AU Fiction: CFL-USA - A different telling.

[mrcubfan415]

Cleveland 21 - Montreal 28

Looks like the wrong team was bolded

 

[TheMatthew25]

Looks like the wrong team was bolded

Thanks for finding that. I fixed it now.

 

[mrcubfan415]

The Norfolk/Virginia Beach metro area is America's largest without a big four pro team. Also lends itself well to team names - the Virginia Fleet, anyone?

While I made this list for the NFL, it may prove useful here - some major markets getting overlooked by pro football. Places like Columbus, Omaha, and Louisville.

For your current slot, rather than Tulsa, go for Oklahoma City.

Missed opportunity to have the “Oklahoma City Thunder” in the CFL by relocating the Orlando team

 

[thekingsguard]

Missed opportunity to have the “Oklahoma City Thunder” in the CFL by relocating the Orlando team

... GENIUS

 

[TheMatthew25]

As big of a disaster and moneyloser as the XFL was in OTL, I'm shocked it made it another couple years.

It's coming back next year.

It coming back for one more season. Vince would place it all on the line though. There will be more news to come after the CFL 2001 Season Results.

 

[TheMatthew25]

Missed opportunity to have the “Oklahoma City Thunder” in the CFL by relocating the Orlando team

Honestly never thought of that.

 

[thekingsguard]

Honestly never thought of that.

In an extra twist of fate, the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA stay put, because with a football team or two in Oklahoma City, that immediate rush to get a professional sports team there would be filled. If there is still a desire for a basketball team, Clay Bennett waits a couple of years before buying and moving the Sacramento Kings, making them the Oklahoma City Lightning.

 

[TheMatthew25]

In an extra twist of fate, the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA stay put,

I have decided to do that. Hated when the Sonics left Seattle. So in this TL, Seattle managed to upgrade the KeyArena just enough to keep the team from relocating. In return, the team would improve by adding Boogie Cousins in 2011 after a one year stint with the Kings and win the NBA championship over the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015. Yeah, I did think about leaving the team in the city. but the OKC Thunder/Lightning thing would be pretty awesome.

Should have the next chapter uploaded sometime today or tomorrow? Hopefully.

 

[Nivek]

Oklahoma City Lightning.

we've tampa..should be Storm or Cloud..and Oklahoma tornados for football team better,a tornado is stronger a ligthing

 

[thekingsguard]

we've tampa..should be Storm or Cloud..and Oklahoma tornados for football team better,a tornado is stronger a ligthing

Wouldn't be the first time sports teams use the same mascots, be they Cardinals, Giants, Kings or Rangers. So long as they're playing different sports, not much conflict.

 

[Chocolate Raines]

God I wish my Nascar timeline would take off like this.

 

[TheMatthew25]

God I wish my Nascar timeline would take off like this.

Dude, it took me years of pushing myself to write so I can get better at telling stories for people to enjoy beside myself. I was never one to write down my ideas. It took years to finally work up the courage to post stories on the net after reading really good AU stories on the net. I still thank some of the people on the old Sports Fan Fiction page on Sportslogo Boards for making me get better. I doubt I would be as good as other authors, but I believe anyone can tell a good story as long as it works the way you feel comfortable with it. To be honest, I was nervous about uploading the story here but I'm glad everyone loved it so far. That motivation makes me want to continue onward until I reach a proper conclusion.

 

[TheMatthew25]

2001 CFL Season:

2001 CFL Standings:

Canadian Football Conference​

Eastern Division:

1. Halifax Schooners
2. Montreal Alouettes
3. Hamilton Tiger-Cats
4. Toronto Argonauts

Western Division:

1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers
2. Saskatchewan Roughriders
3. BC Lions
4. Edmonton Eskimos
5. Calgary Stampeders

United States Football Conference
​

Eastern Division:

1. Orlando Thunder
2. Cleveland Browns
3. Hartford Knights
4. Birmingham Fire

Western Division:

1. Portland Pirates
2. San Jose Samurai
3. Anaheim Bulls
4. San Antonio Texans

The CFL 2001 season started with some “Disney magic” as the newest CFL team, Anaheim Bulls, were welcome in with open arms by the fans in Southern California. Despite a strong win over Halifax, the team would have a rocky first season. Ending with them grabbing third in the USFC Western Division. Portland would once again grab the top spot of the West and with them was San Jose. San Jose improved over the last season by adding depth in the offensive.


The Eastern Division of the same conference saw the returning giant in Orlando capturing the first place of the division. They even one up the Cleveland Browns who only managed to grab the last playoff spot. Hartford once again had a golden opportunity wasted by only managing third place and in what was a shocker, Birmingham would drop to the last place despite the division being closely competitive.


The CFC East was seen being dominated by the Schooners of Halifax. QB Kurt Warner would become the CFL Player of the Year by the fans and would lead his squad to another playoff run. Montreal would regroup and capture second place while Halmiton would drop to third despite a strong four-game winning streak. Toronto was in trouble. Their star QB Ryan Leaf would prove to be a total headcase, arguing with the coach and management about how he acted. This was growing for years but boiling point hit after another loss at home in Week 13 against Anaheim.


