Evil Form Prevails! Innoncents Flee! Mice Found on Mars! September 19, 1999
Richmond (Briggs) -
The twisted horrible tale that is known as the
Richmond Panthers got a lot stranger today. After tremendous effort
and much energy, the owner of the Panthers, Briggs, attempted to save
the club by moving it out of Richmond. That effort created an odd
situation, for it opened the door to a hostile takeover. So, to
recap, Briggs starts to attempt to move the team, and is ousted from
the team. Is that the end of the story? Hardly. The tale is long
and twisted, but how could it have a happy ending
like that?
As the moving vans moved into range of the massive structure that
is known as the Panther home, a strange sight appeared. A large man
wearing an expensive dark suit ran forward shouting and waving some
strange magical papers. "Halt!" he yelled in a booming voice, "stop
what your doing at once!" The large trucker glared down at him, spit
out a wad of tobacco and growled: "What do you want you ..." The man
in black
waved the magical injunction papers with
much glee . . .
Sufficient to say, at the 59th minute of the 11th hour, a
mysterious benefactor emerged and saved Briggs. For the people that
took over the enterprise in a hostile takeover forgot to shut the
door, and a dark suited man sauntered in. In a move that is rarely
seen, the hostile take-over artists were themselves hostilely
overthrown and shown the door, and the evil form prevailed. If you
listen closely, you can still hear his booming laughter echoing
throughout
Richmond.
Instantly Briggs slammed the door closed and vowed to never let it
open again. The team will be stuck in Richmond for many years to
come. That is, if Briggs wishes to keep his team. A small loophole
in the corporate charter allows much mischief to develop if the team
attempts to move permantly out of the city. As the owners of the
current Panther stadium were involved in the attempted takeover, they
will be the ones to suffer the most. In a move that has some small
precedent, like that Dallas football team in the Î50s (which played
only one season, became so bankrupt they couldn't play at home and had
to play their home games in Akron Ohio), the Richmond Panthers will
play out their home schedule in Tucker Stadium, located in Knoxville
Tennessee (the organization's AAA home). They will still be
considered the Richmond Panthers and will play next season's games in
a brand new stadium in Richmond. Strange story? The deep in debt,
decrypt Panthers spending so much money? If you must, blame it on the
man in black. The one who saved Briggs from the humiliation of being
driven from his team in great disgrace. That man in black has injected
enough money to allow the team to play out their home schedule in TN.
And play next year in a new stadium. Oh, and in a symbolic move, the
team will play in solid black uniforms for the rest of the season.
The man in black? None other than Victor Bryson, the other half of
the Bryson reports (well, more than half). Recently Sarah Gordon
became assistant GM, interim manager of the PVBL Galena Hamsters.
Well, we can't let her be the only Bryson representative in PVBL, now
can we? Wouldn't seem to be fair. So, Victor Bryson has come in and
lent his name, money and stature to the Panther enterprise and will
provide a limited service that will tend to keep him in the background
much of the time.
Bryson isn't the only new addition to the organization. The entire
front office was involved in the power struggle and must be made into
examples. For the interim, Dave Joabson, manager of the Knoxville
Cougars, the AAA team, will take over as Panther manager, and he'll be
bringing the rest of his staff along with him to fill out the Panther
dugout. It is uncertain, at this time, what will be decided for next
year's staff, but rumors abound. Briggs is exited at the opportunity
to finally be involved in the FA Plan, and so he will be taking over
interim GM duties. The man in black will be taking over PR duties,
and will generally conduct any needed business relationships will the
outside world.
