Matt Vasgersian

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The XFL: X-Treme Football
With Matt Vasgersian
XFL Play-by-Play Announcer
Friday, Feb. 2, 2001; 11 p.m. EST

The XFL kicks off its inaugural season this weekend as the New York/New Jersey Hitmen visit the Las Vegas Outlaws at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. on NBC. It's a new league and the network's mission is to "bring viewers inside the game of football like never before."

Matt Vasgersian will be NBC's play-by-play announcer for Saturday night's football telecast along with Jesse Ventura as analyst. Vasgersian has been the Milwaukee Brewers' TV announcer since 1997. In addition to his past four seasons with the Brewers, he has done baseball play-by-play for Fox Sports Net and F/X.

Join Matt Vasgersian online Friday, Feb. 2 at 11 a.m. EST.

A transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Matt Vasgersian: Thanks everyone for logging on. The XFL season opens on Saturday night with the New York/New Jersey Hitmen visiting the Las Vegas Outlaws. This feels almost like college bowl season where matchups are announced in early December and you sit around for a month waiting for the game. We've been looking forward to this for quite awhile. The telecast will be unlike any other sportscast you've ever seen. I like to think of it as a fun combination of The Longest Yard, Rollerball, The Running Man and Remember the Titans.

Fairfax Va.: I've heard various connotations, so can you please put all falsehoods to rest? What are the rules changes from NFL to XFL?

Matt Vasgersian: The biggest rules changes come with the kicking game. There is no fair catch. Any player signaling a fair catch cannot only be hit, but will be penalized five yards. Once a punt has gone 25 yards and the receving team does not have a player in a "position to catch", the kicking team can recover the ball regardless of whether it's bounced or not. So you'll see a lot of teams lining up in punt formation on third down, a lot of pooch-punts, and a lot of special teams stunts. Additionally, there are no point after touchdown (PAT) kicks. All point after touchdown attempts will be worth one point and will be conversion tries on the air or in the ground from the two yard line. Halftime is shorter--10 minutes--and there is less time between plays on the play clock (35 seconds). Defensive backs can bump and run all the way down the field until the quarterback releases the ball and offenses can employ one man in forward motion as long as he's outside the tackle-tight end box and as long as he doesn't break the goal line plane before the snap. That's most of the rule changes.

Washington: Good Luck this weekend! Originally, D.C. was scheduled to have an XFL franchise, but I guess plans fell through. Do you know of any plans to expand to this area? An XFL team would certainly be a breath of fresh air here!

Matt Vasgersian: Thanks for the well wishes. I know expansion at some point would seem to be in the plans for the league once they've gotten their legs under them. I havent' heard any particular cities mentioned, but everyone's aware that D.C.'s a football hotbed--I think it would be great to have a team there.

Providence, R.I.: How does the XFL plan to deal with the poaching of its best players by the NFL?

Matt Vasgersian: Good question. The XFL has an open door policy regarding player personnel and fully expects a number of players to catch the NFL's eye this season. That goes for the Arens league and the Canadian Football Leagaue. If a player has an opportunity to make more money some place else, the XFL's stance is not to get in the way. At the same time, almost every player I've spoken to loves what's going on here from the extra incentive money to win, to the lack of politics that hurt players in other leagues. These guys seem to be really happy.

Jackson, Ten.: How will XFL football on NBC compare to Syracuse Chiefs baseball with Joel Mareiniss?

Matt Vasgersian: (PROLONGED LAUGHTER) There will be just as much misidentification of players, just as many mistakes made, probably less time to laugh and the same sense of on-air train wreck.

Reston, Va.: Is the XFL going to stereotype short receivers as "too small to play the game" like the NFL does?

Matt Vasgersian: The XFL is full of "too short receivers" who didn't quite fit that preconceived NFL scout stereotype that the only good receiver is six foot two or taller. Everytime you watch a Wayne Crebet of the Jets I think of how many other "short guys" are out there that should be playing in the NFL. The XFL's most talented position league-wide is receiver. Almost all eight teams have six or seven receivers they wanted to keep. Bring us your short, your slow, your ugly. They all have a home at the XFL.

Bethesda, Md.: The question that comes to mind is will this be like the WWF where there is a lot of scripting and backroom politics to say which one loses?

Matt Vasgersian: Absolutely not. Everything you see on the field is real. What sets XFL coverage apart from traditional football coverage are the voyeuristic camera positions and microphone positions. Fans will see plenty of behind-the-scenes, but it's all gonna be real. Coach to quarterback discussions, coordinators redesigning defenses, real X's and O's. The XFL will borrow the WWF's promotion and entertainment appeal. A lot of the wrapping around the game may remind people of a big time rock 'n' roll show.

Washington, D.C.: Matt,
What can we expect to see tomorrow in terms of quality of play? What level will we be looking at? Thanks.

Matt Vasgersian: What all the coaches have said to a man is that quality of football in the XFL, while it can't yet compete with the NFL, is the best football played in the world this time of year. And better than college, better than NFL Europe, better than Arena league and better than the Canadian Football League (CFL). And these are the coaches talking, most of whom who have coached in college and in NFL Europe. We'll see Saturday night.

D.C.: I understand cheerleaders are encouraged to date players and will be available to viewers to talk about their experiences. Have I got this right?

