On this episode of Arena Insider Press Pass, we break down the West Texas Desert Hawks unexpectedly ceasing operations and how this affects the remaining teams with just a few weeks left of the regular season. Oregon Blackbears president also shared a letter with fans for the first time since the team's sudden departure in late May. Anthony also responds to criticism against Arena Insider made during a radio broadcast this week.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
Welcome back to another episode of ArenaSide of Press Past Power by X one
Media. I'm your host, AnthonyCarter. Thank you always for supporting this
show in X one Media. Incase you haven't already, be sure to
like and subscribe to us on ourYouTube channel. Also, we're available on
all podcasts platforms. Just search Arenainside of Press Pass and subscribe to us
on that and that way new episodeswill download directly to your device. So
(00:39):
again, I appreciate everyone that hassupported Arena Sider. Really over the last
couple of months or so, Iknow there's been a lot going on with
the league. It looked like wegot a little bit of a break a
couple of weeks ago, but nowit appears that it's starting to pick back
up again. But we'll break allof that down in just a second,
but I do want to continue tothank everyone that supports Arena Insider. Now
(01:02):
quickly, let's go ahead and lookat the games that we have slated for
this weekend only on All games willbe on June twenty second. It's a
Saturday, and a lot going onwith those games, and especially a few
that have playoff implications. So we'lldive into that in just a second.
But let's first break this down.We have the Washington wolf Pack at the
(01:23):
Southwest Kansas Storm. That's at sixPM. All these games are local time,
by the way, So again Washingtonwolf Pack against the Southwest Kansas Storm.
You got the Orlando Predators at theWichita Regulators, Aubny Firebirds will be
at the Billings Outlaws. The onegame I did skip, which is the
West Texas Desert Hawks and a Salineof Liberty because we had a lot of
(01:47):
developing news really over the last fortyeight hours or so where that game will
not happen. Instead, there willbe a change to that game. So
let's dive right into the news aboutthat the West Texas Desert Hawks are the
eighteen to suspend operations this season.That's our top story on Arena sider press
(02:07):
Pass on June eighteenth, Arena Sidehad confirmed multiple reports that the West Texas
Desert Hawks suspended operations. We confirmedwith current players in the Arena Football League
front office. From what we're toldthe Arena Football League front office, they
are aware that the West Texas DesertHawks are not They aware of the situation
(02:29):
that they're not competing the rest ofthe season and they are discussing the matter
internally. The Desert Hawks did notshare any reasons behind why they are suspending
operations. Details have been very limited, but arena side, we are continuing
to reach out to other people onthe team and kind of getting more information
(02:50):
as to why they suspended operations.So certainly an interesting situation because when you
look at the previous teams that shutdown, a lot of them came out
with statements right away. Mostly itwas surround that the league or there was
the league didn't pay them or theplayers aren't getting paid. Those were really
kind of the storylines for the otherteams that folded. I'm not sure what's
(03:14):
going on here with West Texas DesertHawks. I'm not going to assume anything,
just gonna wait and see and we'llfigure out what's going on there.
But the Desert Hawks were scheduled tobe on the road this week against the
Salign of Liberty. Now the Libertiesgeneral manager Sam Sellers. He appeared on
The Coach Oh Show, which isSalina's personal show, and acknowledged the situation,
(03:36):
but he also at the time saidthat they were unsure who the team
will play this Saturday, hear Sellerstalking about that. Unfortunately, you know,
I think today was kind of asucker punch a little bit, just
because you know, we've been feelingreally good about the direction that we've been
going. Obviously there was not goodat the beginning, but you know,
(03:59):
things happening. And that's what Ilove about our ownership group and and our
coaches, and I mean, wejust kind of worry about us and and
do the best best we can underthe circumstances. And you know, it's
for a rookie like me coming intothis, it's I couldn't imagine navigating this
season without the ownership group and andyou know coach O and coach Martinez and
(04:25):
out coach King and and and youknow coach Flax is still still there whenever
I need them. Yeah, butyeah, it's it's definitely been an interesting
five months. Now. Solana didlearn that they will be playing that game
this Saturday, but it won't beagainst an Arena Football League team. It's
going to be against the Cedar RapidsRiver Kings now they're with the American Indoor
(04:47):
Football Now the AFL. They scheduledthis non league opponent just to give the
UH just to give the Liberty atleast a game to play. Now.
