This Was The XFL

[The Law]

Anybody watch tonight? I thought it was really good. Balanced, admitted the quality of play was shit and the league was trashy while highlighting all the technical innovations of the league.

Only wrestling figures interviewed were Vince, Jonathan Coachman, and Jesse Ventura. Disappointed to not hear from JR, would have liked to have heard his thoughts.

I remember watching the XFL and enjoying the ridiculousness of it while thinking the games were ridiculously boring. No scoring, terrible quality of play. The brand was a good idea, it got a ton of attention, but the product didn't match the hype.

[darkhorse]

Just finished watching this. It was fascinating to see something that started out as a huge success fizzle out in such a short amount of time. (Watching Vince berate Bob Costas was amusing as well.)

[The Law]

That Vince/Costas interview is a classic. Costas was so pleased with himself in the documentary. Had a right to be, he was 100% right about the whole thing.

They did a great job promoting the league. The brand was good, edgy, tough, alternative. Problem was the football was garbage. The previous serious competitors to the NFL (the USFL and AFL) were able to lure top talent to their leagues by throwing around big money. The AFL had Joe Namath, the USFL landed Herschel Walker, Reggie White, Steve Young, and Jim Kelly. The XFL didn't pay their players shit, so the best they came up with was Tommy Maddox. And the teams only had a few weeks to prepare for the regular season. Plus the rules favored the defenses. So no one could score any points. Nobody wants to watch low scoring football. They might claim they want old school, smash mouth football. But the rise in NFL scoring has coincided with the rise in football's popularity.

Not a terrible idea. Just couldn't deliver the on-field product.