Alternate History Sports

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6/25/2021 5:24 pm  #51


Re: Professional Football Organization: Wave of the Typhoon (Yr 2; 1978)

I know that this is a bit of an unwarrented bump, But I am bringing back the PFO. However, I have two things to do first

#1: I'm only doing the newspaper recaps for the playoffs
#2. This post will be for listing the IRL NFL teams in the other two major leagues (AAFC & USFL) of this sim and their role/importance. (In alphabetical order)

Austin Texans
Lamar Hunt was one of the two major founders of the USFL alongside David Dixon. Their two teams, Hunt's Austin Texans and Dixon's Rivermen form the league's greatest rivalry. Despite never being able to play in the USFL's title game, since the USFL's inception in 1964, nearly all of the league's championships have come down to the two annual Texans vs Rivermen games in the same vain as Hounds vs. Hawks has in the PFO. As for off the field, Hunt originally started the team in Dallas before PFO pressure (AKA, San Diego Sol owner Raul Gomez willing to spend $$$$$$$$ to see Six-Shooters blue instead Texans red at the Cotton Bowl) forced Hunt to move from Dallas to Austin in 1972, which is when Hunt chose to change colors to end the comparisons between the Texans logo and the flag of the People's Republic of China (yellow star on red background).   

Birmingham Broncos
The Birmingham (originally Denver) Broncos were started in 1958 as part of NBC's failed American Football League in order to compete with ABC's AAFC & CBS's PFO. However, due to poor play, poor attendance, and dreadful ratings (AAFC & PFO games pulled in respectable 40.0s to 45.0s while the AFL was getting out competed by PBS), the league collapsed by 1962. After the AFL folded, Broncos spent a few years bouncing the western league circuit before finally joining NBC's second attempt a Sunday afternoon sports, the United States Football League in 1966. Three years later, they moved from Colorado to Alabama in order to be closer to the USFL's money base in the deep south. Other than Floyd LIttle, Broncos fans have had little to cheer about in the Southern Division alongside Lamar Hunt's Austin Texans, John Basset's Memphis Grizzlies, and David Dixon's New Orleans Rivermen.

Chicago Bears
George Halas, the creator of the first major football league in the United States, the failed National Football League of the early 20s, is nothing be persistent. Even as his league went belly up due to the Great Depression, and even as the cross town Hounds gained immense national popularity at Soldier Field (due in large part to the signing of college stars like Illinois's Red Grange), Halas refused to take the Bears out of Wrigley Field. Even when the Chicago Whales of Baseball's Federal League threatened to have every Bears player and fan arrested if they played there during the 1938 season after the Cubs left for Soldier, Halas remained. eventually, after WW2, Halas got his second chance at the national league. In 1946, the Bears became one of the eight inaugural members of the AAFC, and one of only five still existing today. On the field, the Bears are always formidable, as like the Hounds, they haven't had a losing season since the 1930s. Currently that is due to the AAFC's biggest stars for the last decade, Gale Sayers & Dick Butkus.

Chicago Cardinals
If you were to look up "bush league" in the dictionary, you would find the Chicago Cardinals [out of context, they're my dumb meme team]. Even their logo is a mishmash of Chicago's more popular sports teams: the navy of the Bears, the black & old-gold of the Hounds, the green of the Federal Baseball League's Whales, and the burnt red of American Basketball Front's Chicago Bulls. Simply put, since 1898, the Cardinals have always been a jobber to stars. Even in the category of being old, they are outshined by the PFO's Hartford Sailors by four years. The Cardinals, owned by the Chicago White Sox of MLB's American League, have been in pretty much every football league imaginable. Including, but not limited to: the Mideastern Football Association (1912-1917), NFL (1920-1931), PFO (1932-1934; 1938, 1940-1944), Canadian-American Junior Rugby Association (1935, 1937-1938), Dixie Football Confernce (1936, 1947-1949, 1957), International Football League (1952-1956), AAFC (1948-1951), AFL (1958-1959, 1961) Canadian Football League (1960-1963), Continental Football Association (1967-1969), The Midwestern Professional Football Operations of America (1918-1919, 1947, 1971). Currently, they reside in the USFL. They have never won a championship in any league.

Cleveland Browns
If any one team could compete with the Chicago Hounds as the kings of American Sports, it would be the Cleveland Browns, the prize jewel of the AAFC. Much like Chicago, the Browns have dominated the AAFC, taking more than half of the Conference's championships. The Browns choke chokehold on the Ohio's sports dollar is so great that no other professional team, in ANY sport has been able to survive since the mid-50s when the National League's Cincinnati Reds had to move to California. Across the country, arguments between supporters of the Clark Gibson coached Hounds and the Paul Brown coached Browns is so common and vitriolic that old worlders (People outside North & South America) are often shocked to find out that in fact, "Chicago Hounds" and "Cleveland Browns" are not opposing extremist political parties.

