The Pittsburgh Maulers were a team which competed in the 1984 season of the United States Football League. Their most prominent player was first pick overall in the 1984 USFL draft, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska, who won the Heisman Trophy, collegiate football’s most prestigious individual award. They were owned by shopping mall magnate Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr., the father of Edward J. DeBartolo, Jr., then-owner of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. The Maulers played at Three Rivers Stadium.

No one was surprised when two groups filed for a Pittsburgh franchise in the winter of 1983. However, no one expected DeBartolo, Sr. to be one of them due to his son’s ownership of the 49ers. However, once he did apply, the other owners quickly approved his bid. Unusually, DeBartolo applied for the franchise in his own name rather than set up a corporation or partnership. The Maulers were a little undermanned, but not as badly as their 3-15 record indicated. The Maulers were in part victims of what turned out to be a very tough schedule. They played 9 games vs. playoff teams and caught a lot of the other teams when they were hot — Oklahoma and New Orleans early and San Antonio and Jacksonville late. The team was built around the idea that Dallas Cowboys long time 3rd string QB Glen Carano would be strong starter in the USFL. To support Carano, the team had RB Mike Rozier and WR Greg Anderson, who would end up catching 63 passes. Carano had his moments, but struggled overall, completing only 53.7% of his passes with 13 TDs and 19 Ints. Backup Tom Rozantz was expected to mostly carry a clipboard, but ended up played a lot and struggled as well. However, either would have been a disappointment, as most fans expected the Maulers to pick Steve Young rather than Mike Rozier. Even bringing in former Arizona Wranglers star WR Jackie Flowers did not turn around the offense.

Head coach Joe Pendry was fired ten games into the season and was replaced with offensive line coach Ellis Rainsberger on an interim basis. The defense, led by CB Jerry Holmes and DE Sam Clancy finished a surprisingly respectable 8th in points allowed. In spite of this, a low-octane offense resulted in the Maulers tying the Washington Federals for the worst record in the league. Despite losing millions of dollars and only winning 3 games, the Maulers hung around in most games and had reasonable fan support for a first year team. DeBartolo was determined to stick it out, even going as far as hiring Green Bay Packers assistant Hank Bullough as the new coach. However, just a few days later, the USFL announced it was switching to a fall schedule in 1986. DeBartolo was a strong believer in the USFL’s original spring football concept, and knew he could not hope to compete against the Pittsburgh Steelers. A move to Cleveland, closer to DeBartolo’s home in Youngstown, was quickly ruled out; even without the daunting task of competing with the Cleveland Browns to consider, it is not likely Cleveland fans would have accepted a refugee from Pittsburgh. As a result, just a week after the vote to move to the fall, DeBartolo folded the franchise without so much as a press conference.

By ‘Duk

If you’re the type of person who doesn’t spend much time thinking about sleeve patches on uniforms, don’t worry.

Neither do the Mets.

The team recently unveiled the logo to celebrate their upcoming first season in Citi Field and to say that it’s being mocked worse than an oblivious American Idol contestant would be an understatement.

At its best, it’s being said to resemble the logo of a certain pizza company that once featured the ‘Noid. At its worst, it’s being categorized as the biggest affront to Mets fans since John Rocker’s sermon in SI.

Here’s what UniWatch’s Paul Lukas, a lifelong Mets fan, had to say:

“Compare (anything) to this, and the Mets’ effort comes off looking like amateur hour. Or maybe amateur minute. It looks like one of those cheapo generic marks you see in commercials or movies when the producers couldn’t afford the licensing fees for the real logos.”

Though some conspiracy theorists are saying that this is the Mets way of distancing the team from CitiGroup, that isn’t the case here. MLB doesn’t allow commercial logos on uniforms, so that wouldn’t even be an issue. More likely, it’s a case of the Mets being as dull and uninspiring as their ’08 bullpen. They could’ve held a coloring contest among preschoolers and still ended up with a better design than the one above.

Luckily, if the Mets decide to answer the outcry by taking another stab at the design, they won’t have to look far for a few pointers. Here’s the patch the Yankees will be wearing for their inaugural season at new Yankee Stadium this year:

The Portland Pirates were founded in 1993–94 as an affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The team was previously known as the Baltimore Skipjacks, who relocated to Maine. The Pirates replaced the void made by the Maine Mariners who departed to become the Providence Bruins a year earlier. The Capitals affiliation ended after 12 seasons in 2005.

