Monday, December 15, 2008
Arena Football League Rides Pine in 2009
A report in Monday's Cleveland Plain Dealer states the Arena Football League will suspend operations and not contest the 2009 season. The league plans to return for 2010.
Friday, December 12, 2008
New Pro Football League to Start
A new football league called United Football League is to start next fall with six teams. Orlando, Hartford, New York, Salt Lake City, Monterrey, Mexico, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles are the cities from which the six teams will be chosen. The league "is targeting major U.S. markets currently underserved in professional football as well as some markets that make fiscal sense."
The UFL will play its games during the traditional fall football season on Thursday and Friday nights. Avoiding scheduling games against the NFL's Sunday games, the UFL will instead schedule against high school games. The league will be a viable minor league that currently is missing. The Canadian Football League has different rules and field dimensions which make the game different and the Arena Football League plays in the off season with much different field dimensions.
Michael Huyghue is the commissioner of the league. He has executive experience in pro football, previously working in the front office of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The NFL could avoid this competition by running its own minor league as this blog suggested back in 2006. My proposal for a NFL division II includes eight teams, with two teams in Los Angeles and a team in Salt Lake City. The other five cities I propose do not overlap with the UFL's proposed locations. The choice of Monterrey, Mexico is daring and could prove progressive, or fail.
The UFL will play its games during the traditional fall football season on Thursday and Friday nights. Avoiding scheduling games against the NFL's Sunday games, the UFL will instead schedule against high school games. The league will be a viable minor league that currently is missing. The Canadian Football League has different rules and field dimensions which make the game different and the Arena Football League plays in the off season with much different field dimensions.
Michael Huyghue is the commissioner of the league. He has executive experience in pro football, previously working in the front office of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The NFL could avoid this competition by running its own minor league as this blog suggested back in 2006. My proposal for a NFL division II includes eight teams, with two teams in Los Angeles and a team in Salt Lake City. The other five cities I propose do not overlap with the UFL's proposed locations. The choice of Monterrey, Mexico is daring and could prove progressive, or fail.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Blindsided by KC Joyner
KC Joyner, ESPN's Football Scientist, has a new book out titled Blindsided: Why the Left Tackle is Overrated and Other Contrarian Football Thoughts. Two chapters in the book deal with the NFL's business practices and Joyner makes several good points. Joyner warns that the NFL's "mutation from a pure sports entity to a combined sports/media outlet" is a warning sign for the league. He also makes good arguments for the elimination of the draft and the blackout rule. Recommended reading!
