Rants and Ranks

I picked up a pretty sweet magazine the other day,  NBA Battles by SLAM.  I was hoping it would wet my appetite for there being no NBA, unfortunately it had the opposite effect and made me jones for it more.  Well crap it's out of my hands, so I'll just get back to the mag. In a nutshell it's fantasy match ups that either: A. didn't happen or B. Didn't happen in the respected players primes.  There is also a couple of dream match ups between legendary championship teams.  Here's how it breaks down: Magic vs. LBJ Isiah vs. CP3 Kareem vs. Hakeem Bird vs. Dirk Baylor vs. Dr. J Ewing vs. Yao Wilt vs. Shaq Stockton vs. D-Will Oscar vs. Kidd Russell vs. Howard Malone vs. Stoudemire West vs. Wade Iverson vs. Rose Pippen vs. Durant Jordan vs. Bryant '86 Celtics vs. '00 Lakers '89 Pistons vs. '03 Spurs '65 Celtics vs. '83 Sixers '70 Knicks vs. '87 Lakers '72 Lakers vs. '96 Bulls There are some obvious match ups listed, but the...

So here are the boys that are in their prime now.  Could they be the greatest ever?  Sure, some day it is definitely possible, but for now these are the elite wrestlers of the modern era only.  The guys who have multiple matches of the year, every year,  and of course the can't-miss match of any show they're on.  (If you missed my list of the all-time greats list click here.)   Click the name for a small video highlighting the wrestler.  Again this is in no particular order: Low-Ki/Senshi/Kaval Austin Aries Samoa Joe AJ Styles Davey Richards  CM Punk Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson KENTA Nigel McGuinness   Christopher Daniels

Don't ask me why I thought of it, I just did.  I'm also very biased, but take a look and see for yourself. Finding Nemo- One of the highest grossing animated films of all-time, and the highest up to that point. Bad Boys II- Yeah this one is kind of ridiculous, but you gotta love these two boneheads together.   Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions- In my opinion this is the most overrated movie series of all-time.  However they were HUGE at the time.  I had friends that wouldn't shut up about these damn movies.  (In the big picture though, these were by far the worst of the 3, and none of them really hold up today, but that's not the point here.) X2- This is probably most peoples' favorite X-Men movie, and mine as well.  Excellent summer blockbuster. Bruce Almighty- This is arguably Jim Carrey's last good comedy, and he went out with a bang.  Pirates of the Caribbean- The sleeper hit of the year, and launched the most successful film franchise of...

September 24, 1991 Nirvana's sophomore album Nevermind is released.  Essentially kicking the music industry in the nuts and sending Guns N Roses packing.  Was this intended?  No, they were just three punks doing their thing.  Soon enough some college radio stations picked up the lead single Smells Like Teen Spirit and BAM!  Grunge is born, hair metal is gone, and the music industry is forever altered.  This was a huge deal.  By 1992 Nevermind had knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous  off the top of the charts.  Michael Freaking Jackson, pre-molestation.  Name some singers more famous than MJ... Elvis, Beatles, and that's probably it.  And here are these dirtballs from Washington not only unseating him from his pop throne, but changing our culture not only musically, but also in fashion, their "grunge" attire became the cool thing on runways even.  Officially labeled as "alternative" at the beginning, Nirvana opened the door ...

With MJ's birthday a couple of weeks ago, I got thinking about the songs that define his career.  Not necessarily my favorites, or the ones that are the most downloaded, but the ones that immediately come to mind when you think of Michael.  I guess you could call it his "legacy."  I'm sure you could do a lot more than 10, but let's keep it simple.  10. Rock My World 9. Smooth Criminal 8. Man in the Mirror 7. Black or White 6. The Way You Make Me Feel 5. Don't Stop Till You Get Enough 4. Bad 3. Beat It 2. Thriller 1. Billie Jean

Wrestling is a funny sport.  It seems like 99% of the time the biggest draws (most popular) aren't the best workers (wrestlers).  What they do have, is unmatched charisma and microphone skills.  So they connect with the audience.  To the mainstream audience these are the most beloved characters.  After a while though most people seem to figure out that, "Hey this guy in the mid-card is a fantastic wrestler he just can't talk very good." Or whatever the case may be that's holding him back.  Not everyone chooses to like the workhorses exclusively obviously.  But you should realize if you don't, that just because Hulk Hogan wins every match, doesn't mean he's the best athlete in the world.  He's just got a good build, and unbelievable charisma.  Let's assume for a moment that you can't grasp this concept.  Maybe you're not a fan, or maybe you can differentiate the fact from fiction.  (That dreaded word "fake" comes in to ...

**UPDATE** Well since this was posted, a few noteworthy things have happened.  Jeff has returned to ImpactWrestling.  And they are actually just telling the truth.  Jeff is apologizing, and the other wrestlers are saying more or less, "I don't trust you."  It makes for pretty interesting TV.  Shane Helms recently said in an interview that Jeff is good to go now.  Let's hope. Matt on the other hand has been arrested again.  He posted this video.   This is great news not just for Hardy fans, but anyone who gives a shit about the human race.  Matt was spiraling out of control very quickly, and as I have said before, we don't need more dead wrestlers.  Matt appears to have truly hit rock bottom, and I truly felt for him watching that clip.  I only hope he can stay strong. **Original Post** For any Hardy fan, these past few years have been ridiculous.  Jeff has been having substance abuse problems for almost the past ten yea...

I recently purchased "Back and Forth" the Foo Fighter documentary I raved about a while back.  On second viewing it is just as good as the first.  It's seriously the best music documentary I've ever seen; or E! True Hollywood Story, or Behind the Music, whatever you want to call it.  If you're a fan of the Foo it's a must rent at the very least.  Oh and their CD kicks ass too!

It was absolutely bad ass.  No other way to describe it.  I was front row to see one of my favorite bands and it was an amazing experience.  Bush was broken up for about the last 10 years so I never figured I would get to see them live, but there I was up close and personal. The set list was top notch, hitting all the biggies (Glycerine, Comedown, Machinehead, Everything Zen, Little Things) and even some of the more obscure ones like Alien and Land of the Living.  They did a great cover of Come Together by the Beatles, and ending the night with Comedown (my personal favorite) was pure perfection in my eyes.  Gavin has tremendous charisma and was entertaining throughout the show.  He knows what the people likes and he gives it to them.  He sung a whole song in the crowd, was hugging some girls in the front row (of course they loved it) and was a crowd pleaser through and through.   He high-fived me, so I was pretty pumpe...

Well I thought about this one long and hard.  I finally came to the conclusion that it would be impossible to rank my songs.  So here are my favorite 30 songs in no order.  I'm sure this one will fluctuate a lot within the next month let alone years down the road.  But for August of 2011 here it goes.... Where the River Flows -Collective Soul Nutshell -Alice in Chains My Own Prison -Creed So Far Away -Staind Paper Moon -Our Lady Peace You're A God -Vertical Horizon Against the Wind -Bob Seger What If I Do? -Foo Fighters Let It Be -The Beatles The World I Know -Collective Soul Psycho -Puddle of Mudd Simple Man -Lynyrd Skynyrd Diary of Jane -Breaking Benjamin In Bloom -Nirvana The Pretender -Foo Fighters Comedown -Bush Zzyzx Rd. -Stone Sour Pennyroyal Tea -Nirvana Take it on the Run -REO Speedwagon Zoe Jane -Staind Not Enough -Our Lady Peace (If I were to pick a number one, this would be it.) Have You Ever Seen the Rain? -CCR Jealous Guy -J...