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XFL: The sequel


MillerEP

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36 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

The Ice Bats playing in that fucking barn in the slush wasn't even hockey.  Gawd, that was  shit.

Saw the greatest hockey fight in my life at an Ice Bats game.  Two dudes just wailing on each other.  Game, puck and sticks forgotten. The refs restored order and went to a face off between two other players.   The puck dropped and they just ignored it, dropped their sticks, and started hitting each other.  Then the rest of both teams started a full-blown brawl.   Then it basically ended and both teams had a bunch of players sent to the penalty box.  Whereupon a female fan climbed into the penalty box and started hitting players. 
 

Most entertaining hockey game I ever saw. Fucking glorious. 

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On 10/16/2019 at 7:10 AM, Gene Parmesan said:

It is strange that with how big football is in this country that it can't support a secondary pro league.  I wonder if it's just a matter of the leagues trying to be too much too fast?  How many professional soccer leagues exist in other countries? 

We use college sports to fill the void and they do a damn good job of it.  

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  • 1 month later...
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This sounds fun...

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  • A kickoff designed to discourage touchbacks and increase the likelihood of a return: The ball will be kicked off from the 30-yard line, but the coverage and blocking teams will line up at the receiving team's 35- and 30-yard lines, respectively. Only the kicker and returner can move until the ball is caught, or three seconds after it hits the ground. A touchback will be spotted at the 35-yard line. Kicks out of bounds will go to the 45-yard line.

  • Players can't leave the line of scrimmage on punts until after the kick. Any kicks that go into the end zone or out of bounds will be marked at the 35-yard line or wherever the ball went out of bounds, whichever is better for the receiving team. The idea is to discourage fair catches and "coffin corner" kicks, while providing more incentive to go for it on fourth down.

  • Three options after scoring a touchdown: a 1-point play from the 2-yard line, a 2-point play from the 3-yard line or a 3-point play from the 10-yard line. There is no option to kick an extra point.

  • A shootout-style overtime: Each team will get five single-play possessions from the 5-yard line. If the game is still tied at that point, the rotating possessions will continue until there is a winner. The XFL hopes that overtimes will be rare, in part because of the multiple options for points after touchdowns.

  • A rule that allows two forward passes on one play, providing the first doesn't go past the line of scrimmage. The purpose is to encourage creative trick plays without the risk of losing possession of a lateral or backward pass, which is a live ball if it hits the ground.

  • A requirement for only one foot to be in bounds for possession. XFL director of football operations Sam Schwartzstein said the change is easier to officiate quickly. It also is better for player safety, Schwartzstein said, because players take more unbraced falls while trying to place both feet in bounds.

  • A total of nine officials on the field, one of whom will be dedicated solely to spotting the ball to minimize downtime between plays. XFL head of officiating Dean Blandino said most XFL officials have experience at the Division I college level. Blandino, the former NFL officiating chief, has been consulting with the XFL for more than a year. He performed a similar function for the Alliance of American Football (AAF) last spring.

  • A video official who can intervene on significant non-reviewable plays when involving player safety, or on any calls inside of five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. There will also be booth-initiated reviews of traditionally reviewable plays using Hawk-Eye technology that ingests video directly from the broadcast truck.

  • Allowing offensive linemen to be up to 2 yards downfield when a pass is thrown, with the hope of minimizing flags on run-pass option plays.

  • A series of tweaks that the XFL hopes will cap game times at 2 hours, 45 minutes. (NFL games typically run about 3:06.) The tweaks include a running game clock that won't stop after incomplete passes or when players go out of bounds, except inside of two minutes in each half. Additionally, there will be a 10-minute halftime, two timeouts per team per half and no coin tosses. The home team will always make the choice to kick, receive or defer to start the game. The visitors will make that choice to start overtime.

