MJWalker45

12 minutes ago, walkerws said:

 

I get it... It's unique, but this is when you take artisti liberty and use team or the fiesta colors. This ain't it. 

It's using the colors of Hemisfair Arena. Not every City uniform has to be Fiesta designs. 

The most important question is, do they use the XFL trophy as the division champs trophy and the USFL trophy as the league champs trophy?

1 hour ago, Pyromania1983 said:

Spurs new court:

34 minutes ago, HOOVER said:

Got it.  RedBird cuts its losses a little bit but stays in the game and the USFL picks up capital infusion.   Cut league down to 10-12 teams, keeping Top 5-6 from each?

 

What might be most interesting is what happens with the TV deals.  Isn’t Fox the principal owner of the USFL?

For the moment it looks like they want to keep all 16 teams up and running. So moving teams would make more sense. 

For teams that get moved to new non-USFL cities, these identities are also available, though I'd change the Jousters to Knights.

2 hours ago, McCall said:

Why would you drop San Antonio? That makes no sense. They've been one of the top draws for spring football. Had the highest attendance in the AAF and outdrew both Arlington and Houston in 2023 by almost 3k, which was largely only that close due to poor scheduling. San Antonio would definitely stay.

 

And no change to the Battlehawks colors.

1 hour ago, HOOVER said:

Didn’t really want to; it was more or less the fact that Texas already had Dallas and Houston and I wanted to have more balance on the West Coast.  This is my “ideal” scenario to achieve some geographic goals and lay out divisions, short-term and long-term.

Trying to make teams make geographic sense is good when creating a league. But when those teams exist, and have better fan support than 80% of the other teams, you don't get rid of them to do that. In a league that will continue to have every team train in Arlington/Dallas, getting rid of a team that you can have bus down the road instead of fly out makes no sense. I also wonder if XFL 2.0 or 3.0 even have the rights to 1.0 teams still. I also don't think you need to change Orlando over to the Thunderbolts when that was for another location. Vegas only works if they get inside Allegiant Stadium, or the Las Vegas Lights are fine with making changes to the field that help out the Vipers. 

24 minutes ago, HOOVER said:

On another note...this league, literally on Day 1 of a merger, needs to reach out to 2K Sports to develop a new football video game.  Madden is trash, but you could really build some loyalty to teams and the league by putting out a great game. 

2K has a NFL license but still hasn't put out a new game yet. They also can't make it a simulation style game, which may be the reason we haven't seen a game yet. I would hope they could use this as a test run to go up against Madden once again.  The league also needs to get more gear for sale, online and at the stadiums. And get authentic UA gear, not just whatever group makes fan gear now. 

1 hour ago, HOOVER said:

I agree, and if you’ve got 16 teams, that’s going to be a longer season, so you want to wrap up earlier and avoid the heat at the end of the season in the late Spring/early Summer.  The league needs to kick off the week of, or week after, the Super Bowl…or maybe even Pro Bowl week.

I think a 12 week regular season is going to be the max they go with, in addition to two weeks of playoffs before the title game. They'll probably keep that 10 week season though. 

1 minute ago, tBBP said:

Porting this over from the other forum (because I legit thought I was posting in this thread in the first place... )

 

If this thing goes thru (which I think everyone saw coming), first thing first: what they gon' call it??? Somehow I think of one name stays, it's gonna be XFL; for one, it's a little less clunky, and for two, I think it's easier to market as something "unique" (though no longer "extreme" as in iteration 1.0). Since I have no better idea, I'll just leave that there. (I think they'll change the logo, though, upon completion to better represent the new blended entity.)

 

Now, as for the teams: I see zero point two Houston teams; that's just oversaturation. Perhaps they should look at moving one of those Houston squads somewhere else. They should also move Vegas, but how much do they want to keep that market? Many have—& will—suggest the Bay area...may I suggest Salt Lake instead?? (By the way, where do we stand with the old AAF IP...are those still locked down or no?) I'm only suggesting Salt Lake in lieu of what I'd prefer to suggest, but I already know how people are gonna respond so...

Another group owns AAF names and the technology from the app. That tech is being used for the NFL London game next month on Disney+.

12 minutes ago, crashcarson15 said:

High school look for a high school program.

Would have been better left on the cutting room floor. 

28 minutes ago, ManillaToad said:

The USFL's branding and uniforms could fit in the NFL. There's a reason it all bears so much resemblance to the original USFL: the looks are timeless.

The XFL's is typical minor league garbage that was dated the moment any of it was revealed. For that reason I hope the Gamblers brand stays while the Roughnecks get the boot

The Gamblers are one of the worst looking uniforms in either league. The Roughnecks are almost as bad, but the plainness of the Gamblers is even worse. I would think Houstonians have more affinity to the Roughnecks, since they've actually played in Houston within the last five years. 

2 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

Also, the second Renegades helmet logo was nice.  I love a letter logo; football has far too few of them.

The renegade head is so much better than that DAR logo.

8 minutes ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

I hope that the combined league keeps the uniform aesthetic of the USFL, which is far superior to that of the XFL.

USFL teams were pretty bland, especially Houston, Memphis and Pittsburgh. The rest were safe, with New Orleans having the most "out there" uniform. 

I do agree Arlington and Houston need to be redone. Just go back to their 2020 uniforms. Never re-use a gimmick helmet that Texas Tech had. 

I also wonder if they'd consider adding 2 more weeks to the season, especially if they go with the week after the Super Bowl?

NFL is copying the NHL's "Big City Greens" game for Jaguars/Falcons game in London on October 8th. It'll be on Disney+. 

