Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

The United Football League

OK, so one league with eight teams merges with another league with eight teams and the result is … one eight-team league?

That’s the new reality of spring professional football now that the USFL and XFL have blended parts of their families to form the United Football League.

**Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Threads @sladamson1960 and Adamsonmedia on Facebook.**

The UFL – not to be confused with the original UFL (1961-64) or the second UFL (2009-12) – is comprised of four XFL survivors (Arlington Renegades, DC Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks) and four former USFL clubs (Birmingham Stallions, Houston, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers). Houston – known as the Gamblers during its two USFL years – has rebranded as the Roughnecks, which played in both the 2020 and 2023 XFL. They’ll be led by Curtis Johnson, who was the head coach of the Gamblers last season.

Skip Holtz (Stallions), Mike Nolan (Panthers), Bob Stoops (Renegades), Reggie Barlow (Defenders) and Anthony Becht (Battlehawks) return to their respective teams this spring. Wade Phillips, who coached the Roughnecks last year, has moved to San Antonio.

John DeFilippo coached the USFL New Orleans Breakers in 2023 and has taken over as boss of the Showboats.

Fox and ESPN will be the primary broadcast partners.

Arlington, the defending XFL champion, will play the two-time defending USFL champion Birmingham to kick-off the inaugural season on March 30. No site has been officially announced but speculation is that the game will be contested in Arlington, where league headquarters are located.

Training camp opens there on February 24.

Birmingham, Houston, Memphis and Michigan will play in the USFL Division, with Arlington, DC, San Antonio and St. Louis populating the XFL Division.

Gone from the USFL contingent are the New Jersey Generals, Breakers, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers, while the XFL shuttered the Orlando Guardians, Seattle Sea Dragons and Vegas Vipers.

This merger, as it turns out, is really a combination of contracted leagues. Russ Brandon (former President and CEO of the XFL) will be the President and CEO of the UFL, while Daryl Johnston (former USFL President of Football Operations) will assume a similar role with the new venture.

Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson broke the news on FOX on New Year’s Eve, and unveiled a logo that was obviously inspired by the 2023 XFL logo. That leads me to believe the UFL will have more of an XFL “feel.”

That seems even more true if Arlington follows the hybrid hub model utilized by XFL 3.0. The Washington Post reports that’ll be the case, with teams practicing and living in the area throughout the regular season.

Teams will travel to their home and road games – well, Arlington will already be home – but the other seven teams will have to fly or drive to their host stadiums.

Think of it as a situation where the kids spend all week at their boarding school but get to see their parents on the weekend.

It’s better than the USFL hub situation, but not as good as a home team having, you know, an actual home.

“From day one, our mission has been to expand the game of football and be a league of opportunity, culture and innovation,” Johnson said. “As we come together to create the UFL, we can build something powerful, exciting and very cool for football fans – a spring league with lasting impact for all the players with a dream to play pro football and the ‘hardest workers in the room’ mentality to make their dreams come true.”

Added Garcia, “This new venture is possible because of a shared visionary mindset, a profound passion for the game, and first-hand experience living and creating the opportunities that football makes possible. As a unified spring league, we are able to deepen our commitment to unlocking and surpassing the dreams of our players, coaches, staff and fans. This league represents continued legacy and evolution, and we look forward to building the universe of spring football.”

While all of us who enjoy alternative football are glad it’ll return for a third consecutive year, I was hoping more than eight clubs would tee it up next spring.

I didn’t necessarily expect a 16-team league, but I thought surely there’d be 12. Eliminate the redundancies (Houston Gamblers and Roughnecks) and weed out a couple of the clubs that generated little fan interest, sure. But now 2024 basically just takes us back to 2022 where players were fighting for roughly 400 roster spots instead of the 800 available in 2023.

This’ll result in a higher concentration of talent on each club, of course, but it also means less opportunities for guys who want to keep playing for pay.

From a fan standpoint, the USFL cuts make the most sense. Despite branding themselves New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Houston and New Orleans, the Generals, Stars, Maulers, Gamblers and Breakers never once played in those cities.

