Lemurs release 2012 schedule

The Lemurs released their 2012 schedule of games on Wednesday, along with the American Association’s announcement that it has allied with the Can-Am league to form interlocking, 100-game schedules.
The Lemurs begin their inaugural campaign on May 17 with a seven-game homestand against division rival Grand Prarie and then Winnipeg before taking off on a seven-game road trip.
The season wraps up on Sept. 3 when Laredo plays at Gary (Ind.) Southshore, with their last home game coming on Aug. 26 against El Paso.
The Lemurs’ 2012 season schedule, with home games in italics:
May
May 17-20: vs. Grand Prarie, 7:30 p.m.
May 21-23: vs. Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.
May 24-27: at Amarillo, TBD.
May 28-30: at Lincoln, TBD.
June
June 1-3: vs. El Paso, 7:30 p.m.
June 4-6: at Grand Prairie, TBD.
June 7-10: vs. Amarillo, 7:30 p.m.
June 11-13: at Grand Prairie, TBD.
June 14-16: vs. El Paso, 7:30 p.m.
June 18-20: vs. Gary, 7:30 p.m.
June 22-24: at El Paso, TBD.
June 25-27: at Amarillo, TBD.
June 29-July 1: vs. Worcester, 7:30 p.m.
July
July 3-6: at El Paso, TBD.
July 7-10: vs. Grand Prairie, 7:30 p.m.
July 11-14: vs. Amarillo, 7:30 p.m.
July 16-18: vs. Wichita, 7:30 p.m.
July 19-22: at Amarillo, TBD.
July 23-25: vs. Lincoln, 7:30 p.m.
July 27-29: vs. Wichita, 7:30 p.m.
August
July 31-Aug. 2: at Lincoln, TBD.
Aug. 3-6: at Grand Prairie, TBD.
Aug. 7-9: at El Paso, TBD.
Aug. 10-12: vs. Grand Prairie, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 14-16: at Sioux Falls, TBD.
Aug. 17-19: at Kansas City, TBD.
Aug. 21-23: vs. Amarillo, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 24-26: vs. El Paso, (6 p.m. on Aug. 24; 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 25-26).
Aug. 28-31: at Fargo, TBD.
September
Sept. 1-3: at Gary, TBD.

Laredo baseball/sports complex update

On Sunday, Nov. 6, LMT reporter Kenny Ryan went out to the site where the new Laredo baseball stadium is being built.

The stadium is supposed to be ready by May 2012, when the Laredo Lemurs, who have yet to reveal the league which they will play in, are scheduled to begin play for their inaugural season.

Here are some of the pictures Kenny took when he made the short trip out there to the site:

Kenny reported that, by his observations, the stadium was neither behind nor ahead in its progress.

As for the Lemurs, different people I’ve talked to still think they head to the American Association, even though team president Mark Schuster explicitly expressed a little less than two weeks ago that his interest in that league had significantly waned.

It’s my feeling, while I have no insider knowledge, that Schuster and the Lemurs head for the North American Baseball League, which, if the Broncos were still alive, would be the league they would be playing in (with Edinburg, Rio Grande Valley and San Angelo). That would obviously be a massive PR failure.

But as far as facing minimal dues and travel subsidy, which is what I think Schuster would prefer, that league fits those preferences. Schuster told “The Bryan Benway Show” that he expects something to be known by Wednesday, though he told me something would be known by last week.

Far from OK on Lemurs’ assumed move to AA

Lemurs President Mark Schuster (left) may find himself in a different league that what he initially thought.

Somebody’s hiding something. That’s the only logical conclusion to the current situation with the Laredo Lemurs.

Only a little more than three months ago, Lemurs President Mark Schuster explicitly said the following to me: “We are going to the AA (American Association).” For those not in the know, the AA is one of the top leagues in independent minor league ball. The Atlantic League is the top league, with the AA second due to its premier stadiums and strong owners.

But today, Schuster all but implied that the AA is no longer an option. He says there are currently four total options as destinations – with the AA indeed being one. He says it was wrong for people to assume the Lemurs would be going to the AA … even though he clearly said as much.

The reason he told me today for that declaration was, at the time, Schuster was a part of the AA as he had not yet sold his rights to El Paso. Now that that’s over and that Laredo is his only gig, he says, “I’m doing my duty as to what’s the best choice for Laredo and us.”

So what we have here is an interesting conundrum. While AA Commissioner Miles Wolff said Thursday that the league has “very high interest” in Laredo, Schuster said it was fair to say that his interest in the AA has waned.

