Each week during the season, Parks’s Pulse will present a smattering of thoughts on the previous weekend’s games.
Ranking the games
1) Roughnecks 21, Showboats 20: Both games between these two were decided by one point. Memphis experiences hard luck once again while Houston is unbelievably at .500.
2) Panthers 38, Defenders 14: D.C. could’ve kept this much closer but their tackling was downright atrocious. The Defender defense has nose-dived after a strong start to the season. Will anyone challenge Bryce Perkins for UFL MVP?
3) Stallions 26, Brahmas 3: Watching San Antonio, I’m reminded of the famous John McKay quote when asked by a reporter, “what do you think about the execution of your offense?” McKay’s response: “I’m all for it.”
4) Battlehawks 12, Renegades 6: Hugely disappointing quality given the stakes and the prime Friday night timeslot. I can’t imagine anyone sampling the UFL via this game and thinking the league is worth watching.
Major problems for Minor: Arlington’s offensive line has suffered through their share of penalties. Left tackle Ricky Lee’s issues have been previously documented. On Friday night, more than one-third of the penalties called on Arlington (four of 11) were attributed to left guard Marcus Minor. Minor, in his second year as starter along the Renegade’s offensive line, struggled against the St. Louis front. His most egregious mistake was a facemask on a third-down conversion by Arlington. On a night when Luis Perez and company had difficulty getting the offense going, they could ill afford the penalties Minor and the rest of the offense contributed.
All-access moment of the week, part one: Friday night’s 12-6 score indicated missed opportunities offensively for both teams. Indeed, with St. Louis threatening midway through the second quarter, they faced a fourth down at the Arlington two-yard line. Eschewing a short field goal, head coach Anthony Becht decided to go for it. However, Max Duggan’s pass fell incomplete, through the arms of Hakeem Butler. Butler, the veteran, took responsibility on the sideline, offering comfort to his struggling young QB. “That’s on me, bro. I gotta make that play,” he told Duggan.
Country vs. City: While football broadcasts have peeled back many of the layers of the game for fans at home, there is some verbiage that is still unfamiliar to viewers. Consider Houston Roughneck defensive end T.J. Franklin’s interview after his scoop-and-score against the Showboats. He mentioned the ball being “in the country” when explaining why he picked it up and ran with it. That probably didn’t make much sense to most people. Later on, analyst Jordan Rodgers explained that to defensive players, when no one is around the ball, it’s okay to try to scoop it up and run with it – the ball is considered “in the country” when no one is around. But when it’s crowded around the ball – or, “in the city” – defensive players are instructed to simply fall on it. A neat bit of football trivia.
Taua’s Family FT: Panthers RB Toa Taua is quickly becoming a favorite of TV broadcasts for his unique story. Taua failed to make the team out of training camp and was working at a golf course when injuries on the team led to him being re-signed. He has since seized the starting job and produced admirably for Michigan. In the past, he talked about needing to feed his family and kids, so during the game, sideline reporter Cole Cubelic had Taua’s family on FaceTime on his phone so Taua could say hi to them. These are the personal stories of players that will touch people watching and allow them to become invested in their journeys.
Dab on’em: Occasionally, college or NFL coaches or players will attend UFL games to support their former teammates or players. This year alone we’ve seen QB Cam Ward, who ended up going number one overall in the NFL Draft to the Tennessee Titans; and Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, on the sidelines to watch his son Kai of the Showboats. Sunday night, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was in Birmingham, and FOX’s Devin Gardner interviewed him. At the end of the lengthy interview, Swinney jokingly told Gardner, “nice Michigan State colors,” in reference to his dark green jacket. Gardner, a University of Michigan alum, playfully got annoyed at Swinney pointing that out. But hey, wearing that color, Gardner kind of had it coming.
