So the Rainmen will not get to host a playoff game en route to Quebec. Chris Parsons and I agree in the speculation that the New York area teams (Jersey and Westchester, who both cancelled games against Halifax) refused to travel to Canada if they won their preliminary games. If Montreal wins to face the Rainmen, maybe we should host the game anyway? The way I see it, the ABA should grow some and tell the teams that refuse to travel that they will forfeit the game, in regular season as well as the playoffs.
The playoff format, as reported by the ABA, was that the higher-seeded team would be the home team. The fact that 4 teams must play off to match up against the Rainmen tells me that we are the highest-ranked team of these 5, otherwise we would not get a bye in this preliminary round.
While the iconoclast in me says, “Yeah! Leave the ABA!”, the realist in me says, “If there are no other viable leagues that will have teams within a day’s travel by road, then it doesn’t make sense to cut off one’s nose to spite the face.” The PBL only has future expansion teams (Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo) that are anywhere near Halifax. The CBA’s nearest team is in upstate New York. The IBL has no teams east of Michigan. The USBL has a couple of New York teams, but the others are south and west of there.
Unless a group of Northeast teams makes a move, I don’t see how the Rainmen could make a go of it.
Other than the playoffs being a complete SNAFU and a couple teams cancelling away games on us, I don’t see how the ABA is ruining our enjoyment of the Rainmen. The haters will always find some reason to no attend the games, the ABA is the obvious scapegoat (and rightly so). Mr. Levingston and his team have gone above and beyond all expectations to bring a full slate of home games to Halifax, for which I am grateful, as possibly the first retail season ticket holder. Just look at the travesties that are some of the other teams in the league (those that are still existing). We Halifax fans are truly fortunate to have a committed organization like the Rainmen who have provided 18 entertaining games, along with the teams who filled in for lesser organizations who either folded during the season or refused to travel to Halifax.
While I sincerely hope that the Rainmen find a better league (fingers crossed for NBA-D League), I wonder if the problems of the ABA are symptomatic of minor professional leagues, like PBL, CBA, IBL, USBL, etc. The teams in these leagues play in small markets that cannot support a more expensive franchise. Quite often, the city population of these minor league teams is insufficient to really support a team, or the management skills of the team front offices is lacking. Neither of these seem to be a problem for the Rainmen.
The movie Semi-Pro is funnier because it is based on the facts of minor-league teams:
1. The team owner often has delusions of grandeur, e.g. the Corning Bulldogs and Georgia Gwizzlies
2. The owner does not has enough money to see the team through the difficult times, usually the first few years
In short, they are poor businessmen who don’t realize that professional sport is a business. Again, neither of these situations appear to be the case with Mr. Levingston. By all accounts, he is a self-made man who wants to help make a difference wherever he can.
I will continue to support the Rainmen and root for them, despite that they are in an abusive league. I hope they can get out of this relationship, because it hurts me to see them hurt. OK, that metaphor has gone far enough. Anyway, let’s show the Bahama Pro Show what a stadium full of fans looks like, while our guys proceed to dunk, lay-up and rain 3-pointers on the way to two victories to end the regular season.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
ABA 2008 Playoffs
Latest news on the playoffs from ABAlive.com
5 out of 8 teams will receive byes!?! OK... Anyway, the teams getting byes are Vermont, Manchester, San Diego, Texas Tycoons and the host team, Quebec.
Beijing has 5 players trying out for the Olympics, so they are not participating.
Unfortunately, the other 12 teams still in contention will have to battle for only 3 regional spots. No one said the ABA made sense.
Below are the respective press releases for each division playoff and my thoughts on them:
South Division
Three teams in the South division: West Texas Whirlwind, Georgia Gwizzlies, and Atlanta Vision. West Texas (3-6) will play Georgia (1-7) -- what a clash of the Titans!
The winner will go on to lose to Atlanta (6-2), who is pretty much guaranteed a spot, even though they have only played 8 games, beating such notable teams as the aforementioned Gwizzlies and the incomparable Bahama Pro Show (1-5, to be 1-7 after next week in Halifax).
