This Basketball Economy

I am asked all the time how the economy is affecting The Flash and professional basketball.

I hear this buzz that movie attendance is up because people need to find a way to escape the everyday drama. I hear that other entertainment is doing great including sports which are untouchable.

This would lead you to believe that when it comes to a low cost provider like the Flash, we should be killing it. I mean you can go to a Flash game for less than a movie.

Let me tell you, it has taken it's toll and we see the effects. We have seen softness in our attendance and particularly in the speed at which our fans have been willing to renew their season tickets. To understand the business of minor league professional sports we survive on sponsorships and season tickets. That doesn't mean people don't 'walk up' to the gate and buy tickets but it accounts for 200-500 tickets per game.

So if you are a season ticket holder, renew early.

On the flip side, our sponsors have been great this year. In fact, sponsorships are up 11% year over year but I am certain we need to see some recovery in the economy or that number could easily go down next year.

What most have learned who work in sports is that you get to work in something you love but it is still work. You get to go wild when we win (like we did Monday) in OT, but on Tuesday we face the same challenges everyone else does. The economy is unforgiving and it is requiring a more conservative approach even though I have no desire to play this conservatively.

Brandt Andersen

Flash trade our pick for Ronald Dupree

FLASH ACQUIRE DUPREE IN TRADE WITH TULSA
Sign and Trade Brings Veteran Forward to Utah

PROVO, Utah, Jan. 20, 2009 – The Utah Flash acquired forward Ronald Dupree today from the Tulsa 66ers in a sign and trade deal for center Steven Hill.

In 18 games for the 66ers this season Dupree is averaging 36.7 minutes, 19.9 points and 6.6 rebounds. In six games in January he is averaging 39.8 minutes, 25.7 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists while shooting .531 (51-96) from the floor. In his last two games, Dupree is averaging 30.5 points and 15.5 boards.

The 27-year-old LSU product from Biloxi, Miss. has played in 154 NBA games with the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves and Seattle Sonics, averaging 11.3 minutes, 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds. He also played in 14 NBA Playoff games with the Pistons in 2004-05.

Hill, 7-0, 245, was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 4, playing one game before being assigned to the 66ers on Nov. 21. On December 13, Hill was recalled by the Thunder and subsequently waived.

Dupree, 6-7, 209, is expected to be in uniform tonight when the Flash is host to the Los Angeles D-Fenders. He will wear jersey number 21.

Flash Get a Redo

How is it that the Flash are 9-7 when the stats show we are 9-8?

Several weeks ago during an away game against the Colorado 14ers we noticed that with 25.2 seconds left the staff fouled out Bill Walker who was on assignment with us from the Celtics. The problem was that according to our records Bill only had 5 fouls not the 6 that the score table was showing. Given the game altering mistake, we officially protested the game with the league asking them to consider allowing us to replay the last 25.2 seconds of regulation.

These seconds were critical because the game was tied and we lost on a buzzer beater by Eddie Gill.

For Basketball fans you may remember last year a similar issue occured in a Heat/Hawks game (Read Here).

Our position with the league was that this situation was no different. Bill Walker should have been allowed to stay in the game. Unfortunately, due to mistakes on the part of the Colorado staff it potentially cost us the game. Everyone makes mistakes and the ball doesn't lie, so let's see what happens in April when we replay the final 25.2 seconds.

Brandt Andersen

UTAH FLASH'S PROTEST GRANTED FOR SCORING ERROR

NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2009 – The NBA D-League today granted a game protest filed by the Utah Flash after its 104-102 loss to the Colorado 14ers on Dec. 26 at Broomfield Event Center, which will result in the replay of the final 25.2 seconds of the game with the scored tied at 102. The replay will occur prior to the next scheduled game between the two teams – on April 10, 2009 at McKay Event Center in Orem, Utah.

The Flash protested the game because, with 25.2 seconds remaining in the game’s final period, the 14ers scoring table personnel incorrectly disqualified the Flash’s Bill Walker – asserting that a foul committed by Walker was his sixth foul of the game, when in fact it was only his fifth. The error occurred because the 14ers Official Scorer mistakenly attributed to Walker a foul at 9:24 remaining in the second period that was actually called against the Flash's J.R. Giddens.

The protest is the first granted by the NBA D-League in the league’s eight-year history.

Showcase is Over

For a basketball junkie there is nothing better than watching four games a day, hanging out with general managers, scouts and reporters, and listening to everything that was going on in the NBA.

I was coming down the bleachers at the arena one day just before lunch and overheard a deal that was in the works. The recognizable GM who was on the phone was discussing the merits of a player and trying to sell the guy to someone on the other side. My guess is a Head Coach or President of the team. While I would put this particular GMs sales skills at about a 'C' the party line seemed to seal the deal; "Look we are bleeding, this needs to happen". Pretty convincing.

I stopped just long enough to get the basics but not long enough to be on the creepy side of eaves dropping. During a very busy time in the NBA, deals got done in Orem, Utah.

Our guys showed up and played. We managed to go 2 and 0 which makes us 4 and 0 in our showcase history. We'll take that.

Brandt Andersen

Crabman Goes after the Cricket

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