go to a Rapid City, a St. George a Colorado Springs a Yuma AZ or a town like that that could probably support a Dleague team and has one in the region that are thriving how long would the ownership want to live in the CBA when the Dleague offers quite a bit more... The biggest problem with the CBA is the Dleague its thriving in the regions of where you would want to put a team.... I think the northwest could work but is that basketball country? I think you could gain some attention in the Southeast (Florida, Georgia, Carolinas) but it didn't work there when the CBA was thriving.... The CBA is in a tough spot because the good communities and ownership groups are going to take a strong look at the Dleague but if you have poor owners in poor areas you loose creditability of the league.... I know I'm rambling but i would like to see them both work I just don't know how....

[bomp]

So it appears the curse of Michael Tuckman continues. Everything he touches seems to turn to crap.

With Great Falls' future pending, Tuckman has amassed a considerable number of failed franchises: Bellevue's CBA team that exisited for about a month, Bellevue's ABA team that played half of two seasons, Tacoma's ABA team that never traveled, Everett's arena football team that folded last spring, and last year's Vancouver CBA team that seemed to exist just long enough to participate in the draft.

How people continue to let this guy try and run anything baffles me.

A lot of these owners should not be owners. What is Gym Coyne thinking allowing some of these markets into the CBA? Desparate?

Pittsburgh does little in the way of promotion. It should be a great market. Atlanta competes with the NBA. Does this make sense? Maybe with creative promotion. I like East Kentucky. Albany should be able to break even. What are they doing with Apex? As for Tuckman's track record, why is he interested in owning a team? All seem underfinanced and that is an understatement.

[psbf]

Bomp. I've not seen any promotions by the xplosion and I keep complaining to them about it. When we were in the ABA they did a lot of it and we averaged well over 1,000 for our final few home games. I wish they would do that now.

[besl]

As for Tuckman's track record, why is he interested in owning a team? All seem underfinanced and that is an understatement.

In Tuckman's case, I am pretty certain the man is delusional. Last I had heard, the man was bankrupt following his disasterous season trying to operate two teams in the ABA during the 2005-06 season. Things got so bad I believe he had his home foreclosed. I guess he just wants to say he owns a team really, really bad.

All this goes back to the chicken-or-egg argument we use with the ABA: Is it the CBA's fault for letting these under-funded guys own teams, or is it the owners' fault for trying to do it without any money?

[Tyler1420]

He said there is a sponsor on the magnet schedules. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Acra didn't own the team, did he? How could he sell something he didn't own?

I spent 6 months selling something I didn't own.

It can be done.

I did it to the tune of $100k, and sponsors have every right at this moment to do what they need to do to preserve their community image.

With all the negativity swirling around the team, it's great when the rare sponsor steps up to help out, and it will be great when the community does the same for their hometown professional basketball team.

[Pounder]

General behavior on Tuckman's part leaves me to agree with besl. Delusional indeed.

I should say this: I consider Montana a rodeo state with some penchant for football. I was going to say that they'd kept junior hockey going for some time... but I don't get quite the warm fuzzies about it at present. Obviously, the locals should shout me down in due time.

jj - Northwest is a funny place. Basketball does have its place here, and it must be noted that the first of the major franchises in the Northwest (besides the one-year joke of the Seattle Pilots) were the Sonics and Blazers. Game 6 of the 1977 championship series drew a 96 share in the state of Oregon. The run of Oregon State in the '80s, the current crop of kids coming out of Seattle, Gonzaga's rise, recent elite 8 runs by Washington and Oregon, even one or two major HS women's basketball powers out here... there is more than a bit of basketball history in the Northwest.

I don't think you can "define" the Northwest as any given market, BTW. Funny things I know:

Portland drew better ratings for MLB than some MLB markets, and same for NHL.

The Northwest draws around the highest ratings in the country when the Olympics are on.

Portland is the natural for MLS... once someone realizes they'll have to pay for the stadium themselves.

Drawbacks:

Seattle is as fairweather as they come. Given the Jail Blazers phenomenon, I guess you'd say the same for Portland, given that 11 straight wins only sold out one game IIRC.

The population has learned from the Mariners and Seahawks stadium debacles, and will likely never again provide public funding for major stadia... perhaps not even for smaller ones after Kent gets completed.

[preeths]

I spent 6 months selling something I didn't own.

It can be done.

I did it to the tune of $100k, and sponsors have every right at this moment to do what they need to do to preserve their community image.

With all the negativity swirling around the team, it's great when the rare sponsor steps up to help out, and it will be great when the community does the same for their hometown professional basketball team.

This isn't what I was addressing at all. Acra didn't own the team. Therefore, he could not sell it. That was the point.

[jbirdmontana]

Anyone in Great Falls with money needs to chip in to help save the Explorers. I am offended that Great Falls can not have a team that is successful, but Butte can. Come on people of Great Falls we need to stand up and save our team (a team that sucks this year and I dont like that much) are yall just goin to sit there and let Butte keep a team while ours folds. Great Falls is gonna become a joke after this fiasco. People in Butte already think that their !@#$ don't stink, so with their team bring in alot more fans than ours and in no danger of folding it is just gonna add to Butte thinking it is better than everywhere else in Montana. I just hope some how this thing gets turned around.

[jbirdmontana]

I guess the season is going to continue for the Explorers. The CBA is going to help out to keep the franchise going. Even though they had an ugly game that they got beat by the worst team in the league, the only direction to go is up. They brought Marlyn Bryant back finally, which there wasn't even mention of in the Great Falls Tribune. This should bring a little bit of excitement to the games, and plus the explorers are going to start playing a smaller lineup so maybe the games will be better for the fans to watch. To any Explorers fans come check out the next home game which is tomorrow the 2nd vs Minot, lets start the new year out right and save our team.