Despite the fact that the XFL continues to produce exciting, competitive football action, the television ratings continue to drop. Saturday night's ratings were down once again, this time coming in at a disappointing 3.8. The XFL was thrilled with its ratings after week-one with a 10.3, but they dropped about 50% in week-two to just over five.

The league continued, this week, in its attempt to develop recognizable characters with their taped "profiles" and sideline interviews. Rod Smart, of the Las Vegas Outlaws, received a lot of press coverage and television time for his unusual nickname, "He Hate Me", on the back of his jersey. The coverage Smart received for his strange moniker sparked two members of the Los Angeles Xtreme to post "I Hate He" and "I Hate He Too" on the backs of their jerseys.

This is the type of player promotion the XFL is hoping will catch the attention of the football/wrestling fan, but so far it doesn't seem to be working. If ratings continue to decline throughout the season, NBC and their advertisers will not be very happy.

One area the XFL could make a huge improvement, in my opinion, is to get some real football announcers in the booth. These guys may know how to work a wrestling match, but they are trying way too hard to point out how the XFL is better than the NFL, instead of calling a football game.

Jim Ross may know how to get the latest wrestler "over", but he just doesn't cut it as a professional football announcer. And the State of Minnesota must be so proud of their beloved governor as he occasionally slips back into character as Jesse "The Body" Ventura, the name he wrestled under in the World Wrestling Federation.

And don't even get me started on Jerry "The King" Lawler. This guy sounds like the "Cuckoo For Cocoa Puffs" bird, as pointed out by the About Pro Football Forum's RBICK. This guy also sounds like a 14-year old boy at the peak of puberty anytime the camera focuses on the cheerleaders. That might work for wrestling, but it's not working for the XFL.

The games themselves continue to be exciting! The two best teams in the league, the Las Vegas Outlaws and Los Angeles Xtreme, faced off Saturday night in what turned out to be a very entertaining game.

After a hard-fought defensive battle, Jose Cortez kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired to give the Xtreme a 12-9 victory. Los Angeles safety Tinker Keck intercepted Outlaws' backup quarterback Mike Cawley's pass and returned the ball to the Las Vegas 41 with 1:11 left to set up the winning field goal.

In the other game Saturday night, Memphis quarterback Jim Druckenmiller's potential game-tying fourth-down pass was intercepted by Wendell Davis at the San Francisco 11 with less than a minute to play, sealing a 13-6 Demons' victory. The Demons overcame a 6-0 halftime deficit with the aid of two Mike Pawlawski touchdown passes to Terry Battle.

Sunday's action started with the Chicago Enforcers visiting the Birmingham Thunderbolts. With Chicago threatening to take the lead late in the game, the Bolts' Duane Butler picked off a Tim Lester pass and returned it 98 yards for the touchdown, putting the game out of Chicago's reach. James Bostic helped pace the Thunderbolts on offense with 77 yards on 23 rushes, as Birmingham held on to a 14-3 win.

And in the weekend finale, the Orlando Rage went up to the Meadowlands of New Jersey to face the Hitmen. The Hitmen led for most of the contest, but the Rage remained the only undefeated team in the league by notching an 18-12, come-from-behind victory. Rage quarterback Jeff Brohm made the play of the game with a 33-yard scamper for the go ahead touchdown late in the game. Orlando's offense struggled for much of the game, but scored 15 unanswered points on their final three possessions.

On a sad note, Donald R. Sellers, who spent most of training camp with the Las Vegas Outlaws, was killed Sunday in an automobile accident near Wickenburg. Sellers, 26, was returning to the Phoenix area from Las Vegas when the accident occurred on Arizona State Route 93.

He apparently lost control of his car and swerved in front of oncoming traffic. His vehicle was hit broadside and was split in half and rolled an undetermined amount of times. Sellers was ejected from his vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

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