From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY With Fran on assignment and covering the UFL for OurSportsCentral.com, Dave fills in Greg on what he is missing with the league and puts to rest his doubts about the viability of the league, at least for the short-term. They also rem…

From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY Fran is MIA, as Dave and Greg (whose new microphone is trash and being returned soon to Amazon) tackle baseball and the Shohei Otani gambling scandal, with zero apologies to Pete Rose, that is currently rocking America and Japan. Of …

From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY On the 3rd week of the LFA regular season, what was to be a Gridiron Mexico episode was immediately changed as a result of the breaking news of Justin Fields being traded from Greg's sweet home of Chicago to Pittsburgh. Dave and Greg…

From the 55 Yard Line is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY Since the end of the NFL season there has been a lot going on outside of the gridiron bubble, and our regular contributor Fran Stuchbury covers it all over at Our Sports Central with his weekly column. With Dave unavailable, Fran re…

From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. The video livestream for this episode and past can be found on both the show's YouTube and Facebook pages EPISODE SUMMARY With approximately three months to go before the kick off of the Canadian Football League season, Greg and Dave sit back down w…

From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY Howie Mooney from the Sports Lunatics Show returns to the 55 Yardline to chat with Dave and Greg about his latest book, "More Crazy Days and Wild Nights" in which he again regals readers with more outlandish and detailed detailed sto…

From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY On Super Bowl eve, Dave and Fran, along with OurSportsCentral.com contributor Fran Stuchbury, talk a little bit about the upcoming game, with Greg pondering the question, "why do old white guys hate Taylor?" Fran then provides his su…

From the 55 Yard Line is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY Greg and Dave spend a morning (Japan)/evening (America) with Pro Football Researchers Association member and World Football League historian Mark Speck. Mark is the foremost expert on the defunct league and has written four books an…

From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, which is part two of the previous episode, Greg sits down with Zach Keilman of Pro Football Newsroom, the UFL Podcast, and the Inside the Walls Podcast, to talk about the upcoming year in spring professional football…

From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, Greg. Dave, and Fran sit down and go around the world to talk about the latest sports news that has gone under the radar screens with hockey, women and men's soccer, rugby, Canadian football and more as reported at O…

From the 55 Yardline is part of the Sports History Network - The Headquarters For Sports Yesteryear. EPISODE SUMMARY In this episode, Greg and Fran cover down for Dave as he digs out of the snow near Buffalo, and react to the news of the day of the demise of Sports Illustrated and what the magazine meant to them growing up. They then dive into a di…

In part one of the podcast (apologies in advance for the audio quality due to a bad undersea cable), Greg sits down with the legendary Upton Bell, former NFL executive with both the '60s era Baltimore Colts and '70s era New England Patriots, owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the WFL, Boston media personality, author, and scion of the famous Bell fa…

On a Sunday night, John, BJ and Greg are joined by Rice Bowl and X-League champion, as well as the most famous American playing football in Japan, ⁠Al-Rilwan Adeyemi of the Fujitsu Frontiers⁠. They discuss with him the key moments of the game that led to the Frontiers' big win and also talk about ⁠his recent NFL360 spotlight on the NFL Network⁠. La…

The real men of genius, Dave (who checks in toward the end of the show) and Greg sit down with sports journalist Fran Stuchbury, of OurSports Central, and discuss his wide ranging career covering alternative football and minor league sports. They discuss the UFL, XFL, in all its different versions, USFL, AAF and (after Dave's arrival), America's in…

Real men of genius Dave and Greg talk football and earthquakes in this episode. Specifically, the talk about the upcoming matchup in the college football playoffs of Washington vs. Michigan and how much college bowl coverage has changed since they were kids. Greg talks about the Rice Bowl in Japan, in which the Fujitsu Frontiers defeated the Panaso…

In the first part of the podcast John, BJ and Greg preview the upcoming matchup of Japan's championship game, which will be played on January 3rd, 2024 at the Tokyo Dome and feature a battle of two unbeaten teams, the Fujitsu Frontiers and Panasonic Impulse. During the second part the guys talk about the recent NFL360 episode, entitled "Ikigai", in…

In their first episode together of the rebooted From the 55 Yard Line podcast, Greg and Dave pick up on their last on air conversation and follow-up on the previous episode about the future of spring football. They then discuss the Grey Cup and the subject of future expansion of the league. After which they talk about Dave's Bills and their chances…

