In the world of indoor football, there are very few bona fide superstars that can single handedly change every game they’re in. Chris Dixon is one of those players. I’m sure all Storm fans will remember him carrying his entire team in his back in the 2008 Western Conference Championship only to have an Adam Hicks last second field goal delay Chris’s first UIF-IFL title by a year. Dixon marks the third former Storm division rival QB to wind up playing for Coach Kurtiss Riggs. In 2004 Jose Fuentes came over from Wyoming, and in 2005 we obtained Terrance Bryant from Rapid City.
Today marks a bittersweet moment in Storm History. Dixon’s announcement means we’re likely only hours away from a press release announcing the retirement of one Terrance Bryant, who led the Storm to 4 straight UIF titles, and a 40 game winning streak including back-to-back perfect seasons in 2006 and 2007. Seeing Terrance ride off into the proverbial sunset after announcing his intentions to play in 2011 during the team’s post season fan appreciation party make me wonder if an aging body and off season got the better of him. Better to retire and let the younger guy take over than retire, unretire, and then wind up in Sioux City eh Packers fans?
Rumors and tidbits floating around indicate that Dixon isn’t the only league super star that might find their way to Sioux Falls. So buckle up Storm fans, this is sure to get interesting.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Downtowners, we need to get a grip
I'm afraid however we've reached a point where perception is reality. If the sheeple think that downtown has parking and traffic issues, then downtown has parking and traffic issues. These are the same folks who would gladly tear up majestic green space to connect 22nd, 26th, or 33rd street Louise to Kiwanis. These are the same folks who always speak in a condescending manner when it comes to speakers at a private college, and who demonize the educated and the wealthy. I'm all for being financially prudent. It's a balancing act between lower up front cost versus payback. Correctly termed return on investment.
Billings, MT has a 12,000 seat arena owned by the county. This arena is out at their fairgrounds, near the interstate, nowhere near downtown. They estimate it adds $100 MILLION back into the local economy by visitors from outside the county. This number is reached with a whopping 25-40 usage dates a year. Our current arena, half the size of the Rimrock Arena in Billings, sees about 150 usage dates a year. So, assuming economies of scale, half the $100 million, then triple that for our use dates, and we’re looking at $150 MILLION DOLLARS annually added back to the Sioux Falls economy from those outside of Minnehaha County.
Now, if we’re able to add to the payback ratio based on a downtown location significant enough to offset increased construction costs and an extended timeline, taking into account a limited amount of ancillary events since the convention center is where it is, then we should indeed build it downtown, I’d love to see it there myself personally. But, if we are simply able to operate a facility at a break-even point financially, and pump $200 MILLION annually back into the local economy (most arenas actually turn a profit the first few years they’re open) that’s win-win. Mayor Huthers plan would indeed recoup construction costs over the first few years of existence. If you’re adding 2 years and perhaps 50% to the price tag, I’m not convinced anymore that the increased return would be on scale with the initial investment. It wouldn’t be pretty, certainly not cool, and a cold walk from parking at the Legion, but it would get built unless the “downtown or nowhere” people come to their senses and realize we’re about out of shots to get this thing built at all.
Billings, MT has a 12,000 seat arena owned by the county. This arena is out at their fairgrounds, near the interstate, nowhere near downtown. They estimate it adds $100 MILLION back into the local economy by visitors from outside the county. This number is reached with a whopping 25-40 usage dates a year. Our current arena, half the size of the Rimrock Arena in Billings, sees about 150 usage dates a year. So, assuming economies of scale, half the $100 million, then triple that for our use dates, and we’re looking at $150 MILLION DOLLARS annually added back to the Sioux Falls economy from those outside of Minnehaha County.
Now, if we’re able to add to the payback ratio based on a downtown location significant enough to offset increased construction costs and an extended timeline, taking into account a limited amount of ancillary events since the convention center is where it is, then we should indeed build it downtown, I’d love to see it there myself personally. But, if we are simply able to operate a facility at a break-even point financially, and pump $200 MILLION annually back into the local economy (most arenas actually turn a profit the first few years they’re open) that’s win-win. Mayor Huthers plan would indeed recoup construction costs over the first few years of existence. If you’re adding 2 years and perhaps 50% to the price tag, I’m not convinced anymore that the increased return would be on scale with the initial investment. It wouldn’t be pretty, certainly not cool, and a cold walk from parking at the Legion, but it would get built unless the “downtown or nowhere” people come to their senses and realize we’re about out of shots to get this thing built at all.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
SIoux CIty Bandits, Dead
It’s a sad day in all of indoor football when one of the bedrock franchises decides to step down a level, or pack it up altogether. We all know that the problems Bob has is that he alleges, and perhaps rightfully so that every other team cheats and that's why he can't win games. But I haven't missed a Storm game in the Tyson in five years and it never seemed to matter what the Bandits record was, the place was rockin’. So, it can't really be just about winning games.
