Panthers' co-owner will take his team and play somewhere else

John Galbraith said he will look elsewhere for another league affiliation.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- John Galbraith, 25, who is co-owner of the North East Ohio Panthers of the Eastern Indoor Football League, said he is withdrawing his team from the league and will seek another affiliation.
Galbraith said Saturday another team, the 3 Rivers Rats, has decided to leave the league. Both teams, made up of area players, joined the Mid American Buzzards of Chicago in leaving the four-team league that played its games at the Thunder Dome but has been plagued by claims and counterclaims of non-payment.
Galbraith said he and the coach of the 3 Rivers Rats, who prefers to remain anonymous, are leaving the league because of all the turmoil surrounding EIFL founder Jim Terry and his lease and relationship with Thunder Dome owner Steve Lisko.
According to Lisko, Terry failed to obtain liability insurance for the league, which was a condition required by Lisko for the lease to be valid, and has failed to pay Lisko 2,500 in rent and 525 from sponsorship fees.
In addition, Terry defied an eviction request from Lisko and continued to use the Thunder Dome for games, which put Lisko at risk for a possible lawsuit if any of the players were injured.
Lisko hired an attorney and was planning to file an eviction notice but has been unable to determine if that notice has been filed on his behalf.
Lisko said Saturday no teams showed up at the Thunder Dome Friday or Saturday to play any games, and the door is locked.
Thought about playing
Galbraith was mulling the possibility of playing a game Friday night against the Hitmen, but changed his mind.
Galbraith said earlier last week that he thought the league was insured by FrontLine Insurance. When Galbraith found out that there was no insurance, he said he made his players sign a waiver of liability. But he realized that a waiver of liability still may not prevent a lawsuit should there be an injury.
Reminded that Lisko would be at risk if players didn't have liability insurance, Galbraith responded: "I'm not going to jeopardize any one's living over a game. If we have to play a couple of independent teams in an independent league for my players, then we'll do it.
"I called Mr. Lisko and apologized to him and told him that we didn't know that these things were going on, and offered to play a benefit game for him to help him recoup some of his losses from the league," said Galbraith.
"I am going to try to work something out with Mr. Lisko. We will try to get some of his money back for him and also some money back to Matt Holem [of the Buzzards] who was injured."
May combine teams
Galbraith, who shares team ownership with Joe Stasiak, said he expect to combine the Panthers and 3 Rivers Rats players for a benefit game.
"We'll play a game against some other semi-pro team, maybe the Ohio Red Bulls," said Galbraith.
Galbraith said Terry put together the Rivers Rats from basically players who were released from the Panthers and the Hitmen.
kovach@vindy.com