With the "soft" reboot of the From the 55 Yard Line podcast, Greg introduces his new co-host, due to Scott's retirement, and explains how the show is shifting from one focused on Canadian football to one that encompasses the entire world of sports. He then sits down and discusses the topic of spring football with sports historian, Tim Hanlon of the…

In this episode, with BJ away at team practice, John and Greg sit down with Nojima Sagamihara Rise linebacker Colby Campbell to talk about his life and journey to Japan. From South Carolina to Finland to Germany and to Japan, Colby has had an interesting and varied journey during his young gridiron career! The three discuss not just his life on the…

From 2021, the Gridiron Japan podcast's inaugural episode with hosts Zach Keilman and Greg James on the lesser-known but still very competitive Japanese football scene! The two kick things off asking the question of what exactly the sport in Japan is like in terms of structure, culture, and more. They discuss all these points with Inside Sport Japa…

After a month away Greg and Dave return to give their honest assessments of how the league did as it heads toward the conclusion of what can be termed a mediocre debut for the first season. However, with the USFL in full swing, we hold out hope that Dany and Dwayne will learn from their unforced boardroom and off-field errors and improve what we bo…

Dave and Greg are back after a week hiatus to compare and contrast how the league performed in the ratings between being broadcast on traditional over the air television and on cable/satellite. The guys also take the XFL media to task over their coverage of the league and continuing failure to ask the hard questions regarding the business of the XF…

On a morning where the cherry blossoms were blooming and Scott was watching his UAB Blazers lose a heart breaker at the NIT, Greg sat down with ⁠Ken Crippen⁠, founder and executive director of ⁠The Football Learning Academy⁠, to discuss the mission of the FLA and his thoughts on how the game has changed over the decades. The online academy is the f…

On the day in which Japan won the world championship of baseball over America, Greg and Dave talk about the tanking ratings of the XFL and frustrations over the league's seemingly deaf tone towards their fans and continued making of unforced errors off the field, particularly as it relates to marketing and fan engagement. The guys sit down and diss…

In the annals of professional football, aside from the American Football League, only one other league has truly challenged the dominance of the NFL, and that was the United States Football League of the 1980s. Unlike other spring leagues, all of which are small potatoes comparatively, the USFL forever changed how we look at professional football a…

In a weekend where many expected the XFL to fall flat, and despite continuing to fall in the ratings, the league put on a great show in most of its venues, with the Battlehawks setting the all-time attendance record for spring football. Hold on. What a second... That's wrong, the first USFL set that record, back in the 1980s. However, despite The R…

On March 13, 1960, the city of Chicago lost its original NFL team, the now Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals were birthed on Chicago's southside and played most of their seasons at Comiskey Park; however, despite their being the city's original NFL team, they were not its flagship franchise, with that distinction going to their northside rivals, the…

At the dawn of the 21st Century, in the winter of 2001, a new gridiron football league appeared on the sports scene. The brainchild of wrestling promotor Vince McMahon and television executive Dick Ebersol, the XFL sought to become the premier weekly sporting event in America during the NFL off season. As most football fans, the original XFL fell s…

For week three Dave and Greg look at the game both on and off the field as week three provided plenty of excitement as fan attendance increased, but ratings continued to nosedive. Also talked about is why San Antonio and not St. Louis was granted the XFL championship game and the unionization of the players, as well as the perceived move of despera…

The second episode of the season finds Greg James joined by former sports executive Dave Cieslinski for a candid look as to how the XFL performed in weeks one and two. Dave provides a perspective that you won't find on other XFL podcasts. He knows what it takes to put bottoms in the seats and to get fans interested so that they return. The two disc…

In the world of sports history podcasting, there is a curious little one that has carved out a niche covering the world of defunct leagues and teams from yesteryear. "Good Seats Still Available" has its roots in Tim Hanlon's youth, when he fell in love with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, who unfortunately, like the league …

For this third episode we move up to the Great White North as Greg sits down with Don and Heath of the Third Down Gamble podcast, where they go team by team through the Canadian Football League and review last year's performance and review all that has happened in the off season. The three also talk about the ownership struggles within the league a…

Prior to the XFL kickoff in America, Greg James sat down with the elder half of The World of Football podcast dynamic duo, Randy Snow. Randy is the Adam West to his own son Adam's Burt Ward, both of whom who broadcast weekly from the Man Cave news and history lessons that encompass the gridiron game around the world, including where Greg is, in Jap…

In the inaugural episode, Greg James adds his laid-back historical approach to the crowded XFL field. Unlike the other XFL shows, he does not mince words as to what he believes was an under performing week one. Specifically, he calls out the league for catering to the white male wrestling crowd and talks about how the marketing sucks. He also discu…

From Japan, it's Greg James of CFL America Radio and the Sports History Network with a new show filled with commentary and observations about the XFL, as well as analysis of league news, and those important items that affect the business of gridiron football.

