This is the UFL! (XFL/USFL Merger)

[Red Comet]

 

[PTrudellJr]

18 minutes ago, Red Comet said:

 

a bit disappointing, but considering it's Easter, San Antonio and Houston are understandable.  Still SA pulled more than 4 of their games last season and Arlington was above average as well.  We have no numbers for USFL attendance last year, so no idea if Michigan was better or worse than their average.

[PTrudellJr]

21 hours ago, See Red said:

Turned off the late game early to watch basketball but enjoyed what I saw today. Hopefully ESPN’s broadcasts aren’t “spread” this, “over-under” that, “live odds” blah blah blah like it was with the XFL last year that made it nearly unwatchable. 

Players that were on the team were automatically slotted on the team coming into the draft.  Teams drafted about 28 from the pool of released players from defunct teams going into training camp. 

 

With roster churn, I'd say about half the team from last year was on the opening day roster for this season.  As a Brahmas fan, I know there was a LOT of players that didn't come back from last year as well as a new coach/new philosophy looking for a different type of player so we have about 1/4th of the team returning from last year.

[MJWalker45]

21 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

That's pretty much my thinking as well. Unless they came up with a league wide broadcast setup, I'd expect the same graphics as last year, with ESPN Bet added.

I'm happy to be proven wrong.

 

[MJWalker45]

51 minutes ago, PTrudellJr said:

a bit disappointing, but considering it's Easter, San Antonio and Houston are understandable.  Still SA pulled more than 4 of their games last season and Arlington was above average as well.  We have no numbers for USFL attendance last year, so no idea if Michigan was better or worse than their average.

 

47 minutes ago, PTrudellJr said:

Players that were on the team were automatically slotted on the team coming into the draft.  Teams drafted about 28 from the pool of released players from defunct teams going into training camp. 

 

With roster churn, I'd say about half the team from last year was on the opening day roster for this season.  As a Brahmas fan, I know there was a LOT of players that didn't come back from last year as well as a new coach/new philosophy looking for a different type of player so we have about 1/4th of the team returning from last year.

I think if this game had been the 3PM game, they could have gotten more fans, but not much more beyond 15,000. Houston was hurt by the look of poor weather and an older stadium, but hopefully those numbers improve too. I was walking back to the garage from the stadium and some people were like, "they played today"? I will say that the ads are much more prevalent than last year so hopefully we see 15,000-18,000 for the next home game. It's against St. Louis so I'd expect to get to 15,000 easily. 

 

The team today was much more energetic than last year. Not losing half the OL this time probably helps. Having a coach that's more willing to go for it, even on 4th and 3 on our side of the field feels so much better. 

[McCall]

As gut-wrenching as the Battlehawks loss was, holy :censored:! Where did that kicker come from?

[DCarp1231]

1 hour ago, McCall said:

As gut-wrenching as the Battlehawks loss was, holy :censored:! Where did that kicker come from?

Even The Rock, the ultimate underdog hype man, said that dude is gonna get calls from the NFL.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

2 hours ago, McCall said:

As gut-wrenching as the Battlehawks loss was, holy :censored:! Where did that kicker come from?

 

And he hit it from that distance twice.  The announcers: "So much for icing the kicker."

 

The funny thing is that Mike Nolan said before the game that, even though he had seen Jake Bates making field goals from 65 yards in pregame warmup, he wasn't going to use Bates from that distance.  From 65 yards? Nooo, nooo, no way, not a chance. From 64 yards? Get in there!

[CS85]

Stallions v. Renegades

• Matt Corral is an intriguing talent
• The Renegades can suck it

Battlehawks v. Panthers

• Great uniform matchup
• Not a great turnout.  Easter/Elite Eight weekend didn't help, but I hope those numbers turn around, for everybody's sake
• McCarron may not finish the season if his line doesn't give him more protection.  He's gonna get rolled up on one of these games.
• EJ Perry is once, twice, three times a Panther, and he was solid.  Gutsy draw at the goal line, knowing he was going to get rocked. He puts on a good show with his legs, somebody to keep an eye on as the season gets going.
• The color commentator was peaking all over with his mic levels.  Annoying.
• Jake Bates is going to be an NFLer this season if he keeps this up.

Showboats v. Roughnecks aka Broke-Ass Wal-Mart Oilers

• Houston continues to have probably the worst uniforms in the sport.  Just awful.
• Darius Victor, 30 years old, the Liberian Loveboat, gave CTE the stiffarm (for now) with some tough runs.  Not many good runs, but ya know, tough-like.
• Case Cookus sucks.
• Daewood Davis is someone to keep an eye on.
• TJ Pledger confused me.  For a minute I thought his name was "Pleasure," so when the broadcaster said that Guarantano found Pleasure, I stifled a giggle.
• Sage Surratt's name being called reminded me of the existence of Chazz Surratt, who never amounted to much.  Bummer, I really liked Chazz coming out of college.
• Game ending on a muffed punt kinda blew, but hey, UFL football baybay.

