Say you're in charge of the XFL...

[Marc]

Let's say you find yourself in complete charge of the XFL. What do you do to fix it? What do you change?

[lmanchur.]

Originally posted by M. James
Let's say you find yourself in complete charge of the XFL. What do you do to fix it? What do you change?

It's too late to fix it. Like the saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression."

I came to watch football... good football, bad football... I don't care, but I came to watch football -- not some guy who as Rocks in his head (e.g.: "The Rock") talk... I don't care how hot they are, I didn't come to the XFL to watch cheerleaders... WHY were the cheerleads the focus of some of the XFL's pre-season commercials, anyway!?

What was the opening weekend TV ratings? 10.x or something?... now it's 2.x?... so it's already too late for the XFL to make a "first impresssion" for 8.x of the TV population, because they've already done it, and are now paying for it.

[Wedge231]

Yes. Bad first impression for me. Not real football really. Nothing too intersting to watch.

[Marc]

Okay, so you guys have a valid point in saying the XFL can't be changed now that it has made such a bad impression on fans... but let's forget about that. What things would you change? Perhaps if you knew how the XFL would turnout before hand, what would you do to make a good first impression?

[Dre2g]

Well, I would get away from the 'Wrestling' image. Stop having wrestlers doing little promos before the games. Get rid of the cheerleaders, I mean this is football, not some porno. Get back to basic football, and get better players. The rules are fine just like they are. And, try to change time slots.

[Wedge231]

Yes. To me it seems just like a joke to get ratings. Make it more serious.

[H. Tiemann Jr.]

First and foremost, the cheerleaders are GONE!!

You can still have them there, but don't go to them every other play!

The players...they need to run more quality plays! No more microphones on the sidelines or on the players! This is supposed to be FOOTBALL!!

This is supposed to be football, not a three ring circus!

[Marc]

So, it seems the majority of you think the XFL should get more serious and not have cheerleaders, sideline microphones, etc. If this is true, how will the XFL be different than the XFL? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the XFL wanted to be different!

[H. Tiemann Jr.]

Originally posted by M. James
So, it seems the majority of you think the XFL should get more serious and not have cheerleaders, sideline microphones, etc. If this is true, how will the XFL be different than the XFL? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the XFL wanted to be different!

Yes they wanted to be different from the NFL...However, they wanted some new rule changes, make the players EARN their paychecks, etc. Real Football!!

Mics, cheerleaders every other minute...is not football!
They really don't need all this!

[Wedge231]

Reminds me too much of wrestling. It is just an act to get a lot of viewers etc. As of now, I don't take the league seriously at all. The rules are different but you don't have to make it so you see hardly any real football.

[lmanchur.]

Originally posted by Wedge231
The rules are different but you don't have to make it so you see hardly any real football.

Right -- if you want different rules, watch the CFL or else arena football!... BTW, their season is starting within a few weeks!..

...but for everyone complaining about the timeslot... I just don't understand. Okay -- *maybe* Saturday nights is a little out of whack, but they have, sometimes, triple-headers on Sunday afternoons... and if they don't have a triple-header, they have a double-header on Sunday afternoon.... WHAT IS WRONG WITH A SUNDAY AFTERNOON TIMESLOT?

[Dre2g]

The XFL also wanted to be some-what decent. And right now, it isn't.

[iFroggy]

Well, I've actually never seen an XFL game.

But, the fact of the matter is that trying to make people watch football when their usually accustomed to not (ie its offseason) was never an easy task. For this league to be successful, in my opinion, was a difficult undertaking no matter what they would have done.

[Rick Dogg]

I disagree with everythin said sofar. I think they are trying to hard to be serious. They dont have the atheletes, so why not make it entertaining in other fashions. Make it more of a show, and less of a game. Kind of like the WWF.

[lmanchur.]

I think that what Rick mentioned was kind of the POINT of the XFL to begin with... obviously, however, WWFE and NBC didn't do enough market research, because it is terribly obvious that this is NOT what the majority of people want to see...

[Rick Dogg]

So you mean to tell me that the majority of the viewers do not want to be entertained?

[lmanchur.]

