More comments from the Augusta Lynx news conference

Newspapers have a limited amount of space, but blogs are forever. For that reason, here are a few extra quotes and story lines from Friday's Augusta Lynx news conference that didn't quite make the final cut in our print edition:

IF THE ECHL TAKES OVER: Lynx ownership will spend the weekend and early part of next week wooing potential investors in hopes of saving a financially-strapped team from going the way of the Stallions, Spartans and Foxhounds. The Lynx need at least a couple hundred thousand dollars (only a fraction of the $2.4 million co-owners Jan Hodges Burch and Robert Burch said they've put into the team over the last two and a half years) in order to keep the team operational in its current state.

They have only a few days to make it happen or... what? That's the big question not even co-owner and general manager Dan Troutman could answer at a news conference Friday afternoon. That's because once the money runs out, so does the ownership group's influence on the team.

"If at some point in time we can’t go forward financially, there’s basically two options," Troutman said. "One, we can be a real bad partner to the league and force them to come in and take it over, or we could voluntarily submit our membership back to the league. If we get to the point where we cannot financially move forward we’ve already made up our minds that we’re going to be a good league partner and turn it back in and work with them to mitigate anything and hopefully they would continue to finish out the season."

If that happens, Troutman and the Burches would be out of the picture, and the ball would be in the ECHL's court. Or, more appropriately, the puck would be on the ECHL's stick.

The Augusta Lynx will be at the mercy of the ECHL. Will the league immediately shut down the team? Will the ECHL somehow keep it alive through the rest of the season? No one knows because an ECHL team has never folded in the middle of the season.

Commissioner Brian McKenna gave me a generic, ambiguous answer on Wednesday.

"It's never been asked of us (to help out a team financially)," he said. "I don't want to deal with that hypothetical, but we're not set up that way."

Troutman wasn't crazy about the response from the league either.

"I asked that question, and I didn’t get a very good answer, or a very definitive answer," he said. "Basically, they would evaluate all options and move forward."

Granted, it is a big decision (even a precedent-setting decision) for McKenna and the league. And why rush into it when a group of investors could make it all a moot point?

HOW BAD IS IT? Troutman said at least two groups of investors have shown serious interest. He threw out some interesting numbers during his public pitch to find financial help that, if true, indicated that the Lynx's financial mess may have a light at the end of the tunnel.

As said before, the Burches have sunk $2.4 million into the Lynx. Troutman said $1.4 million of that was lost in the first year of operation. The second year (last season), the total loss was cut almost in half to around $800,000. This season, the trend has continued.

"We’re in a stage now where we’re right close to a balanced budget. We’re looking at 100,000, maybe a $200,000 loss for the year. It’s just carrying forward some of the baggage we’re carrying forward," Troutman said at Friday's news conference.

"We think that this is a very viable entertainment industry. We think this is a great market to be in. We want Augusta to have this. All we’re saying is, we need some help. We don’t need a couple million bucks."

No, just a miracle on ice. But that has happened once before.

ONE FOR FUN: Finally, I have one last quote from the news conference that I'd like to share. I'd like to preface this by saying I had absolutely nothing to do with it. It was the second question after Troutman opened up the floor for questions from the public and dealt with the issue of the Charlotte Observer's erroneous report on Wednesday that the team had folded. Of course, the report wasn't true (perhaps only premature?), but over 200 phones calls flooded the Lynx office from Lynx fans looking for answers during the hours after the story was posted on the Charlotte Observer's Web site.

I won't comment on the exchange between Troutman and the Lynx fan other than to say I don't sell ads. Here it is in its entirety:

Lynx fan: "Is there any way to get the Charlotte Observer to take out a full page ad in the Augusta Chronicle apologizing to the fans for all the heart attacks that came up when the fans read that?"

Troutman: "I think the Augusta Chronicle would like that, and I’m sure Billy would be glad to sell them the ad. I’m not going to be vindictive to somebody like that. I’m very disappointed. To me the media is a very powerful source, and when they’re going to say something they need to substantiate it before they do. I can tell you that there was one gentleman on our staff in the back if he could get a hold of the guy ya’ll wouldn’t have to worry about that because James took it personal day before yesterday. It’s just unfortunate. I’m not going to be vindictive to it. I think the league is involved in looking into that."

The Charlotte Observer removed the story from its Web site hours after it was posted, and ran another online report the following day saying the Lynx were "struggling financially" but "will continue operations."