Frozen Hoops - American Basketball Association
Our Balls Bounce Higher
Rainmen wins in ABA name contest
Indianapolis, IN. ThHow to make the Halifax Rainmen fly
Expert advice on running a successful basketball team – from the man who made the Windjammers fill the Metro Centre
ALEX J. WALLING
The Daily News
Jadranka Crnogorac, Paul Riley and Andre Livingstone want to bring the American Basketball Association to Halifax. In fact, they’re planning an ABA all-star showcase, starting in 12 days at the Halifax Metro Centre.
They’ve had a rocky start to this ABA endeavour here. From what I’ve seen, they could use some help.
In fact, they could use a lot of help, so I went out and got them some, in the form of sagacious advice from Mike Doyle.
Doyle made pro basketball work in Halifax with the Windjammers. And it was in two different leagues — the World Basketball League and the National Basketball League in the early 1990s.
On July 10, 1991, the WBL held its all-star game in Halifax, and it was a sellout.
Imagine that — a sellout in something other than hockey.
In fact, Doyle’s Jammers, through a variety of promotional methods, led the league in attendance.
So how did he do it?
A drive to Fredericton, where he now resides, and coffee got the following advice from the guy who may be the best sports promoter/marketer in Halifax history.
“First, never forget that you are in the entertainment business and you have to fight for every dollar,” he tells me. “You are fighting movies, restaurants, bands, nightlife, video rentals and other sports that want your time, attention, and most of all, your hard-earned dollars.”
He was very strong on entertainment.
“You have no control over the game,” he adds. “It could be great or a bomb, so you need more than the game.”
And that’s what the Windjammers were. Sure, they had great players like Willie Bland, Steve Burt and Milt Newton, but they also had the Jammer man, who was lowered from the rafters prior to every game.
They had the Jammer girls, who always looked great. Mike Cowie and his trumpet were blaring all the time, too.
Promotion
They had promotion after promotion, and Rick Anderson, a wild type of public-address announcer who got the crowd into the game.
Promote, promote and promote again was his motto. That, he did.
“If anything, he was ahead of his time in that he recognized the entertainment value of the product,” says Peter Halpin, a well-known basketball aficionado in this city.
Halpin was the local chairman of the Final 8 CIS tourney for part of the 1990s.
But even before that first game, Doyle says, “you need a business plan and have to line up all your ducks in a row.”
You need your investors, basketball supporters, corporate sponsors and contacts in the local basketball community.
Have all of that before you go to the public.
He did. His news conference announcing the arrival of the Jammers in the winter/spring of 1991 was one of the best I’ve attended — and I’ve attended thousands of news conferences.
When the Jammers were announced, he had everyone there. From investors, to corporate sponsors, to a local basketball advisory board. The place was jammed, with basketball people such as Frank Baldwin and Gail Rice on hand.
The papers the next day told not one, but many stories of Jammerball. The Jammers were on the front page, and on the front of the sports section. A business columnist even had a story on them and editorials were about the new team.
I’m sure Doyle had more than $10,000 in free publicity.
Contacts
Doyle says you need people around you who know the basketball scene and have contacts.
“At some point, this ABA team will have a draft, and they will need to know the players available and the league,” he says. “And never forget, teams will make players available, so they have to know: Why these guys are up for grabs? Are they weaker players, or maybe trouble makers? You need to know where to find the players who will fit into your payroll.
Doyle also says you have to be able to deal with the media. In that respect, he may have no equal in my time in this market.
“I try and support (buy advertising from all media outlets), but I need the media and to treat them well,” Doyle explains. “T-shirts, sweat shirts, tickets, and giveaways are a big part of getting coverage, and I found most of the media very helpful.
“I want not one, but all the radio morning guys and gals talking about the Jammers.”
They did.
Halpin says Doyle made a “great move” when he got local connections to this community.
“Mike Doyle got a coaching staff that was connected to Halifax and to this province,” Halpin says. “He had Ian Macmillan, Richie Spears and Mickey Fox as part of the coaching team. What a connection.”
If the ABA crowd wants, I can provide them numbers for Doylee American Basketball Association (ABA) today named the coaches for the ABA East and West All Star Teams for the game to be played on Sunday, January 28th in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. According to Tom Doyle, ABA President, "The coaches were selected by the positions of their teams in the ABA Power Rankings as of Saturday night. The coaches of the three highest-ranked teams in the East and West will be honored with the top two coaches named Head Coach. They are:
ABA West All Star Coaches
Head Coach: Bob Holland, Arkansas Aeros
Asst Coach: Chris Terrell, Texas Tycoons
Asst Coach: Larry McKenzie, Minnesota Ripknees
ABA East All Star Coaches
Head Coach: Will Voigt, Vermont Frost Heaves
Asst Coach: Rod Baker, Rochester Razor Sharks
Asst Coach: Steve Turner, Jacksonville Jam
"We will begin naming the ABA All-Star teams on Tuesday," added Doyle. "The talent in the ABA is tremendous. I know that fans will be pleased with the selections and for the people of Halifax in particular, I know that you will be impressed. When Halifax begins playing in the league next November, you'll have a good idea of the level of talent in the ABA. We are looking forward to putting on a great show for you in January and hope that you will welcome the best of the ABA." For more information, visit www.abalive.com.
