Being that I'm the designated sports guy around campus, a lot of people have
been asking me what I think of the XFL. Well, I have been able to watch a decent
amount over the first two weeks of the inaugural ten week season and for the most part
I'm impressed. Some people like it a lot, and some people think it really sucks.
I'm not going to say it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if you ask me it's
pretty entertaining. There are 8 teams split up into two divisions (East and West).
In the East the teams are The Orlando Rage, Birmingham Bolts, Chicago Enforcers, and
the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. In the West there's the Las Vegas Outlaws, Los Angeles
Extreme, San Francisco Demons and the Memphis Maniax. I love the uniforms. They were
introduced over the internet before the games actually started, and I think they're
awesome. It's hard to say who has the best uniforms, because all of the teams have nice
ones. If I had to pick one uniform that I liked best I probably couldn't do it. I
really like the Orlando Rage's uni's, but I also like the New York/New Jersey Hitmen's duds.
None of the players are superstars; however the guys with NFL experience excel pretty well.
The game play isn't the best on every single play. They're droughts where there can be
some seriously bad offensive execution or times where defenses get caught in positions
they shouldn't be in, but hey, that's football. I like the pay system. Quarterbacks
get $50,000 for a season, all other position players get $45,000, and kickers get $5,000.
To add incentive to the game, players on the winning team of each game during the regular
season get an extra $2,500. That may not seem like a lot but hey, if a team goes undefeated
this year, that's an extra 25,000 bucks for every player on the team. In the championship
game, simply known as "The Big Game," the winning team gets to split $1,000,000.
Teams can have up to 40 members on a squad so that averages out to $25,000 a player to the
winner of the championship. It's not NFL money, but it's not bad either.
So who's hot and who's not so far? Here's a look at the who's who of the XFL in the first
two weeks.
Best Team: Orlando Rage
The Orlando Rage have jumped out of the gates quick and have made their mark on the league
so far. They have an extremely explosive offense, led by quarterback Jeff Brohm and wide
receiver Mario Bailey; they score quick and will probably beat any team in a shoot-out.
Whether they have the defense to match remains to be seen. So far they are undefeated and
look sharp.
Best Quarterback
This is a toss up between Jeff Brohm of the Orlando Rage and Ryan Clement of the Las Vegas
Outlaws. Brohm has thrown for 378 yards and 5 touchdowns with 1 interception in his first
two games. Clement, so far, has thrown for 223 yards and 2 touchdowns with zero interceptions.
His numbers would be a lot higher, but he dislocated his shoulder in the beginning of the
Outlaws second game of the season. He could be out for a few weeks, which could be a blow to
his team. However, when he's in the game he shows great poise. Then again, he was a quarterback
at the University of Miami, so he knows all about pressure.
Best Running Back
Without a doubt, John Avery of the Chicago Enforcers. The Enforcers have gotten off to an 0-2
start, but it's not John Avery's fault. Both games were close: the first was a shoot-out with the
Rage and the second was a heartbreaking loss to the Extreme in double overtime. In his first game
against the Rage, Avery had 250 combined yards (157 yards rushing on 25 carries for 2 touchdowns
and 97 yards receiving on 3 receptions for 1 touchdown). After two games Avery has rushed for
226 yards and 3 touchdowns while catching 6 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Right now
he's the best double threat in the league. Of course Avery was at one time a starter for the
Miami Dolphins, so is it any surprise he's running all over the league. I'm sure he'd like a
couple of wins though to get some extra dough.
Best Wide Receiver
Mario Bailey of the Rage seems to be one of the more explosive receivers in the XFL right now,
but my vote after the first two games goes to Jermaine Copeland of the L.A. Extreme. He only
had 6 catches for 59 yards in the Extreme's first game, but in the second game against Chicago
he had 17 catches for 190 yards and a touchdown. After two games he has 23 receptions for 249
yards and 1 touchdown.
Best Defense
I'm going to have to give this to this one to the Las Vegas Outlaws. They shut out the Hitmen
in their first game, and this past Sunday vs. Memphis, they held the Maniax to just 3 points.
That means after the first two games their only giving up an average of 1.5 points per game.
Hey, they're not the Ravens, but that's still impressive. However, that could be more the teams
they've played than how good they actually are. Or, they could just be that good. Time will
tell.
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Name: Shaunathan Year: grad stoo-dent Major: english Comments:
Damn, looks like Doom was right after all.
ALL HAIL DOOM!
Name: Dave Year: Junior Comments:
Hey Doom, the Fantastic Four is on the way to defend the XFL. Beware of the Human Tourch.
Name: Dr. Doom Comments:
BAH! The XFL is below Doom! Normally Doom would dispatch an army of Doombots to crush the XFL like eggshells underneath a Doomtank, but Doom recalls the USFL and the World Football League. The puny XFL shall head that way soon enough. So swears DOOM!
