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March 28, 2024, 02:36:35 PM
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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Other Topics  |  Television  |  XFL « previous next »
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Author Topic: XFL  (Read 9234 times)
Mortal Envelope
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XFL
« on: January 04, 2008, 09:47:34 AM »

I'm not a big sports fan myself but I do watch football and hockey now and then.  I was watching part of a football game last night when suddenly I remembered Vince McMahan's XFL experiment from about 10 years ago. 

It was pretty much a let down -they tried to focus on characterizations and starting feuds while saying they were gonna cut down on the useless rules of the NFL ...and wouldn't you know it, some players got hurt pretty bad.  I don't remember much more than a few games ...heck I can't even remember any of the team names but I do remember the constant schilling ol' JR gave the XFL non-stop during WWE at the time. 

One thing I remember more than any other was Jessie Ventura trying to start a feud with one of the coaches, probably due to the fact that the ship was sinking and they were desperate for controversy.  It didn't work.  The XFL seemed to be over before it really got started.  It went the way of Vince's other project -a body building league in the 1980s!
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lester1/2jr
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« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2008, 09:55:45 AM »

there's a chain of stores called building 19 here in massachusetts, it's sort of an eccentric version of walmart with insane bargains.  when the XFL folded they got tons of gear.  One of the teams had skull logo that was kind of cool.  for all i know those things are still there somewhere
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Jack
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« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2008, 10:06:07 AM »

I remember that show.  Everybody I knew thought it was a huge joke, but as far as I was concerned, at least it was more football.  It ended up being pretty stupid and poorly done, but it was better than watching Friends or Mad About You.  I remember the cameramen running up to players when they got injured so they could get the suffering on the screen.  The announcers got too ever the top with all their criticizm of various coaches and stuff, it got boring and obnoxious. 
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asimpson2006
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« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2008, 12:01:28 PM »

When I was in High School used to say people are just watching it for the cheerleaders and not the football.  I think it was an interesting idea, but it was just poorly executed. 
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RapscallionJones
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« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2008, 04:36:56 PM »

I really liked the idea of XFL when I first heard about it.  The idea, on paper, looked like a real version of NFL Blitz and all this talk of old-time smashmouth football was pretty exciting.  Elimination of certain rules, like the extra point kick (you went for a two-point conversion or you got nothing at all), were also very cool as well as the way the teams were paid.  It was supposed to create a new degree of competition, but the McMahon/WWE connection insured that all the vestigial stuff taken out would be replaced with "sports entertainment" grade antics.

Unfortunately, their teams were drafted from the NFL draft rejects.  I watched the very first game and saw one team's quarterback get sacked for something like 35 yards in a single play and realized that it was even worse than watching arena football.  Those guys sucked.  Bad.
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asimpson2006
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« Reply #5 on: January 04, 2008, 06:30:03 PM »

I really liked the idea of XFL when I first heard about it.  The idea, on paper, looked like a real version of NFL Blitz and all this talk of old-time smashmouth football was pretty exciting.  Elimination of certain rules, like the extra point kick (you went for a two-point conversion or you got nothing at all), were also very cool as well as the way the teams were paid.  It was supposed to create a new degree of competition, but the McMahon/WWE connection insured that all the vestigial stuff taken out would be replaced with "sports entertainment" grade antics.

Unfortunately, their teams were drafted from the NFL draft rejects.  I watched the very first game and saw one team's quarterback get sacked for something like 35 yards in a single play and realized that it was even worse than watching arena football.  Those guys sucked.  Bad.

I really didn't watch a lot of the games, of if I did, I don't remember them at all.  I think if it wasn't for McMahon and his the SE grade antics, plus with good players, it may have turned out to be something good.
 
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BeyondTheGrave
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« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2008, 01:11:53 AM »

I remember XFL back in high school. I never saw it on TV but I remember they had all the merchandise at Models and such. I wonder what happen to it all? I bet its in a ditch someone.
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odinn7
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« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2008, 02:11:33 PM »

The XFL did bring about one good thing that the NFL has been using...SkyCam...I recall sports writers mocking the whole idea of a camera on wires above the field...once the NFL started using it, nobody talked crap about it any more.
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Bmeansgood
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« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2008, 05:58:44 PM »

I still think about the XFL when I see the sky cam.  Of course the other memorable thing about the XFL was that the players could put their nickname on their jerseys.  "He Hate Me" anyone?

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odinn7
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« Reply #9 on: January 06, 2008, 01:40:18 AM »

I remember that too...and He Hate Me wound up in the NFL but didn't do too well.
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Yaddo 42
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« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2008, 10:56:31 AM »

I watched it the first couple of weeks to see if it would be interesting, different, or just a fun train wreck. Plus people around here were curious since there was a Birmingham, AL team. Which should have been a bad sign, Birmingham seems to be a jinx on startup football leagues: USFL, World League (when there were US teams), that startup American Football League in the mid 70s.

Like it was said the XFL was drawing on the leftover talent pool of guys who wanted to be in the NFL. A lot of those guys had been bouncing around arena ball leagues , World League Europe, and the CFL for years and years. And anyone who stood out was sure to get better offers.

The hype of the announcers and the off the field stuff stuff got old very quickly, what I remember of it. It felt kind of schizophrenic, they were talking up all this smashmouth football stuff and feuds in the WWE/McMahon style, yet the play on the field was so lackluster.

Our UPN station carried the Sunday night games, they seemed to be endless with nothing really happening and flipping past them for a few minutes near the end of the season, the announcing was more low-key, probably because they all knew the whole thing was circling the drain.
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HappyGilmore
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« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2008, 09:29:34 AM »

It seems that anything Vince McMahon does outside of wrestling is ultimately doomed to failure.  Bodybulding? Failed.  Record Label? Fail.  Football league? Fail.  He has a movie company now, putting out movies starring his wrestlers.  I guess he learned his lesson when the Rock left and decided to not come back, as he's somewhat successful.  Only thing is, Vince McMahon's movies don't gross much at the box office.  I'd recommend he just put out straight to dvd movies, as that's where his movies make money anyway.
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Yaddo 42
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Where's that brick.......


« Reply #12 on: January 10, 2008, 12:05:02 AM »

I'm betting his movies are made so cheaply, that the theatrical release exists only to promote the DVD/PPV/cable/foreign territories cycle which is where most of the revenue for films is coming from now anyway. So why not cheap action movies with wrestlers/performers you already have under contract?

That's why all those lousy SNL derived movies got made in the late 90s-early 00s, they could be made for around or under $10 million, marketed cheaper since the characters or the lead performers were already in the public eye and features on the show, and as long as they broke even at the box office it was fine since people who wouldn't go near say Superstar on the big screen were more likely to check it out at the video store or on cable, etc.
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HappyGilmore
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« Reply #13 on: January 10, 2008, 09:35:12 AM »

From the little I've seen, they are kinda badly made.  Thing is, I'm not sure if initially he was looking at the dvd market.  From an interview he did in Beyond the Mat he said he wanted to make movies.  So I'd say, granted, he's making some profit off of dvd, but I think in the back of his head he wishes they were bigger box office hits. 

Shame about Stone Cold's movie though.  It bombed, and Vince was like, "Why?"

It's not 1997, so Stone Cold isn't as popular now as he was then. 
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"The path to Heaven runs through miles of clouded Hell."

Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside.
It’s where my demons hide, it’s where my demons hide.
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