Although his vision was blurred, the man knew he was staring into a bright light. He’d heard stories about this before … an ethereal tunnel that links this world to the next, perhaps the final bridge between life and afterlife.
His breathing was labored, and he felt anxious. If this was the journey from here to there, he worried that perhaps it would be an unpleasant one. Yet, just as he started to get more agitated, he heard a soft, soothing voice.
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“It’s OK, Mr. Bannister, everything is fine. Everything going forward will be wonderful.”
The voice was reassuring, reminding him a bit of his mother’s. She always had a sense of calm no matter the situation, and a similar tranquility was evident here.
Was it his late mother reaching out to him, or simply another angel? Although the light was brilliant, he could almost make out a figure, one that appeared to be that of a woman with shoulder-length hair and dressed in white.
“Mr. Bannister, it’s time for you to move on,” she said. “There’s no need to worry anymore about any pain or regret. That life is over. And a new life will begin in a new form.”
He didn’t understand. A new life? A new form? Did this mean that there was no end, merely a new beginning?
It all seemed so … pleasant.
“Mr. Bannister, you’re a very nice man – you always have been,” she said. “You’re friendly, you’re good, and as you transition it’s important that you find a vessel best suited for you.”
The word ‘vessel’ didn’t seem to make much sense at first, but the more he thought about it – and to be sure, his thoughts were random and unclear – he realized his body was the vessel in question.
His current one apparently was of no more use, so the angel was transferring him to another. He imagined a taller, slimmer body, one with muscles and tone. The idea made him chuckle, although he couldn’t tell if it was audible or something merely in his head. He seemed to have little control of his mouth, or anything else on his body, for that matter.
“I know the perfect fit for you, Mr. Bannister,” she said. “A Golden Retriever. They’re kind, intelligent, gentle, affectionate … just like you. And imagine all the good times you’ll have with your human. Running, jumping, playing fetch. It’s a life you’ll love, and one that you deserve.”
The thought of being a dog made him smile – at least he thought he was smiling. He loved dogs, and he especially loved Golden Retrievers. In fact, he had one at home named Buck. How funny it all was … sometimes he’d look at Buck and think how joyous it must be to live so carefree, and now he was going to find out for himself.
Would he miss being a human?
Who knows?
This was the work of an angel, and an angel would obviously know what they were doing. His first life was a man, and he was a good man. His next life he’d be a dog – a good dog.
He was fine with it all. Dying wasn’t so bad. In fact, he was looking forward to it.
Now he’d just doze off and when he woke up, a new adventure would be waiting for him. A new life on four legs instead of two, one full of wagging instead of nagging. He closed his eyes and felt completely at peace.
Once he opened his eyes – he had no idea how long he’d been out – the bright lights were gone. He felt slightly confused, and the left side of his face was numb.
“How are you feeling, Mr. Bannister?” said the dentist, rubbing her hands with sanitizer. “You still seemed a little distressed even with the sedative and nitrous oxide, so I told you my famous reincarnation story.
“It’s weird, but that crazy little tale almost always gets patients’ minds off their procedure. And with you getting two root canals today, I figured you needed it.”
Notes, numbers and quotes from Birmingham’s 24-20 victory over New Orleans on Saturday at Protective Stadium.
HOW THEY SCORED
New Orleans (4-3) took the opening kickoff and methodically moved the markers, driving all the way to the Birmingham (5-2) two-yard line before being pushed backward. Matt Coghlin was called on to salvage some points, and his 25-yard field goal at 5:53 of the first quarter made it 3-0.
The drive covered 54 yards on 16 plays and chewed 9:07 of the clock.
The Alex McGough-to-C.J. Marable combo (three passes for 37 yards) sparked the Stallions’ first turn with the ball, which ended with McGough scoring a five-yard TD at the 1:59 mark.
They traveled 60 yards on seven snaps, and Brandon Aubrey’s PAT made it 7-3.
Bryan Mills recovered a fumble via a muffed punt return in the second quarter, putting Birmingham in business at the New Orleans 22. The Stallions got to the enemy four, but had to settle for a 22-yard Aubrey field goal and 10-3 lead 7:58 before halftime.
The Breakers’ offense answered with a march all the way to the Stallions’ three but were denied a trip into the end zone, instead getting a 21-yard field goal at 2:40 of the second.
Coghlin’s kick cut his team’s deficit to 10-6.
That’s how things stood at the half.
Birmingham extended its lead on the opening series of the third quarter. Marable had a 27-yard run and McGough scrambled for 12 to provide the highlights, but Ricky Person got the six points on a two-yard blast (his first run) at 10:36 of the frame.
The march was seven plays, 59 yards, and Aubrey kicked the lead to 17-6.
