Category: History and More

About a month ago I checked on the status of Pacific Pro Football, a new Southern California-based league that was set to start play this summer and one in which I have (had?) high hopes.

What makes it different from most alternative pro football leagues, according to its website, is this:

 “Pac Pro will be the first league to professionalize players who are less than 4 years removed from their high school graduation. Players will receive a salary, benefits, and even paid tuition and books for one year at community college. Players also will be able to market themselves for compensation, and begin creating a financial retirement plan if they so choose.”

That’s a novel idea. But the site hadn’t been updated in months and I assumed it would not be kicking off in 2018 since it still has no teams, coaches or players.

I assumed correctly.

On Feb. 28, Pac Pro sent out a release stating that adidas is a founding member of the league, which will “start play in 2019.”

That detail about the launch date was saved for the last line of the release, which is a textbook case of burying the lede.

But, if you’re one of those people like me whose ears always perk up at the sound of “new” football, allow me to introduce you to another circuit vowing to start in 2019 – the Alliance of American Football.

I knew Vince McMahon was planning an XFL reboot (or perhaps reimagining) in 2020, but I had no idea the AAF was coming.

Obviously, though, there has been some serious behind the scenes work.

While franchises won’t be announced until next month, the plan is to have eight teams playing a spring schedule as part of a single entity structure.

Some early major rule tweaks include no kickoffs and no PAT kicks after touchdowns; teams will be required to go for a 2-point conversion.

And on Monday, Alex Marvez of Sporting News reported that big names such as Steve Spurrier, Mike Singletary and Jeff Fisher were being targeted as potential coaches.

But beyond that, here are the two things that stand out to me.

One, the AAF already has a TV deal with CBS, which will show a game on opening day (Saturday, February 9) as well as the championship game at the end of April.

The rest of the contests can be seen on CBS Sports Network or a free “Alliance App.”

And two, aside from former Buffalo Bills GM Bill Polian, the league is co-founded by TV and film producer Charlie Ebersol – son of Dick Ebersol, who happened to run the old XFL along with McMahon. The younger Ebersol actually did the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about that failed venture, “This Was The XFL.”

Beating Vince to his second football punch should make for some spirited conversation the next time the Ebersols and McMahons have a play date.

According to the AAF website:

 “Players will have state-of-the-art protection on the field and ample opportunities off it. The Alliance will provide players a comprehensive bonus system, post-football career planning as well as counseling and scholarship support for postsecondary education.”

That’s great, but it doesn’t matter to fans if all the AAF alums go on to get doctorates and gain acceptance into Mensa International. The key for ticket buyers and viewers is whether or not it’ll be fun to watch.

As is the case with every proposed spring circuit since the United States Football League, players targeted will be those who can’t find work with NFL teams. And after listening to Polian do the media rounds, it’s obvious this will be the proverbial “second chance league.” For those who can parlay an AAF gig into another NFL shot, more power to them.

So what are its odds of success?

Quite long.

Spring is a season of growth, but it has proven to be mostly barren for pro football apart from the USFL (1983-85).

It threw big money at big names, and was carving out a decent niche until New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump convinced the rest of the owners to move to the fall and file an antitrust suit against the NFL in hopes of snagging a financial windfall.

We all know how that turned out, and there hasn’t been an NFL spring league “challenger” since that has even sniffed at stability.*

*The World League of American Football/NFL Europe/NFL Europa was a spring league that lasted from 1991 to 2007, except for a break in 1993-94, but had teams in North America for just its first two seasons. It received funding from the NFL and served as a developmental league.

Now to be fair, you don’t need the best talent in the world to have a viable product.

Great high school teams aren’t on the same level as good college squads, and college players aren’t as skilled as professionals.

