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Post by rkozak201 on Sept 24, 2007 11:15:31 GMT -5
It's all about the Benjamin; well actually it's all about Roosevelt Benjamin. On Monday morning, Reading Express GM/Head Coach Bernie Nowotarski signed the veteran all league, all star linebacker to play in Reading this coming season. Benjamin is a 6'2" 255 lb linebacker with speed and mobility. Roosevelt played his college career in the PSAC with Clarion University. He has 7 years of arena experience, most recently last season with division rival, Canton Legends.
"What a pick up" said Nowotarski. "Roosevelt is an instant impact player for us. He brings a great deal of experience and also a great attitude about coming to Reading". Roosevelt said, "I want to win a championship and I like the way Reading runs their organization, I feel this is a great match". Reading has already re-signed star linebacker Matt Sola. This is shaping up to be a pretty dynamic linebacking core. Nowotarski added, "All roster spots are open at this point, but having these two veteran all-stars signed and coming to camp defiantly points our team in the right direction."
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Post by slocoma on Sept 24, 2007 13:14:40 GMT -5
I was hoping the Freeze would sign him again. Good pick up. Great player. One of my favorites. How do I get a Benjamin Express jersey?
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Post by xmradiodave on Sept 24, 2007 13:18:02 GMT -5
It is becoming quite evident that Reading is building the unstoppable team. Good work though.
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Post by rkozak201 on Sept 24, 2007 13:21:39 GMT -5
I was hoping the Freeze would sign him again. Good pick up. Great player. One of my favorites. How do I get a Benjamin Express jersey? I would wait until the season starts to order one. I'm sure that he doesn't have a number yet. All of the Jerseys are provided by JD Sports in Douglasville. I actually have my name on my jersey so that I don't have to buy one everytime a player leaves the team. |
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Post by UnoBomber on Sept 24, 2007 14:51:19 GMT -5
Wow this went under the radar... Why would Ro sign with the Freeze again? He wanted out. I hope that the Freeze made an attempt to bring him back to Erie. If not, I'm going to call BOB FM to have "Another one bites the dust" by Queen in the queue, ready to play...
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Post by exit322 on Sept 24, 2007 14:59:39 GMT -5
Reading certainly has become the easy favorite in the North. They're the only team doing anything! They'll have two months on everyone getting things ready for 2008. This team just might be involved in a high number of beat downs this coming year.
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Post by slocoma on Sept 24, 2007 15:10:07 GMT -5
I was only hoping that the Freeze and Ro could have worked things out.
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Post by exit322 on Sept 24, 2007 17:16:55 GMT -5
He certainly could have been a key part in helping shore up that defense that was so bad last year.
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Post by Tatonka on Sept 25, 2007 1:59:44 GMT -5
Why oh why do the other teams feel like they can take the next six months off after they complete the season? Of course Reading is signing all these guys... it looks like no one else is even trying.
This is a year-round business gentlemen. Any teams not treating it as such, will fall further and further behind proactive teams like Reading.
Congrats Express on your second straight Northern Conference Championship in 2008...
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Post by jeffhauser on Sept 25, 2007 9:25:43 GMT -5
Tatonka:
Yes, Reading is very proactive, and Bernie has his act together, which is great for them, especially considering that they're now dealing with some aggressive former colleagues out in Lehigh Valley who I suspect will be looking to take some players as well as "the defensive coordinator of the year" (LOL).
However, there's some other things you should take into account before the blanket statement that "no one else is even trying".
I can't speak for every team other than Pittsburgh, but I suspect some other teams feel this way. If we wanted to, we could put out press releases of signings, as we have begun signings as well. However, we have 2 open tryouts coming up in the next few weeks, and Coach Liotta is continually fielding inquiries from agents and players about joining us as well. We don't want to inadvertently dissuade anybody right now from attending the camps (which means $$ for us) and we want to continue hearing about other guys that could upgrade our talent level.
In addition, some of the major talents that we hope to add are in a "wait-and-see mode" (ie. NFL practice squads, AFL, CFL) and might not be available to us until later in the preseason or even during the season. We signed 2 guys during last season, Beau Gibbs and Yaacov Yisrael, who we were in touch with all year, but weren't available for our training camp, since they were in the CFL and AFL at the time.
