Week 11 may have brought us some shifts in the power dynamics of the league, or at least the power rankings. Orlando upended the Bandits in Tampa Bay to take over 1st place in the South. Arizona struggled without David Carr and fell in a big way to the Chicago Machine. Houston snapped their 8-game losing streak, and, for the first time all season, the New Orleans Breakers ended up in the win column. Add to this a Washington win in their rivalry with Baltimore, Atlanta knocking Philadelphia out of 1st place with a home win against the stars, and Charlotte taking down LA and we had a week f pretty bug upsets and pretty important shifts up and down the standings. We will break it down, but we begin with a dramatic win for one of the hottest teams in the league as the Texas Outlaws survive a serious challenge from the Michigan Panthers this week.
MICHIGAN PANTHERS 24 TEXAS OUTLAWS 27
The Outlaws survived a clash with the Panthers, but it was not easy. They needed every minute of game action and every ounce of tenacity the team had to pull out a win against the visiting Panthers. Brian Griese appears to be recapturing his pre-injury form and has Michigan playing very well. He would throw for 3 scores and the Panthers would also find room to run with the combo of Thomas Jones and Mike Hart combining for 136 yards against the Outlaw defense. For Texas the formula was much the same, offensive balance as the key to mounting a comeback. Joe Flacco would go 23 of 33 for 271 yards and 2 scores while T. J. Duckett rushed for 139 and a score to help Texas move to 8-3 and within 1 game of the Arizona Wranglers in the SW Division.
As we so often see when unfamiliar foes face off, the first quarter was a bit slow, a bit tentative, as both teams tried to get their run games started and both defenses kept the opposing offenses from reaching the endzone. By the end of the first all the points on the board had come from the kickers, with the two teams locked up at 3 apiece.
Texas broke out in the second quarter, thanks in part to the run game, which started to find bigger gains after a rough first quarter. On their first drive of the quarter, T. J. Duckett ran the ball 5 times and picked up 42 of the club’s 67 yards on the drive, including the 1-yard TD plunge that gave Texas the lead. After holding Michigan to their side of the field on the next drive, Texas took over and again found their rhythm on offense, this time with Joe Flacco and the passing game taking advantage of Michigan’s understandable run-focused D. Flacco would connect with Marques Colston for 17 of his eventual 110 yards on the day, and then find slot receiver Roscoe Parrish on a perfectly executed slant-&-go for a 27-yard TD to go up by 14.
Michigan reacted well to the deficit, putting together a final drive in the 2nd to pull back to within 7. Griese used a no-huddle to keep Texas from substituting and connected with all 3 of his wideouts in the 3-receiver set. Hines Ward thought he had scored with 1:48 left in the quarter, but a review showed that his right foot had hit the boundary line on the 2. On the next play, Griese used a good fake to Mike Hart to roll out of danger and connect with TE Rob Housler for the score. 17-10 at the half.
The third quarter would again be a battle of attrition as both defenses forced the lone turnover of the game from either offense, and both QBs struggled on third down. There was one scoring drive, a short field after a shanked punt from Texas that allowed Michigan to equalize the score at 17 apiece. The Panthers used the run game, with a couple of play action calls, to get to the 10, and from there Griese found Ward for the score that knotted up the game.
In the 4th, Texas retook the lead on a Rian Lindell field goal, but it would not hold. On their 1st possession of the final period, Michigan mounted a 77-yard drive that consumed nearly 8 minutes. It was slow and steady, and there was help from 2 Texas penalties. With 3:06 left in the game, the drive came to a conclusion as little-used TE Rob Housler again came up with a big play, scoring on a 3-yard out route. Housler finished the game with 3 receptions, but 2 were for Michigan TDs.
