Get your souvenirs now. Time is running out on the great XFL experiment. Pretty soon, that San Francisco Demons logo sweatshirt will be as hard to find as a Washington Federals twill hat or a New York Cosmos full color bedroom poster of Pele.
Failed sports leagues don't just fade away, they live on in dusty garage sale boxes. And so too, it seems, will the remnants of Vince McMahon's so called "Extreme Football League." So much hype, and such a quick crash. From an opening rating of 10.9 the numbers started draining faster than the NASDAQ. Now, the XFL is plumbing depths reserved for Aussie Rules Football and the National Cheerleading Finals.
The $100 million dollar dilemma for Dick Ebersol and Vince McMahon: "Do we throw good money after bad or pull the plug?" That should be a no-brainer. It's not like NBC hasn't seen this show before. Anybody remember "Supertrain"?
Widely considered one of the greatest flops in prime time history, this 1979 dramatic anthology series on NBC lasted six months. It wouldn't have lasted that long if the network didn't have so much money tied up into the show's elaborate set. It wasn't cheap to create a fictional 200 mph luxury train to serve as a backdrop for some flimsy story lines. But then again, NBC sure did save on the talent. Witness the lineup of "stars" such as Edward Andrews (Conductor Harry Flood) and Ilene Graff (Social Director Penny Whitaker).
And if you want a chilling parallel to the XFL, how about this from the "Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present:"
"Despite extensive advance publicity, which attracted a large audience of curious viewers to it's premiere, Supertrain's ratings dropped like a rock in subsequent weeks and it was pulled from the NBC schedule barely one month after it began."
Sound familiar? NBC's answer was to move the show from Wednesday to Saturday night, and more than half of the no-resume cast was summarily whacked. The last "Supertrain" ride was in July 1979, and ashamed peacock staffers vowed never to speak of it again. Until "Manimal." Four years later NBC execs, no doubt doubled over in laughter, said to us the TV watching public: "You think "Supertrain" sucked? What 'til you see this!"
But TV has never fretted much about "crapping the programming bed." Their memories are as short as a cornerback in the NFL. You can't stop playing just because you get burned for a touchdown. After all, the next pass you might pick off and return for a score. Who thought a show about six idiot singles in Manhattan with a pet monkey would turn into a Thursday night franchise? The monkey quickly got fired, and "Friends" took off running to paydirt.
No doubt McMahon and Ebersol are having some very frank closed door meetings these days about the future of the XFL. Probably though, it's just to figure out how to stick each other with the blame for this flop. McMahon will likely say Ebersol didn't let him inject enough WWF into the games. Ebersol will say McMahon went cheap on the actual product, the teams themselves.
Whatever history says, these two men with gigantic egos shouldn't be ashamed of their bold attempt at a brand of football not beholden to the corporate suits. These things happen. Like the NASL, the WLAF or the CBA. Good leagues, with grand intentions, and all of them dead as Jimmy Hoffa. Hell, someone even tried starting the "Team Tennis League." I know a guy who owned a franchise. He got some great autographs out of the deal.
In America, we are the land of sports plenty. No other country can boast such a sports buffet. And we're always trying to fit some more into our yearly schedule. Aside from soccer, F1 racing, rugby and cricket, we're no worse than respectable at everything else. But time, there's only so much time.
Where, I ask, even if you came up with the greatest league in the world, would you put it? Looking at our national sports day planner, we're looking at...ummmm...February...and...uh...July. How does that work for you?
Vince McMahon said yes to February, and he's getting crushed. By the time March Madness rolls around, we'll be saying "Huh? The X-F-what?"
Aside from the Arena Football League, there hasn't been a self sufficient, money making league which has made an impact on our sports landscape since the ABA or AFL. The WNBA doesn't count, because it lives only through the graces of it's rich uncle the NBA. A better women's pro league existed not long ago, but went under due to lack of cash, and forwarded it's players to the WNBA.
Truth be told, our plate is pretty full. From the "Big Six" (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA Football and Basketball) to NASCAR and the PGA Tour, what's left over is mainly table scraps.
And as the XFL is finding out, even those scraps can be hard to come by.
Steve is a native Washingtonian and has worked in sports talk radio for the last 11 years. He worked at WTEM in 1993 anchoring Team Tickers before he took a full time job with national radio network One-on-One Sports.
A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Steve has worked for WFNZ in Charlotte where his afternoon show was named "Best Radio Show." Steve continues to serve as a sports personality for WLZR in Milwaukee and does fill-in hosting for Fox Sports Radio.