Sella's also talked about, uh,I've seen a lot of comments on social
media wondering about the Nashville Cats,and that's a fair suggestion because the Nashville
Cats are on their second consecutive byeweek. But Sellers made a point as
(05:12):
to why it's unlikely that the Catswouldn't have been able to play in that
game. Here's what Sellers had tosay about that, We'll let their guys
go home or if they wanted togo home Sunday, so you got them
all over the country. I mean, if we did the same thing trying
to get them back together and thento Salina. Logistically, it's just that's
a tall order, especially in justthree days, you know, and then
(05:35):
you know practice and like I mean, it's kind of like we were able
to, you know, put ais it worth it in multiple ways financially
in and on the football field.But so again, the Salina Liberty will
be playing the Cedar Rapids River Kings. It's unclear if the game with the
(05:56):
Desert Hawks will count as a forfeit. I haven't seen anything up laded on
that. My guess is that itwill count as a win for the Desert
Hawks regardless, So excuse me forthe liberty regardless. So we'll see about
that. Now. The news aboutthe Desert Hawks, it comes at an
interesting time because about a week ago, the team dismissed former head coach Chris
Siegfield. Now, the team neverannounced the decision, never made any statement
(06:24):
about why Siegfried was released, butSiegfried did hint to it on his personal
social media account, at least fromhis understanding that he said that it was
basically because of the team's performance.The team lost their last four games after
winning three straight, so he's said, hole, at the end of the
day, we were three and four, not acceptable. It's a business and
(06:46):
a tough decision was made, andthat's what he said. He also has
some other tweets about that. Youcan check that out on his x account.
Again, continue to be a developingstory with the Desert Hawks. Will
keep you updated on arenaside of dotCom, also on our Facebook and Twitter
pages, so all the latest developments. You can check those pages out frequently
(07:09):
and also on my Twitter account.A Carter Underscore TV. The other news
that we were following, speaking ofteams, folding was the Oregon Black Bears.
So, if you remember, backin late May, the league announced
the realignment that they're moving forward withnine teams, and one of those teams
that were not included was the OregonBlack Bears. And no one knew why
(07:31):
the Oregon Black Bears were not included. So as president Pat Johnson on Wednesday
released the statement about excuse me,Tuesday released the statement about the status of
the team. He said, quote, due to the uncertainties regarding our scheduling
issues with the AFL, we wereunable to confirm opponents for our last two
(07:54):
home contests. He goes on tosay, at the close of business on
June seventeenth, we have begun reimbursingany remaining ticket holders for a June twenty
second and twenty ninth home contest.We will immediately begin preparations for our twenty
twenty five season launch. So thatnews is interesting because the Black Bears never
(08:15):
acknowledged that they're going to be stayingwith the Arena Football League. Now,
if you remember, recently, theBlack Bears extended its partnership with Humble for
those ticket sales for the remaining gameshome games this season. Now, It's
interesting because they extended that partnership withHumble for those remaining home games, but
the team weren't a part of theArena Football League, so I'm not sure
(08:37):
if the Black Bears were looking tojoin another league or schedule other leagues to
kind of get those games going regardless, But nevertheless, that deal, that
partnership doesn't seem like it's going tobe lasting long, at least for the
rest of this twenty twenty four season. Looks like the Black Bears are just
shutting down and preparing for twenty twentyfive and relaunch again. Another developing story.
(09:03):
We'll keep a close eye out onthat and we'll see what happens from
the Oregon Black Bears. I didwant to break down the standings. I
didn't do this when I was mentioningthe schedules. So current standings first place
Albany Firebirds seven and one. Thenyou have the Buildings Outlaws at six and
one, Salign the Liberty six andtwo, Orlando Predators four and two,
(09:24):
Southwest Kansas Storm four and four,Nashville Cats three and four, Wichita Regulators
one in five, Washington wolf Packexcuse me, Washington wolf Pack one in
six, excuse me, So theWichita Regulators in the Washington wolf Pack are
both eliminated from playoff contention, andas I'm looking on the fl website,
(09:46):
it appears that the West Texas DesaHawks have been removed from the standings.
So right now, currently in theplayoff picture is the Albany Firebirds. If
the playoffs were to end today,excuse me, if the regular season were
to end today and the playoffs wereto start, because I just noticed the
website refreshed as I'm recording this,so there was a little bit of shifting
(10:11):
around as far as the games.So if the playoffs were to start today,
the Orlando Predators would play the SouthwestKansas Storm they would be in the
first round. That's kind of theessentially the play in the game. Albany
Firebirds would be on the buy andthe Buildings Outlaws will play the Saligna Salign
of Liberty and the semi finals.So again this weekend, a lot is
(10:35):
at stake for both the Buildings Outlawsand the Albany Firebirds. Not sure how
they I don't want to assume,but I'm gonna say that the winner of
that game will likely be in firstplace. Now. Again, I don't
want to say that for sure becausewith West Texas being out, I don't
know if that changes the shifting ofthe games and the points and a one
(10:56):
percentage. I don't know all that. I don't have time to look through
all of that, but as it'slooking right now, it's a pretty close
race for first place. So that'llbe a great game between Albany and Billings.
