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Four teams battle for the right to move on to Summer Bowl 2001. Three of the title challengers emerge from the wild card round, while only Orlando remains of the league’s four division champions. After 18 weeks of football the chance to play for a title will depend on 60 minutes. In Denver, the defending league champions have home field after both of the top seeds in the West were eliminated last week. They take on one of the most unpredictable players (and teams) in the league in Arizona’s Jake Plummer. In the East it is the early frontrunner, Orlando, facing an upstart Philadelphia squad that needed back to back wins to improve from 7-7 to 9-7 and squeak into the postseason on the final week of regular season play. Will this week be another hayday for the upstarts or will the home favorites punch their ticket to Chicago and Summer Bowl 2001? ORLANDO STRIKES MIDNIGHT ON STARS’ CINDERELLA RUN ORL 24 PHI 10 The Orlando Renegades raced out to an 8-0 start this year and an early claim as the best team in the league. They played up to that title at home, in front of 55,000 crazed “Tail-Gaders” on Sunday, dismissing the Philadelphia Stars and booking their ticket to the Summer Bowl. Terry Kirby would be the star of the game with 3 touchdown runs, but it truly was a team effort as Orlando limited Bobby Hebert to only 172 yards passing, Stephen Davis to only 51 yards on the ground and got big performances from Kirby, Zeroue, Scott Mitchell and Donald Driver on offense. The game hinged on a period of about 12 minutes of game time spanning the second and third quarters when Orlando scored on 3 consecutive drives, all with Kirby runs from inside the 6, while also forcing 2 Philadelphia turnovers, an Hebert pick and a failed 4th and 2 run by Davis. What had been a 3-3 tie turned to a 24-3 deficit, and the game was Orlando’s. Philly simply wilted in the 90+ temperatures in Orlando and the energy was not there to overcome the Renegade’s top rated defense. DENVER SHUTS DOWN PLUMMER FOR RETURN TO TITLE GAME DEN 37 ARZ 14 The Denver Gold scored 34 unanswered points to overpower the Arizona Wranglers after initially trailing 7-0 at home. Jake Plummer looked good early, hitting Santana Moss with a 16-yard TD on the opening drive of the day, but the Gold put the clamps on the elusive QB after that, holding Plummer to only 1 yard rushing on 8 attempts, and containing his passing all game. For their part, the Gold offense relied heavily on the run game, rushing the ball 36 times on the day, with Rod Smart going for 90 yards on 12 carries, while Rashan Salaam gained 74 on his 21 carries. Salaam would become a very unwanted story on Monday, but on Sunday he and Smart helped Denver control the clock and build up a massive lead, scoring 3 times in the 1st and 2nd quarter to take over the game. Denver’s defense did the rest, sacking Plummer 3 time, picking him off once, and completely shutting down any run game at all for the Wranglers, who would earn a total of 10 yards rushing as a team. LB Deshone Myles led all tacklers with 7 on the day, followed closely by Kurt Gouveia, Leslie O’Neill, and Bruce Pickens, all with 6. O’Neill was an issue for the Wrangler line all day, with 3 tackles for loss and 2 sacks of Plummer. Special Teams also got into the mix with punter Todd Sauerbrun placing the ball inside the 20 four times in 7 punts. Add in a 34-yard kick return from wideout Peerless Price and what you get is a defending champion playing like a team that is hungry for another title. SALAAM ARRESTED, OUT OF SUMMER BOWL You hate to see it, a player with obvious talent but also obvious problems. Rashan Salaam is that player right now. After serving a 4-game suspension midseason for a failed drug test, the hope in Denver had been that his issue was an isolated one and that he could return and be a major factor in the Gold’s season. Through the remainder of the regular season that seemed to be the case, but that all blew up on Monday, just one day after Salaam helped the Gold win the Western Conference Title. Initial reports were sketchy, but in the past 3 days we have gotten enough information to know that the situation is not good, and enough for the Gold to step in even before the league made an official announcement, to say that unequivocally Salaam will not travel to Chicago with the club and will not participate in this Sunday’s championship game. What appears undisputed is that police were called out to a house party in lower Downtown Denver on Monday night. On that call a large house part was broken up and several attendees arrested, among them Salaam. In later reporting it has been revealed that a sizable amount of cocaine, both in powder and crack rock form, was found in the house, with some in the personal possession of Salaam. Initial reports of shots fired at the police raid of the party have since been debunked, but charges against Salaam for possession as well as intent to distribute cocaine have been filed, along with a slew of minor issues related to resisting arrest and failure to follow police instruction. Salaam has been released on bond, but his legal woes are just beginning. For the Gold, the issue of Salaam’s status for this week was not going to be left up to the last minute and a league edict. They suspended Salaam from the team on Thursday and are prepared to go to Chicago’s title tilt with Rod Smart as their lead back, just as they did during Salaam’s earlier suspension. This news shifted the line in Las Vegas, which had been a 3 point advantage for Orlando but now has ballooned to 6.5 points. Will Denver be able to overcome this unwanted change of plans, and, more importantly, will Rashan Salaam be able to get the help he clearly seems to need and return to football in 2002? More on both as we cover Summer Bowl 2001 and the USFL offseason. MAULERS MAKE BICKNELL THEIR MAN The Maulers have closed out the coaching carousel for another season, and in near record time, as they named former BC and Philadelphia Stars head coach Jack Bicknell their choice to head up the franchise. Bicknell, who served at BC during its heyday (The Doug Flutie years) had mixed results in his prior stint as head man of the Philadelphia Stars. Bicknell made his name with the BC Eagles and was named the successor to Jim Mora Sr. in Philadelphia when Mora departed for the NFL. He had moderate success with the Stars, but that was simply not adequate for a franchise which had been one of the early leaders in the league and was let go after 5 seasons. Bicknell has since not had another head coaching position, but has served on several staffs, both in college and the NFL. He has a reputation as an offensive innovator, a good motivator of players, and an affable “player’s coach”. The hope, one expects, in Pittsburgh is that he can either develop Charlie Batch or help usher in a new quarterback who can complement the run game led by Terrell Davis. Bicknell will also have to address a defense that has been particularly bad against the pass these past few years, with a secondary that has been too forgiving of opposing quarterbacks. The retirement of Eric Kumerow also means that Pittsburgh will be promoting either DeMetrius DuBose or Godfrey Miles to defensive captain as the two lead the best position group on the Mauler D. ALL-USFL TEAM Just days until Summer Bowl 2001 and as always the build up to the league’s title game includes several big events, from the Media Day frenzy to the announcement of the upcoming Hall of Fame Inductees. We will get to the Hall of Fame Class of 2001 in a moment, but first let us recognize the best of the best from this past season, the 2001 All-USFL Team: QUARTERBACK: Two conventional picks in Kerry Collins (OHI) and Heath Shuler (MEM) are joined by a more unconventional choice in Jake Plummer. We say unconventional because Plummer’s passing numbers would not make him a top 5 QB, much less All-USFL, but we simply have to recognize that as a QB Plummer was aalso a Top 15 rusher and led the league in rushing touchdowns. HALFBACK: Terrell Davis, Ahman Green, and Ron Dayne are the picks and there is no real controversy here as they represent the three highest rushing totals of the season. FULLBACK: Larry Centers (MEM) gets the nod here in recognition of his use not only as a blocker, but also as a ball carrier and as a receiver. GUARD: Brandon Stai (OAK), Mike Verstegen (ORL), Alan Faneca (LA) and Greg DiNapoli (STL) get the honor for one of the toughest positions to evaluate. TACKLE: No one is surprised to see Jonathan Ogden (LA) or Richmond Webb (BIR) on the list. A bit of a surprise that the third tackle named is not Lomas Brown (SEA) but Portland’s Saavea Malamala. CENTER: MIke Devlin (ORL) and Matt Tucker (LA) round out the O-line. TIGHT END: Adrian Cooper’s 14 TDs get him on the list ahead of 1,000 yard receiver Steve Johnson (NOR) with the second spot going to Denver’s Marco Battaglia, who led the league with 1,036 yards from the TE position. WIDE RECEIVER: A deep pool of talent makes this category one of the toughest, even with 5 spots to hand out. New Jersey’s Terry Glenn is an easy choice, as is TD leader Randy Moss (TBY). Also making the cut are LA’s Tory Holt, St. Louis’s Bert Emmanuel, and Pittsburgh’s Andrew Rison. Feeling disrespected and on the outside looking in are Jacksonville’s Terrell Owens, Texas’s Carl Pickens, Birmingham’s Lawrence Dawsey, and New Orleans’s Raynard Brown, all of whom were well over 1,000 yards receiving. DEFENSIVE END: Pretty easy to predict that the four would include Phil Hansen (NJ), Chris Doleman (ORL) , Justin Smith (LA), and Kavika Pittman (HOU). Apologies to Santana Dotson (TBY) and Leslie O’Neill (DEN), who just missed the cut. DEFENSIVE TACKLE: Pat WIlliams of Orlando is a no-brainer, as is Jerome Brown (WSH). Rounding out the three is John Randall of Baltimore. LINEBACKER: Broderick Thomas and Winfred Tubbs (ARZ) join Kurt Gouveia and Marvcus Patton (DEN) to fill 4 of 6 spots just from the 2 Pacific squads With them are Kevin Mitchell (TBY) and Lavar Arrington (JAX). CORNERBACK: Rookie Fred Smoot makes the team in his first year, thanks to his league-best 8 picks on the season. He is joined by veterans Bruce Pickens (DEN), Charles Woodson (WSH), and Samari Rolle (TBY). SAFETY Four spots, for four very different players. Brian Dawkins (NJ) and MIke Prior (MGN) make it as free safeties, while the strong safety position is filled by Rodney Harrison (STL) and LeRoy Butler (TBY) . KICKER: Jeff Jaeger (PHI) just beats out Ryan Longwell (STL) for the honor. PUNTER: Our final player is Mitch Berger of Orlando, who was not called upon as often as some other punters, but who came through when needed by leading the league in punts inside the 20. HALL OF FAME GETS FIVE MORE MEMBERS OF THE USFL Five new members join the esteemed roster of USFL Players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio this year. Led by one of the greatest running backs in league history, this year’s cohort is another one comprised of legendary players who helped a new league move from upstart to an iconic part of the sports calendar each year. Kelvin Bryant (HB, Philadelphia Stars, 1983-1994): One of the most dominant players in the league in its early years, Bryant amassed 15,378 yards and 113 touchdowns in his brilliant USFL career. His constant battles with Herschel Walker, Joe Cribbs, and Mike Rozier for the league rushing title was one of the highlights of those early league seasons. Bryant won three titles with the Stars, taking home the trophy in 1985, 1987 and 1994. He was named the MVP of the 1985 season thanks to 1,524 yards rushing and 14 rushing touchdowns. Named to an incredible 10 All-USFL teams in 12 seasons, Bryant was and always will be a Star in Philadelphia. Joey Walters (WR, Washington Federals, 1983-1996): Walters was already a veteran of 5 seasons of pro ball when he came to the Federals in 1983. In Washington, Walters quickly made a name for himself as a consummate slot receiver, fearlessly going over the middle, eluding tackles and turning a slant into a sprint to the endzone. He retired in 1996 with 1,066 receptions, 15,402 yards and 91 touchdowns. Walters was one of the offensive stars of the Federals during the good run under Sam Rutigliano and with QB Don Majkowski. He won a league title with the Federals in 1990 and was voted to 6 All-USFL Teams in his career. David Trout (K, Philadelphia Stars, 1983-1996): The second USFL kicker to make the hall, David Trout was one of the best the USFL had to offer at the position. Trout is the league record holder for the longest field goal in league history, 60 yards against Tampa Bay in 1994, already his 12th season in the league. While Trout currently ranks 4th in total field goals made with 373 (Trailing Kevin Shea, Luis Zendejas and John Carney) he is also among the Top 5 career stats in basically every kicking category. Trout was a member of the 1985, 1987, and 1994 Philadelphia Star teams that won league titles, making him the kicker with the most rings in the league. Jo-Jo Townsell (WR, Los Angeles 1983-1990, Memphis 1991-1995). Townsell makes the hall in his second year of eligibility. He enters the HOF with impressive numbers: 1,029 receptions, 13,678 yards and 93 TDs over 12 seasons. Townsell was a 2-time All-USFL player despite playing on some pretty rough LA and Memphis teams over his career. Kiki DeAyala (LB, Houston Gamblers 1984-1995). An 11-year starter for the Gamblers, Kiki-D was one of the first Gamblers, signing before Jim Kelly in 1983 when the club was first forming. A UT Longhorn, Ayala was scooped up in the territorial draft by the Gamblers and quickly became a mainstay on a defense that helped Houston win titles in 1988 and 1992. DeAyala was named All-USFL at the outside linebacker position 3 times. He retired with 1,136 tackles, 19 sacks, 12 interceptions, and 99 career tackles for loss. While the biggest story of the week heading into Summer Bowl 2001 has been the issues surrounding troubled Denver HB Rashan Salaam, there are some other players who may miss out on their chance to play in a title game, in these cases due to injury. Denver may be without DT Mark Bouette, a key piece of their run defense, as he suffered a fracture to his jaw thanks to a huge hit in this week’s game. Other than Bouette’s injury and Salaam’s absence, expect a full Denver roster. For Orlando, the biggest concern is left tackle Paul Gruber, who could miss the game with an ACL concern, though the team has listed him as doubtful and is consulting to see if a brace could be worn which would allow Gruber to protect Scott Mitchell’s blind side this week before an off-season surgery to repair the damage. Orlando could also be without LB Rob Morris, who suffered a partial bicep tear this past week and is listed as questionable. FRANCHISE FUTURES IN THE AIR We are still waiting word on the proposal for ownership submitted by the St. Louis Knights to the league 3 weeks ago, and in Atlanta, there is still no news on the ownership front as the FIre were placed “on the market” after the 2001 season. Rumors do have interest in the Atlanta market, with some looking at Cox Enterprise’s James Cox Kennedy as a potential lead investor for the troubled Fire franchise. Of course we also know that there remains strong interest in both clubs from investors seeking to bring football to a variety of cities, including Miami, Dallas, Nashville, and potentially Boston should the Portland sale to a group intent on keeping that franchise in the Northwest receive approval for the sale of the Thunder. Both St. Louis and Atlanta are considered important locations for the league as a whole, with the Knights occupying a somewhat vital Midwestern presence in a league that has not invested as heavily in the region as the more traditional NFL. While the fall league largely started as a Midwestern phenomenon in the 1920’s and now has franchises in a dozen regional markets from Cleveland to Kansas City, the USFL as a spring league and due to underserved markets, has always focused more on the South, with more teams between Florida and Texas than between Cleveland and KC. Only the Ohio Glory, Chicago Machine, and Michigan Panthers can truly be called Midwestern clubs, with St. Louis being the fourth. Even with the recent flurry of relocation bidding groups, the Midwest remains underrepresented, with cities such as Indianapolis, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and the Twin Cities curiously absent from the talks of an expanded or relocated USFL franchise. Atlanta, much like St. Louis is considered a key location, as one of the largest markets in the USFL’s core southern strategy, the city has proven to be a tough market for professional sports. Even when the teams are doing well, Atlanta fans do not appear to be as rabid for the Falcons, Braves, and Hawks as fans in other cities. The Fire, who have yet to have a winning record in their 7 USFL seasons, have barely moved the dial when it comes to fan support. Many like to blame the emphasis on SEC college football, with the annual spring game at UGA or Georgia Tech often outdrawing any Fire game. Others point to the challenge of playing in an outdoor stadium in the heat of June and July in Atlanta, wondering why the Fire have not been able to acquire options to play in the Georgia Dome, home to the Falcons. While the league views Atlanta as a potential sleeping giant, the key to keeping pro spring football in the city may well be the delivery of a winner in town, something the current Fire ownership has been unable to achieve. Summer Bowl 2001 in Chicago looks like a clash between franchises with somewhat similar MOs. Both clubs like to slow down the action, retain possession, and use their defenses as a bulwark against the more “high flying” clubs in the league. Both have balance on offense, though the loss of Rashan Salaam for this game certainly is going to push Denver more towards the passing game of Mark Brunell over the run game. Orlando will likely counter with more aggressive blitz schemes and more nickel defensive alignments. The key in their minds will be whether or not Chris Doleman and the front 4 of the Renegades can get pressure without blitzes. Denver’s line is stout, but they also rely on play action to free up the passing game, something that could be difficult without Salaam. On offense, Orlando will try to get the ball out of the hands of Scott Mitchell using quick routes and dump downs to either Terry Kirby or Amos Zeroue out of the backfield. Mitchell, unlike Brunell, is not a particularly mobile QB, and Leslie O’Neill can have an impact on the game if Mitchell spends too much time looking for receivers deep. Kirby may not have much success running the ball as Denver has one of the league’s better rush defenses, but if he is at least a threat for carries that should slow down the Gold’s pass rush. Last year Coach Jauron found the formula to help Denver pull off the title game, and certainly experience is on their side, but Orlando has been one of the league’s most consistent teams, the last to lose a game this season, and despite their flaws, one of the deeper and more stable teams week to week. The injury to Paul Gruber is a concern, but we still like Orlando to be able to find a path to victory in this game. OUR PICK: We are taking Orlando in what could be a relatively low-scoring affair. 20-17 Renegades.