Sideways kickoff: Football is a copycat sport and we’re seeing that play out in the UFL. The first kicker we observed lay the ball flat on the tee for the kickoff was B.T. Potter of the Panthers. Others have now followed suit. Potter was asked about that technique this weekend and he noted kicking that way puts a different spin on the ball and makes it harder for the returner to catch. This has helped limit kick return yardage – good for kickers and coverage teams, bad for viewers who enjoy long returns.
All-access moment of the week, part two: Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht had little sympathy for Renegades QB Luis Perez in a heated match-up between the two teams for second place in the UFL Conference. In a game in which Perez was sacked three times by the St. Louis defense, Becht was annoyed at Perez’s Tom Brady-like attempts at getting roughing the passer calls. “Is this quarterback gonna cry every time he hits the ground?” he (perhaps rhetorically) asked the official closest to him on the sideline during the game.
4 Comments
by Ken Granito
Musings of the UnFootball League:
1. How many of your commenters put their money where their mouth is? Last week I asked to what extent the UFL would go to have the St. Louis Battlehawks succeed and in the playoffs. Afterall, there is a vested financial interest to the league. Let’s just say in a playoff game 40,000 fans would come if St. Louis were playing at home vs another UFL team where 15,000 fans might come…..and that is saying a lot. If those fans pay $50 and to be honest it that estimate is conservative the league would make $1,250,000 more than if another team hosted the game. Would that be enough for the league to cheat for the Battlehawks. Evidently it is. I have shown many ways the Battlehawks have been purposefully given calls. It happens so frequently that the league is starting to become angry about it. I have seen the league give the Battlehawks challenges, when the Anthony Becht asks for asked a different number. Even then it was a gift where holding in the eyes of the UFL did not occur. Not only was the play for all intents over, but it is the way Battlehawks block every play. Yet other teams have been held to the exact number and call. It has been so egregious that a friend and I both placed bets. Those bets were to bet on the Battlehawks even though they were favored while the Renegades won 30-15 just two weeks ago and the fact that the Battlehawks had Max Duggan under center. Additionally we bet on the Panthers. Yes the Defenders were 4-1, the Panthers were favorites and Panthers had only beaten the Showboats twice and the Brahmas once. To me, the gambling industry made it look like you should bet the Renegades as an underdog who just beat the Battlehawks and the team with the league’s best record, the Defenders. See the betting industry used to care and work to have the perfect point spread, but now the place the spread to fool you into thinking it’s a good bet. IF you did that you would lose, but I KNOW how this league operates. My friend and I knew there is NO way the league would allow the Battlehawks to lose because they want to make the money on the playoff game and to keep St. Louis fans happy. Additionally, the league would have the Defenders lose because for the Battlehawks to host the game, they need to get ahead of the Defenders. My friend and I thank the greed and dishonest nature of the UFL. They have it fixed. My friend and I profited by that. By the way the Renegades were called for 11 penalties and the Battlehawks 5. Additionally, DC was called for 8 penalties and the Panthers were called for 4. While the game was l in doubt it was 5 penalties on DC and only 1 on Michigan. I thank you UFL for being the way you are. You are so easy to read. I hope the fans start paying attention. I will be happy to make money on this league. Forget going to dinner on the UFL, maybe next week I will go on vacation on the UFL.
HOW FUNNY IS IT THAT I MADE MONEY BASED ON THE UFL’S GREED!
#2 How funny is it that Lady MacBecht was seen overacting on the penalty on the running into the punter call. Me thinks though dost protest to much. The Princess Battlehawks strike again. It was classic WWE as I have NEVER seen a coach in the NFL act up like that, that little baby. Hell at least he doesn’t have that flat brimmed cap this year.
#3 Milestones: Skip Holtz won his 30th regular season legacy UFL game this week. Mike Nolan moved into 3rd place with his 15th victory passing Wade Phillips. Wes Hills eclipsed 1,000 yards and moved into 7th place on the all-time rushing list and Jahcour Pearson moved into 8th place all time in receiving, while Tyler Vaughns moved pass Sage Surratt into 10th place.