Houston Oilers
The last survivor of the AFL (not counting the Cardinals), the Houston Oilers has been a thorn in Lamar Hunts side since 1957 when Bud Adams pushed to deny Hunt's admittance into the AFL in favor of a much more cash strapped owner from St. Louis. Although the AFL failed, the Oilers proved to be a success, winning all 5 of the AFL championships before being allowed admittance into the AAFC, serving as a new pillar for the Conference. In fact, had it not been for Adams purchase of the Denver Bears minor league baseball team in 1968, the Broncos would have been able to stay in Denver, which would have greatly expanded NBC's reach with the USFL. (In fact, due to Adams, Houston is the largest city in the United States without an affiliate from all three of the major networks; only having ABC & CBS).

The final team IRL team in this alt history league is the San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers, like the Bears, & Browns, were an inaugural member of the AAFC. While the 49ers saw success in the 40s, when the San Francisco Seagulls and the International Football League arrived in the 1950s, all of the 49ers thunder was completely gone. However, despite consistently placing a distant 3rd to Cleveland & the Bears within the AAFC's Western division (and even the Los Angeles Dons once Cleveland was moved to the Eastern division), the 49ers were able to outlast the Seagulls in the City by the Bay, as once the late 60s came around and the Seagulls started toppling down the standings in the more difficult PFO, the Bay Area market started to shift back towards the 49ers to the point that the Seagulls left for Boston in 1971. However the 49ers do not fully control the Bay Area market, and they are easily the worst AAFC team of the 1970s.The Portland Renegades annual preseason scrimmage with Tom Adams's Alma mater of San Jose State at Candlestick Park has routinely outdrawn every 49ers game for the last five years, even when they host rival Los Angeles & Cleveland. The 49ers grasp on San Francisco is so weak that they couldn't even sign University of San Francisco star and 1978 AAFC #1 overall draft pick Teal Fox, as he chose to play across the country in Tampa for 2nd year Tampa Bay Typhoon.



 
 

6/25/2021 10:13 pm  #52


Re: Professional Football Organization: Wave of the Typhoon (Yr 2; 1978)

1978 Season ending power rankings
#1: Portland Renegades (11-3) – Western Champion Once again, the Renegades were the clear favorite to win the Royal Crown, as their only loss during the 2nd half of the season was their week 9 loss to equally hot San Diego and rookie sensation HB Rodney McCray. However, unlike San Diego, Portland never had to come from behind or deal with any dramatic comebacks to make it back to the postseason, as they routed all who came in their wake in the second half of the year with an average margin of victory of over 20 points, including a 55-point blowout against Georgia to close out the season. Also, WR Marty “Spring” Green led all of pro-football (PFO, AAFC, & the 18 game USFL) with 1297 receiving yards
 
#2 San Diego Sol (11-3) – Wild-Card: During the second half of the season, one thing become crystal clear: HB Rodney McCray was worth every penny of the $4,500,000.00 that Raul Gomez paid for his services (the $1.5m to New Jersey for his draft rights, McCray’s $1m signing bonus, and his $2m salary). As McCray led San Diego to win their final 7 games of the season, including a sweep over Dallas and a win over defending champion Portland. In addition, McCray set the all-time single season rushing record, becoming the first player to ever rush for 2,000 yards in a 14-game season (Floyd Litlte of the USFL ran for 2,081 yards in an 18-game season for the 1973 Birmingham Broncos)
 
#3 Dallas Six-Shooters (10-4): “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride,” might as be the official motto of the Dallas Six-Shooters, as for they once again finish with the leagues 3rd best record. And once again they miss the playoffs, although that may be entirely due to the how much of a coast job New York was able to put on (Hartford, Georgia, New Jersey won a combined zero games against teams not nicknamed “Warriors” after Halloween). And Chicago completely collapsing to the point that an expansion team and Detroit almost overtook them. The Cotton Conundrum led by the linebacking trio of Patrick Vincent, Eli Jenkins, and Vince Jennings. However, the core is getting older, so another season of 3rd and out may spell the end for Dallas’s competing window.
 