Defenders v. Brahmas

• McFarland returning the opening kickoff with one shoe is peak UFL.
• Keep the name Pooka Williams in mind.  He's in the running (from the cops) for the UFL's Bad Boy candidate of the year.
• Cool red zone play by SA, fake shovel pass into an end around.  Didn't score, but I liked the concept.
• Love the optical measurement of the 4th down.  Again, another brilliant thing the NFL should adopt, but probably won't because the officials wouldn't be able to shave points.
• Big swollen balls call by the Brahmas to let their punter chuck a deep ball for a touchdown just before half.  Caught by the center, no less!  The UFL needs to encourage this kind of stuff.  Go wild.
• Jordan Ta'amu fumbling for no reason,  then completing a no-look whoopedy-doo spinning pass while taking a hit is what this league is all about.
• Jean DeLance not only committing a false start, then spitting on a guy is the inaugural, and thus eponyous recipient of the Jean DeLance Award for Being a Sports Dumbass.

[GDAWG]

A football league with competent referees?  What the hell is this?  

[burgundy]

14 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

A football league with competent referees?  What the hell is this?  

 

Everybody can hear what they discuss, so they're held accountable. They can't just stubbornly stick to a bad call out of spite like NFL refs like to do.

 

[DCarp1231]

2 hours ago, CS85 said:

Stallions v. Renegades

• Matt Corral is an intriguing talent

It’s a shame the Carolina Panthers gave up on him after his injury in the 2022 Preseason.

[DCarp1231]

Also, Luis Perez absolutely needs a real shot in the NFL

[CS85]

2 hours ago, GDAWG said:

A football league with competent referees?  What the hell is this?  

It's about as close to Robo-Umpires as the sport can get.  There's eye in the sky for all the flags and infractions, reviews are fast and ultimately judged by Dean Blandino.  It's butter smooth, IMO, but it'll never reach the NFL unless the NFLRA is dismantled.

[MJWalker45]

2 hours ago, CS85 said:

Battlehawks v. Panthers

• McCarron may not finish the season if his line doesn't give him more protection.  He's gonna get rolled up on one of these games.

I was surprised by how often Michigan was able to get in the backfield. 

2 hours ago, CS85 said:

Defenders v. Brahmas

• Big swollen balls call by the Brahmas to let their punter chuck a deep ball for a touchdown just before half.  Caught by the center, no less!  The UFL needs to encourage this kind of stuff.  Go wild.

The main reason they probably called it was because De Le Haye missed the FG attempt by a good bit. But I'll take 6 over 3 any day. 

2 hours ago, CS85 said:

Stallions v. Renegades

• Matt Corral is an intriguing talent
• The Renegades can suck it

 

I'd be interested to see how the Stallions look if they decide to keep the 2 QB setup and Martinez doesn't get injured.  Personally, I'd go with Corral as the primary until he can't go. 

[MJWalker45]

Talking with a coworker, apparently he sat where DC fans were last year for the championship because he said they upped the security in his area due to people throwing things on the field last year. Hahahahaha!!! I was disappointed to see no lemons this time out. 

[CS85]

1 hour ago, MJWalker45 said:

Talking with a coworker, apparently he sat where DC fans were last year for the championship because he said they upped the security in his area due to people throwing things on the field last year. Hahahahaha!!! I was disappointed to see no lemons this time out. 

 

The lemons were just the beginning.  Someday there will be another seemingly harmless promotion that will result in meme-actions aplenty once more.  The league may publicly poo-poo things like hurling lemons, but they need that kind of organic tomfoolery to generate buzz.

[MJWalker45]

8 minutes ago, CS85 said:

 

The lemons were just the beginning.  Someday there will be another seemingly harmless promotion that will result in meme-actions aplenty once more.  The league may publicly poo-poo things like hurling lemons, but they need that kind of organic tomfoolery to generate buzz.

Exactly! I love seeing the beer snake at Defenders games, and I'd like to see some other organic fan made celebration for each team that gets it's own short video like Apple TV/MLS did for last year's MLS coverage prior to the season. 

[Red Comet]

 

[DCarp1231]

Taulia, younger brother of Tua Tagovailoa , has had quite the interesting few months following the end of the 2023 CFB season.

 

First, he opts out of Maryland’s bowl game vs Auburn.

 

Second, he enters the transfer portal to seek a 6th year of eligibility and promptly gets denied.

 

Thirdly, he plays in the East-West Shrine game for Maryland (which personally if I was Maryland Athletics, I wouldn’t allow after he tried to jump ship).

 

Fourthly, he did not receive an invite to the 2024 Combine.

 

Fifthly, he reportedly sucked at his Pro Day.

 

Get ready to learn UFL, Buddy.