Month: August 2025

THE DAWG POUND IS DESPERATE FOR A QUARTERBACK

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The Cleveland Browns should hold auditions to find their next franchise quarterback. This off-season, the Browns have collected rookie quarterbacks and veteran quarterbacks to cover up the reek of Deshaun Watson which may be the worst trade in NFL history. Watson will miss the entire 2025 season due to re-injuring his Achilles tendon. Hate when bad things happen to bad people. The Browns brain trust thought they needed to bring in a cast of characters to find their next starter behind center. They acquired veteran QB Kenny Pickett from the Philadelphia Eagles. They signed another veteran Tyler Huntley who was Lamar Jackson’s back up for years in Baltimore. They drafted two quarterbacks in the NFL 2025 draft. In the 3rd round they took Dillon Gabriel from Oregon University. Then they took Shedeur Sanders in the 5th round from the University of Colorado. Then they brought back an old friend who may be over the hill at 40 years of age in Joe Flacco, who suited up for the Browns in 2023 and he was named this year’s starter.

I think any Dawg in Cleveland would rather have Joe Flacco starting as their quarterback than Deshaun Watson. In 2023 Flacco took over the starting job for the injured Watson and started 5 games for the Browns. Flacco went 4-1 and the Browns found the post-season. The Browns were quickly dispatched by the Houston Texans who rebuilt most of their team thanks to the Browns front office giving them a slew of top draft picks for the sexual predator. Last year Flacco suited up for the Colts because Watson wanted another Dawg behind him doing him doggie style. The Crab man in Jameis Winston is the king of the pick six. Flacco wanted to come back to Cleveland, but the Browns front office fumbled the ball again and listened to the sexual predator instead. Last year Flacco started six games for the Colts and had a losing record of 2-4. The Browns are starting a guy who is 40 years of age and has not played a 16 game schedule since he was a Raven in 2017. Since Flacco won the Superbowl with the Ravens & then was paid, he has not really done well since his resurrection with the Browns. He flopped in Denver after Baltimore. He then saw action with the New York jets for three seasons filling in for injured and inefficient Quarterbacks there. His last winning season besides 2023 was back in 2017 with the Ravens when he went 9-7. In 2018 he started 9 games for the Ravens, had a 4-5 record and then Lamar Jackson took over. Flacco headed to Denver. Flacco has 17 years in the NFL during which he has plenty of experience. He is familiar with the Browns division playing in Baltimore for so many years.

The rest of the quarterbacks that Cleveland brought in, many of them did not survive. If you can’t play QB in Cleveland maybe you should hang up the spikes. The Browns cut Tyler Huntley as he will probably crawl back to Baltimore & beg for his old job. Kenny Pickett did not see the field due to a hamstring injury. Pickett was a former Pittsburgh Steeler which he knows the AFC North from starting his career there. He was traded to the Raiders which leaves the two youngsters. I thought Cleveland was going to avoid the mistake of drafting another bust like Johnny Manziel. In the 3rd round, they drafted Dillion Gabriel who is QB number two for the Browns this year. Then in the 5th round the Browns just could not resist and took a flier of Shedeur Sanders who fell in the draft like the 1929 Stock Market crash. Sanders looked good in the very first pre-season game. Then looked horrific in the other two preseason games. He will be the Browns 3rd string QB. The Browns then perhaps don’t trust what they have in this year’s QB room, so added another veteran former New England Patriot Bailey Zappe to their practice squad. Looks like the Cleveland front office is not trusting Sanders and looking for a quick insurance plan just in case. When has Joe Flacco been a mentor to young QB’s? He was not a big fan when the Ravens took Lamar Jackson in the first round. He did not mentor Jackson after he was benched.

