Status of the league

[tops804]

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/HOCKEY03/802150442/-1/HOCKEY

Police: MAHL players ransack building


By RONLEONARDI
ron.leonardi@timesnews.com

Published: February 15. 2008 6:00AM

Wednesday's announcement that the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League was canceling the remainder of its 2007-08 season apparently didn't go over well with some Jamestown Vikings players.

Jamestown, N.Y., police said an unspecified number of players trashed an apartment building early Thursday morning where they reside at West Fourth Street and Washington Street.

A police report gave a conservative damage estimate of more than $25,000.

The building, the site of the former Jamestown Viking Lodge, is located across the street from Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena.

MAHL majority owner and league president Andrew Haines, who resides in Canton, Ohio, said Jamestown police informed him of the incident Thursday morning.

"I haven't seen or heard of anything like that in all my years of involvement with minor league sports," Haines said. "Somebody needs to be accountable. I wouldn't think that somebody in their right mind would do something like that. It's frustrating because these kids are making some poor decisions that could affect their futures here and outside of hockey. "

Haines, former owner of the Erie Freeze indoor football team, said he thought more than a dozen Jamestown players were living at the former lodge. He said he did not know which players participated in the destruction, but said, "I know not everybody on the team was there."

"I think it was at least five or six guys doing the damage," Haines said. "I haven't spoken to any players. I've been trying to gather information."

According to the police report, officers responded to the scene early Thursday morning following a report that a chair had been thrown through a large window. Police said nearly every window in the building was broken and bar stools had been thrown through doors.

Police said they also discovered debris, including paint, strewn around a third-floor dance hall, and that players had attempted to set fires in the kitchen.


According to the police report, players were removed from the building and other players were escorted out of the Ice Arena.

Jamestown police said Thursday night that no charges had been filed against any players. The Chautauqua County District Attorney's Office will continue the investigation. Charges are expected to be filed at a later date.

"I haven't seen the police report and it's out of my hands right now," Haines said. "We're getting quotes on the damage. Right now, once we find out who was involved, we'll probably suspend some players, but we have to let the police continue their investigation. They have indicated it may be up to a month before they make charges."

The MAHL, in its inaugural season, was formed by Haines. The league canceled the remainder of its season Wednesday. Haines said the league is reorganizing and will continue play next season.

Jamestown finished the season with a 13-18-0 record. The league includes franchises in Indiana (Pa.), Wooster (Ohio), Mon Valley and Valley Forge.

[SignGuyDino]

These (BLEEPS!) made the freaking Drudge Report. Real smart move. I'm sure espn will love this.

Story from Drudge: http://post-journal.com/articles.asp?articleID=24881


At least they didn't do this before the official disbanding. Jim Terry would have trolled this board saying this is GREAT for the MAHL. "All publicity is good publicity" and all that garbage.

[preeths]

Haines talking about accountability. Irony thy name is Andrew. He may be lucky the players took out their frustrations on a building instead of him.

[nksports]

[quote=""preeths""]Haines talking about accountability. Irony thy name is Andrew. He may be lucky the players took out their frustrations on a building instead of him.[/quote]

He might be afraid of some sort of liability for damages if his name is on the lease.

[preeths]

Still, that might be cheaper than medical bills.

[JoeyJosephs]

[quote=""SignGuyDino""]Ok, I'll bite. What is the "PayPal scam?"

Also, as to raising $100K tax deductible, the World Basketball Association recommends setting up a non-profit to go with the franchise to raise money for youth programming. You could use the money to buy anything from basketballs, vans, and other equipment that would be used for youth programs but it would also be used by the franchise. Perfectly lawful and legal, frankly should be done more as businesses get write-offs for it and great publicity. Too bad there isn't a WBA franchise that really has utilized that great idea right now. I personally would set up a board with nobody from the team management itself (probably a board composed of boosters from the related separate booster club I would have had formed to support the players themselves), as to avoid a conflict of interest. If we ever succeed in getting a WBA team in Asheville, I already have a non-profit group I trust that could do that, and I certainly would want to help them as they help us.[/quote]

Sign Guy,

As far as me per se, I wasn't a victim of a "PayPal scam", but I'll explain the possible reference.

Haines basically paid people by using PayPal. You had to set up an account (if you didn't already have one) and he would just deposit your pay into your account. You could access it from there but, with PayPal, you have to pay fees if you want them to cut you a check and send it (which I did) and you could only take out so much at a time (I think $500 was the maximum you could withdraw in one day).

He owed me $1,200 and, for all his faults, he did pay me what I was owed (mainly because I threatened to sue him, if he didn't, for "failure to pay for rendered services") and then I told him I was resigning.

I don't know about what anybody else went through, but that's what happened with me.

Hope it answered your question.

Preeths: Thanks for the kind words and the opportunity to bare my soul on this. I normally don't troll message boards, but when I saw about the league and Andrew, I had to get involved, if for no other reason, to tell my tale. I've learned a lot of lessons from my experiences with Andrew and I hope this is the end of him being involved with any form of minor league sports leagues.

Joey Josephs
Continental Communications
Battle Creek, MI
http://www.myspace.com/contcomm

[SignGuyDino]

Ahhh...ok, thanks.

[exit322]

It probably won't be the end of Haines and minor league sports. Now indoor football needs to get rid of those that seem to try and be Haines.

[phydeaux72]

This is classic:

"I haven't seen the police report and it's out of my hands right now," Haines said. "We're getting quotes on the damage. Right now, once we find out who was involved, we'll probably suspend some players, but we have to let the police continue their investigation. They have indicated it may be up to a month before they make charges."

How do you suspend players from playing games that are never going to take place?

[tops804]

[quote=""phydeaux72""]This is classic:

How do you suspend players from playing games that are never going to take place?[/quote]

Sign of a man who needs to bully people and is unwilling to accept the fact
that he isn't in control anymore...