#4 In my mind right now there is no way Anthony Becht is back next year to coach the Battlehawks. He puts too much stress on the league to cheat for him, because he is afraid to deal with an experienced quarterback. A good coach would have this team atop the league without the help of the UFL officiating committee. Since the NFL won’t take him, maybe he could be a wrestler in the WWE. His charade on the sidelines would fit perfectly with the UFL. I mean the only thing missing from his tirade was a chair. He could use that in the WWE. They could have a whole bit with Joe Hendry. Anthony Becht could be the villain. The WWE would even sell him up like he was a NFL legend when Jason Witten would catch in two years what Anthony Becht did in his whole career dwarfing his career.
#5 I thought it was funny. The other day the announcer said the number #1 thing that the UFL had was the access the league gives you. So literally the UFL is advertising that football is not its number 1 thing. I am telling you they don’t even think before they talk.
# 6 Every time I look, it seems it is more a football type show, than a football game. The poor players.
# 7 I really thought Kevin Hogan looked great and maybe the Battlehawks should trade for him. Maybe Anthony Becht now sees the importance of a passing game. After all Manny Wilkins and Max Duggan have 4 TDs and 8 ints as opposed to AJ McCarron’s 39 TD and 10 int. So his Max Duggan, Manny Wilkins, Chevan Cordeiro, Brandon Silvers and Trae Self (he has some upside). For the best market in the UFL will he ever get over his fear and get someone with some NFL experience in the room.
#8 I now feel AJ McCarron is better than Anthony Becht. I wonder which family is more ashamed. I think it’s Lady McBecht’s. As a matter of fact I think the league would prefer a head coach such as Noel Mazzone, Mike Martz, Matt Cavanagh, John Fox or Mike Riley and AJ McCarron as quarterback. Doesn’t Anthony realize he is just really in the way. They could at least be proud of their team. I believe the team gets more wins from its fans and where the team is based than, because of the team.
#9 Even with the large number of penalties called on Stallions, it was nice to see what it could be once Stallions’ opponents don’t get a handicap when they play. Maybe the league is starting to figure out some things. I doubt it, but you never know.
#10 If you thought anything that I said is crazy. James Larsen reported that the league tried to change the playoff format. Who changes the rules ONCE the season starts. The UFL does. The only thing good about it is that whoever had a say voted it down, because up until then league has done whatever it wants to do. All I know is it seems a little fishy to have even discussed the thought. Maybe they should switch it to the teams with the lowest completion percentage or touchdowns to interception rate. They make the playoffs. I mean really. To even have the discussion at this point of the season. Do they understand football. I really think they don’t respect fans at this point.
#11 The announcer of the Battlehawks game on Sunday said the Battlehawks fans were great. There were like 10k fans in the stands (certainly the least I have ever seen), but the announcer said how they made gameplay difficult for the Renegades. IF a team has 10k fans at a game and they are making it too difficult for the other team to operate, then that is on the UFL for providing a bad system not how good the fans are. This league really is a joke. They can never get it right. It’s like they would do anything for St. Louis. I feel the whole UFL just drops the soap for them. Very scary.
by Gary Winter
I was going to answer all of this stupidity but it really isn’t worth the time or effort. Every few days you try to tear down the league, every few days you sound a little further gone. So you think the whole league is in the midst of some big conspiracy to get the Battlehawks into the Championship Game (St. Louis wasn’t even the first choice for the Championship Game!). Your reasoning is that last week Arlington was called for 11 penalties and the Battlehawks only 5? Have you ever watched a football game before? Oh, that’s right, you and your “friend” watched and bet on the game. I was at the game in St. Louis on Friday, it wasn’t much of a game but there were 27,000+ fans (That’s pretty accurate.) at the game even though the Blues hockey team was playing a game 6 playoff game and the Cardinals were playing the Mets. Both were at home, both started at or about 7pm. The crowd was great, loud and having fun. Were you there? You seem to know how many others were there. Have you ever been to a game live? Or do you and your “friend” just watch from the couch?