Leaf would tell the team to trade him now or after the season was over. Fans support for him was low and wasn't really respected by his teammates. He was also upset that he lost to a team that he compared as the Mighty Ducks of the CFL. During the week, he was finally let go by the CFL. He would later sign to the NFL with St. Louis.


In the west, Winnipeg continued their endless attacks in the CFL, having the best record in the CFL would also help them too. Saskatchewan would also return to form as the Western RIders would improve and grab the last playoff spot in the Division over BC. Edmonton was still in a rebuild but still have a better showing then Calgary as the Stampeders were hopeless without Doug Flutie guidance and poor playcalling by the coach. Coach Wally Burno was told to look elsewhere and was let go by the team near season end. His Offense Coach would take over.

-News that happened during the 2001 CFL Season-
​

Due to issues with the Seattle and Las Vegas, the former failing to find a fanbase and the latter was due to the upset city, the XFL announced they would fold the Seattle Terror and Las Vegas Aces. This would be a sign of relief for the Sin City as they can finally negotiate with the CFL and NFL for a protentional expansion.

The XFL also lost their NBC network deal due to the low ratings, leaving only TNN and UPN, both of them owned by Viacom which in turn owns Nickelodeon and their president also owns the Orlando Thunder franchise. Due to this, Vince would look into the XFL being absorbed by the CFL or NFL after the final season.

Due to the news, some of the Owners decided to talk with both leagues about joining. CFL was more open but the NFL wanted a team or two as well. Only time will tell who will join where.

In Baseball, the MLB World Series was being contested by the Anaheim Angels and the New York Mets. Angels would end the Mets dominants chances in repeat championships, capturing their first title since joining the MLB American League and being bought by Disney two years prior. Disneyland would celebrate the team win in a gratifying parade.

NHL would announce their plan expansion to Atlanta failed and the expansion team was bought by a group of investors in Quebec City. The Nordiques were reborn as the Quebec Huskies, using the logo they planned to use in 1996 before the relocation of the old Nordiques to Colorado. While Gary Bettman was disappointed by this, he was accepted to this by the end of this.

Finally, the NFL announced that their 32nd NFL Franchise would be located in historic Mexico City, Mexico. This would be the NFL first team outside the United States and it did stir some mixed feeling by the fans. However, football fans in Mexico were in celebration, they would get to showcase their top talent in the NFL. This would be seen as a good move by the NFL part due to the CFL expanding more in the US. Now the NFL has Mexico, they can start getting Latino Americans to watch more of their game than soccer.

 

[Chocolate Raines]

Dude, it took me years of pushing myself to write so I can get better at telling stories for people to enjoy beside myself. I was never one to write down my ideas. It took years to finally work up the courage to post stories on the net after reading really good AU stories on the net. I still thank some of the people on the old Sports Fan Fiction page on Sportslogo Boards for making me get better. I doubt I would be as good as other authors, but I believe anyone can tell a good story as long as it works the way you feel comfortable with it. To be honest, I was nervous about uploading the story here but I'm glad everyone loved it so far. That motivation makes me want to continue onward until I reach a proper conclusion.

I just dove right into mine. I planned it out, but I've changed a lot of ideas about it (still am). It was based off this guy on YouTube's series (since abandoned unfortunately). I was happy to find a site like this. My timeline has gotten some support (the Magic Johnson one too and somewhat my General Motors; I wrote one about highways that got decent support), but my NASCAR one is the one I care about the most. It's gotten over 12K views, but I want discussion. I probably have to get to the more popular era (late 90's) for it to gain more interest. Trust me, things will be wayyyyyyyyyy different.

 

[Nivek]

• Portland Thunder

WHAT THAT....

 

[Chocolate Raines]

WHAT THAT....

Pirates lol @TheMatthew25

 

[TheMatthew25]

Pirates lol @TheMatthew25

Oh F***...

I created a time paradox.

I fixed it. I'm surprised that I didn't notice it while uploading it. I am usually better than that. I probably had the OKC Thunder idea stuck in my head for too long..

 

[DANGMQ]

I am curious to see where the QB's taken in 2004 end up. Do Manning, Rivers, Roethlisberger and Schaub play in the NFL and have long careers as they do in our timeline? Or are a few of them playing in another league?

 

[TheMatthew25]

2001 CFL Playoffs

CFC Semi-Finals

Montreal Alouettes vs Halifax Schooners

Despite leading by four going in the second half. The Schooners would end Alouettes Grey Cup hopes once more.

Montreal 20 - Halifax 33

Saskatchewan Roughriders vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers

In a more one-sided affair then people thought. Winnipeg blasted through the Western Riders defense and ended their playoff hopes by the third quarter.

Saskatchewan 18 - Winnipeg 52​

-----------------------------------------------------------------

USFC Semi-Finals

Cleveland Browns vs Orlando Thunder

In a battle that was mostly an air show, Orlando would lose a close battle to Cleveland in overtime. Despite this, fans were still happy to see their team remain in Orlando and not relocated.

