Elite Opportunities futures game

[dmksioux]

Any if you here what the deal was with this?? http://eliteopportunities.org/international-news/international-futures-all-star-game-announced/#comment-8

i don't recall hearing or seeing anything in the local media.  Turned out to be a pretty crummy deal for those who showed up for it.    

http://www.valleynewslive.com/news/local/headlines/2016-International-Futures-All-Star-Game-cancelled-368791581.html?device=phone&c=y

[homer]

I never heard anything about this.  You would think something like this would get local media attention.  

[jdub27]

36 minutes ago, homer said:

I never heard anything about this.  You would think something like this would get local media attention.  

There was something on it on WDAY/Z's 10pm telecast last night but that was the only mention I've seen of it.

[dmksioux]

2 hours ago, homer said:

I never heard anything about this.  You would think something like this would get local media attention.  

The website has a UND football logo on it.  Not good publicity.  I'm surprised the Alerus or the GF media wasn't publicizing it...just seems like a weird deal all around.

[jdub27]

56 minutes ago, dmksioux said:

The website has a UND football logo on it.  Not good publicity.  I'm surprised the Alerus or the GF media wasn't publicizing it...just seems like a weird deal all around.

The only thing UND would have to do with it is that they (along with a lot of others) do some scouting at the event. Curious if they know their logo is being used. Agreed that any affiliation, even if just perceived, isn't ideal. 

[82SiouxGuy]

3 hours ago, dmksioux said:

The website has a UND football logo on it.  Not good publicity.  I'm surprised the Alerus or the GF media wasn't publicizing it...just seems like a weird deal all around.

It was on the Alerus website. I saw it listed last week when I was looking for another event. But the Alerus Center isn't going to spend money promoting an event for an outside group. That normally isn't part of the rental agreement. The only time the Alerus would do that is if the renting party paid extra for those services. And normally the media doesn't go looking for events to publicize. If the group putting on the event didn't reach out to the media, the media may not even know that it was going on. At first glance this looks like a group (or individual) that was way over their head and didn't have a clue about how to put on an event of that size.

[UND-1]

8 hours ago, jdub27 said:

The only thing UND would have to do with it is that they (along with a lot of others) do some scouting at the event. Curious if they know their logo is being used. Agreed that any affiliation, even if just perceived, isn't ideal. 

Don't believe coaches can recruit in person or evaluate in person now.  So this thing was for tape and measurables.

[Cratter]

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/local-sports/3948764-semi-pro-coach-all-star-football-event-was-absolute-fiasco

[cberkas]

1 hour ago, Cratter said:

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/local-sports/3948764-semi-pro-coach-all-star-football-event-was-absolute-fiasco

Will Mattis looks like he's 20.

His dad, Bill Mattis, owns Allstar Inc sports agency.

It looks like he works for his dad.

The whole thing sounds like a scam.

[drg8797]

You are lucky that you didn't know anything about these games. We drove all the way from Toronto. This was a complete pile of crap. We lost thousands of dollars and are now dealing with the embarrassment of being scammed.

[UND-1]

11 minutes ago, drg8797 said:

You are lucky that you didn't know anything about these games. We drove all the way from Toronto. This was a complete pile of crap. We lost thousands of dollars and are now dealing with the embarrassment of being scammed.

Very sorry to hear that.  These type of games, whether HS or College, seem to be popping up more and more and most of the new one's usually end up being a disaster.  

How did this game get popular with the Canada prospects and what did they say is the benefit of playing in it?  Who was the liaison up there promoting it?

[jdub27]

3 hours ago, UND-1 said:

Don't believe coaches can recruit in person or evaluate in person now.  So this thing was for tape and measurables.

Bad wording on my part. Just wanted to make it clear that UND didn't have any more to do with the event than any other local schools/coaches. The only reference I saw to UND anywhere was a screenshot of the Alerus Center's website with the event details that has the UND Football logo up in the corner (which I guess should be a credit to the Alerus Center for prominently displaying that on all of their pages now).

Bad deal around. Very unfortunate situation for the athletes and their families who spent time and money on what they thought would be an investment for their future.

[Cratter]

Was there a gf connection I'm not seeing?

Or did they just pick the Alerus Center because it's probably one of the few northern indoor stadiums (with cheap rent)?

[dakotadan]

I had seen this listed on the Al's website a week or two ago and wondered what it was. I did a two second Google search and after reading about it was surprised that it wasn't being discussed here. An annual event like this seems like it could become a good deal for GF, the Al, and UND football. Too bad it turned out to be a cluster. 

[Fetch]

Maybe this was the pre-Bison/Sioux game & everyone missed it 

Seriously sounds like a terrible scam - that probably had good original intentions but Failed Miserably - Kids stuck with No rooms No food a few walked from Airport to Alerus Arena 

Grand Forks & Alerus Center need to try & bring justice to this - so it can never happen again 

[UND1983]

Just now, Fetch said:

Maybe this was the pre-Bison/Sioux game & everyone missed it 

Seriously sounds like a terrible scam - that probably had good original intentions but Failed Miserably - Kids stuck with No rooms No food a few walked from Airport to Alerus Arena 

Grand Forks & Alerus Center need to try & bring justice to this - so it can never happen again 

That really happened?

[Fetch]

Would a Bond be possible for somthing like this ?

[Fetch]

150 showed up out of 300 that might have paid $400 each 

 

[Siouxphan27]

37 minutes ago, Fetch said:

Maybe this was the pre-Bison/Sioux game & everyone missed it 

Seriously sounds like a terrible scam - that probably had good original intentions but Failed Miserably - Kids stuck with No rooms No food a few walked from Airport to Alerus Arena 

Grand Forks & Alerus Center  Elite Opportunities needs to try & bring justice to this - so it can never happen again 

FYP.

[Fetch]

I think they will disappear 

[dmksioux]

The organizer of the event has an interview in the GF Herald today.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/local-sports/3950679-organizer-failed-gf-football-event-responds-criticism

I can't believe the whole thing fell apart because of jerseys.  He doesn't address the question of not having coaches, officials, etc.  

[Cratter]

I'd guess he thought it would be a nice money making endeavor for him but ended up costing more than he thought. Poor planning all around. I don't think it was a scam.