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Will Birmingham join the Canadian Football League?

November 12, 1992
Dr. Larry Lemak, a noted local orthopedic surgeon, announces he is interested in bringing a Canadian Football League team to Birmingham.

	Dr. Larry Lemak

The CFL is expected to field teams in the United States for the 1993 season, most likely in Sacramento and San Antonio. Birmingham is on a list of potential cities for future expansion.

"I've talked to them actively for the past three months. I was interested in getting information to judge if this is the proper time to get into the CFL, or wait and watch. I decided to see how it works, and wait until next season if it does work. I'm very interested," Lemak said.

Lemak has been one of Birmingham's biggest boosters for professional sports and has been involved with the World Hockey Association's Birmingham Bulls, the United States Football League's Birmingham Stallions and the World League of American Football's Birmingham Fire. The Fire was recently folded by the league. At the same time, the WLAF voted to suspend league operations for one year to focus more on the European aspect of the league. Lemak was a frontrunner to buy the team from the league before the decision was made to fold the team.

"I think the Canadian League is a good alternative for Birmingham. I'd like to move in this year, but I don't think the city is ready for it." Lemak said.

Lemak is currently head of the Chamber of Commerce's committee on professional sports.

"I'm going up for the Grey Cup this month and meet with them then. I'm going to sit down with commissioner Larry Smith and some of the principal figures in the league and really pursue it. It looks like it may be something worthwhile for us," Lemak said.

June 1993

			1993                              Canadian Football League
xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx
	British Columbia Lions		Calgary Stampeders		Edmonton Eskimos		Hamilton Tiger-Cats		Ottawa Rough Riders
	Sacramento Gold Miners		Saskatchewan Roughriders		Toronto Argonauts		Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Epilogue
The Canadian Football League did expand into the United States in 1993. Joining the league, and earning their place in CFL trivia books, was the Sacramento Gold Miners.

American franchises added in 1994 were the Baltimore Stallions, the Las Vegas Posse, and the Shreveport Pirates.

In 1995, the Birmingham Barracudas and the Memphis Mad Dogs were added, while Sacramento moved to San Antonio and became the Texans. The Las Vegas franchise folded.

In 1996, Baltimore moved to Montreal to become the Alouettes but due to financial hardships, the remaining American franchises folded, thus ending the CFL's expansion into the United States.

			Teams of the                         Canadian Football League
xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx		xxx
	Baltimore Stallions 1994 to 1995		Birmingham Barracudas 1995		British Columbia Lions 1958 to 2024		Calgary Stampeders 1958 to 2024		Edmonton Elks 2021 to 2024
	Edmonton Eskimos 1958 to 2019		Hamilton Tiger-Cats 1958 to 2024		Las Vegas Posse 1994		Memphis Mad Dogs 1995		Montreal Alouettes 1958 to 2024
	Montreal Concordes 1982 to 1985		Ottawa RedBlacks 2014 to 2024		Ottawa Renegades 2002 to 2005		Ottawa Rough Riders 1958 to 1996		Sacramento Gold Miners 1993 to 1994
	San Antonio Texans 1995		Saskatchewan Roughriders 1958 to 2024		Shreveport Pirates 1994 to 1995		Toronto Argonauts 1958 to 2024		Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1958 to 2024

Canadian Football League ball

11/28/1993 Edmonton Eskimos vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers GREY CUP

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Last update: December 25, 2024