More on the Portland, Maine D-League

Here's a little update of my prior post regarding the efforts of a small but organized group of investors seeking to land a D-League franchise for the city of Portland, Maine... this ran in the Boston Herald:

Jennings hopes to be affiliated with Celtics:

Two days after Jon Jennings lost his 2004 race for Congress in Indiana, the former Celtics [team stats] assistant coach received a call from Red Auerbach.

In his typical salty manner, the C’s patriarch informed Jennings that his time in politics - which included an extensive run as one of President Bill Clinton’s White House aides - had come to a close.

“Red called and said, ‘OK, now that you’ve got that (expletive) out of your system, are you ready to come back?’ ” Jennings said last week.

Jennings didn’t listen - at least not right away. He did move back to Massachusetts, though, and up until last spring ran the state office of Sen. John Kerry.

But from his office on Beacon Hill Jennings found himself catching the fever once again.

Which led to last Thursday’s ceremony in Portland, Maine, where a group brought together by Jennings, TD Banknorth chairman Bill Ryan Sr. and Oxford (Maine) Plains Speedway owner Bill Ryan Jr. are attempting to land a new NBDL franchise.

NBA representatives, who toured the city and were hosted by Maine Gov. John Baldacci, were presented with lobsters as part of a City Hall ceremony.

In a city where Major League Baseball and the NHL have already established successful minor league operations, an NBA affiliate seems like a logical next step.

Jennings’ group is not alone. An ABA franchise that currently plays in Manchester, N.H., is also bidding for NBDL consideration.

“I see the D-League as an amazing opportunity,” said Jennings, who would function as the franchise’s general manager. “When I was coaching with the Celtics, we would draft guys in the late first round and then have to cut those guys because there was no place to send them.

“But now that you have the force of the NBA behind (the NBDL), it has a chance to become this fantastic minor league system.”

The Celtics appear to agree.

Jennings has talked with Celtics president Rich Gotham about the possibilities and benefits of having a C’s affiliate in a city as close as Portland.

It would certainly beat sending guard Gabe Pruitt for another stint with the Utah Flash.

“We feel very confident in our discussions with the NBA,” Jennings said. “I’ve been truly blessed in having Bill Ryan Sr. and Jr. as the lead investors in this.”

The NBA appears ready to make a commitment - in some city - as well, with the Knicks and Nets also looking at East Coast locations for NBDL affiliates.

Overall, the NBA is expected to establish four NBDL franchises in the east, which is one of the few remaining areas without a D-League connection. At least four cities would be needed to make the transportation between cities workable and affordable.

Jennings had investigated several locations, including Hartford and Springfield, before looking into Portland.

Unlike Hartford, where a D-League team would likely fight a losing battle for fan attention against UConn men’s and women’s basketball, Portland would come equipped with an established fan base that has already demonstrated its appreciation for minor league sports.

This ran in the Boston Globe on Sunday:

A Maine focus in D-League

Two of the top movers and shakers of the NBA's D-League were in Portland, Maine, Thursday and got the red lobster treatment from the city's top officials, who hope to land a D-League franchise. The proposed team is being financed by Bill Ryan (of TD Banknorth fame) and his son, and hopes to be up and running for the 2009-10 season, with a link to the Celtics. Still to be determined is where the team will play, but the group's application has been in for months and all signs look promising. The NBA is looking to get some D-League franchises in the East for its Eastern teams, which would certainly help the Celtics, whose current D-League affiliate is in neighboring Orem, Utah. Other possibilities in the East for D-League teams include Harlem, Youngstown (Ohio), Trenton, and possibly a site outside Toronto for the Raptors. The Portland group, which also has K.C. Jones as a consultant, hopes to get the official imprimatur this spring.

Jennings Has a D-League...D-Ream

THURSDAY, JAN 31 -- Today, I will be attending a reception in Portland, Maine as a few business associates begin the process towards landing a D-League expansion franchise. Today's tour and the reception are the first public step after news of the bid broke last week.

