Black Friday meant huge crowds and deep discounts to retailers and consumers nationally. For those of us in Las Vegas, however, it meant it was time for the Championship Game.

The first ever United Football League championship week did not have the glitz and the glamour of the Super Bowl. Playboy and ESPN were not hosting bashes. The media did not descend on Las Vegas en mass. What the week had, however, was a sense of fun and a sense of getting in on the ground floor of something special for fans of the United Football League and those who had worked so hard on the endeavor.

Beginning on Sunday with a charitable outing for the Florida Tuskers and the Las Vegas Locos the league worked to build a buzz for the game. At the Hard Rock Cafe on Wednesday evening the card dealers wore replica jerseys for the two teams and the league had a pre-Championship Game party at a local watering hole. League partners, families, friends, and employees celebrated the run up to the big game together. Doug Flutie made a special appearance on the drums and the people associated with the league seemed to love every minute of it.

One of the wonderful parts of the entire week was to see how close knit the people involved with the venture appear to be. The people associated have been working on this for years and many of the employees of the league literally traveled to every single game. For those wondering why sometimes the league website was not updated right away, well, one would have to look at the bleary eyes of the employees who would take a red eye from Las Vegas to Orlando and move right into setting up for one game while trying to get a recap up from the last game.

My background in political campaigns gives me some idea of the amount of travel and the hours worked by those associated. It creates a camaraderie and togetherness that rarely exists these days. It gives you a feeling that you’re all in the “battle” together, that same feeling came across from the UFL employees every single day of championship week.

Before I begin rambling due to lack of sleep and a red eye, my diary/review of the week involved will be split into sections.

“We’ll have a 2010…”

One of the most welcome announcements of the week, although we expected it beforehand, was that 2010 will see a complete launch of the United Football League. In many ways the “Premiere Season” was a glorified exhibition, built to test out variables associated with launching a league with little risk. That was a common component of Commissioner Michael Huyghue’s remarks during his State of the League Address.

The Commissioner discussed some of the mistakes of season one, including the teams not being involved in the local markets. One of the promises from the league this week is that local offices will open in the spring of 2010 as a way to continue to build community outreach and lay a foundation for the future.

The league lost a little over $30,000,000 which was in the ballpark of their projected loss for year one. In year two they hope to cut that loss in half.

Who has next?

The league officials refused to dole out too many specifics on the planned expansion for 2010, although the Commissioner said their plan was to announce the teams in December. Privately league officials said that the two teams were ready to go but they may hold the announcement until January as the league has a series of board meetings planned prior to December 16 when the league offices will close for the holiday season.

San Antonio and Hartford seem likely at this point, although Hartford may be the recipient of a potential New York Sentinels relocation. Salt Lake City, Omaha, and Portland are all strong contenders for the sixth spot should Hartford be the subject of a relocation.

One league official said their favorite locales are San Antonio and Omaha – a consensus that seemed to emerge over the course of the week. Many questions were asked about the comment from Michael Huyghue that the league will avoid NFL markets moving forward and whether or not this could impact the future television contracts since NFL markets tend to be larger media markets. The answer is not much if the league is to be believed.

Several San Antonio fans of the UFL, including our own “Andy G”, made the trip and were enthusiastic about the potential of San Antonio emerging as a UFL team.

The Owners

Everywhere you turned during the week you would see the owners of the league with smiles on their faces. Bill Mayer, Paul Pelosi, and William Hambrecht deserve a ton of credit for bringing this league to fruition and for staying the course during the worst economic downturn of our lifetime.

Jim Fassel, coach of the Locos, addressed this following the game when he told the press that, “I want to thank Bill Hambrecht for having the guts to start a league like this. I think it’s going to be here for a long, long time. It is going to do nothing but get better too. I loved this. I loved coaching in this League and I just had a ball coaching these guys. You saw the character and the toughness they have.”

Without William “Bill” Hambrecht this league would not exist, which is why the trophy for the Championship Game victor is called the Hambrecht Trophy. Following their victory the Locos gave Hambrecht the game ball and he appeared to be absolutely giddy for the rest of the day.

Throughout the week the owners were there to show their support. They all expressed a commitment to the league moving forward despite the losses.

Paul Pelosi told me that owning a team in the UFL was significantly better than owning a team in the USFL due to the ownership structure and throughout the week the buzz word as the “one voice” of the owners and league – ie: they speak in one voice after making decisions behind closed doors. The owners are all in this together and that shows.

Pelosi also said that the two owners that they will add this off season will have the same mindset.

A vision for the future…

More than one employee of the league told me that they have a feeling that this thing will get big and that they are in on the ground floor of something special. Despite the missteps and the struggles during the first year that feeling, and that vision for the future, remains and those involved remain optimistic. It wasn’t a talking point, it was a state of mind.

The players were also positive about the future – while many of them hope to be in the NFL, all of them were positive about the future of the UFL. They all commented on the history making nature of being involved in the first year and all of them said that they feel like the league will continue to grow.