The AFC North is a grind house playing Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. Will Aaron Rodgers have his own resurrection at the QB position with the Steelers. If Flacco gets hurt, these young draft picks Cleveland has will be thrown to the wolves. This could be a recipe for disaster. Memories of DeShone Kiser going 0-15 as the starter in 2017 throwing 22 interceptions that season. Tim Couch was the number 1 pick overall in the 1999 NFL draft and he was a bust. Johnny Manziel was a science experiment that blew up in the lab that was the NFL field. If you’re the Browns, you don’t want to see Dillion Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders in a game until late in the season. These two next QB busts should at least hold the clipboard and learn most of the season before they get their feet wet on the NFL turf. I would root for Dillion Gabriel. I think Browns fans would want him to be the next franchise QB. Shedeur Sanders is overrated. Being Deion Sanders’ kid carries too much baggage. Then having the audacity to throw a few draft interviews of teams you did not like is equal to the Cleveland’s brain trust just being stupid for drafting you in the first place. These are the same idiots that kicked Baker Mayfield to the curb for playing most of the season hurt. You had a franchise QB you drafted number one overall in 2018 and you let him go. Mayfield looks solid in Tampa Bay. Why did these morons give Deshaun Watson a guaranteed contract which still baffles me? Giving that kind of money to a guy coming in with all sorts of baggage. Cleveland is desperate. They reek of desperateness. The same smell the stadium workers have to dung out after the Dawg pound heads home after another defeat. Now all the pressure is on a 40 year old QB that will make or break your entire season. Flacco is not the future. He is a distraction from Watson and like in baseball you want your starter to eat all those innings to save the young arms in the bullpen. More games Flacco plays, the better for the kids to learn. It may look and feel a lot better than the sting these fans took last year with Watson and Jameis Winston at the helm. Quarterbacks in Cleveland have been more than a sting. They are compared to a zombie bite. You have to cut off the arm or leg if bitten. No wonder so many Dawgs in Cleveland are named Lucky with missing limbs due to their QB play.

RICHARDSON BRINGS BACK THE NIGHTMARE OF JEFF GEORGE FOR THE COLTS

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Is it too early to determine that Anthony Richardson may be a first round bust for the Indianapolis Colts? Can you pull the plug on a guy after two seasons who’s only played in 15 games and is only 23 years of age?

Richardson was drafted in the first round by the Colts 4th overall in the 2023 NFL draft from the University of Florida. How many chances to give a number one pick, especially the guys that play quarterback I’m thinking have nine lives in the NFL like Morris the cat? If Richardson was a fish and the field was his tank of water, he has been in and out multiple times for injuries or his poor play making him gasp for air and flop around. Suddenly Colts fans are having nightmares of one of their greatest quarterback busts in their history, Jeff George.

Jeff George was supposed to be the “real deal can’t miss” quarterback of the draft. The Colts selected George number 1 overall in the 1990 NFL draft out of University of Illinois. I watched him play for the Fighting Illini, and he had a cannon for an arm. George was born and raised in the state of Indiana so it seems like it was meant to be with the Colts hitting a home run on this pick. George would last 4 years in Indianapolis out of his 12 year career that featured stops in Atlanta, Oakland, Minnesota, and Washington. In 52 games over a 4 year span, George’s record as a starting QB for the Colts was 14-35 as he made 49 starts wearing the horseshoe on his helmet. George was simply a bad dude, not in a good way. He demanded to be traded. He would have arguments with coaches on the field wherever he played it seemed. He was not a good teammate on and off the field. A cancer in the locker room is putting it simply. He even made gestures in bad taste to fans in the stands. In 12 seasons he only had three winning seasons as a starter. He played in 131 NFL games in his career and as a starter he had a 46-78 record well below .500. He completed 57.9% of his passes and threw for 27,602 passing yards. He did throw 154 touchdown passes, but he a was gunslinger and threw 113 interceptions. This is a guy that had all the talent in the world but was too pig-headed to use these traits for good not evil purposes like the money and fame.

In two seasons, Anthony Richardson is strutting down Jeff George lane, but he is not the asshole the former University of Illinois quarterback was. Richardson only played in 24 college games. Basically he became the starter his last season on the college gridiron. Every team knew he was going to be a project that they had to mold into a true NFL quarterback. His athleticism is top notch. I’m not sure why the Colts even played him in the very first season he was drafted. You could make a case for him sitting on the sideline for one full season which could help his development. Patrick Mahomes sat most of his first season as he got action in a meaningless game at the end of the season for the Chiefs, who had their playoff position that year settled. Last season, Richardson completed only 47.7% of his passes. He tallied 1,814 passing yards in 11 games. He threw 8 touchdown passes to 12 interceptions. Surprisingly he went 6-5 as the starter for the Colts last year. In two seasons he has an 8-7 record as a starter. He has completed once again only 50.6% of his passes which is very bad. He has tallied up 2,291 passing yards. He has 11 touchdown strikes to 13 interceptions.

