Post
by Shootmaster_44 » Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:36 pm
This is simply a rebranding I think. Before the redesign of the site, the IBL had a branding team called the Florida Winning Ways. Since the Orlando Venom are owned by the Winning Ways International Basketball Club, I'd assume that this is largely just a renaming of the team.
I'm going to wonder how the IBL intends to pull it off the one flight per team rule with a team in Florida. Looking at their site, they also have the Jersey G-Force, which will be in the same boat. Then again, the IBL always seems to add teams closer to the start of the season.
I wonder if the rumoured Saskatoon and Calgary franchises will actually get going? Looking at the ABA's Calgary Crush Twitter feed it looks like they want to play Edmonton in some form or other. So perhaps the Calgary Crush from the ABA will be making the jump to the IBL for the spring/summer.
I certainly hope that the IBL can straighten itself out for this season. I don't think this league has tons of teams with deep pockets, so if they are forced to fly out to Jersey and Florida that could kill their travel budget. The playoffs could basically be the Washington/Oregon teams since none of the teams outside of an easy driving distance could actually head to the playoffs.
The fact the playoffs are optional is the one thing that has driven me nuts about this league. I get the point behind doing that, but to me as an Energy fan, it irks me that the team takes my money and plays very well and then decides they can't afford to go win a championship. Yes I enjoy watching basketball and yes the odd exhibition game is fun, but for me to invest going to multiple games per year just to see an exhibition is not worth my money. It does seem as if the Energy have sorted out their financial issues so that is less of a worry for me now.
But I'm thinking I am one of a very, very few IBL fans that drives 4 hours round trip and spends $80 in gas plus tickets etc. to attend an IBL game. It would be nice if there was someone here in Lloydminster who saw how well the Energy's game was attended last June (a packed gym, so I'm thinking 400 or so and that seems to be great attendance for the IBL) and would invest in a team for the city. I'd be the first in line for season tickets if that happened.