KENNEWICK -- The calendar has been flipped to August, meaning time is running out on the Tri-Cities Fever.
If the Fever intends to return for a fourth season in the arenafootball2 league, or any league for that matter, then it needs to find local ownership within the next four weeks.
Team owner Doug MacGregor, who said he will fold the team without local ownership by the end of the month, has put general manager Randy Schillinger in charge of finding suitable owners for his team.
So far nothing has materialized to the point where Schillinger feels comfortable selling the team.
"It seems like all I've been doing lately," Schillinger said.
Schillinger is expected to have further meetings this week with potential investors, but he knows the process needs to be expedited to save the franchise he helped bring to the Tri-Cities in 2005.
The Fever is not the only af2 team in dire straits right now.
Corpus Christi, another team MacGregor has ownership in, is contemplating returning in 2010. The team announced Monday that it is re-opening its ownership search after a group of potential investors fell through.
Peoria, another team MacGregor has a stake in, is also on life support.
MacGregor has said all three of those teams will fold if local ownership does not present itself.
It has also been reported that Albany, Quad City, Florida and possibly Mahoning Valley might not be back next season.
To add more uncertainty to the arena football game, it was reported by several outlets Monday that the AFL will not be back in 2010 as expected and may be done for good.
Schillinger says he is disconcerted by all the news of teams and possibly a league folding. He is just trying to make sure Tri-Cities is not one of them.
"I want Tri-Cities to be one of those teams (that is back next season)," Schillinger said.
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Not once, but twice during the 2012 season.
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Coach Adam Shackleford always has made sure Houston Lillard knows he has a place to play football: in the Tri-Cities.
On Thursday, the 25-year-old quarterback took Shackleford up on that offer and signed a contract with the Tri-Cities Fever, ensuring that the team's de facto MVP from the 2011 season would be back in the fold.
Lillard passed for 2,517 yards during the regular season with 68 touchdown passes and just 15 interceptions.
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