This season the Colts are going with another bad quarterback as their opening day starter – Former Giants QB Daniel Jones. Jones has one winning season under his belt in six seasons. Jones is a former first round pick by the Giants in the 2019 NFL draft as he was selected 6th overall. His starting record as a QB is horrific as his record is 24-44. His completion rating is much better than Anthony Richardson’s over his career at 64.1%. Jones has thrown 70 touchdown passes compared to 47 interceptions. This looks like an upgrade on paper. Jones will be looking to prove something after being dumped by the Giants. He is a better option giving the Colts a balanced offense. He can utilize all the talented receivers the Colts have as well. At which Richardson had problems. The Colts have a star running back in Jonathan Taylor. With Richardson, the opposing defenses can key on Taylor and Taylor only. Last year the Colts offense thrived with Joe Flacco behind center.

Will the Colts consider trading Anthony Richardson? Being athletic is not always the recipe at being a true quarterback in the NFL. You know in this league some coach is licking their chops to coach Richardson and mold him into a QB. Richardson has been in and out of the water so much he may be scarred right now being a back up in Indianapolis. He may need new scenery to develop. He may be a bust right now but a guy that is a late bloomer down the road like Sam Darnold. I believe he will have more chances like 9 lives, a number one pick gets compared to a 7th rounder. Present day in the NFL they expect these quarterbacks to establish themselves right away thrown to the wolves. Some can swim right away, but most cannot as teams move on quickly. I’m not feeling sorry for the Colts as they had legends behind center like Peyton Manning, who won them a Superbowl. They had Andrew Luck who was a solid QB for years for the Colts. Right now Richardson is on Jeff George Boulevard in his Colts career. Not with the bad attitude. George was able to at least complete passes down the middle of the field where Richardson will run more. He will get hit more in the open field. He will take on more injuries and eventually most running QB’s that can’t throw the ball with accuracy have a short shelf life in the NFL.

MY TEN LITTLE INDIAN LOGOS

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When President Donald Trump speaks, many people may think, “here we go again.”

Some of Donald Trump’s agenda trying to make America better has been wanting to change certain names back to their original. In his second term, Trump has renamed 7 U.S Army bases back to their original names. Some of these military bases were named after Confederate Generals from the Civil War. Some of them were named after other military heroes. For example Fort Bragg in North Carolina was renamed Fort Liberty. Pfc Roland L. Bragg was a World War I paratrooper. I’m sure you can debate all the name changes and come up with pros and cons why former military men need or don’t need a base named after them.

Recently Donald Trump has brought up name changes in professional sports. His thought is that Cleveland should change back to the Indians and dump the Guardians. The Cleveland Indians have been around for 106 seasons. They were pressured to change their name for years and they finally did in 2021. The Guardians ownership does not want to go back to the Indians name. Trump may have more influence on the Washington Commanders franchise. Before the Commanders along with the Washington Football name in DC, they were called the Redskins. They were the Redskins for 83 years. When the pandemic came around and America was at a boiling point of hate, the Redskins became extinct. Now Trump may try to block Washington Commanders ownership from building a new stadium where they used to play at RFK stadium. Trump claims many Native Americans were very proud of the Indian names and logos in sports. It’s the new generation and many people that are not Native Americans are bothered by these old historical names and logos. You can debate this conversation until you’re blue in the face. Many of these old sports logos that were Indian style logos looked amazing. Even some of the cartoon style logos had some character to them. In team sports it takes the entire roster. Many Native Americans in our history books, like American Generals, were warriors, hard working, and had a team concept of how to win the mission. I will throw out my favorites of my top ten little Indian logos. I think they are all cool looking logos as I rank them from worst to first. However worst is still a solid Indian logo. They have made my list. Some of these logos are gone. Some of these logos are still around. These logos come from colleges and professional sports.

