Most Las Vegas Hustlers fans thought it was just a formality to re-sign their longtime manager Edward Allen to an extension. Behind the scenes, it was slightly less of a slam dunk than most fans would believe.
Allen, 56 years old, wasn't sure he wanted to be the guy to see this rebuild through. "I've been here eleven years, and maybe a new voice was needed," he explained. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to come back."
Ultimately, after much discussion with his family and with GM Matt Rectenwald, Allen saw the vision and realized the rebuild was at a much more advanced stage than he initially thought. "It's starting to come together," Allen said. "We got two or three potential All-Stars here. I think we can be contenders next year." Allen and the Hustlers agreed to a four year extension that keeps him in Las Vegas through 2049.
Once Allen signed on the dotted line, bench coach Luis Icaza signed his own three year extension. The former Mexico City bench coach and Hustlers minor league pitching coach was promoted to the big club early in the 2045 season. "Edward and I can do the good cop, bad cop routine for a few more years," said Icaza with a smile.