Texas would get the ball back with 3:06 left to play, down by 3, but hoping to win the game without overtime. They would need to do what they had not done all game, move the ball quickly. No time for the usual deliberate pace and run-focused attack. Flacco would use 5 different receivers on the drive, starting with his favorite target, Colston, who caught a 9-yard incutting route to start the drive. T. J. Duckett would get a rare catch on the next play, a screen that gained 5 yards. From there it was more outside routes to Colston, and Brandon Marshall, a dump off pass to FB Rick Razzano, and a seam to Chris Cooley to get the ball to the 9-yard line with just over 20 seconds to play. Holding only 1 timeout, Texas tried to get tricky on first down, handing the ball to Duckett on a draw play, but it failed to surprise the Panthers and gained only 1 yard. Quickly getting to the line, Flacco took the snap and found TE Jermichael Finley on a skinny post route. The big TE bounced off the safety and into the endzone with only seconds left to spare, giving Texas the 26-24 lead they had fought for. Lindell’s kick made it a 3-point game, and one squib kick later the game ended with the Outlaws winning their 6th game in the last 7. Michigan’s 4-game win streak had come to an abrupt end, and they would move on to a divisional game in St. Louis for Week 12 with a 5-6 record.
NASHVILLE 17 PITTSBURGH 24
A very good home win against a tough interconference opponent as the Maulers get a late Brandon Jacobs 1-yard plunge to take the win over a very game Nashville Knights squad. Both defenses shut down the run, with Nashville gaining only 54 yards and the Maulers a paltry 48, but in the end, Cody Pickett got more done through the air than Jay Cutler, and put the home team in position to win with the late red zone score.
PHILADELPHIA 24 ATLANTA 31
The Fire show they are not yet out of the running in the Southeast by knocking off a favored Stars team at the Georgia Dome. More than 46,000 were in attendance as Darren McFadden and Anthony Allen combined for 144 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns against a usually sturdy Philadelphia rush defense. The Fire also rattled Kurt Warner, getting 6 sacks on the former MVP. At one point it was 31-10 Fire, but the Stars, to their credit, rallied late, but just a bit too late to get the win.
HOUSTON 34 BOSTON 26
Either Houston has finally figured out what their issues are, or the Boston Cannons truly are deserving of one of the worst records in the league. Either way Houston snapped their 8-game skid in convincing fashion, putting up 30+ points for the first time in over 2 months. Tim Rattay was the hero, with 245 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. Boston’s Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 128, but the Cannons simply faded late as Houston got the road win.
CHICAGO 39 ARIZONA 14
The Wranglers sorely missed David Carr at QB and the defense failed Arizona as Chicago rolled to an easy win. Jim Sorgi absorbed 7 sacks from the Machine defense, including 2 from Anthony Weaver, one of which turned into a sack, fumble, recovery and TD for the veteran DE. Three turnovers from Arizona helped Chicago build a 29-7 lead and cruise to victory in a game that saw Arizona give up 2 fumble return TDs. The loss cost them the #1 position in the West, while it kept Chicago’s faint playoff hopes alive.
PORTLAND 12 SEATTLE 24
Seattle takes this edition of the Cascade Clash, thanks largely to 124 yards from veteran wideout David Boston. Byron Leftwich also connected with Nate Burleson and TE Tyler Eckler, both getting TD tosses as the Dragons doubled up the Stags. Portland kept it close, trailing only 17-12 until the 4th quarter, but could not get the ball into scoring range late in the game.
ORLANDO 20 TAMPA BAY 14
A big rivalry win for the Renegades as they even their record with the Bandits by picking off Daunte Culpepper 4 times. Add in 95 yards from Knowshon Moreno and Manning TD passes to Dwayne Bowe and Dwayne Harris and the Renegades tighten up the SE Division and (at present) take the lead for the division crown.
MEMPHIS 7 NEW ORLEANS 15
It took 11 weeks, but the Breakers finally get their first win. They avenged their loss to Memphis 2 weeks ago by winning the home game in the series. Drew Brees threw to 9 different receivers, including a game-winning TD to Brandon LaFell as the Breakers limit Memphis to only 1 scoring drive and 233 total yards.
NEW JERSEY 17 JACKSONVILLE 22
The Bulls find a way to win as C. J. Spiller gets 2 TDs, including the game winner in the 4th. The defense did its part, harassing Sam Bradford as rookie David Bowens and vet Tim Crowder both scored 2 sacks apiece, part of 7 for the Bulls’ defense. New Jersey outgained Jacksonville 442-280, but kept shooting themselves in the foot, with 8 penalties and 2 failed 4th down attempts.
BIRMINGHAM 18 OHIO 20
A good game between two teams hoping they are on the right path in 2011. Boston got TDs from Steve Smith and Kevin Smith in the 4th quarter to wipe out a 12-7 deficit. Birmingham scored with 1:42 left in regulation but needed the 2-point conversion to tie the score. The play failed, as did the ensuing onside kick, and Ohio held on to claim their 5th win of the season.
