Post by rkb on Dec 5, 2008 7:36:28 GMT -5
www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=282919&pub=1&div=Sports
MudCats won't return in 2009
12/5/2008 5:29:56 AM
Daily Journal
BY JOHN L. PITTS
Daily Journal
Whatever the future may hold for the Mississippi MudCats indoor pro football team, it won't include playing in 2009.
"I hate to have to tell you this, but there's no way I can operate the MudCats next year," principal owner Jim Waide said Thursday.
Waide, a Tupelo attorney, said he invested more than $650,000 in little more than a year as owner of the team, which played its home games at BancorpSouth Arena.
Also, 25 area investors put at least $1,000 into the team before last season began.
"I could have spent so much less if I'd known what I was doing," said Waide, who first invested in the team during the 2007 season. "Now, I just can't see myself putting any more money into it."
Waide's money bankrolled a team that steamrolled through the American Indoor Football Association last season with a league-best 13-1 record. The MudCats won their playoff opener but reached the end of the road on July 18, losing 54-26 at Wyoming in the league semifinals.
In two seasons, the team compiled a sparkling 24-4 regular-season record.
For all its success on the field, however, attendance for the team lagged as the weather outside got warmer after starting out strong in the winter.
While disappointed, Waide was philosophical on Thursday.
"I was so stressed about the money I spent," he said, "but I finally realized that if I'd had that money, I would have invested it in markets that have since collapsed, and I would have lost it anyway.
"On reflection, I feel blessed by having done it."
Waide said he has spent the months since the end of the season trying to find a buyer for the MudCats - or an organization, such as a group of churches or a school - willing to take on the task of operating the team, ultimately to no avail.
Still, Waide said he hopes the team can return in 2010 as the centerpiece of a non-for-profit effort to promote pro sports in Northeast Mississippi.
"The city really needs to have a sports team in that coliseum," Waide said. "I still think it would be a good thing for the community, but it has to be part of a presentation that's about more than football."
BCS arena director Todd Hunt said he had not been officially notified that the MudCats would not return in 2009.
"We were supportive of the MudCats and enjoyed hosting their events," Hunt said. "We had a great working relationship, and Mr. Waide is 100 percent current with everything he owes us."
A contract remains in place for the team to play in the arena if it's ever revived, Hunt said.
AIFA in transition
Questions about the status of the MudCats emerged this week as several AIFA teams, including the Columbus (Ga.) Lions, released their schedules for next season.
The MudCats, South Division rivals of the Lions last season, did not appear on any of the schedules.
The Lions and MudCats played three times during the 2008 season. Columbus handed the Tupelo-based team its only regular-season defeat.
The Columbus home schedule for 2009 includes games with two new AIFA teams, the (Washington) D.C. Armor and the South Carolina Force, which will be based in Greenville, S.C. The Force will play in the new-look South Division.
Another South Division team, the Augusta (Ga.) Colts, plans to sit out the 2009 season and return in 2010.
The fourth team in last season's South Division, the Florida Stingrays, is reportedly in foreclosure after a winless (0-14) campaign.
At the Web site AIFAfans.com, which is not directly affiliated with the league, the South Division includes the Lions and four other teams -three of which played in the league last season-but not the MudCats.
[glow=red,2,300]A discussion thread about the MudCats has been moved to a listing called "historical teams."[/glow]
Calls by the Journal to the AIFA office, based in Baltimore, have not been returned.
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 12/5/2008, section B , page 1 :smileymudcats:
MudCats won't return in 2009
12/5/2008 5:29:56 AM
Daily Journal
BY JOHN L. PITTS
Daily Journal
Whatever the future may hold for the Mississippi MudCats indoor pro football team, it won't include playing in 2009.
"I hate to have to tell you this, but there's no way I can operate the MudCats next year," principal owner Jim Waide said Thursday.
Waide, a Tupelo attorney, said he invested more than $650,000 in little more than a year as owner of the team, which played its home games at BancorpSouth Arena.
Also, 25 area investors put at least $1,000 into the team before last season began.
"I could have spent so much less if I'd known what I was doing," said Waide, who first invested in the team during the 2007 season. "Now, I just can't see myself putting any more money into it."
Waide's money bankrolled a team that steamrolled through the American Indoor Football Association last season with a league-best 13-1 record. The MudCats won their playoff opener but reached the end of the road on July 18, losing 54-26 at Wyoming in the league semifinals.
In two seasons, the team compiled a sparkling 24-4 regular-season record.
For all its success on the field, however, attendance for the team lagged as the weather outside got warmer after starting out strong in the winter.
While disappointed, Waide was philosophical on Thursday.
"I was so stressed about the money I spent," he said, "but I finally realized that if I'd had that money, I would have invested it in markets that have since collapsed, and I would have lost it anyway.
"On reflection, I feel blessed by having done it."
Waide said he has spent the months since the end of the season trying to find a buyer for the MudCats - or an organization, such as a group of churches or a school - willing to take on the task of operating the team, ultimately to no avail.
Still, Waide said he hopes the team can return in 2010 as the centerpiece of a non-for-profit effort to promote pro sports in Northeast Mississippi.
"The city really needs to have a sports team in that coliseum," Waide said. "I still think it would be a good thing for the community, but it has to be part of a presentation that's about more than football."
BCS arena director Todd Hunt said he had not been officially notified that the MudCats would not return in 2009.
"We were supportive of the MudCats and enjoyed hosting their events," Hunt said. "We had a great working relationship, and Mr. Waide is 100 percent current with everything he owes us."
A contract remains in place for the team to play in the arena if it's ever revived, Hunt said.
AIFA in transition
Questions about the status of the MudCats emerged this week as several AIFA teams, including the Columbus (Ga.) Lions, released their schedules for next season.
The MudCats, South Division rivals of the Lions last season, did not appear on any of the schedules.
The Lions and MudCats played three times during the 2008 season. Columbus handed the Tupelo-based team its only regular-season defeat.
The Columbus home schedule for 2009 includes games with two new AIFA teams, the (Washington) D.C. Armor and the South Carolina Force, which will be based in Greenville, S.C. The Force will play in the new-look South Division.
Another South Division team, the Augusta (Ga.) Colts, plans to sit out the 2009 season and return in 2010.
The fourth team in last season's South Division, the Florida Stingrays, is reportedly in foreclosure after a winless (0-14) campaign.
At the Web site AIFAfans.com, which is not directly affiliated with the league, the South Division includes the Lions and four other teams -three of which played in the league last season-but not the MudCats.
[glow=red,2,300]A discussion thread about the MudCats has been moved to a listing called "historical teams."[/glow]
Calls by the Journal to the AIFA office, based in Baltimore, have not been returned.
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 12/5/2008, section B , page 1 :smileymudcats:
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