USFL attempts comeback

Attention: The following is an actual sports news item. It is not intended to be funny, though you might find it laughable.

The United States Football League, which has been defunct for the past 24 years, is planning to make a comeback in the spring of 2010, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

Not to be confused with the other probably ill-fated new professional football organization -- the four-team United Football League, which will kick off its inaugural eight-week schedule in October in Las Vegas -- the new USFL reportedly will feature 10 or 12 teams and a 16-game slate.

Former UCLA and Los Angeles Express quarterback Tom Ramsey is part of a San Diego-based leadership group that will attempt to resurrect the league next spring.

While there are no plans for a USFL team to return to Los Angeles, one will be based in San Diego. There's no word if Las Vegas will be in the mix.

The original USFL played between 1983 and 1985, and its team owners, led by Donald Trump, dished out big bucks to lure the likes of Steve Young, Jim Kelly and Herschel Walker to the league, which folded after reportedly losing $163 million.

One thing's for certain about the new USFL: It hasn't invested much money in its Web site (newusfl.com), which consists of one page and looks archaic but features some unintentionally comical messages.

Click on ''USFL TV'' and this gem pops up: ''For the seriously addicted USFL fans only.'' Guess that means there won't be any USFL TV.

• VICK PLAYS BLAME GAME -- Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick apparently still hasn't accepted full responsibility for his role in the dogfighting ring that resulted in his 23-month federal prison sentence.

Speaking to about 250 basketball campers at Hampton University in Virginia on Tuesday, Vick said, after realizing his dream, he ''allowed someone who didn't have my best interests at heart to take all that away from me.''

Vick had better hope he lands another job in pro football, because he clearly won't make it as a motivational speaker.

• POLLARD 'REPLAY' -- Close to a year after Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard knocked New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady out for the season with a hit on his left leg, Pollard almost did the same thing to new K.C. quarterback Matt Cassel, who was traded after filling in for Brady last year.

In a recent Chiefs practice, a blitzing Pollard, as he did on the play involving Brady, thought he was going to be blocked by a running back, got low to take on the block, wasn't blocked and fell into the quarterback.

But in this case, Sports Illustrated's Peter King reported, the safety tried to avoid hitting Cassel and yelled ''Move!'' at the last moment. Pollard was able to slow down enough so that he only tapped Cassel's left leg.

Cassel emerged unscathed, but he and Pollard were well aware of the eerie similarities of the play.

''Pretty weird,'' a smiling Cassel told King an hour later. ''Yeah, I realized it.''

King wrote Pollard's eyes got wide when he was asked about the play.

''I got to the sidelines after that play,'' Pollard said, ''and I realized what happened, and I thought, Oh my God! It's like a replay.''

COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL