XFL Football
 

I'm disappointed that no one has started an XFL thread yet... You guys are slacking.

I'm still heartbroken over the AAF folding...

GO BATTLE HAWKS

And to make things even better, Their HC is former Iowa TE Jonathon Hayes and their RB coach is my all time favorite Hawkeye, Chuck Long.

Chuck Long? Wasn't he a QB, why would he be the RB coach???

Yes he was a QB. He has been a QB coach and an OC, he was also a HC at SDSU.

Not sure why he is the RB coach.

He coached under Hayden Fry and Bob Stoops among others.

Wanna see the new @xfl2020 kickoff? @XFLDragons & @XFLRenegades demonstrate. pic.twitter.com/5baE3A6Ynr

— Art Garcia (@ArtGarcia92) January 11, 2020

I do like the OT shootout rule.

Who's going to be watching tomorrow?

I plan to at least have it on in the background.

I am actually somewhat excited to watch this. They seem to be taking it a bit more serious than last time and the rule changes are somewhat intriguing.

I think they've gone about it as best a secondary league possibly can.

But I still don't think it lasts. Nobody's figured out how to artificially manufacture the real reason sports is big industry - the tribalism, fans having an emotional attachment to a team and a irrational dislike of competing teams. It's even a bigger challenge when you have a single-entity league like the XFL. All sports competition is kind of manufactured to someone to degree, but here, it's one league that owns all the teams and that has the role of assigning new players to the teams. So you don't even have the crazy Donald Trump owning an USFL team and throwing money around angle. It's more like a gym coach lining everybody up and counting off 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, and the 8s are now a team that is supposed to hate the 4s, and the fans are asked to be vested in that.

The only way that happens is longevity. Different sport, but it's only now that I have an interest in the IPL cricket (Indian Premier League) , even though I am a cricket can.

It's gone from somewhere between an All-Star league or exhibition league only because teams have played each other enough for controversies to happen, streaks to develop, etc

Any league that can last for 10 years plus should survive if the market is there, but you just have to survive, don't try and artificially create things that should be organic

We will see if having a team in town makes a difference. My interest in the first XFL and the AAF or whatever that league was last year was zero. Will try to watch St. Louis this weekend and maybe will enjoy it.

Sadly if there was a way to tie fantasy to this I probably would have more interest though I probably only know about 10-15% of the players.

I wish the XFL had a team in my area. It would give me someone to initially root for. Right now I'm just rooting for former Colts.

DraftKings has XFL fantasy

Fandual is doing a 300K prize pool tournament for it. $9 entry fee.

Actually enjoying this Seattle/ DC game today.

I enjoyed the games today.

Ditto

Hopefully the league continues.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good the Football was given the time of preparation the teams had.

I also like all the new rules and the timing makes for a nicely paced game.

It was like watching a game on DVR. The pace was fantastic.

Alright, the Tampa/NY game is pretty sloppy and rough compared to what they had yesterday. From open field fumbles to bad drop passes, to questionable play calls, it's got lots of room to improve.

Enjoyed it also. Really hope it makes it.

Single entity tends to help leagues stay alive though. So when one franchise is struggling the league can help bolster it. It's how MLS weathered its really tough first decade.

I enjoyed the Saturday games. The Sunday games were a little sloppy from my perspective. Being able to play DraftKings was big for holding my interest.

With no local team to root for, I think I’ll get behind June Jones and Houston. Love me some Run and shoot!

Now for the only score that matters:

First XFL game draws 3.3 million viewers on ABC – ProFootballTalk

I'll watch it again next week. Enjoyed the Saturday games more than the Sunday ones, but overall, it was good football.

The rules changes are subtle enough that it is still the football you know but different enough to give the game a different feel than the NFL or college football.

I hope it's able to survive. I also hope they steer away from trying to compete with the NFL for talent for at least the first 5 years or so. They seem to have enough talent to make the games interesting without trying to get into bidding wars that they'll lose more than they win and could cause a negative public perception of the league...more than there already is.

