Can you say, "SexFL?" Just think of the cheerleaders...

Anyway, danger lies in the influence that the XFL could have on other sports bodies. Once fans latch on to the XFL, the traditional leagues may respond with changes of their own and blur of the line between sport and lower-brow forms of entertainment even more.

Why wouldn't they? The leagues are looking for ways--any ways--to raise revenue, from putting a stand-up comedian on MNF to those hideous "turn-back-the-clock" days in baseball to the NBA's inane camera scheme.

What's to stop them from attempting to ride the new money train the XFL sets in motion?

The end result could be an end to professional sport as we know it. It would be the final triumph of gimmickry over actual competition and the ultimate bastardization of sports. I don't consider myself a purist in the strictest sense, but this doomsday scenario upsets me.

Of course, it is only a doomsday scenario, one that may seem "X-treme" in its own right. But given the exposure that the league will get via its contract with NBC, the local support that the franchises in smaller markets like Orlando and Birmingham will receive and astounding popularity of wrestling and McMahon himself, it is unlikely that the XFL can do anything but succeed.

After that, who knows. This weekend, the Miami Dolphins will probably beat the New England Patriots in a pretty ugly AFC contest.