Explorers 96 Minot 95 Great Win!!!

[jbirdmontana]

The Explorers beat Minot in a very close contest tonight at the Four Seasons. Great Falls had to overcome some questionable, at best, calls by the officiating crew for the second night in a row. Fans actually were out of their seats making some noise for the first time this year. Cody Toppert and Keith Salshieder had great nights shooting, and Marlyn Bryant had a couple of dunks and the team hustled and played hard and great d. Joe Principie even had a nice game tonight. That is the type of effort we need in Great Falls every night, it was nice to beat the team thats owner's ripped us off. Now we need to beat Butte on Saturday, a team that is also benefitting from Great Falls money taken by Joe Clark and Apex.

[psbf]

E.K. 103, Butte 95

[bull1104]

Why was tonight's game postponed?

[heavesrock]

I was wondering the same thing myself. I have a feeling it's a GF problem.

[Chuck the Writer]

Did the janitor at the Four Seasons Arena turn on the AC by accident?

[TheStandard]

Or did the Janitor forgot there was a game and did not open up the arena?

[Tyler1420]

What a disgusting display of ego and selfishness.

Former general manager running around telling everyone the game is cancelled.

Assistant coach coercing his players not to dress out.

Fans excited to see a team that gave them a thrilling victory two days earlier.

What a disgusting display of ego and selfishness.

In the final analysis, those who did what they did tonight will have to reap the harvest they sowed.

I apologize to the fans. I'm so sorry this happened, to you.

[psbf]

that GF is still good for their next game, since they come here on Monday.

[bull1104]

Tyler, can you give us a little more information than that? What happened exactly?

[psbf]

what I read in the Montana Standard, there is confusion as to whether Tuckman fired Wedman or if Wedman just pulled his team and prevented them from playing. But the Exlplorers were supposed to have their largest crowd of the season last night, which is sad that this happened.

[Tyler1420]

http://forums.greatfallstribune.com/viewtopic.php?p=33687#33687

[jbirdmontana]

I probably can tell you all the best of what happened, because I know many of the players. So what happened was Friday night, Tuckman called a few of the players saying that Wedman was fired and that the players better show up at the gym or they would be permanently banned from the CBA. So most of the players decided that they would play only if they got paid. Tuckman proceeded to say that the players had been paid, maybe not what they were owed, but that they had been paid. Tuckman claims that the CBA owes him a franchise fee of 120,000 and that he doesn't owe the 4 Season Arena anything either. I have never heard of any franchise being owed money, all I know is if you by a McDonalds franchise that you must pay McDonalds the franchise fee. So after all this talk the players had their morning shoot around and lunch at Tony Roma's on Saturday, and Coach Wedman and Wetzel were all there. Then at like 5:15 pm Wetzel text the players about a team meeting up at the Crestview Inn. The players voted that they indeed would not play in the game except for Najeeb Echols, who was at the arena dressed and on the bench. All the other players said that they weren't going to play but some howed up at the arena(Nate Johnson, Nate Green, Will Maupins, Mike Peoples, and Cody Toppert) and stood in the commons area in street clothes along with Justin Wetzel and Ryan Acra. Acra was going around saying that the game was cancelled. The Butte bus showed up and the players stayed on the bus until after the 7 05 tip off time, then the proceeded to Burger King. Those are all the facts that I know at this time and it is all things that I saw or heard. There was by far the largest crowd of the season there half of them seated and the rest standing in the common area.

The players said they wouldn't play in that game vs Butte, but it sounds like they gonna go on the road to play in Pittsburgh and if that happens then what was the purpose of not playing the home game.

No one knows the truth around here in Great Falls, Tuckman is trying to do all of what he is doing this week from home in Seattle. Won't it help to actually be here now, he is supposed to be here Monday. So at this point there is no one in charge in Great Falls. That is all that I know.

[Minor Leaguer]

What a mess! I had heard bad stories about that Tuckman character from his days in the ABA. My question is why doesn't the CBA get back to its "Eric Chapman" days when they actually made sure that potential team owners had the financial means to be a good owner, and thus a good representative of the league?

