Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

The AAF is officially dead

Kurt Warner (left) speaks with AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol before a game between the San Diego Fleet and San Antonio Commanders at the Alamodome on February 9. (Photo by Edward A. Ornelas/AAF/Getty Images)

For anyone who held out hope that the Alliance of American Football’s “suspension of operations” earlier this month didn’t mean the league had folded, well, that hope is gone.

**Scott Adamson writes about alternative pro football leagues because it makes him happy, Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl**

It’s dead.

It passed away on Wednesday surrounded by friends, family, lawyers and creditors.

An official release from what is left of the AAF delivered the solemn news:

“We are deeply disappointed to be taking this action. The AAF was created to be a dynamic, developmental professional football league powered by an unprecedented alliance between players, fans and the game. The AAF strove to create new opportunities for talented players, coaches, executives and officials while providing an exciting experience for fans. We are proud of the fact that our teams and players delivered on that goal.

“We thank our players, coaches and employees for their commitment to the game of football and to this venture. Our fans believed in the AAF from the beginning, and we thank them for their support. We are hopeful that our players, coaches and others will find opportunities to pursue their football dreams in the future.

“The AAF is committed to ensuring that our bankruptcy proceeds in an efficient and orderly manner. Pursuant to the bankruptcy laws, a trustee will be empowered to resolve all matters related to the AAF’s remaining assets and liabilities, including ongoing matters related to player contracts.”

I think most of use realized it was already gone, but filing for bankruptcy now means all future Alliance games will be played in court, and it’ll be a no-win situation for the latest spring gridiron upstart to flame out.

What a mess.

When the league had its rollout last year I bragged about what a first-class operation it seemed to be and how co-founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian were saying and doing all the right things.

They told us there was enough funding to ensure three seasons without another dime coming in and I believed them because, apparently, I still have a blind spot when it comes to my own gullibility.

Instead, this league was on shaky ground from the get-go and never had much of a chance.

Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon was brought in to effectively take over the league early in the season (reportedly pledging $250 million), and Ebersol insisted it was an investment, not a bailout.

I bought it, and that was stupid on my part.

When there are reports that a league needs an infusion of cash to survive, those reports usually have some substance.

Knowing what we know now, had Dundon not come aboard it would’ve likely died after a couple of weeks instead of eight (it closed shop with two weeks of the regular season remaining).

And then when Dundon couldn’t work out a deal with the NFL to make the AAF its official developmental league, he pulled the plug before more of his money went down the drain.

In the bankruptcy filings (first reported by Front Office Sports), we learn that the league claims assets of $11.3 million and liabilities totaling $48.3 million.

On the bright side, the league still has $536,160.68 in cash.

(Just kidding … there is no bright side. This is a disaster).

Throw in the fact that former employees and some players have filed lawsuits against league officials (the word “fraud” seems to come up a lot) and you’re left with an organization that will ultimately be remembered for failing its workers, partners and fans.

The NFL has already signed several former AAF players, which is great. And hopefully soon the Canadian Football League will be able to do the same.

The Alliance of American Football was a second chance circuit, and in that respect it served its purpose for those who are moving on and moving up.

But in the annals of professional sports, it’ll go down as just another league destined to die young.

When the curtain fell on the WHA in Birmingham

Watching professional ice hockey teams combine for 13 goals and knowing one of those teams featured Wayne Gretzky makes for an unforgettable memory – even if you have to go back 40 years to retrieve it.

**Scott Adamson’s sports column appears pretty much whenever he feels like writing it.**

But Birmingham 7, Edmonton 6, is more than a score line from a World Hockey Association game played on April 14, 1979.

It was the end of an era.

On March 22 of that year the National Hockey League voted to absorb the WHA’s Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers, beginning with the 1979-80 campaign. Meanwhile, the remaining two WHA franchises – the Birmingham Bulls and Cincinnati Stingers – would fold, release all their players and end the insurgent league after seven seasons.

That meant the game played at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum on April 14 would be the last regular season major league hockey game ever contested on Alabama ice.

I was among the 8,179 fans on hand to bid a fond farewell to a team I’d grown to love, and on the “bittersweet” scale it leaned heavily on the bitter side. Before the Bulls moved from Toronto to Birmingham in 1976, I didn’t know the difference between a cross-check and a cashier’s check, but by 1979 I had memorized the hockey glossary – and there was no sport I’d rather watch live.

The death knell of this league and these Bulls was a gut-punch.

Their first ever game came against the Atlanta Flames in a WHA/NHL exhibition at the BJCC on Sept. 21, 1976, (Birmingham won, 7-6), and being in the arena was a sensory experience.

The hissing sounds of the blades as a skater raced down the ice were complemented perfectly by the sharp report of clashing sticks.

A puck smashing against the protective glass always gave me a start, and when players crashed into the boards it demonstrated how quickly an event built on grace and artistry could morph into a collision sport.

I walked into that contest as a curious onlooker and left as a hockey disciple, soon finding myself abandoning weekend football plans so I could cheer on the Bulls.

While Birmingham was not one of the league’s better teams – in its three years in the WHA it never had a winning season and won a grand total of one playoff game – the Bulls were both brutal and beautiful to me.

And even though it always played second fiddle to the NHL, the World Hockey Association was a damn good circuit and major league in just about every way (financial stability excluded).

I saw “Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe skate as both a member of the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers (he scored his 1,000 career goal in Birmingham).

Hall of Famers Frank Mahovlich and Rod Langway played for the Bulls.

Gretzky, although not yet “The Great One,” was still “The Very Young And Good One” while honing his craft in the WHA.

