Detroit Free Press du lieu suivant : Detroit, Michigan • Page 164

17 mh FAMLY OWNED 8MCE 1900 II C1AY DEE FORMICA CUSTOM CRAFTED CABINETS KITCHENS 26021 SouthfleU Rd. 5S9-2SOO Call our Interior Design Department for FREE custom planning and estimates. Financing available. Pontlac 332-S300 East 778-250 Downriver 283-321 1 DtvMon of KAY BEE CONSTRUCTION CO. IV 6IHEAT "We just can't operate in Detroit," Grande-lius admitted.

"We can't even buy tape or aspirin." The 'People's cont. It got so anxious that it claimed the checks paid the Wheels for their road trips to Birmingham, Hawaii and Philadelphia. The team was supposed to begin working out at Belle Isle's practice field on Aug. 16, but when Boisture and his staff drove out to inspect the facilities the day before, they found them unfinished another testimonial to the club's lack of money. We had to have the secretaries call the players and tell them to report to the offices that day instead of Belle Isle," Boisture said.

"They would have rioted if they had seen what it looked like no lockers, just two-by-fours, no stools, no tables, no place to sit. nothing and the field was in horrible shape." Members of Boisture's staff stayed with him tfirough the early evening hours to keep him from looking for members of the organization who he thought were responsible for that, and staff members spent more hours attempting to get home phone numbers of owners to register their complaints over what they felt was an injustice to them and to the players. On Monday, Aug. 26, Grandelius attended the team's practice and although there is some dispute over what he actually said, it was interpreted to mean the club was broke. Whatever he said, it prompted player representative Jon Henderson and Boisture to immediately phone the WFL offices, where they got assurances the league would guarantee salaries for at least 30 days if the club defaulted.

And on Sept. 3, the league announced it had begun "assisting the Wheels with their financial responsibilities." the same time, though, Don Andersen, the league's vice-president for public relations, insisted the "management of the club is still in the hands of the owners." 4 The league had set a deadline. If the WJieels were not sold to a league-approved buyer by Sept. 27 30 days from the time Boisture and Hendersen called the WFL would take over the franchise. Then members of the original group began to come forward with proposals to keep the team here.

Mike Hitch, president of Little Caesar's Pizza, said he hoped he could help keep it here. Esther Edwards, vice-president of Motown Record shunned publicity, but hoped also to keep it in the area. Dick Volpe expressed interest, but had his eye on Louisville, Ky. Then John DeLorean's name was thrown into the guessing gafne, too. DeLorean, a former GM executive who quit a pst that paid him $500,000 annually, and Roy Zurkowski of Vic Tanny, appeared to be the last hope of keeping the franchise in the city.

Their attorneys prepared a proposal early in September. When DeLorean and Zurkowski discovered the extent of the club's indebtedness $1.4 million according to the bankruptcy suit filed Sept. 24 they backed away quickly and the fate of the franchise was sealed. Ziegelman notified the club's office staff to lock the doors during the early afternoon of the 24th while the team was in New York for a game later that night. But he did not tell them he had just placed the club in bankruptcy they had to learn it from a reporter.

And three nights later, moving quickly and mysteriously. Grandelius, Boisture and the team, boarded an 11:10 p.m. flight for Shreveport five days in advance of their game against the transplanted Houston team. "We just can't operate in Detroit," Grandelius was finally forced to admit. "We can't even buy tape or aspirin.

Nobody will give us credit." A sad ending for a fairy tale. Detroit Free Press, October 27, 1974 BIB OVERALL in DuPont nylon with needle-punch Polyslim insulation keeps you warm and sleek. Navy, French blue, pink, yellow, green. RACING STRIPES on Demetre's 100 wool ski sweater. His in French blue or yellow with contrast stripes.

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