I wonder if they'll try to pull players when they graduate high school or when they're in their first year or two of college. That's probably their best shot at getting some talent even if they're raw.

I think there is enough low tier NFL talent and second chance type players to keep the league afloat. High school kids will definitely not appear as they are nowhere near as ready as they need to be physically to go up against 25-30 year old men. A year or two in a college weight program makes a huge difference which is why the NFL has the 3 years from your HS graduating class rule.

And if they try and start poaching college underclassman the NFL will bring the hammer down quick and the demise of the XFL will be sudden.

To me their best bet is to try and work with the NFL as a minor league, each team has 4 NFL affiliates that can send practice squad players or waiver players down for development and more evaluation.

I've heard of a quick hook but, uh ...

XFL's Wildcats fire defensive coordinator Pepper Johnson after losing opener

And starting LB/team captain Anthony Johnson tweets "Free agent" though the team hasn't confirmed that yet

I was happy to see Ben Heeney on the field for New York. I'd like to see the league work.

What exactly would the NFL do to "bring the hammer down".

The AAF tried to be a NFL minor leauge and they failed. The NFL doesn't want one and won't support it.

You really think the corporate juggernaught that is the NFL would not try to influence broadcasters if College underclassman were leaving to the XFL after 1 season? Again, financially it won't happen and Football is not like Basketball when it comes to the physical maturity of athletes.

I know the NFL is comfortable as is, but using the XFL as a place to develop borderline talent is much more likely than 18 years old playing with players in their mid to late 20's in the XFL, just not gonna happen.

Yeah totally agree. If they try to go up against the NFL like the USFL tried they will get squished like a bug. Their only chance is play nice with the NFL and they can do exist long enough to build a fandom specific to them.

As nice as the quality of football was on Saturday, can anyone really see themselves paying attention to it in 5-6 weeks? As much as Id like for it to be a success I just dont see people enjoying it after a few weeks. It kind of needs a draw other than being good interesting football. I dunno maybe I am just being pessimistic.

I think the shorter season (10 games) will help to an extent. I am pretty sure I will catch at least 1 game a week.

You underestimate how rabid Football fans are, there is a league getting airtime on national TV, peopple will pay attention, even if its only the hardcore football fans.


Boston/New Orleans/Portland Breakers Fan

You bet your ass I'm still pissed at Doufenschmirtz Trump for ruining the USFL.

I was really getting behind the San Diego Fleet last Year as well.

If its on, I'll be watching.

Well the fact you can bet on the games and play fantasy football thru Draftkings helps with interest. They are said to have enough financial backing for three years and the fact they are on real tv (you can actually find their games) is a plus. Overall I liked week 1.

You sir, have impeccable tastes!

That's the one I like the least. Determining the winner off that is as bad as the hockey shootout.

CA-CAWWW

Battlehawks take down the favored champs of the league.

Matt McGloin sucks and is, like, the OPPOSITE of a leader. Glad I'm a Defenders fan.

KA-KAW

Battlehawks are the best team in the league right now.

And F the Vipers, our hated rivals. Our local ESPN station has a show that is creating a history for the Battlehawks. Its awesome.

KA-KAW

At least when an offense is unwatchable, we get an inside look to the drama!

I don't know if it's the stadium or Fox, but there are definitely games being played with crowd noise. These half full stadiums sound like fourth quarter drives of NFL playoff games.

When Matt McGloin is the top trending term in the U.S. ... you know it's a really slow day

They either pump in crowd noise to the telecast or are doing some funky stuff with the microphones to amplify it.

The latest ticket pric for the Battlehawks home opener is $90. KA-KAW

St. Louis sells out the dome for the home opener. Battlehawks sell the most merchandise.

Fuck you Enos Kroenke. St. Louis is a football town.

KA-KAW

I hope that's a good sign for the league.

The decision to put these teams in NFL cities outside of STL is really interesting to me. I guess they’ve done their research based on the AAF and XFLv1 but still... watching this game would it be better to build a fan base in TB or try to go for a market like Orlando where you are the only local football game in town?