Last Sunday, Portland, Maine columnist Steve Solloway wrote a piece outlining Jon Jennings' dream of landing the minor league team for the sports fans of Maine:

COLUMN Dreaming of a pro team in Portland

Jon Jennings is a believer and an optimist, and Portland basketball
is on his radar.


By STEVE SOLLOWAY January 27, 2008

Jon Jennings is a Hoosier. A 45-year-old Indiana kid who picked
up the hint of a Boston accent and has been walking around
Portland lately, pitching an idea. He wants to bring pro
basketball back to Maine in the form of an NBA Development
League team.

He says he can succeed where others have failed. He says he can
make the numbers work in an economy going soft. He says the
fan experience will make his idea work, or not.

"The affiliation with the Celtics is nice and winning is important,
but at the end of the day," says Jennings, "you've got to make
this the hometown team. It's as simple as that."

Jennings is right, which means he has a chance to make this idea
fly. He's more basketball man than businessman, but don't sell
him short.

He made cold calls to Bill Ryan Sr. and his son, Bill Ryan Jr.
Jennings needed investors who understood Maine and the larger,
outside world of professional sports. The Ryans, banker and
lawyer and responsible men, fit that criteria.

Jennings is easy on the ears and that's one reason people listen.
He's a dreamer with a plan and the combination can work.

That K.C. Jones, when he was the Celtics' head coach, hired
Jennings in 1991 as a scout and assistant coach gets people's
attention. Throw in a friendship with Larry Bird and Reggie
Lewis. With Lewis, Jennings started Team Harmony to bring
Boston youth together.

Know that Red Auerbach was a father figure to Jennings.

After Rick Pitino arrived in Boston to become head coach and
general manager of the Celtics, Jennings was ushered out of the
organization in 1997, with Jones, Dennis Johnson and about a
dozen others. Out of basketball, Jennings found work in the
Clinton White House, and taught courses on the Congress and
presidency at Stonehill College before returning to Indiana to
run for Congress in 2004.

Jennings lost to a five-term conservative Republican. His
consolation prize was he got more votes than any of the other
opponents.

"Two days after I lost, Red (Auerbach) called me. He said, 'Now
that you've got that (stuff) out of your system, are you ready to
come back to basketball?' "

It took a few more years.

"Besides my family, the passion of my life is basketball. I've got
the proverbial hole in my heart."

Little about Jennings' idea is certain. Expansion franchises
should be awarded this spring. Thursday, an NBA rep arrives to
look around. A new team needs a place to play. The Cumberland
County Civic Center is one option. The better choice would be
the Portland Expo.

Jennings isn't touting a scaled-down version of the NBA
experience. If the Hoosier in him really is selling the game and
not the circus of mega-decibel light shows and mugging for
video facetime on the jumbo scoreboard, the Expo is the place.
Start there.

Want a hometown team experience? Sell the game along with the
atmosphere of the Expo. Jennings says he wants to start small
and grow. If you keep him on the phone too long, he'll talk
about someday getting the private money to build a new arena
in Portland, one where the fans feel like they're part of the
action, or on top of it.

He says he doesn't want public money. He says schools need it
more to save teachers' jobs. Whoa. Say again?

"My mom drilled into my head to give back," said Jennings. "With
the Celtics, I took the community relations side of things very
seriously. I was on the board of about 10 charities."

He's selling and he's not sure who's buying. The NBA
Development League works in places like South Dakota and Iowa
and New Mexico. As of today the league has no teams east of
the Mississippi. An expansion of one or two teams won't work.
Six would, but the track record of minor league basketball isn't
good.

Who's in? Jon Jennings, a dreamer. The world has too few.

Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or
at:

ssolloway@pressherald.com

Copyright © 2008 Blethen Maine Newspapers

Portland Press Herald Editorial Supports D-League Effort ...

This ran in today's Portland Press Herald:


Basketball franchise proposal has ingredients for success
Minor-league sports teams with a strong brand and good management do well in Portland.


