Melbourne Tigers

Melbourne Tigers Womens Basketball Association holds AGM

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The Melbourne Tigers Womens Basketball Association held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) last Monday with announcements to changes to the committee made while announcing three new committee members, those members are Donna Fisher, Stephen Letts and Karen McCrea.

The Tigers have left a link on their website that allows visitors to check out who the committee are and there is no doubt that current and new committee members will do their very best for the club, to see who is on the committee click here.

Number crunching proves United not making gains

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We Are Not United have crunched the numbers between the Tigers last four regular season games and United’s first four regular season games at Hisense and have found that the Tigers had larger numbers of attendance.

By counting the 2013/14 Tigers four regular season games at Hisense plus one final the total is 30,552 people for an average of 6110.4 so that’s 6110 people per game when rounded down while Melbourne United’s first five regular season games have had a total of 23,773 people for a total of 4754.6, rounded up to 4755 people per game which means the Tigers had 6,779 more people and a bigger average per game of 1355 people.

Now if we take only the four Tigers regular season games and exclude the finals they had 26,551 for an average of 6637.75 rounded up to 6638 while United’s first four regular season games at Hisense had a total of 20,366 at an average of 5091.5 so comparing the averages the Tigers are on top by 1547 people which proves that no matter which way you slice up the numbers the Tigers have had a superior turnout.

Melbourne United may claim a superior season overall attendance over the Tigers at the end of the season but it should be noted that the Tigers played 10 games at the smaller The Cage and only four games at Hisense with none at Margaret Court Arena compared to United who play the majority of their season at HA and MCA.

Returns do happen

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There is no denying that people hate sports teams folding, relocating or being booted out and most never return but there are teams that have gone due to various reasons only to return to the league they came from years later, below are three examples with a potential fourth example coming next year.

1. Sydney Kings returned to the NBL competition in 2010 after being removed in 2008.
2. South Sydney Rabbitohs returned to the NRL in 2002 after being booted in 1999, won title in 2014.
3. Cleveland Browns were reformed and returned to the NFL in 1999 after the original team moved to Baltimore for the 1996 season.
4. Brisbane Bullets may be back for the 2015/2016 NBL season after folding in 2008.

Although the Cleveland Browns were moved to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Ravens, legal battle erupted and after negotiation between all major parties, the Browns were declared deactivated and the intellectual property from the team name to the training facilities of the Browns were not included in the move and were protected in a trust to allow Cleveland to have the Browns back when the NFL expanded which happened in 1999 therefore the Ravens have no claim on the past success of the Browns.

South Sydney after they were left out of the league at the end of the 1999 season was reinstated to the NRL for the 2002 season thanks to court cases and people power and now with private ownership the team has become a success by regularly featuring in the finals and winning the 2014 NRL Premiership.

Sydney Kings collapsed due to fraudulent actions by Firepower International chairman Tim Johnston who brought the club for two million dollars, Sydney Kings players were owed a total upwards of a quarter of a million dollars while Super Rugby team and NRL team South Sydney Rabbitohs were left in the lurch financially after Firepower collapsed, the Kings returned to the competition in 2010 and after a slow start is now playing great Basketball.

The Brisbane Bullets fell after Eddy Groves business empire started to collapse in early 2008, banks loaned money to Groves against the value of his company’s shares and unfortunately for Groves and the Bullets his company had a massive net profit loss of 42% which combined with rumours that the company were in default of it’s lending covenants the banks were owed money and the Bullets were cut loose to try keep ABC Learning Centres afloat, unfortunately for the Bullets no buyer was found and the team was gone at the height of success.

It is now believed a return of the Brisbane Bullets would create a more solid foundation for the NBL for teams would now be in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane and so the NBL will be working overtime for the Bullets to return for the 2015/16 season.

The Melbourne Tigers situation is closer to the Cleveland Browns than the others although the team (now Melbourne United) never really left it’s home but changed everything else while keeping the Intellectual Properties of the Tigers to itself but it is hoped that common sense will prevail and the IP of the Tigers is released and in a Browns like deal a place in the NBL is given to the team in the future.