#10. KINSTON INDIANS (Minor League baseball)

The Kinston Indians existed from 1978-2011 in North Carolina. They were a minor league baseball team and played in the Carolina league. They were affiliated with the Blue Jays and Indians of the MLB in their history. I like the feathers around the baseball bat handle. Now the Carolina Mud Cats play in Kinston.

#9.BOSTON BRAVES (MLB)

Before the Atlanta Braves. Then before the Milwaukee Braves, the Boston Braves were around from 1871-1952. In 1953 they became the Milwaukee Braves. They were not always the Braves in Boston. Some of the years they had different nicknames. Babe Ruth played his last year in baseball for the Boston Braves. I like the Indian head logo. I love the hatchet and baseball bat below the Indian head. Sharp looking.

#8. WASHINGTON REDSKINS (NFL)

People think the nickname Redskins is a racial name. In the beginning it was not. The name Redskins went down a bad road later in life where people used it as a racial insult. I always liked the arrow logo with features on Washington’s helmets they wore from 1965-69. I like that better than their Indian head they wore most of their years as the Redskins.

#7.JOHNSTOWN CHIEFS (ECHL)

The Johnstown Chiefs were one of the original hockey teams in the ECHL. They played minor league hockey in Johnstown from 1987-2010. They played their home games at a stadium called Cambria County War Memorial stadium. This was the stadium where the best hockey movie was filmed, Slap Shot.

I love the Indian headdress on the logo with the hockey stick and hatchet.

#6. ORLANDO RENEGADES (USFL)

The Orlando Renegades only played one season with the cool hatchet and feathers on their helmets. It was the1985 Spring football league in the USFL. They won only 5 games that lone season. It was a losing franchise before they moved to Orlando. Originally they were the Washington Federals and they were the worst team in the league for years. A new city. New uniforms. A powerful logo could not make them a better team.

#5. CLEVELAND INDIANS (MLB)

I really do not care what people think but I loved the Cleveland Indians logo. I’m sure many fans loved the Indians logo. I bet many fans still wear their Indians swag at Guardians games. Chief Wahoo is a cartoon character. It’s like going to Great America and getting a caricature done of yourself on a skate board. The Chief looks like former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen.

I’m Irish & I don’t get mad when the University of Notre Dame makes me look like a Leprechaun on their logo. I even have a Chief Wahoo beer sign in the man cave. Not a Cleveland baseball fan, but I did like Indians over Guardians on any day of the summer.

#4. ATLANTA BRAVES (MLB)

I grew up when the Atlanta Braves had their Indian logo. This guy looks like a bad ass mother chucker with the mohawk and a feather coming out of his head.

He reminds me of the guy in the movie Road Warrior. He was a villain but had that rally cry down pat. The Braves to me were never a villain type of team. They did have some great teams after the Indian logo. They still hold on to their name today even though they are still being pressured I’m sure to change their name or else. I do like the tomahawk logo they wear now. Too many Braves logos in this one already. Enough is enough.

#3. EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY HURONS (NCAA)

I thought that Eastern Michigan Hurons was always a classy style of logo. I loved the color of green they used. In 1991 Eastern Michigan gave in and change their name to the Eagles. I wonder what the stats are of schools going from a Indian logo name to an Eagle or some kind of Hawk. I guess birds are safe these days. Indians and birds have feathers in common. Just wait till the birds have their say.

#2. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (NCAA)

In 2006 the NCAA wanted to remove any Indian mascots that were abusive and hostile. For the University of Illinois they had to get rid of Chief Illiniwek who performed Indian heritage dances at the games in the full headdress and Native American wardrobe. By 2007 Illinois did not have their mascot or their old logo. The Indian logo the University had was amazing looking. The colors blue and orange make that head dress bright on that logo. The term Illini refers to the Illinois confederation, which was a group of Native American tribes that lived in the Mississippi River Valley which the University named themselves after. What an insult to be wanting to name yourself after someone, or some group you respected.