Certainly will keep a close eye outon that game. So those are
our top stories. I didn't wantto address something on behalf of Arena Insider,
(11:18):
and usually I don't do this,and this is probably will be the
last time I address something like thisbecause I tune this out and I don't
want this to be the focus ofArena Insider. We were mentioned on a
Fox broadcast, the Levig and Gushshow based out of Albany, New York,
and here's what was said about ArenaInsider on that show. Go to
(11:41):
Arena Insider, who's posted this inthe last thirty minutes Again, Arena Insider
the source on this to West TexasDeser Rock's eighth team to shutdown operations this
season. Anthony Carter, the GrimReaper who only posts stuff when it's negative
is back again. The news followsthe head coach, Chris stick for at
the end of the day, butDesert Hawks face a brief setback. Okay,
developing story side. If you goto Arena Insider dot com, it's
(12:07):
all negative stories. Like you couldpost a player profile, you could do
an interview with a coach, youcould do a feature piece. I hope
our guy Michael Kelly's listening. Iknow he's on the beat, but you
watch what Michael Kelly does on thebeat. He'll do a story that's about
a player, about a coach,a human interest piece about Flock University.
If the team plays poorly, he'llgive very non biased opinions about it.
(12:33):
But that's what bothers me about thecovers of the Arena Football League, Like,
if you just want to write fiftynegative articles, then you can do
it, and then everybod's gonna colikLike you said, it bleeds the leads.
But it's like, man, like, I hope people are smart enough
to be like how I just checkedout Arena Insider again and again and again,
and you're never doing anything else buttrying to rip the league apart that
you cover that somehow well and listen. So for people who may not know
Levick is actually the team president ofthe Albany Firebirds, I'm not sure exactly
(12:58):
who guys this. I'm gonna respondto them as a collective and to everyone
else that runs the show. Andagain, I don't give people like this
much airtime, but I felt theneed to respond on behalf of a Rena
Insider, considering that this came froma media source, and for people that
(13:20):
are listening to us on the podcastairways, I did air quotes because these
aren't verified broadcasters. I consider theseto be want to be journalists, want
to be radio broadcaster, but justdudes with mics, dudes with broadcast mics.
That's all. They are, talkingkids and looking for content, looking
(13:41):
for engagement, have nothing else betterto talk about, but rather focused on
what another media website is doing.And what's interesting about what they said regarding
me and Arena Insider. They quotedour article to announce the news go to
Arena Inside. What ever's posted thisin the last thirty minutes, So it's
(14:03):
just a weird shot to take.But again, I don't you know,
I felt like I had to replyon behalf of what I built with Arena
Insider and how much has changed withinthe last ten Like Arena Insider, we're
not new. We've been covering ArenaFootball League for ten seasons. We covered
the league when it was sixteen teams, from way back when it was twelve
(14:28):
teams, when it went down toeight teams, then four teams, and
now we're back with sixteen teams,and now we're back to eight teams.
So we've covered it through it all, Okay, different commissioners, multiple commissioners.
Arena Insider were not new. We'vecovered all the stories, and if
you look on our Facebook pages,you can see if you just do some
scrolling, do some research, youcan see that we've done all of these
(14:48):
stories. When we switched over toour new servers, a lot of our
previous stories didn't transfer, so unfortunatelyit got deleted. I tried everything to
bring those stories back, but Iwas out of my control. So it
may come off that we're a newwebsite, but we're not. We've been
around for ten seasons. Because we'vebeen around for ten seasons, I need
(15:09):
people out there to understand where I'mcoming from. I'm a journalist that has
years in the game, when Icover stories, I'm not on anyone's side.
I need that to be to bevery clear. I'm not on anyone's
side. I don't pick a side. I just report on what's going on.
That's all I'm doing. That's whatseparates Arena Insider from the other websites,
(15:33):
any other social media pages and YouTubechannels that cover Arena Football League.
And this isn't even a shot tothem, because I watch all of those
shows. I watch Arena Fan Rebound, off the Net, off the Wall,
all of those different platforms, becausethat's extra content that's needed for the
Arena Football League. So I watchthose I support those shows and those websites,
(15:56):
so I have nothing negative to sayabout them. We're all just trying
to cover this league from different perspectives. So my perspective is to mostly report
on the news. Since April twentysixth, the league started with sixteen teams.
It is June twentieth, with acouple more weeks left in the regular
season. After this week, wegot one more regular season game and then
(16:18):
it's the playoffs. We are downto eight teams from sixteen. Those teams
that left Philadelphia, Soul, Minnesota, myth Louisiana, Georgia, Forest,
Oregon Black Bears, Rapid City Marshalls, Iowa Rampage and now the West Texas
Desert Hawks. Arena Insider, ArenaFan Rebound off the Net. All of
(16:40):
those other block sites had nothing todo with those teams, leaving nothing to
do right. But all we're doingis reporting on news and giving it more
depth as to why those teams left, instead of focusing on what immediate website
is doing. Instead, you shouldask yourself, why is this excuse me?
