Category: Alternative Football

 

I’m delving into the “rewrite and polish” stage of my book, which is under the working title Cheers Through The Years: My Hot (And Sometimes Cold) Bromance With Birmingham Pro Football.

My tribute to the Magic City’s outdoor pay-for-play gridiron teams primarily deals with the World Football League (Americans and Vulcans), United States Football League (Stallions), World League of American Football (Fire), Canadian Football League (Barracudas), XFL (Bolts) and Alliance of American Football (Iron).

(The Birmingham Kings of the Freedom Football League likely won’t make it into the book since I hope to have it published by next June and they plan to start in May, 2020).

Anyway, part of the rewrite process has involved revisiting each team, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the one-and-done season of the Barracudas might be the one that blindsided me the most.

And looking back on it, maybe it was ultimately the most heartbreaking for me.

Before I get to that, it should be noted that I’ll always pine for the Americans, Vulcans and Stallions; the WFL gave my hometown its own “real” pro football team for the first time, and the USFL franchise was as close to an NFL-caliber club that we’ve ever had.

I have half a room’s worth of memorabilia devoted to them, and will gladly talk about both leagues and all three teams for hours.

My feelings aren’t as strong for three of the other franchises that came and went.

The Fire just never captured my imagination because, frankly, their games were boring and I wasn’t yet ready to buy into “developmental league” football.

I thought the XFL was sleazy and it didn’t help that Birmingham was the worst team in the league.

I was basically over the XFL’s first iteration a week into its 2001 season.

And while I got into the AAF this past spring and enjoyed keeping up with and writing about the Iron, nearly two months after their demise I’ve mostly forgotten about them.

They weren’t around long enough for me to develop any kind of attachment.

The Barracudas, though, were different from them all – or at least I thought they would be.

Unlike all the other leagues that were upstarts, in 1995 Birmingham had finally joined up with a circuit that was established. Seriously, it made me as happy as I would’ve been had the NFL set up shop at Legion Field.

Yeah, the “American experiment” was still new, but the CFL was founded in 1958, combining the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and Western Interprovential Football Union into one professional league.

The first CFL season was comprised of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes, Ottawa Rough Riders and Toronto Argonauts in one division and British Columbia Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the other.

All but Ottawa were still around when Birmingham joined Baltimore, Memphis, San Antonio and Shreveport as the CFL’s U.S.-based squads, and I firmly believed Birmingham had found a pro football home it could buy instead of rent short-term.

Baltimore had proven to be a success on the field and at the box office, and I was confident the Magic City would and could duplicate it. “We” had plenty of great offensive weapons like quarterback Matt Dunigan, wideout Marcus Grant and slotback Jason Phillips, so I felt like the Barracudas would outscore most teams in the league.

Throw in my town’s passion for the game and the CFL’s staying power, and this was a perfect union.

Except, of course, it wasn’t.

I used my excitement as an excuse to ignore the fact that the CFL in America just wasn’t working out, financially or otherwise. And I’m embarrassed because I had been working at a daily newspaper for eight years by the time the CFL came to town. As a reporter I should’ve been paying more (and better) attention.

Truth is, except for Baltimore, none of the United States teams maintained workable fan support. By the time the college and NFL seasons began, they were largely ignored.

Birmingham’s final home game at Legion Field was played on Thursday, October 19, against Edmonton.

The hosts won, 45-18, with only 8,910 fans watching.

Two weeks earlier in a 38-28 victory over San Antonio, 6,859 fans came to watch and on Oct. 1 the Cudas beat Shreveport, 34-20, with a mere 7,404 in the stadium.

It was the first time Birmingham sports fans had basically bailed on one of their pro football teams. It was also jarring that “our” franchise folded (finishing 10-9 with a first round playoff loss) while the league played on. That was a first, and didn’t fit into the tried and true narrative of, “The league failed us … we didn’t fail the league.”

I was bummed when the Barracudas (and the rest of the American CFL teams) went belly-up. I fell in love with Canadian football 20 years earlier and was ecstatic that Birmingham had become a part of it.

Then, just like that, it was over.

Oh, I still love the CFL – now more than ever – and I’ll make an effort to support any pro football team that decides to call my home its home.

But barring some bizarre and unforeseen development, Birmingham will never be part of the Canadian Football League again.

That makes me kinda sad.

I’m no fan of the boardroom side of professional football, and don’t know many people who are.

I realize it’s a business, and business has to be taken care of before the focus turns to fun and games. Still, it’s boring stuff, especially when you’re an outsider looking in (and by “outsider looking in,” I mean fan).

That being said, I’m glad the Canadian Football League and CFL Players’ Association have taken care of business by ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement.

The deal was struck on Wednesday.

“Our new agreement speaks to positive growth for our League and a renewed investment in our players,” CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a statement. “We have an exciting future ahead of us and people around the world will see us build it together. I want to thank our players, teams and fans for their patience and let them know that I share their enthusiasm for the start of football season.”

The “football reflex” isn’t triggered for some people until August, but mine comes much earlier. The start of summer means the start of the CFL, and to me that always officially marks a new football season.

