After a failed attempt at creating a new football league in early 00s with professional wrestling-style characters and plotlines, WWE owner Vince McMahon took a second crack at making the XFL happen. The rules would differ slightly from the NFL, and all of the teams would be centrally owned, instead of private regional organizations.

This revival was originally announced in 2018, with the inaugural 10-week season set to launch in 2020. And it did begin as planned!…until the coronavirus stopped it in its tracks after 5 weeks of play. Within a month, the brand new XFL had already filed for bankruptcy.

But now — in a move that is strangely poetic, given the subject matter — the league has been saved by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a former WWE star himself. THR reports:

Actor and producer Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale's RedBird Capital have agreed to buy the XFL, the bankrupt football league founded by WWE CEO Vince McMahon.

[…]

At the time of the filing, the league listed assets valued at between $10-$50 million, and liabilities also between $10-$50 million.

“The acquisition of the XFL with my talented partners, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale, is an investment for me that’s rooted deeply in two things - my passion for the game and my desire to always take care of the fans,” said Johnson in a statement. “With pride and gratitude for all that I’ve built with my own two hands, I plan to apply these callouses to the XFL, and look forward to creating something special for the players, fans, and everyone involved for the love of football.”

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South Korean football club apologizes for filling stands with 'sex dolls.’ By Jack Guy and me. #SouthKorea @cnnsport https://t.co/XMkLrxJZut

— Sophie Jeong (@sophieyjeong) May 18, 2020

In South Korea, the soccer team FC Seoul filled out its empty arena with sex dolls posed as fans. The game was closed to the public due to COVID-19 restrictions. After real fans watching the match online spotted the curious figures, FC Seoul issued an apology and claimed it was an honest mistake and that they hadn't noticed the figures holding up signs with the name of a sex toy company. From CNN:

"The female mannequin dressed in a white short sleeve t-shirt, the breast excessively stood out, and the nipples were protruding, but you didn't know they were an adult product?" wrote another fan on Instagram. "You are kidding me."

FC Seoul explained that although the dolls were made to look like real people, rather than conventional mannequins, it had checked they were "not at all related to adult products" before agreeing to install them, and had been told they would be mannequins of the kind commonly used to model clothes.

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1300 Americans lodged complaints decrying the suggestive nature of the Superbowl's halftime dance show. Nothing is sacred.

WFAA:

For some viewers, the outrage was about more than just costumes and dancing. It was about parenting.

"As a father of 2 teen girls I feel obligated, at this point, to file a complaint as I am at my wits end," a man from Maine wrote. "That “show” should have been reserved for late night cable TV ... As a society we are talking out of both sides of our mouths and confusing kids. We need to do better, much MUCH better. Please help put a stop this disgraceful type of behavior being pushed on our children."

Complaints poured in from 49 states.

Texas viewers had the most complaints -- nearly 140.

There were zero complaints from Vermont.

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Chiefs DT Derrick Nnadi celebrated their superbowl win by paying the adoption fees for all the dogs in a shelter he works with.

NBC4i:

Derrick Nnadi is helping homeless dogs find new homes in the wake of his Super Bowl win.

The defensive tackle is paying the adoption fees for all the dogs currently available at KC Pet Project.

Nnadi has been helping out homeless animals all season though the Derrick Nnadi Foundation‘s partnership with KCPP.

You can find out how to adopt the dogs here.

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After the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, President Donald Trump tweeted his congratulations to the team who, er, "represented the Great State of Kansas."

Seriously.

Within a few minutes, he deleted the tweet and posted a corrected version. Here's a response from Claire McCaskill, former Democratic senator from Missouri (2007-2019):

It’s Missouri you stone cold idiot. pic.twitter.com/O1cAAOFsJ6

— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) February 3, 2020

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[IMAGE: @markknoller]

This is some real propaganda bullshit right here. Who thought it was okay?

