Jim Jennings

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Jim Jennings

Post by Rooster » Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:05 am

I am wondering if anyone has heard of a new lacrosse entity that former NLL commish, Jim Jennings, is trying to start up in smaller markets in the Eastern part of the US?

To my knowledge, he stepped down a week into the 2009 season but had grown the leagues footprint into Canada and franchise values grew exponentially under his watch.

Jennings sounds very much like C. David Baker of Arena Football League fame, or infamy depending on who you talk to. As an indoor football guy, I've watched as other leagues have tried to capitalize on arena football by slightly alterting the rules and playing in much smaller venues. Just curious to see if any lax people have heard similar rumors.
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Post by robster2001 » Thu Aug 12, 2010 11:19 am

[quote=""Rooster""]I am wondering if anyone has heard of a new lacrosse entity that former NLL commish, Jim Jennings, is trying to start up in smaller markets in the Eastern part of the US?[/quote]

The only visible league that fits most of that description is the Arena Lacrosse League, but there's no indication that Jennings is involved.

The ALL is a creation of former Richmond Renegades (ECHL/SPHL) owner Allan Harvie.

NLL fansite article and league website.

There is another vaporware league called North Atlantic Indoor Lacrosse. It's burned through two websites, both of which are down right now, and appears to have abandoned its Facebook fan page. Information on that league is very hard to find -- which strikes me as exactly the opposite of a Jennings-led organization... :)

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jim Jennings New Lacrosse League

Post by south florida basketball » Sun Aug 15, 2010 12:56 pm

Good Luck if Jim Jennings is involved. The National Lacrosse League under jennings was all fluff and built on mirrors and dishonesty. Jennings and the present commisssioner Daniels ran a close to bankrupt league and mis used expasnsion funds to save the league. Daniels should be fired also.

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David Baker

Post by Rooster » Wed Aug 18, 2010 12:35 pm

So my allusion to David Baker was on target!

Rumor has it Big Baker, all 6'9" of him, was once a small time mayor in Cali and got booted for extortion. Later he became an owner in Anaheim, slashing and burning that community, before actually ascending to the AFL commish spot where he quickly pocketed expansion fees from franchises. Like Jennings, Baker is credited with bringing the visibility of the league to promience and the value of franchises sky rocketed under his tenure. The kicker was he "stepped down" on the eve of the last real Arenabowl - foreshadowing the collapse of the entire league.
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Post by Buffalo Super Fan » Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:25 am

[quote=""south florida basketball""]Good Luck if Jim Jennings is involved. The National Lacrosse League under jennings was all fluff and built on mirrors and dishonesty. Jennings and the present commisssioner Daniels ran a close to bankrupt league and mis used expasnsion funds to save the league. Daniels should be fired also.[/quote]

First of all I don't know where your getting the NLL is built on mirrors and dishonestly. The NLL has had in my opinion too much over expansion with some poor choice of cities. But I would not call the NLL dishonest or built on mirrors. I have followed the NLL and MILL since 1992 when Buffalo got a team. The Buffalo Bandits next year celebrate there 20 years in the MILL/NLL that isn't mirrors and dishonesty. The Philadelphia Wings have been around the longer then the Buffalo Bandits. The NLL isn't fly by night.

The problem with the NLL is in my opinion it is a niche sport to outdoor lacrosse. Alot of people didn't grow up with or play indoor lacrosse I know I didn't. I became a fan in my early 20's. I have found a NLL city either gets it or it doesn't. Also most of the successful cities are boarder cities like Buffalo where there are great resources for the player talent based out of the box leagues in canada.

The NLL isn't like the Arena Football League where most fans understand football. This is a sport indoor/box lacrosse that yes has been around but not exposed to the number of people like baseball, football, basketball, hockey and soccer. So in most cases the NLL is going to have trouble in cities where there isn't alot of exposure to indoor or box lacrosse. But that doesn't make it built on mirrors or dishonest.

Yes the NLL has had failed expansion cities like any other league but it also has success stories like Buffalo and Philadelphia to name a few. How many leagues that are outside the big five NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL and MLS can say two cities have been around in the same city consectively for 20 years like my Buffalo and Philadelphia. But with that being said yes the NLL has had some problems with growth and acceptance by mainstream media like ESPN and Fox etc. But that doesn't make the NLL dishonest or built on mirrors completely disagree. Take it from someone that loves this sport and has followed it since 1992. With my Buffalo Bandits who average over 16,000 per games in the regular season in 2010. Let's Go Buffalo
Last edited by Buffalo Super Fan on Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
The above post is in my opinion and I have no proof or link. I am just a Buffalo sports fan.

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Post by Buffalo Super Fan » Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:40 am

[quote=""Rooster""]I am wondering if anyone has heard of a new lacrosse entity that former NLL commish, Jim Jennings, is trying to start up in smaller markets in the Eastern part of the US?

To my knowledge, he stepped down a week into the 2009 season but had grown the leagues footprint into Canada and franchise values grew exponentially under his watch.

Jennings sounds very much like C. David Baker of Arena Football League fame, or infamy depending on who you talk to. As an indoor football guy, I've watched as other leagues have tried to capitalize on arena football by slightly alterting the rules and playing in much smaller venues. Just curious to see if any lax people have heard similar rumors.[/quote]

Rooster in my opinion as someone that has followed the MILL/NLL since 1992 there is really in my opinion isn't a market out there that can substain and support another indoor lacrosse league minor league etc. The NLL struggles outside of its main core cities like my Buffalo, Philadelphia and Toronto etc. Read what I wrote to the other guy from Florida the NLL I feel in my opinion has a core city base like Buffalo where NLL lacrosse is a big deal on a saturday night. NLL outdraws D-1 college basketball 8 to 1 or 16,000 NLL to 2,000 D-1 NCAA College Basketball on average in Buffalo.

So it is big in certain cities like my Buffalo. I am a huge NLL fan but to me this sports doesn't play well in sun belt and west coast cities where there are many other things to do and also where the culture didn't grow up with the game. Also the player talent for the most part comes out of canada for the NLL so canadien boarder cities in my opinion workout best like Buffalo. I just don't see another indoor lacrosse league being substainable in my opinion. Let's Go Buffalo
The above post is in my opinion and I have no proof or link. I am just a Buffalo sports fan.

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Post by dmbishop » Tue Aug 24, 2010 3:30 pm

I agree with you Buffalo. I always thought that Jennings ran a very good league. Back in the days of the NY Saints, I was a season ticket holder and they drew in the 12K-15K range (at the time, equal or better than the Islanders). I knew a few of the players and they always said that the league was run tough but fair when it came to them.

As you said, the problem is that the talent pool has to be from players that live near the cities that have teams. They just don't pay enough to allow any but a few to commute to games and practices. Also, lacrosse is a rather regional game and again, as you said, it doesn't play well in cities that don't have a big lacrosse base to begin with.

They have made many mistakes when it came to expansion into markets that don't have lacrosse. For a while there it seemed that the modus operandi was to put teams in places with good hockey franchises, thinking that the hockey people would automatically go to lacrosse games. Unfortunately, that led to failures and new franchises to fill out the roster of teams.

I can understand where it would seem that they were using expansion fees to keep the league afloat and it is true that the league has been operating at or close to break-even for many years now, but I think that has more to do with bad team locations than anything else. Jennings seemed to do his best to keep salaries reasonable and the league profitable, but as with all minor leagues, it's an uphill battle.

Dave

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