Gridiron America USFL Radio

On March 13, 1960, the city of Chicago lost its original NFL team, the now Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals were birthed on Chicago's southside and played most of their seasons at Comiskey Park; however, despite their being the city's original NFL team, they were not its flagship franchise, with that distinction going to their northside rivals, the Bears, who played their games at the friendly con...

At the dawn of the 21st Century, in the winter of 2001, a new gridiron football league appeared on the sports scene. The brainchild of wrestling promotor Vince McMahon and television executive Dick Ebersol, the XFL sought to become the premier weekly sporting event in America during the NFL off season.  As most football fans, the original XFL fell short and, as the name of the title suggests,...

For week three Dave and Greg look at the game both on and off the field as week three provided plenty of excitement as fan attendance increased, but ratings continued to nosedive. Also talked about is why San Antonio and not St. Louis was granted the XFL championship game and the unionization of the players, as well as the perceived move of desperation from FX to ABC.

The second episode of the season finds Greg James joined by former sports executive Dave Cieslinski for a candid look as to how the XFL performed in weeks one and two. Dave provides a perspective that you won't find on other XFL podcasts. He knows what it takes to put bottoms in the seats and to get fans interested so that they return. The two discuss ticket sales, attendance and ratings, and Dave...

In the world of sports history podcasting, there is a curious little one that has carved out a niche covering the world of defunct leagues and teams from yesteryear. "Good Seats Still Available" has its roots in Tim Hanlon's youth, when he fell in love with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, who unfortunately, like the league itself departed us to soon, and thus began for him...

For this third episode we move up to the Great White North as Greg sits down with Don and Heath of the Third Down Gamble podcast , where they go team by team through the Canadian Football League and review last year's performance and review all that has happened in the off season. The three also talk about the ownership struggles within the league and the challenges presently faced by the teams in...

Prior to the XFL kickoff in America, Greg James sat down with the elder half of The World of Football podcast dynamic duo, Randy Snow. Randy is the Adam West to his own son Adam's Burt Ward, both of whom who broadcast weekly from the Man Cave news and history lessons that encompass the gridiron game around the world, including where Greg is, in Japan. Greg and Randy review the news out of the CFL...

In the inaugural episode, Greg James adds his laid-back historical approach to the crowded XFL field. Unlike the other XFL shows, he does not mince words as to what he believes was an under performing week one. Specifically, he calls out the league for catering to the white male wrestling crowd and talks about how the marketing sucks. He also discusses what he believes were poor ratings when compa...

From Japan, it's Greg James of CFL America Radio and the Sports History Network with a new show filled with commentary and observations about the XFL, as well as analysis of league news, and those important items that affect the business of gridiron football.

Welcome to the first episode of "Gridiron America," where Japan based Greg James (co-host of the "From the 55 Yard Line" and "Gridiron Japan" podcasts) sits down with fellow podcasters and gridiron experts to talk about the game outside of the lines. In this inaugural episode ("the beta episode") Greg sits down with fellow Sports History Network member, Aron Harris of "The Football Odyssey" to rev...

1983 Championship - Sunday, July 17, 1983. Attendance: 50,906. TV: ABC. [NOTE: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward to about the 10:30 minute mark where kickoff begins] Anthony Carter and Derek Holloway were big enough to be enough for Bobby Hebert and definitely big enough for the Michigan Panthers, who got big plays and big days from their little guys to win the first United Stat...

1983 Divisional Playoffs - Sunday, July 10, 1983. Attendance: 60,237, TV: ABC. [Note: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward to about the 9:00 minute mark where the kickoff begins] Michigan quarterback Bobby Hebert passed for one touchdown and ran for another  to lead the Panthers to a 37-21 victory over the Oakland Invaders and into the United States Football League's first cha...

