state of the freeze

[antifreeze12345]

everyone keeps talking about the "state of the erie freeze" well with alot of reliable sources i'm here to speak the truth.

i see 2 things happening to the freeze by next season. the first thing and what would really be a good thing that will happen is they will get a new owner. if dave hodas contiunes to be the owner the this team he will continue to run it into the ground. or secondly the erie freeze will be no more.

the rumors of dave not wanting to spend money on his team are completely true. the man either doesn't pay or is late paying the players on the team now. from what i've heard in the contracts they are suppose to get paid on thursday but they don't get paid until late friday or the next week if even at all. the man doesn't even care enough about his players to even show up at practice. now some could be thinking right now it might be late but the players get paid or what does it matter if the owner shows up at practice or not. what about the players that depend on that money? sure it's not alot but some people are here because of that money and they depend on it to pay bills. an owner showing up at practice even for 5 minutes tells the players without even saying it....hey guys i'm here for you, keep working hard you have my support. (which goes along way)

now lets talk about how the team was forced to take vans, and even a limo to games and also talk about the traveling plans for the games. how does one exepect to play his very best at a football game when they have to make a trip to north carolina leave the day of the game sitting for 14 hours get off the bus play the game get right back on and come straight home? you can't it's impossible. expecially when you take into consideration that the bus broke down 3 times and the team didn't get there until 530 and the owner of the NC team even offered to rent hotel rooms for the entire team the night before and the night of the game. why not take advantage of the opportunity? rumor has it that hodus was to cheap to rent the bus for another night. all season long his excuse for his action was "i'm running a business" ok but in a business aren't you suppose to make sure you have travel arrangement done ahead of time so you can secure a bus instead of making guys right 10 hours to danville IL? play a game and compete to win? some of the guys on that team are the size of 2 normal human beings and you expect 20 guys excluding arnold, joe, scooter, andy and hodus's cousin. to fit in a limo?

one guy that i would have to give alot of credit to is coach arnold. he along with the team had to put up with alot of bullnuts this season but he was the glue the kept it all together. ok so he had his run in with ro, but why did ro really leave? because of hodus.

i really think that this is sad because the fans are great and we want to see winners but in my opinion if dave keeps running his "business" the way he is we're not going to have anything to cheer for.

so those are my thoughts and joe, scooter you know it's true

[slocoma]

Who are your sources? Who are you? First post. All negative. These are things we've heard before, but there is no proof.

We know travel has been a problem this year.

Hodas has said publicly that there aren't financial problems. If you have proof otherwise, please share.

[freezefan4life]

100% my personal view.
I have spoke to many players, coaches (current and past), as well as fans and these are some of the problems I see with the freeze as well as the good things.

The Good:
1. The freeze were in almost every game this year. They lost several games by 8 pts or less.
2. Merchandise was up this year as opposed to years past. Many more things for fans to purchase.
3. The offense all be it low scoring was more creative this year than in years past.
4. The defense showed moments of greatness up front and from the linebacking corps.
5. Donald Germany is a player to build your defense around. I guess he did not miss a practice all season( I was told that by a coach)
6. Through all the negative things the team had to go through they still showed up each and every week and battled till the end.
7. They lost to the #1 team from the south by 6 (The tv did not air the game because they thought they would get killed) and they lost to the #1 team in the north by 8 at their place.
8. The uniforms looked good this season.
9. The fan interaction sessions during and after the game were nice as well.
10. Players were always paid. In the previous post it said they were not paid on Thurs. I do not know for sure if that is when they are supposed to be paid but they are always paid. Not one player or coach I spoke with said anything different than that so that is what I believe.
11. The Freeze faced for the first time a rough season and it can only make them better in the future. Every good team no matter at what level will at some point experience a season much like this one. 49ers, Cowboys, Steelers etc have all experienced terrible seasons and they have all bounced back as will the Freeze.
12. The O-Line was awesome. They gave both QB's that started all the time in the world and blocked well in the running game as well.
13. Traded Benjamin for Cipra. (That alone should get Arnold coach of the year)

The Bad:
1. Certain players are needed. (QB, RB, WR's, DB's) I do not fault some of the guys that were out there. They were not the best guys but they were their which is more than can be said for some.
2. The secondary needs serious attention. Serious!! I doubt very seriously it is coaching considering who the coach is and his background with the secondary.
3. Housing for the players. If a player is from out of town and needs a place to stay he is housed at a former halfway house downtown erie. The first year they were in a hotel and I think they were there last year as well.
4. Travel. Buses were not provided for all the games. Vans and even a limo once were used to transport our players and coaches in. Not as professional as you would like to see from a professional team.
5. The TURF. If it is not the worst in the league than I dare someone to show me a field that is worse. I went down after the last game and peeled a piece back to see how thick it was. Maybe a half an inch. Maybe. andd it was terrible. rips, thick paint, dirt etc. Very poor field. I think it is on the arena to fix that but I am not 100%.
6. The arena. Very old. I do not think there is anything the Freeze as an organization can do to fix that since the Otters play there as well. They have been around longer.
7. Practice. There were a couple times they had to cancel practice because they could not get into the soccer place because there was an unpaid debt. (Heresay no proof to back that up)
8. Players missing practice. I heard from coaches and players that there were times where less than 10 guys would show up for practice.
9. 2 of the 4 coaches quit during the season. One got a job in another state and the other one I guess got fed up with a former players neg attitude.
10. Advertising. Wow is it bad. That costs money. So maybe the first message is true in the owner is tight.
11. No motorcycles this year at the beginning. I looked forward to that almost as much as the game.

These are just a few of the things that I saw and heard this past season. All of which are easily correctable. Coach Arnold and Coach Pennington did a great job considering the resourses given to them. The players did a good job considering the adversity they faced throughout the season as well. I hope they bring back certain guys and get rid of certain guys as well. I am trying to keep a positive spin on this.
As for the owner and the front office personell. Noone really knows what goes on behind closed doors so you kind of have to judge it by what's going on outside the doors and it appears that there is some serious work to be done.

[TNmike]

So maybe the first message is true in the owner is tight.

From what I've seen and heard, Hodas is very tight on money which does explain why there is little advertising (I don't even recall seeing the bus ad this season) and the transportation and housing issues. I know they had a new tv ad done which I've also never seen so I have no idea if it was even aired. The office is going have to start spending money or we will have more seasons like this years.

I complained about the secondary last season but I kept being told that their will be lots of scoring in indoor football no matter what (thanks to our secondary there were lots of scoring on the Freeze this season )

On the matter of the arena, thats the civic center authority job to keep the place in good shape but they are to busy with the stupid waste of money convention center then making sure what they have is up to date (the seawolfs had to threaten to leave the city to get the authority to update the park).

[Tatonka]

I kinda know Dave a little bit and I never thought that I'd read these things about the Erie Freeze. It's tougher than one thinks to own/manage a professional sports franchise and we're learning that individuals owning teams always seem to be the ones having the issues.

I don't think Dave selling the team is necessarily the answer, but I do think that he should explore the possibilities of bringing in a partner or two to help spread out some of the expenses.

[antifreeze12345]

it's true i was harsh with my last post the freeze have done alot of good this season.

the team was in every game that they played, they just didn't have that missing piece of the puzzle to pull ahead when it mattered. donald germany is definatly a player to build a defense and for that matter the entire team around. from what i heard the only time he did miss practice was to attend a tryout with areana 1. i've met an talked to him before and he's a wonderful person. as much as it pains me to say i hope he's not here next year. he belongs in a leage that pays more than 250 a game. the list goes on though with great players being on the team sitter, dave smith, duawan smith, kevin scott, manny to name a few. it's sad though that one or 2 guys brings the rest down.

it seemed like in the begining of the year the O was struggling and the D was kicking @ss but halfway through the year they switched. the oline has been great all year, giving both qb's all day which was posted earlier. the DB's were terrible sure this is a score happy league but they always had their backs to the ball and getting burnt. some of those td's they let up could have been avoided.

if i didn't know the people on the team i wouldn't have even known their was a team. where was the advertising? i saw a commercial with ro on it, an add on the phone book and every now and again i heard something on the radio. but it's a business so hodus likes to say.

i know for a fact that not everyone has been paid on the team every week. look at this week, no one on the team has been paid yet. they were suppose to turn in their equipment last week and get their checks on friday but no one has been in the office since the game erie played pittsburgh at home. but it's a business

[slocoma]

Most business owners are "tight". You have to be to turn a profit.

