Mesquite Bandits Over?

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jerry101jlh
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Post by jerry101jlh » Wed Feb 01, 2012 4:57 pm

[quote=""chuckyman""]yeah I'm with Exit on this one. I don't think its a matter of them not doing their homework more so than when the information about Danville got back to them the investigated again and found out the lies and untruths. In either case rolling with seven teams for this year put this them in a better position to be successful when the stampede return in 2013. So all and all I can't say finding out now isn't a bad thing.[/quote]

Not doing the homework right on the mark. Hopefully they have learned a lesson and won't repeat the mistake, but I still wonder how many other LSFL ownerships might have questionable finances yet to come to light.

Another question since San Angelo was brought up. Isn't the Stampede owned by the same ownership who owns the Roughnecks and isn't Dale Morris the one that also owned the IFL Oklahoma City team that went belly up midway through last season?

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Post by chuckyman » Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:07 pm

Honestly given the history of the rest of the teams in the LSFL, I don't think there will be a problem. Dittman's teams generally do well. RGV has great home attendance, so does CC. And he gets involved in the community so I am sure packing the arena in Laredo won't be an issue. If it is I'll gladly correct my statement here. Abilene, amarillo, and houston also do well with attendance and community involvement so again shouldn't be an issue. West Texas has been owned by Morris for a while and has done well. And ones owns the Stampede not Morris. The rest of the teams should do well, I don't really have any doubts on that. The only team that would give me pause is Laredo but indoor seems to do well in the southern and western parts of texas so as long as they ties themselves to the community they should be right as rain.

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Post by jerry101jlh » Wed Feb 01, 2012 7:05 pm

[quote=""chuckyman""]Honestly given the history of the rest of the teams in the LSFL, I don't think there will be a problem. Dittman's teams generally do well. RGV has great home attendance, so does CC. And he gets involved in the community so I am sure packing the arena in Laredo won't be an issue. If it is I'll gladly correct my statement here. Abilene, amarillo, and houston also do well with attendance and community involvement so again shouldn't be an issue. West Texas has been owned by Morris for a while and has done well. And ones owns the Stampede not Morris. The rest of the teams should do well, I don't really have any doubts on that. The only team that would give me pause is Laredo but indoor seems to do well in the southern and western parts of texas so as long as they ties themselves to the community they should be right as rain.[/quote]

Just what do you consider good attendance? I don't remember Houston drawing all that well, nor CC. Don't know about RGV, but know attendance on Odessa less than in past years. You are right that community involvement is key." And ones owns the Stampede not Morris" Who?

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Post by chuckyman » Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:01 pm

Sorry about that it was supposed to be Jones in reference to San Angelo, the J decided not to work for a moment. My point is that Houston is building on what they did last year and is gaining buzz in their community they haven't been around for too long but they are making progress. The same could be said for RGV, their attendance at home was at over half the venue capacity so that's not a bad thing for again a team that hasn't been around too long. Laredo like I said has the potential to be great just with the ties they are building community wise. As for the rest of the teams they have all been around in continuous operation for at least 5 years which a lot of teams can't say. Not to mention these all live in their communities unlike Hawkins and have so for years. So screwing people you have to see just about every day wouldn't be in your best interest when u have an local business to consider.

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Post by jerry101jlh » Wed Feb 01, 2012 11:53 pm

[quote=""chuckyman""]Sorry about that it was supposed to be Jones in reference to San Angelo, the J decided not to work for a moment. My point is that Houston is building on what they did last year and is gaining buzz in their community they haven't been around for too long but they are making progress. The same could be said for RGV, their attendance at home was at over half the venue capacity so that's not a bad thing for again a team that hasn't been around too long. Laredo like I said has the potential to be great just with the ties they are building community wise. As for the rest of the teams they have all been around in continuous operation for at least 5 years which a lot of teams can't say. Not to mention these all live in their communities unlike Hawkins and have so for years. So screwing people you have to see just about every day wouldn't be in your best interest when u have an local business to consider.[/quote]

I believe it was before the 2011 season that Darlene Jones sold her interest in the Stampede to Morris.