IF YOU DON’T LIKE OR TRUST THE UFL, DON’T WATCH! IT’S SIMPLE, CHANGE THE CHANNEL and quit crying. Maybe you can find something to watch that will still fulfill your conspiracy needs.
by Ken Granito
No way there were 27,000 fans. I believe that was the attendance as attendance includes all circulated seats.
The dome holds 67,700 and there is no way there were close to 2/5ths capacity. It was more like 1/6th or 1/5th full, much closer to 10,000+ fans.
As far as the noise level, I am very happy you are loud and support your fans. Never would I not want you to support your fans. However, even if there were 27K fans at a stadium even if a dome, would the NFL’s communication be able to handle it? I hope you saw the Rams play to a mostly full stadium. Did the other team just go away because they couldn’t communicate? So, yes, I stand by what I say. Saying you are able to hinder another team with a 1/5th full stadium is more a mockery of the UFL’s communications and how a team has been trained to handle them. Sorry. I cannot change that fact. Ask yourself a question. Would the NFL (ever) would have felt they need to pat you on the back and say something like that? Additionally, this week it came out that the UFL, during the season wanted to change a rule about how the playoffs are done, doesn’t that make it seem odd they wanted to do that. When have you EVER heard that? Of course not, because it’s not something a real league would even contemplate doing? Let’s put it this way, I really get the feeling Russ Brandon never even played high school football, never mind college. There is just too much that a real competitor would never allow to happen.
Do you accept that the Luis Perez trade for Ryan Mueller trade ever happened? Because Luis Perez is the Spring King, the quarterback with the second most yards in legacy UFL history with over 6,500 passing yards and won the XFL Championship. If he was on the Battlehawks you wouldn’t need the help. Ryan Mueller is an edge player with 8 games, 18 tackles, 1/2 sack and an interception for a touchdown in his legacy UFL career. The Renegades had released him and signed him back before the trade. After the trade, the Vipers released him and two weeks later was re-signed by the Renegades, where he was inactive most of the time. Perez led the Renegades to the XFL Championship. Ryan Mueller never played another football game again.
The league owns both teams and hired both the head coach/GM of both teams. To the XFL that is not a conspiracy. That is trying to do right for the league their business. For us, the way we know football that is a conspiracy. There is no other way to see it. Once you know they are capable of that you need to start looking more closely. I know to you it doesn’t matter. You are the team being favored. Hey, if you want it to be the WWE where nothing is real anyway and you want to watch and yell and scream go right ahead. If I were a St. Louis fan, I would want greatness. Like with the Greatest Show on Turf. That was a team! You have the biggest attendance in the UFL. You should have the best players, not get the best calls. Instead Lady McBecht wants you to have less because he is gunshy from the AJ McCarron incident. Tell me you wouldn’t prefer a coach that would be able to appreciate AJ McCarron and vice verse. McCarron had been in the NFL for 10 seasons and until he told them he wanted to play in the XFL never had a problem with them. I believe that if I ran the St. Louis Battlehawks with those receivers and the game on the line I would have left the ball in his hands instead of what Becht & Gradkowski did which was to run the ball. It’s a 50/50 chance and the defense was sold on the run. There are 4 excellent receivers with a quarterback who completes almost 70% of his passes. McCarron understands football better than McBecht does and he was in the game. Anthony Becht had a Tight Ends coaching job for one season. That was it. That was the extent of his coaching experience. He was named head coach. That right there is a conspiracy.
He was given the job because the Rock thought it would be cool to have a football player as coach, just as was Hines Ward (one season as receivers coach) , Rod Woodson and Terrell Buckley (never being more than Cornerbacks coaches). They were given the job because they were NFL players and people would know who they are, not because of their ability. That is a conspiracy. Bruce Gradkowski got an offensive assistant role with the Lions not an offensive co-ordinator. I trust AJ McCarron knows what he is seeing much more than that coaching staff.