I reiterate my protest that a team like Atlanta, who has so far played only 8 games of an 18-game season does not deserve to be in the playoffs against teams like Halifax, who have laboured to play as many games as possible.
West Division
Four West division teams:San Fran (5-10), OC (14-12), Maywood (3-23) and Long Beach (10-7) will play off to send their representative to Quebec.
My guess is that the doormats of the league -- Maywood, as if I had to say their name, which should be Maywouldn't -- and San Fran will fall to OC and Long Beach, who appear to be fairly good teams. Both OC and Long Beach have recently beaten higher-ranked teams, so they are both feeling good. Their matchup should be a good one.
Long Beach pretty much owns OC, winning all five of their matches this season, although the margins have been getting closer over the past few games. I'm going to say Long Beach goes to Quebec.
Northeast Division
Five teams from our Northeast division will play for the chance to play in Quebec. Jersey (7-10) will play Boston (8-16) and Montreal (8-17) will play Westchester (8-6). The winners of those games play off to see who will go against Halifax for the Northeast spot in the Awesome 8, or whatever they call it.
You may not remember Jersey or Westchester. They both cancelled games with us (which should have been forfeits for the record books, but I am not the league statistician).
Jersey appears to have a defensive game, with most of their opponents scoring an average of only 108 points per game. Unfortunately, Jersey has an average score of 103 points. They lost big to Vermont (but who hasn't?) and luckily they had First State to beat up on, to help Jersey's record with 4 of Jersey's 7 wins coming against the Fusion.
Westchester has beaten Jersey 4 out of their 5 matches of the season, with close scoring margins in 4 of the games (between 1 and 9 points), so Jersey is probably a weaker team than their record shows.
This is a bit of a toss-up, given the lack of exposure to Westchester or Jersey, but my guess is Jersey will win over Boston (Jersey did beat the Kebs, after all) and Montreal should beat Westchester. Montreal whupped the Phantoms in their only match-up this season, 130-96.
In the play-off, I think Montreal will win over Jersey, based on Montreal's record versus Jersey's record against common opponents, as well as Montreal's experience against a variety of teams, rather than Jersey's history of only playing a few teams who happen to be within an hour's drive, except for getting trounced in Vermont and Beijing. Come to think of it, maybe that's why Jersey doesn't travel much, they get destroyed away from home.
Our game against Montreal should be a good one. Even though they won the season series 3-2 against us, our team is by far the strongest it has ever been and we are riding a high of wins (assuming the Bahama Pro Show don't stack their team with Vermont players). If Montreal plays their scheduled end-of-season games in Beijing, I think they will lose to us in the playoffs, either because we will play better than them, or they will still be suffering from jetlag or depression after probably losing both games in China. Getting past Westchester will likely empty Montreal's gas tank, just in time for our well-rested players to run up and down the court against them on the way to victory.
So there you have it: we have a playoff game, probably at home, since the other teams are playing off to get to us, and probably against Montreal.
Looks good for us going to Quebec!
5 out of 8 teams will receive byes!?! OK... Anyway, the teams getting byes are Vermont, Manchester, San Diego, Texas Tycoons and the host team, Quebec.
Beijing has 5 players trying out for the Olympics, so they are not participating.
Unfortunately, the other 12 teams still in contention will have to battle for only 3 regional spots. No one said the ABA made sense.
Below are the respective press releases for each division playoff and my thoughts on them:
South Division
Three teams in the South division: West Texas Whirlwind, Georgia Gwizzlies, and Atlanta Vision. West Texas (3-6) will play Georgia (1-7) -- what a clash of the Titans!
The winner will go on to lose to Atlanta (6-2), who is pretty much guaranteed a spot, even though they have only played 8 games, beating such notable teams as the aforementioned Gwizzlies and the incomparable Bahama Pro Show (1-5, to be 1-7 after next week in Halifax).
I reiterate my protest that a team like Atlanta, who has so far played only 8 games of an 18-game season does not deserve to be in the playoffs against teams like Halifax, who have laboured to play as many games as possible.
