Last evening I rolled out my first story regarding the UIFL league leading Florida Tarpons. In response to that column, I have spoken with several individuals associated with teams in the UIFL. I have been offered game tape as well as still images regarding the quality of play the Florida Tarpons are putting on the field and it’s disturbing.
On May 14th, the UIFL suspended two teams from the league, the Johnston Generals and the Western PA Sting. Two teams taken out of the league in mid-season. The Sting were replaced quickly with an outdoor football semi-pro team, the Fort Lauderdale Phantoms, according to the official press release from the UIFL. That is great news for the players which are simply trying to get to the next level or playing the game simply for the love of the sport. However, there are some issues.
When you head over to the Fort Lauderdale Phantoms Facebook page, there is a team photo of players adorned in Rampage jerseys, prepared to play the Florida Tarpons, a game which the Phantoms/Rampage lost 69-2. I have spoken with two players which have told me that they were called just hours before kickoff for Tarpons games in order to staff the opposing teams roster.
So, the Florida Tarpons are sitting with a perfect 10-0 record. The owner of the league owns the Tarpons franchise. I am hearing rumors, but have yet to confirm, that Mr. Haines also owns the Mississippi Hound Dogs franchise in the UIFL league.
When questioned about blowout victories and suspect wins by the Tarpons, I was told that the Tarpons were playing against travel teams by Mr. Haines, the owner of the UIFL league. Travel teams? You can visit the official site of the UIFL here, there seems to be no mention of travel teams. And if, in the UIFL there are travel teams, which players have filled in for the Tarpons when they travel north to cities such as Cincinnati, Erie or Marion? Or do they even travel to those cities?
There are hundreds of questions surrounding the UIFL and the Florida Tarpons. We are just beginning our coverage. Mr. Haines, the owner of the UIFL and the Florida Tarpons, has been given multiple resources to contact me to refute or defend the actions of the Florida Tarpons. I’ve received no response. Stay tuned, this will get interesting.
Filed under: Arena/Adult Amateur Football
Tagged with: Florida Tarpons, UIFL
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I bet the more you dig the more “bodies” you will find.
In response to the 10-0 record, if you look @ the difference divisions in the UIFL you will see that the 10-0 record comes aganist next to no competition.
The North divison in this league is playing tough teams every other or in some cases 5 weeks straight…
Keep digging,
Praying this gets more coverage
I agree.
This is just one of many minor league indoor/arena organizations that continually operate fraudulent teams and/or leagues with one goal in mind, regardless of how it is accompolished. That goal is to make money from three fronts: 1) Players who believe they should be professionals because of their glory days in high schjool, yet lackluster feats at the collegiate level, and can’t understand why they’re not in the NFL…although everyone else knows why. 2) Unsuspecting local and/or national corporate sponsors. And 3), The general public, aka: “fans”. This is nothing more than a traveling circus and EVERYONE should be glad that you’re doing a public service by exposing them.
Here is a link on the league website with the date it was announced about travel teams…Have nothing to hide and have responded to your emails asking when would be a good time to sit down together.
No one that has played for the Tarpons this season has played for any team against us except several on Lakeland’s team due to several trades or players being released by us and them signing them.
When the Hound Dogs team owner ran into financial trouble the league took over the team to finish them out. The local news outlets all covered that, and have even said about the travel teams…we haven’t tried hiding anything from anyone.
Regardless who we play or the score, we provide quality affordable entertainment to our fans. All the fans and sponsors I have talked to are happy and excited about the team…my email address is andrew@floridatarpons.com, and office phone is 239-225-6374.
Link to our schedule announcement before season started – http://uiflfootball.com/uifl-announces-11-game-schedule/
So dressing a 1-6. Semi pro team from Florida in Rome uniforms and pummeling them isn’t seen as a little shady Mr. Haines? Having local players suit up to fill roster.spots on teams they haven’t practiced.with isn’t shady? Why not AT LEAST pick a decent team? There are PLENTY of quality semi pro teams in Florida. The Bobcats are right in Fort Myers. Everyone can see you stacked your team with Globetrotters.and you’re playing the Washington Generals. Your product is.more.WWE than NFL.
The “Rome” team at least scored in the 68-2 game. You actually think that another semi-pro team in this area could do better? Take a look at the Tarpons roster. Many have played at the Division I level, that means 100 yards as well. You think for a second they could hold water any better? When the Tarpons win the whole league Championship, all this stuff will stop. Go after the Swampdog deal where they play only 4 games, 4 GAMES!!! LMAO
Yes, there are SEVERAL semi pro teams in FL. That could do better. The Phantoms were 1-6.
No one is questioning the talent of the Tarpon roster. I’m saying if you have problems and need to fill a schedule date, don’t do it trying to fool the fans with a patsy dressed in another teams uniforms to inflate your record and then brag about how bad you beat them. Go after quality and announce what you’re doing.
Mr Haines it is obvious you are hiding something and all you need to do is go on the Facebook page of a Florida East Coast semi pro out door 11 on 11 football team and their is a picture of them in your proud Rome Rampage uniforms stating that they played as that team and not their team. Why would you allow that and not tell the truthful that the team was not from Rome Georgia but really a local team. How can you accept that as a legitimate win and the local news also ran stories on how you beat up on the Rome team they never mentioned the other team playing as the Rome team. You might have left your home and come here to think that local Florida people would not see through you, but its catching on and eventually everything will come out. You are not helping the local area, you are hurting it. So Mr Haines why would you lie about the Rampage players, do you have to cheat in order to draw fans, is that fair, so I will be looking for a refund. I feel ripped off. Atleast we have one fair minor league organization, the Everblades, their championship was truly well earned.