By CHAD LUCAS Sports Reporter
The American Basketball Association franchise slated to hit the courts in Halifax has a name: the Rainmen. The moniker stood out from a name-the-team contest that drew about 600 entries, said franchise vice-president Jad Crnogorac. "We wanted something really unique, something no one else has had," said Crnogorac, who played university basketball at Saint Mary’s. "We looked at (Rainmen) and thought it fit. Halifax gets a lot of rain, and in terms of basketball it’s great to market around raining threes (three-pointers) and that sort of thing." Krista MacDonald of Halifax nominated the winning name. She said it was raining out when she came across the contest and "Rainmen" was the first thing that popped into her head. She was shocked to hear it was chosen. "I thought everybody would think it was stupid," she said in an e-mail interview. "I was totally amazed that my name was chosen, and still find it hard to believe. I kept thinking somebody was playing a joke on me, but I hadn’t told anybody I entered, not even my spouse. I’m still really surprised at this point." Crnogorac said she was aware some people might associate the name with the 1988 movie Rain Man, which earned Dustin Hoffman a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of an autistic man named Raymond Babbitt. "A few people have said, ‘You mean, Rain Man?’" Crnogorac said. "But I think, with younger people, they don’t think of it that way." Crnogorac said about 20 per cent of contest entrants suggested "Halifax Explosion," a name the team didn’t think was in good taste. "We didn’t want to have anything with a negative (connotation)," she said. The team plans to have its first merchandise ready for next month when Halifax hosts the ABA All-Star weekend Jan. 26-28 at the Metro Centre. "It’s exciting," said Crnogorac, who also recently set up a local office for the franchise at Purdy’s Wharf. "We’re getting our T-shirts made for the weekend so our logo can be prominent at the game." Independent designer Keith Flynn of Toronto created the logo. For winning the naming contest, MacDonald will receive an autographed team jersey and ABA ball, and a chance to sit on the bench as the team’s "13th Man" during the Rainmen’s first home game in November 2007. The ABA has a 13th Man promotion that allows local celebrities to sit with the team during a game and even see a brief amount of time on the court. MacDonald said she hasn’t really played basketball since junior high school but she’s looking forward to being on the team’s bench. "I think it’s wonderful," she said.
HOOP DREAMS
Nov. 20, 2006
| Monday, November 20, 2006 |
Jad has Halifax hoop dreams
By Chris Kallan
The Daily News
SPORTS Q&A - A year from now, a motley crew of hoop nomads will descend upon metro for Halifax's inaugural season in the American Basketball Association. The specific season of 2007-08 was a Daily News exclusive last August.
It's doubtful the huge afros and knee-high socks from the 1960s version will make a return, but the league with the psychedelic red, white and blue basketball still offers an assortment of off-the-wall elements.
Former NBA great Artis Gilmore, 58, made a cameo appearance yesterday with the Jacksonville JAM; Kelvin Davis, 47, equipped with a 22-inch vertical leap, is a rookie guard with the Atlanta Vision; and the logo for the Minnesota Ripknees pictures a man in a bowling pose clutching his knee. Ouch.
The 50-plus team, 36-game league - which includes clubs in Montreal and Quebec City, a Beijing entry (based in Maywood, Calif.) and three others in Mexico - has also drawn interest from Hollywood's heavy hitters. The Hollywood Reporter says comedian Will Ferrell has the role of ABA owner/coach/player Jackie Moon in Semi-Pro, which is set for the big screen this February.
Former Saint Mary's standout guard Jadranka Crnogorac of Dartmouth is the only local face attached to Halifax - one of four Canadian cities (besides Toronto, London and Calgary) out of 29 expansion entries for the 2007-08 campaign. As part owner and vice-president of corporate communications, she's one of the key figures in an effort to bring pro ball back to metro since the Windjammers of the World Basketball League/National Basketball League folded in the mid-'90s.
DAILY NEWS: How did you get involved with the ABA?
JADRANKA CRNOGORAC: A couple of business people I knew in Toronto were talking about bringing a team to Mississauga. I got curious and suggested Halifax, because it's the best place in Canada to have a team. Some of them came here on their own a couple of times and met with the mayor. Once they saw the response, they were like 'Yeah, let's do this.'
DN: What percentage of the team do you own?
JC: I'm part owner and vice-president of corporate communications, but percentage-wise, I'd rather not say.