(17:03):
I got a phone call. Ineed to turn that off. It
came from Los Angeles. Must beKenrick Lamar, because Kenrick Lamar must be
knowing that I'm responding this way.So that's probably where that's coming from.
But back to point I was makingArena Insider. All I'm doing, I'm
(17:23):
reporting on the news right, reportingon what's going on. I do do
feature stories, and if you've doneyour research, you would know that I
did do a couple of interviews withcoaches. Take a look in case you
missed it. National Well season iscontinuous ongoing, So we're building a franchise,
you're building the league actually, soit's been developmental, great kids,
(17:47):
great players, young players, teachingeverybody how to play this game and from
the top down to the players.And it's been a good year so far.
We be reading a football league.In our first game, we go
straight in the deep end of thepool on NFL Network. But it's it's
been cool. It's uh, youknow, I'm pretty proud of the group
that we brought into camp. Yousaid I haven't interviewed a player, done
(18:11):
a player profile. I've done afew of those. Also, take a
look at that. What's your adviceto them? Just just just do what
you do best. Just come inhere, do what you do best.
Do you want a focus? Understandthat you you're a grown man in this
game. You know, we're professionals. Like I said before Hard five game,
(18:34):
we got a lot of love andrespect for these guys, so we
knew it was gonna be a battleall night and that's what we got.
Been communicating with your teammates and howare they doing during all of this?
Yeah, I've been in communication withall my teammates. You know, some
guys are making their way home andsome guys are stuck here with nowhere to
(18:57):
go. Now to take a stepback a bit with that interview I did
with Dean, So for people whomay not know, I initially was going
to Nashville to interview Commissioner Jeff Fisher. That was my plan because I wanted
that to be his introductory interview oneon one with Jeff Fisher. There were
(19:18):
some last minute scheduling issues with Fisher. He wasn't able to make the interview,
and I found that out as I'malready had to go on to Nashville.
It happens. I wasn't mad aboutthe cancelations happened all the time,
but I salute the Nashville Cats ownershipgroup and their media team because despite all
of that, they helped me getthat interview with Dean Cochinos. And also
(19:41):
it hasn't been released yet, butI'll tell you exclusively to everyone that's watching.
I also talk with longtime radio broadcastto Eli Gold, so I did
a feature interview with Eli Gold aswell. I just haven't released that out,
but you'll see that soon, I'msure in the next couple of weeks
or so. So I've done allthose stories. I want to think,
by the way, as I'm mentioning, I do want to think the Nashville
(20:07):
Cats Ownership Group because they were verysupportive, great people welcome me with open
arms. And on top of that, for Levig and guys, if you're
watching, they tuned into Arena Insiderand they appreciated the articles that we wrote
because it helped them with their decisions, helped them with their meetings, and
(20:33):
helped them understand everything that was goingon in the league. So there's people
that's tuning into Arena Insider for areason, right, So it's not all
just what you say is negative stories. I'm sorry that this hasn't been the
brightest Arena Football League season, butto just glance over it and pretend that
all these things aren't happening. Playersnot getting paid, getting kicked out of
(20:56):
their hotels, teams saying that they'renot set up to seed, they don't
have the right equipment, they don'thave the right venue, venues, aren't
getting paid. These are real storiesand it's not bright, and but it
is what it is, and we'regonna report on those stories. Lastly,
(21:17):
again, you visited Arena Insider again, and I appreciate you for supporting Arena
Insider. We relaunched Arena Insider inlate November twenty twenty three. As of
June twentieth, our total page viewsare more than forty three thousand, So
clearly there is an audience that arelooking at us for developing news. All
(21:41):
we're doing is just posting it,letting people know what's going on and giving
them information that often gets intentionally overlookwhich it seems that it's something that you're
appear to be doing. So again, that's all I'm going to say on
that to everyone and that continues tosupport Arena Insider, thank you and I
(22:03):
appreciate you viewing our articles, supportingus on social media. I do one
again shout out to those other ArenaFootball League block sites that are also doing
their thing and reporting the news andgetting those those other interviews, and you
know, we're just all covering itin our own different ways. And for
people out there that's watching, they'llpay attention to talking heads who are they
(22:26):
just get on the mic and juststart talking. I don't even know how
those media spaces like Fox Sports Networkeven gave them a voice. Clearly that
no one has done research and noone has verified to do research on them
and to verify where they're from.But it is what it is. I'm
not in charge over at Fox.I just want to put that out there.
