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What Did You Expect From the XFL?
By Mike Mitchell
The XFL is simply a sporting event in a fashion that you have never seen before. ...
Photo: Associated Press
(1 March 2001) --The XFL has become a punching bag. ... When The XFL debuted, The sports media expected a three-ring circus. ... After watching the inaugural broadcast of The XFL on NBC, the media needed only to decide what angle they were going to take. ...
If cheerleaders were featured heavily, the XFL would have been signified as smut. The cheerleaders in the XFL are no different then any other sports team cheerleaders. ... If the XFL is perceived by the media to be a league full of semi-pro football failures. ...
The public expected the XFL to be something different then any sports league that they have ever seen. ... The XFL does not give WWF fans what they want. The XFL has some sexuality, But the stories are not strong enough yet and in the end despite all the fan friendly features, Its just a football game.
The sports fans want to see good football and many of them expected the XFL to be entirely different then the NFL. ... The sports fan watched the XFL to see if they can get into a new league. The XFL in some cases has provided football from a fresh new perspective but sports fans simply cant get into a league where they have no loyal ties to any of these players or teams. ... The XFL takes you closer and lets you hear all the hits but besides that its really not that much more violent then NFL hits. Many of the Sports fans are familiar with some of the players because of their strong college backgrounds but the majority of them are clueless to the origins of the XFL players. ... The XFL isnt the NFL to sports fans. The XFL isnt the WWF to wrestling fans. ...
What is the XFL then?
The XFL is simply a sporting event in a fashion that you have never seen before. ... The only reason why XFL players put nicknames on the back of their jerseys was to demonstrate the fact that this league was not CORPORATE, but instead a league where players went out to have fun. ... This is, afterall, a FREE country)
After one 12-week season, the XFL abruptly folded shop Thursday, citing abysmal ratings and the sort of financial losses it usually takes owners like Jerry Colangelo years to accumulate. The XFL heads to the trivia trashcan occupied by the USFL, WFL, ABL, ABA and about every soccer league ever launched in this country.
Even by those low standards, the XFL was a pathetic failure. ...
After the XFL championship game, I wrote that the leagues biggest problem was that it expected to generate ratings sufficient for primetime from the opening kickoff, an impossible standard for any new league. Had the XFL been satisfied to start small and patiently build an audience on cable the way the WWF did, it might have had a chance. As bad as the XFL ratings were, after all, they were higher nationally than the ratings for many NHL playoff games. ... I dont mean to sound like a tough guy, but if you ever called me a "Get-A-Lifer" to my face just because I watched the XFL, I would beat you to the fucking ground within an inch of your life, old man! ... The XFL was a PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE and we were REAL football fans and TRUE football fans who wanted to watch football year round. ... The NFL is far more physical, far more violent and far trashier than the XFL ever was. ... (Im being sarcastic, you asshole) Obviously you didnt give the XFL a chance because you missed out on a hell of a lot of HARD HITTING! ...
• With only eight teams scattered in some odd markets, too few people had any interest in how an XFL team fared, let alone felt the remotest allegiance to one. Fans in the cities with franchises barely cared about their teams, while most people lived so far from a team that they were actually beyond earshot of the XFL broadcasters. ... " Remember, you didnt ever give the XFL the chance it deserved, so how could you have known if fans cared about their team? While we TRUE football fans watched some great football games, you and the rest of the XFL bashers were busy sticking their noses up your bosses asses, trying to get promoted or what not, writing bullshit articles. ... After some early curiosity, the only coverage of the XFL was tucked back behind the tire ads and restricted to its terrible ratings.
• Once the ratings began to tumble, the XFL went from intriguing new league to national punchline, destroying any credibility it ever had. ... You are such a genius and so is everyone else who hated the XFL! ... I think youre forgetting the fact that the XFL was in its inaugural year, which means teams were just thrown together for the first time and there was no TEAM CHEMISTRY to begin the season. ... The XFL didnt have a pre-season to mold their players, so the first four weeks of the regular season was their time to gel together as a team. when even its most hardcore fans became too embarrassed to continue in an XFL fantasy league. ... I thought you hated the XFL? ... Everyone knows that the cheerleaders wore almost nothing and people like you criticized the XFL because of that! And now you decide to be a funny guy and pretend that one of the reasons the XFL failed was because the cheerleaders werent naked enough! ...
Add it all up and you had a ratings and sports disaster, prompting McMahon and NBC to cut their losses and kill the XFL.
Approximate Word count = 4758
Approximate Pages = 19
(250 words per page double spaced)
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