#1.CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (NHL)

The Chicago Blackhawks is by far one of the best logos in sports. The Indian head with all the colored feathers is a logo anybody can respect. It is a logo which certainly gives respect to all of the Native Americans. The Blackhawks got their name from Chief Black Hawk who was a big part of Illinois history. The Chief was also prominent figure in the Sauk nation. The Blackhawks were one of the original six teams in the NHL. The Chicago Blackhawks do not get the pressure like other teams in sports that still have the Indian logo. The ties go back far with this hockey franchise and the Chief. They may never get severed. I just wish the Blackhawks front office could do a better job at building a winning team so the Native Americans and the rest of us could have something to cheer for on the ice instead of a few cold beers.

SEX TOY SNIPERS HAUNTING THE WNBA

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The manhunt continues from last week when this man above threw a sex toy in the stands during a WNBA game in New York. The Dallas Wings were visiting the New York Liberty. The NYPD released this sex toy sniper picture – a guy wearing an Ohio State University ball cap and Beavis and Butthead tee shirt. The sex toy ended up hitting a 12 year old girl as his aim was totally off. This has been a common thing lately in the WNBA, as sex toys have been launched from the stands onto the hardwood courts throughout the league. Two questions come to my mind. Why sex toys? How are they getting them in the arena? Many dirty minds are probably thinking what I’m thinking, even though I do not want to go there.

Last week in Phoenix, Arizona an 18 year male was arrested in Phoenix following the game between the Mercury and the visiting Connecticut Sun. Kaden Lopez was detained inside the arena where his sexual toy missed as well & hit another fan and their 9 year old niece. Lopez appeared in court booked on suspicion of disorderly contact, assault, & public display of explicit sexual material. Before this incident, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham claimed she was close to being hit with an unidentified flying object on the court. The league does not how many incidents like this have occurred. Because not all objects land on the court. Some of the objects may hit nothing. How many incidents go unreported?

The WNBA was founded in 1996 and the very first season of professional women’s basketball was in 1997. The WNBA has grown since and has become a very popular league as their following has increased since the beginning. It seems like the league the last two seasons has made more negative headlines then positive. Starting with the drug arrest of Brittany Griner in Russia. Eventually it took a prisoner trade to get her back to the states which included handing over a notorious weapons dealer. Then the welcome committee who greeted Caitlin Clark on the court with flagrant fouls after flagrant fouls that led to multiple technicals. Clark played her college ball at the University of Iowa and set a new record for all-time points scored in NCAA Women’s Basketball. She will be the next superstar of the WNBA or could be right now. Recently at the WNBA all-star game in warm ups, all the players wore black tee shirts during warm up that said to the league, “Pay us what you owe us.”

It looks like the league could experience a lock out, walk out, or a strike in the future if the WNBA does not negotiate a new deal. All these stories every sports fan hears over which WNBA team won the entire thing last season.

The WNBA is not only league where fans throw the sex toys on the field. The Bills Mafia representing Buffalo in the NFL have made it rain dildos. Only team it seems the sex toys fly from the Buffalo skies at, is New England. I can relate because I think Tom Brady is a dildo. I feel the WNBA has a different sex toy sniper than a football fan base trying to make a point versus a guy and team they can not stand. In any sport you can’t treat it like the Coliseum watching the gladiator fights in Rome back in the day where anything goes. The guy in New York who right now is the most wanted fugitive in the big apple looks like a guy that has not done well with the ladies. I would probably bet money that Kaden Lopez is another guy that can’t relate to the opposite sex. In my opinion and giving an estimate, I’m sure a good portion of the WNBA are lesbians. You can’t treat anybody, whatever they believe in, like common fugitives perhaps those being the people back in day fighting in gladiator fights. These sex toy snipers are hitting more innocent victims than their targets on the hardwood court. That is always a pleasant conversation explaining to your nine year old niece what that rubber looking thing is.

