Category: History and More

The University of Alabama football team has won 10 national championships (as recognized by the Associated Press).

Auburn has been awarded two.

And what is the common denominator of all 12 of those crowns?

The team that wore them were also kings of the Iron Bowl.

And that makes complete sense.

Since that game is the traditional regular-season capper for both programs (at least since the series was renewed in 1948), it’s hard to imagine how an Iron Bowl loser can go on to seize the biggest prize in all of college football.

But there’s a chance fans won’t have to imagine it this season because it could actually happen.

Yep, the team that lost the Iron Bowl by two touchdowns is two wins away from a national championship.

On the other hand, the team that earned 365 days’ worth of braggin’ rights in what some consider the nation’s fiercest rivalry received a consolation prize in the form of a Peach Bowl invitation.

In the words of my late Uncle Emery, “That don’t hardly seem right.”

Alabama, of course, was a bit of a controversial College Football Playoff selection, sneaking past Ohio State for the fourth and final spot in the Football Bowl Subdivision’s little tournament.

Bama was 11-1 and runner-up in the SEC West, while the 11-2 Buckeyes were Big Ten champions but suffered a 31-point loss to Iowa earlier in the season. So regardless of who made the cut, there was going to be plenty of pissed-off fans.

This time, many of them live in the greater Columbus, Ohio, area.

Auburn played Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and – if the Tigers had won – they would’ve also been in the “Final Four.”

Conceivably, they could have met the Tide again for the national championship. That would’ve been, by far, the most significant sporting event in the state of Alabama’s history.

Instead, AU – which beat UGA in the regular season – lost the rematch by 21 points. And with three losses, Gus Malzahn’s charges must settle for a New Year’s 6 bowl.

So what’s the big deal about a one-loss Alabama team?

Ordinarily, there would be no big deal. Every team in the CFP has a loss.

No. 1 Clemson was defeated by Syracuse and No. 2 Oklahoma fell to Iowa State.

Those are seen as hiccups.

No. 3 Georgia, of course, was throttled by Auburn before beating the Tigers in the game that mattered most. So the first leg of “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” carries no weight.

And if the Tide’s lone blemish had come against LSU or Mississippi State or any college football team not located in Lee County, Alabama, it wouldn’t even be a story line among diehards or talking heads.

But Alabama lost to Auburn. And if you believe many fans, that game trumps all.

I’ll let you in on a secret, though … this year, it really doesn’t.

And just moments after Auburn put the finishing touches on a 26-14 win over then No. 1 Alabama, Tide boss Nick Saban was already politicking for a playoff spot.

“I think this team deserves the opportunity to get into the playoff by what they have been able to accomplish and what they have been able to do,” Saban said. “Certainly not in this game, but I think the team we played tonight is a very good football team, probably one of the best teams in the country. I don’t think one game defines who you are. It certainly doesn’t define this team for who they are, and again I am very proud of what they were able to accomplish.”

Even Malzahn was ready to move on shortly after the final whistle blew.

Yeah, his team won the Iron Bowl, but that was hardly the biggest game of the year for him or his players.

“This time of year, very few teams are playing their best football and we’re doing that,” Malzahn said. “We must continue doing that moving forward. Playing Georgia, we know they’re going to have a chip on their shoulder.”

I’m not saying Tide players weren’t hurting when they got on the bus to leave Jordan-Hare Stadium. They were.

And the locker room was a joyous place for the hosts, who snapped a three-game losing skid against the squad from Tuscaloosa.

Yet while Alabama fans might be dealing with some existential angst in the postseason, the only Tigers its players will be concerned with are the defending national champions from Clemson.

And if you don’t think Auburn’s athletes would trade an Iron Bowl win for a CFP berth, you’re kidding yourself.

Granted, this is a moot point if Clemson beats Alabama in the Sugar Bowl semifinal on New Year’s Day. (For the record, I think the Tigers will win the rubber game of their three-game match with Bama and face Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 8).

But if the Crimson Tide advances and goes on to win its 11^th national championship, I do have a suggestion for those of you who bleed Blue and Orange.

Make up bumper stickers that read, “Auburn 26, National Champions 14.”

 

Every now and then, someone has the bright idea to “revive” a defunct sports league.

The American Basketball Association was a high-flying, high-scoring, wide-open competitor to the National Basketball Association, good enough to eventually force a mini-merger with the NBA.

There is also a modern ABA which, like its namesake, uses red, white and blue basketballs.

Unlike the original circuit, though, this ABA is semi-pro (at best).

The new North American Soccer League (which, unless a court ruling fails to go its way, will likely fold) sought to capitalize on the name and legend of the original NASL.

But while it features quality second division-level soccer, there are no Peles or George Bests to be found.

And now – maybe – the sports world is about to see another unlikely revival in the form of the XFL.

Journalist Brad Shepard (on Twitter @TheBradShepard) broke the story, and then other outlets picked up on the news that pro wrestling mogul Vince McMahon is ready to get back in the pro football business.

Apparently, the Bombastic Baron of Brawn (if Vince starts using this he owes me a dime every time someone says it) thinks the time is right to make another go at the gridiron game.

Let’s just hope he provides a better product than he did with the XFL, which played one season in the spring/summer of 2001 and was a spectacular failure. It even holds the dishonor of owning the lowest rating for a prime time telecast in the history of television.

For those who don’t remember (and really, why should you?), the XFL was billed as old school, blood and guts football accented by the sideshow of World Wrestling Entertainment.

It had NBC and cable network contracts, and with McMahon’s financial empire behind it, there was reason for optimism.

