1992 WLAF Season

Originally written by Frank Woods

In 1992, the WLAF saw a relative stability in the composition of its teams, with only 1 major change: After a 0-10 1991 season, Raleigh-Durham moved to Columbus, Ohio and became the Ohio Glory. Thus, this was the 10 team lineup for the 1992 WLAF season, which would be the last season as a league with both North American and European-based teams:

London Monarchs

Barcelona Dragons

Frankfurt Galaxy

New York/New Jersey Knights

Orlando Thunder

Montreal Machine

Ohio Glory

Birmingham Fire

San Antonio Riders

Sacramento Surge

As for broadcasting changes, gone were weekly Monday games on USA, and ABC started showing games regionally in each of their regular season time slots. Also, USA televised the World Bowl this season.

WEEK 1, 1992:

Sat 3/21, Fire-Surge, 8:00, USA. Ted Robinson, John Robinson

Sun 3/22, Knights-Monarchs, 1:00, ABC (regional). Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil, Jim Valvano

Sun 3/22, Glory-Thunder, 1:00, ABC (regional). Mark Jones, Tim Brant, Julie Moran

WEEK 2, 1992:

Sat 3/28, Thunder-Machine, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, John Robinson

Sun 3/29, Riders-Fire, 1:00, ABC (regional). Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil, Jack Arute

Sun 3/29, Surge-Glory, 1:00, ABC (regional). Mark Jones, Tim Brant

WEEK 3, 1992:

Sat 4/4, Riders-Knights, 8:00, USA. Ted Robinson, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

Sun 4/5, Thunder-Glory, 1:00, ABC (regional). Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil

Sun 4/5, Fire-Galaxy, 1:00, ABC (regional). Mark Jones, Tim Brant

WEEK 4, 1992:

Sat 4/11, Riders-Surge, 8:00, USA. ??, ??

Sun 4/12, Knights-Thunder, 1:00, ABC (regional). Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil, Jim Valvano

Sun 4/12, Glory-Machine, 1:00, ABC (regional). ??, ??

WEEK 5, 1992:

Sat 4/18, Galaxy-Knights, 8:00, USA (regional). Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

Sat 4/18, Surge-Fire, 8:00, USA (regional). ??, ??

Sun 4/19, Glory-Riders, 1:00, ABC (regional). Mark Jones, Tim Brant, Julie Moran

Sun 4/19, Machine-Thunder, 1:00, ABC (regional). Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil, Jim Valvano

WEEK 6, 1992:

Sat 4/25, Fire-Riders, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason

Sun 4/26, Knights-Machine, 1:00, ABC (regional). Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil, Jim Valvano

Sun 4/26, Surge-Monarchs, 1:00, ABC (regional). Mark Jones, Tim Brant

WEEK 7, 1992:

Sat 5/2, Dragons-Fire, 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason

Sun 5/3, Monarchs-Knights, 1:00, ABC (regional). Mark Jones, Tim Brant

Sun 5/3, Thunder-Riders, 1:00, ABC (regional). Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil

WEEK 8, 1992:

Sat 5/9, Galaxy-Surge, 8:00, USA (regional). ??, ??

Sat 5/9, Monarchs-Thunder, 8:00, USA (regional). Brad Nessler, John Robinson, Michael Barkann

Sun 5/10, Knights-Glory, 1:00, ABC (regional).  Mark Jones, Tim Brant, Julie Moran

Sun 5/10, Riders-Dragons, 1:45 (delayed from 1:00), ABC (regional).  Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil, Jim Valvano

WEEK 9, 1992:

Sat 5/16, Dragons-Knights, 8:00, USA (regional). Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

Sat 5/16, Glory-Surge, 8:00, USA (regional). ??, ??

Sun 5/17, Riders-Galaxy, 1:00, ABC (regional). ??, ??

Sun 5/17, Thunder-Fire, 1:00, ABC (regional). Mark Jones, Tim Brant, Julie Moran

WEEK 10, 1992:

Sat 5/23, Machine-Knights, 1:00, ABC (regional). Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil

Sat 5/23, Dragons-Thunder, 1:00, ABC (regional). Mark Jones, Tim Brant

Sat 5/23, Surge-Riders, 8:00, USA. Ted Robinson, John Robinson, Michael Barkann

SEMIFINALS

Sat 5/30, Thunder-Fire, 8:00, USA. Ted Robinson, John Robinson, Michael Barkann

Sun 5/31, Dragons-Surge, 3:00, ABC. Roger Twibell, Dick Vermeil, Julie Moran, Jim Valvano

WORLD BOWL ’92

Sat 6/7, Surge-Thunder (at Montreal), 8:00, USA. Brad Nessler, Boomer Esiason, Michael Barkann

- Roger Twibell replaced Brent Musburger as the lead PBP for ABC

- After poor reviews regarding his broadcasting performance in 1991, Dan Marino did not return as an analyst for USA

- ABC used Jim Valvano (then one of ABCs main college basketball analysts) as a SLR for several games