OAKLAND 23 LAS VEGAS 21
Another tight result, this one in the desert, where visiting Oakland got a 96-yard kickoff return from Pierre Garçon to upend the Thunder. Las Vegas apparently opted to rely on defense to win as they got 14 of their 21 points from turnovers, a pick-six from Will Allen and a goal line fumble recovery and TD from Adewale Ogunleye. The Vegas offense only accounted for 209 total yards as they continue to struggle without Marshawn Lynch in the lineup.
ST. LOUIS 38 DENVER 49
While many picked Denver to knock off St. Louis when the two met at Invesco Field, not many saw this game as an 87-point shootout. All kudos to the Denver offense, which let itself loose, allowing Matt Leinart a personal best 4-TD day with over 430 yards passing. Josh Freeman tried to keep pace for the Skyhawks, throwing for 265 yards, 132 of it to Taylor Jacobs, but two picks in the second half helped Denver pull away for their 7th win on the year.
WASHINGTON 33 BALTIMORE 20
The week concluded with the War on I-95 between the Feds and the Blitz. The winner would take the lead in the NE Division and that was all the motivation backup Joe Webb and the Federals needed. Webb would only throw for 191, but his scrambling helped keep drives alive. Washington also got a 46-yard pick-six from Brandon Flowers and 133 yards from the always reliable Deuce McCallister, blowing away Ron Dayne’s 49 yards as Washington’s D dominated the Blitz for most of the game.
Chad Johnson Wants Out
Forget loyalty or working through a rough season, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson is done with Boston, and not afraid to say it. Johnson, who had 5 catches for only 46 yards in this week’s Boston loss to Houston was visibly agitated on the sideline. This is not new. He has been pretty vocal about the conservative offensive scheme in place ever since Drew Bledsoe retired and Boston has tried to support QBs Adrian McPherson and rookie Jake Locker. The loss was Boston’s 9th in 11 outings this year and Johnson, while still the leader in receptions and yards for the Cannons, is still well off his pace of recent years.
All of this should be expected for a club in transition, particularly in the games where Locker was struggling with the pro game, but for Johnson it appears to be an unwelcome reality. In addition to being visibly upset on the sideline, Johnson made some comments to local media which can only be interpreted as a shot across the bow of John Fox’s leadership team and the direction the Cannons are taking. It is clear that with Johnson in a contract year, he was hoping for big numbers, enough to force the Cannons to pay him top dollar. Now, he will almost certainly hit the free agency pool and seek another opportunity after 8 seasons with the Cannons. Johnson is still a very talented wideout, despite perhaps losing a step from the young speedster who first debuted with the lights-out offenses of the 2001-2003 Ohio Glory. He will almost certainly be a top target in the free agency pool but may find that the market is not as lucrative as it was when he departed Columbus for Boston back in 2004.
Free Agency Looms for Other Big Names as well.
With 5 weeks left in the season, we are coming up on crunch time for teams to resign their top talent, and this year it appears there may be some very familiar, very intriguing potential free agents available in the market. Now, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, because we well know that deals do tend to come down in the final weeks of the year every season, but there is enough talent out there, and enough tenuous team positions, salary cap concerns, and even player-coach concerns to have us believe that we could see a larger than average pool this offseason. As we look at each team, we thought this would be a good time to highlight the player we see as the most essential for retention on each roster. The player each team has to sign, even at the expense of other pieces. So, here, in alphabetical order by team, is our list of the Free Agents each team cannot afford to lose.
ARIZONA: DE Adam Carriker. The big 3-down DE is having a career year with 8 sacks this season and a clear shot to have his first double digit total. While there are other defenders (like CB Jimmy Williams) who are worth throwing some funds at, Carriker seems like a building block for the future that Arizona will not want to lose.
ATLANTA: WR Josh Reed had a breakout season in 2010, leading the league with nearly 1,500 yards receiving. His 2011 is not going as well, with only 618 yards and 3 scores to date, but it is still clear that Reed is the #1 receiver for the Fire and a player who could and should be a focal point of their offense once again.
