Post by UnoBomber on Oct 4, 2006 9:40:37 GMT -5
You will be now....
and this is why I hate the Erie Times...
Thought process of Joe Mattis: We can't get any direct comments??? Oh well just flame the team.
Freeze, AIFL teams bolt for new league
By Joe Mattis
joe.mattis@timesnews.com
AIFA features 14 teams, 2 divisions
In late July, seven teams from the American Indoor Football League jumped ship to join either the World Indoor Football League or the Great Lakes Indoor Football League.
Now, the 2-year-old AIFL has no ship.
The Erie Freeze, along with 13 other teams in the AIFL, have joined a new league. It's called the American Indoor Football Association and was formed earlier this week after the team owners met in Florence, S.C.
John Morris is listed as the CEO/owner, business operations and Michael Mink the COO/owner, football operations on the AIFA's Web site, aifaprofootball.com. Jack Bowman, who had been the general manager of the Florence Phantoms, is listed as the league's national director.
Whether the AIFA is a new league or just the AIFL resurrected under a new name is not clear. In August, AIFL founder Andrew Haines announced that Morris and Mink, who were the owners of the expansion Montgomery Bears, and Todd Ellis, owner of the then yet-to-be-named Tupelo franchise, were joining him as co-owners.
Now, just Morris and Mink are owners of the AIFA.
Dave Hodas, a co-owner of the Freeze and a member of the now-defunct AIFL's expansion committee, could not be reached for comment. Calls to his cell phone were greeted with the message, "The PCS telephone number you dialed is temporarily not in service."
Brian Fisher, another co-owner of the Freeze, was contacted but said, "I don't have time to talk." He also said he received the same message when calling Hodas' cell phone and added, "I have to try and contact him, too."
Dave Arnold became the head coach of the Freeze during the 2006 season. He said he does not know about any changes.
"As far as I know, we're going back into the same league," he said. "This is news to me. I know we have a tryout Sunday. The response for it has been good."
Roosevelt Benjamin, a Freeze linebacker, and Dave Smith, a defensive lineman, also were unaware of any changes to either the team or the league.
"I talked with coach Arnold Monday, and we have a workout on Sunday," Benjamin said. "But I don't know about any changes."
"We don't have contact with the team during the summer," said Smith, the head coach at Franklin High School. "We usually don't hear anything until they send us a contract."
On Sept. 18, the Freeze sent out a release stating that there is a press conference on Thursday to announce the teams "enhanced" coaching staff. That press conference has not been canceled.
"I'm still coming back as head coach," Arnold said. "I haven't picked anybody else yet. I have some names in my hat, but no agreements have been made. If they've appointed anyone else to help me, I'm not aware of it."
The 13 teams in the AIFA - in addition to the Freeze - are the Canton (Ohio) Legends, Danville (Ill.) Demolition, Huntington (W.Va.) Heroes, Johnstown Riverhawks, Pittsburgh RiverRats and Reading Express in the North, and the Carolina (Concord, N.C.) Speed, Florence Phantoms, Mississippi (Tupelo) MudCats, Montgomery (Ala.) Bears, Lakeland (Fla.) Thunderbolts, Springfield (Ill.) Stallions and the Tallahassee (Fla.) Titans.
The owners of the AIFA have a schedule for the upcoming season and are expected to post it to the league's Web site sometime this week.
JOE MATTIS can be reached at 870-1676 or by e-mail.
Last changed: October 04. 2006 3:31AM
and this is why I hate the Erie Times...
Thought process of Joe Mattis: We can't get any direct comments??? Oh well just flame the team.
Freeze, AIFL teams bolt for new league
By Joe Mattis
joe.mattis@timesnews.com
AIFA features 14 teams, 2 divisions
In late July, seven teams from the American Indoor Football League jumped ship to join either the World Indoor Football League or the Great Lakes Indoor Football League.
Now, the 2-year-old AIFL has no ship.
The Erie Freeze, along with 13 other teams in the AIFL, have joined a new league. It's called the American Indoor Football Association and was formed earlier this week after the team owners met in Florence, S.C.
John Morris is listed as the CEO/owner, business operations and Michael Mink the COO/owner, football operations on the AIFA's Web site, aifaprofootball.com. Jack Bowman, who had been the general manager of the Florence Phantoms, is listed as the league's national director.
Whether the AIFA is a new league or just the AIFL resurrected under a new name is not clear. In August, AIFL founder Andrew Haines announced that Morris and Mink, who were the owners of the expansion Montgomery Bears, and Todd Ellis, owner of the then yet-to-be-named Tupelo franchise, were joining him as co-owners.
Now, just Morris and Mink are owners of the AIFA.
Dave Hodas, a co-owner of the Freeze and a member of the now-defunct AIFL's expansion committee, could not be reached for comment. Calls to his cell phone were greeted with the message, "The PCS telephone number you dialed is temporarily not in service."
Brian Fisher, another co-owner of the Freeze, was contacted but said, "I don't have time to talk." He also said he received the same message when calling Hodas' cell phone and added, "I have to try and contact him, too."
Dave Arnold became the head coach of the Freeze during the 2006 season. He said he does not know about any changes.
"As far as I know, we're going back into the same league," he said. "This is news to me. I know we have a tryout Sunday. The response for it has been good."
Roosevelt Benjamin, a Freeze linebacker, and Dave Smith, a defensive lineman, also were unaware of any changes to either the team or the league.
"I talked with coach Arnold Monday, and we have a workout on Sunday," Benjamin said. "But I don't know about any changes."
"We don't have contact with the team during the summer," said Smith, the head coach at Franklin High School. "We usually don't hear anything until they send us a contract."
On Sept. 18, the Freeze sent out a release stating that there is a press conference on Thursday to announce the teams "enhanced" coaching staff. That press conference has not been canceled.
"I'm still coming back as head coach," Arnold said. "I haven't picked anybody else yet. I have some names in my hat, but no agreements have been made. If they've appointed anyone else to help me, I'm not aware of it."
The 13 teams in the AIFA - in addition to the Freeze - are the Canton (Ohio) Legends, Danville (Ill.) Demolition, Huntington (W.Va.) Heroes, Johnstown Riverhawks, Pittsburgh RiverRats and Reading Express in the North, and the Carolina (Concord, N.C.) Speed, Florence Phantoms, Mississippi (Tupelo) MudCats, Montgomery (Ala.) Bears, Lakeland (Fla.) Thunderbolts, Springfield (Ill.) Stallions and the Tallahassee (Fla.) Titans.
The owners of the AIFA have a schedule for the upcoming season and are expected to post it to the league's Web site sometime this week.
JOE MATTIS can be reached at 870-1676 or by e-mail.
Last changed: October 04. 2006 3:31AM
