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SPORTS PEOPLE
Indoor football, city a good fit, fan says
Sunday, March 18, 2007
In the past eight years, as teams have come and gone, the one constant in the local indoor football scene has been Jamie McQuinn. The 47-year-old manager of the magazine and special collections division of the Dayton Metro Library, McQuinn is the sport's local super fan.
From the two-year stay of the Dayton Skyhawks in 1999 and 2000 through the Dayton Warbirds and Dayton Bulldogs to the current Miami Valley Silverbacks and Dayton Marshals, McQuinn has headed fan clubs, run Web sites and done whatever he could to encourage support for the sport. He operates the Web site ohioindoorfootball.com, which concentrates on message boards for teams and leagues throughout Ohio.
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In his words
• "My first game? It was the last regular-season game of Dayton Skyhawks in 1999. What I remember about it was the excitement of being so close to the action and the ability to interact with the players as a fan."
• "I'll tell you a story. I had gone on a lark to see what this was about. I splurged and bought a front-row seat, and the Skyhawks were playing the Lincoln Lightning. The player waiting for kickoffs each time was dancing, and we were razzing him. Well, he got hurt, and another guy came in. We yelled at him and asked if he was going to dance for us. He pointed and said, 'I'm going to score a touchdown.' And he did. That's what got me hooked, the ability to relate with the players is such fun."
• "I think people see that it's indoor and on a smaller field and think it's not real football. But it's real players playing real football. They run as hard, hit as hard and win and lose just as hard."
• "My Skyhawks fan Web site was the first. I got hooked and was learning more about them, and I discovered they didn't have a fan Web site. They had an official Web site with no information, but I wanted a Web site where the fans could talk and have a community."
• "The leagues recognize that Dayton is one of the largest markets out there for indoor football, and it's clearly a market that if it could ever be done right could be very successful, could be lucrative. It has proven it can support minor-league sports."
• "Oh, absolutely. I think if a league and a team owner comes in with, first of all, adequate funding to start off right and then be willing to work fairly and ethically and honestly with the fans, with the sponsors and with the media, I think this could and should be very successful here."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or
knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.
