Please, UFL, spare us any promises, suggestions, intimations or sidelong whispers that you are returning to Sacramento next spring.
Enough is enough. Your football league has failed, and not spectacularly but, rather, with a goofy, random sort of sitcom-without-laugh track banality that leaves one mildly ticked off for paying attention in the first place.
No disrespect is meant to the players who saw the United Football League as a way to keep playing a game they like.
But the UFL was unglued from the start. Generally, a professional sports league makes sure it can pay its players before asking them to suit up. The UFL did not do that, certain that a nearly unlimited supply of players would provide adequate personnel and step in when other exasperated players said to hell with it.
And when did Sacramento become a dumping ground for this kind of sports foolishness? There was a time when the capital was home to a variety of minor league teams. Some were well run, others less so. The River Cats? They're the No. 1 minor league baseball franchise in America.
But the Mountain Lions couldn't even follow a set practice schedule. Yet they charged actual money from fans who wanted to see football.
Now they ask those same folks to wait and welcome them back next spring when this season – the suspended one – is supposed to be completed before the start of the 2013 season.
Don't bother. Stay gone. This city, its fans – and the players – deserve way more.
What to watch
World Series, Giants vs. Tigers, 5:07 p.m., FOX40: Giants look to win the 14th consecutive start made by pitcher Barry Zito.
Today's poll
Who will win the World Series?
• Giants
• Tigers
Vote above or leave your comments in the comment field; or, go to www.sacbee.com/sports
Poll results
Which Giants pitcher gives you most confidence?
• Madison Bumgarner: 4%
• Matt Cain: 39%
• Tim Lincecum: 7%
• Ryan Vogelsong: 39%
• Barry Zito: 11%
Total votes: 995
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