West Division
Four West division teams:San Fran (5-10), OC (14-12), Maywood (3-23) and Long Beach (10-7) will play off to send their representative to Quebec.
My guess is that the doormats of the league -- Maywood, as if I had to say their name, which should be Maywouldn't -- and San Fran will fall to OC and Long Beach, who appear to be fairly good teams. Both OC and Long Beach have recently beaten higher-ranked teams, so they are both feeling good. Their matchup should be a good one.
Long Beach pretty much owns OC, winning all five of their matches this season, although the margins have been getting closer over the past few games. I'm going to say Long Beach goes to Quebec.
Northeast Division
Five teams from our Northeast division will play for the chance to play in Quebec. Jersey (7-10) will play Boston (8-16) and Montreal (8-17) will play Westchester (8-6). The winners of those games play off to see who will go against Halifax for the Northeast spot in the Awesome 8, or whatever they call it.
You may not remember Jersey or Westchester. They both cancelled games with us (which should have been forfeits for the record books, but I am not the league statistician).
Jersey appears to have a defensive game, with most of their opponents scoring an average of only 108 points per game. Unfortunately, Jersey has an average score of 103 points. They lost big to Vermont (but who hasn't?) and luckily they had First State to beat up on, to help Jersey's record with 4 of Jersey's 7 wins coming against the Fusion.
Westchester has beaten Jersey 4 out of their 5 matches of the season, with close scoring margins in 4 of the games (between 1 and 9 points), so Jersey is probably a weaker team than their record shows.
This is a bit of a toss-up, given the lack of exposure to Westchester or Jersey, but my guess is Jersey will win over Boston (Jersey did beat the Kebs, after all) and Montreal should beat Westchester. Montreal whupped the Phantoms in their only match-up this season, 130-96.
In the play-off, I think Montreal will win over Jersey, based on Montreal's record versus Jersey's record against common opponents, as well as Montreal's experience against a variety of teams, rather than Jersey's history of only playing a few teams who happen to be within an hour's drive, except for getting trounced in Vermont and Beijing. Come to think of it, maybe that's why Jersey doesn't travel much, they get destroyed away from home.
Our game against Montreal should be a good one. Even though they won the season series 3-2 against us, our team is by far the strongest it has ever been and we are riding a high of wins (assuming the Bahama Pro Show don't stack their team with Vermont players). If Montreal plays their scheduled end-of-season games in Beijing, I think they will lose to us in the playoffs, either because we will play better than them, or they will still be suffering from jetlag or depression after probably losing both games in China. Getting past Westchester will likely empty Montreal's gas tank, just in time for our well-rested players to run up and down the court against them on the way to victory.
So there you have it: we have a playoff game, probably at home, since the other teams are playing off to get to us, and probably against Montreal.
Looks good for us going to Quebec!
Rainmen and AUS Final 6
Good article by Chris Cochrane of the Herald about Mr. Levingston and the Rainmen’s contributions to the basketball community.
Although I can’t make it this weekend, I recommend everyone go to the tournament at the Metro Centre this weekend. It is a chance to see good local teams vying to be our regional rep at nationals.
Schedule:
March 7 Quarterfinal games: 6 PM and 8:15 PM
March 8 Semifinal games: 6 PM and 8:15 PM
March 9 Final game: 2 PM
The prices are ridiculously low: $48 for adults, $30 for students/seniors & $15/youth FOR ALL 5 GAMES! Prices for each day are $18, $12 & $6. This gets you both games on either Friday or Saturday, or the final on Sunday.
Here is the AUS website for full details:
Although I can’t make it this weekend, I recommend everyone go to the tournament at the Metro Centre this weekend. It is a chance to see good local teams vying to be our regional rep at nationals.
Schedule:
March 7 Quarterfinal games: 6 PM and 8:15 PM
March 8 Semifinal games: 6 PM and 8:15 PM
March 9 Final game: 2 PM
The prices are ridiculously low: $48 for adults, $30 for students/seniors & $15/youth FOR ALL 5 GAMES! Prices for each day are $18, $12 & $6. This gets you both games on either Friday or Saturday, or the final on Sunday.
