Justin Whitner | Staff Writer

When the XFL began its first go-around in 2001, it was a professional American football lea gue that wanted to pounce on the idea that football season could still stay relevant after the completion of the NFL and NCAA seasons.

The XFL set off as a joint venture between the World Wrestling Federation and NBC. WWF owner Vince McMahon promoted the outdoor football league with fewer rules, faster play time and more excitement on the field. The first XFL league had eight teams in two divisions. The 2020 version will repeat that same league plan with hopes that this second go-around with the league will go much differently.

  In the first week of the XFL season in 2020, much like in 2001, many viewers tuned in to the opening day of games. Two games were on Fox, one on ABC and one on ESPN. The four games averaged 3.12 million viewers and a 1.0 rating among adults ages 18-49.

Those ratings were in line with the inaugural prime-time game for the Alliance of American Football on CBS last year that averaged 3.25 million viewers, 0.9 in adults 18-49. However, the AAF didn’t get a chance to even finish its season as it suspended operations the 9th week of the 10-game season.

Fox’s Sunday afternoon XFL game had the biggest audience with 3.39 million viewers, while ESPN’s Sunday telecast was the smallest of the four with just under 2.5 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

  “I think the XFL has a better foundation, and I think they came with a different approach,” Hampton University football player Justin Lawson said. “The XFL has its own set of rules that makes it more interesting to watch. The XFL is also accessible on channels like Fox and Fox1; it also comes on ABC, which tells you that the XFL has network approval and people are actually watching.”

  The rule changes and opportunities in the XFL, along with the quality of play, drew largely positive reviews on opening weekend. Although the kickers are undermined, and their value is decreased with no more punting out of bounds, kickoffs are backed up, more returns are allowed and no more extra-point kicks, it seems to have brought a different style to the game of football.

In 2001, the partnership between McMahon and NBC resulted in 14 million viewers for its prime-time opener. After the first game, however, the ratings went all the way down, and that XFL failed just after one season. NBC and the WWF both lost $35 million on their $100 million investment in the league’s inaugural season, according to Forbes.

“For the XFL to stay relevant, it has to get a specific fan base, and the city they have placed themselves in will help them reach those places because only the fans keep the team alive.” Lawson said. “Like the DC defenders had a showing yesterday that was pretty good, and their quarterback Cardale Jones is not bad.”

The XFL has started off on the same path as it did in 2001, but it will have to do things extremely different this go-around in order to keep the league afloat.

Justin Norris | Staff Writer

Although no stars were moved during the NBA’s trade deadline, plenty of teams made moves they think will upgrade their roster.

Some teams, such as the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers, made moves that further emphasized their win-now attitudes in a championship race that is more open than it has been in at least five years. The Los Angeles Lakers were the most notable team to stand pat at the deadline. 

The Houston Rockets doubled down on their small-ball philosophy by trading away starting center Clint Capela, their 2020 first-round pick and Gerald Green for Robert Covington and a future second round pick. Trading Capela means that PJ Tucker will play center full time for the Rockets in a lineup where no player will be taller than Covington, who is 6-foot-7. The move will create more driving lanes for James Harden and Russell Westbrook while enabling Houston to play a five-out offense for virtually the entire game to maximize 3-point attempts and shots at the rim, while allowing them to switch anything defensively without putting any player at a major size advantage defensively. 

Ever since GM Daryl Morey acquired Harden from Oklahoma City in one of the most lopsided trades of all time, he has been determined to maximize Houston’s championship window, which is directly tied to Harden’s shelf life as a superstar. 

With the Golden State Warriors out of the championship picture this year, it was assumed Morey would make a win-now move to take advantage of the abdicated Western Conference throne. Morey even admitted in an interview with ESPN in 2017 that last year that he was “obsessed” with beating Golden State because he knew that the road to the NBA Finals ran through Golden State. 

The Miami Heat sent Justise Winslow, James Johnson and Dion Waiters to the Memphis Grizzlies for Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill. Iguodala was one of the most coveted names on the market for his playmaking acumen, defensive chops and championship experience, and Crowder and Hill are wings capable of making open 3-pointers and holding their own defensively. 

Additionally, Miami was able to rid itself of Waiters, who had fallen out of favor with coach Erik Spoelstra after having multiple detrimental conduct issues with the team. Jimmy Butler’s arrival in Miami this past summer made Winslow’s presence somewhat redundant as a defensive-minded playmaking wing with a questionable jump shot. 

Nazim Trammell-Wells, a Hampton University senior journalism major from Philadelphia, really liked the Heat’s deadline acquisitions. 

“The move to get Iggy and Crowder definitely shifts us into a win now mentality,” he said. “Pat Riley is a great GM, and he is constantly finding pieces to have us in the conversation to both make a deep run, while also acquiring talent.”

