Halifax Rainmen owner Andre Levingston slams decision to forfeit

The owner and president of the HalifaxRainmenhas apologizedafter histeam forfeitedthe NBL championship game against the Windsor Express last week, but says the team should have played that night.

AndreLevingstonspoke to reporterson Monday in press conference that became confrontational towards the endas players and fans showed up and began to shoot their own questions at the owner. At one point a fan began to sob, saying she had travelled all the way to Windsor to see the team play in Game 7.

TheRainmen forfeited thegame last Thursday followinga scufflebetween the two teams earlier in the day and the refusal by Halifax's coach and players to take the court.

"I feel cheated," saidLevingston. "I'm sure this will set us back some."

Players and coaches say Levingston tried to force them to play, despite their safety worries.

Levingstonsays he arranged forthe team to sit down with their opponents to ease concerns. Windsor police alsopromised extrasecurity, he said.

"Player safety has always been a priority," he said.

Head coachJosep Clars refused to play.The players were asked to play without their coach, but they also refused.

"The players were misled," Levingston said.

Levingston saysClarsshould have led team to championship, not a lifetime of controversy.

"It had all the ingredients to be a miracle year," he said."This is extremely detrimental, and not just from an attendance stand point."

The Rainmen were issued a total of $90,000 in fines by the National Basketball League of Canada on Friday.Levingston says the players and coaches don't have a say in whether they play or not.

"This is an embarrassment.The most important game of the year didn't get played," he said.

He did say he takes responsibility for the Rainmenshowing up too early for theirscheduled 1 p.m. shootaroundin Windsor, a move that prompted the fightbetween the two teams. But he saidthe issue could have been resolved if both sides sat down and talked.

Clars and assistant coach Pedro Monteiro have been barred for life from coaching in the league.

Eleven players have been indefinitely suspended and fined $5,000 each for conduct detrimental to the league.

Levingstonsaid there were players from the Windsor team that should have been suspended as well. As for the fines, he says he will not appeal them, nor will he appeal on behalf of the players. Levingston says it's up to the players to do that.

But players aren't happy. Oneof them askedLevingstonwhy he didn't attendthe players news conference on Saturday.

"What side are you on?" asked Joey Haywood, a guard with the Rainmen, adding he couldn'tcouldn't understand why the fines areso high.

"We've got families, it just wasn't a safe environment."

The news conference was shut down as more people started to move to the front of the room.

At one point Levingston put his arm around a sobbing woman who said she went to Windsor to see the game and felt let down.

Despite the controversy, Levingston vowed the team would return to Halifax next season.