BALTIMORE: This one is tough because the Blitz really must resign both Ron Dayne and Tory Holt. While both are now over 30 years old, which can be a time for a shift as teams tend to prefer younger legs, you cannot deny the production of both. If it is a game of one or the other for the Blitz, whose cap space is somewhat limited, then we would argue that Dayne’s production is so essential to the Blitz that they would have to bite the bullet and let Holt go if they cannot free up more cap space for both.
BIRMINGHAM: The Stallions are in a good position this year, with a smaller list than most teams of players in the final year of their deals and no major stars to resign at high cost. When we look at the roster, we think the biggest signing may be guard Ben Grubbs, who has been out for a good part of the season with a ruptured Achilles. Grubbs is an outstanding run blocker and, in part due to the timing of his injury, will not cost the Stallions the kind of big bucks that many teams are worried about with their free agents.
BOSTON: Chad Johnson is the obvious answer if Boston wants to make the effort, but if we assume that he has already made his mental exit from the team, that frees up cap space for another important piece of the Cannons’ future, LB Chris Claiborne. The backer’s contract is likely to be a short one, perhaps only 1-2 years as he did turn 33 this year, but Boston does not want to lose their defensive play caller so they will want to find the right combination of funds, contract length, and incentives to motivate Claiborne to stay the course.
CHARLOTTE: Fred Jackson was having a career year before his injury, and he is not yet 30, which means he is still seen as back with more upside potential, so we expect the Monarchs to give him a multi-year deal that makes him their lead back for at least the next 2-3 seasons, a position he has wanted to lock down for quite a while after always being set up in a platoon system.
CHICAGO: The Machine have some older defenders (Anthony Weaver is 32, Reggie Tongue is 34), but we think the key resigning may be a youngster. Tackle Xavier Fulton is 25, and is just now beginning to take shape as a quality starter at RT. He could become the future at LT if he stays with the club. His agent will almost certainly pitch for him to wait until free agency, because quality tackles tend to get nice paydays in the market, but Chicago should do what it can to keep Fulton happy and maybe sign him ahead of schedule.
DENVER: With 3 offensive stars all coming up, the choice is a tough one. Peerless Price is 35, and that reality may just make him less of a target for the Gold than either his groupmate Keary Colbert (30) or QB Matt Leinart (27). Leinart is the clear “must have” signing from the group, and Denver has cap room to spare, so it ought to be a deal they can get done. The question then is whether they have the capacity and the desire to resign both Colbert and Price.
HOUSTON: Here is an interesting situation. Matt Hasselbeck led the Gamblers to a title last year but is struggling this year. He may well be the 4th most important free agent on the team, as hard as that is to believe. With Shaun Springs, Ronde Barber, and Shaun Alexander all also up for a new deal, and only $2.9M in cap space right now, there are going to be some tough choices for the Gamblers. Will Hasselbeck be a priority keep? Will Barber retire at 35 and free up some space? Who does Houston lose? All good questions for a team that has already seen a post-title hangover of massive proportions.
JACKSONVILLE: The issue for the Bulls is more about quantity than quality. While none of their top names are up for a new deal this year, the Bulls have 18 of their 45 active players from Week 11 in the final year of their deals. They will likely sign about half, maybe a bit more, of that pool, so who goes? We think SS Mike Brown and CB Keith Smith will be priorities, but after that, there are a lot of names on the list.
LAS VEGAS: LB A. J. Hawk is perhaps the #1 target for the Thunder. He is only 26 and he is a team captain, so we hope that the desire is there from both parties to get a deal done. Our only concern is that June Jones is more interested in building a dynamic offense than retaining the defensive strength he inherited from Jerry Glanville. Would he really let Hawk go to sign more offensive firepower?
LOS ANGELES: At age 34, we don’t think Keyshawn Johnson will fetch the kind of money on the free agent market that he would have 3-5 years ago, but he will likely wait and see. With LA having a strong season, the time may be right for the Express to resign Johnson, especially with a playoff run looking likely, something the wideout has not seen in quite a while.
MEMPHIS: As important as WR Robert Ferguson is to the Showboats, we think LB Patrick Willis has to be their #1 priority. The hard-hitting backer is 7 years younger than the wideout and has more years ahead of him for a club that needs as many defensive playmakers as they can get.