Originally posted by Rick Reighard
So you mean to tell me that the majority of the viewers do not want to be entertained? No -- but obviously with their ratings hovering around 2.0 -- plus or minus a few points either way, the XFL is NOT the way people want to be entertained!

[FL Tiger]

Okay, I like the idea behind spring football but I am very disappointed in the way the XFL/WWF tried to pull it off. I will continue to support the league but here are a few observations and some proposed changes.

#1 - Too much reliance on non-football stuff. Governor Ventura vs. Coach Tillman, overemphasis on cheerleaders, trash-talking over the PAs, etc. added nothing to the game. All this did was make people think this was the WWF in pads. It wouldn't bother me if Vince McMahon sold his portion of the league and the individual franchises came under local ownership.

#2 - No preseason games. I've watched every game the last couple of weeks and the play is much, much better than it was the first couple of weeks. Unfortunately, there were a lot of people that saw just a portion of one game and said the entire league sucked, but watching the NFL pre-season would give someone the same opinion about that league. Remember that the teams in the XFL basically had one month to put a team together from scratch. Another couple of weeks of preseason games played in possible expansion markets like Oklahoma City and Omaha would help get the teams better prepared.

#3 - Playing games on NBC on Saturday nights. It is a major effort for me to be home on a Saturday night doing nothing but watching TV. I am usually on a road trip somewhere, at the movies, at a bar chasing girls, whatever. There are millions of people in my demographic that are in a similar situation as well. Football is traditionally played on Sunday afternoons, and that is when they should play XFL games, too.

#4 - Terrible announcers. Only TNN had what I would consider NFL-caliber announcers. UPN's Brian Bosworth has been absolutely terrible (though he has toned it down in recent weeks), and NBC clearly has had no idea what this league is about or how to go about showing it. Governor Ventura first -- who clearly has no preperation before games, then they bounced back and forth between JR and Matt Vergersian. I know guys like Bob Costas and Dick Enberg aren't going to do anything other than the NFL, but where are the other up-and-coming announcers who would kill for a chance to be on national TV?

Some other thoughts:
As far as ratings, why would someone from Washington or Detroit or Kansas City or Dallas care about a Birmingham vs Las Vegas game? The XFL is doing well in the markets where there are XFL teams, but if your town doesn't have a team, no one is paying attention. That's only logical.

They need to do something to get some big name players not on NFL teams. Maybe have a one- or two-player exemption from the salary cap per team.

If the XFL decides to draft/sign kids coming out of high school, fine. I have no problem with that. Every other sport signs kids that don't go to college -- football isn't any different.

I understand why they wanted to start the XFL season right after the NFL's season, but let's face it. It's freakin' cold in places like New York and Chicago. Maybe they should consider moving the start of the season to mid-March? I dunno.

I have no opinion on the players wearing whatever they want on the back of their jerseys. Most players aren't wearing nicknames, anyway.

Also, maybe they ought to consider having a championship game with the winner of the CFL or NFL-Europe.

To go out on a positive note, here are a few things I like about the XFL:
#1 - No "gimme" PATs.
#2 - Having teams in places like Vegas and Orlando.
#3 - The live kick rule.
#4 - Listening in on the coaches discussions to figure out what the next play will be.
#5 - Having players that truly care about playing football and are trying hard.
#6 - Cheap ticket prices.
#7 - Free game programs for all fans.
#8 - Making an effort to keep criminals like Lawrence Phillips out of the league.
#9 - The ball scramble - I thought I would hate this but it is actually kind of fun to watch.

[lmanchur.]

Originally posted by FL Tiger
#3 - Playing games on NBC on Saturday nights. It is a major effort for me to be home on a Saturday night doing nothing but watching TV... Football is traditionally played on Sunday afternoons, and that is when they should play XFL games, too.[/B]The XFL DOES have Sunday afternoon games.... in the USA on TNT or something, and on The Score in Canada... you can't play all your week's games in one day, so of course it has to be played on two days... are you suggesting Monday and Sunday instead of Saturday and Sunday?... would more people actually watch the *XFL* on Monday than Saturday???

[Wedge231]

Those changes sounds good to me. I doubt they will happen though and the league looks like it might die.

[Peck]

Chris is right it won't happen but if i was in charge i'll stop it!!