January 25, 2008


— The history of professional sports in Portland makes clear the
prospects for a minor-league basketball team here: When run
well, minor-league franchises do well in this city.

While not every minor-league endeavor has made it in Portland,
the Portland Pirates hockey team and the Portland Sea Dogs
baseball franchise have found success here. In both cases, the
teams created a recognizable brand, have achieved decent
success in terms of winning and losing, and have owners
committed to make the investments necessary to put out a good
product.

Organizers of a potential NBA development league franchise in
Portland appear to be headed down the same path.

Bill Ryan Jr., owner of the Oxford Plains Speedway, and his
father, Bill Ryan Sr., who transformed the Peoples Heritage Bank
franchise in Portland into what is today TD Banknorth, have
taken a leadership role in trying to bring a "D-League"
basketball franchise to the city.

They are seeking to have the Portland team be an affiliate of the
NBA's Boston Celtics. The Ryans are working with Jon Jennings, a
former Celtics assistant coach and executive, as well as K.C.
Jones, a former player and head coach of the Celtics.

Owners with good business sense and an affiliation with a locally
popular major league team make this proposal a far more viable
option than previous attempts to establish minor league
basketball in the city.

It's not clear whether the team would play in the Cumberland
County Civic Center or the city's Portland Expo. In either case,
given scarce tax dollars, it wouldn't be appropriate for the
county or city to offer up a subsidy to the team. However,
favorable lease terms to help such a team get started would
make good long-term business sense for either the city or the
county.

Portland fans have proved they'll support well-run teams, and
this endeavor shouldn't be any different.

Ramble On ...

The item below ran in Friday's Sports Business Daily:

With the Patriots potentially being undefeated heading into their December 29 regular-season finale against the Giants on NFL Network, U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and National Cable & Telecommunications Association President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow urging the two sides to reach an agreement. The letter states in part, “I am writing to express my concern on behalf of football fans across the country who find themselves caught in the middle of a corporate standoff. While the [NFL] and a few major cable companies continue to blame each other for the current state of NFL Network carriage, too many American football fans are being held hostage. Unfortunately, this disagreement has led to the use of what could potentially be an historic football game as leverage in a negotiation." Kerry added, "I do not wish to interfere with these negotiations, and I hope that the two sides can come to an agreement. … I urge you to reach an agreement as soon as possible.”... NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello said in a statement, “Commissioner Goodell welcomes the senator’s comments because we, too, want broad cable distribution for NFL Network. We agree that big cable companies should sit down and negotiate with us for distribution comparable to their own channels” (THE DAILY).

Now, a few things come to mind: The usual thought - Doesn't a United States Senator have better things to do with his time than worry about an damn NFL game? Why does he urge for a settlement in a football TV dispute when there has been a Hollywood writer's dispute that is far more impactful in the entertainment industry but probably doesn't have much of an effect on the voters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?

And, if the Senate wants to get in on this debate, shouldn't they examine Pay per View ONLY availability of the major boxing matches? Boxing fans have one way to get the Mayweather-vs.-Hattan fight on Dec. 8th. Pay $54.99 to their local cable company. Senator Kerry is quoted as "they are holding fans hostage."

Well, what about the boxing fan in this country?

###

I bet you heard it here first, even though it was reported in places like ESPN.com and the International Herald Tribune: The Syracuse entry in the ABA folded shop on Dec. 6. They were known as the "Raging Bullz." ... The name had created a fiasco in Syracuse back in the summer when they were known as "The Bullies." ... Seems Syracuse likes the image of a pulpy, squished, fat Orange much better than the images conjured up by the former ABA franchise.

Everyone's favorite ABA team, the Vermont Frost Heaves, started the year 6-0 but have fallen twice to the Manchester Millrats of New Hampshire. The Millrats came from 27-points back to get the win.