New Orleans, however, benefitted from a Birmingham fumble midway through the third, putting the Breakers in the red zone at the Stallions’ 19.
However, their offense still couldn’t cross the stripe, so Coghlin kicked a 34-yard field with 5:40 remaining in the third to make it a one score game, 17-9.
It was a two-score game quickly enough.
McGough hit Jace Sternberger on 20-yard TD pass at 1:07 of the third to put the Breakers in a bigger hole. Sternberger made a terrific, falling-backward grab on the aerial to put an exclamation point on an eight play, 65-yard drive.
Aubrey’s PAT increased the advantage to 24-9.
New Orleans had one quarter to get back in it, and took the first step at 12:10 of the fourth frame when McLeod Bethel-Thompson found Lee Morris on a 10-yard touchdown pass at the end of a seven play, 80-yard junket.
Bethel-Thompson threw to Sage Surratt for the two-point conversion, and Birmingham’s lead was down to 24-17.
The second step came on a 55-yard field goal from Coghlin with 5:54 remaining in regulation, deflating the Stallions’ cushion to 24-20.
Suddenly, it was anybody’s ballgame.
New Orleans got the ball back with :55 remaining following a punt, but had to go 80 yards with no timeouts.
The Breakers couldn’t do it, and the defending USFL champions moved back atop the South Division – at least for a night.
BIRMINGHAM COACH SKIP HOLTZ SAID …
“What I was most proud of today was the way our team played. I thought they played really smart football. We’ve talked about following a plan, and I think this game was won on being plus one on the turnover battle and I thought it was won in the red zone. We were three out of four and they were one out of four. And I think that was the difference in this football game.”
NEW ORLEANS COACH JOHN DEFILIPPO SAID …
“We’re disappointed. We’ve lost three in a row. It is what it is. Our record is what it says we are.”
STANDOUT STATS
McGough was his usual reliable self, going 16-23-0 for 176 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 22 yards and a score.
Marable had 86 yards on 17 rushes and caught six balls for 52 yards.
“C.J. just continues to be a staple for us on offense,” Holtz said. “We felt good about C.J. going one on one with the linebacker, and that’s where we got a lot of our yards with C.J. coming out of the backfield.”
Linebacker Quentin Poling was a tour de force on defense for Birmingham, finishing with 10 tackles (six solo), two sacks and three tackles for loss.
“I didn’t do anything superhuman,” Poling said. “Coach talked about how you don’t have to be a hero, just come out and do your job. Football really is a game of inches and just some small issues we’re making week by week, we’re getting better and cleaning things up and doing better as a unit.”
Bethel-Thompson was 24-42-1 for 279 yards and a touchdown in a losing effort, with Jonathan Adams leading the receiving corps with 88 yards on six catches.
Wes Hills gathered up 77 rushing yards on 20 carries.
Defensively, Vontae Diggs had 11 takedowns for New Orleans.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
With time winding down and the Breakers hoping to put together a game-winning drive, Bethel-Thompson completed a 32-yard pass to Adams at the Birmingham 48 and then lined up and spiked the ball.
However, officials decided to review the previous play and ruled it an incomplete pass and put the ball back at the New Orleans 20.
But … officials then started walking back to the spot of the overruled catch, only to ultimately go back to the 20.
DeFilippo, as one might expect, was not happy.
“At the end of the game, I don’t know what the hell was going on there,” he said. “I look forward to hearing an explanation of that. From my understanding when he got up and clocked the ball, that last play should be over. They move the ball here and move the ball here and move the ball here …”
It was more confusing than infuriating for Holtz.
“It certainly made things interesting with all the officials’ reviews there at the end,” he said. “Wasn’t sure where the ball was going … forwards, backwards, then it went back, then halfway. I didn’t know what was going on.”
TODAY IN HISTORY
When it comes to pro football in Birmingham, May 27 has been a busy day.
On this date in 1979 the Alabama Vulcans improved to 2-0 with an 18-0 victory over the Tulsa Mustangs in an American Football Association game at Skelly Stadium in Tulsa.
Myron Smith had two touchdown runs for the Vulcans and Chris Vacarella connected with Jerome Coleman on a three-yard TD pass to pace the winners.
Defensive back Tyrone King had two interceptions and Tulsa was held to 73 yards of total offense.
On May 27, 1983 the Birmingham Stallions lost to the Denver Gold, 21-19, in a USFL game at Denver. The result gave the Gold a sweep of the Stallions, who fell to 7-6 and saw their five-game winning streak snapped before 38,829 spectators.
It was also the first game that former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Craig Morten served as head coach of Denver; he was named to the post three days earlier after Red Miller was fired.
On May 27, 1984, the Stallions defeated the New Orleans Breakers, 31-14, at the Superdome in New Orleans. With the win, Birmingham improved to 12-2.
