Confidence Man 2

The five most underwhelming World Series Champions

2007-02-28T13:22:00.000-05:00

First off, sorry for the hiatus, I just really didn't feel like posting anything for a while. But now that spring training has started and the madness of March is upon us, hopefully I will be more inspired. Anyway, the topic here is the fie most underwhelming World Series Champions ever. Not necessarily the worst champions ever, just the teams that didn't really stand out compared to the rest of the teams that year, but won the World Series anyway.

5. 1940 Cincinnati Reds

This team basically got manager Bill McKechnie into the Hall of Fame. Besides McKechnie, the 1940 Reds had only one other Hall of Famer, catcher Ernie Lombardi, and he was injured for much of the second half and had only three at bats in the World Series. What's interesting about this team is that a lot of their key players were picked up off the scrap heap. First baseman Frank McCormick, who had 127 RBIs in 1940 and was the NL MVP that season, was rejected by the New York Giants. second baseman Lonny Frey previously played for Brooklyn and Chicago. 3rd Baseman Bill Werber, often remembered as the clubhouse leader was purchased from the Philadelphia Athletics after a holdout, and had previously played with the Red Sox and Yankees. Pitcher Bucky Walters, who won 22 games in 1940, was a failed third baseman who was sold to a minor league team by the Boston Braves before becoming a pitcher with the Phillies, who promptly screwed up and traded him to the Reds. This team wasn't full of superstars, but they had a lot of good players and won 100 games in 1940, despite injuries to Lombardi and the suicide of his backup, Willard Hershberger. The 1940 Reds were a good team, but most baseball fans probably have no clue who most of these guys are, so that's why it's on this list.

4. 1997 Florida Marlins

The team that bought the World Championship, and sold everything away soon after. Of the players on this team, the guys with the best chance of making the Hall of Fame are Gary Sheffield, who didn't have a particularly good season in 1997, and Kevin Brown. I think it's safe to say that neither one of those guys are first ballot Hall of Famers. Plus, this team was easy to dislike, not only because of their mercenary nature but because they had jerks like Sheffield, Brown, and Bobby Bonilla on the team. The team won 92 games to get the Wild Card, went through San Francisco and Atlanta in the playoffs, then played the most boring seven game World Series of all-time against the Cleveland Indians. All of this despite having two guys, Mosies Alou and Charles Johnson, performing above expectations, and getting disappointing seasons out of Jeff Conine, Sheffield, Luis Castillo, and Al Leiter. The main thing this team is remembered for is that owner Wayne Hyzengia traded or let go of every asset this team had, except for young guys like Castillo and Livan Hernandez, so they didn't have a chance to defend their championship. Other than that, this team was boring and hard to like.

3. 1990 Cincinnati Reds

I don't mean to pick on Cincinnati, but if you look at this team and their stats, they don't seem very remarkable at all. Sure, they had the Nasty Boys bullpen of Randy Myers, Rob Dibble and Norm Charlton, but other than that, they had few superstars. It's not even like they had a team full of guys with career years, as Myers, Dibble, Eric Davis, Chris Sabo, Paul O'Neill, Barry Larkin, and Jose Rijo usually put up similar or better numbers throughout their career. The only guys that had career years were second baseman Mariano Duncan and pitcher Jack Armstrong. Other than Larkin, these guys have very little chance of entering the Hall of Fame. Nevertheless, despite getting poor production out poor production out of starters Todd Benzinger, Joe Oliver, and Billy Hatcher, and despite Jack Armstrong's second half collapse, the Reds led the N.L. West wire to wire that year. Then they beat the Pirates, who had Bonds, Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, and Doug Drabek, in the N.L.C.S. and shockingly swept the Oakland A's who had like 23 All-Stars that year, in the World Series, with Hatcher hitting .750 in the World Series. They might not have been the most talented team in baseball that year, but everything fell into place for them that year and the Reds became champions.

2. 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers

Never has a team gotten so far on the backs of two men, pitcher Orel Hershiser and outfielder Kirk Gibson, the 1988 N.L. Cy Young and MVP winners, respectively. Other than those two, this was a mediocre squad. Their bullpen pitched over their heads as Jay Howell, Alejandro Pena, and Brian Holton put up ERA over a full run below their career average (and they were usually pretty decent pitchers, in 1988, they were spectacular). Tim Leary somehow won 17 games for the Dodgers in 88, which made up for losing Fernando Valenzuela to injuries for much of the year. The pitching was good, and Hershiser was great, but the hitting suggests a team that finished below .500. They had only three players with double-digit home runs, Gibson (25), Mike Marshall (20), and John Shelby (10). The rest of the team, well, look below:

Franklin Stubbs, 242 at bats (.223/.288/.376)
Jeff Hamilton, 309 at bats (.236/.268/.353)
Mike Scoscia, 408 at bats (.257/.318/.324)
Alfredo Griffin, 316 at bats (.199/.259/.253)
Dave Anderson, 285 at bats (.249/.325/.319)
Mike Davis, 281 at bats (.196/.260/.270)

Sure, they played in a tough hitters park, but still, the 1988 Dodgers gave over 1,800 at bats to players who had little or no production. Yet, they won the N.L. West pretty easily, and beat out two teams that were very talented, the Mets (despite the team hitting .214 in the NLCS) and the A's, to win the World Series, even though Gibson struggled in the N.L.C.S. and had only one at-bat in the World Series (and what an at-bat it was).

1. 1945 Detroit Tigers

The Tigers won 88 games in the regular season in a watered down league (due to WWII), then beat the Cubs in seven games in the World Series. These Tigers had some good players. Hal Newhouser and Dizzy Trout could pitch whether it was wartime baseball or not, and midway through the '45 season, they got big-time slugger Hank Greenberg back. It's a good thing they got him back, as some of these Tigers couldn't hit the water if they were in the ocean. Bob Swift, Detroit's main catcher put up a (.233/.298/.251) line in 279 at bats. Or take Skeeter Webb, in 407 at bats, the shortstop put up the following line: (.199/.254/.238). I hope he was a damn good fielder. The rest of the team was no better than league average, with the exception of the historically underrated Roy Cullenbine (.398 OBP, 93 RBIs) As for the pitching, they had Newhouser, Trout, and Al Benton, which was enough to get the Tigers a World Championship. This team had a few good players, but they also had some players who would have never started if a lot of the players weren't off on war, and I have a feeling that, if you put all the World Series champions together, and play a 1000 game schedule, this team would end up with the worst record.

Super Bowl XLI

2007-02-03T15:35:00.000-05:00

The road to the Super Bowl is long and pointless. Or, at least the two week wait is long and pointless. I see the point of having a two week layoff. It's so people can get healthy and everybody can be properly focused for the biggest game of the year. From a selfish perspective, however, it just kind of annoys me, because it allows an already overhyped event to become even more overhyped, as writers and pundits dissect every detail of every team and every part of the host city. But the NFL is making money hand over fist this week, so they seem to know what they're doing.

Anyway, there have been nine black head coaches in the history of the game (not counting Mike Tomlin, who hasn't coached a game yet). Two of them are going to be at Super Bowl XLI. I've heard some people say that it's really not a big deal. But consider this, in the 87 year history of the NFL, there have been nine black head coaches. Something doesn't quite add up there. 22.2% of the black head coaches in the NFL will be coaching at Super Bowl XLI. So, yes, I'd say that that's a big deal.

Furthermore, Lovie Smith is a former disciple, so to speak of Tony Dungy. Both men run the Cover-2 defense, so neither man will be surprised by anything that's thrown at them defensively. What it will come down to is who has the better players on defense. Despite all their injuries, and the Colts' improved play in the postseason, there should be no doubt that the Bears have the better defense, what with players like Urlacher, Briggs, Vasher, Alex Brown, etc. So, on defense, advantage Bears.

Just as the Bears have a wide edge on defense, the Colts have a wide edge on offense, even if Marvin Harrison has no career success in the postseason. The Colts used Dallas Clark a lot in the AFC championship game. They won't use him as much with Briggs and Urlacher being two of the best cover linebackers in football. Nevertheless, the Colts are an offensive machine, while the Bears are inconsistent on offense, advantage Colts.

The Colts have the best kicker in postseason history, Adam Vinatieri. However, their coverage units on kickoffs and punts are among the worst in the NFL. With Devin Hester returning for the Bears, that could be a huge problem. Plus the Bears are solid with kicker Robbie Gould and punter Brad Maynard, so, despite Vinatieri, the special team advantage goes to the Bears.

So, to me, there are two key factors. One, will the Colts be able to contain Devin Hester? And two, which weakness will step up in the big game, the Colts' defense or the Bears offense. The Bears have gotten away with spotty performances from Rex Grossman in the past. In order to win this game, Grossman has got to be good enough so the Colts won't put eight men in the box on every play. I don't think he will be, Manning will get his first Super Bowl win. Colts, 24-10.

Mexico in Oakland?

2007-01-23T13:44:00.000-05:00

It has been rumored that the Atlanta Falcons and the Oakland Raiders have talked about a deal which would send Michael Vick and the 10th pick of the draft to Oakland for Randy Moss, Jerry Porter, and the number 1 pick. This coming after Vick was cleared of any wrongdoing from his incident at the Miami airport last Wednesday. After the incident, Vick was raked over the coals by his own management and every two-bit hack with a keyboard and a column. Now, he's supposedly going to Oakland.

First of all, I don't think this deal will happen. You saw how worked up Rich McKay and Arthur Blank got over Vick's water bottle. Now they're going to take on Moss, the most controversial player not named T.O., a man that once used a cop as a car ornament, and Porter, a guy who basically did whatever the hell he wanted in Oakland, including not showing up to practices, and got only a slight punishment for his actions. So you're going to trade the evil Ron Mexico for these two shining beacons of light. Whatever you say.

Second of all, it's a dumb trade. Yeah, you get two wide receivers who, if they're on, are among the best in the game. But Porter's not the answer you need and who the hell knows what's up with Moss half the time. And you get the number one pick. The last time the Falcons had the number one pick, they selected Michael Vick. So you never know about number one draft picks, I suppose. Also, as highly regarded as Matt Schaub is, people seem to forget that he has questionable arm strength and that he's really a Brad Johnson type quarterback at best. Unfortunately, the Falcons need more than a game manager at quarterback to succeed, and until they finally harness Vick's abilities, this team will be no better than mediocre.

The bottom line is this. Michael Vick is still the Falcons' best chance at winning. Not Matt Schaub or Brady Quinn or Randy Moss. If this team gives up on Vick, then I truly believe the Falcons will go back to the days where 7-9 is considered a good season. Vick is immensely talented, and there's still time (After all, he's only 26). He might be a knucklehead, but trading him for a problem child like Moss is going to create more problems. I say, give Vick one year with Petrino. If he doesn't improve, or things get worse, well Vick's still talented enough that some team will give up a lot for him. Maybe something more useful than a couple of coach-killing wide receivers.

NFL Playoffs: Conference Championships

2007-01-20T15:33:00.000-05:00

Last week, I went 1-3, although two of teams I picked (San Diego, Seattle) lost by 3 points. Then again, New Orleans won by just 3 points, so I very well could have been 0-4. Hopefully, I'll do better this week.

New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears, 3:00 p.m. (EST). Fox.

The Saints enter the game as heavy sentimental favorites, what with everything that has transpired in the past two years. Their offense is full of weapons, and their defense is better than they are given credit for. The Bears got a pretty good performance from Rex Grossman, but their defense was very spotty, and if Matt Hasselbeck was the quarterback he was last year, the Seahawks would have won the game. The Seahawks ran all over the Bears last week, usually on runs up the middle, which suits Deuce McAllister just fine. For all the talk about Brian Urlacher being the greatest linebacker in the game, it seems to me, at least, that teams have much more success when they run straight at him, instead of to the sides where he can pursue. Plus, the Bears still are without All-Pro defensive tackle Tommie Harris, which would somewhat explain the success Shaun Alexander had against the middle of the Bears defense.

On offense, if Rex Grossman gets into a rhythm, the Saints secondary is not strong enough to stop him. Fred Thomas, the Saints' right corner, was picked on all night last Saturday, and I would expect the Bears to try to isolate Thomas and their deep threat, Bernard Berrian. Thomas is a hard-nosed player, but he doesn't have the speed to keep up with Berrian one-on-one.

The game is really going to come down to whether or not the Saints, a dome team, can handle to mid 30s temperatures expected for tomorrow's game, and whether or not Rex Grossman will come through again. Honestly, I didn't expect Grossman to have a good game last week. I think he'll be okay this week, and domed teams historically struggle in the cold during the playoffs. So, although I want the Saints to win, I don't see it happening. Bears win, 24-14.

New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts, 6:30 p.m. CBS

The game that nobody wants to see yet again is here. This time, Peyton Manning and the Colts are at home, and have momentum, as they have beaten the Patriots the last two years during the regular season. However, the playoffs are a whole different beast. Not many people expected the Colts to beat the Ravens last Saturday, especially with the way Peyton Manning played. But the Colts defense came through and Steve McNair played worse than Peyton Manning. The Patriots shouldn't have beaten the Chargers last Sunday either, as the Chargers were bigger, faster, and more talented. But the Chargers dropped a lot of passes (Eric Parker dropped 4, and fumbled a punt return) and the Patriots got through with grit, determination, and a little luck (and a big play by Troy Brown).

So, here we are, the two powers of the AFC in this decade, the tried and tested Patriots and the star-crossed Colts. The Colts have a potent offense, and their defense has played very well in the playoffs. But the defense has faced two offensively-challenged teams and the Patriots' defense have stopped the Colts before. The key player for this game is Peyton Manning. He's had two straight bad games, yet his team has won both games. But this week, if the Colts have any chance of winning, than Peyton's got to have a good game, it's as simple as that. Also, keep in mind that Adam Vinatieri is now on the Colts, which could be a big factor if the game is close.

This is Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy's best shot to get to the Super Bowl. The Patriots are talented, yet vulnerable, as they'll be probably without Rodney Harrison again this week. On paper, it looks as if it's finally the Colts time to shine, but my gut tells me that Brady and Patriots will come through yet again. Patriots win, 17-14.

Odds and Ends

2007-01-18T12:35:00.000-05:00

The Braves made a trade on Wednesday, sending first baseman Adam LaRoche and a prospect (Jamie Romak), to the Pirates for left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez and shortstop prospect Brent Lillibridge. Let me first say that I've always been a fan of Mike Gonzalez. After all, he strikes over one batter per inning and has an ERA below 2.50 for his career. But, I'm not crazy about this trade. First off, the Braves give up LaRoche, a guy who hit 32 home runs last year and, at 27, is just entering the prime of his career. Added to that is that the Braves have no real replacement in place, and the guy they're hoping wins the job, Scott Thorman, had an awful On-Base Percentage of .263 in 133 plate appearances last year. You can say I'm not exactly sold on Thorman.

Then there's Gonzalez. Last year, he missed the last five week of the season with tendonitis in his left elbow, his throwing elbow. Although there was no structural damage, it's still a medical red flag. Plus, the Braves just got another reliever in Rafael Soriano, who, like Gonzalez, throws hard and is considered to be medically fragile. It seems as if they emphasized improving their bullpen a little too much, while letting other areas of the team (namely the offense) disinigrate.

Gonzalez could well prove to be a good addition, but now the Braves has two big holes in the lineup (first and second), and relievers are much more likely to drop off suddenly than position players. So, we'll have to see if Soriano and Gonzalez will be as good as advertised. The Braves obviously improved their bullpen, but they have no proven replacements for Giles and LaRoche, and their counting on Mike Hampton to improve their rotation, a big question mark at this point. It just seems as if this team will be worse than last year's, but John Schuerholz and company have proven people wrong before, so I remain cautiously optimistic about the Braves hopes this year.

Michael Vick continues to improve his image, as he was caught with a suspicious bottle that reeked of marijuana in the Miami airport. Police haven't yet determined what's in the water bottle, but nevertheless, it's another black mark on the fading star that is Michael Vick. While it won't effect his play, this incident gives more ammo to his critics and pundits, which seem to growing in numbers by the day. I still think he's the best quarterback for the Falcons, and he'd have a better chance of winning than Matt Schaub, but it's possible that Bobby Petrino will use this incident as a reason to trade Vick. It doesn't seem likely, but you never know.

Oh, and Clemson proved that they are not ready for the big time just yet, losing by 22 to North Carolina at their (Clemson's) home court. The Tigers are probably an NCAA tournament team, but I don't expect them to make too much noise. Still, they have shown that they are capable team, which is more than I can say for the program since Rick Barnes left for Texas. They'll probably beat Boston College this weekend, now that Sean Williams has been kicked off the team.

Well, that's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow to preview the conference championship games, and hopefully do a little better than my 1-3 mark in last week's games. So long.

NFL Playoffs Round 2- Conference Semifinals

2007-01-12T16:33:00.000-05:00

Last week, I went 4-0 picking playoff games, but only one game (N.Y. Jets-New England) played out the way I thought it would play out. Nevertheless, 4-0 is 4-0. On with the Round 2 picks.

Indianapolis Colts vs. Baltimore Ravens, Sat. 4:30 p.m. CBS

The Colts won last week despite Peyton Manning throwing three interceptions. It helped that the Chiefs looked utterly incompetent and really should have lost that game by 40 points. The Ravens have the best defense in football. Not only are they mean and nasty, they also have the speed to keep up with the Colts fast-paced offense. Also, Peyton Manning seems to have trouble with 3-4 defenses, as illustrated last year against the Steelers. On the other side of the ball, the Ravens have Steve McNair, who is still a pretty good quarterback and should be able to pass against the Colts should they stack the line, as they last week. Add to that that the Baltimore fans are still pissed off that the Colts left Baltimore in the middle of the night 23 years ago, so the Colts will have to contend with a crowd almost as rabid as the Ravens Defense. I don't really see how the Colts win this game. Baltimore wins 24-3.

Philadelphia Eagles vs. New Orleans Saints, Sat. 8:00 p.m. FOX

The Eagles are the hottest team in the NFC, riding a six-game winning streak into New Orleans. However, Pro-Bowl cornerback Lito Sheppard will be out for this game. Against Drew Brees and all the weapons the Saints have, Sheppard will be greatly missed. The key to this game will be Brian Westbrook. He's become the Eagles' horse ever since Donovan McNabb went out, and was the main reason why the Eagles advanced to the second round. The Saints have a good, but not great defense. If they can stop Westbrook and make Jeff Garcia win the game, the Saints will win the game. Don't forget that the Superdome crows will be pumped, and could very well play a factor in this game. I think Brees, McCalister, and co. will prevail. Saints win 23-17.

Seattle Seahawks vs. Chicago Bears, Sun. 1:00 p.m. FOX

This will be the ugliest game of the weekend. Chicago has Rex Grossman, who makes Jim McMahon look like Joe Montana. Seattle didn't win last week as much as Dallas lost the game. Chicago has made a habit of winning games this season despite getting nothing out of Rex Grossman, so all Grossman has to do is not screw up too much. The Bears' defense is ailing, but Seattle's offense has been out of synch for most of the year, not to mention the Bears still have Urlacher, Briggs, and both their cornerbacks, Tillman and Vasher are healthy again. As long as Grossman doesn't give the game away, the Bears should win. I say Grossman gives the game away. Seattle 17, Chicago 14.

New England Patriots vs. San Diego Chargers, Sun. 4:30 p.m. CBS

It's a matchup of the playoff-tested team and the most dominant team of the regular season. The Chargers went 14-2, won their last 10 games, and LaDanian Tomlinson has been ridiculous this season. The Chargers' coach, Marty Schottenheimer, is 5-12 in his postseason career, and a lot of those losses have come when his team was the favorite, with home-field advantage. History is not on the Chargers' side, but the Patriots will be without Rodney Harrison, so that helps them. I think that the PAtriots letting Adam Vinatieri go will bite them in the ass, and the Chargers win after Stephen Gostkowski misses a 45 yard field goal in the final seconds. Chargers win, 24-23.

Petrino is all about the birds

2007-01-08T11:23:00.001-05:00

Or it seems that way, as Bobby Petrino has left the Louisville Cardinals to become the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. The move may seem disloyal, but nobody is going to turn down 24 million dollars over the next five years to coach a pro football team. Petrino is an offensive coach, and he had one heck of an offense at Louisville, putting up 38 points a game. Petrino's offense is a welcome change from the predictable West-Coast scheme used in the Mora regime, so chances are we won't see the same damn running play 30 times a game like we had the last two years. Hopefully, Petrino won't repeat the mistakes of Jim Mora and Greg Knapp, who basically tried to turn Michael Vick into Jeff Garcia, even though the only thing those two guys shared was mobility (obviously, Vick is more mobile than Garcia). Let's face it, Vick was not a good fit for the West Coast Offense, he simply does not have the required touch.

Obviously, change was needed, but was it the right move to hire Petrino? Lately, the record of coaches going from college football to the pro ranks isn't so good. Just look at Dennis Erickson, Nick Saban, and Steve Spurrier, just to name a few. Petrino has some experience as an assistant in the NFL, even serving as offensive coordinator for the Jaguars in 2001. The Jaguars finished 21st in points, which doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence. It will be interesting to see how Petrino's offense translates to the NFL, and how Petrino translates his offense in order to fit Vick, who is the NFL's version of a Rubik's Cube. Personally, I think it's an interesting hire, as Petrino seems to be the opposite of Jim Mora Jr. Mora's specialty was defense, Petrino's was offense. Mora was a laid-back coach who was very friendly with his players, Petrino is more of a disciplinarian. Coaching wise, Mora was conservative, while Petrino will take more chances downfield.

It's obvious that after firing Mora, Falcons owner Arthur Blank expects his team to compete for a Super Bowl, and mediocrity will not be acceptable (it only took 40 years for the Falcons to reach that point). I just don't know if Petrino is the guy that will take the Falcons to the next step. I certainly hope so, but I can't help but wonder if they should have hired Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt (a former Falcon) instead. I don't think Petrino's going to pull a Nick Saban and go back to college, and Petrino will give these players a much needed kick in the butt. But I'm not sure if Petrino's the right guy to take the Falcons to the next level. We shall see.

NFL Playoff preview - Wild card round

2007-01-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

The NFL playoffs are upon us. There are four games this weekend. This is my introduction. On with the games.

Kansas City Chiefs vs. Indianapolis Colts, Saturday, 4:30 p.m. NBC

The Colts' run defense this year is one of the worst of all-time. The Chiefs have one of the best running backs in the NFL in Larry Johnson, who must licking his chops knowing that he is going against the Colts defense. In order for the Colts to win, they must score early and often, forcing the Chiefs to pass. With Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, etc. the Colts can score on anybody, and the Chiefs are merely an average defensive team. Johnson will get 100 yards on the ground, but the key for the Chiefs will be it's passing game and quarterback Trent Green, because I don't see the Chiefs stopping the Colts' offense. If Green and his receivers play over their heads, the Chiefs can win this game. Green, however, has been pretty average since coming back from injury, so I don't see that happening. Colts win 35-21

Dallas Cowboys vs. Seattle Seahawks, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. NBC

The Cowboys defense has been struggling and the Seahawks are starting Jordan Babineaux, a backup safety, and rookie Kelly Jennings at cornerback. So expect a shootout. Terrell Owens and the Seahawks receivers are dropping the ball like The Giant (very obscure reference), so expect a lot of dropped passes. The key here is which quarterback, Tony Romo or Matt Hasselbeck, will play the most within himself, because with these two defenses playing the way they are, there should be a lot of opportunities to score without forcing the ball. I think the Seahawks will wrap up the game with an interception from Romo, 41-35.

New York Jets vs. New England Patriots, Sunday, 1:00 p.m. CBS

Round three of the Belichick-Mangini war takes place in Foxboro this Sunday. Bill Belichick doesn't like Eric Mangini because he had the audacity to take a job with the New York Jets instead of remaining as Belichick's flunky. The Jets were the AFC's biggest surprise this year, it would really be surprising if they beat the Patriots for the second time in Foxboro in one year. With Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour and company, I don't see the Patriots losing this game, regardless of whether or not Rodney Harrison plays. Patriots win, 24-13.

New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, 4:30 p.m. FOX

I am so damn sick of the Giants at this point. If only Tiki Barber didn't decide to carry the whole team on his back last Saturday, then I could see someone else get beat by the Eagles. The Eagles seem to be firing on all cylinders right now, winning their last five games. Jeff Garcia has done a splendid job replacing the injured Donovan McNabb, and Brian Westbrook has developed into a true threat at running back. Unless Tiki Barber runs for 250 yards or something like that, I expect the Eagles to win easily. Eagles 27-10.

Millen doesn't know how to quit you

2007-01-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

Matt Millen is going to be General Manager of the Detroit Lions for one more year, which is pleasing news to Matt Millen and Matt Millen only. In his six years at the helm, the Lions have three times more games then they have won. Despite that, Millen maintains that he is going to "finish the job", so I guess he means that he won't stop until the Lions finish the season 0-16. Maybe he wants to outlast Isiah Thomas and officially hold the title of the worst GM in sports.

Look, I get that Millen has a lot of pride and that he doesn't believe in quitting, but let's be realistic. Just about every move Millen has made has turned into crap, his team is in a perpetual state of misery, and there's not a big chance that things will suddenly turn around next year. Things are so bad that Brady Quinn does not want to take a gazillion dollars to play for your team next year.

So, Matt Millen, go away. Just go away. Go back to the Fox broadcasting booth and stop putting yourself and the Lions fans through football purgatory. Let someone else with a better plan than just "draft the tallest wide receiver in the first round" run the franchise. Who knows, maybe the next guy will do worse than you and you'll feel a slight sense of vindication for walking away from that mess. If you decide to stay Matt, please do not draft Calvin Johnson, no matter how tall or how good he is. Don't give the jackass Chris Berman any satisfaction by continuing a tired joke. Draft Joe Thomas instead.

