Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

Stallions, Gamblers meet in another time, another place

BIRMINGHAM – So, why did tonight’s United States Football League game between the Birmingham Stallions and Houston Gamblers at Protective Stadium make me think about Matt Reeves’ The Batman and Zack Snyder’s Justice League?

Well, for starters, I’m a fanboy, and fanboys think about such things quite a bit. It’s who we are … it’s how we live.

**Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl**

But also, there is a bit of a parallel if you’ll be kind enough to let me explain.

The Batman is brilliant. It’s gritty, set in the real world, and features characters who must rely on their wits, intelligence, and a bit of cool tech instead of superpowers. To me it’s the magnum opus of comic book movies and my favorite of the genre.

Justice League is also really good. In its world of heroes there are women with the power of gods, men who can fly, and monsters from another dimension. And Batman – he’s a human working with superhumans.

Both movies are enjoyable, even though they take place in different universes. In other words, Robert Pattison’s Batman does not exist where Ben Affleck’s Batman exists.

I see no point in even comparing them.

Keeping that in mind, let’s return to the subject of the Stallions vs. the Gamblers.

Tonight, the score was 33-28 in favor of Birmingham, and it was an incredibly fun game to watch. Fans of defense got to see a pick-6 by each team, and fans of offense saw 61 points and 622 total yards.

If you cheered for the Stallions, you cheered for J’Mar Smith’s two TD passes and 214 yards; the combined 136 yards and two touchdowns of receivers Marlon Williams and Osirus Mitchell; CJ Marable’s 76 rushing yards and score; and Tony Brooks-James 62 yards on just nine totes.

If you go to football games to be entertained, this was a good one to attend.

On June 29, 1985, however, the score was Birmingham 22, Houston 20, in a USFL playoff game at Legion Field. Jim Kelly (USFL Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in 1984) was 33-40-1 for 319 yards and two TDs for the Gamblers, but Stallions’ kicker Danny Miller nailed five field goals to lead the home team to victory in front of 18,500 fans.

Jack Pardee coached the Gamblers, Rollie Dotsch guided the Stallions, and it was a big money league with big money players. Kelly, in fact, had signed a $3.5 million, five-year deal to come to Houston, and promptly threw for a record 5,219 yards and 44 touchdowns his first season. It was the second time I’d seen Kelly play live; the Gamblers came to town for an exhibition game in February of 1985, winning 20-10.

So, what does that USFL have to do with the 2022 USFL?

Nothing.

Kelly made $700,000 per season, $655,000 more than any “modern” USFL quarterback.

None of the current USFL players were alive when the original USFL played.

Birmingham coach Skip Holtz was at Holy Cross College and a year away from walking on at Notre Dame in 1985, while Houston boss Kevin Sumlin was a starting linebacker at Purdue.

Like The Batman and Justice League, the old USFL does not exist where the new USFL exists.

But you can still enjoy both.

I can stroll through my Fan Cave – glance at my game-used Joe Cribbs jersey and media guides from the 1983, 1984 and 1985 seasons – and relive memories of the best brand of pro football ever played in the Magic City. I doubt there’ll ever be another like it.

But now I can go to the Uptown and see another herd of Stallions. They aren’t the same as the ones that galloped at Legion Field nearly 40 years ago, but they’re still a pro football team that represents my city.

You certainly don’t have to compare them, and you can love one without hating the other.

And that’s what I choose to do, because sometimes I’m in the mood for The Batman and sometimes I’m in the mood for Justice League.

What can I say? I’m a fanboy.

Paige and the Black Barons: Part 2

I’ve never been much into idolizing sports figures, but I made an exception for Satchel Paige. A Mobile native who spent the early part of his career with the Birmingham Black Barons, his exploits on the mound bordered on the unbelievable.

Pitching over four decades – going 112-60 with a 2.36 earned average in the Negro Leagues and 118-80 with a 2.70 ERA in the American League – no one ever did what he did so well for so long.

I never saw him play, but I was always fascinated by arguably the greatest baseball pitcher of all-time. That being said, I don’t claim to be an expert on the man or the myth, although I thought I had a pretty good working knowledge of his story arc.

