Post
by balling2008 » Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:34 pm
This is an email that was sent to all the owners a few months ago regarding the *Allstar* game. Interesting!
Owners
The All Star Game held in Gary Indiana on June 12th- just like the East or
West tournament is extra and not a part of our IBL and travel guarantees,
nor do we encourage teams to take part unless they desire so and have the
money to do so; it only being ran to help with P.R. as much as we can. and
b/c Gary is willing to invest about $6K to host it, get it done. that being
said, let's be thankful to Gary for doing this, support them, and let me
tell you about our 2008 All Star plans:
* Gary will be hosting an All Star game on Thursday June 12th, 2008
* Gary has a hosting agreement whereby they really take on about $6K
of expense & risk to do this, so god bless them and let's hope they make
money
* You have an option to send your players to the game; east teams- it
would be nice if you did so (on your own expense)
* If you do send players, your players will be happy and your local
media may give you an article about your players
* This being said, east coaches can drive to the game with their All
Stars on a Thursday and be home by midnight or so
* Everything the IBL does have to be super efficient; for the East
teams this is wildly efficient. I scheduled the All Star game at a time when
Los Angeles and Edmonton will be in the area as well. We did this for
extreme efficiency reasons (we know we can get 7 All Stars from just those 2
teams that are there). The two teams had to travel to the Midwest because
that is how they get the bulk of their away games- so no other teams really
could really be there at this time. It is expected that L.A. will have a lot
of great players and of course Edmonton will have good players too, that is
why I say 7 All Stars are already there. efficient.
* This means we need 3 to 5 more All Stars to come out to Gary to
equal 10 minimum and up to 12 All Stars from at least 5 different teams if
not 6 or 7 teams. I prefer 10 players so that each player puts up big
numbers. The host- Gary (in their deal) has to purchase at least 3 tickets
(in 2009, it will be 5 tickets) for west players (as part of their deal)
* The west is 2-0 in all star games (we did not play a west versus
east all star game in 2007).
* There is no promise as to format beyond 2008- and no promise as to
where an All Star game is located in 2009; but if you want a copy of the
hosting agreement, email me; trust me, you don't want it. It is very
unlikely that I will move the game in Gary, if it goes well in Gary.
Remember, Battle Creek in 2005 had huge attendance during the season and
when given a chance to watch an All Star game in front of the Championship
game (a promoted game), only about 400 people showed up and that was with a
Championship game after (that drew about 2,400 more fans). I can not fight
about the All Star game as I have 20 other battles I am just finishing up
and/or engaged in and this would put me, personally, physically over the
top, so if you have interest in this or any input, start with an email
(about the All Star game).
* So my point is that we need 3 to 5 All Stars go out there, but it
also has to be done efficiently, meaning tickets must be purchased now. That
being said, you will have to pick players that played in 2007- that will be
on your 2008 team as candidates, like Porter Troupe of Vancouver, Dontay
Harris of Tacoma, any of the big 3 from Snohomish County (Miller, Murray or
Powell), and/or any of the 4 Portland guys- that you are sure will be with
you and would use the ticket.
* That being said, here is a reason not to go (I prefer most teams do
not want to go as it makes my job of pre-picking 3 to 5 guys easier):
Reason to not send player to All Star game on June 12:
Explosion you play on June 13 and 14
Tacoma you play on June 13 and 14
Vancouver you play on June 13 and 14
Cent' Oregon you play on June 13 and 14
Eugene you play on June 13 and 14
Portland you play on June 14 and 15
Bellingham you play on June 14 and 15
Another reason not to go is this-
Your official All Stars are not the ones that play in the game, but
officially, they are the ones listed on our site, per your input after the
season end. Restated: players missing this Gary game does not mean they
cannot be 'official 2008 All Stars'. In fact, East All Stars and West All
Stars are given jerseys at halftime of the regional final 4 game (Saturday
night)- those are the official All Stars.
Do you still want to send a player? While I am telling you to not send
players, I do need 3 to 5 players. They would leave on Wednesday night to be
picked up by a Gary representative, driven to one hotel room (3 to a
room)and then transported to the Genesis Center Arena around 2:30pm on
Thursday. The west players that fly in will get to enter one or both of the
dunk contest or the three point contest to make their travel worth it. The
players will be brought from the Genesis Center Arena after the game to a
hotel near the Chicago midway airport on Thursday night after the game so
they can get home first thing on Friday.
What's up with the Elkhart Express not sending any players to the 2008 IBL all*star game?!? Okay, the game doesn't count in the standings and the Express are currently playing a busy schedule, but there is a bigger picture. The bigger picture is exposure for the IBL, exposure for the players, and exposure for the Elkhart Express. Gary, Indiana is in the Chicago media market afterall. Geez! It's not like the Express are in danger of losing a place in the standings with a current record of 15-1.