New Year, New focus

2007-01-02T16:31:00.000-05:00

As a new year's resolution, I resolved to restart my blog. Now it's going to be pretty much be a sports blog, instead of whatever the hell it was before. If you want to look through the archives, then by all means go ahead, but be warned that I really had no idea what I wanted this blog to be about before, so the topics are all jumbled up and crazy. Kind of like this introduction. Anyway, I'll be back tommorow with something or another.

Looking into it

2005-10-05T22:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, first things first. I was watching Game 1 of the Braves-Astros series, and it reminded me of Independence Day, that horrid Jeff Goldblum flick. Why, you may ask? because I've seen the same crappy flick over and over, and that's how Game 1 felt like. Tim Hudson had nothing, the bullpen pitched like pure crap, most of the hitters didn't wake up until it was too late to do anything about it, just the same old same old in the postseason. Sure, it's early, and the series isn't over yet, but its hard to be optimistic when the Astros, normally an anemic offensive team, put up 10 runs on the scoreboard, and very well could have put up more if it wasn't for a couple of good defensive plays. Game 2 should be interesting, with John Smoltz facing Roger Clemens, so hopefully the Braves can rough up Clemens some and at least even up the series before going to Houston.

A few days ago, my brother and I were talking about football and he brought up tight end Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas City Chiefs. He then proceeded to say that Gonzalez was the greatest tight end in NFL history. To which I gave some half-assed aregument about Kellen Winslow being better that really didn't go anywhere. The conversation ended with me saying "I'd look into it." Well, Ben. I'm going to look into it and try to come up with some sort of conclusion.

For starters, there isn't a whole lot of tight ends to choose from when considering the greatest of all time. Only six tight ends have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The main reason is probably because teams had three running backs in the backfield during the first 30 years or so of the NFL. Over time, they would move that third back up to the line of scrimmage, to be mainly used as a blocker in the running game. Some tight ends, such as Mike Ditka and John Mackey, were talented enough to become a threat in the passing game, so their teams started sending them out for passes. Ever since, the tight end position has been in constant flux, as some teams use their tight ends mainly for blocking while other teams have designed their passing games around their tight end.

So, like I said there are only six tight ends in the Hall of Fame: Ditka, Mackey, Winslow, Jackie Smith, Ozzie Newsome, and Dave Casper. Shannon Sharpe will probably get in once he's eligble, and Gonzalez will once he decides to retire. That's the eight I'm going to consider, although you could make cases for about ten other guys to, at the very least, be considered in the conversation.

Dikta, Smith, and Mackey all played during the 1960s, so I never saw them play, but those that did say that the three, particulary Smith and Mackey, were extremely fast for their size, and were as dangerous deep threats as their ever were. Ditka finished his career with 421 catches, was a five-time Pro Bowler, and was the first tight end ever elected to the Hall of Fame. Smith finsihed with 480 career catches, was also elected to five Pro Bowls, and, in one year (1967) averaged 21.5 yards per catch on 56 receptions, proving how dangerous a deep threat he was. Mackey has an award named after him (for college football's best tight end), and a five time Pro Bowler with 331 career catches. Meanwhile, Dave Casper, a tight end big enough for the Raiders to consider moving him to tackle, combined his immense size with soft hands to catch 378 passes in his career, and was named to five Pro Bowls during the 70s and early 80s.

The tight end position really picked up in the late 70s-early 80s, as a new breed of tight ends led by Ozzie Newsome and Kellen Winslow entered the league. These guys had the speed and skill of a wide reciever, and were still big enough and good enough blockers to help get their team's running game going. Winslow, considered by many to be the most athletic tight end ever, was named to five Pro Bowls (notice a pattern here) and caught 541 passes in a career shortened due to injury. Newsome caught 662 passes during his career and was named to three Pro Bowls.

In the 90s, Shannon Sharpe, an eighth round pick drafted as a wide reciever, became the dominant tight end of the decade. Sharpe has the most catches (815), recieving yards (10,060), and touchdowns (62) of any tight end in the history of the NFL. He was named to eight Pro Bowls. Tony Gonzalez has taken over the mantle of being the best tight end, already having 586 catches and six Pro Bowl selections up to this point.

So, what to make of all this? In my mind and from what I've seen and heard over the years, Ditka was a tough as nails blocker, as was Casper, and both were skilled athletes who would seemingly rather bmake a key block than catch a pass. However, both guys, for whatever reason, slipped off dramatically after four-five years of supreme production. Mackey seems to have the reputation, but, if you look at him and Jackie Smith side by side, Smith has the superior numbers. It might be because Mackey was surronded by more talented wide recievers, but whatever the reason, Mackey's numbers are quite lower than Smith's.

Winslow has always, always been more highly regarded than his peer Newsome. In fact, Winslow was on the Sporting News' list of 100 greatest football players (at No. 73), while Newsome was not (but John Mackey (48) and Mike Ditka (90) were). No doubt, Winslow was a tremendous talent, but so was Newsome, and I think Newsome gets underrated because he was on lesser teams for most of his career than Winslow, and was already starting to slide when he finally landed on a winner.

Sharpe and Gonzalez have the numbers, but I think two things work against them. One is that their stats are a bit inflated because teams are throwing the ball more than ever, and significantly more than they did during the 60s and 70s. Two is, neither Sharpe or Gonzalez can be considered good blockers, and that hurts them because a large part of a tight end's duty is to block.

So, who's my choice? Call me crazy or stupid, but I'm going with Ozzie Newsome. The man caught a pass in 150 straight games, he was one of the most athletically gifted and fastest tight ends to ever play, and, even though he was a wide reciever in college, worked hard enough on his blocking to become a positive in that department, something that some of the others on the list either couldn't (Gonzalez, Sharpe) or wouldn't (Winslow). Newsome combined world-class athleticism with a blue-collar work ethic, not missing a game during his entire NFL career despite suffering from knee and ankle injuries throught the latter part of his career. There might be some that would disagree, but, in my mind, Ozzie Newsome is the greatest tight end in the history of the game due to the athleticism and toughness he displayed.

We're talking baseball

2005-10-02T22:02:00.000-05:00

Watched a lot of baseball this week, mainly because it was on a lot because most of the playoff spots were still up for grabs this week, and one thing I couldn't help but notice is that Ozzie Guillen is the most overrated manager in the game today. Sure, his White Sox had a good year, but for God sakes, they nearly blew a fifteen game lead and the only reason they didn't blow it was because the Indians were overwhelmed by the pressure of a pennant race. Yet Ozzie didn't really help in stopping the bleeding, all he seemed to do was either talk about himself and threaten to send people home (like he did with Damaso Marte). Yet he'll get all the credit over the next few days for getting the White Sox in the playoffs for his "Smart Ball" system, which I guess is baseball speak for letting your league-best pitching carry your crummy offense for six months and pretending you had something to do with it. With the pitching they got, both from the starters and the bullpen, they could have had any competent manager in there and they still would have won the division. It's no surprise that when the pitching went into a mini-slump, the White Sox started losing a lot more frequently.

This should be a very interesting postseason, if only because the Cardinals are the only team that you can even consider to be a great team. In the AL, the White Sox and Angels have struggled on offense at times this season, and the Red Sox and Yankees have pitching issues. So each team has kind of a half-full half-empty thing going on. With that said, the White Sox have injury issues with Dustin Hermanson, so they're going with rookie Bobby Jenks to close games. Jenks can throw in the triple digits, but there have been times in his life where he's been considered mentally unstable, so do you really want a rookie with mental issues to close out those pressure packed playoff games? Add to that that they're two best pitchers this year, Mark Burehle and Jon Garland, struggled down the stretch, and I don't see the White Sox getting out of round one.

As for the Red Sox, they have a very good lineup, no doubt about it, but their pitching is really going to trip them up, as they only seem to trust David Wells and two relievers, Johnathan Papelbon and Mike Timlin, at this point. The bad news for the Red Sox is that this is not 1880, so you need more than three pitchers in your staff. I think they'll get to the ALCS, but no further. The Yankees are quite similar to the Red Sox, although they've got a few more horses than the Sawx do. But they drew a bad matchup in the first round with the Angels, a team that is not afraid of the Yankee mystique, and can shut down the Yankee offense like few teams in the league. Plus, can you really trust a sore-armed Mike Mussina and retreads like Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small in the postseason. I think the Yankees' starting pitching will once again prove to be their downfall, and they'll lose to the Angels in five.

As for the Angels, they have the pitching, but the question with them is will anybody in the lineup hit besides Vladamir Guerrero? However, there is a lot of postseason experience on this club, and its possible that, as in 2002, a few guys will get hot at the right time and propel them to the World Series. Add to that the fact that this seems to be the most mentally stable of the four teams, and that they have a killer bullpen, and I'm picking the Angels to go to the World Series.

Now, for the National League. The San Diego Padres have the worst record for a postseason team in the history of baseball and are going up against the Cardinals. They might steal one, but the Cardianls will more than likely steamroll the Padres for an easy victory. As for the other division series, it's a rematch from last year as the Astros take on the Braves. The Astros won last year, but they don't have Carlos Beltran and Jeff Bagwell is nowhere near the threat he was last year. On the other hand, Andy Pettite is healthy this year, so now the Astros have three very good starters. As for the Braves, there offense is about as productive as last year's, even with a couple of new faces like Jeff Francouer. Their starting pitching is better due to the presence of John Smoltz and Tim Hudson, but their bullpen has been a mess all year, though Kyle Farnsworth has at least settled the closer's role. Like last year's series, I think it will go all five games.

However, the Cardinals are primed to win it all. Sure, they don't have Scott Rolen this year, but Abraham Nunez has been a suitable replacement. Add to that the presence of Mark Mulder and Chris Carpenter (who missed last year's postseason) in the rotation, a deep bullpen, a good offense, and the best hitter in the game in Albert Pujols, and the Cardinals are my pick to win the World Series.

So, watch them get swept by the Padres now.

Rumblin, Bumblin, Stumblin

2005-09-24T23:27:00.000-05:00

It's much better to play in a close game and lose than to be in a blowout. Some people say that the blowout is easier to swallow, that you have a hard time dealing with the close loss and dwelling on the one or two things you could of done to get a win. Well yeah, I guess it's a true, but, in a close game, at least you feel something, some sense of urgency or desperation or something. By God, you feel alive. Playing through a blowout just kind of leaves you emotionally dead, you're detacthed, and the only thing going through you're head is when is it going to end? Believe me, throughout whatever competition I've been in, it is much better to play in the close game and lose, because, heck, you can always say you played well and believe it, whereas in a blowout, you know you sucked and there was nothing you could do or say to deny the fact that you sucked.

Now, the two or three of you who are still reading this are probably wondering why I'd start out with that. Well, I'll tell you, because today I sat through my team, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, get clobbered by Virginia Tech. I mean, GT could do nothing right. They got beat on offense, defense, and on special teams. It was a complete ass whooping and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't see it coming, no matter how much of a positive spin I tried to put on it. Today, Georgia got exposed for what they are, a good team that is just not ready to hang and bang with the big boys just yet. It was just brutal.

Speaking of brutal blowouts, Louisville, the #9 team in the nation, got creamed by Big East foe South Florida by a score of 45-14. Wow, what happened there? South Florida is in no way, shape, or form a good college football team and the best they can hope for, really, is an appearance in the Prepreration H Bowl or whatever asinine names they use for those third-rate bowls. Give the Bulls credit though, as they showed no fear in knocking off a team some people picked to be in the Rose Bowl this year. As for Louisville, they shouldn't even be ranked in the polls next week. I mean, losing is one thing, teams trip up all the time, but to lose by 31 against a team that everyone knew was far inferior is just plain bad, and shows a complete lack of preperation. Well, I guess that's why they play the games on the field.

I just wish Barry Bonds would go away for good, leave the sport of baseball, and hang out with Pedro Gomez in Tahiti or something. I don't care if he used steroids in the past or not, I'm just sick and tired of hearing about him.

Samoa Joe and Jushin Liger in a one on one match. Wow. I'm actually giving a slight consideration to actually buying the next TNA pay-per-view just to see this match. I mean, I probably won't, but I am considering it.

Had my fantasy hockey draft today, and honestly, I'm not sure what I've got yet. I ended up with a lot of young players, but whatever success I'll have will depend on how Joe Sakic and Mario Lemieux hold up.

Did you know that they're closing down the schools in the whole state of Georgia for two days this week, just to conserve gasoline. Two things come to mind: One, that's quite a knee-jerk reaction, and Two, if children can not get educated because of a shortage of gas, than this is a problem, and one way or another, new drilling, alternated fuel technology, whatever, that needs to be solved quickly before it gets too late.

Finally, my heart goes out to all of those effected directly by hurricane Rita. From what I understand, it wasn't as bad as once feared, but it still packed a hell of punch and hundreds of thousands of people have probably had their lives changed forever by the destruction that the storm brought. New Orleans got flooded once again, and the storm was on the other side of the state. Just a real tough situation for New Orleans right now, as well as places like Lake Charles and Beaumont, cities that probably suffered millions of dollars in damages. Fortunately, people were warned well ahead of time, and most people evacuated the area, so casualities should be much less severe than what Katrina caused.

Later, folks.

Ross Report cometh early

2005-09-22T12:13:00.000-05:00

Hello and welcome, to another week of my terrible spoof of the Ross Report. The Ross Report can be found each week on wwe.com, though it usually comes out Friday. This week, I’m not going to bother commenting on the e-mails, because they’re too long and they’re rather week, so let’s go. As usual, my responses will be in italics.

Greetings from under the black, 200X Resistol hat while anxiously awaiting to launch Monday Night RAW on the USA Network with a Texas-sized “WWE Homecoming” in Dallas on Monday October 3, at a special time of 8/7 central.

Quick question: Are they even going to have RAW this Monday? I mean, all they talked about last week was the October 3 edition, and this week’s Raw didn’t create any new storylines, so why even have RAW next week when it’s obvious that you won’t give a crap about it? If they do, it will be just another throwaway episode, so I suggest making it a night long Battle Royal, where whoever gets thrown out the least amount of times in two hours wins half a million dollars. It would be entertaining and they’re would be no need to create any new story lines. Plus, if you want, you can bring in legends such as Roddy Piper and Tugboat. Maybe even have it in three rings like WCW’s World War 3. Okay, I’d better stop now.

Torrie Wilson, one of the “ladies in pink,” has been spotted traveling to WWE events with her rather small dog in tow. I have a hard time managing a roller bag much less a live animal while traveling. Torrie is doing a tremendous amount of running these days preparing, I am told, to run in a marathon coming up soon. Torrie looks hot in pink or in nothing as we have seen in Playboy.

Ya know, that’s what we need in the WWE. More animal mascots. Somebody should give Rene Dupree his French poodle back.

Matt Hardy had a real pain in the ass Monday when I saw him after executing that unbelievable leg drop off the top of the cage onto Edge at Unforgiven Sunday night. Matt was not complaining and is a gamer, but he was really sore. Obviously, Edge was not in great shape after the cage match either.

It’s ironic that Matt Hardy has a pain in his ass because Matt Hardy is a … well you get the idea. I must say that I was shocked that he actually won that match. Maybe they have something for him after this feud is over. Matt’s got a nice following and isn’t a bad wrestler, so he can definitely contribute.

Yours truly is taping a segment for the Oklahoma City UPN affiliate, UPN43, Thursday in my backyard for an upcoming special they are producing on the 100th college football game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns coming up on October 8. With OU rebuilding somewhat this season and after beating Texas five straight years in the big game, I am sure the Steers are licking their chops waiting this year’s Red River Shootout. Rivalries such as this one are one of the things that make college football so great.

Not so confident, are you? Hindsight is 20/20, but maybe everyone (including myself) should have seen this coming with the Sooners. I mean, other than Adrian Peterson, they lost everyone else of significance off last year’s team. The only thing they have going for them now is that their quarterback situation is at least settled, although Rhett Bomar isn’t going to make people forget about Jason White any time soon.

Our crack staff at WWE.com has pointed out to me that a pundit questioned why I would compare myself to John Daley when asked by the King during Unforgiven what golfer I would be like if I golfed. Not that it matters, but I don’t play golf anymore and, as a matter of fact, I threw my golf shoes in a lake and gave my clubs away to a total stranger after a miserable 18 hole round over 20 years ago. Not that my flippant remark impacted the broadcast, but to address my seemingly strange response, Daley is a country boy from neighboring Arkansas, reportedly likes a cold beverage (me, too), obviously enjoys fried food much like yours truly, and is not the TV’s idea of what a golfer should look or sound like, which I can relate to as well.

I can also see John Daly giving his clubs away to a total stranger after a night at the bar. Saying Daly likes a cold beverage is like saying the sun is hot, although he apparently has his alcohol problem under some control now, anyways.

Expect to see newly-signed Matt Striker, the school teacher turned wrestler, to be basing out of Atlanta soon to get him more opportunities to improve his game. Striker has potential but needs seasoning.

You forget to mention that he needs to take care of that unibrow. Getting fired was the best thing to ever happen to Striker. Before that, he was just another face in Ring of Honor and other indy promotions. Now, he’s going to be a future WWE superstar, even though he looks more like you’re average school teacher than WWE wrestler. Good for him.

John Cena and Rey Mysterio had a successful promotional tour of Italy recently. WWE will tour Italy in November.

I don’t care

I love it when WWE.com polls our fans. On the favorite match poll at Unforgiven the Cena-Angle match and the Hardy-Edge match are almost in a dead heat the last I checked.

No votes for “Cade-Murda” vs. Hurricane-Rosey. Surely you jest. I mean, Cade-Murdoch’s here to save the WWE and other crap like that.

Another sage-like pundit on the ‘net called me out this week about my “overselling” of the eight-man tag team main event Monday night on RAW, as I called it “one of the biggest main events ever on RAW.” We have not had too many eight-man tags on TV and with the star power involved and the raw numbers alone in the match, it felt that big to me.

You know, I tend to believe that there have been more important main events than a throwaway eight-man tag with Gene Snitsky, Matt Hardy, and Chris Masters involved. I suppose that Cena-Jericho you’re fired match or the Austin-Kane world title match from 98 weren’t bigger than this match. To be honest, it felt like JR was making a desperate attempt to play up what little magnitude the match had by saying that. It seemed more forced than genuine. But that’s just how I see it.

It was really wonderful to see two of the three members of the legendary rock band ZZ Top sitting at ringside Sunday for Unforgiven in Oklahoma City. I had dinner with lead singer and song writer Billy Gibbons and his crew Thursday night in OKC at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill. Both Billy and Dusty Hill have been long-time wrestling fans with Billy growing up on Paul Boesch’s Houston Wrestling while Dusty watched wrestling as a youngster out of Dallas. The ZZ Top crew carries literally hundreds of wrestling DVDs that they watch on their buses while on tour.

Well hell, now I want to travel with ZZ Top. Maybe we can watch the Chamber of Horrors match together. On second thought, I like ZZ Top too much to make them suffer through that.

How great was it for long time fans to enjoy the moment with “Nature Boy” Ric Flair when he won the Intercontinental Championship at Unforgiven? Flair is obviously at the twilight of his long-and-amazing career but this title victory seems to have invigorated the “Naitch” who still firmly believes he could have one last run with the WWE Championship before he hangs it up. Time and Mother Nature may well answer that question but it will never be because of Ric’s lack of desire to perpetuate his well-earned legacy or his passion to perform on the main stage.

Even at his age, Flair is better than 85-90% of the wrestlers out there. Quite frankly, he deserves the Intercontinental Title.

I really enjoy seeing Bob Orton, Jr. on Friday Night SmackDown and would love to see other legends involved on either UPN’s Friday Night SmackDown or on Monday Night RAW. By the way, I think Michael Cole and Tazz, if that is his real name, do a helluva job broadcasting Friday Night SmackDown but I’m still jealous of them for being able to do their thing from ringside while we on RAW are broadcasting from right-center field REALLY close to the pyro.

Michael Cole actually seems to getting worse. Now he just yells a lot for no good reason and hardly makes sense at times. And yes, JR, we know you want to see more legends, you already mentioned that last week.

I have mentioned this before, but I suggest you keep your eye on Mr. Kennedy on Friday Night SmackDown. I feel he has a shot at becoming extremely good SOONER than later.

I concur. Some ‘internet pundits’ overrate him a little bit, but Kennedy’s got an interesting shtick and isn’t too bad of a wrestler. I don’t see him main eventing Wrestlemania anytime soon, but he could have a US Title run starting in a few months or so.

Rene Dupree is out after having umbilical hernia surgery. I had that same surgery years ago and for a wrestler it is about a six-week recovery period.

That sounds painful.

WWE officials tell me they are impressed with Ashley Massaro’s attitude and desire to learn to wrestle. Getting really good in this business starts with attitude and a strong work ethic and Ashley seems to have both.

Yippee. I suppose if I had just won 250,000, I’d have a good attitude and strong work ethic too.

Not too sure if Cade and Murdoch are going to be fan favorites, but this young duo winning the World Tag Team Championship Sunday in OKC should certainly provide them some momentum. Murdoch has a unique look and, along with Cade, is providing a breath of fresh air to the RAW tag team scene. Whether the tag champs are booed or cheered doesn’t matter to me as long as there is a rear end every 18 inches in a sold seat to watch them wrestle.

I doubt they’re going to be fan favorites, as Cade looks like the type of cocky bastard at a country western bar who you just want to smack in the mouth, and Murdoch’s got those damn goofy facial expressions. I think he’s trying to look intimidating, but he just looks goofy. I’ll say this, at least “Cade-Murda” (inside joke that only two people will get) are something new.

Would you please “pass the torch?” Or the jelly.

What?

Pass the torch. Please stop the insanity. No one is going to “pass the torch.” But the torch can be taken if a wrestler has the goods. Just ask Stone Cold.

What the hell are you talking about? I don’t get how people are complaining about certain people holding on to this torch thing for too long (although I’m sure they are, smarks love complaing, just look at this post for proof) but that’s somewhat ridiculous when you’ve had John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton, wrestlers with less than five years experience, winning the World Title. I mean, sure you still have guys like Triple-H, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker around the main event seen, but, there is also some youth at the top of the WWE, even if the smarks don’t like them, and that’s how it should be.

I expect several surprises for all of us when Monday Night RAW hits Dallas on October 3. Lots of legends and Hall of Famers to be on hand as many of you already know. Three hours might not be enough time to get all this show in which is a good problem to have.

I’m sure a show main evented by John Cena and Eric Bischoff is going to be lovely. What, they couldn’t think of anything else? Hell, since Jim Ross likes legends so much, why not have Cena defend his WWE Title against Tito Santana? I’m sure it would be at least a decent match.

Anyway, that’s all for me, I’m out of here.

Random Ramblings

2005-09-20T19:27:00.000-05:00

It seems as if my pick for the Super Bowl, the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens, might not happen this year. Both teams have looked really bad in starting out the season 0-2. The Vikings miss Randy Moss a lot more than they expected, as opponents no longer have to focus on him, meaning that the running game is ordinary and the recievers who looked so good when Randy was in town (I'm talking to you, Nate Burleson and Jermaine Wiggins) look rather average. Meanwhile, the Ravens, already questionable on offense, can not get their running game going. Perhaps Jamal Lewis's 4 month stay in prison is having more of an impact on him than first thought. Now, it's only two games, but I think that these teams' flaws are so apparent that there is little chance they'll get to the Super Bowl. A playoff spot might be possible, but both teams are going to have to turn it around in the next two or three weeks for that to happen.

If I were Mike Tice, coach of the Vikings, I'd be updating my resume right about now. He's done nothing in four years with a team that has been thought to be one of the most talented in the NFL, and this slow start isn't helping matters any.

Jorge Cantu, second baseman of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, might be the biggest surprise of the season. This year, Cantu has hit .289, with 26 home runs and 107 RBIs. I didn't know that unti I looked it up today.

I don't think Boston, with their starting pitching in bullpen is such disarray, is going to be a repeat World Series winner. Nobody's locked down the closer spot, and Curt Schilling does not look like the same pitcher of old. Sure, the team can hit, but pitching wins championships.

Arrested Development is the best damn show on television, even if no one is watching. Maybe more people will watch now that it's on Mondays at 8, and they don't have to compete with any mega hits or anything like that.

I have a feeling that I'm going to make a couple of bonehead picks in my fantasy hockey draft, mainly because there's really no way to predict how everything's going to shake out. A ton of people changed teams, and nobody played NHL hockey for a year, so it's very hard to predict how far the older players may fall or how fast the younger guys may improve. Add to that all of the rule changes, and this is going to be a very hard season to predict.

Early Stanley Cup prediction: Philadelphia vs. Calgary. Calgary was a young team when they made the finals in 2004, and Philly signed Peter Forsberg and other high quality free agents to go along with the amount of young talent they have there, so, that's my pick.

Carlito may be a hell of a talker, but he's looked rather useless in the ring every time I watch him. Just sayin'.

Lastly, Georgia Tech's got a huge game against Virginia Tech this Saturday, and, although VT is favored, Georgia Tech's got a heck of a chance to win, so long as Reggie Ball bounces back from illness and plays smart football like he has thus far this season. Also, I know they like to spread the ball around in all, but the Yellow Jackets should throw it up to Calvin Johnson as much as possible this week, as he's the big time superstar that they'll need in order to beat Virginia Tech.

Until next time, see ya.

The Ross Report is here! The Ross Report is here!