MICHIGAN: All three of Michigan’s starting wideouts are currently in contract years. You have Ward, Coles, and Manningham, and there is no way the Panthers can keep all three. Hines Ward is the clear favorite of both Brian Griese and the Panther fans, so he has to be the priority signing. That may leave Coles out in the cold as Manningham, as the younger player, has more upside than the 33-year old veteran #2.
NASHVILLE: SS LaRon Landry outperformed his rookie deal and is the market for a Top 5 safety pay range. He certainly deserves to be among the best paid safeties in the game, and the Knights would be foolish to let a player with a good 10 more years in the tank go at this stage of his career.
NEW JERSEY: CB Nate Clements is having one of his best seasons for the Generals, and we think he will be a priority for this somewhat cash-strapped club. That could spell major changes on offense as both Mark Clayton and Santonio Holmes are both in contract years as well.
NEW ORLEANS: With Drew Brees locked up for now, and despite the struggles of the club this season, they have the cap space to make moves this offseason, and will almost certainly be a buyer, not a seller. But, that said, they need to do what they can to resign DE Ty Warren, one of the few bright spots in a pretty miserable season.
OAKLAND: Veteran center Jeff Saturday is 35 and could be contemplating retirement. If he is not, then he must be priority 1 for the Invaders. Priority 2 may well be QB Pat White, who the club got from Pittsburgh in a trade and who could be the future if and when Harrington steps away from the game.
OHIO: A good chunk of the Glory’s defense is up for a new deal, including LB Glenn Cadrez, SS Jermaine Philips, and LB James Laurinaitis. Coach Bart Andrus loves Laurinaitis’s drive, so we expect he will be their top priority, but with limited cap space, that could be bad news for fans of Cadres.
ORLANDO: CB Cortland Finnegan is peaking at just the right time. He is among the league leaders in picks once again, and the rumors are that he is looking for top dollar, Charles Woodson money. That may be more than Orlando is willing to part with, so we could see Finnegan depart, which would be a blow to the Orlando defense.
PHILADELPHIA: A pretty low risk year for the Stars, who lost quite a few free agents last offseason. Perhaps the most important resigning is kicker Mike Nugent, who once again is among the league leaders in scoring and has always had a flare for the dramatic game winner.
PITTSBURGH: The Maulers traded away Pat White in his contract year, avoiding that issue, but Cody Pickett is also up for a new deal, and he is certainly making a case that he deserves to be somewhere in the top 5-6 of QBs in the league. He picked a good year to put up his best numbers and to have the Maulers sitting at 10-1.
PORTLAND: Center Brad Meester deserves to be paid as one of the best at his position in the league. So too does CB Marquand Manuel. And with a pretty generous cap this year for the Stags, there is no reason they cannot re-sign both before week 16 rolls around and still have funds left to boost their overall talent level on the roster.
SEATTLE: Seattle may be in the toughest position of any team. They have barely $2.6M in cap space right now and their list of players in contract years looks like their All-USFL slate: QB Byron Leftwich, LT Kenyatta Jones, CB Marcus Truffant, WR David Boston, DE Travis LaBoy, RT Chad Clifton, and HB Ladell Betts. The short answer here is that the 2012 Dragons could look like a very different team from this year’s 6-5 squad.
ST. LOUIS: We love guard Leonard Davis and SS Coy Wire, both of whom St. Louis should be throwing money at to stay. They don’t have the most cap space, so some cuts will be needed, but we think that they should have enough to sign both if they can just get the right terms in place.
TAMPA BAY: Some very difficult decisions need to be made in Tampa Bay. Do they give Daunte Culpepper the big contract he is going to demand or do they use their somewhat limited cap room to sign other pieces and go a different direction at QB. It seems blasphemous to say that Tampa should cut the line on Culpepper, but if they do not, they could lose a lot of other players who they just cannot afford to resign.
TEXAS: T. J. Duckett is 30 this year, and that normally means that you let a HB go, but how can Texas do that? He is not slowing down, with over 850 yards already this year and a team on the rise. We think Texas does what it must to give Duckett a 2–3-year deal and hope that the curse of 30 is just not in effect with one of the faces of their franchise.
WASHINGTON: While the top 3 guards for the Federals are all up this year (How have they not resigned any ahead of schedule?) the big question for the Federals is what will it take to resign Ed Reed, their All-USFL safety? Reed likes playing in DC and the defense is a perfect fit for him, so we think he may favor loyalty over a big pay out, but Washington has to show him enough money so that the decision is tilted in their favor even as his agent pushes the potential for a free agency windfall.