The Divisional playoffs gave us four really interesting games, including three upsets as road Wild Card teams knocked off their divisional champion opponents. We had a 1-point game, a 2-point game, and a 3-point overtime game among the three. We had a shootout and a surprisingly low-scoring game between two clubs with solid offenses. And with three of four division winners ousted, we have a Wild Card team getting a home playoff game for the conference title game. Twelve playoff teams now down to four. Let’s see how it happened. ORLANDO TAKEN TO OVERTIME BUT MOVES ON MEM 20 ORL 23 OT It took nearly 75 minutes of play to get a winner in the Showboat-Renegade matchup, but in the end, Charlie Baumann’s right foot gave Orlando the win and made them the only one of four division winners to hold court and take the home win. It certainly did not look likely early on however. Memphis came into the game with a plan and that plan was working early on. Memphis relied on 1-deep zone coverages to cut off the intermediate passign game of Orlando and used run blitzes on first down to keep the Renegades in longer third down situations. On offense they fed the ball to Garrison Hearst and they tried to protect Heath Shuler as much as they could. It certainly worked in the first quarter as Memphis scored on their first two drives, both field goals, and then got a huge play from the defense, who tipped, picked off, and ran back a Scott Mitchell pass for a score. It would be one of three picks Mitchell would suffer on the day, and while Heath Shuler was also under pressure (8 Orlando sacks, including 4 from a simply possessed Chris Doleman), early in this game the Showboats were managing the front line of the Orlando defense. Orlando gained momentum in the second quarter thanks to their defense, when a makeable 3rd and 3 turned into a 4th and 16 at Memphis’s 7-yard line thanks to Doleman’s pursuit of a retreating Shuler. Orlando would get the ball on their own 49 after a bad punt from the Showboats, and 4 plays later Mitchell connected with Keenan McCardell to pull back into the game at 13-7. They would add a Baumann field goal to close the half, now down only 3. The third began with a Joe Horn TD reception, boosting Memphis’ lead to 10, but Orlando would use the second half, and the pass rush of Shuler to slowly make their way back. First Baumann hit on a 50 yarder to make it a one score game, and then, on a game-saving drive as time wore down, Mitchell found TE Rickey Dudley for the game tying score with under a minute to play. Momentum had moved to the Renegades, and the tie, going into overtime, meant Memphis needed to come up with something. The Showboats were in field goal range 4 minutes into the extra period, but again Orlando found a way to push them back, this time with a blitzing Deon Figures surprising Shuler in the backfield and bringing him down before he could release the ball. The Renegades used the play to rally the troops and on their next possession, though it took all of 9 minutes of the 15-minute overtime, Orlando would slowly work their way into position, driving the ball to the Memphis 25 before setting up a kick on 3rd and 7. Baumann connected from 42 yards out and the Renegades celebrated a hard fought win and a chance to come back next week with the Eastern Conference title on the line. DENVER DOMINANT AS MACHINE MAULED DEN 34 CHI 15 The Denver Gold, the league’s defending champion, played like a team on a mission to repeat, rolling the Chicago Machine in Soldier Field. Denver’s D held Chicago to a 3 for 13 third down conversion rate, and despite a solid outing from Duce Staley (10 carries for 7.9 yards) was able to disrupt Chicago drives before they could get into the endzone. Meanwhile, the Gold’s offense certainly found holes in the run defense of the Machine as Rashan Salaam ran the ball 16 times for 111 yards (a 6.9 YPC average) and backup Rod Smart added 70 more on 17 carries as Denver just kept finding run plays that worked. Chicago would move the ball, with both Curtis Conway and Johnnie Morton going over 100 yards receiving, but they just could not finish drives, ending five drives with field goals instead of touchdowns. Meanwhile, Denver got scoring plays from both backs as well as wideout Peerless Price and a rare touch for 3rd string TE Jason Gavadzah. Add to this a time of possession advantage of 37-23 and it is clear that Denver had a plan in place for the Machine and it was a good one. Their reward? Well, how does hosting the Western Championship game at Mile High sound? An unexpected but very welcome opportunity for the 2000 league champions to book their ticket for a repeat right from home. HEBERT AND COLLINS IN A CLASSIC QB SHOWDOWN PHI 42 OHI 40 In a game that saw a whopping 11 touchdowns, including 4 each from both starting QB’s, the Philadelphia Stars upset the Ohio Glory in Columbus to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Title Game. Both QB’s made mincemeat out of the opposing secondaries on their way to a combined 780 yards passing (Hebert with 428, Collins with 352). Each would throw four touchdown passes, but in the end only one could get the W and advance. The difference? While Eddie George was largely bottled up (3.4 yards per carry for a total of 65 yards on the day), Philadelphia’s Stephen Davis ran roughshod over the Glory defense. With an 8.3 YPC average, Davis’s 16 carries translated into 131 yards and a score that proved pivotal in the game. Bobby Engram was a game time scratch, but his replacement, Troy Brown, showed that he was no slouch, going for 137 and 2 scores in the air as Ohio’s defense simply was not ready for a hot-handed Bobby Hebert. The game stayed within 1 score throughout, until the final quarter when Hebert hit Brown from 65 yards out, turning a 2-point lead into a 9-point lead. Collins would get back 7 of those 9 points, but without a successful onside kick they simply ran out of time in this wild game. The Stars, who were the final team to clinch a playoff spot, now find themselves headed to Orlando to face the team with the best record in the conference and a team with a much more proficient defense to deal with. WRANGLERS SHOCK THE EXPRESS WITH DEFENSE AND A RUN GAME ARZ 17 LA 16 Defense and ground attack are not what you think of when you picture the Wranglers, and it certainly was not what LA was expecting as they prepared for Arizona to come to town, but it Is what they got. Arizona outschemed and outhustled the Express and that proved fatal for the West’s #1 seed, and they did it without forcing Jake Plummer to play hero ball. Plummer had a good game, to be sure (24 of 32 for 236 and a score) but only ran the ball 7 times all game. Instead it was Dorsey Levins rushing for 70 yards, and a defense that only allowed LA 3 converted third downs on the day that won the game for the visitors. It was tight throughout, with a 10-10 halftime score thanks to TDs from Antowain Smith and Dominic Rhodes. LA built up a meager 6-point lead thanks to two Doug Brien field goals, but could not pull away without scoring touchdowns, and Arizona was finding ways to keep that from happening. All it took was one successful drive in the 4th quarter for the Wranglers and the game was theirs, and they got it. Arizona mounted a 15-play, 9 minute drive in the final period to take the lead on Rhodes’s 2nd score of the day, this one a plunge over the top from the 1, as Arizona took the lead with 6:28 left to play. Six and a half minutes was more than enough time for the Express to mount a winning drive, after all, they only needed a field goal, but after going 3-and-out, Coach Hall chose to punt instead of risking it all on a 4th and 7 deep in their own territory. Arizona was able to burn nearly 3 minutes before punting the ball back to LA, and now Cade McNown faced a hurry up drill to try to get into field goal range. Arizona held, the final play being a 4th down pass deflected out of the hands of Tory Holt by a lunging Philippi Sparks. Arizona would hold on for the improbable win. LA was one and done in the playoffs and now it is the Wranglers moving on, headed up to face their arch rivals at Mile High next week with a ticket to the Summer Bowl on the line. Only one of the four teams playing in next week’s Conference Championships did not add new players to the injury report this week. Orlando has no new names to add, and could actually be getting at least 1-2 players back as both wideout Donald Driver and FS Myron Guyton could see action this week (both are listed as the always enigmatic “questionable”. Their opponent is looking at possibly losing both CB Corey Fuller and Strong Safety Al Harris, both with hamstring injuries and both listed as questionable as well. In the other game, Arizona will be without DT Van Maumau due to a conconussion, and tackle Chad Clifton, another hamstring injury. LB Zach Thomas has been upgraded to probable and should see action. Denver, got good news on Tony Boyd, who should be back in the lineup. Deral Boykin is likely out again and now a possible absence for SS Sean Lumpkin as well as he recovers from a concussion suffered in the win over Chicago ATLANTA MAKES THEIR CHOICE The Fire believe they have found their man in NY Giants defensive coordinator John Fox. Fox, who began his pro career with the LA Express back in 1985-87 (after short stints at several NCAA programs including Kansas, Utah, and Iowa State), has made a name for himself as a no-nonsense defensive coach who believes in shutting down the run first and then adding pressure through the blitz on key downs. Fox will inherit one of the worst defenses in the league, and yet one with several quality players such as Mo Lewis, Randall Godfrey, CB Tyrone Poole and DE Bruce Smith. Smith and Poole may not be there long as the edge-rushing DE is rumored to be considering retirement after a very frustrating season and Poole is now a free agent. Fox is locked in for the 2002 season but all bets are off after that as the Fire are up for sale and are considered a potential risk to relocate unless a local ownership group steps up. RETIREMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS As we move into the offseason for most USFL clubs, and as we add more clubs to that category with each week’s playoff losses, we see a steady growth in retirement announcements, creating new roster gaps for teams to deal with. Some are expected, some foreshadowed, and occasionally some come out of the blue, but each offseason we have come to expect a few major contributors will opt to call it a career, and we will see this over the next few weeks. We already commented on some, and this week we have a few more to report as we look ahead to each team’s plans for next year. HB Reggie Cobb (TEX) has declared his intention to retire. Cobb has been a centerpiece in the Outlaw backfield for years, and his departure will certainly alter the plans for this year’s draft in Texas. Cobb retires with 2,896 carries for 12,385 yards and 99 career touchdowns, a total that will be hard to duplicate and should remain a Texas team record for years to come. TE Keith McKeller (STL) has apparently tired of 1-year deals and has announced his retirement. After long stints with Arizona, Houston, and Seattle to open his career, McKeller has been with 3 teams in 3 years, St. Louis being the final stop, but has decided that his diminishing role as a receiving tight end is a signal that the time is right to step away from the game. McKeller retires with 512 career receptions for over 5,900 yards and 33 career TDs. WR Raynard Brown (NOR) and WR Eric Metcalf (SEA) walk away from the game despite very strong 2001 seasons with their respective teams. Metcalf was the league’s reception leader, while Brown retained his role as the primary receiver for the Breakers. Brown retires with potential HOF numbers: 1,109 receptions for 14,844 yards and 96 touchdowns. He won a title with the 1995 Maulers and finished his career in New Orleans with 5 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons. Metcalf as well could be a HOF candidate with 1,154 reception for 14,515 yards and 85 TDs. He was named All-USFL 6 times since coming into the league with Texas in 1989. CB Donnell Woolford retires a life-long member of the Baltimore Blitz. Woolford recorded over 1,100 tackles in a career that spanned 3 decades (1989-2001). In that time he also had 49 career interceptions and 23 forced fumbles. LB Eric Kumerow, a 10 year team captain for the Maulers, also steps away from the game. Kumerow was a key part of the 1995 Mauler league championship team and was named to 3 All-USFL teams over his career. He retires with 1,186 tackles and 193 starts, combining time at all 3 LB positions. DT Michael Dean Perry retires after a career that saw him start at DT for 4 different teams (Houston 88-92, Denver 93-96, Jacksonville 97-99, and Baltimore 2000-2001). He retires with 531 tackles and 47 sacks, along with a reputation as a nasty run-stuffing middle man. DE John Bosa, the Texas Outlaws all time sack leader with 161 career sacks, is retiring. Bosa came into the league in 1987 with Pittsburgh but made a name for himself after signing with Texas in 1994. DE Bruce Smith, known for his years with the Buffalo Bills, retires from the game after 2 seasons in Atlanta. While the Fire have been a pretty horrible franchise these past two seasons, Smith has provided a spark, recording 36 sacks in his 2-year USFL career. THUNDER PROPOSE STAYING PUT AND BUILDING The Portland Thunder have made it official, the bid they have approved and sent to the league office for review and hopeful ratification by league vote is one which would keep the franchise in the Rose City. Thunder officials spoke with the Oregonian this week and announced that the bid which has been proposed is that of Bernard Ebbers, a telecom multimillionaire originally from Canada, and Phil Ruffin, a Las Vegas casino and real estate developer. The plan would call for the Thunder to remain at Civic Stadium short term, but would propose a $500M stadium project to be co-sponsored by private ownership, sale of season ticket licenses, and public funds of up to $200M. The planned stadium would be built on the east side of the city, not far from downtown, but would depend on a range of city officials and offices agreeing to the site as well as the cost. $200M is certainly a significant sum, but far less than the original plans proposed by the current ownership, which would have asked the city to pay for a much larger share of the stadium construction. The League Offices in New York, will now conduct extensive reviews of the bid and the financial stability of the ownership group, which also includes former MLB baseball player Dave Kingman as well as at least 8 other minority share owners. If the proposal passes mustard, then it moves on to the next league wide owners meeting (either October or December) for approval. Since a relocation is not in the offing, a decision does not need to be rushed and the transfer of ownership can be accomplished at any point during the winter or even mid-season. Fans in Portland seem overjoyed by the prospect of this bid beating out the competitive bid of the Boston Colonials Football Group, a well-funded ownership LLC that is looking to bring a club to Boston College’s Alumni Stadium. Local sports radio in Portland was overwhelmingly behind the bid, even with a grassroots public buyout option still technically on the table that would have given fans a chance to become partial owners of hte club, as familiarized with the Green Bay Packers. That project simply did not get all its ducks in a row in time to be a serious contender, and of the other two options it seems clear that for fans of football in Oregon, the option to keep the team in town was certainly going to be a more popular one. The question now, if the bid is approved, is whether or not fans truly understand the concept of personal seat licenses, which essentially force you to pay twice to obtain season tickets, a PSL for the right to buy tickets and then the tickets themselves. But, if it keeps the Thunder in Portland, and helps the city finance a suitablly modern and well-appointed stadium, it seems a tradeoff that many Portlanders would be happy to make. . Two games to decide who will be at Soldier Field in 2 weeks for Summer Bowl 2001. We have the top seed in the east, Orlando, taking on the upstart Philadelphia Stars, the 6 seed. In the West it is Denver, the defending champion, hoping to repeat, the first time in league history if it happens, but facing the unpredictable Arizona Wranglers. Arizona upset the top seed out West, Los Angeles, by essentially going against character and playing a game-shortening combination of slow play running game and stout defense. Will they go that route against Denver or try to speed up the tempo? Denver is more than happy to play the slow plodding game, as their run game is one of the league’s best, but could struggle if they end up in a high scoring shootout with Jake Plummer and the Wranglers. Orlando is hoping that their top rated defense has an answer for Philadelphia. The Stars can mix run and pass very effectively, and if Bobby Hebert is on his game, he can help create even when plays go south. A lot will be on Chris Doleman to pursue, harass, and rattle Hebert and give Orlando the chance to disrupt any momentum the Stars have after winning 4 in a row (including 2 playoff games). For the Stars, the key on defense is to get Orlando behind on the scoreboard and see if they can make them one dimensional. Orlando is most dangerous when they can get contributions from both the run and pass game. On the rare occasions when opponents have been able to shut down Terry Kirby and the rushing attack, the Renegades have struggled to live by the pass. But, as we noted, that has proven hard to accomplish as Coach O’Leary has proven effective at keeping opposing defenses off balance through a strong screen game along with play action, inside and outside runs. OUR PICKS: We think the most fun in Summer Bowl 2001 would be to have the defending champs trying for the repeat against the lone #1 seed left and one of the season’s best teams, so we are going to go for that. Orlando and Denver in the title game.

