The XFL has arrived to rescue sports fans from the doldrums of February.

It was inevitable that something would come along to fill the month-long void between the Super Bowl and March Madness.

And why not? The NBA is experiencing a fan recession and maybe the XFL could find Shawn Kemp a job as an offensive lineman. Of course, that’s if he could loose a few pounds first.

Speaking of bloated, the XFL’s preliminary ratings show that there may be room in the swelled sports budget of America. However, time will tell if the league can compete. The 10-week season will run into the start of the baseball season.

The XFL has some rule changes intended to make the game more exciting. For the first time in football history, a player can get injured during the coin toss, which has been changed to a two-player foot race to the ball.

A substantial rule change is that players can have whatever they want inscribed on the back of their jerseys, such as a slogan, a nickname or nothing at all.

Perhaps the worst example was Rod Smart, a running back for the Las Vegas Outlaws. Smart’s jersey read “He Hate Me.”

No Rod, he doesn’t hate you, he just doesn’t know who you are because you’re an XFL scrub without his name on the back of his jersey.

This is absolutely ridiculous. These players are getting a second chance at their 15 minutes of fame and they don’t want a TV audience to know their names? At least in the NFL players have agents to point these things out.

Don’t be surprised if some enterprising XFL player sells the back of his jersey to Nike or Pepsi.

Fans watching the Outlaws’ opener Saturday night in Las Vegas got a surprise when the cheerleaders actually put more clothes on. This was, of course, only to combat the cool, desert evening breeze. Still, female employees of Vince McMahon adding clothes on, it’s simply unheard of.

Another difference is in player salaries. Player earn between $3,000 and $5,000 a week, which is paltry compared to NFL salaries. To compensate, the winning team of each game splits $100,000. Finally, a pro sport actually admits that it is really about the money.

For those sports fans sick of Dennis Miller and John Madden, the players do most of the commentating in the XFL. Although most of them played college football, the players exhibit no evidence that they ever attended a grammar or public speaking course.

When the players aren’t yapping, Jesse Ventura takes over. He seems to be a bigger crossover-commentating flop than Miller. Gov. George “safe highways” Ryan might be just as insightful.

If the X in XFL doesn’t stand for extreme, than it must stand for ex-NFL, because the league is full of NFL wash-outs, castoffs and never-has-beens.

Chicago fans got to see the semblance of a running back for a change. Former Miami Dolphin, John Avery rushed for 157 yards and caught three passes for another 94 yards for the Enforcers. Unfortunately, in keeping with recent tradition, the Chicago team still lost.

Former Bear, Rashaan Salaam also toted the rock for more than 150 yards and two touchdowns, in a winning effort for the Memphis Maniax. He didn’t fumble either. This league is full of surprises!

Seeing such scrubs have big days may make football purists cringe, but the XFL is giving many athletes a second chance and a lot of football fanatics a second season to watch.