Here is the AUS website for full details:
Rainmen Have Little Trouble Handling Quebec, 130-120
Really good game for the Rainmen, I think the recently-added players round out the team that needed more size and forwards. This momentum will serve us well in the playoffs, which are fast approaching.
Maybe someone should smack Brian on the nose before every game; he was the man against Quebec, draining 7 of 8 three-pointers. I like when he goes to the hoop too, because he usually draws a foul, which is like giving him 2 extra points.
Coach Lewis is improving with this new line-up, with good subbing all through the game, versus the 5-on, 5-off routine. Having more than a couple plays helps the team play better and is much more interesting for fans to watch. Plus, the guys win more games because they are not so predictable to defend.
Good passing, although a few got away. I truly think Jimmy’s experience as a Globetrotter is rubbing off on his teammates, with that great set-up bounce off the glass for Eric to absolutely crush into the net. Nice no-look passes and fast passing too, even though a couple errant attempts led to turn-overs.
Considering Quebec is a strong team, we seem to have little trouble with them, as shown by last night’s performance. Let’s hope we play them in Quebec City!
In other news, I was really disappointed by the DND turnout at the game. Considering the tickets were half-price or so, there should have been 1,000 more people there. Maybe it wasn’t promoted soon enough?
The entertainment is the weakest part of the evening, with between three (THREE!?!) and eight WG’s still performing their handful of routines and the lamest game I have ever seen of Keep-Away. That game has got to stop. I felt bad for the contestants, bad for the crowd and bad for me because I could have gone for a walk or something. I say bring back the Dizzy Bats and Oversize Trikes!
I will say it again: the WG’s need to start leading some cheers and distracting the opposition’s free throw attempts. Use those pom-poms, ladies!
Maybe someone should smack Brian on the nose before every game; he was the man against Quebec, draining 7 of 8 three-pointers. I like when he goes to the hoop too, because he usually draws a foul, which is like giving him 2 extra points.
Coach Lewis is improving with this new line-up, with good subbing all through the game, versus the 5-on, 5-off routine. Having more than a couple plays helps the team play better and is much more interesting for fans to watch. Plus, the guys win more games because they are not so predictable to defend.
Good passing, although a few got away. I truly think Jimmy’s experience as a Globetrotter is rubbing off on his teammates, with that great set-up bounce off the glass for Eric to absolutely crush into the net. Nice no-look passes and fast passing too, even though a couple errant attempts led to turn-overs.
Considering Quebec is a strong team, we seem to have little trouble with them, as shown by last night’s performance. Let’s hope we play them in Quebec City!
In other news, I was really disappointed by the DND turnout at the game. Considering the tickets were half-price or so, there should have been 1,000 more people there. Maybe it wasn’t promoted soon enough?
The entertainment is the weakest part of the evening, with between three (THREE!?!) and eight WG’s still performing their handful of routines and the lamest game I have ever seen of Keep-Away. That game has got to stop. I felt bad for the contestants, bad for the crowd and bad for me because I could have gone for a walk or something. I say bring back the Dizzy Bats and Oversize Trikes!
I will say it again: the WG’s need to start leading some cheers and distracting the opposition’s free throw attempts. Use those pom-poms, ladies!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Agony of Defeat
That old clip that started off The Wide World of Sports has a new challenger. Be sure to listen to the audio, especially the commentator.
Friday, February 29, 2008
This Just In: The Owner of The Georgia Gwizzlies is Cwazy!
I think the Gwizzlies owner is delusional. Check out this news item on ABALive.com:
GEORGIA GWIZZLIES PROMISE BETTER EFFORT NEXT TIME
26-Feb-2008
Macon, GA — The Georgia Gwizzlies were soundly and fairly defeated on Sunday by the Atlanta Vision at the Gwinnett Center by a wide margin.
“We commend the Atlanta team’s effort, their leadership and management. They are very good,” stated team owner Embry Malone. “But we will do better next time and we will be prepared when the playoffs begin. We have quite a few games left to turn it around and we will. We want to get to the Championship Playoffs in Quebec.”