Three out of four for a Wild Card weekend is not bad at all. Three games that were close throughout, two ending in road team victories, and one blowout, actually a shutout. And while fans of New Orleans likely did not enjoy this weekend, those everywhere else at least got their money’s worth out of the weekend. It was a disappointing end for a very good season in New Jersey, a playoff run cut short by injury in St. Louis, and an end of year slump fully confirmed by a club on an end of year hot streak. So, basically, playoff football. HEBERT HEROICS FOIL THE FEDS PHI 20 WSH 13 The Philadelphia Stars, who needed to win their final two games of the season and get help from other results came into Washington confident, while the Federals, losers of three straight, which cost them the division crown, did not, so it is no wonder that with the score tied at 13 with 3:02 left to play and the ball in Philadelphia’s hands, there were a lot of anxious folks in Kelly green at RFK, and with good right. Bobby Hebert did what he is known for, finding a way, as he led the Stars on a 2-minute drill and found little-used TE Mondriel Fulcher on a bootleg throw with only 24 seconds to play to crush the spirits of the Federal faithful. Hebert, who went 22 of 34 on the day threw both of his touchdowns in the 4th quarter as a 6-6 game after 3 quarters finally showed some life. Hebert had hit his starting TE Marcus Pollard with a scoring toss to open the quarter, only to have Washington equalize with a J.J. Stokes TD at the 3 minute mark, but three minutes was more than enough time for the Stars to avoid overtime and secure the win. In a game where defense ruled, it was the Stars, led by 11 tackles from LB Quentin Caver and 2 sacks from Regan Upshaw, who prevailed. Philly will now move on to face the top seeded Orlando Renegades. GOLD SHUT OUT BREAKERS IN DOMINANT FASHION DEN 22 NOR 0 The Denver Gold limited New Orleans to only 43 yards rushing and got solid games from both Rashaan Salaam (73 yards) and Mark Brunell (19 of 27 for 211 yards as they slowly built their way to a dominant 22-0 win at home. The Breakers could not get much going at all against Denver’s defense, with Trent Dilfer throwing four picks in an error-filled game. Bruce Pickens nabbed two errant Dilfer passes, including the first passing play of the game, and the Breakers did not get inside the Denver 40 once all game in a dominant performance from the Gold defense. The 2nd quarter was the turning point as a 3-0 lead ballooned to 19-0, thanks to a 49-yard Brunell to Robinson TD toss, a Salaam TD run (missed PAT) and a late field goal. Down 3 scores at the half, New Orleans had to turn to the passing game, and Dilfer simply was horrible on this day, leading to 3 of 5 possessions in the second half ending with an interception. Denver now moves on to face a tough road game in Chicago. SHULER POSITIONS SHOWBOATS FOR LATE GAME WINNING KICK MEM 19 NJ 17 Down one with 1:45 left to play the Showboats turned to Heath Shuler to pull out a win at home and the former MVP delivered. Both New Jersey and Memphis had balanced tough defense with the occasional big play all game, but in crunch time Shuler did what was needed to drive the ball into field goal range for kicker Jeff Hall, and Hall delivered a 53-yard dagger to the heart of General fans. Tom Brady and Curtis Enis had played well for the Generals, who took a 17-16 lead on a Neil Rackers kick only 1:22 earlier, but they left too much time on the clock for a veteran Showboats squad. Shuler, who had thrown touchdowns earlier in the game to TE Adrian Cooper and HB Garrison Hearst, only needed to get close enough for Hall, and with 2 timeouts in his pocket, he did not rely on sideline throws to do it. Rookie Justin McCaerins, who would finish the day with 7 catches for 122 yards, was big in the final minutes as the Generals opted to double cover Joe Horn and devote resources to keeping Cooper under wraps. In the final drive, Shuler connected with McCaerins 3 times for 33 yards before setting up Hall with a toss over the middle to fullback Larry Centers. For New Jersey a tough end to a very promising season. For Memphis, a step towards their goal to return to the Summer Bowl. The next step will be a visit to Columbus to face the Ohio Glory. EIGHT TOUCHDOWN PASSES HIGHLIGHT WILD GAME IN ST. LOUIS ARI 31 STL 28 Knight fans had to know it would be a challenge to defeat the high flying game of Jake Plummer and the Wranglers without QB Todd Collins or Ahman Green on the field. With Rob Johnson not exactly inspiring confidence, the St. Louis faithful had to hope that Coach Jim Johnson could find a way to bring out the best in the often-erratic QB. Johnson focused on protection and trying to avoid long 3rd down asks. He largely succeeded, with the QB derisively dubbed “He Sack Me” only going down once and connecting on 4 touchdowns in the game (2 to Emmanuel and one each to Amani Toomer and Reggie Young). Yet despite the success of St. Louis’s offensive plan, aided by George Layne’s 90 yards on the ground, the Knights could not squelch Arizona’s offensive game. Yes, they limited Jake Plummer to only 1 yard rushing, itself quite a feat for any team, but in so doing they did leave passing lanes open and Plummer found holes in the zones, to the tune of 21 of 29 passing, 289 yards, and 4 touchdowns. Santana Moss, the speedy rookie, was on the receiving end of two of those, including a 48-yarder that helped Arizona build a 24-7 lead as the 3rd quarter opened. St. Louis would rally, but a 4th quarter OJ Santiago TD catch put the game out of reach at 31-21 with only minutes to play. Johnson managed to put another score on the board in the waning seconds of the game, but it was too little as Arizona recovered the onside kick and took a knee to end the game with the road W. The Wranglers now move on to face top seeded Los Angeles, while Knights fans wait for the dreaded news of their franchise’s sale, and very likely relocation, a very bitter end to a season indeed. Looking ahead to the Divisional Round, injuries remain a potential concern for each of the 8 remaining playoff team. Starting with Arizona-LA, we have two new Wranglers listed as questionable, with DE Greg Walker dealing with a shoulder injury and TE Matt Cushing a pinched nerve. LA opens their playoffs with TE Aaron Shea out (hamstring), CB and league leading return man Wendell Davis doubtful (arm), and guard Matt Saaveea potentially out due to post-concussion concerns. In Chicago the Machine will e without CB Jimmy Hitchcock (shoulder) and could also miss SS Anthony Prior and center Greg Huntington, both “doubtful” for the game. Denver has ruled out LB Dat Nguyen, and has both CB Deral Boykin (finger) and guard Tony Boyd (foot) as questionable. In the MEM-OHIO game, the Showboats avoided major issues this week, but still have Raheem Abdullah and CB Terrance Shaw out. DE Dameaion Jeffries is a potential return to action. For Ohio tackle Jerry Wunsch is out (back) and CB Jason Webster is likely a game time decision as he deals with rib issues. Finally, in the Orlando-Philadelphia game, the Stars come to the Citrus Bowl without SS Larry Wigham (wrist), but with the possibility that wideout Bobby Engram could return from his wrist injury. For Orlando, the big issue is DE Israel Ifeanyi, out with an ACL, as is CB Fernando Bryant (hernia). Donald Driver is questionable, but safety Myron Guyton did practice this week and is listed as probable. ST. LOUIS SEEKS TO STALL SALE The City of St. Louis seems to have finally come around to the idea that they have a USFL team, at least officially. After years of treating the Knights as an add-on to the use of the Trans World Dome by the NFL Rams, the city is now reacting to the expected sale of the USFL club to an outside investor who very likely seeks to move the team. Local officials have been clamoring since the news of a bid being accepted by the club came out to try to call for measures to sweeten the lease the Knights have in the facility they share with the Rams. It seems unlikely that any deal would keep the club in place, as it is almost certainly a relocation-minded outside investor that has secured the preferred spot among bidders for the sale of the Knights. Talk of tax breaks and a better split of revenue between the Dome and the club would have been helpful for the Knights in past years, but seem unlikely to persuade the potential buyer, or the league which must approve the sale, from moving on with a potential relocation. While we still do not know which bidding group has been provided to the league as the chosen option for the sale of James Orthwein’s share of the club, it seems clear that it is one of several groups intent on bringing USFL football to their city, with Dallas, Miami and Nashville the most vocal groups in the relocation quest. RAY RHODES RENEWED Despite a season-ending loss that kept Portland from a playoff spot, Coach Ray Rhodes is being recognized for a much-improved Thunder squad and a season that showed promise. Rhodes received a 2-year extension on his contract this week after taking Portland to 7-9 after an absolutely abysmal 1-15 season in 2000. The leap was a big one, and the club showed improvement on both sides of the ball, with Akili Smith throwing for nearly 4,000 yards (3,966) and the defense faring much better against the run than in recent memory. Portland still has some issues to address, but the 6-game improvement from 2000 to 2001 is certainly a sign they are on a better path. SEARCHES LEAD TO INTERVIEWS Coaching searches in Atlanta and Pittsburgh began this week with the first interviews of the offseason as both clubs look to turn around their fortunes. Atlanta’s franchise is up for sale, which does complicate the process as any coach who takes the position will have to understand that a new owner could easily opt to go a different direction, so a 2002 contract could be a one-and-done proposition. A lot more stability in Pittsburgh, where the emphasis seems to be, at least from ownership statements to the press, that a return to fundamental football, and an offense centered around HB Terrell Davis, is the plan. Pittsburgh brought in the first of what are expected to be 3 candidates this week, former Boston College and Philadelphia Stars head man Jack Bicknell. Since being released by the Stars after the 1992 season, Bicknell has found success first as an offensive coordinator at Temple and Duke, and the past two years as OC and Assistant Head Coach with the Tennessee Copperheads in the NFL. Bicknell is a run-first, preach balance, offensive coach, also known as a good developer of line talent, which makes sense for Pittsburgh. The Maulers are also said to be interviewing both Orlando’s defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin and Denver OC Turk Schonert for the position, but cannot schedule either for a final interview as long as both clubs are active in the USFL playoffs. Atlanta could go either way on a new coach, seeking offensive punch or defensive fortitude. With a sale pending, the expectation is that this will be a coach happy to get their first shot as a Head Coach, the one motivation that would push someone to take a risk that their position could last only 1 year, depending on the sale of the club. Top candidates include NY Giants OC John Fox, who began his coaching career in the USFL with the Express, Memphis OC Tom Moore, a Jim Mora Sr. protégé, or they may go to the defensive side with either Monte Kiffin (a popular name after a strong season in Orlando) or LA Express DC Gregg Williams. All four have conducted phone interviews, but only Fox is available now to speak with the Fire, a standing that will close by the end of August when the NFL-USFL transfer window closes and the NFL season is locked in. MULLING IT OVER Reports out of Michigan have Doug Flutie contemplating retirement rather than moving on to a third USFL club for 2002. Flutie, who entered the league in 1985 as the third straight Heisman Winner to opt for the spring league, played his first nine seasons in New Jersey before a youth movement led to his trade to the Panthers. Despite being too old for New Jersey in 1995, the diminutive playmaker has played 6 more seasons for the Panthers, having very productive years, including a 40-touchdown, 4,900 yard season in 1998. This year Flutie again found himself dealing with a youth movement as 1st round pick Drew Brees was given the nod after only 3 weeks. Flutie would start only 1 more game this year, the season finale, a tough 42-35 loss Texas in which Flutie threw for 316 yards and scrambled for another 78. One of the early stars of the league, and always a fan favorite, Flutie has a legitimate shot at being added to the USFL’s Hall of Fame class of 2006 if he were to retire this year. He would leave the game as the league’s all time leader in attempts (8142), completions (5151) and yards (54,369), all due to a long career as a starter. He is also #1 in interceptions with 253 in his career, but is 4th in league history with 357 TDs, behind only Aikman, Kelly, and Brett Favre. Four playoff games down, four on the docket for this week’s divisional matchups. It’s Division Winners vs. Wild Card victors in this week’s games. Who do we like? Well, read on and find out. MEMPHIS (10-6) @ ORLANDO (12-4) Saturday @ 3pm ET Citrus Bowl Stadium A battle of southern powerhouses and a rematch from a Week 16 game that really did not show us much. The Showboats faced off against the Renegades in the season’s final week and handily defeated Orlando 38-17, but the Renegades club they faced that day did not feature about half of the regular starters. No Mitchell, no Kirby, no McCardell, and Chris Doleman played only 1 quarter before being subbed. So, hard to get any useful scouting out of that game. What we know is that both clubs have quality on both sides of the ball, with Orlando the #1 club in both points and yards allowed, a killer defense to be sure, but also the #6 scoring offense, thanks to a lot of short fields to work with. Memphis has the 2nd rated scoring offense (#3 in yards) with most of that coming from the arm of Heath Shuler. Joe Horn had a monster year as well with 1,457 yards. The defense is solid, ranked 7th in scoring, but will give up yardage (15th in yards per game.) OUR PICK: It has been hard to go against the Renegades all year. They are good up and down the lineup and in all phases. We are going to go with them, home field, and a week of rest in this one. Orlando wins 31-24. DENVER (11-5) @ CHICAGO (12-4) Saturday @ 8pm ET Soldier Field About as even as a divisional game can get with the #3 seed facing a #2 seed only 1 win better over the course of the season. These two also have met once before this year, with Denver getting the win in Chicago, 23-12. Denver lives and dies by the run game, with both Rod Smart and Rashan Salaam having strong years. Salaam sat out 4 games due to a suspension or he likely would be among the league leaders in rushing, though his per game average has dipped from 2000 to 2001, largely due to the increased use of Smart, who earned a spot during the suspension and finished the year only 90 yards behind Salaam with 794 yards rushing. Chicago makes their hay on defense, where they are 2nd in the league in points allowed. But, that said, it is their pass defense that gets them that ranking. The Machine have had issues with strong running backs, losing not only to Denver, but also to Ricky Williams and the Breakers, their only loss in the past 7 games. On offense Chicago relies on Duce Staley to keep defenses honest. Jeff George can be effective if the play action game is working. OUR PICK: We think Chicago can get rushing yards in this one, can give Jeff George time in the pocket, and can make use of home field to edge, and we do mean barely, the Gold. Chicago 21-20. PHILADELPHIA (9-7) @ OHIO (11-5) Sunday @ 12pm ET Ohio Stadium It took Philadelphia two end-of-year wins to just make the playoffs, and they got a slumping Federals club in the Wild Card round, but this week will be a much bigger challenge. Ohio comes in as the #1 scoring offense, with the league’s top passing attack (nearly 350 yards a game). They have talent across that offense, with MVP Kerry Collins leading the show, but are stacked, with Eddie George behind Collins and the deadly combo of Joey Galloway and Chad Johnson outside. Ohio’s obvious weakness is defense, where they rank dead last in the league in yards allowed (406 a game, oof!!). If Philadelphia is going to win, they are going to have to take advantage of that defense, and particularly use balance to hold the ball, not rush drives, and keep Ohio’s wide open offense off the field. That is a tall order. Earlier this year Ohio put up 42 on the Stars. OUR PICK: We think Ohio can find the plays they need and will simply outpace the Stars in this one. Glory wins 35-24. ARIZONA (8-8) @ LOS ANGELES (13-3) Sunday @ 4pm ET Farmers Insurance Field Another tough matchup of the 6th seed against the top seed. That does not often bode well for the lower seed. The Wild Card however, and he is absolutely a Wild Card, is Jake Plummer. All you have to do is look back to week 6, when Arizona took it to LA in Tempe, winning their only matchup of the season 41-14. In that game Plummer scrambled and sprinted to 79 yards rushing and 2 TDs while also throwing for 201 and 2 scores. It was LA’s worst defensive game of the year. And that is the question. Was it an aberration for the league’s #3 rated scoring defense or is Plummer the Express’s kryptonite? If the Wranglers are going to pull off a 6-over-1 upset of the Express, that is where it has to happen. OUR PICK: It is a lot to ask of one man. We think too much. LA figures out how to contain Plummer. Express win 21-17.

