New Ogden Utah Team

[utahstarsticketholder]

So the owners of the league are starting a team in Ogden! Great, let's see, the Ogden area is crazy for basketball in the form of Weber State University. The Jazz play 20 minutes south, the Grizzlies (hockey) about 30 minutes south. Ogden is known for drinking, arson fires, drinking, knife and gun clubs, drinking and oh yes more drinking. But just to excess and poor judgement.
The Golden Spike Arena is the home of 4-H Horse Shows, Rodeo, Chariot Racing, some small concerts, wrestling events (small time local circut), cattle and horse auctions,etc.
I seem to remember that the roof is not very high with the drop lighting system. Well good luck on this "adventure". Cheers, jack.

[nksports]

[quote=""utahstarsticketholder""]Ogden is known for drinking, arson fires, drinking, knife and gun clubs, drinking and oh yes more drinking. But just to excess and poor judgement.[/quote]
Sounds like my kind of (little mountain redneck) town.
[quote=""utahstarsticketholder""]The Golden Spike Arena is the home of 4-H Horse Shows, Rodeo, Chariot Racing, some small concerts, wrestling events (small time local circut), cattle and horse auctions,etc.
I seem to remember that the roof is not very high with the drop lighting system. Well good luck on this "adventure". Cheers, jack.[/quote]
Those factors haven't deterred others in the past.

[LandRoverUT60]

Good for Ogden (no sarcasm). Ogden is an all-right town (despite the drinking, fighting, etc. that comes from such a railroad town), and it's good to see that the city is getting another minor league team (in addition to the PiL Raptors).

Meanwhile I have only this to hold on to the hopes of a St. George team:
"This is another step in our Western development," said AIFA co-founder Michael Mink. "Ogden is a great fit for the league, and we have announcements coming up that should help to build some excellent rivalries in this division."

Could there be 3 Utah teams? An Ogden-Las Vegas, Ogden-Arizona, or Ogden-New Mexico rivalry doesn't seem to fit as well as Ogden-Orem or Ogden-St. George. Of course, Ogden may become a good rival to Wyoming. We'll see, however.

[Sykotyk]

After the complete failure of the Saints, I just don't see the logic in throwing more teams at the wall to see what sticks.

Ogden, Orem/Provo, Logan, St. George, etc, all seem to be a fantasy. Blind faith that by some miracle it will all turn out okay.

Truth is, until they come to the table with a true 'plan', it'll be the Saints all over again.

[hawk174md]

Congrats Ogden!!

[Trnr]

Sykotyk - How do you know that they don't have a plan....are you privy to the planning and the financials of the owners in Ogden? Do you know who the Coach is and who he has recruited for the team. Unless you are certain of anyone's business plan and their financial stability, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge.
Utahseasonticketholder - what's wrong with an arena that hosts rodeos and small concerts? I think Wyoming and a couple other arenas in the west host the same type of events. In fact, doesn't Wyoming host the CNFR in June in the same arena that the Cavalry play in.....
Why do you messageboard vultures have to bash these teams when you don't know anything about them or what their plan is going to be. If we could go back and look at everything that was written last year at this time about the west and the new teams, it would be the same negative rhetoric. Take a rest and let the teams do what they need to do...

[nksports]

[quote=""Trnr""]Sykotyk - How do you know that they don't have a plan....are you privy to the planning and the financials of the owners in Ogden? Do you know who the Coach is and who he has recruited for the team. Unless you are certain of anyone's business plan and their financial stability, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge.
Utahseasonticketholder - what's wrong with an arena that hosts rodeos and small concerts? I think Wyoming and a couple other arenas in the west host the same type of events. In fact, doesn't Wyoming host the CNFR in June in the same arena that the Cavalry play in.....
Why do you messageboard vultures have to bash these teams when you don't know anything about them or what their plan is going to be. If we could go back and look at everything that was written last year at this time about the west and the new teams, it would be the same negative rhetoric. Take a rest and let the teams do what they need to do...[/quote]

Ahhh, another young one who is unschooled in the ways of independent minor league sports. They always start like that. I was once like that, young and idealistic.
These young pups just haven't seen the ugly side yet. The teams that operate on their tryout fees, credit card advances and a loan on the 401-k, hoping and praying they can last until opening day when all the money in the world comes in, but when the oodles of $$$ doesn't come, that's when the spam hits the fan. Then those young innocents turn cynical just like the rest of us.
We hope it doesn't come to that, but sometimes it does. Seen too many where the next report is the owner says he fired the coach, but the coach says he quit because he wasn't paid. Then you get reports of players missing two or three weeks of pay. Then the arena announces the team has been evicted for missing rent payments.
I hope it all works out, but keep the eyes open. Nothing personal, we've just seen too much of it. When you're following on the heels of a team that folded, you're facing long odds.

[Pepster]

nksports, I couldn't possibly add anything to that. Well said.

Pepster

[nksports]

PS: Having spent the last 20-some years living in a little redneck prairie town (with a large BNSF presence), I really like little redneck towns. We don't have quite the drinking, arson and gun clubs, but what the heck.

[Sykotyk]

Nice response, nksports, on my behalf. Probably couldn't say it better.

Only thing I can add to Trnr: "Live and learn".

Sykotyk