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Some interesting news coming from out in Los Angeles, the USC Trojans, which is the closest thing Los Angeles has to a professional football team right now (how much do those college students get paid anyways?), have given up waiting for improvements and/or an NFL team to come to the famous Memorial Coliseum.
 

With USC threatening to move its home games to Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for a long-term deal to keep the Trojans in the Memorial Coliseum, saying for the first time he has given up hope of the National Football League returning to the aging stadium.

Interestingly, the story fails to mention the prospects of a United Football League team playing in Los Angeles. Sure they haven’t played their first snap, but it’s obvious that Los Angeles is at the top of the list for the UFL’s opening season roster. The UFL has stated that they’re looking for stadiums that are more in the 35,000-55,000 seating capacity range, in Los Angeles the choice really comes down to the Coliseum or the Rose Bowl. Any bets as to where the UFL will end up? (Link)

If you’re a fan of sports then you’ll enjoy reading this article by Michael Lewis in the NY Times about the unique life of Kickers in professional football.

there is still some faint resistance to the notion that a kicker could ever really do anything great. Brett Favre can throw 10 more game-ending interceptions and fans will still cherish his moments of glory. Reggie Bush may fumble away a championship and still end up being known for the best things he ever does. Even offensive linemen whose names no one remembers are permitted to end their days basking in the reflected glory of having been on the field. Kickers alone are required to make their own cases.

Less than a year from now someone will go down in history as the kicker whose job it was to kickoff the first play in the United Football League. I hope that someday he ends up in an article as well written as this one.

Keeping in mind that nothing official has been announced yet, here is what we know about potential owners of United Football League teams.

• Mark Cuban is the only officially announced owner. But while everybody thinks he’ll end up owning the Las Vegas team, I’m hearing he’ll instead end up with the Los Angeles franchise.
• The Maloof family currently owns two professional basketball teams in Sacramento, CA (Kings and Monarchs). They also own the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. It’s likely that they’ll end up owning the Las Vegas franchise.
• The UFL team in Sacramento looks like it will be owned by league founder Bill Hambrecht. Teams in Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas will give the league a strong west coast anchor to start.
• Islander’s owner Charles Wang is in line for the New York/Hoftsra location. With the Jets moving to a new stadium, Long Island is ripe for the picking and I don’t expect the UFL to pass that opportunity up.
• FEDEX founder Donald Smith has been mentioned as the owner of the Memphis, TN franchise.
• Charles Butts is a strong possibility for a San Antonio team. He’s the founder of HEB, a San Antonio based grocery chain. This is definitely an area of Texas that deserves a team.

That’s six teams. With one foreign team (Mexico City or London), that leaves a few cities fighting for the 8th and final team of the inaugural year. The two cities I hear that are on the top of the list are Raleigh and Orlando. If the foreign location doesn’t pan out both cities may get in.

If your city isn’t mentioned. Don’t give up. It may be that whatever city comes up with ownership and a fan base first wins the team. So it’s time to get serious.

Previously discussed here.

Just a quick bit of housekeeping. If you happen to live in the Orlando, Florida area and are interested in learning how you can help bring a UFL team to The City Beautiful, please drop me a line. Thanks!

(Note: graphic is for illustrative purposes only and not official)

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Mark Cuban was just interviewed in Time Magazine’s 10 Questions column. One of the questions was regarding the United Football League.
 

Q: Rumor has it you’re looking to buy one of the upstart football leagues. Do you think it can get enough quality players from the NFL to make an impact?A: I don’t think there’s any question that the UFL [United Football League] or any other league that wants to challenge the NFL can have an impact. The demand for professional football is off the charts.

Good answer Mark. But you dodged the question about quality players. The demand for more games may be off the charts, but that hasn’t helped the AFL break through. What are the signs that NFL caliber players are available to play in an upstart league?

If you live in one of the cities the United Football League is considering for a team, you might have stumbled upon a card similar to this one. The goal is to build a database of interested folks for each ownership group to contact when the league officially launches. Fan support will also play a role in deciding which cities eventually get teams.To use the card for a free season ticket reservation all you have to do is click over to TicketReservee and enter in the code: uflorlando for Orlando, uflraleigh for Raleigh, etc. Let me know how this works for your city.

Josh at The Sweatpants Of Justice blog ruminates over which new football league wants his attention more. See he’s an Auburn fan, but the AAFL Birmingham team has already made it clear that it will draw its allegiance from the Crimson Tide. Josh is more apt to give the UFL a chance despite its Friday night stance.
 

now that I think about it, in a statement the UFL commissioner made in Birmingham today, he said, in addressing the question of competing with high school football, as the UFL plans to play on Friday nights, that half the UFL season will be played by the time the high school season starts. If that is true, then maybe I can become a UFL Bham fan while waiting for football to start, and if it’s interesting, I might continue to keep an eye on it.

Careful timing like this will go a long way to building fan support in all the areas where High School football rules. (Read)