ABL Quest coach Brian Agler formally announced that he
will leave the team at the end of the season to become the
GM/coach of MN's WNBA expansion franchise, according to Pam
Schmid of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Agler's deal is
reported to be worth $600,000 guaranteed over three years,
plus options. ABL CEO Gary Cavalli: "Our understanding is
that Brian made this decision for financial reasons.
Apparently Minnesota made him an offer he felt he couldn't
refuse" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/18).
WAVE THE WHITE FLAG? In Columbus, Bob Hunter writes
under the header, "Agler Departure Hurts Perception Of ABL."
While "approximately 40 of the 90 ABL players are believed
to have contracts that expire at season's end," Hunter
writes that "you'd have to be blind not to see what's
happening." Agler's departure follows the recent
resignations of two GMs, the Quest's Bill McGillis and the
Xplosion's Lark Birdsong, who quit yesterday, and Hunter
calls it "another public relations disaster for a league at
war." Hunter: "It's difficult to believe that a league that
did such a fine job of attracting the sport's best players
in the beginning could have so little public relations
acumen. Placed alongside the WNBA's slick marketing machine
... the ABL looks like a rec league being run out of a
neighbor's garage." More Hunter: "In a war where perception
is everything, ABL officials apparently don't even know what
perception is. They drive one of their best assets into the
enemy camp to save a few bucks, seemingly unaware that every
ABL player whose contract expires at the end of the season
will see the signature on Agler's contract as more
handwriting on the wall" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 11/18).
