Viewpoint

Football going to extremes with league
by Greg Zajac, reporter

    Vince McMahon’s XFL is upon us, but my question is why?

    We already have professional football. I guess this is a version of what McMahon calls “your alternative to professional football.”

    With eight teams from eight different cities, this league is getting ahead of itself.

    Why not try it with six teams just to see how this league is going to go and what the fan base will be?

    I also have a problem with a 10-week season.

    Just as they should have fewer teams, they also need to cut the number of weeks in half. Ten weeks for an unproven league is just too long.

    Before you know it, this league is going to turn into another U. S. Football League (USFL), which never worked out because of the lack of a fan base and revenue.

    My feeling is the XFL will come to this fate rather quickly because most Americans watch only the NFL and college football. It will be hard to try and convince a middle-aged man to watch this new league.

    The viewers will probably be teenagers who enjoy wrestling.

    Some of the new rules also make me think this league’s destined to fail.

    Having a five-yard halo, where a player cannot come within five yards of someone trying to catch a ball on a punt, is ridiculous to me.

    Also, the rule where a defensive back can push and shove a receiver all the way down the sideline is pointless unless a person enjoys watching a boring running game.

    Some of the rules off the playing field are just as dumb. In this league, players will get bonuses if their team wins.

    No sport should be that way. Athletes should have one salary, and maybe some performance bonuses, but such blanket rewards will cause the downfall of this league.

    This league does have one strong point. Players will have a base salary.

    McMahon is making it known leaguewide that he wants his players to date the cheerleaders on their teams. I doubt McMahon can tell these guys what to do.

    This league does have the potential to be something good, but I just don’t think it will be. To be good, a league needs television ratings, merchandise sales and, most importantly, fans who show up for the games.

    Maybe this league will actually end up being somewhat interesting, but I don’t look for that to happen very soon.

    Just because the league will be so different, people will need time to adjust.

    I think the XFL will become the Xtreme Failure League.