Wednesday, February 11, 2004
|
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 |
| Sports ventures
eye PTC
By J. FRANK LYNCH Is Peachtree City ready to join the big leagues of Macon, Little Rock and Baton Rouge? Steve Brown seems to think so. The mayor said “preliminary discussions” have begun with organizers of a new professional basketball league about locating a franchise in the city, though where game might be played remains uncertain. Except for the Kedron Field House, the only gyms in the city are owned by the Fayette County School Board and only one of those, the new facility under construction at McIntosh High, would be appropriate for large crowds of spectators. That wouldn’t be an issue with another semi-pro sports franchise considering a Peachtree City location. A private “Select Baseball” organization has approached the city about creating a “country club” type complex of fields and amenities that would host traveling teams from around the nation. Brown is proposing the baseball complex be included in an ambitious plan created by John Wieland to annex and develop the several hundred acres of isolated land north of Wynnmeade commonly referred to as the “West Village.” The baseball venture is just a small part of that overall proposal, which faces many obstacles before it can become reality, mainly the city’s moratorium on annexations. It certainly makes a pro basketball team more likely, Brown concedes. Former University of Georgia star and Detroit Pistons standout Litterial Green has been selected as the general manager for the new franchise, Brown said. Green, the career all-time leader in scoring and assists with the Bulldogs, is a resident of Fayette County. Green is also sponsoring a Spring Break Basketball Camp in Peachtree City April 5-9, featuring a host of NBA talent as instructors. “Litterial is a wonderful athlete and is especially community-minded,” Brown said in a press release issued by the city. “The opportunity that he presents at his basketball camp for our youth is exceptional and I would expect no less with the new professional basketball team.” The new league, not yet named, would fill a void seen by many in the professional basketball ranks: Teaching the various styles of play and exposing fans to the game across the NBA, American Basketball Association, Canadian Basketball Association and the like. Teams for the new pro league have already been announced in Rome, Macon, Chattanooga, Little Rock, Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and Montgomery, Ala. The proposal for Peachtree City would be the first attempt at a professional sports franchise in South Metro Atlanta, Brown pointed out. Arena football and pro hockey franchises are based in Gwinnett County, and Rome in northwest Georgia last year became home to an Atlanta Braves single-A farm team.
|
||