Cliff Stoudt threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Birmingham secured a playoff berth in front of 23,748 fans.
On May 27, 1985, the Stallions routed the Orlando Renegades, 41-17, at Legion Field with 24,500 fans looking on.
Stoudt threw three touchdown passes and Paul Ott Carruth scored his first TD as a pro and racked up 95 yards on just 10 carries.
It was Birmingham’s tenth win of the season against four losses.
NEXT UP
Birmingham plays its final regular season home game next Saturday when the Philadelphia Stars come to Protective Stadium.
Game time is set for 2 p.m. CDT with Peacock televising.
Let’s be honest – the professional football history between the cities of Birmingham and New Orleans is neither long nor storied.
There were a pair of games between the two in 1984 during the second season of original United States Football League (plus a controlled scrimmage during the preseason), but the Breakers played in Boston in 1983 and Portland in 1985, so no yearly feud was established during the circuit’s three-year run.
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And while the Ham had franchises in the World Football League, World League of American Football, Canadian Football League, XFL and Alliance of American Football, the Big Easy did not. Football power brokers were content with the NFL Saints.
But Stallions and Breakers players in the new USFL are doing their best to make sure Birmingham vs. New Orleans becomes a significant spring thing on the gridiron.
So far, so good.
Saturday’s 24-20 Stallions victory at Protective Stadium marked the fifth time the teams have played since the modern version of the league opened for business in 2022, making it the most frequent rivalry in the USFL’s young history.
Last year’s playoff clash has to be considered the biggest to date, of course, but the most recent slobber-knocker is solidly in second place.
It was a game that Birmingham looked to have well in hand – leading 24-9 late in the third quarter – only to see New Orleans come back with a chance to win at the end.
“What a great game, but we expected it would be,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said. “I thought it was a great game the first go-round. It was a one score game at 31-38 when they went down and scored to make it 45-31, but that was a great football game.
“This one had ups and downs and twists and turns, for sure. You thought it was going one way but then it goes another, and that’s what happens when two great football teams compete. Everybody wants to fight to the very end.”
There were hard hits, dropped balls, big plays … it was a great game for spectators, just like New Orleans’ 45-31 conquest was in Week Three.
It’s how a rivalry game should be.
“There’s no give-up on our football team,” New Orleans coach John DeFilippo said. “I’m proud of the way our guys fought the whole game. There were a lot of up and down moments. We’ll be disappointed tonight, but then it’s on to Michigan.”
During the inaugural season – in an effort to generate some added interest in the league – USFL officials decided to establish “official” rivalries.
Birmingham vs. Houston was dubbed the “Double Down Derby,” and New Orleans vs. the Tampa Bay Bandits was christened the “Breaker Bay Brawl.”
They made for nice alliterations. And the Stallions-Gamblers series is interesting in that Houston handed Birmingham its lone loss in 2022 and is the only team to hold a winning record over Holtz’s team (2-1).
Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has “relocated” to Memphis and revived the Showboats nickname. Not sure if anyone has coined “Boat Breaker Bash” yet, but I assume it’s available.
Anyway, last season Birmingham recorded 22-13, 10-9 and 31-17 victories over New Orleans on the way to a USFL championship, but lost this year’s first leg.
The Stallions hold an edge in all-time series wins, but each one has had high stakes.
The first ever meeting was a battle of unbeatens; the second saw Birmingham wrap up the USFL South; the third was a playoff game; the fourth featured two undefeated teams; and this one saw Birmingham (5-2) surge back to the top of the South Division (although they’ll drop to second if the Gamblers beat the Showboats on Sunday) while New Orleans (4-3) now finds itself on the outside looking in due to a three-game losing streak.
“This is where character shows up on a team, good or bad,” DeFilippo said. “And I know we have a lot of good character on this team. And I know we’ll bounce back and I know there’ll be no finger-pointing. It’s my job to make sure this team doesn’t splinter, and it’s easy to do in pro football when you’ve lost three in a row. But the Birmingham Stallions played a very good football game today.”
Geography has a lot to do with rivalries (the Breakers are spending their second consecutive season working and playing in Birmingham, so there’s that), but sometimes they happen organically. And that seems to be how the Stallions vs. Breakers story is playing out.
I’m not sure what to call it – “Magic City/Crescent City Fracas” seems a bit wordy – but it’s most certainly a rivalry worth watching.
“You know it’s going to come down to the end,” Holtz said. “Both teams played hard, both teams put it all on the field. Our guys didn’t even want to come in for the celebration. They are spent … they put everything on that field. “This team … they want to win, they’ve grown accustomed to winning, they work to win, and I’m just really proud of the way they went out and the way they competed today.”
