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XFL on NBC: Must-See or must-flee TV?(Brief Article)
Are you ready for some more football??!! And not the Pro Bowl, Hank Williams Jr.-breath. The post-postseason shall be ruled by the XFL, another fine product from Vince McMahon and Dick Ebersol, the people who brought you the World Wrestling Federation and the Olympics from Sydney.
The XFL kicks off with a tag-team dash February 3: New York/New Jersey Hitmen vs. Las Vegas Outlaws, on NBC. For anyone wondering whether this eight-team, PG-13 league is nonkosher: The Vegas line is Outlaws by 4 1/2.
McMahon, the WWF's emperor, says his football will be as real as God's grass on which it will be played; he has banned wuss fair catches and extra-point kicks. Ebersol, co-conspirator and chairman of NBC Sports, which invested $50 million to co-own the league, coos, "It's the ultimate reality show."
Hyperbole doth not make the XFL, Must-See TV. The other networks' lines: "Minor-league" (says ESPN, which covers it on "SportsCenter"); "Who'll watch no-names?" (says Fox, forgetting audiences loved The Replacements).
True, the biggest names are off the field; Dick Butkus is director of
competition, Jesse Ventura is NBC's expert analyst.
Consensus: The XFL will be only as strong as its football.
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