Speaker Pelosi

The one “celebrity” present was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the third most powerful person in the United States. Speaker Pelosi was there in support of her husband Paul and his new venture. One of the enduring symbols of the family feel of the league was to see a number of Pelosi children running around in Redwoods’ jerseys on game day.

The Speaker was flanked by Secret Service, as is the proper protocol, but she was gracious and kind as she moved around and mingled with the assembled fans at the tailgate.

The Tailgate

What the tailgate lacked in glitz, it made up for in terms of the overall “experience”. League executives, investors, and more mingled among families who were taking part in fun little contests.

A few hours before game time people were throwing footballs around in the parking lot, a DJ was spinning music, and fans were beginning to arrive. The tailgate was not a formal, exclusive affair as people were able to come and go. Kudos to the league for organizing a fun little event, one that will improve as the years progress.

The Fans

Las Vegas is building a great fan base. While many of the people in the crowd had on NFL jerseys, some had Locos jerseys, and one fellow was even rocking an XFL shirt.

The crowd was great and even before the number was announced it appeared to be the largest crowd of the year. I spoke with several fans before kickoff and they were all excited to have a team. One fellow said, “Look, I’ve been to NFL games before – but only two, or three, in my entire life. I’ve gone to every Locos game this year and I can keep on going because it is affordable.”

A common refrain was, “this won’t be like the XFL, will it?” – referencing the one year and done model of the last alternative league. When I told people about expansion and the guarantee of a 2010 season you could see a sense of relief and excitement on many of their faces.

When I went to purchase Championship Game t-shirts in the early part of the third quarter the vendor told me that they had sold out before the half, which is remarkable really. Merchandise sales were strong throughout – both for championship gear and the regular gear.

Another really cool facet of the game was the recliners set up in the end zone. Our own “lvrecsports” brought his family to sit in the end zone during the game. His kids seemed genuinely excited to be on the field during the game and it was the kind of special touch that will help build a fan base for life.

Jim Fassel

No one, I mean no one, wanted to win the championship more than Jim Fassel. He told me on Media Day that “nothing would hurt worse than to see some other team play for the championship in our home town.”

Throughout the week it was clear that he wanted to see a victory more than anything. He also spoke in glowing terms about the entire UFL experience. When I asked him about being the first big name coach to sign on with the league he said, “I’ve never been one to watch and let others dive in before I do something, I make my own path.”

That much was true.

It would be an understatement to say that the hiring of Jim Fassel as a head coach meant a lot to the UFL and in some ways his hiring laid the foundation of credibility for the league that allowed them to sign so many talented players.

One of the enduring moments of the week in Vegas, for me, was seeing Jim Fassel toting around the Hambrecht Trophy in the Penthouse of the Hard Rock Hotel where the Championship Game after party was being held. With the skyline and lights of Vegas behind him it was clear that winning the Hambrecht Trophy wasn’t just a notch on his belt – it was a defining achievement.

Isaiah Trufant

I had to spotlight this anecdote from the Las Vegas Sun regarding the player who effectively sealed the deal for the Locos:

A few hours before the kickoff of the United Football League Championship Game, Las Vegas coach Jim Fassel had to ask cornerback Isaiah Trufant if he thought he could play.

Trufant sat out of practice all week with two pulled groins and was listed as questionable on the injury report.

Fassel won’t soon forget Trufant’s answer.

“I’ll give you everything I got for as long as I got,” Trufant told Fassel.

That type of answer, that type of blue collar mentality – the guts exemplified – is what defines the UFL. The players, for the most part, play for the love of the game and they give everything they have.

Standing on the field after the game, soaking in the atmosphere, I was struck by how excited the players were. The look on their faces was one of joy – the same look that you see when a team wins the Super Bowl. A championship is a championship as the players constantly told me on Media Day and that much was clear from their celebrations on Friday afternoon.

Parting thought: Building something special…

My parting thought from the championship week is that the league is building something very, very special.

Ralph Vuono and Rachel Gary are great at their jobs and made sure that the media and fans were taken care of. The owners seemed to embrace the experience of owning a sports team. Frank Vuono has a vision for the development of the branding of the league and the connections to continue to add sponsors.

And as Paul Pelosi told me following the State of the League Address, “how could you listen to Michael Huyghue and not believe in the vision of the UFL?”

Huyghue is charismatic, intelligent, and he knows the game. He is an excellent ambassador for the league and he seems to have an unshakable confidence in the future of the UFL.

One can only hope that the investors stay the course, and continue to find additional investors. William Hambrecht believed in this concept for ten years, or more. If the owners are willing to lose some money and take some knocks for ten years then they will be paid off in spades. I saw the look on the faces of the players and coaches of the two teams – this game mattered. I heard the fans around me buy into the game and the team. I heard their excitement when I told them the league would be back.

The United Football League is on to something. As Michael Huyghue told a few people at the tailgate, “we’re hoping to turn this into our own Thanksgiving tradition.”

One can only hope.