Time will tell if XFL is for real

Anytime you promote something to death the public is going to sit up and take notice. But after the initial shock wears off, that`s when you know if you have a viable product. So Dick Ebersol and Vince McMahon don`t start clapping each other on the back just yet with the success of the XFL in its first weekend. There are 10 weeks in the season and you won`t know for sure how successful this fledgling league is until April.

The XFL pulled some impressive ratings in its first weekend, that cannot be argued. But how many of those people that tuned into the games were watching out of curiosity and more importantly, how many will be back in the upcoming weeks? I know I won`t be tuning in again.

For everything the XFL did right in its opening weekend, the camera angles and giving the fans access to parts of the game we have never seen before, the XFL also did many things wrong, like the camera angles and giving the fans access to parts of the game we have never seen before. In other words, trying to give us too much fluff and not enough of what football fans are tuning in to see, you know, football. Don`t get me wrong, I liked some of the camera angles and would not be surprised to see the NFL incorporate some of these ideas.

There is no doubt the XFL, with these cute ploys, is trying to distract the fan from the inferior football product it is putting out on the field. Most of the players are former NFL stars on their absolute last leg or players who just couldn`t make it in the NFL. On top of that are the announcers insulting the viewer`s intelligence with why some of these players are not in the NFL. For example, former Kansas City Chief running back Rashaan Shehee is now an XFLer. And the announcers want you to believe he`s not in the NFL because his base salary would be too high considering he would be a fourth year player, and teams can have two or three players for what Shehee was making. That may be why the Chiefs cut Shehee, but there are 30 other teams in the NFL and his talent was not NFL caliber.

Bottom line, even with NBC`s backing, I don`t see the XFL hanging around much more than three years. The USFL, which had players like Jim Kelly, Doug Flutie and Herschel Walker, just to name a few, could not last. And the football that league played was somewhat comparable to the NFL based on talent. So Mr. Ebersol and Mr. McMahon enjoy those Week One ratings. I`m willing to bet that by Week 10, when you`ve experienced Major League Baseball getting underway, not to mention that little college basketball tournament in March, your numbers won`t be quite as high.

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Author: Mike Rogers - Choice Content