#4 New York Hawks (9-5) – Eastern: Speaking of a competitive window closing, here comes the oldest roster in the league by an average of over 3 years per player. Once again, the Hawks are only in the playoffs by virtue of a historically weak division. The Hawks had a fast start to the season, but their age quickly caught up to them, and other than their annual dual drubbings of New Jersey alongside Georgia and an easy win over the then Miles Monroe-led Fire Lions team, New York faded completely down the stretch. The don’t let their #4 ranking fool you. The gap between the top 3 from the West of and the rest of the league is simply staggering.
 
#5 Chicago Hounds (8-6): Another victim of the late season fade is the famous Chicago Hounds. Entering  the Thanksgiving Day classic against Detroit, Chicago looked to also coast to an easy title in the Central as the playoffs were heading to be the same 4 teams with the same 4 seedings as the previous year. Then Yancey Montgomery, Bristol Driggs, and Legendary Linebacker Tim Bennet suffered potentially career ending injuries in a narrow defeat at Soldier Field, and the wheels just fell off after that as the Hounds went from 7-2 entering Thanksgiving to finishing 8-6 to end the year, culminating in what has to be one of the worst moments in the history of the Hounds: getting shutout by an expansion team in a winner-take-all game at home on national television, with Clark Gibson getting thoroughly out coached by an ex-player in Quinton Sharp. Speaking of Quinton Sharp…
 
#6 Tampa Bay Typhoon (8-6) – Central: Quinton Sharp has pulled a rabbit out of his hat. The former bust from Kansas State has redeemed himself to be one of finest young minds in all of football. Once a failed top 5 pick for the Hounds back in the early 1960s, Sharp has reemerged with his own top 5 draft pick at QB, except this one can throw the football, Teal Fox. Fox, despite having the standard rookie woes, has proven that he is able to be the type of quarterback that can lead a franchise to success. FB Darrius Triggs isn’t as effective as he was in his first season in the league, but he was still enough to help Tampa Bay power through their final 4 opponents, including all 3 division opponents on the road, to finish the season off with a winning record far earlier than anyone would have expected from an expansion franchise. Although the Typhoon likely has no chance against Portland in the playoffs this year, if they are able to gain a bit more talent, they should be a force in the Organization for years to come.
 
#7 Utah Blue Ox (6-8): QB Brett Nugget played far better than anyone expected him to when he was signed in the offseason by the Blue Ox. And the emergence of C Kevin Longley & RG Grant Bouchée on the offensive line along with undrafted DE Dwight Marshall has set the Blue Ox up well in the trenches. However, as has been the case for the Blue Ox since moving from the Land of 10,000 Lakes five years ago, they simply lack the speed at the skill positions to keep up with the Spring Greens, Patrick Vincents, and now the Rodney McCrays of the Western Division and across the top of the PFO.
 
#8 Detroit Motors (7-7): Detroit has finally avoided a losing season in the 1970s. Too bad the rest of the Central Division is getting better faster than they are. Detroit did have one of the better draft classes this season, but that alone was not able to help this undertalented roster back to the playoffs, even if they were able to get lucky with the injury bug hitting their opponents (most notably Chicago during the Thanksgiving Day Classic) far more than them, Detroit still hasn’t been able to put it all together and make it add up to success in the 1st half of a season, and without the luxury of a top 3 pick in the 1979 draft, they will be unlikely to even maintain their 7-7 mark from 78.
 
#9 Kansas City Fire Lions (5-9): The good news for Kansas City is that they have likely found their quarterback of the future in Warren Moon, who went 3-0 in his 3 starts. The bad news is that they wasted a first-round draft pick on Miles Monroe, who wasted the entirety of Kansas City’s season by going 2-9 in his 11 starts. Like with Detroit, Kansas City’s future is very much in the air. If they can find the right head coach and system to surround Warren Moon, they may be able to make something in 1979. Unfortunately, Kansas City lacks the draft capital to grab the elite talents next season, as due to the fall out from Mexico City Melee last season, Kansas City will be without their top three draft picks (San Diego, on the other hand, will not be lacking).
 
#10 Georgia Generals (3-11): It is clear that the bottom three are in clear need of a full reset on the roster. The good news for Georgia is that with the league’s youngest roster and most top 40 draft picks, they have the fastest track to a rebuild among any of the four bottom feeders that make up the Eastern Division. However, their first order of business will be to look for yet another field general at QB, as the Leon Ryans era has been a complete disaster since the Generals lost to the Typhoon in that franchise’s first ever game.
 
#11 Hartford Sailors (5-9): The oldest franchise in professional football has officially turned into a clownshow. While their 5-9 record suggests that they weren’t quite New Jersey, their complete failure the second half of the season to score points, only scoring 19 points (10 against New Jersey) in the entire back half stretch has left many in the Nutmeg State wondering if the Sailors will ever find the endzone again.
 