[Tyler1420]

All I know is when I was in the arena, after pumping up the great fans in Great Falls on the radio the day prior, I saw a player dressed out, warming up on the court. I overheard a player, the player listed in the article that was willing to step up and fill in as coach, calling other players pleading for them to get dressed and play.

The fans didn't deserve this. It's just that simple. When egos get in the way of making good business decisions, there is a problem.

There should never be a time when a former general manager is making things difficult for a team he no longer has anything to do with, except out of selfishness and egotism.

The fans didn't deserve this. They were ready to see the team that gave them such a thrilling victory last Thursday.

It's too bad it has come down to this, in Great Falls.

But, as always, truth will prevail.

[psbf]

to hear about the problems in Great Falls. But I'll be at the games(Mon and Tues) and I hope to see the Explorers there playing the Xplosion. It would be nice if the Explorers had gone forward to give the fans a game-something worth their money. But as far as I'm concerned, it's a regular game. Everyone knows who I'll be for.

[Minor Leaguer]

Tyler, how in the world is Ryan Acra doing anything wrong? The blame for this entire situation rests solely upon Michael Tuckman.

[preeths]

Tuckman should never, ever be allowed to helm a professional team, period. I don't know the details on this one, but I am familiar with the man. I know where the benefit of my doubt does not go.

[Tyler1420]

Wow, what eloquent, impassioned and biased responses.

I didn't believe in hidden agendas and conspiracies, until now. 10 years active Army made me ignorant, I guess.

Doesn't FX play "X-Files" reruns? I'll have to turn on, tune in and check out.

[bull1104]

If Wedman says that he had not heard he was fired, then he hadn't.

I understand how you guys feel about the game not being played. But you have to understand that these guys HAD to put their feet down (that sounds wrong like that). They weren't getting paid, they'd been evicted, they've lived day to day on what little money they've been given. They are not a college team made up of guys who feel loyalty to the city. It's sad, but true. Their main priority is basketball; and then somewhere a need for respect for their game and need for money come in as priorities. After those comes their fans. And you're kidding yourself if you think any professional ANYBODY is any different.

Wedman has done everything he can to keep this team together. He would not have asked those guys to do anything out of solidarity to him. Deciding not to play would have been a team decision; it sounds like Acra was just lending his support.

[preeths]

Um, Tyler1420, aren't you the one positing the conspiracy theory? Isn't your allegation that Acra is conspiring with Wedman and/or the players? That's a conspiracy. On the other hand, you can't have a conspiracy of one. Those blaming solely Tuckman aren't alleging a conspiracy. They're referencing a continued pattern of behavior that they may be more familiar with than you.

[jbirdmontana]

Minorleaguer who said anything about Acra, all I want to know is why he was even at the game what business did he have there last night. I didn't see anyone there talking to him. But he has nothing to do with this as he resigned or whatever as soon as Tuckman took over. I still don't know who is in charge of the team at all, but it is for sure not Ryan. As for Tyler1420 why didn't this player who is Cody Toppert call Marlyn Bryant to come down, or Keith Salshieder, could it be that he didn't want the players there that are better than him.

[jbirdmontana]

Bull I like what you said but if it was a team decision not to play then why go to the gym. Najeeb Echols was already at the gym when the team had their meeting, but why did those other guys even go to the gym. If it was a team decision all the players said they werent gonna play shoulda stayed away. Maybe they went down there to make the players that werent there look bad, but it made them look worse for being there instead. It is a mess they either need to get it together or save all of us from the drama and just fold the team. I am starting to get sick of the drama. The tribune says the new coach is supposed to be here today, well he hasn't called anyone to come practice yet.

[bull1104]

I really think that the guys went to the gym to show their appreciation to the fans. It may seem backwards, but I would rather see them there than know they were down at the local bar. I think it showed that they take the matter seriously; they just weren't going to continue to play.

[Tyler1420]

Thanks, Paul.

