New Future for Demolition
Updated: May 17, 2007
Football players for the indoor team in Danville have a lot of questions about their future with "The Demolition."
They say Tuesday night, the owner released the coach and all the players from the team. He tells us hes only releasing nine of them who he says couldnt compete at the professional level. Some players have been invited back to re-tryout for the team on Thursday night, others are still wondering if they're out for good. They're all frustrated with the way the team's been managed lately. And it's not just this latest move that's making them angry.
Tony Reetz played college ball at ISU, and just this year, he got a chance to put the pads back on with the demolition.
"I thought I still had a little football left in me," says Reetz. But the experience was different in the professional league. Players say getting the team off the ground was tough. They didn't have uniforms until the fourth game. And a local hotel says it had to kick players out at one point, because the owner owed about $2000. Players say he owed them money too, about $16,000 at one point.
Reetz says things started to pile up and then it finally all came to a crumble, when the players weren't getting paid. He says two of his paychecks bounced. But the owner, John Christner, says it was no big deal. "All players have always gotten paid. I guess there was a few problems with a couple players paychecks, so that was all. It wasn't a big deal," says Christner.
Former coach B.J. Luke says the team wanted to stick together throughout the animosity with management, and that's what it did. "That was our motto. We're just gonna ride this thing until the wheels come off. And they were sparking there at the end. We wanted to give the community something positive and the kids gave some great effort," says Luke.
And what hurts the players most, is to know their fans are being let down too. "Today at school we heard about this and our excitement just went down the drain about it all," said one fan.
Christner says a new demolition team will play next week's final home game. He hopes this move sparks change for next year. The team had a 1-10 record for the season so far.
Tony Reetz played college ball at ISU, and just this year, he got a chance to put the pads back on with the demolition.
"I thought I still had a little football left in me," says Reetz. But the experience was different in the professional league. Players say getting the team off the ground was tough. They didn't have uniforms until the fourth game. And a local hotel says it had to kick players out at one point, because the owner owed about $2000. Players say he owed them money too, about $16,000 at one point.
Reetz says things started to pile up and then it finally all came to a crumble, when the players weren't getting paid. He says two of his paychecks bounced. But the owner, John Christner, says it was no big deal. "All players have always gotten paid. I guess there was a few problems with a couple players paychecks, so that was all. It wasn't a big deal," says Christner.
Former coach B.J. Luke says the team wanted to stick together throughout the animosity with management, and that's what it did. "That was our motto. We're just gonna ride this thing until the wheels come off. And they were sparking there at the end. We wanted to give the community something positive and the kids gave some great effort," says Luke.
And what hurts the players most, is to know their fans are being let down too. "Today at school we heard about this and our excitement just went down the drain about it all," said one fan.
Christner says a new demolition team will play next week's final home game. He hopes this move sparks change for next year. The team had a 1-10 record for the season so far.
