As part of "Walk on Week 2011" on Richmond Sports Radio 910, a 60 minute show dedicated to professional indoor football will air at 12:01pm on July 9th.
"Kicking the Uno" will be hosted by myself, Ruben Foster, and will include in studio guests Richmond Raider Business Operations Manager Gary Criswell and former Richmond Raider Lawrence "The Law" Lewis. SIFL PR guru Dan Ryan, IFL commish Tommy Benizio and Richmond Raider kicker Joshua Smith round off the guest list. Listeners are encouraged to call in to the show by dialing 804-345-0910.
Topics will include the current state of indoor football, long terms plans for local teams and player backgrounds.
For more information on "Walk on Week 2011".
http://www.sportsradio910.com/pages/walkonweek2011.html
To stream live on July 9th outside of the Richmond, VA area.
http://www.sportsradio910.com/
Follow me on twitter @rubenfoster or email comments to coachingubigr@aol.com
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Richmond Revolution Returning in 2012
For months now the indoor football community has speculated that the Richmond Revolution would fold sometime between now and next Spring. Apparently the Revolution are planning to move forward and field a team in 2012 proving us all wrong.
http://www.richmondrevolution.com/tickets/ticket-info.html
The team has posted rates for 2012 season tickets on their official website, a clear sign that Steve Burton has no intention of calling it quits even after finishing the season 3-11 and playing many a rainy outdoor football game. It remains to be seen if the Revolution will play indoors next year given the lack of facilities at the SportsQuest campus. Eventually they will have to play indoors since it is the Indoor Football League.
Also, please forgive me Revolution fans reading this, but it is time to stop clinging to "2010 Franchise of the Year". The Revolution and the Raiders have both won an equal amount of playoff games: 0. Its time to move on already.
My apologizes to Robbie and Shawn.
Follw me on twitter @rubenfoster or email comments to coachingubigr@aol.com
http://www.richmondrevolution.com/tickets/ticket-info.html
The team has posted rates for 2012 season tickets on their official website, a clear sign that Steve Burton has no intention of calling it quits even after finishing the season 3-11 and playing many a rainy outdoor football game. It remains to be seen if the Revolution will play indoors next year given the lack of facilities at the SportsQuest campus. Eventually they will have to play indoors since it is the Indoor Football League.
Also, please forgive me Revolution fans reading this, but it is time to stop clinging to "2010 Franchise of the Year". The Revolution and the Raiders have both won an equal amount of playoff games: 0. Its time to move on already.
My apologizes to Robbie and Shawn.
Follw me on twitter @rubenfoster or email comments to coachingubigr@aol.com
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
SIFL Playoffs
The end of the SIFL playoffs are in sight and here is where the league stands.
In the Eastern Conference semi-finals the Columbus Lions beat out the upstart Trenton Steel 62-60 and the Albany Panther crushed the high power offense of the Erie Explosion 68-43.
In the Western Conference semi-finals the undefeated Houston Stallions defeated the Rio Grande Valley Magic 65-62 while the Louisiana Swashbucklers silenced the Corpus Christi Hammerheads 59-20.
The Eastern Conference title game pitted the Albany Panthers against the defending SIFL champion Lions in a heated rematch of the bitter rival teams. Albany was able to pull off the win 75 - 61.
The Western Conference title game had the undefeated Houston Stallions against the Louisiana Swashbucklers. The Swashbucklers were able to pull off the upset and defeated the Stallions 56 - 41.
Just this afternoon the League announced the SIFL Championship game will take place this Saturday 7/02/11 in the James H Gray Civic Center in Albany, GA. Pre-game festivities begin at 7pm and kick off at 7:30pm.
Good luck to both teams.
In the Eastern Conference semi-finals the Columbus Lions beat out the upstart Trenton Steel 62-60 and the Albany Panther crushed the high power offense of the Erie Explosion 68-43.