Jbirdmontana, all I can tell you is what I overheard and what was told to me by that player, okay?

[bull1104]

What does, "Thanks, Paul." mean?

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

I probably can tell you all the best of what happened, because I know many of the players. So what happened was Friday night, Tuckman called a few of the players saying that Wedman was fired and that the players better show up at the gym or they would be permanently banned from the CBA. So most of the players decided that they would play only if they got paid. Tuckman proceeded to say that the players had been paid, maybe not what they were owed, but that they had been paid. Tuckman claims that the CBA owes him a franchise fee of 120,000 and that he doesn't owe the 4 Season Arena anything either. I have never heard of any franchise being owed money, all I know is if you by a McDonalds franchise that you must pay McDonalds the franchise fee. So after all this talk the players had their morning shoot around and lunch at Tony Roma's on Saturday, and Coach Wedman and Wetzel were all there. Then at like 5:15 pm Wetzel text the players about a team meeting up at the Crestview Inn. The players voted that they indeed would not play in the game except for Najeeb Echols, who was at the arena dressed and on the bench. All the other players said that they weren't going to play but some howed up at the arena(Nate Johnson, Nate Green, Will Maupins, Mike Peoples, and Cody Toppert) and stood in the commons area in street clothes along with Justin Wetzel and Ryan Acra. Acra was going around saying that the game was cancelled. The Butte bus showed up and the players stayed on the bus until after the 7 05 tip off time, then the proceeded to Burger King. Those are all the facts that I know at this time and it is all things that I saw or heard. There was by far the largest crowd of the season there half of them seated and the rest standing in the common area.

The players said they wouldn't play in that game vs Butte, but it sounds like they gonna go on the road to play in Pittsburgh and if that happens then what was the purpose of not playing the home game.

No one knows the truth around here in Great Falls, Tuckman is trying to do all of what he is doing this week from home in Seattle. Won't it help to actually be here now, he is supposed to be here Monday. So at this point there is no one in charge in Great Falls. That is all that I know.

Michael Tuckman pulled the old CBA owes me $120,000 every year since Sioux Falls, Dakota, and Idaho left for the D-League. That's three seasons now, right? He claims that he put up a performance bond while Gary Hunter was CBA commissioner. He never put up a team though and claims he is owed the bond money back. Who knows if he is actually owed the money?!? I only know that he brings up the matter every year.

History is at play here. Michael Tuckman has done this before. Google tuckman, cba, aba, washington.

[Minor Leaguer]

jbirdmontana- Tyler mentioned something about Acra being at fault. He was probably just at the game as a fan (he has every right to be there as much as anybody else) and since he knows all of the players from his time there, talked to them and let people know that there wouldn't be a game.

As for another take on why the players were there: Maybe they went there hoping that Tuckman would actually show up at the game and pay them beforehand. I know it would be considered wishful thinking, but players can always hope, can't they?

Also, like Ken stated Tuckman is a poison. He should never have been allowed to own a CBA franchise.

[Tyler1420]

As a fan, Minor Leaguer, how would the aforementioned person in your post known there wasn't going to be a game before the other fans assembled there?

BTW, please show me the libelous statement I made that cast "Acra being at fault"?

[wellington]

Tuckman must think this is the ABA where you can do as you please. I definitely support the players on this one -- there's probably a lot more crap going on behind the scenes that we don't even know about. The league needs to step in and get to the bottom of this quickly. Its terrible that the city and fans of Great Falls have to endure this garbage.

[Minor Leaguer]

Tyler, here is the quote of yours that I was referring to, "There should never be a time when a former general manager is making things difficult for a team he no longer has anything to do with, except out of selfishness and egotism."

As far as your question as to why Acra would know that there wasn't going to be a game before the fans assembled there, let's not be stupid. He was the former GM. I am sure he is still in contact with a majority of the players. Of course he is going to find out that there isn't a game before the general public.

[Chuck the Writer]

At this point, here's what I would do if I had any power in the CBA.

Monday morning - call in the letters of credit on Great Falls and Atlanta.

