Xfl America Podcasty

After a month away Greg and Dave return to give their honest assessments of how the league did as it heads toward the conclusion of what can be termed a mediocre debut for the first season. However, with the USFL in full swing, we hold out hope that Dany and Dwayne will learn from their unforced boardroom and off-field errors and improve what we bo…

Dave and Greg are back after a week hiatus to compare and contrast how the league performed in the ratings between being broadcast on traditional over the air television and on cable/satellite. The guys also take the XFL media to task over their coverage of the league and continuing failure to ask the hard questions regarding the business of the XF…

On a morning where the cherry blossoms were blooming and Scott was watching his UAB Blazers lose a heart breaker at the NIT, Greg sat down with ⁠Ken Crippen⁠, founder and executive director of ⁠The Football Learning Academy⁠, to discuss the mission of the FLA and his thoughts on how the game has changed over the decades. The online academy is the f…

On the day in which Japan won the world championship of baseball over America, Greg and Dave talk about the tanking ratings of the XFL and frustrations over the league's seemingly deaf tone towards their fans and continued making of unforced errors off the field, particularly as it relates to marketing and fan engagement. The guys sit down and diss…

In the annals of professional football, aside from the American Football League, only one other league has truly challenged the dominance of the NFL, and that was the United States Football League of the 1980s. Unlike other spring leagues, all of which are small potatoes comparatively, the USFL forever changed how we look at professional football a…

In a weekend where many expected the XFL to fall flat, and despite continuing to fall in the ratings, the league put on a great show in most of its venues, with the Battlehawks setting the all-time attendance record for spring football. Hold on. What a second... That's wrong, the first USFL set that record, back in the 1980s. However, despite The R…

On March 13, 1960, the city of Chicago lost its original NFL team, the now Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals were birthed on Chicago's southside and played most of their seasons at Comiskey Park; however, despite their being the city's original NFL team, they were not its flagship franchise, with that distinction going to their northside rivals, the…

At the dawn of the 21st Century, in the winter of 2001, a new gridiron football league appeared on the sports scene. The brainchild of wrestling promotor Vince McMahon and television executive Dick Ebersol, the XFL sought to become the premier weekly sporting event in America during the NFL off season. As most football fans, the original XFL fell s…

For week three Dave and Greg look at the game both on and off the field as week three provided plenty of excitement as fan attendance increased, but ratings continued to nosedive. Also talked about is why San Antonio and not St. Louis was granted the XFL championship game and the unionization of the players, as well as the perceived move of despera…

The second episode of the season finds Greg James joined by former sports executive Dave Cieslinski for a candid look as to how the XFL performed in weeks one and two. Dave provides a perspective that you won't find on other XFL podcasts. He knows what it takes to put bottoms in the seats and to get fans interested so that they return. The two disc…

In the world of sports history podcasting, there is a curious little one that has carved out a niche covering the world of defunct leagues and teams from yesteryear. "Good Seats Still Available" has its roots in Tim Hanlon's youth, when he fell in love with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, who unfortunately, like the league …

For this third episode we move up to the Great White North as Greg sits down with Don and Heath of the Third Down Gamble podcast, where they go team by team through the Canadian Football League and review last year's performance and review all that has happened in the off season. The three also talk about the ownership struggles within the league a…

It is XFL kickoff eve in America! In this episode Greg sits down with the elder half of The World of Football podcast dynamic duo, Randy Snow. Randy is the Adam West to his own son Adam's Burt Ward, both of whom who broadcast weekly from the Man Cave news and history lessons that encompass the gridiron game around the world, including where Greg is…

In the inaugural episode, Greg James adds his laid-back historical approach to the crowded XFL field. Unlike the other XFL shows, he does not mince words as to what he believes was an under performing week one. Specifically, he calls out the league for catering to the white male wrestling crowd and talks about how the marketing sucks. He also discu…

From Japan, it's Greg James of CFL America Radio and the Sports History Network with a new show filled with commentary and observations about the XFL, as well as analysis of league news, and those important items that affect the business of gridiron football.

