#rookie vs veteran lawyer

[favoritecapcomcharacterbracket]

Losers Bracket

[could-they-be-a-pro-wrestler]

EVENT POLL: 30-MAN ROYAL RUMBLE FOR FICTIONAL CHARACTERS TIME! (part 11: And the winner is…)

We’re down to only 3 competitors left; #18 Ash Ketchum (Pokemon), #19 Apollo Justice (Ace Attorney), and #27 Gregory House (House MD). After the three of them catch their breath, they charge at each other to finally end this Royal Rumble.

The struggle lasts for a few minutes, complete with several close calls as each man nearly falls over the top rope. But eventually, one does fall. That man…is Ash Ketchum! Ash is eliminated by Apollo Justice after Apollo stuns Ash with his finishing move, the Spear of Steel!

Example of what Apollo did to Ash:

Now it’s down to Apollo vs. House. Lawyer vs. doctor. The young rookie vs. the old veteran. It seemed like Apollo had it. He nailed House with another Spear of Steel, which should’ve been enough to clinch the victory.

But just as Apollo ran at House to push him over the top rope, House used Apollo’s forward momentum to throw him out instead!

Example of what House did to Apollo:

And the winner of the 1st Fictional Men’s Royal Rumble is…Dr. Gregory House!!!

(Tomorrow, I’ll do a complete write-up of the results of the Royal Rumble. Thank you everyone who followed along and participated in the voting!)

[toadstoolillustrations]

alright ill bite what colour ARE phoenixes eyes

oh and 25 which chara has the worst fashion taste

Sooooo glad you asked. Uhh context for you pheonix's eyes in-game were at first like. Pixelated idk they just looked black to me, maybe kinda brown. When they put the trilogy on switch the hd sprites are like greyish eyes and aa4 pheen has dark grey ones.

Then the official art oh god uhh they kept going between lovely brown in a few, the grey and then around dual destinies and spirit of justice (idk might have been before that too but that's when i notice it most) the like official pheonix art for soj was blue eyes aghhhhh. The anime gives him grey eyes n blue in phoenix wright vs professor layton. Basically no one fuvking knows.

[ID: three images of phoenix wright, first as a rookie lawyer with grey-brown eyes, second in his disbarment era hoodie with dark grey eyes and thirdly as a veteran attorney with blue eyes./end ID]

Popular fan versions give him grey and blue or brown and blue heterochromia (insert some joke abt pheen not at all being hetro) which is neat! But I do not. Like giving him blue eyes at all it feels eh ppl giving him the lighter options :/ I am right about everything however and I think he has one very dark black/brown eye and one lighter brown one :-) brown is such a pretty eye colour and he's my fave so uh. Pov u are phoenix wright woe brown eye heterochromia be upon ye

OH YEAH FOR 25 UHHHH APOLLO HES MY LITTLE GUY BUT ALSO DEAR GOD

[ID: two official art pieces of apollo justice with his normal attorney outfit and then his "Stylin' Street Clothes" DLC costume. He wears a red jacket over a white t-shirt with jeans and a backpack on his back./end ID]

There are. So many buttons polly pls i want to study that jacket. Also the hair I don't need to say anything

[moviefanmike]

Schmoedown Spectacular III Spoiler Review: The Future is Bright

After watching nearly 7 hours of fantastic entertainment, it’s time to give my thoughts on this year’s Schmoedown Spectacular III.  What would happen to the KOrruption movement?  Would Thadd’s secrets be revealed?  Would there be new champions or title defenses?  Here we go...

Part 1 Match 1: Commission Bowl (Finstock vs Fyffe vs Williams vs Harloff)

KOrruption had run rampant over the Schmoedown for over half a year, under what seemed to be the careful direction of Mike Kalinowski.  But what many expected was someone was pulling the strings.  Kalinowski was directed to force Thadd Williams (the current Commissioner) to push for a Commissionership Match against Kristian Harloff, the original commissioner of the league.  Thadd was to give up temporary leadership of the Schmoedown at the end of last year’s Spectacular, but chose not too, using a faulty contract as the reason for keeping his power.  Eventually with Brianne Chandler’s suggestion, 2 more competitors were added in Emma Fyffe and Tom Dagnino (aka Finstock), making this a Commissioner Bowl, the winner becoming Commissioner of the Schmoedown for the next season.

