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For as long as time has existed, there has been football. And for as long as there has been football, there has been someone trying to figure out how to make spring football a thing. The closest we ever got was the USFL, which was highly successful until an obscure businessman who thought he knew how to run everything took over and ran it into the ground in record time, for the high high cost of 3 dollars. Fortunately, this ended that businessman's career and no one ever gave him a chance to ruin anything ever again. In the years since the USFL, we've had other attempts: The WLAF, arguably the most successful spring league of all time, lasting two entire seasons with the perennial powerhouse the Fire based out of Birmingham Alabama before folding and then being resurrected by the NFL as NFL Europe for twelve goddamn seasons (goddrat i loved barcelona's helmets). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2zCmCNQTRU The RFL which struggled through a season in 1999, using the "local college kids you loved who didn't get to the NFL are in the RFL!" angle, featuring a team in Mobile Alabama and only one televised game on a local 20 kilowatt religious broadcast channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWCmXq5ZfrA The SFL founded by Eric Dickerson and Bo Jackson and featuring a team in Birmingham Alabama, it was doomed from the start as they were forced to reduce themselves to 4 teams and had no television contract https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGJcQWF-IFw The XFL, easily the most well-known of all the spring leagues, had one of the most successful debuts of all time and despite having a contract with NBC it then died a horrible horrible death, but you've all seen the 30 for 30. The league was brought down pretty hard by the terrible performance of the Bolts, the team based out of Birmingham Alabama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LuT7b6Vxkw Well, it looks like the spring league fever is back again and we've got ourselves another contender, featuring 8 teams across the south, including Orlando, San Diego, and Birmingham Alabama. It's the Alliance  Featuring:         So the AAF is going to play this Spring. They're doing a sort of mixture of "hometown kids get to go pro" and "d-league for the NFL". It's backed by Bill Polian and Charlie Ebersol (yep, the son of Dick Ebersol and the XFL documentary guy), and they've got ol' smiley Hines Ward on the board. On top of this, the AAF is going to have their season opener broadcast the weekend after the Super Bowl on CBS, then weekly games on the CBS Sports Network, and a championship game again on CBS. They're getting rid of kickoffs, shortening the play clock, and reducing coach challenges in an effort to make the game faster. Likely the reason they're heading into production this Spring is to get far ahead of the XFL which is supposed to come back in 2020. So what do they seem to be getting right? Working on speeding up the game never hurts Not going head to head with the NFL unlike the failed UFL Having a television contract with CBS is definitely a good thing (though airing most of the season on the impossible-to-locate CBS Sports Network always feels low-rent) And what are they getting wrong? BIRMINGHAM ALABAMA What is the loving obsession with every minor league football experiment trying to get a pro team to play in Birmingham Alabama (sometimes it's Mobile). It has never worked, it will never work. Stop. Those fuckin logos are all well and good enough, but the consistent feel of the design of each makes it feel sterile and not organic Trying to start a football league is basically just a bad idea. People always get the idea that we need football in the Spring because there's not currently any football in the Spring; but maybe that's because football is a sport you just don't play in the Spring? Maybe we need the vacation? But on top of that, forcing the creation of something like a sports league when the only successful ones have ever grown just kind of organically and over 100 years ago (WNBA being an exception, but even then only about half of the teams are doing well and there's still a crapload of turnover and folding franchises) seems like trying to reincarnate the Buddha. I've always been fascinated by minor leagues and I love to watch the magic of their collapse happen. Feel free to use this thread to drop any lols you might find about the AAF around the web or in the news or who knows; maybe this time it'll be different. Maybe the Birmingham Iron will succeed and one day when the Los Angeles Chargers fold the NFL will promote the San Diego Fleet to the AFC West. Maybe we'll get relegation or the NFL will institute the 4th and 15 play instead of a kickoff rule change. Anything's possible, except probably a second season of AAF. pathetic little tramp fucked around with this message at 04:34 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 04:31
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My biggest inspiration in design did all the logos, so that's neat.
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Sep 26, 2018 04:37
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i seen this in the other thread for it. But i'll allow just one more since it has them logos On it. Don't make any more
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Sep 26, 2018 04:42
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I like the Stallions logo the best, just as a first impression.
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Sep 26, 2018 05:22
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Salt Lake Stallions, bitch
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Sep 26, 2018 07:15
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calling them the hotshots and putting them in tempe is dumb
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Sep 26, 2018 08:04
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I'll watch this league as much as I watch D-League hockey or AA Baseball. (only when Michael Jordan is playing)
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Sep 26, 2018 13:47
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Cavauro posted:i seen this in the other thread for it. But i'll allow just one more since it has them logos On it. Don't make any more poo poo there was another thread for this? I thought I looked. My bad.
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Sep 26, 2018 21:14
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Arizona Hotshots is by far the best name
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Sep 26, 2018 21:17
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Play posted:Arizona Hotshots is by far the best name
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Sep 26, 2018 21:23
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AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:I'm confused by it because it sounds like a cocky name but then it has the fire axes. Hotshots is a term for special teams of professional firefighters who are specialized at fighting forest fires. There was a big budget movie recently about a certain group of hotshots who all died So I kind of like that the name sounds cool and also has two meanings
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Sep 26, 2018 21:34
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Play posted:Hotshots is a term for special teams of professional firefighters who are specialized at fighting forest fires. There was a big budget movie recently about a certain group of hotshots who all died Wildfires...considering Arizona is in the middle of the desert but yeah. I dig it. Also, my wife works with a dude who got picked up by Salt Lake so that's cool.
