Having problems with message search?
Wow .........great story Tom..............I bet you could write a book 'bout that era of time. Who skated on the Midwest Birds ? I thought the T-Birds and Roller Games in general was still going strong in Los Angeles in '75 ?
Jim
From: Tom <reftom@...>
To: bankedtracknews@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, August 9, 2009 3:50:56 PM
Subject: [BANKED TRACK NEWS] (unknown)
gjdodger said:
I'll admit I don't have a pat answer for that. But I think the reason it's not working in big cities is the cost and the competition. There is a heckuva lot to do in LA; where I am, in Little Rock, there is comparatively much less. So, my argument is you'll probably get crowds of equal size at either venue--several hundred, maybe a couple thousand--but it costs a lot less to rent an arena here than there, even in the outlying burgs. Plus, there are other expenses--energy, lodging, food, workforce. All of those are much cheaper in the mid-south than in Los Angeles. You can make it work with those small crowds here. Or you could, before all this happened.
I know what you're saying...but I am doing the wrestling circuit in Arkansas right now. Shows on the weekends and having the time of my life. People who want to be entertained and love the product will show up. Our big crowds of 300-500 people will attest to that.
Nothing happens any more without television, especially when you're trying to promote a sport that most people under 25 have never seen. I am not saying it would be impossible, but something like we did in the Midwest in 1975 could work again. I was with the T-Birds then and we had our shows every weekend. TV in St Louis, Chicago and the rest of the midwest was cheap (especially on the UHF stations) and you could get ads for next to nothing. One semi held the track and was put up with a crew of six or so.
The old circuit had us in Chicago on Friday night, another midwest town on Saturday night and St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. There was a track at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis and the union guys would bring it across from where they stored it in the garage so it could be set up. It was nice because I ended up in St. Louis and could pick up my car from the airport and drive home after the game. Then next week, we'd do it all again. Staying at the Stockyard Inn in Chicago, in the shadow of the International Amphitheater. The training track was on the second floor of the building and was where I lost my first pair of glasses...chalk it up to announcers trying to skate.
Hammond, Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis and the list went on...many places to skate, many friends to meet. I enjoyed each and every minute of it. My wrestling friends are all jealous because I got to do what I loved in front of 8,000-10,000 people at a time. And the two weeks that Ed Derian took off gave me the chance to do it all again in front of a new audience. The East Coast swing...Trenton, Cherry Hill, Pittsburgh, Philly (The Spectrum) and learning that Ralphie spoke better Japanese than English...LOL
WOW! What a flashback.
It could work again...and I'd only be worried about losing the first million.
Tom Seib
Former Trackside Announcer
Midwest Thunderbirds
Offline 
Send Email