Surprisingly Thadd Williams, in this very awkward position, was winning early.  Harloff and Finstock were struggling with Fyffe holding close to Williams.  At the beginning of Round 3 Finstock was eliminated early.  But after the final questions were asked we headed to Sudden Death with a 3-way tie.  Ultimately one question decided it all and Emma Fyffe won, and deservingly so.  But then Thadd trying to preserve his secrets attempts to shred the original KOrruption letter he received from Kalinowski, and was successful.  But then our mystery lawyer who had been working with Kalinowski, giving him orders from his mystery employer, not only helped reveal that Kristian Harloff was responsible for Kalinowski and using him as a puppet. Kristian then revealed that regardless of Thadd’s contract that he was always the “Chairman” of the Schmoedown and would continue to be so and removed Thadd altogether.

The Chairman hinted that the Commissionership that Emma Fyffe won will be one of many, my assumption being that there could be multiple commissioners heading each league of the Schmoedown and all answering to the Chairman, Kristian Harloff.  

Part 1 Match 2: Team Championships - Shirewolves (Cushing/Wolfe) vs Who’s the Boss? (Bateman/Reilly)

This was arguably the most anticipated match of the Spectacular.  You had the Shirewolves, a dream team of Rachel Cushing and Clarke Wolfe who proved all the haters wrong and became the most dominant team in the Schmoedown since The Patriots and their ridiculous run.  Then you had Who’s the Boss, a team created out of the anarchy of KOrruption, but ended up being a force in their own right, with surging Ben Bateman and the veteran and 2-time champ Mark Reilly.  

The match lived up to its hype and then some.  It all came down to 2 5-point questions and the rest is history.  The Shirewolves retained their titles and continued to prove all the haters and those who disprove of the Shirewolves wrong.  They are the rightful team champions.  It was well deserved.  Who’s the Boss however seem to want to stay together which leads to a post-match scene that has stirred up conversation amongst those of the Action Army...

Ben Bateman, saddened by his team loss, is greeted by his longtime teammate, the Dastardly Andrew Ghai, who proposes that if Bateman wants to stick with Reilly that he has found another person to be his teammate and they can form a faction.  All seems to be well when Ghai walks away until Ghai tackles (!!!) Bateman seeming to have injured him saying “Who’s the Boss now, B*%^?!?!”  I guess this is the end of Team Action, and this means Ghai’s future in the league will remain a mystery for now...

Part 2 Match 3: Star Wars Championship - Alex Damon vs Ken Napzok

Alex Damon seems to be undefeatable of late.  He won the 3-way at the live event, he then won the open match for the title.  But it seemed he wanted more of a challenge before really accepting being a Star Wars Champion.  KOrruption gave Ken Napzok an opening to align himself with Kalinowski to make it possible for Kalinowski to push Thadd Williams to put Napzok in a Star Wars Championship match.  

At first the match was close, with each player going blow for blow.  But after round 2 and some misses and steals, Damon took hold and never let go, once again confirming his dominance in the field of Star Wars trivia.  Possibly hinting at a possible future match, Damon wants to battle Witwer for the title, which would be something if the scheduling worked out, could happen at Star Wars Celebration in April.

Part 2 Match 4: #1 Contender Match - Clarke Wolfe vs Dan Murrell

This was a long-awaited match between two legends of the Schmoedown.  Clarke Wolfe, who has forged a singular path in the Schmoedown and lost her first ever title shot against a then undefeated Dan Murrell.  Then there is Dan Murrell himself, the GOAT as many call him and 2-time champion, who has had a rough year but had a great Ultimate Schmoedown Tournament run until running into Ethan Erwin, the potential Rookie and Player of the Year.  

This match was going to be tough by many prognosticators for Clarke Wolfe, knowing she would be defending her Team Title just two matches earlier against Who’s the Boss, and in the end that ended up being accurate with Dan Murrell taking the match and securing a spot for himself at the Season Opener in NY to go up against the winner of the main event of Spectacular between John Rocha, his current stablemate/rival and Ethan Erwin.  Clarke however once again fought admirably and you can tell she did all she could but came up short.  

