United Football League

So with the news of Michael Vick being formally released by the Falcons, talk of him playing in the United Football League has been thrown around.

I expect Roger Goodell to reinstate Vick after he finished his prison term on July 20. Though I don't expect a team to sign him before this season, I don't expect him to join a team in the UFL either. I expect an NFL team to sign him to their practice squad midway through the season or for an NFL team to take a flier on him before the beginning of next season, so he has a full training camp to get ready.

The part of this whole discussion that has me the most excited is this United Football League.

Here is a basic rundown of the United Football League, mostly taken from the league website and wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Football_League_(planned)
http://www.ufl-football.com/

- 2009 will be the inaugural season of the UFL
- The UFL will play its games on Thursdays and Fridays in the fall.
- There are four teams for the 2009 season: Las Vegas, New York, Orlando and San Francisco.
- These teams will play six games apiece, culminated with the championship game on Thanksgiving weekend.
- Games can be seen on Versus.
- The coaches are: SF - Dennis Green, Orlando - Jim Haslett, NY - Ted Cottrell, LV - Jim Fassell.

Now call me crazy, but I have a very good feeling this will work. I think it will work for a variety of reasons.

1. It's legit football
The thing that turns people off about Arena Football and the defunct XFL was how gimmicky they are/were. They figured they couldn't compete straight up with the NFL, so they had to create a gimmick. The problem is, nobody plays high school and college football under gimmick rules, so nobody wants to see professional gimmick football.

2. They're not shying away from the fall
Small football leagues don't play in the fall because they don't want to compete with the NFL. The fact of the matter is, sports fans, like people, are creatures of habit. They have modes they get into at certain times of the year. In the spring, they get crazy about March Madness. In the summer, they love watching baseball. In the fall, they wait all week to be rewarded with football on Saturdays and Sundays.

The thing other football leagues don't realize is that no matter how crazy a football fan you are, when February and March roll around, you're not in football mode anymore. You want basketball. Likewise, when it's September and October, you may still watch some baseball, but aside from the playoffs and World Series, you're in football mode. Give the fans football during the time of year when they can't get enough of it.

3. There is a surplus of talent.
I'm not just talking about players. I'm talking about coaches as well. When you can get guys like Jim Haslett, Jim Fassell, and Denny Green to coach your teams, you are off to a good start. There will be players out there who don't get drafted or get cut, who will LOVE to play for these guys. In fact, I'm pretty sure if you took a poll of NFL players, Denny Green would beat Tom Cable...by a LOT.

There are plenty of college football fans who are disappointed that their favorite players who graduated aren't playing professionally. Also, can you imagine if a player got cut from an NFL team and the very next week he showed up on a UFL team? I don't know why, but I think that would be pretty darn cool.

I like everything I've read about the UFL so far. I think they're going about this the right way. I especially like that they're having a "soft launch" to slowly show everyone their viability, instead of making a grand debut, only to fall flat on their faces.

If I were to give my nugget of advice to the executives of the UFL, I would tell them to get Fantasy UFL Football up and running as soon as possible. PAY Yahoo! and ESPN if you have to, but make sure to have fantasy football. Under no circumstances make some crappy underdeveloped fantasy football on your own website the only option for fantasy football.

It may seem silly, but there are so many fantasy football nuts out there who watch most games for their fantasy football team (yes, I am one of those nuts). The increased viewership from those people alone would give the ratings a significant boost.

I really hope the UFL does well. As I've stated in other posts, competition is good for any sports league, and I have a feeling the UFL will enjoy success eventually.

When they do, you can bet Vince McMahon will go into a 'roid induced frenzy and go Liam-Neeson-in-Taken style on whoever told him the XFL would be a good idea. That is, if he hasn't done so already.