Rants and Ranks

Wrestlemania 31 is in the books, and quite frankly it overachieved tremendously.  I had very low expectations, and in every instance feel it was better than I expected.  There wasn't however a "blow away" match like there has been every year for the past "X" number of years.  Everything was just solid. Speaking of "just solid," or in same cases crappy (by my standards anyway), here are some matches that are seemingly loved throughout the wrestling world, internet, or WWE universe.  (Pick your poison.) Stone Cold vs. The Rock Wrestlemania 17 Some say this is the best main event on the best Wrestlemania card ever assembled.  I certainly do not.  Here's why. At this point in my fandom, I was sick of both Rock and Austin.  I would rather have watched Chris Jericho or Chris Benoit.  I didn't want to see this match again (it happened two years prior).  Rock had gradually shifted from the calm, cool, collected guy that wore expensive clothes...

Food for thought: Penny Year 1: 16.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 6.6 APG, 2.3 SPG, 82 GP (All Rookie 1st Team) Rose Year 1: 16.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 6.3 APG, 0.8 SPG, 81 GP (Rookie of the Year) courtesy of nba.com Penny Year 2: 20.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 7.2 APG, 1.7 SPG, 77 GP (All NBA 1st Team) Rose Year 2: 20.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.0 APG, 0.7 SPG, 78 GP Penny Year 3: 21.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 7.1 APG, 2.0 SPG, 82 GP (All NBA 1st Team, 3rd in MVP voting) Rose Year 3: 25.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 7.7 APG, 1.0 SPG, 81 GP (MVP) Penny Year 4: 20.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.6 APG, 1.6 APG, 59 GP (All NBA 3rd Team) Rose Year 4: 21.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 7.9 APG, 0.9 APG, 39 GP (lockout season; 66 total games) Penny Year 5: 16.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.5 SPG, 19 GP Rose Year 5: DNP Penny Year 6: 15.8 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 5.3 APG, 2.2 SPG, 50 GP (lockout season; 50 total games) Rose Year 6: 15.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 4.3 APG, 0.5 SPG, 10 GP Penny Year 7: 16.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.6 SPG, 60 GP Rose Year 7: 18.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG...

It's the most frustrating time of the year for NBA fans.  That's right, it's all-star selection.  This is an annual "piss and moan-fest" for me, and I can't even remember what number I'm up to, so I'll just use the generic title that you clicked on.  (Thanks by the way.) If for some reason you're unaware why this irks me to no end, it's because the "fans" are allowed to vote the starters for the game; which inevitably leads to some past-his-prime guy starting for the all-star team, when reality dictates he shouldn't even be on the roster.   Luckily injuries have been balancing this out lately, and this year is no exception. Two glaring cases of this is represented in Kobe and Wade.  Four years ago they were the two best shooting guards in the NBA; hands down.  The gap between 2 and 3 was quite large.  (Sorry Joe Johnson.)  Now they're living off past accomplishments; Kobe as a starter (SHOCKING! *huge sarcasm there in...

It's been a while since I updated, so here's some random NBA headlines and thoughts: courtesy of www.mavs.com -The big news is that Rajon Rondo has been move to the Mavericks.  It's pretty well known that when Rondo is motivated, he lifts himself and his teammates to another level.  He hasn't had much motivation the past few years in Boston, so a change of scenario should be just what the  doctor ordered.  Dallas has a really good team, and this should only add more fuel to the Rondo fire.  I'm not sure how he and Monta Ellis will gel together, but Tyson Chandler, Chandler Parsons, and Dirk should love Rondo's pass-first mentality, and hard-nosed defense.   -How about the Cleveland Cavaliers?  Dion Waiters is a moron plain and simple.  You know what?  So is Kyrie Irving.  I'm not even joking when I say the Cavs should listen to trade offers for him.  I really don't think LeBron likes playing with him.  We can't hav...