44 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

A couple other notable details from the Axios story:

• The plan is to have this merged league in place for the 2024 season. So they're not messing around.
• The story cites Fox executives as saying the USFL is profitable while the XFL lost $60M. I find that odd. 

They said that throughout the year, even when games weren't drawing fans. I don't believe that they were profitable no matter what Moose says on TV. ESPN, Fox, and NBC splitting coverage costs would bring costs for Fox down significantly too, so that can't be a coincidence either. I wonder if they plan to announce a merger before the XFL/USFL seasons with one more year for both, or if they'll be under one banner this spring. I feel like the former is the most likely. The lack of stadium space for the Stars, Gamblers and Generals is the biggest issue for the USFL teams. The same only applies to the Vipers in the XFL. 

I could see Under Armour as the uniform supplier still, unless adidas or Nike decide they need to get in the game. Ripon has not done anything with the USFL teams that make them stand out so far. 

1 minute ago, Sodboy13 said:

Between Fox and The Rock, we are about to definitely find out who has been the biggest sucker over these past couple of years. And I genuinely can't predict an answer!

The Rock has lost $75 million, reportedly. Fox has to have lost much, much more just this year. 

35 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

Axios reports today that XFL and USFL are in advanced merger talks.  An announcement could come as early as this week. Story here. 

This would probably help decide the Vegas situation for 2024 and beyond. Maybe this gets them moved into Allegiant Stadium, or both leagues decided together where to place the team. I'd love to see which rules between the two remain, I actually like the XFL's kickoff better, but I like the idea of using the USFL 1 point try instead of the XFL version. If this merger also gets them the support of the NFL, in terms of allowing practice squad players and third stringers to play, as well as coaches and referees they can see a major improvement in viewership as well. 

As long as they use a full color logo it looks good. When they use this as one color it loses a lot of the elements that make it look good. 

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66849573

Montreal player released after he moonlights in an amateur league in Quebec. 

28 minutes ago, infrared41 said:

Deshaun Watson sucks. I'd never wish an injury on anyone, but I will say that the wrong Brown blew out his knee tonight.

 

I wouldn't wish injury, but he's not helping my blood pressure with stupid decisions like grabbing someone's facemask.

On 9/17/2023 at 1:36 AM, Cujo said:

Even in a win, Coach Prime and the Buffs were humbled. Outplayed for 55 minutes had no business winning that game. To add, Deion was planning to clown on Norvell during the handshake, but instead showed him some respect. 

 

Thank god the media/celebrity circus is in Boulder over -- for now.

If any team should be humbled this week it was Alabama. They were horrendous on the road at South Florida and that second touchdown was in garbage time. I know there was bad weather in Tampa, but that O Line has been getting beaten up by teams that they should dominate. 

7 hours ago, See Red said:

 

I mean... maybe.  It's also never been possible to do what he's done because this is the first year since the transfer eligibility rules changed that programs haven't been held to 25 initial counters per season.  So where Mike Norvell, for example, had to just deal with all of the deadweight Willie Taggart left him (and there was a lot of it) on Florida State's roster until it cycled out because he had to balance high school recruiting with incoming transfers, Deion didn't have those same limitations.  Now, granted, Deion's ability to get that many kids to transfer in is a credit to him.

Taggert and Jimbo. Willie was only there one year, he still had a bunch of Jimbo's weight on that roster. 

14 hours ago, Germanshepherd said:

I can’t believe the PAC-12 is dying in what could be its best year ever. 
 

Everyone but the Arizona schools, Stanford and Cal are legit Top 25 quality good. 
 

Plus Caleb, Bo Nix, Shadeur, Cam Ward, Penix, Cam Rising and DJ U all in the same league is NUTS. UCLA’s got a 5-star too who could be pretty good. 

It's the SWC all over again.

27 minutes ago, MJD7 said:

Yeah, especially when the color they’re replacing is gold, it just looks like a washed out version of their classic set. I can see why they’re doing this against Boston College though, as they have an essentially identical color scheme, although the Noles wearing garnet pants would’ve provided even better contrast. 
 

It’s their annual “Red Bandana” game, which honors BC lacrosse player Welles Crowther, who died saving others in the September 11th attacks. 
 

Why the “Red Bandana” jersey is white though, I’m not entirely sure. 

Because the bandana pattern didn't work as well when using red jerseys. To change the pattern to make it work for red jerseys, it'd be the white bandana instead. 

2 minutes ago, Germanshepherd said:

I will not tolerate this Biff slander

He looks like he's running late for fishing with the boys, not like a head coach. But at least he's not making his players wear oars all over their uniforms. 

20 hours ago, tBBP said:

 

Dude seems to have his own PJ Fleck-ish approach to fashion...

 

 

And that's aside from looking like the Louisiana Mike Myers' long-lost brother...

 

(I'm also glad he ain't no kin to Mike Norvell...)

Still not as bad as one college coach that wears a baseball cap and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. I wish I could remember the game though. He coaches Charlotte now, but this was him last year. As far as Norvell, he's not the only coach that went with the custodian/plumber look. Eastern Michigan did that for the Bahamas Bowl a few years back. 

Eastern Michigan bowl gear:

11 hours ago, TrueYankee26 said:

If this is a preview of what the Texas-Bama rivalry will be starting in 2024, this should be reeeeeeeal good!

So now we'll hear Texas is back, from now until they lose to Oklahoma.

Jorge Vilda has been sacked. 

1 minute ago, Red Wolf said:

 

I believe this is the intended final product.

 

OK. That's a nice look for D2 teams. Not FBS.