He would not go into details on the record. All he said is that he hopes to be introducing a league within the next two weeks, and he left it at that.

Well, this is quite the turnaround, no? After all, one of the attractive traits when Schuster and his Ventura Sports Group were awarded the rights to the new ballpark is that a new, more established league would be brought in. That league was very widely assumed to be the AA, since Schuster was one of its founding members, and indeed was verified when Schuster declared as much in June.

But what happened between now and then? All there remains is speculation. At one point, Schuster and Ventura owed the AA money from their time as owners of the Grand Prairie and El Paso franchises. And while Wolff said Thursday that “they (Schuster) owe the league nothing and everything is settled,” Ventura and Schuster do have history with debt. It’s why they’re no longer in charge of Grand Prairie or Ventura.

While all signs show that they have paid meticulous detail to the Laredo franchise, it’s entirely possible Wolff is covering up for an organization he is interested in. After all, who wouldn ‘t want to have a team with a brand new, $18 million ballpark; a team that has the undying support and help of city officials? Anyone would jump on that boat.

Looking at the options that Schuster has on the table, we know this: The Atlantic League is not in the picture, boasting teams with rosters of primarily triple A and Major Leaguers. Another option is the North American Baseball League, the league the Laredo Broncos would have been in had they remained alive. The Mexican League is also a possibility, albeit a long, long shot. So realistically, if it’s not the AA, it’s likely to be the NABL, which is said to play a better brand of ball than the AA but lacks the variety of opponents and exposure. Familiar names like San Angelo, Harlingen and Edinburg would again be rivals, opposed to the likes of St. Paul, Winnipeg and Kansas City, among others, in the AA.

Still, there’s a possibility the Lemurs end up in the AA. As long as the AA is showing interest (they even extended the Lemurs’ deadline which to submit a formal application), anything can happen. That door will continue to be open – and I assumed quite a tempting lure – until Wolff and his league close it.

But it’s also a possibility that the Lemurs end up in the NABL or somewhere foreign like that. And for a franchise that made a couple of quick splashes with the hiring of Pete Incaviglia as manager as its controversial nickname, this would be considered a move backward in light of so much work being done to make sure it gets off on the right foot.

Lemurs stay quiet

It’s been a quiet few weeks for the Laredo Lemurs.

I spoke to team president Mark Schuster last week and he pretty much confirmed what we all figured: There’s a whole lot of nothing going on at the moment.

There was a “mini-splash” of sorts last week when the Lemurs made their first big front-office move by bringing in Ruben Navas as executive vice president.

Navas will oversee all aspects of Lemur sales and marketing and strategic initiatives.

In a press release, he stated: “I couldn’t be more excited about this great opportunity. Being a young Hispanic, I understand our culture and I am honored to have the opportunity to work with the Laredo community and its leaders to find innovative ways to bring the best value and family entertainment experience to our region.”

Navas was recently Vice President of Marketing and Development for the Central Florida Sports Commission. Prior to that, he spent 11 years with the Orlando Magic & RDV Sports, where he served as the Director of Multicultural Sales & Marketing for the franchise.

Aside from Navas’ hiring, however, it’s been slow for the Lemurs, who are currently in the midst of their “Name the Mascot” contest (which was poorly publicized since it, you know, wasn’t). Schuster said he expects the mascot to be named in November.

You can read details of the contest here.

A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Navas earned a bachelor’s degree in Phycology and Business from Southeastern University.  He now lives in the Laredo area. 

The Lemurs invade Twitter

Lemurs President Mark Schuster craves the attention. He craves being the talk of the town.

He’s certainly gotten it.

Earlier tonight, a new Twitter account appeared: @LRDLemurs.

It essentially mocks the team and the name, but in a lighthearted way. At least for now.

Here are a couple of Tweets:

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Lemur is a Latin word and means spirits of the night, which is good because it’s so hot in Laredo you can only come out at night!

Boy is it hot in Laredo! In Madagascar where I am from it might be a high of 72 today!

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This has taken the city by storm the last couple of days. Whether in a positive or (mostly) negative light, the Laredo Lemurs are at the forefront of conversation.

The indoor football Rattlesnakes once held all the momentum in regard to being at the front of Laredo’s attention. The Lemurs, however, have undoubtedly snatched it back. At least for the time being.

Let the games begin.

Lemurs and Rattlesnakes, oh my!

It’s been more than 24 hours since Laredo’s latest minor league baseball team named itself ‘The Lemurs.’ My initial reaction was not a positive one, but, as I try and tend to do, I gave it a night’s rest to think it over.

