# The United States Football League



## Least Concern (Apr 16, 2022)

The United States Football League will play its first games this weekend.

The USFL is a new American football league using the same name as a league that operated for four years in the 1980s. The league consists of eight teams and will play a ten-week regular season. The teams are "located" in various cities such as Houston and New Orleans; however, all games will actually be played in two different stadiums in Birmingham, Alabama for the inaugural season (expect sharply declining attendance as the people of Birmingham get burned out on the overabundance of football).

Like the XFL, the USFL will have a few rules changes to spice up the game, including 1-, 2-, and 3-point PAT options and double forward passes. This video covers them:






Games will air on both Fox-related and NBC Universal stations. Sirius XM will have audio coverage of some games. Here's the schedule with teams, times, and channels.

The new USFL starts up two years after the relaunched XFL had to abort their first season short due to the coof, and three years after the Alliance of American Football had to abort their first season due to bankruptcy. Let's see if the USFL will have better luck at bringing spring football to the masses.


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## DSP's Tax Lawyer (Apr 16, 2022)

Ok what teams are interesting to watch? I don't think I can watch this new league without having a team to cheer for, hate on, and laugh at


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## throwawayguys (Apr 16, 2022)

Just finance a professional rugby league for God's sake. It's more violent than football already


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## DSP's Tax Lawyer (Apr 16, 2022)

throwawayguys said:


> Just finance a professional rugby league for God's sake. It's more violent than football already


Australian League Football or nothing


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## Ged! (Apr 16, 2022)

These guys are gonna be small potatoes, just like they always were.


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## Goyaanisqatsi (Apr 16, 2022)

throwawayguys said:


> Just finance a professional rugby league for God's sake. It's more violent than football already


There already is a national rugby league in America. It's not elite but it's not too bad either.


DSP's Tax Lawyer said:


> Australian League Football or nothing


Now this is the shit we need to get behind. I've been watching a fucking load of AFL this season and it's been a blast. A lot of opportunities for blowouts but also just as much opportunity for competition and miraculous comebacks.

Honestly one of the best spectator sports in the world.


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## DSP's Tax Lawyer (Apr 16, 2022)

Goyaanisqatsi said:


> Now this is the shit we need to get behind. I've been watching a fucking load of AFL this season and it's been a blast. A lot of opportunities for blowouts but also just as much opportunity for competition and miraculous comebacks.
> 
> Honestly one of the best spectator sports in the world.


I just want to leave my job and become one of those refs who wears a hat and bright polo shirt standing by the polls at the end of the field and point my fingers out when they score


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## Least Concern (Apr 16, 2022)

In the inaugural game, the "hometown" Birmingham Stallions defeated the New Jersey Generals in the first game, 28-24.

It was a sufficiently exciting game. Both teams scored on their opening drive, and the close score at the end meant the last play of the game was a failed Hail Mary by the Generals.

TV coverage involved a lot of footage captured by quadricopter, with some stomach-churning quick rises from eye level to above the lines, then roller coaster-like tilted pans as the drones moved horizontally. I wasn't a fan. Also, you know how on Nascar races they'll sometimes silence the announcers (I presume they're taking a piss break or something) and then just play the sounds of the engines revving and dopplering past the cameras and such? They basically did that for an entire drive, but with mic-ed up coaches. In general there seemed to be more field-level audio than in a typical NFL game, and to me it often sounded like it was distorted, like they were censoring profanity by playing it backwards like in a rap song or something - it was odd. I'm guessing they were trying to adapt what the 2020 XFL did to bring more field-level audio into the game, but the XFL didn't just make the announcers stop talking for ten minutes.

But all that presentation stuff aside, the game itself was watchable, in my opinion, though frankly I listened to more of it then I watched due to getting some work done.


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## Picklechu (Apr 17, 2022)

I was at the game. Parking was shit - it always is downtown - but other than that and the rain beforehand it was a good time. Much more intense and interesting than any of the AAF games I went to a few years ago. I'm definitely going to go to some more games once classes end and I can get back up that way more often.

A lot of people who watched on TV complained about the drone cameras and the coaches' mics, and looking at some of the clips, I definitely get that. I really hope that they're able to make the league work. This is the sixth professional football team in Birmingham in the 31 years I've been alive.


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## Kacho (Apr 17, 2022)

I did dig the cinematic value of the drone shots but I got a chuckle watching them zip by in every single wide shot. Reminded me of Darth Maul sending out those probe things in Phantom Menace. I wonder how long it will be before one bumps into a player and interferes with a play. 

I'm mostly looking forward to the Bandits game tonight, I'm hoping to see some impressive play from Ta'amu.


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## Johnny Salami (Apr 17, 2022)

DSP's Tax Lawyer said:


> Ok what teams are interesting to watch? I don't think I can watch this new league without having a team to cheer for, hate on, and laugh at


They should always have an LA team and a NY team so hate


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## Goyaanisqatsi (Apr 17, 2022)

I was definitely more interested in the production side of things for most of the game but I'm not going to lie, the 4th Quarter was great tv.


