Riptide Make a Big Splash
Keith Antigiovanni
Thursday January 24, 2002
Cynical San Diego fans have seen a variety of sports franchises come and go over the past three decades.Some reason while listening to Riptide President/COO Gil Saidy and Head Coach Cree Morris you get the feeling that the Riptide are here to stay.
Maybe its because the team is being run by San Diegans who know the market or maybe its because the time is right for an indoor football team here.
Even the most negative of critics can see the advantages the Riptide have in San Diego. First of all, it is a built-in football market that has had professional football since 1961. Secondly the fans are starving for an exciting team that wins. Not a low-scoring 14-10 winner that play great defense but San Diego fans long for the glory days of the Air Coryell Chargers of the late 70`s-early 80`s when 50-40 games were common place.
Arena football can provide the fans with the high-scoring entertaining football that has been missing from San Diego since the days of Fouts and company.
Examine the teams the Riptide will be competing against locally: Padres, Gulls(minor league hockey) and the Spirit(women`s soccer). The Padres are the only major-league franchise of the three and neither baseball, hockey or soccer provide high-scoring that San Diego fans really want.
From an economic perspective, San Diego is one of the most expensive cities in the country. For the average fan attending a Riptide game is affordable and is something you can take the whole family to.
"San Diego is a great market. We look forward to meeting the needs of the fans and community. Overall, Arena football is a great fit for San Diego," Riptide Head Coach Cree Morris said.
Keith Antigiovanni is a free-lance writer in San Diego, California. He has worked for several local newspapers covering sports, government and business. Keith started writing in 1995 after graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Media Communications from the University of San Diego. Aside from working as a sportswriter he has a side business of providing marketing assistance/research for small businesses and also directs,produces and hosts a regular public access television show on Time-Warner Cable named "San Diego Yesterday". Antigiovanni is also a member of the San Diego Sportswriter Association.