The owner of the Millrats pulled the cord on the Cape Cod Frenzy earlier this year:

Cape Cod Frenzy To Sit Out 2007-2008 Season
The Cape Cod Frenzy of the American Basketball Association (ABA) have decided to sit out the 2007-2008 season, in anticipation of a better venue. One such possible location is the new Hyannis Recreation facility being built on the site of the old JFK ice rink.

“We played in several different high schools last season, which wasn’t ideal for us, and the team deserves to play in one venue for its long team survival,” explains former Frenzy GM Ian McCarthy. “We made great strides in fielding a very competitive team. I believe that the team can build on that success, and with a home venue, can succeed in the long term here on the Cape.”

The Frenzy finished 10-22 in the rugged Blue-North conference in 2006-2007, a schedule that saw them face the 2006 champion and eventual 2007 champion a combined twelve times (Rochester and Vermont). The highlight of the season was a 168-140 thrashing of the Maryland Nighthawks and 7’9 Sun Ming Ming at Barnstable High School, along with Frenzy forward Rob Sanders being named to the All-ABA First Team and All Star game.

The Frenzy are planning to stay active and participate in community events, and marketing and build their business during the year off.

I vote D-League over ABA every day of the week.

###

Only 20-something days until the Iowa Caucus. Best line ever - delivered by Marv Albert but written by esteemed colleague Ed Markey: As Marv's NBC sports production crew threw coverage of an NBA opener to its sideline reporter for a report and preview on game: "And now, we'll go to Ahmad Rashad, a man who thinks the Iowa Caucus is a CBA team."

###

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to get with a very good friend and long-time cohort to pick each and every bowl game. We do it for the grand prize of $1 for each game until Jan 1. Then $5 for each of the major bowls.

Big stakes, I know. I hope the Feds or the NCAA doesn't come after us. Try it with a good friend or family member. You will see how much fun it is. We use a NY Post listing. Start with one pick each (you could call it a 'territorial' pick or just a game you really care about and want to root for one particular team. Then, with that done, we just alternate games - each getting first choice. Spreads count.

This year, we'll hold a special meeting to choose the games on Dec 12th. I will post my "teams" for everyone to see.

###

The media is having some fun with Allen Iverson and George Karl, stating that Karl is calling Iverson "48" for his need to play the guard 48 minutes per game. Iverson seems to like the idea, although his teammates, Steven Hunter or Jelani McCoy, might not take to the nicknames of "4."

###

A dear friend brought forth the following bit of Ivy League logic to the BCS championship equation:

The buzz since Saturday has been all about Harvard's amazing victory over Big Ten opponent Michigan in basketball but the inimitable Paul McNeeley just sent an email with this amusing thought:

Why Harvard should get a shot at this year's college football national championship title . . .

Ohio State lost to Illinois
Who lost to Michigan
Who lost to Appalachian State
Who lost to Wofford
Who lost to Elon
Who lost to Furman
Who lost to Hofstra
Who lost to Northeastern
Who lost to URI
Who lost to Fordham
Who lost to Bucknell
Who lost to Cornell
Who Harvard beat handily 32-15

Ft. Wayne Pays Tribute ...

The Ft. Wayne D-League team staged its first game in the D-League, drawing 4,992 to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Wayne, Indiana for a 95-79 Albuquerque Thunderbirds win over Ft. Wayne.

The NBA's John Hareas did a fantastic column on the history of pro ball in Ft. Wayne, and here it is word for word:

Founding Father Bennett Ushers in new Era in Ft. Wayne basketball:

One of the most important days in NBA history and Maurice Podoloff’s greatest triumph didn’t happen at a swank Midtown hotel but rather at the modest two-story Fort Wayne, Indiana home of Carl Bennett.

“Mr. Podoloff came to Fort Wayne and Fred Zollner told me, “See what he wants,” said Bennett, former GM and head coach of the Zollner owned Fort Wayne Pistons.

What NBA President Podoloff wanted was to sell Zollner on the benefits of merging the Basketball Association of America (BAA), with its rival, the National Basketball League (NBL). This was back in 1948 and the BAA was taking a financial hit due to rising salaries in competing with the NBL for players.

