The FXFL: How did we not hear about this?

[BuffaloBorn1960]

I had to learn about them on the Colbert Report, and their season is half over already.

 

http://www.fxfl.com/

 

Four teams stocked with players cut from NFL camps. (Taj Boyd plays for Boston.) Designed to keep players sharp and available for the NFL. Games are played on Wednesdays and Fridays and streamed on ESPN3. I wonder if Doug Whaley knows about them and do they have any serviceable guards?

 

BTW the "Blacktips" franchise is homeless, playing all games on the road. Would you follow a team like this in Buffalo? Or how about Rochester? They would be great at Sahlen's Stadium. Can Terry Pegula own a team in the NHL, NFL, AHL, MLL and FXFL?

ESPN3??? Why not the "Ocho"?

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Around halftime, an overzealous Blacktips' fan would throw a large black tip shark onto the field. This fan had showed up early, and had immediately started fishing in hopes of catching exactly this kind of shark. After flopping around on the field for a while, the shark would make its way back into the water. The stadium would be rocking. Literally rocking, due to the action of the waves.

 

OK, there's a Need to Know here. There's a website called The Straight Dope. The other half reads it and comes up with the occasional gem.

This is from a thread called "how to catch a 37 lb salmon", what follows is found about halfway down the thread, and from the folks I know, I totally believe it. Enjoy!

 

"Believe it or not.. every word is/was true, much as I may wish otherwise.

The names have been changed to protect the guilty:

 

Ok.. this was a few years back. Myself and five other Navy SEALs ( read crazy MoFos) decide to ..erm.. borrow.. an IBS ( Inflatable Boat; Small . ), and go do some fishing. We loaded up with poles, bait, etc and enough booze to keep the boat afloat should the ocean suddenly go dry. Thus equipped, and not a single one of us having any idea what the hell we are doing, we headed out.

 

After several hours, we had caught a few barracuda and depleted the alcohol provisions considerably, one of us got the Bright Idea of using the 'cuda as bait for something larger. Never mind the fact we are in what amounts to a rubber raft without a motor. Disregard the fact that there is barely enough room for the six of us. It is of no importance that five of the six of us were more than slightly intoxicated. ( I’m an animal rarer than hen’s teeth: a non-drinking Navy SEAL or, rather, was at the time ) All six of us were young and stupid.

 

About an hour or so in, S1’s pole suddenly yanks from betwixt his knees and flies overboard seemingly of it’s own accord. We immediately surmise something BIG must have taken his bait, and that he had left the bail closed. For some reason this seemed incredibly funny. The rest of us re-bait with ‘cuda, making sure we had heavy leaders designed for shark on our line: we weren’t completely stupid.

 

S3 gets a hit, his line spooled out a few tens of meters, then stopped. Dead. He figures whatever it is that took the bait must have escaped, so he starts to real in to re-bait. A few cranks of the reel, and the pole nearly rips from his hands. Bracing himself, with S2 and S5 doing their best to hold the damnfool in the boat S3 holds on for dear life, and everyone else shouts encouragement.

 

Now, keep in mind we were young and stupid, eight foot tall and bulletproof. Especially stupid. ~wry grin~

 

What none of us thought of at the time was that the shark, for such it surely was, could tow our boat. During the next 90 minutes or so S3 fights the shark with S2 and S5 spelling him as needed, while the rest of us paddle in the opposite direction in a half-assed fashion. . We also failed to take into account the fact that the shark would not tow us in a straight line, instead changing directions numerous times.

 

Finally, the shark, which proved to a 125-130 pound hammerhead, is hauled in close enough to be dispatched. Five us us unload into the shark.

 

Let’s review for a moment, shall we? We have one sober but stupid and five drunk SEALs in a small inflatable craft in the middle of the damned pacific ocean. We have a hammer head shark with numerous bullet holes in it’s head, but still very much alive and exceedingly pissed off.

 

After what seemed like forever, the shark appeared to die, laying alongside , still hooked. After struggling mightily, we manage to get it aboard without anyone loosing any important bits. It’s about then we realized four things:

 

1: We had not idea where in the hell we were

 

2: Somehow the boat had acquired several small punctures, just about the size of the hooks we were using, in fact.

 

3: “Dead” sharks can bite.

 

4: the bottom of an IBS is not shark-bite proof, nor is the sidewall

 

Long story short, we wound up making it back with four of us hanging onto the side of the boat , which was about 40% inflated on one sidewall, zero inflation in the floor making the shark and the floor of the boat hang low in the water At least, that’s how the

Coast Guard found us, about a mile from shore.

 

The worst part, of course, being that the CG “rescued” SEALS, even though we refused, as a point of honor, to BE “rescued. The <expletives censored > just HAD to radio in and, worse by far, escort us back to port.

 

We all wound up with a severe dressing-down ( for a few minutes I honestly thought the Old Man was going to burst an artery ), had some creative punishments, and lost a week's pay for the damage to the IBS, etc.

To this day, we still catch **** over it, and that was wa-a-a-a-y too damn many YEARS ago."

[CSBill]

 

 

> BTW the "Blacktips" franchise is homeless, playing all games on the road.

 

I went to this portion of their website, and saw what you mean. There is a map of the United States. The logo for their Boston team is in Massachusetts. The logo for their Brooklyn team is in New York State; and the logo for their Omaha team is in Nebraska. The Blacktips have a shark-themed logo; and that logo is located somewhere in the Atlantic.

 

I think Bon Jovi is trying to put together a group to buy them and move them to Toronto.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

Surprised Losman isnt playing in the league

 

 

CBF

He'd get cut.