United States Football League Opens

     On March 6, 1983 the 12 team United States Football League opened play for the first time. League owners were looking to give the fans year round football. Many fans liked the concept of following football year round.

   In the opening games, At Washington, DC the Chicago Blitz beat the Washington Federals by a score of 28-7. The Tampa Bay Bandits had a 21-17 win over the Boston Breakers. The Oakland Invaders beat the Arizona Wranglers by a score of 24-0 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Los Angeles Express beat the New Jersey Generals by a score of 20-15. The Philadelphia Stars beat the Denver Gold by a score of 13-7.

  The following day the Michigan Panthers scored a 9-7 win over the Birmingham Stallions. The scores of the opening weekend did nothing to tip off who would be the winners at the end of the season. The Michigan Panthers, who had the lowest score of any winning team and the fifth lowest score of any team defeated the Philadelphia Stars in the championship game by a score of 24-22. The Stars were the next team up from the Panthers among winning teams in scoring on the opening weekend.

  The history of the league itself is pretty well documented. They played three seasons, voted to move to a fall schedule sue the established NFL, "win" in court only to get a $1 in damages that was tripled to $3. A move that killed the league. Had the league stayed with the original plan and stayed with the spring schedule, who knows what might of happened. It is very possible that the league could be alive and well today. We will never know. What are your thoughts?

   The answer to yesterdays trivia question is The Los Angeles Angels moved to Spokane, Washington; the Hollywood Stars moved to Salt Lake City, Utah and the San Francisco Seals moved to Phoenix, Arizona when the Dodgers and Giants moved West after the 1957 national League season. The cities of Phoenix and Spokane then made their league debuts. The city of Spokane is currently in the Northwest League and plays from late June until early September.

   Todays trivia question is which team won the other two championship games played by United States Football League teams? The answer in tomorrows daily blog looking at the passing of a Negro Baseball League legend.