Ferdinand Cesarano

It would appear that he gives quite a lot of [censored]s.

Buck has made his preferences clear with the caps of several teams, at least in spring training. During at least one spring with the Yankees, he used the white-crowned cap for the coaching staff, in the manner of the 1970s A's. With Texas he wore a red cap while the players wore a blue cap. And with the Mets this past spring he wore the regular cap instead of the spring training cap.

"AFC" as in "association football club", as "association" gives us the abbreviation "assoc.", which is the origin of the word "soccer". You're supposed to call them "Nashville", "Charlotte", "Cincinnati", "St. Louis", etc, just as you refer to Liverpool, Barcelona, Napoli, etc. As @Sykotyk has pointed out, the nicknames are developing. By the way, this is the same way that nicknames developed in the early years of pro baseball. When the team that we now call the Braves was founded in Boston at the start of the National League in 1876, the nicknames that fans used for them were "Red Stockings" and later "Beaneaters". The name "Braves" came about because one of the team's owners was part of the corrupt New York political faction called Tammany Hall, which also used that term. The Dodgers went through plenty of fan-created nicknames, such as "Bridegrooms", "Superbas", and "Robins" (the last one being in reference to their manager Wilbert Robinson, the old catcher for the John McGraw / Wee Willie Keeler NL Baltimore Orioles). Indeed, even "Dodgers" itself arose organically, as Brooklyn residents were then often called "trolley dodgers", due to the many trolley lines that were found there. The Yankees' original nickname, "Highlanders", came about because the team's park was located at the top of of a hill (and was called Hilltop Park). The team came to be called the Yankees only because newspapers started using the shorter term "Yanks" in their headlines, and fans picked up on it. To see this process play out for soccer clubs in North America is wonderful. Everyone knows what team you are referring to when you say the Red Devils or the Magpies (even if colour names such as the Blues and the Reds have many possible referrents); likewise, we are getting to the point where we can speak with the same ease of the Pigeons playing the Lions.

Jim Brown was also a star in lacrosse. He eventually bought the MLL team originally known as the Long Island Lizards, and changed the name to the New York Lizards. The possibility of Brown's comeback to football at age 47 or 48 was huge news. He didn't want Franco Harris to break his career yardage record, and he actually said several unkind things about Harris at the time. Brown was in talks with the Los Angeles Raiders, and was even pictured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a Raiders uniform. Here Brown discusses his potential comeback with David Letterman in 1984. Brown also mentions the idea of playing for the L.A. Express of the USFL; and I am sorry to say that Dave is dismissive of this. Anyway, Brown said that his comeback was contingent upon beating Harris in the 40-yard dash. The two raced, and Harris won. Brown called off his comeback. But it was an exciting year or so with the possibility swirling.

Also, MLS turns away more suitors than it accepts. So it's happened. MLS is not the least bit a pyramid scheme. An example of a pyramid scheme was the original NASL, which relied on expansion money to exist, and so let in every two-bit lemonade-stand operator, without regard to that ownership group's ability to sustain a team over the long term. By contrast, MLS evaluates every expansion bid, and (as mentioned) rejects more than it accepts.

With some teams still having player rights of those that go into the NFL, I'd expect that if they get cut they would go back to the XFL team unless they decided to play in another league. Ah, quite so. I was thinking of guys cut from NFL teams who had never before played in the XFL.

Such a player would presumably be a free agent. Let's hope that the XFL has a process in place whereby a team's GM can express interest in signing a free agent, and the league will sign that player and assign him to that team. But we can't know for sure how a league that signs players centrally will handle this matter. It's an inherent problem with the single-entity structure (a scheme which should rightfully be illegal).

The problem with the theory that the logo is a DR (which, admittedly, it does look a bit like) is that this logo didn't exist last season when the team was actually called Dallas Renegades. It's really just an R. Still, that said, the name Dallas Renegades is much better than the name Arlington Renegades, for the same reason that Los Angeles Angels is a better name than Anaheim Angels. Plenty of teams play outside the city limits; but that's no reason to name a team for a minor municipality that pales in significance as compared to the nearby major city. Alas, this is the name that the team has gone with. Anyway, the R is appropriate, no matter what locality name is used. Add to that its beautiful styling, and its sharp one-colour presentation, and you have a winner of a logo here in the R. As I mentioned before, football has way too few letter logos. This is why I strongly approve of D.C.'s new helmet logo (even though the old logo is good as a secondary). I also liked the logos of the LA Wildcats last season, and those of the New York Hitmen, the Chicago Enforcers, and the Las Vegas Outlaws in the first season.