(22:47):
So again, thank you all forsupporting this show and Arena Cider Press
past. We'll see you next time. Tune into Week nine of the Arena
Football League a lot of Test Steakand we'll see you again next week.
I'm Anthony Carter, Great, Big
Welcome back to another episode of ArenaSide of Press Past Power by X one
Media. I'm your host, AnthonyCarter. Thank you always for supporting this
show in X one Media. Incase you haven't already, be sure to
like and subscribe to us on ourYouTube channel. Also, we're available on
all podcasts platforms. Just search Arenainside of Press Pass and subscribe to us
on that and that way new episodeswill download directly to your device. So
(00:39):
again, I appreciate everyone that hassupported Arena Sider. Really over the last
couple of months or so, Iknow there's been a lot going on with
the league. It looked like wegot a little bit of a break a
couple of weeks ago, but nowit appears that it's starting to pick back
up again. But we'll break allof that down in just a second,
but I do want to continue tothank everyone that supports Arena Insider. Now
(01:02):
quickly, let's go ahead and lookat the games that we have slated for
this weekend only on All games willbe on June twenty second. It's a
Saturday, and a lot going onwith those games, and especially a few
that have playoff implications. So we'lldive into that in just a second.
But let's first break this down.We have the Washington wolf Pack at the
(01:23):
Southwest Kansas Storm. That's at sixPM. All these games are local time,
by the way, So again Washingtonwolf Pack against the Southwest Kansas Storm.
You got the Orlando Predators at theWichita Regulators, Aubny Firebirds will be
at the Billings Outlaws. The onegame I did skip, which is the
West Texas Desert Hawks and a Salineof Liberty because we had a lot of
(01:47):
developing news really over the last fortyeight hours or so where that game will
not happen. Instead, there willbe a change to that game. So
let's dive right into the news aboutthat the West Texas Desert Hawks are the
eighteen to suspend operations this season.That's our top story on Arena sider press
(02:07):
Pass on June eighteenth, Arena Sidehad confirmed multiple reports that the West Texas
Desert Hawks suspended operations. We confirmedwith current players in the Arena Football League
front office. From what we're toldthe Arena Football League front office, they
are aware that the West Texas DesertHawks are not They aware of the situation
(02:29):
that they're not competing the rest ofthe season and they are discussing the matter
internally. The Desert Hawks did notshare any reasons behind why they are suspending
operations. Details have been very limited, but arena side, we are continuing
to reach out to other people onthe team and kind of getting more information
(02:50):
as to why they suspended operations.So certainly an interesting situation because when you
look at the previous teams that shutdown, a lot of them came out
with statements right away. Mostly itwas surround that the league or there was
the league didn't pay them or theplayers aren't getting paid. Those were really
kind of the storylines for the otherteams that folded. I'm not sure what's
(03:14):
going on here with West Texas DesertHawks. I'm not going to assume anything,
just gonna wait and see and we'llfigure out what's going on there.
But the Desert Hawks were scheduled tobe on the road this week against the
Salign of Liberty. Now the Libertiesgeneral manager Sam Sellers. He appeared on
The Coach Oh Show, which isSalina's personal show, and acknowledged the situation,
(03:36):
but he also at the time saidthat they were unsure who the team
will play this Saturday, hear Sellerstalking about that. Unfortunately, you know,
I think today was kind of asucker punch a little bit, just
because you know, we've been feelingreally good about the direction that we've been
going. Obviously there was not goodat the beginning, but you know,
(03:59):
things happening. And that's what Ilove about our ownership group and and our
coaches, and I mean, wejust kind of worry about us and and
do the best best we can underthe circumstances. And you know, it's
for a rookie like me coming intothis, it's I couldn't imagine navigating this
season without the ownership group and andyou know coach O and coach Martinez and
(04:25):
out coach King and and and youknow coach Flax is still still there whenever
I need them. Yeah, butyeah, it's it's definitely been an interesting
five months. Now. Solana didlearn that they will be playing that game
this Saturday, but it won't beagainst an Arena Football League team. It's
going to be against the Cedar RapidsRiver Kings now they're with the American Indoor
(04:47):
Football Now the AFL. They scheduledthis non league opponent just to give the
UH just to give the Liberty atleast a game to play. Now.