This trade deepens Miami’s rotation, gives Spoelstra even more lineup flexibility and firmly puts the Heat into the tier of Eastern Conference contenders below Milwaukee, which includes Philadelphia, Boston and Toronto. 

The Los Angeles Clippers acquired coveted forward Marcus Morris from the New York Knicks. Morris had been linked to both Los Angeles teams before the deadline, and he and Iguodala were two of the most highly sought after players on the market. While Morris represents another viable 3-and-D and scoring option for the already loaded Clippers, perhaps the biggest boon of this transaction is that the Clippers kept him away from their locker room roommates, the Los Angeles Lakers. Morris is averaging almost 20 points per game on 44 percent shooting from 3-point range. He is another wing defender who can at least hope to match up with LeBron James in a potential playoff series, if for no other reason than to keep Kawhi Leonard and Paul George fresh.

The Lakers chose to value team continuity and chemistry over perceived marginal upgrades at the trade deadline. The death of Kobe Bryant might have played a factor, as this team rallied and became closer than most in the weeks leading up to the deadline. Forward Kyle Kuzma’s name was circulating in trade rumors leading up to the deadline, but the Lakers decided to keep their streaky third-year scorer. In fact, Kuzma was rumored to be in discussions with the Knicks for Morris, but the Lakers must have decided that the price to acquire Morris was too steep. However, they are expected to be active in the buyout market, especially since free-agent guard and California native Darren Collison recently announced he will remain retired, to the chagrin of Lakers fans. 

John T. Harvey IV, a fourth-year in HU’s 5-year MBA program who is from Washington, D.C., laments the Lakers’ passiveness at the deadline.

“When you look at the Clippers, they are deep at every position and have already beaten the Lakers twice this season,” he said. “I was hoping that they would acquire Morris to even the scales, but it is unacceptable to allow him to go to our biggest competition. His shooting and defense would have made him a great fit on any team, but especially next to LeBron and AD.”

As with every season, time will tell if teams such as the Rockets and Heat did enough to vault themselves into true championship contention, and if the Clippers did enough to topple the Lakers in a playoff matchup. But all eyes will be on the Lakers and whether or not they were prudent in their refusal to trade Kuzma and disrupt their chemistry like they did at last season’s deadline.

Keion Cage | Staff Writer

The NBA’s All-Star Game on Feb. 16 in Chicago celebrated some of the league’s best athletes. The association also changed the rules of the game to honor basketball legend Kobe Bryant, who died Jan. 26.

A frenetic fourth quarter featured fierce competitiveness worthy of Bryant. Several fouls, challenges and heated disputes occurred between players and referees – rarely seen in past All-Star games. 

“This fourth quarter of [the NBA All-Star Game] is an absolutely phenomenal look for the game of basketball,” ESPN journalist Stephen A. Smith wrote on Twitter. “This is what fans crave and the players delivered.”

Team LeBron was able to complete the comeback victory and beat Team Giannis, 157-155, with a free throw made by the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis sealing the deal.

The NBA changed the All-Star MVP Award name to the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP Award. The Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard earned the honor with 30 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

“It’s very special,” Leonard said in an interview with ESPN. “Words can’t explain how happy I am to be able to put that trophy in my room and just be able to see Kobe’s name on there.”

The All-Star Game captains were the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo. Team LeBron players wore No. 2 to honor Bryant’s daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, who died in the helicopter accident with her father. Team Antetokounmpo wore No. 24 to honor Kobe Bryant.

“It’s a big honor,” Antetokounmpo said in an interview with NBA.com. “I wouldn’t want it any other way representing Kobe and Gigi in [Sunday] night’s game.”

Singers, rappers and speakers shared words about Bryant before the game.

“Kobe Bryant is synonymous with NBA All-Star and embodies the spirit of this global celebration of our game,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced before the game. “He always relished the opportunity to compete with the best of the best and perform at the highest level for millions of fans around the world.”

In the first three quarters, the two teams competed in 12-minute periods, with the winner of each receiving $100,000 toward their team’s Chicago-based charities. In the final quarter, the scores from the first three quarters were added up, and the game clock was turned off. The fourth quarter was played until a team reached the final target score. The final target score was determined by the leading team’s total score in the first three quarters plus 24 to honor Bryant again. The winning team would get an additional $200,000 toward its charity.

Team LeBron took the first quarter with a score of 53-41. Team Giannis countered and won the second quarter, 51-30. The third quarter ended 41-41, causing the $100,000 in charity money to be carried over to the winner of the final quarter. Team Giannis led Team LeBron entering the fourth quarter, 133-124, making the final target score 157. 

Team LeBron earned $400,000 for the Chicago Scholars Foundation, and Team Giannis made $100,000 for After School Matters.