Crazy Winds Cause Mayhem At XFL Game Played On Spray-Painted Baseball-Turned-Soccer Field With Uneven Lines, Large Divots
Saturday night's XFL game between the Las Vegas Vipers and Seattle Sea Dragons had it all. From a spray-painted field, to extreme winds, to Josh Gordon's game-winning touchdown in the final minute, what more could you ask for?
After shutting down due to COVID-19 in 2020, the XFL returned on the Sunday after the Super Bowl. While the first three weeks have seen plenty of on-field action, the majority of headlines thus far have stemmed from various occurrences around the game itself.
That was the case again in Sin City on Saturday night.
The finish was awesome, as Josh Gordon caught a game-winning touchdown from Ben DiNucci and catapulted himself to the top of the XFL's statistical leaderboard.
However, the field on which the game was played and conditions in which it was played overshadowed some of the excitement. The XFL's inability to secure a more legitimate playing field in Las Vegas has created quite the scene.
Instead of playing inside Allegiant Stadium, the Vipers play at Cashman Field. Cashman Field was first a minor league baseball stadium in the 1980s. It was renovated and converted to a minor league soccer field in 2019.
Now it is being used for the XFL!
Field conditions were especially terrible last week, but improved some in Week 3.
That said, the grass still had to be spray-painted green, divots caused for the surface to be uneven, and the sidelines were uneven.
The XFL field in Las Vegas continues to look very bush-league.
If the field wasn't problem enough, Las Vegas was under a wind advisory.
Gusts reached 45 miles per hour as kickoff neared!
Nevertheless, the game must go on! So it did.
Early in the third quarter, winds were so crazy that a kickoff could not be administered properly.
Referee Eddie Garcia had to step in as a holder so that the ball would stay on the tee.
Whipping winds could be heard on the broadcast throughout the evening. They almost served as ASMR for all of the sickos who lasted to the fourth quarter of an XFL game!
Ultimately, the first three weeks of the XFL have been pretty seamless— outside of Nevada. Conditions at Cashman Field make for a bad look as the league tries to create a fanbase and have itself taken seriously.