McMahon with the plan

Victoria Sun

Friday, Jan. 12, 2001 | 10:38 a.m.

Is the XFL supposed to be a circus? A WWF sideshow? A joke?

Call the new professional football product of WWF co-founder Vince McMahon's active mind what you will.

Just don't call it boring.

Whether fans end up enjoying the XFL because of the busty cheerleaders who will get plenty of air time, or the league's smashmouth idea of football, McMahon couldn't care less -- as long as they are entertained by it.

With the inaugural XFL season scheduled to kick off Feb. 3, McMahon and other XFL officials -- including league director of football operations Dick Butkus -- were in Las Vegas to observe training camp Thursday.

The four Western Conference teams -- the Las Vegas Outlaws, Memphis Maniax, Los Angeles Xtreme and San Francisco Demons -- are holding camp at sites around the city.

The Outlaws and the Maniax held a controlled scrimmage on the practice fields just outside of Sam Boyd Stadium on Thursday afternoon in front of at least one very interested onlooker.

"I gotta tell you, I was so excited when I walked out there onto the field today," McMahon said. "The passion and the spirit the players have, they're getting after it and they want it.

"And it was so cool because that's really what this league is about. It's about the way Dick Butkus played football. He's the personification of this league.

"Every one of those players, if they play with the same passion and desire that Butkus had -- not that they can all be as good as he was -- but having that spirit is just what we're looking for.

"And I saw an abundance of it and that's what really turned me on."

McMahon and his colleagues are confident fans will be turned on and tuned in to the XFL for several reasons.

For one, the XFL will be the only professional football league playing from February to April. McMahon figures that just as WWF fans are happy watching pro wrestling 52 weeks of the year, football fans would prefer a steady diet of their favorite sport.

So fans starved for more football after Super Bowl Sunday can get their fix through the XFL.

Unlike the first time he visited Las Vegas to announce the Outlaws' franchise, McMahon toned down his NFL bashing on Thursday. He said the XFL, or the anti-NFL if you will, will give fans what they really want: access to the heart of the team.

McMahon likened the league to "reality based" programming that is at an all-time high, as evidenced by ratings for shows such as CBS' "Survivor" and MTV's "The Real World."

McMahon reiterated that fans watching the XFL will get a "live reality show" because of gimmicks such as strategically placed microphones on players and coaches.

"What we're going to do is revolutionary and has never been done before in the history of television," McMahon said.

"When you've got a reality show inside a football game and it's live, that's cutting edge stuff. There are so many stories here on the sidelines, in the locker room.

"When you consider yourself as a fan, and that's who I am, middle class America, Mr. Joe Fan, then you know what? I'd love to get into the huddle on occasion. I'd love to hear what that quarterback has to say and I'd love to be on the sideline when the coach chews somebody out or praises someone. I'd love to have the opportunity to be in the locker room at halftime and we will be, as fans."

Other "perks" will include up-close coverage of injured players and close-ups of cheerleaders.

"You're going to get to know the cheerleaders and see that they actually have a brain in addition to a beautiful body," said McMahon, who was roundly criticized during a previous news conference for stating the dating habits of players and cheerleaders would be emphasized during broadcasts.

"They're going to be stars in and of themselves so you'll get to know the cheerleaders, the coaches. From a reality basis you may not like them, or you will like them. It's whatever way it goes."

So far, at least according to the league brass, the public seems to be buying the concept.

XFL president Basil DeVito said the XFL has sold more than 70,000 season tickets league wide and 400,000 total tickets.

For those who are still unsure what to make of the XFL, Butkus predicts the football will speak for itself.

"If I'm sitting at home and I'm gonna say, 'Well this guy can't throw 40 yards out and this guy looks too slow and I'm not going to watch it no more,' I don't think that's going to happen," Butkus said.

"They think these guys all came off the street somewhere but they all played some sort of professional football."

"It has been our job to educate people," DeVito said. "Ultimately, regardless of how well we do that job, until we play football on Feb. 3 and people can see and feel and just see for themselves what the XFL is, it's hard to explain it with just mere words and phrases."

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