Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

Stallions one win from title

It’s been 17,517 days since Birmingham played its first game in the World Football League.

And 17,369 days have passed since the city laid claim to its only professional football championship.

**Scott Adamson writes stuff. Follow him on Twitter @adamsons**l

In just a few more days, the wait for another crown might finally come to an end.

Forty-eight years after the Magic City began its WFL odyssey – a season that ended with the Birmingham Americans edging the Florida Blazers, 22-21, in the World Bowl – another play-for-pay team hailing from Central Alabama will seek a championship.

The Birmingham Stallions (10-1) punched their ticket to the USFL Championship Game with a 31-17 victory over the New Orleans Breakers (6-5) tonight in a semifinal game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. They’ll tangle with the Philadelphia Stars (7-4) next Sunday at the same locale, with the inaugural United States Football League title on the line.

Philadelphia upset New Jersey, 19-14, in the other semifinal, setting the stage for the city’s first opportunity to reach a gridiron summit since 1974’s World Football League triumph.

The WFL tried to compete with the National Football League by raiding it for established stars. The USFL, on the other hand, hopes to give mostly younger players a lifeline to the NFL.

Regardless of the different eras and different levels, hoisting a trophy would be quite an achievement for Skip Holtz and his charges. Birmingham rolled to an 8-0 start, had a hiccup against the Houston Gamblers after already wrapping up the USFL South Division, and now have a two-game winning streak and are just one victory away from being alone at the top.

Aside from the 1974 Americans, no Birmingham team has ever played for a league championship until now. That squad started off 10-0 before finishing 17-5 and winning the World Bowl in front of 32,376 fans at Legion Field.

The Ams were unbeaten in games played in Birmingham, finishing 13-0 at home.

The 1975 Vulcans, competing in the rebooted WFL (the 1974 organization folded and was officially reborn as New League Inc.) finished with a league-best 9-3 record. However, the circuit closed up shop after 12 weeks.

The original Stallions (1983-85) of the big budget, big league USFL, had a 2-2 postseason record. They won in the divisional round in 1984 before losing in the conference championship game, and had a quarterfinal victory followed by a semifinal defeat in 1985.

The World League of American Football Fire (1991-92) was 0-2 in the playoffs; the CFL Barracudas (1995) were 0-1; the XFL Thunderbolts (2001) finished 2-8 and failed to make the playoffs; and the Alliance of American Football Iron (2019) was 5-3 and had secured a postseason berth before the league folded after eight weeks.

The 2022 Stallions are also the first Birmingham pro football team to win a division title since the 1991 Fire topped the WLAF North American West with a 5-5 mark.

The new version of the USFL, which held its entire regular season in a Birmingham hub, breaks a dubious streak in alternative football. Until this year, a domestic outdoor pro spring league hadn’t completed a full season since the 2001 XFL. (The Spring League, which lasted from 2017 to 2021, did not pay its players).

Birmingham hosted all of the league’s regular season games at either Protective Stadium or Legion Field, and its lone home team showed this evening it could win on a neutral field. In defeating the Breakers for the third time this season, the Stallions had a pick-six courtesy of DeMarquis Gates and a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Victor Bolden to spark the victory.

The championship game is set for 6:30 p.m. on July 3 with FOX providing TV coverage.

Animal activity

A while back we were doing some purging and downsizing, so it seemed like a good time to donate items to a local thrift store. This particular organization was in need of everything from clothes to working appliances to household furnishings, and among other things we had shirts, dresses and a decent toaster to pass along.

The big-ticket items, though, were a couple of area rugs we decided to part with.

Both were in good shape – although we’d had them for a few years – but in our current domicile they simply didn’t fit. So, we rolled them up and left them out for pickup along with the more traditional donations.

Well, the clothes and toaster were picked up immediately, but the rugs were left behind.

Not only that, there was a note attached to them: “We are unable to use these as there are signs of animal activity.”

I found this message rather cryptic. I mean, what kind of activities do they think my animals have been engaging in?

Are these activities specific to the rugs?

Should I be concerned?

As you might know we have two dogs (Charlie and Steve) and two cats (Bane and Thor), and more often than not they’re in the same room with us. But when we sleep, we don’t know with any degree of certainty what they might be doing, so this is probably when they were engaging in activities on the rug.

What were they doing, I wondered?

They enjoy playing 5 Card Stud, but that’s usually done at the dining room table. I can’t count the times I’ve had to get up in the middle of the night and tell Steve to put his cigar out.

Maybe they were using the Ouija Board. Both Bane and Thor have a fascination with the occult – it’s a cat thing – and there have been several times they’ve roped Charlie into playing with them.

Ever since they held a séance and scared him, though, he’s pretty much stayed away from the dark arts.

Twister? Yeah, a rug is probably a good place to put down the Twister mat, especially since it would probably slide around on the hardwood floors.

But we don’t have a Twister game in the house and the only animal that could’ve bought one is Steve. However, once we found out he’d subscribed to a pair of Chihuahua swinger sites, we took his credit card away. (He’s six now and old enough to make his own decisions, but not with our money).

