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UHL news The Roanoke Valley Vipers are folding


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This was on Friday nights local news cast, it is a link to the webpage with the video and you can see how empty the civic center actually was during the games.

WDBJ7 and click on sports. Scroll down a little to may 12 and it is the top story for the day. I will post the official announcement tomorrow when they release it.

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that's what they get when they get a bad hockey team move it from Port Huron and move it to Roanoke, no offense to the people in Roanoke. I have a feeling you'll see a team owned by the Dixons in a couple years in the UHL. I am really sorry for your loss, hears hoping the SPHL will swoop you guys up and have great hockey down the road

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Wow...I went onto their website and looked at the in-game pics. That arena was BARREN.

One of the first times I've seen an arena where the annoucer can announce the attendance after a show of hands from the crowd.

"This isn't just the Oregon Ducks, it's Football's Future Turf Soldier War Hero Steel Robot Tech Flex Machine Army." -CS85

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wow, the river otters and now roanoke. Looks like the UHL is having a tough time.

it's not that it's having a tough time, they're getting rid of their bad owners

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Richmond - bad idea with at least a slight chance of sucess

Roanoke - brought in to help Richmond travel wise, there's still all the other far away teams, not so well thought out, over all bad

Athletic Director: KTU Blue Grassers Football

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The Dixon's are indeed bad owners and never got off to a good start with the Roanoke people. The night they revealed the team name and colors last year they and the uhl commish got booed. Everyone in the civic center that night, myself included thought the team name would be Express again. Both the commish and Dixon's addressed the crowd saying it wasn't a good start by booing them before the franchise ever got off the ground. Sign right there it wouldn't work out.

The Dixon family isolated themselves from the area saying they would be a force here and when ticket prices were announced and the compliants started coming in they told everyone here to suck it up, pay it and quit bitching about it we were here to make money.

Opening night the printed attendance and the actual attendance were completely exaggerated. My wife and myself were there and at the absolute most the crowd was 1500. I believe the newspaper said 4500 showed up. You guys saw on the video link you could count the people by hand in the seats. The lowest printed attendance I saw was 600, luckily one of my co workers went to all the home games and said that number was probably in the 200 to 300 range. The "real" final attendance average from folks I know who went to the games was between 900-1100 per game.

About 2 months into the season the Dixon's came on the news bitching about attendance and agreed to lower ticket prices, great idea right all tickets in the civic center would be reduced. WRONG! The last 8 rows at the top of each section would be reduced to 8 bucks and that was it. The plan backfired, attendance dropped even further than its exaggerated media average.

Then one of the local news problem slover teams got a call in Jan. that the Vipers were behind on a lot of their bills and nobody would return calls to get it resloved. I knew then they were going to be finished after this year, because that is what got the Express booted from the ECHL. Then Friday night's news basically sealed the deal on the Vipers fate.

I agree with the other posts that Roanoke would be best off in the SPHL or if the owership group was right the ECHL again. I think the Dixon's around here are like George Shinn was in Charlotte. We want hockey just not at the expense of some self absorbed owners who were only in town once in a blue moon.

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Yeah, can't say that I'm surprised by that one. There are three things that hurt the Valley Vipers from the start.

1. Drew as much fans in Roanoke as they did in Port Huron, but in a much bigger arena. :blink:

2. The River Dogs, their closest rival by far, left for Hoffman Estates.

3. The Dixons still own the franchise.

If the UHL had half a brain, they wouldn't allow the Dixons to move that franchise to another city. They failed miserably in Port Huron, and failed even worse in Roanoke. How many chances can these morons get to mess up before the league figures out that it isn't the city's fault, but the owners? :blink:

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Motor City Mechanics not returning

"Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust

And another one's gone,

and another one's gone,

Another one bites the dust."

The UHL is definitely earning its reputation as "The U-Haul League", isn't it? :D<_<

The Motor City Mechanics will likely not be returning to Fraser for next year, after losing about $2 million over two years. Rumor has it that the franchise will either fold or relocate to Traverse City for next year.

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Yeah, can't say that I'm surprised by that one. There are three things that hurt the Valley Vipers from the start.

1. Drew as much fans in Roanoke as they did in Port Huron, but in a much bigger arena. :blink:

2. The River Dogs, their closest rival by far, left for Hoffman Estates.

3. The Dixons still own the franchise.

If the UHL had half a brain, they wouldn't allow the Dixons to move that franchise to another city. They failed miserably in Port Huron, and failed even worse in Roanoke. How many chances can these morons get to mess up before the league figures out that it isn't the city's fault, but the owners? :blink:

well get ready for Rochester :P

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Motor City Mechanics not returning

"Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust

And another one's gone,

and another one's gone,

Another one bites the dust."

The UHL is definitely earning its reputation as "The U-Haul League", isn't it?

The Motor City Mechanics will likely not be returning to Fraser for next year, after losing about $2 million over two years. Rumor has it that the franchise will either fold or relocate to Traverse City for next year.