2005-09-16T11:12:00.000-05:00

Yes, boys and girls, it's time for the figthing Jim Ross's fighting Ross Report. This comes from wwe.com, in case you don't know already. So let's get to it.

Note: My retorts to the retort will be in italics.

Greetings from under the 200X black, Resistol hat from an Oklahoma Sooner who is counting the minutes until this Sunday’s Unforgiven pay per view event, the first, from my home state of Oklahoma! Let’s get this Sooner Schooner rolling…

What? No mention about how your football team is going to get clobbered by UCLA this Saturday? I'm surprised.

I have been busier than ever this week doing RAW of course on Monday and spending a tremendous amount of time helping promote Sunday’s Unforgiven from the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Between radio and TV appearances along with newspaper interviews, I have had just about more than I can say grace over the past few weeks.

Needless to say, no one ever said this business was going to be easy or without challenges but the results of Sunday’s Unforgiven event is the true payoff of all these extra efforts. I really believe that the OKC crowd will be hot and man does that help make any broadcast better.

Well, let's just hope the crowd is into it, because matches like Snitsky-Big Show aren't going to be pretty to watch.

Kurt Angle is the only man in NCAA history to win the NCAA heavyweight title at under 200 pounds when he beat N.C. State’s 275 pound Sylvester Terkey a few years back. Angle is a wrestling machine and has honestly never looked more effective than he has recently. With John Cena traveling to Italy over the next couple of days for promotional work for WWE, how much will jet lag affect Cena, who is obviously not 100 percent healthy as I write this, Sunday versus Angle for the WWE Championship? For Cena to win, he must make this match a fight or an all-out brawl because if Cena doesn’t, Angle’s deadly focus may be too much for “The Champ” to overcome. Angle may simply be untouchable right now.

Hey, way to keep kayfabe going, JR. Such a rarity these days in this era of Shoots! Honestly, this could be a good match, I mean, they have fought before and it wasn't too offensive. I don't think Angle's going to win, but it should be entertaining anyway.

I liked the strong messages sent this past Monday on RAW especially from HBK, Flair, and Edge/Lita. There is a difference in hearing and listening and I personally listened intently to the aforementioned talents’ remarks more closely because of what was said.

I didn't watch this week's program, so I don't know what was head. I suspect that if I listened instead of heard Jerry Lawler I might have wound up with a headache, so sometimes, it's best just to hear things instead of listen.

I like it when other fat guys do well. You see we “husky” guys have to stick together so I am smiling about the job Charlie Weis is doing at Notre Dame for the Fighting Irish football squad. Weis is a motivator who has his players believing in themselves again and in the hallowed legacy of the Irish program. I am a firm believer that in any business negative motivation usually fails and quite often ends up biting a suit in the ass.

Fat guys rule. Preach on JR. But who said anything about negative motivation? Did Ty Willingham, the old Notre Dame coach, use negative motivation? Because if not, then why even bring it up.

OU football Sooners head man and my friend Bob Stoops may be on hand Sunday night in OKC’s Ford Center to see his old pal the Nature Boy attempt to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time when he challenges Carlito. Flair is a marvel and he truly believes he has “one more run” left in him. To me, that means not only winning the Intercontinental Championship but going after the WWE Championship as well.

I have no idea what's going to happen here, but this and the Hardy-Edge match are the only two matches that I'd be interested in seeing (Yes, I know I said Cena-Angle could be good, I just don't want to see it). At this point, both guys are better talkers than wrestlers, but Flair might have enough left to have a good match with Carlito.

How fortunate are Cade and Murdoch to get a Tag Team Championship match so quickly in their WWE tenure? I hope these two pups realize what an opportunity that awaits them this Sunday and they take full advantage of the moment. Did this opportunity come too soon for this young duo? Are they ready for the pressure of wrestling for a championship on a live, worldwide broadcast? We’ll find out Sunday, but the landscape seems ready for some new teams on both RAW and SmackDown to step up and contribute in a major way. I know I have said this before, and recently, but damn I would like to see some red-hot tag teams start tearing up RAW and SmackDown.

There's no way that Cade and Murdoch aren't going to win the Tag Team titles this Sunday, which is good because you might as well give somebody a shot with them. Like JR, I too, want a red-hot tag division, but I don't think the WWE has either the right people or the inclination to do so. What's funny is that OVW, their developmental territory, has long been praised for their tag team wrestling, and yet it's all but dead in the WWE.

“Kerwin White” attempting to be someone he is not is ridiculous.

Lighten up, JR. It's also hilarious, though it could get old real fast.

Trish Stratus told me Monday night after RAW that her back started improving at a much more rapid rate when she took up yoga. I know some NFL guys who utilize yoga to help with lower back issues, too. Needless to say, it was great to see Trish back on RAW, or any where else for that matter. With Trish coming off an extended injury, this one is really hard to predict. But as a red-blooded male, I sure am anxious to see what the ladies wear to the ring and how this live presentation will climax…. so to speak. I think I can adequately predict that Coach and King will enthusiastically fawn over these lovely ladies as if either one actually had a chance with any of the participants.

You know, they should just make it a Trish vs. Victoria singles match, and leave Ashley and Torrie at ringside. At least then it has a chance of being more than an eye-candy fest.

I have a gut feeling that Matt Hardy is going to Slobberknock Edge inside the cage Sunday, which means in layman’s terms I feel Matt will win this much-anticipated match at Unforgiven. Go ahead and make your appropriate wise-ass remarks about my prediction history, but even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally. And just think, IF Matt wins, perhaps some pundits will cease using the term “poor Matt” when referring to the talented Hardy.

Matt's not winning. A blind squirrel has a better chance of throwing an acorn at Jim Ross during than the PPV than Matt Hardy has a chance of winning this match. Poor Matt, he yelled and yelled unti he got what he wanted, and now he's going to get creamed.

I don't care who wins, I just wish Matt Hardy would stop posting on his website.

The ranks of the college football world are dotted with wrestling heritage. Vader’s son Jesse White (#66) is a center for Oklahoma and may be redshirted, James Laurinaitis, the son of Road Warrior Animal, is playing some linebacker (#33) for Ohio State, Wild Samoan Afa’s son Afa, Jr. is playing defensive tackle for UConn, while Wild Samoan Sika’s son Joe Anoai is the starting defensive tackle for Georgia Tech. Do you know of others?

Joe Anoai, for the record, is a damn fine player, a key part of the Georgia Tech defense. Also, Georgia Tech plays UConn tommorow, so it's going to be a Samoan family feud in Atlanta. Hopefully, Georgia Tech will continue there winning ways and get a win over UConn.

I really enjoyed being on ESPN Radio’s “All Night with Todd Wright” Wednesday night. Todd knows his stuff prepares like a true pro and follows WWE on a regular basis. He kept me company on my five-hour return trip from Little Rock late Monday night with his radio program.

Note to Jim Ross: Stop mentioning employees of ESPN. Wright left his job at ESPN radio last night, while Trev Alberts, who Ross mentioned in last week's report, was fired earlier this month. So Jim Ross seems to put some sort of voodoo curse on ESPN guys or something.

By the way, could you mention Stuart Scott, Skip Bayless, and Neil Everett in next week's Ross Report, that'd be just swell.

According to published reports, former wrestler Sam Houston, who was once married to one of the businesses first valets, Baby Doll, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for repeated DUI arrests. When I interviewed Jake Roberts for his shocking and revealing DVD recently, Jake mentioned that little brother Sam was not doing well and was having drinking problems. This is such a sad commentary for this family for many reasons, including the fact that Sam has two young daughters that he has been apparently estranged from for years that he will now probably not see until they are young women. I’ve known this young man since he was in elementary school and I am truly sorry for this development. Perhaps Sam can get the help he needs while he is away and can start his life anew in a few years. Whether he realizes it or not, he is being given a second chance at life. Let’s hope he makes the most of it.

Yeah, I got nothing, let's just hope Sam somehow gets back on track.

I would personally like to see more “Legends” utilized from time to time on both RAW and SmackDown. For instance, I would be curious to hear what Arn Anderson would have to say about his friend Ric Flair’s chances of winning the Intercontinental Championship for the first time. Can you image the verbiage that would be flying if Double A were ever a guest in Carlito’s Cabana?

Personally, I'd love to see Ted Arcidi and Henry Godwinn come back in a legends role, but there's no chance of that happening. Although if Tatanka can do it . . .

JBL just got named to the All-100-Year football team at Abilene Christian University as an offensive tackle. Former Philadelphia Eagle running back Wilbert Montgomery who also made the all-time squad. Congratulations to JBL who may live the life of luxury in New York City, but he will always be a Texan to me.

Yippie Skippie.

“Heartbreak and Triumph - The Shawn Michaels Story” will be on sale at book stores around November 15. I liked this book a lot because I lived a good portion of it and could readily relate to it. Bret Hart fans may not be overwhelmed with Shawn’s side of the story about the 1997 Montreal Survivor Series, but I found it to be a compelling, albeit small, portion of HBK’s life story. Shawn is another blessed individual, as he flirted with death on more than one occasion and he talks about it.

For some reason, I have afeeling that a Shawn Michaels book will be more full of lies and mistruths than Hulk Hogan's autobiography. I wonder how Shawn will explain the whole "Lost My Smile" fiasco?

Speaking of books, I have really enjoyed reading Larry Matysik’s book “Wrestling at the Chase” the story of St. Louis wrestling featuring legendary promoter Sam Muchnick. St. Louis was as well promoted as any city in the world for many, many years. Nice job, Larry!

Heidenreich told me Monday night that his family literally lost everything they had as a result of Hurricane Katrina when it hit his New Orleans home. Heidenreich thinks he may move to Atlanta or elsewhere to get away from the potential damage of another natural disaster of Katrina’s magnitude.

I just hope that, if something were to happen to that area again, that the city is more prepared. I wouldn't blame Heidenreich for wanting to leave, as it's going to take years before things are back to normal again. Fortunately, all of Heidenreich's family in New Orleans survived the storm, so, while losing all of your posssions and your home sucks, losing someone you love is much more painful.

Unless plans change, yours truly gets the honor of introducing the legendary rock band ZZ Top this Friday night at Oklahoma City’s Zoo Amphitheatre.

I hope Jim Ross grows a ZZ Top style beard in celebration of this achievment.

I feel badly about the comment I made a few weeks ago about how annoying I felt ESPN’s Trev Alberts was. Now the former Cornhusker is gone from the all-sports cable network. Geez, I feel badly for the guy. Really. I know the feeling of getting the ax. Twice.

Well, it was an accurate assement of Trev Alberts.

By the way, is there a “Hip School” for ESPN anchors. That seems like the call to order these days for most of the younger talking heads. Maybe I’ll check into their correspondence course but then again it just may be too damned late for old J.R. (Does that count for talking in the third person?)

Oh good Lord, If Jim Ross ever announces a pedigree by saying "Boo-Yah" or starts spouting out movie lines at random, I'll stop watching RAW. Those anchors fall in love with their little sayings so much that it overshadows the entire show. It's like ESPN has a contest to see who can be the most annoying anchor on Sportscenter. I can barely watch that show anymore because of ass clowns like Neil Everett and John Buccigros.

Should wrestlers be mandated to have to make a donation to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina’s relief effort every time they use a clothesline more than, oh say, three times in one match?

Oookay.

If I were to start wearing sunglasses on Monday Night RAW would it make me look more hip or just more stupid? Just wondering.

It would make you look like one of those goofs on the World Series of Poker. When's the poker craze going to die out already?

If you are in the OKC area this weekend for Unforgiven, drop by my fellow Sooner buddy and Norman resident Toby Keith’s “I Love this Bar and Grill” in Bricktown around 7 p.m. for a big kickoff celebration for Unforgiven, which will feature several RAW Superstars. The food there is awesome. Trust me on that one. I may even eat something “fried” Saturday night.

I don't care. Except that now I know that Toby Keith owns his own bar, I've got to take my friend Dickson to that place. I think he'd vomit as soon as he saw the building.

O.K., so my Oklahoma Sooners are struggling at 1-1 but I refuse to waiver for my support of my team and, by the way, I don’t leave games early like some fair weather Sooner fans who seem to only be fans “when we win”.

That's great, let's see how you act when the Sooners are 1-2.

We are just getting WWE 24/7 here in the OKC area and man am I gonna be a regular viewer of this classic wrestling material. That aspect of WWE business is growing and in my opinion has a HUGE upside potential.

Lucky bastards. I wish I had WWE 24/7, but ONDemand services aren't available on satlittes yet and, with thecable company around here, it'd be antoher 20 years before they got ONDemand packages. Yes, I know nobody cares about my wanting WWE 24/7, but I'm mentioning it anyways.

Enjoy Unforgiven this Sunday on pay per view! I’m personally as pumped about this event as I was about broadcasting WrestleMania because of the old “home field advantage” and having the privilege of being part of something special for my state. Take care.

Now on to your e-mails…

Name: Devin S.
Dusty Rhodes has mentioned on WWE.com that he would like to wrestle Ric Flair one more time at a WWE non-televised live event. What do you think about these two legends locking up one more time? Don’t you think people would pay to see it on TV?

If provided the adequate time to re-establish the rivalry on TV, I absolutely believe this “last dance” would be attractive to many fans. I would pay to see it without a doubt. The promos between the two going into the match could be priceless. After decades in wrestling, these guys have not lost any passion for their life’s work. Devin, I have been fortunate enough to call many of the Flair-Rhodes matches over the years and would love to be around to do this one too, if it were to ever happen.

It'd be quite a spectacle, that's for sure. I don't know how Flair would feel about it, but if it were to happen, the promos would be tremenous. The match would probably be brutal to watch, but the promos would be good.

Name: Steve Wheeler
What happened to senior official Earl Hebner? I've noticed that he hasn't been officiating any matches? I remember many of the classic matches that he has officiated, and I was wondering if he decided to retire.

Earl and his twin brother Dave are, unfortunately, neither still with the company. Someone told me recently that they heard Earl was doing some carpentry work in Virginia. I wish them both good health and success.

Quick tip for you, if you ever see Earl Hebner, than you know you can get a quality deal on some name-brand clothing. I think I saw selling knock off Tommy Hilfiger and bootlegged WWE shirts at a flea market somewhere. Oh well, good riddance to Earl Hebner, the man was a crappy ref and I wish Bret Hart would have punched hin in the jaw.

Name: Jeffrey P.
When will WWE bring back Mean Gene?

Jeffery, I’m a big Mean Gene fan and hopefully we will see more of him in the future now that his health has bounced back and that he is feeling much better. I also expect Mean Gene to be an integral part of our WWE 24/7 presentation.

Name: Chuck Minor
Where is Sid Vicious and what is he doing? Will he ever come back and compete? Thank you.

The last I heard, big Sid was still living in the West Memphis, Arkansas. After severely injuring his leg in the old WCW a few years back, Sid was unable to compete for quite some time and has only recently, from what I have heard, been able to get back in the ring to wrestle. It’s been years since I have seen him, and his name rarely comes up in conversations I partake in here in WWE. I would never say never, but my best guess is that he probably won’t be coming back our way, which could mean Sid might be back next week, but I wouldn’t bet my black hat on it. Chances are you will see him hitting balls over the fence on a softball field near you before he competes in a WWE ring again.

Let's hope so, my softball team could really use another power bat in the lineup. With Sid in the lineup, our team would go to their destiny, and definetaly "make their conquer" (Inside joke only three people would get.)

Name: John M.
I am 18 years old, and have been a wrestling fan since I was in diapers. First I want to thank you for giving wrestling a voice, second I would greatly appreciate your opinion on the following matter, who do you think was the better mat wrestler, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat or Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, in my opinion, Valentine had a slight skill advantage but Steamboat had much more heart. Once again thanks.

P.S. I would love to see you knock Jonathan Coachman out again!

That’s a really tough call, John, because both men had different styles. Valentine was probably known for being more physical and depended more on his “ground game” than did Steamboat. Ricky’s strengths were his finesse, quickness, fundamental soundness and his desire to win no matter the cost. Steamboat could also fly which was not “The Hammer’s” specialty. So to answer your question based on what I have outlined here, I would probably go with Greg Valentine. If you want to talk about hard-nosed, mat wrestling take a long look at Greg’s dad Johnny Valentine who was as physical as anyone to ever step through the ropes. If you don’t believe me, just ask some of his opponents. “JV” was a real badass.

Tough call. I like the Hammer as much as anybody else, but I can't say that he's better than Ricky Steamboat. I mean, Steamboat may of been a part of the greatest matches in both WWF and WCW history. In my mind, there were few better than Ricky Steamboat, so I must respectfully disagree with Jim Ross's assement, provided that I'm not in the business and he's been in it for 25 years or so.

Name: Alex
I have always enjoyed watching WWE and my Dad’s favorite wrestler was Bruno Sammartino. Do you know what Bruno has been up to? And, do you think Bruno will ever be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame?

Bruno, who recently shaved his head, is a physical freak of nature who still runs several miles a day most every day. The Italian legend looks as if he could still step in the ring and handle himself quite well for someone who is north of 65 years of age. Bruno, who probably weighs around 225, still lives in his hometown of Pittsburgh and makes an occasional appearance at wrestle reunions and civic functions. Bruno did not leave WWE on the best of terms, however, I would love to see him get inducted in the near future. His acceptance speech would be a classic!

I don't care, unless Bruno somehow comes back and beats the crap out of Vince McMahon , then I might care.

Name: JoAnn
Hello Mr. Ross! I recently saw on WWE.com that Tough Enough winner Daniel Puder was released. Why? Also, will we see another Tough Enough show?

I am not 100 percent sure why Puder was released but one has to assume that those doing the scouting and talent evaluations probably felt that Puder was not going to become the WWE Superstar that he was projected to be after winning the Tough Enough Challenge. This certainly doesn’t mean Daniel’s dreams have ended and should serve as a motivational tool to help him get to where he wants to go. Perhaps a different training environment or different coaches will help him improve as it has other athletes who have become household names after changing their surroundings.

It’s hard to say what the future of “Tough Enough” will be as a free standing reality show. I know of no plans to bring it back, but it certainly was a much better show than many of the hard to watch reality shows on TV these days. It also made John “Big” Gaburick a household name in the greater Baltimore area where he is considered one of the most-eligible bachelors in the land of crab cakes even if he does bare an uncanny resemblance to Philadelphia Eagles head honcho Andy Reid.

I'm kind of glad that Tough Enough didn't work out, because it shows that, even though somebody may have atheticism or whatever, you can't just pick out someone the street and make him into a wrestler. Maybe I'm being a bit of an elitest here, but wrestling isn't just something that anybody can pick up and be asuccess at. There has to be something else to it besides the look and athleticism. Take this Puder guy, or Maven. Both were atheltic, built,and seemed to be perfect fits for what the WWE is looking for. But, Maven always seemd like a guy pretending to be a wrestler when he was out there, just doing moves for the sake of doing them instead of putting any thought into why he should do it.

Really, here's the point. Unless one doesn't have the right understanding of professional wrestling, than they will not succeed. Despite Maven's initial push, he never got over, because of his lack of understaindiing of what to do in the ring and lack of understanding of what the fans wanted. So, you can have all the Tough Enoughs or Diva Searchs you want, but it will be very rarely that you do find a Diamond in the Rough.

Name: Dave Camratta
I read online that RAW will be moving back to the USA Network Oct. 3 and the WWE will have WWE Superstars Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, Mick Foley, Triple H and Mr. McMahon on the broadcast. What are your thoughts on moving to USA? And, what was your all-time favorite WWE USA moment?

In my personal opinion, I think the move back to USA will be great for WWE for many reasons. USA is in more homes than Spike TV, to the best of my knowledge, and is much more established. Our long time, previous relationship with the USA Network, now a part of the NBC family, was largely positive for many years and the network has made a commitment to actively and aggressively promote Monday Night RAW, which can only help everyone involved. The first night back on October 3 from Dallas will be a three-hour broadcast that will be loaded with star power and unpredictable, LIVE action.

Dave, I’m not sure I have one all-time favorite moment out of the thousands of things I have seen on RAW on the USA Network, but the evolution of the Austin-McMahon era has to rank right up there for a variety of reasons. That rivalry helped propel WWE to its greatest heights and nothing like it has been able to follow it since.

Same mundane crap, different channel. At the very least, I hope they get a new intro song, as that one they're using now has sucked for the past three years,and nobody even listens to Union Underground anymore anyways.

Name: Steve Walsh
After listening to Marty Jannetty on Byte This! a few weeks back, I was just wondering what are the chances of the company re-hiring Jannetty to a contract. I’m aware of his release. It just seems such a shame that a genuine guy like that has fallen on some difficult times .

There is no doubt that Marty can still probably out wrestle a fair portion of our current competitors. However, it seems that Marty may have bigger issues to deal with at this point in time. Going back on the road, even with the reduced schedule the wrestlers now endure, might not be the best thing for Marty personally.

That sucks, Marty had a great matchwith Kurt Angle this year on Smackdown! Hopefully, Marty will get his house in order and maybe come back to the WWE.

Name: Ed Farmer
What’s up? I was reading on the Internet the other day about Steve “Dr. Death” Williams making a surprise visit at one of the live events, Is this true? And, will we be seeing him on TV anytime soon?

The good Doctor made a surprise visit recently to see the “boys” in both Texarkana and in Monroe which are both close to Doc’s Shreveport home. Dr. Death is a walking miracle who, even though he had his voice box removed, has been declared cancer free through the grace of the good Lord and the prayers of a bunch of folks. Doc is back up to 260 pounds or so and looks absolutely amazing for what he has gone through. I was told that Doc even wrestled recently, which no one thought would ever happen again... except Doc. I have met some tough guys in my 30 plus years in the business, but none of them were tougher than Steve Williams. We are great friends and he’s a part of my family. For those keeping score at home and perhaps still wondering about Doc’s involvement with Turner’s WCW and the “Oklahoma” character and how that affected our friendship, let me say this – the concept was ill conceived and weaker than cat urine, but I knew that Doc was simply earning his pay and doing as he was instructed to do. Business is business no matter how hard a pill it is to swallow sometimes. There are no plans at this time for Doc to appear on WWE TV.

It is quite shocking at how well Steve Williams has done. I mean, he's was just about at death's door last year, and now he seems to be doing fine. Here's to a real tough guy, and a pretty good wrestler to boot.

Also, I think Jim Ross is still bitter about 'Oklahoma' I mean, there's was no particular reason to bring him up, but by God, Jim Ross did so anyway. Just let it go, you've already won, JR.

Well, that's it from here. I'll try to update this blog more than once a week next time.

I've always wanted to try this.

2005-09-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

In case you haven't noticed, and chances are you either haven't or don't care in the first place, the Ross Report is back as a weekly feature. Basically, Jim Ross, announcer for Monday Night Raw, rants on and on about whatever's on his mind, usually wrestling and college football related, and puts it into column form. So, in a move that has been done by just about every wrestling website on the internet. I've decided to provide my own commentary on the Ross Report. So, if you somehow get through all of this, then enjoy. (Note: Ross appears in regular text, my comments will be in Italic.)

Ross Report for Sept. 8, 2005September 8, 2005

Greetings from under the black, 200X Resistol hat! We’re burning daylight, so let’s get this show on the road …

And greetings to you, Jim Ross.

Important business first: I never contemplated suicide after my Sooners took one on the chin at home in Norman against the TCU Horned Frogs. However, I was in denial and shock — much as I felt a few months after my second marriage.I have to admit I got on “the sauce” pretty heavy after the Sooners’ season-opening loss. First, there was the BBQ sauce, then some off-branded — I’m so ashamed — generic steak sauce! I promise to clean up my act.

Some people drown there sorrows in beverages, Jim Ross drowns his with condiments. I'm saddened that Jim Ross would lower himself to using any steak sauce besides A-1. For shame, J.R. And that must have been one crappy marriage if you;re comparing a mere regular-season college football game to it, even if it was an embarrasing loss to what was, on paper at least, an inferior opponent.

Don’t be surprised to see Texas win Saturday night at Ohio State. Speed kills. I want Texas to be unbeaten when they play Oklahoma on Oct. 8, in Dallas. L.O.D. Animal’s son James Laurinaitis played some at linebacker last Saturday for the Buckeyes as a true freshman. Vader’s son Jesse White may be redshirted at OU this season. White is strong as a bull and an excellent center prospect, wearing No. 66.

I will be extremely disappointed if James Laurinaitis plays any linebacker during this game. Nothing against him, it's just that if he gets in the game, that means it's going to be a blowout, and it would be a shame if "The Biggest non-conference game inthe past 15 years" according to ESPN, were to be a blowout. As for the game, Ohio State's winning. They're too good on defense and Texas doesn't have a capable passing game, and against a team like Ohio State, you;d better be able to both run and pass the ball to keep that defense off balance. The most imprresive player of the game will be Ohio State's linebacker A.J. Hawk, who willl wipe out Vince Young's Heisman hopes by the end of the night.

As for Vader's son, damn shame he can't play quaerterback, because OU could use one.

Waco, Texas gets Monday Night RAW on Sept. 26, replacing the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Biloxi, Miss. Laredo, Texas gets SmackDown on Sept. 27, replacing New Orleans. Please help these displaced families who have lost everything in any way you can. If you have already contributed, thank you, and if not, WHY?

Good for Waco and Laredo, and yes, hurricanes suck and it sucks that all of those people lost everything they have.

A gentleman in an airport asked me the other day if Chris Masters reminds me of a young Lex Luger. I politely answered, “HELL NO!” (Just joking, even though that’s what I was thinking.) Masters already understands his job better than Luger at a comparable age.

