Comments on: Yet another reason to hate the Iowa Chops

By: Another Kemper Person

Another Kemper Person — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:23:19 +0000

I also worked with Steve Nitzel and Richard Adler in KC with the Outlaws. Adler let Nitzel do NOTHING. ADLER single-handidly took that team down! Nitzel was FRUSTRATED at Adler constantly! NO WAY you can blame the demise of the Outlaws on ANYONE other than RICHARD ADLER - certainly not Nitzel.

I don’t have any first handed knowledge of how Nitzel ran the Chops but the games i attended, Steve Nitzel was at the exit doors after each thanking everyone for coming and telling them when the next game was. I’ve NEVER seen a team president do THAT before!

By: unbelievable

unbelievable — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:31:36 +0000

Niether Dickie nor kemper arena know what they’re talking about, although I suspect kemper arena is actually Nitzel.

There were several assclowns in the Kansas City organization. Nitzel was among them, but he wasn’t the only one.

There were exactly two management people in that organization that had a clue. Nitzel and the president, Adler, weren’t among them.

About the only thing Adler and Nitzel got right in KC was that they both thought the other was an idiot.

Nitzel’s never been successful. Anywhere. Not in KC, not in Des Moines, not in Shreveport. Never.

It’s amazing people keep hiring that jackass.

By: kemper arena

kemper arena — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:17:44 +0000

I also worked with Steve at the Outlaws. He wasn’t the reason the team folded. He had to follow the bad marketing initiatives laid out by the team president and it’s owner. He lead the staff to the best of his ability and sold major sponsorships in a short period of time. He pulled strings to get former colleagues to come work for the team, only for the team not to pay the relocation bills. I know for a fact that he had to go back to sponsors on numerous occassions and re-negotiate and communicate changes because the president of the team couldn’t understand or adhere to the terms of a contract. I don’t think Steve had any part of a misguided “Steve the Puck” campaign and he certainly wouldn’t have spent $250,000 on media to support it. That’s why the team folded, it misfired and didn’t connect with the consumers. The Outlaws never sold $1 worth of tickets with the campaign. I know, I answered the phones.

In Des Moines, he connected with fans and consumers and part of the rage of the team leaving is because of the emotional bond he created. The team was losing more than a $1 million a year prior to his arrival and he slashed the losses significantly.

I feel bad he had to endure two bad ownership groups and wouldn’t be surprised if he never went back to hockey again. Which is a shame, because he was bright, creative and energetic about Des Moines and the sport. He will be missed.

By: Dickie Longfellow

Dickie Longfellow — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:29:25 +0000

Steve Nitzel knows as much about hockey as Dr. Jack Kevorkian knows about medicine. I had the “pleasure” of working with him for a minor league hockey team in Kansas City. His knowledge and shady business tactics were the main reason that the team folded after one season. Then he moves on to Des Moines and tries the same stupid gimmicks and what happens, runs another team into the ground in the first year of his tenure. Congratulations Mr. Nitzel, you are quite a business man and this could not have happened to a nicer person you douche wad..

By: broan doan

broan doan — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:13:25 +0000

First off learn to take a joke. Second, have you ever been to Iowa or know anything about it? Obviously not otherwise you’d probably know the meaning to the name. We have these animals we call pigs all over and we host the national pork expo. If you’re going to cry about a name try the L.A. Kings cause last i checked there weren’t any of those there.

By: Broodwich

Broodwich — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:09:30 +0000

Why so serious?