Author: Scott Adamson

Rule innovations highlight XFL

Kickoffs will look very different in the XFL this season, with the kicking and receiving teams lined up just five yards apart. This should help prevent dangerous, high impact hits and make the play safer.

The rebooted XFL vows to “reimagine the game of football,” and that means the league will play by its own rules when it hits the field next month.

Scott Adamson writes about alternative pro football leagues because it makes him happy, Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl

Today XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck and Head of Officiating Dean Blandino unveiled the official rules and gameplay innovations for the eight team circuit, alterations designed to offer a unique twist to a familiar game.

A 3-point conversion?

It’s possible.

Multiple forward passes behind the line of scrimmage?

Yep.

A “soccer style” overtime?

It’s a go.

If you’re a pro football league that isn’t the NFL you need to give fans something different, and the XFL promises to do that when it kicks off on February 8.

“We’re super excited about giving our fans a true fan-first league and one built for the 21st century,” Luck said. “We’ve designed a fast, up tempo game. Our tagline ‘less stall, more ball’ describes very much what we’re aiming for.”

Offenses will be allowed to throw up to two forward passes behind the line of scrimmage, which is sure to create new deceptions in a team’s bag of trick plays.

There are more scoring options as well, thanks to tiered conversions. The extra point kick has become passé in spring football – the original XFL spurned it as did the short-lived Alliance of American Football last year.

That being the case, a team that scores a touchdown in XFL 2.0 has the option of running a play from the two, five, or 10-yard line, worth 1, 2, or 3 points, respectively. Should the defense run back a fumbled ball or take an interception to the house on the try, it’ll score the same amount of points the offense was aiming for.

Thus, a contest that features a nine point differential is still potentially a one score game.

“The innovation that had the most interest from fans was the extra point because of the strategy involved,” Luck said. “Anything that brings strategy into the game of football is welcome. Fans get to think along with the coach in wondering, ‘What would I do in this situation?’ and of course everyone likes to second-guess coaches.

“The high risk really caught the attention of our fans.”

Kickoffs will also look much different than they do in the NFL – or any other league, for that matter.

The placekicker kicks off from his 25-yard line and the ball must be in the air and in play between the opponent’s 20-yard line and the end zone. The coverage team, on the other hand, will line up on the receiving team’s 35-yard line with the return team stationed five yards away on the 30. Each team must have three players outside the hash marks on both sides of the ball and cannot move until the ball is caught by the returner.

Out of bounds kicks and kicks that fail to reach the 20-yard line will result in an illegal procedure penalty, taking the ball to the kicking team’s 45 yard line.

This rule keeps kickoffs in the game while all but eliminating the “big collision” aspect.

As for onside kicks, teams must alert officials beforehand and the kickoff will be traditional, with the kicking and receiving teams lined up 10 yards apart.

Punts have been tweaked, too; members of the kicking team can’t advance past the line of scrimmage until the ball has been booted away, although “gunners” can move laterally after the snap.

Tie games will be settled in “penalty shootout” style. A round will consist of one offensive play per team at the opponent’s 5-yard line, with a successful run or pass into the end zone worth two points. The team with more points after five rounds is the winner.

Although not as sexy, the rule that might have the biggest impact involves timing. Games will feature a 25-second play clock and a running clock will be used except in the final two minutes in each half. Only then will the clock stop on incomplete passes and out of bounds plays, meaning games should finish well under three hours.

“We’re focusing on the three Cs – clarity, consistency and credibility for all our stakeholders,” said Blandino, who will oversee officiating crews drawn from the Football Bowl Subdivision ranks. “We want to make sure our games are administered efficiently. What frustrates fans is when we have a lot of stops and starts.”

The inaugural XFL season opens on February 8 with two games.

The DC Defenders host the Seattle Dragons at 2 p.m. on ABC, while the Los Angeles Wildcats travel to Texas to take on the Houston Roughnecks at 5 p.m. on Fox.

Sunday, February 9, Fox will feature the Tampa Bay Vipers at New York Guardians at 2 p.m., and the Dallas Renegades welcome the St. Louis BattleHawks to town at 5 p.m. on ESPN, capping off week one action.

For a complete breakdown of XFL rules as well as the season schedule, go to xfl.com.

The AFL crowned its final champion in 1970

As we enter the roaring 20s, the thought of a new professional gridiron organization coming along and challenging the National Football League seems absurd. With 32 franchises, an international footprint and a seemingly endless supply of money, the NFL is more than an 800-pound gorilla – it’s King Kong.

Scott Adamson’s sports column appears when he feels sporty.

The World Football League (1974-75) didn’t have the cash to pose a real threat to it, and the United States Football League (1983-85) didn’t have enough owners with the sense to stick to a spring schedule so it could maintain a degree of major league status.

But 50 years ago today the league’s last real challenger played its final title game – not because it couldn’t beat the NFL, but because it joined it.

When the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Oakland Raiders, 17-7, on January 4, 1970, the book closed on the little league that could – and did. Oh, there was an AFL all-star game on January 17, but this marked the last high stakes competition played by an association that swiftly proved it could stand shoulder to shoulder with big brother.

Formed in 1959 and starting play in 1960, the AFL got the NFL’s attention quickly. And once it became obvious that its owners were willing and able to outbid the older league for top talent, a union made the most business sense.

So in 1966 reps from each entity met and decided they’d combine, forming one major league in 1970 with room for expansion.

Until then, they’d maintain separate schedules but play preseason games, an AFL-NFL World Championship Game (the Super Bowl) and hold a combined college draft.

The best news for AFL faithful was that all of its existing franchises would be absorbed and none could be transferred outside their metro areas.