Except Lex Luger was a football player at Masters' age, so what the hell does that have to do with anything. I don't know why Jim Ross chose to diss Lex Luger this week, I mean everyone else already has by this point, but Luger has more good matches in his first two years than Masters has had, and Masters didn't have to contend with a pissed off Bruiser Brody in a cage. In my mind, Masters has a ways to go before he can even be prepared to Lex Luger, who while mediocre, did have his moments at the start of his career (Of course, Masters has yet to wrestle anybody the caliber of Barry Windham or Ric Flair, who spent years carrying Luger, so maybe Masters is closer than I think to, um, mediocrity.)

Internet observation of the week: “Ric Flair is a pervert for grabbing Carlito’s privates!” Sure he is. Now, turn off your computer and go to bed.

Um, ol. Maybe you should turn the computer off Jim Ross. I mean, yeah it was a stupid comment, but what the hell are you doing at the GameFAQs pro wrestling boards? Surely, a man of your stature is above such pursuits.

Dick Murdoch was one of the Top 5 in-ring hands I ever saw … when he wanted to be and when he took his business seriously. I loved old Dickie like a brother and cried when he died a few years ago. Dick Murdoch was special. He could wrestle, he could brawl and he could talk. He wouldn’t win any body building contests, but who cares, in all honesty? I truly hope Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch can find the magic that the original Texas Outlaws of Dick Murdoch and Dusty Rhodes developed over time. That’s a helluva tall order, but that would be my goal if I were Cade or Murdoch.

Somehow I don't see that happening. Cade's nowhere near Dusty Rhodes and Trevor Murdoch, while a capable talent, is probably chasing a ghost that he can't catch. The Cade-Murdoch team is an interesting combination, however, so maybe they'll catch lighting in a bottle and become something special.

Promoter Cowboy Bill Watts once fined Dick Murdoch every dollar he earned over a two-week period except for one lone dollar! That’s right, Dickie made $1 for two weeks worth of work because he was late for work two or three times and he clowned around in an important — at least to Big Cowboy — match. Dickie told me he was going to get even with Watts by never cashing the check, therefore, Watts checkbook could never be balanced. I miss you Dick, even though you loved those danged Texas Longhorns.

Dick Murdoch rules. I need to find a Best of Murdoch comp or something. I've always wanted to see more of his work, but, for whatever reason, I haven't.

Damn, is Kurt Angle on a roll, or what? In all due respect to several WWE Superstars, including WWE Champion John Cena, I don’t know if I would bet against Angle vs. anyone based on what I’ve seen since SummerSlam. I’m not forgetting Angle’s victory over HBK at WrestleMania, but over the past month, the Olympian has been virtually untouchable.

All of this means that Cena will either hand him his ass at the PPV or the match will have some sort of screwy ending, allowing this already boring feud to continue longer.

I’m excited about Unforgiven being held in my home state of Oklahoma, and I hope I make it out of the Ford Center on Sept. 18, without getting my ass kicked … again!

I hope not either. I don't need to see J.R. in a wrestling match or having his head shoved up another man's ass, that's for sure. However, they are in Oklahoma, and the unwritten rule in the WWE is that Jim Ross must be humilated whenever the WWE is in Oklahoma. So, I expect Carlito to 'spit in the face' of Jim Ross during the PPV.

It’s going to be very interesting to see the evolution of several younger wrestlers on both RAW and SmackDown. I am encouraged by some. One thing is for sure: any young, potential WWE Superstar better understand ASAP that this a seven-day-a-week cycle of preparation in one form or another; focusing on this career opportunity part-time will not get them to big money and longevity. Even if a wrestler takes a day or two off to physically rest, studying tapes of the great ones isn’t to physically taxing.

Yeah, it takes a 24-hour committment, blah, blah, blah, Ross says this every other week. What's next, will J.R. say the Big Show needs to lose weight or the cruiserweights are horribly underutilized?

Check out The Coach this weekend on CSTV doing play-by-play for a college football game. Remember, “Topeka,” they’re called sound bytes. My congrats to Coach. I wonder if he will wear his shades on camera. I think his game starts at 6 p.m.

Good grief, Coach is doing the Stanford-Navy game? I wonder if he'll spend three hours talking about everything but the game or making thinly-veiled references to his supposed prowress as a ladies man. In all honesty, I hope Coach does a good job, if only because it could speed up his removal from WWE programming. Also, I have no idea what Remember, Topeka line means.

Have you read, “Scooter,” yet? Check it out and let me know your thoughts. For being such a wonderful husband, dad and son, there must be some small, isolated part of Mick Foley that is very dark to have written such a disturbing and totally realistic work of fiction. It’s a legit page-turner.

Well, good for him, although how can a work of fiction be totally realistic? That sounds like a bit of an oxymoron.

RAW may be entertaining our troops in Iraq (or so we hope) in December. This is not etched in stone, but I hope it happens. I would love to volunteer to go.

That's great, but why take away one of the few scraps that you give to Smackdown? It seems like the WWE gives Raw every opportunity and every advantage to succeed, while Smackdown gets few advantages, which is why the brand-extension will never work. Besides, give the troops Smackdown! the better show of the two, instead of the Cena and Michaels talk-fest.

I’m begging for a good two-out-of-three fall match on TV.

That'd be good, why don;t you use your considerable power backstage and suggest it?

Too many young wrestlers have the basic same look, tattoos, hair, etc. Individuality is seemingly becoming a lost art. This business is so much more than a mullet, a few tattoos, some baby oil and the willingness to execute untimely high-risk maneuvers just for the hell of it.

I don't know why he's surprised this has happened. Especially since the company he works for seems to have a very strict prototype for all of thier new wrestlers to follow. You know, jacked up to the moon, tattoos, always wearing short pants. This kind of stuff happens when your main source of talent is a "wrestling factory" made just so you can get the type of wrestlers you like. After a while, everybody does look the same. Sure, there are the exceptions to the rule (like the Mexicools), but most of the time, all new wrestlers in the WWE seem to be cut from the same jib, if you will.

Jake Roberts’ father, Grizzly Smith, was missing in New Orleans for several days following Hurricane Katrina, but, thankfully, he was found alive.

Huzzah!

Why do some wrestlers wear jewelry such as earrings in the ring? I just don’t get it.

Maybe it's an attempt at seperating themselves from the pack. An attempt at some sort of individuality.

Does anyone outside San Francisco care if Barry Bonds plays baseball this season or not?

I wish Barry Bonds would go away. Baseball needs Barry Bonds like Jim Ross needs another OU loss.

Lance Russell’s home on the gulf coast was not destroyed, and our friend Lance and his wife Audrey are okay despite the result of America’s most infamous natural disaster.

Huzzah, again!

Will the Edge-Hardy Steel Cage Match at Unforgiven “steal the show?” Don’t bet against it.

Unforgiven looks like crap, so stealing the show shouldn't be too hard. However, I don't think there's a chance in hell that Hardy's winning.

Fans are invited to attend a huge Unforgiven press conference this Tuesday morning at Oklahoma City’s Ford Center at 10 a.m. I hope to see you there.

Rob Conway has the ring skills to be a star. He must be tougher than a government mule, or he wouldn’t be man enough to wear those tights.

Or maybe he's just wearing them as a desperate plea for someone to notice him. Hell, Brutus Beefcake wore revealing tights, and I, or anyone else for that matter, never considered him to be tougher than a government mule. Also, I've always wanted to mmet a government mule, and see just how tough he is. They don't seem too tough to me, especially if Rob Conway is indeed tougher than one. So, to all you government mules out there who may stumble across this. I'm calling you out.

Okay, now I'm just rambling.

In my personal opinion, Brock Lesnar is making a big mistake by not accepting WWE’s very fair contract offer.

I don't think money was ever the issue with Brock. It was mainly travel time and the fact that he wasn't 100% committed to it in the first place (which, considering Brock's successs and talent, seems to blow your earlier theory that you can't succeed without total committment out of the water). I think, eventually, Brock will come back, but only on a limited schedule. Also, that's certainly a biased view on the contract offer. Maybe it was fair to you but not fair to Brock. Just sayin'

Does ESPN’s Trev Alberts, a Nebraska alum, annoy you as much as he does me?

I guess he annoyed ESPN as well, since they fired Trev Alberts after he failed to show up to work on Sunday. Alberts was none too happy about playing second fiddle to the Gameday hosts, and wanted a change. Considering that most of his opinions seemsed to be based more on personal biases more than fact, I won't be missing Trev Alberts all that much. JR's right, Alberts is an annoying prig.

It’s nice to see Dusty Rhodes back working behind the cameras for WWE. I would love to host a DVD of the “Dream’s” favorite matches. Dusty is a future WWE Hall of Famer in my view.

The fact that Dusty Rhodes is an improvement over the booking staff you currently have does not speak well for WWE creative. He would, however, be a hell of an imrpvement over Lawler as a commentator.

Are you excited about the U.S. Open tennis tournament? Me neither?

So, why mention it? And why are you asking yourself if you're excited or not about the U.S. Open?

In my opinion, no team has a better shot at making the Super Bowl this year than the New England Patriots.

Really going out on a limb there, aren't you.

We are looking forward to our October International tour. I’ll head to the UK right after the OU game at Texas Tech. Busy weekend for yours truly.

I hope the Sooners lose by 50.

As a fan, I would love to see more emphasis put on SmackDown’s cruiserweight division. There’s lots of talented athletes in that weight class.

Bullshit. You;ve been barking up this tree for five years, knowing damn well that the division has never gotten any momentium for more than a month. Plus, you're compnay forces these wrestlers to wrestle a certain style that does not seperate them from the other wrestlers in the company, therefore making the division seem like nothing more than a refuge from getting there asses kicked by the bigger guys. I mean, Nunzio spent about two yeras taking massive beatings on a weekly basis, and now he's champion, even though he didn't really change his style other than fighting opponents even smaller than he is. So, don't even bother pushing the division, because there's nothing that distingusihes it other than the wrestlers in it are always being presented as inferior to the bigger stars of the company. To the fans, it's almost as if you've made a title for being the least incompetent in something.

Here's the point. In TNA, if A.J. Styles decides to wrestle outside of the X- Division, he's always presented as being equal to the bigger stars like Raven and Jarrett. If Paul London decides to wrestle outside the Cruiserweight division, he gets killed. Furthermore, Rey Mysterion, you're best cruiserweight,has elevated himself above that title. So if you;ve got some cruiserweights like Mysterio who consider it beneath them to contend for such a title, then what the hell's the point of even having the title in the first place.

I think I should be paid a royalty when football announcers use the term “slobberknocker.”

Ha Ha HA Ha HaHa

Let’s get to your e-mails …From: Jeff Starks

Mohammed Hassan and Daivari have been banned. While they caused a lot of controversy, they had potential. Do you think we will see them return as different characters in the future?

I hope so and am optimistic that will happen at some point in time. I agree with you, Jeff, that both these young men have potential. New stars must be cultivated for the long-term success of WWE, and these two could contribute, in time.

Hassan was pretrty crappy in the ring and Daivari's too small to be anything much. The only saving grace they had was a cheap-heat fueled gimmick that was taken away from them. However, both of them are young, so there's still time to improve and time to reinvent themselves. Plus, neither one of them is bad on the mike, a plus in the WWE.

From: Andrew Lister

Dear Mr. Ross,My name's Andy and I've been doing play-by-play commentary for an independent federation in Scott County, Iowa. I have to say that you are one of my biggest influences as a commentator, and I hope to one day be as talented and knowledgeable as you are. I have to ask you, as one PBP guy to another, what words of wisdom would you have for a guy like me? What sort of things do you do to make yourself one of the best in the business?

I’ve never understood why more young broadcasters have not aggressively pursued jobs with WWE TV. Opportunity is knocking. Someone else will be doing play-by-play on RAW someday (not anytime soon, I hope), but who will it be? Andrew, never not be a fan of wrestling, study all the tapes you can, recognize match situations and transitions and out-prepare and work harder at being better than your peers. Plus, good luck never hurts.

Perhaps they haven't because most WWE annoumcers see, to be a direct descendant of Todd Pettangill, clean-faced and oblivious to anything wrestling related. I hope more announcers pursue a job with the WWE as well, because it could mean no more Steve Romero and Todd Grisham on my TV screen. However, the WWE seems to has a certain announcer profile they're looking for, so I don't see it happening. Hell, if Jim Ross was just starting out today, there's no way the WWE would hire him.

From: Jason

JR,First of all, it was a tough loss for the Oklahoma Sooners this past weekend. It will be a tough season for them this season. My question is this...If one former WWE Superstar could return to RAW or SmackDown, who would you want that to be and why? Who would make the biggest impact?

The Sooners played with no passion against a solid, well-coached TCU team. Eliminate the passion from any equation and one usually fails — no matter the endeavor. Stone Cold or The Rock returning and being involved in a spirited, personal issue would be awesome, especially if it played out over time.

The Sooners also had shitty quarterbacking. Sure, they may not have wanted it as much as TCU, but i they had a competent quarterback, they still would have escaped with a victory. Also, I want to see Brock Lesnar return to Smackdown, and beat the hell out of JBL and Batista, but that's just me.

From: Joey Fiscella

Hi Mr. Ross...I am and always will be a huge Ultimate Warrior fan. I have watched wrestling since I was 4 and I’m wondering if you think we'll ever see him in a WWE ring again?

Not very likely. Warrior, and that is his legal name, does not appear to be a big fan of this organization. His frequent rants seem to indicate much. His charisma and “look” took him further than any Superstar I can think of, however. Being outspoken is cool, but appearing to be irrational or delusional, isn’t. When Warrior and Sting were the “Blade Runners” in the old UWF, we though we had found our own L.O.D. It didn’t quite work out that way.

I would take shots at the Ultimate Warrior, but everyone else already beat me to it, so screw it. J.R. is right, delusion is not cool. I'm also pretty sure that Warrior and Sting are quite happy that thinks didn't work out as the Blade Runners.

From: The Madman

I appreciate Jerry and of you commentating on RAW. What does Jerry do when he is off the show and is he still married to KAT?

PTA meetings. Bake sales. Crossing guard duty. Only kidding, Madman. The King has a lovely, young, early 20-something girlfriend who is in college in Memphis. He still wrestles frequently and closely follows the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Browns. His marriage to Kat is long over.

I had no idea Lawler was interested in 20 year-olds. It seemed like he always liked them younger, so maybe his looks are getting away from him. I also don't think Lawler would be at school for no PTA meeting.

From: Michael

Hello J.R, how are you? I was wondering if you could answer me one question, do you think Bill Goldberg will ever come back to the WWE?

Well, Michael, the old “never say never” cliché fits well here. I assume if all the stars lined up properly and enough cash were involved that it could happen. But I seriously doubt it, and that’s too bad for a variety of reasons.

Good riddance, Goldberg's too much of a pain in the ass to justify whatever it would take to bring him back. I thought he was going into shootfighting. Maybe he'll challenge Fedor (and get his ass handed to him).

From: Chris

Hi Jim, I was wondering on the current status of the Big Red Monster. Is he coming back anytime soon? Cheers, Chris

Chris, I expect to see Kane very soon on RAW. Check out the Kane novel. It’s called “Journey Into Darkness.” I personally thought it was well-written and imaginative.

I don't care, although things on Raw are duller without Kane. I can't imagine bringing myself to buying a Kane novel, though.

From: Charles

I am happy with WWE's attempts to get tag teams going. The team of Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch has caught my eye. I rub my eyes watching Trevor in the Ring — a mirror image of the Dirty One. Val Venis-Viscera is a neat idea as well. And my favorite of all is William Regal and Paul Burchill. I hope this team keeps things going, Burchill reminds me of another wrestler from Stampede Wrestling. He has that Benoit, Dynamite Kid, Johnny Smith look to him a real ring grinder. There is a chance one of these teams could take the world by storm like the NEW AGE OUTLAWS did.Not sure why I am saying this, but I am getting a huge kick out of Rob Conway! That theme song is the best ever. I look forward to it every week.

You sound like a longtime fan and student of the game, Charles. The tag team area is ripe for the pickings and it is anyone’s guess as to which duo is going to step up, innovate and improve this aspect of RAW and SmackDown. There is big money to be made if a team can go on TV and get hot. I hope the young teams are preparing and watching tape of the Midnight Express, Rock ’N Roll Express, Brisco Brothers and the Horsemen, to name a few. There is a reason all those teams were great.

Because they were good? Seriously, I hope that the tag-team division finally gets a push, but it doesn't seem as if the WWE creative team is capable on focusing or more than one team at a time, so I am quite skeptical about a possible tag team revival. It could happen, and I hope it does. I also can't believe Johnny Smith's name came up in a WWE column. That's got to be a first.

Well, that's all there is for this week. If you liked it, tell your friends. If not, well, I don't blame you :)

Hey, I watched Raw!

2005-09-05T22:40:00.000-05:00

And it was mediocre. The best match of the night involved the wrestler who, in yesterday's post, I said I had no idea why he had a job (That sentance is a mess). I mean, sure, it wasn't a classic match, and most of it was because of Val Venis, but I just found that odd.

I was disappointed in the Shelton Benjamin-Rob Conway match. I mean, with Benjamin's skill and Conway's internet reputation, this match should have been a 32 star classic. Alas, it was quite unevenetful, and even though the WWE didn't give that match a whole lot of time, whatever there was wasn't looking too good anyway. You know, people pimp Conway as being some sort of future star, but honestly, I just don't see any signs of it happening.

Other than that, um, Raw's real boring right now. It seems like they're waiting until the move to USA to start picking things up. For now, the only feud I'm interested in is the Carlito-Flair feud, but that probably won't last too much longer. Also, why the hell did we need to hear that Jim Ross often does not wear underwear. Information like that probably shouldn't be shared in front of a national audience.

Jerry Rice, the greatest wide reciever of all-time, retired today. Rice was a professional through and through. He wasn't exactly the fastest or the biggest, but nobody worked harder than Jerry Rice, and that's what seperated him from the rest of the pack. Unlike some of these divas like T.O. at wide reciever, Rice was pure class on and off the field. Jerry Rice also used to just kill the Falcons every time he played them. I remember one game, in 1990 I believe, where Rice had like 200 yards and five touchdowns, and no matter what the Falcons threw at him, double-teams, zone coverages, bump-and-runs, whatever, there was no stopping Jerry Rice that day. What was scary is that, as I recall, the 49ers kind of packed it in during the fourth quarter. If it wasn't for that, Rice very well could of had 7 or 8 touchdowns that day. So, Jerry Rice, congrats on a great career, and screw you for destroying the Falcons for years :)

Just came across this gem from Barbara Bush:

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this (she chuckles slightly)--this is working very well for them."

Well, if I had just lost everything I had, my home, my bed, my television, whatever, and if this person had trivalized the loss of everything that I owned and worked for, and said that, even though I lived in a shelter with 10,000 other people and very little hope of ever going back to whatever is left of my home, I must say that we would engage in fisticuffs. Hey, I'm not above fighting an 80-year old woman. Do us all a favor, Babs, and shut the hell up. I suppose if you had lost whatever you owned it'd be a big deal, but when these poor people lose everything and have to transported to another state, it works "very well for them." Jesus Christ.

Holla.

I got nothing.

2005-09-04T21:11:00.000-05:00

College football started this weekend and it's a pretty interesting weekend. Oklahoma looked like crap against TCU, and lost to a four-touchdown underdog. I thought Oklahoma would be just fine without Jason White, and Adrian Peterson would carry the team while they developed a quarterback. But the quarterbacking was so bad, and Peterson couldn't find any running space because TCU played for the run on every snap, so what you had was an unmitigated mess of an Oklahoma offense. What's scary is that TCU didn't play at it's best either. Recievers dropped too many passes, and they weren't able to get their ground game, normally very good, into gear.

Elsewhere, Georgia, much to my chagrin, looked very good against Boise State, and whatever concerns they had at quarterback and on defense has been allieviated. Georgia's going to straight up murder (figuratively speaking) South Carolina next week. And my team, Georgia Tech, played extremley well in snapping Auburn's 15 game winning streak. The Jackets were on the top of their game. Hopefully, they will be able to do this every week instead of pulling off their usual good-game bad-game routine of the past few years.

For the life of me, I can't see how Viscera still has a job in the WWE, or got his job back in the first place. I mean, I don't think he's ever had a match that could be considered decent, whatever value he had as big man petered out long ago when he would regulary lose to such luminaries as The Godfather, and the only thing they've got him doing is basically the "Sexual Choclate" gimmick rehashed. I extremly doubt that many people choose to watch a show or buy a PPV because Viscera might show up, and, unlike such pseudo-legends as Tatanka, there aren't any fond memories of his old persona, in which he was a major part of the worst PPV in WWF history (King of the Ring '95). I just can't figure out what possible benefit there is to having Viscera around, other than that maybe some people might find the fact that he likes to dry-hump his opponents as being funny. But other than that, I really don't see any value in him.

Thoughts on Katrina

2005-09-02T14:31:00.000-05:00

Disclamer: The following post will contain offensive language, so if you find that offensive, I apologize in advance.

I'm not really sure where to begin here, expect to say that my heart goes out to all of those people that have lost their homes in this storm. It goes out to all the people that have lost friends and family in this storm. It goes out to all the people that now have no jobs and are either living in squallar in some shelter or in fear as gangs of thugs, desperate because they themselves have probably lost everything, have all but taken over whatever's left of New Orleans.

My heart also goes out the them because, up until today when President Bush finally got off his ass and did something, they have been all but abondanded by their own federal government. Federal help from FEMA, the National Guard, and the Red Cross has been sparse at best. You've got all these people talking tough, like Louisiana Govenor Blanco and Mike Brown, the head of FEMA, talking a good game, but doing next to nothing in ways of helping out. In fact, it seems as if Brown has never really dealt with a crisis in his life before, saying on the record that the people that didn't evacuate their city share some of the blame for this situation, and that things are going "relatively well". The city is underwater, many of the places are on fire and thousands of people are fighting for survival, and all you can say is that things are going relatively well, and that it's their own damn fault that these people are in this dire situation. I'm sorry man, but fuck you Mike "I didn't know people were in the SUperdome until today (thursday)" Brown, fuck your lack of control of the situation, fuck the fact that you don't seem to give a shit about these people at all.

I know that you can't really prepare for this situation, but the way that it's been handled is the exact opposite of how it should have been handled. The shelters, such as the Superdome and New Orleans convention center, were not even close to having the neccesary supplies, even though many people knew that the worst-case scenario was a very likely possibility. Those shelters have become chaotic, thanks to a lack of strong leadership in the first place. People there fear going to the bathroom, because that's where the thugs attack and possibily rape them, so they're forced to urinate on the fucking floors, sleeping in a cesspool of urine, trash, and even dead bodies, and evaciation plans have been painfully slow, partially due to piss-poor planning and partially due to the fucking idiots that decided shooting at military aircraft would be a good idea.

So these people have nothing, very little is coming in, and whatever scraps they may have they are in fearing of losing to the gangs of thugs that have taken a firm grip of the city. And then you have assholes in congress like Dennis Hastert saying that New Orleans wouldn't be worth rebuilding. Excuse me, you have the fucking gall to say that everything these people lost would be in vain, that the 33rd largest city in America, and one of the most important trade areas in the goddamn country in not worth rebuilding. It's not worth rebuilding a home for millions of people. You know, you're the same goddamn people that have siphoned billions of dollars into a war that we're still not sure what the hell caused it, and you have the fucking nerve to say that it would be too expensive to rebuild a large part of our own goddamn nation. Let me tell you some Dennis Hastert, if your town of Bumfuck, Illinois was destroyed by a catastrophe, would you want some asshole congressman to say that your town isn't worth rebuilding?

And fuck the rest of government while I'm at it, Bush going on TV and saying that FEMA and the like have "responded well" even though there are people in shelters that haven't had food and water for FOUR FUCKING DAYS. Bush saying on Good Morning America that "nobody anticipated the breeching of the levies" even though every goddamn story about the hurricane on Sunday Night predicted just that. Fuck the adminstration for refusing aid from other countries, saying you can handle the situation even though you're not handling the situation. Fuck high ranking officials in your adminstration carrying on with activies such as tennis games when they should all be singulary devoted to this crisis that the people on the gulf coast are in.

The media coverage of this disaster, probably the worst one in the television age, has been disappointing at best. Sure, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the Weather Channel have provided non-stop coverage, and rightfully so (although Fox News can't shut up about gas prices, a relatively trival issue, and Shepherd Smith has done his "woe is me" shtick for days now). But on the networks, there isn't any special reports. Hell, those fucktards didn't even break in when the storm was happening, electing instead to play their bullshit afternoon programming. All the local news can talk about is how gas prices are affected, never mind that hundreds of thousnads of people are either dead or living in conditions that make Iraq look like a Club Med. If this were to happen in New York, or fuck, any major northeast city, there would be non-stop coverage of the situation, and rightfully so. However, because it happened in an area that's mostly poor, and black, the networks don't feel the need to give little more than an obligitory mention on its crap evening news. I hate to say that all of this is racially or socially motivated, but the relative lack of attention and the lack of response has me questioning everybody's motives, to say the least.

So, in the end, fuck the government, fuck the federal medical officials in charge, fuck the thugs who have deemed it neccesary to turn an already horrible situation even more horrible, fuck the police who were looting DVDs and shoes, fuck much of the mainstream media and fuck Dennis Hastert up his ass with a 12-foot dildo. I think that about covers it. I'm glad that the National Guard and the government have came into these areas today, but my question is, what the fuck took them so long?

Who be betta: Hitman vs. HBK

2005-09-01T16:33:00.000-05:00

Two wrestlers tied together by hatred. A feud that was more legendary for what happened backstage rather than what happened in the ring. Perhaps the two greatest American wrestlers of the 1990s. So, who be betta, Bret Hart, or Shawn Michaels?