In the Western Conference semi-finals the undefeated Houston Stallions defeated the Rio Grande Valley Magic 65-62 while the Louisiana Swashbucklers silenced the Corpus Christi Hammerheads 59-20.
The Eastern Conference title game pitted the Albany Panthers against the defending SIFL champion Lions in a heated rematch of the bitter rival teams. Albany was able to pull off the win 75 - 61.
The Western Conference title game had the undefeated Houston Stallions against the Louisiana Swashbucklers. The Swashbucklers were able to pull off the upset and defeated the Stallions 56 - 41.
Just this afternoon the League announced the SIFL Championship game will take place this Saturday 7/02/11 in the James H Gray Civic Center in Albany, GA. Pre-game festivities begin at 7pm and kick off at 7:30pm.
Good luck to both teams.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Current State of the Richmond Raiders
It is officially the offseason for the Richmond Raiders, and while the team missed the playoffs again, the Raiders did finish first in their division and were .500 on the season. While matching their win total from the 2010 season in 2011, they played two fewer games when compared to the inaugural season which does show some improvement.
New front office staff Steve and Gary Criswell and new head coach James Fuller worked diligently to bring a great product to the Coliseum and overall better football was played. The glaring problem this season was five different starting quarterbacks. Officially the team stated changes at quarterback were injury related, but to the fans it appeared that Mike Potts and Aaron Alexander struggled when the pressure was on. Both Potts and Alexander had difficulties with interceptions, with all Raider quarterbacks throwing 23 total INTs on the season. Only the Fayetteville Force and Harrisburg Stampede had more INTs. Antwon Young ended the season at quarterback after being released from the IFL Tri-City Fever, and showed he may have a future in Richmond. New kicker Joshua Smith brought stability to special teams and the combination of Noland Burchette, Law Lewis, and Michael Woodhouse made for one of the top d-lines in the entire SIFL, with Woodhouse being number one leauge wide in total sacks. Lastly, DB Rece Thorne, who played minimally in the first half of the season, played well for the Raiders late replacing injured DB Stephen Cason and DB JR Rosegreen.
The SIFL itself is a complete train wreck. League President Thom Hager sold off his stake in the Louisiana Swashbucklers last month and it appears the league will be toast as soon as championship game is over. John Morris has made a commitment to the city of Baltimore to bring back a team to the Charm City under the AIFA, of which Morris will serve as its commish. Current Texas based team owner Chad Dittman has openly expressed disgust with Hager and is rumored to be starting a new Texas only league. This all bodes poorly for the survival of the SIFL.
So where does that leave our Richmond Raiders? My money is on the IFL. Team ownership is very familiar with John Morris and I think it's very unlikely they would be chomping at the bit to get back in business with the man. But the IFL already has a team in the area, the 3-11 Richmond Revolution. Whether the IFL would field two teams in the same city remains to be seen, but there have been rumors that the outdoor Revolution will fold before the year is over. While this can not be confirmed, two things can be confirmed. There is no actual indoor football arena construction going on at the SportsQuest campus and there are no links for 2012 season tickets sales on the Revolution website. This is either a sign of the teams inevitable failure or just laziness on the part of ownership. (The Revolution received special permission from the IFL commish to play outdoors in 2011.) Lastly, I believe the IFL will be the home of the Raiders in 2011 because I spoke directly with IFL commish Tommy Benizio last month. While it was a short conversation, he demonstrated an enormous interest in the Richmond Raiders and their ownership. Benizio would love to have stable team in his home town.
Personally, I would love to see the Revolution and Raiders play each other 2012 as part of the IFL. Having a 'Richmond Bowl' would garner a ton of media coverage and could be a great thing for the sport. Plus the bragging rights would be epic and travel costs minimal.
