Coverage of the XFL, in 2014? Yes!

[Bret]

Some of you may remember that I was a passionate fan of the XFL, despite all of its flaws.

One of my favorite sites on the web is Mental Floss. Lots of interesting, educational stuff on that site. Whatever your interests you'll find something there to keep you entertained for a few minutes, and probably learn something about said interest you didn't previously know. Check it out if you haven't already. Well, I was absolutely floored when I saw there was a story written on Mental Floss about the XFL. I think it was a bit snarky in some spots, but by and large fair. If you read the comments, you'll see a majority of them from me.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/58829/good-honest-football-re-watching-xfl

[rollntider]

I was a big fan also, although my team sucked

[Crewe]

I never ever took the XFL seriously and it's obvious why.  This was not intended to be a legitimate competitor to the NFL.  That's what they said it was because they needed an enemy but this league never had a chance and I still think it was a stunt with the realization it had zero chance of any sort of longevity.

[Bret]

I never ever took the XFL seriously and it's obvious why.  This was not intended to be a legitimate competitor to the NFL.  That's what they said it was because they needed an enemy but this league never had a chance and I still think it was a stunt with the realization it had zero chance of any sort of longevity.

My memories are quite the opposite: Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol stated pretty clearly that they were not trying to compete with the NFL. The scheduling seems to support that statement. They didn't get stupid like the USFL did and try to go head-to-head. What the XFL did say is that, financially speaking, this would be the best living a pro football player can make outside of the NFL. That part was true. The $4,500 per game paydays is far higher than anyone else was offering at the time (aside from the NFL I mean). Even NFL Europe was only paying $1,500 USD a game.

But, side note about competing with the NFL...the one time XFL and NFL went head-to-head was Week 1 of the XFL vs. the Pro Bowl. I can't remember the numbers, but the XFL absolutely demolished the Pro Bowl in the ratings. Sure, part of that was the novelty of the new football league, and part of that was that the Pro Bowl is just players trying not to get hurt, sleepwalking through a game, refusing to appreciate the fact that they're on the field with the best players of their generation. But, the fact remains that the one and only time the two leagues went head-to-head, the XFL won.

I personally blame the league's demise on one thing: crossover, or co-branding, or whatever you want to call it. McMahon should have done everything he could do isolate his wrestling product and his football product. No one with the last name of McMahon, or any current or former pro wrestler should have ever been in front of an XFL camera. The typewriter monkeys looking for hit-piece fodder would have jumped all over it, and McMahon should have been well aware of that going in. And, far too many sports fans don't form their own opinions; they look to the talking heads to do that for them.

To this day I honestly believe that if McMahon would have done the right thing, and isolated his football and wrestling products from one another, that the XFL would have been given a fair opportunity to succeed of fail on its own merits. Would they have succeeded? I'd like to think so.

[Crewe]

Since you were a fan, then Ill take your recollection over mine re the NFL competition. Except for comparing anything to a Pro Bowl.  That so called All star game, check that, any all star game should be done awe with IMO.  There's never anything so pointless.
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment about separating the two entities. 

[Bret]

Since you were a fan, then Ill take your recollection over mine re the NFL competition. Except for comparing anything to a Pro Bowl.  That so called All star game, check that, any all star game should be done awe with IMO.  There's never anything so pointless.
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment about separating the two entities.

I'm drifting off-topic here, but I REALLY want to see the Pro Bowl just go away. It is one of those things that should either be done correctly, or not be done at all. The recent changes made to it doesn't make it better, it makes it worse. The players have made it abundantly clear that they don't care about this game. Some sleepwalk through it, and others have even no-showed it. If no one is even trying to win the damn thing, and no fans are watching, what in the world is the point?