Playoff Seeding: EAST-- 1 ORL 2 OHIO 3 WSH 4 MEM 5 NJ 6 PHI WEST-- 1 LA 2 CHI 3 DEN 4 STL 5 ARZ 6 NOR

Hey everyone, an editor's note before we get to the final regular season recap for 2001. Over the next two weeks I may have very few or even no posts to the league site. This is not a sign that the project is done, and I apologize if this delays the playoff reporting, but I will be intensively dealing with my day job, traveling, working long hours, and trying to work from a chromebook, so the only way I can simulate results is if the VPN and VMWare works really well and I can log into my home computer and use the simulation remotely. So, maybe I can get thorugh the playoffs in these 2 weeks, maybe not. What I can promise you is that the project is not over and that the period between 2002 and 2010 is going to be full of storylines, including how the USFL deals with 9/11, Katrina, the 2008 recession, and a lot of franchise news in an age of instability due to a lot of issues that come up in the 2000's. It is worth sticking around for, so thanks for all your support, comments, suggestions, and interest. Expect even more opportunities to participate as we move forward. And now, on to the big news out of Week 16. A huge final week of the year as Philadelphia and New Orleans get key wins to oust Baltimore and Portland from playoff position and claim the final Wild Card spots. Washington is upset and Ohio takes advantage to earn the Atlantic crown and a bye week. We have league award winners, some immediate retirements following the final games of the year, and perhaps the quietest Black Monday in recent memory. It's Week 16 in the USFL, and that means a lot to talk about. Let's get to it. It was a game that started off as a battle of potential also-rans, but as this game happened simultaneously with the Portland-LA game, the later we got into the game, and the more it was obvious that LA was demolishing the Thunder, both the Gamblers and the Breakers realized that this was actually a playoff game. With Portland’s loss the winner of this matchup would leapfrog them into the 6th and final Western Playoff Spot. By the time the Thunder-Express game got to the half, about 10 minutes before the Breakers-Gamblers got there, it was 28-10 Los Angeles, and the Astrodome started to buzz. Both teams saw the score on the big screen and both put their games into win-&-in mode. It was a sight to see. The game had been a good one from the beginning, with the teams swapping scores. Houston took their first drive all the way to pay dirt, with Matt Hasselbeck hitting TE Dan Campbell for an opening score. New Orleans responded with a big 28 yard screen play for a TD as Ricky Williams plowed over Houston DBs on his way to the endzone. Houston then finished off the first quarter with Koren Robinson snagging Matt Hasselbeck’s second TD pass. LA was up 7-3 on Portland at this point. Midway through the 2nd quarter New Orleans tied the game at 14 with a James Bostic TD and as the quarter wound down, and LA’s lead increased, the Gamblers pulled ahead again with a late Chris Boniol field goal. During halftime both coaches told their players not to watch the scoreboard because the only game that mattered was the one they were playing, but it was clear that as LA piled on points against the Thunder, both the Gamblers and the Breakers knew that this game would be a playoff game for a Wild Card spot. Trent Dilfer, who would throw for 302 yards and 4 scores, opened the 2nd half with a 19-yard touchdown to Raynard Brown. Houston pulled to within one on their next drive with another Boniol field goal, but their settling for field goals was costing them. When Dilfer hit Brown again, this time a 35-yard strike, Houston was now down 8 points. When Lin Elliott’s field goal in the 4th pulled that lead to 11, Houston knew they would need a TD, a 2-point PAT and a field goal to tie. They got the first two with 2:57 left in the game, a Hasselbeck to Robinson touchdown toss, and a swing pass to the pylon for 2 points from Kevin Faulk. With almost 3 minutes left Houston opted to kick the ball deep and trust their defense. New Orleans ran on 1st down, gaining 2, but then surprised Houston with a play action pass on 2nd and 8. Dilfer connected with TE Steve Johnson, gaining 9 yards and a first down. That was the beginning of the end for Houston’s chances. New Orleans ran on three straight plays, and Houston ran out of time outs after 2nd down. The Breakers would have to punt, but it would likely be the last play of the game. New Orleans punted, Houston’s Faulk called for a fair catch and there was one tick of the clock left, but it would need to be a 65-yard pass to reach the endzone. Matt Hasselbeck is not Brett Favre. His arm is not going to make that throw. So, Houston tried for a bit of trickeration. On the final play of the game Hasselbeck threw a hook route to Koren Robinson, who tossed the ball back to Kevin Faulk. Faulk advanced the ball another 5 yards, before getting hit by the safety. He tried to toss the ball back to Antonio Freeman, but it took an odd bounce, and that created a dogpile. The ball would not advance any further. With LA crushing Portland, the 31-28 score meant that the New Orleans Breakers, who had suffered a 6-game losing streak from weeks 9-14, would, thanks to 2 season-ending wins in their division, would eke into the playoffs at 7-9. Portland would be out, and Houston would drop to 6-10. POR 17 LA 52 Portland was one win from a surprise playoff season. LA had benched several of its key players, but it was the Express with a dominant win. Rookie QB Quincy Carter got the start, went 12 of21 with a TD, but the day belonged to the LA run game. Antowain Smith crossed 1,000 yards for the year with 116 in this game, along with 3 TDs. Backup Maurice Smith added another 81 and 2 more scores as Portland simply collapsed on run defense. The loss dumped them to 7-9 and out of the playoffs. PHI 27 BAL 20 The Stars ended the season with 2 straight win, including this key game, and that got them the final playoff spot in the East, bumping Baltimore from the postseason in the process. Despite 123 yards from Ron Dayne, Philly got the job done, with Bobby Hebert connecting with Troy Brown twice and rookie Steve Smith for a 3rd TD to pull out the game and clinch a postseason appearance. WSH 19 NJ 27 Washington’s 3 game losing streak dropped them from the division title and into the Wild Card round. New Jersey’s win here showed that they are ready for the playoffs, though they will still be on the road next week. It was the Generals’ defense that came up big in this one, picking off Kordell Stewart 3 times and giving Tom Brady short fields to work with. PIT 28 OHIO 31 It was not easy, but Ohio pulled out the win thanks to 116 yards from Joey Galloway and an effective use of Eddie George in the passing game (133 yards and a score through the air). The win, coupled with Washington’s loss gives Ohio the Atlantic Division title and a bye week, their first division title as a franchise. MEM 38 ORL 17 Orlando did not rest starters, but they did seem to play a vanilla game on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile Memphis came out hot, with Heath Shuler throwing the ball for 362 yards and 4 scores as the Showboats locked up the #4 seed and a home game in the Wild Card round. It was Orlando up 17-14 at the half, but the second half was all Memphis and that was the difference in the game. Orlando had already locked up home field so we were all surprised that they had Mitchell, Doleman, and Kirby in the game, but they did play nearly all 4 quarters. BIR 28 JAX 35 Results during the 12 Noon games were not going Birmingham’s way, and that, in the end, as much as the Bulls’ efforts, seemed to take the wind out of their sails. Jacksonville built up a 28-14 lead after 3 quarters and even two late Favre TD passes could not bring Birmingham back as they finish a disappointing 8-8 and out of playoff contention. ATL 11 TBY 21 Tampa Bay did their part to finish at 9-7, but they lose out to Philadelphia on tiebreakers, so it was to no avail. They won despite Errict Rhett having to sit out with an ankle injury, though it did not hurt that Atlanta started Spence Fisher, perhaps in an effort to show his talents before an offseason when we expect the QB to be on the trading block. STL 0 CHI 13 The big news out of this game was the injury to Todd Collins. Collins came up lame on a scramble (he is not a scrambler) and that hamstring injury hamstrung the Knights. Of greater concern is the very real possibility that ineffective backup Rob Johnson may have to start next week in the Wild Card round. That is definitely not good news for St. Louis fans who are already deeply worried that this playoff game could be the last for the Knights in St. Louis (more on that below). OAK 31 ARZ 28 Arizona had nothing to gain with a win, nothing to lose with a loss, and that sort of showed in how they played. Yes, Jake Plummer was Jake Plummer, with 83 yards rushing to go with 365 yards passing, but the defense gave up 375 total yards, including 137 on the ground to the usually anemic Oakland run game. Three turnovers (including 2 picks by Plummer) did not help either. SEA 27 DEN 30 Denver rested Brunell as expected, but backup Elvis Grbac did enough to help the Gold win the game, throwing 3 TDs as the Gold moved their record to 11-5 and the #3 seed. They will be at home next week in the Wild Card range. Seattle finished the season a very disappointing 5-11 and with a lot of questions to answer this offseason. TEX 42 MGN 35 The only game with no playoff importance this week turned out to be a pretty fun game to watch. Michigan gave Doug Flutie the start, perhaps again, hoping to increase his trade value, and Flutie came through with 316 yardsin the air and 78 yards rushing, mostly on improvised scrambles. Texas countered with TDs from Detson, Barlow, Query and Alford. Both clubs finish with 10+ losses (Michigan with 13) and the Pontiac Silverdome was somewhat cavernous with only 13,403 on hand for this one, but the game was entertaining throughout, with Texas getting the win on a TD with only 1:32 left to play. The seeds are set, the teams finalized, and we know what we are getting next week. It will be the 7-9 New Orleans Breakers traveling to Denver to face one of the best home field advantages in football. 9-7 St. Louis, likely without Todd Collins, will host the up and down Arizona Wranglers in the other Western Wild Card game. In the East, Philadelphia, who needed 2 wins and help to get to the playoffs now head to Washington to face a familiar divisional foe. Memphis will host New Jersey in perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the week. Resting and healing we have top seeds Orlando and Los Angeles and second seeds Ohio and Chicago. BLACK MONDAY As expected we had a non-event on Monday following the close of the season with no coaches let go. Prior to Sunday’s game the one team that some suspected might go a new direction, Oakland, confirmed that Dom Capers would receive a 3rd year. Jacksonville’s late surge to 7-9 meant Gunther Cunningham would get another year, and the only other team that could potentially change leaders was low-end Wild Card team Arizona with Art Shell, so we knew that if it was coming for Shell it would not be this week. With Pittsburgh’s Emmitt Thomas and Atlanta’s Bobby Petrino already ousted the only real news was that Atlanta would not commit to retaining either of their interim coaching team, and that Pittsburgh stated they would have an open search for a new coach. So, the quietest Black Monday in a long time was not a shocker. LEAGUE AWARDS The league, with its new voting system for league awards, released the season award winners on Wednesday, in advance of the playoffs. Voting was conducted over the past month, designed to remove the late bias that a playoff win or loss could have on final voting. So, we have our league award winners and congratulations to each. MVP: Congratulations to Ohio QB Kerry Collins. The split of votes between Collins and Shuler never developed and Collins came in well ahead of Phil Hansen (2nd) and Shuler (3rd). Ohio has been an offensive powerhouse all year, with Collins at the helm. He finished the year first in the league with 5,466 yards and 51 touchdowns, highlighted by 5 games in which he threw 4 or more touchdowns, including a huge one against Tampa Bay (6 TDs in Week 15) that may have put him over the top. Well deserved, and now fans in Ohio get a week to prepare for the Glory’s first Divisional playoff game. Offensive POTY: Wideout Terry Glenn of New Jersey pulled in the OPOTY thanks to his league leading 1,762 yards. He also finished 4th in receptions with 109 and 2nd in TDs with 17, all with an untested QB at the helm. Glenn is preparing for a Wild Card game that few thought New Jersey would earn in Coach Parcells’ first year, and we know the Memphis secondary is going to focus on him as the Generals’ most dangerous weapon. Defensive POTY: It’s a clean sweep for New Jersey as, to no one’s surprise, Phil Hansen picks up the award. Twenty eight sacks this year put him one below the league record. Add into this the fact that he has grown into an effective run defender as well, with 76 tackles on the season, and it is clear to see that the future first ballot HOF defensive end was a force to reckon with all season. Rookie CB Fred Smoot of Arizona beat out LB Broderick Thomas for 2nd in the voting on the heels of an 8 interception debut season. Rookie of the Year: It is surprising on the one hand that Smoot did not receive ROTY, but defenders rarely do (Hansen was an exception back in his first season). It came down to a battle between HB Deuce McCallister of Washington and WR Chad Johnson of Ohio, and Johnson won this one pulling away. Despite lining up opposite Joey Galloway, it was Johnson who finished the year as the team’s top receiver, raking in 61 receptions to Galloway’s 42, 1,355 yards to Galloway’s 1,287, and snagging only 1 fewer TDs, 11 to Galloway’s 12. Yes, Galloway missed 3 games with an injury, but Johnson proved just as effective as a #1 receiver during this time than in his role as the #2 man in the rest of the season. Coach of the Year: While arguments could be made for Chicago’s Marty Mornhinweg, Ohio’s Al Luginbill, or Orlando’s George O’Leary, the first year of Coach Bill Parcells in New Jersey was such a prime time performance, with the Generals far exceeding expectations, and Parcells is such a known commodity and media darling that you had to know it would go to the Big Tuna. In his first year with the team, Parcells took New Jersey from 3-13 to 10-6, all with an unknown backup QB at the helm for 15 of 16 weeks. He improved a defense that had been 19th in yardage in 2000 up to 7th in 2001, and built an offense around Curtis Enis, Terry Glenn, and young Tom Brady. Perhaps more importantly for the Generals, he made them a hot ticket in Giants Stadium. After several years of finishing well behind the Jets and Giants in media attention, the Generals’ Cinderella rise from the basement to prominence made news, drew in fans, and created a media darling in plucky QB Brady. RETIREMENTS Just a few days out of the regular season and we already have several retirements of note to report. Always tough to say goodbye to players we have come to respect, but retirement is a part of every year. Here are the early announcements that will have their teams scrambling to find solutions for their absence in 2002: Portland guard Stan Parker calls it a career at 37. A staple of the Thunder line for years, Parker is the last player on the roster to have started with the team in their 1 season as the San Antonio Gunslingers. A 1987 draft pick, he started all 16 games that year and retires with a whopping 181 starts under his belt. Seattle LB J.D. Fuller retires after nearly 20 years in football. Fuller came to the league as a rookie in 1984 with the Federals, played with Washington, Orlando and Seattle, and retires with a career total of 1,146 tackles and 59 sacks. Sadly, injuries kept him from playing more than sporadically these past two seasons and both time and physical wear and tear made it time to retire. Atlanta LB Johnny Holland leaves the game after 15 seasons in the league. Holland played for Houston, Jacksonville, and Atlanta over his long career, racking up 1,087 tackles, 43 sacks and 15 interceptions. He was named a 2nd team All-USFL player in 1993 and won two titles, both with Houston. TE Butch Rolle, known for red zone domination that gave him 66 career touchdowns, retired from the Michigan Panthers after 16 seasons in Pontiac. A fan favorite, Rolle