Las Vegas – (18 February 2001) — Las Vegas Outlaws Head Coach Jim Criner, before the Los Angeles/Las Vegas match, urged his players to win the “dadgum game”. When the final gun went off, dadgummit if Las Vegas hadn’t lost its first XFL game.
Coach Criner, in his postgame comments, said:
“Usually I’m not into talking about individual performances, but Mike Cawley did not have a good game. Jenkins was wide open on his final interception. We had the right pattern call, it was just a poor throw. We did not do a good job of checking off. If we
execute offensively, we take advantage of their pressure. Our defense is very impressive. We’ve gone 12 quarters without allowing a touchdown.”
By way of response, Las Vegas Outlaws Quarterback Mike Cawley:
“I wasn’t confused – we had our chances, I just didn’t get it done. We didn’t get it done. We didn’t make the plays when we had to.”
In the offensively-anemic game, which Las Vegas lost 12-9, one might be quick to point fingers at QB Cawley as the culprit in this loss but anyone who saw the game can tell you that there were other members of the poor-execution posse. In one play, a Las Vegas receiver, without bothering to look back at the QB, never saw a pass coming, which was then intercepted. The receiver continued to be oblivious and failed to turn and make the tackle on the interceptor. On another play, among a series of mistakes, an offensive lineman “false-started” negating a well-called and
well-executed inside trap play which would have resulted in a touchdown.
Overall, from a fan’s perspective, things seemed to
pretty much fall into one of two categories:
OVER THE TOP
Las Vegas defense
Pre-game street fair
Beach balls in the stands
LA Cortez’ kicking consistency
Calls by Jesse “The Body” Ventura
Outlaws cheerleaders’ enthusiasm
Xtreme cheerleaders’ moves
Pyrotechnics (well-timed and work)
UNDER THE WEATHER
Las Vegas offense
Post-game traffic
Fan fights in the stands
LV Cawley’s passing consistency
Calls by sideline judge
Outlaws cheerleaders’ choreography
Xtreme cheerleaders’ outfits
Pyrotechnics (ill-timed and fizzle)
Altogether, it was another fun and enjoyable experience. The XFL, and the Outlaws’ organization, are doing a fine job of keeping the fans’ interest at heart and providing a top-notch entertainment extravaganza. But, dagnabbit all, there was no reason
that the Outlaws should have lost that game!
