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Showing posts from September, 2023

AFL Spring Meetings 1955

The spring meetings came back home to Chicago, and the owners had some pressing issues to take on before the start of the 1955 season, as well as planning out events that were coming within the next year. First and foremost, commissioner Donovan Hasenkamp officially introduced the new owners to the rest of the league, as Boston owner Robert McNamara and New York owner Peter Stuyvesant were now official members of the league. Although they were not joining until next year, Philadelphia owner Sy Thompson and St Louis owner Arthur Dixon were welcomed to the meetings, as a majority of the items on the docket had to do with the expansion process. After the fanfare was over, the meetings were now officially underway. LEAGUE REALIGNMENT Boston and New York would have to be placed in the East Division, and some realignment would need to be done to balance out each division at 5. At first, it was proposed that one of either Cleveland or Detroit move from the East to the West to balance out the

The Wide World of American Football: 1954-55 Edition

RICHMOND STUNS PAFC, OWNERS BEGINNING TO RIFT It was expected to be another wash season for the PAFC, which has become a three-headed race between the Chicago Stars, Fort Wayne Generals, and Indianapolis Flames for the title of “World Champion of Football”. However, former Cincinnati Rivermen and Pittsburgh Shamrock QB Clarence Stanley was lured away from the AFL to join the Richmond Patriots, adding the first bit of major AFL talent to leave for the PAFC. Stanley helped the Patriots in their first season to a second-place regular season finish, ready to face the undefeated Chicago Stars in the title game. As for the two other new teams, the Baltimore Barons managed a third place finish with the talent from the 1952 Calvert team, and the Boston Rebels finished dead last, only winning a single game. Boston Rebels owner Frank Goldstein stated that he was not pleased that two teams from “lesser leagues” managed to place better than his supposedly elite Northeastern team. Goldstein receive