I like my little nephews and nieces learning about their private parts watching good movies like Kindergarten Cop. These women on the court are not going to stop and give the perv who just threw a sex toy at them a demonstration. These sex toy snipers have to have a mother, a sister, and perhaps if they wise up a wife and a daughter. Good luck Mr. Lopez explaining your actions at 18 years of age going to a sex store or perhaps even swiping it from home. Now you’re on the social media where everyone will know about you the rest of your life because you thought that is a good time. Maybe it could be his, or the guy wearing the Beavis & Butthead shirt probably owned his own. Things like this have been going on for decades. If the WNBA wants to stop this, you have to do better in the security line before the games. You see in most of these sporting events these security guards look at every women’s purse like they have some bomb inside. Start padding down these pervs and hold them accountable before the game starts. I’m not interested in going to a women’s basketball game. I watch women’s sports occasionally here and there. These women athletes play hard and it is entertaining. I have too many leagues to follow. Every time I do come across something in professional women’s basketball, it’s been dark clouds over the WNBA in the last two years. When you buy a ticket you don’t have the right to throw stuff on to the ice, court, or field to try to injure a player. Someone in hockey scores a hat trick they let it rain hats. Women should not be treated like gladiator fighters. The old saying says to treat people the way you want to be treated. When you go somewhere, treat the place like home. Pick up your garbage. No one is throwing sex toys in the kitchen when mama is cooking.

THE UFL HAS LANDED THEMSELVES A MONEY MAN

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After the 2023 season when the USFL and XFL completed their entire season in two different spring football leagues, it was time to merge them. The spring fling has seen many football leagues implode for multiple reasons. No way two spring leagues would survive multiple seasons. They ended up merging the XFL and USFL into one football spring league in 2024 and now call themselves the UFL United Football League. In 2024 the launch of the UFL took place with 8 teams, 4 from each league. The UFL had a nice rookie season as the merger had high hopes for 2025 to be better. This year they had the same 8 teams hoping to build on each franchise city and grow the fan bases. This year the numbers were not bad but they did take a step backwards. In comes an entrepreneur, a billionaire a new investor. Not a silent partner. An investor that has a business plan for the UFL and how to grow it. The billionaire is Mike Repole who has full authority over the UFL business operations. He is the money man and has some ideas already brewing for the league in 2026.

Who is Mike Repole? He made his money off bottleD water beverages. In 1999 he was the co-founder of Vitamin Water with a company called Glaceau. It was company that made energy drinks and Smart Water. Repole was credited with launching these waters and netting a huge profit & then made even more money selling these products to Coca Cola. Repole had the Smart Water along with Vitamin Water reaching over billion dollars in sales by 2007. Then sold it to Coke for 4.1 Billion. Then he was involved in some sports drinks as he helped launch Body Armour. Which has done very well the last few years. In 2019 Repole co-starred in the Barstool sports investment. Which they have grown very quickly. In sports he has always loved horseracing. One of his best horses named Mo Donegal won the Belmont Stakes back in 2022. He even has his own company in horse racing called Repole Stables where they buy and train racehorses.

How many times have we seen in spring football games where the stadiums looked like they are empty during most games? This has been going on since the 1980’s when the original USFL launched. Back in the 1980’s, a game between the Houston Gamblers and the LA Express was coined the greatest game no one ever saw.

It was a game that featured two young Hall of Fame quarterbacks before they played in the NFL. Jim Kelly versus Steve Young & each QB lit up the scoreboard that day. They may have had 10,000 people. In the LA Coliseum, it looked like ten people as you can hear a pin drop in express games. Mike Repole wants the UFL to scrap the oversized stadiums of college or pro ball that the capacities are 40 to 50,000 seats. He believes it creates a poor atmosphere and compares it to watching games during the pandemic of 2020. With smaller stadiums that seat 20,000 fans, it looks much better on television with 10,000 seats filled up. Going smaller will create the vibrant energetic environment that the UFL is seeking.

