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Post by jwolf on Apr 21, 2012 7:57:10 GMT -5
OK, a major stunner on the SFL official site. The league announced yesterday that 5 teams have been "accepted" by the league to play in 2012. Only 5! And the biggest stunners are the Michigan Coyotes are not one of them, and the Racers are now back in Daytona. WTH??? The five teams are the Daytona Beach Racers, the Ft. Pierce Orange, The Ft. Lauderdale Barracudas, The Southwest Florida Swampdogs, and the Port St. Lucie Ironmen. If they recycle the "Ironmen" name one more time I may throw up. The hardest thing to swallow is the missing Coyotes, who so far have been the most visible both here and elsewhere promoting their brand. It's a sad dasy for them if they truly get bumped this year..... starsfootballleague.com/news/sfl-announces-teams-2012-season/ |
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Post by broncofan on Apr 21, 2012 13:30:03 GMT -5
I wonder if they even told Dan Pilgrim, the Coyotes GM about this. The last message on their website was dated April 20 for practice April 25 and 26! gm, are you out there? What's the story about this?
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Post by jwolf on Apr 21, 2012 18:15:06 GMT -5
I'm getting the impression this was announced without even the courtesy of letting the Coyotes know based on lildre's reaction. Not sure if the coaches got at least a heads up because if they did I would think they would tell their players. A shoddy way of doing business I'd say....
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Post by gatek99 on Apr 21, 2012 18:28:05 GMT -5
who gets to keep the uniforms and equipment in Michigan?
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Post by jwolf on Apr 21, 2012 21:37:16 GMT -5
who gets to keep the uniforms and equipment in Michigan? Something tells me the Coyotes will most likely be mothballed until they can actually field a few teams closer to them. I'm guessing they sit out 2012 and are brought back for 2013. |
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Post by broncofan on Apr 21, 2012 21:56:50 GMT -5
I suspect you're right. There never really seemed to be teams in Cleveland or Canton, they were just an idea to make Michigan work. Nothing on the ground in either place. So now we shut down a team that's ready to play because the league can't afford travel costs. Hell of a way to run a railroad (or a football league for that matter)!
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Post by jwolf on Apr 21, 2012 22:05:14 GMT -5
It seems Petey doesn't recognize the one place progress is actually being made for the league is right outside his front door.....
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Post by J. Myrle Fuller on Apr 22, 2012 7:02:19 GMT -5
Seems like the Racers didn't like their whole experience in the Exclusive Football League and came crawling back to the SFL once the **** hit the fan.
I don't blame them for letting Michigan go. As well as they were doing, they were an island and that was a disaster last year. I wish the 'yotes better luck in whatever semi-pro league they decide to join.
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Post by jwolf on Apr 22, 2012 8:10:01 GMT -5
Seems like the Racers didn't like their whole experience in the Exclusive Football League and came crawling back to the SFL once the **** hit the fan. I don't blame them for letting Michigan go. As well as they were doing, they were an island and that was a disaster last year. I wish the 'yotes better luck in whatever semi-pro league they decide to join. I'm not so sure the Coyotes can just 'jump ship" from the SFL to some other league intact. I'm sure the "Michigan Coyotes Football Club" still is the property of the SFL. Just like the "Daytona Beach Racers Football Club" didn't really go to the EFL, only a handful of coaches and players did. Yes, i wish Dan Pilgrim and Ben Sachs and all the players the best, and hope they all find opportunity somewhere, maybe even in the SFL still with another team. But something tells me we haven't heard the last of the Michigan Coyotes as an SFL organization. I really think they're just gonna be shelved until the conditions are right for a real SFL North to be put into place. Yes, there's alot of merit to starting small and growing slowly. And maybe keeping the league geographically tight right now is what they need to do to survive and get stronger. But the disappointment of seeing the one franchise that was making an effort to create a real fanbase is frustrating. Because we've heard so little about other teams making a similiar attempt to actually cultivate a fanbase. |
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Post by J. Myrle Fuller on Apr 22, 2012 11:29:24 GMT -5