During the LSU vs CLEM playoffs tonight, they brought President Trump and his wife Melania on the field for the singing of the national anthem. Read the rest

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ) is a supporter of the Berea Animal Rescue Friends shelter in Berea, Ohio. As part of the NFL's My Cause My Cleats program in which players wear custom shoes at big games to spotlight their favorite charities, Nike tricked out OBJ's cleats as a tribute to the animal shelter. From Hypebeast:

In line with the canine inspirations, ear flaps have been placed on two sides of each foot, hanging from the upper collars. On the medial side, “OBJ” is embroidered in gold, complemented by round tonal laces at the center. The lateral side features the Swoosh logo as well as the number “13,” while the black toe cap references a dog’s nose.

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It's on. Read the rest

A gentleman was arrested in Portsmouth, England after punching a police horse during a riot following a soccer game. He apparently was angry that Portsmouth lost to Southampton. It isn't clear why he blamed the horse though. From The Telegraph:

In the footage of the aftermath of the first match in seven years between bitter rivals Southampton and Portsmouth, the supporter then attempts to run from the horse, but his path is blocked as he ends up in the arms of a group of police officers with riot shields.

Hampshire Constabulary said a 52-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty and attempted criminal damage. He was later released but remains under investigation.

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Clemson's national championship football team went to the White House on Monday where President Donald Trump hosted them for winning the title. Trump had a bunch of burgers ready for them: Wendy's, McDonald's and Burger King. Read the rest

A kindergarten and first grade football time in Morrow, Ohio is holding a gun raffle to raise travel money for tournaments. They've already sold 500 tickets. The winners, 21 years or older, will receive either a handgun or HM Guardian F5 Elite. Apparently, gun raffles to support kids sports and schools isn't uncommon. From WLWT:

Gina Pennycuff is a mother and a substitute teacher. She happened to be working when she got a Facebook message about the gun raffle.

"It was disturbing to me because gun raffles for a youth organization just doesn't mix," she said.

She shared the flyer on Facebook and the comment section took off, some in favor and some opposed...

"I can't imagine being a parent of a kindergartener and them worrying and doing lockdown drills, but them also knowing they're raffling off guns," she said.

"Youth football team gun raffle sparks debate" (Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!) Read the rest

Nike hired Kap for an ad campaign: a satisfying yet bathetic result of his de facto expulsion from professional football for protesting police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. Conservatives are mad, obviously, and are expressing it by destroying the Nike-branded gear that they have already paid for.

First the @NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country. I chose country. Then @Nike forces me to choose between my favorite shoes and my country. Since when did the American Flag and the National Anthem become offensive? pic.twitter.com/4CVQdTHUH4

— Sean Clancy (@sclancy79) September 3, 2018

Our Soundman just cut the Nike swoosh off his socks. Former marine. Get ready @Nike multiply that by the millions. pic.twitter.com/h8kj6RXe7j

— John Rich (@johnrich) September 3, 2018

Life is but a dream. Read the rest

Below, German football player Felix Passlack demonstrates masterful gum control:

When you spit your gum out, but your hands are dirty

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Playground compiles 2,000 Google Earth images of American football fields, then plays them alphabetically at a speed where they become hypnotic. Read the rest

I don't follow football, but Bad Lip Reading hit a grand slam with this one! I'm literally LOLing over here, people...

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Weird Universe shares the tale of Larry Canaday, the 1970s football coach at Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida, who would bite the heads off live frogs to psych up his team before games.

"Our kids love it," Canaday told the Associated Press in 1977. "They say 'Look how wild the coach is, let's get wild, too!'"

Canaday said he started the practice when trying to fire up one player. "I looked down and saw this little frog and just reached down and bit it. The boy's eyes got big as saucers and he became a real go-geter."

After several years of the ritual, school officials told him that the "frog-biting must cease."

"Last year we were winning," he said in the 1977 article. "But now we're losing, and certain intellects will use this as an excuse to pick on football." Read the rest

The chief health and safety officer of the NFL today acknowledged a connection between football-related head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), in what is the first time any senior football league official has said anything about the link between football and the devastating brain disease that affects so many who play the game. Read the rest