Fort Wayne Freedom

Fusion, af2 won't be back in 2008

Here's my story that will appear in our Saturday editions. I'll have more in the next couple weeks, including a column with my thoughts on the af2 and UIF.

One league is leaving Fort Wayne while another may be coming back.

af2 commissioner Jerry Kurz made it official Friday that the league, and the Fusion, will not be back in 2008.

“We were mislead (sic), lied to and presented with false information in allowing the previous ownership group into the market and we wanted to not repeat that mistake,” Kurz wrote in an e-mail he sent to WPTA’s Dean Pantazi, who shared the information with The Journal Gazette. “We believe in the people of Ft. Wayne and will miss having our great game there for them.”

When reached on his cell phone, Kurz wouldn’t elaborate.

Kurz said last month that two ownership groups presented proposals at the end of August, and a conference call with league owners was held on Sept. 19 to determine Fort Wayne’s future. Ultimately, neither group met league requirements.

Meanwhile, United Indoor Football commissioner Dakota Crow has spoken with several potential ownership groups to field a team in the city and said the likelihood of playing this summer was “really good right now.” Crow said a decision could be made in the next week to 10 days.

The arrival of af2, the Fusion and owner Jeremy Golden was announced in late November, but Golden was terminated in the middle of the season for multiple reasons, including a failure to meet financial obligations.

In 2006, the Freedom ended its two-year run in UIF when owner Rich Coffey was suspended for lack of payment for past league dues and assessments and for conduct detrimental to the league.

Now, though, Crow hopes to have found a solid group. But there’s a short timetable. The league needs to start finalizing the schedule, which would be published in early November.

“It’s right up to the wire,” Crow said. “We’re very excited about the possibility.”

Tom Rodenbeck, manager of SportsCenter and a season ticket holder, thinks Fort Wayne will support another team.

“I think everybody will support it as long as the guy who runs it pays his bills,” he said. “I just remember when it started, and the place was packed. Everybody was having a blast. Owners rubbed the people the wrong way.”

Eric McFarland followed the Freedom and the Fusion.

“I’m glad there’s going to be football in Fort Wayne,” McFarland said. “I’m bummed it’s not af2. But based on Golden’s track record, I’m not too upset the Fusion is gone.”

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette

af2 good as gone?

I "heard" from af2 commish Jerry Kurz finally, albeit via e-mail.
He said "My instructions are 'No Comment.' " When I responded to the e-mail and asked who told him not to comment -- because my impression was he was in charge of af2 -- he said "the people I work for."
So I think it's safe to say there will be no af2 franchise in Fort Wayne in 2008.
But that doesn't close doors for any other leagues to be in the city this summer. I'm checking on some things, and, at the same time, hoping nothing pans out.
When I know more, so will you.

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette

Another two days ...

Seriously? Can't this issue just die already?
I finally got in touch with af2 commish Jerry Kurz late Monday afternoon only to find out the conference call that was scheduled for Monday got pushed back to Wednesday to accommodate his travel plans.
So, apparently, Kurz will have a conference call with the league's other owners at 11 a.m. central time Wednesday.
I will let you know what I find out. At this point, I'm hoping the league wasn't able to secure ownership and football is dormant here for at least a year.
But if Kurz really got two groups together to give proposals, which is what he told me one month ago, then it's probably likely there will be football in the Fort in 2008.

