Holy World Bowl! – Vulcans upset Mayors:

There was, is, and will only be… one (1) World Bowl. It was played in Birmingham’s Legion Field on December 5, 1974. The World Football League’s best team – the Birmingham Americans – defeated the underdog Florida Blazers 22-21, on what was the Americans’ home field. A pair of Jack’s were the head coaches: Jack Gotta for the Americans and Jack Pardee for the Blazers. (Pardee was a “Junction Boy” on Bear Bryant’s famous first team at Texas A&M and is in the College Football Hall of Fame. He played 15 seasons as a linebacker in the NFL, and should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is the only person that has been a head coach in college football, the NFL, the USFL, the CFL, and the WFL.) At least three members of the BDFL attended that World Bowl. Fast forward to 2023, and the BDFL’s Big Daddy Championship Series (BDCS), where the top seed was upset by the North Birmingham Vulcans in a thriller. In case you didn’t know, the Americans changed their name to the Vulcans in the second year of the WFL, but the league folded before they could have another championship game. In the BDFL, the Mayors folded in Round One of the BDCS. Mayor Arrington’s team came up just 4-points short of a vict’ry that would have kept their quest alive for a BDFL three-peat. The “young but naïve” Vulcans pulled off the stunner to kick start the BDFL playoffs.

Cheetahs deliver First Round A.W.:

Week 16’s biggest lopsided A.W. occurred on the other side of the bracket. The Southside Cheetahs slaughtered the Fultondale Freebirds, 47-3, in what the Elias Sports Bureau is calling the biggest playoff whipping in the hist’ry of the BDFL, although no early “pre-Woo” playoff scores and record exist that The Bulletin could find through a simple FOIA request to the league office. At any rate, the Sin Wagon rolled over Old Bocephus in a brutal blowout. With the First Round vict’ry – and the Mayors loss – the Cheetahs have served notice that they are now the “team to beat” in the BDCS.

Dillos dominate Bullets:

While the Cheetahs may be the “team to beat” at this point in the Big Dance, the top-seeded team remaining in the playoffs is the Duncanville Armadillos. K.P.’s “Little ol’ team from Texas,” destroyed the Benton Bullets last weekend by the final score of 30-14. At one point, it was 30-0 before the ‘Dillos pulled back on the reins. It would have easily been an A.W., but Bullet’s team didn’t quit and eked out a couple of scores on Christmas to avoid the “complete and total embarrassment” that was suffered by Jaimie in the aforementioned, hog-slaughtering loss to the Cheetahs. For the second straight year, the Benton Bullets advanced to the BDCS – despite having a losing record – thereby circumventing the “Bullet Rule” and probably yet-again forcing the BDFL hierarchy to address more potential rules changes in the 2024 off-season. As for the ‘Dillos, K.P. & Company now lead a triumvirate of teams from the “Null Set Club” that are just two wins away from their first BDFL Championship, and a chance to fulfill a life-long dream of hoisting the Grand Daddy Trophy and parading around their perspective neighborhoods as BDFL Champs.

Blitz beats Bellcows:

Along with the Armadillos and the Vulcans, the Druid City Blitz is poised to leave the harrowing confines of the “Null Set Club.” The Blitz put themselves in position – and into the semi-finals – by beating the Fieldstown Bellcows 32-21 in a game that was actually closer than the final score would indicate. Actually, it just seemed closer because of all the other blowouts in Round One of the playoffs. In actuality, it was exactly as close as the final score, and 11-point margin of vict’ry for the Fritz Gritz Blitz. As the NFL and the BDFL head for the between Christmas and New Year’s game… daBlitz is finally in a position to claim the top prize on all of fantasy football. “Just two wins away from immortality,” whispered a Blitz fan on the banks of the Black Warrior River after the Week 16 win for the home-team at Kentuck Park. Druid City is indeed “a buzz” with the successful Blitz and the Tide in the CFP. On the losing side, Belrose is pretty pumped about Bama in the Rose Bowl, but has to be a little disappointed after his Bellcows fell just a little short in the playoffs. The Bulletin is recommending that BDFL fans brace themselves for what is certain to be a fabulous Final Four amongst the Armadillos, Blitz, Cheetahs and Vulcans, that might even surpass the grandeur of that one, and only World Bowl back in December of ’74.

Big Mullet and beyond:

The TVS Television Network televised that first World Bowl. The MVP was Americans’ quarterback George Mira. Stay tuned for a possible video component to The Bulletin next season on this very website. Contract negotiations are underway, and the league and this very publication are trying to solve all of the streaming BS, video tracking, cyber delivering, converting, posting and podcasting efforts. As TVS would say, in the interest of time, we now move ahead in our coverage… and also in the interest of time – since The Bulletin is already late – we’re gonna skip the Big Mullet Series (BMS) games, but good luck to the Sleds, ‘Nauts, Wildcats, and Gamblers who advanced in the league’s consolation bracket.

Merry Christmas to all… and to all a Good Night! And, Happy New Year!