Oscar Mason
Staff Sports Writer
The Daily Oklahoma Cityian

Call Robert Stack. Another mystery solved. We now know this new mystery professional sports team rumored to be coming to the capital city. The newly formed National Rollerdome League revealed its first expansion team The Oklahoma City Hired Guns with a brief press conference at the Waters Edge hotel yesterday.

The Oklahoma City Hired Guns is only the latest in new sports teams that have come to Oklahoma City, many of which have failed, the Stars, the Cavalry, the Blazers, the Yard Dogs and most recently the Barons. These were hockey, basketball and football, familiar sports. This is as the teams new head coach Rex Obanion explained yesterday is an entirely new game never played before. “ It is going to be fast, exciting and very physical” Obanion said.

He describes it as a hybrid of today’s popular sports. “We have combined the best of popular sports that fans love to watch.” Obanion said.

THE GAME IS LIKE NFL FOOTBALL WITH A RUGBY STYLE BALL, ICE HOCKEY BUT ON ROLLER SKATES ON AN OVAL TRACK AND ROLLER DERBY BUT WITH A LOT MORE ATTITUDE.

“Rollerdome will provide a new level of speed thrills and excitement and it will be very physical.” he said

There are five players on the track from each team both offense and defense. There are no net style goals. The scoring is done electronically. The balls are bar coded. The ball carrier skates the ball to an electronic beacon located mid track which activates the goal at their end zone. A score is registered when the ball passes their goal The offense gets three passes in front of their goal per possession to score before turning the ball over to the other team

Defensively the object is to knock down, tackle or strip the ball from the ball carriers grasp.
“ There is going to be a lot of shoving, pushing, blocking and tackling.” Obanion adds “Overall a very punishing game.”

There are two forty five minute periods with a twenty minute halftime. The game runs continuously. The clock stops only for an injury on the track, a change of possession or if a coach challenges an officials call. There are penalties and like ice hockey the offending team must finish that series with the loss of a player. The coach can make a substitution but only while the game is in progress.

Communication between officials, coaches and players is done electronically with headsets and helmets with built in speakers. There will be halftime entertainment with a skating and trick shooting performance from the teams mascot “Rapid Fire” and their cheerleaders the “Six Shooters.”
The loud high energy sounds, lights, excitement and jubilant fans will make for an entertaining game
They are currently in discussions with Dallas and Houston for expansion teams. Their goal is to establish a central division before moving to bigger markets on the east and west coasts.

They promise new teams will have the same edgy look as the Hired Guns. The leagues founder and owner wants to create a new image for his new team and sports league. The teams name Hired Guns is even a departure from most current sports franchises. Their motto states “ There are no cardinals, dolphins or baby horses in the National Rollerdome League. This is what you wished your team looked like. They hope to compete with other sports by offering a game that will not cost an arm and a leg to come in and watch. They have lofty goals and if they can pull it off, I can see a successful enterprise. Will this new concept in sports entertainment appeal to the fans? Time will tell.