Monday, Feb. 5, 2001

Buchsbaum’s thoughts on the XFL

By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor

Buchsbaum: I think this shows how it seems like substance has stopped mattering in our society. They did a great job of hyping the XFL. They did a great job of promoting it. But they put a shoddy product on the field. And people still went for it because they gave the people a sex show with it. It’s very discouraging to me, because this is a sign of what our society’s coming to. It’s basically what appeals to the lowest denominator of society is what we go for. You’re seeing this more and more with the TV shows; it’s what the movie makers go for. The quality of the game doesn’t matter as long as there’s enough sex, violence and cursing and alcohol.

PFW: What about the performances of the John Averys and Rashaan Salaams of the league?

Buchsbaum: Avery did OK, but you’ve got to look at who he’s going against. He’s going against guys who can’t tackle. I mean, the tackling was atrocious. Let’s put it this way: They made NFL Europe look like the NFL. I’m sure the product will get better once they have time together as teams. And I have great respect for many of the people coaching in the league. But you just can’t make chicken feathers into chicken salad.

PFW: Do you think this will hurt those coaches’ reputations?

Buchsbaum: I really don’t think so. It’s head-coaching experience. They said all the guys that were head coaches in the USFL would never get back into the NFL, and look what it did for Jim Mora’s career. And it also ensured Carl Peterson would get back as an upper-echelon GM because he showed how well he could run a whole show. And a number of other people from that league landed jobs in the NFL. Just remember, one of your most astute GMs now, John Butler, was in the USFL.

The Archives
2000 - 2001 Season