By: Vincent Aldridge
Featured image courtesy of the XFL.
The XFL had started out back in 1999, with some unnecessary gimmicks, including two players diving for the football, and wrestling to take possession.
The new league played their first game in 2001, but after poor ratings, the XFL played only one season, as the XFL championship, also known as “The Million Dollar Game” ended with the Los Angeles Xtreme defeating the San Francisco Demons 38-6.
That would be the last game the new league would play.
That is, until 2018 when the league would decide to re-do the XFL.
This time it was without the gimmicks. The league featured 8 teams and two divisions of 4 teams each.
One of the most anticipated features the league promised was the “XFL Overtime”, shootout overtime that gave both sides a chance to score, and was similar to a soccer style shootout.
Unfortunately, this never saw the light of day, as all 20 of the league’s games ended in regulation.
One of the best parts from the XFL was that it was a lot easier to watch their games.
Unlike the AAF, which had games on TNT, NFL Network, and CBS. These games were almost unwatchable, unless if someone had a subscription to those programs. Whereas the XFL had its games on ABC, Fox, FS1, and ESPN. The casual viewer was able to enjoy the XFL at least half of the time, as Fox and ABC can be viewed without a TV subscription.
Another thing that made the XFL so great, was that it could basically plan out your whole weekend. This was due to the fact that games would start at 11:00 am PT, and by the time that game was over, or was about to be wrapped up, a new game would take place at 2:00 pm PT.
XFL games lasted on average for two hours and fifty minutes, so the games would typically end around 5:00 pm PT, which is usually the time people decide to eat dinner.
Unfortunately, all of this excitement wouldn’t last forever, as the XFL was forced to suspend operations halfway through the season, due to Covid-19 concerns.
The league originally stated that they were committed to playing in the future, but this turned out to be an accidental lie, because on Friday April 10th, the XFL laid off all of its employees, and later filed for bankruptcy.
Although the league appears to be done for good, the XFL did a lot of things right , and there were many rules that the NFL should adopt in the following years.
In other news, the PGA tour will become the first sport to make an appearance, as it is actually one of the easiest sports to socially distance in. This’ll tee off on June 8, and if it works, it could mean that sports could come back sooner, rather than later.
Major League Baseball has laid out several plans to reopen, including the dreaded “Arizona Plan.” This was an idea laid out by MLB to keep themsleves in the conversation, and to get people thinking. The plan is to put all 30 teams into several hotels in Arizona, and no family is allowed to join them. They would also play without plans. Angels star outfielder Mike Trout is one of many players to speak out against this plan.
So far, the NFL has not been delayed due to Covid-19, but as the days go by, there’s no way to tell for sure. The NFL will still hold their draft on Thursday, with the ability to stop the clock in case of technical difficulties, due to the draft having to be held virtually.