USFL?

[FanOfTheGame1]

Did anyone in this forum attend any of the Arizona USFL games? I didn't move here until the year after the USFL died... just wondering what it was like. Were all (or many of) the games at night? Etc.

 

[Second Deck]

Yes I had tickets to both the Wranglers and the Outlaws. Funny enough I can't remember how many night games were played. I do not think many since it was a spring league. I was at the game when Steve Young got his knee tore up when he played for LA. Doug Willams was proably the best know player for the outlaws.

 

[Ryanwb]

I used to go to Wrangler games all the time....the desert was primed for an NFL team....what happened?

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

I remember I went to a game against the LA Express in Tempe when the Express where actually the home team. Something to do with the olympics in LA or something.

It was also a 125 degrees during the game.

 

[studiovx]

Yep, I used to go. Let's see...Tim Spencer, Trumane Johnson, Greg Landry, Doug Williams. George Allen was a head coach here. Can't remember too much. We started as the Wranglers. Then in year 2 merged with the Chicago Blitz, still called the Wranglers. Year 3 we merged with the Oklahoma Outlaws, becoming the Arizona Outlaws. There is a site with all of this stuff on it. I'll post it when I find it.

 

[studiovx]

Here's a good one.

http://www.thisistheusfl.com/

 

[Renz]

Originally posted by FanOfTheGame1
Did anyone in this forum attend any of the Arizona USFL games? I didn't move here until the year after the USFL died... just wondering what it was like. Were all (or many of) the games at night? Etc.

I saw the Wranglers play the Oakland Invaders back in '83 or '84. It was a day game. I don't remember much else. I don't even remember who won, but I think it was Arizona.

 

[seesred]

I had season tickets.Always hoped we would join the NFL after they folded. Famous Arizona heart surgeon owned them at one time can't remember his name. I went to every game and don't recall any night games. WE had good crowds , the league might have made it if they didn't try to go after the NFL in the fall. Many name players took the leap and the drafts were very competitive with both leagues going after the hig names.

GBR

 

[studiovx]

Ted Dietrich was the heart surgeon. Man, I can't believe I am remembering this stuff!!!

 

[ajcardfan]

Originally posted by studiovx
Ted Dietrich was the heart surgeon. Man, I can't believe I am remembering this stuff!!!

That guy was on TV so much in the 80's pushing his surgeries it's wonder the team wasn't the "Bypasses" or the "Pacemakers".

 

[seesred]

THe Arizona Pacemakers...Yea thats the ticket...The heart thompers...Arizona heart attacks....Boy am I bored or what/

GBR

 

[Second Deck]

I remember George Allen saying Dietrick gave him a budget and he was over it the first day. Allen was really a motivator who always had good defenses. I to wished the NFL had merged some of the USFL teams. Donald Trump was a big investor in the USFL.

 

[okcardzona]

We had the Outlaws here in Oklahoma.Before they became the Arizona Outlaws.I Enjoyed the Games.They did not Draw real well here because of the Oklahoma Sooners

 

[JHall]

http://www.oursportscentral.com/usfl/usflteam.htm

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

i thought that we didn't merge with chicago, but rather, we did something inane like swap entire teams except for our qb's (i'm not kidding, that's what i remember - but i could be REALLY mistaken).

 

[earthsci]

We merged with Oklahoma in 1985.

 

[Pariah]

sweet site where you can get USFL t-shirts...

www.classicsportslogos.com

I got my dad and me a Chicago Cougars t-shirt. My dad and my uncle sat behind the bench at their games and might have been 2 of a couple of hundred season ticket holders. Back in the 60's I think.

 

[seesred]

1983: 4-14 (25,776)
1984: 10-8 (25,568)


The Wranglers were actually two different teams, the struggling 1983 squad of Doug Shively and the 1984 team that made it all the way to the second USFL championship game. This was due to the swapping of the Arizona and Chicago Blitz franchises after the 1983 season. Dr. Ted Diethrich of Arizona owned the Blitz and was finally able to work out the trade to own the team in his neck of the desert. The exchange meant that the strong Blitz squad became the new Wranglers and the weak Wranglers became the new Chicago entry
Top is record and average attendance.

Memories!

 

[ChiCard]

ESPN Classic plays between 4 & 10 USFL games per month. Some are pretty interesting. I attended some Blitz games here in Chicago. I had season tickets to the Chicago Fire of the WFL but didn't want to part with my $ for the USFL after losing it in 1975. Interesting fact: the fellas that own the White Sox purchased a dormant franchise and if the USFL had gotten the damages it was seeking in their lawsuit against the NFL would have put a team on the southside to rival the Bears. Great book on the subject is "The $9 League"

 

[ChiCard]

Originally posted by Pariah
sweet site where you can get USFL t-shirts...

www.classicsportslogos.com

I got my dad and me a Chicago Cougars t-shirt. My dad and my uncle sat behind the bench at their games and might have been 2 of a couple of hundred season ticket holders. Back in the 60's I think.

Watching the Cougars at the Old Amphitheatre was quite a experience!