Follow Ruben Foster on twitter @rubenfoster or email comments to coachingubigr@aol.com
New front office staff Steve and Gary Criswell and new head coach James Fuller worked diligently to bring a great product to the Coliseum and overall better football was played. The glaring problem this season was five different starting quarterbacks. Officially the team stated changes at quarterback were injury related, but to the fans it appeared that Mike Potts and Aaron Alexander struggled when the pressure was on. Both Potts and Alexander had difficulties with interceptions, with all Raider quarterbacks throwing 23 total INTs on the season. Only the Fayetteville Force and Harrisburg Stampede had more INTs. Antwon Young ended the season at quarterback after being released from the IFL Tri-City Fever, and showed he may have a future in Richmond. New kicker Joshua Smith brought stability to special teams and the combination of Noland Burchette, Law Lewis, and Michael Woodhouse made for one of the top d-lines in the entire SIFL, with Woodhouse being number one leauge wide in total sacks. Lastly, DB Rece Thorne, who played minimally in the first half of the season, played well for the Raiders late replacing injured DB Stephen Cason and DB JR Rosegreen.
The SIFL itself is a complete train wreck. League President Thom Hager sold off his stake in the Louisiana Swashbucklers last month and it appears the league will be toast as soon as championship game is over. John Morris has made a commitment to the city of Baltimore to bring back a team to the Charm City under the AIFA, of which Morris will serve as its commish. Current Texas based team owner Chad Dittman has openly expressed disgust with Hager and is rumored to be starting a new Texas only league. This all bodes poorly for the survival of the SIFL.
So where does that leave our Richmond Raiders? My money is on the IFL. Team ownership is very familiar with John Morris and I think it's very unlikely they would be chomping at the bit to get back in business with the man. But the IFL already has a team in the area, the 3-11 Richmond Revolution. Whether the IFL would field two teams in the same city remains to be seen, but there have been rumors that the outdoor Revolution will fold before the year is over. While this can not be confirmed, two things can be confirmed. There is no actual indoor football arena construction going on at the SportsQuest campus and there are no links for 2012 season tickets sales on the Revolution website. This is either a sign of the teams inevitable failure or just laziness on the part of ownership. (The Revolution received special permission from the IFL commish to play outdoors in 2011.) Lastly, I believe the IFL will be the home of the Raiders in 2011 because I spoke directly with IFL commish Tommy Benizio last month. While it was a short conversation, he demonstrated an enormous interest in the Richmond Raiders and their ownership. Benizio would love to have stable team in his home town.
Personally, I would love to see the Revolution and Raiders play each other 2012 as part of the IFL. Having a 'Richmond Bowl' would garner a ton of media coverage and could be a great thing for the sport. Plus the bragging rights would be epic and travel costs minimal.
Follow Ruben Foster on twitter @rubenfoster or email comments to coachingubigr@aol.com
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Many Problems of the SIFL
Modern professional indoor football has been around since the early 1980’s, after its inventor Jim Foster devised the sport on the back of a manila envelope while watching indoor soccer. His vision utilized a 50 yard field and eight players on defense on offense instead of the traditional eleven. Leagues began sprouting up around the country as a way to bring professional football to markets without NFL teams, and to provide Spring-time sports for markets with existing NFL teams. These leagues sell season tickets every year to thousands of fans around the country with the promise of wholesome family fun at affordable prices. Often times the leagues that control the teams don’t deliver completely, and sometimes they don’t deliver at all.
The Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) was founded in Louisiana in 2008, and five teams located in Louisiana and Texas took the field the inaugural season. The business model behind the creation of the SIFL was actually genius. The SIFL model included low franchise fees for owners (compared to the AFL and IFL) and for regions to feel local, creating strong team rivalries for fans. Additionally, the league was hoping the short distance between teams would invite fans to travel to see their favorite franchise play the away games (boosting ticket sales) and reducing overall travel expense for owners. However, after the league’s second season, the SIFL purchased the AIFA East and its footprint stretched from Texas and Louisiana, all the way through North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and now included 16 teams. This transaction moved the Richmond Raiders from the AIFA to the SIFL.
