New OwnershipBY Opty Mystic and Pessy Mystic
We had the opportunity to interview the new owner of the Islanders, Royce R. In our opinion the book is still out on him. So for now we will let you read the interview and decide for yourself.
Opty: Welcome to Hawaii! How are you liking it so far?
Royce: Great thank you. I came from the north so really happy for the nice weather, looking forward to a mild winter for a change.
Pessy: This team is a mess. One playoff appearance in thirteen years is unacceptable by the people of Hawaii. To you honestly think you can change the culture around here?
Royce: Yes. 88 - 119 - 1 overall record and only 3 winning seasons. But always right there on the brink of breaking through. I think we can find a way to get them close games to go Our way.
Pessy: What don't players like about you? You have been here a few days and already some of the fan favorites have retired instead of playing for you. You must be very unlikable.
Royce: Well I met with every player on this team. I have a plan to rebuild and inject some youth into our roster. I gave every vet the chance to ask for a trade, retire, or buy in and try to help Us win. Donald, Jimmy, Derrick, Joe, Willie, and Larry all chose to move on from football into the next stage of their lives. We hold no grudges for them moving on, we thank them for the time they put into this team, and wish them the best of luck in the future.
Opty: Some of these guys just renewed their contracts. Lots of guaranteed money in those contracts, how will you overcome the dead money?
Royce: Yes many of them were signed to make another playoff run. That didn't pan own and now we must pay for that. Almost 40 million in dead money equaling 17.4% of our salary cap. But I want to thank the older vets that stuck around to help rebuild this team. Big props to them as they help the young guys we will be bringing in. They will help show what being a pro is about. Vets with 10 years of more of experience make up another 15.5% of our cap. As injuries take their toll I'm sure some of them will not finish out their contracts either and will end up giving us more dead money in the future. So yes it will be very hard to overcome the salary cap issues, but I am confident we can do that.
Pessy: You don't even have a coaching staff yet, how can you possibly get players to buy into the promises your spitting out?
Royce: I have been in talks with a few coaches, we will name a coach very soon and everyone will be very pleased.
Opty: While we are short on young players, I love what we have to build off. What do you think of the future of Our young players.
Royce: Ah yes, first off I think Curtis has a chance to be a very good QB in this league. I am also excited for our young guys on the offensive line, I think they will be very important to Curtis success moving forward. Honestly on defense we are really old. John Autrey being our only starter, with Finch and Norris being the only players on defense with less than 7 years experience. Their experience will be huge in developing the young guys we will bring in.
Pessy: With you taking the GM duties as well, I'm believe you are way to high on yourself and your cockiness will prove itself when you fail mightily on the draft.
Royce: I do believe I have the knowledge to get our coaches the players they need to fit their systems, I will spend as much time as needed to prepare for the draft. I will work hard to earn the fans approval here.
Opty: Thank you very much for your time, I hope you will talk to us again soon. Good luck finding a great coach for us.
Royce: Thank you guys for covering our team, I look forward to our next talk.
There you have it, he is confident he can turn this program around. Here's to a good draft!