Sella's also talked about, uh,I've seen a lot of comments on social
media wondering about the Nashville Cats,and that's a fair suggestion because the Nashville
Cats are on their second consecutive byeweek. But Sellers made a point as
(05:12):
to why it's unlikely that the Catswouldn't have been able to play in that
game. Here's what Sellers had tosay about that, We'll let their guys
go home or if they wanted togo home Sunday, so you got them
all over the country. I mean, if we did the same thing trying
to get them back together and thento Salina. Logistically, it's just that's
a tall order, especially in justthree days, you know, and then
(05:35):
you know practice and like I mean, it's kind of like we were able
to, you know, put ais it worth it in multiple ways financially
in and on the football field.But so again, the Salina Liberty will
be playing the Cedar Rapids River Kings. It's unclear if the game with the
(05:56):
Desert Hawks will count as a forfeit. I haven't seen anything up laded on
that. My guess is that itwill count as a win for the Desert
Hawks regardless, So excuse me forthe liberty regardless. So we'll see about
that. Now. The news aboutthe Desert Hawks, it comes at an
interesting time because about a week ago, the team dismissed former head coach Chris
Siegfield. Now, the team neverannounced the decision, never made any statement
(06:24):
about why Siegfried was released, butSiegfried did hint to it on his personal
social media account, at least fromhis understanding that he said that it was
basically because of the team's performance.The team lost their last four games after
winning three straight, so he's said, hole, at the end of the
day, we were three and four, not acceptable. It's a business and
(06:46):
a tough decision was made, andthat's what he said. He also has
some other tweets about that. Youcan check that out on his x account.
Again, continue to be a developingstory with the Desert Hawks. Will
keep you updated on arenaside of dotCom, also on our Facebook and Twitter
pages, so all the latest developments. You can check those pages out frequently
(07:09):
and also on my Twitter account.A Carter Underscore TV. The other news
that we were following, speaking ofteams, folding was the Oregon Black Bears.
So, if you remember, backin late May, the league announced
the realignment that they're moving forward withnine teams, and one of those teams
that were not included was the OregonBlack Bears. And no one knew why
(07:31):
the Oregon Black Bears were not included. So as president Pat Johnson on Wednesday
released the statement about excuse me,Tuesday released the statement about the status of
the team. He said, quote, due to the uncertainties regarding our scheduling
issues with the AFL, we wereunable to confirm opponents for our last two
(07:54):
home contests. He goes on tosay, at the close of business on
June seventeenth, we have begun reimbursingany remaining ticket holders for a June twenty
second and twenty ninth home contest.We will immediately begin preparations for our twenty
twenty five season launch. So thatnews is interesting because the Black Bears never
(08:15):
acknowledged that they're going to be stayingwith the Arena Football League. Now,
if you remember, recently, theBlack Bears extended its partnership with Humble for
those ticket sales for the remaining gameshome games this season. Now, It's
interesting because they extended that partnership withHumble for those remaining home games, but
the team weren't a part of theArena Football League, so I'm not sure
(08:37):
if the Black Bears were looking tojoin another league or schedule other leagues to
kind of get those games going regardless, But nevertheless, that deal, that
partnership doesn't seem like it's going tobe lasting long, at least for the
rest of this twenty twenty four season. Looks like the Black Bears are just
shutting down and preparing for twenty twentyfive and relaunch again. Another developing story.
(09:03):
We'll keep a close eye out onthat and we'll see what happens from
the Oregon Black Bears. I didwant to break down the standings. I
didn't do this when I was mentioningthe schedules. So current standings first place
Albany Firebirds seven and one. Thenyou have the Buildings Outlaws at six and
one, Salign the Liberty six andtwo, Orlando Predators four and two,
(09:24):
Southwest Kansas Storm four and four,Nashville Cats three and four, Wichita Regulators
one in five, Washington wolf Packexcuse me, Washington wolf Pack one in
six, excuse me, So theWichita Regulators in the Washington wolf Pack are
both eliminated from playoff contention, andas I'm looking on the fl website,
(09:46):
it appears that the West Texas DesaHawks have been removed from the standings.
So right now, currently in theplayoff picture is the Albany Firebirds. If
the playoffs were to end today,excuse me, if the regular season were
to end today and the playoffs wereto start, because I just noticed the
website refreshed as I'm recording this,so there was a little bit of shifting
(10:11):
around as far as the games.So if the playoffs were to start today,
the Orlando Predators would play the SouthwestKansas Storm they would be in the
first round. That's kind of theessentially the play in the game. Albany
Firebirds would be on the buy andthe Buildings Outlaws will play the Saligna Salign
of Liberty and the semi finals.So again this weekend, a lot is
(10:35):
at stake for both the Buildings Outlawsand the Albany Firebirds. Not sure how
they I don't want to assume,but I'm gonna say that the winner of
that game will likely be in firstplace. Now. Again, I don't
want to say that for sure becausewith West Texas being out, I don't
know if that changes the shifting ofthe games and the points and a one
(10:56):
percentage. I don't know all that. I don't have time to look through
all of that, but as it'slooking right now, it's a pretty close
race for first place. So that'llbe a great game between Albany and Billings.
