[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Local Sports
Sports | News | Business | Politics | Opinions | Arts & Entertainment | Science/Technology | Columns | Archives | Weather | Search | Classifieds | Obits | Subscribe | Forums | Food | Travel | Health & Fitness | People | Sports Links | Sports Forums | Prep Sports |
Tuesday, January 9, 2001
Stampede folding a concern
WPHL must right ship to survive
By Richard Tijerina
Sports Editor
I still remember when the old Seagulls closed up shop here. And the day the Barracudas called it quits in Corpus Christi.
That's why while I certainly expected the impending rumors of the demise of the Central Stampede franchise in the Western Professional Hockey League to be true, it was something I didn't want to see.
The Stampede became the sixth WPHL franchise to fold in the past 13 months. That's more than just not good. That's bordering on scary.
All these WPHL franchises have had their reasons, ranging from waning attendance to declining support. In the Stampede's case, it may have been simply that the team fell victim to its surroundings; the team went under, according to its president, because seven or eight new restaurants and a fancy movie theater have opened up in Killeen and Temple.
Ah, restaurants and movie theaters: the death knell of the smaller-town hockey team.
Still going strong ...
For those of you who have immediate concern, don't worry. The league appears to be a viable one, and the IceRays, at least, remain one of its healthier franchises. They are sixth in the league in attendance, and they remain a popular part of their community.
Hockey was a novelty when the IceRays arrived here years ago. Now it is a sport, a team to follow, a family option for a weekend night and a legitimate piece of sports entertainment.
Seeing the Stampede go is something to lament. Not because Central Texas was a great rival, or because the hockey produced between the Stampede and IceRays was ever particularly memorable.
It was sad to see the Stampede go under because it makes the WPHL that much more vulnerable, and that much less solid.
... But for how long?
On Sunday, the IceRays picked up David Borque, a 6-foot, 185-pound defenseman, in the Stampede fire sale otherwise known as "a dispersal draft." Stampede coozies, T-shirts, caps and other assorted items most likely can be found too, I'm sure, at the right price. They are, after all, collector's items now.
But there is a larger concern. Regardless of how many thousands the IceRays draw to Memorial Coliseum, or the fact that voters here approved a future new downtown home for the team that will arrive in a few years, the question remains: Will the IceRays - or the WPHL - be here to play in the new arena?
Arenas have been approved in Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. WPHL expansion is right around the corner. And yet, less than half of the league is drawing 3,000 fans a game. This includes El Paso (1,594), Monroe (1,944) and Tupelo (1,970).
How many more of the bottom-feeders of WPHL franchises will survive? And for how long?
Low attendance. Fan apathy. Poor management of a team. These are the ways to kill a franchise.
And, ultimately, a league.
Sports Editor Richard Tijerina can be reached at 886-3745 or by e-mail at tijerinar@caller.com
| Talk
about this story | Next Story | Home
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
© 2001,
a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
|
 |
 |
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
