With very little promotion the turnout at the Tuskers  tryouts were attended by an estimated 1200 potential players.

This was American Idol in cleats, athletic shorts and Under Armour. An estimated 1,200 hopers and dreamers paid $60 apiece for the chance to be discovered by an obscure team in a start-up league. Actually, this wasn’t American Idol at all. It was a lesser known knockoff. It was more like America’s Got Talent.

“We thought there would be about 200 people who attended,” Tuskers Coach Jim Haslett said. “You forget you’re in Florida and how much people love football and how many good football players there are down here.”

From the Orlando Sentinel

It is rumored that punter Todd Sauerbrun, whose colorful history includes a suspension for taking ephedra, a link to a South Carolina doctor who dispensed steroids, and an arrest for roughing up a cab driver, will suit up for the Florida Tuskers of the UFL.

Sauerbrun spent 13 years in the NFL, playing for the Bears, Chiefs, Panthers, Broncos, Patriots, and Broncos. He last played in 2007.

The United Football League announced today that it has signed Cutters Gloves as the Official Gloves of the UFL. In an exclusive agreement, Cutters will create customized gloves for each UFL team for both game and practice use.

“Cutters is a leading manufacturer of high-performance sports gloves and we are proud to be partnering with such an innovative company,” said Frank Vuono, COO of the UFL. “Cutters’ patented performance grip material will give our players greater security in holding onto the ball as they head into the end zone resulting in higher scoring games and increased fan enthusiasm.”

“Cutters is excited to be partnering with the UFL,” said Gary Bethea, Cutters’ Director of Sales. “The strong caliber of the coaches and executives, along with the growing enthusiasm for this new league, definitely makes it something to watch. And, let’s face it – you can never have enough high quality football.”

It should have been a great week for the UFL.  Certainly that is what the league was hoping for.  But, in the week where they officially released the names and uniforms of their teams for the “Premiere” season things did not go as well as they had hoped.

The biggest challenge was that the team names Florida Tuskers, Las Vegas Locomotives, New York Sentinels and California Redwoods, did not resonate with fans or the media. 

Now, to be clear, I don’t mind the team names, I think they are okay.  However I am only one person in the grand scheme of things.  Also, keep in mind that I said they were okay… certainly, the names did not WOW me.

However, one can just do a Google search and find plenty of recent media stories that are negative or poking fun at what they perceive are lackluster names.  In addition, fan’s tweets and blogs abound that are expressing outright dissatisfaction with the names. 

The bottom line is that the team names did not wow anyone.  The sad fact is that the names were supposed to generate much needed excitement, momentum and support for the league.

The next problem was the uniforms.  Since the league opted for a unified look and feel for its premiere season uniforms, there was not a lot of excitement generated in the uniforms.  In fact, by the time the league got to the west coast to unveil the Florida Tuskers and the New York Sentinels uniforms everyone already knew what they would look like.  The only guess was the uniform color.  Yawn!  Another missed opportunity to generate excitement.

Even the press conferences were lackluster.  The photos that were released were amateur at best.  Even the title cards on the easels looked like they were done with Microsoft Word “word art”.  Why not hire a graphic artist to do a professional job to the title cards?  Why not hire a professional photographer to take properly lit and framed photos of the press conferences?

The last and biggest let-down of last week was the signing of Michael Vick to the NFL’s Eagles.  This was sort of out of the UFL’s hands, and you know that they did the best they could to sign Vick.  However the UFL was not Vick’s first choice and he held out for a chance to get back to play big league ball.

The signing of Michael Vick was supposed to be the UFL’s big news splash.  Vick was the thing that would really put them on the map.  But it wasn’t to be, and it wasn’t their fault… or was it?  Does anyone else think that Michael Vick’s camp saw what the UFL was doing with what they perceived to be bush-league team names and lackluster uniforms and immediately became fearful that the UFL might be a very bad choice for Vick?  I am sure that it was a factor.

Don’t be fooled by other reports that the UFL has recanted and are now saying “good riddance” and that the UFL didn’t even want Vick.  They really wanted him.  After all, they were offering him 1.6 million for a relatively short season.

The UFL really has to take stock in the past week.  They need to learn from their mistakes or failure will surely come.  Another week like this and investors, who largely base their decisions on perception, will surely be fleeing.

The coming weeks present a giant challenge for the UFL.  All the UFL has to do and look back at other leagues that have come up and failed.  All of those leagues did not get any respect from the sports community, the news media and the fans.  The UFL is no different.  The league is going to have to try lot harder if they want the sports community to take them seriously.

Jermaine Wiggins

The United Football League announced today the signing of 21 players for the Florida Tuskers’ franchise including former NFL veterans Zach Piller, Tim McGarigle and Jermaine Wiggins. The complete list of players being announced today includes:

            Pos.   Player                    College
         -- OL     Alexander, PJ             Syracuse
         -- FB     Cruz, Ronnie              Northern State
         -- NT     Bledsoe, Fred             Arkansas
         -- DT     Boykin, McKinley          Ole Miss
         -- DE     Cooper, Josh              Ole Miss
         -- DB     Fassitt, Greg             Grambling State
         -- P      Fisher, Patrick           LSU
         -- WR     Gessner, Chas             Brown
         -- TE     Heinrich, Keith           West Virginia
         -- FB     Korte, Steven             LSU
         -- K      Lovell, Kevin             Cincinnati
         -- LS     Madrid, Joey              Colorado State
         -- LB     McGarigle, Tim            Northwestern
         -- OG     Piller, Zach              Florida
         -- DE     Schobel, Bo               Texas Christian
         -- WR     Thompson, Dominique       William & Mary
         -- DB     Vinnett, Darius           Arkansas
         -- TE     Wiggins, Jermaine         Georgia
         -- RB     Wilson, Quincy            West Virginia
         -- DB     Wright, TJ                Ohio University
         -- NT     Wrotten, Claude           LSU

This is the first of several player announcements for the Florida Tuskers that will be made over the next few weeks.