Part 3 Match 5: Innergeekdom Championship - Mara Knopic vs Mike Kalinowski

This was probably my 2nd most anticipated match of the Spectacular, especially after what occurred in the 1st match between between these two competitors.  Mara Knopic came out of nowhere and took the Innergeekdom League by store.  Watching her live and taking the belt from Jason Inman was extremely impressive.  But then a wind of KOrruption blew through the room and Kalinowski showed up to demand (and then arrange) a rematch at Spectacular for the belt that Knopic just won, to which she shrugged it off saying she would do it.

At this point in Spectacular, Kalinowski is down as well as KOrruption.  Finding out Kristian Harloff has been using you, Napzok your partner loses his match, how does it end?  The match was as close as expected going all the way to Sudden Death.  And somehow, someway, Kalinowski won.  I feel like this match could have been won by Knopic, but that’s just how it goes.  More shocking was Knopic essentially stating she wants to take a step back from the Schmoedown and having an extremely brief interview.  I hope Knopic returns to the league because she definitely put her stamp on it.  Kalinowski however finally achieved his dream of holding the Innergeekdom belt.

Part 3 Match 6: Singles Championship - John Rocha vs Ethan Erwin

Since the beginning of Season 3 of the Schmoedown I fell in love with the Outlaw, John Rocha.  The personification of pure determination and will power, with a dose of good, old (and new) fashioned justice and smack talk, I couldn’t help but be a supporter of John Rocha then and now.  I’ve been on the train of Top Ten, the Four Horsemen, and now the Five Horsemen.  I was however concerned that this match might not go his way with the heavy favorite for Rookie and Player of the Year in Ethan Erwin challenging for his title.

As expected Ethan Erwin played as well as always, with Rocha stumbling a bit in the 2nd round.  Rocha kept it close but eventually lost in a TKO to Ethan Erwin, who is now a Singles Champion will have a rematch with Dan Murrell in NY, which potentially Murrell becoming the 1st 3-time champion.  That will make for a compelling season opener.  Then in the post-game interviews, Matt Knost, longtime partner of John Rocha, decides to retire from the Schmoedown, leaving an opening in Rocha’s stable.  That will be an interesting development going forward.

And running throughout the entirety of the event was a storyline involving Finstock/Dagnino looking for his infamous mask to no avail.  Well we found out that it was in fact Robert Meyer Burnett, the man burned and evicted from the Lion’s Den one year ago, getting some immediate revenge on Dagnino by burning his mask.  Not sure what this means going forward but RMB could be ready for a comeback...

We also got some major announcements regarding the Schmoedown for Season Six.  I recommend you watch for yourself towards the end of the Part 3 video yourself to learn more, but their Patreon comes into play which will help grow the league further.

And that was it for the Spectacular!  It was easily the best event put on by the Schmoes themselves Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis.  Not to mention the countless others who put so much time and effort into this.  Please check out the Schmoedown thus far on Collider Video.  And please support them on Patreon!

[flauntpage]

Eagles Training Camp Preview: Defense

Let’s get it back to the Eagles.

Training camp starts tomorrow at NovaCare and we’ll soon have the opportunity to overreact to every completed pass and dropped ball and bobbled hand-off. But as divorce lawyer Joe Cordell would say, “that’s okay,” because we’re talking about the defending Super Bowl champions here. Of course people are gonna be excited and probably overdo it.

We took a look at the the offense yesterday in part one of our training camp preview.

Today we’re looking at the defense.

Safeties

Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, Chris Maragos, Tre Sullivan, Ryan Neal, Jeremy Reaves, Stephen Roberts

Two sure bets in the starting roles and not much behind them. There’s still a chance the Eagles bring back Corey Graham to be the third safety this season, a theory/rumor that picked up a bit of steam yesterday when the Birds waived CB Randall Goforth. Graham got 367 defensive snaps (36%) and 180 special teams snaps (39%) last year, so I think he played a bigger role than most people realize.

At the top, Malcolm Jenkins is coming off his second Pro Bowl in three years. He really is the prototypical strong safety, able to get down in the box and make tackles, match up with slot receivers and tight ends, and do a bit of everything on the defensive side of the ball.

McLeod has been a solid free safety these past two seasons, but I can understand if people want to see more from a guy on a five year, 35 million dollar contract. He’s going to bring a big cap hit next season, so he might he in line for the Mychal Kendricks treatment unless he has a career year in 2018.