Welcome to the first episode of "Gridiron America," where Japan based Greg James (co-host of the "From the 55 Yard Line" and "Gridiron Japan" podcasts) sits down with fellow podcasters and gridiron experts to talk about the game outside of the lines. In this inaugural episode ("the beta episode") Greg sits down with fellow Sports History Network me…

The Million Dollar Game was the XFL's championship game at the end of its only season in 2001. At first it had no special name, then was going to be called "The Big Game at the End," but eventually received the name it ended up with because a pot of one million dollars was to be split among the players of the winning team. The game was played on Sa…

The Xtreme came out focused, moving 60 yards in six plays on the game's opening possession. Maddox capped the drive with a 26-yard pass to Copeland that provided a 6-0 lead. It looked like the Xtreme would extend the lead on their next possession as they moved deep into Chicago territory. But Copeland fumbled at the 10 and linebacker Chike Egbuniwe…

Jeff Brohm was the quarterback of the Rage for most of the regular season, amassing a 6-0 record as starter during his first time at the helm. The team looked to be the league's powerhouse franchise under Brohm. He showed his toughness after he suffered an injury from a devastating hit by at the hands of Memphis Maniax defensive end Shante Carver i…

Kevin McDougal threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score as Chicago beat Orlando 23-6 to take the final XFL playoff spot. The Enforcers, who overcame an 0-4 start to finish the regular season 5-5, opened the playoffs in Los Angeles against the Western Division-champion Xtreme. The Rage (8-2) the Eastern Conference champion had already clinch…

Los Angeles Xtreme disgusted with their lackluster play in their prior loss at Memphis, LA came to the Coliseum to make a point--and made several in a 24-0 victory over the Demons before 18,121. It was the second shutout in XFL play and earned L.A. the West Division title and a home playoff game. Los Angeles had a league-low 556 rushing yards enter…

Jim Druckenmiller threw three touchdown passes as the Memphis Maniax beat the Los Angeles Xtreme 27-12 in week nine of the XFL 2001 season. The Maniax (4-5) beat the Western Division-leading Xtreme (6-3) for the second time this season. Los Angeles had won four straight following an 18-12 loss to Memphis on Feb. 25. Druckenmiller connected with Bea…

Mike Pawlawski's 25-yard touchdown pass to Terry Battle helped give the San Francisco Demons a 14-9 victory over the Las Vegas Outlaws and a spot in the XFL playoffs. The touchdown pass with 5:17 left in the third quarter followed a 49-yard interception return by Dwayne Harper and broke a 6-6 tie. Pawlawski finished with 138 passing yards on 17 of …

Kevin McDougal returned from a neck injury and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Willy Tate with 1:41 to play to give the Chicago Enforcers a 23-18 victory over the New York-New Jersey Hitmen. McDougal also threw touchdown passes of 9 and 16 yards to Luke Leverson and linebacker Jamie Beasley preserved the Enforcers' fourth win in five games by int…

The Los Angeles Xtreme (6-2) needed a win over the Las Vegas Outlaws Saturday night in front of 20,132 at the Los Angeles Coliseum to clinch its first playoff birth in team history. The Xtreme did just that handing the Outlaws a 35-26 defeat to sweep the season series with its division rival. Tommy Maddox threw for four touchdowns in the first half…

The Orlando Rage jumped on the Hitmen early and held on late to beat NY 17 to 12 in front of 20,000 Rage fans. Orlando was coming off a demoralizing loss to LA in their previous game, they lost their leader Jeff Brohm and the Hitmen were looking to avenge an early season defeat at the hands of the Rage. The task wasn't supposed to be easy and the g…

Wally Richardson threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Zola Davis in the corner of the end zone with nine seconds left Saturday night, giving the New York/New Jersey Hitmen a 16-15 victory over the Memphis Maniax in the XFL. It was the second TD hookup of the night for the Richardson and Davis, who combined for a 9-yarder to the third quarter after Memp…

