It's X-treme, but is it real?
The XFL hits the gridiron this February. Should you watch?
By Dave Doyle
Are you ready for some football-in
February? Vince McMahon hopes you
are. The man who made the World Wrestling
Federation a ratings and marketing bonanza
by selling sex and fabricated violence to
young adults is hoping to lure the same audi
ence to his new football league, the XFL.
On the surface, it would
appear the odds are
stacked against
McMahon’s ven
ture, which will
kick off its
inaugural
season on
Feb. 3.
Football fans
have consistent
ly rejected products
they found to be inferi
or to the National Football
League, like the United States Football
League in the 1980s. And the XFL’s season
starts right after the NFL’s Super Bowl, when
conventional wisdom has it that football fans
would have their fill of the product for awhile.
But McMahon has never been one to lis
ten to conventional wisdom. He created his
wrestling empire by becoming the first pro
moter to take his product national in 1984,
back when the pseudo-sport was considered
a purely regional attraction. He pioneered
pay-per-view when few thought there was
money to be made. And he brought wrestling
back to network television.
So McMahon certainly isn’t going to let
the naysayers get in the way of his attempts
to put together a football league. “The audi
ence gets it,” McMahon said in a recent
press conference. ’’We’re here to have fun.
That's what we do for a living. Football is fun.
It’s a great game."
Unlike the ill-fated USFL, McMahon has
no pretense about being able to compete
with the NFL’s level of on-field play. “When
you think of the number of players in
Division I football who start and who never
have the opportunity to try out for an NFL
team... [it’s] a huge number of quality play
ers,” said McMahon.
Instead, McMahon is hoping to find an
audience for the XFL with trappings that
run the gamut from innovation to flat-out
gimmickry.
Unlike the NFL, the XFL, which will air on
NBC and UPN, will not allow point-after
touchdown kicks—the scoring team will
Photos courtesy XFL
have to run or pass for a conversion. Teams
will have 35 seconds to get the next play
started, as opposed to 45 in the NFL And
the league will offer a progressive pay scale.
All players will make a base salary of $35
$50,000. But players will be awarded a
bonus of $2,500 per win, and a bonus of
$25,000 will go to the members of
the XFL championship team.
The league will
undoubtedly feature
the sort of violence
that made the
WWF famous.
Fair catches on
punts will not
be allowed.
Quarterbacks will
not be allowed to
slide to safety when
scrambling. And head slaps
will be legal.
Off the field, fans can expect the some of
the same storyline antics that have turned
McMahon’s wrestling shows, “Raw is War"
and “Smackdown," into ratings successes.
Just like the “Smackdown” camera will conve
niently follow Stone Cold Steve Austin into
the dressing room just as he is about to
attack someone, the XFL camera crew will be
allowed into the locker rooms. And on the
"We're here to have
fun. That's what
we do for a living.
Football is fun."
sidelines. And in the huddles. And the XFL
seems to be spending more time hyping its
cheerleaders than actual play on the field.
Casting calls and tryouts have been held in
each of the league's eight cities—New York,
Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Las
Vegas, Memphis, Birmingham and Orlando.
But all the gimmickry leads to a natural
question—is it real? After all, this league is
the brainchild of man who made a life out of
manipulating a staged athletic competition.
McMahon understands the doubts, but is
emphatic about the XFL. “It is real football,”
he said. •
2001 XFL Schedule
Week 1
NY/NJ Hitmen @ Las Vegas Outlaws
Sat. Feb. 3, 8pm
Chicago Enforcers @ Orlando Rage
Sat. Feb. 3, 8pm
Memphis Maniax @ Birmingham Bolts
Sun. Feb. 4, TBA
LA Xtreme @ San Francisco Demons
Sun. Feb. 4, 4pm
Week 2
Chicago Enforcers @ LA Xtreme
Sat. Feb. 10, 8pm
SF Demons @ Orlando Rage
Sat. Feb. 10, 8pm
Birmingham Bolts @ NY/NJ Hitmen
Sun. Feb. 11,4pm
Las Vegas Outlaws @ Memphis Maniax
Sun. Feb. 11, 7pm
Source: XFLBoard.com. All times are EST
Week 3
SF Demons @ Memphis Maniax
Sat. Feb. 17, TBA
LA Xtreme @ Las Vegas Outlaws
Sat. Feb. 17, 8pm
Chicago Enforcers @ Birmingham Bolts
Sun. Feb. 18, 4pm
Orlando Rage @ NY/NJ Hitmen
Sun. Feb. 18, 7pm
Week 4 *
NY/NJ Hitmen @ Chicago Enforcers
Sat. Feb. 24, 8pm
Birmingham Bolts @ Orlando Rage
Sat. Feb. 24, 8pin
Las Vegas Outlaws @ SF Demons
Sun. Feb. 25, 4pm
Memphis Maniax @ LA Xtreme
Sun. Feb. 25, 7pm
For the complete schedule, visit
Steamtunnels.net. '
steamtunnels.net 7