was always a clutch target on third down and inside the red zone but never a huge yardage guy. He finished his career with 1,043 receptions for 10,405 yards and 66 touchdowns. And, of course, the big story out of the season’s early weeks, Troy Aikman’s retirement has been known for a while now, but still receives a lot of attention as battle with post-concussion traumas has brought the danger of brain injury to the attention of the nation. The Todd Collins injury would not be a big deal during the year, perhaps a 1-week absence, but when that one week is the first round of the playoffs, his hamstring is a huge issue. He is listed as Doubtful, which is better than “Out” but not what Knight fans want to see. Other key Wild Card week injuries include the following: ARZ: TE Matt Cushing is doubtful with a pinched nerve. DEN: The Gold will be without LB Dat Nguyen (out), CB Deral Boykin (out), and guard Tracy Boyd (out) MEM: DE Dameaion Jeffries is questionable, as is LB Jim Schwantz. Both game time decisions. NJ: CB Kenny Gales is doubtful, LB Bobby Houston is questionable but could play with his broken finger splinted. NOR: We know CB/KR Walt Harris is out. DT Chris Maumalanga is questionable as well. PHI: SS Larry Wigham is on IR and WR Bobby Engram is out again, so it will be Troy Brown stepping in. STL: In addition to the Collins injury, we still have Ahman Green as questionable, center Calvin Collins is out, as is DE Vonnie Holliday. Big news on both the sale of the St. Louis Knights and Portland Thunder. It is not official, but we have heard that both ownership groups have provided the league office with a single offer for final review and league approval. This is intriguing news on both fronts as this indicates that the process has moved further along than we anticipated. This could also be bad news at least for one city hoping to retain their team. Let’s briefly discuss both franchises. PORTLAND: We knew that Portland had 3 potential bids, with two retaining the club in the Rose City while the other would almost certainly include a proposal to relocate the club to Boston. We knew that the grassroots effort to develop community or public ownership through a localized IPO was nearly dead, so we do not expect that this would be the bid now being put forward for final review and approval. That means that it is either the proposal put forward by the Boston Colonials Group, looking to house the team at Boston College’s Alumni Stadium, or the proposal to retain the club in Portland and work towards a new city in Portland’s east side. We know what Thunder fans are hoping for, that the ownership group headed up by Canadian telecom executive Bernard Ebbers and Las Vegas real estate and casino magnate Phil Ruffin, is the bid under consideration. We know that both bids are well-financed, and we also know that current ownership has strong roots in Portland, so our guess is that they are pushing hard for the Ebbers-Ruffin bid to keep the team in the city. Of course, if a big part of the proposal is approval for a new stadium, that is in no way guaranteed, and that could be a major hangup, just as stadium issues have been a hangup for many past sales, including the case of the Boston Breakers and their inability to find a suitable home in Beantown. If, as is currently believed, the Colonials group has a deal in place with BC, that might indicate that they are the frontrunners. After all, the problems in Portland absolutely revolve around the size of Civic Stadium and the somewhat hostile attitude of many Portland residents to spending for a new stadium, despite the popularity of the Thunder. ST. LOUIS: The fact that the sale of James Orthwein’s majority share of the Knights has already found a buyer and that the bid is in for final review cannot be seen as good news for the Gateway City. Grassroots efforts to build up a bidding ownership group of local investors is still at its infancy, which means that any proposed bid would have to represent an outside party. In our investigations, there is no major outside party that has come forward with a bid that would keep the Knights in St. Louis. The ones we know were in talks with Orthwein all represented potential franchise relocation, to Dallas, Miami, or Nashville. So the most likely scenario here is that one of those three bids has been reviewed by Orthwein’s people and has been sent on to the league as the preferred option. While relocation will not be viewed positively by the league, and particularly for a league that has somewhat low representation in the Midwest region (only Chicago, Michigan, St. Louis, and, depending who you ask, Ohio) represent the MidWest, with no franchises in other hubs such as the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, or Kansas City. While a relocation to Dallas, Nashville or Miami would not necessarily mess up the plan to have the Knights share a division with New Orleans, Birmingham, and Memphis, there would be pressure to place a Miami franchise in the same division with the other 3 Florida teams, and a Dallas team in the same division with the other 2 Texas franchises. Both could be done, though both would be awkward. Regardless of the somewhat secondary issue of league alignment, there will be resistance to a move. The league likes St. Louis as a market, even with the Rams not being one of the NFL clubs that has worked well across the league divide. We also know that a move to Dallas will be opposed by the other 2 Texas clubs, a move to Miami will be opposed by all 3 Florida clubs, and a move to Nashville is likely to be opposed by Memphis, but also by Birmingham and Atlanta. In all 3 cases, competition for a broader, regional fanbase is impacted by a new franchise in proximity to existing teams. The biggest concern is likely for a Nashville franchise, as it is estimated that the Memphis Showboats draw no less than 15%, perhaps more, of their fanbase from the Nashville area and cities between the two locations. This dipped a bit from a high of around 27% when the NFL put a franchise in the state capital, drawing many Nashvillians away from the more distant Showboats and towards the Tennessee Copperheads who called Vandy and now Adelphia Stadium home. There is no doubt that Memphis will be impacted if the Knights are sold to a group that proposes a move to Nashville. Lesser impact to be sure, but still significant impact potential for the Stallions and Fire as well, and we could say the same were Dallas or Miami the preferred destination. The big news, regardless of the mystery of which bidder has been selected is that none of these options look like a good plan if St. Louis is going to remain a USFL city. That is going to make for a very weird playoff run for the Knights as fans will either be furious with the team or rally to support what may be their last hurrah in the city. Let’s take a look at the 4 Wild Card games on tap for next week as we get ready for playoff football. Philadelphia (9-7) @ Washington (10-6) RFK Stadium, Saturday @ 3pm ET Three weeks ago we would have given this one to the Federals with little pause, but the Stars have won two straight while the Federals have lost their last 3 games. That does not bode well for the home team here. This one could be ripe for a road upset. That said, the Feds still have the 4th ranked scoring defense and the 8th best scoring offense. Philly comes ranked 10th and 15th in those two categories. Our key to the game, can Stephen Davis get some good early yards and force Washington to respect the run. We think he can, and we are going to pick the upset. Philly by 3. New Orleans (7-9) @ Denver (11-5) Mile High Stadium, Saturday @ 8pm ET We really like the Gold here. They have only lost once in their last 8 games, a 3-point letdown in Jacksonville. And, to be honest, we are still not sure that New Orleans really belongs here at all. They pulled off big wins against Chicago and Houston to get here, but they are not looking particularly good on either defense or offense. Their 19th ranked run defense will be tested by Denver, to be sure. We are picking the Gold by 10. New Jersey (10-6) @ Memphis (10-6) Liberty Bowl Stadium, Sunday @ 12pm ET This one is a tough one to call. Good arguments can be made for either club. Memphis has not lost over the past month and have the 2nd best offense in the league, led by Heath Shuler’s amazing 5,040 yards passing. New Jersey are 2-2 over the final 4 weeks of the season, but have a very tough defense, the league’s best pass rusher, and an offense that can balance the pass and the run. This one is a true tossup, but if we have to give the edge, we give it to Phil Hansen’s ability to put pressure on Heath Shuler. Arizona (8-8) @ St. Louis (9-7) Trans World Dome, Sunday @ 4pm ET If both teams had their starting QB’s we would call this one another toss up game. But when it is Jake Plummer against Rob Johnson, and if Ahman Green is either out or not at 100% we just cannot see St. Louis mustering the offense to win this one. If, as suspected, this is their last game in St. Louis, expect the fans and the team to be energized, but we just don’t think that will be enough. We are going to pick Arizona in this one.

No room for error. That is the message this week. With playoff spots becoming harder to pin down, and a whole slew of teams within range but not secured, there are few games that don't have meaning for teams across the league, just how we like it. Did we just witness a possible Eastern Conference Championship preview? A lot of folks seem to think so as Orlando and New Jersey fought down to the final seconds. Both of these clubs look solid from top to bottom, and while that was expected for the Renegades, the fans in New Jersey have to be excited about a season going much better than anticipated, even with Orlando getting the edge in this one. Second year QB Tom Brady has been a revelation for the Generals, and he again showed a lot of poise as he faced down one of the league’s best pass rushes. He would finish the day with 278 yards passing on 26 of 38 attempts, throwing 2 touchdowns to 1 pick in the game. Across the field from Brady was veteran Scott Mitchell, the undisputed leader of the Renegade offense. Mitchell would win the day, completing 31 of 41 attempts for 279 yards and 3 scores without a pick. Neither team did well in the run game (Enis gained 64 yards, Kirby only 56) so it was on the defenses and the quarterbacks to win this one. New Jersey started off well in front of an enthusiastic 53,302 in the Meadowlands. They opened with a defensive stop on Orlando’s first possession, and followed that with an 11-play drive that put them on the board with a Curtis Enis 4-yard counter run to pay dirt. They would add more points, a Neil Rackers field goal on their next possession before Orlando would get their feet under them. But, Orlando was not going to take long to get back in this one. They closed out the first half with Scott Mitchell hitting Donald Driver for the first Renegade points of the day. Four minutes later, after a 3-and-out gave Orlando the ball in good field position, Orlando took the lead on a Mitchell to McCardell strike. But New Jersey was not done, not by a longshot. The Generals drew closer thanks to another Rackers kick, but the big play was a solid hit by LB Dwayne Rudd on Orlando back Amos Zeroue. Rudd forced the ball out of Zeroue’s grasp and it would eventually be covered up by All-USFL DE Phil Hansen. Three plays later Brady found Ahmad Merrit for a 3-yard TD toss and New Jersey was back on top 20-14. An Orlando drive fizzled on the New Jersey 40 to open the 3rd quarter and the Generals got the ball back and again took it down the field, this time Brady hit the league’s top receiver Terry Glenn with a 27-yard corner route to expand their lead to 27-14, and all looked good for the homestanding Generals. But Orlando is a veteran group and they don’t panic easy. Scott Mitchell closed out the 3rd quarter by connecting with Donald Driver for a 2nd time, cutting the New Jersey lead to a precarious 6 points. The two teams would then battle between the 20’s for most of the remainder of the game, at least until the 6-minute mark, when Orlando got the break they needed. Mitchell hit TE Ricky Dudley on a short 4-yard in route on a 3rd and 6, but LB Bobby Howard could not wrap up the big receiver, and he spun out of the defender’s grip and gained another 22 yards before he was finally brought down. The play sparked the Renegades, and 4 plays later Terry Kirby pounded the ball in from 2 yards out to put Orlando on top 28-27. Still, with over 3 minutes left, the defense would be called on to stymie the Generals and keep them out of field position. New Jersey started their 2-minute drill with 2:55 left to play, skipping the huddle and pushing the ball downfield with a series of 5-8 yard tosses on the edges of the field. Brady hit Glenn on a comeback, Johnson with an out route, Becht with a hook, and then Wayne Chrebet on an out from the slot. With 1:22 left, Brady had moved the Generals into field goal range, but there was time to go for more. And this is likely where Bill Parcells got ahead of himself. Rather than position the ball and kill clock with a couple of Enis runs, he called a play action pass to try to get within the 20. Becht, the intended target, was open, but the big paw of DT Pat Williams clipped the ball on its way over the line, and instead of finding the waiting hands of Becht, it fell right into the waiting arms of LB John Folston. Orlando had taken the ball, killed the drive, and in so doing, clinched the top spot in the conference. A tough day for the Generals, a tough way to lose, but there was a lot in the game to feel good about, that and a sense that this may not be the only time these two clubs meet up. We could easily see this as a key playoff game down the line. LA 29 SEA 20 The Express clinched the top seed in the West by knocking off Seattle in Husky Stadium (and getting a little help in New Orleans). Cade McNown threw for 331 and 2 scores and LB Barry Minter logged 13 tackles and a pick as the Express held Seattle at bay all game. CHI 24 NOR 28 The Express clinched in part because New Orleans refused to roll over for division champion Chicago. Trent Dilfer had a great game, throwing for 3 scores and 326 yards against a pretty solid Chicago D. Chicago hurt themselves with 9 penalties on the day, and just could not make the big play when it was needed. They still have the division and the bye, but home field goes through Los Angeles this year. ARZ 21 POR 37 Not a huge upset, but an upset nonetheless. Portland put themselves into a “win and you’re in” situation next week by knocking off the Wranglers at Civic Stadium. Jake Plummer was again forced to be nearly the entire Wrangler offense and gave up 2 picks in the effort, one a Joey Porter pick-six that helped Portland build a 31-14 lead after 3 quarters. Akili Smith connected early and often with Matthew Hatchette, who would finish the game with 145 yards and a score. Patrick Rowe also had a good game, scoring twice for the Thunder as Portland gets close to a possible playoff spot. DEN 30 OAK 27 OT Denver came close to being a 3rd victim of a trap game as Oakland forced them into overtime before a Jeff Wilkens 43-yarder earned the Gold the road win. Smart and Salaam combined for 153 yards rushing, but it was FB Heath Evans who got both rushing TDs in a game that saw Denver QB Mark Brunell knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury. Oakland QB Marques Tuiasosopo looked solid against the Gold defense, throwing for 227 and 2 scores, helped by Rodney Thomas’s 90 yards rushing. HOU 17 TEX 24 Houston could have pulled even with Portland, but the Texas Outlaws don’t care what the records are. This was a grudge match and Texas spoiled the day for their in-state rivals. Jeff Lewis connected with Brian Alford late in the game to give the home team a 24-10 lead and then Texas just slow-played the final minutes, giving up a TD to Antonio Freeman, but not leaving enough time for Houston to get another. Houston is not mathematically eliminated, but this one put them in a world of hurt come Week 16. MGN 9 STL 26 The Knights clinched a Wild Card thanks to a solid defensive performance. Drew Brees was limited to only 173 yards on the day and the Michigan run game gained only 69 total yards. Add in 3 fumbles and it is clear how this one got away from the Panthers. Bert Emmanuel was the main offensive weapon for St. Louis, bringing in 6 for 110 and a score. ATL 7 PHI 23 The Stars kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a much-needed win over the 1-14 Atlanta Fire. Stephen Davis rushed for 94 yards and Bobby