Florida Tuskers Bring the UFL to Orlando
Orlando is a great city for sports. We have our Orlando Magic basketball team and are within driving distance of a number of other sports teams. Many Orlando citizens are fans of the Florida Gators, but considering our only professional team is the Magic, we could use some football! Not everyone is willing to drive down to Miami to catch a Dolphins game (if they’re even Dolphins fans) and now they won’t have to. The United Football League was founded in 2009 to bring football to close knit communities looking for alternative ways to fill their craving for the national American past time.
The UFL consists of only four teams: the California Redwoods, the Las Vegas Locomotives, the New York Sentinels and the Florida Tuskers. The league is small and has been bashed by most of the football critics on the net, claiming it to be nothing more than a league of NFL rejects, but the UFL begs to differ. “Where Future Stars Come to Play” is their motto and considering plenty of the UFL’s players come from universities across the US, they could be right on the money. Two of our very own Florida Tuskers, Dexter Jackson and Eric Powell, come from Florida State University.
The Tuskers’ coach Jim Haslett was the former coach of the New Orleans Saints and helped them win their second NFC West Division Championship. Although he is excited about the Tuskers he understands the crowd draw might not be the biggest. In a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Haslett mentioned poor marketing as one of the downfalls. “The disappointing thing is the marketing. I didn't think the marketing was very good in the area. I know this area loves football and I think…maybe if they'd have done more in the area… we'd have had 20,000 people show up for a game. But, you know what, being a premiere season, we've put a good product out and hopefully the league will stay and people will show up to the games."
The Florida Tuskers play over at the Citrus Bowl and Tropicana Field. Considering they won their first game against the New York Sentinels 35-13, the Tuskers are off to a good start. Hopefully the league spreads the word and helps Orlando get into the Tuskers spirit!
The UFL consists of only four teams: the California Redwoods, the Las Vegas Locomotives, the New York Sentinels and the Florida Tuskers. The league is small and has been bashed by most of the football critics on the net, claiming it to be nothing more than a league of NFL rejects, but the UFL begs to differ. “Where Future Stars Come to Play” is their motto and considering plenty of the UFL’s players come from universities across the US, they could be right on the money. Two of our very own Florida Tuskers, Dexter Jackson and Eric Powell, come from Florida State University.
The Tuskers’ coach Jim Haslett was the former coach of the New Orleans Saints and helped them win their second NFC West Division Championship. Although he is excited about the Tuskers he understands the crowd draw might not be the biggest. In a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Haslett mentioned poor marketing as one of the downfalls. “The disappointing thing is the marketing. I didn't think the marketing was very good in the area. I know this area loves football and I think…maybe if they'd have done more in the area… we'd have had 20,000 people show up for a game. But, you know what, being a premiere season, we've put a good product out and hopefully the league will stay and people will show up to the games."
The Florida Tuskers play over at the Citrus Bowl and Tropicana Field. Considering they won their first game against the New York Sentinels 35-13, the Tuskers are off to a good start. Hopefully the league spreads the word and helps Orlando get into the Tuskers spirit!
Labels: football in orlando, Orlando Events, sports in orlando
posted by The Blogster at
2:33 PM
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