It is being reported that the UFL could not come to an agreement with their proposed training facility in Vero Beach Florida “due to their budget restraints.”

According to reports, the UFL had initially discussed paying a total of $1.3 million for use of the field, lodging and meals from Sept. 15 to Nov. 25. The offer apparently went down to $600,000, a revision in the agreement that facility representatives characterized as “very disappointing.”

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/aug/14/united-football-league-wont-be-coming-dodgertown-v/

Las Vegas fans can take heart because it looks like fan favorite wide receiver Casey Flair will be back at Sam Boyd Stadium this fall.

The United Football League has signed Flair to a contract Friday and assigned him to the Las Vegas Locomotives.

Flair finished his UNLV career as the school’s second all-time leading receiver with 202 receptions. As of today, Flair is the only player on the Locomotives roster with ties to local teams.

Tonight Michael Vick signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Michael Vick is back in the NFL, landing a job with the Philadelphia Eagles. Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, confirmed Thursday that the sides had a deal. Vick has not played in the NFL since 2006.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i9MWFBqsCgMR4ys-PkJog4BDd2BQD9A2BCOO0

This closes the chapter of the UFL courting Michael Vick to play with the Florida Tuskers in Orlando.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ — At a press conference today, United Football League Commissioner Michael Huyghue announced the California franchise will be named the Redwoods and unveiled innovative team uniforms showcasing the Redwoods’ “Premiere” season colors of green, blue and white. The name “Redwoods” was selected after more than thirty thousand fan entries and interpretation from industry experts and an in-house creative team on what attributes the fans were seeking with their submissions. California Redwoods Owner Paul Pelosi was also in attendance at the press event.

“It was critical for us to select team names that we felt best reflected the local community while simultaneously defining the personality of the team,” said Commissioner Huyghue. “The Redwoods, large, strong trees native to California, symbolize many traits that the UFL and the California franchise plan to embody. The Redwoods and the UFL are reaching for the stars and are eco-friendly.”

Redwoods’ owner Paul Pelosi wanted his team’s name to possess attributes that signified strength, respected the environment and suggested growth opportunities.
Previously, the UFL announced Miami-based GameWear Team Sports as the League’s official uniform supplier. GameWear Team Sports is one of the leading athletic uniform outfitters in the country and has worked extensively in growing the sport of football on the grassroots level. Award-winning designer Ron Caruso of Purepartner created all the teams’ uniforms using derivatives of the official League logo for all the designs while making each one distinctive.

“The inspiration for the ‘Premiere’ season uniform design comes directly from the UFL shield and its foundation colors which represent ‘green grass’, ‘blue sky’ and silver for innovation,” said Caruso. “Throughout the uniforms, we used the dimensional ‘arc’ of the shield on the chest and supporting ‘arcs’ on the sleeves and pants. The unique font of the numbers reinforces the shield’s classic bold typeface with angles and dimensional treatments conveying depth and motion. The four uniform designs work together in a unified branded system, providing manufacturing efficiencies while allowing each team to retain its own unique and differentiated character.”

Yesterday, the United Football League introduced the Las Vegas Locomotives at a press event. Similar events will be held in Orlando on Wednesday and in New York on Thursday. Photos of each of the team’s uniforms will be available on the League’s website, www.ufl-football.com, along with video from the press events.

“We are extremely pleased with the names selected for all of our teams and the overall ‘Premiere’ season uniform design,” said Frank Vuono, COO of the UFL. “Name selection for a new sports franchise can be an arduous process having to take into account the disqualification of many great possibilities due to trademark and copyright issues. There was a team of experts headed up by Jeff Sofka of Bendigo Co., and included Charley Inc., GameWear Team Sports, Purepartner, and many others who assisted in the name selection and uniform design processes and we are grateful for all of their hard work.”

The UFL launched its Name the Team Campaign with the redesign of its website in February. From that time, more than thirty thousand entries were submitted. Fans who submitted the selected names will be notified and given the appropriate credit.

Coach Dennis Green who was unable to be in attendance at the press conference due to a previous commitment gave the name high marks. “The true measure of success for a football team is how we produce on the field. The UFL’s success will also be measured in how we connect with the fans in our community. With the Redwoods’ name, we are showcasing our plan to firmly set roots in the community and our desire to cultivate this team into a successful franchise.”

The California Redwoods’ first game of the season will be in Las Vegas on October 8(th). The Redwoods’ first home game will be on Saturday, October 17 at AT&T Park against the Florida franchise. Tickets go on-sale tomorrow and can be purchased by calling Tickets.com at 800.225.2277 or logging onto www.tickets.com.

A couple of news items have come to light.

First of all FOX5 in Las Vegas is reporting that the fans are dissapointed with the Locomotives name. As well the article quotes LV Head Coach Jim Fassel as being surprised by the name.

According to a FOX5 Web poll, an overwhelming majority of respondents, 85 percent, said they do not like the name Locomotives.

“I remember when they first called me and said Locomotives was the name, I said, ‘What? Locomotives? You got to be kidding me,’” said head coach Jim Fassel, who admitted he wasn’t aware of its connection to Las Vegas history.

To the contrary UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue is featured in a great article in Sports Business Daily:

UFLCommissioner Michael Huyghue “termed the UFL’s first season a ‘good experimental year’ and ‘our dress rehearsal’ as fans learn more about the product”

That should set things straight! Fans need to learn more about the product, and in the end the product will be football. As well, fans of this new league must realize that this is going to be a bumpy road, and I believe that Michael Huyghue has the right attitude.

When does the football start?