XFL 2023 Logos, Names and Uniforms

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

5 hours ago, CrimsonBull9584 said:

Haven't played a single game and the general public already looks at the league as inferior. 

 

Well, of course the XFL is inferior to the NFL; it's paying a fraction of NFL-level salaries.  The same was true of the AAF.  Neither of these leagues is the AFL or the USFL, which paid enough to entice some players to choose those leagues over the NFL.

The problem with trying to present a non-NFL league is not that it will be perceived as inferior to the NFL (which it objectively is). Rather, the problem is that some people will dismiss it out of hand.  There has developed in the U.S. a bizarre belief that there can be only one legitimate league in every sport, and that any other league's mere act of existing is laughable.  Even the USFL suffered from this perception; and that league had an overall level of talent that came pretty close to NFL-calibre, including three consecutive Heisman Trophy winners (though the bottom of that league was far below the bottom of the NFL).  That perception has only gotten worse over time.  For every fan who is willing to check a new league out to see how it is, there are several fans who consider the very concept to be inherently ridiculous.  

However, a bit of humour in which the worst NFL team is depicted as being a member of a lower league is not necessarily an expression of this toxic phenomenon. 

[GDAWG]

9 hours ago, mkg74 said:

This will  be the last chance ever for a non-NFL league to make it. If the XFL bellys up, nobody should ever try again!  And honestly 
IMO this sport is headed for extinction. I give it 30 more years(heck maybe 20 isnt too far fetched) tops then It will turn into something entirely different like flag football with light padding. 

 

(well, unless 12 filthy rich zillionaires want to re-boot the USFL again, i would certainly welcome that one)

 

A non NFL league has made it: sure it plays in another country and is a three down, 12 man, wider field version of the game, but it's been long considered as #2 behind the NFL. 

[SilverBullet1929]

15 hours ago, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

However, a bit of humour in which the worst NFL team is depicted as being a member of a lower league is not necessarily an expression of this toxic phenomenon. 

Yea this is true too... the Dolphins thing was literally just a timely joke.

 

[mkg74]

6 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

A non NFL league has made it: sure it plays in another country and is a three down, 12 man, wider field version of the game, but it's been long considered as #2 behind the NFL. 

Its easy to forget about the CFL 

[GDAWG]

6 hours ago, mkg74 said:

Its easy to forget about the CFL 

 

It is, but they will be around long after the XFL goes away.  With all of these proposed leagues, they will be the last man standing, even if they never add the Atlantic Schooners.

[mkg74]

52 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

It is, but they will be around long after the XFL goes away.  With all of these proposed leagues, they will be the last man standing, even if they never add the Atlantic Schooners.

Already predicting doom and gloom for the XFL eh, I'll have to give the CFL a serious look someday. All in all College FB is my USFL or sort to speak....Always on the edge of my seat for some games. I havent had that feeling with the NFL for years. It seems cooperate and stale, wussified is another good word to describe the NFL. I watched week 1 Packers-Bears i was asleep on the couch by halftime missed rest of the game. Patriots-Steelers was a borefest so was Broncos-Raiders. If these supposedly superrior NFL athletes are puttin me to yawn! Then what gives..If the XFL does what they promise and offer an up tempo game similar to college then I'm on Board. I'll give the XFL a chance in February. But i will approach it differently then what i did with the AAF, I was a little out of hand with that league i'll admit thinking they had the finances to last 3 years, I was fooled. I'm taking pre caution this time around probably wont even comment til at least week 4, when the product on the field should be solidified by then.....People shouldnt be judging these upstart leagues on Week 1, it's ignorance and an obvious lack of football knowledge. 

 

 

[Gothamite]

4 hours ago, mkg74 said:

wussified is another good word to describe the NFL.

 

4 hours ago, mkg74 said:

People shouldnt be judging these upstart leagues on Week 1, it's ignorance and an obvious lack of football knowledge.

 

Cognitive dissonance is a hell of a drug.  

[BJ Sands]

The NFL is many things. “Wussified” is not one of them. 

[SCL]

9 minutes ago, BJ Sands said:

The NFL is many things. “Wussified” is not one of them. 

The NFL is so "wussified" the XFL commisioner's son retired far too early. 

[IceCap]

1 minute ago, SCL said:

The NFL is so "wussified" the XFL commisioner's son retired far too early. 

[SFGiants58]

16 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

 

It's better than how wrestling used to be.

 

[4_tattoos]

^^^^

wow

[mkg74]

2 hours ago, BJ Sands said:

The NFL is many things. “Wussified” is not one of them. 

Ok. You win.  Boring is a better word to describe the NFL. No? 

[mkg74]

2 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

 

Cognitive dissonance is a hell of a drug.  

How many potential AAF fans did that league lose because boneheads compared it to NFL ball after week 1?  

