St. Pete Times wrote:

1 and it feels 0 so good - September 9th, 1977
The Tampa Bay Typhoon open their franchise with a victory, upsetting the heavily favored Georgia Generals 24-14 thanks to 138 yards & 2 touchdowns from rookie fullback Darius Triggs out of Florida A&M. Tampa Bay led from wire-to-wire thanks to Triggs's 15 yard TD run after Georgia fumbled the opening kickoff. Tampa Bay's defense held Georgia's lethal passing attack to under 100 yards, heavily limiting what the Generals could do when they had the ball. With the win, the Typhoon become the first team in either the AAFC or the PFO to win their first ever game since the 1947 Baltimore Colts.

Portland Observer wrote:

So Much Bark, so Little Bite - September 20th, 1977
Portland unveiled their 5th banner last night right in the Hounds faces, and gave Chicago another whoopin'. Chicago had been been spouting out utter nonsense about how they would crush Portland and embarrass them in the Underpass ever since the schedule was revealed back in July. When it came time to play, Portland showed up, limiting the Hounds to 3 points and 32 yards of total offense, extending their no-touchdowns allowed streak to 8 games. On the other side of the ball, even without Hugh Bronson, Portland still threw for over 400 yards, blitzing Chicago 44-3. When asked about the Hounds boasting by CBS reporters after the game, Renegade WR Marty "Spring" Green colorfully stated "Them p**** a** b****** in Chicago forgot games ain't played on paper; they're played on grass!" A little vulgar, but spot on.

Chicago Tribune wrote:

Embarrassment of the worst kind - September 25th, 1977
The Hounds have truly done it now. Going back to last year's Thanksgiving Day defeat by Detroit, the Hounds have lost 5 straight games, but this one might be the worst. Up 20-0 with 3 minutes to go, all Clark Gibson had to do was call for his team to fall on the ball and run out the clock. Instead, Gibson called for a pass, throwing to ex-Hound Marvin Jenkins for an interception touchdown to give Tampa Bay life. Somehow, Chicago did not expect Tampa Bay's onside kick, allowing the expansion Typhoon to recover. A 66-yard bomb later, and Chicago's lead was down six points. The second time around, the Hounds actually recovered the onside kick.. only to fumble the ball two plays later, giving Tampa Bay the ball at midfield with 42 seconds left. A Darius Triggs touchdown run sealed Chicago's fate: complete and total collapse. Final score: 21-20.

The Star Ledger wrote:

The losing continues with no end in sight - October 3rd, 1977
New Jersey had their best shot to get a win this season slip through their hands as they lost 13-17 to expansion Tampa Bay yesterday afternoon. Warriors TE Howard Smith dropped a wide-open pass in the endzone as time expired. 0-4 New Jersey's losing streak extends to 34 games and it has been 1,040 days since the Warriors last win on November 22nd, 1974.

Kansas City Star wrote:

Fire Lions still Undefeated, but not Untied; over 30 Players to be Suspended for the Remainder of the Season after Brawl in Mexico City - October 3rd, 1977
The Fire Lions headed down to Mexico City for a "fight" with the San Diego Sol last Sunday, and a fight is exactly what they got. The game was back-and-forth as the heavily injured Sol kept pace with Kansas City. It seemed as if more punches being thrown than passes as all-out brawl on the field spilled into the crowd and lasted for over an hour. The fight was started late in the 4th quarter with the score tied at 19 when Sol Defensive tackles Javier Bautista & Don Murray dog-piled All-pro Kansas City guard Jake Blanks, who was running to recover a fumble that happened 20-yards down the field. After the Fire Lions retained possession of the ball, Blanks swung at Bautista, who in-turn swung back. Once the brawl subsided, neither team was able to score again in regulation nor in three overtimes, resulting in a 19-19 tie. Kansas City is 4-0-1, San Diego is 2-1-1.

Portland Observer wrote:

Bronson shatters 5 ribs in return to Portland, Renegades move to 6-0 - October 24th, 1977
Portland isn't exactly a fun to place to play if you're a road team. Hugh Bronson got to experience this one first hand. Bronson had been the field general of the Blue & Lime since 1965. But yesterday, he led a new army into battle, the 4-2 Salt Lake Blue Ox. By the end of the game, Bronson was defeated, probably for good. Bronson started well, completing his first 7 passes and even ending the Renegade defense's 11-game no touchdowns allowed streak. However, on the final play of the 1st quarter, Portland's 1st round rookie, defensive back Wayne Montgomery from near-by Oregon State, dove helmet first directly into Bronson's brittle 37-year old ribs and Bronson was knocked out of the game. Normally, the Underpass would erupt into cheers when the opposing team's quarterback was injured. But today, there was only silence as the stretcher carried the veteran off of the field. Portland fans got something good to cheer about 4 minutes later when Portland went up 10-7 with a rushing TD by the draftee Portland chose to replace Bronson in the offseason, 28-year old rookie Brian Francis from Army. At that point, Portland never relinquished the lead and ended up winning 37-10, jumping to 6-0.

“New York Times wrote:

Hawks fall to Detroit 14-9 on Hallows Eve, New Jersey only winless team left. - October 31st, 1977
To say that New York losing to winless Detroit at the half-way point of the season was surprising would be wrong, given the Hawks recent history of playing down to inferior competition not named "New Jersey Warriors." About once per year, the Hawks are due for a clunker and yesterday was (hopefully) New York's only clunker of '77 season. The Hawks out gained the Motors 452-186 in total offensive yards, but the Motors were able to take the opening kick-off of the second half 92 yards for a touchdown and got a touchdown mid-way through the 3rd thanks to a steady balance of pass and run from Detroit's methodical offense. In contrast to that, the Hawks failed to scored a touchdown despite reaching inside the Detroit 15-yard line 6 times, coming away with points on only half of those drives, and those three scoring possessions were unsatisfying chip-shot field goals. The Hawks had a chance 58 minutes into the ball game with a 1st & Goal from the 2-yard line, but they were unable to punch it in, falling to the previously winless Motors. However, 5-3 New York still leads the Eastern Division by 1&½ games over 3-4 Hartford entering November.

Last edited by TargetToad (3/14/2021 4:44 pm)

Well, I knew Tampa would be special this year since this is somewhat biased. Hopefully New Jersey can finally win a game or maybe they’ll just fold outright.

Hartford Courant wrote:

Hartford sends Tampa Bay away with a 6-0 shutout in lowest scoring game in 41 years – November 7th, 1977
The two teams may have left rainy Thomas Hooker Field at 4-4, but the day started with the oldest franchise in football under .500 and the youngest franchise in football over .500. 60 minutes in a game harkening back to the Sailors’ hey-day of the late 20s and the early 30s, back when field goals were worth 5 points and touchdown were worth 2 points with no extra point try [That scoring system was reversed after Hartford beat New York 50-6 (30-18 by today’s standards) in Dec. 1934]. The game was a slog all afternoon as a torrential downpour (a mud and mire as neither offense was able to move the ball into other team’s 30 yard-line, with Tampa Bay unable to complete a pass until the second half. The only points on the day were from a pair of 50+ yard kicks by the PFO’s last straight-ahead booter (non-soccer style kicker), linebacker Dom Olafbrowski.

New York Times wrote:

Highly anticipated Hawks vs. Six-Shooters rematch disappoints – November 14th, 1977
Last year, the second Dallas vs. New York game produced the best game of the 1970s. This year, the lone Dallas vs. New York game produced a forgettable dud, although that may have been due to Dallas having to swap their bye week with New Jersey over scheduling conflicts at the Cotton Bowl. It may have also been due to the new three-division alignment & wild-card playoff spot, as the Six-Shooters are no longer fighting with the Hawks for the Eastern Championship as they had been since joining the PFO with San Diego 1966. New York, on the other hand, got to remain in a shrunken east that contained still winless New Jersey, 3-6 Georgia, & 4-5 Hartford. The win 20-10 win gave New York a 7-3 record heading into their bye-week with an Eastern division title all but assured.

Detroit Free Press wrote:

Motors lose 17-20 to Hounds in the annual Thanksgiving Day Classic – November 25th, 1977
The Motors (3-8) have assured their first 10-loss season of the 1970s after yesterday’s loss to Chicago (7-4). The game once again featured Americana at its finest as in another penalty free game (Detroit’s 6th this year), the nation got to see Chicago & Detroit meet for the 66th time (it would have only been 65th had those spoiled cheating Hawks gotten their way at the league meetings and had us locked into the East with them instead of a new central division with the Hounds). The game, as is typical of the Thanksgiving Day Classic, was once again the most watched television event of the year. As expected, the Hounds prevailed, but our Motors hung in tough with Chicago. In week 13, Detroit will host Hartford (4-6) as the Hounds will head to (4-6) Tampa Bay before hosting Kansas City (6-3-1) for a de-facto Central Division title in week 14.