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Sep 26, 2018 21:37
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pathetic little tramp posted:poo poo there was another thread for this? I thought I looked. My bad. "I am bad" is the proper phrasing. but you aren't bad and your english is great. Don't worry mate
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Sep 26, 2018 21:57
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This list of coaches fucken owns Arizona Hotshots - Rick Neuheisel Atlanta Legends - Brad Childress Birmingham Iron - Tim Lewis Memphis Express - Mike Singletary Orlando Apollos - Steve Spurrier Salt Lake Stallions - Dennis Erickson San Antonio Commanders - Mike Riley San Diego Fleet - Mike Martz
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Sep 26, 2018 22:28
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DariusLikewise posted:This list of coaches fucken owns  That is actually pretty impressive.
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Sep 26, 2018 22:35
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okay gently caress what i said lets go Orlando motherfuckers
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Sep 26, 2018 22:39
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gently caress it, I closed my earlier thread.
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Sep 26, 2018 22:43
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DariusLikewise posted:This list of coaches fucken owns Incredible.
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Sep 26, 2018 22:47
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AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:
Yeah, I'm legit kinda shocked they pulled such big names. Good for them.
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Sep 26, 2018 22:53
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San Diego is my team, look at the full coaching staff Mike Martz Jon Kitna Larry Marmie Jackie Slater T.J. Houshmandzadeh Dre Bly Vince Amey Larry MacDuff Matt Kitna Michael Vick is the offensive coordinator for Atlanta as well
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Sep 26, 2018 22:58
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this league owns??????? i can't wait to see the jersey concepts
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Sep 26, 2018 23:01
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DariusLikewise posted:San Diego is my team, look at the full coaching staff Hell yeah brother Dre Bly, there's a name I haven't thought of in years
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Sep 26, 2018 23:03
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Sounds vaguely interesting. Hopefully it's not a complete train-wreck. And the Stallions have the coolest logo. Too bad they're coached by Dennis Erickson.
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Sep 26, 2018 23:35
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Memphis has the shittiest logo but by far the most entertaining coach so I gotta throw my support behind em.
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Sep 26, 2018 23:43
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Which one of these teams sign Johnny Manziel
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Sep 26, 2018 23:45
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I just realized this wasn't the new XFL
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Sep 27, 2018 01:44
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Birmingham has the highest football viewership per capita in the world and is a reasonably large media market hth
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Sep 27, 2018 02:07
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Raku posted:Birmingham has the highest football viewership per capita in the world and is a reasonably large media market hth on the other hand, the team has to play in Legion Field
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Sep 27, 2018 02:54
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At this point I’ll buy a Birmingham hat just because I like chaos and the death of leagues
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Sep 27, 2018 02:57
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Alaois posted:on the other hand, the team has to play in Legion Field For like two years until UAB's stadium is built (this league won't last two years obviously)
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Sep 27, 2018 03:22
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The problem with Birmingham is Alabama fans. This is a general truth but it applies specifically to professional football leagues. Any football that is not Alabama Football is tolerated at best. Any football that dares to challenge Alabama Football supremacy is heresy and must be burned on a YellaWoodtm stake. Every league looks at the Alabama numbers and thinks "they will support us the same way," and they are wrong. No league's lasted long enough to get through the wall of indifference/hostility to anything Not Alabama Football to build a local fanbase. In a world where day 1 profitability is all but required, I don't expect this league to be willing to lose money long enough for Alabama fans to warm to the product. I kind of hope I'm wrong, though, because this seems like it's got good ideas behind it. That's my theory, Paul, I'll hang up and listen.
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Sep 27, 2018 17:08
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Athanatos posted:Which one of these teams sign Johnny Manziel Johnny Manziel's CFL Career Stats 3 Games, 45/71, 484 yards, 0 TDs and 5 INTs
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Sep 27, 2018 17:21
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DariusLikewise posted:Johnny Manziel's CFL Career Stats
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Sep 27, 2018 17:30
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AAAAA! Real Muenster posted:I thought someone posted a gif of him throwing to a single-read out route for a TD a while back? That was pre-season
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Sep 27, 2018 17:36
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Tricky Ed posted:The problem with Birmingham is Alabama fans. This is a general truth but it applies specifically to professional football leagues. This is why they're signing bama NFL washouts Honestly the real problem these leagues face is you need an actual good way to get viewers and the ability to run in the red for a few years while people warm up to it. I think the league that succeeds would have to get something unique like "every game is live on Netflix" or something
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Sep 28, 2018 00:46
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kidcoelacanth posted:My biggest inspiration in design did all the logos, so that's neat. The brothers Chaps?
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Sep 28, 2018 00:48
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A.o.D. posted:The brothers Chaps? Fraser Davidson, unless I'm misreading the info I can find. Seems his style.
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Sep 28, 2018 00:52
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kidcoelacanth posted:Fraser Davidson, unless I'm misreading the info I can find. Seems his style. I am disappointed that you didn't get that joke.
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Sep 28, 2018 00:58
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If portland gets a team Im in
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Sep 28, 2018 01:19
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The teams are all decided unfortunately
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Sep 28, 2018 01:42
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