DN: How confident are you in your abilities to make this venture work?
JC: I'm very confident. It's the first time owning a sports team or anything like this for most of us, but corporate sponsorship is a big part of it.
DN: Forty-eight teams started last season, but only 32 finished. This year, 51 clubs are on board. Is this combined expansion/failure rate good or bad for the league?
JC: It's where they're putting the teams that they're failing. Bigger cities want the best of the best. Smaller cities can't have an NBA team, but I think the ABA is a good fit for Halifax. We're giving ourselves more than a year to bring a team here. I have a lot of faith and trust in the people of Halifax that they're going to support this team.
DN: The defunct Halifax Windjammers had a decent following over the spring and summer months of the early '90s, but were the casualty of an unstable league. There are several other examples of failed bids to bring pro sports teams to a city that lives and breathes Mooseheads over the winter period. What's your marketing strategy for the 18 home dates between November and March?
JC: We're not in competition with the Mooseheads. I'm a Moosehead fan myself. We want to have a dance team and mascot performing for us. We're going to be in the schools, and the players will be accessible before, after and in between games. We're going to be in the community all the time.
DN: The franchise fee is US $20,000 and league CEO Joe Newman previously indicated operating costs are in the $400,000 range. What kind of pay and player does the ABA product offer?
JC: Our salary cap is roughly $120,000 per year for the entire team, so this league is not about paying players huge amounts of money. Team-wise, it's more designed around the NCAA, where there are hundreds of schools. It's not a step below Europe, because there's players who have played in the NBA before like Tim Hardaway (Miami) and Charles Thomas (Detroit). But most of the players are from NCAA Division 1. They're not all going to make the NBA draft and not all of them want to go to Europe. Those are the type of players we're going to get.
DN: Jonah Taussig, Gabe Goree, Fred Perry, Dennie Oliver and Jordan Croucher are a few local names who starred in the university ranks over the last several years; six-foot-10 St. Francis Xavier centre Neil MacDonald of Sydney Mines is done with school after this season. How much emphasis is there on signing metro area residents or Nova Scotians to a roster spot and giving fans instant player recognition?
JC: I definitely want all local players who are still aspiring to play to come to the first set of tryouts, probably in the spring. We want a local face on this team.
DN: People snicker about the road trip from hell when they hear there's a team from Beijing. What's the deal?
JC: The team is owned by a Beijing businessman, but they play their games in California. He telecasts the game from the States to millions of people in Beijing. My understanding is that we'll play in the same regional conference as teams like Montreal, Quebec City, Rochester, Vermont and Cape Cod.
DN: How many spectators will you need to average to break even?
JC: We'd need about 2,500 to 3,000 people per game, but we want to get 4,000 to 5,000 people a night.
DN: The league put a lot of faith and trust in granting Halifax the 2007 all-star game (Jan. 26 to 28, 2007 at the Metro Centre). What are your plans to showcase this product?
JC:The players will probably get into town on the Thursday night and be out in the schools and the IWK Children's Hospital on the Friday. There'll be a Fanfest on the Saturday morning with kids' contests followed by a university game between St. F.X. and Dal in the afternoon (switched from Dalplex). That's almost confirmed. Then a three-point shooting competition, slam-dunk contest and three to four sets from a well-known artist provided by the ABA. The Score will televise the Sunday all-star game nationally. Tickets will be approximately $15 to $20.
DN: Earlier this year, some people slammed your organization for not having a lease agreement or local office, among other things, despite the fact the team's first game was more than a year away. How do you respond?
JC: We believe in ourselves and we don't compare ourselves to anything that's failed in the past. We realize there's always some opposition to anything new. We'd prefer to be in the Metro Centre, but a lease agreement hasn't been finalized yet. We also wanted our office to be in the Metro Centre, but they're full, so it'll probably be somewhere a few blocks away. We're working with EastLink on a televison deal, but nothing's confirmed yet. A team name and website isn't far away.
DN: The ABA has a 13th Man Celebrity Player option each game. Who do you think would be a good fit for the Halifax crowd?
JC: One of my thoughts was someone like Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys. I'm absolutely a fan. I wouldn't want him in there for the fourth quarter or anything, but I think he'd be great for everyone to have a good laugh
On August 24 2006 it was announced Halifax would receive an American Basketball Association team
The team will start play in the 2007-2008 season. The venue has not been announced but it will likely be the Halifax Metro Centre as it is the largest available arena and hosts many other basketball events. The Halifax Forum is another likely venue, as it too has a capacity enough for a team. It also hosts other basketball games.
Andre Levingston will be the team's owner.
The City of Halifax, Nova Scotia will hold the 2006-2007 all-star game 10 months before the team starts play. Joe Newman, the league's chairman, figured it would be an excellent way to promote the Canadian expansion.