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## Sex Cannon Lupa (Apr 17, 2022)

So the first and second season had Steve Young and Jim Kelly and Donald Trump. Season three has some randos not even good enough for arena football.

Peak Current Year.


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## Least Concern (Apr 17, 2022)

I only caught the end of the second game, which had the Houston Gamblers vs the Michigan Panthers. It was somewhat of an exciting end, though. Michigan was down 17-12 and had a great final drive towards the end zone - but once they got inside the red zone, a dropped hike followed by a sack put them back on the thirty-something. On the fourth down they chucked a Hail Mary which was caught by the receiver in the end zone with one second left on the clock… but he could only get one foot down in bounds. Turnover on downs.

There was a huge drop-off in attendance on this one; definitely looked like there were more people on the field than in the stands. Hopefully the next two games today will have more people in the stands. They'll both only be on cable, though.


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## blahblahblah678 (Apr 17, 2022)

Sunday nights game with Tampa vs Pittsburgh was postponed until Monday night because of weather.


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## A.P. Hill (Apr 17, 2022)

Least Concern said:


> Also, you know how on Nascar races they'll sometimes silence the announcers (I presume they're taking a piss break or something) and then just play the sounds of the engines revving and dopplering past the cameras and such? They basically did that for an entire drive, but with mic-ed up coaches. In general there seemed to be more field-level audio than in a typical NFL game, and to me it often sounded like it was distorted, like they were censoring profanity by playing it backwards like in a rap song or something - it was odd.


To me it sounded like the fake sideline/on-field ambiance from an early 00s Madden for the PS2.


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## AntiSchwuletteAktion (Apr 17, 2022)

The 4chan cup is more interesting to watch than pro sports. The pro teams have no actual connection to the city they're named after, in this league or the NFL. So why fucking care about any specific team? They're all interchangeable. 

I'd rather watch the custom made wojak NPCs representing 4chan boards that each have a different culture than watch 48 identical football franchises pretending to represent people's hometowns. It's just an excuse to get drunk and yell at the TV at this point.


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## blahblahblah678 (Apr 18, 2022)

The USFL is getting a lot of buzz because on one of their reality shows, the Pittsburgh Maulers head coach cut a player because he wanted pizza instead of chicken salad at the hotel they were staying at.


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## Bunchies (Apr 18, 2022)

Reminder:
My BOTES would bootyblast EVERY USFL and XFL team!


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## Kacho (Apr 18, 2022)

One of these teams needs to grow some nootz and go for the extra points. You're up 16 and you still settle for the 1?


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## DSP's Tax Lawyer (Apr 18, 2022)

blahblahblah678 said:


> The USFL is getting a lot of buzz because on one of their reality shows, the Pittsburgh Maulers head coach cut a player because he wanted pizza instead of chicken salad at the hotel they were staying at.


And this is where the league starts to go downhill. Just make it spring football. Take your hits early, develop a fan base, and start building up your talent level. FFS people tune in to watch the NFL combine and all it shows is college players running useless drills. Just play football man


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## blahblahblah678 (Apr 18, 2022)

Tonight’s game was kind of crappy. Pitt couldn’t do shit offensively.


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## Least Concern (Apr 19, 2022)

blahblahblah678 said:


> The USFL is getting a lot of buzz because on one of their reality shows, the Pittsburgh Maulers head coach cut a player because he wanted pizza instead of chicken salad at the hotel they were staying at.


Story here. The team is claiming that Smith had broken other rules that night and the icing on the cake was being disrespectful to a cafeteria worker, which wasn't caught on camera. Smith is claiming he wasn't notified that he had broken any rules.

I'm inclined to believe the team here because it makes a lot more sense than him getting axed _only_ for sassing about not being able to eat pizza.


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## american_amadan (Apr 22, 2022)

I hope the league can survive so the NFL can take some notes on how to improve. Unfortunately, this isn't all that watchable. I hope it gets better. 

One thing that puzzles me: why not play the first season in Canton? I think it's smart that they centralized for the first year but Birmingham seems like the wrong choice. Maybe the NFL didn't let the Hall of Fame use the stadium for anything more than the championship game. 

Canton would've been perfect. Driving distance from the following big cities: Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Could have gotten families to go to the hall of fame for the day and the game at night. If the NFL didn't get in their way, they are stupid for not thinking this through.


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## Kacho (Apr 23, 2022)

Kacho said:


> One of these teams needs to grow some nootz and go for the extra points. You're up 16 and you still settle for the 1?



Good to see a team finally flex some nootz. I have to admit I really underestimated the Stars after week one. I'd have to say Maulers Stars has been the best game by far.


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## Chuck Gruden (Apr 24, 2022)

The question isn't whether or not this league will last. The real question is "Will this league finish a season?"


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## Goyaanisqatsi (Apr 24, 2022)

They picked Birmingham over Canton because the stadium is newer and larger and I think even the city of Birmingham paid the USFL to host this season.

