Week Three of XFL action and I gotta admit, I’m really enjoying the product. It is vastly superior to its previous incarnation in terms of quality of athletes and overall play, and it blows the AAFL out of the water in both regards. And while the previous edition of the XFL was widely criticized for the pro-wrestling entertainment elements, this year’s version is straight-up football and gimmick free.
To be honest, I did enjoy the original version of the XFL in 2001 with all the cartoonish aspects and lack of professionalism in a broadcast product. From the quarterbacks dating cheerleaders to the skycam to the “He Hate Me” players; I took it for what it was, entertainment.
The NFL is often criticized as the “No Fun League,” something Vince McMahon saw as exploitable. You wanna take away big hits? The XFL encouraged it. Boring logos and mascots? The XFL had teams like the Los Angeles Xtreme and the Memphis Maniax. (It was the X-FL after all…) Loud obnoxious sports personalities? The XFL had Jerry Lawler and Jesse “The Body” Ventura as color announcers.
Everything the XFL did was over the top ridiculousness. No really… ri-dic-u-lous.
But where the 2001 season of the XFL was defined by the insanity that is the mind of Vincent Kennedy McMahon, the recent launch is much closer to vest, but still intriguingly innovative.
During the Dallas Renegades and Seattle Dragons game in front of 22,000 fans in the Emerald City, the cameras focused on former Seahawk quarterback great now Dragons head coach Jim Zorn called a play late in the fourth quarter in a 21-12 game at home.
“Trips right beta 22 scat levels.”
Forget whether you understand what any of that means, though I absolutely find football terminology fascinating. Who doesn’t love hearing Dice right ice cream alert 6-54 José and each word is a different signal to each player. The wide receivers might be listening for the trips right, while the linemen are listening for the scat levels part of that play call.
What is most intriguing for me as a media scholar is the unprecedented access this coverage gives us. As a broadcaster, or media producer, we often talk about giving the audience the best viewing experience possible. You want the viewer to feel as close to the action as possible. This is the next best thing being in the huddle.
And that’s the hook for me.
I’ll keep watching not just because I’m addicted to football, (which I am but I’m getting that under control). But this access the XFL is giving us here is exactly why I’ll tune in each week. Football, especially when played at the highest level, is a game of strategy, no different than chess played by a grandmaster or a gamer playing Sid Meier’s Civilization. Getting to spy on the Xs and Os as they happen is every football junkie’s dream. I’m sure it also feeds a few Madden addicts and armchair coaches who think they know the game more than they really do.
Granted, there will be some hiccups, but as long as the XFL broadcast partners, FOX and ESPN, continue to allow us to listen in the live strategy sessions, I’ll keep watching.