Ben Austro, Author at Football Zebras

Officiating crew assignments for the 2022 USFL Championship Game

News

by Ben Austro - July 2, 2022July 2, 2022 046

The USFL has played 10 weeks of regular-season games from a home base in Birmingham, Ala. After a 2-game playoff from Canton, Ohio, last week, the fourth USFL championship (and first in 37 years) kicks off between the Philadelphia Stars and Birmingham Stallions on Sunday. The game will be played

USFL officiating assignments for the 2022 Semifinal Playoffs

by Ben Austro - June 24, 2022June 24, 2022 0370

The USFL enters its 4-team playoff from the site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Postseason games were assigned by crews, not individually like the NFL playoffs. There are minimal substitutions that are not performance based. Two crews will work the Semifinal Playoffs with a third crew

Happy birthday, Jim Daopoulos

Profiles

by Ben Austro - June 19, 2022June 20, 2022 0247

http://gty.im/97636443 Happy birthday to former NFL official and league officiating supervisor Jim Daopolous, who just turned 75 years old. Daopolous entered the NFL in 1989 as a field judge (at that time, the deep wing position was named back judge), and in his first game he immediately caught the eye of the

USFL Week 10 officiating assignments

by Ben Austro - June 17, 2022June 17, 2022 0361

The USFL has done something that no major spring league has done since the 2001 XFL -- finish the regular season schedule. This is the final week that games will be played in Birmingham, Ala. All games this weekend are at Legion Field, the home stadium for the Week 8 games.

USFL Week 9 officiating assignments

by Ben Austro - June 12, 2022June 12, 2022 0306

The USFL has one more playoff spot to be determined entering the penultimate weekend of the season. Games are moving back to Protective Stadium, after being played at Legion Field last weekend. Here are the officiating assignments for Week 9 of the 2022 USFL season. Game assignments All games are played at Protective

USFL Week 8 officiating assignments

by Ben Austro - June 3, 2022June 3, 2022 0375

The USFL is entering the playoff stretch, and the games move across town to Legion Field, after 7 weeks at Legion Field. Here are the officiating assignments for Week 8 of the 2022 USFL season. Game assignments All games are played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., and times listed are Eastern. Friday, June

USFL Week 7 officiating assignments

by Ben Austro - May 28, 2022May 29, 2022 0560

Here are the officiating assignments for the seventh week of the 2022 USFL season. Game assignments All games are played at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala., and times listed are Eastern. Saturday, May 28 New Jersey Generals vs. Tampa Bay Bandits, 12 noon USA -- Duane HeydtNew Orleans Breakers vs. Michigan Panthers, 9 p.m.

USFL makes a midseason rule change for Jeff Fisher, who could not change his point-after attempt option last week

News

by Ben Austro - May 13, 2022May 13, 2022 0619

The NFL is known to be slow and lumbering with its rule changes. The USFL has quickly responded to issues in the game by making its second in-season rule change. Last week, Michigan Panthers head coach Jeff Fisher took a timeout following a touchdown, because he wanted to change his selected

USFL Week 5 officiating assignments

by Ben Austro - May 13, 2022May 13, 2022 0556

Week 5 of the USFL season once again has two crews working the four games over the weekend with referees working with different crews than usual. As part of the Week 4 swap, James Carter and Alex Moore are working this weekend, while their crews were assigned last week. All of

USFL Week 4 officiating assignments

by Ben Austro - May 4, 2022May 5, 2022 0765

Week 4 of the USFL season once again has two crews working the four games over the weekend. Bryan Banks (pictured above) will head the crew that is ordinarily helmed by Larry Smith, who worked with Banks' crew last week. Duane Heydt heads the other crew this weekend, but he is