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They tried to make it too big, too fast. McMahon was trying to make it into an instant NFL competitor, and that was never going to fly. If they had kept things more modest (sort of like the current UFL), perhaps it could have gone on.
They did have wrestling commentators like Jim Ross doing play by play, which was also a bad idea.
American football has always had this goofy, over commercialized, self-indulgent, in your face, WWF theatrical style undertone to it. So, why not embrace it?? I guess that is why I actually liked the XFL. In fact, there has only been a handful of gridiron games that I have been able to make it all the way through, and one of them was an XFL game.
What killed the XFL was the uber influential American sports media. They bashed it into the ground, and the monkey hear monkey do American sports fans turned their back on it. Because, from what I remember the ratings for the league were through the roof during the first 4 weeks or so.
American football has always had this goofy, over commercialized, self-indulgent, in your face, WWF theatrical style undertone to it. So, why not embrace it?? I guess that is why I actually liked the XFL. In fact, there has only been a handful of gridiron games that I have been able to make it all the way through, and one of them was an XFL game.
What killed the XFL was the uber influential American sports media. They bashed it into the ground, and the monkey hear monkey do American sports fans turned their back on it. Because, from what I remember the ratings for the league were through the roof during the first 4 weeks or so.
And leave it to the soccer fan to rain on the "memorial" of a past football league.
That was a reason, but it wasn't the ONLY reason. What killed the XFL was the sorry management. It was fine until Vince basically got shell shocked when NBC pulled away (which was half the reason why the XFL even existed). That's when the extra shots of the cheerleaders and promos of WWF Superstars came. That's when the (obviously) scripted trash talk from players started and the league just dug a deeper hole.
It's funny, because the XFL gave football fans a lot of what "true fans" want.
- Hard hits
- natural grass fields
- no ties
- bump and run coverage
- and "no fair catches"
It even introduced the sky-cam and in game interviews. It made San Francisco's AT&T Park nearly perfect for NFL/NCAA games, gave L.A. a team again, and most of all, it wasn't so damn up tight.
...Which is precisely why you've seen the kind of commentary you have in this thread. The problem is that the sarcasm is zooming right over your head. Here, check it out: the XFL was never a viable league. Vince McMahon knew from the outset that he wasn't really going to compete with the NFL. He was just having fun. The more seriously you took the XFL, the farther off base you were. (There; no sarcasm).
...Which is precisely why you've seen the kind of commentary you have in this thread. The problem is that the sarcasm is zooming right over your head. Here, check it out: the XFL was never a viable league. Vince McMahon knew from the outset that he wasn't really going to compete with the NFL. He was just having fun. The more seriously you took the XFL, the farther off base you were. (There; no sarcasm).
The sarcasm about soccer?
Because that's what I was talking about.... NOT turning this into another football v. soccer thing.
And sure, the XFL wasn't a "serious" league, but that doesn't mean it didn't have a chance.... for another 5 years, at least.
JJG is right, let's not get soccer involved here. I do agree with Fred, though. The XFL was about style, bad style at that. If it got the attention of NFL teams and put a lot of people to work, fine. But I don't believe a lot of people caught on with NFL teams. Too bad.
It was a bad idea that was never going to work. The league was a novelty that was going to wear off really quickly and it did. It was something people was going to get sick off after a couple of games.
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