Seems like the Racers didn't like their whole experience in the Exclusive Football League and came crawling back to the SFL once the **** hit the fan. I don't blame them for letting Michigan go. As well as they were doing, they were an island and that was a disaster last year. I wish the 'yotes better luck in whatever semi-pro league they decide to join. I'm not so sure the Coyotes can just 'jump ship" from the SFL to some other league intact. I'm sure the "Michigan Coyotes Football Club" still is the property of the SFL. Just like the "Daytona Beach Racers Football Club" didn't really go to the EFL, only a handful of coaches and players did. Yes, i wish Dan Pilgrim and Ben Sachs and all the players the best, and hope they all find opportunity somewhere, maybe even in the SFL still with another team. But something tells me we haven't heard the last of the Michigan Coyotes as an SFL organization. I really think they're just gonna be shelved until the conditions are right for a real SFL North to be put into place. Yes, there's alot of merit to starting small and growing slowly. And maybe keeping the league geographically tight right now is what they need to do to survive and get stronger. But the disappointment of seeing the one franchise that was making an effort to create a real fanbase is frustrating. Because we've heard so little about other teams making a similiar attempt to actually cultivate a fanbase. Right, legally speaking, the SFL being a single entity still owns the rights to the team itself-- but, as we saw with Daytona and to a certain extent New Orleans, the other stuff isn't league property. |
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Post by bonifiglio5 on Apr 22, 2012 17:32:47 GMT -5
i was a michigan coyote busting his butt with the rest of us this season that being said dan pilgrim didnt find out until players texted them after reading this forum, we are all heart broken by the droppped season, we will not join a semi pro league most of us players will play for other teams in semi pro dont know if any will go out for the florida teams, it was very unfortunate because dan had actually interveiwed with t.v. stations and newspapaers and what not on friday the 20th also we had a bus company on board for the season at no cost but us advertiseing for them, also we had mini camps for kids and other promotion/community reach out events lined up, we were really trying to get things done right with a what i would say a very strong nucleus of coaching staff and players alike to build an excellent organization for the years to come, then we found out online we were dropped, the owner did not inform us.
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Post by dmath816 on Apr 22, 2012 19:10:10 GMT -5
As a former asst. coach with the Coyotes I am disappointed but not suprised. I found out in a phone call last night. According to the website it was announced the night before. Things were starting to come together with the things bonifiglio5 mentioned as well as all our games being webcasted. I am very disappointed for the guys who paid good money to persue a dream of playing pro football only to have the rug yanked from them. Just my opinion, but as far as 2013, anything can happen but it would be tough to find players or get anyone in this area to take it seriously after what has happened in the last 48 hours.
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Post by jwolf on Apr 22, 2012 19:32:02 GMT -5
Welcome to the boards dmath816. Sorry it's under these circumstances. And what bonifiglio5 said really bothers me that the Coyotes and staff had to find out about all this on this forum instead of the league not telling them. What a bunch of crap! And bonifiglio5 said they had a bus company lined up for the only the cost of advertising? Since the big issue with Michigan being so far away from the rest of the league was probably the cost of transportation then it seems crazy if they had a way to get to Florida all lined up for cheap. I really hope Petey reconsiders given all the hard work you guys put into this season.
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Post by broncofan on Apr 22, 2012 20:46:26 GMT -5
Look at the people who are on here who are (or were) connected to the league. The majority of them have been from Michigan. They wanted the fans to know what was going on with their team. They worked hard to get things going. They certainly got no help from a league that can't even seemingly update its own website. Dan had mentioned to me that their games would have been webcast. I'll bet no other games in the league will be.
There has been no activity for most of the others teams in the league. Do we really think we'll have quality play? Will we even be able to prove games are played? The league does not care about fans, and it obviously doesn't care about players and coaches. I like watching these little leagues and hoping they grow. But after this nonsense, it's hard for me to give a crap about the SFL.
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Post by jwolf on Apr 22, 2012 20:58:11 GMT -5
i'm not quite ready to give up on the SFL just yet. namely for the players and teams still getting ready to play. I'm very disappointed with how Huthwaite seems to treat people who work for him as well as the tiny fanbase that's developed. But if anything this whole debacle has shown me is that there are some really great people associated with these teams who are trying to fulfill a dream and perhaps bring some entertainment to a few people in the process. Screw the league, I'm now rooting for the individual teams and the people behind them. Yeah, I know that's kinda hard to do but I'll celebrate their individual and collective achievemnets this season. But Petey will have nothing but my contempt from here on out. And I hope he or one of his lackeys reads this forum as well.
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