American winner takes all

Chapter 408 XFL Finals

In the end, Ethan spent a lot of time to satisfy everyone. Although Victoria's Secret has come to an end for the time being, the talent show about the Angel Cheerleaders is still in full swing.

"Ethan, it looks good. The ratings for the first few episodes of "Looking for Angels" have been very stable. This is a good thing. At least it proves that we have a fixed audience group. We have exceeded 10 in the Nielsen rating and have surpassed Fox The most popular show on TV in recent years is Temptation Island. "Early the next morning, Ethan received a call from Michael Ovitz, who announced a series of good news to Ethan.

"Ethan, are you listening? I seem to hear a woman's voice. We are talking about business now. Ethan, at least you can get off the woman the next time you talk to me on the phone." Michael Ovitz said The other end of the phone complained.

"Really? Then why do you always call me when I'm lying on a woman?" Ethan said.

"Is it possible that by ten o'clock most people are already working."

"Is it possible that today is the Easter holiday?"

"Then I'll call you tomorrow." Michael Ovitz pretended to hang up the phone.

"It's late, I've stepped out now." Ethan came to the balcony at this time. He looked down at the swimming pool directly below. Gisele Bundchen was swimming freely in the swimming pool. Under the morning sun, the sparkling water surface The ripples she brought out were shattered. Next to them were Lisa and Susan, who were wearing wide-brimmed straw hats and sunglasses. They were sunbathing on an inflatable mattress. They could float on the water when lying on it.

It’s rare to have such a leisurely time during the day. Everyone is enjoying the Easter holiday today.

"I just want to tell you that the preliminary rounds are all over, and then comes the semi-finals. The six divisions will compete for the list of people to participate in the finals."

"Very good." Ethan pressed his arm on the railing.

"The first rematch is tonight. Don't forget to lock the channel. I heard that several players who have been eliminated from the game will appear in today's XFL finals."

"XFL finals?" Ethan saw that several women below had seen it and were waving to him.

"Don't you know? The XFL has shortened its schedule and the entire season is about to end."

"It's so weird, I thought the XFL had just started." Ethan inserted his fingers into his thick hair and scratched his head.

Even Ethan, a professional player, does not know that the XFL competition system has ended, which is enough to prove that the XFL is not cared about by the public and is a complete failed project.

"It's not because he was unlucky enough to meet you." Michael Ovitz continued.

"What does it have to do with me?" Ethan yelled.

"The XFL wants to attract a wave of viewers during the NFL offseason, but the NFL news has been one after another in the past two months. Many teams have re-upgraded their cheerleading teams, not to mention your draft, starting with Palyboy. It has been a regular in the news for the past two months. If the XFL can be broadcast at a different time, the ending may be much better. "

"Instead of blaming me, blame Benzema." Ethan suddenly said.

"Who is he?" Michael Ovitz asked.

"An outdated joke." Ethan shrugged: "In short, if I have the opportunity, I will clarify with Mr. Vince McMahon that I have no intention of targeting him. This is just a pure accident."

After the call with Michael Ovitz, just when Ethan was about to jump directly from the balcony into the swimming pool, someone called again. Ethan glanced at the caller ID and answered it patiently.

"Mr. O'Connor, how is the show? Are the ratings guaranteed?"

"It's terrible, not to mention keeping up with Survivor and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Friends, CSI, Law & Order, even Monday Night Football. It’s hard to keep up with boring shows like Monday Night Football.”

"If the ratings of Looking for Angels can exceed last year's Monday Night Football, I will give you the position of league commissioner." Paul, the then NFL commissioner, said with a smile.

"Undecided."

"How are you going to spend your Easter vacation...are you at a water park?" Paul also heard the sound of water splashing and the woman's laughter.

"Why not tune in on time for the XFL Finals?"

"Interesting proposal. Having said that, McMahon is really good at budgeting. He compressed the schedule so that all the originally few games could be completed within two months. He cut the upper limit of the number of players on the roster and each team. Teams only have 38 contracted players, we have 53 players on each team, and college teams often have over 80 players on call at any one time, which results in many players having to fill extra positions on special teams, just like you. In addition, each player only receives a fixed salary, the quarterback receives 5000 per week, the kicker receives 3500 per week, and all the remaining players receive 4500 per week.”

"The weird salary logic will only make all players lose their fighting spirit. What's even more terrifying is that this time, McMahon wants to control every link from beginning to end. He regards the league as a whole, and there is no so-called team management. Or, all the teams are under his management, what is this, left-handed and right-handed? No wonder the audience said that he was preparing to arrange the script in the finals, even though he repeatedly denied it. "The league commissioner said a lot of problems with the XFL.

It can be heard that McMahon, who has never been involved in professional football games before, has indeed stepped on many pitfalls.

"Now, McMahon can only count on those 'strippers,' can't he? But what's even more pity is that he happened to meet you and the Angel Cheerleaders' draft competition." Paul also mentioned Ethan's response to its impact.

However, his perspective is much more professional than that of Michael Ovitz. He mentioned the NCAA's March Madness basketball games. Under the squeeze of March Madness, XLF's prime-time game on March 3 only had a poor ratings of 31, setting a new record for all television networks broadcast in prime time. Lowest viewership record for a sports event.

In addition, Paul also mentioned next year's Olympic Games. NBC has obtained the broadcast rights for next year's Summer Olympics. This means that it is impossible to free up an entire season of Saturday nights for the XFL. There is no doubt that there is a high probability that it will not be broadcast next year. Seeing this league on TV again, it can be said that the NFL did not really take action at all, and its competitors fell by themselves.

"Apart from these, doesn't the XFL have some advantages, such as adjusted rules?" Ethan asked next.

Ethan has always felt that the timeout in football games is too long. The advantage is that more advertisements can be crammed in, but the disadvantage is that it will destroy the continuity of the game and cut the game into pieces. However, if you think about it from another perspective, fans are using the timeout While waiting, I might become more immersed. I can’t say this is simply a bad thing.

"These are some of the changes we tried decades ago, such as the introduction of 'Pressure Point'..." Paul said.

Simply put, the pressure point is to change the additional scoring rules. There is no longer a PAT. The traditional two-point conversion only scores one point. On this basis, there are also longer-range two-point and three-point conversions. "As well as all-around blocking, there is no five-yard limit, and all defenders can pull the receiver at will, which will make the offense much more difficult."

In addition, it includes a series of changes to kicking to encourage more confrontations during punts, and also changes to overtime rules to prevent long overtime situations.

"I will let the rules committee discuss it carefully. Maybe we can draw some nutrients from the XFL rules next season."

"Have a nice holiday." Paul hung up the phone.

Ethan directly threw his phone aside, flew forward, and jumped directly into the swimming pool from the balcony amidst the screams of several women around the swimming pool.

·
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the XFL's first and last finals started on time.

The two sides of the game are the Los Angeles Extreme and the San Francisco Devils, and the venue of the finals has special meaning to Eason-Memorial Stadium, next to the University of Southern California, was the Angels' leased home before the new stadium was completed.

Although Ethan had already reached an agreement with UC's Department of Auxiliary Services, the partnership was not disclosed to the public at this time, and Ethan took advantage of the opportunity to watch the game next door and check out Memorial Stadium.

There was no so-called singer singing, the pre-game performance was entirely dominated by two cheerleading teams. They came to the edge of the stands, each wearing a thick black coat, and then slowly took off their coats along with the music, revealing their cheerleading uniforms.

"This is a PG-rated show." Giselle, who was wrapped in a bathrobe, said. She had just finished taking a shower and was watching the game with Ethan in the small living room with several other people. As for the rest, there were a few Some were steaming in the underground sauna, some were sweating in the gym, some were riding horses outside, and some were even staying in Ethan's game room, where there were several arcade machines. Today is a holiday, so everyone is rare. Relax.

"Yes, it may be okay to do this in other ratings, but it cannot appear in PG programs." Ethan nodded with deep understanding.

In the program of "Angel Express - Paly Special Edition", the fun is much more exciting than these, and you will not be gossiped by some "defenders".

Indeed, there are also "defenders" on this American continent, who are conservatives in a broad sense and those who are related to the religious community in a narrow sense.

Judging from the swaying figures of the cheerleaders at the scene, it was obvious that they were all professional dancers who had worked in the club before.

The question is, if the audience wants to see them dance, why not go to the club? Maybe you can even take it out.

This question is difficult to answer, but Ethan also discovered the more subtle innovations of XLF. The elements of the cheerleading team are particularly highlighted. They are frequently captured by the camera, and there are often live audiences behind them.

Under normal circumstances, these shots should have been given to the live audience, not to them.

In addition, cheerleaders often stand on a temporary platform that is level with the audience. In NFL venues, cheerleaders stand in the venue and are part of the venue.

This can shorten the distance between the cheerleaders and the audience, and it also serves as a natural stage.

Seemingly inconspicuous changes can bring outstanding results.

McMahon indeed has two brushes. Ethan then saw that there was nothing much to say about the players from both sides entering the game, but the game ball was an exception. The xfl game football was made by Spalding. It was no longer brown, but black with an X printed on it. Markings are more visually evident.

During the interview session with the host before the game, the cheerleaders were always beside the host and had many interactive sessions with the host. In the XFL, the cheerleaders are not just cheerleaders, but more like performances in every game. Guests.

Host, guests, audience, these familiar elements, Ethan can clearly feel that McMahon is using the idea of ​​​​an entertainment program to create the entire XFL. In his eyes, the XFL is more of an entertainment program than a sports league. programme.

The kick-off phase is also different from most games. It is no longer a coin toss, but two players are 20 yards apart and rush towards the football at the midpoint of the line at the same time. Whoever can hug the football will win. Get the ball first.

"It's interesting." Ethan thought to himself. Obviously, the XFL is not as useless as Paul said.

But soon Ethan's newly ignited interest was mostly extinguished. In his opinion, the strength of most of the players on the two teams was still far behind, even worse than some college players. In fact, almost all of these XFL players are recent players. Some of the losers in the draft in recent years are still engaged in other jobs, and some can only play in small teams, receiving meager salaries, and of course their abilities are not that great.

But there were also a few who left a deep enough impression on Ethan.

For example, Tommy Maddox, the quarterback of the Los Angeles Extreme team, has a very strong pass dispatching ability. He made two wide passes in just a few minutes, one of which almost led to a touchdown.

"Tommy Maddox is the current superstar of the XFL. He is the only player to have started ten games." The commentator's voice came from the TV. The commentator for today's game was basically McMahon. Pulled over from WWF.

Then the TV screen turned, and the camera showed McMahon in the box, applauding the players.

He was born with a rough face, and his face looked quite unkind and very cruel. At this moment, his brows are furrowed and his expression is tense. He wonders if he is worried about the future of the XFL.

On the other hand, the expression of a young girl sitting next to him looked very relaxed. She had blond hair, which was darker than Ivana's, and her smile was a little more playful.

In a sense, she is the eldest princess... Even if Ivana is loved by her father, she still has an elder brother above her and a younger brother below her. But the girl in the camera will truly inherit from her father. Entertainment group people.

He inherited his smart mind and spirit of sacrifice from his father, and he regarded his career as everything. He began to show up in the league after graduating from college.

McMahon finally came to Los Angeles, and Ethan had to meet him no matter what. He asked the head of the USC Auxiliary Services Department, the administrator of Memorial Stadium, to help him try to get an appointment with McMahon...

　If there is no update tomorrow night, it will be updated in the early morning of the day after tomorrow. Mainly, my work and rest are now in the underworld again, Nanpang.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)