Certainly will keep a close eye outon that game. So those are
our top stories. I didn't wantto address something on behalf of Arena Insider,
(11:18):
and usually I don't do this,and this is probably will be the
last time I address something like thisbecause I tune this out and I don't
want this to be the focus ofArena Insider. We were mentioned on a
Fox broadcast, the Levig and Gushshow based out of Albany, New York,
and here's what was said about ArenaInsider on that show. Go to
(11:41):
Arena Insider, who's posted this inthe last thirty minutes Again, Arena Insider
the source on this to West TexasDeser Rock's eighth team to shutdown operations this
season. Anthony Carter, the GrimReaper who only posts stuff when it's negative
is back again. The news followsthe head coach, Chris stick for at
the end of the day, butDesert Hawks face a brief setback. Okay,
developing story side. If you goto Arena Insider dot com, it's
(12:07):
all negative stories. Like you couldpost a player profile, you could do
an interview with a coach, youcould do a feature piece. I hope
our guy Michael Kelly's listening. Iknow he's on the beat, but you
watch what Michael Kelly does on thebeat. He'll do a story that's about
a player, about a coach,a human interest piece about Flock University.
If the team plays poorly, he'llgive very non biased opinions about it.
(12:33):
But that's what bothers me about thecovers of the Arena Football League, Like,
if you just want to write fiftynegative articles, then you can do
it, and then everybod's gonna colikLike you said, it bleeds the leads.
But it's like, man, like, I hope people are smart enough
to be like how I just checkedout Arena Insider again and again and again,
and you're never doing anything else buttrying to rip the league apart that
you cover that somehow well and listen. So for people who may not know
Levick is actually the team president ofthe Albany Firebirds, I'm not sure exactly
(12:58):
who guys this. I'm gonna respondto them as a collective and to everyone
else that runs the show. Andagain, I don't give people like this
much airtime, but I felt theneed to respond on behalf of a Rena
Insider, considering that this came froma media source, and for people that
(13:20):
are listening to us on the podcastairways, I did air quotes because these
aren't verified broadcasters. I consider theseto be want to be journalists, want
to be radio broadcaster, but justdudes with mics, dudes with broadcast mics.
That's all. They are, talkingkids and looking for content, looking
(13:41):
for engagement, have nothing else betterto talk about, but rather focused on
what another media website is doing.And what's interesting about what they said regarding
me and Arena Insider. They quotedour article to announce the news go to
Arena Inside. What ever's posted thisin the last thirty minutes, So it's
(14:03):
just a weird shot to take.But again, I don't you know,
I felt like I had to replyon behalf of what I built with Arena
Insider and how much has changed withinthe last ten Like Arena Insider, we're
not new. We've been covering ArenaFootball League for ten seasons. We covered
the league when it was sixteen teams, from way back when it was twelve
(14:28):
teams, when it went down toeight teams, then four teams, and
now we're back with sixteen teams,and now we're back to eight teams.
So we've covered it through it all, Okay, different commissioners, multiple commissioners.
Arena Insider were not new. We'vecovered all the stories, and if
you look on our Facebook pages,you can see if you just do some
scrolling, do some research, youcan see that we've done all of these
(14:48):
stories. When we switched over toour new servers, a lot of our
previous stories didn't transfer, so unfortunatelyit got deleted. I tried everything to
bring those stories back, but Iwas out of my control. So it
may come off that we're a newwebsite, but we're not. We've been
around for ten seasons. Because we'vebeen around for ten seasons, I need
(15:09):
people out there to understand where I'mcoming from. I'm a journalist that has
years in the game, when Icover stories, I'm not on anyone's side.
I need that to be to bevery clear. I'm not on anyone's
side. I don't pick a side. I just report on what's going on.
That's all I'm doing. That's whatseparates Arena Insider from the other websites,
(15:33):
any other social media pages and YouTubechannels that cover Arena Football League.
And this isn't even a shot tothem, because I watch all of those
shows. I watch Arena Fan Rebound, off the Net, off the Wall,
all of those different platforms, becausethat's extra content that's needed for the
Arena Football League. So I watchthose I support those shows and those websites,
(15:56):
so I have nothing negative to sayabout them. We're all just trying
to cover this league from different perspectives. So my perspective is to mostly report
on the news. Since April twentysixth, the league started with sixteen teams.
It is June twentieth, with acouple more weeks left in the regular
season. After this week, wegot one more regular season game and then
(16:18):
it's the playoffs. We are downto eight teams from sixteen. Those teams
that left Philadelphia, Soul, Minnesota, myth Louisiana, Georgia, Forest,
Oregon Black Bears, Rapid City Marshalls, Iowa Rampage and now the West Texas
Desert Hawks. Arena Insider, ArenaFan Rebound off the Net. All of
(16:40):
those other block sites had nothing todo with those teams, leaving nothing to
do right. But all we're doingis reporting on news and giving it more
depth as to why those teams left, instead of focusing on what immediate website
is doing. Instead, you shouldask yourself, why is this excuse me?