Right now the UFL has multiple stadiums that don’t fit his criteria. In the XFL Conference, the St.Louis BattleHawks at the Dome of America Center has 67,277 seating. You would be crazy to change the BattleHawks venue because they average the most attendance in the UFL at 30,000 fans per game. The Brahmas play in the Alamo Dome that holds 64,000 fans. In the USFL conference, the Stallions play at Protective Field which holds 47,100 fans, The Panthers play at Ford Field and that stadium home to the Detroit Lions holds 65,000 fans. The Panthers were the only team last season where their attendance increased. They averaged 11,681 fans which was a 30.4 % increase from 2024. The Roughnecks played their games in TD ECU Stadium which holds 40,000. The Showboats play in Memphis at Simmons Liberty Field which holds 58,325. That is six teams as the only two stadiums that fits what Mike Repole wants to do include the DC Defenders who were the champs this season. They also are home of the beer snake which Audi Field seats 20,000 fans. Then UFL headquarters is located is in Arlington, Texas. The Renegades play Choctaw Stadium which seats 20,000 fans.The UFL averaged 12,162 fans per game last season which is only a 5% drop from 2024. In the business world this could be catastrophic.

They say the most important part about opening up a business is location, location, and location. In 2026 we may seek re-location, re-location, and re-location. How many teams will relocate next season is the million dollar question. It could be 1 to 4 teams that will be on the move. The UFL has already said one team will be moving to Columbus, Ohio. They will play at the historical Crew Stadium that used to host MLS games. Crew stadium seats 20,000 fans. Other cities that may get a re-located team is Boise, Orlando, and somewhere in Kentucky either Louisville or Lexington. Which teams are rumored to be relocated? It seems like the entire USFL conference: Birmingham, Michigan, Houston and Memphis. In the XFL they are safe right now because St.Louis draws the most fans. The Defenders and Renegades have the smaller venues in place. The Brahmas are questionable. I think they stay because of “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson who is still a partner in this league. The Brahmas name came from the former wrestler, now Hollywood actor. You wonder if any of the cities that currently have a team can find a stadium in the area that has that 20,000 seating? Perhaps a few cities like Memphis and Houston, they have given up on. They would be the two I would relocate. The Stallions have been three time champions with two USFL titles and one UFL title. Their attendance seems like it is decreasing every season even though they have a championship team almost every year. The Michigan Panthers should not move because they are growing. That would be like a knife in the back to that franchise if they are relocated. Because of the increase in fans last year, they should at least get another year.

Mike Repole plans to have 10-12 teams within 5 years in the UFL. He wants 16 teams within ten years. The UFL has all the major media markets covering this league. The entire league including players along with operations are based in Arlington, Texas. This is where all the teams practice, game plan, sleep, and eat. The UFL headquarters is established there. Last few year the teams would fly to their city right before game day. The day before the game is my guess. . Repole likes how this has been working but wants these teams to fly in a few days earlier to meet and greet their fan base. The original USFL had some great seasons where fans showed up and they did all kinds of cool things to entertain the crowd. More fans in the seats means the more stuff you can do to install that electric atmosphere we see in many sports. More fans in the seats mean more money for the league. It also would improve ratings on the television and give people the idea in their heads that they would like to go see a game.

Everything sounds great with the new guy with a business plan and money to fund his ideas. I hope they keep the tradition of the two conferences where they separate the USFL and XFL teams. In the old USFL, the Breakers played in Boston, New Orleans, and Portland. If the Columbus team is going to the USFL conference, will they take a former name from their league history from the 1980’s or the reboot? Some former XFL teams I would like to see resurface as well. Is Repole the kind of person to give a new city a new team name? Houston in 2023 had three football teams the Texans in the NFL, the Roughnecks in the XFL & the Gamblers in the USFL. Now Houston has a problem as they may only have the Texans. Why does the UFL need so many teams in the state of Texas? The state of Texas has three teams in Arlington, Houston, and San Antonio. If you keep Michigan, now you have Columbus which gives you two teams in the Midwest that have a team. I like the return of the Chicago Blitz. They have a stadium in the south suburbs that seats 20,000. My favorite team in these spring flings is the Pittsburgh Maulers. That is a team that needs to be back in action. They made the reboot & then were left out in the merger. Overall great ideas by the new money man. I like to keep the traditions alive. I’m glad they are bringing in someone that cares and wants to grow the league or he’ll call himself a failure if he does not achieve his goal. Like any Richie Rich we will wait and see if he can achieve his goal.