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette

One more week

The af2 board reviewed two proposals today, and commish Jerry Kurz said a decision will be made within the next week to 10 days. Not surprisingly, he wouldn't say who led either ownership group. So, now it's just a wait-and-see thing. I haven't been able to speak to Kurz extensively because he's swamped at the ArenaCup with festivities and ownership meetings. Maybe by next week, we'll have more answers.
I'm curious to see how this works out in terms of the new group having to pay for Golden's debts or not. It doesn't really seem fair if there's no compensation for those who got shafted. Though that certainly wouldn't be a new occurrence for Fort Wayne fans. Because Kurz -- and the af2 board -- ultimately approved Golden's group, there should be some sense of responsibility on their part. I asked Kurz about that last month, if it was a mistake to approve the Fusion with Golden as owner.
"That involves a yes and a no," Kurz said. "It was not a mistake to approve the market. It was not a mistake to approve Jim Fitzpatrick. It was a mistake that Jeremy golden attempted to assume and did assume the leadership role. ... The board did not want Jeremy nor did they approve him to be the majority partner."
And yet, Kurz said he never had any direct conversations with Fitzpatrick or Chuck McClory, who also was named in the ownership group. When Kurz learned Golden was spending more time away from the market, he said he "started to come around to see what was going on." That's when Kurz was informed by McClory that Golden was calling himself the majority owner and operator.
"(That) was in direct contravention of how that ownership group was accepted into the league," Kurz said.
I don't know if I'm in favor of policing every team in the league -- that'd be tough with 30 franchises as of last season -- but you'd think there would be some kind of knowledge about what's going on with the ownership structure.
I guess the biggest question everyone is asking in terms of Golden is how did Kurz not realize what he was getting, especially considering he had known Golden for years.
"In the past, everything Jeremy had represented to the league and to me and what he was going to do, he did," Kurz said. "That's why I had belief he was going to do the right thing in the market, move to the market and have good solid local ownership and have somebody local managing the team. He didn't do that. I don't know why. But I'm not a big believer in autopsies. Going back and deciding you should have zigged instead of zagged. It doesn't do much good. Our goal is going forward and making sure that off the field, in the community, the team is as good as it was in the arena on the field. And to me, I always believe the glass is half full."

• For more opinions, check out Ben Smith's blog, "And another thing..."

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette

Football done in the Fort?

I spoke with general manager Mike McCaffrey Thursday, but, apparently, he doesn't have that tag anymore.
Officially, he wouldn't say the Fusion is dissolved, but it certainly sounded that way.
"I think the name exists in the af2 league office, but there's no one being paid," he said. "There's no front office staff. I had to let them all go."
The office also is closed.
I caught af2 commish Jerry Kurz for literally two minutes Thursday -- he's down in Louisiana for the championship game -- and all I got was that there will be two presentations made at a board meeting Friday to get ownership of a team in Fort Wayne.
We'll have a complete story in the JG Friday, but here are some other tidbits that didn't make the story:

• McCaffrey said he'd like to see football in Fort Wayne and thinks it is a great market for it. He's just not sure if it will happen soon. "Maybe the Fusion getting out of the way paves the way for someone to come in and do something right," he said. "I hope that's the case. That's why I came here. I want the best for the area and for football in this area. That's all I wanted. Unfortunately, I believed in the wrong person." He said he wouldn't be opposed to being involved with a new ownership group -- if they approached him -- but he surely sounded weary. He finally gets his dream job, and it's an awful situation. I honestly don't think the team would have made it through the season if he wasn't in charge. I hope he gets a nice gig somewhere.
• McCaffrey isn't sure what will happen to vendors, etc., who are owed money. (He's included in that group, by the way.) Jeremy Golden was responsible for paying the bills. When he didn't, that's when they started to pile up. McCaffrey said he hasn't spoken with Golden since during the season and doesn't expect to.
• Memorial Coliseum is among the group that didn't get paid for services. General manager Randy Brown said the Fusion was in violation of its lease and had been notified, but he wouldn't give specifics. McCaffrey said the team owed money to the Coliseum. At least that would make it seem that any potential new group could come in and process a lease fairly easily. Brown did say the league asked him to provide dates for 2008, which he did.
• When I asked Brown if he wished he and the board would have gone with Bill Bean's proposal, which would have kept Fort Wayne in the UIF, he said: "How can you second guess? ... If we were in the same position again with what we knew then, we'd make the same decision all over again. You can't roll the clock back."
• McCaffrey did speak with Bean about getting involved in a potential ownership group. But like many others approached, Bean didn't seem interested in absorbing any debt.