 

 

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/28438441/xfl-rule-changes-focus-faster-pace-more-excitement

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I like a lot of those and might watch just to see how they play out. I'm curious on the analytics involved when to go for 1, 2, or 3 after a TD. My guess is that most teams will go for 2 since it's only a one yard difference, and will only go for 3 if needed late in games or to tie.

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I'm skeptical of the OL being allowed two yards downfield before a pass is thrown. I wonder if every offense is pretty much going to look like Auburn with tons of RPOs and pick plays, and defenses will have to resort to "lobstering" to slow the game down.

Definitely will be some high scores, which I guess is what they want.

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I like those rules except for the running clock.  That’s going to cut way down on the number of snaps, even compared to NFL games which already feel like there are too few plays and possessions per game.  Maybe I’m just used to college football and most fans want the games to just get over with quicker, though.
It won't. Teams will move faster like in college.

I didn't see how long the play clock would be.
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I'm interested to see how most work out and I'm glad a league is trying them, but I don't like the two timeouts thing. 

I like endgame scenarios where a team can get the ball back and save maximum clock with a 3-and-out defensive stop by using three timeouts and this rule will change that scenario. I'd be more in favor of 1 timeout per team in the first half and 3 in the second. 

Or what about giving each team a third "clock-stopping timeout" where it stops the game clock but the teams stay on the field and the play clock continues normally? That doesn't interrupt or delay game action like they claim to be concerned about. 

Edited by Huckleberry
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The entire league is here in Houston doing their training camps for the next 3 weeks, all practicing out of different home bases...uh, rice,  hbu, tsu, Rhodes stadium, Delmar and Turner. I'm sure they'll have open practices soon. Pretty interesting stuff to hear talk to some of the players, FWIW all have said this is much more organized than the previous leagues that started and flopped. So, we'll see what it looks like when they start playing

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18 hours ago, TheStoicPaisano said:

Blandino must be able to strip the chrome off a trailer hitch to get all these gigs. 

naw, they need legitimacy and he gives some of it due to his former role with the NFL and his current role with Fox. plus he (clearly) knows football officiating after being involved in it since the early 90s

 

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  • A kickoff designed to discourage touchbacks and increase the likelihood concussions and compound fractures: The ball will be kicked off from the 30-yard line, but the coverage and blocking teams will line up at the receiving team's 35- and 30-yard lines, respectively. Only the kicker and returner can move until the ball is caught, or three seconds after it hits the ground. A touchback will be spotted at the 35-yard line. Kicks out of bounds will go to the 45-yard line.

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Fixed it for truth.

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Is the XFL doing anything creative with offensive (or defensive) formations? I feel like the NFL has too many rules governing how you position players, how many must be on the line of scrimmage, who is/isn't an eligible receiver, etc. Why can't (for example) you just have a center, a QB, and 10 guys going deep?  Or a V-shaped phalanx formation to make a blocking wedge for your runningback, or... whatever insane formation a coach can dream up?  (Subject to the 11-man limit, and a rule that you can't be offsides before the snap.)

 

 

 

 

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On 1/7/2020 at 11:52 AM, Parliament said:

The double pass thing is a gimmick, but other that that I like it. Great call on the 1 foot down part and safety.

well they're obviously worried about safety and lord knows how many receivers are hurt trying to get 2 feet in. 

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7 hours ago, Longboard Horn said:

Went to college with Luis Perez, the QB of the LA Wildcats(was also QB of teh Birmingham Iron in the AAF). Can't wait to see him play again.

I remember hearing his story when he was tearing it up at A&M-Commerce. Never played varsity football in high school, started out 9th on the depth chart out of 9 QBs on his community college team. Pretty amazing what he’s done. Also pretty cool to me that he’s a homie.

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1 hour ago, Helobious said:

I remember hearing his story when he was tearing it up at A&M-Commerce. Never played varsity football in high school, started out 9th on the depth chart out of 9 QBs on his community college team. Pretty amazing what he’s done. Also pretty cool to me that he’s a homie.

We like to tell every team we beat that year, “you lost to a bowler!”

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