Raise a glass this morning to the Alliance of American Football, which debuted last night on the assumption that no one should have to slog through the hellscape of February without blockin' and tacklin' and touching-the-passer penalties.
The good news for the AAF is it's run by smart football men -- Bill Polian is one of the founders -- who have much the same modest, workable model that initially characterized its spring football ancestor, the USFL. The better news is the ninny who blew up the USFL with his appalling lack of business sense is in the White House now.
No Donald Trump? Hey, that's a W right out off the hop for the AAF.
Otherwise, well, the AAF serves the same useful purpose the USFL initially did, which is give a whole lot of NFL roster cuts another chance to A) satisfy their football jones, and B) stay at least within shouting distance of the NFL radar.
Also, it gives football fans more gear options.
I mean, a Bears or a Colts or a Packers jersey is one thing. But who's not going to leap at the chance to rock a San Antonio Commanders jersey? Or an Orlando Apollos jersey? Or a San Diego Fleet jersey?
All of those teams, plus the Atlanta Legends, were in action on opening night last night. The Legends proved less than legendary, losing 40-6 to the Apollos. The Commanders, meanwhile, beat the Fleet 15-6 in what we can only presume was some sort of tribute to last week's 13-3 Patriots win in the Super Bowl.
The dominant theme of the night, it seems, was some really bad quarterback play. This shouldn't have surprised anyone, given how awful a lot of NFL backups are. These guys -- Michael Bercovici, Philip Nelson, Logan Woodside, various other people you've never heard of -- weren't even good enough to be backups. And apparently it showed.
On the other hand ...
On the other hand, the coaches are hardly nobodies. Steve Spurrier coaches the Apollos. Rick Neuheisel (the Arizona Hotshots), Mike Martz (San Diego), Mike Singletary (the Memphis Express), Dennis Erickson (the Salt Lake Stallions) and Mike Riley (San Antonio) are some of the other head coaches.
So the AAF has that going for it.
Other than that?
Hey. It's February. Any diversion in a storm.
I watched the SD/SA game, and while it was a low-scoring affair it was far from boring. It had a 3rd pre-season NFL game feel to it, and it was competitive. I really enjoyed it.
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