Ferdinand Cesarano

It's really not a mystery. The Rochester Red Wings once had a hat with an FC monogram, standing for "Flower (or Flour) City". Well you can bet that I wear that hat, because it shows my initials. A school called something like "North Central" that uses the North Carolina logo on its football helmet is doing the same thing. The rationale is that a high school is not profiting from the logo, and the perception is that this justifies the use of it. I will say that I agree with this from the moral standpoint, even though I know that that is not how the law works. At my job, I work in a unit that has the initials "SLU". I modified the Cardinals' monogram, changing the T into a U, in order to make an unofficial logo for the unit, one that we use in some internal documents. Similarly, my brother played in an adult baseball league in which all the teams had nicknames of Major League teams. I modified the Blue Jays' logo for his team, and then (just for my own pleasure) I made logos for other teams in the league called the Cardinals, the Pirates, and the Dodgers, by altering the logos of the Major League teams. What the high schools are doing is similar to this.

Note that the Ottawa Rough Riders folded nearly thirty years ago.

The shuttle bus from the Chester Transportation Center is run by the Union, so it would not be operating even if the Stars were to play at that park. There is another station, Highland Avenue, that is half as far from the park, and so is walkable. I rode my bike through Chester once. It was definitely kind of a bleak nowheresville. But getting to the stadium seems pretty easy. The problem with Franklin Field is the same one with the Generals in the Meadowlands: a crowd of 5000 to 7000 is going to look ridiculous in there. But the league may well go for the big stadiums, as they are doing in Detroit, and just hope that the crowds will eventually grow.

There is a SEPTA station walking distance from the stadium.

I'm not denying that. But you said nothing happened in the white helmets apart from Simpson's record season. And that is incorrect. The important point is that the white-helmeted look had already been firmly established when the red helmet was brought in. Even four latter-day AFC titles do not undo the team's foundational history. And the team in effect acknowledged this by restoring its signature look (in the manner, as mentioned above, of the Padres, the Blue Jays, and the Orioles).

Well before Simpson's great career and record-breaking season, the Bills won two AFL championships in the white helmet, the last two before the Super Bowl era. They then became part of the "white helmet division" of the AFC East. Nothing can erase the primacy of the white-hemeted look for the Bills — which they recognised by going back to it. As with the Padres' return to brown, the Blue Jays' return to a version of their familiar lettering and logo, and the Orioles' return to the cartoon bird, all other looks are just a bad dream that is best never spoken of.

So explain the USFL playing in 65k seat Ford Field, where Michigan and Philadelphia will be? Kinda defeats your purpose of smaller venues. Well, that's true. But, as @MJWalker45 implied, it's going to look pretty silly if the Generals play in the Meadowlands once the teams get to their home cities. Then there is the cost. Imagine paying all that money for guaranteed bad publicity. That's why I am hoping for the use of smaller stadiums, where a crowd of a few thousand won't look bad. Anyway, let's see what they do.

The Generals would have the same problem at Rutgers that the Guardians had at the Meadowlands, as the Rutgers stadium holds 50,000. Perhaps they could look into playing at the old Negro League park Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, which has been refurbished and will now be the home of the baseball team the New Jersey Jackals, formerly of the Can-Am League now of the Frontier League. That park seats about 10,000. I know it's the "New Jersey" Generals; but that is really the New York team. So I wonder whether there is any possibility of the USFL trying to work out a deal with a university here in the City. I believe that the Red Bulls and possibly NYCFC have played Open Cup matches at Columbia, whose stadium seats about 15,000. If the USFL wants to be realistic about its attendance projections, it could consider the 7000-seat stadium at Fordham, or else the similar-capacity Brooklyn Cyclones' stadium, which has been the home of the FXFL's Brooklyn Bolts, as well as the Cosmos and Rugby United New York. Getting even more realistic, there's also Icahn Stadium at the site of the former Downing Stadium (the original home of the Cosmos, and the home of the WFL's New York Stars before their mid-season move) on Randall's Island, which seats about 5000.

No f-ing way. The Bills' correct helmet is white (featuring either the stationary Buffalo or the charging Buffalo). The unsightly red lid was a big mistake. It's a shame that the team's most important player is associated only with its worst look. While Elway wore the Broncos' real look for a while before donning the goofy latter-day style, with Kelly we have no choice but to see him in a style that does not represent the team's signature look.

I would say that the best example of this is Jim Kelly, whose entire NFL career took place during the Bills' unfortunate red-helmet period.

I am a fan of continuity, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the Guardians' identity would be retained. Also, few things in life (not just in sports) are worse than the look of the Orlando Rage. However, even though the Vipers look good, I would agree that the Outlaws looked better. It seems to me that the name "Guardians" has no allusions to anything specific, and so works equally well in any city. The XFL in New York and Major League Baseball in Cleveland found ways to contrive some kind of local reference; but the name is univerally applicable.

Right. I ignored the unnecessary modifcation to the logo. I can only guess that the change was made because the original logo was meant to be a lion, in honour of the stone lions in front of the New York Public Library. The new version looks more like a tiger or a panther.