Hebert connected on two scoring throws as the Stars pretty much owned this game all the way from the opening kickoff. BIR 23 PIT 33 A bad loss for Birmingham, knocking them out of a playoff position and putting pressure on for next week’s finale. Pittsburgh got a huge 179 yard, 2 TD game from Andre Rison, and their defense came up big as well, sacking Brett Favre 5 times on the day. The loss means Birmingham is tied with Philly and Memphis at 8-7, with no guarantee that even 9-7 will get them into the playoffs. JAX 29 WSH 21 Weird how Jacksonville has started to look like a much better team only after their playoff hopes were smashed. The Bulls win their 4th in the past 5 games after hitting a low point at 2-8. Jacksonville went on a weird tear in this game, scoring field goals on 5 consecutive drives without a Washington answer, moving the score from 14-14 to 29-14 over the course of a quarter and a half as they just kept trotting out Kris Brown to kick one after another. MEM 24 BAL 9 A big win for the Showboats as they sit in playoff position at 9-6. Win and they are in is the name of the game. The loss drops Baltimore to 9-6 but they still control their own destiny to earn a Wild Card. Memphis did it by loading the box and limiting Ron Dayne to only 35 yards on the day. Meanwhile Garrison Hearst found room on the outside repeatedly, ending the day with 97 yards and a 14-yard TD run. TBY 35 OHI 43 We end the week with a true shootout as Ohio clinch their playoff spot thanks to a 6-TD day from Kerry Collins. Collins found TE Steven Alexander and WR Joey Galloway twice each for scores, but also connected with Qadry Ismail (the forgotten man in the new Ohio offense) and HB Lamont Warren. Randy Moss and Chris Doering each caught 2 scores and both had over 130 yards for Tampa Bay, but it was not enough as the homestanding Glory got the W and the Wild Card that comes with it. AIR MILES GALORE If you needed any proof that the USFL is a passing league, just look at the QB numbers this year. Kerry Collins, with one game left on the schedule is already over 5,100 yards, though still well behind Troy Aikman’s 1998 record of 5,675. But he is not alone. There is a very reasonable chance that both Heath Shuler and Cade McNown could join him the very exclusive 5,000 yard club. Three 5,000 yard passers has only happened once before, that amazing 1998 season when Aikman, Leaf and Favre all crossed that threshold. We could also see 4 QBs pass the 40 touchdown threshold as well, with Collins and Shuler already there and both Favre and Trent Green sitting at 38 with one week left. Cade McNown is at 36, so 40 is not totally out of the question for him either. And this is not counting Jake Plummer’s 40 TDs, since 12 of those are rushing TDs in addition to his 28 scoring throws. Quite a year for the QB, but so is every year in the USFL. GROUND DELIVERY Another year and Herschel Walker’s rushing record seems safe once again. Pittsburgh’s Terrell Davis has a solid 1,401, but would need another 361 yards in Week 16 to tie Walker. We don’t see that happening, right? But this is not to say that this year has been bad for backs. There are already 8 rushers over 1,000 yards, including Ahman Green, Tiki Barber, Ron Dayne, Eddie George, Stephen Davis, Corey Dillon, and Errict Rhett. Curtis Enis, Terry Kirby and Ricky Williams should join them next week as each needs fewer than 30 yards to hit the 1,000 yard mark. Reggie Cobb can get there with another 37 yards and Antowain Smith with 97 more. That’s a lot of 1,000 yard backs for a passing league. COACHING HOTSEAT We are expecting a quieter than usual Black Monday next week. After all, Atlanta already fired their coach and with Emmit Thomas’s resignation in Pittsburgh, that is already 2 coaches down. Who else could be on the way out? Dom Capers has to be feeling the heat in his 2nd season with the Invaders. Three wins is not what the Invader ownership was hoping for this year, and 4 is not much better. Seattle had a bad year, without a clear and obvious reason like a wave of injuries. But, last year’s success likely protects Joe Tiller from this year’s surprise decline. We were worried about George Seifert’s security early in the year, but the Bandits came on strong, and they still have a legitimate playoff hope, so we don’t think George is on the outs right now. The strong 2nd half of the season could save a 2nd Floridian as Gunther Cunningham has the Bulls playing well. If they can finish 7-9, then that may just be enough for ownership to give him one more shot. If Arizona drop to 8-8, and especially if they bow out of the playoffs again in the 1st round, that may be enough for the Wranglers to look elsewhere. It would not be the first time a coach with a playoff bound team lost his job at the end of the year. One week to go and a lot still on the line. Here is what we know. Orlando is the #1 Seed in the East and the Southern Champion. Washington and Ohio are both in, but the final week could lead to a flip of the Glory and Feds in positioning. Out West LA has locked up the top seed and Chicago is the #2. Denver, Arizona, and St. Louis are all in. Portland can lock up the final spot with a win next week at the Express, who likely will rest some starters. A Portland loss and the next team up is, believe it or not, New Orleans. If the Breakers can win in Houston they take the final spot, if not, then Houston has a chance but depends on some tiebreakers to potentially edge past Portland, all this only if Portland loses. Back in the East again, all 3 teams at 9-6 are in with a win. New Jersey hosts Washington, Baltimore hosts Philadelphia, and Memphis visits Orlando, another club that very well could rest some key starters. If any of these teams lose, then there is hope for Tampa Bay, Birmingham, and Philly. The Stars, of course, have the most direct path, since they play Baltimore in a very big game at Aetna Stadium. Birmingham is in Jacksonville, where the Bulls have made a solid late season run. Tampa Bay is at home, facing the 1-14 Atlanta Fire, but they know that a win is not enough, they ideally need 2 of the 9-6 clubs to lose if they want into the postseason. A lot of big games this week, to be sure. Big games this week, and fortunately not a lot of big injuries to impede them. It’s week 15, so dings and bruises are typical, but we did not see any huge losses this week and that is good. Perhaps the biggest loss is in Denver where LB Dat Nguyen will likely miss the season finale but be back for the Wild Card round. Philly will be without Bobby Engram again, but no one new is out. Ahman Green remains out for St. Louis, and Orlando is without FS Myron Guyton for another week. Mark Brunell was injured in this week’s game for Denver but is expected to be back for the season finale. Heath Shuler is dealing with some bursitis in his non-throwing shoulder, but with the playoffs on the line we expect he will play. USFL TERRITORIAL SCHOOLS SELECTED This week the USFL held its selection process for each of the 24 franchises’ three territorial schools. As you will recall, the USFL ownership this year decided to return to a 5-round territorial draft to precede the open draft of college players in January. The T-Draft will occur 1 week prior to the open draft. Each club will be able to select up to 5 players from their 3 territorial schools and do have the option of trading away those picks just as they do with open draft picks. This week’s league action was for the GM’s of each of the franchise to participate in a school selection process to determine which three schools each club will draw from for the next 5 seasons. The rules were somewhat simple. Each team, in order of their combined record for the past 3 seasons (with the worst combined record first, the best choosing last) would select a school in each of 3 rounds. Two of the three selections had to be within a designated area corresponding to the franchise’s location, which meant that New Jersey, for example, could not choose Texas, USC, and Michigan. The third selection could be any school nationally, however, if a franchise selected with their first two picks a school that finished the 2000 season in the NCAA Top 25, then their third school would have to be one either from outside the ”Big 5” conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and PAC 10) or from a lower division of football. That last rule complicated things a bit, but with so many options available, it did not seem to make too much difference in the final results. As expected, most clubs selected the Big 5 schools in their home states (with some notable exceptions in the Northeast where football powerhouses are few and far between) and then largely stayed regional even with their third pick. Below are the selections for each team, listed by round in which they were taken and a designation of their category) ARZ 1. Arizona State (B5) 2. Arizona (B5) 3. Utah (Non B5) ATL 1. Georgia (T25) 2. Ga Tech (T25) 3. ECU (Non B5) BAL 1. Va Tech (T25) 2. Maryland (B5) 3. BC (Non B5) BIR 1. Alabama (B5) 2. Auburn (T25) 3. So Miss (Non B5) CHI 1. Notre Dame (T25) 2. Illinois (B5) 3. Northern IL (Non B5) DEN 1. Nebraska (T25) 2. Colorado (B5) 3. BYU (Non B5) HOU 1. Texas A&M (B5) 2. Texas Tech (B5) 3. Houston (Non B5) JAX 1. Florida State (T25) 2. Clemson (T25) 3. Ga Southern (Non B5) LA 1. USC (B5) 2. UCLA (B5) 3. SDSU (Non B5) MEM 1. Tennessee (B5) 2. Arkansas (B5) 3. Vanderbilt (B5) MGN 1. Michigan (T25) 2. Mich. State (B5) 3. CMU (Non B5) NJ 1. Oklahoma (T25) 2. Syracuse (Non B5) 3. Rutgers (Non B5) NOR 1. LSU (T25) 2. Ole Miss (B5) 3. Tulane (Non B5) OAK 1. Cal (B5) 2. Stanford (B5) 3. Fresno St. (Non B5) OHI 1. Ohio State (B5) 2. Wisconsin (T25) 3. Cincinnati (Non B5) ORL 1. Florida (T25) 2. So. Carolina (T25) 3. UCF (Non B5) PHI 1. Penn State (B5) 2. Iowa (B5) 3. Temple (Non B5) PIT 1. Purdue (T25) 2. Pitt (Non B5) 3. W. Virginia (Non B5) POR 1. Oregon St. (T25) 2. Oregon (T25) 3. Boise St (Non BS) STL 1. Kansas St. (T25) 2. Mizzou (B5) 3. Louisville (Non B5) SEA 1. Washington (T25) 2. WSU (B5) 3. Hawaii (Non B5) TBY 1. Miami (T25) 2. Miss St (T25) 3. USF (Non B5) TEX 1. Texas (T25) 2. TCU (T25) 3. SMU (Non B5) WSH 1. Louisville (Non B5) 2. Virginia (B5) 3. Marshall (Non B5) You know the drill, week 16, all games played on Sunday, either at 12pm Eastern or 4pm Eastern. Here is the breakdown: 12PM GAMES Philadelphia (8-7) @ Baltimore (9-6): A Blitz win and they are in. Philly still need help but must win. Washington (10-5) @ New Jersey (9-6): Neither team can afford to rest starters in this one. Pittsburgh (5-10) @ Ohio (10-5): Ohio could still pull the division title with a win and Feds loss. Atlanta (1-14) @ Tampa Bay (8-7): Tampa needs the win and some help to sneak into the postseason. Birmingham (8-7) @ Jacksonville (6-9): The Bulls would love to end the season by spoiling the Stallions’ year. Memphis (9-6) @ Orlando (12-3): Expect to see Orlando’s B team, which is good news for the Showboats. 4PM GAMES St. Louis (9-6) @ Chicago (11-4): Both teams could rest players in this one, though St. Louis could use a win to get a home Wild Card game. New Orleans (6-9) @ Houston (6-9): Hard to believe but the winner could make the playoffs at 7-9. Texas (5-10) @ Michigan (3-12): Expect young players to get some field time in this final game for two teams looking to rebuild. Oakland (3-12) @ Arizona (8-7): The Wrangler’s best shot at a home game next week is a win this week. Seattle (5-10) @ Denver (10-5): Denver will likely protect Mark Brunell by benching him here. Portland (7-8) @ Los Angeles (12-3): LA will rest key starters, helping Portland perhaps reach 8-8 and the playoffs.

Playoff Picture: Orlando & Los Angeles have clinched the top seeds in each conference. Chicago has won the Central Division. Washington, Ohio, St. Louis, Denver, and Arizona have clinched playoff spots. Mathematically eliminated teams include: Atlanta, Oakland, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Texas, Seattle, and Jacksonville.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Denver and Arizona clinch playoff spots, bringing the total to 6 of 10 spots decided. LA, Chicago, Washington, and Orlando are also in, with Orlando and Chicago clinching division titles as well. Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Texas are officially eliminated from contention, joining Atlanta in that dubious distinction.

One more team clinches their playoff destiny as Denver gets a big win in St. Louis to lock up at least a Wild Card. Chicago and Orlando officially take their divisions, and the much-coveted bye week that comes with that, while Washington gets clipped at home by the Ohio Glory in the battle of eagle-themed clubs. That loss means the Atlantic title is still up for grabs with 4 teams all within 1 game of the title crown. Houston slips into the mix thanks to a big win and a Portland loss, while Tampa and Memphis both move up to 8-6 but still sit on the outside looking in. Two weeks to go and this is getting serious. Washington makes their name on defense, Ohio with a high-flying offense, one of them had to give, and what gave, and in a big way, was Washington’s coverage plan for Joey Galloway. With rookie Chad Johnson also posing a threat, the Federals tried to avoid overcommitting to coverage for Galloway and paid dearly. The Ohio State product torched the Federals’ secondary for 214 yards, including a dagger of a 75-yard TD catch as Ohio got more than enough offense and just enough defense to keep Washington from coming back on them, earning a huge divisional win that puts the division title up for grabs with 2 weeks left to play. The Glory were humming on offense in pretty much every way. Aside from Galloway’s numbers you had Eddie George rushing for 111 and a 5.3 YPC average. You had Chad Johnson with 70 yards and a score, TE Stephen Alexander with 1 score, even backup blocking TE Dereck Brown got in on the action. Kerry Collins completed 21 of 30 throws or 377 and 4 TDs on the day as the Glory took it to the Federals’ vaunted defense. The inability to contain Ohio meant that Washington had to get a bit outside their game. The Federals did just that, with Kordell Stewart throwing for 256 and 2 scores while the combo of Deuce McCallister and Rueben Droughns only carried the ball a combined 17 times, far below their average of 32 touches. They had success though, thanks in large part to the rookie’s 9.3 YPC average, gaining him 93 yards on only 10 carries. But, when push came to shove, the Ohio defense stepped up and limited Washington to field goals. Iin the 4th quarter, down 28-16, Washington could only chip away with Doug Pelfrey kicking from 38 and 44 yards. That was not enough as the Feds needed a TD to get back on top, but it would not come. And it wasn’t one player on defense making hay. This was a team effort, with big sacks from LaRoi Glover and Chris Kriewaldt, a forced fumble by John Copeland, and 4 pass deflections for DB Mike Riley, including one on a late third down that forced the Feds to settle for 3 when they needed 7. This was a team victory for the Glory, and a win that moves them to 9-5, only 1 game back of the Federals with 2 to play. They join New Jersey and Baltimore there, and all 3 look very likely to nab a playoff spot, but you know they all want to do one better, knock off the Feds and claim that division title and a bye week. For their part, Washington is still in control of their own destiny. They face Jacksonville in RFK next week before what could be a huge game at New Jersey to close out the regular season. Win both and they are division winners, lose next week and all kinds of crazy could get out for Week 16. This loss to Ohio, at home, was a big one, but the Feds can still put it together and get where they want to go. NJ 27 PHI 17 Let’s stay in the Atlantic, where the Generals got a huge win over their arch rival, Philadelphia, coming into Veterans Stadium and pushing Philly right off the Wild Card cliff. With TDs from Olandis Gary, Terry Glenn, and Kevin Johnson, the Generals knocked Philly down to 7-7 and 2 games back of the cluster of Atlantic squads sitting at 9-5. Bobby Hebert was dinged up in this one as Phil Hansen got him twice to boost his sack total to 25, far and away the best in the league. BAL 34 PIT 20 In the final Atlantic game of the week, Baltimore took care of business to reach 9-5 by knocking off the Maulers in Pittsburgh. Three TDs from Jeff Garcia, including two to Rob Moore (115 yards as well) was enough to defeat the Maulers as Baltimore picked off Charlie Batch twice and sacked him four times in a game where the Mauler offense looked tired and out of sorts. TBY 28 BIR 21 The Bandits came up