XFL: Fox NFL analyst John Madden offered his assessment
of the XFL: "It'll work. ... They're not going up against
the NFL or college football. They're playing in February
and March. ... I think the thing has not only a chance, but
it has a real good chance" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/30).
...In Las Vegas, Ron Kantowski, on XFL execs saying it took
several months to produce the logos for its eight teams:
"I'll bet it would have taken an art student at the
community college all of 15 minutes to design a more
attractive -- and original -- logo for the Las Vegas Outlaws
[which] ... looks suspiciously like the one the tie-dyed
rock band Grateful Dead had/has been using for decades"
(L.V. SUN, 8/29)....In UT, Brad Rock, on the N.Y./NJ Hitmen
name: "Nice. A team named after hired killers. I'd like to
think people will be offended. But this is a WWF
production. That's the idea" (DESERET NEWS, 8/29).
NOTES: ESPN.com's Mitch Lawrence: "With Isiah Thomas
unable to unload the CBA, there's serious talk of a merger
with the IBL" (ESPN.com, 8/29). The CBA Grand Rapids Hoops
and Yakima Sun Kings will play a combined nine games against
NCAA Div. I schools during the first two weeks of November.
The Hoops will play the Univ. of MI and Duke Univ., while
the Sun Kings will play the Univ. of NC (CBA). For more on
the CBA, see (#25)....In Ottawa, Ken Warren reports on NLL
Toronto Rock shareholders acquiring the Syracuse Smash with
plans to relocate the franchise to Ottawa next season.
Warren writes that to "be successful, the Ottawa entry in
the [NLL] will need to draw 10,000 fans per game" at the
Corel Centre (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 8/30). Also in Ottawa, Barre
Campbell writes that lacrosse "is gaining popularity with
fans who are tired of shelling out big money to watch other
pro sports." Campbell: "The Canadian Lacrosse Association
credits the success of the Toronto team for a 20% increase
in youth registrations last year in Ontario, where Rock
games were televised across southern portions of the
province on CTV Sportsnet" (OTTAWA SUN, 8/30).
