Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

I miss the CFL

You know those cool people on Twitter who you feel like are your friends even though you’ve never actually met them?

**Scott Adamson writes about alternative football leagues whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl and Instagram @adamsons60**

In a way, that’s how I feel about the Canadian Football League.

I actually did “meet” the CFL back in 1995 when it had teams in the United States, but it’s been 25 years since we’ve been in the same room, so these days we really only correspond through social media.

Anyway, I consider the CFL my buddy and I care about its well-being. And under normal circumstances, we’d be together again and our Twitter relationship would be in full swing.

I’d have already gotten a taste of a new campaign with some preseason clashes, and the start of the regular season would be right around the corner with Edmonton hosting British Columbia on Thursday.

But the coronavirus pandemic has done away with normal circumstances, so there is no CFL preseason and there’s a real chance there will be no 2020 season, period. The league has already pushed back its start to September at the earliest, and best-case scenario it will feature a truncated schedule.

There had been some chatter about it partnering with The Spring League (a U.S.-based, extended stay scouting combine) and playing games in American hub cities. That, apparently, was mostly wishful thinking coming from south of the Canadian border, though.

“Barring some huge development, like a vaccine for COVID-19, it now seems clear we can rule out playing games this summer,” CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said during a virtual town hall meeting on May 20. “There are several reasons, including the continuing restrictions on assemblies, travel and border crossings. Notably, several provinces and municipalities have already decided to prohibit until September 1 all sporting events featuring large gatherings.”

The Grey Cup, originally slated for Saskatchewan, has been shifted to the site of the competing team with the best record (if held at all).

The annual “Touchdown Atlantic” game in Nova Scotia has also been scrapped for 2020.

Of course virtually all sports organizations have been forced to call audibles. The pandemic has had a devastating economic impact on businesses large and small, and the business of athletic competition is hardly immune.

The NBA and NHL had their regular seasons abruptly halted, with pro roundball set to resume on July 31 and hockey aiming for an expanded tournament to complete its campaign later in the summer. Major League Baseball has yet to have an Opening Day and no agreement has been reached on what kind of scheduling format is possible.

The NFL, meanwhile, maintains a wait-and-see attitude with its regular season slated for an early September kickoff.

Yet while the “Big Four” will be able to weather the storm despite taking huge financial hits, the CFL is another story.

Compared to the NFL, its television deal is modest. A six-year contract with The Sports Network, signed in 2019, is worth around $37 million (in U.S. dollars) annually and shared among the nine Canadian teams. That sounds pretty good until you realize the NFL’s 32 franchises shared $8.78 billion in TV revenue in 2019 – about $275 million per club. Those figures are based on the annual report released by the Green Bay Packers, the only team that publicly releases its finances.

The CFL also counts on paying customers to help the bottom line (average attendance last season was 22,917 per game).

“We know there is a great deal of interest in whether we might play with or without fans, or with social distancing rules in place. We are examining all possibilities with both public safety and financial viability in mind. It’s just too soon to speculate on what a return to play in September might look like.”

One of those possibilities, of course, is no season at all.

“We are not announcing or promising a return this fall,” Ambrosie said. “We are just letting our fans know this remains one of the remaining possible scenarios for 2020. A canceled season is also possible. Again, it’s too soon to make a sure call at this point.”

I know next to nothing about business and a quick glance at my bank account reveals I know little about finances, but I know enough to be worried about the CFL.

While it has plenty of history and tradition, I have no idea if it has the infrastructure to survive a lost year.

The league has asked the Canadian federal government for emergency funding, with the CFL hoping for an immediate $30 million bailout and millions more if the 2020 season is washed out.

I’ve heard some people suggest Ambrosie and a few of the owners are crying wolf about the long-term fate of the league; they think it would get knocked down, but not knocked out. I have no idea if that’s true, but I’ve never heard anyone claim that the CFL was too big to fail.

So from a fan’s standpoint – and I’ve been a serious fan since the 1970s – I’m not just bummed about a possible canceled season but what happens going forward for one of my favorite sports organizations.

Chances are that five years down the road the NFL, MBA, NHL and MLB will be functioning basically just as it did before COVID-19.

I want to believe the Canadian Football League will do the same – but I have my doubts.

After all, we only really know each other through Twitter.

Remembering soccer’s ‘other’ league

Mike Getman clears the ball during a Detroit Express match at the Silverdome. (photo courtesy of Mike Getman)

The original North American Soccer League had a 17-season run between 1968 and 1984.

