I want my XTV!

Since the XFL went large, Vince McMahon has brought his patented mix of action, sex and violence to basketball, "Millionaire" and "Sesame Street."

By King Kaufman

  • Pages 1 2

Feb 5, 2001 | The XFL, the in-your-face football league co-owned by wrestling impresario Vince McMahon and NBC, has changed the face not only of American sports but of television as well. The football league's claim that fans were tired of the NFL's "pantywaist" version of the game struck a chord with viewers, and the XFL became a sensation, sparking a broadcast revolution.

Here are some of the new sports leagues and shows that have flourished in the XFL's wake:

  • "Figure Xkating" "Who watches figure skating?" McMahon asked rhetorically when this "extreme" version debuted. "Chicks. Well, chicks are great, but we're interested in doing something for the dudes." And "Figure Xkating" has indeed been a success in the all-important 12-to-24 male demographic, with ratings higher than the NFL and "The Cindy Margolis Show" combined.

    "The element that's always been missing from figure skating, the one thing that all the other great sports have," says director of competition Tonya Harding, "is defense." To remedy that, "Figure Xkating" allows skaters to tackle their competitors to prevent them from completing their routines. This simple rule change worked wonders: While switching the emphasis from skating ability to toughness, it gave fans some tantalizing glimpses of skin when female competitors tore each other's tops off, and created the new league's first breakout stars, Freda Foreman and Shannen Doherty.

  • The XBA "People are tired of the pantywaist NBA and its boring rules," says director of competition Bill Laimbeer, the former Detroit Pistons star. The XBA has liberal -- but strictly enforced, Laimbeer notes -- rules on traveling (more than eight steps is walking) and fouls (no blindsiding players who aren't actually on the court, but otherwise all's fair). These combine for end-to-end action and a tough, "smashmouth" brand of defense that has kept scores down. "In the NBA," Laimbeer says, "you breathe on a guy funny and they call a foul. It's boring. In the XBA, you almost never hear a whistle. The fans get their money's worth. They get to see action."

    Like the XFL, the XBA is an "all-access" league, with microphones and cameras on the court, in the team huddles and in the locker rooms. Cheerleaders interview the players during the game. This recent exchange, after Charlie Johnson of the New York/New Jersey Meth Dealers hit a 3-pointer to beat the 10-second clock, is typical:

    CHEERLEADER: Whoa, Charlie! Great shot! What's up?
    JOHNSON (trying to play defense): Hey, baby (puff, puff). It's (pant) all about (puff, pant) (unintelligible), you know (puff, puff, pant)? Switch! Oof!
    CHEERLEADER: Whoa! Great screen! Back to you, guys!

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