Pull both teams out of their respective cities.

Move Great Falls to either Rapid City or Fargo and make them at least finish the season. If nothing, it gives Minot a travel partner. Or move Great Falls to Wichita or to Wichita Falls (pardon me, I'm having a Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays flashback), or maybe to Enid or Dodge City or one of the old stable USBL franchise cities.

As for the Krunk, move them out of Atlanta and put them in Brooklyn. Make them finish their schedule at LIU. Maybe even get Kenny Charles to cough up those old Brooklyn Kings uniforms for 'em. If nothing else, it gives Albany a travel partner for the rest of the year.

Of course, I'm not in the CBA head office, so I would have no idea what the powers that be might have regarding same.

But if anybody moves one of those franchises to Utica, I want a royalty check now. :)

[psbf]

Royalty or reality?

[Chuck the Writer]

Royalty or reality?

First funny one you've come up with in a long time, psbf.

[jbirdmontana]

That is a crappy idea to move the team, how would that improve the situation of poor communication within the Explorers. As for Acra the only person he stays in touch with is Justin Wetzel, the assistant coach, who knew that the game wasnt gonna be played so that is why he was there. I know about as much about the situation as any one can know seems that one of the players live with me and I went out to the club with them, plus I know the teams biggest sponsor. So I know that the whole problem is a lack of solid communication within the organization. If you asked Tuckman he would say one thing, then Wedman would say something else, no one knows what the truth is around here. There is so much crap going on around here, the players are all at least 2 paychecks behind, Marlyn Bryant is here living with me and he hasn't even signed a contract with the team. I hope there is a positive solution in the matter.

[Chuck the Writer]

That is a crappy idea to move the team, how would that improve the situation of poor communication within the Explorers. As for Acra the only person he stays in touch with is Justin Wetzel, the assistant coach, who knew that the game wasnt gonna be played so that is why he was there. I know about as much about the situation as any one can know seems that one of the players live with me and I went out to the club with them, plus I know the teams biggest sponsor. So I know that the whole problem is a lack of solid communication within the organization. If you asked Tuckman he would say one thing, then Wedman would say something else, no one knows what the truth is around here. There is so much crap going on around here, the players are all at least 2 paychecks behind, Marlyn Bryant is here living with me and he hasn't even signed a contract with the team. I hope there is a positive solution in the matter.

JBM - Here's the situation, from what I can glean from message boards like OSC (which ain't exactly the AP for sources) and the Great Falls Tribune. The Explorers are in serious trouble. They were in serious trouble before Michael Tuckman bought the team, they were drawing 200 a night. Something happened with all the sponsorship money. And the team was getting killed by everybody else in the league. Even RGV took two wins from you. Yeah, you had a great come-from-behind victory over Minot, but by then you've got players coming and going, you've got an owner who claims to have fired the coach, a coach who claims he quit, one guy showing up to play and everybody else is in street clothes or not in the building, players allegedly not getting paid (I'm saying allegedly because it's only been reported on OSC and not in the GF Tribune or the TV stations), etc. All I was saying is that maybe it's time to cut bait in Great Falls and maybe, if a new sponsorship or ownership group comes in for 2008-09, start fresh. It's happened at least twice in CBA history - the Connecticut Pride moved in when the Hartford Hellcats went rigor mortis in the 1994-95 season; and the La Crosse Bobcats came in after the La Crosse Catbirds went out. So there is precedent for this happening.

[psbf]

a little on history, the LaCrosse Catbirds moved here to become the Pittsburgh Piranhas(1995).