1983 Divisional Playoffs - Saturday, July 9, 1983. Attendance: 15,686, TV: ABC. The Philadelphia Stars had come from behind before, but never quite so dramatically. And the victory never felt quite so good. Quarterback Chuck Fusina, who overcame four first-half turnovers with three touchdown passes in the last nine minutes as the Stars tied the Chicago Blitz 38-38, then went on to win 44-38 in ove...

1983 Week 18 - Sunday, July 3, 1983. Attendance: 31,905, TV: ABC. [NOTE: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis you can forward the audio to about the 7:00 minute mark where the game begins] Defensive end John Banaszak, who has played football in Michigan as a collegiate at Eastern Michigan and as a professional with the Michigan Panthers, tried to put the moment into focus. "If we win the p...

1983 Week 17 - Saturday, June 25, 1983. Attendance: 30,396. TV: ESPN. Fred Besana passed for 227 yards and a touchdown as the Oakland Invaders capitalized on blunders by the Boston Breakers to clinch the Pacific Division title. Boston, which got 122 yards rushing from halfback Richard Crump, crumbled from its own mistakes in the third period. The Invaders recovered a fumble on their own 48 and mov...

1983 Week 17 - Sunday, June 26, 1983. Attendance: 25,041, TV: ABC. Five of Bobby Hebert's passes fell neatly into the arms of receivers Anthony Carter, Derek Holloway and Ken Lacy as Hebert set a United States Football League record for touchdown passes in one game and increased his league lead in that department to 26.  Hebert defied the heat in Soldier Field -- where the temperatures reache...

A look back at the sixteenth week of the 1983 USFL season.

Friday, June 17, 1983. Chicago Blitz (10-5) at Birmingham Stallions (8-7). Attendance: 23,459, TV: ABC. [NOTE: This 1983 game between the Chicago Blitz vs Birmingham Stallions is missing the last six minutes of the contest, but that audio does not affect the outcome. The Blitz actually scored one last time despite being ahead. The rest of the game is intact.] A change of uniforms didn't work at al...

A look back at the fifteenth week of the 1983 USFL season.

1983 Week 15 - Monday, June 13, 1983. Attendance: 26,840. TV: ESPN. [Note: The game is joined in progress late in the second quarter. The rest of the game is complete] Kevin Shea booted a team-record three field goals and Jerry Aldridge sprinted down the sidelines 80 yards for a touchdown to lead the Oakland Invaders to a 16-10 victory over the Denver Gold in a key USFL Pacific Division game. Shea...

1983 Week 14 - Saturday, June 4, 1983, Attendance: 32,908, TV: ESPN.   [Note: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward the audio to near 7: 30 minute mark where the kickoff begins.]   Fred Besana, leading passer In the United States Football League, got the best of No. 1 rusher Herschel Walker by firing three touchdown passes and leading the Oakland Invaders to a 34-21 victor...

A look back at the thirteenth week of the 1983 USFL season.

1983 Week 13 - Sunday, May 29, 1983.  Attendance: 15,668, TV: ABC. [NOTE: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward the audio to the 7:51 minute mark where the game begins] Boston's 21-17 victory over Philadelphia on a last-play tipped touchdown catch by Frank Lockett halted the Stars' eight-game winning streak and prevented them from winning the United States Football League's Atl...

Monday, May 30, 1983. Tampa Bay Bandits (9-3) at Michigan Panthers (7-5). Attendance: 23,976. TV: ESPN. [Note: If you want to skip all the pregame talk, you can forward to about the 4:00 minute mark where the kickoff is set to begin] Terry Miller might have surprised some of the folks around the United States Football League with his two-touchdown performance for the Michigan Panthers. Don't inclu...

Week 13 - Friday, May 27, 1983. Attendance: 38,829. TV: ESPN. [NOTE: Kickoff begins at the 5:31 minute mark if you don't want to hear the pregame analysis.] Quarterback Fred Mortensen ran for two touchdowns and strong safety David Dumars returned an interception 78 yards for another score, leading the Denver Gold to a 21-19 United States Football League victory over the Birmingham Stallions. &nbsp...