Playoffs?!? You are 1-7!!! Either Malone knows something we don’t (like well-placed funds to a certain CEO ensure a playoff spot), he is trying to get fans to come to the last three games, or he is just nuts. If anyone from the Blue Conf. - South Div. is going to the playoffs, it would be the team that just beat you by 51 points. You know: the 6-2 Atlanta Vision (whom I railed against a few days ago as being unworthy for the playoffs because of the tiny amount of games they have played, when I saw a fan-generated playoff bracket online). Atlanta is 7th in the Power Rankings, Halifax is this list on by the skin of our teeth at #15. Georgia is not even mentioned on this list, nor has it ever been on the Power Rankings list this season.
The Gwizzlies have three games left! I think the owner mistakenly inserted the words “quite a” before the more accurate “few” in his statement. All three games are against the West Texas Whirlwinds, who don’t seem to be much of a threat, with a 3-6 record. Of course, to a 1-7 team like Georgia, they may be too much to handle. Head for the cyclone shelter, Auntie Em!
GEORGIA GWIZZLIES PROMISE BETTER EFFORT NEXT TIME
26-Feb-2008
Macon, GA — The Georgia Gwizzlies were soundly and fairly defeated on Sunday by the Atlanta Vision at the Gwinnett Center by a wide margin.
“We commend the Atlanta team’s effort, their leadership and management. They are very good,” stated team owner Embry Malone. “But we will do better next time and we will be prepared when the playoffs begin. We have quite a few games left to turn it around and we will. We want to get to the Championship Playoffs in Quebec.”
Playoffs?!? You are 1-7!!! Either Malone knows something we don’t (like well-placed funds to a certain CEO ensure a playoff spot), he is trying to get fans to come to the last three games, or he is just nuts. If anyone from the Blue Conf. - South Div. is going to the playoffs, it would be the team that just beat you by 51 points. You know: the 6-2 Atlanta Vision (whom I railed against a few days ago as being unworthy for the playoffs because of the tiny amount of games they have played, when I saw a fan-generated playoff bracket online). Atlanta is 7th in the Power Rankings, Halifax is this list on by the skin of our teeth at #15. Georgia is not even mentioned on this list, nor has it ever been on the Power Rankings list this season.
The Gwizzlies have three games left! I think the owner mistakenly inserted the words “quite a” before the more accurate “few” in his statement. All three games are against the West Texas Whirlwinds, who don’t seem to be much of a threat, with a 3-6 record. Of course, to a 1-7 team like Georgia, they may be too much to handle. Head for the cyclone shelter, Auntie Em!
Two in a row for the Rainmen, 124-95 over the Maywood Buzz
Nice to see everyone getting lots of time on the floor again tonight. Eric was a beast with 18 boards. Rebounds are so crucial and they seemed easy to get against Maywood. Two of our highest-scoring games and surprise, surprise! We have a ton of rebounds in both matches.
I wasn’t as impressed this evening as I was last night; it seemed like we started the game with the same old routine of sending Eric in low to muscle his way around. After we got warmed up, though, it was a game similar to last night. I liked how the guys who came off the bench actually opened up the point spread. Way to go!
Unfortunately, these two games were such runaways that the crowd was practically silent for most of the game, eerily so for a moment. Mavs Gillis the announcer started a few cheers; I think it is good that he starts them every once in a while, it saves my voice. The canned “De-fense” recording does bother me, though. That seems like forcing a cheer.
Speaking of cheers, we need names for the new guys. I heard Chris yell out “JT” for James Tyler. I was thinking Sweet Baby James, a play on his name being so close to James Taylor as well as the whole Baby Shaq thing. We could cheer “Sweet” when he does well. By the way James, if you read this, don’t be so hard on yourself if you miss a free throw. Just keep focused and try your best again next time.
Akeem “The Dream” is obvious. I like the concept of “his brother Jon”. The Clark Brothers. OK, that’s just too silly after all.