In 2005 the Pirates announced a five year lease extension at the Cumberland County Civic Center, ending speculation that the team might relocate. The Pirates also signed a three year affiliation agreement with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2005, but the Ducks announced on June 3, 2008, that they were affiliating with the Iowa Stars instead of renewing the agreement.

On June 10, 2008, the Pirates and the Buffalo Sabres announced that they had reached a new affiliation agreement.

United League Baseball declares bankruptcy

United Sports Equities — the holding company for independent United League Baseball — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a Broward County (Fla.) court, bringing into question whether the team will operate during the 2009 season.

The league lists debts of $264,494.55, including $22,000 owed in back rent to Harlingen and $60,000 to league founder Byron Pierce. In recent years the league has centrally operated six teams, but the league was locked out of its Harlingen home last fall and creditors seized the San Angelo ballpark, putting it up for auction.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies unveiled the team’s new logo, Web site, season ticket information and luxury suite packages at a press conference attended by local media, government officials, former Rowdies and a sprinkling of fans.

The team shield unites Rowdies history and tradition in a contemporary design. “Drawing inspiration from some of the greatest clubs in the most storied leagues of the world, the Rowdies shield was created to have a long-established look and feel making it unique in the United Soccer League (USL), as you would expect from one of the historic and iconic American soccer clubs,” said Andrew Nestor, president and CEO of the Rowdies.

The star represents the North American Soccer League (NASL) Championship won by the original Rowdies in 1975. At the time, the NASL was the highest professional league in North America (US and Canada) where some of the world’s most notable players appeared. Stripes are a symbolic carry over from the kit of the original Rowdies. Green and yellow colors pay respect to the history and tradition of the team as well. The addition of the navy color sets the new team apart from the former team and the traditional soccer ball honors the legacy of soccer as a world sport.

Nestor also unveiled the official updated fan Web site, tbrowdies.com, where news about the Rowdies, luxury suites, season tickets and team merchandise is available.

Rowdies 2010 season tickets can be reserved with a $50 deposit per ticket, with a six per individual limit. Season ticket packages range from $150 to $1,000 per season for all 15 Rowdies regular season home games, April through October. Single game tickets range from $10 to $50.

Along with season tickets, 16 luxury suites, each measuring 310 square feet in size, will be available to lease for the 2010 season. Each suite includes 12 covered, open-air luxury seats, fully enclosed suite area, bar stools and counter space overlooking the field, wet bar area with full size refrigerator, sink, two closed circuit flat panel TVs with cable TV access and sound system, Wi-Fi internet access, first-class service and catering options, complimentary reserved parking passes, exclusive suite level access, VIP lounge, concession area and restroom facilities. Luxury suite rights give each suite holder access to the suite for all events at the stadium.

Watching this Monday Night Football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers and have been curious about the yellow helmets being worn by the Steelers.

Seems the traditional logo we all know on the black helmets was first used during the tenth game of the 1962 season, a home game against the Washington Redskins. It was worn on yellow helmet shells during that game and the last four games of the regular season.

First, the old logo used from 1973-86 and the one used since. Angry Beaver!

The football program has been a part of Oregon State University since 1893, working as a platform for more than a hundred players to enter the NFL, such as Heisman Trophy winner Terry Baker and current Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Chad Ocho Cinco and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Oregon St has won their conference championship five times.

Delaware State University (also referred to as Del State or DSU), is a historically black, public university located in Dover, Delaware with two satellite campus sites in Wilmington, Delaware and Georgetown, Delaware. It is the second-largest university in the state (behind the University of Delaware) and encompasses six colleges and a diverse population of undergraduate and advanced degree students.

Delaware State University’s athletic programs participate in NCAA’s Division I (I-AA for football). The athletic teams at Delaware State are known as the Hornets. The Hornets compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as full members since the conference was founded in 1970.

The Delaware State Football team won the 2007 MEAC football championship with a win over Norfolk State with a score of 28 to 21 in overtime giving them an automatic bid into the 2007 NCAA Division I FCS playoffs. During that tournament the Hornets lost to University of Delaware with a score of 44-7 in the first round, the first ever meeting between the two schools.

The eventual Charlotte Hornets franchise, one time New York Stars, in the World Football League, began in 1973 in Boston as the Boston Bulldogs. The name was shortened at the 11th hour in October to Bulls. They were owned by Howard Baldwin, who was president and minority owner of the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. Unlike most of the other WFL owners, he didn’t have to pay a franchise fee because of his close ties to WFL founder Gary Davidson–who also happened to be commissioner of the WFL. He also hired Babe Parilli as head coach.

