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A response to Joe Newman's "Ask the CEO" column

by Chuck Miller
December 17, 2007 - American Basketball Association (ABA)


I recently read with great interest Joe Newman's new "Ask the CEO" column regarding the comments made by posters on OurSports Central regarding his American Basketball Association. The comment that caught my eye was the following:

"We have tracked many of the bloggers and know that they are motivated to do what they do by competitive leagues. And that is shameful also. But we've come to expect it from them too. I enjoy watching Chris Hansen's To Catch a Predator because I fully expect to see one of the meanspirited bloggers surface there and we can place a face with a name. Much of the style of writing is similar."

So by this logic, the most successful franchises in the ABA's modern history have been tempted and plied away from their berths in the ABA by three other leagues, pulled away like the top batter in a sandlot playground to join another team's roster? We're to believe that these leagues employ posters on OurSports Central to trash the American Basketball Association in their posts and convince franchises to leave the league? And that these posters are on the same level of, if not the same as, the perps captured on the "To Catch a Predator" Dateline NBC series?

There is nothing that could be further from the truth. In fact, if nothing else, the ABA, and to a greater extent, its CEO, has caused more damage to minor league basketball than Isiah Thomas could ever have dreamed. Franchises appear and fold with alarming regularity. Players are seldom paid if at all. Franchises are promised reimbursement for everything from hosting All-Star contests to championship tournaments.

And if a franchise does leave the ABA, it's not because the NBA's D-League or the Continental Basketball Association or the Premier Basketball League "poached" the franchise. Rather, the teams want to move to a more stable environment, a league in which they don't have to worry if an opponent doesn't show up for a game, which has happened more times than not in the ABA. How many times did the Rochester RazorSharks or the Vermont Frost Heaves have to pay the travel costs out of pocket for their opponents to arrive for home games? Too many times.

The ABA is always looking for publicity. With every announement of a television or internet broadcast contract, with every proclamation of a shoe deal or sock deal or DBands headgear agreement, it's all about getting the ABA name in the paper.

But let's look at what else has kept the ABA's name in the paper. The Sally Anthony-Ashley McIlhenny coaching incident in which a team owner stormed the floor during a game in order to scream at her coach. The Hawaii Hurricanes stealing thousands of dollars in credit card payments above and beyond what season ticket holders paid - for games that were never played. The Oregon Riptide calling off a youth camp after it was revealed the team owner was a registered sex offender. The much-hyped 2006 ABA Red White and Blue concert that was quietly cancelled. The 2007 ABA Red White and Blue Concert featuring Snoop Dogg, which was supposed to kick off two days ago. Again, cancelled without a word from the league. The VRCA Records fiasco. The Utah Snowbears quitting in the middle of the playoffs. Six out of 24 teams that qualified for the 2007 ABA playoffs quitting in mid-playoff - including one, Rochester, that quit because the CEO threatened to expel them from the playoffs because they couldn't reschedule a snowed-in game at a suitable time. And that's not to mention the dozens of ABA teams that have folded or hundreds of games that have been cancelled.

And when franchises leave the ABA, they're either badmouthed on the way out, or even worse - the ABA tries to put a second franchise in the same market as the departed team, hoping to muck up the market. Why else would the Anderson Champions have existed, if for no other reason than to mess with the Indiana Alley Cats, who chose to leave the ABA? Why would that team remain propped up all season, even after sporting a losing record and folding partway through their maiden campaign, just to re-start a second time and essentially cause the Alley Cats ownership to relocate their team because they didn't want to put up with another season of brand confusion? And now the Rochester RazorSharks can look forward to a relocated Syracuse Raging Bullz in the Lilac City, in an attempt to muddy up the market of one of the ABA's more successful former teams? Although Joe Newman calls this "competition," most people would call this "predatory marketing." It doesn't even matter to the ABA CEO that the Raging Bullz owner has yet to pay his bills in Syracuse.

Another problem with the ABA is the absolute anonymity of its players. There are no statistics or data packages available so that we know who are the top scorers in the league. In professional basketball, a player's statistics are his resume. Every other professional basketball league EXCEPT the ABA provides statistics on an updated and regular basis. Yet although the ABA has mandated the use of the JocTrac program for statistics, very few teams either own the program or have used it. This is not acceptable. If players aren't getting paid, and their stats aren't being kept, what benefit is there for someone to play ball in this league as opposed to the D-League or the CBA or the PBL, where statistics are not only kept, but are promoted?

Yet if anybody on OurSports Central even brings up these issues, if anybody mentions these warts on the league, they are classified as "mean-spirited" and "hateful" bloggers, hired by the CBA or the PBL or the D-League to discredit the ABA. This is by no means refuting the argument; this is attacking the arguer, a logical fallacy. While Joe Newman goes on his ABA All Access infomercial and spews rhetoric about upcoming television deals that never materialize, about ringtones and travel deals and ABA fragrances, the few fans the league has on OSC - the only media outlet that even cares about what the ABA does - see franchises playing in community centers and fitness centers in front of 20 fans. They see traveling teams like the St. Louis Stunners and Fort Wayne's Best playing ABA games and those games counting in the standings. They see the only revenue stream for the league's franchises being a $3000 guarantee to play two games in Singapore for the Beijing Aoshen Olympian.

And if anybody from OSC points this out to the public, well then we're considered the equivalent of those who prey on children through the internet? Because that's what the "To Catch a Predator" show is about, it's a program designed to lure those who desire to molest underage children. So in effect, is Joe Newman calling the posters of OSC child molesters?

The fact of the matter is the ABA is an overbloated league, with owners who couldn't be trusted to operate a fantasy league, let alone a real professional circuit. The best teams in the league are being dragged down by franchises who can barely operate. There is no accountability, no background checks for prospective owners, no performance bond or letter of credit that will protect owners who do the right thing from owners who don't. And for every city burned by a failed ABA franchise, that's another city that will turn its back on any sort of professional minor league basketball.

In short, the American Basketball Association has caused more damage to professional basketball than any other league has ever caused to any other sport. And in the end, that is the ABA's shameful legacy.

Read Newman's "Ask the CEO" column.

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Basketball historian Chuck Miller is a longtime contributing member on the OurSports Central message boards.

Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.

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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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