Post by Gene on Jul 17, 2012 19:53:53 GMT -5
Morris says community did not support his teams during winning seasons
July 03, 2012 5:20 pm • By Joe Deacon | jdeacon@pantagraph.com
BLOOMINGTON — Jim Morris, owner of the Bloomington Edge indoor football team and the Central Illinois Drive basketball team, is disappointed the teams’ success didn’t fill the seats of U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
He began the Drive as an expansion team in the Premier Basketball League prior to last season. He purchased the Bloomington Extreme from Ed Brady in October and renamed the team the Edge before the start of this year’s Indoor Football League season.
The Drive won their first 15 games en route to the PBL championship in their inaugural season. The Edge went 10-4 in the regular season to reach the IFL playoffs, the franchise’s sixth straight postseason appearance.
With the teams’ success, Morris expected them to draw better crowds to the Coliseum.
The Drive had a crowd of 2,469 for the PBL title game and a top attendance total of 2,483. The Edge drew an average crowd of 3,894, the lowest in franchise history, reversing an upward trend from the previous two seasons. Morris said the time and financial demands of running minor-league sports franchises are greater than he can justify.
“At the end of the day, we built two great winning teams and one championship team and a playoff contender. We built it and they did not come,” he said. “So some responsibility is on the community.
“If this is the results, and the community really does not want to support our kinds of entertainment, fine. We won’t exist. It’s that simple.”
www.pantagraph.com/sports/professional/basketball/minor/drive/morris-says-community-did-not-support-his-teams-during-winning/article_850345ea-c55d-11e1-9323-0019bb2963f4.html
July 03, 2012 5:20 pm • By Joe Deacon | jdeacon@pantagraph.com
BLOOMINGTON — Jim Morris, owner of the Bloomington Edge indoor football team and the Central Illinois Drive basketball team, is disappointed the teams’ success didn’t fill the seats of U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
He began the Drive as an expansion team in the Premier Basketball League prior to last season. He purchased the Bloomington Extreme from Ed Brady in October and renamed the team the Edge before the start of this year’s Indoor Football League season.
The Drive won their first 15 games en route to the PBL championship in their inaugural season. The Edge went 10-4 in the regular season to reach the IFL playoffs, the franchise’s sixth straight postseason appearance.
With the teams’ success, Morris expected them to draw better crowds to the Coliseum.
The Drive had a crowd of 2,469 for the PBL title game and a top attendance total of 2,483. The Edge drew an average crowd of 3,894, the lowest in franchise history, reversing an upward trend from the previous two seasons. Morris said the time and financial demands of running minor-league sports franchises are greater than he can justify.
“At the end of the day, we built two great winning teams and one championship team and a playoff contender. We built it and they did not come,” he said. “So some responsibility is on the community.
“If this is the results, and the community really does not want to support our kinds of entertainment, fine. We won’t exist. It’s that simple.”
www.pantagraph.com/sports/professional/basketball/minor/drive/morris-says-community-did-not-support-his-teams-during-winning/article_850345ea-c55d-11e1-9323-0019bb2963f4.html
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