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette

Ownership

An interesting situation again, no?
The league officially announced that Fusion majority owner Jeremy Golden was terminated Tuesday, even though Golden technically was notified months ago. What surprised me about the situation was that even though Golden wasn't supposed to be involved with the team after that letter was sent in late April, GM Mike McCaffrey still was speaking to Golden consistently. Technically, McCaffrey said he was going through Jim Fitzpatrick, who the league basically stuck as managing partner because there was no other option. Fitzpatrick won't talk to me, but I know this is not the scenario he envisioned when he opted to join Golden and Chuck McClory to start the team. He figured he wouldn't have any involvement in the day-to-day operations (including providing funds) -- and neither did McClory. But both have spent some money during the season, McClory said. That amount wasn't divulged by McClory of McCaffrey.
Neither has the amount Golden supplied to operate the organization throughout the season.
Golden contends "everybody has been paid" and said he's spent about $200,000 during the season. But if that's the case, why would the league be able to terminate him? Why would McCaffrey have a list of people owed? Why would players have bounced to three places throughout the season? Why would the team drive to Huntsville, Ala., six weeks after flying to Albany?
The whole situation is complicated and crazy.
But not to be lost in all of it is that af2 commish Jerry Kurz, McCaffrey and coach Eddie Brown are adamant there will be football in Fort Wayne in 2008. McCaffrey has some nice investors lined up -- I can't say who, but they'd go far in adding stability to the franchise -- and he's hoping something will be wrapped up next week.
Golden did make an interesting point, though. He said those new owners would be responsible for the team's debt, which he said is about $900,000 but wouldn't be specific on what that includes. No proof on if that's an accurate number. Kurz wouldn't say how much the Fusion owed the league, and McCaffrey wouldn't go on record either.
But when something develops, you know we'll have it in the JG.

• For our columnist Ben Smith's take, check out his blog.

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette 

Fusion loses another game on the road

Once again, the Fusion didn't seem to be very focused on the road, and it resulted in another loss. Tennessee Valley won, 61-48.
Though final stats weren't immediately available, the Fusion had five fumbles, an interception and double-digit penalties.
And now players have to endure a 10-hour bus ride home.

• Not much really to say about this one. I'm not surprised anymore when the team chokes on the road. It's happened too many times this season.
• Backup quarterback Joe Micco didn't enter the game until there were about two minutes remaining. When I spoke with coach Eddie Brown earlier this week, I really thought that Blayne Baggett was on a short leash. Apparently not. So that would lead me to believe Baggett will start the season finale in two weeks.   
• The Fusion has a bye next week and won't practice until Friday. I'm heading out on vacation before that, but I will be taking a brief break from my time off to cover the season finale July 26 at Quad City.

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette

Pre-game against Tennessee Valley

The last time the Fusion played Tennessee Valley, it won in part by mixing up its formations on offense. Coach Eddie Brown wore the Vipers down by using his "heavy" package that includes more blockers near the line of scrimmage. But during practice this week, Brown showed a bit of a "bigs" package, which had linemen out wide in order to block for a quick screen pass.
Brown said it will depend on game situations how much he uses either package.
Joe Johnsonbaugh will be back starting at fullback with Terrel White out with another hamstring injury. Last week was White's first off the injured reserve (hamstring), and he got the start. But another injury put him right back there and his season is over.

• The team took a bus to Alabama for the game. Brown said it was about a 10-hour drive, about the same length as the trip to Albany, N.Y. For that trip on June 2, the team flew.

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette

Fusion can't convert 2-point conversion, lose

When I saw Blayne Baggett in the field of play talking to coach Eddie Brown, I figured I missed something. Why wouldn't Baggett be trotting to the sidelines after throwing a touchdown pass with 13 seconds left, putting Fort Wayne on the verge of overtime with the af2's best team, and passing kicker Kyle Hooper on his way to the field?
Two-point conversion? Really?!!
I think my first words to colleague Ben Smith were, "Brown better have gotten the OK from his players for this."
The conversion failed, and the Fusion lost, 48-47.
I spoke to a couple players after the game, and they said they wanted to go for the victory and not settle for overtime. If it was the coach's call without any kind of consultation then I would be more adamantly opposed. But if the players wanted to go for broke, then it should be up to them.
Still, I would have felt better if the final call was a more traditional play, so to speak, than a reverse pass. Why not take your chances with Cesare Manning one-on-one with any of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's defenders? Or even given Mario Pratcher, a strong, 6-foot-3 receiver, a chance to go up and snag one over a DB?
Brown said he didn't regret the final play call but said he did regret "three or four other calls that we didn't do a good job on."
Curious to hear what you guys think of that final play.