I wish the NFL would adopt this practice because it's educational. But I hate the idea of pandering to idiots. The "NFL is rigged" notion is the manifestation within sports of the mainstreaming of crazy that we have seen in so many other spheres. It's like the sports equivalent of the flat-Earth or Mandela Effect delusions. Still, the more transparency, the better. And let's note that it was the Arena Football League that started this several years ago. The on-field referee would walk over to a replay booth, where he'd watch the replay and analyse it, on-camera and on mic.

Houston is a horror show, between the helmets and those awful numbers. Vegas looks sharp, with the contrasting colour on the player names. The design of the Guardians' helmet is better than it was in New York, where the logo was too big. Also, the stripe down the middle is a nice addition of a feature that was absent in New York.

Right. That was clearly and unambiguously a hold, due to the left hand. To let that go — especially in the final minute — would be a travesty. Some goofballs actually believe that the officials' job is not to penalise illegal conduct but to set up a good ending. The reality: if you don't want to get flagged, don't do things that are against the rules.

His connection to baseball through his father is what made me care about him, before he had won anything.

Wow, what a downgrade for China, which formerly had the best hat. I'm glad that I was able to get one in the previous style. Of the current batch, I think the best one is South Africa. The caps for New Zealand and France are good, too. Most disappointing, along with the U.S., are Italy (here again, I'm glad I got one in the previous style, with the red outline on the white initial), Japan, and Great Britain. For Britain's first appearance in the WBC, they had a prototype cap with an interlocking GB. But they never actually wore it on the field. And, of course, all the flags are obnoxiously large.

This is generally true, but I am aware of one unfortunate exception: NYCFC's crowd for a while had a visible group of neo-nazis / white supremacists. But it is definitely the case that a crowd with "no tolerance for intolerance" is much more likely to be found at soccer matches than at games of other sports in the U.S.

Being from Massachusetts, I've been cheering for whichever team has my favorite uniforms. In XFL 2020, that was St. Louis. This year, probably Seattle in the XFL and New Orleans or Michigan in the USFL. Because the XFL continued the Guardians' identity, I hope that they do well. But the team that I will be rooting for most will be Vegas, on account of former Guardians (and former Generals) quarterback Luis Perez.

I realise that the second iteration of the Mustangs, after the Iron came over from the defunct af2, drew a fraction of the first version. And of course the Brewers' attendance skyrocketed when they moved into the new park, so no AFL team will be outdrawing the Brewers. Still, what the Mustangs achieved at their height is notable. The Bucks' current arena cannot be used for Arena Football?

The Milwaukee Mustangs drew extremely well by AFL standards, averaging about 14,000 at the Bradley Center for most of their existence from 1994 to 2001. This includes a winless first season in which the team ranked third in the league in average attendence. On five separate occasions, the Mustangs at the Bradley Center outdrew the Brewers at County Stadium on the same day. DATE MUSTANGS BREWERS 1995-05-26 12,474 11,054 1996-04-25 15,147 6,707 1996-06-14 15,710 14,404 1998-05-08 17,111 14,711 1999-04-28 13,101 11,441 So Milwaukee might be a pretty good city for a team in the revived AFL.

This has to be my next hat. I don't know why I have gone so long without one. Welp, so much for that. They're not selling hats. I don't know how you have an online apparel store yet do not sell the most stadard basic item, a cap with the organisation's logo.

This has to be my next hat. I don't know why I have gone so long without one.

Curious - how do you store these in some way where it's easy to find whichever one you're looking for? I'm gradually accumulating caps (not nearly 170) and already find it difficult. I use the space on top of two large dressers. I arrange the hats in eight columns sitting next to one another on top of the dressers, with at least 20 hats in each column. And I have a fleece blanket on top of the hats, in order to prevent the accumulation of dust. This is great for storage; alas, it is significantly less great for retrieval. I have to lift up the blanket to pull out the hat that I want to wear on any given day, which is convenient if the hat that I want is near the front of one of the columns. But whenever I want to pick out a hat that has made its way to the back portion of one of the columns, I have to roll the blanket completely off, then pick up and move the, let's say, 17 hats that are in front of the one that I want, pick that hat, and then slide the others back into place. So I will admit that it's a bit of a pain in the neck sometimes. But I put up with it because I really enjoy having these hats. Also, in my two-room apartment I have no other storage options.

NAL and IFL. 7 teams in the NAL and 14 currently active in the IFL.I know there are other leagues out there but they don't really have the exposure these two do. And FCF doesn't count because those teams have one coach for all of the teams calling plays that fans vote on. Ah, OK. I thought you were talking about the AFL and another league. Anyway, I don't know what the relationship is between the IFL and NAL; but I assume that it cannot be all that cordial, or else they would already have worked out an arrangement to reduce expenses for all. (Though both leagues agree that they want nothing to do with the Spokane Shock!) Still, that would be for the best. Maybe the appearance of a new AFL will spur some future talks.