What they didn't bank on was the non-existant attendance. I thought with the majority of last weekend's games being on Easter, that was the reason no one was at the Sunday games, but even at ten dollar tickets, doesn't seem like the town gives a fuck. A college football city, through and through.

Should have tried bringing in more SEC veterans.


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## Kacho (Apr 24, 2022)

Video I pulled from Twitter of Antonio Reed's teabag penalty lmao. This is the XFL attitude I've been longing for. 





Your browser is not able to display this video.


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## Mike Stoklasa (Apr 24, 2022)

Kacho said:


> Video I pulled from Twitter of Antonio Reed's teabag penalty lmao. This is the XFL attitude I've been longing for.
> 
> View attachment 3212927


NFL is dead. Good riddance.


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## Least Concern (Jun 12, 2022)

A bit of an upset today as the 1-7 Houston Gamblers beat the 8-0 Birmingham Stallions. You can say the game doesn't matter since the Stallions are already in the playoffs and the Gamblers are knocked out (and maybe Birmingham wasn't giving the game their full attention because of that), but still it's nice to see when games aren't totally predictable.


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## Least Concern (Jun 20, 2022)

The final regular-season games were played this weekend. The top two games from each "division" will play next Saturday to determine who plays in the championship game on July 3.

Two teams finished with 9-1 seasons, the Birmingham Stallions and New Jersey Generals. They are in opposite divisions and both playing against 6-4 teams, the Philadelphia Stars and New Orleans Breakers respectively, so there's a decent chance they'll end up facing each other in the final game.


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## DSP's Tax Lawyer (Jun 20, 2022)

Least Concern said:


> The final regular-season games were played this weekend. The top two games from each "division" will play next Saturday to determine who plays in the championship game on July 3.
> 
> Two teams finished with 9-1 seasons, the Birmingham Stallions and New Jersey Generals. They are in opposite divisions and both playing against 6-4 teams, the Philadelphia Stars and New Orleans Breakers respectively, so there's a decent chance they'll end up facing each other in the final game.


Why do they bother having cities associated with them if they are playing all their games in fucking Birmingham? Just go with a team logo and wait until you get big enough to actually play in your city


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## Least Concern (Jun 21, 2022)

Something interesting from this video that I had missed. When the two teams with the worst records, the Panthers and Maulers, coincidentally played each other in the last week of the season, the league decreed the _winner_ would get the first draft pick rather than the loser. That stopped the game from being a tank bowl and gave them something to fight for. That's a great idea, if not without some kinks (the players are fighting to increase their odds of being removed or sent to second string next season), and I'd love to see that idea developed and made official and maybe even adopted by the NFL at some point.


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## 5t3n0g0ph3r (Jun 22, 2022)

I first learned about the original USFL a couple of years ago and to see it resurrected is surreal.
I wonder if the owners learned the lessons regarding how the original went bankrupt.
Let's see if they last 4 years.


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## mr.moon1488 (Jun 22, 2022)

It could be good, but owners would have to stick with it which they never do.


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## DSP's Tax Lawyer (Jun 23, 2022)

5t3n0g0ph3r said:


> I first learned about the original USFL a couple of years ago and to see it resurrected is surreal.
> I wonder if the owners learned the lessons regarding how the original went bankrupt.
> Let's see if they last 4 years.


Well they need to secure a TV deal going forward. Otherwise their lessons will mean jack shit


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## BIG BILL HELL'S (Jun 23, 2022)

Least Concern said:


> Something interesting from this video that I had missed. When the two teams with the worst records, the Panthers and Maulers, coincidentally played each other in the last week of the season, the league decreed the _winner_ would get the first draft pick rather than the loser. That stopped the game from being a tank bowl and gave them something to fight for. That's a great idea, if not without some kinks (the players are fighting to increase their odds of being removed or sent to second string next season), and I'd love to see that idea developed and made official and maybe even adopted by the NFL at some point.


I would expand on that and deliberately leave the last week of the season open so that the two worst teams can play for the draft, and other teams in the middle that are in the playoff hunt have a pseudo play-in game.


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## 俺たちファームズでノッテる (Jun 23, 2022)

I love this League! Been watching for a while, got one of those Team token NFT's! 
I am happy this league is catching on!


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## Least Concern (Jul 4, 2022)

And with that, a spring league finally comes to a successful close, and with a pretty tight championship game no less. If you don't see anything else, check out the absolutely crazy reception by Stars QB Cookus to turn nothing into something at 10:47. He ended up getting injured in this game; hopefully it's not too serious.


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## InuRightsActivist (Jul 8, 2022)

This league sucks ass


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## DSP's Tax Lawyer (Jul 8, 2022)

InuRightsActivist said:


> View attachment 3472635
> 
> This league sucks ass


Meh, first season. Needs to play a few years to get consistent talent and coaching before it can become good. I hope spring football takes off though


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