However, Baldwin was unable to attract more investors. More seriously, he couldn’t find a suitable place to play. Realizing he had no hope of putting together a viable product in Boston, Baldwin opted to merge with the WFL’s as-yet-unnamed New York franchise on January 26, 1974. That team was owned by Whalers majority owner Robert Schmertz, who like Baldwin hadn’t had to pay a franchise fee. The two teams had already worked together very closely in the draft. The merged team took the name New York Stars.

Finding a home field for the fledgling team proved just as difficult as finding a name. Yankee Stadium was closed for renovation right after the Yankees finished the 1973 season in October; it would not reopen until 1976. Shea Stadium became full to capacity as the “Bronx Bombers” shared the park with the hometown Mets and the NFL’s Jets. The Stars had to settle for decrepit Downing Stadium, a 22,000-seat facility built during the Depression as a WPA Project, located on Randall’s Island near the East River.

Parilli signed a number of former Super Bowl III Jets including wide receiver George Sauer, who was coming out of retirement after three years, and former All-Pro defensive men Gerry Philbin, as well as John Elliott.

The WFL needed New York in order to have a presence in the largest U.S. media market. The Stars sold between 5,500 and 8,000 season tickets. Its first home game, after losing a close one at Jacksonville-in front of a league high crowd of 59,112 at the Gator Bowl, against the Birmingham Americans attracted 17,943 New Yorkers. After leading at halftime, 29-3, the Stars were toppled by the efforts of Americans quarterback George Mira, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as Birmingham pulled out a 32-29 comeback win. The Stars finally won their first game, as kicker Moses Lajterman put the winning field goal through for a razor-thin 17-15 win over Philadelphia. The Stars and hosting Bell performed in front of the largest WFL attended game, with 64,179 on hand. Many of the tickets were sold at large discounts or were given away free in a marketing ploy to make the League appear more successful than it was.

New York then went on a tear, winning five in a row. Among the victims besides the Bell were the Jacksonville Sharks, Southern California Sun, Portland Storm, and Houston Texans. Coincidentally, the team’s winning streak was stopped by those same Texans a week later, with a surprise addition to the Houston roster: John Matuszak. Matuszak had been AWOL from the NFL’s Houston Oilers just 48 hours earlier. The Stars had mixed results in the next few weeks, winning over Portland again, but losing to Florida in the rain and The Hawaiians in the sun. To improve the roster, New York picked up several NFL players from the waiver wire. Among them were cornerback John Dockery, who played for Parilli with the New York Jets, and Don Highsmith, a running back released by Oakland and turned out to be a great addition to the Stars running attack. The Stars performed better on the field and were a nice alternative than the more expensive, yet losing Giants and Jets.

For all their on-field success, the Stars were dragged down by serious off-field financial problems. Like most WFL teams, they were badly undercapitalized. Their fiscal structure began to founder when Schmertz’s construction company ran into trouble. He was also trapped in a nasty divorce.

However, even without these factors to consider, the Stars played in a stadium that was completely inadequate for a team aspiring to be part of a major sports organization. It was nearly inaccessible from most of the city, and had not been well maintained in at least 20 years. Amenities for fans, players and the press were virtually nonexistent. The toilets in the locker room frequently overflowed. During the home opener, the Stars’ radio announcers had to sit on orange crates because there were no chairs in the press box; their Birmingham counterparts had to stand. Parking was inadequate It soon became obvious that Schmertz and Baldwin wouldn’t have enough money to finish the season. Unable to find a local buyer, the WFL resigned itself to abandoning the nation’s biggest market.

September 24, 1974 was their final game at New York (the game was moved from Wednesday because of Yom Kippur). Ironically, that same day, the Detroit Wheels’ 33 owners filed for bankruptcy. Called the “Bankrupt Bowl,” the Stars blew out the destitute Wheels, 37-7.

Southern Arkansas University is in the NCAA Division II as a member of the West Division of the Gulf South Conference.

The university’s athletic nicknames are Muleriders and Lady Muleriders. The Muleriders take their name from the legend that the football team in the early 1900s had to ride mules from the college’s agricultural department to catch the nearest train 6 miles north of the college in order to reach out-of-town football games. The teams are the only sports team in the US with the nickname and are often listed in top 10 lists of the most unusual or unique mascot names.

Famous Alum: Auburn Head Football Coach Tommy Tuberville