(17:03):
I got a phone call. Ineed to turn that off. It
came from Los Angeles. Must beKenrick Lamar, because Kenrick Lamar must be
knowing that I'm responding this way.So that's probably where that's coming from.
But back to point I was makingArena Insider. All I'm doing, I'm
(17:23):
reporting on the news right, reportingon what's going on. I do do
feature stories, and if you've doneyour research, you would know that I
did do a couple of interviews withcoaches. Take a look in case you
missed it. National Well season iscontinuous ongoing, So we're building a franchise,
you're building the league actually, soit's been developmental, great kids,
(17:47):
great players, young players, teachingeverybody how to play this game and from
the top down to the players.And it's been a good year so far.
We be reading a football league.In our first game, we go
straight in the deep end of thepool on NFL Network. But it's it's
been cool. It's uh, youknow, I'm pretty proud of the group
that we brought into camp. Yousaid I haven't interviewed a player, done
(18:11):
a player profile. I've done afew of those. Also, take a
look at that. What's your adviceto them? Just just just do what
you do best. Just come inhere, do what you do best.
Do you want a focus? Understandthat you you're a grown man in this
game. You know, we're professionals. Like I said before Hard five game,
(18:34):
we got a lot of love andrespect for these guys, so we
knew it was gonna be a battleall night and that's what we got.
Been communicating with your teammates and howare they doing during all of this?
Yeah, I've been in communication withall my teammates. You know, some
guys are making their way home andsome guys are stuck here with nowhere to
(18:57):
go. Now to take a stepback a bit with that interview I did
with Dean, So for people whomay not know, I initially was going
to Nashville to interview Commissioner Jeff Fisher. That was my plan because I wanted
that to be his introductory interview oneon one with Jeff Fisher. There were
(19:18):
some last minute scheduling issues with Fisher. He wasn't able to make the interview,
and I found that out as I'malready had to go on to Nashville.
It happens. I wasn't mad aboutthe cancelations happened all the time,
but I salute the Nashville Cats ownershipgroup and their media team because despite all
of that, they helped me getthat interview with Dean Cochinos. And also
(19:41):
it hasn't been released yet, butI'll tell you exclusively to everyone that's watching.
I also talk with longtime radio broadcastto Eli Gold, so I did
a feature interview with Eli Gold aswell. I just haven't released that out,
but you'll see that soon, I'msure in the next couple of weeks
or so. So I've done allthose stories. I want to think,
by the way, as I'm mentioning, I do want to think the Nashville
(20:07):
Cats Ownership Group because they were verysupportive, great people welcome me with open
arms. And on top of that, for Levig and guys, if you're
watching, they tuned into Arena Insiderand they appreciated the articles that we wrote
because it helped them with their decisions, helped them with their meetings, and
(20:33):
helped them understand everything that was goingon in the league. So there's people
that's tuning into Arena Insider for areason, right, So it's not all
just what you say is negative stories. I'm sorry that this hasn't been the
brightest Arena Football League season, butto just glance over it and pretend that
all these things aren't happening. Playersnot getting paid, getting kicked out of
(20:56):
their hotels, teams saying that they'renot set up to seed, they don't
have the right equipment, they don'thave the right venue, venues, aren't
getting paid. These are real storiesand it's not bright, and but it
is what it is, and we'regonna report on those stories. Lastly,
(21:17):
again, you visited Arena Insider again, and I appreciate you for supporting Arena
Insider. We relaunched Arena Insider inlate November twenty twenty three. As of
June twentieth, our total page viewsare more than forty three thousand, So
clearly there is an audience that arelooking at us for developing news. All
(21:41):
we're doing is just posting it,letting people know what's going on and giving
them information that often gets intentionally overlookwhich it seems that it's something that you're
appear to be doing. So again, that's all I'm going to say on
that to everyone and that continues tosupport Arena Insider, thank you and I
(22:03):
appreciate you viewing our articles, supportingus on social media. I do one
again shout out to those other ArenaFootball League block sites that are also doing
their thing and reporting the news andgetting those those other interviews, and you
know, we're just all covering itin our own different ways. And for
people out there that's watching, they'llpay attention to talking heads who are they
(22:26):
just get on the mic and juststart talking. I don't even know how
those media spaces like Fox Sports Networkeven gave them a voice. Clearly that
no one has done research and noone has verified to do research on them
and to verify where they're from.But it is what it is. I'm
not in charge over at Fox.I just want to put that out there.
(22:47):
So again, thank you all forsupporting this show and Arena Cider Press
past. We'll see you next time. Tune into Week nine of the Arena
Football League a lot of Test Steakand we'll see you again next week.
I'm Anthony Carter, Great, Big
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