By TheGrandonGang – XFLBoard.com Las Vegas Outlaws Team Reporter
Las Vegas – (7 January 2001) Under a beautiful, virtually cloudless, blue sky with the temperature approaching 70, just minutes from the world-famous Strip and the weekend hubbub of the Consumer Electronics show, what better sounds could one hear than bodies hitting one another and the battle-cry of “this ain’t the NFL, baby”? Thus began the Las Vegas Outlaws’ 1st All-Access event, which included a combined scrimmage with the L.A. Xtreme.
The throngs of fans attending this event were rabidly excited, especially the kids, since they had the best heroes of both worlds – wrestlers and football players. The master of ceremonies was Hardy, a DJ from the local radio station X107.5, Xtreme Radio. He introduced WWF superstars The Goodfather and The Dudley Boyz to great applause. In the meantime, the combined scrimmage was underway. Fans had the opportunity to watch the Western Conference rivals compete in a series of drills that included “9 on 7” – offense (minus two) faces linebackers and secondary – and “7 on 7” – a pass rushing drill – as well as “team thud,” a high-contact 11 on 11 drill. Much entertainment was provided during the scrimmage – it was not uncommon to have a fan yell at one of the players after the commission of a penalty, like pass interference, and to have the player respond “this ain’t the NFL” or “it’s like nothin’ you’ve ever seen!”
During the scrimmage, fans were able to purchase any available remaining season ticket seats, with the help of on-site Outlaw assistants. Single-game home opener tickets were also available for purchase. Once you had your seats, or if you had them already, you could head down to the endzone for autographs by the WWF superstars, the lovely Las Vegas Outlaws cheerleaders, or, later, the Outlaws team members themselves. In addition, lunch was provided, an XFL video was shown on the big screen, and Coach Criner addressed the crowd. In his comments, Coach Criner indicated that the #1 goal is to bring home the championship to Las Vegas. He also expressed his thanks for the very supportive community environment in which the Outlaws find themselves.
Overall, it would have to be said that this event was a big success. The fans were very appreciative of this glimpse of the Las Vegas pro football future but, judging from the crowd’s reaction, there was one thing wrong – the scrimmage was not long enough. Hurry up, season opener!