#12 New Jersey Warriors (1-13): New Jersey has two good things going for them. Good thing number one is that they are forced to take somebody #1 overall in the spring draft. Good thing number two is that they won a game in consecutive years for the first time since 1970-1971. From the Rose Bowl to the Toilet Bowl, A.J. Fluker better hope he’s got some magic CLR, because otherwise the UCLA prospect will be stuck in deep doo-doo for the long haul.

[/b]

Last edited by TargetToad (6/25/2021 10:14 pm)



 
     Thread Starter
 

6/25/2021 10:35 pm  #53


Re: Professional Football Organization: Wave of the Typhoon (Yr 2; 1978)

Poor New Jersey... hopefully they turn it around someday. 




 
 

6/25/2021 10:55 pm  #54


Re: Professional Football Organization: Wave of the Typhoon (Yr 2; 1978)



 
     Thread Starter
 

6/26/2021 1:45 am  #55


Re: Professional Football Organization: Wave of the Typhoon (Yr 2; 1978)

"Portland Observer" wrote:

Renegades crush expansion Typhoon 31-3 and head to 3rd straight Royal Crown - Monday, Christmas Day 1978
Portland had 1 bad play yesterday and Tampa Bay had 1 good play yesterday. The other 100 or so plays in the Christmas Eve playoff matchup were all good for the Renegades or bad for the Typhoon. Spring Green, as he has several times this season, muffed the opening kickoff return. Tampa Bay recovered it, but then got pushed back to about the 40 yard-line before all-PFO 1st team Kicker (you figure that if an expansion team had and all-pro, it'd be the kicker) Abe Thurman hit a 58-yarder to give the Typhoon a 3-0 lead with about 58 minutes left in the game. From that point, despite a lacking performance by Spring (4 rec, 51 yards, 0 TD) Portland dominated. At half time, the Portland defense had only allowed Tampa Bay to gain +18 yards of offense. By the end of the game, the Typhoon had +11 yards of total offense and rookie Renegade linebacker Harvey Watson & defensive tackle Vincent Thomas combined for 10 sacks alone. On the other side of the ball, the Renegade offense averaged 12 yards per play in the second half with Navy-graduate Brian Francis throwing for over 300 yards passing for the first time in his career. Next week, we host the winner of tonight's clash between the heavily favored San Diego "Hand the ball off to McCray"s, or the geriatric Hawks at Yankee Stadium.

"New York Times" wrote:

The Hawks upset McCray, San Diego; "We still have one final flight." - Tuesday, Boxing Day 1978
Last night was a throwback performance for the ages by New York's old pros. Although many of the past greats from the "Black Angel" days of the late 60s were long gone, and the new arrivals were clearly not even up to the quality players that would be starting in New Jersey (top draft pick Yancy Norfolk was so bad New York traded their both of their top two draft picks in 1980 & 1981 just to get fossilized 35-year old Ralph Curtis from Kansas City, and none of New York's other rookies from 1978 are even in football anymore; ex. #10 overall pick safety Ryan Hollis just got cut by the USFL's Montana Muskrats, his 3rd team in 3 months). Heading into the game with San Diego, oddsmakers in both Las Vegas and Atlantic City had the Sol as two-touchdown favorites; but that's why they play the game. From the opening minutes of the game, New York's Ralph Curtis proved the oldest Blue Devil (Central Connecticut, not Duke) could still run with the finest Tar Heel, as Curtis got 45 yards on 11 carries while McCray got 4 yards on 3 carries. Throughout the game, many in attendance on a windy Christmas night we waiting for McCray to breakout the big one as he had all season... except he never did, and the Hawks had nine players key in on the MVP rookie all night, leaving San Diego's "uninspiring" duo of passers, Jack Kniles and Geno Lane, to guide the Sol through the air. San Diego's predictabilty allowed the Hawks to keep the Sol out of New York territory until the very end of the 3rd quarter when 10x all-pro DB Marcus Drew made a rare lapse in his coverage, and San Diego got a 77-yard passing touchdown. Fortunately for New York, they were leading 19-0 when that bomb was thrown. other than a useless Sol field goal as time expired, no major offensive progress was made in the 4th quarter, and as 17-year veteran Hawks QB Craig Young, the organization's oldest player, said in the post game interview "We still got one more flight left boys."

Last edited by TargetToad (6/26/2021 1:46 am)



 
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6/26/2021 1:47 am  #56


Re: Professional Football Organization: Wave of the Typhoon (Yr 2; 1978)



 
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