The rest of the group is rather raw. Sullivan had some great moments last preseason before winding up on IR and the practice squad. Reaves is interesting as a converted corner and aggressive playmaker coming out of South Alabama. Neal and Roberts are in the same boat, undrafted free agents with a shot at earning that third safety gig behind Jenkins and McLeod.

And of course Chris Maragos is coming off the week six knee injury. I’d think the ace special teamer will only be called on to play safety in the case of a heavily depleted roster.

Questions:

do the Eagles re-sign Corey Graham?

does McLeod step up his game this year?

does one of Sullivan, Neal, Reaves, or Roberts impress during camp?

WR Malachi Dupre on the wrong end of a BIG hit from #Eagles safety Tre Sullivan. pic.twitter.com/3Z1wEGzsjF

— EaglesFootball 247 (@PEF247) August 11, 2017

Cornerbacks

Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, D.J. Killings, De’Vante Bausby, Avonte Maddox, Chandon Sullivan

The biggest question at corner is probably the biggest question for the entire defense at this point: who plays the slot?

Patrick Robinson really was excellent in that role last season, playing 69% of the snaps as the Eagles operated much more out of their nickel look vs. the 4-3 base defense. You probably remember Robinson wasn’t even named the starting slot corner until very late in last summer’s training camp, and there really were a lot of questions surrounding that decision, which he answered with relative ease.

So I have no clue who replaces him there. Sidney Jones is healthy now, but he was an outside guy in college. Rookie fourth round draft pick Avonte Maddox looks like a candidate for the gig. I really think Jalen Mills would do a good job in the slot. Maybe they just do it by committee and rotate guys in their nickel package based on what the offense gives you. That means you maybe have Jenkins come down on the slot receiver and let Mills and Darby and Jones take the rest of the receivers while going single high safety (think about what Seattle will throw at you with an empty set). I think the whole slot thing is gonna be similar to last year, where the Eagles just take their time and experiment throughout camp.

Otherwise, it’s a solid group. Jones looks like a player. Mills and Darby showed more than enough quality last year, even if they had some iffy moments. Douglas was a guy I watched in college who I think improves in year number two. And Bausby seems like a guy that the Eagles are high on, someone who made plays in the spring and could push the whole unit in camp.

Jim Schwartz said this about Bausby during OTAs:

“He’s a competitive player. He did a really good job for us on the scout teams last year. He was ready to play for us last year if need be. He did a great job not just on the practice field but in the meeting room, being up on the game plan. We were fortunate that we didn’t have so many injuries there that he needed to go. But he was ready, and he had the confidence of the coaching staff. He sort of spread his wings a little bit, working in some different positions. He’s a very, very competitive player. He’s got good size, but his competitiveness stands out. You guys will see that.”

As far as Maddox, the 4th rounder, he had 7 sacks and 8 interceptions last season as a gritty and maybe undersized player for his position. He did play mostly on the outside at Pitt, but on a sequence like this one, I love how he’s able to hold the line, shed a block, and make a play on Saquon Barkley:

Absolutely love Avonte Maddox (slot). My favorite fourth rounder on my board. #NFLDraft #DraftTwitter pic.twitter.com/gCwBUsxL6w

— Bradley Ylitalo (@BradleyYlitalo) April 21, 2018

As for Sullivan, he’s another UDFA coming from a smaller school. A four-year starter at Georgia State, he got combine and Senior Bowl invites and played slot in the spring for the Eagles.

Questions:

who plays the slot?

how does a healthy Sidney Jones fit into the secondary?

Linebackers

Nigel Bradham, Jordan Hicks, Corey Nelson, Kamu Grugier-Hill, Nate Gerry, Asantay Brown, Joe Walker, LaRoy Reynolds, Kyle Wilson

I’m high on Nigel Bradham, probably more than the rest of the Crossing Broad dudes, but whatever. I thought he was phenomenal last year and really stepped up in a play-relaying/leadership way when Jordan Hicks went down.

Speaking of Hicks, can he stay healthy this year? He’s played just one full season since turning pro.

They need him to remain healthy, because there really aren’t any sure bets behind him. Last season the Eagles were able to roll with Bradham and Mychal Kendricks and play a ton of nickel to limit their usage of Najee Goode and Joe Walker, but the Birds no longer have a reliable option at the second OLB spot.

Paul Worrilow was a candidate, but he tore his ACL in OTAs and went on IR. Corey Nelson looks like he’s gonna be the front-runner to play the weakside, a former 7th round pick who came over from Denver in the spring.

