Post by Gene on Aug 3, 2008 16:51:47 GMT -5
newsminer.com/news/2008/aug/02/ifl-takes-new-meaning-grizzlies/
By Joshua Armstrong
Published Saturday, August 2, 2008
FAIRBANKS — The Fairbanks Grizzlies’ blurry future just got a little clearer — and a little closer to home.
In its second year, the football team will be a part of the Indoor Football League, the newly formed league announced in a press release Friday.
Fairbanks co-owner Chad Dittman said the new league also will push to create teams in the northwestern area of the Lower 48, meaning the Grizzlies could avoid egregiously long road trips.
The IFL is the the product of a July merger between the Intense Football League — which includes the Grizzlies and the Alaska Wild of Anchorage — and the United Indoor Football League — which is predominantly based in the Midwest.
In a sort of consummation of the merger, the UIFL champion, the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Storm, will face the Intense Football League champion, the Louisiana Swashbucklers of Lake Charles, today in Sioux Falls in the National Indoor Bowl Championship game.
The IFL is currently comprised of 17 teams, both the Intense Football League and the UIFL in their entirety. Dittman, who is also the former president of the Intense Football League and owner of the Corpus Christi (Texas) Hammerheads, said the league is likely to grow to about 25 teams by the time the 2009 season kicks off in late March.
“It allows us to play in a league that is a little more nationally oriented instead of just what’s known a s a Texas league,” Grizzlies co-owner Jay McDiarmid said. “It’s good for us. It will allow us to attract more players and hopefully up the quality of the product that we put on the field.”
McDiarmid expressed caution spreading the league too hastily.
“If we work it right and we expand slowly, it’ll be perfect; it’ll work out really well,” he said. “I think one of the problems of indoor football is it’s kind of a minor league-type sport, and if you expand too quickly, the franchises don’t have time to build a base and stability in the community.”
The IFL is considering both creating several expansion franchises and acquiring existing ones from other leagues.
Dittman is focused on bringing the IFL to Washington state markets so that the league can build a division in the Northwest to complement the existing franchises in Alaska as well as the Billings (Mont.) Outlaws and the Colorado Ice of Fort Collins.
Dittman said he was looking forward to having closer teams so that the Grizzlies can make shorter road trips.
Last season, the Grizzlies didn’t have a home game from March 29 to May 3, playing four games in Texas and Louisiana in the meantime.
“It was really tough when you’re trying to build a fan base,” Dittman said from his Corpus Christi home. “We had two home games and we had a lot of momentum coming off of those games. Then we left for six weeks, and a lot of people kind of forgot about us”
The cities the IFL is targeting in Washington are Kent, Everett and Wenatchee. The league is also considering an expansion team in Orem, Utah, and acquiring the Wyoming Cavalry of Casper to fill out its northwestern slate of teams.
“From a travel standpoint, the savings could be $50,000 to $75,000 for Fairbanks,” Dittman said. “It would be huge.”
The IFL isn’t just planning on expanding in the Northwest. According to Dittman, the league is considering adding the Columbus (Ga.) Lions, the Fayetteville (N.C.) Guard, the Augusta (Ga.) Colts, the Carolina Speed of Concord, N.C., the Tupelo (Miss.) Mudcats and the Reading (Penn.) Express.
So far, the only existing change in the former Intense Football League teams is that the Ruff Riders are expected to move to Abilene, Texas.
“Unless something strange happens, I expect to see those 17 teams playing,” Dittman said.
Both Dittman and McDiarmid stressed stability as a goal for the new league.
“The team is now in a league with potentially 30 teams, and that’s just a huge amount of financial stability,” McDiarmid said. “I think that should give people some confidence that the Grizzlies are here to stay.”
Each team is scheduled to play 14 games, seven home and seven away, though no specific matchups have been set.
The team owners, who will share league ownership like in Major League Baseball and the National Football League, are set to meet in mid-September in Omaha to discuss the new league’s rules and schedule.
The cutoff date for adding expansion teams is Oct. 1, though Dittman said he hopes have some of those franchises in the IFL by next week.
There will be another league meeting in January. Opening day is tentatively scheduled for March 22.
Fourcade
Though a decision on the status of Grizzlies head coach John Fourcade was expected by the end of the Intense Football League season, Dittman said it will be a few more weeks until a deal can be reached with Fourcade.
McDiarmid was confident that Fourcade will return to the Carlson Center sidelines.
“We’re gonna get that deal done,” he said. “He’ll be back. ... Any little fine-tuning that we need to do to get him here, it’ll be done.”