It’s hard to feel a sense of loss when you lose something you never really had.

I do feel for the folks who supported Orlando, Seattle and Vegas in XFL, but I think the biggest loser in the merger might be Canton.

Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium hosted the USFL playoffs and championship in 2022, and last year the city was also the home base for the Generals and Maulers.

The league asked a lot of the fans in northeast Ohio to come out and support teams that weren’t theirs, and now they’re left with nothing.

As for the biggest winner, that would be the Canadian Football League. While there is only roster room for 20 international players per club, the CFL now has eight less teams south of its border to compete with.

Naturally, my hope – and the hope of fellow spring football supporters – is that the UFL takes root, expands, survives and ultimately thrives.

To do that, it’ll need to widen its footprint by entering more major markets (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, for example); identify roughly 20,000 host city fans willing to show up for games week in and week out; and become a TV product that draws eyes long after the novelty of “offseason” football wears off.

To that end, here’s wishing not just one Happy New Year to the United Football League – but many happy years to come.

Squadron starts over

T.J. Saint and the Squadron return to action on Friday against Indiana in Indianapolis. (photo courtesy of the Birmingham Squadron)

Through 16 games, the Birmingham Squadron is 10-6 and riding a five-game winning streak. The New Orleans Pelicans’ G League affiliate also leads the circuit in free throw percentage (82.6 percent), stands fourth in 3-pointers made (232), and ranks fifth in 3-point percentage (36.5).

Those are meaningful stats.

Yet starting on Friday – when T.J. Saint’s club takes on the Indiana Mad Ants (1-0) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis – they’re merely points of reference.

With the Showcase Cup (in-season tournament) portion of the 2023-24 slate done, G League teams now embark on a 34-game regular season. That means all records reset to 0-0 as the 31 clubs prepare to spend the rest of the winter and early spring battling for a championship.

But even though what’s already happened might not go in the regular season record books, it still matters.

“During that (five-game winning streak), our offense has actually been second in the league,” Saint said. “We’ve been sharing the ball, our turnovers are way down, our three-point percentage is up, we’re shooting more threes – which is what we want – and they’re really starting to get kind of surgical with taking the right shots.”

Among players who made at least 12 appearances for the Squadron during the Showcase Cup, Jalen Crutcher has been the top scorer with 19.7 points per game. He’s followed closely by Malcolm Hill, who has been good for 19.3 points per outing.

Landers Nolley II averages 18.3 points, followed by Izaiah Brockington (13) and Devin Cannady (10.2).

Two-way player Dereon Seabron has played in five games and averages 23 points per game, while Kira Lewis Jr. – while on assignment from the parent club – pumped in 20.7 points on average over three games and accounted for two game-winning shots.

UAB’s Trey Jemison has flirted with a double-double over 16 games, averaging 9.4 points and 11.7 rebounds each time out. His carom count was second best in Showcase Cup play.

On Tuesday, New Orleans assigned E.J. Liddell to Birmingham. He averaged 14.7 points and 9.3 rebounds during three games with the Squadron in November. He was a two-way player in 2022-23, but never played in the Magic City that season due to injuries.

“He’s gonna be here for a minute,” Saint said. “But he’ll be on somewhat of a minutes restriction.”

The Squadron got Jordan Hawkins on assignment from the Pelicans on Thursday. The guard has made 27 appearances for New Orleans this season, averaging 10.7 points and 23.9 minutes per game.

One theme Saint hopes continues into the season reboot is team unity. Night in and night out, the players look like they’re having fun working together.

They’ve certainly been fun to watch.

“We met (Wednesday) morning, and it was more of a team meeting, where I talked about where we needed to level up and basically call ourselves up to an even higher standard,” Saint explained. “Once I said that, they talked most of the meeting. What I’m trying to do is get this from being a coach-led team to a player-led team. In some instances we are and some we aren’t, which is part of the growth process. But they take ownership.

