Matt Vasgersian

This Was the XFL

Charlie Ebersol

Dick Ebersol, Vince McMahon

A bold challenge, a fearless experiment and ultimately, a spectacular failure. In 2001, sports entertainment titans Ebersol and McMahon launched the XFL. It was hardly the first time a league had tried to compete with the NFL, but the brash audacity of the bid, combined with the personalities and charisma of Ebersol and McMahon and the marketing behemoths of their respective companies -- NBC and WWE -- captured headlines and a sense of undeniable anticipation about what was to come.

Triumph & Tragedy: The 1994 Montreal Expos

Matt Vasgersian, Felipe Alou

The 1994 Montreal Expos were arguably the best team in baseball, and the only Expos team in their history about which that could be said. Then came the players strike that led to the cancellation of the postseason and the Expos' first chance to bring home their first championship. What followed was a painful decline that saw financial troubles, ownership by the other 29 teams, and finally the move to Washington.