We have our first playoff ticket confirmed and it is not, as many anticipated, the Arizona Wranglers. The Maulers, now sitting pretty at 10-1 for the year, have locked up a playoff berth as well as the first division title of the year. The Maulers sit a full 5 games above the closest Central Division foe, with 5 weeks to play, and, thanks to tiebreakers, that has won them the division. Thanks to Arizona’s loss this week, they are also the frontrunner to lock up the #1 seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Quite a feather in the cap of Coach Rivera and his Maulers.
We also had our second elimination as Boston, sitting at 1-9-1, joins the 1-10 Breakers as clubs no longer mathematically alive for a playoff spot. This has truly been a disappointing year for both clubs and now the big question is if New Orleans will hang onto the top pick or win another game, boosting Boston up to number 1?
The other interesting note is that Seattle has quietly worked themselves into a good position, sitting at number 7, they control their own destiny. But, before they get too cocky, they are tied with both Oakland and Las Vegas, so any slip ups could allow one or both of their division rivals to overtake them.
Washington takes over the #1 position in both the NE Division and the quest for the #1 seed in the East, but there are still a lot of tough divisional battles to fight in the Northeast, so this may be very fluid, with several teams from the conference’s other two divisions also in the mix, just 1 game behind the Feds.
It may be the home stretch of the season, but no week is without its risks, and this week we saw two players have their seasons get cut short. Michigan DT Marcus Spriggs (hip) and Oakland DE Israel Idonije (leg) are both now on IR and lost for both the remainder of the regular season as well as any playoff run either team may garner. With Spriggs out, Clifton Ryan takes over as the swing DT and Harold Carlson comes off the practice squad as the 4th DT on the active roster. For Oakland, replacing Idonije will not be so easy. Jamaal Anderson likely steps in opposite Justin Smith, with Kalimba Edwards as the backup. Oakland will almost certainly be scouring the free agent wire to also pick up a 4th DE for the rotation.
Elsewhere, with only 5 weeks left, some injuries, while not placing players on IR, could still cost a player the remainder of the regular season. That is the situation for Charlotte DE Fred Perry, who could be out a month or longer with a ruptured disc in his back. Philadelphia FB Frank Sosa is also likely lost for at least the regular season after suffering a fracture in his wrist. Los Angeles DT Gabe Watson’s leg injury was confirmed as a fracture, which could mean he would miss a month or more, while Tampa safety Bryan Scott suffered a rib injury and is listed as out, likely for 2-3 weeks.
While not nearly as long-lasting an injury, David Carr’s collarbone does mean that he will remain out of action at least 1 more week, perhaps longer. Jim Sorgi will continue to get the start for the Wranglers in his absence. And while Arizona is without their starter, Washington could be getting theirs back as David Garrard is listed as probable and has received a majority of snaps in practice. Meanwhile, in Houston, Matt Hasselbeck is likely to be a game time decision, listed as questionable. And, Las Vegas is still waiting for Marshawn Lynch to return. The big back is listed as doubtful this week, but that means a Week 13 return could be in the cards.
Boston Stadium Talks Die on the Vine
The ongoing saga of the USFL in Boston hits another low as the Cannons’ efforts to get a stadium initiative on the ballot this fall cannot even get out of committee in the Massachusetts state house. The hope, slim as it was, was that the state would support a bond issuance, one which would then provide the stimulus for the city of Boston to come to the table to consider construction of a new stadium. While the effort was backed by several prominent representatives in the House, there was also staunch opposition, particularly with Boston still reeling from the cost estimates of the “Big Dig” project.
To make matters worse, the Cannons are still finding it difficult to get a long term deal with Boston College on the books. For the past 3 seasons BC leadership has been comfortable with one-year lease agreements, but refused to commit to any multi-year option. The benefit for BC has been the ability to set new terms and new costs each season, but at some point the annual back and forth is going to become tiresome for both parties. With Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium out of the picture, the Cannons are largely without leverage as there is no way they would work with either BU or Harvard to bring football back to either Nickerson Field or Harvard Stadiums, both inadequate facilities for USFL standards. So, they must continue to work with BC on an interim basis, and make efforts to get a new stadium in place.
