Historian Denis Crawford on Sports Ownership Mistakes; Will the New USFL Avoid Repeating Mistakes?

<p>My guest for Episode #157 of the <a href="http://myfavoritemistakepodcast.com/">My Favorite Mistake podcast</a> is Denis Crawford, a historian who is the author of books including his latest, <a href="https://amzn.to/3raSZ2D"><em>The Life and Teams of Johnny F. Bassett: Maverick Entrepreneur of North American Sports.</em></a></p> <p><em>Episode page, video, transcript and more: </em><a href="https://markgraban.com/mistake157"><em>https://markgraban.com/mistake157</em></a></p> <p>Denis M. Crawford holds a PhD in American Studies, teaches at Youngstown State University, and is managing editor for <a href="https://www.profootballresearchers.org/coffin-corner.html">“The Coffin Corner</a>,” the official magazine of the Professional Football Researchers Association. He is an honorary member of the Bucs UK, the largest American football fan club in the United Kingdom, and a 2010 inductee to the Bucs UK Hall of Fame.</p> <p>Denis is also my uncle — even though he's just a few years older than me.</p> <p>In today's episode, Denis shares his “favorite mistake” story about not taking advantage of sports journalism internships in college. Why did his young “arrogance” get in the way of his dream of becoming a play-by-play announcer? We talk about what Denis learned and we talk about some of the mistakes made by Johnny Bassett as a professional sports owner.</p> <p>Part of the conversation looks back at the original USFL — and some of the battles between Bassett and Donald Trump (then-owner of the New Jersey Generals). With the new USFL launching this week, will the league manage to prevent its past mistakes?</p> <p>We also talk about questions and topics including:</p> <ul> <li>Bassett’s biggest mistakes? And I ask this realizing that he was generally the most successful owner in failed leagues…</li> <li>When he owned the Toronto Toros, what was the worst mistake that he could have made?</li> <li>Mistakes in overpaying players behind budgets or salary caps…</li> <li>Bassett seemed determine to avoid repeating mistakes