On the sleeve, maybe. But the R logo is beautiful on the helmet. And it looks outstanding on a cap. ...as do the letter-based logos of the Bears, Packers, 49ers, and Giants, and also that of the Chiefs, whether with or without the arrow head. The R logo is a strong, solid mark. That dignified letter logo is far superior to the clipart cowboy logo (which is derivative of the AFL's Dallas Desperados, anyway). The only thing wrong with the Renegades' helmet is that goofy stripe that gets wider towards the front. The Renegades' original helmet got the stripe right. That stripe would go great with the team's cool number font.

A letter logo is almost always better than a graphic logo, and football suffers from a dearth of letter helmet logos. So the change to the Renegades' helmet from last season was an upgrade. (And the same goes for the Defenders, who also brought in a letter-based helmet logo for this season.) The Renegades' former helmet logo is better suited to be a sleeve logo.

The end zones look good.

I heard Casey Pratt say that Fisher bought the A's for $180 million, and that the team is now valued at $1.8 billion. I have also heard speculation that the valuation could double upon a move to Las Vegas. However, if everything falls through in Las Vegas, then the value of the team would probably be on the verge of plummeting. In that case, selling would be the logical thing to do.

I assume it's to allow players to recover from any injuries. But even absent serious injuries, this is a good move, as all players are beaten up, and a week's rest can only help. We want the teams to be at their best. Also, from the drama standpoint, the two-week wait for the championship game helps heighten the suspense. I'm looking forward to the game, and the extra week makes it feel a bit more important.

I wish Memphis would swap the nice M sleeve logo and that mess of a speedboat helmet logo.

There's no return to Oakland under this ownership.

Yup...expect the Nashville Stars group bid to pick up a whole lotta steam if that deal falls through. Dave Stewart, who is heading the Nashville group, has said that he is not interested in that.

Brody Brazil and Casey Pratt are reporting that the A's have only a month left to get the funding legislation passed in the Nevada legislature. They quote assembly speaker Steve Yeager (not the ex-Dodger catcher) as saying that there is still no bill, nor are there any concrete plans being discussed. The legislative session ends in early June, and there isn't another one for another two years. (Which is ridiculous. But that's a whole other topic.) The governor has the power to call a special session; whether the governor would want to do that for this issue is anyone's guess. Both Brazil and Pratt report that the A's agreement to buy the land for the ballpark near the Las Vegas strip is contingent upon the Nevada legislature passing the funding bill. If there's no new legislation, then the A's could back out of the purchase. Pratt speculates that this would lead to a sale of the team, as the current ownership no longer has any leverage in Oakland, having burned its bridges there. So there is still some hope.

That's a good principle. But there should be room for an exception in the case of throwbacks. To wit: Indeed, the first NBA Finals contested by two former ABA teams should have seen both teams wearing ABA uniforms in honour of their shared history. Unfortunately, the Spurs did not play along.

What kind of dismissive disrespectful crap is this? He's Henry Aaron, the symbol of the Braves, now in 2023, and for all time. Someone who spits on Hank Aaron — and then cannot even spell his name — is no Braves fan, nor any kind of baseball fan. Educate yourself. (What kind of damn fools do we have running around here?) So the embarrassing ignorance is not limited to baseball history, then. That's the first time I have seen two apostrophes in "ain't"!

The league characterises this as "legal housekeeping"; and I do believe that the move to trademark these names does not indicate a desire to move any teams. An interesting question arises with the name San Antonio Gunslingers. That name is currently used by a team in the NAL. If the USFL successfully trademarks the name, would the NAL team have to stop using it? (Side note: I hope so, because I would like that name not to be used by anyone.)

David Letterman used to wear various sports gear when filming remote pieces for Late Night in the 1980s. For example, he'd wear a Cardinals cap or a Detroit Tigers cap. Once he did a filmed piece while wearing a Houston Gamblers jersey. Of course, the act of sporting of a USFL jersey didn't prevent Dave from mocking the USFL. After the initial championship game in 1983, he mentioned in his monologue that the Michigan Panthers had won the title. He than added, entirely sarcastically, "I've been a Panthers fan since I was this high." The funny thing is that Dave was 36 when he said that; and now there are people in their 50s who say that very thing unironically. In 1983, Dave also did a funny set piece on the stage, called "The USFL Hall of Fame". I can remember two gags. First was an exhibit of the complete set of USFL trading cards; the set consisted of two cards: Herschel Walker and checklist. And the checklist listed two items: Herschel Walker and checklist. Right next to that exhibit was one showing the only retired USFL jersey: a shirt that had clearly been mis-numbered with "5 backwards-3". Cracks me the f up.