The 1960 AFL season began with the Boston Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Texans, Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Chargers, Oakland Raiders and Titans of New York.

Ten years later those franchises were still around, although the the Chargers shifted to San Diego in 1961; the Texans relocated to Kansas City in 1963 and were renamed the Chiefs; and the Titans rebranded as the New York Jets in 1963.

The United States Senate approved the merger on October 14, 1966, so the leagues basically had a working relationship for three full seasons before consolidating.

As a kid who had learned to love football thanks to the AFL (and specifically the New York Jets), this wasn’t particularly good news to me.

I thought the upstarts were a lot more fun to watch; it was sandlot football in pads, and I mean that as a compliment. Generally the games were more wide-open than those of the NFL, and coaches were much less conservative in their play-calling.

Not that I disliked the NFL (the Los Angeles Rams were my favorite team in the “other” league), but given a choice I’d always choose an AFL game first.

So as I sat and watched the final AFL title game 50 years ago, I did so with a touch of sadness.

Even though I wasn’t losing an old friend, that old friend was moving to a nicer neighborhood – and that meant my sandlot would never be the same.

2020 vision

I’ve never had much use for New Year’s resolutions.

Brain Farce is a humor column written by Scott Adamson. It comes out basically whenever he feels like writing it. Follow him on Twitter @adamsonsl

They sound good when you make them on December 31, but by January 2 you’ve sobered up, found your pants, identified the parlor where you got your scorpion tattoo and forgotten many of the promises you made. Thus, you move on and fall back into old habits.

But with 2020 just a few hours away, I figured I’d give resolutions another shot. I mean, the 21st century version of the “Roaring Twenties” is a special occasion, and I should do my part to make them special.

So here are my New Year’s resolutions for the next 365 days:

I’ll devote more time to Batman.

As you probably know, aside from Mary, my animals, Celtic FC and the Canadian Football League, few things are as important to me as the Dark Knight. He’s been the object of my obsession since the mid-1960s.

However, he got lost in the shuffle a bit in 2019.

With the release of “Avengers: Endgame,” “Captain Marvel” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” I was up Marvel’s butt for much of the year.

Throw in “The Mandalorian” – which features both the adorable Baby Yoda and equally adorable Apollo Creed – and I wasn’t nearly as attentive to the needs of the Caped Crusader as I should’ve been.

All that changes starting tomorrow.

While many of you will be watching bowl games, I intend to view Christopher Nolan’s entire “Dark Knight” trilogy while wearing a Batman tee shirt.

In fact, I’ll set aside at least one day each week to the World’s Greatest Detective, whether it be watching films, reading comics and/or graphic novels, or simply wearing a cape and cowl and growling, “I’m Batman!”

It’s the least I can do for the masked man who has given me so much.

I’ll be less antisocial

There was a time – not many years ago – when I would cheerfully answer the door when I heard a knock and engage the knocker in whatever topic they chose.

Now when I hear someone approaching my house, I gather up all the animals, grab my survival pack (this usually includes a can of baked beans, sleeve of PEZ candy and a hammer) and head to the panic room upstairs.

I lock the door and wait up to 24 hours to make sure the threat is over.

Even I can see that’s a bit of an overreaction.

Going forward, I’ll no longer flee when I get a visitor. Instead, I’ll open the door, scream, “Go away, damn you!” and throw pebbles at the person.

It might not seem like much, but it’s a start.

I will eat a green thing every day.

Eating healthy is something I take great pride in, and as someone who has always loved vegetables it’s never been difficult for me to do. And if you’re like me, you’ve probably been told how important it is to “eat something green.”

Maybe it’s broccoli, green beans or kale.

Or maybe – just maybe – it’s a frosted strawberry Pop-Tart.

Believe it or not, the frosting on these Pop-Tarts have green flecks.

I don’t know what they are and I don’t care. I just know that eating a frosted strawberry Pop-Tart every day is something I’m willing to go all-in on.

I will not curse.

And by “I will not curse” what I mean is that I will not, as the dictionary suggests, speak “a solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something.”

I simply don’t have the ability to do such things, although I wish I did because there’s a shitload of you bastards I’d love to smite.

(Cussing, of course, is something I’ll continue to do at an alarming rate).

I will not bash anyone in the head with an oar.

Several years ago I worked with a guy who I simply couldn’t stand. That’s probably more a reflection on me than him, but regardless, he had a punchable face and made me want to puke.

Any time he started to talk, I had the urge to grab a boat paddle and whack him in the side of the head with as much force as I could generate.

I know, that’s terrible, but that’s how I felt.

Fortunately, we’re not a nautical family and have no boats. And since we have no boats, we also have no oars.

So, even if I see this guy – and I hope I don’t – he is in no danger of receiving the business end of a boat paddle from me.

I do have a shovel, though.

I’ve got no qualms about hitting him with that if provoked.

I will not speak ill of the dead, as long as they were decent human beings while they were alive.

All my life I’ve heard that I shouldn’t say anything bad about the deceased, especially when their passing is still fresh.

This seems hypocritical because dying doesn’t suddenly make you a good person, it merely makes you a dead person.

So, I’ll show the same respect – or lack of respect – for the departed as I would have if they still walked among us.

Abraham Lincoln, for example, was a great man overall and you’ll never hear me say anything derogatory about ol’ Honest Abe.

But Andrew Jackson?

Andrew Jackson can kiss my ass.

I will not spank my monkey.

I have no monkey, and would never raise a hand to one under any circumstances.

That being said, if I did have a monkey his name would be Cornelius and I’d dress him like Roddy McDowall.

(If I had a female monkey her name would be Jo March and she’d wear Little Women-style clothing).

Happy New Year!