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Another Day, More Cancellations in the ABA

by Chris Munson
March 14, 2008 - American Basketball Association (ABA)


The American Basketball Association's Halifax Rainmen announced Thursday that they had been forced to cancel this weekend's scheduled games against the Bahama Pro Show. Game one was scheduled for 7:15 Atlantic Time on Thursday with the second game set for Friday night at the same time. After a difficult and frantic few hours, the Rainmen were able to reach the Atlanta Vision who will fly into Halifax Friday and play the Rainmen Friday and Saturday.

This is just the latest in a series of schedule problems that have plagued the ABA this season. As of March 14th, the league had played just over 38 percent of its scheduled games and roughly just 16 of the 36 teams that started the season will finish the campaign.

The Rainmen, owned by Andre Livingston, made a promise to the City of Halifax that they would play all 18 of their home games this season. The team has done an outstanding job of marketing and drawing some of, if not the best crowds in the entire league. When Bahama failed to show up, the Rainmen had to go into crisis mode. The Halifax organization called the surviving teams, and Vision owner Quentin Richardson stepped up and agreed to fly to Canada.

The Rainmen seemed to be just as discouraged about how they found out Bahama would not show for this weekend's games. According to Nancy Sheppard, PR Director for the Rainmen, the team found out Bahama would not be making the trip north at 11:00 Atlantic Time on Thursday morning, less than nine hours before tipoff. The Bahama team was supposed to arrive in Halifax on Wednesday evening, and when they did not arrive, the Rainmen became concerned. Halifax team management had hoped that the Pro Show would take an early flight on Thursday morning, but by 11 learned they hadn't even left the Bahamas. The team owner did not give Levingston a clear reason as to why they didn't show.

Still unknown is the impact the cancellation will have on the Rainmen's future in the ABA.

"I cannot express enough my disappointment with the ABA at this point," said Levingston in a press release. "My utmost apologies go out to all of our supporters, fans and volunteers. We did everything we possibly could until the very last minute."

Curiously, a version of that release sent out by ABA CEO Joe Newman later Thursday night changed the quote to, "My utmost apologies go out to all of our supporters, fans and volunteers. We did everything we possible (sic) could until the very last minute, but Bahamas was not able to make the trip," yet still attributed the statement to Levingston.

"Right now we are in the process of exploring other options that may be presented to us," added Shepard. "We are frustrated with the challenges we have encountered with the league this season."

Other owners in the ABA have expressed frustration with the league and the way it has been run this season, citing the number of games that have been cancelled due to teams folding or not able to make road trips for financial reasons, and various other maladies. Thus far, the league has been unable to police itself and impose sanctions against teams who fail to make games for any reason. Instead, there are plans to expand even further in an effort recoup some of the losses from teams who have failed this season.

In an e-mail exchange, ABA CEO Newman refused to comment on the Halifax cancellation in a timely manner for this article.

Chris Munson is a freelance writer and broadcaster based in Burlington, Vermont. Chris has done work for OurSports Central, Varsity Magazine and the Premier Basketball League as a broadcaster. He is the former Sports Director for ESPN Radio Vermont.

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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