When the third season of the SIFL began this year, it was not without its’ challenges. Weeks before the season was to begin, the Lafayette Wildcatters (LA) were forced to cancel the entire 2011 season after being unable to secure sufficient Workers Compensation insurance for team employees. Teams in the Western Conference that had Lafayette on their schedule were awarded wins by default or faced a semi pro team in their place for an easy win. Mean while, the Houston Stallions (TX) were unable to secure a home venue and would end up playing road games the entire season. This was just the beginning of the problems.
In Mobile, Alabama a man named Ray Ward came to town promising years of successful indoor football, and purchased the Mobile Bay Tarpons. Ward was able to field a team, secure equipment, a venue and even sponsorships from local businesses. Unfortunately, after two home games and loads of unpaid bills, Ward skipped town. Players went un-paid; commitments that sponsors purchased went unfulfilled and worst of all, fans that purchased season tickets were out almost an entire season. With no owner to fund the team, the Tarpons ceased operations completely. Additionally, it was reported that the SIFL changed losses to wins for the teams that were defeated by Mobile Bay after the team folded.
Andrew Bondarowicz, a prominent New Jersey Sports Attorney, is co-owner of the SIFL. He is also the owner of two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Trenton Steel and the Fayetteville Force. Half way through the 2011 season, Trenton (5-4) was battling Richmond (4-4) for a playoff slot, and Fayetteville’s (3-5) hope of playoff contention was gone. Bondarowicz stopped paying his Force players and searched out locals in Fayetteville for potential investors to buy him out. During this time he continued to pay the Steel players, but went almost an entire month without giving out a single game check to the Force staff. When no investors could be found to take Fayetteville off his hands, he released the players from the roster essentially killing the team. In order to fulfill schedule obligations, Bondarowicz is putting together a ‘team’ of unknowns to play as the Fayetteville Force for its’ remaining four games, including versus the Richmond Raiders on June 11th.
The Trenton Steel lost their first game of the regular season to the Richmond Raiders. This gives the Raiders the tie breaker should the Steel and Raiders finish the season with identical records, and only one of the two teams will take the fourth seed to represent the Western Conference in the SIFL playoffs. One team out, one team in, and Andrew Bonarowics knows this. This week the entire Fayetteville Force roster was released, many of which signed with the dismal Carolina Speed (1-8), including WR Chris Schubert and QB Lamar Little. The Carolina Speed still have the Richmond Raiders on the schedule twice, Friday May 20th in Charlotte and in Richmond on June 4th. League officials are pulling the strings to ensure Trenton makes the playoffs and Richmond does not.
Why does this all matter? Why should the public care about a small time indoor football league and the corruption that is being allowed? Because times are tough, and the SIFL is taking our hard earned dollars and promising something they are not giving, and laughing all the way to the bank. The fans deserve professional football in underserved markets. The season ticket holders deserve to be reimbursed for home games not played due to a con artist owner. A sports team must provide a product that is played fairly and actually benefits the community instead of taking advantage of it. It’s not right for a league owner to own a team in the league he controls, let alone two or three teams in the same conference. This is an invitation to breed corruption and rule bending. In the end the fans and the players lose and that’s not right.
The Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) was founded in Louisiana in 2008, and five teams located in Louisiana and Texas took the field the inaugural season. The business model behind the creation of the SIFL was actually genius. The SIFL model included low franchise fees for owners (compared to the AFL and IFL) and for regions to feel local, creating strong team rivalries for fans. Additionally, the league was hoping the short distance between teams would invite fans to travel to see their favorite franchise play the away games (boosting ticket sales) and reducing overall travel expense for owners. However, after the league’s second season, the SIFL purchased the AIFA East and its footprint stretched from Texas and Louisiana, all the way through North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and now included 16 teams. This transaction moved the Richmond Raiders from the AIFA to the SIFL.