Several cups of coffee and a few hours later, Bennett liked what he heard and decided to take the proposal to Zollner, who was in the process of building a mammoth piston plant and left the proposal listening and overall details of basketball business to his right-hand man Bennett.

“When we went out to Mr. Zollner’s office, it didn’t take long for him to say, ‘Sounds great to me. Well, Carl, take care of the details,’” said Bennett. “That was the start of the NBA.”

And now, 59 years later, it was more than appropriate that one of the most important men in league history, the 91-year-old Bennett, properly ushered in the new era of professional basketball in Fort Wayne at the Mad Ants’ D-League opener on Friday night.

Wearing a red blazer given to him by the organization, Bennett tossed the honorary jump ball at center court after being introduced to the home crowd as “one of the founding fathers of professional basketball in Fort Wayne.”

The man who served on the league’s executive committee along with other heavy hitters in Podoloff, Ned Irish (founder, New York Knickerbockers), Walter Brown (founder, Boston Celtics) and Eddie Gottlieb (owner, Philadelphia Warriors) was also involved with a notable on-the-court development that eventually changed the game as well as some championship near misses..

The Game That Inspired the Shot Clock

Bennett was front and center at the lowest scoring game in league history, the one that led to the most important rule change in NBA history, the 24-second shot clock. Bennett recalls the Pistons’ 19-18 triumph over George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers.

“We were traveling by railroad at that time, heading up to Minneapolis to face George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Vern Mikkelsen and the Lakers, a team we’d had never beaten in Minneapolis.

“Murray Mendenhall was our coach at that time and on the train ride he said to me, “Carl, we haven’t beaten these guys. We can’t beat those three guys. What if we sit on the ball tonight, get lucky and maybe get a last second shot and beat them?”

“Those were actually his words. And we did just what he said. There was no rule against it [holding the ball].

“The score after the first half I think was 8-7. So we played the second half the same way. The Lakers wouldn’t come out and get us and we wouldn’t go inside because you couldn’t get close to the basket with Mikan, Pollard and Mikkelsen in there.

“The ball went out of bounds with six seconds to go right in front of Murray and I. We had a time out and Murray set up a play for Frankie Bryant to take the shot. Everybody was all over Frankie and Larry Foust came out from under the basket towards the ball. They threw it to him, he threw the ball over his shoulder and it hit the upper part of the backboard and went right through.

“We beat them 19-18 and all hell broke loose. Sixty-five hundred fans there that night were all throwing paper and peanuts and booing and they were going to kill us. In fact it took a couple of hours for them to get out of the gym.

“Mr. Podoloff called me and told me to send Murray to New York because he wanted to see him about playing that kind of ball. I talked it over with Murray and told him he didn’t do anything wrong. The rules are as the rules are and I didn’t think he needed to go to Podoloff’s office to have him tell him that we can’t play that style anymore. It wasn’t long before Danny Biasone started working on the development of the shot clock.

George King Secures Nats’ NBA Title Over the Pistons, Game 7, 1955 NBA Finals

The 24-second shot clock made an immediate impact on the game as scoring increased 13.6 points to a league average 93.1. The season of the shot clock also showcased one of the more memorable Finals matchups in NBA history as Syracuse won Game 7 in dramatic fashion over the Pistons thanks to George King chasing down Andy Phillip and making the championship-saving steal in the final seconds.

Here’s Bennett’s take on the Pistons’ heartbreaking Game 7 loss:

“We had a 17-point lead in the first half. Charlie Eckman, our coach was a former referee and had no previous coaching experience, but he had kept good team morale because all the players would get some minutes. I think in a playoff game you play it to win. You don’t take any chances, you don’t try to satisfy somebody. You try to have your best ballclub on the floor.

“After Eckman started substituting, we eventually would run down hill and got down to where there were a few seconds to go and George King stole the ball from Andy Phillip. Beat us by one point, 92-91. That’s the way it goes. Next year was about the same except Philadelphia beat us in five games.”