If you feel that we did not provide entertainment like advertised, please come by our office for a full refund. My phone is 239-225-6374. My direct email is andrew@floridatarpons.com.
The issue with the last game against Rome was the game was moved to a Monday night with about a weeks notice. The entire Rome team could not make the change that late, so some players from the phantoms played for Rome. The arena asked us to move the game for the Kelly Cup finals.
Throughout our league there are many players that have played semi-pro football that moved up to play in our league…the Rome team, being a travel team is made up of a lot of top semi-pro players. When did I ever lie about Rampage players?
To say I am hiding something is just crazy…I posted my full name and contact information, I welcome any questions.
I have had ZERO calls or emails from anyone who attended any of our games.
If you spent money with us and are not happy, please contact me right away, as we are not in business to have unhappy fans.
Our ownership group has invested a lot of money and time into our team in order to make it successful.
The WWE is entertainment. You didn’t have any Rome players in that game, it was the whole Phantoms team with a few local Bobcats sprinkled in.. You had plenty of quality semi pro teams in Florida to choose from. You could have played the Bobcats from Fort Myers who won a championship this year and instead picked a 1-6 team to slaughter.
Bobcats to play? LOL Championship??? The Rome/Mississippi teams are a level above the Bobcats! Cmon MAN!!!
They may be, but they didn’t play. Rome, they played a TERRIBLE 1-6 semi pro team DRESSED as Rome! The Tarpons played the Palm Beach Phanoms dressed in Rome uniforms and the Bobats would BLOW OUT the Phantms by 60 points!
There is more than 1 single owner of the Tarpons and even the league itself has more owners than the Haines guy. Do your homework! It’s also the Johnstown Generals! Spell check next time!!! It’s Palm Beach Phantoms as well. You are wanting “facts” but have problems with getting things stated the right way. Posing as an ESPN reporter as well? Laughable just like these two articles!
Dear Mr. E. Schmit,
Welcome to the club! I will not call the UIF practices ‘shady dealings’ by any means. Do they mean well? I think so, certainly. Do they deliver on an equitable ‘product’? Questionable! Yes, I agree, there should be much more up front disclosure when travel teams are thrown together, last ditch efforts to provide an opponent for legitimately practicing franchises. Fans should be let know that these are ‘patsies’ and game results should be marked with an asterick, or at least recorded as an exhibition game, and NOT COUNT in the final standings!
As for the claim of Mr. Haines that ‘we put out a quality product’- well, from a FAN point of view, just going out, spending my money to view a ‘product’ for me would be a disappointment, putting it mildly. Fan support and involvement goes a LOT deeper than just buying a ticket and being entertained by whatever is on the field! If all I wanted was entertainment by a product, I would rather stay home and play Madden football on my TV.
I am a ‘fan’ from the Portland, Or. area and I have followed Indoor/Arena football since it truly began in 1999/2000 season.(The advent of the AF2, et al.) I can tell you, I have seen a lot of good, bad and downright UGLY football practices.
If I had one thing I might be able to say to Mr. Haines, it would be, I think you are trying to do the best you can with what you’ve got. However, is that best for the players and for the fans? I would ask you please reconsider the philosophy, that just selling tickets and putting a ‘quality product’ on the field is falling short. There may be more to football than merely marketing a commodity. Putting last minute, un-practiced semi-pro teams against more established ‘pros’ is not a good thing for the sport overall. Thank you for allowing my rant!
The biggest problem – by far – of any minor/secondary sports league is that they MUST stop handing out franchises to any Tom, Dick and Harry who can afford the franchise fee, and thinks that owning a professional sports franchise would be “cool.”
Too many owners pay the franchise fee; however, have no resources remaining to operate the team. This DOES affect the league as a whole. Look at the Mississippi Hound Dogs. Who is paying for that franchise now? The league, ie; all the remaining teams. And contrary to belief, if you do not advertise — you’re dead. I don’t care how small your hometown is YOU NEED TO ADVERTISE and that costs money! It does not mean simply creating a Facebook page and saying “there is our advertising.”
Indoor/Arena football seems to have cornered-the-market on owners whose team offices are their kitchen tables. And just because Smilin’ Sam the Used Car Man is successful in his business, and converts a janitors closet in the back of his dealership into team offices, does not mean he has the resources to fund the remainder of the season, or the backbone to keep going once he sees that he is losing money. The best owner would be a successful business owner who uses his team to advertise his business. As for those potential owners who say “I want to own a team because I love football and it would be cool,” hang up on them immediately! Throw them out of the league office if they actually visit! File a restraining order against them! It’s called professionalism and not everyone has it. Yes, BE PICKY! The East Kentucky Drillers, one of the better teams in the UIFL, are using the local media to publically beg for fans to donate money so the team to be able to finish the season. That’s embarrassing and should never have been allowed to happen.
This is a league problem and will never be solved until the league offices stop handing out franchises to people just because they can afford the original fee.
I have read your article on the Tarpons and the UIFL and feel that you have a wrong idea about the Tarpons, Haines, and the UIFL. I would like to invite you to either the June 9th game this Saturday ot the June 25th playoff game and discuss your concerns. I am not employed by the league or the team but am a season ticket holder who had the same concerns way before there was a public announcement last year about the team. I met with andrew back then and understand what is going on a lot better. If you say yes then let me know and I will have the tickets at will call. I hope you come so a productive dialogue can happen. I may not change your view but at least you will have a better understanding. Thanks in advance.