QBREES9

Hulka I just stop bye to get all caught up !!!!

Srgt. Hulka

Thanks Q.
Hope you had a great vacation. Hope the feet are ok. LOL
Oh yeah, How 'bout them Mudbugs!

skymike

Well the Houston Aeros made it to the Calder Cup Finals but lost to Binghamton NY Senators. They graciously thanked the fans on the website. It was a great year for the Aeros.

Hey Houston, how bout next year you actually support them. Its pathetic that the record attendance is around 10,000 in a city of 4 million people. Meanwhile hockey teams in cities like Binghamton, Peoria, and Rockford sell their arenas out.

Srgt. Hulka

Congratulations to the Aeros for making it to the finals. Too bad they couldn't win the cup. It will give them more motivation for next year.

I know what you mean about the attendance. The Mudbugs have put out a statement this week that if they don’t sell 1700 season tickets by the end of the week, they cannot keep the team viable. Which means we could lose them for good. They have sold 900 so far. It’s hard to get 2000 people to a game here. I blame a lot of it on promotion. We rarely see any kind of promotion for them on TV or the radio. It’s a damn shame too. Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs is one of the best things we have to offer for entertainment here in NW Louisiana. We lost the Shreveport Captains, our Double A baseball team, several years ago. We lost the Bossier Shreveport Battlewings, our arena football team, last year to New Orleans. We've lost the Shreveport Steamers. We've lost the Shreveport Pirates. We lose everything good we have to offer the public for quality family entertainment. Let's don't lose the Mudbugs. So everybody in NW Louisiana, come on out and suppoert the Bugs. I would hate to see another quality sports team leave the area. I’ll let you know how it turns out Mike.

From the Shreveport Times:

Mudbugs Crucial Ticket Sales Efforts Continue

06/06/2011 4:02 PM -
BOSSIER CITY, LA – The 2011 Central Hockey League Champion Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs are asking for your support in the most important season ticket drive in the history of the franchise. In order to make a 15th season of hockey in Bossier-Shreveport a realistic possibility, the Mudbugs must make significant progress toward reaching our sales goals by the end of this week.

“As much as we hate to take away from the Championship celebration amongst our fans, we can’t afford to hide the reality of the situation right now,” said Owner Tommy Scott. “The league wants our commitment to play next year by the end of this week, and we are not in a position to make that kind of a pledge without being assured of the financial future of this franchise.”

“We are exploring all possible avenues to help generate revenue and streamline our operations, but the key to our continued operations lies in our ticket sales efforts. Unfortunately the timetable is against us right now, which is why we hope the community will recognize the sense of urgency we face and rally around the only sports franchise to operate continuously in this city for the last 14 years.”

To that end, the Mudbugs have set a goal of 2,500 season tickets for the 2011-2012 season. The extremely loyal and passionate base of ‘Bugs fans has already responded with a resounding number of approximately 900 season tickets sold for next season, which nearly matches the club’s season ticket number from a year ago.

If the Mudbugs can increase that total to approximately 1,750 season ticket commitments for next season by week’s end, the likelihood of the ‘Bugs having an opportunity to defend their 2011 Central Hockey League Championship next year would be greatly increased.

“Mudbugs hockey brought me to Bossier-Shreveport more than a decade ago, and since then it has become home for me and my family,” said longtime player and current Mudbugs General Manager Jason “Soupy” Campbell. “Now we are on the verge of losing a valuable source of entertainment, community service and economic development here in the Ark-La-Tex. That’s why we’re trying to inspire people who are invested in this community to step up and help us keep it here for years to come.”

“This is about much more than just hockey,” said Scott. “It’s about the overall positive impact this organization has on our community: from visits to kids at schools and hospitals to the jobs and revenue that is created for the CenturyTel Center and the City of Bossier. I’m willing to bet that the Mudbugs have touched almost everyone in this area in one way or another over the past 14 years, whether they know it or not. We don’t want that to end, but we can’t do it alone.”

The Mudbugs are currently offering a number of versatile ticket packages for the 2011-2012 season, including season tickets in five different pricing levels. Mudbugs season ticket packages are available with flexible payment plans and include a variety of discounts for children, seniors, students, active military, police and firefighters.

In addition to full season tickets, the ‘Bugs also offer a “Pick ‘Em” 16-Game Package and Flex Books to help hockey fit into your budget and busy lifestyle. For more information on Mudbugs ticket packages and how you can help keep the ‘Bugs in Bossier-Shreveport, call 752-BUGS or stop by the team office inside the CenturyTel Center today!

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, ...

skymike

How can people NOT want to go out and see live professional hockey???

I'd go to a game, just to avoid the crap on tv.

Srgt. Hulka

Well, Thanks Shreveport Bossier...YOU SUCK!!!

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs to Cease Operations

06/10/2011 12:02 AM -
BOSSIER CITY, LA – The Presidents’ Cup Champion Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs of the Central Hockey League regret to announce tonight that due to severe economic conditions and the limited timeline imposed to secure sufficient revenue for the upcoming season, the team will be forced to cease operations after 14 remarkably successful seasons in Bossier-Shreveport.

Despite tonight’s unfortunate announcement, the Mudbugs will remain open for business throughout the month of June while season ticket deposits and playoff rollover money is refunded to fans in full.

“The first thing Leslie and I want to do is thank all the fans for the outpouring of support we have received over the past week,” said Owner Tommy Scott on behalf of his family. “It’s been amazing how those people have stepped up to try and save Mudbugs Hockey. Unfortunately, time was our biggest enemy as we were forced to decide tonight about continuing and just were not able to get all the pieces put together quickly enough.”

“We’re in a position where we cannot continue to lose large sums of money like we did this year,” Scott continued. “The reason for our goal of 2,500 season tickets was not meant to be unrealistic; it was a number we had to come close to hitting in order to give us a fighting chance at making it work without significant and damaging losses. It’s basically impossible for us to continue under the current financial circumstances without the guarantee of significantly increased revenue.

“It was disappointing that the league’s deadline could not be extended and that we could not secure a meeting with SMG Management this week to discuss updating our lease. We all hoped and believed that we could get there and I can’t possibly express enough our gratitude for the support from our loyal fans. We just ran out of time.”

The entire Mudbugs organization, including staff, players, and ownership would like to extend its sincere thanks to a passionate, loyal and exuberant fan base that allowed the team to exist for 14 unforgettable years in Shreveport and Bossier City.

Thanks largely to that support, the Mudbugs created one of the most impressive winning traditions in all of minor professional hockey, beginning in 1997 and continuing all the way until the team’s final Championship triumph in Game 7 of this year’s Presidents’ Cup Finals. In their 14-year existence, the ‘Bugs compiled a record of 565-269-83 (.661%) in 917 regular season games.

In another 152 playoff games, the club cemented its excellence with 93 wins and four Presidents’ Cup Championships. The Mudbugs also won two other conference titles, three Governors’ Cup Regular Season Championships and appeared in the playoffs in 13 of their 14 seasons of competition.

During that time the club also made community involvement a top priority, with players, staff members and fans donating countless hours to charity work at local schools, hospitals and other non-profit organizations. Monetary donations, memorabilia auctions and charitable drives all became integral parts of the team’s identity throughout the area.

“We are so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this franchise for the past two years. During that time we accomplished some incredible things: building a Championship team, donating tens of thousands of dollars to charity, volunteering our time to work with kids, and entertaining over 200,000 people in the Ark-La-Tex,” said Scott.

“We want to thank Dr. Mike Plaman for bringing the team here and John Madden for his years of ownership and allowing us to buy the team, as well as the other owners in the CHL for their support. We also want to recognize our hard-working staff members, players and corporate partners for all that they’ve done. Most of all we appreciate the thousands of hard-core Mudbugs fans who have made everything worth while and helped make the last two years some of the best of our lives.”

“I think everyone is sad about this, and it will be very difficult to walk away. I hope that everyone will remember the good times they enjoyed with the Mudbugs, and who knows, maybe Mudbugs Hockey will be back some day.”

Again, the Mudbugs office inside the CenturyTel Center will be open for the remainder of the month. Starting early next week, refund checks will be available at the team office for all ticket holders who paid deposits toward 2011-2012 season tickets, including rollover from 2011 playoff ticket packages.

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, ...

foreverfan

Thanks to you most of us found out about a championship team we would have never met. I know down here in New Orleans, there was no mention of the championship that I saw. In any case, we're going to miss that iconic avatar for a few months.

Srgt. Hulka

Thanks FF. It's been fun.

foreverfan

QBREES9

Forever that is awesome.