Tune in now as Corey Nelson meets with the media. https://t.co/Zxv2phwdw2

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 15, 2018

Gerry and Grugier-Hill are both interesting as important special teamers who converted from safety to linebacker. Same with Brown, the undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan. I’m not sure if any of those three push Nelson out of the spot, but it’s definitely wide open heading into camp.

Walker might have his work cut out for him. He got the nod after Hicks went down last season and never really did anything to stand out or impress. Wilson is a long shot to make the roster and Reynolds is going to be a special teams player who can be a backup at linebacker, similar to what Goode did last season.

Questions:

can Jordan Hicks stay healthy?

who wins the other OLB job?

Defensive tackle

Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan, Haloti Ngata, Destiny Vaeao, Elijah Qualls, Aziz Shittu, Winston Craig, Bruce Hector

I guess I’d start out by reiterating that the Eagles do move guys around on the d-line. Brandon Graham was actually lined up at tackle inside of Chris Long when he stripped Tom Brady to seal the Super Bowl win.

They’ll show some stuff like that again this season, specifically on third down and likely also with Michael Bennett, who can play the interior in the same way that Graham does.

The biggest question at tackle is replacing Beau Allen, a player who we all sort of described as a “third stringer” behind Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan. But the fact of the matter is that Jernigan only played 70 more snaps than Allen last year, and the split behind Cox was a lot more evenly distributed than I think most people realize. It’s probably more fair to say that Cox was the #1 last year, while Jernigan and Allen were 2a and 2b.

The second biggest question is plugging the gap until Jernigan returns from back surgery. He’s supposed to be out until at least November, so you’re looking at Cox, 34-year-old veteran Haloti Ngata behind him, and then one of Vaeao or Qualls getting legit #3 snaps unless Hector or someone else really impresses in camp.

Eagles’ starting DT Timmy Jernigan underwent surgery on a herniated disc in his back last week and is expected to be out four-to-six months, league sources tell @FieldYates and me.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 3, 2018

We know that Jim Schwartz loves to rotate his line and get fresh bodies in the game, so it’s safe to say that the 4th and 5th DT options are going to get something like 200 and 100 snaps next season, just going by what the Birds did this past year.

Questions:

what does Ngata have left in the tank?

can Vaeao hold down the fort until Jernigan returns?

do the Eagles line up some ends at defensive tackle to address the lack of depth?

Defensive ends

Brandon Graham, Michael Bennett, Chris Long, Derek Barnett, Steven Means, Danny Ezechukwu, Josh Sweat, Joe Ostman

You’ve got a known quantity in Graham, two solid veterans in Long and Bennett, and a sophomore edge rusher in Barnett who should get a much bigger role this season.

Thing with Graham is that he’s coming off ankle surgery and heading into a contract year at age 30. It should be a really intriguing season for him. Bennett, of course, has the legal issue, which I think will probably get tossed out. Long is 33 and will cede some of his snaps to Barnett, who will assume Vinny Curry’s role.

Behind those four, Means has found a way to stick around despite being a healthy scratch on most game days. Sweat is the highly-rated FSU rusher who overcame a horrendous high school injury. He’s got the measurables and the tape and all of that, so he was seen as a bargain as a fourth round selection:

Ostman had 14 sacks and 3 forced fumbles during his final year at Central Michigan. Ezechukwu was a linebacker/d-end hybrid at Purdue and comes in as a UDFA who will have a tough time making the roster.

Questions:

how does Derek Barnett handle a bigger role?

when does Graham get back to 100% health?

do Long and Bennett regress at all as they approach their mid-thirties?

does Sweat make a training camp push?

Time’s yours.

The post Eagles Training Camp Preview: Defense appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Eagles Training Camp Preview: Defense published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[altusfl]

3. The USFL’s Alternate Reality Savior

In finding a savior for the USFL, I think you need to look through the ranks of the people who had the most to lose with that fall vote.

One of the headliners of that list was Washington Federal owner Berl Bernhard.

The Origin and collapse of the Federals

Bernhard was a successful D.C. lawyer.  While he proved to be one of the league’s most emotional owners in public, he was literate and precise due to his job. He had the right skillset to be the league’s savior.

Berhard was not one of the richer USFL owners, so he put together an ownership group. 