I don't pretend to know anything that goes on in Sioux City with regards to the way players are treated, housed, or fed. I know, much like you, that late in the year Coach Williams and the players had a meeting to discuss their grievances, so that coach could address them with Bob for next year (2011). Bob then basically told coach if you don’t like the way I run things there’s the door. Drama ensued; you know more about that than I do.
Now, all of this, or none of this might be connected at all. Bob was one of the few owners in the league to continually turn a profit, well again allegedly. If he was losing money at the rate money can be lost in indoor football, then yes he has decided to go the way of countless other teams in the past 12 years. Somehow I don’t think so, the Bandits never appeared to have sponsor issues, seemed to have some of the best fans in the league… a few of y’all are batsnot crazy, but it takes one to know one.
Sioux City as a town seems to get the short end of the stick more times than not. Gateway, and Morrell’s closing have both decimated the work force in a decidedly blue collar town. But their people have a passion; however misguided it seems from the outside, for things that are Sioux City. The Sioux City Bandits were Sioux City to the core. However, somewhere along the way, the players stopped being “Sioux City” players that played for their town and their team like Johnny Ostermeyer, Erv Strohbeen, Steve Schmidt, and many others, Bob began to recruit players that had seen how the other half lived, players from Sioux Falls, Billings, Wichita, and Omaha. They wanted to be treated like the royalty they were on this other markets, the fact is that in Sioux City respect is not given, it must be earned, and Bob’s not about to juggle any football player’s balls, let’s be fair here.
As a person, a human being and even “…f**k the storm and anything else that goes along with SF…” (Gee thanks JD) A Storm fan, today is a day I really never wanted to see. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d like to think I’ve got my finger pretty squarely on the pulse of most Storm fans, so it is with no hesitation that I say you will be missed. I’ll miss BNDC and BLZ, both of whom I had the privilege of meeting and speaking to on a few occasions. To Doobi and Doom, whom I’m not sure I ever met, it’s been a heck of a ride on the boards the past 6 years or so. A special shout-out goes to BNDC for all the smuggled six-packs of Fat Tire.
I don't pretend to know anything that goes on in Sioux City with regards to the way players are treated, housed, or fed. I know, much like you, that late in the year Coach Williams and the players had a meeting to discuss their grievances, so that coach could address them with Bob for next year (2011). Bob then basically told coach if you don’t like the way I run things there’s the door. Drama ensued; you know more about that than I do.
Now, all of this, or none of this might be connected at all. Bob was one of the few owners in the league to continually turn a profit, well again allegedly. If he was losing money at the rate money can be lost in indoor football, then yes he has decided to go the way of countless other teams in the past 12 years. Somehow I don’t think so, the Bandits never appeared to have sponsor issues, seemed to have some of the best fans in the league… a few of y’all are batsnot crazy, but it takes one to know one.
Sioux City as a town seems to get the short end of the stick more times than not. Gateway, and Morrell’s closing have both decimated the work force in a decidedly blue collar town. But their people have a passion; however misguided it seems from the outside, for things that are Sioux City. The Sioux City Bandits were Sioux City to the core. However, somewhere along the way, the players stopped being “Sioux City” players that played for their town and their team like Johnny Ostermeyer, Erv Strohbeen, Steve Schmidt, and many others, Bob began to recruit players that had seen how the other half lived, players from Sioux Falls, Billings, Wichita, and Omaha. They wanted to be treated like the royalty they were on this other markets, the fact is that in Sioux City respect is not given, it must be earned, and Bob’s not about to juggle any football player’s balls, let’s be fair here.
As a person, a human being and even “…f**k the storm and anything else that goes along with SF…” (Gee thanks JD) A Storm fan, today is a day I really never wanted to see. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d like to think I’ve got my finger pretty squarely on the pulse of most Storm fans, so it is with no hesitation that I say you will be missed. I’ll miss BNDC and BLZ, both of whom I had the privilege of meeting and speaking to on a few occasions. To Doobi and Doom, whom I’m not sure I ever met, it’s been a heck of a ride on the boards the past 6 years or so. A special shout-out goes to BNDC for all the smuggled six-packs of Fat Tire.
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