It’s the Kielbasa Kid…

…and I realize I represent the minority when I say this but after 4 weekends of the XFL I am hooked. The XFL is the winter football league that was put together by WWE head honcho Vince McMahan. It’s really a reboot of what he tried 20 years ago but fell flat on his head just like the idea of hot tubs in the end zone. They may fall on its head again because the ratings haven’t been the greatest and have slipped since its opening weekend but they appear to have flattened out and actually may have found a niche audience, at least I hope so. Plus the season will be over before the hockey playoffs begin and when baseball barely gets off the ground. Besides I think the NFL could benefit by some of the things the XFL does. Take for instance the 2 minute warning. What does it mean in the NFL? Nothing except there is 2 minutes to play in the half or game, big deal. In the XFL the clock stops after every play giving the offense the entire field to work with. I love the idea that they don’t kick for an extra point after a score but instead the offense has to make a play for them from the 2, 5 or 10 yard line worth 1, 2 or 3 points respectively. The kickoff rule is pretty cool too. The kicker kicks from the 35 yard line with the coverage and return team line up with 5 yards between them on the return side of the field and neither team can move until the ball is caught by the runner. I don’t know if it’s got the attention of the NFL but it does have the attention of at least one college team. This Saturday the Citadel will hold its annual college spring game and they plan to adopt some of the rules used by the XFL like the kickoff and extra point rule and a few other things I didn’t get into. Now I like tradition as much as the next guy but making a few tweaks in the NFL wouldn’t hurt except for the traditionalists who might look at it as blasphemous. But who knows it just might be another winter league that just might be another blimp on the radar and be lost to history like the others but I hope not.