Can Indoor Football Ever Survive In Daytona Beach?

Recently, I had heard that the Daytona Beach Thunder, formerly a WIFL team, had been purchased and was going to become an AF2 team. That has since become a reality with the Thunder becoming the Thunderbirds. That will make it the third different league that Daytona Beach has fielded a team for in the past three years. Will this one be any more successful?

From my perspective, corporate sponsorships haven't been much of a problem. It appears that businesses in the area would love for an indoor football team to achieve success, and that they have no problem supporting one. The residents of the city, however are another story. It's not that they don't want the league to succeed, it just seems that they're indifferent to it. Most already support at least one college team and an NFL team, and after devoting time and resources to being a fan of those franchises there isn't much drive to support another football team.

You see, Florida is extremely lucky in that there are NFL and college teams that cover the whole state. From South Florida to the northeast corner, and out to the panhandle you can find a team to root for. Adding another team to the mix, especially in the niche sport like indoor football is an extremely tough thing to do. It's even harder when you have successful AFL franchises in Tampa and Orlando.

The Storm and Predators consistently draw over 10,000 fans to their games. Last year, the Thunder struggled to draw over 1,000. In fact, the team "gave away more tickets than those who showed up". Indoor football just isn't a popular enough sport to support a big fanbase in this area where college and NFL football are king, and the Predators and Storm suck up whatever fans are left.

This new affiliation with the AF2 does help the Thunderbird's cause because it's a more publicized league than the AIFL or WIFL. However, even that might not be enough because their season runs in direct competition with the Orlando Predators that play just 45 minutes away.

I think that the best chance this team has to succeed is to present it as a springboard for players who want to play for either the Preds or Storm. That way, fans can support the players early in their careers, then follow them when they move onto a bigger stage. Trying to present it as the latest and greatest sports attraction just won't work in Daytona Beach where tourism and NASCAR reign, and most of the football fandom is already spoken for.

Greyhound Racing, Now With Cocaine!

I hate reading or hearing any story where animal cruelty is involved, but this one is just too bizarre not to address.

First, the main focus of the story right now is that investigators found three dead dogs at Bread Winner Kennel. Right now they have stated that "it is not known at this time precisely what the dogs died from but one can be certain that it was not natural causes and that the dogs suffered a lonely, painful death”. That's horrible by itself, but why were they there investigating in the first place?

State investigators found three dead racing greyhounds while investigating cocaine positive drug tests on dogs at the Daytona Beach Greyhound Track, according to a group that advocates for Greyhounds.

Yes, apparently greyhounds from that kennel had tested positive for cocaine at some point during their racing event at the greyhound track.

I'm not condoning this by any means, but can you imagine a greyhound on cocaine? That thing would probably be as fast as a cheetah, though its post-race jitters would be annoying as hell. The kennel trainer, Nelson Ulrich, is probably going to be severely punished(rightfully so) thanks in part to this Vick fiasco. Hopefully part of his punishment includes running from a pack of hungry greyhounds.

Please Say A Prayer For The France Family

The France family, pioneers of NASCAR since Bill France Sr. founded it in 1948, have experienced another tragedy today as Lesa France Kennedy's husband, Dr. Bruce Kennedy, was killed in a plane crash. The Cessna 310 crashed into two homes in Sanford, FL this morning after the pilot, Michael Klemm, declared smoke in the cockpit and was attempting to land at the Orlando Sanford International Airport.

Dr. Kennedy, Michael Klemm and three other individuals, "believed to have been inside or near the homes" at the time of crash, were killed.

Dr. Kennedy's death comes just a little over a month after the death of Lesa France Kennedy's father, Bill France Jr., on June 4.

The France family has contributed countless amounts of hours and finances to the sport of stock car racing and the Daytona Beach community. My prayers go out to them during this extremely difficult time.

Also, please say a prayer for the families of the other individuals killed in this horrific crash. It truly is a tragedy.

The Death of A NASCAR Legend

Most of the time, when you hear that a NASCAR legend has died, you think about a famous racer. Dale Earnhardt, Davey Allison, Adam Petty are just a few of the NASCAR drivers that have had their careers cut short. Without Bill France Jr., however they probably wouldn't be as well known as they are. Bill France Jr. passed away today at the age of 74.

France took over the duties as the chairman of NASCAR from his father in 1972. He was a major reason why NASCAR became a billion dollar industry, and puts on some of the most attended events in the U.S. He was even responsible for helping build the Daytona International Speedway.

"France worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week as he drove a compactor, bulldozer and grader in the 13 months it took to build the track. He once even tried to use a mule to pull trees out of the swamps, because the motorized equipment kept getting stuck."

Under France's guidance, NASCAR grew it's TV presence(many times ranking behind only the NFL in the ratings), and expanded on an international scale with races in Canada, Mexico, Japan and Australia. He was a big part of the $2.4 billion TV contract that began in 2001, and of the numerous corporate sponsorships that NASCAR has secured over the years.
Without his leadership it's unlikely that NASCAR would have grown to the sport it is today. Jeff Burton had this to say about Bill France Jr.'s impact:

"His role in the impact of the sport has been huge," Burton said. "His personality came at a time when it was what our sport needed. I think he did an incredible job of basing his opinion on what he believed the facts to be and then having the courage to make that decision and see it through."

Bill France Jr. may be gone, but his legacy will live on forever through every driver that puts on a flamesuit and gets behind the wheel of a stockcar.

Daytona Beach Thunder Player Dies While Making Tackle

The most recent reports out of Daytona Beach, Florida are that Javon Camon, a defensive back on the Daytona Beach Thunder, a team in the World Indoor Football League, died while being blocked. Camon was blocked hard by Columbus Lions receiver, Juval Winston, and had to be carted off of the field after laying motionless for a number of moments. He was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center a few hours later. The Thunder was 0-1 heading into tonight's game against the Columbus Lions, and lost 45-42.

Camon was a four-time letterman while playing football for the University of South Florida from 2001-2004. He was special teams MVP in 2003, and led the team in tackles as team captain his senior year.