Thanks to Brent Clark for sending me this articles which appeared in the Queen City Sports...

QUEEN CITY SPORTS-SEPTEMBER 1997.

Gamblers take it all in team's first year of operation.
-------------------------------------------------------

By John Williams.

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT--The Niagara Falls Gamblers used to be the new team on the block. Now they own the block. The first year Gamblers defeated the Brampton Excelsiors 10-6 on Labor Day to win the Ontario Lacrosse Association Major Division title four games to three.

"Our motto at home is 'nobody pushes us around," said Gambler's president Lincoln Fannell. "The boys knew this was their chance. It was a dream season the way we finished it off."

Getting the job done may be another way of putting it. The Gamblers shook off a 17-4 loss at home in Game Five by winning Game Six, 10-8, in Brampton thus forcing a deciding seventh game.

"Everything that could go wrong did go wrong," said Fannell, referring to Game Five. "But was just another game. We knew we wouldn't lose like that again. Our boys have a lot of character."

The Gamblers character was evident throughout the entire season. Although they were pick to finish last in the OLA, the team posted a 17-3 mark for a first place standing. "We didn't think we would finish in first place," Fannell said. "I think we surprised ourselves and everyone else."

Coach Terry Sanderson though realized sound physical conditioning would take the Gamblers a long way. "We had better physical conditioning than most teams," Fannell said. "Terry emphasizes that. You have to be in shape for three periods."

The Gamblers led the OLA in attendence with the American fan comprising 40% of the home gate. A season high crowd of 1,815 took in the seventh game of the OLA finals at the Niagara Falls Memorial Arena. "A lot of people enjoyed our game. Its great physical lacrosse, I'd like to thank the American media. They've been great along with the American fans. Next year our attendence will be even better." said Fannell.

Gambler's GM Brian Allen was pleased with the team's season average of 700 fans a game. But he had hoped the team's proximity to a Buffalo Bandit's crazed audience would have resulted in better attendence. "My personal goal was 1,200 a game," Allen said. "I was a little disappointed but for an organization just starting out we did very well."

Player identity is the key to improving attendence. "We'd like to get the players more involved in the community," Fannell said. "This would create a higher player profile." A championship team will also attract more players. "We'll probably have twice the number of players at our tryouts," Fannell said. "We also hope to have more US players. We straddle both sides of the border."

The Gamblers now travel to British Columbia to battle the Victoria Shamrocks for the Mann Cup. "We're going there to win it," Fannell said, "Its not a fun trip. This is for the Mann Cup!"

Mr Allen felt confident about his team's chances at the start of the season. "Everyone in the league had conceded the championship to Brampton," he said. "But I knew with the players we had we could win it."