Rochester Lancers not returning for 2014-2015

So Sam is funding it ?

 

I'm not in the know, but they had an ownership group, and there's at least one person I could see being capable of stepping up his investment who isn't SS.

With all this said, I see the Razorsharks just announced that they are in talks with the Toronto Raptors in bringing a D-League team to the Blue Cross Arena. That would bring the Razorsharks from 10 to 25 home dates. That'll be a big, big issue for 2015-16 if that scenario comes to fruition. Believe it when you see it announced, though.

 

If Dr. Sevrenko Hrywnak still owns the Razorsharks, then I will be a believer. That man makes things happen, he is the one guy who has sunk a lot ( A REAL LOT) of money into minor league basketball. His disastrous relationship with the ABA prompted him to open his own league and team.

That man is all business.

 

If that affiliation goes through, the Lancers may well be lame ducks.

Well, he was the guy behind the failed purchase of the Dome Arena, so I'm not sure if this isn't a way for him to get back some of that investment. Granted, it may mean curtains for the PBL as a result, but the R-Sharks needed something like this to remain somewhat relevant.

 

He has, and he was in town for the talks with the Raptors who came into town. I haven't been following terribly closely, but my assumption was that he has basically (single-handedly) funded the PBL to give the Razorsharks a short-schedule option due to the arena situation. But, I've got to believe he'd save money by dumping the PBL and just subsidizing an NBA D-League franchise. I suspect either venture is a money loser, but I bet a D-League franchise with crummy Blue Cross Arena dates would still be less of a black hole financially than supporting the whole PBL.

Assuming the Lancers are really saved, they need to be figuring out plan b options for 2015-2016 in case this happens. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of them in town.

 

You mean the guy who buys off refs?

 

No he didn't buy off a ref. I say that because he may have been accused of that by some guy on the OSC boards, but it was an uproven allogation. There is no proof it happened. Halifax and Lawton left the league grumbling about the refs but Halifax was starting up the NBL Canada league.

I don't think its a fair allegation.

 

Soccer Sam has just pledged his full support of the Lancers.




On behalf of the entire Rochester Lancers organization, I would like to thank all the fans, season ticket holders, sponsors, players, dancers and staff for reaching out to me. Everyone wants to help continue the legacy of the Rochester Lancers and I will support this! My immediate family, partners, and the Salvatore’s Pizza Family feel that Rochester would not be the same without Rochester’s team, the Lancers. With the help of the living legend, Doug Miller, and the Lancers VP Rich Randall, I will do everything in my power to help them and the staff secure the return for the 2014-15 season at the Blue Cross Arena.

Both Doug and Rich, with the entire Lancers staff, are working hard behind the scenes to ensure proper agreements are in place. Sponsors and season ticket holders continue to call daily and your support is extremely appreciated.
We will make an official announcement early September.

Thanks again to everyone involved. ss

 

He was accused of that by a guy on the OSC boards. The PBL sued the accuser in the federal district court in Chicago and won a default judgment against him. A link to the court docket for the lawsuit is below. And my understanding is that most of the teams in the PBL left the league after that controversial championship series, not just Halifax and Lawton.

http://www.plainsite.org/dockets/mx...premier-basketball-league-inc-v-reeths-et-al/

 

What the sport needs is people with resources who will concentrate on the actual problems indoor soccer has had for years now, and not whackjobs who focus on shit that doesn't matter and people with dubious character.

 

So as I figured back on August 8th; this WAS a publicity stunt, and Sam (who stated publicly on more than one occasion that he was done) is a big fat liar.

So...um...yeah, what Kenn said.

 

How is Sam a liar? He's supporting the transfer of the team over to Milller and supporting the previous staff to stay on.

 

I don't have the time or the desire to get into it all, but to quote Baby Herman, "the whole thing stinks like yesterday's diapers".

 

Yeah, I noticed that someone posted in another thread here a league press release dated JULY 31ST with team home opener dates on it including the Lancers at Syracuse on 11/21, with a note of "Rochester dates to be determined". Pee-eww!!

 

This isn't a game that Sam is playing and there isn't a guarantee that the Lancers are going to survive to play the 2014-15 season.

Unless he has a lot of more people playing along. But, I doubt that he could get that many people to play along with the act and pull it off.

 

I don't believe the Lancers have potential home dates yet because the Amerks don't have their schedule from the AHL yet. That is still an issue today.

The Amerks are the primary tenant and the secondary tenants like the RazorSharks, Knighthawks, and Lancers don't get their dates until after the Amerks get their schedule locked in.

This happens every year with the BCA.

It's just one of the things that drives the secondary tenants nuts about the situation with the BCA.

 

I worked with Sev (or at least we tried to work) to get standards established for the second tier of minor league basketball... we had a conference in Chicago, set up an association which I was a board member of, and the PBL's President was also on the board..

The problem was there were 3 or 4 different leagues that had representation that all felt the way they were doing things WAS already the right way - and that minor league basketball should form to the shape they've already established.. they were all pig-headed and stubborn, and that includes Sev.. the effort fell apart..

I was also operating a rather popular blog at the time and Sev's insiders dropped a LOT of info on me about him, clearly with the hope I would publish it and embarrass him.. I never did..

Personally I'm surprised at the Raptors for going along this far in the process with Rochester just based on what's out there.. but my take is that if Sev gets the chance to have a D-League team he'll take it very seriously and take a lot of pride in the endeavor..

 

The AHL has to wait for the NBA schedule to be released as 4 teams are secondary tenants with NBA teams.

 

Further confirmation that the Lancers are returning in the D and C this morning.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com...ort-underway-save-rochester-lancers/14198015/

The good news is that the party will roll on as the Rochester Lancers will be in MASL after SS pledged his full support to the team. SS will be funding the business side of the operation with Rich Randall running the show, and Doug Miller will be running the soccer side.

The bad news is that it sounds like the Lancers PR stunt might have a casualty as head coach Josh Rife seems to be unsettled by the news the team "folded" and might not return for the 2014-15 season. Even though they didn't make the playoffs last year I thought Rife did a great job in his rookie campaign as a head coach with what he had to work with. The team looked like they had been coached. I hope SS does his thing and talks him into coming back.

The business side of this has to be extremely complicated though. Miller runs the best youth soccer club in Western New York. To the best of my knowledge most youth clubs are incorporated as not for profit, and New York State just passed new legislation to try to clean up corporate governance for NFPs. Not sure how easy it is going to be for Miller to join Saving Soccer LLC, but that's probably what's holding up the formal announcement.

 

Thats a very good point. It also leads me to feel this is not a publicity stunt. The owner would have told Rife that its all a big smokescreen and not to quit.

 

But do you really think money is going to solve those problems? Serious question.

 

Josh comes to most of the Rhinos games, and he's always got time for the fans. He's a consummate professional so he didn't get into any real details but alluded to the fact that this wasn't really what he signed up for. I'll admit I might be reading a little too much into a passing comment he made to a soccer fan, but I hope the fact that SS is back in will stabilize the situation and keep him on board.