Rants and Ranks

I'm sure you're wondering what the title means.  Not too long ago I was listening to something that specifically pointed out that the wrestling quality in WWE from Summerslam 2002 through Wrestlemania XIX in March 2003 was arguably the greatest stretch of in-ring product WWE has ever produced.   I knew that that general era in WWE was good, but I never really looked at it using those bookends.  The more I thought about it, the more true it seemed.  Why was this the case? Was it a random series of events?  Did WWE finally get their heads out of their asses?  When I look back, it all makes perfect sense so I'm going to recap it for anyone who wasn't  watching, or just forgot.  If your a fan of good wrestling, odds are you remember a few of these matches quite fondly.  First we need the back story.  courtesy: wwe.com A ton of things happened in '02.  Hulk and the nWo returned.  Triple H returned from his qua...

Lottery: Definitely not worthy of the first pick.  1. Pervis Ellison 2. Danny Ferry 3. Sean Elliott 4. Glen Rice 5. J.R. Reid 6. Stacey King 7. George McCloud 8. Randy White 9. Tom Hammonds 10. Pooh Richardson 11. Nick Anderson 12. Mookie Blaylock 13. Michael Smith Remixed: 1. Tim Hardaway (14) 2. Shawn Kemp (17) 3. Glen Rice (4) 4. Vlade Divac (26) 5. Cliff Robinson (36) 6. Sean Elliott (3) 7. Mookie Blaylock (12) 8. B.J. Armstrong (18) 9. Nick Anderson (11) 10. Dana Barros (16) 11. Pervis Ellison (1) 12. Pooh Richardson (10) 13. Sherman Douglas (28) Some pretty iconic players from the 90's were draft this year.  Not too many people didn't love Shawn Kemp in mid-90's, myself included.  I loved watching that guy dunk.  For any younger readers, he was like Blake Griffin is today, but maybe even better.  Vlade was one of the first really successful European players in the NBA, who is most known now for being traded for Kobe on d...

The Spurs just capped off their 5th title win.  Not only did the beat the Heat, they did so in an impressive 4-1 fashion.  (3 of those wins were in spectacular fashion.) It was truly "the team vs. the player" series, and in this case the team won.  No sane person will deny LeBron's skills, even if you hate him.  He gave it his best, just his teammates fell up short.  Wade is... well if LeBron wasn't his teammate it's scary to think just how bad he would look.  Wade looks old now, and he's not even the focal point of the team!  Bosh was far and away the Heat's second best player, yet probably will never be recognized as such. After the Heat's disappointing 2011 loss to the Mavs they added Shane Battier to the mix, which paid off in the Finals.  Even after the 2012 win, they added Ray Allen the next off-season, who saved their ass in 2013 Finals.  What did they do in the 2013 off-season to spice up the bench?  Nothing.  Addi...

1999 NBA Draft Lottery: 1. Elton Brand 2. Steve Francis 3. Baron Davis 4. Lamar Odom 5. Jonathon Bender 6. Wally Szczerbiak 7. Richard Hamilton 8. Andre Miller 9. Shawn Marion 10. Jason Terry 11. Trajan Langdon 12. Aleksandar Radojevic 13. Corey Maggette Remixed: 1. Shawn Marion (9) 2. Elton Brand (1) 3. Manu Ginobili (57) 4. Baron Davis (3) 5. Richard Hamilton (7) 6. Lamar Odom (4) 7. Jason Terry (10) 8. Steve Francis (2) 9. Andre Miller (8) 10. Ron Artest (16) 11. Wally Szczerbiak (6) 12. Corey Maggette (13) 13. Andrei Kirilenko (24) If there was an award for the "greatest complimentary stars ever drafted" this draft takes the cake.  Shawn Marion has the most All-Star selections at 4, and even though he was a swiss army knife, he never was truly "the man" on his team.  Odom and Kirilenko were also both swiss army knives, neither could truly ascend to how talented they were.  Odom found his groove as a 6th man, while Kirilenko made o...

I'll freely admit it.  Even though we all know to not underestimate the Spurs, I thought after last season's exhausting Game 7 defeat in the Finals, I thought the Spurs may finally be out of gas.  After about 2 months into the season, I thought, "Fuck they might just do it again." Well here we are, and the Spurs are four wins away from making me and everyone else (outside of San Antonio of course) look stupid yet again.  They definitely have more of a chip on their shoulder now than ever before.  Timmy and Co. had never tasted defeat in the Finals before last year- and they almost pulled it out then against the juggernaut known as "The Heat."  Redeeming themselves with a championship trophy was a must for the Spurs; doing it against the Heat is just the icing on the cake. The Heat aren't going down without a fight though.  LeBron is pissed he didn't get his fifth (and Jordan-tying) MVP.  He wants his third ring, and get that elusive "three-p...

Lottery: 1. Hakeem Olajuwon 2. Sam Bowie 3. Michael Jordan Would you rather Bowie or Olajuwon?  That was the question of the '84 draft.  4. Sam Perkins 5. Charles Barkley 6. Melvin Turpin 7. Alvin Robertson 8. Lancaster Gordon 9. Otis Thorpe 10. Leon Wood 11. Kevin Willis 12. Tim McCormick 13. Jay Humphries Remixed: 1. Michael Jordan (3) 2. Hakeem Olajuwon (1) 3. Charles Barkley (5) 4. John Stockton (16) 5. Alvin Robertson (7) 6. Otis Thorpe (9) 7. Kevin Willis (11) 8. Sam Perkins (4) 9. Michael Cage (14) 10. Jerome Kersey (46) 11. Jay Humphries (13) 12. Tony Campbell (20) 13. Vern Fleming (18) I've been avoiding doing this one just due to the fact that it's one of the most historic/infamous, fill any other adjective, draft ever.  Also due to the general population's bias's, any draft Jordan was in would be called "greatest" even if the rest of the draft sucked.  Fortunately this one didn't suck. Speaking of "...

Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Austin Aries, AJ Styles, these are the names of the men that went from "Internet Darlings" to world champions in their respective companies.  Why?  There's lots of reasons that I could list as contributing ingredients, but at the end of the day they have the "x-factor" that a talent needs to have to transcend to main event glory. I get a little annoyed by the "smarks," or whatever they want to call themselves these days, when they get their collective panties in a bunch over "Internet Darling X" getting a WWE tryout, then WWE isn't interested in signing them, followed by internet outrage.  "Vince and HHH don't know talent when they see it."  "They just lost a potential main-eventer!"  "They just lost the next Daniel Bryan!" I, myself, keep tabs on the young guns on the independent scene.  I cheer like crazy every time one of them get to TNA or WWE and proceed to take ...

Lottery: 1. Shaquille O'Neal 2. Alonzo Mourning 3. Christian Laettner 4. Jim Jackson 5. LaPhonso Ellis 6. Tom Gugliotta 7. Walt Williams 8. Todd Day 9. Clarence Weatherspoon 10. Adam Keefe 11. Robert Horry 12. Harold Miner 13. Bryant Stith Remixed: 1. Shaquille O'Neal (1) 2. Alonzo Mourning (2) 3. Latrell Sprewell (24) 4. Robert Horry (11) 5. Doug Christie (17) 6. Christian Laettner (3) 7. Tom Gugliotta (6) 8. Jim Jackson (4) 9. P.J. Brown (29) 10. Clarence Weatherspoon (9) 11. Walt Williams (7) 12. LaPhonso Ellis (5) 13. Matt Geiger (42) This has been the only draft I've done that numbers 1 and 2 have went in the correct order.  That being said, this isn't the best draft.  The gap between Shaq (one of the best ever) and Zo is quite substantial.  Zo is a Hall of Famer too, and there is no shame coming up second to Shaq.  However, the drop to the third best player (Sprewell) is pretty much a considered a free-fall.  Sprewell had so...

1985 Draft Lottery: Not the traditional draft picture, but both guys were drafted this year.  1. Patrick Ewing 2. Wayman Tisdale 3. Benoit Benjamin 4. Xavier McDaniel 5. Jon Concak 6. Joe Kleine 7. Chris Mullin 8. Detlef Shrempf 9. Charles Oakley 10. Ed Pickney 11. Keith Lee 12. Kenny Green 13. Karl Malone Remixed: 1. Karl Malone (13) 2. Patrick Ewing (1) 3. Chris Mullin (7) 4. Joe Dumars (18) 5. Terry Porter (24) 6. Detlef Shrempf (8) 7. Xavier McDaniel (4) 8. Charles Oakley (9) 9. A.C. Green (23) 10. Wayman Tisdale (2) 11. Arvydas Sabonis (24) 12. Spud Webb (87) 13. Hot Rod Williams (45) Honorable Mentions: Benoit Benjamin (3), Tyrone Corbin (35), Mario Elie (160), Bill Wennington, just kidding. Remember there were 7 rounds back then, which is why there is a "160" next to Mario Elie.  Although the '84 draft (Jordan year) was more heralded, this actually had more All Stars than '84 did.  It's also strange that the best ...

'94 Draft Lottery:  1. Glenn Robinson 2. Jason Kidd 3. Grant Hill 4. Donyell Marshall 5. Juwan Howard 6. Sharone Wright 7. Lamond Murray 8. Brian Grant 9. Eric Montross 10. Eddie Jones 11. Carolos Rogers 12. Khalid Reeves 13. Jalen Rose Remixed: 1. Jason Kidd (2) 2. Grant Hill (3) 3. Eddie Jones (10) 4. Glenn Robinson (1) 5. Juwan Howard (5) 6. Jalen Rose (13) 7. Donyell Marshall (4) 8. Brian Grant (8) 9. Wesley Person (23) 10. Lamond Murray (7) 11. Aaron McKie (17) 12. Voshon Lenard (46) 13. Charlie Ward (26) Had injuries not played a huge role, Grant Hill was on pace to be one of the greatest players ever.  25.8 PPG 6.6 RPG 5.2 APG were his '00 stats.  Or how about: 20.2 PPG 9.8 RPG 6.9 APG from '96.  Or '97's 21.4 PPG 9 RPG 7.3 APG.  Hill probably got the closest to anyone of averaging a triple double, and yes that includes LeBron.  However with all that said, another guy (ironically also fli...