Birmingham Barracudas
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2013) |
Founded | South Division |
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Colours | Black, teal, blue, burnt orange, and white |
Uniform | |
The Birmingham Barracudas were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Barracudas were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States.
Franchise history
In the beginning
Insurance tycoon, former
The Barracudas hired an experienced head coach in
During the season
Birmingham competed in the Southern Division along with the San Antonio Texans, Baltimore Stallions, Memphis Mad Dogs, and Shreveport Pirates. After losing their two pre-season games, they played their first game July 4, 1995, versus the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg. They won 38–10, and would lose to the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton 31–13. They would get their revenge a week later at home by beating the Cats 51–28 in front of 31,000 fans.
The biggest home game of the season came against the Baltimore Stallions. It also proved to be the biggest disappointment, as the Barracudas lost 36–8.
Attendance at Legion Field was very good at first. The Birmingham crowds were some of the largest in the league. However, the CFL traditionally plays on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, largely to avoid competing on television (both in its native country and the U.S.) with the National Football League. Williams knew that Birmingham was a high school and college football hotbed. Well aware the CFL's scheduling model would cause serious attendance problems in the fall, Williams persuaded the league to let the 'Cudas play their September and October home games on Sundays so as not to compete directly against high school teams on Fridays and Alabama or Auburn on Saturdays. Because Alabamians in general are not loyal to any one NFL team, Williams reckoned that competing with that league on television was the more sensible risk to take. Despite this, attendance still fell through the floor as most Birmingham-area fans stayed home to watch the NFL on TV. Their last four home games did not attract more than 9,000 people, and looked even smaller than that since Legion Field seated over 83,000 people at the time. The Memphis Mad Dogs were plagued by similar attendance problems.
In the team's final home game, against the
After the season
Owner Art Williams estimated that he had spent $10 million to launch the Barracudas, and had probably lost at least that, if not more, during the season.[1] He also began criticizing the Canadian Football League, and its unique concept. Along with other U.S. owners, Williams wanted several changes made:
- Reducing the size of a CFL field to American football standards.
- Allowing only 11 players on each side of the ball, rather than 12.
- Changing the name of the league to show more of a U.S. presence.
The biggest change Williams wanted, however, was to move the season to the spring; he was not willing to risk another season of going head-to-head with college football.
By the end of January, it became clear that the league was no longer interested in playing in the United States. The league rejected the sale of the Barracudas and ordered them shut down. The Stallions ownership group was concurrently awarded the remains of the inactive Montreal Alouettes franchise, which started play in 1996.[4] Without a second American team, Anderson was unwilling to go it alone and folded the Texans, ending the CFL's American experiment.[5] Williams would go on to purchase the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League in 1998, and sell the club a year later.
Seasons
Season | League | Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | CFL | 3rd, South | 10 | 8 | 0 | Lost in Division Semi-Finals |
Players and builders of note
- Scott Player (played 10 years in the NFL and 1 year in the UFL)
- Shonte Peoples
- Reggie Slack
- Luis Zendejas
Canadian Football Hall of Famers
- Freddie Childress
- Eddie Davis
- Matt Dunigan
See also
- CFL USA all-time records and statistics
- Comparison of Canadian and American football
- 1995 CFL season
References
- ^ a b Cudas Apparently Through in Birmingham. Gadsden Times, Associated Press, November 7, 1995, accessed 29 January 2014 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19951107&id=KrwfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FNgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4898,678628
- ^ Symonds, William C. (3 December 1995). "Canadian football is running out of plays". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
- ^ "Barracudas Bound for Shreveport?". Gadsden Times. January 7, 1996. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ^ Ralph, Dan. Speros reportedly close to pulling Stallions. Associated Press, 1996-01-26.
- ^ CFL's American experiment ends as Stallions move north to Montreal. Associated Press, 1996-02-03.
External links
- Birmingham Barracudas at BhamWiki.com
- Birmingham Barracudas at BirminghamProSports.com
- Birmingham Barracudas team profile
- Uniforms