Matt Vasgersian: That information was put out there a few months ago and it was done sort of tongue-in-cheek by Vince McMahon and the media really ran with it. I can't blame 'em. It makes for funny copy. The cheerleaders are not restricted from dating the players. They will be featured on the telecasts and they will be featured prominently in the stadiums. Everybody expects them to be doing lap dances and spinning around polls and I think you'll see Saturday night that it's not quite like that. So far there haven't been any cheerleaders breaking up players' families.

Columbia, MD: Matt - What are your thoughts on the criticism Jesse Ventura has received for taking a commentary position with the XFL?

Matt Vasgersian: I can understand the concerns of his constituents, but I guarantee you that Jesse is not blowing off any of his governor's duties by doing this. He travels to our broadcast location on a red eye the night of the game and leaves right after the game. He's with us for less than twenty-four hours. During the time I've spent with him, it's become very clear that he takes his role as governor seriously. What people fail to understand is that other governors have their personal lives too. But I don't think George Pataki or Gray Davis have such high-profil weekend hobbies. Some governors go fishing or barbecue in their backyard on their days off; Jesse announces football.

Bowie: Is Las Vegas taking the league seriously with pointspreads and wagering, or do they think it's "sports entertainment" and not legit?

Matt Vasgersian: Las Vegas has put a line up on the XFL. They have legitimized the league, if you will. Just about every house with a sportsbook that I know of has posted the line.

Potomac Falls, VA: If the XFL is successful -- and there is a lot of money behind it -- will the NFL implement some XFL type stuff. In general, do you think sports -- one of the last family activities left -- is going to be 'R' rated or worse?

Matt Vasgersian: First of all, this is not going to be "R" rated stuff. I know a lot of the hype has lead people to believe that this is gonna be crazy and dirty, but it's really not that way. NBC would not have gotten involved if this was going to be football porno. I think that the NFL and for that matter, all the other major sports, may alter their coverage in small steps over the years based on what you'll see Saturday night. Moreso than shots of cheerleaders, the XFL coverage is about bringing the viewer inside the game. Fans will see and hear things on the field that no league has ever given them access to in the past. I know the NFL has had a number of scouts and interested parties at training camps, but again the XFL in no way is trying to compete with the NFL. Hopefully after Saturday night people will know more what to expect.

Arlington, Va.: I'm looking forward to tuning in - generally speaking, who's comprising these rosters?

Matt Vasgersian: There are eight teams that were built through a draft selection process, just like when an expansion team builds its roster in another sport. In the case of the XFL, think of it as eight expansion teams. There were also free-agents whose services became available at various points through the fall. Roster size is one of the major differences between the XFL AND NFL> An active roster in this league carries only 38 players with a seven man taxi squad, thus the nickname, "the more you can do league."

Reston, VA: In the past wide receivers who run slower then a 4.5 40 yd dash have been written off as too slow by the NFL, even if the player has a knack for getting open and catching everything. Will the XFL segregate it's players this way?

Matt Vasgersian: Obviously each XFL team is looking for speed at that position as well and a 4.5 time is a benchmark for most of professional football. However, you will see a lot of players the NFL may have deemed "too slow" pop up in the XFL because they're great possession guys, or they run great routes or they just have a knack of getting open--a Bob Chandler-type.

Herndon, VA: Since you have similar rules from the NFL,
is the XFL will still make a committment to protect them from serious injuries, like a personal foul?

Matt Vasgersian: Yes. The few rules modifications keep the same players safety measures in check. The only one that's drawn any criticism is the "quarterback in the grasp rule." The XFL, much like the old days of the NFL, doesn't have this rule, so quarterbacks don't take deep drops and need to rely on mobility and improvizational skills. None of the players, including quarterbacks, have expressed any concern about this. Quarterbacls will have to take quicker drops.

Arlington, VA: So let's get down to real business: does Michaels come back to face HHH at WMX-7? Will it be Austin vs. Angle, or will Rock be involved?

Matt Vasgersian: Those are all WWF stars and I have no idea.

Washington, D.C.: Are the teams in the league all under single-entity ownership? Will ownership of the franchises become privatized down the road?

Matt Vasgersian: All the teams are owned by the XFL--no individual franchise ownership. That's gonna prevent the ridiculous bidding wars that you see so often in other sports and really facilitates the groundwork for what is a solid business plan. The XFL has no plans of taking a dump after two years like the USFL.

Northwest, DC: Matt,
We have the NFL, NBA, NHL, WNBA, MLB, NCAA, XFL, MLS... I could go on. Don't you think we are getting to the point where there is just WAY too much. There is certainly money to be made, but at what risk? Quality of play already suffers in leagues with too many teams. Colleges are being used as minor leagues instead of academic centers. I'm a sports fan, but I can't keep up with it. It's to the point where I just tune everything out until the "big game."

Matt Vasgersian: A valid point, but what the XFL is trying to do is to bring sports and entertainment together without compromising the game itself. I think the XFL will appeal to a different set of fans. I envision the typical XFL fan as someone who reads the sports section as much as the entertainment section of the newspaper. Kind of a moving listings/box score hobbiest. This league offers something a little different instead of more of the same. The fans certainly have a voice and if nobody watches or comes to the games, then something will have to change. But I'm pretty sure that won't be the case.

Matt Vasgersian: Hope everybody tunes in this weekend. There have been so many preconceived ideas out there. Saturday's telecast will finally give you all a good sense of what the XFL is all about. No more hype. No more talk of the cheerleaders. Let's play football.

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