The case for Bret Hart:

He is the "Best there is, best there was, and the best blah blah blah". For over two decades, Bret Hart wrestled at a high-quality level with a wide variety of opponents. The match that he and Owen Hart had at Summerslam '94 may have been the greatest in WWE history, and the Owen Hart match he and Chris Benoit had was probably the greatest match in WCW history. He gave a half-drunk Davey Boy Smith the greatest match of his singles career at Summerslam '92, basically doing the work of both men in that match, and Steve Austin had his greatest matches against the 'Hitman' as well. Bret Hart managed to pull good matches out of has-beens like Jerry Lawler and Bob Backlund, and no-talents such as Kevin Nash, The Patriot, and Yokozuna.

A lot of Bret Hart's critics say that every Bret Hart match is the same thing. But that's just not true at all. Hart was capable of having technical, back-and-forth classics with guys like Mr. Perfect, Owen Hart, the 1-2-3- Kid and Chris Benoit, among others. When the situation called for a brawl, Hart would answer the bell, slugging it out with Steve Austin and Owen Hart, among others. Also, his tag work in the Hart Foundation against teams such as the British Bulldogs, The Brainbusters, The Rockers, and Demolition were highlights for the WWF during the late 80s and early 90s.

Add to that the fact that Hart, although not the biggest draw in history, was very capable of being the top dog for a few years (even though the WWF apparently didn't want him to), and you have one of the greatest wrestlers of the modern era.

The case for Shawn Michaels:

He is "the showstoppa, the icon, the main blah blah blah". A wrestler's whose accomplishments and reputation has been so revered that you get sick of them (or at least, I do). But make no mistake about it, most of it is well deserved in this case. His ladder match against Razor Ramon at Wrestlemania X very well could be the greatest match in WWE and Wrestlemania history. He's had memorable matches against a wide variety of opponents, people such as Triple-H, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Mick Foley, and Chris Jericho, among others. Hell, he gave Jeff Jarrett the only good match he's had in the past decade.

Shawn Michaels might be the greatest pure athlete and the greatest bump taker in WWE history. Anyone that mentions the name Shawn Michaels automatically mentions how he's able to do things from an athletic standpoint that nobody in the WWE's history could ever do. He also was able to make every single opponent that wrestled him look like a million books (when he wanted to anyway), by bouncing around the ring like a pinball, taking chances that most people wouldn't even consider. Michaels was also excellent as a tag wrestler, as the Rockers had many classic matches with teams such as The Hart Foundation and the Brainbusters.

The Verdict:

Three things to consider here, One is, even though Bret Hart didn't want to lose his WWF Title in Canada at the Survivor Series in 1997 and was often the last person there at nearly every show, he is a hell of a lot more professional than Shawn (I lost my smile) Michaels. There were at least three instances during Michaels' WWF title run where he refused to lose the title, and he also refused to job to Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 14 before The Undertaker threatened bodily harm against him if Michaels refused. Second is, even though a lot of people throw Bret Hart under the bus for his "Five Moves of Doom" routine, Michaels does a very similar routine. Watch an HBK match, particulary since his comeback, and most of the time you will the same exact sequence (atomic drop-flying forearm/kip-up-bodyslam-top rop elbow drop-superkick). Not holding it against him, I'm just saying.

Third, and probably most relevant, is this, while Bret Hart can work a variety of matches, and can have great matches whether dominating the action or working from underneath, it seems that most, if not all of Shawn Michaels' great matches come from working underneath. Why is that? Because, for all of HBK's athleticism and skills, his moveset is very limited, and oftentimes it's up to his opponent to supply the offense. The result is that, while Shawn Michaels can take an ass-kicking like few others, oftentimes eighty or eight-five percent of his matches are just that, and when he makes his big comeback to win, well, it kind of makes it a little unbelievable. Bret Hart was also able to bump very-well, but the difference is that he could do a damn convincing job that he was whipping his opponent's ass from piller to post, and that difference, to me, seperates Bret Hart from Shawn Michaels.

So, in the end, Bret Hart be betta.

Who be betta: Smith vs. Sanders

2005-08-30T21:07:00.000-05:00

Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders were the two best running backs in the NFL in the 1990s. Sanders started his career in 1989 and finished in 1998, while Smith played from 1990 to 2004, retiring just before the Super Bowl last February. Sanders has already been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while Smith will be inducted as soon as he's eligible. Both players claim a large chunk of the NFL record books. So, the question is: Who be betta?

The case for Emmitt Smith:

The obvious arguement for Emmitt Smith is that he is the NFL's All Time leading rusher, compiling 18,355 for his career. Impressive. Not only that, Emmitt also has the most carries of all time (4,409) and the most rushing touchdowns of all time (164). There are only a few running backs in the game that have got half the numbers that Emmitt Smith compiled during his career. For eleven straight seasons, Smith finished with over 1,000 yards, with a high mark of 1,773 in 1995. Smith was a 8-time Pro Bowl selection, and in four seasons finished as the NFL's leader in rushing yards. In 1993, Smith was the MVP of the NFL, and was also named MVP of the Super Bowl.

Smith also came up big when his team needed him the most. Perhaps his most memorable game was the 1993 season finale against the New York Giants. With a division title on the line for the Cowboys, Smith, despite a seperated shoulder, ran for 168 yards and led the Cowboys to victory. In 17 postseason games, Smith ran for 1,586 yards and 19 touchdowns. Smith ran for over 100 yards in seven of those games, including the 93 and 94 Super Bowls against the Buffalo Bills.

Emmitt Smith was neither the fastest or the strongest running back to play the game. At 5'9" and 212 pounds, Smith was small for the position. Add to that the concerns that he was too slow when he came into the league, it seems odd that such an ordinary package would become one the NFL's greatest players. But Smith had seemingly extraordinary vision, always seeming to find the seam in the defense. He also had great cutting ability, and was very quick (more agility than speed, really). Smith was also a great reciever out of the backfield, catching 515 passes for his career, and was a decent pass blocker.

The case for Sanders:

From the moment he stepped into the league until the moment he left it, Barry Sanders was one of the top running backs in the NFL. During his ten year career, Sanders never finished with less than 1,115 yards in a season, and that was only because he missed five games due to injury. If he hadn't unexpectadly retire at the age of 30, he, and not Smith, might very well be the NFL's all time leading rusher. Every year he played, Sanders finished in the top ten in rushing yards, and every year he played, Sanders was named to the Pro Bowl. Like Smith, Sanders was a four-time NFL rushing champion, with a high of 2,053 coming in 1997. As of now, Sanders is third in rushing yards in NFL history.

Impressive as those numbers may be, the way he put up those numbers seemed even more impressive. Sanders was only 5'8" and 209 pounds, but had such amazing speed and quickness that it was hard for defenders to bring him down. Many a time, Sanders would leave defenders scrambling and gasping for air after a devestaing juke. Although he had a high-risk running style (often leading the league in carries for a loss) Sanders often turned what looked to be a three yard loss into a 30 yard run. Sanders was football's equivalant to Julius Erving, where he'd put up eye-popping numbers which were surpassed by the style in which he did it. You could probably put together an eight-hour tape of Sanders' greatest runs, and still have plenty to spare.

The Verdict:

I have to say that I come in a little biased here, as Sanders is probably one of my favorite football players ever. Sanders was obviously an excellent player during his career, but Smith also had over a decade where he was at or near the top of the game, even if he did hold on a little too long. The way I look at it, Smith has some advantages. He was a better reciever than Sanders (although Sanders wasn't a slouch in that department), a better pass protecter (that seemed like a foreign concept to Sanders, and with his frame, he probably wasn't going to be too good at that even if he did try), and, most importantly, Smith had much, much more playoff success than Sanders. For all of his success, Sanders came up relatively empty in the postseason. In six playoff games, Sanders finished with a hundred yards only once. Perhaps his most memorable flop was the 1994 Wild-Card matchup against the Packers, in which Sanders finished with -1 yard on 13 carries.

Overall, Sanders put up some impressive numbers throughout his career. Although he never won a Super Bowl, Sanders was a very valueable player to his team for many years, so I'm not going to hold that against him. But it's just hard to deny Emmitt Smith his due. Although he had a great team around him, he sure didn't put up those numbers by accident. He was perhaps the driving force of one of the NFL's great dynasties. Even though I'd rather watch Barry Sanders, I'm going to be honest and say that Smith was the better running back of the two. Although Sanders put up excellent numbers, there were more holes in his resume than there are Smith's. Smith was a more capable all-around back, and you would never, ever, see Smith run for -1 yard in a big game like Sanders did.

So, in the end, Emmitt Smith be betta.

Match o the day

2004-12-20T13:42:00.000-05:00

Today's match of the day comes from a Monday Night Raw from 1994, and also from my collection of matches on the computer. Surprisingly, the WWF decided to put on a face vs. face World Title defense on free TV, and it resulted in a pretty good match. The participants are Bret Hart, who is defending his title against the 1-2-3 Kid in what seems like a styles clash, but it certainly turned out fine.

Hart's strategy throughout the match appeared to be that he would just beat the hell out of the Kid, and see if he could take it or not. Hart did a lot of stomps, elbows, and some really painful-looking European uppercuts that looked painful even when the cameras zoomed up to an insane degree of closeness. There were some neat wrestling sequences during the first couple of minutes or so, but then Hart just decided to knock the crap out of his opponent, so there went that.

Eventually, the Kid made a comeback, hit a couple of moves off the top, mixed in with a powerbomb that he almost didn't get Bret all the way up for. He landed fine, but for a second there I thought it would be a "Nash powerbombing Giant" ending there. Kid also did a sweet somersault tope' off the top turnbuckle to the floor, but he didn't catch Bret with it as much as he should have. The ending came when the overeager Kid decided to go for the big one one more time, but had his top-rope dropkick countered into a sharpshooter, which Kid would succumb to.

As an aside, it's really a shame what the 1-2-3 Kid became. I mean, just a decade ago, he was already considered one of the best American lightheavyweights out there, and his future seemed real bright. Even in 1997 in 1998, he was putting on very good matches with a variety of opponents. But somewhere along the line, Sean Waltman became complacent for whatever reason, and he actually regressed to the point where it was sad to watch. The X-Factor period was particularly painful to watch. They had to be least the least effective stable in WWE history, and their theme music was terrible too. It's a shame that this once promising talent has been reduced to a drug-riddled joke who makes sex tapes with a 200-pound, muscle-bound woman and works in front of 75 people in order to pay for his next joint. In my opinion, it's the biggest waste of talent since Scott Steiner, and at least Steiner was successful despite being a shell of his former self.

Back to the match, it was a surprisngly even match where the 1-2-3 Kid seemed to have a legitimate chance at winning the Title even as a severe underdog. Hart did a hell of a job and Kid held up his end of the deal. It wasn't a great match, but is was very good. I'd say about 3 1/2 or 3 3/4 stars, somewhere around there.

Match of the Day

2004-12-19T01:43:00.000-05:00

Today's match of the day (or Saturday's, really) is a match I downloaded a couple of months back. Actually, until last week I had forgotten I even had this match, and today was the first time I actually watched the match. The match was the main event of a Smackdown episode in 2001, and featured Stone Cold Steve Austin defending his World Title against Chris Benoit, in Benoit's hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

And yippy skippy, it was quite a fun match. Despite other people saying that he wasn't, I always thought that Austin was a great heel during 2001, and he managed to have lots of solid matches during the year, this one probably being one of his best. A great back-and-forth battle between these two, and, even though you kind of figured Austin would win, there were a couple of points in the match where you thought that maybe, just maybe, Benoit would somehow pull it out after all.

Chris Benoit also nearly died when he took a front suplex on the announcers' table. Since Benoit had injured ribs coming into this match, they were a focal point of Austin's attack plan. So Austin had Benoit on the outside, and decided to go for a final blow to the ribs. Well, what ended up happening was that Benoit bounced off the table, and came within a couple of inches of landing straight on his head to the concrete floor. Really, it was very, very close to disaster. Also, considering that Benoit's neck at this point was killing him, and Austin had a very serious neck surgery just 18 months prior, these two guys sure as well weren't afraid to land on their heads and necks a lot. I thought Benoit nearly broke his neck on a superplex, and he was the one that gave it. Also, Austin took 10 straight German Suplexes, with most of the impact landing on the neck and head. One other thing, they did a series of sharpshooters, where Benoit and Austin would exchange the holds, and with Earl Hebner as referee and Vince McMahon at ringside, it seemed like most of the fans were expecting a repeat of the Bret incident. Luckily, there was no such thing in this match.

Since this is a free TV match, the WWE(F) isn't going to give us a clean ending or anything like that, as Austin won due to the interference of Vince McMahon and holding on to the tights. I guess you can't have Benoit lose in his own hometown, but it would still be nice to have a definitive ending. Also, McMahon is some sort of special enforcer in the match, and does take away from the match due to his interference. However, this was still a fine and dandy match, and was quite fun to watch. I'd say it's about four stars.

Person of the Day

2004-12-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

The person of the day for today is a great man. He's a ten-foot-tall, two-ton son of a bitch who could eat a hammer and take a shotgun blast standing. He once made a deer say his name. A man that died of a four day heart-attack, one day for each aorta, they later found sixty dollars worth of change in his stomach. He shot whiskey in his neck with a syringe, and had dandruff the size of mice. One time, when he wanted to get a drink, he sat in a vacant lot for a year and a half waiting for a bar to be constructed. Then, on opening night, he ordered a shot, drunk it down, and proceeded to burn the place to the ground, saying to a companion that he "always left things the way he found them."

He once breast-fed an injured flamingo back to health, and his poop was considered currency in Argentina. He hated mexacins, yet was half-mexacins, and he hated irony. He hunted down all four of the Banana Splits, killing them with a machete. His family crest was a picture of a barracuda eating Neil Armstrong. He breast-fed John Madden, and gave the group Sha-Na-Na its name, even though they didn't want to be called that. For some reason, he still believed in Santa Claus, and he wanted to put him in porno films.

The man showered in grain alcohol. He used the Shroud of Turin as a golf towel. He drove an ice cream truck covered in human skulls. He once ate the Bible while water skiing, and one time had sex with a cigarette machine. This beast of a man, who was hated yet respected, was Bill Brasky. TO BILL BRASKY!

Match of the Day

2004-12-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

Today's match of the day is off of the big Ric Flair DVD set that the WWE put out last year. A damn fine three-disc set, if I must say so. But one thing that always confused me though was why didn't they put Flair's match with Sting at the first Clash of the Champions on it. They already had devoted a whole section to Flair's feud with Sting, and they put the last two minutes of the match on, but why not put the match that started and defined the Flair-Sting feud all at once. Surely the WWE is still not bitter over the NWA putting the Clash on against Wrestlemaina, or are they? Instead of that match, they decided to put on another Flair-Sting match, this time from a Clash of the Champions in 1994, and the match was for the unification of the WCW World and International Titles. Note: The International Title is a concept that is too complicated for me to explain, but the gist of it was that it was the NWA title until the NWA decided to withdraw, and WCW kept the belt around for another 18 months just because they could.

The first thing you will notice about this match is that there is a lot of stalling, particulary on Flair's part. This start-and-stop pace really kind of sucks the life out of the match. The next thing you notice is that Tony Schavonie and Bobby Heenan sure love to talk about Hulk Hogan, and how he's somehow getting into Flair's head. Um, that's great there. completly ignore the two biggest stars in your company who are fighting for your world title for the new guy. Good idea there, WCW. Anyway, these two start and stop for about 12 minutes, and it becomes apparent that this match isn't going to be a classic after awhile. Oh, I forgot to mention, Sherri Martel is at ringside, wearing Sting facepaint. Even Helen Keller can see that that isn't going to last long, and she's dead.

After a while, they pick up the pace, the problem is that they went through the same damn sequence earlier in the match, only not we get the fast-forwarded version. After about the 13th Sting clothesline, Flair goes over the top rope, and Sting goes for the suicide dive, only Flair pulls Sherri directly into Sting's path and she takes the full brunt of Sting's 260 pound frame. That took some guts, I suppose. After a minute or so where Flair and Sting seemingly forgot the ending, Flair gets a roll-up and holds the tights for the pin. Then Sherri and Flair reveal that they had this planned all along. Yay. Then they on Sting for a while before Hogan makes a half-hearted save, drawing quite a lukewarm reaction from the crowd even though they had been red-hot for Sting just five minutes ago. Needless to say, I kind of enjoyed that.

Well, it was Flair vs. Sting, but it was the paint-by-numbers version of Flair vs. Sting, as Flair just didn't seem to have it on this night for whatever reason. It was good, but nothing that anyone has to see or anything. I'd give it about 2 1/2 stars, with about half-a-star deducted for knowing that these two are capable of so much more.

Match of the Day

2004-12-16T14:14:00.000-05:00

I'm not feeling my cheery self right now, so today's match of the day is going to be short. Then again, the match sucked anyways, so it was going to be short anyway. This match is out of my collection on my computer, and is from the Nitro after Starrcade '99, but I don't know the exact date. The match is a rematch of the previous night's main event, and features Bret Hart vs. Goldberg for the WCW World Heavyweight Title.

Since both these men fought for some twenty odd minutes the previous night, I guess they were winded or something, because they really didn't do a whole lot. Then again, some of the match is cut off in the middle in my copy, so maybe I missed something really cool. I doubt it, though. For six minutes or so, these two men went at it with mild intensity, but that's understandable because the previous night, Hart suffered a severe concussion due to an errant Goldberg kick. That very concussion would lead to the end of Hart's career. So you have two tired guys, one with a severe head injury, and you throw them out during the main event. Surely there must be something behind all this madness.

There was something amiss, though. When Hart put Goldberg in the figure-four, the Outsiders, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, came out with baseball bats (or something slightly resembling a baseball bat). After standing there for seemingly forever, the Outsiders hit Goldberg in the gut with the bats, then giving one to Hart so he could whack him. Now, the referee is, of course, unconcsious during all of this. Roddy Piper then comes out in order to save Goldberg, but gets hit with a bat and lands on top of Goldberg, who has his shoulders down. The ref gets awoken, counts the pin and Hart is still champion, even though he wasn't the one covering Goldberg, Piper was. Jeff Jarrett and his balsa-wood guitar come out, and he gives Piper a shot with the 'acoustic equalizer'. Then the nWo music plays, and Jarrett, with cans of spray paint in tow, vandalizes the prone bodies of Goldberg and Piper, as the nWo reformes for the eighth time or so.

This match wasn't good, and since this version of the nWo lasted about a month, there's nothing really significant about this match at all. Don't go out of your way, or even try to seek this out, as it's just boring and pointless to watch.

Person of the Day

2004-12-15T20:31:00.000-05:00

Today's Person of the Day is only person of the day because I feel lazy today, and it will also allow me to vent on a subject I truly abhor. Today's person of the day is Christopher Castile. Now, nobody knows who that is, but he is most "known?" for playing the nerdy Mark Foster on the TV series Step-by-Step.

I have fond memories of that show, memories of hatred towards my television, memories of confusion as to why my little nine year-old brain would be entertained by such a vaccum of humor, originality, and anything else that makes TV great. I also have memories of Patrick Duffy playing the father, Frank, as he was truly a god among men in his prime.

On the rare occasions where I pass by this show playing, I want to instantly drown myself in a tub full of gasoline after five seconds of viewing this motley crew of stereotypical characters and their hackeneyed, third rate jokes. Let's see here, there's Mark, the nerd who can't score and can't deliver a punchline properly, there's Dana, the somewhat cute, but somewhat dog-faced smart girl who has nothing more to say than a caustic remark. Basically, she's Lisa Simpson, only grown up and thirty times more annoying. There's Karen, the naive, but pretty brunette, who was probably the only reason why I ever bothered watching the show. There's J.T., your stereotypical young teenage male who's as dumb as a board and would put his head through one if he got drunk at a frat party. And then there's Cody, the crazy yet laid back surfer-dude cousin who came from out west to live in a van in Wisconsin. Why anyone would do such a thing, I don't know, but he was supposed to be the zany comic relief character in this show. He failed terribly. There's probably a couple I'm forgetting, but they're not really important, so screw em.

To top it all off, there's Frank and Carol Lambert, whose marriage casued these kids to come together (some are Frank's, some are Carol's, and I really don't give a crap as to which kid is who's) and are played by the god-like Duffy and Suzzane Sommers, who I really could give two craps about. Why they never based an entire epsiode around the Thigh Master, or had an entire season worth of shows end up a dream, I don't know, because everything else they did they stole from other shows. When it's all said and done, if the Step-by-Step DVD ever comes out, and someone has the gall to give me one, I will throw that person like a dart into a trailer, just like Kevin Nash did to Rey Misterio a few years back. So please, don't do it.

Person of the Day

2004-12-14T23:54:00.000-05:00

Today's Person of the Day should have been yesterday's, to be perfectly honest, but I somehow forgot about it and threw something together about the great thespian Judge Reinhold. Today's person of the day has plugged away at his job for eight years, and Sunday night, he finally got his moment in the sun, so to speak. That person, is Funaki.

Funaki's had quite the interesting career. He first gained notice as a charter member of one of the most influential stables in wrestling history, Kai En Tai. With their high-flying theatrics and rebellious attitude, Kai En Tai gained noticed quite quickly, and had some of the most memorable matches in the history of wrestling. Once Taka Michinoku signed with the WWF in 1997, Kai En Tai followed six months later, and became most known for nearly chopping Val Venis's johnson off on Raw, and becoming fodder to the Oddities. It wasn't all that impressive.

Taka and Sho would stick together in the WWE for a couple of years after, while the rest of their mates went to greener pastures. They really didn't do much, but had some of the finest matches Jakked ever saw. Oh, and they became semi-popular for doing a voiceover gimmick a la a Bruce Lee movie. Indeed.

Taka left, and Funaki became a backstage interviewer, due to his lack of command of the English language. Funaki would proclaim himself "Smackdown's number one announcer" and he was right. Of course, he would eventually take the time out to get beaten down when the occasion called for it, and would put on decent matches on Velocity every now and then.

Somehow, Funaki won a battle royal to get a shot at the cruiserweight title at Armageddon, which happened last Sunday (and was a show that I thought about going to, but didn't). Funaki went one-on-one with the dominating champion Spike Dudley, and through some sort of miracle, pinned Spike for the Cruiserweight title.

Since Funaki will probably lose this title in no less than two weeks, I decided that it's best to recognize him now before he fades back in obscurity. Despite his reputation to the contrary, Funaki is one talented wrestler. He can take it to the mat as well as he can take it to the air, and really would be quite useful as a trainer to some of the young cruiserweights out there, in my opinion. Funaki has somehow lasted eight years in the WWE, which is a slight miracle considering he speaks little English and is small, two no-nos in McMahonland. For that, I give him credit, as he has adapted well in order to remain, um, on TV once a month. Perhaps this win will give Funaki a push as a serious wrestler, which would be great. Hey, he won the title, anything can happen now.

Match of the Day

2004-12-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

Today's Match of the Day is off a series of tapes I got a couple of years ago off a site that no longer exists. It's a shame it doesn't exist, because there was a lot of cool stuff on the site. Anyway, the series of tapes were titled "50 Wrestling Matches you need to Watch", or something like that, and it is really a great compilation, I must say. The match that I am going to talk about was rated #10, and is from Wrestlemania 8 (VIII). It's Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage for the World Title.

An arguement that is used against Flair all the time is that all of his matches are the same. Personally, I think it's a bunch of web postering, as anyone who watches Flair-Steamboat (any Flair-Steamboat match) and this match, and compares the two, and says that there the same match is an idiot. If anything, this match was slightly ahead of its time, as it almost seemed like a WWF "Main-Event Style" match, mixed in with some old school wrestling all day. Both wrestlers fought all over the place, without threat of a DQ, there was liberal interference from Mr. Perfect, Flair's manager at the time. However, there was some great legwork out of the master, Ric Flair, who of course used it to set up the figure-four.

Flair also either cut himself or got busted open sometimes during the match, which surprised me because I thought that the WWF had a no-blood policy at the time. I guess they pull out all the stops for Wrestlemania. Flair almost killed himself with a back body drop in the middle of the match, as he looked like he was going to land straight on his head until he flipped at the last second. What is interesting about this epic encounter is that it didn't even main event Wrestlemania, as Hulk Hogan and Sid did. I don't have that match, and from what I hear, that's a good thing.

There are those that think that this is one of the greatest matches in WWF history. There are also those (like my brother, for instance) that think that anyone who thinks that is crazy. I tend to be in the middle, but I think that this is a very good match and I must admit, that I enjoyed it more this time than I did the first time I watched it. The ending kind of sucked (Savage winning while holding the tights), however. I'd give the match about 3 3/4 stars.

Person of the Day

2004-12-13T13:53:00.000-05:00

Today's Person of the Day is Judge Reinhold. Why it's him, I'm not really sure, but it was the first name that came to mind, so here we are. This man, known for his "uncomfortable, awkward performances" has starred in such classics as "National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Reunion", something called "Betaville", "My Brother the Pig" (which also stars Scarlett Johansson, although she probably doesn't tell anyone that), and was in the TV movie "Runaway Car".

Reinhold was also in "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", but who cares about those movies. He played psychiatrist Neal Miller and "The Santa Clause" which I watched the other day despite it being quite horrible. No matter what he stars in, Judge Reinhold brings a veteran presence to the project like few other actors these days, and I hope that one day a network will make a reality show where 12 people compete for the chance to live with him in his studio apartment. I wouldn't dare sign up for it, but I would watch it for about five minutes, and that's why Judge Reinhold is today's person of the day.