[Alumni96]

JBM - Here's the situation, from what I can glean from message boards like OSC (which ain't exactly the AP for sources) and the Great Falls Tribune. The Explorers are in serious trouble. They were in serious trouble before Michael Tuckman bought the team, they were drawing 200 a night. Something happened with all the sponsorship money. And the team was getting killed by everybody else in the league. Even RGV took two wins from you. Yeah, you had a great come-from-behind victory over Minot, but by then you've got players coming and going, you've got an owner who claims to have fired the coach, a coach who claims he quit, one guy showing up to play and everybody else is in street clothes or not in the building, players allegedly not getting paid (I'm saying allegedly because it's only been reported on OSC and not in the GF Tribune or the TV stations), etc. All I was saying is that maybe it's time to cut bait in Great Falls and maybe, if a new sponsorship or ownership group comes in for 2008-09, start fresh. It's happened at least twice in CBA history - the Connecticut Pride moved in when the Hartford Hellcats went rigor mortis in the 1994-95 season; and the La Crosse Bobcats came in after the La Crosse Catbirds went out. So there is precedent for this happening.

Chuck, are the explorers likely to draw more than 200 fans in a new city? I understand the theory of cutting the travel costs but doesn't Great Falls already have a travel partner with Butte? If the league is gonna step in and run this team, don't they have an obligation to sponsors to do so in Great Falls at least to the end of the season?

[jbirdmontana]

Yes it is true about our team not being very good I am not basing any of my statements on that. I have said all along we aint that good but we can improve with a few new experienced players. I know players are not getting paid what they are owed, and they havent been paid for 2 weeks and they were not paid in full the last time. This is a fact I spoke with Nate Johnson, Keith Salshider and a few others, and they told me this. I just hope this works out somehow.

[psbf]

what you mean when you say that the GF Tribune did not mention the players not being paid, Chuck. They had it mentioned in today's article; www.greatfallstribune.com

[Chuck the Writer]

what you mean when you say that the GF Tribune did not mention the players not being paid, Chuck. They had it mentioned in today's article; www.greatfallstribune.com

I want to make sure that a second source other than OSC said that they missed a paycheck. Sometimes it takes a few days for all the information to come out, and I'd rather it was confirmed in a print or televised media than have someone come on OSC and say "hey this happened" and we all run and believe it.

[psbf]

I agree, better to have things confirmed.

[TheStandard]

Chuck,

I agree with the Atlanta being moved to Brooklyn. Their majority owner which is Freedom Williams lives and works in Brooklyn. Also there will not be no problem with scheduling games at LIU because the Paramount Theater which is their old gym is intact and the Blackbirds moved to the new athletic center 2 blocks up . The scoreboards are still there as theres new ones at the athletic center and all the seats are there.

If Kenny Anderson does not want to go back home NYC to coach the team oh well thats on him and I would truly say that Kenny Charles takes over.

Oh by the way. The Brooklyn Kings Uni's are being held by Ernie Lorch who used to run the Riverside Church AAU Program and was the main person who was funding the Kings in their USBL Days.

[psbf]

the teams? Never mind the fans that they have or the sponsors? When would this move take place? There is a lot to consider before doing this. You can't just relocate because teams are not doing well. This is the CBA not the NFL.

[Cazzzmo]

are the players agreeing to fly out to Pittsburgh for the game because many of them are from out East and that gets them a free ride ''home''?

[bull1104]

The players have not been paid normally from the beginning.

Wedman isn't saying he quit. He said that when Tuckman told a REPORTER that he had fired him, Wedman himself had not heard that yet.

This team was doomed from -30 days. They could not get new players in because the current ones weren't even getting paid. It was a bad deal all around.

Yes, the blame is entirely on Tuckman.

[MontanaFella]

I wish I would have been at the arena last night even though the game was cancelled. I have talked to some of the other Explorers' sponsors today however and they are concerned about their investments but they are pretty much still behind the players and coach Wedman. Tuckman never put up his line of credit with the league and he has no state workers' compensation insurance in place, the players are trying to make a living playing basketball, they need to know they will be protected if they are injured. Add that to the fact that the team wasn't paid and their coach was fired through the media, what choice did they have. One of the sponsors who did talk to Acra said that he never said the game was cancelled, just that the players weren't coming, he actually hired Coach Wedman and brought in many of the players staying in touch with most of them as he was often the only person around who could answer their questions since Tuckman was often MIA. Acra said he just wanted to let the arena staff know so that they could mitigate the impacts of the potential cancellation since he knew the players didn't plan on showing up. If given the chance to do over again, I am sure he would have stayed home and watched the Montana-Montana State game.

