The Home Team: My Bromance with off Brand Football

As a Birmingham native who came of age as all of these football leagues came to and left Legion Field, this book is a fabulous trip down memory lane. I, too, attended many of those same games and often thought my hometown had found a new, permanent resident for the Gray Lady. Yet, time and again, we experienced the disappointment not of a bad team, but of a league failure.At the same time; this book is for anyone who wants to explore the quick lives and deaths of all of the NFL’s Johnny-come-latelys. If you ever watched a game of the XFL, USFL, WLAF or the rest, you will find something of relevance in this book.My only regret is the author never tells us exactly why he has sworn off peppermint schnapps forever.

Once I started reading "The Home Team" it was tough to stop until I completed it. It was an enjoyable walk down memory lane. I could releate to so much of what Scott covered in this book. The USFL was my first introduction to "off-brand" football, and I have been a fan of all it ever since. Each of these leagues and teams all had a story that needed to be shared.It was great to learn that Scott was at the first home game of every professional football team that called the city of Birmingham & Legion Field home. (Americans, Vulcans, Magic, Stallions, Cudas, Thunderbolts & Iron). I watched the journeys of these leagues and teams from a far where as Scott lived it and shared with us all in this book. Most of what I read at the time was in weekly sports magazines, newspaper articles and weekly games on tv, if that was available.You do not need to be from Birmingham or the state of Alabama to enjoy this book. These stories happened everywhere in the United States. Everyone that reads this book can relate it to the "fandom" of their favorite home town team growing up.

Scott tells some great stories about the Birmingham teams who tried (and ultimately failed) to get traction in pro football. Where other books get bogged down in game recaps, this book succeeds in giving you the stories and personal accounts while also providing the history and backgrounds of these teams from creation to closing. A really enjoyable and informative read!

Very good read about Birmingham pro football teams. Alabama is football crazy, but natives are not enamoured of the minor league version.

This is a wonderful book about the professional football teams in Birmingham, Alabama, beginning with the World Football League (WFL) and ending with the Alliance of American Football (AAF). My favorite chapters were about the American Football Association (AFA) which was a pro league that existed from 1977 through 1983.

An easy read. It provided new info (to me) that made me go “wow”, evoked memories of old times that made me smile, and painted many pictures that made me laugh out loud.

A combination of history and humor - even for non-sports fans!