Match of the Day

2004-12-13T13:27:00.000-05:00

Today's match of the day is another match off of the WWE Bloodbath: Wrestling's Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches (or something like that) and is one of my favorite matches of all time. I think today marked the 48th time I've seen this match, and it never fails to impress me. The match is from Summerslam '94 and features Bret Hart against his brother, Owen Hart.

Right from the beginning, these two did not waste any time, as the start was fast and furious. They somehow kept up a pretty good pace for 35 minutes or so, with a lot of action and a lot of suspense in there. It wasn't really you're typical Bret Hart match where he exchanges holds for a while, hits a couple of key moves and goes from there, it really felt like more of a pure fight for survival more than anything else. Although both wrestlers used a lot of their signature moves, they usually were used to wear the other guy down enough so that they could leave.

Also, both Bret and Owen really used the cage (which was the old blue cage that the WWF used for cage matches a long time ago) a lot in this match. By a lot I mean that over half the match had either Bret or Owen climbing the cage. But it didn't subtract from the match, it actually added something to it. Plus, every escape attempt and subsequent save added to the match and didn't suffer from the other guy all of a sudden getting up. Everything that these guys did in this match was pretty believable, actually.

There were many, many times where it seemed like either man would win the match, and the crowd really was into it the whole time. Bret and Owen had the crowd in the palm of their hands. And when Bret finally escaped the cage after fighting an exhausting 35-minute long battle with his own flesh and blood, the crowd went bananas.

A couple of other things, Bret Hart has a very good DDT. I mean, he just planted Owen on the top of his noggin without any remorse. It was quite sweet. So was Bret reversing Owen's sharpshooter and putting his own on Owen, and the superplex off the cage was excellent.

This might be the best cage match of all time. It's certaintly the best that I've ever seen. I'd give this match five stars, and my recommendation is that you must see this match RIGHT NOW.

Match of the Day

2004-12-12T23:56:00.000-05:00

Today's Match of the Day took place in ECW, back when it was NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling. The participants in this match are Tommy Dreamer, who is still waering suspenders and parachute pants at this point, and Jimmy Snuka, who's about 50 and is roided to the gills here. Later, Dreamer would become known for his extreme loyalty towards ECW and toughness, at this point, while he shows goodwill to the fans, he's still a bland good guy in a crappy costume. Snuka is well past his prime here, but in his prime he became known for his superfly splash, his incoherent interviews, and getting away with murder. Needless to say, I wasn't really expecting much.

They delivered on my expectations, as the match was really about 7 minutes long and booked for one reason and one reason only, which I will get to later. Before that, Snuka spent 3 1/2 minutes jawing with fans, and Dreamer went out and apolagized after each time Snuka baited the fans. I guess they were really trying to establish the face and the heel here. After four minutes of basic brawling, a couple of headlocks, and a chair shot by Snuka. Snuka's got Dreamer down and was headed for his famous "Superfly" splash.

To my surprise, Snuka hits it, and to further surprise me, since he looked like crap before this point, he hits it perfectly, even though it's a pretty good distance from the corner. To everyone's surprise, Dreamer actually kicked out at two, which ECW would then proclaim it as the first time anyone has ever kicked out of the Superfly splash. Snuka then punches and elbow drops Dreamer for another minute, climbs up again (and he's climbing like a man with arthritis), and hits it. He doesn't cover Dreamer though, instead he goes to the other corner, and gives another perfect splash, finally getting the three count.

This match really wasn't anything worth seeking out (the only reason I have it is because I'll pretty much download any wrestling match I don't have), and it's supposed historical significance (being the first time anyone kicked out of the Superfly Splash) isn't really that significant at all. Overall, it was a 7 minute match where the two wrestlers really didn't have too much ideas outside of the big one, and used some crowd baiting and pointless brawling just to get to that point. It's not offensive to the senses, but this is not a good match.

Person of the Day

2004-12-12T23:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my cold got pretty bad, so I wasn't able to do an update for yesterday. Today, I decided to start late because there was a lot on TV tonight. But there will be a full update today or into somewhat of tommorrow, I suppose, and hopefully I can do this for more than one straight day.

Today's person of the day commemerates the Atlanta Falcons clinching their third division title in their 39 year history today. A big reason for that is defensive tackle Rod Coleman. When Coleman was signed by the Falcons as a free agent over the past offseason, I was quite skeptical of the move. I thought that Coleman was undersized, and would be eaten alive by opposing lineman if he was out their for the majority of the snaps. You see, in Oakland, Coleman would usually only play about 45-50% of the snaps, and most of those were passing downs, which is easier for a defensive lineman than an offensive one. But Coleman has proven me wrong, as he's been a huge reason why the Falcons have done so well this season.

Coleman is one of the quickest lineman of the league, and his first step usually beats the opposing guard off the snap. If that happens, then the other team puts another lineman on Coleman, opening up opportunities for the other lineman to get to the QB. Not that Coleman can't do it, as he leads all defensive tackles with 8.5 quarterback sacks this season.

But I already knew he could rush the quarterback. What has impressed me is how stout he is against the run. Coleman, at 275 pounds, is small for a lineman, but he's still very strong, and is quick enough to get some leverage and push back guards on runs. Plus, there's been a few times where Coleman totally blew by his blocker and stopped the runner cold in his tracks for a big loss. Also, as those that watched the Falcons today saw, Coleman can run an interception back for a touchdown if needed.

Without Coleman, the Falcons are significantly weaker, as shown by their horrible performance where they allowed 56 points to Kansas City without him. Coleman, more than anyone, has been the key player in the Falcons D, which has improved greatly since last year, and that is why he is today's Person of the Day.

Person of the Day

2004-12-10T14:26:00.000-05:00

Today's person of the day is Indianapolis Colts wide reciever Marvin Harrison, who recently singed a six-year contract extension worth $66 million dollars and got a $22 million dollar signing bonus. That means that he more than likely finish his career on the only team he has known, the Colts, and means that a lot of people will want Christmas presents from him, seeing as he now has all that money to spend. So kudos to Marvin Harrison.

But I wonder, what will Harrison's legacy be when he retires. As it is now, Harrison is thought of as a top reciever in the NFL, but some think that a) Randy Moss and Terrell Owens are better than him, and b) his quarterback, Peyton Manning, made Marvin Harrison, and without Manning he wouldn't be nothing more than an above average wide reciever. I say that's hogwash, and Harrison is the best reciever in the NFL today, and would still be one of the top recievers in the game if he had Jake Plummer throwing the ball to him. He's fast, runs great routes, can catch the ball in traffic, can make you miss and is big enough to run over some defensive backs. I think this year, Harrison's stats have actually been hurt a little because Peyton is seemingly giving everybody a lot of chances. Then again, Harrision does have 67 catches, 870 yards, and 12 touchdowns, so he's not hurting that much. Plus, his presence allows the other recievers to get open, and if there's one thing Peyton can do, it's taking advantange of defenses that give his recievers any room whatsoever.

But back to my point. Jerry Rice is going to be remembered as the greatest reciever of all time, and rightfully so. But, if Harrison continues to produce at this level for another four to five years, which is possible because, despite being 32, he's in great shape and has always been durable, than Harrison may get within striking distance of some of Rice's records. As of right now, Harrison is 7th all time with 826 catches, 15th all time in yards with 10,942, and 6th in receiving touchdowns with 95. Now Rice is pretty far away from Harrison at this point, but Harrison should be able to easily get the second spot in all three of those stats, if he stays healthy, of course. After all, he's only about 300 catches, 4,000 yards and thirty five touchdowns behind. If he only has three years at his usual pace, Harrison makes that easily.

But Harrison may not be regarded as the second greatest reciever in the NFL. For one, while he makes his share of great catches, there are others that have been more flashy, such as T.O.. While Harrison has plenty of speed, there are those that are faster than he is, such as Torry Holt and Randy Moss. While Harrison is plenty tough, it's not his calling card, like it was Cris Carter's. Plus, Harrison doesn't have the mouth of a Michael Irvin, so he kind of blends into the background, sort of like Andre Reed. In fact, I think Harrison is a lot like Reed, guys that don't specialize in one area, but can do everything well and make whatever catch you need at the time. Reed is regarded by many experts to be one of the top five or recievers in NFL history, and will be elected into the Hall of Fame once he becomes eligible. That's where I think Harrison will wind up, as not the best of all time, but cetainly one of the top five, and he'll probably become a Hall of Famer as soon as he is eligible.

Match o the Day

2004-12-10T13:10:00.000-05:00

Due to my cold, I was not able to give a full update yesterday, but no need to worry, as today I will give a full update. With that in mind, I would like to introduce the second new feature of this here blog, the match of the day, where I, being the wrestling expert that I'm not, will watch a match and post a little review on it. It's not going to be a move-by-move review or anything like that, because I find those somewhat boring to read and hella boring to actually do. What it will be is just a few of my thoughts on the match, how good it was, what stood out, odd things that I noticed, etc. So, I hope that whoever reads this enjoys it, and if you don't, fine, because I'm going to be honest with you, I'm only doing this for my benefit and I don't give a crap what you think (j/k).

Today's match of the day is off the WWE Bloodbath: Wrestling's Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches DVD, which is a good DVD to have, even if you're like myself and isn't that crazy about cage matches. Anyway, the match is from Starrcade 1986 and features the Andersons (Arn and Ole) vs. the Rock n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) for the NWA World Tag Team Titles, which the R n' Rs have coming in to this match. This was during the heyday of the Four Horseman, and Ricky and Robert were two of their biggest foes, so it came as no surprise to me that the crowd was super-hot for this match. I think what stood out more than anything about this match is the tenacity of the Andersons during this match. I mean, they were like sharks. After Gibson gets caught and has his leg banged into the cage by Arn, the Anderson go to work on that leg for like, eight straight minutes. They did everything you could think of to that knee. What disappointed me was that it really didn't play much of a factor during the rest of the match, though.

Also, Ricky Morton could take a beating like nobody else, and this match is just another example. After getting the 'hot tag' ten minutes into the match, Ricky does a couple of moves, gets caught, and gets thrown into the cage. When I mean thrown I mean Ricky Morton's body becoming 100% perpandicualar with the cage while going head first into it. Needless to say, Morton bleeds, and bleeds a lot. He then spends the next five minutes taking all that the Andersons can dish out, including the legendary Arn Anderson spinebuster and a multitude of upper body punishment from both Andersons.

Another thing I noticed is that there were many times, like six or so, where either Gibson or Morton are inches away from making the tag, only to get stopped by the Andersons. And it wasn't like the Andersons would all of a sudden get up and stop it, but rather that the R n R's would suddenly escape their clutches and move as quickly as possible, only to get cut off by the other Anderson who caught up with them due to the fatigue factor. It really put suspense into the match, and made an already hot crowd rabid and waiting for the tag so that they could explode.

The ending was kind of sudden, as their was no other 'hot tag' (and like I said, the crowd would have gone ape for it) and it kind of turned into a bruhaha for a minute before Ole picked Ricky up for a body slam, only to have Robert deliver a precise dropkick to the back of Morton, who landed on Ole and got the pin. I guess it was a good ending, but it was quite sudden and abrupt. Oh well.

This match was the epitome of a 'southern tag' and featured one of the greatest tag teams of all time in their prime, and another very good team as well. It went nineteen minutes, but it felt like it went about 13. There wasn't a lot of cool manuevers or anything like that, just the Rock n' Rolls taking a pounding and finding a way to win, basically. I'd give the whole thing about 3 3/4 snowflakes.

A couple of other things. The first time I watched this, I really wasn't that impressed, so it might take you a couple of viewings to like this match if you weren't around during the heyday of the NWA. Also, Ole had some God-awful boots in this match, red with five yellow chevrons. They looked quite ridiculous actually, especially on a rugged man like Ole.

R.I.P. Darrell

2004-12-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

As I said, today was the day that I was to resume activity on this blog, and I said that there was going to be a slightly different format. Well, one of the new features is going to a "person of the day", where I basically write whatever I want about someone in any format I see fit. Due to the tragic events last night in Columbus, Ohio, my first ever person of the day is the late, great, "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott.

Usually, I'm not one to make tributes towards the recently deceased. I mean, it's not as if I don't feel remorse, but I think that sometimes it can go a little overboard. Heck, I even wrote something on Sonny's site back in the day on that same subject. But for today, I'm making an exception, and if that makes me a hypocrite, than so be it.

The first time I had really ever heard of Pantera was through SonnyBone, really. Back in 97 or so, I was really more into alternative and pop rock than anything else. Sonny would always wear those damn Pantera T-shirts, and I had to wonder why a little bit. Honestly, the first time I heard the name "Dimebag" Darrell, I thought it was one of the most absurd names I have ever heard. Well, long story short, I took a chance one day and bought Pantera's live album "101 Proof". To be honest, it took me a few times to grasp it all, but once I did, well, let's just say I was never the same after that.

To me, "Dimebag" was Pantera. Well, him and Vinnie Paul, but still. In my mind, his guitar skills and his "fuck you all and take no prisoners" attitude was the reason why Pantera became the premier heavy metal band of the nineties. Sure, Phil, Vinnie, and Rex did a damn good job as well, but Dime was the one that made it all work.

The thing about his guitar playing to me was, unlike others, Dimebag did not give a damn about flash and pizzaz in a riff. He went out there, and could either go harder than anyone else out there, or play some of the most haunting riffs that I have ever heard. Now, I'm not much of a musical expert or anything like that, but in my life I've only heard two guitar players that were better than anyone else I have ever heard. Hendrix, and Darrell. You can have your Eddie Van Halens or Steve Vais or Tom Morrellos or whoever else you want to throw out there. To me Darrell was better than all of them.

In a world where the term legend is tossed around like a basketball, Darrell Abbott was a legend in heavy metal. He was one of the most respected guitarists in the world. Many people, when needing a guitar solo, would think of Darrell first and foremost. Not because he worked cheap or anything like that, but because he was the best out there.

I must admit I wasn't really happy that Pantera broke up, or that I was a big Damage Plan fan by any means, but I suppose Darrell had his reasons for breaking away and forming Damage Plan. I actually thought that he was underused in that band, and that was one of the main reasons why I didn't like the band. But still, I never was one of those people that thought he broke up the band or anything like that, and it's truly sad that there are some people out there that somehow feel that he got 'what he deserved' for leaving Pantera.

"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott was the victim of a senseless tragedy. The fact that he died at the hands of some fucker who more than likely planned this all out makes me sick. The fact that he would shoot into the crowd and kill two or three more people makes me wonder what the fuck is wrong with people. I mean, what the hell did they do to get murdered. All they wanted to do was watch one of their favorite bands perform live, and now they have had their lives robbed from them and the families of those victims must grieve the loss of two people cut down in the prime of their lives. You know, this fucker got off easy when he was shot to death. I would have rather seen him suffer for years instead of a quick death. May Nathan Gale rot in hell for his inhuman actions.

Normally, I'm not the most sentimental person in the world, but when I saw the pictures of Dimebag Darrell that my brother had hung up on the walls of our room, a tear came to my eye. I guess, up until that point, I sort of didn't realize the impact that he had on my life. I mean, as soon as I heard the news, I felt like crap, but even now, I'm kind of getting torn up over this again. What a shame, really, that one of most talented people in rock music, and, from what I understand, a hell of a guy to boot, had to be murdered so senselessly. It's a fuckin' shame really, that a man, at thirty eight years old, had to be shot at point blank range while his brother could do nothing but watch and fear for his own life. When Darrell Abbott went into the great unknown last night, he took the hearts of millions of fans, and perhaps the legacy of Pantera itself, with him. Rest in Peace, Darrell, may you continue to shred ass in the afterlife.

P.S. Fuck you, Fox News, for judging a man only on the basis of his nickname. Fuck you for declaring that this wasn't a big loss in the music industry just because the words "fuck you" was in one of his songs. How do you mutherfuckers sleep at night when you demean this man, who LOST HIS FUCKING LIFE, last night, just because he didn't live the lifestyle that fit you're ultra-conservative values. Fair and balanced, my ass.

Out of buisness, for now.

2004-11-29T14:00:00.000-05:00

Due to me being busy with life and other stuff, I haven't been able to post on here for a while. But, starting December 9th, I will be back on a daily basis, and this place will have a slightly different format as well. So until then, stay away, far far away.

Bush wins Missouri

2004-11-02T22:17:00.000-05:00

Sorry about my prolonged abscence, but I've had some things to take care of. Mainly killing civilians in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. GTA:SA might be one of the greatest games of all time, and not only did it successfully live up to the standards set by GTA 3 and Vice City, it raised the bar so high that it's hard to imagine that anyone can top them. This is the equivalent of video-game crack. If you are thinking of picking it up, go, right now.

Something else is happening today, but I'm so out of it that I can't remember what that is. Oh yes, the greatest Japanese wrestling stable of all time, Crazy Max, has announced that it will be disbanding as of November 28th. While the group just hasn't been the same since Suwa left the company, Crazy Max was a forced to be reckoned with. They took what Ka en tai did in M-Pro, and brought it to a whole new level. Not only that, they became the backbone of the Torymoun promotion. The team was at their peak in 1999, with CIMA and the rest of Crazy Max putting on incredible matches with Tokyo Magnum, Dragon Kid, and the rest of the Torymoun roster. Like all good things, however, Crazy Max became a little stale after a while. Suwa would come in and out as he pleased, and the never ending Crazy MAX-MDK-other stable became stale after a while. Now, with SUWA gone, TARU leaving Dragon's Gate (formerly Torymoun), and Fuji becoming more of a comedy wrestler, Crazy Max is now just another page in the wrestling history books. They might reunite for a short time a while down the road, but it just won't be the same. (For a further history: go to http://dragongate.shiningwizard.com/cmax.html).

Life goes on, however, and the breaking up of Crazy Max might be a good thing. Maybe CIMA will fight Fuji, or go over to NOAH and fight SUWA. I'd love to see a CIMA-KENTA match, so I'm really hoping for that more than anything.

So, in honor of great lightheavyweights, I have drawn up a list of the top ten lightheavweights of all time. Mainly I made this list based on longevity and the quality of their work. Keep in mind that the list is just my personal opinion, so if you disagree with me, you might be right.

10. Dean Malenko- A real solid mat worker, Malenko wrestled all over the globe, and instantly made that promotion better through his hard work and his ability to put on great matches with all sorts of opponents.
9. Ultimo Dragon- Like Malenko, wrestled all over the world and had like 500 great matches. In the mid 90's, not many were better than Dragon, and he's still damn good despite taking a long layoff to start and run Torymoun and train all of the top stars there.
8. Rey Misterio Jr.- Quite possibly the most exciting wrestler of all time. Has wowed audiences in Mexico, America, and in Japan, where his match with Psychosis in the 95 J Cup put both wrestlers on the fast track to stardom. Also can adapt to fighting heavyweights like few others can.
7. Eddy Guerrero- I could put him higher, I suppose, but despite all of his accomplishments all over the world, he really tailed off from 1999 to 2001. Since he's come back, he's been one of the top five wrestlers in the world. Can do it all, even if he is no longer a heavweight.
6. Koji Kanemoto- Solid and consistent are the adjectives to describe Koji. Despite being the Third Tiger Mask, he's not all that flashy, but more than makes up for it with his pure wrestling ability. A little past his prime, however.
5. El Hijo del Santo- May be the greatest Mexican wrestler of the past 25 years. The atypical wrestler for lucha libre. Still going even after 20 years. The only person' s legacy he hasn't ascended past is his own father's.
4. Dynamite Kid- Brought toughness, technical wrestling ability, and aeriel ability together like no on ever could. Elements of his style are still being emulated today. Also a member of perhaps the greatest tag team of all time.
3. Chris Benoit- The thing about Benoit is, he can wrestle any style and make a great match out of it. Be it a European slugfest, Japanese strongstyle, Southern tag, WWE main event style, he can make it work. The most versiatile wrestler of all time.
2. Tiger Mask- The man that practically changed the face of wrestling through his high flying style. His matches with the Dynamite Kid are considered some of the greatest of all time. Any wrestling tape trader, even those starting out, probably have a few of those matches, and most would agree that they more than live up to the hype. However, lack of longevity keeps him just behind this man:
1. Jushin Liger- The most influental junior heavyweight of all time. Basically the primary reason why Japanese and American promotions started up cruiserweight divisions. Liger has fought pretty much all the great lightheavyweights, and has had great matches with all of them as well. Even today, there are few wrestlers in the world better than Liger.

Honorable Mention: Bret Hart Shawn Micheals, Owen Hart (all tweeners, but Bret and Shawn never really wrestled as lightheavyweights, and Owen only did for a couple of years), Danny Hodge (great track record, but a little before my time), Dr. Wagner Jr., Shinjiro Otani, El Samurai, Christopher Daniels, Chris Jericho, Brian Pillman, Great Sasuke, Taka Michinoku, CIMA.

Possibly on the list in the future: KENTA, Naomicha Marafuji, Kaz Hayashi, American Dragon, Low-Ki, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Paul London, A.J. Styles.

Pizza under the radar

2004-10-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

Well, Smackdown kind of sucked yesterday. As much as I try to like Heidenreich, he just seems like the most annoying psycho character since the heyday of Sid Vicious, and half as talented as him to. I really hope that the Undertaker just buries him to the point of no return. And why has he stopped reading poetry? The rest of the show was Tough Enough tryouts with a bunch of muscleheads and subpar wrestling, although it's good to see Booker T get into a feud with WWE Champion JBL. Hopefully, the Book man can add to his title collection with a WWE title, even if he has no chance of holding it until Wrestlemania. With Eddy being de-pushed, the Undertaker getting involved with Heidenreich, and the Big Show being the Big Show, and Cena recovering from his "injuries", Smackdown needs a top face, and who better than a man that has proven that he can make the worst of situation seem like pure gold. I can dig it.

The World Series starts tommorow, and I'm picking the Cardinals in seven. No reason really, it just seems like the smart choice considering the state of Boston's pitching staff and the fact that they're bound to feel a bit hungover after beating their 80-year torments finally. Should be a good one though. But I want to talk about something else relating to baseball. I think that Mike Piazza is underrated, even if he is over the hill and a poor defensive catcher. Let me explain.

Whenever you hear about Piazza these days, it's either about the subject of whether he should move to first base, or that he can't field his position well at all (which is somewhat true, but also overstated), or his feud with Roger Clemens (especially during the All-Star game, where Piazza allegedly told the opposing batters what pitch was coming while he was catching Clemens), or the rumors that he might be gay (I don't buy it for a second, but people like to talk). But what is forgotten about Piazza is that the man can flat out rake, to the point where he's probably the greatest hitting catcher of all time.

Just look at the numbers, Piazza is 20th all time in slugging percentage (total bases/at-bats) at .562, higher than Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey Jr., Hank Aaron, and Sammy Sosa, as well as any other catcher. Piazza is also 26th all time in OPS (On Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage) at .947. The next catcher on that list is 63rd. Piazza also has 378 home runs, 54th all time and more than all catcher except one (Johnny Bench 389). In 1997, Piazza hit .362, a remarkable average considering he's as slow as a phone booth on the bases. He's had two 40 home run seasons, and six season with at least 35, three seasons where his slugging percentage was over .600, six 100 Rbi seasons, and five seasons with at least 300 total bases. Very rarely do you see a catcher meeting any one of those statisacal barriers in a season, Piazza has done it multiple times. Before I conclude this paragraph, let me give props to baseball-reference.com, the best site in the world for baseball stats, bar none. One of these days, I'm going to sponsor the Jeff Blauser page, yes sir I will.

Back to the topic at hand. Piazza has put up numbers that are better than even the best hitters in game, but what is more remarkable is that he has done it all at the most physcially grueling position of baseball, catcher. Not only do you have to spend nine innings squatting, which is just hell on the knees, you also have to do it without a heavy chest protecter on, which can get really uncomfortable during those 90 degree summer games. Add to that all the errant foul balls that hit you, and Piazza has seemed to have had more than the average catcher for some reason, and that, if it's a close play at the plate, chances are that a 200 pound man is going to come at full speed and hit you as hard as he can, and it's remarkable that anybody can last at this position for 12 years, much less be as productive as Piazza. Even with the increase in offense over the past decade, no one can deny that what Mike Piazza has done is remarkable, and I think we sometimes choose to focus on other things rather than appreciate the career that this man, a former 63rd round pick who was only chosen as a favor to then Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda, mind you, has put together. So three cheers to Mike Piazza, the greatest hitting catcher in baseball history.

Curse Schmurse

2004-10-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

After watching the last seven games of the ALCS and losing about 20 hours of sleep in the process (damn long games), I must say that this series, while not the best I've ever seen (Braves-Twins WS 1991 still beats it), it might of been the most shocking series I've ever seen. It was a shock to see the Yankees jump out to a commanding 3-0 lead. Heck, I all but conceeded the series to them during my last post. Nevertheless, the Sox bullpen, who was a question mark all year long, really came through, David Ortiz became the best clutch hitter of the last 25 years and Curt Schilling somehow held the Yankees to one run through seven innings despite pitching with a torn tendon in his ankle. Then, in game seven, Johnny Damon, who had hit about .0000015 in the series, decides to step up and hit two home runs and drive in six. Despite the fact that I posted on the DVDVR board that I had a feeling Damon would do some good in that game, I sure did not expect that much out of him. Plus, Derek Lowe, a man who was probably the least popular Red Sox in the eyes of their fans, allows one hit through six innings, before Francona decided to put in a tired Pedro Martinez for reasons no one can explain.