With the first preseason game set for Sunday, “my” football is here – and thanks to the three-year agreement between the suits and the players, the CFL is good to go at least through 2021.

“I would like to thank all CFL players for their commitment and diligence as we worked together toward a fair agreement,” CFLPA President Jeff Keeping said. “I would also like to thank the fans for their support and understanding throughout this process. This new agreement moves us forward as partners in the future of the game.”

Even though I live in the United States, the CFL is a huge part of my fandom and has been since the 1970s. It’s not a placeholder league until the NFL begins play; I follow it closely from Week One through the Grey Cup. Now that I have a viewing choice (thanks to ESPN+), I’ll sometimes choose to watch a CFL game on Sunday when it’s up against a clash from the bigger league.

But for a time I was worried there might be a lockout, strike or some other bad scenario that would result in a case of gridiron interruptus in 2019. I dreaded the possibility because this is a league I want to see get stronger and thrive.

Hopefully, the new CBA will help that cause.

While all the details have yet to be released, each team’s salary cap is expected to rise $50,000 each year over the next three years.

That’s money found between couch cushions in the NFL, but it’s forward progress in the CFL and every Canadian dollar counts.

The prospect of players receiving a 20 percent share of future TV and media revenue is also big, as is a higher rookie salary scale and improved medical benefits, among other things.

Neither side got everything they wanted, of course, but they both got enough to keep the train running on time.

Thus tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the BC Lions will be in Edmonton to take on the Eskimos in the CFL’s first dress rehearsal for the 2019 season.

The regular season starts on Thursday, June 13, when my team of choice, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, host the Saskatchewan Roughriders at 7:30 p.m.

I’ll be as excited for that one as some people are for the first big college football weekend or opening day of the NFL.

The Canadian Football League has talented players, quality coaches, and a style of play that’s unique and extremely exciting.

Football season is here again, and I’m glad the CFL is bringing it back.

Remember those thrilling days of backyard football?

No helmets, no pads – just friends and frenemies getting together for good, old-fashioned games of tackle that featured grass stains, torn T-shirts, and the occasional bloody lip.

All these years later, my favorite play remains a post pattern where I made my cut at the dogwood tree in the next-door neighbor’s yard.

Flowering plants, in case you didn’t know, can be quite effective when utilized as downfield blockers.

Last weekend I got to take a trip down memory lane thanks to a happy accident courtesy of my Roku streaming player.

I was playing around with it in search of free sports programming (I’m cheap) when I happened upon a channel devoted to highlights of the American 7s Football League.

And if you don’t know what the A7FL is, well, it’s basically 7-on-7 backyard football. The difference between it and the kind I used to play, however, is this league (founded in 2014) features some talented football players.

And it’s really fun to watch.

A quick glance at game play and you might think you wandered into a rugby sevens match. Then you see receivers go in motion, quarterbacks roll out and unleash forward passes, and plays end in one-on-one, wrap-up tackles.

You don’t have to worry about helmet-to-helmet contact because while there is plenty of full contact, there are no helmets.

And just like in the backyard days when we took liberties with the official rules of football, A7FL has a unique set of its own.

Without getting too deep in the weeds, here’s the CliffsNotes version of rules:

* The field is 100 yards long and 37 yards wide, and there is no kicking of any kind.

* Each game begins with a “throw-off” in which three players of the throwing team line up at their own 35-yard line while one chunks the ball to a lone receiver on the opposing team.

(Back in the day we called these “pass-punts”).

The ball has to travel a minimum of 40 yards and once it gets past the receiver’s 25-yard line, it’s live. And the throw-offs I’ve seen have been pretty exciting … a lot of speed and a little brawn sometimes results in a TD.

After that play, which starts each half and follows each score, things begin to look a bit more like the “normal” gridiron game.

* Touchdowns are worth 6 points, with a 1-point conversion coming from a successful run or pass from the 5-yard line, and a 2-point conversion attempted from the 10.

* The QB can line up in the shotgun formation or behind the linemen, and he can’t be deeper than five yards from the line of scrimmage when in the ‘gun.

Obviously this is a pass-heavy league, although from time to time you will see a back plunge into the line or take a pitch. QB runs appear to be fairly common, too.

Currently the circuit has 16 teams concentrated in the Northeast United States (seven clubs are based in Baltimore) and the season runs from April to July.

One of the reasons I enjoy this league so much is that I’ve come to appreciate rugby more in the last year. As I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to watch much of an A7FL game to see the similarities.

But in a time when we’re being bombarded with new spring pro football leagues, the A7FL is a nice change of pace.

The players don’t make a living doing it, the league isn’t relying on packed stadiums and big-money TV contracts for survival, and it’s not a springboard to the NFL.

It’s simply American football stripped down to its bare necessities.

It’s a lot more advanced than the backyard football I used to play – players don’t have to worry about dogwood trees – but it’s fun and familiar.

Even if you aren’t a weekend warrior anymore, it’s good to know there are guys who keep the battle going.

And A7FL players do it in an entertaining way.

For more info on the league, go to www.a7fl.com.