I had a feeling that they weren't gonna be back in Fraser when I heard from a few (more like practically all) of the STH's for the Mechs that they'd canned their entire staff outside of head coach Danton Cole.

Same thing happened in Missouri, even though Shanahan has said he'll wait till the end of May to see if someone wants to buy the team off of him before officially pulling the plug on the Otters (and seeing the team has already left Family Arena and packed up all their stuff, I don't see it happening...in the words of one Otters fan, the team is "belly up and floating down the river as we speak")

Richmond's demise was on the wall for quite a while (basically, when Dr. Eric Margenau is brought in as an owner, it's only a matter of time before the team is doomed (just ask fans in New Haven about THAT one <_< ) )...and I wouldn't even bet on Chicago/Hoffman Estates even getting off the ground for next season either.

Roanoke? Same deal as Richmond seeing that the Dixons are the kiss of death (or in the words of that idiot that runs the UHL, "the salt of the earth")...just ask Port Huron. Now there's word that they're eyeing getting ANOTHER team if they ever get an arena done in Canton :blink:

To be honest, Roanoke would have been smarter to opt for the SPHL last year instead of the U. If anything, I have a feeling you'll see the Roanoke Express in the SPHL by this time next year.

And then there's another potential time bomb ticking in Adirondack, seeing the team and the city are in the middle of negotiations for a new lease at the Glens Falls Civic Center. If they don't get a better lease agreement this time around, there's serious talk of Melrose & Levy pulling the plug on the team (word on the street is that they're actively looking to sell the team to keep it going in the Falls and that the Parfets (who also own Kalamazoo), who were helping the team financially, have pulled out)...if the Frostbite fail, then an already shaky Elmira might just pack it in, spelling the end of the Eastern Division entirely (seeing I don't see Danbury, as well as we've done in our 2 seasons, is gonna hang around if our closest geographical rival is gonna be Port Frickin Huron.)...

FANTASY TEAMS

Housatonic U. Dragons (NCFA Basketball): 16-6 (8-4 Conf.)--National Runner-Up

Jersey State U. (NCFA Football): Inaugural Year - 2006

Motor City Silverhawks (WArFL): 9-4 (3rd--National Conf.)

Lehigh Valley Ironmen (WAmFL): Inaugural Season--2006

New England Marauders RFC (RLI): 6-0-7 (6th place)

Detroit Spirit (AA): 3-6 (T-4th--Patriot League)

Brooklyn Atlantics (IBF): 10-5 (1st--Appalachian Conf.)

Boston Mariners RFU (WRU): Coming Soon!

New York Americans (SHL): Inaugural Season - 2006-07

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So lets see if I can get this straight

Roanoke Valley, Richmond, Motor City, and Missouri are all gone

Joining will be Bloomington and Chicago

Am I correct?

For right now, yes.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

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POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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FANTASY TEAMS

Housatonic U. Dragons (NCFA Basketball): 16-6 (8-4 Conf.)--National Runner-Up

Jersey State U. (NCFA Football): Inaugural Year - 2006

Motor City Silverhawks (WArFL): 9-4 (3rd--National Conf.)

Lehigh Valley Ironmen (WAmFL): Inaugural Season--2006

New England Marauders RFC (RLI): 6-0-7 (6th place)

Detroit Spirit (AA): 3-6 (T-4th--Patriot League)

Brooklyn Atlantics (IBF): 10-5 (1st--Appalachian Conf.)

Boston Mariners RFU (WRU): Coming Soon!

New York Americans (SHL): Inaugural Season - 2006-07

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Speaking of some interesting reading....

Ken & Kristen Dixon: Not Only Absentee Owners, But F'n Deadbeats Too!

Some tidbits....

(Director of Civic Facilities Nina) Boyd estimated the Vipers still owe the civic center $24,000 for the 2005-06 season, and confirmed that according to the Vipers' three-year lease, the team is obligated to pay rent over the next two seasons.

The lease calls for the team to pay a "basic facilities fee" of $3,000 per game in 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. At 38 home games a season, that would total $228,000.

Boyd did not have an estimate of the total owed the city, but said the Vipers' $95,000 letter-of-credit would cover "some of it."

Then you had this...

Some local businesses were dismayed to discover that the game-day program for which they bought advertising was never printed. Other businesses conflicted with the Vipers over unpaid bills.

And the coup de grace...

Three team members, all on condition of anonymity, reported Monday that they had not received pay for the final two weeks of the season, which ended a month ago.

And how did the Dixons respond?

Kristen Dixon had said she would come to Roanoke from her home in Canton, Ohio, on Monday, but did not make the trip.

She did not respond to several messages left on her cellphone.

And UHL Commisioner Richard "Uncle Fester" Brosal wants to give these sacks of :censored: a shot at a possible Canton franchise??

Unbelieveable...

FANTASY TEAMS

Housatonic U. Dragons (NCFA Basketball): 16-6 (8-4 Conf.)--National Runner-Up

Jersey State U. (NCFA Football): Inaugural Year - 2006

Motor City Silverhawks (WArFL): 9-4 (3rd--National Conf.)