Now, I'm not the biggest Red Sox fan in the world, actually, I kind of hate them. But even I have to admit that it was good to see them finally knock off the Yankees in a meaningful situation. For the past eight years, whether it was in a race for a pennant or division title, or a playoff series, whenever the Red Sox and Yankees were the teams in contention, you knew that the Yankees were going to come out on top. Take the 1949 Red Sox, who were probably the best hitting team of their era, featuring Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and a lot of other all stars. Despite all that, they played the Yankees in the last two games of the season, needing just to win one, and they lost them both. Now, after becoming the first team to come back from a 3-0 hole in baseball history, it is clear that this rivalry has picked up some steam, and Boston can finally say that they are better than the Yankees, even if it is for one year. Goes to show that baseball is one crazy game.

More Hardcore than Billy George

2004-10-17T00:37:00.000-05:00

Good lord, the Red Sox couldn't have done worse in this game if they decided to dig up Babe Ruth's corpse and put it in right field in order to break the curse. Although the Ruth of today, despite the obvious handicap of being dead, may be able to do a better pitching job than what the Red Sox hurlers provided. I can't say that I didn't enjoy it, because Red Sox fans are the second most annoying fanbase in sports (with Philly fans of any sport coming in first), but it got to a point where it was just ridiculous. Looks like the Yankees once again own the Sox, which isn't a surprise to me, I just wanted it to go longer.

The funny thing is, the Sox had the perfect opportunity to gain the advantage over the Yanks, but didn't take it due to a dispute over money. If you recall last winter, the Sox had a deal worked out with the Rangers to get Alex Rodriguez in exchange for Manny Ramirez, and then they would send their then-shortstop Nomar Garciaparra to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez. However, the Sox and Rangers did not agree on the amount of A-Rod's contract the Rangers would swallow, and the deal was called off, which opened the door for the Yanks to swoop A-Rod up.

Now, maybe it's just me, but I think this series would be a heck of a lot different if the Sox took the A-Rod and Ordonez deal, assuming Ordonez didn't suffer the injury that he did in Chicago. For one, A-Rod's a much better defensive shortstop than Nomar, and is a much better hitter than the guy they got to replace Nomar, Orlando Cabrera, so that's an advantage there. Ordonez is at least a servicable replacement for Manny, so, with the extra lumber A-Rod brings, the Sox have a better lineup than they do now and they still have a decent defensive team. Plus, the Yankees lineup wouldn't be nearly as good if Alfonso Soriano was in place of A-Rod, who is one of the five best players in the game. It would still be a good lineup, but Soriano is way too inconsistent to count on in such a high pressure situation. Overall I would think the Red Sox would have the better lineup. Let's compare the two:

Red Sox
1. Damon CF
2. Bellhorn 2B
3. A-Rod SS
4. Ortiz DH
5. Ordonez RF
6. Varitek C
7. Nixon LF
8. Millar 1B
9. Mueller 3B

Yankees
1. Jeter SS
2. Soriano 2B
3. Sheffield RF
4. Matsui LF
5. Williams CF
6. Posada C
7. Sierra DH
8. Olerud/Giambi 1B
9. Somebody at 3B, let's say Miguel Cairo

Comparing the two, Sheffield and A-Rod are pretty much even, Ortiz and Ordonez beat Matsui and Williams, while Jeter and Soriano beat Damon and Bellhorn, Posada beats Varitek, but the bottom three of the Red Sox is much better than anything the Yankees have. So in a final analysis, it's the Red Sox by a 5-3-1 total, while right now, the Yankees have the lineup edge.

My point is this, if the Red Sox decided to go that extra mile, than this series eitherwould actually be living up to the hype or have the Red Sox in a position to eliminate the Yanks, unlike how it is now. Of course, what the Red Sox really need is more pitching, but that's another topic altogether.

In an unrelated note, the Outsiders, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, are going to be at the NWA-TNA Victory Road pay-per-view. While this may increase the amount of people buying from 25 to 29, I don't think anything good can come out of this. TNA is going to spend a lot of money on two over-the-hill guys who are known to start trouble if things aren't going their way, and Hall and Nash are not going to be interested in putting over any of their talent other than Jarrett, which is the last thing that a company still trying to find stars needs at this point. Hopefully, this will be a one-shot deal, because, and this pains me to say on one hand (Hall) and fills me with glee on the other (Nash) they can not contribute anything positive to a promotion on a full-time basis anymore.

He was there to do a job, and he did it.

2004-10-14T00:15:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't posted here in a while, mainly because I didn't feel like it. But now I'm somewhat refreshed and ready to go, so let's go.

First off, Gene Snitsky is the damn man. His facial expressions are the best in all of entertainment, he does wacky crap like carry weapons in baby carriages, he even does a freakin' Emerald Frosin! Sure, it's not a particulary good version of it, but he does it. Long live the era of Gene Snitsky, may it never end!

Second, the Braves once again lost in the playoffs, this time to a team that had never won a playoff series in their 43 year history, the Houston Astros. Monday's Game 5 was quite ugly, what with the middle relievers seemingly not interested in getting anybody out or anything like that. Still, the fact that the Braves made the playoffs despite all their injuries and the fact that they seemed less talented than the Phillies or Marlins is something that they should pat themselves on the back for. Making the playoffs every year since 1991 is a remarkable accomplishment, and the Braves did win a World Series. It would be nice to get another one, however. Hopefully, they'll resign J.D. Drew in the offseason, as he was the Braves best player this season without a doubt.

Well, the Yankees are up 2-0 in the ALCS against the Red Sox, as their starting pitching, once thought to be the Yankees' achillies heel, has really done the job against Sox hitters. I don't think the Sox will quit, but they've really dug themselves into too deep of a hole to climb out of. However, some of these Red Sox really need to shave, as they look more like Sarejavo refugees than major league ballplayers.

Um, I guess that's all for now. Just remember that I spit in the face of people who don't want to be cool!

Hungry and Mean

2004-10-08T22:18:00.000-05:00

Saw Fahrenheit 9/11 tonight instead of watching the debate. I just didn't feel like watching the debate and, from what I heard, I really didn't miss much. Anyway, there is no doubt that Michael Moore is a very talented film maker, as evident by his last project, Bowling for Columbine. However, it is also quite obvious that Moore is at least a little biased, and it becomes kind of tough for anyone watching the film to seperate the facts from the emotional appeal that Moore is going for.

But his talent is such that, right after watching the film, I nearly vowed to not only vote against Bush but to spend the next three weeks trying to convince people not to vote for him as well. But, after an hour or so of thinking about the movie on it's own, I can't really say that the movie changed my opinion of Bush a whole lot. I mean, I know he was already a bit dumb, and I know that he mislead the entire nation into supporting the war against Iraq, and I know that his administration seemingly gets off on issuing terror alerts and that Dick Chaney is an out and out crook. However, Moore did a great job of tying in all of these facts, although there are times where he kind of loses focus. For example,

(SPOILER ALERT)

At one point, Moore shows clips of these soilders talking about their favorite battle songs or whatever spliced in with clips of wounded Iraqi women and children, while a minute later, he starts talking about how Bush and his cronies sold the soilders out
(SPOILER ALERT OVER).

All in all, it's a fine documentery, tugs heavily on emotions, and raises a whole lot of issues, such as why Bush didn't attack Bin-Laden as much as everyone wanted him to and why did he send people over to fight in Iraq with no other cause other than to overthrow their government and get a good oil deal. This film will open your eyes to a lot of ideas, but just remember that this film is primarily based on how Michael Moore feels about this subject, and to think about everything before making a final judgement. Out of five stars, I'd give it about 4 1/2, not perfect, probably not as good as Bowling for Columibne, but still a fine documentary that deserved all the praise it got and will make anybody watching it think.

Kick the baby

2004-10-06T22:22:00.000-05:00

The Braves decided to kickoff the playoffs in a grand way, losing 9-3 to the Houston Astros. Swell. Jaret Wright just didn't have it today, and the Braves left nine guys on base in the first four innings. Not really a good start.

I've been kicking around this crazy idea for a couple of months now. Let me start off by saying that I live in a town where, if you want to buy anything, you usually have to go 25-30 miles out of the way to get it. For example, if I want to buy the Eddie Guerrero DVD, which one day I hopefully will, I have to drive about 30 minutes away to the nearest Best Buy to get it. Also, here's the thing, if I want to buy the newest X-Men comic or buy a box of baseball cards, I have to hope and pray that these big department stores in a 30 mile radius actually have what I'm looking for, as it's usually a crap shoot. So what I'm thinking, and right now this is nothing but a pipe dream, is that what my area could use is a baseball card/comic/amine/whatever else I can think of shop.

See, here's the deal. In downtown Lavonia, there are a lot of buildings that aren't being used for whatever reason, so there's where it will be located. A lot of people pass through downtown, so the store will at least be seen by most people. The main items that will be sold are sports cards and comic books, although stuff like Yu-gi-oh cards and Anime DVDs would probably be sold too (and probably be the top selling item, until the next Japanese craze comes out). Since this is my by-God store, stuff like WWE DVDs and action figures would be sold, as would other action figures (Star Wars, Spiderman, etc.) Also, since I live smack-dab in NASCAR country, you know that die-cast cars and the like would be sold. Maybe I could have a small sporting goods department as well.

Now, I really have no idea what suppliers I need to get this stuff from, or any money to put into such a venture at this time. But a man can dream, and I think it could actually do well if somebody tried something like this in Lavonia because, frankly, it would be the only game in town (Unless you count Wal-Mart, but that's like 20 minutes away). If it didn't work out, well there's always ebay, which would at least bring in some money. Oh well, wishful thinking, I guess.

Moron 5

2004-10-06T12:19:00.000-05:00

Well, the playoffs started yesterday. No real surprises, as the Red Sox and Cardinals lit up the scoreboard and the Yankees fell to the best pitcher in the league in Johan Santana. For those that are writing the Yankees off, remember that a) the same thing happened last year, against the very same team, against the very same starting pitcher, and b) Santana's really the only starter they have. Brad Radke's okay, but he can implode from time to time, and the less said about the rest of the rotation, the better.

Also, the Braves start their playoff series today against the Houston Astros. The media has been saying all week that Houston is going to win this series, mainly due to their 36-10 finish and the fact that they have two of the best pitchers in the game in Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt. While it is scary to have to face those two guys possibly four times in a short series, I'm still confident in the Braves' chances to win. People seem to forget that the Braves have beaten the Astros in the NLDS three times in the past eight years, and that the killer B's (Biggio, Bagwell, Berkman, Bell (formerly)) have really struggled against Braves pitching. Throw in the fact that Jaret Wright and Mike Hampton are proven playoff commidites, and that John Smoltz lives for the postseason, and the Braves look pretty good. The two guys on the Astros that I'm worried about are Carlos Beltran and Brad Lidge. Beltran is probably the Astros' best player, even though he usually isn't recognized as such, and can steal a base or make a great grab as easily as he can hit a three run homer. Lidge has been practically unhittable as their closer this year, and can go more than 1 inning if the situation calls for it. However, I still think the Braves will win in five.

3 2 1 Hustle! Hustle! Hustle!

2004-10-04T19:52:00.000-05:00

What up, yo. Saw a very interesting rumor about Kane quitting the WWE over an apparent pay cut, but it doesn't look to be true. Besides, Kane was a dentist and went through a necrophilia angle, and he still didn't quit, so why would he quit now, especially considering he's going to star in some cheesy horror movie the WWE is making (And yes, I am serious).

The Mariners, totally ignoring the fact that there GM is an idiot, fired manager Bob Melvin today. Melvin is a good caretaker, but he seems like the kind of manager who can only work on an already good team. He doesn't seem like the type of manager that will make something out of nothing. Come to think of it, there aren't really a whole heck of a lot of those guys out there. Atlanta's Bobby Cox and Texas's Buck Showalter comes to mind, so does Jim Tracy of the Dodgers, who somehow got a division title out of a bunch of misfit pieces, excluding Eric Gagne and Adrian Beltre, of course. Mike Scoscia took a seemingly average Angels team to a World Series title, and Jack McKeon got a surprising World Series title out of the Marlins last year, and managed the Reds and Padres to records much better than their talent level would indicate. I once thought that the Giants' Felipe Alou and the Cubs' Dusty Baker were those types of managers, but I'm not so sure now. The Cardinals' Tony LaRussa may be one of those guys, but I'm not so sure about that either. Other than those guys, everyone else either hasn't proven they can handle a bad team (the Red Sox's Terry Francona comes to mind) or haven't gotten a bad team out of the bottom yet. My point is, well, I forgot. But it seems that the players have a lot more to do with a team's success than the manager does.

As for the Mariners, well, screw 'em. But the favorite seems to be Jimy Williams, which is being laughed at by anyone who has ever seen him manage. I mean, Phil Garner took the exact same Astros team Williams had and led them on a hot streak that eventually got them to the playoffs, even without two of their top starting pitchers. Williams somehow managed them nearly out of the playoff race, even though they're probably to second most talented team in the NL. So, if he gets the Mariners job, I predict a 100-loss season.

Hey, the Chiefs are beating the Ravens right now. Good for them. Also, I want to say that anybody reading this can leave whatever comments they want to, whether it's good or bad. Heck, I welcome the bad ones more than the good ones. So tell me what you think about my little blog right here. Until next time, see ya.

I hate former Chiefs linemen

2004-10-03T22:43:00.000-05:00

First off, I'm loving life right now. The Falcons are 4-0 and looked damn good getting there. While their passing game still needs a little work, they showed that they can run the ball against a tough defense, and the defense continued to show that they are a force. Patrick Kerney may be playing better than any defensive lineman in the league, and Rod Coleman isn't far behind. The only concern I have about the D-line is whether it will hold up the whole season, seeing how they are relatively small and go up against offensive lineman about 50 pounds bigger than them. Kerney, I'm not that worries about, the others, however, may eventually wear down. However, if that happens, the Falcs will have DeAngelo Hall back by them, who can help out the defense with his pass coverage. On offense, Vick looked pretty good, didn't have a great game, but he didn't committ any turnovers and was accurate on his passes for the most part. The commentery, however, was God awful, and I wanted to hurt Bill Mass by the end of the game. The guy didn't seem to know what he was talking about, and yet managed to talk down to the audience, saying they don't know the contributions of a fullback or something to that effect. Plus, he would not shut up. I could go on all day, but I'm just going to leave it here.

Speaking of annoying commentary, I watched a Ring of Honor DVD today title Scramble Madness. While the two commentators aren't terrible, they somehow have to point out how great the company is every five minutes. First off, who the heck are they talking to? The commentary is piped in after the show, and it's only being released on video/DVD, so it's not like it's going to be on TV. So anyone who wants to see a Ring of Honor DVD usually knows what they're getting into, and do not have to be told every five minutes how you're company isn't sports entertainment or whatever. Second, that's a bit of a lie. I mean, on this one show, they had a lesbian stalker angle, a group of wrestlers who are made out to be strung out on X, and they employed the Christopher Street Connection, a gay tag team who made Rico look like, well, a straight man. Um, seems a bit like sports entertainment to me. Look, I know that professional wrestling needs storylines, but if you're going to promise nothing but pure wrestling and you decide to give us crap like this, than you shouldn't preach so loudly about how you're crap doesn't smell. I'm just saying, is all.

Oh, and the Chris Daniels-A.J. Styles match on there is really good, but the DVD in general is very average up to this point, with the main event left. I'm thinking an American Dragon-Doug Williams 30 minute Iron Man match will be pretty damn good, however.

LOD 2000

2004-10-02T22:06:00.000-05:00

I've never been too good at titles, which is why I have stupid things such as Karate Explosion and LOD 2000 on the top of my posts. But, since I already brought them up, LOD 2000 was a somewhat promising idea that went horribly, horribly wrong. Let us review: At Wrestlemania 14, the Legion of Doom, who had gone on a cold spell, dominated many other teams in a throwaway tag team battle royal that I don't really think was for anything except for getting everybody on the show or something. Anyway, the storyline was that Sunny, who still had her fastball looks-wise at this point, reunited the LOD, gave them bizarre goalie mask type helmets and they were supposed to reign terror on the WWF tag team division.

Unfourtanetly, Sunny was also at her most unreliable at this time, the LOD 2000 idea really didn't click with fans who would rather watch the New Age Outlaws and the LOD was stuck in a feud with the Harris Bros. that would set tag team wrestling back a few years. Now, at this point, the Legion of Doom is still a pretty solid mid-card tag team with credability and a potential third member in the form of former football player Darren Drosdov. Now, they can't draw big money anymore, but they can still be valuable with the right idea.

That idea would turn out to be this: Hawk has a problem with drugs, and can't perform in the ring. I'm thinking Vince Russo and the rest of the booking crew were high on dope when they came up with this. In about a month, the WWF creative staff turned perhaps the most intimidating tag team of all time into a comedy act. What made this idea even worse was that WCW actually stole the idea and applied it to their resident drunk, Scott Hall. Honestly, looking back at some of this crap, I have no idea why I thought the WWF was the greatest thing going at the time. For all the success of the Attitude era, the WWF also made a lot of dumb moves such as this. But I will never forget the night Hawk jumped/was pushed off the Titantron, no matter how hard I try.

If you're the Giants right now, you have got to be sick to your stomach. They were up three runs heading to the bottom of the ninth inning when closer Dustin Hermanson started missing the plate enough to walk in a run to make it 3-1. Then, his replacement, Jason Christiansan, gets exactly what he wants from batter Cesar Izturis, a groundball to short. Unfourtanetly, Giant rookie shortstop Cody Ransom, in for the veteran and relatively sure-gloved Deivi Cruz, panics, and can't pick the ball up. So now it's bases loaded, one out, and 3-2 Giants. The Giants bring in Matt Herges, a pitcher who failed as the closer earlier in the season. After a tough at-bat, Dodger Jayson Werth hits a line drive single to right to tie the game with Steve Finley, the one guy on the Dodgers you don't want to face in this situation, coming up. The Giants bring in mediocre left-handed reliever Wayne Franklin to pitch to the lefty Finley, which is always what managers try to get, either lefty-lefty or righty-righty matchups. Of course, if you're just bringing in someone like Franklin, who isn't that good, to pitch to left-handed batters, than aren't you just managing yourself out of having a better pitcher on the mound. I'm just saying is all. Anyway, Finley hits a grand slam to win the game and the division for the Dodgers, and leaving the Giants having to win tommorow to stay alive.

In other news, the Phillies fired Larry Bowa, which makes me sad because I like seeing the Phillies lose. Georgia routed LSU and Miami beat up on Georgia Tech pretty bad, which also makes me sad. The Cubs bullpen blew their 318th lead of the season to the Atlanta Braves today, leaving everyone's NL World Series pick out of the playoffs, and the WWE pay-per-view No Mercy is on tommorow, which really looks like it could be good or just flat-out horrible, with no in-between.

On a Saturday Morning Sidewalk

2004-10-02T09:50:00.000-05:00

Read Sonny Bone's political commentary on his site. I don't know why he had to dis the Whig party, which I'm a proud, card-carrying member of, but I do agree that it would be nice to have a candidate that I didn't instantly think was a crook. In my eyes, Bush is a jackass who surronds himself with people who only care about filling up their own pockets, and Kerry is a flim-flam artist who talks out of both sides of his mouth and has nothing else to rely on other than the pure comtempt that a good bit of Americans have for Bush. It just seems to me that both these candidates don't really have the interests of the American people at heart. That first debate was all about war, which, while an important issue, is not the only issue. What about the ever-rising price of gas? What about the fact that a good bit of the American people can not afford proper health care? What about the fact that manufacturing jobs are being transfered overseas every day or the fact that the government have allowed these drug companies to trump their prices up so much that seniors who need them half to spend their entire Social Security payment just to get them? Yet, all we got yesterday was an arguement about the logistics of the situation in Iraq. If there is one criticism I have of Bush (there are many, but I'm just choosing the main one), it's this. The Bush Administration have never adaquetly explained why the heck we are over in Iraq in such heavy numbers in the first place when a) they really didn't have anything to do with 9/11 or any other terrorist attacks on us over the past decade, and b) there are so many problems here on American soil to take care of. Bottom line, neither man is what this country needs right now, but we're stuck with them anyway.

In lighter news, Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners set a new single-season record yesterday with his 258th hit, breaking George Sisler's record which had stood for 80 years. While Ichiro is a great player, the Mariners offense totally waste his contributions because Ichiro is the only guy on the team that can hit on a consistent basis. I mean, you have a guy like Ichiro at the top of your order, and your leader in RBIs has 83, that's a waste. Ichiro, despite having 41 more hits than anybody in baseball, is tied for 33rd in runs with 101. My point, the Mariners totally suck, and need to get some power hitters can drive in Ichiro instead of settling for stop-gap solutions like Raul Ibanez and Scott Spiezio.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'll probably have something to say later today, and it won't be about politics.

Karate Explosion

2004-09-30T21:38:00.000-05:00

Saw that the Cubs just lost three out of four from the Reds, and for some reason, it really made me smile. Now, the team everyone picked is a game out of the wild card race and have three games left to play against the Braves at Wrigley. Luckily, the Braves will probably rest most of their big guns for the playoffs, so there's a glimmer a hope for the Cubbies. Let's see if Dusty and his Cubs can handle the heat.

The big presidential debate was tonight. Kerry said a lot of things without backing them up in any manner, and Bush spoke like a man who had been cramming all night and only got two hours of sleep. Pretty much what I expected. I have no clue who I'm going to vote for, but I'm leaning towards Bush because he's the one that actually seems to have a position.

Smackdown! was subpar. But I did see a match from Halloween Havoc '98 between Goldberg and Diamond Dallas Page. This was Goldberg's best match without a doubt, and maybe DDP's best match as well. Both men try to tailor their match around their strengths, which is basically that they have a lot of high-impact moves that get the crowd going, and then they went from there. Plus, the suspense and drama of the match really made it all the much better. This was the first match that anybody really thought that the unbeatable Goldberg might actually lose, that he finally met his match in a smart street fighter who can hit his finisher out of anywhere. Even though DDP hit the Diamond Cutter out of thin air, he couldn't capitalize right away due to the damage Goldberg inflicted on him earlier, and that gave big Bill just enough time to recover. Also, the announcers, which I usually am annoyed by, did one heck of a job conveying the drama, getting across the fact that the unstoppable Goldberg may have gotten himself into more than he bargained for, and somehow showing even more toughness by coming out of his toughest challenge since the night Steven Regal tried to confuse him with actual wrestling skills with a victory. I'd give the whole thing about four stars.

Oh, one more thing. The year 2009 can't come soon enough, because in that year, Jay Leno will finally end his career of pandering to a bunch of mindless twits and give up the ghost of becoming the next Carson. His replacement has already been decided, and his name is Conan O'Brien, which is odd because they screwed Letterman out of the Tonight Show gig when he was in Conan's spot. Very interesting.

ha ha ha.

2004-09-29T13:10:00.000-05:00

You ever been in a situation where you know, you just know, that you're screwed and you can't do anything about it except to take it and try to get back up afterwards. Well, at this time yesterday, I was in that situation, and quite frankly, I had already come to terms with it. Today however, I'm not only standing, but I'm standing 10 feet tall baby, WHOOOOO!

Now that I have totally confused whoever is reading this, let me explain what happened. I had this assignment where I was supposed to interview someone in a career I might be interested in pursuing, and it was due this week. So I tried to set something up with a sportswriter last week, but for whatever reason, it fell through. Than on Sunday, I decided to go for broke, and send a list of 15 questions out to 10 sportswriters who I found through the wonderful site sportspages.com, where just about every sports section in North America is linked through there. By this time Tuesday, no one had responded. So I figured, well, I tried, I'm just going to take the zero and sit out of class. At about 10:15 p.m. last night, I check my e-mail, and lo and behold, Ben Smith, a columnist for the Fort Wayne (IN) Journal-Gazette took the time out to respond to my questions. And not only did he respond, he responed with some answers that were quite deep, so I really learned a lot from the experience. So today, I just got finished typing up a five page file report on the interview, so right now, I'm ecstatic. So Mr. Smith, if you by some miracle stumble upon this site, I just want to say Thank You.

The next time I do this, however, I'm going to give the respondents at least a week to respond, instead of four days. Also, I did get another response from Bob Molinaro of the Virginia Pilot, so that's even better, because you can never have enough knowledge. So, to recap, mad props go out to Mr. Smith and Mr. Molinaro for helping out a wannabe sportswriter/really bad planning college student.

Oh, and congrats to my friend Sonny Bone for his recent promotion. He's also going to get his website, found in the links section on this page, going again, so yay!

Five guys not to choose while playing against someone in KOC

2004-09-28T22:35:00.000-05:00

I have a friend who calls himself Sonny Bone, and he is really into the puro (Japanese wrestling, for the uninitiated) video game scene. Which is good for me, because I get to play a lot of quality games that I wouldn't even know about if it wasn't for him. The best one, in my opinion, would have to be the King of Colosseum series. The gameplay is, in one word, extraordinary, and wrestlers from all the major promotions (New Japan All Japan NOAH Zero-One) are represented, as well as some from lesser known promotions and American wrestlers who have wrestling experience in Japan.

Since it isn't my game, the only experience I have with the game is in multiplayer mode, which is a hell of a lot more fun than multiplayer mode in, say, Smackdown! But there are just some wrestlers that, unless you're at the point where it's 1 a.m. and you're really tired but you don't want to stop playing so you have a couple so called "dark matches". you do not want to get unless you want the person you're playing against taking a crap on your head.

1. Giant Baba

We start with the man, the myth, the legend, Giant Baba. Now, there is no denying that Baba has done a lot for Japanese wrestling, but his moves, in the words of Mick Foley, "couldn't break an egg". Plus, his defense and countering skills seem to be set, on a scale of 1-10, a 43. Any Baba match is going to be the opponent trying and failing to put Baba in moves and will usually end with a Baba big boot or his ginger clothesline.