**Scott Adamson’s soccer column appears whenever he feels like writing about the Beautiful Game. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl and Instagram @adamsons60**

Major League Soccer kicked off in 1996 and is in its 25th year of operation.

But if you’re looking for longevity, no United States pro circuit to date can top the American Soccer League, which opened play in 1933 and closed up shop in 1983.

When it began, the organization showcasing what United States newspapers called “soccer football” featured clubs based in the Northeast megalopolis. The 17 founding members included four hailing from New York City, two from Kearny, New Jersey, and a pair in Fall River, Massachusetts.

During the national soccer boom of the 1970s it expanded westward to locales such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Sacramento and Oakland.

By the time it ended, however, the ASL was down to six franchises – the Carolina Lightnin’, Dallas Americans, Detroit Express, Jacksonville Tea Men, Oklahoma City Slickers and Pennsylvania Stoners.

Every team has a story, of course, but our story will focus on the Express because Mike Getman is quite familiar with the plot.

Getman is best known as a highly successful college coach, winning 280 games over 27 seasons at UAB and leading the Blazers to eight NCAA Tournament appearances – including an Elite Eight and Sweet 16 showing.

Before that he coached at Harvard, guiding the Crimson to the Final Four in 1987 and totaling 42 victories over five seasons.

Yet he was an accomplished student before pivoting to the role of teacher, and his days as a defender on the Indiana University soccer team got the attention of pro scouts.

“As players we didn’t know much about the process,” said Getman, who is now the director of coaching for Hoover-Vestavia Soccer Club. “The NASL held a draft and the ASL did not. About half of the graduating players from IU got drafted each year, so that’s what most of us were focused on. Many players went to invitational tryouts if they weren’t drafted. Since our team had played in the national championship game twice during my years there, we were all pretty confident we would at least be seen.”

One of five seniors on the Hoosiers’ 1981 squad, Getman was hoping to be drafted by the NASL. Turns out, he was the only one who wasn’t.

That disappointment didn’t last.

“I was one of the two that eventually signed and played professionally,” he said. “The other was Armando Betancourt, who played in the World Cup as well as playing in La Liga and in France.”

Although the ASL played in the shadow of the NASL, it was still professional soccer – and a huge adjustment for Getman.

“My first tryout was is in Detroit in early December,” Getman remembers. “It was wet and cold, and it was really hard to play good soccer. Even though the coaches told me I did well and they would get back in touch, I left feeling dejected. It took a few months, but they did get back in touch and invited me to preseason training in February.

“Training camp was a whole new level. I was one of only two rookies and the rest were very experienced veterans. They played so quickly and never made any mistakes. In college, if I marked a forward within a few yards, that was considered tight, and I rarely got beat. In Detroit, if I wasn’t wearing his shirt, I wasn’t close enough. The skill level was so high. The quickness of thought and of play was beyond anything I had seen. It took a few months before I felt I had risen to that level.”

Unlike some of the ASL clubs, Detroit had a solid financial foundation. Getman didn’t get paid NASL-type money, but he was able to earn a living.

“There was a big gap between the well-paid players and the rest of us,” he said. “The Express paid better than most. We drew good crowds, were well-funded, and no one had any other job. We didn’t get rich, but we were paid enough to cover our bills and to chase our dreams.”

Getman’s championship dreams were realized in his first season. Not only was he named the club’s rookie of the year, but the Express claimed the ASL title, defeating Oklahoma City in a best-of-3 title series.

The deciding game was played in the Silverdome on September 22, 1982, with the Express winning 4-1 in front of 33,000 customers.

Getman says the talent level of the ASL was often underestimated.

“The NASL had Pelé, (Franz) Beckenbauer, (Georgia) Chinaglia, and (Johan) Cruyff, but most of these players had retired or were leaving as I came into the pro game,” he explained. “Detroit had been in the NASL (the original Express franchise relocated to Washington, D.C., and became the Diplomats) then moved to the ASL to reduce expenses. Our league didn’t have as many ‘stars’ but there were a lot of great players.

“The Express had Billy Boljevic (Yugoslavia international and 1981 ASL MVP), Brian Tinnion (English First Division, ASL MVP in 1982 and player-coach of the Express) and Andy Chapman (English First Division). All three were top class forwards that had played at the highest level. I learned so much from each of them. We played against Phil Parkes (300 games for Wolverhampton in England), Jeff Bourne (England), Paul Child (England), Wolfgang Rausch (257 Bundesliga appearances), and more. These top level pros taught the rest of us what it meant to be a pro.”