Just know that I appreciate you sticking up for your team. I wouldn’t ask you to stop. That stated I have been trying to find out the league could figure it out. Now that I see it won’t ever be able to do that I am hopeful the USFL breaks away from the UFL. I am hopeful they realize how they used to laugh at the XFL. There was this whole commercial where they insinuated the XFL was fake even putting them in front of a green screen and dropping the ball. My hope is that they realize they became what they were advertising not to be. I mean we are watching mostly empty stadiums anyway, just like it was with the USFL.
Coming back to the point you brought up: I truly wish you get a NFL team. St. Louis and San Antonio have got to be the best markets for NFL teams. However the other night you are not bringing enough that a pro team shouldn’t be able to communicate. I have seen games in Houston and it’s 6,000 average attendance where the team had trouble hearing the plays. The UFL has a problem with communication. How many do they have to ask them to say the play again or the play gets in late. You can even hear it on the television. Often it is the communication not that they are trying to find what plays to run. To say what they said is a joke. I am sure you don’t need the league to give you a pat on the back. You’re a fan because you are a fan. It’s not your fault they complemented you, but it is stupid as hell to and I called them out, not you.
I am sure with the way I say the league is propping you up , you would take it negatively. I have not written it so much to hurt the fans of St. Louis. I am sorry that I repeat myself. I just don’t know a better way to get the word out so people will see the complete picture so I honestly apologize for saying it so often. I truly have not been watching as much so I am sure I will drop off on corresponding. I used to watch 3 games per week. I didn’t even watch one complete game this week only checking in for the scores. How upsetting for me to check in and see Anthony Becht crying like he did up and down the sidelines. I never saw that in a NFL game before. I have seen that type of overacting in the WWE. Real NFL coaches would let it go as they would be fined, not do what he did. I honestly really feel he is not NFL coach material. Hell but I said the same for Carlos Beltran and was so upset when the Mets named him manager. I had seen to many reasons that he should never be a major league manager, then he was found to be a large part of stealing signs while with the Astros. I understand how upset I would be with me, if I were a Battlehawks, and read this over and over. I really do, but no one pays attention like I pay attention. I see and I remember and I have played both baseball and football and have watched in detail every pitch every play. I have a great understanding of the game. Please look at the plays. Why do they take the touchdown off the scoreboard for the Battlehawks when they got the player wrong, but are so hardcore vehement against the other teams.
Everything I am saying are truths. They happened. You call me a conspiracy theorist. I call the league out on what it has done. Good luck to you Gary. In all honesty you handled that excellent and if you look back you will see, I wasn’t really against the Battlehawks until this year. I think the league is really feeling the pressure this year and this is how they are dealing with it.
One last question. AJ McCarron was cut by the Battlehawks and no one else picked him up. Do you think the league told everyone else they couldn’t sign him? I
believe the league told everyone else not to sign him.
He would have been perfect for the Brahmas, the Showboats and maybe the Stallions. I think the league has made it clear he should not be signed under any case. Do you think if the teams owned themselves a team would have signed him? I certainly do. To you this might not be a conspiracy, but to me it is. Remember the UFL employs all the coaches and GMs. To do this opens themselves open to be called a conspiracy, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.
by Gary Winter
This isn’t the NFL. Why do you keep comparing the two? There were 27,000+ in the dome last week which is a bit lower than normal however there were other things going on in town that drew some fans away. Why does it matter to you how many people were at a football game in St. Louis? There were people seated on all four levels of the dome, not just a smattering around the lower level.
This is my last question for you because quite frankly, I don’t have time for blowhards such as yourself.
Why is it that every time that you respond to anyone’s article, even when you’re agreeing, do you feel the need to write your response twice as long as the original? Do you just like to hear yourself talk (write)?