| Ah, spring, tra la. Mornings soft with dew. Birdsong in the
trees. Nature awakening. Guys in football costumes posturing and strutting about. At the
end there, I was referring to the World Wrestling Federation’s plan in the spring of
2001 to deliver to us a new football league, born amid buffoonery and dedicated, I would
assume, to the proposition that many men and some women will be endlessly amused by the
same sort of antics that have made the WWF a very big ticket on television.
That is the WWF’s thrust, isn’t it? Surely it is not intending to offer
football as football, unadorned by rule adjustments and bizarre behavior.
Frankly, I never have found the WWF’s form of theater attractive, but it does pull
in the ratings. Escapism, I suppose. In this instance, though, its script is all wrong.
Oh, not the goings-on in the ring. This is, after all, hippodrome, and it can be tolerated
when it is viewed as such.
Where the WWF loses me is in its intention to offer its "football"
programming during the springtime. I think I am as enthusiastic concerning pro football as
the next guy, but after the Super Bowl I am ready for something else. I want to see
somebody hitting behind a runner or a guy winging a left hook to another guy’s liver,
anything but another off-tackle play.
In agreement with me on this is Charley Casserly. I don’t know if Charley knows a
hammerlock from a body slam, but he knows a thing or two about football and, he says,
about the American public, and he could not be more outspoken concerning the XFL.
That’s how the WWF plans to label its football product. That would be
"X" as in the symbol marking the spot where the league does a colossal pratfall.
"It is impossible for a spring league to succeed in this country," announced
Casserly, the newly appointed general manager of the NFL’s Houston expansion team.
"It’s hard to find eight quality organizations. That’s hard to do, and
you’re only as strong as your weakest link."
The XFL, it should be noted, is going to own all of its franchises, which is all one
has to know about this enterprise. In that sort of a setup, the potential for abuses is
alarming.
"But let’s look at the American public," invited Casserly.
"They’re not going to turn on that TV unless there is some identification.
They’re not going to turn it on just to watch football."
Casserly remembered when the USFL was tilting at the mighty monolith that is the NFL.
"The USFL went into business, and people turned it on. Why?" questioned
Casserly. "They wanted to watch Doug Flutie; they wanted to watch Herschel Walker.
They wanted to see some stars."
The WWF doesn’t have any stars, unless one counts Stone Cold Steve Austin and his
peers.
Where the USFL goofed, in Casserly’s thinking, was not granting TV exposure to its
stars every week. "That’s what the USFL people told me," said Casserly.
"But if you put on three games every week, you have to put some bad teams on."
Casserly doesn’t rule out the possibility that the XFL may sign a few players with
identities. "But that’s not going to be enough," argued the Houston
executive. "They’re not going to be able to get enough to make it
worthwhile."
The point can be made that the XFL’s appeal is not going to be to football fans
but to the sort of folks who tune into wrestling telecasts. "But I know this much:
16- and 14-year-old kids don’t buy tickets for football. OK?" said Casserly.
"The tickets for wrestling don’t cost the same as they do for football. So it
still gets down to economics. You’ve got to pay those people out there."
There’s also the matter of the calendar. On it during the spring are Easter,
Memorial Day and Mother's Day. A bit later is the Fourth of July.
"Those aren’t great days for having football games," noted Casserly.
These, meantime, are busy times for Casserly, who has taken up residence in Houston and
has begun assembling a staff for a team that still does not have a name. He also is
looking into how a facility for the club should be designed. He showed up in Indianapolis
for the Combine workouts this weekend.
So many details.
Scouting is Casserly’s area of expertise. "It still gets down to the ability
of a person to evaluate," said Casserly. "That’s No. 1. However, in college
scouting, with the advent of spring workouts, you have had an evolution. When I started 23
years ago, some teams definitely had an edge in scouting. Now players have one workout in
the spring, and everybody sees the same workout. That gives everybody the same
information.
"But I still think you’ve got to have the guy who can sit in that room and
tell you if a guy can play or not. Don Nehlen (head coach at West Virginia) has a great
statement: ‘Hey, what you’re looking for is "it." Does a guy have
"it," or doesn’t he have "it"? That’s what it comes down to.
Do you have people on your staff who can identify "it"?' "
Casserly has plenty of time to search out these "it" guys. The Texas
expansion club won’t be kicking off until 2002. What folks want to know is when
Casserly intends to appoint a head coach. His plan: to take a peek around next January and
see if there is anyone who appeals to him. If there is, he could reach for him. If there
is not, well, he doesn’t have to be in any hurry.
"I already know people want this job," said Casserly, "and I want to end
this discussion right there."
Editor's note: Jerry Magee has covered pro football for the San Diego Union-Tribune
since 1961 and for PFW since its inception in 1967. |