Unfortunately, Getman entered American pro soccer just as the popularity it gained in the 1970s was fading.

The ASL folded following the 1983 season and the NASL – which once had 24 franchises – was down to nine in 1984 and never made it to a 1985 campaign.

“Everyone knew that soccer in general was having troubles at that time,” Getman said. “Both leagues were contracting and we were always hearing stories of other teams not meeting their payroll. In 1983 I was released halfway through the season because the Express had to cut payroll. Everyone knew that trouble was brewing even if we didn’t want to believe the whole league would fold.”

Getman’s memories of his time in the pay-for-play ranks are more good than bad, though.

“Playing in the (ASL) championship game in 1982 was the biggest moment,” Getman said. “I played 90 minutes as a rookie and walked off the field as a champion … it doesn’t get much better than that. And our home field was the Silverdome, the same field and facilities as the Detroit Lions of the NFL.

“Every day was like a dream come true for a young kid from small town Indiana.”

I want to buy the XFL

San Antonio proved spring pro football was popular in that city. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)

Welp, I finally got my gubment stimulus debit card and I think I’m gonna use it to try to buy the XFL.

Why not? It’s in bankruptcy and will supposedly come cheap, and I’m about as cheap as they come. The auction isn’t scheduled until August, but I figured I’d go ahead and put my plans out there now so everyone will know where I stand.

NEW NAME

XFL, as you know, doesn’t stand for anything.

When the first version was founded in 2001, early claims were that it was short for “Extreme Football League.” Founder Vince McMahon said that wasn’t the case. Plus, had it been the Extreme Football League the acronym would’ve been EFL.

Also, the original XFL sucked.

The XFL that was rebooted 19 years later did not, in fact, suck. As far as minor league pro football goes, I thought it was a fine product. Still, it made it through only half of a regular season before it was forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though the second attempt at the XFL didn’t die by its own hand, it still died. And now when you think of it, you think of failure.

It’s why the Ford Motor Company hasn’t tried to revive the Edsel, why the Coca-Cola Company won’t give New Coke another try, and why DC Entertainment and De Line Pictures aren’t making “Green Lantern II.”

Right or wrong, some names have negative connotations and the bad publicity is hard to shake.

If I decided to go with a blast from the past rebrand, I’d call what used to be the XFL the Continental Football League. That would honor what was arguably the United States’ best minor football league.

Better yet, though, I’ll just go with the North American Football League. This name has been used by semi-pro circuits and leagues that failed to launch, but I don’t think there’d be much of a legal tussle if I decided to use it for my XFL makeover. If there is, I’ll call one of those lawyers with the 999-9999 numbers and take ’em to court.

FRANCHISE CHANGES

If you take a look at the 2020 XFL and the 2019 Alliance of American Football, you can see there are some cities that are much more enthusiastic about spring football than others.

In the XFL, the St. Louis BattleHawks and Seattle Dragons were far and away the most popular teams among fans, with the Hawks averaging 28,541 paying customers per game and the Dragons pulling in 25,616.

In the AAF, the San Antonio Commanders led the league with 27,721 fans per game while the San Diego Fleet and Orlando Apollos flirted with close to 20,000 supporters for their home contests.

So, I’d make sure those five cities were in the NAFL and think of getting rid of some of the teams that drew poorly.

One problem is that you need major markets for TV purposes, and unfortunately New York and Los Angeles were two of the biggest box office disappointments in the XFL.

Not sure what I’ll do about that, so I’ll wait until my bid is approved before considering the matter further.

RULE TWEAKS

For the most part I thought the 2020 XFL’s rule package was excellent – especially the low-collision kickoffs and the banning of gunners on punt teams.

And while the gimmick of one, two and three-point conversions was cool at first, that novelty wore off quickly.

Instead, I’d steal from the old World Football League and make touchdowns worth seven points (with a single point conversion attempted via a run or pass from the two and a half yard line).

And the one rule I’ve always wanted to see in an alternative football league is the defense getting a tangible reward for forcing turnover, whether it’s a fumble or interception. So if the Dragons pick off a Commanders pass, they score a point.

Anyway, those are my bright ideas for bringing the league formerly known as the XFL back to life. I truly think if my offer is accepted, it’ll be $1,200 well-spent.

Wish me luck.