Cleveland 30 - Orlando 27

San Jose Samurai vs Portland Pirates

San Jose first trip into the playoffs was a short one to say at least. The Pirates would blast them with a running game and blitzing the Samurai defense hard. It wasn’t all bad for the Samurai though, the team was building a fanbase in Japan and around Asia. Only time will tell if the CFL will play there.

San Jose 08 - Portland 37​

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Canadian Football Conference
Championship Game
Halifax Schooners vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Broadcast: CBC (Canada), ESPN (USA)

Halifax QB Kurt Warner and Winnipeg QB Kerwin Bell would trade blows in a battle of Canada chance to win back the Grey Cup. Winnipeg would sadly self sabotage their Grey Cup dream by allowing a Rouge during the First Quarter and then a Saftey near the end. Those three points would prove to be the winning factor. The Schooners will be heading to their first Grey Cup Finals. Winnipeg will have to regroup once again.

Halifax 23 - Winnipeg 17

United States Football Conference
Championship Game
Cleveland Browns vs Portland Pirates
Broadcast: CBS (USA), CBC (Canada)

A rematch of last years conference finals, Cleveland and Portland would battle once more to return to the Grey Cup. Unlike last year, Tom Brady would prove to be the key player for the Browns as they ended the Pirates chances in winning it again.

Cleveland 38 - Portland 24​

-------------------------------------------------------------------

89th CFL Grey Cup Finals
November 25th, 2001
Aetna Stadium
Hartford, Connecticut
Halifax Schooners vs Cleveland Browns
Broadcast: CBS (USA), CBC (Canada), Sky Sports (UK)*, NHK (Japan)*
* = First time broadcasting Grey Cup or CFL Games.​

“Tom Brady and Kurt Warner have faced off before during the past two seasons, however, this was different. This was for pride. Kurt Warner only another championship was his AFL ArenaBowl title in 1995 for the Iowa Barnstormers. Tom Brady hasn’t won a title as of yet. The battle of Cleveland and Halifax begins now.”

*CFL on CBS Grey Cup theme playing*

“Welcome live in Hartford, the cold weather makes it feel like winter but it not. Its still fall and its time for an annual tradition in the CFL. The CFL 89th Grey Cup Finals live from Aetna Stadium. Hello, I’m Jim Brown and with someone who knows this game very well, Doug Flutie. Doug, today is a battle between a player that you played against back in the CFC Finals of 1999 and a player in his first Grey Cup after being in the league for two years.” - Jim Brown

“Yeah, I have experience playing against Kurt in 1999 and I see a future Hall of Famer in him. Not to say anything bad about Tom Brady, the kid from Michigan and had a good team behind him that includes Randy Moss.” - Doug Flutie

“Speaking of Randy Moss, Moss is back from his break last week to rest up. The Browns will need him more than anything to get the ball rolling early” - Jim Brown

“I agree on that, Randy Moss is a very talented player but he and Tom need to get on the same page in order to get ahead of Warner and the Halifax Schooners.” - Dou Flutie

*CFL on CBS Grey Cup Final opening*​

To say the game was important to both teams was an understatement to say it lightly. Halifax is a small city compared to Cleveland yet they want to bring the Grey Cup back to Canada. Cleveland is looking to get back on to of the CFL and to do that, they need the title. The game was finally being broadcast once again in Japan on NHK Network and in the UK on Sky Sports. The game was a big deal for the CFL and for Larry Smith. He wanted to see the game grow so much and now being broadcast to other parts of the world made him enjoy being president of the league.

The game itself was an airshow and it was contested very closely by the Browns and Schooners. By the fourth quarter, it was Browns in the lead. However, Kurt wasn't going to take this lying down and decided to pull some stuff that made Doug Flutie smile a bit in the press box. With two minutes left on the Halifax 30 yard line. Kurt Warner decided to take a chance and pull a hail mary throw to the WR Ted Alford, leading to a seventy-yard throw for the game-winner. Halifax Schooners win their first championship and Canada reclaims the CFL Grey Cup from the USA.

Halifax 33 - Cleveland 27​

Despite the loss, a new rivalry was born as Kurt Warner and Tom Brady would shake hands and look again for a rematch in the near future.

The game was a bit of a blow to the NFL. the National Football League never thought of expanding to Japan. Still, the rating in the US was still below the annual SuperBowl numbers. For now, the NFL can still relax and rest assure they are still the top dog. For the CFL, they were happy in seeing the league growing in Asia and now in the United Kingdom. However, the league was still handling the expansion plans to another city. Talks with Las Vegas are on hold but another discussion with Jim Ross, owner of the XFL Oklahoma Wranglers franchise, has gone through and the league would adopt the team after the XFL folds next season. Though even with Ottawa returning and OKC joining, they still are one short of twenty. They looked into adding another team in the CFL from the XFL. One team was the California Xtreme and the other was Oakland Invaders. Now it was up to Larry Smith to decide which team to add to the CFL for 2003.

 

[TheMatthew25]

Kinda experimenting again with my story by adding an intro scene for the Grey Cup game. Any questions while I work on the Offseason Reports?

Also, I made it to 30 Chapters! *Grabs a bottle of Champagne to celebrate the occasion*