The "30 for 30" on the XFL Looks Amazing AF

#30for30 returns in February with #ThisWasTheXFL! pic.twitter.com/G1Fd714tLF

— ESPN Films 30 for 30 (@30for30) December 12, 2016

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I’m not exactly in a giving mood when it comes to ESPN. So I only promote their content reluctantly. But on those occasions the WorldWide Leader doesn’t have Roger Goodell’s hand shoved up its ass moving its mouth for it, they still do some of the best content out there. And this XFL “30 for 30″ looks phenomenal.

It’s hard to believe it’s already been 15 years since Vince McMahon’s reinvention of football made it’s debut. And it’s departure, since it folded in its first season and even Mr. McMahon can’t bring himself to call it anything but “a colossal failure.” Which is shocking when you consider that the whole premise of the league was that they weren’t going to protect quarterbacks (“we won’t be putting a dress on them” was McMahon’s one-liner in the promos), started off every game by rolling a ball on the ground at midfield and had players fight for it, allowed DBs to hit receivers all over the field before the ball was thrown (a rule they changed mid-season), eliminated extra point kicks in favor of making teams punch it in the end zone for one point and instituted the “no fair catch” rule. Who would’ve figured a league based on basically trying to get guys injured so fans could see their backups play wouldn’t catch on?

If I remember correctly, the XFL debuted on TV to phenomenal ratings. And what killed the league was the exposure. Because fans realized the same time the XFL did that America has a limited appetite for shitty football. But the time it was taken off the air, they produced the lowest rated show in the history of prime time network television, behind the previous low which (I’m going from memory here) was a July 4th rerun of “Manimal” or something. Which I would watch tonight over an XFL game, have no doubt.

But I will watch this “30 for 30.” The one they did about the USFL, watching the upstart league begin to build something around stars like Herschel Walker and Doug Flutie and a sound financial plan, only to watch it collapse when one of the owners, a real estate mogul out of New York named Donald Trump, lost interest and walked out, was outstanding. This XFL one should be even better.