Jimmy Twynan. Being an ex-Harlem Globetrotter and a video game character should give us lots to work with, but I am at a loss. I tried “Dyn-O-Mite!” tonight (Jimmy Walker - “Good Times”), but it didn’t sound nearly as good when I said it as it had sounded inside my head. Back to the drawing board. Maybe I should just do what I did at the start of the season for the other players and just go ask them what they would like to be called.
One thing I love about my seats is the close proximity to the action. I am so glad I didn’t buy floor seats. We have a small community going on our side of the court, with other loyal fans as well as actual contact with the DJ, the press and even Rainmen front office folks.
Any word why Brian and Dennie did not play tonight?
Finally: I think the Weather Girls should shake their pom-poms (their actual pom-poms, guys) behind the net when the opposition is taking free throws. You see all sorts of fans in other leagues do that kind of thing. That has to be much more distracting than a few people booing. This would mean the WG’s would have to switch ends every quarter, just like the players, and not just kneel down on the floor behind the net.
Furthermore, I think the fans would be more likely to cheer if the WG’s led some cheers. Not all of the cheers, but every once in a while. If the WG’s had more than just a handful of moves, then fine, we can accept they are dancers and they are entertaining us. However, since they appear so infrequently and yet they are at the game all night, why not lead some cheers? At least stay on the sidelines to make your presence known? And why are there only 5 WG’s left? Is there some internal strife or are the girls just moving on from this gig?
This home stand is great for fan morale! I am disappointed that there are only three games left in the season. We are seriously considering a road trip to Quebec for the playoffs. Who else is in?
I wasn’t as impressed this evening as I was last night; it seemed like we started the game with the same old routine of sending Eric in low to muscle his way around. After we got warmed up, though, it was a game similar to last night. I liked how the guys who came off the bench actually opened up the point spread. Way to go!
Unfortunately, these two games were such runaways that the crowd was practically silent for most of the game, eerily so for a moment. Mavs Gillis the announcer started a few cheers; I think it is good that he starts them every once in a while, it saves my voice. The canned “De-fense” recording does bother me, though. That seems like forcing a cheer.
Speaking of cheers, we need names for the new guys. I heard Chris yell out “JT” for James Tyler. I was thinking Sweet Baby James, a play on his name being so close to James Taylor as well as the whole Baby Shaq thing. We could cheer “Sweet” when he does well. By the way James, if you read this, don’t be so hard on yourself if you miss a free throw. Just keep focused and try your best again next time.
Akeem “The Dream” is obvious. I like the concept of “his brother Jon”. The Clark Brothers. OK, that’s just too silly after all.
Jimmy Twynan. Being an ex-Harlem Globetrotter and a video game character should give us lots to work with, but I am at a loss. I tried “Dyn-O-Mite!” tonight (Jimmy Walker - “Good Times”), but it didn’t sound nearly as good when I said it as it had sounded inside my head. Back to the drawing board. Maybe I should just do what I did at the start of the season for the other players and just go ask them what they would like to be called.
One thing I love about my seats is the close proximity to the action. I am so glad I didn’t buy floor seats. We have a small community going on our side of the court, with other loyal fans as well as actual contact with the DJ, the press and even Rainmen front office folks.
Any word why Brian and Dennie did not play tonight?
Finally: I think the Weather Girls should shake their pom-poms (their actual pom-poms, guys) behind the net when the opposition is taking free throws. You see all sorts of fans in other leagues do that kind of thing. That has to be much more distracting than a few people booing. This would mean the WG’s would have to switch ends every quarter, just like the players, and not just kneel down on the floor behind the net.
Furthermore, I think the fans would be more likely to cheer if the WG’s led some cheers. Not all of the cheers, but every once in a while. If the WG’s had more than just a handful of moves, then fine, we can accept they are dancers and they are entertaining us. However, since they appear so infrequently and yet they are at the game all night, why not lead some cheers? At least stay on the sidelines to make your presence known? And why are there only 5 WG’s left? Is there some internal strife or are the girls just moving on from this gig?
This home stand is great for fan morale! I am disappointed that there are only three games left in the season. We are seriously considering a road trip to Quebec for the playoffs. Who else is in?
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