Alternate History Sports

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8/03/2020 5:04 pm  #521


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Slapshot Kirby wrote:

I'm a bit late to the party, but I was kind of hoping that Philly would win the Champions' Bowl. Will there be any major changes for the Blue Ox in the offseason? I mean, watching Minnesota choke in the playoffs is like being a Cubs fan from 1909 to 2016 as you begin to feel bad for them after awhile. 

Anyway, I'll be looking forward to the SFL season! Here's hoping the New Orleans Revelers can do something this year!

Minneapolis seems pretty determined to do some winning as soon as possible, they didn't bring in Addams to not even make a Champions Bowl. The front office has done a good job building a fantastic team so right now a lot of criticism is shifting toward the coaching staff, wondering if maybe their the issue. Nonetheless, it should be an interesting offseason for Ox fans.

Pulling away from the NFA for a moment, here's the SFL season! A very very interesting one to say the least.

1965 SFL Season
The second SFL season was much like the first in terms of who was good. Texas and Miami dominated, the Riders due to QB Pete Blair and the Rays due to breakout star RB Elijah Boone who won himself the MVP. Both teams were a head and shoulders above the rest of the league and there was no real question whether anyone else would conquer them. It’ll be interesting if Miami can repeat what they did at home against them earlier in the season and win the team their first American Bowl.
Next was Atlanta. Atlanta was okay, but nothing crazy. The defense was talented, DT Bob Daniels won the MVD award, but the offense failed to replicate last year’s magic that got them to the Bowl.
In 4th were the Revelers again. New Orleans was pretty mediocre but made some improvements where needed. The defense was the upside where as the offense was what brought the team down. QB Ryle Hanson isn’t worth trying any more and a change is needed. The same can be said with the running game, Claude Norris is entering his 11th season in football, and his replacement should be on the horizon.
At the bottom of the league were the Anvils and Explorers. Both teams had similar issues that they had last year and disappointed many. QB Marvin Briggs made some improvements but was still just average for his position whereas QB Mack Dixon actually had a bit of a slump for his second season. Outside of offense, the Anvils had an obvious drop in defense quality and Houston wasn’t much different. Birmingham was pretty pitiful all around to the point where on field disappointment wasn’t the only thing that Birmingham had to suffer through. 

Standings:
1.Miami Stingrays: 9-1-0
2.Texas Roughriders: 9-1-0
3.Atlanta Copperheads: 7-3
4.New Orleans Revelers: 4-5-1
5.Houston Explorers: 1-8-1
6.Birmingham Anvils: 0-10 

MVP: RB Elijah Boone - MIA
OROY - WR Terry Kendall - MIA
DROY - DE James Ford - HOU 
MVD - DT Bob Daniels - ATL
MVC - Thomas Woods - TEX

League News
Jack Sims vs the SFL 
Going winless would normally be the worst thing to happen for a team in a season, but for Birmingham, that was only the beginning. In what might be a potential look in at a toxic behind the scenes of the SFL, Jack Sims, the owner of the Anvils sells the team in the middle of the season after just 16 total games. Investors from Charlotte, NC took control of the team for the rest of the season. The team did finish the season in Alabama but it’s expected they’ve played their last game there. But that's just the synopsis of what happened. Some more detailed aspects of this story makes it much more confusing and complicated.
The drama first began in the 1965 offseason apparently. As explained by Sims in an interview, he and Commissioner Kennedy, longtime friends, reportedly had a conversation about 2 weeks before the season started about “some personal qualms” Sims had with Kennedy’s running of the league. Apparently somewhere down the road the conversation went off the rails and Sims says he hung up in frustration and anger over something Kennedy said. Sims refused to reveal anymore details about the conversation or any conversations the two had after it, but he made it clear that conversation was the foundation for his decision to sell the Anvils.
As per his story, once the season had started, money was not coming back at the same rates as it was last season and that attendance rates were absolutely abysmal in comparison to last year, which was already bad. It didn’t take long for Sims to start looking for buyers behind the scenes to try and stop bleeding money. Apparently he isn’t the only one looking for a way out of this “cash trap”, as described by him, either. Before long he and a buyer from Pittsburgh, PA, a place desperate for football, had come to terms to potentially relocate the team there within the season. Unexpectedly though, the board of owners unanimously declined the deal and Kennedy personally let Sims know that this move was “unacceptable” in another heated conversation. The reason it was unacceptable to Kennedy hasn’t been revealed yet. Pittsburgh would’ve been a gold mine for a budding football league, with ravenous fans, which is just what the Anvils needed. Sims says he believes Kennedy convinced the rest of the owners to decline the deal and that’s why it failed. Still determined to find a way out of the SFL though, he quickly found another buyer within a couple weeks, and by week 6 of the SFL season, another owners meeting had been set up to weigh the decision. It passed and the Anvils would officially be sold. In his press conference regarding the selling, Sims ended up hinting at what set him off in the first place, saying some colorful things about Kennedy, but backtracking it to cover his tail. Hopefully more will come out but so far Sims has seemed reluctant to speak about the situation and Kennedy and any other owners have refused to comment.

C&C Appreciated, let me know what you think of the off the field developments!  

 

8/03/2020 5:08 pm  #522


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Oh Drama in the SFL! I wonder if the Anvils can move to Pittsburgh or Charlotte! But if they do move to Pittsburgh the SFL could consider expansion or something like that!




 
 

8/03/2020 5:28 pm  #523


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Interesting! I wonder what set Sims off and if Kennedy's reported behavior will end up leading to the demise of the SFL. I'm glad to see a Charlotte group purchase the team, hopefully that's where they end up. You may already have an idea for what you want the name to be if they do move, but I say call 'em the Hornets, Philly be darned. Of course, if you want a different direction, both Resolves and Jacks play up the Revolutionary War (referencing the Mecklenburg Resolves and Captain James Jack, who delivered the Resolves to Congress, the Resolves being the first document to annul any power the Crown or Parliament had over a colony and the basis for the probably fake Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence). 

As for the team itself, hopefully it improves with new ownership, 0-10 is not a good season and if I'm going to be rooting for a team, I don't want it to be that bad, lol.

 

8/03/2020 5:39 pm  #524


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

If the Anvils go to Charlotte change the name to Royals or Captains
If the Anvils go to Pittsburgh the name can stay




 
 

8/03/2020 5:48 pm  #525


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

I would move them to louisville.

 

8/03/2020 7:25 pm  #526


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

If the league is having this much problems in the first two years, they're done for.  I give theem 2 more seasons before the merger.





 

8/03/2020 7:29 pm  #527


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

I don't think there will be a merger..I think there will be defections and clubs leaving the SFL for the greener pastures of the NFA.


 

8/03/2020 7:31 pm  #528


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Darknes wrote:

I don't think there will be a merger..I think there will be defections and clubs leaving the SFL for the greener pastures of the NFA.

I don't expect all the teams in the NFA, But at least, Texas, Miami, Atlanta, and maybe New Orleans.





 

8/03/2020 7:39 pm  #529


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Thrilling story for sure, the drama is very interesting and I there's a curious side of me wanting to know exactly what happened in the conversations between Kennedy and Sims. I do like the possibility of the Charlotte move, excited to see where that goes.


 

8/03/2020 10:16 pm  #530


Re: History of the National Football Association - 1974-75 Season

Let's get Football back in Pittsburgh, the SFL owners are morons

This is a very controversial league. Probably on a crash course to collapse. Probably every team makes it into the NFA eventually, though Birmingham will be in a new city.


 

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