February 2001

Keep Your Chin Up, XFL!

In the comfort of my favorite bar, I heard the noise for weeks.

"The XFL is crap."

"The XFL is not football."

"The XFL is full of nobodies."

NOTE: I drink in a bar full of Washington [racial slur] fans. As you may or may not know, they are very bitter and angry people. When drunk they become crybaby little girls. Go Ravens!

Every newspaper sports and TV editorial staff bemoaned the creation and arrival of the XFL. Being know-it-alls, they saw a failure in the making. Regular football fans did not care, as the post-season was exciting for a change. Only WWF fans knew about the XFL.

The opening weekend came and went. Some 50 million Americans watched the XFL's debut. People were excited about a new brand of football. People were interested in the half-naked strippers, I mean, cheerleaders. People were interested in the camera angels. People were interested in hearing Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross call a game. More importantly, people were interested in hearing a crazy Governor call a football game.

For whatever the reason, over 50 million Americans watched the XFL.

For whatever the reason, every newspaper columnist hated it.

From coast to coast, the TV and sports columnists decried the XFL and everything related to it. If Jesus were involved, they would have hated him. The league was murdered in the papers.

(Please, do not get me wrong. I watched the XFL and I did not like the XFL. I am not a huge football fan. I like the sport and I like to be excited by a game, but the weekend after the Super Bowl is reserved for dreams of pitchers and catchers, not more football.)

Whether from an actual fear of the leagues promise, or because the view from the ivory tower is so cloudy, writers tore into the XFL. Every critic in the country found fault in the sport, or the coverage, or the sex or the violence. I struggled to find a columnist who thought the game was promising and/or worth watching from week to week. The established writers and other moneymakers would not sit idly by and let competition succeed.

The XFL was born out of a creepy marriage between the WWF and NBC. The intention of the owners was to create an exciting outlet for the football fan during the off-season. Sure, they claimed to be better and more outrageous than the NFL, but they were not competing for their players or their airtime. In fact, the XFL would be a great minor league for players who are not ready for the pros after college. But instead of looking at the potential good of the league, the mainstream press looked no further than the image.

What else should I expect? America is the land of images without substance, right?

Right.

But unlike the commercials and the WWF-style ad campaign suggests, the XFL is made of something greater than it lets you see. The XFL deserves a chance to fail on its own.

But, the wholly-holy writers in every sports and TV column could not wait to tell the privileged reader why the XFL was bound to fail. And while the TV columnists know little about sports, and the sports guys know little about TV, the world read and agreed.

The following week, the XFL's ratings dropped significantly. That was to be expected, as no more curiosity would lead to fewer viewers. But the columns came right back in - "I knew it," and "didn't I tell you?" No you didn't.

The hardcore football fan will watch the games. The people who watch college football games and the Grey Cup finals will watch the XFL. They will watch to see more of the sport they love.

When the papers turn back to the NBA and baseball, and Survivor, the writers will forget about their passionate hatred and fear for the XFL. When the XFL kicks off its second season, maybe the writers will not be as mean. Maybe the writers will one day give the fans, and all people, a little credit.

I doubt it.