Welcome to the first episode of "Gridiron America," where Japan based Greg James (co-host of the "From the 55 Yard Line" and "Gridiron Japan" podcasts) sits down with fellow podcasters and gridiron experts to talk about the game outside of the lines. In this inaugural episode ("the beta episode") Greg sits down with fellow Sports History Network me…

1983 Championship - Sunday, July 17, 1983. Attendance: 50,906. TV: ABC. [NOTE: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward to about the 10:30 minute mark where kickoff begins] Anthony Carter and Derek Holloway were big enough to be enough for Bobby Hebert and definitely big enough for the Michigan Panthers, who got big plays and big days f…

1983 Divisional Playoffs - Sunday, July 10, 1983. Attendance: 60,237, TV: ABC. [Note: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward to about the 9:00 minute mark where the kickoff begins] Michigan quarterback Bobby Hebert passed for one touchdown and ran for another to lead the Panthers to a 37-21 victory over the Oakland Invaders and into t…

1983 Divisional Playoffs - Saturday, July 9, 1983. Attendance: 15,686, TV: ABC. The Philadelphia Stars had come from behind before, but never quite so dramatically. And the victory never felt quite so good. Quarterback Chuck Fusina, who overcame four first-half turnovers with three touchdown passes in the last nine minutes as the Stars tied the Chi…

1983 Week 18 - Sunday, July 3, 1983. Attendance: 31,905, TV: ABC. [NOTE: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis you can forward the audio to about the 7:00 minute mark where the game begins] Defensive end John Banaszak, who has played football in Michigan as a collegiate at Eastern Michigan and as a professional with the Michigan Panthers, tr…

1983 Week 17 - Saturday, June 25, 1983. Attendance: 30,396. TV: ESPN. Fred Besana passed for 227 yards and a touchdown as the Oakland Invaders capitalized on blunders by the Boston Breakers to clinch the Pacific Division title. Boston, which got 122 yards rushing from halfback Richard Crump, crumbled from its own mistakes in the third period. The I…

1983 Week 17 - Sunday, June 26, 1983. Attendance: 25,041, TV: ABC. Five of Bobby Hebert's passes fell neatly into the arms of receivers Anthony Carter, Derek Holloway and Ken Lacy as Hebert set a United States Football League record for touchdown passes in one game and increased his league lead in that department to 26. Hebert defied the heat in So…

A look back at the sixteenth week of the 1983 USFL season.

Friday, June 17, 1983. Chicago Blitz (10-5) at Birmingham Stallions (8-7). Attendance: 23,459, TV: ABC. [NOTE: This 1983 game between the Chicago Blitz vs Birmingham Stallions is missing the last six minutes of the contest, but that audio does not affect the outcome. The Blitz actually scored one last time despite being ahead. The rest of the game …

A look back at the fifteenth week of the 1983 USFL season.

1983 Week 15 - Monday, June 13, 1983. Attendance: 26,840. TV: ESPN. [Note: The game is joined in progress late in the second quarter. The rest of the game is complete] Kevin Shea booted a team-record three field goals and Jerry Aldridge sprinted down the sidelines 80 yards for a touchdown to lead the Oakland Invaders to a 16-10 victory over the Den…

1983 Week 14 - Saturday, June 4, 1983, Attendance: 32,908, TV: ESPN. [Note: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward the audio to near 7:30 minute mark where the kickoff begins.] Fred Besana, leading passer In the United States Football League, got the best of No. 1 rusher Herschel Walker by firing three touchdown passes and leading the…

A look back at the thirteenth week of the 1983 USFL season.

1983 Week 13 - Sunday, May 29, 1983. Attendance: 15,668, TV: ABC. [NOTE: If you want to skip all the pregame analysis forward the audio to the 7:51 minute mark where the game begins] Boston's 21-17 victory over Philadelphia on a last-play tipped touchdown catch by Frank Lockett halted the Stars' eight-game winning streak and prevented them from win…

Monday, May 30, 1983. Tampa Bay Bandits (9-3) at Michigan Panthers (7-5). Attendance: 23,976. TV: ESPN. [Note: If you want to skip all the pregame talk, you can forward to about the 4:00 minute mark where the kickoff is set to begin] Terry Miller might have surprised some of the folks around the United States Football League with his two-touchdown …