That doesn’t mean a game can’t be wildly entertaining, regardless of whether you watch it on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

But there are certain expectations when it comes to pro football, and when it’s considered “minor league,” it carries a stigma – fairly or not. Plus, I’m not sure there’s a real appetite for football from February through June anymore; perhaps fans aren’t in love with the game as much as they used to be. So aside from a few rule changes, this latest entry in offseason football really isn’t breaking ground that hasn’t already been broken time and time again.

Still, when it comes to the AAF, I wish it well, just as I give my well wishes to Pac Pro Football and all upstart leagues.

They provide more jobs for more people, and that’s a good thing.

And if, in fact, the league debuts as scheduled, I’ll watch it as long as I’m entertained.

There’s no harm in giving it a chance, even if I think its chances of survival are slim.

With the four play-in games now history (the NCAA wants us to call it the First Four, so in the spirit of compromise I’ll call it the First Four Play-In), the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament begins in earnest today.

By the end of the weekend there will be a couple of blowouts, a couple of upsets, and perhaps one real stunner.

That’s how the first round of the Large Waltz almost always plays out, and one of the reasons it’s arguably the most exciting sports tournament in the world.

What I really like about it, though, is that every school that has a legitimate chance to win the national championship is in the field.

That’s why I always have to stifle a chuckle on Selection Sunday when coaches bemoan the fact that their team was “snubbed.”

And there were quite a few feeling left out and disrespected this time around.

Louisville, for example, finished 20-13, and there was a time not so long ago when leaving an ACC team with 20 victories out of the tourney was unthinkable.

Plus, the Cardinals had a rating percentage index (RPI) of 38.

But this year the NCAA went all mathy and decided to judge teams based on their performances in four quadrants.

Quadrant 1 is home games vs. 1-30 RPI teams; neutral-site games vs. 1-50 RPI; and away games vs. 1-75 RPI.
Quadrant 2 is home games vs. 31-75 RPI; neutral-site games vs. 51-100 RPI; and away games vs. 76-135 RPI.
Quadrant 3 is home games vs. 76-160 RPI; neutral-site games vs. 101-200 RPI; and away games vs. 136-240 RPI.
Quadrant 4 is home games vs. 161-plus RPI; neutral-site games vs. 201-plus RPI; and away games vs. 241-plus RPI.

Louisville went 3-10 in Quadrant 1 games, and that didn’t help their cause.

But guess what?

Louisville wasn’t going to win the national championship this season anyway.

I’m a UAB grad and a UAB fan, so I find myself rooting for Conference USA teams to do well once the postseason begins. I figure since the Blazers aren’t in the field (and sadly, they usually aren’t anymore) I might as well support the league.

It’s a one-bid conference, and Marshall took that bid by winning the CUSA Tournament.

That meant Middle Tennessee, with a nice 23-7 overall record and 16-2 league mark, could only hope for an at-large berth.

They didn’t get one because, you know, Conference USA.

It was still disappointing to the players, their coaches and fans, but the reality is that the Blue Raiders were not going to seize the crown.

Maybe they’d have won a game – even two – and that would’ve been wonderful.

And sure, I get that much of the event is about the journey instead of the ultimate destination. It’s an honor to call yourself an “NCAA Tournament team” and coaches should always advocate for their kids. Still, leaving out Middle Tennessee was not equivalent to leaving out a team that had a realistic chance to go all the way.

From a pure record standpoint maybe the biggest slight is Saint Mary’s, which is 28-5 and finished 16-2 in the West Coast Conference. The Gaels had an RPI of 40.

But …

Saint Mary’s had only four wins against teams in the RPI top 100, and no way was that going to impress the Selection Committee.

Again, though, the Gaels were not leaving San Antonio as the last team standing. In that regard, not having them in the bracket didn’t matter.

Now, would the schools I just mentioned have a better chance of advancing than many who are dancing?

Of course. There are a number of teams that will be clearly overmatched, and that’ll show up on the scoreboard Thursday and Friday.

As long as conference tourney champs get a free pass into the field of 68, that field will always be cluttered with schools punching far above their weight class.

And that’s one of the beauties of March Madness.