A great night for Melbourne

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Melbourne Tigers fans had plenty to cheer about last night as the Tiger teams in the VJBL scored multiple wins across the competition.

Wins were achieved by the Tigers boys and girls in Under 14’s, 16’s and 18’s matches while the Boys U/12’s and the Girls U/12 Tigers 2, U/14 Tigers 1 and U/18’s Tigers 3 fell in their matches although there is no doubt that all who participated in the matches played to the best of their ability and had fun at the end of the night.

Overall it can be said by Tigers fans that they had a much better night than Melbourne United fans whose team lost in the NBL to the New Zealand Breakers who scored revenge against United after losing on United’s home turf earlier this month.

Simmons son just like his father and potentially even better.

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Melbourne Tigers legend David (Dave) Simmons son Ben Simmons is Louisiana State University’s newest signing and he has gotten the University all excited over his playing ability with one commenting that Simmon’s signing is the best since a guy named Shaquille O’Neal signed up at LSU.

Ben Simmonds is a 206cm tall left hander and has highlight reels galore with one example being in this article but the best news is that the name is LSU’s team is the Tigers and Ben Simmons is a Boomer as well so he will be seen with the likes of Exum and Bogut well into the future which will no doubt excite those whole follow the Australian team.

Melbourne Tigers fans hope that Ben Simmons will come back to Australia after a decade in the USA and guest in the NBL joining the team that his father is considered so much a legend of that his number 25 jersey hangs high beside Ray Gordon, Warrick Giddey, Andrew Gaze, Lanard Copeland and Mark Bradkte’s retired jerseys.

Tigers fans ready to roar their support

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While the Tigers consortium is busy trying to secure business support for the SEABL plan, Tigers fans are eagerly awaiting to hear about the ways they can contribute to help the Tigers get back on their feet sooner rather than later, fans are hoping they will be able to contribute via bank deposit or Paypal to give as many fans as possible an opportunity to voluntarily contribute funding.

Another option thought up by fans for consideration by the consortium is crowdfunding although legal experts will have to look into the legalities of such an option before it can be given major consideration, those who are supporters of crowdfunding believe that if a Formula One team can do it then there is no reason why the Tigers can do so as well and hope it gets the tick of approval.

Tigers fans are also hoping to give the consortium the fans prospective on what fans would like to see and buy to help keep the cash rolling in for the Tigers to ensure long term success.

United respond to Tigers building plans

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Melbourne United have responded to the plans by a consortium aiming to restore the Melbourne Tigers to the highest levels of Basketball by repeating that they own the name and history to the proud club.

Melbourne United CEO Vince Crivelli was at first open to a new Melbourne Tigers by saying;

 ‘I think the board and (United owners) Larry (Kestelman) and Michael (Slepoy) would listen to anything – they want to see the game thrive’

Things suddenly taken a turn with Crivelli seemingly extinguishing any feelings of goodwill by next saying the following.

“I’d love to see an NBL team come in and match our funding of Basketball Victoria,” he said.

“We genuinely see ourselves as the organisation who are here to serve the game of basketball at NBL level.

“That is why it is ‘Melbourne United’ as opposed to Melbourne Tigers and its one team for all of Melbourne to get behind.”

The Age newspaper reports that United’s hold of the Tigers name in semi professional sport is a gray area and both sides are negotiating on the release which appears to be a contradiction of Crivelli’s comments unless Vince Crivelli was talking about the NBL name which is professional basketball compared to SEABL’s semi professional state.

Melbourne Tigers are understandably curious about why Kestelman, Slepoy and Crivelli did not fund Basketball Victoria when the team was the Melbourne Tigers and waited until they were a new entity to do so, it is a question that will most likely never receive an answer and will leave Tigers fans no doubt wondering what else was held back in the 2013/14 NBL season.

Tigers fans are confident that the Melbourne Tigers once they are in SEABL and are making good business will be able to match or beat Melbourne United’s contribution to SEABL and show that Melbourne United is not the lone voice in the state of affairs of Victorian basketball.