Dallas Morning News wrote:

David’s Six-Shooters out-sling Renegades, win 33-17 – November 28th, 1977
The Dallas Six-Shooters have been wandering the football desert for 11 years now, looking for their signature moment. They may have found it yesterday afternoon, as they jolted the undefeated defending champion with an impressive 3-possesion win (unlike the USFL, the PFO does not have the two-point conversion). It started when Six-Shooters quarterback David Kerns  found tail-back Robert Martinez alone in the endzone after a perfectly ran play-action to grab a 7-0 lead. Dallas’s explosive special teams struck next with a surprise onside kick only 7 minutes into the game, completely catching the Renegades off guard. Kerns found split-end Dexter Gomez three plays later to give the Six-Shooters a 14-0 lead before Portland had even touched the ball. Portland rookie quarterback Brian Francis, who had never been behind before this one, was caught completely off-guard by Dallas’s linebackers, nicknamed the “Cotton Conundrum” after the Cotton Bowl they play in and the way they confuse offenses on a weekly basis. Cotton Conundrum members LOLB Patrick Vincent, MLB Eli Jenkins, & ROLB Vince Jennings had the normally effective Francis scrambling for his life all afternoon under the 95o Texas sun. The Cotton Conundrum forced seven Portland turnovers and a safety to stimy the Renegade attack and move the Six-Shooters up to 8-3 through 12 weeks. In other organization-wide news, the New York Hawks clinched the eastern division title Sunday by virtue of their win over the Warriors & Georgia’s victory over Hartford.

La Prensa wrote:

El fin de temporada de San Diego terminará en decepción, sin juego de postemporada – diciembre 12th, 1977
El Sol perdió ante los Dallas Six-Shooters 23 a 13 el domingo, cayendo a 6-6-1 en el año. Se esperaba que el Sol llegara a los playoffs con al menos el puesto de comodín, si no el título de la división occidental. El entrenador Juan Burke parece estar en la tabla de cortar después de no poder llegar a los playoffs nuevamente. Raúl Gómez no ha sido un equipo paciente cuando se trata de entrenadores en jefe, ya que ha despedido a siete de ellos desde que el Sol se unió a la Organización de Fútbol Americano Profesional en 1966. Al menos Burke podrá salir con una nota alta cuando reciban al humilde New Jersey la semana que viene.

The Star Ledger wrote:

The streak is over at 1,109 days. The Warriors win – December 12th, 1977
The unbelievable has finally happened: The New Jersey Warriors have won a game. Not just any game, but one in which the winds were blowing at 45 miles per hour. A game in which the Georgia Generals were up all evening long and the Warriors had to travel 88 yards in under a minute to score with no timeouts. New Jersey would have had to pull off a miracle. But New Jersey pulled off a miracle. First play of the drive: incompete pass, 54 seconds left, 88 yards to go. Second play: sack, 34 seconds left, 95 yards to go. Third play: spike to stop the clock. Fourth play: 4th & 17 at their own 5, 33-yard prayer answered by WR Hakeem Reynolds who got out of bounds. 25 seconds left, 62 yards to go. Fifth play: Reynolds caught anther pass down the middle, this one going for 45 yards. 11 seconds left, 17 yards to go. Sixth play: Howard Smith, the goat in week 4’s loss to Tampa Bay, makes a spectacular catch at the 3-yard line while getting slammed by two Georgia defenders & leaps over a third for the win.
Final Score: Warriors: 23; Generals: 21.

Chicago Tribune wrote:

Hounds finish remarkable midseason turnaround, clinch Central Division – December 12th, 1977
It seemed like yesterday that Chicago was 1-3 looking completely out of sorts on their way to the bottom of the league table, but now they have fully recovered, rattling off 7 straight wins to seal up the first ever Central Division title thanks to yesterday’s 23-7 win over Kansas City in a snowy winter wonderland at Soldier Field, at the exact same time as 82-year old owner George Halas filled in as head coach for the cancer stricken Abe Gibron to guide his Chicago Bears over the Los Angeles Dons to clinch the All-American Football Conference’s Western Division in Wrigley Field on the northside. And to add to this banner day for Chicago football, the Chicago Cardinals, currently in their 7th football league, won the United States Football League’s northern division with a shut-out victory over the Rochester Chesters, at Comiskey Park on the southside. The Bears and Cardinals success was nice, but nothing makes fans in Illinois happier than seeing the Howlin’ Hounds of the Windy City win, and they did just that by crusing past the Fire Lions. Hounds head man Clark Gibson proved he’s still got it in his 34th year at the helm. Bring on Dallas, and then Portland or New York in the Royal Crown. As coach Gibson said himself: “We’re still here, and not leaving any time soon.”

Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote:

The Generals worst season in a decade comes to a merciful end with an upset of the New York Hawks – December 19th, 1977
Sunday’s 32-10 victory over the Hawks was supposed to send the Generals to the playoffs. Instead, it cost them the 2nd overall pick. Georgia’s year could not have started any worse with a loss to expansion Tampa Bay on opening day. The season spiraled out of control from there as defeats piled up as second-year quarterback Leon Ryans regressed to a level worse than most high-school quarterbacks. The Generals finished at 4-10. They had not lost 10 games in a season since 1966 when the Dallas & San Diego expansion draft swallowed up their core from the early 60s. New York heads into the playoffs with three-straight losses and an 8-6 record.

La Prensa wrote:

– El entrenador del Sol, Juan Burke, fue encontrado muerto en su apartamento de San Diego después de la derrota que puso fin a la temporada ante New Jersey. - diciembre 14th, 1977

BTW, I used Google translate for San Diego.
 

Last edited by TargetToad (3/15/2021 1:57 pm)

The season had been a pretty good year for the PFA. Expansion Tampa Bay had been a pleasant surprise both on and off of the field, as they won 5 games, and even outsold 10 of the other 11 teams in the league. The Dallas Six-Shooters were another nice surprise, as at 10-4, they were able to make their first ever playoff appearance. Another team on the up-swing was the Salt Lake Blue Ox, who managed to avoid last-place in the tough western division. Even New Jersey, who hadn't won a game since late 1974 entering this year, managed to win two games right at the end. 
However, for every Tampa Bay or New Jersey, there was a Georgia or a San Diego.
Georgia started out with a loss against Tampa Bay, and simply couldn't recover afterwards, completely collapsing. But perhaps no one collapsed worse than the Kansas City Fire Lions who limped to a 7-6-1 mark after starting the year out 5-0. But the suspensions doled out after the Mexico City Melee heavily limited the Fire Lions ability to win in the second half of the season. As for the other participant in the melee, San Diego, their season was a complete disaster. From their opening day loss to Portland, to the Mexico City Melee, to having to watch Dallas clinch the first playoff spot for either '66 expansion, nothing seemingly went right. And on top of all of that was the loss to New Jersey, with the mysterious death of coach Juan Burke left a dark cloud over the PFO's head entering the postseason.
Some teams, like Hartford & Detroit, did exactly what was expected of them with no real surprises. In fact, none of the division champions were surprising to anybody. New York sleep-walked to a division title, losing their final 3 games of the regular season. As for Chicago, although they struggled early-on, they were able to recover and win 9 of their final 10 games to win the Central. Lastly, defending Portland put up one of the greatest seasons in organization history, crushing everyone on their way to a 13-1 record with even less points allowed than last year, despite the 14 game season and the 33-points allowed to Dallas.
 

Chicago Tribune wrote:

Hounds hold-off late Six-Shooters comeback, move on to Royal Crown ‘77 – Christmas Day, 1977
Merry Christmas Chicago, As the Hounds kept their winning ways going, the Windy City’s other two teams did not. The Bears lost to the Philadelphia Stars in the AAFC title game last week, and the Cardinals were eliminated in the first round of the USFL Playoffs, but the Hounds kept the Hounds winning ways going. Last year, Chicago was knocked out before the playoffs could even begin. Now, they get to play Portland in the PFO’s first ever January game. But before they could play Portland, they had to beat the other Western division team in the postseason, the Dallas Six-Shooters. The Six-Shooters fell victim to two early bombs right thorough the middle of Dallas’s secondary from Hounds QB Yancey Montgomery to WR Bristol Driggs. With a 14-0 lead entering half-time, the Hounds felt pretty good. But Pretty good isn’t good enough in the PFO, as Dallas came right back at them, hurling deep scores of their own to tie the game 10 minutes into the second half. Chicago fans suddenly had a reason to feel uneasy about their future, only for Clark Gibson to dial up a whale of a play on a reverse to Driggs that resulted in a 32-yard touchdown to give Chicago the lead back entering the 4th and final period. An interception touchdown by 9x All-Pro Marcus Drew sealed up the victory. Dallas got a touchdown late, but it was too late. Final Score - Chicago: 28; Dallas: 21

Portland Observer wrote:

Renegades will host Chicago in Royal Crown ‘77 next week after blowing out Hawks 42-3 in repeat of Royal Crown ’76 – Christmas Day, 1977
Second verse, same as the first. New York had been sliding for years, but this one probably sealed the door on any potential Hawks title for the foreseeable future. The Renegades are young and still hungry. New York was old, tired, and slow. Portland had the game was up 35-0 at the end of first quarter. From there, all suspense was gone as Portland put in their back-ups for the last 45 minutes of the game to let the starters rest-up in preparation for Chicago . Even Portland’s back-ups were able to beat the Hawks’ “aged” roster. After the game, WR Spring Green simply said “H old this week, H old next week.” Owner Tom Adams concurred, repeating his star WR.