MLN Sports Zone - Minor League Sports Magazine

T-Bears Seeking Good Home
The [Your City Here] Thunderbears. Wanted: Good Home with Loving Owner. NFL Franchises & Dedicated Multimillionaires Only Please Apply.

Houston - 07.09.01 - The Thunderbears are looking for a good home, with nurturing owners who have a vision for a new direction for the team.

The Thunderbears found themselves in the AFL's team shelter this year after their ownership abandoned them on the streets of Houston.

"We are announcing a decision which reflects a commitment of our organization to concentrate on designing and constructing a state-of-the-art arena for our fans and our community and our core NBA and WNBA franchises," Rockets' Chief Financial Officer Marcus Jolibois said in a joint press announcement with AFL Commissioner David Baker prior to the beginning of the 2001 season.

The announcement capped six seasons of ownership by Houston Rockets owner Leslie L. Alexander, who was awarded an expansion franchise for the City of Houston in October of 1995. Fans and staff of the Thunderbears complain that Alexander progressively lost interest in the team, diverting money away from the promotions and advertising that had surrounded the inaugural year of the team to Alexander's WNBA Comets franchise.

The team lacked strong marketing direction from the start. Originally branded as the "Texas Terror" replete with Frankenstein logos, the Thunderbears were born in December of 1997 after two less than Terror-fying seasons.

It was further announced that the AFL would take over the team, and, instead of playing in the Compaq Center, where the team had been barely drawing Arena2-size crowds of about 3,300, the team would become the Harlem Globetrotters of the AFL, playing in "host" home cities to showcase the AFL product.

As a new owner, you may have your work cut out for you. In the win-loss column, the Thunderbears have had several less-than-stellar seasons, finishing 3-10 with a 47-70 loss at Tampa Bay this year, 3-11 in 2000, and 4-10 in 1999. There has only been one playoff appearance for the team since its inception.

Yet, look at the stats more carefully, and you see a team that repeatedly was just a goal or two shy of a win. A team which put up numbers as good as many of the victors in their contests this season, with 50.5 points per game (ppg) versus opponents' 55.6 PPG, even with injuries to key players.

"It's pretty clear we've been mathematically eliminated," Head Coach Steve Thonn told his players at the close of the last regular season practice in Houston. "I still want you to go out there and put up your numbers. Who knows where any of us are going to be next season. Show them what you can do..."

Thonn has been Head Coach of the Thunderbears since the end of the 1997 season, when the team changed its name and its approach to the game. Thonn's first season has been the franchise's best to date, with its only playoff appearance in 1998.

The Thunderbears' record belies a lot of the improvements which Thonn has made in the team, including some key trades and acquisitions which have kept the T-bears in the hunt for a division title. From 1998 to 2000, the ThunderBears led the AFL in total offense setting a single-season league record in passing yards, with 4,665, and total yards, with 4,756 in 1999.

Still, without the marketing push which brought out over 9,100 per game average in the inaugural season, and several years of low performance to water down the enthusiasm of the media and fans alike, the T-bears have been averaging between 4,100 and 3,400 per game over the last two seasons.

The league, however, is far from bearish about the Thunderbears future, possibly even in Houston. "The league is talking to several potential owners," said Jennifer Boehm, spokesperson for the AFL.

Indeed, the AFL has seen much closer ties with the NFL over the past few years. Many of the teams that have changed ownership, or had significant investments, have had them come from NFL franchise owners. The AFL has worked well over the last few years separating itself from the IPFL and other competitors as a quality source of talent for the NFL. Kurt Warner's conversion from the AFL to the Rams put the AFL solidly on the map, and lent great credibility to the league with national sports media.

The dawn of NFL football in Houston with the arrival of the Houston Texans may actually be a benefit to the Thunderbears if their new ownership decides to keep them in Houston. "Anything that brings football to a city is good for Arena football," said Boehm. Boehm could not confirm any interest by the Texans' management in developing the Arena team in Houston. Texans' management was not available for comment for this article.

It is known that the AFL would like to see an owner with NFL ties for the T-Bears. Short of that, they are seeking an owner with the commitment and the deep pockets to see the team through transition in whatever market becomes its final destination.

The players are still organizing and planning on being together. At final practice players were reminded to vote on organizing into a formal union. Veterans like Terence Davis are keeping the team together by working with the younger guys, keeping them together with social activities and workouts until word from above comes as to where they will play next season.

If the team is dissolved, players still under contract who are not free agents will enter a dispersion draft. "I don't perceive that happening," said Boehm confidently.

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