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Getting Edited

November 18, 2006 - American Basketball Association (ABA)
Vermont Frost Heaves News Release


Everyone wants something. A player wants a different picture in the yearbook because, since he posed, he has rounded into shape. A fan wants tickets, and because he's a state senator thinks they should be comps. Coaches want coaching shoes; sponsors want extra p.a. announcements; investors want-imagine that!-a return.

As if pleasing fans, sponsors, coaches, players and investors weren't enough, I've got editors on my case. Apparently these dispatches aren't meeting with universal pleasure back at the home office.

One editor is troubled that fellow staffers ask him if SI or si.com has a financial interest in the team. Believes that, if the question's being asked around the office, the perception is surely out there in the world at large.

Having just glanced at the pile of bills on the desk behind me, I told this editor that, when asked if SI has a stake in the Heaves, his answer should be, "No. Fortunately."

Another editor would like me to create a persona, that of the befuddled owner. "Like John Cleese in Fawlty Towers," he says. "It's got to be funny."

Oh, there's plenty of pratfall in all this. That box of red, white and blue ABA balls that we thought the assistant G.M. had recycled by the curb? Turns out that I'd left them back at a gym on the other side of the state. That wad of bills I riffled through just before the doors opened for our home opener in Barre on Thursday night? "An ABA wad"-all singles, for making change at the ticket window. John Cleese himself couldn't have pulled off the half-gainer I did on the team bus in Quebec 10 days ago, when the bus stopped short and I pitched forward, doing a face plant in the aisle.

But Fawlty Towers may be a bit too far. When a player collapses in practice, what am I supposed to do? Wave it off with an "Oh, that's Melvin. He's from Barcelona?"

It seems as if I now live, travel and work among editors. An assistant coach queries where he's listed in the program. A statistician, a social worker by trade, points out that my reference to one of our players as "an epileptic" might better be swapped out for "a person with epilepsy."

Even our players are editors. We beat Quebec City 117-87 on Thursday. Gov. Jim Douglas threw up the ceremonial jump ball, and joined the 1,200 people rocking the Barre Municipal Auditorium. We got every player into the scoring column. Even our Northfield Savings Bank 110% Community All-Star, Barre mayor Thom Lauzon, checked into the game. But for the fuse that melted down and forced us to curtail the postgame autograph opportunity, it was a boffo night. And then we gathered for our postgame meal, where one of our players went red-pencil on me.

Melvin Creddle picked up our yearbook. He pointed to the sash on the cover that reads INAUGURAL SEASON. And he said, "Couldn't you just say 'first?'"

The Vermont Frost Heaves open in Burlington tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Memorial Auditorium against the Buffalo Silverbacks. Special guest Bobbito Garcia of Project Playground will perform at halftime. Tickets are available at the door, or you can follow the action on WSNO AM 1450 in Barre, WJOY AM 1230 in Burlington or on the Web at vermontfrostheaves.com.

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 release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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