XFL

One of the major changes from the NFL are the removal of the fair catch rule. During the 2001 season, there will only be eight teams: the Birmingham Bolts, the Chicago Enforcers, the Las Vegas Outlaws, the Los Angeles Xtreme, the Memphis Maniax, the NY/NJ Hitmen, the Orlando Rage, and the San Francisco Demons.

Another interesting change is the pay scale. Players are paid to win. Base pay in the XFL is $45,000 per season, with less (35,000) for kicking specialists, and more (50,000) for quarterbacks. Each player on the active roster of a winning team will receive another 2,500 dollars in incentive money. The winning Championship team players receive a $25,000 bonus.

Cheerleaders in the XFL are about a step away from strippers, according to the commercials. Apparently the Cheerleading in the XFL will have a definite emphasis on T & A, apparently moreso than the NFL cheerleaders.

All of this comes together to create a league which should make football more macho, which is another thing they tout in their commercials. I'll wait and see.

Partnered with NBC, the XFL season consists of ten weeks of football, with games played on Saturday night, Sunday afternoon, and Sunday night, with a championship game at the end, aptly entitled "The Big Game At The End". Players receive a base salary for each game, with a bonus for each player if they win, and $1,000,000 for the championship team to split amongst themselves. The 'X' in XFL doesn't stand for Xtreme, or Xceptional, or anything for that matter. "The letters XFL are not an abbreviation."

The XFL has strayed from standard NFL rules, incorporating some CFL and college rules in an effort to make the game more exciting. Although bump-and-run coverage exists, there IS pass interference, and the college one-foot-inbound rule for receivers exists to combat this defensive advantage. There are no fair catches, but the kicking team can't leave the line of scrimmage before the ball is kicked, and must give the receiver a five-yard halo to catch the ball. You're more likely to see a kick returner beheaded in the NFL. There's also no coin toss before the game - two players scrum for a loose ball to determine who gets the opening kickoff.

A lot of people don't think the XFL can succeed, given the track record of previous leagues, like the USFL and the World League. The XFL has several things going for it, though. First, the league is a single entity -- teams aren't controlled by individual owners -- so bidding wars for players won't happen (in fact, salaries are fixed). Second, the league doesn't compete with the NFL for players, like the USFL did, so they don't have to fight an established league. And third, the league has a television contract, and a good one at that. While it doesn't ensure success, it starts the XFL out on good footing.

Announcers for the league include Matt Vasgersian, Jerry "The King" Lawler", Good Ol' J.R., Brian Bosworth, and former wrestler and Minnesota governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura.

• Football season was over after the Super Bowl: People were used to having moved on from their football season. By the time they really got started, hockey was the next big item.
• Nothing was really innovative about the XFL. People really didn't see that much that was interesting in the XFL. They weren't exceptional players, the rules weren't that extreme (no fair catch, but you still couldn't rough the receiver), and the "personalities" of many of the players did not meet what people were expecting.
• The XFL cheerleaders While supposedly a big part of the game, really didn't add any serious television appeal to the actual matchup. They are cheerleaders, and are primarily meant for the live audience crowd. Even after they followed the cheerleads around a little bit more midseason to boost ratings, it still wasn't that exciting, and not worth America's time.

The football was mediocre at best. The innovations weren't noteworthy. The announcing was atrocious (Jesse Ventura can go back to being a governor I suppose).

For future reference, the Los Angeles Xtreme won the first (and last) XFL championship, defeating the San Francisco Demons 38-6 in the "Million Dollar Game". Los Angeles quarterback Tommy Maddox was named XFL Player of the Year and the Orlando Rage's coach Galen Hall was Coach of the Year.