I get your points, but now Dittman is stretched with three teams. Would only take one to fall down to possibly take down the other two. Don't get me wrong, Dittman has never lost a team mid season and doubtful that will happen now, but just pointing out something that should be obvious. Houston may be out in the community, but whether that pays off at the box office is still anybody's guess. Sure some have been around a few years, but that has never stopped anyone from pulling the plug if they get tired of pouring money down the drain. Mainly what I'm saying is obviously the LSFL didn't really check out the guy in Mesquite and that has to raise some questions on the procedure used to qualify ownerships in the LSFL.

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Post by chuckyman » Thu Feb 02, 2012 1:40 am

I definitely get and see your point but better to unceremoniously boot out a team that would only make things worse for all the teams than lose look 6 teams and like some leagues and have to go through 80 million different schedule combinations. In the end it was the best case scenario going forward. With morris and San Angelo hey they have a year to get things in order. They already have the unis, helmets, and turf, and equipment since whoever owns them has that already. Its just a matter or resigning the arena venue contract and from all signs the city of San Angelo is proud to have them back. In either case we will see how it all plays but honestly I don't see it ending in anyway but a positive light for the league.

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Post by Caballo Diablo » Thu Feb 02, 2012 2:25 am

[quote=""chuckyman""]I am sure packing the arena in Laredo won't be an issue.[/quote]
Having an experienced owner willing to reach out to the community is a plus, but he'll also need to be successful on the field to attract customers. Laredo has been burned twice with crapy teams. The Law (af2 - 2004) started out with good attendance around 4,000 but only won 3 games and folded after one year. The Lobo's started out in 06 in the Intense league then moved to the af2 in 07. The af2 team started out with around 2,500 attendance but by the end of the season they couldn't give tickets away. Usually the official figures are exaggerated up, so when the league announced the 2nd to last home game at 450 and the last one at 375 that's not good. They only won 3 games in two years.

Advertising and community outreach will be necessary, if he can get some butts in the seats they won't continue to come if the team can't win. If the team can only play .500 ball it would be a huge improvement and give the fans hope, something they've never had.

It will defintely be a challenge but interesting to see how it turns out.

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Post by jerry101jlh » Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:14 am

[quote=""chuckyman""]I definitely get and see your point but better to unceremoniously boot out a team that would only make things worse for all the teams than lose look 6 teams and like some leagues and have to go through 80 million different schedule combinations. In the end it was the best case scenario going forward. With morris and San Angelo hey they have a year to get things in order. They already have the unis, helmets, and turf, and equipment since whoever owns them has that already. Its just a matter or resigning the arena venue contract and from all signs the city of San Angelo is proud to have them back. In either case we will see how it all plays but honestly I don't see it ending in anyway but a positive light for the league.[/quote]

I agree that to dump the team now, even though late, the best move. One can be optimistic as many have been before with leagues such as the SIFL, but let's be honest, more leagues have come and gone since the inception of the old NIFL than are leagues currently on the landscape and most came into being with big promises, but bowed out when self interests or bad decisions preceded their demise. I am not a Dittman fan, but I think the success of the league depends more on him than any other person involved and not because he owns three teams, but because he's the most experienced. I believe the LSFL will make strides to be successful simply because of his involvement and sideline leadership.

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Post by chuckyman » Thu Feb 02, 2012 4:30 am

@Caball Diablo you know we have gotten into it before but I completely agree with you on what you were saying. I think already Dittman has built a nice buzz in the community and has gone a long way to tying the team to Laredo because he understands his teams succeeding will make or break the league. He brought in a good coach when he brought in the Trenton Steel's Coach Rod Miller and miller in turn brought in some of his key guys from a playoff team last year in the SIFL so I think that's a good start. I hope that they are competitive because in all ever team fighting down to the end of the season builds hype for the next year as well as keeps people interested year round. So let's hope for the best.

@Jerry I think the success of the LSFL will ultimately depend on how well Dittman and Jones get along. His experience will go a long way to determining the next steps. With the ousting of Hager and the Morris cronies I think the PIFL and LSFL will be successful in their first year. And with the loss of Mesquite I think it makes a PIFL vs. LSFL championship game more and more likely.

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Post by BananaCat » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:17 am

[quote=""jerry101jlh""]I believe it was before the 2011 season that Darlene Jones sold her interest in the Stampede to Morris.[/quote]
Jones sold the majority ownership to Randy Sanders (former Amarillo Venom owner) and a few months ago she re-acquired the team with plans to bring them back in 2013.
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