Yet while there were some solid innovations in terms of camera and microphone usage (the NFL uses some of them now), the telecasts were marred by lowbrow vulgarity.

Taking cameras inside cheerleaders’ locker rooms was about as objectifying as it gets … I refer to it as the Perv Cam initiative. And the announcers (some of whom also worked WWE shows) threw in as many double entendres as possible.

McMahon also brought out some of his biggest wrestling stars to pimp the league with promos and in-stadium appearances, but they couldn’t make up for one, overriding factor:

It was minor league football.

And considering the fact that rosters were thrown together so quickly and training camps so short before the season opened in February, it was very bad minor league football early on.

By the time the quality of play improved to the point of making it slightly palatable, no one was watching on TV anymore.

When NBC said “No mas” to a second season, McMahon pulled the plug and the XFL was soon forgotten.

So if McMahon forms another league (and according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, McMahon sold 3.34 million in WWE stock worth about $100 million), he’ll need to learn from the mistakes of his venture into non-scripted sports.

For starters, he is forming another company, Alpha Entertainment, which is completely separate from the WWE.

That likely means his new league won’t try any of that wrestling crossover nonsense.

He also needs to avoid pretending it’s a major league.

In order to prop up the XFL he created the narrative that it was somehow “tougher” that the NFL. In reality, the best XFL team (the Los Angeles Xtreme won the championship) would’ve lost to the worst NFL team in 2001 (that would be the 1-15 Carolina Panthers) by 50 points.

Now, if he wanted to go the USFL route and bring in billionaires to buy franchises and go after top NFL talent, well, that would be another story entirely. Ultimately it would be an unwinnable financial war, of course, but in the short term it could create plenty of buzz and maybe even some Triple-A level football.

My guess, though, is he would rather come up with some sort of developmental agreement with the NFL, billing it as a spring showcase for the stars of the future.

So, as someone who is always willing to give pro sports upstarts a look, I’ll wait and see what – if anything – comes of this.

And while Vince didn’t ask for my advice, hopefully this time he’ll focus more on football and less on the cheerleaders’ locker rooms.

 

 

Let me be among the first to spread the rumor that the Carolina Panthers will move to London and play their home games at Wembley Stadium.

Sure, it’s probably a ridiculous rumor, but we live in a ridiculous world where truth is optional, so I’m gonna go with it.

Jerry Richardson, who made his coin in the food services industry and owns the Charlotte-based NFL team, announced that he was selling the franchise at the end of the season.

It was an abrupt move and comes on the heels of workplace misconduct allegations against the 81-year old; the NFL is currently investigating the charges.

Richardson didn’t mention the allegations in his statement about the sale, but Sports Illustrated published an article detailing them. Let’s just say they mostly fall into the “creepy, sexist, racist old man” category and move on to the main point of this column, which is expansion of pro football’s biggest league beyond the United States.

Commissioner Roger Goodell insists that the circuit doesn’t like to move teams, but he and his cabal of owners must not hate it too much.

This season alone the Rams returned to Los Angeles from St. Louis and the Chargers left San Diego for L.A., the city they started in as an American Football League franchise in 1960.

And the Oakland Raiders are heading to Las Vegas, probably no later than 2019.

But as much talk as there’s been about a team in London – and there’s been a lot – no situation has existed that made a move across the pond as likely.

Until now.

The Panthers have been in the NFL for 22 seasons, played in two Super Bowls, and have established themselves as a solid franchise in a thriving city with a nice fan base.

But …

The Panthers are still “young” in the sense that their roots and legacy do not date back to the formative days of the NFL. While the rest of the league’s owners would recoil at the suggestion the Bears move from Chicago or the Giants from New York/New Jersey, uprooting a modern expansion team and sending it to England might seem more palatable.

Now before I push this theory any further, let me say I think placing a franchise in London – or anywhere overseas – is ridiculous as a standalone move.

Scheduling will be a nightmare and create a huge hardship on players based in London, who would have to make transatlantic flights eight times over a 16-game regular season schedule.

Logistically, it makes no sense.

If the NFL wanted to do it right, it would need to expand to at least 40 teams and create two, five-team international divisions. It still wouldn’t be perfect, but far more reasonable than having one outlier.

A number of suitors are already lining up and I assume most who come along will want to keep the team in the Carolinas. As someone who lives in Greenville, South Carolina, I truly hope that happens.

Although I’m a Jets fan, it’s much more convenient to drive 100 miles to Bank of America Stadium on a Sunday morning than to make the 718-mile trek to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

And despite music mogul P Diddy’s tongue-in-cheek interest in buying what he calls the “North Carolina Panthers,” Richardson said there will be no negotiations or inquiries about the sale until the end of this season.

By the looks of things, that season will extend beyond 16 games. The Panthers are 10-4 and currently situated as a No. 5 seed in the NFC playoff picture.

When it does end, though, it’ll be interesting to see if any kind of London-based group is in play.

Back in September Mark Waller, the NFL’s executive vice president of its international division, suggested that having a team in London by 2022 was a distinct possibility.

“Absolutely,” Waller told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “And that aligns well from a CBA and union standpoint—that would need to be part of a union agreement. Not to say we couldn’t bargain it separately, but obviously if we’re doing it around that time, that would make sense.”

The 2022 season is still off in the distance, but come January (or early February) there will be only one franchise in a position to make the move.

And here’s a little tidbit for you; that team is contractually obligated to stay in Charlotte only until June, 2019.

I wonder if anyone has already copyrighted London Panthers?