[jjbballfan]

Tuckman is a joke honestly..... I read an article on him and he bought a franchise in the CBA for $30,000 then I think then decided that the CBA wasn't that good of a league so he decided to join the ABA and in the article cussed the CBA commissioner saying how the ABA was a lot better league because it was cheeper and travel concerns because Tuckman wanted to put a team in the Northwest but when San Jose decided to move to Minot and other rumored teams in the west didn't expire he decided to join the ABA he ran his teams there like a joke then comes out with this 28 point plan on how to own a million CBA franchises.... Has talked about placing teams all over Washington and Oregon but none have started then he buys Great Falls..... I don't think moving the team is going to do any good but I do think that the CBA has to step up here.... Oklahoma was about ready to close shop and the CBA office is on record saying everything was fine as far as they knew... Atlanta has had questions since the start....

i have yet to figure out Tuckman and the CBA though because he crys to them yet Tuckman buys a CBA team and the CBA has kept the Vancouver Dragons on there website since forever and yet the team is so predictable after the season they will say where starting this year then right before the draft or maybe even after the draft and then say next year after Tuckman came out and said he was waiting until after the 2010 Olympics to start the franchise.....

[psbf]

That article mentioned someone taking over for Wedman for the next month, beginning with their trip that starts here. I hope that is true. I don't want to see an Xplosion game canceled because of problems in GF.

[jbirdmontana]

I still wanna know who yalls sources are for things who is the sponsor that you talked to, you know that it isn't gonna hurt anyone if you say who your source is. I may too frequently use peoples names and sorry if they don't apprechiate it but I am just trying to help you other people understand what is going on in Great Falls and I am just telling you out there what I hear. Why is Acra all of a sudden back on the players side, if all he cares about is the players and the 4 seasons staff and their best interest he should have hung around just a little long after Tuckman took over. After Ryan quit or whatever happened with that is probably when all the lines of communication broke down.

[Minor Leaguer]

jbirdmontana- I think Acra stuck around a heckuva lot longer than you would have without being paid.

[bull1104]

ML to jbird - Exactly.

[psbf]

another article, this in the Montana Standard, to see if I could learn anything further. In addition to Tuckman saying that Rick Turner will guide the team for the next month, it also says that h.c. Scott Wedman doubts that the team will show up. Whether or not the Explorers arrive or not, I'll be at Mellon Arena! I'll be very disappointed if there is no game.

[rider]

Why on earth would they have given this team to Tuckman? Where on earth is the so-called commisisioner ? Tuckman will simpy screw up the situation even more like he has many times before.

[Rusty]

More information. (http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080107/SPORTS/801070311)

Says Butte's coaches aren't getting paid, either. Not really a surprise.

[wellington]

Tuckman said he would fly back East this week to give the players their paychecks.

Well at least he didn't say the checks were in the mail.

[psbf]

to see what team the Xplosion play will show up. At least they will be wearing their own uniforms, unlike Oklahoma who had to borrow our old ones.

[preeths]

More information. (http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080107/SPORTS/801070311)

Says Butte's coaches aren't getting paid, either. Not really a surprise.

Typical Tuckman response. Fire everyone when they have the gall to complain they haven't been paid. rider, you are correct. The CBA never should have allowed this to happen. The man has a history.

[rams80]

Typical Tuckman response. Fire everyone when they have the gall to complain they haven't been paid. rider, you are correct. The CBA never should have allowed this to happen. The man has a history.

The funny thing is folks in Everett think he will have an af2 team there next year....

[bull1104]

Soooo...do we have tipoff??

[Alumni96]

Who knows? I can't get the league website to load.

[heavesrock]

The game happened. GF was soundly defeated in the game as mentioned in another thread by ML.

I had the same problem with the website. If ever one cannot get the league website to load, just go to webtelevionnetwork.com and you will be able to watch any live games.