XFL a Problem Child for Parent Company

With the XFL, problems just keep coming.

NBC, half-owner of the XFL, is upset that Saturday night’s game between the Los Angeles Xtreme and the Chicago Enforcers ran long and delayed the start of “Saturday Night Live” in the East.

On a local level, the Xtreme was wrong when it said no injuries were caused by fighting that took place in the stands at the Coliseum Saturday night.

Albert Trevino, 46, of Ventura was hospitalized with a cut on his head and bruises over much of a his body after he was knocked into the seats in front of him.

Trevino, an innocent bystander, is a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair.

Trevino, paralyzed since he was run over by a car at age 17, went to the Xtreme game with a brother and six nieces and nephews. He sat in his wheelchair in Row 44, Section 25 on the north side of the Coliseum. Row 44 is an area set aside for the handicapped.

Trevino said that late in the third quarter one group of young men drinking beer began taunting another group. They began a fight, and when it carried over into the handicapped area, Trevino was knocked headfirst into the row of seats in front of him.

“The problem was there was no railing for me to grab, I just went over,” he said Tuesday. “I had gone to two Raider games at the Coliseum, the last in the early 1990s, and sat in Row 44. I remember then there was a railing to grab onto.”

Pat Lynch, Coliseum general manager, said the railing was taken out during the $100-million remodeling after the 1994 earthquake. A two-foot-tall metal plate was installed to keep wheelchairs from rolling into the seats in front. Lynch said the railing was removed because some people who sat in that area complained it obstructed their view.

“With the reconstruction, we followed every building code known to man,” Lynch said. “Maybe we need to put a railing back in there. It would be easy enough to do.”

Lynch said the Coliseum’s main concern is the violence, and that steps, including beefing up security, will be taken to prevent it at future Xtreme games. The next one at the Coliseum will be Feb. 25 against the Memphis Maniax.

The metal plate prevented Trevino’s wheelchair from going into the seats in front, but not Trevino, who was knocked out of his chair. He said it took the first-aid people about 10 minutes to reach him and paramedics an additional 20.

“I have no problem with the people who attended to me,” he said. “The problem was, it took them a long time to get to me. The paramedics said they had to use their equipment as shields to get through the crowd.”

Trevino was transported to nearby California Hospital where he received six stitches in the top of his head and was X-rayed for further injuries. He said he is now under the care of his doctor in Ventura.

Meanwhile, in New York, NBC and the XFL promised to speed up the games after the Xtreme’s double-overtime victory caused a 45-minute delay to the start of “Saturday Night Live.”

In Los Angeles, Channel 4 missed out on a half-hour news break, which produces considerable revenue for the station. And the news magazine show “Extra” was joined in progress. But “Saturday Night Live” started on time at 9:30 p.m.

To prevent other games from running long, the XFL will cut its pregame introductions by at least five minutes, shorten the halftime breaks and try to keep the clock moving. For example, the time clock will start when the ball is placed on the line of scrimmage after incomplete passes and changes of possession, instead of waiting until the ball is snapped.

NBC sports and entertainment representatives were even arguing over what caused an upsurge in NBC ratings at about 11:30 EST Saturday night. The entertainment side believes that’s when viewers tuned in expecting “Saturday Night Live,” while the sports side argues that the exciting finish to the XFL game had something to do with that.