Rockford to Golden League; League Expands

The Golden Baseball League (GBL) forum
knucks
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Post by knucks » Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 am

I guess my experience has been relegated to really solid franchises. I played in Lincoln in the American Association, Calgary in the GBL, and most recently for the Skyhawks in the Canam League. I guess, as a player, I just rate how things go by the food in the spread, the playing surface, and the eagerness of the fan base.

I do meet up with opposing players and many have complained about not being paid. The largest complaint usually surrounds the lack of nightlife or available women in their hometown though.

My first experience was with Lincoln; beautiful facility, quality league, great perks ranging from free food and drinks in town to high end baseball equipment and clothing, direct deposit pay, constant media exposure, and a stellar ballpark, playing surface, and jumbo-tron/speaker system. Nothing but professionalism from everyone involved and great fans. Heck, I even got a shoe endorsement deal there.

Perhaps I have been a little spoiled but, from my perspective, I am rooting for roster spots. Roster spots not only means job security but it also means a watering down of talent which, hopefully, can make me look a bit better. Again, the MLB is the goal.

Vendors and sponsors being burned is, obviously, terrible. But, I have been a part of franchises that have really succeeded and garnered a lot of respect in the community. I guess, as my career moves on, I will hope that all the people who have been involved with crashing some of these franchises did it because of growing pains and a learning curve; not out of greed or malice. Naive? Maybe. Thinking this way make me feel better about playing for these leagues? Maybe.

So, here's to hoping for the success of baseball all over this continent.

I do, however, reserve the right to change my mind.

LivefromChico
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Post by LivefromChico » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:29 am

[quote=""knucks""]I don't understand why anyone would bother reading 95% of the stuff posted here. I come to this board for possible links to news articles, and I am thankful for those who collect them and post them.

I have been a player for a few years and, as an independent minor leaguer, I am rooting for more roster spots and, perhaps, a more national league to join in order to see more of the country. More roster spots means more job security; more job security means more of an opportunity to become affiliated; I am dead set on my ability to crack the MLB, even for a day.

I am excited for this proposed North American League.

I don't understand all the negativity and bickering here. When I read anonymous crying online I wonder to myself the motivations.

The more I read the more it seems like the members of this board are rooting for the collapse of baseball businesses around the country. In this down economic time the fortune, and turn around, of these businesses will signal the end of the great recession.

The NAL is a bold, perhaps desperate step toward national affiliations. Necessity, even desperate necessity, is the mother of invention. If it works who knows what we will see in the future. It seems to be an exciting time.[/quote]

Knucks - I would venture to say that the majority of us all love baseball and would love to support their local team. The problem is many of these teams are run by...for lack of a better word...crooks. They make promises to their fans, to their sponsors and to their community partners and then screw them without so much as a kiss on the cheek. At some point or another, all these folks get tired of being taken advantage of and are able to spot the Ponzi scheme before it actually happens.

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Post by Lunkhead » Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:51 pm

I do not think for one minute that the franchise owners come into this venture with the idea that they will screw people over. I truly believe they come in with a lack of knowledge and the leagues do not help the owners as long as the league get the franchise fees they are happy. This business is not one that you will get rich from the franchise, it is by best a 5 year plan before you probably truly turn a true profit, the fans do not attend in large numbers, the players expect more then they should it is independent ball not the MLB, sponsors want the world but are not willing to pay the price and of course no league truly cares about the franchise they just care about the fees. Most leagues never truly look at the financial status of the owners and never have a training program to help the franchise succeed. Imagine if McDonalds ran a business like this they would be reselling every franchise every couple of years. So, do not blame just the owners and call them crooks, call them uneducated to the business and call the leagues uneducated to running a franchise. If you look at their business plans I bet it would not read as a scam. :cool:

amazingdv
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League Expands

Post by amazingdv » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:42 pm

Lunkhead,
Your post was the best I have read on this board. I feel that you speak with a true passion for baseball and to see new leagues and team start up and work for the players, fans and least the owners. However the owners play the biggest part of the whole thing to get it off the ground but they need to understand this from the beginning, they are not going to strike it rich right off of the bat. Even the Major Leagues had to go through pains before they became the large entities they are today.
Team and League owners need to begin to think outside of the box when trying to attract attention and fans to the game. These ideas need to come to surface when budgets and projections are being made at the beginning of the season or operations of the leagues. The ideas need to be true grass root ideas. The cost needs to stay low but also measurable so that the good ideas can be shared with other areas to help increase the attendance and more importantly the passion for the teams by local businesses and fans.
Amazingdv

LivefromChico
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Post by LivefromChico » Thu Nov 25, 2010 3:05 am

[quote=""Lunkhead""]I do not think for one minute that the franchise owners come into this venture with the idea that they will screw people over. I truly believe they come in with a lack of knowledge and the leagues do not help the owners as long as the league get the franchise fees they are happy. This business is not one that you will get rich from the franchise, it is by best a 5 year plan before you probably truly turn a true profit, the fans do not attend in large numbers, the players expect more then they should it is independent ball not the MLB, sponsors want the world but are not willing to pay the price and of course no league truly cares about the franchise they just care about the fees. Most leagues never truly look at the financial status of the owners and never have a training program to help the franchise succeed. Imagine if McDonalds ran a business like this they would be reselling every franchise every couple of years. So, do not blame just the owners and call them crooks, call them uneducated to the business and call the leagues uneducated to running a franchise. If you look at their business plans I bet it would not read as a scam. :cool: [/quote]

I don't necessarily disagree with you Lunkhead. You are right that the league only cares about the franchise fees and don't do enough due diligence when it comes to vetting the owners. But there's a part of me that believes that the people behind the GBL knew that their business plan was as complete as Sarah Palin's knowledge of geography. Stanford business grads and they can't look at past examples to see what is a realistic expectation? Maybe they don't start as "crooks", but they certainly become them - i.e., lying about attendance figures so that they can mislead sponsors - sorry, in most states that's called fraud.

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Post by Pounder » Fri Nov 26, 2010 6:55 am

Can I level with you?

If it's fraud, then who's responsible for hauling in a LOT of owners, across every sport at every level?

Who do you haul off at colleges that do the same thing?

The penalties suffered from sponsors pulling out tend to include killing the marriage of owner to franchise anyway.

The same tends to cause owners seeking public financing of the next park to lose their argument.

Maybe it's fraud... but is it worth going to court?
Mean Spirited Blogger #107

LivefromChico
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Post by LivefromChico » Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:34 am

[quote=""Pounder""]Can I level with you?

If it's fraud, then who's responsible for hauling in a LOT of owners, across every sport at every level?

Who do you haul off at colleges that do the same thing?

The penalties suffered from sponsors pulling out tend to include killing the marriage of owner to franchise anyway.

The same tends to cause owners seeking public financing of the next park to lose their argument.

Maybe it's fraud... but is it worth going to court?[/quote]

Not sure I understand your point Pounder. My whole point had to do with the skepticism that many of us have regarding the future of the GBL or whatever the hell they plan on calling this collection of Bad News Bears.

When I walk into the stadium and see 247 people and the attendance is listed in the box score as 2,247 - or when I talk to a sponsor who paid to have a promotion done only to find out that the team cashed his check but never actually conducted the promotion - or when I hear about players not being paid for their services - then my BS radar goes on high alert.

"If a man defrauds you one time, he is a rascal; if he does it twice, you are a fool."
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