Lehigh Valley Ironmen (WAmFL): Inaugural Season--2006

New England Marauders RFC (RLI): 6-0-7 (6th place)

Detroit Spirit (AA): 3-6 (T-4th--Patriot League)

Brooklyn Atlantics (IBF): 10-5 (1st--Appalachian Conf.)

Boston Mariners RFU (WRU): Coming Soon!

New York Americans (SHL): Inaugural Season - 2006-07

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Speaking of some interesting reading....

And UHL Commisioner Richard "Uncle Fester" Brosal wants to give these sacks of :censored: a shot at a possible Canton franchise??

Unbelieveable...

The Dixons nearly destroyed hockey in Port Huron, then likely wrecked hockey in Roanoke for a long time, and still might get a shot at Canton?! What a brilliant idea! <_<

Now, the question is, if the Dixons do get a shot at owning a team in their hometown, how many games will they no-show at? My prediction is 85% of them. :D

Seriously, they have to be the worst owners in UHL history. I used to think that title belonged to Bernie "The Plague" Bubanic (Saginaw/Ohio Gears) and, lately, Dr. Shukairy (Flint Generals). But the Dixons take the cake. Commissioner Costanza/Art Vandelay/Fester/Whatever you call him would be crazy to let these morons try to wreck another city.

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Speaking of some interesting reading....

And UHL Commisioner Richard "Uncle Fester" Brosal wants to give these sacks of :censored: a shot at a possible Canton franchise??

Unbelieveable...

The Dixons nearly destroyed hockey in Port Huron, then likely wrecked hockey in Roanoke for a long time, and still might get a shot at Canton?! What a brilliant idea! <_<

Now, the question is, if the Dixons do get a shot at owning a team in their hometown, how many games will they no-show at? My prediction is 85% of them. :D

Seriously, they have to be the worst owners in UHL history. I used to think that title belonged to Bernie "The Plague" Bubanic (Saginaw/Ohio Gears) and, lately, Dr. Shukairy (Flint Generals). But the Dixons take the cake. Commissioner Costanza/Art Vandelay/Fester/Whatever you call him would be crazy to let these morons try to wreck another city.

Seeing the number of shots The Czar's given to Doc Margenau, NOTHING would suprise me about Ken & Kristen getting chance #3

As for worst owners, you could make a case for Margenau and Glenn Morelli as well...it's kinda funny how Morelli's got a lawsuit against Margenau for the whole Richmond mess...Morelli's a twit, but I hope he wins that suit against that quack.

FANTASY TEAMS

Housatonic U. Dragons (NCFA Basketball): 16-6 (8-4 Conf.)--National Runner-Up

Jersey State U. (NCFA Football): Inaugural Year - 2006

Motor City Silverhawks (WArFL): 9-4 (3rd--National Conf.)

Lehigh Valley Ironmen (WAmFL): Inaugural Season--2006

New England Marauders RFC (RLI): 6-0-7 (6th place)

Detroit Spirit (AA): 3-6 (T-4th--Patriot League)

Brooklyn Atlantics (IBF): 10-5 (1st--Appalachian Conf.)

Boston Mariners RFU (WRU): Coming Soon!

New York Americans (SHL): Inaugural Season - 2006-07

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sorry for the delay in posting the video, this site is blocked at work for some reason. Anyway go to channel 7click on sports it is the top story on the front of the sports page.

Channel 7 is the best local newscast in the area and this video shows how big of jerkoffs the Dixon's were. The Civic Center spokesperson and someone from the city said they would no longer pursue another minor league franchise of any sport for quite sometime.

I ran into one of the Dixon's at the Civic Center when I was taking the postal exam, grade A jerkoff the one I ran into was. They preached how they would be a force in the community and they would be here. The few games they attended they just about got booed out of the building.

Watch the video and let me know if your opinion of them stays the same or changes for the worse.

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sorry for the delay in posting the video, this site is blocked at work for some reason. Anyway go to  channel 7click on sports it is the top story on the front of the sports page. 

Channel 7 is the best local newscast in the area and this video shows how big of jerkoffs the Dixon's were. The Civic Center spokesperson and someone from the city said they would no longer pursue another minor league franchise of any sport for quite sometime.

I ran into one of the Dixon's at the Civic Center when I was taking the postal exam, grade A jerkoff the one I ran into was. They preached how they would be a force in the community and they would be here. The few games they attended they just about got booed out of the building.

Watch the video and let me know if your opinion of them stays the same or changes for the worse.

LOL, I wonder how long Channel 7 had to search to find visual evidence that the Dixons attended a game in Roanoke. Isn't that like finding visual proof of both Bigfoot and Elvis walking around downtown Memphis? :D

Here's another Dixon line, from when the Valley Vipers were starting up:

"We're not in the business of selling pro hockey. We're in the business of selling entertainment."

But...isn't that "entertainment" mainly pro hockey? Are you really that clueless? :blink:

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