It has gotten so bad that many in Boston’s sports echo chamber are openly wondering if the Cannons would not be better off looking at locations like Providence (RI), Hartford (CT), or even at the University of New Hampshire. What Bostonians are not yet willing to admit is that the intransigence of Patriot’s owner Robert Kraft, and the inability for the Cannons to get a long term lease at BC’s already borderline facility, make the Cannons a prime team to be poached by a deep pocketed investor group looking to buy and relocate a franchise. Far more likely than a local move within New England is the very real possibility that the Cannons could end up in Miami, Dallas, or even Oklahoma.
Oakland in talks with Cal-Berkeley for Stadium Use
While Boston struggles with leases for the Cannons, in Oakland the issue is the declining viability of the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. Concerns not only for revenue generation, but basic fan safety, have begun to creep into the conversations between the Invaders and the Coliseum. But, with no funding for renovations to the multipurpose stadium, the Invaders are starting to look for alternatives. Their most recent endeavor has been to reach out to The University of California leadership to see if a deal could be set up for the Invaders to call Cal-Berkeley’s California Memorial Stadium as a home venue. While certainly not the gleaming modern stadium that most USFL clubs are striving for, what Memorial Stadium would offer is a quality facility expected to have its renovation completed within the year. By 2013 the stadium would be renewed, with capacity for 63,000 fans and a new Matrix Turf surface. Both in capacity and in field quality, that would certainly surpass what the Invaders have at present in Oakland.
Should a deal with the Cal system fail, the Invaders too could be viewed as a potential defector, a plum ripe for the picking by a city and an investment group looking to lure a club with a new or newly remodeled stadium. What is interesting in Oakland’s case is that they are by no means the only pro football franchise looking to invest in a new facility. The NFL’s San Francisco 49ers have been discussing a possible relocation from venerable Candlestick Park, potentially to the South Bay area, and if Oakland is serious about finding other options, they too could look to get in on a potential bay area stadium deal, even if that means moving further from their home base in the East Bay.
Week 12 brings us some make or break games for those borderline teams, starting on Friday with Charlotte clinging to playoff hopes but needing a win against a very tough Orlando squad. On Saturday the Stars and Outlaws clash in San Antonio with both clubs hoping to make a run for their respective division titles, both 1 game back after 11 weeks. Saturday night has a great interconference matchup with 7-4 Denver visiting 8-3 Washington.
On Sunday we have Ohio, also perched on the fringes of playoff contention at 5-6, visiting 7-4 Nashville. Birmingham hopes to stay in the race and a win at New Jersey would put them at 6-6. Michigan and St. Louis face off in the Dome, with both on the verge of playoff elimination. Loser is likely out. Finally, Arizona, with Jim Sorgi still at the helm, hopes to get a weakened Houston Gambler squad on the Sunday night closer, as another loss could put them into a tie with the Outlaws in the SW Division. Good games, plenty of drama as well.
FRIDAY @ 8pm ET Charlotte (5-6) @ Orlando (7-4) NBC
SATURDAY @ 12pm ET New Orleans (1-10) @ Chicago (4-7) ABC
SATURDAY @ 12pm ET Tampa Bay (7-4) @ Jacksonville (3-8) ABC
SATURDAY @ 12pm ET Baltimore (7-4) @ Boston (1-9-1) FOX
SATURDAY @ 4pm ET Philadelphia (7-4) @ Texas (8-3) ABC
SATURDAY @ 4pm ET Atlanta (6-5) @ Los Angeles (7-4) FOX
SATURDAY @ 8pm ET Denver (7-4) @ Washington (8-3) ESPN
SUNDAY @ 12pm ET Ohio (5-6) @ Nashville (7-4) ABC
SUNDAY @ 12pm ET Birmingham (5-6) @ New Jersey (3-8) FOX
SUNDAY @ 12pm ET Memphis (2-8-1) @ Pittsburgh (10-1) FOX
SUNDAY @ 4pm ET Michigan (5-6) @ St. Louis (4-7) ABC
SUNDAY @ 4pm ET Las Vegas (6-5) @ Portland (4-7) ABC
SUNDAY @ 4pm ET Arizona (9-2) @ Houston (3-8) FOX
SUNDAY @ 8pm ET Oakland (6-5) @ Seattle (6-5) EFN