Boomtown

The scrappy Dogs dig deep for deliverance

BROOKSIDE, AL - Once a quiet little farming village until the opening of its coal mines in 1886, Brookside emerged as a key player in the Sloss-Sheffield Iron and Steel Company’s mining empire in the late 19th century. Located in northwestern Jefferson County, Brookside developed as a bustling mining "boomtown" for its ability to produce coal for the company's use in their blast furnaces located in nearby Birmingham. The town of Brookside grew up rapidly around the coal mines to serve the new inhabitants with housing, churches, retail shops, a movie theatre, restaurants and numerous saloons along Main Street in Downtown Brookside. The booming mines continued to attract new settlers, some more desirable than others, and by the early 1900s Brookside had earned a well-deserved reputation as a lawless town. However, the real spirit and heartbeat of Brookside was defined by its miners - the hard-working Slovak immigrants whose influence on this small Alabama town can still be seen to this day. Brookside’s unique ethnic makeup set it apart from other similarly founded Alabama towns of its day. While quite a variety of other ethnic groups (the Greeks, Italians, Lebanese, Jews, etc.) called the Birmingham area home, the Slovaks were the dominant ethnic group in Brookside. Hundreds of Slovak immigrants left their homes in Nieletz, Saros, and other villages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to settle in Brookside in the 1890’s. By 1910 Slovak families constituted approximately 37% of Brookside’s population and they had established two churches, a school, a social organization, and had firmly rooted their eastern European traditions in the fabric of Brookside’s daily existence. A lot has changed in America over the last 140 years, but the Slovak influence can still be found nestled in Brookside's rolling hills, in the running water of the Five Mile Creek and in the ancestors of these brave miners from the town's formidable days. In the final week of the regular season of the BDFL's 30th year, the Brookside Dogs, using their coal mining heritage as motivation, dug down deep and delivered a historic vict'ry that has awakened the ghosts on Tiger Hill. The resurgent 86ers blasted the North Birmingham Vulcans (55-23) in Week 15 to capture the "Coal Bowl", the Yellow Hammer Division title and advance to the Big Daddy Championship Series (BDCS) as the #1 overalll seed beginning next week in Week 16 of the BDFL. I wouldn't be betting against this bunch of scrappy Dogs from this former Alabama boomtown this post-season.

The 2024 BDCS

The BDFL championship title chase begins

TITLETOWN - The field has been set for the 2024 Big Daddy Championship Series (BDCS). No computers needed. No committee needed. No press conferences. No interviews. No politicing. No BS. These slots were earned on the field during the BDFL's regular season and leave nothing to debate, or scrutiny from the BDFL's media experts. The four divisions winners were the PowerSleds, Bellcows, Dogs and Vulcans. The four wildcard qualifiers were the Cheetahs, Bullets, Juggernauts and Bandits. The BDFL crowned a new first-time champion (Druid City Blitz) last season which is always exciting and maybe another club can escape the notorious Null Set Club this post-season. Below is the 2024 BDCS field seeded 1-8. See the BDFL's 2024 Schedule for the seeded match-ups in the first round of the BDCS and the Big Mullet Series (BMS) beginning next week during Week 16 of the BDFL as we set the starting line for the post-season and another BDFL Championship Title chase race.