Three months ago the United Football League announced it was bringing a team to Hartford. Since then the team has hired a coach and GM Chris Palmer, christened the name of the franchise the Hartford Colonials, and on Monday unveiled the logo and color scheme of the franchise. All of that’s important, but the most important things about the team’s long-term potential in Hartford won’t begin to be answered until the opener against Sacramento on Sept. 18 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. “We’ve got to get butts in the seats,” Hartford Colonials owner Bill Mayer said on Monday at the XL Center. The Colonials are building a team on the field but the greatest building job for the Colonials will be off it. Hartford has seemingly never recovered emotionally from the Whalers leaving to North Carolina and the fan base hasn’t embraced the minor league Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. When the Patriots parlayed their interest in Hartford into a new stadium in Foxborough, the attitude of the fan base in Hartford has become cynical and apathetic. Add to that the fact that the last seven attempts to start a second pro football league have all been spectacular bombs and it seems like pro football in Hartford may be too good to be true. “There have been 6 or 7 attempts, and they all failed,” Mayer said. “How will you make it 1-for-8? It’s frustrating though. People say ‘Ah. Here we go again’. Getting a share is not easy. It’s going to take time.” http://www.journalinquirer.com/articles/2010/05/25/sports/doc4bfbf06164ed9368576078.txt
