Dumping a truckload of cash into the river seems to be a quicker and easier way to blow through money than to own a minor-league sports team.

With so few minor league operations truly seeming to prosper financially, it would be less painful than the slow drip of red ink.

But minor-league operations can prosper - and have. I caught one in the high tides of minor league sports while covering hockey in the Quad Cities in the late '90s. By the time I was given the beat, the days of 9,000 fans in the building - yes, that really did happen - had begun to slowly fade to the 6,000 range. (Outside of Fort Wayne, which International Hockey League franchise wouldn't take that today site unseen?)

Blame the economy, the fading novelty of minor league sports or so many other forms of available entertainment, but those days are in the rear-view mirror.

The IHL recently was case in point. It seemed to be on and off life support for most of the past season. Perception or reality, there were questions about how the league's teams were being financially propped up and there were concerns about which teams would survive or if the league itself would go belly-up entirely.

Now? Judging by outward appearances, which is often a gamble, things look a fair bit better today.

There are new franchises in Dayton, Ohio, and Moline. That takes the league to seven teams for next season. An eighth in Evansville, Ind., appears in for the following seasons.

It remains to be seen how the league survives and to what degree, and it will require utter marketing genius to re-create days of yore.

But the IHL, as a product, seems in better shape than it was two months ago.

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