1989 MFLA Championship Game: Racine Raiders 15, Ottawa Bootleggers 13

I can't attend a game in harsh conditions, such as Friday's chilly RedBlacks home closer, without being reminded of the Minor League Football Alliance championship game between the Ottawa Bootleggers and Racine Raiders from Wisconsin in 1989.

As the article mentions below, the game took place in -15c temperature. Snow blew sideways throughout the game. Having to sit through it, I can attest that the 30-minute delay described at the end felt significantly longer. The whole "It'll be fun, we can take it" mentality seemed like a good idea sitting around at home two hours before the game but after my arrival at Lansdowne, it didn't take long to realize that I'd made a terrible error in judgement. ;-)

The Bootleggers were an often-dominant semi-pro team in Ottawa from 1988 to 1992. They spent most of the existence in the Empire Football League but played an independent schedule in 1989. You can read more about them on the "semi-pro" page above.

For that matter, one of the team members at the time, Warner Miles, wrote a book about the team. It was published earlier this year and can be purchased print-on-demand through lulu.com.

Miles also has a youtube channel with several videos of Bootlegger highlights and media appearances. Highlights of the 1989 championship game in particular are included in this one.