Was there more, the same, or less advertising this year? Personally, I think there was about the same.

Look at the attendance numbers. 2,843 per game last year. 2,343 this year. 500 less per game (down 18%) or 3,500 less fans total this year. Would throwing a lot more money in to advertising bring increased fans this year? I don't think so. I think the low attendance, especially at the end of the season, was due to poor performance.

I guess what I'm getting at is at what point do you see a return on your investment with advertising. If you spend $1 or $10,000 how many more fans are you going to put in to the seats? It's a hard thing to quantify.

If each fan spent $15 (tickets, concessions, whatever) that's $52,500 that the Freeze lost in revenue compared to last year.

[cip]

Let me first say thanks to all the Erie Fans. You guys are great. Despite a losing record they came out in numbers each and every game to support THEIR TEAM! THANKS!!!

Now Dave has done some great things with the team, most anyone can sit back and be a critic and spite the bad things but sometimes we should all look at the positives. Coach Arnold did an excellent job with what he had! Thanks Coach!

I understand that some fans get frustrated and are quick to judge. Just remember it is easy to point the finger when nuts hits the fan.

Thank you Erie Fans!!!!

JR

[scooter]

Thank You JR!!!

Your return elevated the Kicking game from the Depths of H#LL!!!!

We got better than full value back for Ro (D.Smith & R. Germany) are Eries' force at LB!!!!!!

Hope you'll be back in 08!!!!

[picman]

Good to hear from you JR

[Gene]

slocoma said:

Most business owners are "tight". You have to be to turn a profit.

Was there more, the same, or less advertising this year? Personally, I think there was about the same.

Look at the attendance numbers. 2,843 per game last year. 2,343 this year. 500 less per game (down 18%) or 3,500 less fans total this year. Would throwing a lot more money in to advertising bring increased fans this year? I don't think so. I think the low attendance, especially at the end of the season, was due to poor performance.

I guess what I'm getting at is at what point do you see a return on your investment with advertising. If you spend $1 or $10,000 how many more fans are you going to put in to the seats? It's a hard thing to quantify.

If each fan spent $15 (tickets, concessions, whatever) that's $52,500 that the Freeze lost in revenue compared to last year.

I actually agree with your post here (cant believe i am saying that), .

But anyways, there are inexpensive ways for the Freeze or any other team to advertise too that can be just as effective as the more expensive ones. Handing out Flyers, having weekly events with giveaways, visiting hospitals & schools and tipping the media off that they'll be there and many other related ideas. Its all about keeping your name out there in front of the consumers. Newspaper ads, tv commercials and billboards are all pricey. But there are alternatives........

[Free Agent Fan]

Like dying your hair blue all year. And going to every event in Erie.

IE: Seawolves games, Celebrate Erie Days, Erie Horror Fest, Rib Fest, Art Fest, etc.

I'm a free walking billboard.

[slocoma]

The most inexpensive way to advertise is to keep the web site up-to-date. There are non-traditional ways to "advertise" that are easy to take advantage of. They could keep their MySpace updated. They could upload interviews with coaches and players (podcasts or videos) or video highlights to their own website, MySpace, and YouTube. They could have an email newsletter (like the SeaWolves). Send text messages to cell phones (for people that sign up). They need someone that can think outside the box and get them away from traditional advertising. You can save a lot of money with the internet. Word of mouth works wonders.

[slocoma]

JR,

Have you gotten paid for all the games you played? Are there any players that haven't been paid that you are aware of?

[Gene]

slocoma said:

The most inexpensive way to advertise is to keep the web site up-to-date. There are non-traditional ways to "advertise" that are easy to take advantage of. They could keep their MySpace updated. They could upload interviews with coaches and players (podcasts or videos) or video highlights to their own website, MySpace, and YouTube. They could have an email newsletter (like the SeaWolves). Send text messages to cell phones (for people that sign up). They need someone that can think outside the box and get them away from traditional advertising. You can save a lot of money with the internet. Word of mouth works wonders.

I agree with that too. I must be sick . Is there a doctor in the house..........