XFL .. Yea or Nay

[Eagler]

Are you going to tune in? Not a WWF fan here (wrestled 4 years in HS, without a script ) I'm sure I'll flip through it, if nothing more than to check out the cheerleaders, err play quality and show format.

Eagler

[Fatty]

Same.  I'm no fan of WWF, but I'm going to watch at least the first few weeks.  Depending on how much football there actually is, we'll see from there.

[LJK Raubvogel]

I'll watch it just out of curiousity the first few weeks. I've heard that instead of a gatorade jug on the coach they use a metal folding chair.

[Yeager]

Is it going to be a scripted performance?

I have never found any use for scripted sports........

Yeager

[Fatty]

Vegas is taking bets on them Yeager, which tends to lend credibility to its integrity.

On the other hand, from what I understand betting limits are severely limited while they watch the league and see how things go.

I tend to believe it is legit, but no matter how legit it is if I'm stuck waiting for moments of football through large blocks of WWF-style soap opera (cheerleaders and players, etc) I'll be turning it off fairly quickly.

[J_A_B]

I'll watch it for a coupel weeks at least

If nothing else, it should prove amusing watching the poor slob trying to return a punt get absolutely plastered. (no fair catch)

J_A_B

[Fury]

I may watch a few weeks to see what it's like, but I'm really waiting for Rollerball.

Fury

[JimBear]

ROFL Fury     Where James Caan when you need him ;-)

[Mk10 225th]

Ah, Rollerball!  Woo-hoo!  JON-A-THUN!  JON-A-THON!

Seems like it will be hard for me not to watch the first game.

Kind of like turning to look at an accident on the highway, or watching a train wreck on TV.

Jesse Ventura as broadcaster.  Could pull it off, or look like a complete dork.

Primetime, NBC.  Wow.

No fair catches, punts over 25yds. are live balls, no "in-the-grasp", celebrations encouraged, no PAT's, only 1 pt. plays that have to go into the end zone like a 2 pt. conversion.

If they try and keep it as a light entertainment alternative, and stick to the short, 10-game schedule it might work.

The players are paid 35k a year for kickers, 50k for QB's, and 45k for anyone else, with a $2500 bonus per player if you win.

This alone will be interesting to watch, i.e. how people who feel about athletes being overpaid react to folks getting management corporate pay, for hanging it all out on the line.

Anyway, with the microphones and helmet cams everywhere, and the general feel of the whole deal, it should be better than all the other poopy shows like "Survivor" and "Screw-Around Island."

But mainly, like I said, it will be interesting to watch and see what happens...whether they can pull it off, or the whole thing fails miserably.

Also read something where they said that the NFL isn't all that upset about it, because they'll be able to watch, and then implement things if they are succesfull in the XFL, without having to pay for the experiment.

Interesting...

Mk

[LJK Raubvogel]

The first play I saw, a defensive tackle jumped offsides and clotheslined the QB. I thought, "oh no, here we go." Then I notice that a player is wearing a jersey that says "He Hate Me" on the back. I think "what an odd name, must be swahili or something." The steady cam shots were annoying, the microphones everywhere were annoying, and the fact that the QB's snap count was broadcast over the stadium PA was annoying. I give it 2 seasons.

------------------
LJK_Raubvogel
LuftJägerKorps

 

[This message has been edited by LJK Raubvogel (edited 02-04-2001).]

[hblair]

Same here raub. Too much dorky BS, from the announcer sounding like a WWF announcer, to the slut *cheerleaders* doing lapdances, while the female fans all around were obviously annoyed. In the saturday night game between NY and LV, the on-field guy was especially a dipwad. You could tell some of the players were embarassed. So much in-yer-face that it makes you wanna puke.

Thats my opinion for now anyway.

[Ripsnort]

Didn't watch it, but apparently it got higher ratings than any other sports event for Saturday evening except the Olympics.

 

And that formula, devised by the fledgling league's
               owners NBC-TV and the World Wrestling Federation,
               could be precisely why the show drew impressive
               preliminary ratings Saturday night for the Las Vegas
               Outlaws against the New York/New Jersey Hitmen.

               An average of 10.3 percent of television households
               tuned in at any given moment, giving NBC a prime-time
               victory over the other networks. That rating – based on
               the country's 49 biggest markets, each preliminary point
               represents roughly 675,000 TV homes – is more than
               double what advertisers were told to expect.

               It's also about 25 percent higher than NBC's broadcast
               of Game 4 of the American League championship series
               between the Yankees and Mariners drew on a Saturday
               night in October.

[This message has been edited by Ripsnort (edited 02-05-2001).]

[Eagler]

Saw 1st half. They need to keep the microphones out of the players faces. They aren't there for their gifts of gab. The in the field camera man got a heck of a work out running on and off the field each play. They need to get rid of that bouncy point of view too. If they turn it slightly more towards football and away from WWF, it might fly. Otherwise the audience will be 14 to 22 year old males waiting for the next cheerleading "cheer"  

The Orlando game which was won in the last second (FG), looked like a better game. But then I only saw the last 2 minutes of it...

Eagler

[sling322]

I was laughing at the names on the jerseys...LOL.  Saw a runningback with "Chuckwagon" on his back.  WTF?!?!?

[AKDejaVu]

Ah.. the media thinking they can make football better.

I'm sure much of America watched it for 5 minutes.  I doubt much of America watched it much longer.

AKDejaVu