Vermilion County Bobcats' Struggles

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How long do the Vermilion County Bobcats last?


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Again, this all falls on Doug Price. He should have been in Danville all week figuring out WTF was going on. The league should have issued some kind of statement regarding the Bobcats early last week, when the rumors were flying.

They did neither.

The league wasn't convinced of anything because they didn't know what was going on or didn't care to know what was going on. They sent officials and a visiting team to Danville. The arena was open, the lights were on, and the officials did their job when game time rolled around.

Of course, none of that would have been necessary had the league office done its job earlier in the week.
The bobcats hadn't violated any of the contracted agreement. The league had to allow them to breach the contract to be able to do anything about it. Now the ball is in the leagues court since VC has violated the agreement to play.

If the league had intervened sooner before the breach of contract VC could have sued the League.
 
The bobcats hadn't violated any of the contracted agreement. The league had to allow them to breach the contract to be able to do anything about it. Now the ball is in the leagues court since VC has violated the agreement to play.

If the league had intervened sooner before the breach of contract VC could have sued the League.

Which contract are we talking about being breached, the franchise agreement contract between the Bobcats and the SPHL or the lease between the Bobcats and the Arena?

I highly doubt you've read the franchise agreement between the SPHL and the Bobcats, or any other team, for that matter. But there are undoubtedly clauses contained therein that would allow the league to either seize the franchise and operate it until the end of the season with a vote of the board of governors, or simply shut it down - or at least, there should be, if the SPHL hired competent lawyers to draft that agreement. Certainly, the SPHL now has a breach of contract case, at minimum, against Ellen and her franchise. Whether they will pursue such a case is another matter entirely.
 
Which contract are we talking about being breached, the franchise agreement contract between the Bobcats and the SPHL or the lease between the Bobcats and the Arena?

I highly doubt you've read the franchise agreement between the SPHL and the Bobcats, or any other team, for that matter. But there are undoubtedly clauses contained therein that would allow the league to either seize the franchise and operate it until the end of the season with a vote of the board of governors, or simply shut it down - or at least, there should be, if the SPHL hired competent lawyers to draft that agreement. Certainly, the SPHL now has a breach of contract case, at minimum, against Ellen and her franchise. Whether they will pursue such a case is another matter entirely.
Obviously the franchise agreement between the SPHL and the team... and I don't need to see the contract with my own eyes to know the league is not going to be perfectly fine with a team no call/no showing a game. But up until that point the team itself hadn't done anything of note that would have constituted league involvement. There were 2 change of opponent games that no one publicly has been able to determine the cause of, but evidently the League approved changing the opponents. Not showing up to the game was clearly not league approved since the away team and SPHL officials all showed up and were ready.
 
Obviously the franchise agreement between the SPHL and the team... and I don't need to see the contract with my own eyes to know the league is not going to be perfectly fine with a team no call/no showing a game. But up until that point the team itself hadn't done anything of note that would have constituted league involvement. There were 2 change of opponent games that no one publicly has been able to determine the cause of, but evidently the League approved changing the opponents. Not showing up to the game was clearly not league approved since the away team and SPHL officials all showed up and were ready.
Correct. And obviously, the league is going to consider any team doing what will hereinafter be referred to as "pulling an Ellen" in material breach of that agreement.

But I can tell you from experience that any competently run league has written clauses into the franchise agreement enabling the league to take back or terminate the franchise with a vote of the board of governors.

If I had to guess, the league bent over backwards to try and let Ellen get her shit together, hence the opponent changes and so forth. The problem is that you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped.

And so now, rather than watch hockey, we'll watch PACER for the inevitable lawsuit Ellen files against the league.
 
I will say, as bitter of a pill it may be to swallow, credit is due to the FPHL and the Danville Dashers who did a better job with their operations in the same market.
 
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As a person who has gotten used to the Fed, i'm shocked something like this happened in any other league that wasn't the FPHL.
The SPHL, while generally better run on the franchise level than the FPHL, is still an understaffed, undercapitalized operation that seems to do little, if any, vetting of potential franchisees. It's not entirely surprising that this happened with VC. It's surprising that it took this long for the disaster to happen, and that Price and the Board of Governors let it happen.

Equally shocking is that there's been no statement or clarification by the league on the status of VC, the schedule going forward, or... anything at all. For a league that added a Communications Director over the offseason, you really have to wonder what, if anything, that person does if he can't step up and handle a crisis communications situation, which this absolutely is.
 
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... Equally shocking is that there's been no statement or clarification by the league on the status of VC, the schedule going forward, or... anything at all. For a league that added a Communications Director over the offseason, you really have to wonder what, if anything, that person does if he can't step up and handle a crisis communications situation, which this absolutely is.
Maybe they're still wrapping up negotiations for the sale of the whole SPHL "North Division" market space to Soskin & Kirnan. Such news is worth waiting for, don't you think? :popcorn:
 
Maybe they're still wrapping up negotiations for the sale of the whole SPHL "North Division" market space to Soskin & Kirnan. Such news is worth waiting for, don't you think? :popcorn:

They can swap Columbus and Mississippi for Peoria and Quad City.
 
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On a side note, it's stupid easy for me to go Vermillion when the team is Vermilion due to me being a dumb Hoosier, and how Vermillion County, Indiana border Vermilion County, Illinois (where Danville is).
If it makes you feel any better, without knowing anything about Vermilion County or much about the SPHL, I first thought they were talking about Vermilion Parish in Louisiana.
 
It's Thursday, February 9.

Vermilion County is schedule to play in Huntsville tomorrow.

There has been no statement issued by the league regarding the Bobcats.

There has been no statement issued by the Bobcats, but then, they have no front office aside from Ellen and the Director of Team Security.

Will Huntsville get a home forfeit?

Will Doug Price make it to the weekend as SPHL Commissioner?

We'll see...
 
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