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September 16, 2003 Hockey coach gets use of house, car Rick Adduono also will receive bonuses for leading the team to the playoffs. BY MATT WILLIAMS Staff Writer The Greensboro Coliseum Complex will provide Greensboro Generals hockey coach Rick Adduono with a car, a rental house and performance bonuses in addition to his $56,350 salary, according to an employment contract obtained Monday. The benefits come as part of an agreement between the city and Generals managers for the coliseum to take over all operations of the privately owned minor-league hockey team, including Adduono's salary. That agreement, not yet formalized in writing, calls for the city to pay all team expenses, including player and staff salaries, and receive all revenue, including parking, advertising and concession sales. A private group of investors led by Greensboro attorney Art Donaldson still owns the Generals but has leased the team to local businessmen Bill Black and Don Brady. Coliseum director Matt Brown agreed to run the team for Black and Brady in order to keep the financially struggling franchise as a coliseum tenant. Brown could not be reached for comment Monday. The contract for Adduono outlines sponsorship agreements with a home builder and car dealer to provide him with the use of a new house and car. Developers David Howard and Tom Hall, owners of Windsor Investments, agreed to a sponsorship deal that gives the coach use of a home in the Reedy Fork Ranch neighborhood in northeast Greensboro. Hall said his company offered the four-bedroom house as a way to help out the coliseum and keep the team in the city. In return, he said, Windsor will get advertising space around the ice and free tickets. The contract did not indicate which dealership would provide Adduono's car. Numerous city employees have car allowances, Human Resources Director Patsy Burks said. Adduono, however, is the only city employee that receives a housing benefit. According to the contract, the 48-year-old coach will be paid his salary over an 11-month period that began July 1. In addition, he was paid a $9,968 lump sum in July to fulfill his remaining contract with the Generals' ownership group. That money was first paid to the city by Triad Professional Sports LLC, the Generals' ownership group. Adduono is eligible for several bonuses for meeting attendance goals and making the East Coast Hockey League playoffs. The coach will get a $5,000 bontis if the team's average attendance is 3,000 per game. Last season's average attendance was 3,416 per game, according to figures submitted by the ECHL. If the team finishes in the top three positions in the final division standings, Adduono will get up to $2,500 extra; if the team wins the league championship, the coach will get $10,000. Having a successful season wouldn't be atypical for Adduono. In his first season with the franchise last year, he took a team that finished last in three straight seasons to a 42-21-9 record and into the second round of the playoffs. Adduono also won the league championship in 2001 when he coached the South Carolina Stingrays. Adduono declined to comment about his contract Monday, but said he was working to recruit players for the coming season, which begins Oct. 17. A players strike has kept Adduono from filling his roster, but Adduono said he is still working with scouts and agents to put together a solid team. "This is a 24-hour-a-day job," he said of the scouting process. "You don't want to lose a good player." Contact Matt Williams at 373-7004 or mwilliams@news-record.com |