 

If if you think my comment is so off based then I’m sorry about your luck! 

[GDAWG]

7 hours ago, mkg74 said:

Already predicting doom and gloom for the XFL eh, I'll have to give the CFL a serious look someday. All in all College FB is my USFL or sort to speak....Always on the edge of my seat for some games. I havent had that feeling with the NFL for years. It seems cooperate and stale, wussified is another good word to describe the NFL. I watched week 1 Packers-Bears i was asleep on the couch by halftime missed rest of the game. Patriots-Steelers was a borefest so was Broncos-Raiders. If these supposedly superrior NFL athletes are puttin me to yawn! Then what gives..If the XFL does what they promise and offer an up tempo game similar to college then I'm on Board. I'll give the XFL a chance in February. But i will approach it differently then what i did with the AAF, I was a little out of hand with that league i'll admit thinking they had the finances to last 3 years, I was fooled. I'm taking pre caution this time around probably wont even comment til at least week 4, when the product on the field should be solidified by then.....People shouldnt be judging these upstart leagues on Week 1, it's ignorance and an obvious lack of football knowledge. 

 

 

 

I predict doom and gloom for the XFL due to Vince McMahon.  He has the tendency to get very impatient and flies off the handle at the smallest things.

[IceCap]

36 minutes ago, mkg74 said:

Ok. You win.  Boring is a better word to describe the NFL. No? 

How is it boring?

[Gothamite]

7 hours ago, GDAWG said:

I predict doom and gloom for the XFL due to Vince McMahon.  He has the tendency to get very impatient and flies off the handle at the smallest things.

 

Guy makes millions on scripted and staged sports-themed theater.  Guy decides to get into actual sports. But it doesn’t work. Ratings sag, and guy turns to what he knows, trying to create artificial storylines to draw interest. 

 

We know that McMahon did that last time.  My concern around this league is that he’ll do it again. 

[Ted Cunningham]

7 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

How is it boring?

While I agree with very little that mkg74 has pointed out in the latest pages of this thread, I can see how "boring" would apply to the NFL. And I also think it's a little difficult to describe why, exactly. I've been on the outside looking in on the NFL for a number of seasons now. (The last time I had a team I followed closely was when the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl back during the 2002 season.) Since then, I've kept an eye on the Steelers only because of proximity. I've watched games just about every Sunday. But I haven't followed entire seasons much; I haven't paid attention to off-season moves, storylines, etc.

 

It seems like parity in the league has increased significantly. (I'm not sure if this is due to any direct rule changes, etc., or is just the way the business is evolving.) But that's why it's hard to describe why it's boring. On it's face, parity, as a concept, would draw in more viewers: a majority of the teams have a shot at at least making the playoffs, so fanbases stay engaged longer. Further, a roughly equal portion of talent on either team in any given match-up should make the individual games more exciting. (Any team can win on any given Sunday.) And yet, that same parity makes every team feel like the same 50ish dudes dressed in 32 different color combinations. While I'm sure that fans can point to certain vague characteristics or particular elements that make teams "unique", and while there are minute differences in talent levels between the teams, from an outsider's perspective, it doesn't matter which teams are playing or how high-quality the talent and performances are. The games and teams all feel kind of the same.

 

(Moreover, I presume some of this also has to do with how centralized everything is within the NFL's headquarters and corporate structure. Everything about each team is property of the NFL, and all the broadcasting happens through the same national networks. I am thinking of baseball, and to a lesser extent, hockey here, where it seems like teams have more control over their own affairs. That is especially evident with the regional sports networks carrying a lot of individual games with broadcasts geared much more to the local audience. ATT Sportsnet in Pittsburgh regularly includes references to places in and around Pittsburgh, references that yinzers would get, and using color commentators who played for the Pirates and Penguins. Those teams' broadcasts feel far more tailored. NFL broadcasts on radio maintain this to a degree, correct? But admittedly, my regular exposure to the NFL is on TV, so I'm not sure.)

 

I realize this is long and, especially with the third paragraph, a bit rambling. But I hope it illustrates how the NFL could be seen as boring, especially from the perspective of a sports fan who doesn't have a particular team or set of players I follow closely.

 

TL;DR: I can see how the NFL could be perceived as boring. While the level of talent and play may be high, it also feels too even and too centrally controlled. No teams really stick out as unique either by players or by style of play.

[SFGiants58]

9 hours ago, 4_tattoos said:

^^^^

wow

 

That's edited though. I have similar, relatively-unedited clips ready to go.

 

 

Hearing the audio makes it so much worse.

[mkg74]

1 hour ago, Gothamite said:

 

 

 

We know that McMahon did that last time.  My concern around this league is that he’ll do it again. 

Lots of people say this too. And if he doesn’t meddle in anything? You and the like will still try to find everything and any excuse to trash the league. Amiright?