Diary: How the UFL Was Won

LAS VEGAS -- There is always a good reason to go to Vegas, especially if you have never been there before and even if it is for the UFL Championship Game.

The what?

That was the question my cab driver asked Friday on my way to Sam Boyd Stadium, where the four-team league in its inaugural season held a first-ever title game. That wasn't the first question he posed, either.

"You sure you're not going there for a Monster Truck Rally?" he offered. "That's the only thing besides college football they hold there, I think."

He wasn't the most accurate of cab drivers.

So, I assured him that the UFL, in fact, exists and that it is a legitimate professional football league that had been playing games since October. He seemed skeptical (about the league, not the cab fare he would get from the 10-mile ride).

Needless to say, we proceeded to the stadium, which is the home of UNLV's football team and had hosted three UFL contests prior to the championship game.

Las Vegas, as a matter of fact, has been the league's liveliest venue this season, an opening campaign during which games have been played in front of sparse crowds with very little media exposure.

The cabbie, in other words, is not alone.

However, UFL officials have repeatedly told FanHouse that the bar was set purposefully low so that the UFL can over-serve what was under-promised.

The league had finances in mind when it decided to put minimal efforts into marketing and promotions, sticking to a strict business model that, in theory, will build the UFL from the ground up. It is a grassroots effort to start small and finish big -- not unlike my plan for striking it rich in Sin City.

Unfortunately, only time will tell if the UFL will last past next season, when the league plans to add two more teams -- with Hartford and Los Angeles looking like frontrunners -- while debuting a 10-game schedule that will allow it to start the campaign in September.

The status of my bank account, on the other hand, is much more firm post-Vegas. It's grim, and very little time was needed for me to figure that.

For the record, the UFL's level of play is high, coaching sound and plan well thought out, though it's unclear whether that will translate into long-term success.

Per league strategy, the UFL plays its games during the busy fall season, when it theorizes that fans are more likely to watch football because it is, well, football season.

The league, however, seeks to complement the NFL, not compete with it. You wouldn't confuse the UFL Championship Game with the Super Bowl but, then again, the league wouldn't want you to.

By the way, what would you rather do -- watch professional football on Black Friday or pretend to be Moses Malone, jockeying for position in front of the PS3 display at Best Buy?

Call me crazy, but I chose the UFL.

Without further ado, here's what happened Friday, when the UFL ended its season in dramatic fashion.

Yes, it was a fun, entertaining game and, no, there wasn't a Monster Truck Rally. Stop asking.

12:13 p.m. (PST) -- The game kicks off at a half-full -- it would have been half-empty if the crowd didn't seem like an improvement over those during the regular season -- stadium with some legitimately excited fans (really). Though, it's entirely possible that I've lost the ability to gauge ... anything. I've been up since 2:45 a.m. Eastern time to make my trek (more of a pilgrimage, wouldn't you say?) to see a UFL champion crowned! I'm hallucinating.

12:28 p.m. -- Time to hit the brunch buffet in the press box. Any meal that features both broccoli and syrup is a hit in my book. Also, I washed down some sort of spicy beef stir-fry with two glasses of orange juice. This Vegas place really is happening.

12:30 p.m. -- Regretting buffet decisions.

12:49 p.m. -- Brooks Bollinger, a former NFL starter with the New York Jets, finds Marcus Maxwell for his 15th touchdown pass of the season to give the Tuskers a 7-0 lead with 5:13 left in the first quarter. It looks good early for the Tuskers, who have been a juggernaut on offense this season.

12:56 p.m. -- At the start of the second, Las Vegas running back Marcel Shipp fumbles inside the 5 in attempt to tie the game. Florida recovers. It looks like it will be the Tuskers' day, like it has been all season.

1:10 p.m. -- It gets worse for the Locos almost three minutes into the second quarter, when quarterback J.P. Losman is sandwiched in the backfield and forced to leave the game. Five dreaded words: And here comes Tim Rattay ...

1:15 p.m. -- After Rattay throws two incomplete passes and DeDe Dorsey runs for three yards, Las Vegas attempts a 53-yard field goal, which has enough leg but is missed wide to the right by Graham Gano. More from him later.

