"Those who fail to remember history are condemned to repeat it."--George Santayana.
After a short-lived revival of Vince McMahon's XFL, now owned by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and his group, the United States Football League (USFL) is poised to make a comeback of their own in 2022.
The first incarnation of the USFL lasted three seasons, culminating in an ill-advised attempt to compete with, and ultimately merge with, the NFL. Well, the more established league did pick the bones, bringing in a number of name players off USFL rosters, including Steve Young, who'd win a Super Bowl in San Francisco, and Herschel Walker. One of the owners involved in the failed fall season experiment was a young, ambitious Donald Trump. It can be argued that Trump, then a rising real estate mogul, gained his first national exposure as the owner of the New York-New Jersey Generals, for whom Walker played.
And, yes, it goes on Trump's rap sheet that the USFL folded. If only he'd left well enough alone. Well, you know......!
On Wednesday, the Fox network announced they had a stake in the revival of the USFL, and would be the home network for the league when it returns in the spring of '22. Teams haven't been announced as yet, so maybe, you think, Fox is putting the cart before the horse. We'll see.
Anyway, ABC was home to the USFL in its first iteration. The first broadcast, a game between Chicago & Washington, marked the return of George Allen to DC, and the debut of current ESPN college analyst Lee Corso, paired with Jim Lampley. Scope:
2 comments:
I'm not much of a sports guy, but you'd think that with the NFL, the AFL and the CFL, there's already plenty of football on TV already without trying to revive the USFL. Anyone remember the Alliance of American Football that folded in less than three moths?
Now you know why I started this with a quote from Santayana.
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