Local News Carolina News Sports Business Weather Accent Opinion/Editorial Obituaries Features National News SUBSCRIBE	Soccer team missing a name, but not owners Sand Gnats owner Ken Silver and two local investors purchase the Rug Ratz franchise. By John Clayton / Savannah Morning News Ken Silver Colin Buck, a native of South Africa, packed his bags, arrived in Savannah for the Savannah Rug Ratz' inaugural season and never left, hoping that professional indoor soccer would return here and he would once again play in his new home. On Thursday, Buck got his wish. Savannah Sand Gnats principal owner Ken Silver and local investors Mike Kistler and Ric Sisler announced at a press conference at the Savannah Civic Center that they had purchased the Savannah franchise from the Eastern Indoor Soccer League, ending speculation on whether the team would return that began before the season ended last year. ''I wanted to come back and play with (coach Ian MacDonald) again and for Savannah,'' said Buck. ''I liked it here a lot. Everyone made me feel welcome from the start -- and that's what makes a place home.'' Silver said the deal to buy the team was completed so recently that he is unsure what the team will be called when the 1998 EISL season begins in May. The Rug Ratz name, by which the team was called last season, is owned by the team's former ownership group out of Anchorage, Alaska. Negotiations are just beginning for Silver's group -- Low Country Pro Indoor Soccer Club Inc. -- to retain legal rights to the name, Silver said. ''Right now, I can't say for certain what the team name is,'' said Silver. ''We may be the Rug Ratz, we could have a new name or a name-the-team contest. Right now, I just don't know.'' Though currently nameless, familiar faces such as MacDonald, Buck and general manager Mitch Mann, who worked for four years with Savannah's minor league baseball affiliate before leaving for a job with the Durham Bulls, have returned for the Savannah franchise's rebirth. ''Durham is one of the most successful minor league franchises in the country, so I hope to bring a lot of what I learned there back here,'' said Mann, who began work at the team's Savannah Civic Center offices four days ago. ''I think the support (for indoor soccer) is here with the soccer community. It's going to be a lot of work, but it's going to be a lot of fun.'' While Buck felt embraced by the city, last year's Rug Ratz struggled to a 7-17 record and attendance waned after a season-high of more than 4,000 early in the year. The restrictive budget of the absentee ownership group left team management with limited opportunities for advertising and promotions. The Rug Ratz finished last season in sixth place among the seven EISL teams in attendance. ''If we average what they did last year, we're going to be in trouble,'' said Silver, who would not divulge how much his ownership group paid for the Savannah franchise. ''It's a significant investment. It's bigger than anticipated, but not as much as (the league) wanted.'' After stripping the team's former owners of all but the Rug Ratz name, the EISL demanded a $225,000 expansion fee from Silver, who had been unsuccessfully negotiating with the former owners. He said that figure, which was enough of a sticking point for both parties to hold up negotiations, was significantly reduced by the time the deal was finally closed. Silver said owning Savannah's only two professional sports teams, which will play the bulk of their seasons simultaneously, is not a conflict of interests. ''I think one will compliment the other,'' said Silver. ''I feel a lot better about having a second franchise in town now that we own both of them. It really gives us the opportunity to do a lot of things.'' The seven EISL teams will play 28-game schedules, giving each team 14 home games in 1998. The Tupelo, Miss. franchise is moving to Pensacola, Fla. and the Columbus team is relocating to Biloxi, Miss. The rebuilding of the Savannah franchise will begin with the EISL draft in mid-April when the responsibility of the team's success will shift from Mann and Silver's ownership group to MacDonald, whose eyes widened during the press conference as Silver announced that the coach had guaranteed a perfect season. While perfection is not truly expected, MacDonald said improvement is -- even for a team without a name. ''The pressure is constant when you have the desire to win such as the players and myself,'' said MacDonald. ''We definitely want to improve on what we did last year.'' Web posted 2/6/98
City Guide | Classifieds | Community | Diversions | Features | Marketplace | Top Stories