The NFL season has come to a close and we have a long offseason ahead of us. The XFL debuted this week in an attempt to fill the football shaped void in our hearts. The LCS and LEC seasons also are beginning to hit out stride (yeah, we do esports here too). Let’s get into it.
The XFL… kinda sucks
While no football league will ever reach the level of talent the NFL has, the sport itself is fun enough that it can be interesting without watching top end talent. College football is notably very bad, but the drama, excitement and tradition keeps us tuning in every Saturday. The newly debuted XFL clearly realizes this, and know they need a high level of drama and excitement to really keep our attention.
But the XFL may be jumping the shark. First, the scoreboard is covered in gambling stats like the over/under and spread. They will often have pop up graphics with the Vegas odds for each team's title hopes and show the Vegas season over/under win totals. While I am someone myself who used to gamble, and often even make picks against the spread in these newsletters themselves, this seems like a bit much. Gambling should always be a sideshow. The XFL seems to want the gambling to be a core part of the product, which kind of cheapens the on-field results a bit.
The constant live interviews and hot mic moments seem like a bit much, too. I see that getting a closer look into a team's huddle and strategy is definitely a draw, but it feels disrespectful to the athletes themselves. For example, when a quarterback throws an interception, they should be allowed to have a moment on the sideline to talk to coaches, receivers and to just cool off and get their head together. The XFL coverage team had Dianna Russini arrive in their face with a microphone, asking them seconds after they made a huge mistake what went wrong. In one insane moment during a game between the DC Defenders and Seattle Dragons, a scuffle broke out between the players on the field. A penalty was assessed against a Dragons player, and as he was walking off the field he immediately had a microphone shoved in his face to explain what happened. Earlier in the game, the Dragons kicker terribly shanked a field goal, and instead of getting a chance to cool off, he had to do an interview. That does not even touch on the media sitting in on half time team talks.
While this is cool on surface level, it seems like a hindrance to the sport. Players are not treated like humans, but instead like figures from Madden. It also limits the team's ability to strategize on the sideline, as the media gets access to players coming off of the field before the coaches even do.
This league will be fine, and I will watch the Defenders games through the rest of the year, but the product sucks. Not because of the onfield play, but because they have designed the league in a way that makes the players on the field seem like side-pieces, instead of the main event.
G2 is on a roll
G2 Esports of the LEC is on a tear, and got through two major humps this weekend. The 2019 World Runners-up were pitted against two of the top teams in Europe this weekend as they took on Fnatic and Rouge.
Rouge is a great team, but were not expected to put too much of a fight against a team that has been rolling over everyone. Top laner Finn and jungler Inspired both played incredibly, though, and they gave G2 all they could handle. Unfortunately, a few late fights went against them, and Wunder’s ambulance Soraka play made his team entirely unkillable in team fights. While G2 would eventually win, Rouge proved themselves as real contenders this Spring, and could be a problem come playoff time.
The biggest match-up on the LEC schedule took place Sunday. The 2019 world runners-up took on the 2018 runners-up in Fnatic. Fnatic played incredibly recklessly (or Rekkles-ly) and took so many ill-advised fights, just allowing G2 to roll over them. Fnatic will be fine, but they are clearly leagues behind their longtime rival. Seeing how Rouge is playing, they may not even be the second best team in Europe.
What I’ve been watching
Knives Out might be the greatest movie I have ever watched. For context, I am a huge fan of murder mysteries, as I absolutely love seeing all the pieces coming together, and then the huge reveal at the end. Knives Out is the murder mystery formula perfectly mixed with topical, current events. Daniel Craig with a southern accent is amazing as well. If you are like me and are really late to watching it, please do. It’s amazing.
Avenue 5, an HBO show about a futuristic, space cruise ship where things go awry, is amazing. It has the perfect level of absurd humor, the running jokes never get old and all the characters are the perfect mix of insane and regular. The first 15 minutes of the first episode are rough, but things start to come together in the second half and it really creates an amazing show.
What I wrote this week:
J.D. McKissic film breakdown - Pride of Detroit
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