Here we are in the Dog Days of Summer-July.  Hotter than heck.  Only the most fanatical fans are even thinking about football.

That's where we come in.  Football fanatics through and through.  The way I see it, we're only 62 days from kick off.  Soon USFLL teams around the valley will begin summer practices.  Most have already had OTAs and conditioning.  The coaches meetings are getting tougher to schedule with all the teams starting up.  So, for those who are curious, here's a breakdown on what's going on to put the 2010 Season together.

Anchor Teams Returning:  What have become known as the league's anchor teams, camps that have fielded all three age groups for the last three years, the Knights, the Stars and the Wranglers, are set to make a push for US Bowl VI.  These three teams do the heavy lifting in the league and are the model of what the franchise concept is all about.  Each team is extremely successful, but each team has it's own way of doing things.  Each franchise is firmly established in it's High School program and is seen by their schools as "the" camp feeding that program.

Returning and Building:  The Green Valley Generals may soon have to change their name to the Foothill Generals.  Kevin Hargro has made in-roads to the Falcons' program and has spent the off-season building a relationship with the high school's coaches.  The Generals have been around from the inception of the USFLL, but has rarely had a team for all three age groups.  This year the push is on to bring the Generals in to the "anchor" position in the league fielding three teams and stablizing the franchise. 

Lost From Last Season:  The Invaders and Panthers are out.  The Invaders staff moved on to coach the Coronado HS freshman team.  The league made an attempt to secure the DF team and build it into a full camp.  That didn't pan out and the Invaders will not be playing for the first time since the league was founded in 2005.  The Panthers were tenuous last year, never fielding a DF team, the RW team disintegration at mid-season and the SM team fading at the end of the season.

Building for Next Year:  The Outlaws and Renegades are teams that played last year, but it doesn't appear that they'll be making it onto the schedule this year.  The Renegades were a tough team to manage last year: great facility, difficult area to recruit.  The league is committed to building the Renegades at Valley.  It just might have to wait until next year.  The Outlaws are another story.  They have no home, the owners have moved on and the players from the two teams they fielded last year are looking for a team to play for this year.  One well connected and well financed group expressed an interest in at least the Sam Mills team, but there has been no contact with the group for a month.  The Outlaws could still make it in, but no one is sure if the offer to take the Outlaws is still on the table.

What's New:  The league was thrilled to have the Bulls come into the league this season.  The ownership group has hit the ground running.  The team has committed to field all three teams, and the league is currently working to secure a high school for the Bulls to tie to.  Last, but not least is my personal attempt at fielding a new team to replace the Invaders at Coronado.  Half pipedream and half reality, the wheels are turning on the new Coronado Blitz team.  I have been calling in favors and beating the bushes to put together a coaching staff and to find an owner to take over the team.  As of now, I'd give the Blitz a 50/50 chance of being there on September 18th.