• I thought the Fusion had the game won after the defense got a huge stop in the fourth quarter. Fort Wayne already led 41-34 and had the ball at midfield, primed to strike. Jonathan Graham moved the ball to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 14-yard line with about 12 minutes to play. But then Blayne Baggett threw an interception in the end zone. It wasn't even close to Graham. I don't know if it was simply a bad throw, which is what it seemed, or if Graham messed up the route. Eddie Brown was yelling at both of them on the sidelines afterward, so I couldn't tell. But that may have been the play of the game. The Pioneers came back and scored a touchdown to tie it, and Fort Wayne lost all its momentum.
• The call I had the most problem with was when Brown opted to go for it on fourth-and-10 from the 2-yard line in a tie game. I asked him about it afterward -- he was a bit defensive -- and his response is in my Sunday story. My point was at least make Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's offense earn a touchdown and give your defense a chance. Instead, the Pioneers only needed to pound out 2 yards. I understand what Brown talked about when he mentioned linemen are on the field goal team and they probably wouldn't cover that well. But isn't forcing the Pioneers to go even 20 yards better than 2? Derek Brown didn't agree with me either.
  • "In arena ball, you can score so fast and you can score so quickly, that's the right play. You don't kick it. You go for it. You've got to score. That's the nature of this game. In the NFL, it would be different. But this isn't the NFL. So you go for it, and you make it. We didn't make it, so I guess we should have stopped them on defense. We didn't."
• Baggett finished with 260 yards and six touchdowns but threw two interceptions, both picked by Chris Royal. Manning caught 10 balls for 151 yards and four touchdowns.
• Terrel White rushed seven times for 58 yards, including a touchdown, and provided a nice spark. I chatted with him after the game for an article for Monday's paper.

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette

Pre-game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

I'm interested to see how the Fusion come out initially tonight. One would figure players would be jacked at a chance to end a team's unbeaten season, but I thought the Fusion would be pumped to beat Green Bay up there a couple weeks ago.
And look how that turned out.
That loss likely ended Fort Wayne's playoff chances. A victory tonight against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton couldn't be as special. Yes, it would be nice to say you were the team to snap a streak, but if you're sitting at home while other teams are playing when it matters, how much weight does that really carry?
I suppose the biggest boost from a victory could be in terms of fan support for next season. But if there's no one here tonight to see it, is it still important?

• No surprise: Jermaine Jackson isn't in uniform. I have to find him after the game to see what's up. I watched him at points during Thursday's practice and didn't notice anything specific injury-wise. So he won't play for the second consecutive game. I don't think it hurts the receiving corps too much. Jackson has pretty good hands, but Mario Pratcher provides the same size-strength combo, and Jonathan Graham has better speed. And as long as Cesare Manning is healthy, the Fusion has one of the league's biggest play-makers.
• We'll see how much time the team's best offensive lineman, Stephenol Santos, gets tonight. He's active but didn't practice much Thursday. I would be more optimistic if there weren't three other offensive linemen active (Randy Degg, fresh off injured reserve, Lenard Black and Lou Vega). With Terrel White starting at fullback instead of the bigger, more experienced Joe Johnsonbaugh, that would seem to lend itself to the Fusion using more of its heavy package. Can't imagine White will fare too well picking up blitzers.
• Starting linebacker Tyus Jackson wasn't at practice Thursday -- or at least for the last 90 minutes -- but he's active. Defensive coordinator Tony Henderson told me Thursday he thought Jackson was at a doctor's appointment.
• Pretty surprised to see only three defensive backs active - Nate Williams, Morris Virgil and Arthur Berlanga. Apparently, Derrick Simmons was the one singled out after a dismal Thursday practice by the secondary.

-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette