Friday, February 28, 2020

XFAlpha Podcast - Media Pass Extravaganza


Here are my notes on attending the Vipers first home game, but you’ll want to listen for the full sordid story. And Jonah gives his experience on going to the Dragons first home game the week before.

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So I get notified Thursday afternoon on my press credential being approved but only for the first game
I email the next day to find out when I could get it since it was supposed to come with a parking pass, but they just said they ran out of parking passes so I was shit out of luck on that one.
No worries, I ain’t paying $20, because there’s a mall that is a mile and a half away so I just parked there and walked my ass to the stadium.
I got there and easily cruised through security where I went up to the press box to get some food. I was very impressed with the food as it was Lemon herb chicken, hanger steak, fingerling potatoes, broccoli raab, and a roll. Plus, all the free Dasani I could get my hands on. I even splurged a little with some lemonade. Right before halftime, I got a cookie and a brownie. Brownie was fantastic.
After I ate, I deemed the press box too boring, so I went to the main concourse to be a man of the people. 
Although it started with poor attendance, things filled in fairly nicely as they filled in most of the front half of the lower bowl with more scarcity in the back half. 

After the first quarter, I decided I should see what things are like in the press box during the game so I went to take the elevator up, but they had shut it off from the concourse. I had to walk all the way down to the ground level. I wasn’t too worried, just didn’t want to miss too much of the game, so I hustled downstairs, asked somebody where to go, and they sent me through this back door that would lead me to the press elevator. When I went through, I could see the field ahead of me. There were probably six security guards between me and the field, but these were clearly low-level employees, so I just made the decision to march forward and go for it. Sure as shit, I made it onto the field and hung out in the end zone about 20 yards away from Shane McMahon and Titus O’Neil. I was right there as the Vipers scored their first offensive touchdown in franchise history. I made it nearly the entire quarter before I was finally spotted and kicked off of the field. I claimed ignorance, and they just told me to go back to the press box. It was fantastic.

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Thursday, February 27, 2020

XFAlpha Podcast - Week 3 Review

We briefly touch on week two games, but I have some extra notes below. We do dive deep into the week three slate of games in this latest episode.

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Battlehawks vs. Roughnecks
James Butler continues to be a touchdown machine with one more this week.
Cam Phillips was a slightly more prominent touchdown machine catching all three of PJ Walker’s touchdowns.
De’mornay Pierson-El and L’Dainian Washington are a pretty damn potent 1-2 combination as receivers and might be my favorite combo in the entire league.
Jordan Ta’amu’s stats look better than the performance again, but I have to give him credit that he has still been better than I expected and deserves to keep starting.
Renegades vs. Wildcats
Nelson Spruce is still a stud, not much else for LA since I’m not inspired by Josh Johnson
Fumbles killed them in this game.
Landry Jones is a huge upgrade, but he may be the slowest player in professional football history. Hell, he may just be the slowest human being in history.
Donald Parham was a guy I was very excited about heading into the season and it seems like Landry Jones liked him too as he was targeted 11 times, only came up with 5 catches, but I think he could have big production moving forward this season. Sean Price ain’t bad either outside of the fumble.
Also, I thought Cameron Artis-Payne was a fairly exciting back for this league so I was a little confused when he didn’t get a lot of play in week one, but he made up for it big time in week two. He’s the real deal, but Lance Dunbar is going to take over on third downs and the pass catching duties, so together they might be the best backfield but still might not be as valuable in fantasy due to the split in duties.
The defensive line for the Renegades is interesting. Gerald Rivers got a sack in this game, and Gelen Robinson, son of The Big Dog had two quarterback hits at defensive tackle. 
Overall, I still think this team is dangerous.
Vipers vs. Dragons
I’m a bigger fan of Taylor Cornelius than most after watching him at the East-West Shrine Game practices, but it’s Quinton Flowers time. I know he had the bad interception on the screen pass, but this team needs the dual threat quarterback to help them generate offense.
This is especially true since the Vipers seem committed to running the ball and have now been effective doing it for the first two weeks of the season. De’Veon Smith was the lead back last week, but Jacques Patrick took more carries this week, and he’s a guy out of Florida State that I could see getting a shot in the NFL as a big back.
How in the fuck can you kick a 20 yard field goal when you are down by 5 in the 4th quarter? Like, at this point, in WEEK TWO, Trestman is just trying to piss me off.
Also, Jalen Collins might be bad. Another long TD given up by him.
The Dragons won this game on defense as I’m starting to think Brandon Silvers is the worst starting quarterback in the league. 
4 sacks and three intercptions were the biggest stories this week. 
Guardians vs. Defenders
Man, the Guardians are super bad too. I think McGloin is better than he showed this week, but that offense is not going to inspire much confidence. And the defense doesn’t seem too impressive either.
For the Defenders, I still love what I’m seeing from Cardale. 
I wasn’t sure about trading away Bradley Sylve, a corner I was super high on, but Anthony Johnson seems worth it as he had 1.5 sacks in his first game with the team.
Weekly Picks
UPSET SPECIAL: Vipers (home) over Roughnecks
Renegades over Dragons (home)
Battlehawks (home) over Guardians
Defenders over Wildcats (home)




Roughnecks vs. Vipers
Cam Phillips is going to the NFL. He just consistently gets open and made some contested catches as well. Strong hands, and he’s destroying the XFL this year.
James Butler is a very good running back, and that’s not just my Hawkeye bias. He averaged over 10 yards per carry, but they only gave him seven carreis. 
DeMarquis Gates is a guy to watch out for. He led the Roughnecks in tackles and had the game clinching interception. 
Taylor Cornelius is the better passer, but Quinton Flowers is the more dangerous player. It’s going to look great at times and awful at others, but it’s time to hand the reigns over to him, especially since the Tampa crowd LOVES Flowers. A lot of Cornelius struggles were caused by miscommunication with his receivers. 
Renegades vs. Dragons
Battle of scrappy white receivers early on with Austin Proehl and Flynn Nagel getting the first scores for their respective teams.
I still think Seattle is the worst team in the league.
I was big on Landry Jones and Donald Parham before the game, and they both delivered as Jones had three touchdowns, with 
Parham caught two of those touchdowns and getting over 100 yards as a tight end. I think he’s already adding a decent amount of separation between him and the rest of the tight ends in the league.
Cameron Artis-Payne looked good again this week with 110 scrimmage yards.
Hau’oli Kikaha got a sack for the Renegades.
Guardians vs. Battlehawks
The Guardians are so boring that I have nothing to say. 
Jonah’s boy Christine Michael is getting outshined by former Redskin Matt Jones. I would expect this to continue.
We said it before the year, and this Battlehawks defense is living up to the hype as they are making opponents’ lives miserable. My boy Kenny Robinson had a great interception so defensive player of the year is not out of the question. 
If I could trade Tyree Jackson to any team, it would be the Battlehawks. Ta’amu has been fine, but I would love to see the outside weapons be allowed to shine with a cannon-armed QB like Tyree.
Defenders vs. Wildcats
Cardale lost a start; my whole word is shaken to the core. I don’t know what to believe in. But unless you hold Cardale accountable for four interceptions, there is no way this loss can be blamed on him. 
Tre McBride and Nelson Spruce are quite the dynamic duo, and Josh Johnson looks like a legitimate XFL QB. 
Martez Carter is a little guy with big production, three touchdowns and may have fully passed Elijah Hood on the depth chart.
I kind of thought there were four good teams and four bad teams, but I feel like the Wildcats might join the Defenders, Renegades, Battlehawks, and Roughnecks and create a fifth good team. 
PICKS
Wildcats over GUARDIANS
BATTLEHAWKS over Dragons
RENEGADES over Roughnecks

Defenders over VIPERS

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Wednesday, February 26, 2020

The WWE Is Ruining... Humberto Carrillo

I don’t think the WWE has any idea what to do or even if they care what they are doing with Humberto Carrillo. They have had him feud with big names including Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, and United States Champion, Andrade. In fact, Carrillo has beaten the United States Champion twice. Despite this, he is not the United States Champion.

Carrillo never stood a chance. They didn’t let him build a following by sticking him on 205 Live instead of NXT, and now they called him up to the main roster, and even though he has been more successful than most, it doesn’t feel like he has really won anything. It’s the drizzling shits, and I can’t see an end in sight.

I think it’s necessary to send him to NXT. Right now, he’s the dimple man, which will only carry you so far. He needs to develop more of a character before he has any shot at main roster success. Ideally, you would just team him up with Angel Garza and make them the Handsome Hateable guys, and give him a tear-away t-shirt so they could both rip off clothes simultaneously. That would instantly become the most over thing in NXT, and then you’ve got yourself a couple superstars for the main roster.

Other Wrestlers WWE Is Ruining
Aiden English
AJ Styles
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Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Iowa Hawkeyes Wrestling Is Fun

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been known for dominance in wrestling. From 1975-2010 they managed to win 23 NCAA Championships. But even though Iowa has gone through dominant stretches, they have never exactly been a team that would be considered fun. Now I’m a terribly biased Iowa alum, but even I can recognize that you would likely describe the wrestlers as intense psychopaths and would have to be a bit sadistic to consider them a fun team. 

But these Iowa Hawkeyes are different. This isn’t just a team to root for because you’re from Iowa; this is a team that any wrestling fan can root for. We have guys that are aggressive, put up big points and actually seem like they are enjoying themselves every time they step out on the mat. Let’s take a look at who is making this team so well-liked by ranking Iowa’s 10 starters by how much an outsider enjoys them.

10. Austin DeSanto
I don’t want to put DeSanto here, but this is the easiest choice. He is a classic example of a guy you would love to have on your side but would absolutely despise him if he was wrestling against your team. He used to be a total psychopath at Drexel, then became a moderate psychopath during his first year at Iowa, and now he’s a fairly well-behaved guy at this point. People are still going to shit all over him because of antics early on in his career, and even I had a major issue with going for a kimura on Stevan Micic at the NCAA Championships his freshman year, but young people do stupid stuff. I certainly did. And although people are going to find a reason to hate him for everything after the whistle, he’s phenomenal to watch as he puts on a relentless pace with endless energy. But from an outsider’s perspective, I get it why there is nobody they would want to see lose more than DeSanto. 

9. Jacob Warner
Jacob Warner is completely inoffensive. But I guarantee people watch him and say that he sucks because he has lackadaisical offense in 90% of his matches. I guarantee rival fans think that he is going to get upset in the tournament and not even be an All-American. He will become an AA, and he will likely do it with incredibly frustrating matches that are never separated by more than two points.

8. Pat Lugo
Where Warner has flashed big point potential, Lugo is a very safe wrestler who keeps all of his matches close. He’s nearly impossible to score on, so it works for the most part, but it never really leads to fireworks. As a biased observer, his matches can be more exciting when watching some of the scrambles, but even a total homer like me is often craving more aggressive offense from Lugo.

7. Kaleb Young
The most irritating thing about Young isn’t his fault. He’s from Punxsutawney, PA where Punxsutawney Phil will let us know whether winter is coming to an end by seeing his shadow is there. This gets mentioned every match that he’s in. Not only that, it gets mentioned in the first period, because announcers cannot help themselves. Actually, outsiders probably aren’t watching that much Kaleb Young where this becomes irritating, so they may find it more endearing. Plus, he’s a total grinder who never showboats or really shows much emotion in any way.  

6. Abe Assad
I would say Assad is a blank canvas. I can’t imagine anyone disliking him, but I also can’t imagine anybody being a huge fan of his either. In his two most important varsity matches this season, against Taylor Venz and Aaron Brooks, he did go for upper body throws, which was exciting, but it didn’t work either time, which was less exciting. Still, early signs are pointing to Assad being a guy who goes big, but occasionally goes home.

5. Michael Kemerer
Kemerer is an incredibly exciting wrestler who you can always count on going hard for seven minutes. Outside of that, he seems completely inoffensive; he’s just a guy who works hard and has a positive attitude without ever showing anybody up on the mat. I have trouble imagining any wrestling fan disliking him beyond, “He wrestles for that team, and I cheer for this team.”

4. Tony Cassioppi
A big smiley heavyweight who is always looking to pin his opponents. What’s not to love?

3. Alex Marinelli
This was probably the toughest guy to rank. When he’s on the mat, he seems like a mean SOB. I could see that turning people off. But he is always charging forward, and the guy just refuses to back down which has led to some incredibly exciting matches with Vincenzo Joseph. Also, he lost his best friend, Eli Stickley, a fellow college wrestler at Wisconsin, in a car accident. So, like what kind of monster would hate this man? I think people want Marinelli to do good, but few outsiders are pulling for him to do great. I had him anywhere from 1-5, so splitting the difference seemed like the best option.

2. Max Murin


1. Spencer Lee
He’s so good that even rival fans have to appreciate his greatness. It’s incredible that we’re almost three fourths of the way through his career, because it feels like he’s barely been here. He didn’t join the varsity squad until halfway through his freshman season, he’s had some nicks where he took some meets off in his sophomore year and missed more to train to qualify for the Olympic Trials this season. Seeing a wrestler this great is a treat, and somehow, there’s only a little more than a year seeing him compete in college, so just sit back and enjoy everything this guy brings to the table. Seeing something this great never gets boring.
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Monday, February 24, 2020

What The Chicago Bears Need To Do In Free Agency

The Bears head into the 2020 offseason coming off a very disappointing year that saw them fall from playoff team to non-contender, and the guy they hoped would be their franchise quarterback took a massive step backwards and basically took a massive dump on the field as Mitch Trubisky was just terrible. I still love Mitch, and I have made that very clear on this website, so my free agent plans do not include a quarterback, not that the Bears have enough money to get one anyway.

In fact, the Bears have such little money that we first need to focus on finding more cap space. The easy one is Kyle Long retired, so his money is no longer tied up. After that, I feel like Trey Burton is a pretty obvious cut. I think the only obvious other cut would be Buster Skrine. According to Over The Cap, that puts them at just under $13 million which still ain’t much, but it’s something. They also released Prince Amukamara and Taylor Gabriel which definitely adds to the breathing room but also leaves two more holes on the roster. I think they have to go with somebody in free agency for the former but probably address the latter in the draft.

The good news for the Bears is they don’t have many holes to fill. They obviously need a guard, tight end, and slot corner, but outside of that, they are only losing Clinton-Dix at safety and Trevathan at middle linebacker where they can probably depend on Nick Kwitakoski to take that spot over.

With that limited cap space, they probably are going to have to look to the draft to fill some of those holes, but I do think they have enough wiggle room to strengthen the team in the free agent market. Here are the guys I would target for the Chicago Bears.

First off, they should bring Greg Olsen home. He was originally drafted by the Bears but then traded for nothing because he didn’t fit into Mike Martz’s scheme. That is probably more of an indictment of the scheme than of the player as Greg Olsen has been and still is awesome. (Note: I wrote this weeks ago but didn't find the right time to publish it, so not great by me)

Uh, I heard Jordan Reed might be available. If he's healthy, that could be just what the Bears need. Tyler Eifert would be in the same boat. Neither guy has much of a chance of being healthy the whole year, but IF they do manage to stay healthy, it could be a hell of a deal for the Bears.

The next guy to target is Austin Blythe, because unfortunately, Brandon Scherff ain’t gonna happen with this limited cap space, and the Bears still need as many Iowa boys as possible along the line. Put a Whitehair in the middle of two Hawkeyes and you’ve got yourself a nice little interior line.

For that corner hole that they have, the choice is obvious. I have an obsession with brothers, especially when they play with each other. If the Bears united Kyle and Kendall Fuller as their starting corners, they probably won't give up a passing touchdown all season long. It will be fantastic.

And that’s it. They can make some late moves with guys that fall through the cracks, but they just don’t have the resources to be aggressive in in free agency. The Bears have to draft well. They may not have a first rounder, but luckily for them, the positions they are looking to fill are not premium positions. The biggest necessity is help in the secondary. Geno Stone in the fifth round sounds mighty enticing to me. Their tackles are still below average, but all the Bears can do is pray somebody falls to them. Hopefully Tristan Wirfs gets caught with a gas mask bong before the draft?

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Friday, February 21, 2020

The WWE Is Ruining... Roman Reigns

Obviously, the WWE has pushed Roman Reigns to the moon so it would seem hard to find any flaws with the rocket they have strapped to him, but I’m going to point out a missed opportunity, because WWE had this guy come back from cancer, and months later, he’s right back to the same spot he was before where the office loves him, and the fans are still mixed on their reactions.

Roman Reigns getting cancer is an awful thing, and it’s absolutely amazing that he has been able to make a full recovery. Yet WWE capitalized on it in the weakest way possible, he came back, announced that he was in remission and carried that to a babyface run where the goodwill ran out in a few months. They had the chance to do something impactful and took the safe, boring route instead.

Cancer is an awful disease. It wrecks the body from the inside, and even after people are treated, it’s not like they bounce back to being the same person they were before. What if they give Roman the big speech, but when he comes back, he loses? You show it in subtle ways where his moves just don’t quite have the pop, and his opponent gets up from his spear. Since a WWE audience isn’t great with subtlety, you have Roman talk about how he may have lost, but he’s going to get better, and he will be the Big Dog, blah, blah, blah. So he goes into his next feud, and he loses again. Then have him lose again in his next feud.

If you want to add to the drama, make him lose in a match against a heel where he has to win ten or twelve matches in a row to get another shot. The week after he wins, and wins, and wins, but stop the streak at 3 or 4 to make him go back to zero. Then have him get up to 7 or 8 the next time. Maybe even have him lose once more when he’s on the final match in the streak to really drive home the point, but show progress. Show that he started off slow because cancer took away his strength, but he won’t get defeated by cancer, and he’s going to keep fighting no matter how hard it is and how long it takes.

Then you have him finally make it to his big opportunity at WrestleMania where he’s still battling the cancer demons that sapped him of his strength, but now he’s at full power, and you have an entire crowd not only cheering for Roman Reigns, but for Roman Reigns to overcome cancer.

That is how you create a truly great WrestleMania moment and make Roman Reigns into the star that you have always wanted him to be.

Other Wrestlers WWE Is Ruining
Aiden English
AJ Styles
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