MARV LEVY TURNS 100

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Sometimes in life we get stuck in a rut hearing about people dropping like flies. Recently we lost the Godfather of Heavy Metal, Ozzy Osbourne, at the age of 76 to his fight with Parkinson’s. Hulk Hogan went into cardiac arrest and died on the way to the hospital at the age of 71. Then we lost Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg to cancer at the age of 65.

Yesterday the news came out that we lost the beautiful actress Loni Anderson at the age of 79. She played the character Jennifer Marlowe on one of the funniest comedies of all-time, WKRP in Cincinnati. Losing people in their 60’s or 70’s in my opinion is way too early in life. Over the weekend in Canton. Ohio for the NFL football Hall of Fame festivities, you could witness something extraordinary in life. The Buffalo Bills legendary head coach Marv Levy turned 100 on Sunday and many who were wearing the yellow coats on Saturday, including some of his former players, sang Happy Birthday to the Chicago native.

Marv Levy was enshrined in Canton in 2001 for his 17 years of coaching in the NFL. He left Harvard law school to become a football coach. When he broke the news to his father who was a former military man, there was a long pause after Marv told his dad what he wanted to do. Finally his father said, “Be a good one.”

Marv Levy’s journey started with being recruited to the University of Wyoming as a defensive back. The coach then left and so did Marv, as he transferred to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There he played football, basketball, and ran track. He landed a degree in literature and he was a member of the Phi Kappa society as well as belonging to the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Then he went on to Harvard where he earned a Master of Arts in English History degree. Before he coached in the NFL, he started his journey in the college game. From 1973-1977 he was head coach of the Montreal Alouettes where he won 2 Grey Cups. In 1978 he landed the head coaching job with the Kansas City Chiefs where he coached 5 seasons there until he was let go. He left Kansas City with a losing record of 31-42.

His next coaching gig was in the USFL with the Chicago Blitz in 1984. Levy’s lone season where he grew up he had a 5-13 record with the Blitz which was 5th place in the Central division. Then he found his next gig in Buffalo in 1986. With the Bills he brought Buffalo back from the land of the dead where he coached 12 seasons. In 12 seasons in Buffalo, his regular season record was 112-70, went 11-8 in post-season, and brought the Bills to 4 straight Superbowls. He won 4 AFC Championships and six division titles along with 8 playoff berths from 1986-1997. Unfortunately the Bills lost all those Superbowls and the first one from a wide right kick heard around the world that would have won it if it had went through the golden up rights. His NFL regular season record all-time was 143-112. His record as a professional football head coach, he went 191-156 in regular season. The post-season combined he went 18-11. In 1988 he won SN coach of the year. He’s also a 2x winner of the UPI Coach of the Year award.

Born in 1925, Marv Levy right now is the oldest living member of the NFL Hall of Fame. Being from Chicago, he did root for the wrong team in baseball. Not many people can say that they saw the last two World Series for the Chicago Cubs. In 1945 he was in the Army Air Corps and had a furlough that allowed him to see game 7 of that series versus the Tigers. The Tigers won that World Series. In 2016, Levy was able to go to game 7 of that Cubs World Series versus the Cleveland Indians at which they won it all and broke over a 100 year drought. Levy has written multiple books including a children’s book about the “Go Go Cubs” in 2016 breaking that 108 year drought they had. Levy used that Harvard Master of Arts in English History degree with some epic game speeches throughout his coaching career. His famous Pregame huddle speech asked: “Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?”

Marv Levy had some of his former players on hand during the Canton festivities that included Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and James Lofton leading the charge for the famous birthday song. Even the crowd on hand could not help singing along for Levy’s 100th year on this earth still sharp as a tack. All the sadness in the world today makes things like this story about one of the good guys in coaching and just in life, make your day witnessing that moment at that time. I wished the Bills could have won at least one of those Superbowls in the 1990’s. The coaching, the plan, the plotting, the motivation to pick up this team after a bad Superbowl loss and march them right back there the following year is amazing work itself. Many teams that lose the big game suffer through a hangover the next season and most of the time they miss the post-season. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARV!!!