2. Shinya Hashimoto

Nothing like a bunch of kicks to the chest to make someone really angry, and that's what Hashimoto brings to the table. Hashimoto is one of the most powerful wrestlers in the game, which makes sense considering his status, but he also has a real boring moveset, so no one's not exactly looking forward to controlling or fighting him. Also, he tends to be a cheap bastard, reversing moves at the strangest times and pulling out a suplex to knock someone out. Yay!

3. Abdullah the Butcher

What Abdullah the Butcher brings to the table is what you would expect a 65 year-old hardcore wrestler to bring to a mostly non-hardcore wrestling game, not much. While it is fun to watch Abdullah stab some helpless opponent in the face with a fork, it's not that much fun when it's one of his three offensive manuevers. Let me tell you, it really gets old whether you're watching a KOC Abdullah match or are in one.

4. Akitoshi Saito

In the world of puroresu, Saito is a NOAH midcarder whose wrestling skills aren't really that good or bad. He's a solid hand who will never be a main eventer or a darling of the internet, but he's not terrible or anything. In KOC I, however, Akitoshi Saito is known by my circle of friends as the wrestler who can knock out any opponent, even the great Baba, with a simple running stomp to the face. I don't know why it happens, but it just does, and that is quite the annoying little fly in the ointment, so to speak.

5. Naoya Ogawa

Ogawa may be somewhat easy to beat, but he's also very likely to knock you out with one of his shootfighting strikes or something. Plus, I think the makers of the game kind of overrated Ogawa's ability because of who he is in Japan, and his moveset is very not good. Also, I really don't like him as a wrestler, although the Mr. America getup he wore at the last Hustle show did soften my view of him.

Tommorow is going to be kind of stressful, so for the random visitors who come here, don't expect much of an update on Wednesday.

More truth/rumors

2004-09-28T13:56:00.000-05:00

First off, Hurricane Jeanne just brought us a lot of rain, and none of that other nasty stuff that Ivan brought us, so thank God for that.

Now let's move on:

Fans should not expect the Tribe to be chasing premier free-agent starters Pedro Martinez or Carl Pavano, who will command in excess of $10 million. GM Mark Shapiro will go shopping for pitchers in the $5 million and under category.-- Akron Beacon Journal

Well then, I guess you can disregard everything I said yesterday if this turns out to be true.

Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell might be willing to move across the diamond if he becomes a free agent, and the Yankees, Mets and Orioles might look at signing him to play first.-- South Florida Sun-Sentinel

I could see why the Yankees and Mets want Lowell at first instead of third, even though it opens up the question of what to with Mike Piazza or Jason Giambi. But i don't understand why the Orioles would sign Lowell to play first when they could use his defense at third as well. I mean, why don't they move Melvin Mora somewhere in the outfield, have either Jay Gibbons or David Newhan at DH, sign Lowell to play third and go from there. Of course, the Orioles already have a surplus of position players, and pitching should be their number one concern, but Angalos and company like power hitters.

Potential Mets managerial candidate Jim Fregosi may have an inside track on the Diamondbacks' managing job.-- New York Post

Um, ok. This probably isn't the worst hire in the world, actually. The only problem is, Fregosi's track record of developing prospects is iffy at best, and the D-Backs have a lot of prospects, so you can draw your own conclusions from there.

Rather than pursue Magglio Ordonez or J.D. Drew, the Mets may be better served by taking a chance with the young (22), low-cost Victor Diaz in right field and using their money to upgrade other areas offensively. Richard Hidalgo's $15 million option won't be picked up, and it's very possible the Mets could let him go.-- New York Post

They won't. You just know the Mets have to make a big signing or two, even if it is the total opposite of what they need. The Mets seem to love Ordonez, and now, thanks to injury problems, he's not the premier free agent everyone thought he was going to be, so the Mets may have a very good chance of signing him. Whether that's the right thing to do or not, however, won't be seen for another year or so.

Bears quarterback Rex Grossman will undergo knee surgery in about two weeks and is expected to be out seven to 10 months. Unproven backup Jonathan Quinn will start Sunday against Philadelphia. Former Cowboys QB Chad Hutchinson has been signed to fill Grossman's roster spot. He's expected to move ahead of rookie Craig Krenzel on the depth chart.-- Chicago Sun-Times

That's a whole lot of ugly, and you just know Hutchinson is going to get a shot before the end of the season.

You can't fire Dave Wannstedt. Not now, anyway. You think the Patriots are going to let one of their coordinators leave the team now to come join the rival?-- Miami Herald

Still doesn't mean you can't fire him, and with the way things or going, it might better to do so now than wait on it.

Bucs head coach Jon Gruden said, "We would love to have [receiver Keenan McCardell] in here playing for us, but there is a salary cap."-- St. Petersburg Times

That didn't stop you from getting Tim Brown, did it? The Bucs are quite horrible this year, and Gruden, while a good coach, seems to be too ridgid in his thinking to be an effective personnel man. Instead of having a legit number one receiver, the Bucs now have an over-the-hill player and a rookie trying to be the man when neither one is at this point. Plus, they have no running game, so if I were you, I wouldn't watch much Tampa Bay football this year, as it's going to be ugly.

Titans head coach Jeff Fisher cast serious doubt on Steve McNair's chances of playing Sunday at San Diego and said his status for the next several games is unclear.-- The Tennessean

Expect the Titans to go on a long winning streak now that McNair's injured. It seems like McNair is at his best when he's in horrible pain. Of course, they're playing San Diego this week, so they could put their punter at QB and still be the favorite.

Ted Lindsay, who organized the first NHL Players Association in the 1950s, believes the entire season will be lost. "[Bob Goodenow] is a very determined, smart person, and the players are behind him on this," Lindsay said. "And Gary [Bettman], he's got a job to do for the owners, to get that salary cap."-- Detroit News

Sadly, I think he's right. And Bettman may just be the worst commisioner in sports history, but that's another topic altogether.

Hopefully, I'll be back later with something else.

Thoughts on some Truth/Rumors

2004-09-27T12:59:00.000-05:00

Going to try something new here. Each day, I read the SI.com Truth and Rumors section, even though most of it is usually bunk. Nevertheless, it is a quite interesting read, and, if you don't mind, I'd like to provide some anaylsis on a few of these items.

Rams head coach Mike Martz is in the process of damaging quarterback Marc Bulger's career. The Rams' pass-run ratio over the past two games has reached stunning, loony-tunes proportions: 90 passes, only 30 runs. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch

While on the surface this seems bad, remember two things. One: Both Atlanta and New Orleans, their last two opponents, have very good defensive lines, making it harder to run the ball, and two, perhaps this could mean that Marshall Faulk is more over the hill than people think. I don't really see how passing more damages Bulger, per se, but their offensive line is pretty bad, so that might be more damaging to Bulger than throwing three out of every four plays. Also, they were behind in both games for much of the game, which will lead you to pass the ball more, especially if you have an offensive-happy coach like Mike Martz.

The Chiefs called the Dolphins to gauge Miami's interest in running back Larry Johnson, and that interest might have risen Sunday night. The Dolphins lost running back Lamar Gordon in the first half with a left shoulder injury. -- Miami Herald

I don't really see how Johnson is any better than what the Dolphins have at this point anyway. I mean, Johnson is the Chiefs' third halfback. If the Dolphins think for one second that he's going to help out matters any, than they are stupider than I think they are. Plus, Wandestat needs to just turn A.J. Feeley loose. Sure, he isn't great, but at least he has three very good targets in Chris Chambers, Marty Booker, and Randy McMichael, and I'd much rather have the ball in their hands than any of the running backs the Doplhins have.

MLB officials are expected to resume negotiations with Orioles owner Peter Angelos this week in an attempt to reach an agreement to move the Expos to Washington's RFK Stadium. -- Washington Post

For God's sakes Peter, just let them move to Washington. Surely the Washington-Baltimore interleague rivalry would be much more appealing that Baltimore-Atlanta. Plus, if you want fans to come back to your team, than tell your co-Gms there to get some pitching that doesn't suck. Also, get some players other than Tejada and maybe Hairston that can play a little defense.

Suspended by the Angels for the balance of the season, Jose Guillen, who has one year and $3.5 million left on his contract, is on the trading block.-- Los Angeles Times

Guillen has really developed as a hitter, so, despite his troubles, a lot of teams will be willing to take a chance on a hitter who was 104 RBIs and a nearly 500 slugging percentage. After all, Carl Everett is still in the league. Maybe Kenny Williams, in his infinite wisdom, will tap Guillen to replace the soon-to-be-gone Magglio Ordonez. And speaking of Kenny:

Jose Valentin wants to get White Sox GM Ken Williams to think that maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea to let him go after the season.-- Chicago Tribune

Yeah, like a 34-year-old middle infielder with an OBP below .300 is such an integral part to a team. But, if I were Valentin, I'd just tell Kenny that, if Kenny Williams wants him off the team, than that is a mistake because Kenny Williams has never been right on anything.

The Indians expect to be big players in the free-agent market this winter. What they want most is a No. 1 starter. Among the potential free agents are Matt Morris, Kevin Millwood, Brad Radke, Eric Milton, Derek Lowe and Carl Pavano. And, oh yeah, and someone by the name of Pedro Martinez.-- Detroit News

Whole lot of question marks there. I doubt the Indians would have a shot at Martinez. Radke's not a number 1, but they do have C.C. Sabathia, so I guess they could have two 1a's or something. I wouldn't sign Millwood, Lowe, or Milton to be the ace of my staff. They're fine number two's but they're not aces. That leaves us with Morris and Pavano. Pavano's had a much better season this year, and it's possible that he has turned the corner. It's also possible, however, that he's just playing this well because it's a contract year. Morris has 15 wins, but hasn't been very good at all this season. However, his career record before that showed that he could be an ace for a contender. However, of the two, Pavano will probably be the easier to sign, because if St. Louis wants Morris back, they will get him back. So, of the pitchers listed, if I were Cleveland, I'd take my chances on Pavano, failing that, either Radke or Morris, if they're available.

Reflections of Jeanne

2004-09-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

She's too wild for me, and I want her gone.

Seriously, though, today we are going to get hammered by rain and heavy winds, with a possibility of tornados. That does not really sit well with me because a) right now I'm at school, and I will be till 4:15 p.m. and b) Ivan caused a Tornado less than a minute away from here that destroyed the Franklin Springs city hall/fire station/police station (it's a real small town). I wasn't here for that one, and I'm really hoping lightning doesn't strike twice.

To add to the trauma, today is my brother's first day of his quarter at Athens Tech, which is about 40 minutes or so away from our house, so he'll have to drive through that crap for more than an hour until he gets here to pick me up, and then it's still another 20 minutes. So, um, yay.

What really sucks about all this is that the damage we recieve here is no comparison to what Florida got, again. I've never seen anything like it, four major hurricanes in less than two months. That really, really sucks. Hopefully, this will be the last of the hurricanes for like, five years or so, so people down there can finally relax.

So, if you're in Jeanne's path, keep your head up and you better wear a poncho, because this girl is on a rampage, brother. (yeah, that line wasn't any good, I know).

What up yo.

2004-09-26T21:35:00.000-05:00

Didn't really do much today, just watched a lot of pro football. A few thoughts.

The Cardinals-Falcons game was one UGLY game. The first half was marred by bad officiating. During a punt return, a referee missed an obvious block in the back, giving the Falcons thirty more yards. On two other occasions, the referees spotted the ball about a yard off, giving the Cardinals two first downs even though it was obvious they didn't get either one (one was overturned, however). Anyway, the Falcons had the ball two times inside the ten, and could only get field goals out of it. For some reason, the Falcons would not put T.J. Duckett in the game, even though he's 250 pounds and would seem to be a much better short yardage runner than Warrick Dunn. Unless Duckett's hurt, I honestly don't get it.

The second half was an exercise in futility, as both teams would drive it down the field and then fumble the ball at least once. The Cardinals managed to do this three times in the second half. They could really pass on the Falcons secondary, and the Falcons were apparently so afraid of getting beaten deep that they would drop the corners back 10-15 yards on nearly every play, even when it was obvious that the Cardinals weren't going to that. Did it work? I guess, but the Cardinals so outplayed the Falcons that they should have won by at least 10 points. But a win's a win, and I'm certainly happy the Falcons got out with a 3-0 mark.

Watched most of the Packers-Colts game. Peyton was lighting up the Packers secondary like Las Vegas, and Reggie Wayne looked like Jerry Rice out there. Brett Favre also had a very good game, and, much to my brother's delight, Javon Walker had 11 rec. 198 yards and 3 touchdowns, which is a big boost for his fantasy team.

Other thoughts:

Jacksonville may be 3-0, but they won't go anywhere unless they improve their passing game. Come on, Jack Del Rio, turn Byron Leftwich loose. . . The announcers and talk radio hosts will make a big deal about Kurt Warner playing well and the Rams being 1-2, but, even if Warner was still there, he can't coach the team or block, so it really wouldn't matter. Nevertheless, I'm afraid Marc Bulger is going to be a victim of the crossfire. . . Is anyone else getting sick of the sudden Terrell Owens praise after basically being considered a cancer to football for the past few years? I mean, just pick a side and stick with it, sheesh. . . Tim Green, despite the fact that he is obviously rooting for the Falcons just as much as I am, should not be allowed to do any more Falcons game, as his heart gets in the way of his head. I mean, when Vick made a big run in the fourth quarter, it seemed like Tim Green was jumping up and down in the booth. Well, I guess it's better than Cris Collinsworth's obvious bias to the Eagles, but still. . . Finally, Washington-Dallas should be a pretty good game tommorow night, but Patrick Ramsey would have a better chance of beating the Cowboys than Marc Brunell would. My prediction: Dallas 21 Washington 13.

Thoughts from this slow Saturday.

2004-09-25T22:20:00.000-05:00

Went to the Lavonia Fall Festival today just to get a hot dog. Unfortuneately, they were all out when we got there, so all I ended up getting was a 75 cent cup of flat Pepsi and a view of way too many arts and crafts. It was a beautiful day outside, however, and getting in a good walk never hurt anybody, so it wasn't a total loss.

After that, I got home to catch the second half of Maryland-Duke, which was quite awful. At one point there were three turnovers in about five plays (Maryland fumble recovery, Duke interception, Maryland interception), and, despite getting five turnovers or so, Duke still managed to allow 55 points.

Then, I spent about three and a half hours flipping around between Alabama-Arkansas, Clemson-Florida State, and the Dodgers Giants game. Arkansas' football team has always fascinated me for some reason. I mean, when you look at them on TV, most of their players look either too small or too slow, and yet they always win eight games each year. Matt Jones is one of my favorite college quarterbacks, as he's 6'6" 230 and runs a 4.3 40. He outran an Alabama defensive back, among three other defenders, for a 6 yard touchdown that was basically him starting out to the left and running everybody out while he rolled right. Also, Peyton Hollis, a 240 pound freshman halfback, made a one-handed touchdown catch and ran for another. Once he gets some experience, he's really going to be a good one. Alabama ran for something like 200 yards, but their passing game couldn't really get going behind backup QB Marc Guillion, who was making his first start today.

Speaking of backup QBs, Wyatt Sexton of Florida State really came up big after Chris "The worst 4-year starter on a major college program in the history of college football" Rix left the game due to an ankle injury. Florida State's offense really got going under Sexton, and he made sweet 50 yard touchdown throw that couldn't have been place any better. Maybe Sexton will take Rix's job. I know that starters shouldn't lose jobs to injuries and all that, but Rix wasn't doing a good job anyway, so why not? As for Clemson, Charlie Whitehurst seems to be on a mission to turn the ball over at a record setting pace, they can't run the ball on a consistent basis, and the Fire Tommy Bowden talk on local sports talk radio is about to get going again as Clemson, much to my delight, has started the season 1-3.

Despite the presence of Steve Lyons, the Dodgers-Giants game was a pretty good one. I think there were about 12 pitchers used combined, and the ball was flying out of Pac Bell for once, even though Barry Bonds, who walked five times, did not get a pitch to hit. What I didn't get was this: In the bottom of the eigth, Dodger pitcher Yhenzy Brazoban, who was an outfielder just two years ago, had walked the bases loaded. At this point, he had thrown 30 pitches in the inning, and Jim Tracy, despite the fact that Giovanni Carrera was already warmed up and ready in the bullpen, leaves Brazoban in the game to face Pedro Feliz. Well, Brazoban throws him two really fat fastballs, and Feliz crushes the second one into left field to give the Giants a crucial 9-5 win that puts them 1 1/2 games from the Dodgers in the division. Also, thanks to Latroy Hawkins allowing a two out, two strike, three-run homer to Met Victor Diaz to tie the game, and another Cub reliever allowing the game winning homer in the 11th, the Giants are now 1/2 game out of the wild-card spot, which the Cubs currently hold.

Another thing I found odd was something that Steve Lyons said. At one point, there was a graphic on the screen showing Adrian Beltre's numbers, and Lyons says, for some reason "bellydancer" I have no idea what he meant by that, and I kind of don't want to know. Also, the Braves clinched their 13th straight division title last night. Despite the fact that most people counted them out, the Braves not only win their division, but do so quite easily. I somehow knew that a Larry Bowa led team wouldn't win the division, but I was still somewhat worried, although confident, about the Braves' chances this year. Luckily, they are in the playoffs this year, and, not that I mean to beg, but another World Series title sure would be nice.

Oh, and thanks to my friend Dickson, I was reminded about the horrors of Thursday's Smackdown. The only thing I'm going to say is that the schoolgirl tag match gave me nightmares.

Odds N' Ends

2004-09-25T10:08:00.000-05:00

I was sad to hear that the Big Boss Man passed away. While not one of my favorites, Bossman was an entertaining wrestler, and was pretty quick for a big man. Hopefully, someone on Raw will have their opponent against the ropes, allowing them to run, slide under the bottom rope, and give them a crisp uppercut to the jaw. Of course Bossman's greatest contribution may have been his poem to commerate the Big Show's late "father".

With deep regrets and tears that are soaked
I'm sorry to hear your dad finally croaked
He lived a full life on his own terms
Soon he'll be buried and eaten by worms
But if I could have a son as stupid as you
I'd have wished for cancer so I would die too
So be brave, and be strong, get your life back on track'
Cause the old bastard's dead and he ain't never comin' back!

Saw a good match yesterday on a NOAH DVD. It was Kotaro Suzuki and Ricky Marvin vs. Donovan Morgan and Mike Modest. Now, I know that some people feel that Morgan and Modest have lost their edge, but they looked really good in this match. Lots of exciting moves and high-flying action from Suzuki and Marvin, and Modest and Morgan did some wicked double-team manuevers. What really made the match come together, though, was the story. Basically, Suzuki and Marvin were too fast for M&M, but they would get in trouble if they got too close to them, allowing M&M to overpower them. Seems pretty simple, but it was quite interesting none the less. I am looking forward to watching some of the other stuff on the DVD (Kanemaru vs. Liger, Akiyama vs. Kobashi, among others) and I hope a hope a hope that they are good matches.

The Top 10 NBA Busts of the 90s

2004-09-24T17:44:00.000-05:00

Alright, let's get started on this here thing. The NBA saw a lot of great players come into the league in the 90s, but there were more than a few that were so horribly disappointing that they made the GMs that picked them vomit with rage. So with help from the Association for Professional Basketball Research website (APBR.org) here are, in my opinion, the top 10 busts of the Nineties.

1. Shawn Respert SG Michigan St. (#8 1995, Milwaukee thru Portland) Shawn Respert was supposed to be everything for the Bucks that Ray Allen would later become. At Michigan State, he averaged over 20 points a game for three straight years from 1993-1995, and he shot nearly fifty percent from the field and ninety percent from the free-throw line. So the Bucks figured they would have the perfect two guard to go along with Glenn Robinson and Vin Baker (before he started to suck). Instead, the Bucks got a 6'1" shooting guard who shot under 40% from the field in his rookie year before he got dumped on the Raptors. There might be guys more famous for disappointing their teams, but Respert gets my number 1 vote because he brought absolutely nothing to the table. At least Felton Spencer was seven feet tall, which leads me to. . .

2. Christian Laettner PF Duke (#3 1992, Minnesota) Spencer will come later, but number two goes to Christian Laettner, simply because while he was a solid player, he was supposed to be the savior of the Timberwolves. Instead, what they got was a slightly above-average power forward who had the annoying tendency to pout when things weren't going his way. So instead of becoming one of the greatest players of his time, Laettner became known as a sort of locker-room pariah who had a nice shooting touch but in the end wasn't worth the headaches.

3. Derrick Coleman PF Syracuse (#1 1990, New Jersey) Coleman is a lot like Laettner, but unlike Laettner, who probably wouldn't be as good as hyped anyway, Coleman had enough talent to become a better player than Karl Malone could ever dream of. He could have become a superstar so big that he carry his team to the Finals. Coleman should have been one of the top five players in the 90s. Instead, there was always something holding Coleman back. Whether it was a contract dispute with the Nets, the strecthes where he would play like he was forced at gunpoint to step on the court, disputes with a long line of coaches, getting out of shape a la Vin Baker, etc. Coleman got some praise for his hard play with the Sixers over the past two years, but at this point he's nothing more than an average big man, which is a crying shame.

4. Shawn Bradley C BYU (#2 1993, Philadelphia) Shawn Bradley was given a lot of money and drafted so high because he was 7'6" and apparently he was athletic. Unfourtunately, Bradley couldn't really do anymore than get his hands up on defense and score from 5 or 10 feet away on offense. Looking back, it was kind of odd that someone thought that highly of Bradley. I mean, he spent one good year at BYU, takes two years off for a mission to Austrilia, and suddenly the Sixers think that he is so freakishly talented that they pick him number 2? Instead, Bradley turned out to be average at best and is now spending most of his time sitting on the Mavericks bench.

5. Felton Spencer C Louisville (#6 1990, Minnesota) Another big man who was supposed to dominate the league, Spencer became little more than a solid big man off the bench. Really, he was kind of a poor man's Ervin Johnson, except he could shoot a little better and couldn't block shots as well as Johnson. In 640 career games, Spencer average 5.2 points a game, which is not what you would expect for the 6th pick in the draft.

6. Ed O'Bannon SF UCLA (#9 1995, New Jersey) O'bannon was an interesting case coming into the league. He had just wrapped up a great season at UCLA with a Final Four MVP award and a few player of the year awards, so most people thought he could play. At the same time, O'Bannon had a history of knee injuries, so his health was a concern. The Nets, being who they are, decided that O'Bannon's positives outweighed the negatives enough to make him the ninth pick of the NBA Draft. What the Nets didn't count on, was that O'Bannon would shoot a woeful 39 percent from the field in his rookie year, and that he would only play two years in the NBA before knee injuries and the fact that he really didn't belong in the NBA forced him out.

7. Micheal Olowokandi C Pacific (#1 1998, Clippers) Honestly, I didn't understand the pick then and I don't understand it know. The Clippers needed a point guard, Mike Bibby, as proven a commodity as you're going to get in the draft, was right there, and the Clippers decide to pick and unproven big man from an unknown college program as the man to turn their franchise around. Well the Clippers, being who they are, managed to finish 9-41 in Olowokandi's rookie season. Olowokandi improved himself enough to get a big free-agent deal with the Timberwolves, where he spent most of the season sitting on the bench while Ervin Johnson got most of the minutes. Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.

8. Sharone Wright PF/C Clemson (#6 1994, Philadelphia) The Sixers, a year after drafting Shawn Bradley, decided that apparently there's only one thing better than an over-hyped big man, and that is two over-hyped big man. Usually, when teams try the two towers approach, it doesn't work, and this case was no exception. Wright only lasted a year and a half in Philly before being sent to Toronto, where he played quite well for an 11 game strecth. Then injuries, among other factors, forced him out of the league at the age of 25.

9. Bobby Hurley PG Duke (#7 1993, Sacramento) The reason Hurley is so low on this list is the fact that he had that terrible car accident that may have sapped whatever skills he had. But the fact remains that Hurley was given chance after chance to be the Kings point guard, but never played well enough to deserve a spot on the team, much less in the starting lineup. But Sacramento kept him around for five years before finally giving up on him. Oddly enough, the year after Hurley left was the start of a very good run for Sacramento. In addition to Hurley's troubles after the accident, I have a feeling that he was a bit overhyped coming out of college, and, while perhaps becoming a solid player, never would have shot well enough to become an above-average point guard.

10. Robert Traylor PF Michigan (#6 1998, Milwaukee thru Dallas) There are any number of directions I could have gone here, but I went with Traylor because, well, I don't like him. Traylor was apparently supposed to be the next Charles Barkley coming out of college, but instead turned out to be a poor man's Mel "Dinner Bell" Turpin. Traylor has been so out of shape that he can't play five minutes without looking winded. Today, Traylor is used for little more than to get a couple of fouls and give Jamaal Maglorie a bit of rest.

(Dis)Honorable Mention: Bo Kimble, Rumeal Robinson, Kenny Anderson, Doug Smith, Marc Macon, Todd Day, Adam Keefe, J.R. Rider, Calbert Chaeney, Eric Montross, Joe Smith, Bryant Reeves, Samaki Walker, Antonio Daniels, Ron Mercer, Adonal Foyle, Tim Thomas, Raef Lafrentz, Jonathan Bender.

My first post

2004-09-24T17:07:00.000-05:00

Hello. For those of you that don't know me and are actually reading this, I am Jimmy West. I am a communications major at Emmanuel College in Franklin Spirngs, GA. I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS! Well, not really. Basically, what will probably end up happening to this blog is that it will become a place for me to vent about sports announcers, but for the time being, there might be some nuggets of insight in there.

Oh, and ladies, I'm single, so if you're interested. . .