Bernhard and his partners hired the 4th most winningest coach in Canadian Football League history to run the Federals in Ray Jauch.  Bernhard’s staff had stocked his team with proven veterans and a marketable star collegiate running back in SMU’s Craig James. Things were looking pretty good.

But then the NFL’s Washington Redskins won the Superbowl, setting a very high standard in a major market.  

Jauch chose to go with veteran QBs Kim McQuilken and Joe Gilliam for most of the season instead of solid but unspectacular rookie Mike Hohensee. The veteran duo combined for 11 starts.  They also threw 26 interceptions vs. 12 TDs and contributed 13 fumbles, recovering 9.  They were a huge part of the team’s -13 turnover margin. 

The team was in the game most weeks, but lost a ton of close games. The Federals won 4 games in 18.  

The team had drawn over 38,007 opening day but by the end of the season Washington fans had largely tuned out.  They would draw 9792 and 11,039 to their last two home games.  Still, they ended the season with 3 wins in their last 4 games, finally showing some ability to close out games.  For the season they drew an average of roughly 18,000 fans per game --- in the same ballpark as most of the teams in the league.

Then the fall rolled around and their NFL competition, The Redskins, again went to the Superbowl.

Bernhard and his team identified QB as their biggest problem and tried to create a splash by bringing in an exciting new QB.  They went all in on 2nd year man Reggie Collier, acquiring his pricey contract from Birmingham.  Collier was an thrilling, mobile collegiate QB from Southern Miss, a lower profile program near New Orleans.  He was well known in the deep south, but had been a first round bust in his rookie season in Birmingham. 

Regionally displaced, he did nothing to excite the fans or sell season tickets in DC. DC Fans took a look and see approach to buying Federals’ season tickets. 

Collier did not seize hold of the starting job in camp.  

Most of the veterans on the Federals defense weren’t back with the team for the second season.  The Feds apparently cut their 3 starting linebacker mere hours before their season opener.  

The team opened up with a blowout 53-14 loss to an expansion franchise.  An embarrassed Bernhard panicked and fired his coach, promoting an unknown to coach the last 17 games of the season. 

Credibility totally shot, the fans stopped coming.  Craig James went down with an injury.  Seeing that James would not be part of the solution to his attendance issues, Bernhard agreed to cut a deal with James allowing the player a way out of his contract in order to reduce the team’s roster costs. 

Fans became even less interested.  The team would average an all-time league worst 7700 per game.  Bernhard and his partners suffered through a financially disastrous second season in Washington. They tried to sell the team, but no one wanted to buy a bad team to keep in a disinterested market.

The Miami Transaction

By about mid-season, there was finally a buyer for his Federals in the form of Woody Weiser.

Weiser planned to rename Federals “the Spirit”.  The team would be moved to Miami playing under University of Miami head coach Howard Schnellenberger. Schnellenberger was the hottest name in college football having just come off upsetting a Nebraska team considered one of the greatest of all-time. 

A vote to move the league to a fall schedule had a chance to undo the sale of Bernhard’s Federals. 

In real life, it did.

In real life, both Berl Bernhard and the new owner of the Miami franchise were not allowed to participate in this key vote, which hits me not only as shortsighted thinking but also as erroneous thinking.

The sale of the Federals was supposed to close in mid-summer.  But the deal was to purchase a team in a spring league.  It seemed pretty clear that was what Weiser had invested to do. 

The fall vote fell in the same general time period.  One can speculate that Weiser may have tried to drag out the closing of the deal to wait for the results of the fall vote and that may be why he wasn’t invited to vote at the meeting.

As a failed franchise owner, there may have been little interest in inviting Bernhard to vote either, assuming he would vote for Weiser.  People who are struggling in business don’t like to be around people who are currently failing in the same business.  

It is also very possible that Bernhard was seeking to put the deal behind him to prevent himself from doing anything that would potentially legally reopen the transaction.

And frankly, it is possible Weiser also CHOSE to not participate in the vote for the same reason --- to protect his ability to walk away from the deal.

Overall, not having Weiser vote did not seem to be an ethical position for the league.

After all, Chicago “franchise” owner-in-name-only Eddie Einhorn wasn’t even actively fielding a team at that point, and he was allowed to participate in the vote.