“They don’t get too down on themselves and they really pick each other up. And so, the challenge that I gave them and the staff – the entire staff going forward for the next three and a half months through mid-April to potentially compete for a championship – is just to totally give every single ounce of energy you have to the team because if you do that, you’ll be able to lift everybody else up and that gives you the best individual chance to achieve your goals.”

Saint said Wednesday’s “back-to-work” practice was a good one, and he’s grateful his guys had a few days off.

“Healthwise we’re good right now, and they needed the rest,” Saint said. “We’ve been playing a lot of guys a bunch of minutes because we had those eight games in like 16 days, or whatever it was, and we were injured then and had to work through it. It was much deserved, and needed.”

Indiana lost just one game during the Showcase Cup before falling to the Westchester Knicks in the Winter Showcase final in Orlando last week. Birmingham plays the Mad Ants (Indiana Pacers affiliate) on Friday at 5 p.m. and again on Sunday at 9 a.m.

The road swing continues January 2-3 when the Squadron faces the Grand Rapids Gold (Denver Nuggets affiliate) – 6 p.m. starts both days – and Saint’s squad opens regular season action at Legacy Arena on Friday, January 5, when the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Miami Heat affiliate) comes in for a 7 p.m. tip.

Birmingham has moved to the Eastern Conference this season. The top six teams in each conference earn a spot in the single-elimination playoff while the top two teams in the Eastern and Western alignments receive first-round byes. “This is a fun group to be around,” Saint said. “We’ve got a pretty good test coming up in Indiana the next couple days, so it’ll be good to see how we perform. This group is so connected and really works hard, so it’s exciting to get back at it.”

A Visit from St. Nicholas, annotated

Most of you are familiar with the Clement Clarke Moore poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, even though you might think it’s called ‘Twas the night before Christmas.

That made me realize that perhaps we really aren’t familiar with it at all.

And if that’s the case, then an annotated version of the poem is in order.

Luckily for you, I’ve decided to step up to the plate and perform this service myself. Below is the poem, with my annotations presented in italics.

I hope this provides you as well as your kith and kin great joy this holiday season.

You’re welcome …

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

We didn’t have pets, although we were planning on getting a shelter kitten after the holidays. We did have a slight rodent problem several months earlier but the kids smeared peanut butter on the neighbors’ side of the fence, and that seemed to take care of it.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

The kids had gotten hold of some of our edibles and ended up getting slightly high, resulting in their weird dreams. (We have a meeting with a social worker in January).

And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Mom and me like to role play, so she put on a kerchief and pretended to be peasant woman who hoards pineapples while I donned a ball cap and became the “pizza delivery guy.” But then a loud noise interrupted our sexy time.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

I had eaten some bad sash earlier, and barfed.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave a luster of midday to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes did appear,

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer,

You don’t see a lot of miniature caribou, although small sleighs aren’t that uncommon, especially in toy stores. The combination, though, was noteworthy to me.

With a little old driver so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.

Actually, at first, I thought it might be former NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, who was also lively and quick. He’s retired now, though, I think. I don’t really follow motorsports.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

I had to look up coursers. It means “swift horses.” Not only are caribou not horses, but where the hell was Rudolph? This makes no sense.

As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the housetop the coursers they flew

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too

Again, with the swift horses. Whatever, man … it just seems disrespectful to the caribou.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

You’d be surprised how much damage hooves can do to roofs. It’d be interesting to see how many insurance claims are filed right after Christmas. I’m gonna at least get an estimate.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

A guy wearing dirty fur and carrying a big sack of toys normally has a lot of explaining to do, especially when police are present.

His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

He’d been day drinking – which is fine by me. I don’t judge.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly

That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

Look, it’s a smoke-free home. I don’t want to be a dick, but you don’t just fire up a pipe in somebody else’s house.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

I wasn’t trying to body-shame him … it was just humorous to see a porky elf wearing dirty fur.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

Apparently, he had so much sinus pressure it allowed him to launch himself back up the chimney. Kinda gross, but I guess it works.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

Imagine a small duck exploding. Take away the blood and horror, and it’s kinda like what flying thistle down looks like.

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight—

“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Ditto, guys.