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Thomas Crone
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The owner of the St. Louis Pioneers is a 20-something named James Graham. He happens to be as young as of the some of the dozen or so players wearing the uniform of the ABA’s Pioneers this season. Graham's youthful exuberance is on display as he works the audience at Pioneers home games, which are played at Meramec Community College’s modestly-sized gymnasium.
One minute, Graham is in the stands, talking with the families of players; the next, he’s pacing the sideline, tapping at his phone and catching quick glances of the game. If the young man’s got a worry about his franchise finding a place in the crowded sports marketplace, he’s not letting on, at least not publicly; instead he talks confidently about some new season-ticket specials on the team’s website, or about a Channel 5 feature that ran recently. He hopes that occasional attention from mainstream media outlets along with grassroots marketing, the appeal of a locally-dominated roster, and a simple desire for St. Louisans to embrace pro hoops—even on the semi-pro level of the American Basketball Association—will be enough to make his venture work here.
In the 1970s, the ABA was the second-best league in the world. It included the Spirits of St. Louis, a team lauded for having talented if mercurial players with names such as Marvin Barnes, Maurice Lucas, and Fly Williams. Today, the re-launched league’s players often have second jobs and can struggle to make games. Last Friday, the team’s leading scorer, the quicksilver SLU alum Dwayne Polk, was tending to his duties as a high school girls basketball coach instead of manning the point for the Pioneers. Another player, former UM-St. Louis shooting guard Jonathan Griffin, was also waylaid by outside work obligations.
Those weren’t the only challenges facing the Pioneers management, as Chicago’s entire team was unable to arrive by game time. Instead of leaving the building dark, a squad called the Tri-State Express was whipped up, with players coming from the local college ranks to make up a pick-up team with intent. What resulted wasn’t a blow-out; instead, the two sides took advantage of some unique ABA scoring rules to put together a run-and-run affair, one in which players weren’t shy about jacking up shots from just about every spot on the floor. “Have ball, will shoot” was the rule of the night.
In the stands, the fans weren’t numerous. A couple hundred people were there, maybe, mixed between old-school hoops fans, who’ll go anywhere a ball’s rolled onto the court, alongside families of the team’s STL-heavy roster. Players from Fontbonne, McKendree, SEMO and Lindenwood dot the Pioneers roster, each of them keeping alive their dream of pro ball. There’s Paul Paradoski, for example, who went to high school at Vianney, a mile or so from Meramec’s campus, before playing college ball at SEMO and UM-St. Louis. John “Helicopter” Humphrey, on the other hand, also on the roster, is a veteran of various pro leagues in the U.S. and abroad. Similarly, there’s Philip Gilbert, a former East Saint prep star, who went on to success at Bradley before stints in Germany, France, and NBA training camps.
Pioneers players need to stuff the stat sheet to gain a foothold in a league a level or two above the ABA. The owner needs to put bodies in the stands in order to keep his franchise looking like a solid alternative for the local sports dollar. They’re all looking for one more night, one more season, under the lights.
Watch an interview with Pioneers owner James Graham below. The St. Louis Pioneers play their next home games from Friday, February 11-Sunday, February 13 at Meramec—see www.stlpioneers.com for more info.
James Graham of the St. Louis Pioneers from Thomas Crone on Vimeo.
A short interview with James Graham of the St. Louis Pioneers, a new outfit in the American Basketball Association. He was speaking at the Pioneers game of 1.28.11, his team playing against the ad-hoc Tri-State Express.
