Alongside the NFL they were irrelevant to most gridiron followers in the States and after two seasons the World League hung up its helmet

Alongside the NFL, they were irrelevant to most gridiron followers in the States, and after two seasons the World League hung up its helmet.So what has happened since? First, a lot of NFL strategists have thought very hard about how to crack this particlar nut and have come up with a League which they think will build upon a reasonably solid base of European interest in the sport. Six teams, from London, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, will play each other home and away starting on Saturday week (8 April), with the final, the World Bowl, bringing the top two teams together on the weekend of 17 June.The World League itself is not new, although it has never adopted this format before. In 1991, when it was first launched, it comprised three European teams – from London, Barcelona and Frankfurt – and seven from America. That may be about to change, however, with the re-launch of the World League, the NFL’s latest and most concerted attempt to spread the game beyond America’s shores and establish it once and for all in that recalcitrant little state known as Great Britain, and a few others besides.
As with baseball’s World Series, the world as in World League is a rather smaller place than most of us understand it to be In fact, it’s Europe.

Touchdowns have proved elusive, but now, if the quarterback can get his pass right, the attacking team may at last be able to celebrate the final breakthrough

We’re talking big teams here. At one end, the National Football League (NFL), who run the sport in America, at the other the British Sporting Public (BSP), who have so far proved largely resistant to everything the NFL have thrown at them. IT HAS BEEN one of the most protracted plays seen in American football. Inexorably the yards have been ground out as the running backs set off only to be swallowed up by the defense. In Chicago, they too were playing again, but the thrill of Jordan’s return had by no means evaporated.

“I came to Chicago to play with Michael,” said Steve Kerr who had signed in the summer of 1993 “I couldn’t believe it when he retired Thank God he’s back.”. In Indiana, Jordan’s team-mates had not played well, they had watched in awe, given the ball to the master, expected him to do it all and forgotten to play themselves. Not the dream homecoming.There were encouraging signs for the Bulls, though. The difference became clear in the fourth quarter and Orlando’s lead became uncatchable Orlando won 106-99, O’Neal scored 24 points to Jordan’s 21.