big in Birmingham with a division win that gets them one step closer to a playoff spot while also dealing a significant blow to Brett Favre and the Stallions. Chris Doering had a huge week, going for 111 yards and 3 scores as the Stallions tried to contain Randy Moss on the other side. Birmingham had a shot to tie the game but a late Brett Favre pick fell into the hands of Samari Rolle and locked up the game for the Bandits. ORL 20 JAX 10 The Renegades shut down the Bulls to clinch the division title and a bye in a game dominated by Orlando’s run defense and pass rush. The combo of Kenny Bynum and Sedrick Irvin combined for only 45 yards on the ground, and despite a 131-yard day from Terrell Owens, the Bulls could not turn yards into points as sacks from Dexter Coakley and Brentson Buckner helped turn them away in clutch moments. A 4th quarter TD run from Terry Kirby helped open up a 2-score lead and that was all the ‘Gades needed to take the win and the division. MEM 35 ATL 17 Memphis got back into the playoff mix by doing what needed to be done in Memphis. Heath Shuler added to his TD total for the year with 4 scoring throws against the Atlanta D, while FB Larry Centers got more involved in the run game, rushing for 41 yards on the day. Atlanta kept it close for a half, largely thanks to Tiki Barber and his 157 yards, 94 in the first half, but eventually they just wore down as Memphis gets the divisional win. ARZ 37 NOR 17 Arizona took advantage of New Orleans’s major losing streak to put themselves in good playoff standing at 8-6. Jake Plummer threw for 2 scores and ran in 2 more as the Wranglers were able to take advantage of a declining Breaker defense to the tune of 334 yards of offense and 6 scoring drives. Raynard Brown caught 6 for 120 as the Breakers tried to come back, but it was not nearly enough for the struggling squad from the Crescent City, who have now lost 6 in a row and drop to 5-9 on the season after a decent 5-3 start. DEN 28 STL 21 The Gold move to 9-5 and are within range of LA after a key win on the road against the Knights. The game was not as close as the score indicates as it was 28-7 until late in the 4th when St. Louis used an onside kick to help add 2 late scores. Denver did it without a strong run game as Rashaan Salaam and Rod Smart were limited to a combined 74 yards, though Salaam did punch in 2 scores, both on 2-yard runs. Peerless Price added 2 scores in the air and the Denver defense sacked Todd Collins 5 times to keep St. Louis off balance. LA 24 TEX 20 The Outlaws put a scare into the Express until a perfect call on a screen led to a Michael Pittman 62-yard touchdown. Pittman, who was a game time decision, ended up outgaining Antowain Smith despite having only 8 carries, but it was the late screen pass that will be remembered as Pittman stiff armed the first defender and then used a back juke to dodge another on his way down the field for the decisive score. OAK 20 CHI 32 Chicago got the win and clinched the division thanks to the St. Louis loss, but the game also saw Oakland go with their rookie, Marques Tuiasosopo at QB. The rookie had a solid day, completing 21 of 44 throws for 255 yards, one TD and one pick, but the day belonged to Chicago’s Jeff George, who threw for 253 and three touchdowns. POR 10 HOU 20 The Gamblers leapfrogged Portland and into the 6th playoff position in the West thanks to a solid 23 of 29 passing from Matt Hasselbeck and a defense that picked off Akili Smith twice and limited the Portland run game to only 55 total yards. Both Tyrone Drakeford and Vince Buck nabbed interceptions off of Smith as the Houston pass rush harassed the mobile QB all game. SEA 28 MGN 27 A pyrrhic victory for Seattle as they upend the Panthers in Michigan but still find themselves outside of playoff position. Brian Griese had a big day against a weakened Michigan secondary, throwing for 401 yards. Mike Hollis kicked 4 field goals and the defense got a safety on a weird path to 28 points. Michigan had a shot late, but a Shayne Graham 58-yard field goal attempt on the game’s final play fell short. ROOKIE ROUNDUP Two weeks left in the year and time to look at the 2001 rookie class to see how the picks have panned out. We start with the obvious success stories. Look no further than Ohio wideout Chad Johnson, whose 1,228 yards and 11 touchdowns speak for themselves. When Joey Galloway went out with an injury for several weeks, Johnson stepped up and became a dangerous target, now paired with Galloway the combo is outright deadly to opposing defenses. In Washington, HB Deuce McCallister has been a revelation as well. Splitting time with Rueben Droughns in the Federal backfield, McCallister has racked up 675 yards and 7 rushing touchdowns, while also adding 242 yards and 3 scores through the air. The Feds love a HB duo strategy, but we could easily see McCallister being designated the starter next season thanks to his production this year. Michigan QB Drew Brees has struggled at times, dealing with a shaky line and undermanned receiving corps, but all three wins for the Panthers have come thanks in large part to Brees’s ability to improvise. The former Purdue QB has 2,236 yards and 17 touchdowns this season, and looks like a player to build around for the future. On defense the biggest revelation of the Class of ’01 has been LA defensive end Justin Smith, whose 14 sacks and 44 tackles have helped the Express all but clinch a division title. In Chicago, the Machine defense has been much improved, and LB Tommy Polley has had a huge hand in that. He is all over the field, racking up 70 tackles so far, along with 6 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 recoveries. Finally, Arizona found a gem in CB Fred Smoot, currently leading the league with 7 interceptions, one for a pick-six. Teams are going to have to stop throwing at him because he is a rookie, and start throwing away from him because he is a very tough corner to beat. Others who have impressed this season include Portland’s short yardage specialist, HB Correll Buckhalter (473 yards and 4 TD), Houston wideout Koren Robinson (61 catches for 871 yards and 5 TDs), Philly wideout Steve Smith (60 receptions for 780 yards and 5 TDs), Pittsburgh DE Kyle Vanden Bosch (9 sacks), and St. Louis FS Bhawoh Jue (4 picks and 51 tackles). HANSEN FOR MVP? Is this the year that someone other than a quarterback can win MVP? With Shuler, Collins, and McNown all making strong cases as the best QB in the game right now, the votes there could easily be split, and if anyone else has the juice to rise above a split QB group, it has to be Hansen. With 25 sacks, Hansen is challenging for Chris Doleman’s record of 29, and unlike past years where the North Dakota product was a single shining light in a dark season for New Jersey, this year the Generals look like real contenders under Coach Parcells. If New Jersey can lock up a playoff spot, and if Hansen can reach 27, 28 or 29 sacks, he needs to be considered for the award, if only as a final recognition of a dominant career. 2001 already marks the 7th consecutive season, and 8th overall, in which the Generals’ edge rusher has reached 20 sacks. 8 times is simply amazing. This year’s 25 sacks (in 14 games) has him only 1 sack behind his personal best, 26 in 1999, a record we expect he will hit and surpass. Add to this the fact that Hansen has not missed a start in his entire 11-season career, a truly astounding feat in itself, and we think that this sure-shot 1st ballot HOF player deserves a chance to earn the MVP this year. FREE AGENCY FODDER? With 2 weeks left in the regular season, there remain a lot of big names whose contracts have not been renewed or who have not resigned. We take a look, position by position at the players who may very well be hot commodities on the free agent market if something does not happen soon: QB: Mitchell (ORL), Griese (SEA), Zolak (WSH) HB: Salaam (DEN), Bynum (JAX), Smith (LA), George (OHI) FB: Crockett (ATL), Neal (MGN) TE: Cooper (MEM), Johnson (POR) WR: Ward (ARZ), Mason (HOU), Glenn (NJ), Rison (PIT), Moore (WSH) T: Webb (BIR), Davis (JAX), Auzene (NOR), Johnson (TBY) G: Pilgrim (DEN), Fisher (TEX), Connover (WSH) C: Olin Kreutz (HOU), Jeff Saturday (OAK), Chris Thome (PHI) DE: Hansen (NJ), Curry (OAK), Copeland (OHI), Holiday (STL) DT: Rocker (LA), Payne (PHI), Brown (SEA), Putzier (TBY) LB: Schwantz (MEM), Cowart (MGN), Alberts (NOR), Miles (PIT), DuBose (PIT) S: Blades (ARZ), Malloy (BAL), Prior (CHI), Glenn (POR), Harrison (STL) CB: Poole (ATL), Woolford (BAL), Allen (CHI), Figures (ORL), Henderson (TEX) K/P: Lindell (TEX) Two more clinched spots as Denver’s win moves them to 9-5 and guarantee’s their spot in postseason play. Arizona also locks up a spot thanks to some conference and divisional tiebreakers. Denver still has an outside shot at the division title but would need 2 LA defeats and 2 wins to overtake the 11-3 Express. Things are a lot tighter in the East where all three 9-5 clubs and all three 8-6 clubs are fighting for 4 spots, and even 7-7 Philadephia can have a say if they go 2-0 down the stretch. The week, more than locking in spots, served to increase the number of teams officially eliminated from contention, a list that now includes Atlanta, Oakland, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Texas, and Jacksonville. Believe it or not, even at 5-9 both Seattle and New Orleans are still mathematically alive. As we enter the final 2 weeks of the regular season, an injury now can have a huge impact both for playoff positioning and the postseason as well. Memphis, for example, will have to scramble on defense as LB Rahim Abdullah has been placed on IR with a torn bicep. Philadelphia loses SS Larry Wigham, and Orlando has two big injuries as both CB Fernando Bryant and DE Israel Ifeanyi are also now on IR. For St. Louis, LB Darrin smith could miss the entire playoff run with a torn hamstring, while LA will be without CB Wendell Davis at least 2 weeks but possibly more due to a fracture in his lower arm. Chicago SS Anthony Prior will be out at least this week, possibly 2 weeks with a broken arm as well, while Philadelphia will miss WR Bobby Engram for 1-2 weeks with a sprained wrist. Ahman Green is listed as doubtful this week, due to a lower back concern, a huge hit for the Knights, while Memphis WR Joe Horn dislocated his knee in practice, which could cost him a week or more. Is the USFL about to have a major shockwave? That very well could be what we are looking at as this week the ownership of the Atlanta Fire have indicated that they are looking to divest themselves of the team. It has been rumored that despite the strong revenue-sharing in the league, the Fire have lost sowhere in the realm of $20M over the past 5 seasons. After strong attendance and following in their first years in the league, the lack of quality play, star power, and the issue of summer heat and humidity have kept ticket sales near the bottom of the league and interest in the cramped sports market of Atlanta significantly lower than we have seen in other cities, including other 1995 expansion cities. With Atlanta’s franchise now in the market, along with Portland and St. Louis, we may be at a moment of some turmoil in the league. We could easily see 2, perhaps all 3 franchises potentially relocating with a year of each other (depending on the timing of the sales). We know that a Boston consortium is one of the favorites for the Portland Thunder franchise, and that the forced sale of the St. Louis Knights by embattled James Orthwein, has yet to find a viable local group to step in and retain the Knights for St. Louis. Now, with Atlanta on the market as well, we could see a major shuffling of franchises, the likes of which we have not seen since 1986 when the Boston Breakers and Chicago Blitz both relocated. Now, there are some who will say that perhaps this is a move for the better. If, for example, the USFL sees St. Louis, Portland, and Atlanta replaced by Dallas, Boston, and Miami, then the league has actually increased its demographics, with larger cities replacing smaller markets. That could be viewed as a good thing, particularly with the competition for TV dollars at an all time high between the USFL and NFL. But, of course, with the USFL already planning a major shift in its alignment for 2002, moving to a 6-division format, any relocation either this offseason or the next, could be a major disruption, creating the kind of weird divisions that cross logical geographic alignments, much like the NFL where Dallas is in the NFC East, though likely not as bad as the old NFC West that had Atlanta and New Orleans in it. We don’t want to raise alarm here. After all we know that there is a strong local bid to keep the Thunder in Portland, a bid that includes a potential new stadium for the city. We also know that Atlanta certainly has corporate and individual wealth that could very well be attracted to investing in the USFL and keeping the Fire in the city. So, it is possible that all three franchises could remain exactly where they are, or that perhaps only 1 city would lose its franchise. We also know that the moratorium on expansion talks ends soon, with 2005 being the earliest possible year that the league could expand beyond its current 24 clubs. We also know that there are owners who look at the 32-team NFL and believe that an expansion to 28 clubs might be needed to retain relative parity with the fall league, a key concept when negotiating television contracts for the league. What we do know is that this is an unprecedented time, when 3 franchises in a highly valued, and profitable league (despite Atlanta’s woes) are up for sale at the same time. It is the best chance for those cities seeking a USFL franchise that we have seen since the 1993 announcement of expansion to 24 clubs, and the most treacherous time for fans of football in St. Louis, Portland, and Atlanta (although we must confess that with 2 of those 3 cities already dual-club cities with both the NFL and USFL, the pressure is not quite the same as when there is only 1 league in town, as in Portland). So, what will come of this? We should know the fate of Portland within a few months, St. Louis and Atlanta may take longer, though certainly the league would like to approve a sale by Orthwein sooner rather than later. What we expect is that this will be a busy offseason, particularly if the league approves a relocation, as they would certainly like to have all the pieces in place in time to make a schedule for the 2002 season with all teams firmly in their stadium contracts. Week 15 has the West in divisional play, and with so much clustering for Wild Card spots, this could be a big week, and yet, when we look at the schedule there is not a single game in the conference that matches up two teams with winning records. Chicago, having clinched the Central, takes their game on the road to New Orleans, losers of 6 straight. St. Louis is at home with the 3-11 Panthers in town, and Houston, hoping to nab the final Wild Card, is in San Antonio for their in-state rivalry with the Texas Outlaws. In the Pacific, Portland’s chance to get into the playoffs depends on them getting a win this week at home against the Arizona Wranglers. Denver travels to Oakland in what should be another W for the Gold, and the LA Express are in Seattle to face the Dragons, with a shot at clinching the division on the line. It’s the South visiting the Atlantic as well this week, and a huge game for the Generals as they host the Orlando Renegades. A win here could get them both a playoff berth and a shot at Washington next week for the Division title. But don’t expect Orlando to play it soft now that they have their division won. They still need that #1 seed to get home field throughout the playoffs. In Baltimore it’s the Blitz against the Showboats in another battle of strong clubs both hoping to lock in a playoff spot. The same in Columbus, where the Ohio Glory will take on the Tampa Bay Bandits in what could be one of the highest scoring games all year. Philadelphia needs help to get back in the playoff mix, but what better opportunity than a home game against the 1-13 Atlanta Fire. Birmingham is in Pittsburgh in the battle of Steel cities, while Jacksonville heads to Washington, where the Feds are hoping they can lock in the division title before facing the Generals next week.

Playoff Picture: All four current division leaders have locked up playoff berths this week, though none has yet captured their divsion title. Washington, Orlando, Chicago, and Los Angeles will be participants. On the other end of the spectrum, Atlanta has become the first club officially eliminated from contention.

Four weeks away from the playoffs and we have our first clinched spots, with four teams punching their tickets this week. It was a week that saw quite a few upsets and two clashes of teams we expect to see in the postseason. We also saw some clubs falling further out of contention as good starts have turned to sour finishes. What was supposed to be an offensive showcase between Orlando and LA turned into a defensive slugfest. We also saw two teams that we had written off in Jacksonville and Texas rise up and pull off significant upsets. But, we start with another upset, our game of the week between the Houston Gamblers and the Philadelphia Stars. Sometimes it just comes down to one final drive, one chance to pull a game out and get the win when the odds are against you. That is exactly what Houston did after watching Philadelphia cut into their 10-point lead and even the score with only 1:53 to play, but that was enough time for Houston to make its move and put the game into the hands, or rather the feet, of their kicker for a possible game-winning 60-yard field goal. The game had been a bit back and forth all day. Philadelphia was the first to score, with Bobby Hebert hitting rookie Steve Smith for a 23-yard touchdown on the first drive of the game. But Houston is more than capable of trading scores with teams, at least most weeks when their offense is in sync. This week they looked solid, and only 4 minutes after Philadelphia’s opening shot, Houston responded with a Kevin Faulk TD run to even the score. This back and forth continued into the 2nd quarter, with the Stars again taking the lead, this time on a Stephen Davis run. Houston drove again, but could not convert a 3rd and 13 after a somewhat shaky false start call. Chris Boniol came in and pulled them to within 4, 14-10. After stopping the Stars on their own 3rd and long, Houston got the ball back, and used the clock well before Matt Hasselbeck found Derrick Mason for Houston’s first lead of the game, 17-14, and that is how it would go to the half. Neither team fared well with their first drives of the second half, but Houston found pay dirt again with their second drive, a 54-yard, 11-play drive that concluded with Kevin Faulk getting his second short yardage TD on the day. 24-14 Houston after three quarters. Philadelphia was not going to go out without a fight in this one, and on their next drive, ending the 3rd and opening the 4th, the Stars held the ball for 12 plays but could not get in the end zone. They would eventually settle for 3 off the foot of Jeff Jaeger. Five minutes to play and the Stars needed a defensive stop. They would get it, with George Koonce making a big play on third down to deny Hasselbeck a pass to his tight end. Philly got the ball back and Bobby Hebert went to work, hitting Steve Smith, Marcus Pollard, and Troy Brown on a drive that got the stars into Houston territory, then, on 2nd and 2, the Stars faked a run by Davis and Hebert saw Troy Brown in single coverage, he connected with his slot receiver and 38 yards later, Philadelphia had a tie score with 1:53 left to play. But, 1:53 and a tie score is no guarantee of overtime. That was ample time for the Gamblers to get into field goal range, and they did just that, but on a 3rd and 3, the shotgun snap went awry, and Matt Hasselbeck had to dive on the ball at the 43 yard line. With time ticking down, Coach Phillips would make the call, let Chris Boniol take a shot from 60 yards out. His longest of the year had been 52 and that was in the dome. This was a far less hospitable atmosphere at Veterans Stadium. Boniol lined up the kick and gave it everything he had. The ball sailed true, and just cleared the crossbar, to the cheers and celebrations of the Gamblers squad. The Stars returned to their locker room, losers of 3 in a row and now well back of Washington and fading behind New Jersey, Ohio and Baltimore at the worst time of the season to fall back. Houston moved to 5-8, and still have a slim chance at a playoff spot despite their losing record. LA 16 ORL 13 While the Houston-Philadelphia game won our GOTW due to the play on the field, the most anticipated and most watched game was the matchup of the division leaders of the Pacific and Southern divisions as LA traveled cross country to face off against Orlando in the Citrus Bowl. Most pundits thought this one would go to the offenses, but both LA and Orlando put up very strong defensive game plans. LA saw their ground game limited to only 58 total yards, while Orlando had similar problems, with Terry Kirby only carrying the ball 9 times for 29 yards. Orlando held the lead until the 4th, when Cade McNown found R. Jay Soward open for a 73-yard bomb that stunned the Renegades and would end up the winning score for the road team from Los Angeles. STL 20 NJ 10 Another big showdown of potential playoff teams saw St. Louis play one of their best defensive games of the year as they blitzed and befuddled Generals’ QB Tom Brady. They used the blitz well against the run also, stuffing Curtis Enis in the backfield more often than we have seen this season. Meanwhile Ahman Green was able to find gaps, rushing for 105 on a tiring 31 carries. With Steve Israel picking off Brady and returning it for 6, the game was locked up for the visiting Knights, who move to 8-5 and much better playoff standing with the win. TEX 33 OHI 21 A stunner in Columbus as the Outlaws pick off Kerry Collins twice, with one going for a Texas TD, as the Outlaws pull off the 9-point upset. Reggie Cobb shared carries with Kevin Barlow, and Jeff Lewis was efficient on offense as the Outlaws got scores from Carl Pickens and Frank Wainright on their way to a surprise win against a stunned Glory squad. NOR 21 BAL 34 The Breakers drop their 5th in a row and Baltimore wins its 4th straight as turnovers, penalties and a horrible 3rd down conversion rate doomed New Orleans. Jeff Garcia would throw for 264 and 3 scores on the day, while Trent Dilfer was picked twice. The Breakers would connect on only 1 third down play all day as the Blitz simply confused them with defensive shifts and delayed blitzes. CHI 10 PIT 8 Ugly football in Pittsburgh as neither team was able to establish much on offense. Terrell Davis eventually got to 98 yards rushing, but still only averaged 3.8 yards a carry against Chicago’s 8-man front. For their part the Machine only managed 158 yards passing, and got their lone TD on a Jim Kliensasser catch off of a bounce off the hands of intended receiver Kirby Dar Dar. A fluke play for a fluke game as Chicago holds on to win after Pittsburgh got a late Andre Rison TD, but failed on the 2-point play to tie. MGN 19 WSH 34 The Federals moved to a 2-game lead in the Atlantic by not looking past the plucky Michigan Panthers. The Feds’ run game was in top form as McCallister earned Rookie of the Week honors for his 99 yard day, while Rueben Droughns added another 83 for Washington. Kordell Stewart, making use of the play action game, connected for 3 TD passes on the day as Washington thrilled the home crowd with a big win. POR 24 ATL 17 Don’t look now, but Portland is thinking playoffs. They move to 6-7 with a road win in Atlanta as Akili Smith continues to improve under center. It helped that they got solid games from both rushers, with Buckhalter and Kaufmann combining for 99 yards and 2 TDs on the day. The Thunder pass rush got to Mark Bulger 4 times and limited Tiki Barber to only 59 yards rushing to earn the W. ARZ 18 BIR 34 The Wranglers fall again as Birmingham is finding their groove. Despite 139 yards from WR Hines Ward, the Wranglers could not keep pace with Brett Favre’s 286 yards and 3 touchdowns. Marcus Robinson was this week’s big target for Birmingham as the Wranglers kept double coverage on Lawrence Dawsey all day. Robinson would finish with 131 yards and a touchdown. The defense played its part, limiting Arizona to only 62 yards rushing and sacking Jake Plummer 4 times in the home win. DEN 35 JAX 38 OVERTIME In a game they could not afford to lose, the Gold still fell victim to a motivated Bulls team. Jacksonville got another big game from Chris Chandler, who threw for 395 yards and 3 scores. Brunell tried to play keep up, throwing for 450 and 3 scores of his own, but in a game that came down to who could get into field position in overtime, it was Jacksonville who got their on their second drive of extra time, allowing Kris Brown to drive home the winning kick. SEA 27 MEM 34 Any playoff hope Seattle had may have been washed away by the Showboats on Saturday. Three TD passes from Heath Shuler, including a pair by rookie Justin McCaerins, were enough to hold the lead in Memphis. Both McCaerins and Joe Horn went over 100 yards in this one as Memphis improved to 7-6, but still are on the bubble for the playoffs. Seattle falls to 4-9 and look like a team that has some soul searching to do. OAK 21 TBY 44 The Bandits also sit at 7-6 after a convincing home win against the visiting Oakland Invaders. Randy Moss gained 127 yards on only 4 catches, but Tampa got scores from unlikely sources to take the win. TE Branford Banta and HB Travis Prentice added two scores to Errict Rhett’s 2 TD day as the Bandits poured it on down the stretch. We did get to see our first Tuiasosopo sighting after Coach Capers pulled an ineffective Ryan Leaf as the 4th quarter began. The rookie would go 6 of 11 for 69 yards and a garbage time TD to Ed McCaffrey. THOMAS STEPPING DOWN News out of Pittsburgh as their official elimination from playoff contention has moved the Maulers towards a decision. The Maulers accepted Emmitt Thomas’s resignation effective after the conclusion of this season. This is almost certainly an agreed upon “resignation”, meaning that had Thomas not submitted his resignation, he could have been fired even before the season ends. So, Pittsburgh will be joining Atlanta on the coaching market. Not really a surprise when we see how last year’s 3-13 season is being followed up this year. Top candidates for the position? Well, look for the Maulers to look across the state at Jim Mora Jr’s staff in Philly, or possibly to try to snag an up and coming defensive coordinator as that aspect of their club has not been up to its usual standards these past couple of years. Who do we like? How about Orlando DC Marvin Lewis, who has done an outstanding job for the Renegades. TUIASOSOPO OR TUI-NOT-SO-SOPO? We saw Oakland put in rookie Marques Tuiasosopo this week when Ryan Leaf was ineffective. Does this mean that the youngster may get a start or two down the stretch? Maybe. Maybe not. Jon Kitna is expected back from injury this week, and he had been given the starting job over Ryan Leaf until his injury. Leaf could also be given a start, though he is dealing with a sore shoulder as well as being in Coach Cunningham’s dog house. It’s a tough call for Cunningham. If the Invaders want to move Leaf, it would be good to show him doing well to boost the market, but you also want to know if you have something in Tuiasosopo before you make decision on Leaf, as frustrating as he can be in the locker room. Kitna is the steady but unspectacular vet, so he is likely just going to sit by and let this happen, knowing that he will likely have a shot at the starting job next spring no matter what goes down. MVP WIDE OPEN We are at a loss to tell you who is leading the MVP race. We fully expect it will go to a QB, although an argument could be made for Phil Hansen in New Jersey to be sure. Of the QB’s the question is what statistics matter most? Collins leads in yardage and TD’s, but Shuler is right there as well and the Memphis QB has a better QB Rating. It does not help that both clubs have been a bit erratic, and neither is sitting up at 10-3 like Orlando, Washington, LA, and Chicago. But, statistically the QB’s of those 4 clubs are just not quite there. Yes, McNown looks good in yardage (3rd at 4,017) and his TDs (33) are in the general vicinity, but LA is also a run-first club, so is he really putting it all together? I am going to throw a weird one out there. Terry Glenn, WR from New Jersey. If the Generals can finish strong, Glenn should get some looks. He leads the league with 1,501 yards receiving, is 5th with 89 catches, and 2nd with 3 TDs, trailing only Randy Moss. He has been at the top of the league even in years when his QB has been only so-so, but this year with the emergence of 2nd year QB Tom Brady, he is putting together a season that deserves recognition. Week 13 brings us our first clinched spots for the year. No division titles yet, but we can say that 4 clubs are headed to the postseason. All 4 sit at 10-3 and all 4 are currently occupying the top 2 spots in each conference. Washington is in and sits as the top seed in the East right now, with Orlando also guaranteed a spot, but hoping to overtake the Feds and earn home field advantage. The same is the case in the West with Chicago atop the Central thanks to a 4-game win streak. LA has the same record but sits in the #2 seed due to a tiebreaker with the Machine. The action now turns to the bubble teams. Right now 4 clubs, including 3 from the Atlantic, are tied at 8-5, with three more teams sitting at 7-6 and hoping to move up and into playoff positions. In the West, Denver and St. Louis look solid at 8-5, behind them sits Arizona, losers of 3 straight, at 7-6, and then Portland, the conference’s only 6-7 squad. New Orleans, who have lost 5 in a row, slip out of playoff position at 5-8, but could still catch Portland, as could Houston, also at 5-8. And Altanta gets company today as Michigan, Oakland and Pittsburgh are all officially out of playoff contention. A bad blow for Birmingham in this week’s game as SS Darryl Williams ruptured his Achilles and could be out well into training camp for next season. Likewise for Texas LB Jerrol Williams, whose ruptured disk means no less than 3 months out of action. Orlando could be without CB Fernando Bryant for up to 2 months as he has opted to deal with a hernia through surgery. In New Orleans, Wendell Davis could be out the rest of the year due to a fracture in his upper arm, while in Chicago, CB Jimmy Hitchcock, the Machine’s #1 cover guy, could also miss the rest of the regular season due to a broken collarbone. They hope to have him back for the playoffs. Philly could be without Bobby Engram this week as he deals with a sprained wrist, but should be back in 2 weeks. Reggie Cobb of Texas could also be out at least this week as he sprained his ankle in this week’s game. Expected back we have Chicago WR Johnnie Morton, Orlando FS Myron Guyton, Birmingham TE Walter Reeves, Fred Smoot will be on the field again after limited snaps this week, and LA HB Michael Pittman, who left the game this week with knee swelling, was able to practice and is expected to be in action as well. The sale of the Portland Thunder is reaching a critical stage as bids for the USFL franchise have been received and are under advisement from both Portland’s current ownership group and USFL league officials. Any proposal will require both financial and legal review from the league office in New York, as well as a vote of approval by the league ownership, and it appears that the Thunder are moving into this review stage. From reporting done by The Oregonian (Portland’s primary newspaper), the Thunder are considering three potential bids, one of which would have them relocating, something that has the team’s organized fan groups already making noise. As expected, the well-heeled Boston Colonials Football Group has put together a bid for the Thunder, with hopes of relocating the team to Boston. Not much is known about the details of the proposal, or a potential home for the franchise in Massachusetts, an issue that was at the core of why the Boston Breakers eventually relocated to New Orleans. We know that within the Boston financial group there are significant financial resources, as the group contains not only Jeremy Jacobs (owner of the Boston Bruins NHL club) and Edward Linde, Co-founder of the Boston Properties real estate conglomerate, but also has at least 4 other influential local investors, including at least one “football man”, former BC and Philadelphia Stars Head Coach Jack Bicknell. While not verified by league sources, the inclusion of Bicknell in the ownership group has led many to speculate that the former Boston College coach being within the bidding group may be an indication that a deal with Boston College for use of the campus’s 44,500 seat Alumni Stadium may be included in the bid. Alumni Stadium would be a significant improvement over both former USFL homes in Boston (Nickerson Field at BU and Harvard Stadium) as well as over the 34,000 seat Civic Stadium in Portland. Despite the possibility of the much larger market in Boston being secured by the sale of the Thunder to the Boston Colonials Group, the bid is not without challenges. For one, the relocation would disrupt the balance of franchise between east and west and lead to a somewhat “on the fly” realignment of the planned 2002 6-division format, likely bumping either Baltimore or Washington out of the 4-team Northeastern Division, into the Southeast, leading to Atlanta moving, which then moves another club, and another until either Denver or Arizona is moved to the Pacific Division to replace the Thunder. That is very messy and includes the rupture of several regional and divisional rivalries, something which could be enough to cause league owners to cast a negative vote were the bid to move that far. Additionally, we know already that there are concerns of a “ripple effect” with league stability being challenged by a flurry of sales and potential relocations, something we saw in the early years of the league as well as in the mid 1990’s in the NFL. Add to this the threats of legal action from Robert Kraft, owner of the NFL New England Patriots, should the franchise relocate and seek to trademark the Colonials name. Kraft has been an outspoken opponent to the “cozying up” of some NFL ownership groups to their USFL counterparts, steadfastly opposing the use of first Foxboro Stadium, and now the newly constructed Gilette Stadium for the league, and has been openly hostile to the USFL relocating to Boston. The use of a team name as similar to the Patriots in theme, even with a very different proposed logo and color scheme (Navy, Sky Blue and metallic Gold, as seen in the group’s current design) would almost certainly lead to trademark infringement cases being brought even before the club arrived in the area. Were the Boston group the lone bid for the Thunder, we would expect that despite the potential legal issues with Kraft or the realignment concerns, the prospect of the large TV market and well-financed ownership group would move the league to approve the sale and relocation. But, two other bids have also been entered for the franchise, both of which would potentially keep the team in Portland. The first of these is a grassroots “public” option which seeks to treat the Thunder as a public good, sell shares in the club similar to what we see in Green Bay and in part in Birmingham with the Stallions. This bid is viewed as a longshot due to a lack of up front financial support and the somewhat circumspect attitude of league owners to the idea of a fully public ownership of a league franchise. While it would be a path to retaining a team in Portland, it would be a lengthy process, and one which would need a lot more clarity of direction than we have seen to date. The second option, one which came at something of the last minute, is a private ownership group which has come forward with the intention of purchasing the Thunder, remaining in Portland but working to develop a domed stadium on the city’s east side. This group, known as the Portland Football Consortium, does not actually have significant local investment, but appears to be the brainchild of a small cohort of investors who see the potential for Portland if a stadium is on the table. At the lead of this group is Canadian-born CEO of World Com, the 2nd largest long distance carrier in the American market, Bernard Ebbers. Ebbers has brought together 4 primary investors to make this bid, with Las Vegas hotel-casino developer Phil Ruffin, and former MLB player and native Oregonian Dave Kingman among them. The group, while perhaps not as well-financed as the Boston bid, has significant resources, and their plan to develop land in the city’s eastern riverfront could be seen as a potential boon for development in the region, which almost certainly would draw support from city officials, though likely some concerns from citizen groups in the city as well. Having out-of-region ownership is always a concern, but if the league is serious about retaining a presence in Portland, this bid provides them an option other than relocation and the logistical concerns it raises. Local officials will almost certainly fall in line behind the PFC bid, as the loss of the Thunder would be a major blow to the local economy, and we can expect several owners within the USFL to make the case as well, particularly those potentially impacted by realignment should the franchise relocate to Boston. We are likely looking at 2-4 months of investigation, background review, financial modeling, and competing pressures as the team’s current ownership group as well as the league’s financial and competition committees review the bids. We expect that the USFL’s NY office will eventually provide recommendations to the Thunder ownership, including a potential designation of acceptance or rejection of any of the three bids, but that in the end what we expect to happen is for the ownership in Portland to bring a single bid up for vote at the league ownership meeting and that a campaign for approval will accompany the proposal, hoping to garner a secure voting block at or above the 16 votes needed for approval. Week 14 could be one to start separating teams, especially in the Eastern Conference where all 12 clubs are in divisional play. In the logjams at 8-5 in the Atlantic and 7-6 in the South, there is room to gain a leg up with a win this week. Of the three 8-6 clubs, Ohio has the toughest path, as they head to RFK to face the 10-3 Federals, who see a win as a ticket to the division title and a bye. New Jersey has a big game in Philadelphia, where the Stars see a win as essential to getting back in the mix. Baltimore has the best path, though they are also on the road, facing the Maulers in Pittsburgh. In the South, the game to watch will be 7-6 Tampa Bay visiting 8-5 Birmingham. A win here for the Bandits could be huge all across the conference. 7-6 Memphis is loving their chance to move up as they face the 1-12 Atlanta Fire, while Orlando, hoping to clinch the division with a win and a Stallion loss, are at Jacksonville, who have been a bit feisty these past couple of weeks. Out West we don’t have divisional play, but that does not mean we don’t have big games. How about two 8-5 clubs matching up in St. Louis, where the Gold are hoping they can steal a win. Chicago is at home, hoping to lock up the division with a Knights loss and a win over visiting Oakland. LA is also hoping to get help from the Denver-St. Louis game, but they need to focus on winning in Texas first. Portland and Houston, two clubs right in the mix for the final playoff spot, face off in the AstroDome. If Houston can win this one it is a huge swing for them as they take Portland down and put themselves in position to snag that Wild Card. In other games, Arizona is hoping to get back on track as they head to New Orleans to play a dispirited Breaker squad. Finally, Seattle and Michigan square off in the Silverdome in a game between two teams that have underwhelmed their fans to be sure.

Playoff Picture: No team has yet to clinch a playoff spot, however the Atlanta Fire, at 1-11, have become the first club to be officially eliminated from playoff contention.