And what I feel is this: I still don’t like the name. At all. I like the uniforms. I like the logo and the cap lettering. The design is attractive. The name? No.

But I can at least understand where Lemurs president Mark Schuster is coming from. When he chose this name – which wasn’t even the leading vote-getter in the Name the Team contest, but that’s a whole other story for another day – he had kids in mind. Schuster is smart in that if he can get the kids to like the name and associate with ‘lemurs – i.e., the “Madagascar” movies – then the parents will have to follow. Because, let’s face it. Kids rule the world.

“I met with the city in January and I told them, ‘Look, here’s what’s going to happen,'” Schuster said. “I told them, ‘We’re going to pick the name and everybody’s going to hate it. I had the city prepared this would happen. But the bottom line is, whether it’s the greatest team name or worst team name, it matters how you treat people and how much fun it is. The fact that everybody is talking about it is great. The opposite of the reaction would be apathy, and no one wants that.

Schuster has guts. He took a risk. Give him credit for that.

Still …

The public reaction of overwhelming negativity in regard to the name has been alarming. For every, say, two people that like the name, I’d say 10 don’t. And that may be generous. I had a phone call from a gentleman voicing his displeasure – quite passionately – about the name.

Here’s an email I received earlier today, though it’s admittedly mixed:

My initial reaction when finding out that OUR new professional baseball team are named the Laredo Lemurs was, WHAT? After doing some research on Ventura Sports and the American Association Independent Baseball League on the web, now I understand what they are doing. Some of the other teams that Ventura Sports owns have similar names as the Lemurs except for the El Paso Diablos. In addition, most of the teams that play in the league have similar mascots, and names.

Even though I understand what they are doing, I still do not like this name and mascot for a professional baseball team.  

According to Mr. Schuster, “Kids are our market”, so now lets see how child friendly the atmosphere at the games will be, especially since original plans for the stadium being built highlighted bar areas in prime viewing areas of the ballpark.

When I broke the story last night that the Rattlers would have to change to Rattlesnakes because the AFL had trademarked the name, the first comments I got were along the lines if the Lemurs, too, could still change their name.

They won’t. I suppose they could, but they won’t. Schuster was diligent with the trademark process. What happened to Rattlesnakes president Chad Dittman won’t be taking place with Schuster. A significant reason why it took so long to name the baseball team was because Schuster did his homework making sure the name he had was viable.

He had a three-step process: He googled the names of which he had interest to see if there was any conflict. He next had his trademark attorney do his own search, a more comprehensive process. And the final step was submitting an application to trademark the name at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

“I worked on it awhile, but it’s actually an easy process,” Schuster said.

There are some who feel this is quite a big black eye on Dittman. I disagree. While I understand that perspective, the season starts eight months from now. People are not going to care less that the Rattlers had to switch up gears five days after announcing a name. In fact, as I’ve said before in this blog, Dittman is very fortunate to have to have done this so early in the process. In a couple of days, this will be old news, particularly since the name does not lose its essence, and neither will the logo.

Dittman did confirm, however, that he double-checked on ‘Rattlesnakes.’ And, yes, there will be no more name changes for Laredo’s indoor football team.

They’re ‘The Laredo Lemurs’

 

LMT’s Adam Geigerman is reporting that the name of the new Laredo baseball team will be “The Laredo Lemurs.”

The lemur is most famous in Madagascar and is a primate whose look resembles that of a cat crossed with a squirrel and dog.

Team logo and colors will be posted soon. So far, public reaction to the name of Laredo’s latest independent baseball franchise has not been positive.

The photo in the entry of this blog is of Maurice the lemur from the Madagascar movies. Lemurs obviously have a heavy influence in Laredo as well.

The Laredo Lemurs

Ladies and gentlemen, your Laredo Lemurs.

As LMT’s Adam Geigerman first reported this morning, the Lemurs are the latest minor league sports emblem of the city.

A young 13-year-old girl by the name of Meagan Castro picked the winning name, earning lifetime season tickets and a hat.

Here’s team president Mark Schuster on the name:

“Kids are our market,” Schuster said. “And kids are ecstatic about it. We want to have the kids enjoying it and dancing and having a good time. We want to entertain everyone, starting with children. There will always be negative feedback, but overall and over time, I think people will love it.”

So far, public reaction has been far from positive. In fact, of about 25-30 Facebook and Twitter responses I’ve seen, maybe one has been optimistic.

Not a good start so far.