Bobby Hull, Mark Messier, Dave Keon … so many legends of the sport played in Birmingham. And even though my Bulls were on the receiving end of quite a few beatings, I got to see the very best professional hockey had to offer.

So when the horn sounded to end the WHA’s time in Birmingham 40 years ago today, I felt a real sense of loss.

I was so jealous of the teams that were headed to the NHL – teams that would get to host famous clubs like the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs.

I wondered what it must be like to live in a hockey town, knowing hockey would always be a major part of that town in the future.

The consolation prize, which would be made official in an announcement less than a month after the Bulls’ final season ended with a 5-4 loss at Winnipeg, was that Birmingham would resurface in the Central Hockey League for the 1979-80 season. The “new” Bulls served as a farm club for the NHL Flames.

I supported the CHL Bulls – even got to see them play the “Miracle on Ice” 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team – but it wasn’t the same.

It was good hockey, but it wasn’t great hockey, and with the demise of the WHA, Birmingham would never again be home to that elite level of competition.

Oh, and I just realized something … the first WHA game in Birmingham resulted in 13 goals, just like the last one.

That’s supposed to be an unlucky number but, looking back, I was incredibly lucky to be there for both – and many of the ones in-between.

A look back at the league that never was

Before the United States Football League, World League of American Football, XFL, United Football League and Alliance of American Football, we almost had the North American Football League.

And by “almost” I mean “it was discussed.”

And by “North American Football League” I mean what better name for a proposed league that was to incorporate all the existing Canadian Football League franchises with new United States-based teams to form a 16 or 20-team league?

We all know what happened when the CFL dipped south of its border in the mid-1990s, but would an early 1980s USA/Canada gridiron hybrid have fared better?

Since we’ll never know I can pretend it would’ve.

The concept first came to my attention when I read a 1981 story in the Birmingham News (picked up from the Boston Globe) about a possible pro football league returning to the Magic City.

Since the demise of the World Football League in October, 1975, my hometown had to settle for glorified semi-pro circuits. I was excited about the prospects of a new “serious” NFL alternative.

The good news (I thought) was that this league was the brainchild of Nelson Skalbania. I knew him as the guy who owned the World Hockey Association’s Indianapolis Racers and engineered the signing of Wayne Gretzky, and by 1981 he was the owner of the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes.

Not only that, he was set to turn the Als into a super team thanks to luring quarterback Vince Ferragamo away from the Los Angeles Rams and inking several other NFL and NCAA stars.

Aside from having a name worthy of a James Bond villain, I was young enough and naïve enough to believe he was a real mover and shaker in the sports world.

“Nelson has recited to various people his concept of expanding the Canadian league into certain American cities,” Skalbania attorney Grant McDonald said. “The CFL would have a better revenue base by including the larger American cities.”

The story went on to say that Skalbania was working on some big money cable television deals and had reportedly talked to New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner, and Oakland Raiders managing general partner Al Davis about joining the league.

But …

The story also quoted Alouettes vice president Bill Putman as enthusiastically supporting Birmingham as a flagship U.S. franchise.

Putnam was the owner of the WFL Birmingham Americans which – like the league itself – left a lot of bills unpaid. The World Football League was forced to reorganize after a financially disastrous first season and the Americans, meanwhile, folded and were replaced by a new franchise under new ownership.

Putnam’s possible involvement harshed my buzz somewhat, but I was able to overlook it because I already loved the CFL and badly wanted Birmingham back in the pro football biz.

A mixture of major markets (New York and Los Angeles) and small markets (Syracuse and Shreveport) would serve as U.S. franchise locales, while the British Columbia Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal, Ottawa Rough Riders, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers would jump from the CFL to the NAFL.

I was pumped.

It would be a callback to the WFL days in that the season would start in the summer, and with the TV money that would inevitably come and geniuses like Skalbania plotting strategy, the NFL would have some real competition and I’d live in a pro football city once again.

Would U.S. fans embrace CFL rules?

Would the owners have deep enough pockets to raid the NFL for stars?

Would I fall harder for the NAFL than I did for the WFL?

I couldn’t wait to find out.

There were a couple of problems, though.

One, the rest of the CFL wasn’t interested in any of this and two, Skalbania wasn’t really, um, “solvent.”

“In theory, it sounds great for us to expand,” CFL commissioner Jake Gaudaur said. “However, it’s not an anti-American feeling, but we feel certain that if we lump in the big American cities, some of the Canadian cities in the league would drop by the wayside.”

The Canadian Football League constitution requires that all teams be based in Canada, and that rule could only be overturned if seven of the teams voted in favor of it.

The motion to even vote on the matter wasn’t seconded.

“We have problems in our league to solve without expanding, and Montreal is one of them,” said Jim Spavital, who was general manager of the Roughriders in 1981 and former head coach of the WFL’s Chicago Fire. “Skalbania should concentrate more on improving the Canadian talent on his Alouettes.”

While Skalbania was known for real estate “flipping” he did the same to sports franchises, and in a one-and-done season with Montreal he flipped the franchise into oblivion. The Alouettes finished 3-13 in 1981, Ferragamo was a flop (he had the worst completion percentage in the CFL and the most interceptions), and ultimately the franchise folded – millions of dollars in debt.

There was no internet back then so much of this happened out of the spotlight, but as a CFL fan I kept up with CFL news. When I heard what happened with Skalbania in Montreal, my hopes for the NAFL (or whatever it might’ve been called) were dashed.

The USFL came along in 1983 as a spring “major league,” and ultimately that would become my favorite football circuit outside the CFL and NFL.

Still, I remain fascinated by the might-have-beens of a 1980s CFL/American football blend.

Ultimately it didn’t work in the 1990s – and will likely never happen again – but in a different time and different sports landscape, who knows?