Imagine That?

[Minor Leaguer]

Pittsburgh is on its way to a 7-0 victory over Great Falls. Great Falls is playing with a rec team right now. 6 out of the 7 players that have played tonight so far have ties to the Pittsburgh area. That just goes to show you the weak level of play that the Explorers are made up of tonight. It probably won't get any better by their next game. Tuckman, you are a joke!

[Minor Leaguer]

Well that is basically the story of the game right there. All Great Falls has to do is make a layup at the buzzer to win the 4th quarter, but Kevin Meneffee blows it. I guess that can be expected when 6/7 of your team gets put together an hour before gametime. The players that played tonight for Great Falls better have had fun since I am sure that they will not be compensated for their efforts tonight.

[psbf]

what to expect on Tuesday night, but it seems that the Xplosion are on a roll, which is what they need to bring in more fans. The X are currently 13-11 and should do well in the next game also.
The Explorers did well to hang in there during the first half, but it should be interesting to see what happens next game. I'm sorry for all the Great Falls supporters. You deserve a better owner, while I'm hoping the X streak continues. While I was at the game, I'd forgotten that much of the Explorers lineup consisted of selected local players.

[kg21obf]

What a great win, BRiNG on the SunKings. You beat the Steel city Senators of the class b city division. That should fill the arena. At least they were local players so their families could come and increase attendance.

[psbf]

kg, this win streak began in Albany, before which the X had no wins on the road. So getting two was a big accomplishment. Even with a different coach, the Patroons are still a good team, although maybe struggling a bit. But I never take anything for granted(unlike some).
Regardless of the opponent and the score, the Xplosion need the wins to gain more respectability and earn more fans. It bothers me that the X do not promote much and I've sent ideas for them to improve. But we have to take one game at a time. If you want to be sarcastic about it, go right ahead. But the Xplosion have earned their wins and I would hope for a much better turnout tonight. As always, I'll be there. I don't know will be representing the Explorers, but I would expect to see them wearing our old uniforms again. I would also expect to see a much closer game.

[FrontOffice]

I would hardly say that the X have earned their wins. After tonight (we assume) Pitt will have 13 wins, 11 at home, so let's take a look at some of them

2 wins vs an Oklahoma team that had no coach, no uniforms and basically no talent
2 wins vs a Great Falls team that is exactly in the same position
1 win vs. Minot without Ronnie Fields
1 win vs. East Kentucky (12/21) when 3 starters had food poisoning

Now I'm the first to say that "crap" happens but how many breaks can the Xplosion get. psbf, you have to realize that

[Minor Leaguer]

FrontOffice, thank you! I was thinking the exact same thing. He won't take off that Xplosion foam finger long enough to be able to realize that though. Psbf, also how many times are you going to tell us that you have sent in ideas to the Xplosion on how to promote the team? If we have read it one time, we don't need to see it in every other post of yours.

[psbf]

to your opinions, FO and ML. But when I see a posting with the X mentioned, be sure that I'm going to respond! If you don't like what is said, that's you're right. But, FO, given what the X went thru last year(you were not on this board as I recall) I think I have a right to feel this way about the team I support. Just as fans of other teams have their rights.

[Aaronhere]

Gentlemen:
Remember the enemy is not each other - it is UNCLE Joe. LOL and Game On
Aaron McMeanBlogger

[FrontOffice]

How could anyone feel right about skating away with 7-0 wins against a team that literally traveled with 1 player

[Chuck the Writer]

How could anyone feel right about skating away with 7-0 wins against a team that literally traveled with 1 player

Doesn't matter if they traveled with one player or ten. You play the games that are on the schedule. By that argument, should Yakama feel right about winning the 2007 CBA championship because Albany didn't have its coach and one of its better players due to a suspension? Would the Sun Kings say, "Hey look, situations happen, howzabout we let Micheal Ray get back on the sidelines and Felipe Lopez back on the court and we'll play the game even up?"

No. Albany had the mother of all meltdowns and, for what it's worth, they were lucky they only lost by 30+ points, and for all intents and purposes, they lost the game. Didn't matter if they were full strength or not. Everybody clowned Pittsburgh last year, and now they've got four 7-0 wins this season (only Yakama with 5 7-0's has more). They played the games that were on the schedule. Doesn't matter if their opponent had ten men that traveled together or 1 man and scrubs in the stands. There are no moral victories in basketball. Moral victories don't win championships.

