Canton
Legends? indoor league has new name, owners
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 By Jim Thomas Repository Sports Writer
CANTON - The American Indoor Football League, like other minor sports leagues, is officially no more. John Morris is betting the hybrid American Indoor Football Association will set itself apart from its past.
?The way the (AIFA) is structured, I think we?re set up to win,? Morris said. ?We have a lot of work to do, obviously, to gear up for the new season. But we?re up to the challenge, and we?re very excited.?
Morris is a co-owner of the new AIFA as well as the franchise head of the expansion Montgomery Bears along with partner Michael Mink. He was at Memorial Civic Center on Monday to say why the AIFA will be more successful than the now-defunct AIFL.
?The one thing we did right from the start was to take the decision-making out of the league owners? hands, solely,? Morris said. ?We came up with five committees: owners, standards, expansion, coaches and players, and markets. Nothing can happen until we have two-thirds (majority).?
Morris and Joe Hoffman, owner of the AIFL champion Canton Legends, said this will work. ?With John, we have a strong owner who will make the league stronger for everyone,? Hoffman said.
The AIFL, which Canton won last year, suffered a series of setbacks that led to its demise.
Former Asheville, N.C., owner Robert Boyd sued the league and was eventually awarded a $435,000 judgment. Franchises either never got started (Binghamton), folded in-season (Syracuse) or took flight after the season (Miami Valley, Steubenville in the North Division, Raleigh, Rome, Daytona Beach, Augusta in the South).
A sale of the AIFL this summer to Greens Worldwide fell through due to a lack of documentation regarding the Boyd lawsuit. All that gave Morris and Mink pause for concern about getting involved.
?We originally were going to sign up with the old league,? Morris said. ?Then we decided not to do that for personal reasons we won?t get into. We told the (AIFL) owners we would like to have our own league one day and as it turned out we actually were able to put together a deal (in a day).?
Morris said the key to his and Mink?s decision in September to operate the league came from AIFL owners. When they agreed it was in everyone?s best interest to jointly make decisions, they moved forward.
?Wheels were put into motion a lot quicker than expected,? Morris acknowledged.
Morris works in advertising, and owns an outdoor football team, the Gulf Coast Raiders of the Southern States Football League. What are his motives for acquiring another team and a new league?
?We?re not in this to get rich,? he said. ?We?re into this because we want to build a strong league, on strong owners and have a good time. Do we want to make money? Obviously we do.
?Our main focus is to help the owners come up with a plan to succeed.?
LEGENDS SCHEDULE RELEASED
The Canton Legends released their 2007 schedule Monday, covering five months and 14 regular-season games. The 2006 AIFL champion Legends kick off the campaign Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. on the road against the Johnstown Riverhawks. They open at home at the Civic Center the next week, Feb. 9, against the Erie Freeze.
Canton?s second home contest features the expansion Pittsburgh RiverRats. The Legends also have a home game against Southern Division foe Springfield (April 6) and close with the Huntington Heroes (June 1) before the playoffs begin.
Reach Repository sports writer Jim Thomas at (330) 580-8336 or e-mail:
jim.thomas@cantonrep.com
TIME OF CHANGE
Here are the key changes the new ownership of the American Indoor Football Association is making:
n Team rosters increase, from 23 to 30
n A neutral league site will be selected for the championship game
n Each team has four byes, rather than two.
n Fields add second hash mark, will use college and pro lines
n Each team, North and South, will play one home and one away interdivisional game. There will also be a North vs. South All-Star game.
n Illegal motion penalty now is five yards, rather than play the down over.
TWICE AS NICE Canton Legends Head Coach Bobby Olive (center) has reason to smile as the 2007 AIFA season approaches. Olive has a pair of solid quarterbacks in returning starter Kevin Mason (right) and former Ohio State Buckeye Scott McMullen.