1:24 p.m. -- Tuskers kicker Matt Bryant promptly misses a 51-yard field goal. The score remains 7-0 Florida. If there were any Tuskers fans, they would have said, "That is going to come back to haunt us." Also, Losman now is running back on the field.

1:49 p.m. -- Trey Young intercepts Bollinger with 28 seconds left in the half and returns it to Florida's 49, eventually setting up a 46-yard field goal from Gano as time expires. It's 7-3 Florida at the break.

1:56 p.m. -- I'm sitting in the press box thinking how the first half was 30 minutes of ugly, boring football. As if on cue, the halftime show provides a clown and a youth dance group.

1:57 p.m. -- An actual Locomotive pulls on to the field. And I thought they would forget. Now, if a live boar is set free at midfield, I'm going home.

1:58-2:08 p.m. -- The gathered media sits speechless (uncommon) and motionless (common) as the clown jumps around on the locomotive. Don't tell anyone, but I'm enjoying this.

2:25 p.m. -- The Tuskers' defense takes a major hit midway through the third quarter, when former NFL linebacker Odell Thurman is lost for the game with a groin injury. Somehow, you can feel the momentum swing right there.

2:40 p.m. -- Uh oh. Former Super Bowl MVP Dexter Jackson, Florida's talented safety, will not return with a left ankle injury. No points were scored in the third quarter, but a lot happened.

2:52 -- While the both teams struggled to break loose in the first three quarters, the fourth starts out with a bang. Dorsey bounces one outside and into the end zone from 38 yards out to give Las Vegas a 10-7 lead on the quarter's fourth play. As an aside, Dorsey is an NFL running back -- at least, in my opinion.

3:00 -- That was quick. Bollinger and the Tuskers come right back down the field. Bollinger to Maxwell for 40 yards, then a 14-yard TD to Frank Murphy. Five plays, 80 yards. You know it's quick when the drive took 2:25, and I said, "That long?"

3:12-3:22 -- Here is where things get crazy. See if you can follow along. The game turns when on one play there are: two fumbles, two reviewable instances, a fumble return by a defensive end, a horse collar penalty, a loose ball in the end zone and a touchdown that was overturned.

This is all the UFL can hope for. For the first time this season, those in the press box were legitimately into the action on the field, arguing over a slew of replays being shown on the big board.

3:26 -- It all has been sorted out. Bollinger fumbled (his arm not going forward), Ross Kolodziej returns it to the 2, where he was horse-collar tackled, forcing a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by the Locos' Josh Mallard. The TD was reversed, when it was determined the ground caused the fumble, and the ball placed on the 1 after the penalty was assessed.

3:27 -- Catching my breath.

3:31 -- Dorsey plunges into the end zone on third down to give the Locos a 17-14 lead with 5:58 left. It looked as if he got on the previous play, too. Either way, the points are coming in bunches in the fourth.

3:36 -- OK, now this is just getting wacky. On the fourth play of the ensuing possession, we have to go to the replay again. Bollinger finds Jayson Foster, who, by some miracle, pivots and stay in-bounds down the sideline for a 41-yard TD. The play then is reversed after Foster's knee hits at the 35-yard line. Just your run-of-the-mill six-yard gain.

3:38 -- Matt Bryant ties the game with a 27-yard field goal with 2:10 left, eventually sending it to overtime. The first OT game in UFL history. The Super Bowl has never had a game in the extra period, though it has had three contests tied in the final minute.

I'm just sayin' ...

3:43 -- The teams didn't leave the craziness in the fourth. OT is just as wild. Florida wins the toss and elects to receive, a debatable decision since each teams gets one possession before the game turns to sudden death in the UFL.

3:45 -- On the third play of OT, Bollinger throws an interception to Isaiah Trufant, who promptly fumbles. Teammate Tony Parrish recovers at Florida's 14.

3:50 -- After Losman centers the ball with a sneak, Gano ends it with a 33-yard field goal. First UFL champion crowned as Locos coach Jim Fassel is carried away on the shoulders of his players. Dorsey is the MVP for the Locos, who win it 20-17.

I hope they had VERSUS in the cab.