[FrontOffice]

Exactly moral victories don't win championships but at the same time a real victory over a rec team doesn't built a champion either. Celebrate the played forfiet all you want, in the end its not helping them at all

[Chuck the Writer]

Exactly moral victories don't win championships but at the same time a real victory over a rec team doesn't built a champion either. Celebrate the played forfiet all you want, in the end its not helping them at all

The NFL 1987 season credits all games played using strikebreakers and scabs as part of their official statistics. If those stats count, so too do these games in the CBA.

Another example - when I was writing for a minor-league hockey magazine a decade ago (Hockey Ink!), they covered this teeny-tiny Florida-based minor league called the Sunshine Hockey League. One of the teams was so bad and so far behind in pay that the goaltender and his backup both quit. Desperate to finish the game, the owner actually asked a Hockey Ink! reporter to put on the pads and get on the ice. I think he gave up 15 goals in the period or something obscene like that. But that game counted in the official records.

It's a no-win situation - what if Pittsburgh lost to the replacement team? Then the chant would be, "You couldn't even beat a bunch of guys from the stands!"

In the end, it's not Pittsburgh's fault that Great Falls is in this kind of turmoil. All the Xplosion are trying to do is win games and angle for a playoff spot.

[FrontOffice]

It's not Pittsburgh's fault in the least, I don't think anyone was saying that. It was more of a "settle down" for psbf

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

...Regardless of the opponent and the score, the Xplosion need the wins to gain more respectability and earn more fans. It bothers me that the X do not promote much and I've sent ideas for them to improve. But we have to take one game at a time....

Please stop sending them ideas and start sending them cash (for a group night out). Money talks.

[Minor Leaguer]

Chuck, I agree it is not the Xplosion's fault that the Explorers are in the state that they are currently in. Having said that, I don't see how you are trying to compare the situation with Albany last year in the finals to Great Falls. Albany was a situation where their coach acted like an idiot and deserved to be suspended and if Lopez is going to fight with his teammates during a game, he deserved to be suspended as well. Just an entirely different situation. Albany's head coach and player (Lopez) brought that situation entirely on themselves. It is not Wedman or Great Falls' players problem that their owner isn't paying them. I don't think you would work for free for an extended period of time either Chuck.

[psbf]

Settle down?? Where would you be without fans like me?! I dread to think:confused:

[Chuck the Writer]

Chuck, I agree it is not the Xplosion's fault that the Explorers are in the state that they are currently in. Having said that, I don't see how you are trying to compare the situation with Albany last year in the finals to Great Falls.

My comparison was that one team was at a disadvantage as they were a man (or men) short. For whatever reason, be it suspension, call-ups, overseas contracts, injuries, flight delays, etc. It's when the losing team says something like, "We would have won if such-and-such had been there, you really didn't win that game because such-and-such wasn't in the game." In other words, the reason why a team is a man or men short isn't the important factor. You play the games that are on the schedule, or you forfeit. And if the X got a win against an undermanned Explorers team, so be it.

I recall a game in 1986 when the Toronto Tornados were in the midst of moving to Pensacola in mid-season, and they actually brought a team of five players to Albany, en route to their new home base in Pensacola. And the Tornados actually won the game with their five guys (and no substitutions available), against a fully-stocked Albany franchise with Phil Jackson as coach!

The games are on the schedule, the games are played. This isn't bowling, where a poorer competitor gets a bonus handicap of felled pins to make the game more "competitive."

[FrontOffice]

As much as I like to hear interesting antidotes about the 1976 Something or Others and how Willy "Three-Ball" Jackson became the first ever homeless, left-handed, ex-bartender-turned-professional basketball player to hit a 3pointer during regulation of a CBA game played on the 3rd Wednesday while a snow storm hit western Pennsylvania, sometimes you just got to call a spade a spade and realize that just because there is a historical precedent for something doesn't mean its a good thing.
7-0 wins over teams that have no player personnel, financial structure or uniforms only hurt the league as a whole. Regardless if the opposing team is only playing its schedule.

[kg21obf]

Thanks for simplifying. That needed to be said. No one is blaming Pitt. The league is in deep trouble and has been since the teams bolted for the NBDL.
"three ball" became a bartender after his second stint in the league. So technically he was not an ex bartender in the game in question.

[psbf]

how when RGV won their games, everyone was all supportive, when GF, Yakama or EK wins, it's no big deal. But when we win, there has to be something suspicious about it.

[kg21obf]

No one is suspicous, Pitt just played against Locals not a legit pro team. Nothing against you or your team. Can you also explain how the opponent affected the crowd last nite as you stated earlier today.