Frankly, we were at a loss until we studied the note a bit closer. It did say there were “signs” of animal activity.

Did the signs come in the form of a vision?

Had they been foretold in quatrains written by Nostradamus … or in this case, Nostradogus?

A canine eats new food

Yet his stomach hits a snag

An ingredient causes stress

Now his itchy butt will drag

Perhaps one or more of our critters had left a coded message that the thrift shop workers could see but we could not. I suppose they might have one of those ultraviolet light instruments that are used during crime scene investigations. Although invisible to the naked eye, they shine it on the rug and reveal such phrases as, “This is where Bane peed,” “This is where Charlie pooped,” “This is where Thor barfed,” and “This is where Steve spilled his high gravity beer.”

Truth is, we might never really know what kind of activity was so egregious that our used (yet still quite functional) rugs were passed over.

However, there is a bright side.

I have since moved the rugs to the large storage area attached to our garage, where they now have new life decorating the floor. And considering our animals have never been to that area of our property, then the area rugs should be free from their activity going forward.

Unless, of course, Steve learns the code to the garage door opener.

Then all bets are off.

Airborne at home in Mobile

If you just shook me from a Rip Van Winkle slumber and told me the Alabama Airborne was the newest franchise in Major League Football, I’d assume that franchise would be placed in Birmingham.

It would be a solid guess.

When MLFB was in its infancy back in 2014, “Alabama Airborne” had been trademarked by the league and officials had already stated that the Magic City was being eyed for a team.

But since MLFB originally announced its intentions we’ve had the Alliance of American Football, XFL 2.0, a minor league version of the United States Football League and – coming soon – XFL 3.0.

And considering the USFL has a team in Birmingham and the made-for-TV league looks like it’ll return for a second season, there is no room for an MLFB club in the town that has also been home to the World Football League, original USFL, World League of American Football, Canadian Football League, original XFL and AAF.

But there is room in Mobile, Alabama, where the Airborne – playing at Ladd-Peebles Stadium – hopes to take flight in a 2022 season that is scheduled to begin on August 9.

“Today I am delighted to announce Mobile as MLFB’s fourth host city,” MLFB CEO Frank Murtha said in a news release. “Mobile joins Canton (Ohio Force), Little Rock (Arkansas Attack), and Virginia Beach (Virginia Armada) as our “Core Four.” These four unbelievably supportive markets provide not only a tremendous base for this season but also a solid foundation for spring 2023 when we begin our quest to become America’s home for professional spring football.”

“While each community is unique, Mobile, Little Rock, Canton, and Virginia Beach all had what we felt were the essential ingredients for success – a tradition of supporting football, strong demographics, and suitable facilities. With the addition of Mobile to our league lineup, we genuinely believe we have found a “core” and are positioned for growth this season and beyond.”

While Birmingham certainly leads the state in the number of alternative football leagues it has been involved with, the Port City has been part of the outdoor pro gridiron party before, too.

The Mobile Tarpons played in the North American Football League in 1965 and 1966, with the Tarpons finishing as league runners-up in 1965.

The city’s most recent “major” minor league football team was the Mobile Admirals, who claimed the one and only Regional Football League championship in 1999.

Twenty-three years later, Alabama’s fourth most populous city is back in the football business.

Jerry Glanville is the biggest name in the league and will serve as Airborne head coach, with his staff consisting of Daniel Kuhn (assistant to the head coach); Jeff Reinebold (quarterback and wide receivers); Kris Cinkovich (offensive line); Robert Lyles (defensive line and linebackers); Kim McCloud (defensive backs); and Jesse Thompson (special teams).

Glanville was the first coach announced by the league back in March.

“Every MLFB player was an outstanding college player,” Glanville said after he was hired. “Our goal is to help them grow into a professional player and improve their skills and play, increasing their opportunities to join the NFL.

“Watching them grow and improve is the joy of teaching and coaching.”

Murtha said the 80-year-old Glanville was the perfect choice to help get the league up and running.

“We needed to find a coach that has the experience not only in football, but in league development,” Murtha said. “Jerry Glanville fills that criteria perfectly. Not only does he know football and coaching as well as anyone on the planet, but he has also been involved in the early life of start-up leagues.

“Having coached at all levels of football including the NFL, Coach Glanville brings a wealth of knowledge to MLFB.”

On Friday morning, Mobile was also tapped as the host city for MLFB training camp, which begins July 18.

“MLFB’s core mission is to provide personal and professional growth opportunities for football players, coaches, trainers, and front office personnel,” MLFB senior vice president of football operations Mike McCarthy said in a statement. “Today’s announcement of Mobile as MLFB’s initial training camp shows our determination to deliver on this. With a centralized training camp, savings are realized on travel costs, camp operations, administrative overhead, and more. Another advantage is that all four head coaches can perform player evaluations simultaneously, resulting in fewer talented players slipping through the cracks.”

Two facilities will be used, with Alabama and Ohio sharing one and Arkansas and Virginia the other.