LeShon Johnson ran for two touchdowns, and the Chicago Enforcers withstood San Francisco's second-half surge to beat the Demons 25-19. John Avery ran for 110 yards, and Kevin McDougal completed 11 of 14 for 175 yards and a score for Chicago (2-5) before an announced Soldier Field crowd of 11,428. San Francisco (3-4) trailing by 19 points in the sec…

Week seven in the XFL saw the 2-4 Birmingham Bolts vs the Las Vegas Outlaws 3-3. With three weeks to go the Bolts amazingly still had a chance to make the playoffs. Unfortunately they would go on to lose the rest of their games finishing dead last in their division. Twenty two unanswered points ruined Jay Barker's first start in a 34-12 defeat befo…

Week 7 of the XFL season saw the undefeated Orlando Rage take on the LA Xtreme. A day after NBC dropped to a new-low 2.1 overnight rating for an XFL telecast, the Los Angeles Xtreme drew a sparse crowd for what was billed as the XFL's "game of the year" at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The announced crowd was 20,382 -- that's tickets sold. The…

Joe Aska, the former Oakland Raider, returned to the Bay Area as New York / New Jersey defeated San Francisco 20-12 at Pacific Bell Park. Joe Aska's return to the Bay Area was an overwhelming success. The former Oakland Raider put the finishing touches on his team's victory with a 2-yard touchdown dive late in the fourth quarter as the New York/New…

Nine unanswered points in the fourth by the visitors from LA resulted in a 35-26 defeat before only 11,197 fans at Legion Field. Before sustaining an injury late in the third, Casey Weldon passed for over 300 yards and three touchdown on a nine yard pass to Quincy Jackson on the opening drive, a short pass to James Bostic and an 80-yard bomb to Ste…

Just a week removed from a very serious neck injury, Rage qb Jeff Brohm outgunned the Outlaws slinger Ryan Clement at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Brohm's numbers were impressive to say the least. 13 of 20 for 235 yards and two touchdowns as the boys from Orlando closed in, on clinching a playoff berth. Remaining as the only team that had not tasted de…

In front of 17,434, Jim Druckenmiller threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Daryl Hobbs with 20 seconds left to give the Memphis Maniax a 29-23 victory over the Chicago Enforcers. The td pass, Druckenmiller's third of the night, capped a 413-yard passing performance by the Memphis quarterback. Charles Jordan caught 10 passes from Druckenmiller for 240 …

Week 5 saw two teams the LA Xtreme (2-2) vs the struggling NY/NJ Hitmen (1-3) trying to keep pace with their first place rivals in each one's respective division. Midway through XFL season fans had already started tuning out in large numbers and by now Vince McMahon was so desperate for ratings that he concocted a stunt (you can see it on my channe…

Backup quarterback Brian Kuklick threw for 207 yards and a touchdown and Jay Taylor kicked a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter to lead the Orlando Rage to a 21-19 victory over the Memphis Maniax in week 5. The victory left the Rage (5-0) as the XFL's only undefeated team. Memphis (2-3) has lost all three of its home games. Kuklick, subbing …

Week 5 had the Las Vegas Outlaws 3-1 playing the win less Chicago Enforcers 0-4 at historic Soldier Field. More than 15,000 braved the Chicago cold weather to see this exciting game. Most would argue that this was the game that turned things around for the Enforcers and sent the Outlaws into a tail spin. Coach Ron Meyer turned over the starting job…

Date: February 25, 2001, XFL Week: 4 Home Team: San Francisco Demons Visiting Team: Las Vegas Outlaws Game attendance: 34,000, Stadium: Pac Bell Park TV announcers: Craig Minervini, Bob Golic Network: UPN The second XFL game at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco drew another near-sellout crowd of about 34,000, but the host Demons lost to the Las Ve…