When the third season of the SIFL began this year, it was not without its’ challenges. Weeks before the season was to begin, the Lafayette Wildcatters (LA) were forced to cancel the entire 2011 season after being unable to secure sufficient Workers Compensation insurance for team employees. Teams in the Western Conference that had Lafayette on their schedule were awarded wins by default or faced a semi pro team in their place for an easy win. Mean while, the Houston Stallions (TX) were unable to secure a home venue and would end up playing road games the entire season. This was just the beginning of the problems.
In Mobile, Alabama a man named Ray Ward came to town promising years of successful indoor football, and purchased the Mobile Bay Tarpons. Ward was able to field a team, secure equipment, a venue and even sponsorships from local businesses. Unfortunately, after two home games and loads of unpaid bills, Ward skipped town. Players went un-paid; commitments that sponsors purchased went unfulfilled and worst of all, fans that purchased season tickets were out almost an entire season. With no owner to fund the team, the Tarpons ceased operations completely. Additionally, it was reported that the SIFL changed losses to wins for the teams that were defeated by Mobile Bay after the team folded.
Andrew Bondarowicz, a prominent New Jersey Sports Attorney, is co-owner of the SIFL. He is also the owner of two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Trenton Steel and the Fayetteville Force. Half way through the 2011 season, Trenton (5-4) was battling Richmond (4-4) for a playoff slot, and Fayetteville’s (3-5) hope of playoff contention was gone. Bondarowicz stopped paying his Force players and searched out locals in Fayetteville for potential investors to buy him out. During this time he continued to pay the Steel players, but went almost an entire month without giving out a single game check to the Force staff. When no investors could be found to take Fayetteville off his hands, he released the players from the roster essentially killing the team. In order to fulfill schedule obligations, Bondarowicz is putting together a ‘team’ of unknowns to play as the Fayetteville Force for its’ remaining four games, including versus the Richmond Raiders on June 11th.
The Trenton Steel lost their first game of the regular season to the Richmond Raiders. This gives the Raiders the tie breaker should the Steel and Raiders finish the season with identical records, and only one of the two teams will take the fourth seed to represent the Western Conference in the SIFL playoffs. One team out, one team in, and Andrew Bonarowics knows this. This week the entire Fayetteville Force roster was released, many of which signed with the dismal Carolina Speed (1-8), including WR Chris Schubert and QB Lamar Little. The Carolina Speed still have the Richmond Raiders on the schedule twice, Friday May 20th in Charlotte and in Richmond on June 4th. League officials are pulling the strings to ensure Trenton makes the playoffs and Richmond does not.
Why does this all matter? Why should the public care about a small time indoor football league and the corruption that is being allowed? Because times are tough, and the SIFL is taking our hard earned dollars and promising something they are not giving, and laughing all the way to the bank. The fans deserve professional football in underserved markets. The season ticket holders deserve to be reimbursed for home games not played due to a con artist owner. A sports team must provide a product that is played fairly and actually benefits the community instead of taking advantage of it. It’s not right for a league owner to own a team in the league he controls, let alone two or three teams in the same conference. This is an invitation to breed corruption and rule bending. In the end the fans and the players lose and that’s not right.
Ruben Foster can be reached coachingubigr@aol.com and invites all commentary
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Injuries and Roster Move
Per Raider official website, QB Bryan Randall out for the year (ACL), K/WR Chris Segaar out for 6 weeks (groin), and hot off http://www.twitter.com/, Scorpio Brown just tweeted that he is no longer a Raider. He has not made public his new team, but its not the Richmond Raiders.
Attending the Trenton Steel home opener
This Saturday, March 26th 2011, my son Andrew and I will be attending the Trenton Steel home opener in Trenton, NJ. Through a series of strange events, my family has won four free tickets in the 'gold section' of the stadium and the right for my three year old son Andrew to present the official coin toss coin to Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes. They will also announce his name over the PA as the Steel's '1,000th Facebook follower.' Being a three year old boy, following directions is not one of his strengths, so it should be interesting. And for the record, Andrew DOES NOT have his own Facebook account, it was his mother's. I guess it would be a bad night to wear my Raider t-shirt.
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