I was wrong.

Only recently did I stumble upon the fact that he not only got his start as a professional player during a four-year stint with the Black Barons, but actually managed the club for a very brief time. Well, he managed a club called the Black Barons, which is a pretty interesting story in itself.

On March 15, 1956, the Birmingham Post-Herald reported that Black Barons owner Floyd Meshad had, indeed, signed the ageless superstar in a dual role.

“We are pleased to have Paige handle the club,” Meshad told the newspaper. “We’re tickled to death to have him, the fans will like him, and he says he still has that old fastball for four or five innings.”
Paige was almost 50 when he returned to Birmingham following a career that had taken him from various Negro League clubs (now considered major league franchises) to the Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Browns of Major League Baseball.

By 1953 – his last season in MLB before signing for one game with the Kansas City Athletics in 1965 – Paige had been a World Series champion and eight-time All-Star.

In the Black Barons, he was taking over a club that was in its 38^th season and claimed to be the oldest Negro League team in the United States in continuous operation. But after stints in the Negro Southern League, Negro National League and Negro American League, the 1956 Black Barons would play as independents.

And the 38^th season claim is in dispute because the “old” Birmingham Barons had been purchased by Dr. Anderson K. Ross of Memphis in early March and renamed the Giants since Meshack had already copyrighted the name “Black Barons.” The original franchise had been taken away from Meshad earlier in the year at an owners meeting due to “league violations.”

Meshad said his club would face such traditional powers as the Indianapolis Clowns and New York Black Yankees. And they had secured Rickwood Field for the season, so the team would play in familiar surroundings.

“The opposition will be tougher than in the Negro American League,” Meshad said. “That league only has four teams now, including one they call the Birmingham Giants, which doesn’t even play here.”

The Black Barons lost to Mobile in its April 2 spring training opener at Rickwood, 10-8. And the team continued to play exhibitions in anticipation for the start of the regular season in May.

But on April 11 Meshad sold the team – and naming rights – to Ross.

“I’ve sold the franchise, equipment, good will, everything,” Meshack said.

Jim Canady, a former Birmingham player, was skipper of the renamed Giants, leaving Paige in limbo. So, the player/manager reportedly took a trip to Mobile on or around April 14 and by all accounts that ended his tenure with the Black Barons.

Canady was replaced by Horse Walker as Barons skipper on June 8, and the Black Barons finished third in the NAL standings.

As for Paige, well, by April 24 he was playing for Bill Veeck’s Miami Marlins in the International League. When the season was over he had compiled an 11-4 record, 1.86 Earned Run Average and struck out 79 batters in 111 innings pitched.

Obviously, he still had that old fastball.

Stallions brace for Gamblers

**Stallions QB J’Mar Smith throws a pass during Wednesday’s practice at Protective Stadium. Birmingham faces Houston Saturday at 6 p.m.** (Scott Adamson photo)

BIRMINGHAM – You might believe that offense sells tickets, but defense wins games.

Or, perhaps you think the best defense is a good offense.

Both sports cliches will be put to the test when the Houston Gamblers face the Birmingham Stallions at 6 p.m. Saturday at Protective Stadium.

Houston’s bend-but-rarely-break defense led them to victory in Week One of the 2022 United States Football League season, while Birmingham’s offense thwarted defeat on Opening Night. The clash of unbeatens might not quite reach the level of the irresistible force paradox, but something has to give when these two 1-0 teams go head-to-head.

“Their defense is incredibly active,” Birmingham coach Skip Holtz said of Kevin Sumlin’s squad. “They scored, they created three turnovers in the second quarter, scored a 90-yard scoop and score on defense … very active at the secondary level and they’re an aggressive defensive football team.

“If you’re not ready to play under pressure, they’re gonna cause some problems for you. I’m so glad we have a game film on them and have a little bit of an idea of what they do to make sure that we can prepare for the pressure we’re going to receive.”

In Houston’s 17-12 victory over Michigan last Sunday, the Gamblers grabbed a 17-0 halftime lead and held on in the second half despite generating very little in the way of offense. The winners gained just 174 yards on the day, with quarterback Clayton Thorson throwing for 74 yards and an TD and Mark Thompson getting 71 of his team’s 100 rushing yards.