Thanks for the response. But note that the IFL and NAL are not amateur leagues. Those leagues' teams may pay their players peanuts; but the leagues still count as professional. What's more, all those teams sell merchandise. Is that not the bigger deal, in terms of infringing on trademarks? Also, what about the rationale that is employed when a non-profit institution such as a high school is prevented from using a logo, namely, that a trademark holder has to defend its mark? I hope that one of the many people who are more informed than I am on the vexing question of trademarks can explain why the Tulsa Oilers and the Rochester Raiders are safe using barely-disguised NFL marks, but the Johnsonville High School Falcons or the St. Olaf High School Vikings (both of which are made-up examples) are not so safe.

I'm gonna assume, for your sake, that you are just overexaggerating that last part to mess with people. If I am overselling it a bit, I assure you that this is not a conscious attempt to mess with anyone. Rather, it is a result of my being swept up in the excitement of the whole Perez phenomenon. It's tempting to dismiss the magnitude of a potential Perez-led Renegades championship game victory over the consensus best team because the XFL is still new. But once the reality sinks in that that league is a permanent part of the landscape, that title, should he actually win it, will be looked at for all time as one of the signature moments in sporting history. The comparisons to Joe Namath leading the Jets over the Colts are not perfect, as that game featured the champions of an upstart league facing the champions of the established league. Still, every expert predicted that the Jets had no chance against the dominant Colts, and considered Namath unworthy to be mentioned in the same breath with his opposite number, the Colts' Johnny Unitas. Likewise, we can expect that just about no pundits will give the Renegades any chance against the Defenders, who are clearly the league's top team, nor will they acknowledge Perez to be in the class of D.C.'s Jordan Ta'amu. Then there are the unique aspects of this story. Perez played no varsity football in high school; and what little football he played at the sub-varsity level was not at quarterback. His main sport at the time was bowling! He has bowled about a dozen 300 games. Perez walked on at Southwestern College in Southern California, and, despite being like 400th on the depth chart (I think it was actually ninth), wound up starting in his second year, after studying under Akili Smith and learning a great deal about the technical aspects of the position from watching YouTube videos. He transferred to Division II Texas A&M-Commerce, and, after redshirting for a year, played two years for his new school, leading them past heavily-favoured opposition to take the Division II national title, while being awarded D-II's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, the Harlon Hill Trophy. His is a truly amazing story. I honestly cannot understand the mindset of a sports fan who is not fascinated by this. Perez came to widespread attention with Birmingham in the AAF, where his leadership abiities were obvious. He then had successful runs with the New York Guardians in the XFL and the New Jersey Generals in the USFL, before going back to the XFL and languishing on the bench of the Vegas Vipers. The Renegades acquired him late this season, and they became transformed. He was one bad (very bad!) call away from beating D.C. in week 9, so this championship game rematch is essentially mandated by the Universe. The level-headed Perez is unlikely to issue any Namath-style "guarantees" for the title game match-up against favoured D.C. But if his poise and his confidence continue to have the effect on his team that they have had so far, and if he can actually bring down the mighty Defenders, this will be a story for the ages, one that no one will chuckle at when it is compared to Namath or Willis Reed or the other now-legendary sports stories.

Pardon my ignorance about the legalities around trademarks and logo. We know that the XFL's Houston Renegades had to abandon their original logo on account of a trademark dispute with the NFL and the Tennesee Titans, which own the Houston Oilers' logo. But now we see that the IFL has a new team this year with this helmet logo. That logo comes a lot closer to the Houston Oilers' helmet logo than the Renegades' logo did. What's more, this IFL team is called the Tulsa Oilers. How can a football team adopt the name "Oilers", and use that logo, without any complaint from the NFL? It can't be because the IFL is too small to notice; we have seen explanations, on occasions when NFL teams and major colleges have gone after high schools, that a company is obligated to protect its marks or else risk losing them. The NAL used to have a team called the Columbus Lions (that's Georgia), with this logo. While that logo doesn't come all that close to the logo of the Detroit Lions, the colours are pretty close indeed. The team was clearly invoking aspects of Detroit's look. Then there were the Rochester Raiders, who played in a few leagues (including the IFL) for about a decade. They used silver and black, and sported this logo. There are more borderline cases. A current IFL team part-owned by Marshawn Lynch is called the Bay Area Panthers, and this is its helmet logo. Not close to the colours of Carolina. But, still, a panther head that comes to a point on the bottom left. I don't get how these for-profit companies can openly use these names and logos and can sell merchandise with these marks, without any objection from the NFL.