This isn't the NFL or AFL. There is a filtering down process for the top talent, and patience is necessary for some of us in order to land some of that talent - its not a question of effort.
JH
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Post by Standard Deviation on Sept 25, 2007 10:24:42 GMT -5
Why oh why do the other teams feel like they can take the next six months off after they complete the season? Of course Reading is signing all these guys... it looks like no one else is even trying. This is a year-round business gentlemen. Any teams not treating it as such, will fall further and further behind proactive teams like Reading. Congrats Express on your second straight Northern Conference Championship in 2008... Dont be so quick to hand Reading a title. Yes they are making some noise but they are not the only team working. Like my boss Jeff said, Coach Liotta is networking and screening talent. And with our tryouts coming up, we will soon be flooding the net with releases as well. Reading may be at the top of the heap but we are fast learners. But never assume that a lack of noise means a lack of effort. A fined tuned and well oiled machine purrs like a kitten, and strikes like a tiger. |
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Post by slocoma on Sept 25, 2007 10:39:26 GMT -5
Is Dinkins going to be back for Pittsburgh?
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Post by Standard Deviation on Sept 25, 2007 11:28:56 GMT -5
Is Dinkins going to be back for Pittsburgh? Unfortunately I am not at liberty to discuss personnel at this time. Only Coach Liotta and Jeff hauser can speak at this time about players. But I expect some player signings to come out in a few weeks. |
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Post by exit322 on Sept 25, 2007 13:28:21 GMT -5
Though the roster additions are nice (and Reading is the blatantly obvious favorite up North right now), community relations work is far far far far far far far more important by teams right now.
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Post by Tatonka on Sept 25, 2007 13:52:58 GMT -5
Tatonka: Yes, Reading is very proactive, and Bernie has his act together, which is great for them, especially considering that they're now dealing with some aggressive former colleagues out in Lehigh Valley who I suspect will be looking to take some players as well as "the defensive coordinator of the year" (LOL). However, there's some other things you should take into account before the blanket statement that "no one else is even trying". I can't speak for every team other than Pittsburgh, but I suspect some other teams feel this way. If we wanted to, we could put out press releases of signings, as we have begun signings as well. However, we have 2 open tryouts coming up in the next few weeks, and Coach Liotta is continually fielding inquiries from agents and players about joining us as well. We don't want to inadvertently dissuade anybody right now from attending the camps (which means $$ for us) and we want to continue hearing about other guys that could upgrade our talent level. In addition, some of the major talents that we hope to add are in a "wait-and-see mode" (ie. NFL practice squads, AFL, CFL) and might not be available to us until later in the preseason or even during the season. We signed 2 guys during last season, Beau Gibbs and Yaacov Yisrael, who we were in touch with all year, but weren't available for our training camp, since they were in the CFL and AFL at the time. This isn't the NFL or AFL. There is a filtering down process for the top talent, and patience is necessary for some of us in order to land some of that talent - its not a question of effort. JH Agreed, but contracts aren't guaranteed at this level anyways, so re-signing some of your "name" guys from last season goes a long way in establishing your team's identity, and when fans can relate to or know some of the players, it shows in ticket sales. Selling more season tickets is better for the team long-term than hoping to have a large turnout for open tryouts... Besides, the longer you are around, the smaller and smaller those open tryouts become. Canton and Erie for example, will be entering their fourth seasons now. There should be so many former players (from the team and throughout the league) available that holding three or four open tryouts is a waste of time. But if taking $60 bucks from guys who have no business being on your field is good for business, then gosh darn it, keep it up. I understand you're only in year two, so hold your open tryouts... but you'll find that the "top talent" that you're hoping will "trickle down" expect to be invited to work out, and will not pay you $60 for their time. Of course your coach is fielding inquiries... I'm not even working for a team right now and I'm getting inquiries from former players of mine. That's what happens right now. They are calling EVERYBODY, not just you. In a sport where competing leagues don't honor each others' contracts, I'd quit wasting my time hoping that the next Carmelo Ocasio comes to my open tryout and go out and sign some established guys to contracts. If it doesn't have it already, put a clause in there that says the contract is voided if they sign with an AFL or CFL team. You're their fall-back option... |
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