There were almost as many fumbles on the field as there were fans in the stands. In a rain-soaked XFL game, the Memphis Maniax defeated the Los Angeles Xtreme, 18-12 at the Coliseum. The Xtreme announced that 18,341 tickets were sold for its second home game, but a crowd estimated at less than 8,000 braved the torrential rains that pelted the South…

Date: February 24, 2001 XFL Week: 4. Home Team: Chicago Enforcers Visiting Team: New York/New Jersey Hitmen Game Time: Game weather: Freezing Drizzle/Fog Referee: Game attendance: 14,856 Stadium: Soldier Field TV announcers: Jim Ross, Jesse Ventura Network: NBC Week four of the XFL saw these two teams battle for their first win. Both were 0-3 going…

Week 3 of the XFL had one undefeated team the Orlando Rage (2-0) going up against the win less NY/NJ Hitmen led by their disliked quarterback Charlie Puleri. The Hitmen held a team only meeting that week where much of the anger was directed towards Puleri. The embattled quarterback who was being booed by the NY/NJ fans was pulled after the first ha…

Duane Butler scored on a 98-yard interception return with less than two minutes to play as the Birmingham Bolts beat the Chicago Enforcers 14-3. The interception was the third turnover by Chicago. The others also came in Birmingham territory, including a fumble by running back John Avery in the first quarter. Birmingham improved to 2-1, and Chicago…

Jose Cortez kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to give the Los Angeles Xtreme a 12-9 victory over the Las Vegas Outlaws. Cortez also connected from 45, 44 and 36 yards to help Los Angeles win for the second straight week. Las Vegas, which allowed just three points in its first two games, dropped to 2-1 before a crowd of 26,135. Xtreme safe…

Winter hit the XFL, and the weather beat up the new league and its fans. Freezing temperatures and 22 mph wind that made it feel like 6 degrees -- and that was at the start of the game -- sent most of the 36,458 fans at the New York-New Jersey Hitmen's home opener to the exits early. Only about 5,000 hardy fans were left at Giants Stadium when Char…

Jason Kaiser and Kurt Gouveia scored on long fumble returns and Las Vegas' defense also set up a field goal as the Outlaws beat Memphis 25-3 on Sunday night in the XFL. Kaiser scored on an 80-yard return in the second quarter, and Gouveia had a 100-yarder in the third quarter. The victory left Las Vegas as one of only two XFL teams undefeated throu…

Week 2 of the XFL saw two teams the Chicago Enforcers vs LA Xtreme looking for their first victory of the season. The game went into double overtime with LA coming out on top after trailing most of the game. The live telecast was interrupted by a power outage at the Coliseum before the game started which affected NBC from showing most of the first …

From 2015, Amin and the Vassals review George R. R. Martin’s "The Last Super Bowl" in a spoiler filled discussion that was recorded before the Super Bowl, which thus explain their pro-Seahawks hopes. Sports are universally beloved. Geographically, athletic competitions take on various forms; the NFL, NBA, MLB are strong in America; NHL in Canada; P…

Mike Panasuk kicked a 33-yard field goal with no time left to give the San Francisco Demons a 15-13 victory over the Los Angeles Xtreme as the XFL made its Bay Area debut in front of a sellout crowd. Mike Pawlawski was 31-of-47 for 289 yards and threw two touchdowns passes for the Demons in the first professional football game at Pac Bell Park. Jos…

A bold challenge, a fearless experiment and ultimately, a spectacular failure. In 2001, sports entertainment titans Ebersol and McMahon launched the XFL. It was hardly the first time a league had tried to compete with the NFL, but the brash audacity of the bid, combined with the personalities and charisma of Ebersol and McMahon and the marketing be…

While NBC was televising the NY/NJ Hitmen vs Las Vegas Outlaws nationally, the Chicago Enforcers were taking on the Orlando Rage for the first time ever. This game was a satellite feed which was not shown nationally until NBC decided to go to it in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter due to the Las Vegas game being a blowout. Note: I edited …