johnnyangryfuzzball wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 8:49 pm
And the clusterbuck continues...
Two more teams gone: the Philadelphia Soul throw in the towel with hopes to return in 2025. Georgia Force just up and dipped, leaving players holding the bag and facing eviction this weekend. Starting QB says he has an offer in another state but used up his money paying for his teammates' meals.
Minnesota—the team owned by the commissioner's wife—just saw its head coach and special teams coach resign.
Rapid City had to renegotiate its contracts to roll back its salaries to CIF levels (a 75% cut) because the commissioner predictably didn't cover the promised salary subsidy. Six players were granted a release when they refused. The owner notes that the league structure basically prevents the owners from ousting the commish, so unless he resigns, they can't fire him—and that they knew the guy was a conman but were hoping he'd at least follow through on half his promises.
NFL Network says they won't be carrying any games this year after the production company wasn't paid. Albany has apparently resorted to streaming their next game via YouTube (which is how the other indoor leagues do it and isn't a terrible way to handle it). Albany also appears to be the only team that is still in "all is well" mode.
Well Albany's probably the best-equipped to handle this, seeing as they had the earthquake that was AB last year. They might also be the only ones left at this rate.
Foggie was actually sort of through this as a player, when he became the Argos' starter in '92 after Bruce McNall began his team-killing efforts (which spread to the CFL itself) by letting Matt Dunigan walk, so no surprise he wasn't up for doing this again.
So Lee Hutton, Joe McClendon, and Frank Murtha walk into a bar.........................................
GDAWG wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 5:38 pm
There needs to be a players association for all Indoor players in all of these leagues.
Well, the Marshals players just went on strike, so I wouldn't rule it out. (Refused to play tonight, awarding the forfeit to Billings, whose owner was FURIOUS for the stunt, but not at them.)
But today's games are still going off relatively smoothly. Salina's about to upset Nashville, Southwest Kansas is slated to play Wichita and West Texas got a court injunction against them lifted so they can play Washington. (The NAL is having its own issues, but I have to assume the settlement has something along the lines of, "Well, we'll let you keep playing but if it fails, the NAL will welcome you back").
So Mike Nolan has gone back-to-back with his team (about to be a pair of one-and-dones but playoffs nonetheless), while Fisher is probably wondering whether this is payback for all those 7-9 jokes.
Good god this is still horrible: they switched their website and went back to the one from the relaunch, which normally isn't a problem other than this is mere weeks into the season; the Oregon Blackbears folded earlier this week and then jumped back in, so they now list 11 teams as active with a pair of two-team divisions, one of three, and one four-teamer (you see, that's the one division that still has all their teams nevermind Oregon and the Billings/Rapid City F.U. notes).
Interestingly enough Oregon has XFL2.0 hopeful Jeremiah Spicer and a player named Vonte Davis who merely by spelling is not the one who unfortunately passed away seven weeks ago--a good thing Hutton's gone nonetheless, I have no doubt the new ownership probably would have had something like "VONTAE DAVIS LIVES" night at Oregon's next home game where previous ownership skipped out on the bill for the first two.
So the reason the league ran out of money is because the Canadian hedge fund that owned the trademarks had a falling out with Lee Hutton even before the season and refused to pay any bills themselves or even come to the United States. They basically expected Hutton and Gaines to pay them licensing fees for the trademarks and they were going to just sit back and do nothing. They're also not going to honor any of the contracts signed under Hutton because they don't recognize them as valid.
So the reason the league ran out of money is because the Canadian hedge fund that owned the trademarks had a falling out with Lee Hutton even before the season and refused to pay any bills themselves or even come to the United States. They basically expected Hutton and Gaines to pay them licensing fees for the trademarks and they were going to just sit back and do nothing. They're also not going to honor any of the contracts signed under Hutton because they don't recognize them as valid.
Hutton and crew didn't pay the hedge fund for the rights to use the name and trademarks in the proper amount of time... Then the owners of the trademarks pulled out because of breach of contract and voided all contracts with Hutton's crew. If Hutton et. al. couldn't abide by the basics at the beginning, why WOULD the hedge fund sink more money into the venture?
It's hard for me to see fault with the hedge fund owners of the trademarks. An initial agreement was agreed upon then breeched immediately (didn't pay the rights fees within 48 hours of signing).