However, the team that wins it all will be a no-doubter – one in which there was never any question about its NCAA Tournament credentials.

It might be Virginia, Cincinnati, Duke, Michigan State, or any number of programs with impressive talent and impressive victories.

So for all the schools that feel snubbed, I know it sucks; the main goal at the start of every season is to be one of the 68.

In the final analysis, though, the team that’ll hoist the trophy on April 2 is a team that never had to watch the bubble at all.

OK, let’s get some housekeeping things out of the way.

First and foremost, it’s the National Invitation Tournament, not the National Invitational Tournament.

And secondly, joking that the NIT also stands for “No Important Teams” is cute and all, but it’s a bit harsh.

Now, there is no argument over the first issue … you can look it up.

The second? OK. The NCAA Tournament is the only postseason event that “matters,” but if you like college basketball – and like to watch off-the-radar schools compete in tournaments – the NIT can still be fun.

In the Big Dance, you get to see small schools from small conferences play on the sport’s biggest stage.

In the NIT, you might come across a team you forgot even existed. But sometimes those teams will put on great shows and score victories that are very important for their school.

Last year, for example, CSU Bakersfield stunned California, 73-66, in the first round, while Belmont shocked Georgia, 78-69 and Oakland rallied from a huge deficit to upend Clemson, 74-69.

None of those outcomes altered the landscape of college basketball, of course, but they raised the profile of the winners – even if it was just for a couple of days.

And that made it meaningful for them, even if it’s not meaningful for the person who spent hours filling out their NCAA brackets at work.

But the NIT is more than just a postseason consolation prize nowadays. Thanks to the NCAA, it is also a laboratory.

When it gets underway on March 13, it will be using rules that could conceivably go into effect in May, 2019 – the next time the governing body can officially alter its rules and regulations.

“The NIT is an exciting event with a rich tradition and history, yet it also provides us a platform to consider how the game might look in the future,” Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball, said in a news release. “We’ve seen the adoption of recent experimental rules and how they have had a positive impact. This track record of the game evolving is a result of us having the flexibility to see if the rules work and are met with satisfaction.”

This year will mark the third time in four years experimental rules have been in place for the NIT, and the four changes this year are pretty big:

​• The 3-point line will be extended by approximately 1 foot, 8 inches to 22 feet and 1.75 inches – the same distance used by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) for international competition.

​• The free throw lane will be widened from 12 feet to 16 feet, the width used by the NBA.
​• The games will be divided into four 10-minute quarters and teams will shoot two free throws beginning with the fifth foul of each quarter.
• The shot clock will reset to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound, instead of the full 30 seconds.

The changes are designed to give NCAAs rules, oversight and competition committees “data and feedback” as they consider changes to the game.

All rules used in the NIT have been on the table before, but this will be the first time for coaches and officials to see them in action.

“The style of play in men’s college basketball is healthy and appealing, but the leadership governing the game is interested in keeping the playing rules contemporary and trending favorably,” Gavitt said. “Experimenting with two significant court dimension rules, a shot-clock reset rule and a game-format rule all have some level of support in the membership, so the NIT will provide the opportunity to gather invaluable data and measure the experience of the participants.”

I think the four quarter format is long overdue. It’s used in virtually every other level of basketball and it just makes sense for the NCAA men to join the party.

I’m also intrigued by the wider lane. While basketball is not supposed to be a contact sport it most certainly is. However, this could make it less so and also increase the number of driving buckets.

It’s a highly significant alteration.

I don’t have strong feelings one way or another about the increased length of 3-pointers, but I am hopeful the clock reset will quicken the pace of games.

The thing is, there’s a chance none of these rules will be part of college basketball come 2019.

But then again, they might.

Sure, the “No Important Teams” moniker isn’t going away; the NIT will always pale in comparison to the NCAA Tournament.

But it still has a place. Hey, maybe going forward we should think of it as the National Innovation Tournament.