The defense allowed 363 yards of total offense but were aided by three turnovers. The biggest was Reggie Northrup’s 90-yard fumble return that accounted for the Gamblers’ first touchdown.

“They’ve got a great team – the linebackers are great for sure – and they’ve got a good front seven,” Stallions quarterback J’Mar Smith said. “The two edge rushers get after guys and they have very active viper-type guys. Agile. They’ll hit you in the mouth. Their linebackers are the heart and soul of the team. They’re around the box, making a lot of plays.

“I think number 15 (inside linebacker Donald Payne) is leading the team in tackles right now. The secondary, they’re pretty good … they have a couple of different variations.”

In a 28-24 victory over the Generals in the USFL’s inaugural game, the Stallions didn’t lead until scoring with 23 seconds left. However, that was sufficient to make history as the new league’s first victors.

“It’s amazing what winning does for a football team,” Holtz said. “It just changes everybody’s outlook, everybody’s attitude. It’s upbeat. It’s positive. I really like the way this team is working right now. Every game was a one score game pretty much the first weekend, and you know when you look at every game, one play can change the outcome.

“We’ve just got to stay focused, stay humble, and keep working toward where we’re going as the team.”

Smith, who came in for the injured Alex McGough, threw for 156 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 13 yards and scoring the decisive TD.

Six different receivers were targeted, with Osirus Mitchell catching five balls for 96 yards and a score and Cary Angeline adding another six-point catch.

Defensively, DeMarquis Gates and Tyree Robinson had 10 tackles each and seven of Gates’ takedowns were solo.

“I think the question mark for our football team right now is can we handle winning, can we stay as hungry as we were before we started this thing, and make sure that we just take this thing one week at a time without putting the cart before the horse,” Holtz explained. “Let’s make sure we do the same things this week we did last week, which is to prepare ourselves physically, the way we hydrate, the way we fuel ourselves for this week’s game, but also the way we prepare mentally.

“The way that we come out here, the film that we watch, the focus and whether we pay attention to details and the little things, that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

And while the Stallions have certainly done their homework on the Gamblers, Holtz says the biggest focus at practice this week was self-improvement.

“Just correction,” Holtz said. “There were so many mistakes that we made that didn’t have anything to do with what they did. Whether it was a missed assignment, we ran the wrong route, we went the wrong way, blocked the wrong guy … we’ve got to keep worrying about us right now. And we’re playing good football teams. Everybody has talent.”

ROSTER CHANGES

McGough, cornerback Josh Shaw, and offensive tackle Matthew Snow were transferred to the inactive roster this morning while wideout Peyton Ramzy, cornerback Lorenzo Burns, and offensive tackle O’Shea Dugas have been activated. Wide receiver Manasseh Bailery was released

The biggest news of the day is the signing of Montell Cozart as a second QB. Cozart, who played collegiately at Kansas and Boise State, signed with the CFL Calgary Stampeders in 2018 and played in 21 games as a backup to Nick Arbuckle.

NASCAR NIGHT

Not only is it the second USFL weekend of the season, but it’s also Talladega race weekend which, in Alabama, is a pretty big deal.

Thus, the Birmingham-Houston game, televised on FS1, is being billed as the main attraction of “NASCAR Night” at Protective Stadium.

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Tyler Reddick and Ty Dillon, who will compete in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, will be in the stadium Saturday to “shake hands, sign autographs, and take photos with fans.”

In addition, fans can also see and take photos with an official NASCAR Cup show car before the game and enter a contest to win tickets to Sunday’s race. The show car will make a special on-field appearance during pregame festivities.

LINEUP

The second week of USFL action starts tonight at 7 p.m. when Michigan plays New Jersey (USA Network).

Saturday at 11 a.m., Pittsburgh meets Philadelphia (Fox), followed by the Birmingham-Houston contest.

The final game of the week is Sunday at 2 p.m. when New Orleans and Tampa Bay square off (NBC/Peacock).