Contact staff writer Joshua Armstrong at 459-7583.
By Joshua Armstrong
Published Saturday, August 2, 2008
FAIRBANKS — The Fairbanks Grizzlies’ blurry future just got a little clearer — and a little closer to home.
In its second year, the football team will be a part of the Indoor Football League, the newly formed league announced in a press release Friday.
Fairbanks co-owner Chad Dittman said the new league also will push to create teams in the northwestern area of the Lower 48, meaning the Grizzlies could avoid egregiously long road trips.
The IFL is the the product of a July merger between the Intense Football League — which includes the Grizzlies and the Alaska Wild of Anchorage — and the United Indoor Football League — which is predominantly based in the Midwest.
In a sort of consummation of the merger, the UIFL champion, the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Storm, will face the Intense Football League champion, the Louisiana Swashbucklers of Lake Charles, today in Sioux Falls in the National Indoor Bowl Championship game.
The IFL is currently comprised of 17 teams, both the Intense Football League and the UIFL in their entirety. Dittman, who is also the former president of the Intense Football League and owner of the Corpus Christi (Texas) Hammerheads, said the league is likely to grow to about 25 teams by the time the 2009 season kicks off in late March.
“It allows us to play in a league that is a little more nationally oriented instead of just what’s known a s a Texas league,” Grizzlies co-owner Jay McDiarmid said. “It’s good for us. It will allow us to attract more players and hopefully up the quality of the product that we put on the field.”
McDiarmid expressed caution spreading the league too hastily.
“If we work it right and we expand slowly, it’ll be perfect; it’ll work out really well,” he said. “I think one of the problems of indoor football is it’s kind of a minor league-type sport, and if you expand too quickly, the franchises don’t have time to build a base and stability in the community.”
The IFL is considering both creating several expansion franchises and acquiring existing ones from other leagues.
Dittman is focused on bringing the IFL to Washington state markets so that the league can build a division in the Northwest to complement the existing franchises in Alaska as well as the Billings (Mont.) Outlaws and the Colorado Ice of Fort Collins.
Dittman said he was looking forward to having closer teams so that the Grizzlies can make shorter road trips.
Last season, the Grizzlies didn’t have a home game from March 29 to May 3, playing four games in Texas and Louisiana in the meantime.
“It was really tough when you’re trying to build a fan base,” Dittman said from his Corpus Christi home. “We had two home games and we had a lot of momentum coming off of those games. Then we left for six weeks, and a lot of people kind of forgot about us”
The cities the IFL is targeting in Washington are Kent, Everett and Wenatchee. The league is also considering an expansion team in Orem, Utah, and acquiring the Wyoming Cavalry of Casper to fill out its northwestern slate of teams.
“From a travel standpoint, the savings could be $50,000 to $75,000 for Fairbanks,” Dittman said. “It would be huge.”
The IFL isn’t just planning on expanding in the Northwest. According to Dittman, the league is considering adding the Columbus (Ga.) Lions, the Fayetteville (N.C.) Guard, the Augusta (Ga.) Colts, the Carolina Speed of Concord, N.C., the Tupelo (Miss.) Mudcats and the Reading (Penn.) Express.
So far, the only existing change in the former Intense Football League teams is that the Ruff Riders are expected to move to Abilene, Texas.
“Unless something strange happens, I expect to see those 17 teams playing,” Dittman said.
Both Dittman and McDiarmid stressed stability as a goal for the new league.
“The team is now in a league with potentially 30 teams, and that’s just a huge amount of financial stability,” McDiarmid said. “I think that should give people some confidence that the Grizzlies are here to stay.”
Each team is scheduled to play 14 games, seven home and seven away, though no specific matchups have been set.
The team owners, who will share league ownership like in Major League Baseball and the National Football League, are set to meet in mid-September in Omaha to discuss the new league’s rules and schedule.
The cutoff date for adding expansion teams is Oct. 1, though Dittman said he hopes have some of those franchises in the IFL by next week.
There will be another league meeting in January. Opening day is tentatively scheduled for March 22.
Fourcade
Though a decision on the status of Grizzlies head coach John Fourcade was expected by the end of the Intense Football League season, Dittman said it will be a few more weeks until a deal can be reached with Fourcade.
McDiarmid was confident that Fourcade will return to the Carlson Center sidelines.
“We’re gonna get that deal done,” he said. “He’ll be back. ... Any little fine-tuning that we need to do to get him here, it’ll be done.”
Contact staff writer Joshua Armstrong at 459-7583.
