{"id":82073,"date":"2019-02-11T21:25:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T21:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"\/rcntv\/?p=82073"},"modified":"2023-04-13T15:28:20","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T15:28:20","slug":"will-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/will-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Will You Watch?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>The views expressed in this blog are<\/em> <em>those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s called the <a title=\"Alliance of American Football\" href=\"https:\/\/aaf.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alliance of American Football (AAF)<\/a>.\u00a0 It was spawned by filmmaker Charlie Ebersol after he made a documentary about the old XFL, a league that failed.\u00a0 Former <a title=\"NFL\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NFL<\/a> general manager Bill Polian is considered a co-founder.\u00a0 Troy Polamalu, Hines Ward, Justin Tuck, Mike Pereira, and Dick Ebersol are all involved.\u00a0 The league played this past weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The eight teams will play four games each weekend (two on Saturday and two on Sunday).\u00a0 There is an Eastern Conference (Atlanta Legends, Birmingham Iron, Memphis Express, Orlando Apollos) and a Western Conference (Arizona Hotshots, Salt Lake Stallions, San Antonio Commanders, San Diego Fleet).\u00a0 The season will last 10 weeks with a four-team playoff and a championship game April 27 in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>Every player signed a three-year, $250,000 contract ($70,000 the first year).\u00a0 Every player no matter the position is paid the same amount with potential bonuses.\u00a0 Community contributions can earn a player more money.\u00a0 Some players were selected based on their college locality and the AAF team\u2019s location.\u00a0 It was called a territorial draft so fans in a given region would know some of their players.<\/p>\n<p>Some interesting differences with the NFL:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No TV timeouts (60% fewer full-screen commercials)<\/li>\n<li>The goal is to play a game under 150 minutes compared to the 180 for an average NFL game<\/li>\n<li>No extra points \u2013 only two-point conversions<\/li>\n<li>Defenses can only rush five players and none from more than two yards outside the tackles<\/li>\n<li>No kickoffs; possessions are started at the 25-yard line<\/li>\n<li>The play clock is 35 seconds (the NFL is 40)<\/li>\n<li>Only the coaches\u2019 challenges will be replayed with automatic replays, if needed, in the final two minutes of each half<\/li>\n<li>Overtime consists of putting the ball on the 10-yard line and giving each team a possession and the team can only score via a touchdown. After one possession, if the score is still tied, the game ends in a tie.<\/li>\n<li>There will be an extra official (called a sky judge) who reviews every play and that judge can add or take away penalties missed or made by the on-field officials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>CBS, CBSSN, NFL Network, TNT, and Sirius XM will all air select games.\u00a0 The NFL Network\u2019s involvement is a good sign.\u00a0 CBS, which televised the opening regional games, had higher ratings than the NBA game on ABC, but a rerun of <em>America\u2019s Got Talent<\/em> had the highest ratings.<\/p>\n<p>So, I ask you, \u201cWill you watch it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSING)<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a title=\"MLB\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MLB<\/a>\u2019s spring training is right around the corner. The <a title=\"Philadelphia Phillies\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/phillies\">Phillies<\/a> have already improved their roster, but the Philly fans want Manny Machado or Bryce Harper or both.\u00a0 If they get either, watch out.\u00a0 Between the <a title=\"Philadelphia 76ers\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/sixers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sixers<\/a> and the Phillies, and maybe the <a title=\"Philadelphia Flyers\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/flyers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Flyers<\/a>, the town could go crazy!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>The Flyers are generating some hockey interest again with their new goalie, Carter Hart. He has won a record eight straight for Philadelphia, and set a record for consecutive wins by a goalie under 21 years of age.\u00a0 They currently trail Pittsburgh by six points for a playoff spot.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>With all the excitement about the Sixers adding Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris, JJ Redick performs at a high offensive level every night. He is averaging 18.7 points per game, makes 90% of his free throws, and 39% of his three-point shots.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>Congratulations are in order for the <a title=\"Bethlehem Catholic\" href=\"https:\/\/becahi.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bethlehem Catholic<\/a> and the <a title=\"Northampton High School\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nasdschools.org\/nahs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Northampton<\/a> wrestling teams. The Lehigh Valley can be proud of the fact that two local teams were in the <a title=\"PIAA\" href=\"http:\/\/www.piaa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PIAA<\/a> 3A championship final.\u00a0 Beca won their 7<sup>th<\/sup> title and their second in a row.\u00a0 But it is good to see Northampton is back.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>P.S. <a title=\"Nazareth High School\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hs.nazarethasd.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nazareth<\/a> and <a title=\"Liberty High School\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beth.k12.pa.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liberty<\/a> are probably the next two best teams in the state.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>The <a title=\"EPC\" href=\"http:\/\/epc18.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EPC<\/a> and the <a title=\"Colonial League\" href=\"http:\/\/www.colonialleague.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Colonial<\/a> girls\u2019 and boys\u2019 championships are on RCN-TV on Friday night \u2013 six hours of outstanding basketball starting at 6:00pm.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. It\u2019s called the Alliance of American Football (AAF).\u00a0 It was spawned by filmmaker Charlie Ebersol after he made a documentary about the old XFL,&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Will You Watch? - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will You Watch? - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. 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