Melbourne Tigers fans are now eagerly awaiting announcements on ways that they can participate in helping the club get it’s SEABL plans underway while calling on Larry Kestelman and Michael Slepoy to be reasonable by negotiating fairly with the Tigers consortium to hand over the name and history at an affordable price so the SEABL journey can begin without problems and the expected to be slow going NBL buildup can start simultaneously as well.

What is the definition of a fan?

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What is a fan? A fan can be something that cools you down or it means that you support or follow a team or a band or some organization.

A frequent argument between United fans and Tigers fans has been the subject of membership with some United fans blaming Melbourne Tigers fans for not buying enough memberships and not attending enough games while proclaiming they had membership for years and attended every game.

Not every fan has a credit card and some don’t have the finances (like at this current economic moment) to pay off memberships if they do have a credit card, some people live too far away to make use of the membership options and some had no clue what was on offer and let’s face it finding out such things can be a problem if you don’t know where to look or know how to do what is needed to fill in online forms but regardless of the above situations those who cannot get membership are no less of a fan than somebody with membership.

The same can go for Merchandise, some people can afford every new item while some still use jerseys and items from previous seasons sometimes because they love what they’ve got and others because they can’t just go out and buy something new unless they want to fall a little behind bills or go a little hungry for a week or two but no matter what you have, you are no more or less a fan than the next person.

To this writer a fan is somebody who follows their team through the good times and the bad, every fan is treated equally no matter if they have membership or not, no matter if they’ve attended a hundred games or haven’t been to one before, no matter if they’ve been a fan for 30 years or 5 years, every person who supports a team like the Melbourne Tigers is an equal.

Tigers fans are standing taller

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Tigers fans have had a rough couple of weeks watching teams in the NBL go about the season without them and while it has been shattering it has also been enlightening as Tigers fans understand how Magic, Giants, Supercats, Dragons and Titans fans had felt and still feel when the NBL went on without them.

Fans of the teams named above have been mostly supportive although some have given Tigers fans the ha-ha message feeling the end of the Tigers is well deserved but Tigers fans have found inspiration from the fans of the teams who are fighting to get back into Basketball and now Tigers fans are eager to follow suit and get back into the Basketball spirit.

The talk around the grand city of Melbourne is that the Tigers will be making a comeback to big time basketball in the future, it is true that a comeback will involve long and potentially costly negotiation with name owners Kestleman and Slepoy in the case they feel any expansion from the VJBL and BigV teams that the original Tigers have may intrude on the Intellectual Property of the NBL Tigers name, history and material that they own.

If the tangled mess of who can have what be sorted then could we be seeing the Tigers in competitions like SEABL and the NBL plus break new ground by having a team in the WNBL in the not too distant future? Tigers fans certainly think so and hope that the fans and Tigers legends combine together with Big and Small Business to make that happen for the good of the sport not just for Melbourne but for Australia as well.

Is SEABL a good idea or a bad idea?

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The idea of the Melbourne Tigers going to SEABL before getting back into the NBL has been widely thought of, some may think that SEABL is a step backwards because the NBL to be the top league in Australia but on the other hand many believe that SEABL is superior to the NBL and is not top dogs because it has no television deal in place that could catapult it into the public’s consciousness.

While the crowds may be smaller, the amount of teams in SEABL tower over the NBL giving truth to the saying that ‘competition breeds improvement’ for the Tigers would learn plenty from SEABL before going back to the NBL, time in SEABL could also allow the Tigers to build up finances in order to re-establish itself in the top NBL teams when a return happens.

Another possibility could be that the Tigers could exist in both SEABL and the NBL as well as BigV and the VJBL becoming one big franchise so the public can see the Tigers basically anytime and anywhere knowing that players will give it their all every time in every league.

Whatever happens it is exciting times for Tigers fans even if it doesn’t look like much is happening, fans are taking a fresh look at everything to find an outcome that will bring the Tigers roaring back into Basketball while breaking free from Melbourne United and letting the two teams stand apart.

Keep on roaring Tigers fans.