Bernhard and his minority owners had far more money invested in the USFL than Einhorn. It appears that possibly due to Einhorn getting credit for closing a lucrative new TV deal that Chet Simmons had been working on with ESPN (an injury had prevented Simmons from completing the transaction), Einhorn may have been allowed to vote while Bernhard was not. (I am speculating on why this situation existed.)

But what if the principles involved had behaved slightly differently….

Directly prior to the fall vote meeting, on August 22nd Eddie Einhorn sent out a letter to all the league’s owners propping up the prospects of moving to the Fall in 1985 or earlier in a split-season set up.

The letter also featuring pie-in-the-sky talk of adding 6 more top 20 markets ---effectively turning the USFL into a clone of the NFL. (No mention was made of how all those teams were going to get into stadiums in those markets.)

This was just Einhorn’s full of crap, Pie-in-the Sky-vision for the future of the league. This letter, promising bags of gold a-plenty awaiting in the fall, apparently swayed a lot of league owners.

Not so in this reality...

In my alternate reality, lawyer Berl Bernhard realized the impact of this letter. He realized that if the league did actually vote to move to the fall, it would likely screw his transaction to sell the Federals, so he jumped into action.

Bernhard sent a response to Einhorn’s letter to all league owners, requesting the ability for he and the new Miami owner to participate in the meeting, discuss their view on the move to the fall, and vote as a single voting owner.

He admitted right off the bat that he has a vested interest in protecting the transaction that will sell his team to the Miami owner, but that the underlying points of his letter were points of fairness and keeping the league viable.

He made the case to allow Miami to vote as they purchased the team in good faith to play in the coming spring. He reminded the other owners that Eddie Einhorn was going to vote and he was not even going to play this spring….

“It isn’t ethically sound to allow an incoming owner who favors one position to vote while another incoming owner who favors the contrary position is not. In fact, I can tell you as a lawyer, it is also legally questionable.”

With that atomic bomb dropped on the owners, Bernhard would offer a solution.

He requested the team be allowed to cast a vote on this decision as it affects Weiser as much as any other owner.

He said that if it pleased the league they can allow Miami to speak to the owners and then the team would cast their vote first and then all of the rest of the owners can discuss the matter and go ahead and vote as they please, but if Einhorn was going to be allowed to vote, allowing Miami a vote is the only fair and ethical path forward.

He noted that Miami had hired the highest-profile hottest collegiate coach in America in Howard Schnellenberger to coach that team and would deliver a replacement top 12 Market to replace the DC Market. He reminded the other owners that this transaction would be looked on very favorably by the TV partners.

He made the argument that “If TV is the League’s concern, you don’t want to cost the league a top 12 Market.”

“Or several.”

He pointed out that the markets Einhorn talked about adding that in theory were going to drive revenue in the fall are not currently hosting USFL teams, whereas Miami would be this spring. "There is a time for theoretical conversations involving theoretical future teams,” he remarked, “but that time is not now. Now is about the reality of today.”

He requested personally, and on behalf of Miami, that the owners consider the positions of teams like Miami, Pittsburgh, Houston, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Denver, and others who would likely either go out of business or pay for a costly move and marketing effort if the league switch to a fall schedule as they wouldn’t have anywhere to play in their current cities.

“In the spring, all of our businesses are valid. In the spring, we have the maximum number of teams we can have. While the Federals didn’t work out for me personally, the USFL’s numbers give the league a great chance at success down the road.”

He closed by noting the Denver Gold’s recent strategy of signing Mouse Davis and reuniting him with his collegiate star quarterback, Neil Lomax, likely failed due to the uncertainty around the league concerning a potential move to the fall.

“The run-and-shoot is a heck of an offense. Neil Lomax looked like Jim Kelly on steroids running that system in college. We could have used another Jim Kelly in Denver. The league cannot afford to let another Jim Kelly get away. We already twice passed on Dan Marino.”

“At this point, a move to the fall is considered reckless by the general public and the players who fuel our league— whether it is valid or not. It appears a move to the fall may threaten our ability to sign more of these kinds of difference makers.”

He noted that the players on his own Federals team do not feel like a move to the fall is survivable, so why would collegiate and NFL players want to sign with the USFL?

His letter slowed the momentum for the fall created by Einhorn’s letter. It also inspired to other key players on the fringe of taking serious action — Alfred Taubman and Chet Simmons.

Click here to continue to the next post

Click here for previous post