Wrestlemania 2000 had a lot wrong with it.  The first thing being they called it "Wrestlemania 2000." So from now on it will be "16."  If you want to see the actual card click here . The biggest issue was the main event.  The fatal 4 way for the title.  Rock vs. HHH was a foregone conclusion going in, and the next 2 months they had amazing matches together.  Yet, they still felt the need to insert retired Foley and Big Show.  (Not to mention, a McMahon in every corner!!!) Anytime Big Show is in the main event, it equals shit.   End of story.  Foley was convinced by Vince to come back even though he was content being retired.  I'm sure Foley would take this match back if he could.  So Foley is off the card all together.  Big Show I have other plans for. Show was rapidly declining, and soon would be in developmental.  Let's get him there quicker by having Kane squash him.  Kane was in a ridiculous tag match with Rikishi ...

Every basketball fan worth his or her salt is familiar with Jerry West's heave in the 1970 Finals to send the game into overtime.  It's one of the NBA's most famous highlights, but sad in a way that had there been a three point shot, that would have won the game for the Lakers.  And what a way to win a game!  The three point shot would come to pass 10 years later, and in present day 2014, if you're guard and can't hit a three you are seriously frowned upon.  If all you can do is stand at the three point line and jack three's till the cows come home (and make a respectable amount) you are going to have a contract somewhere.  The three pointer has become more and more vital each passing year, thus players have become more adapt at making them year after year.  When I was a child, if a center made a 3, it was for one of two reasons.  Number one, it was a late game desperation shot like West's was.  Or two, the game was seriously out of...

It's funny to me that the Bucks, Magic, and Timberwolves all have the same identity and the same problem.  They all have really young rosters that are entertaining to watch, yet all are extremely poorly constructed teams.  The Timberwolves have the number one pick Andrew Wiggins.  Listed as a 6'8" shooting guard.  That's all well and dandy.  They also have Kevin Martin and Shabazz Muhammad at shooting guard.  All three receive minutes.  (Shabazz obviously gets the least.)  Which would be fine if they could shift one to the small forward at times, but that's where things get even more dicey.  Corey Brewer, Robbie Hummel, and Chase Budinger are all fighting for minutes at that spot. The Bucks have the number two pick Jabari Parker who plays both forward spots.  The same can be said for Khris Middleton and Ersan Ilyasova.  At center is John Henson, Larry Sanders, and Zaza Pachulia.  And how could ...

The minute I read, "Steve Nash injures himself carry luggage," I knew that he was in trouble.  But let's face it, the minute he suited up in purple and gold it hasn't been pretty; it's been downright ugly. He broke his leg his second game as a Laker, eventually missing 32 games.  That unfortunately was his best LA season.  The next year he played in a whopping 15 total contests.  It's a really sad way for a legend to end his career.  It's certainly not the first time we've seen something like this, but it doesn't make it any easier to digest.   Nash will officially join the "Ring-less Club" as soon as his contract expires at the end of this year.  I mean in reality he is already retired because he's not playing this year, and even if he wanted to play more, who in their right mind would sign him?  So even though he hasn't "officially" used the "r-word" it's pretty common knowledge he's done.   So wh...

Here are some thoughts leading into the new season.  (In no particular order.) 1. This is the first season in many years where we don't need to ask about the health of Andrew Bynum and Greg Oden.  Neither are currently in the league.  I could see someone taking a flyer on Bynum towards the end of the regular season, but I think Oden is done.  He's having some legal woes, and doesn't seem to be worth the headache; not that Bynum is.  The question is: will the two injury-prone talents now be Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose?  Obviously the repercussions of these two are infinitely higher than the other two knuckleheads.  (More so for Rose and the Bulls than Kobe and the Lakers at this point.) 2. What's Cleveland going to look like?  Is it too good to be true?  Or will LeBron be able to pull it all together?  That team wasn't exactly a harmonious place last year. 3. How will the "grandpa" Spurs hold up?  Popovich is the minutes-...

Nobody reading this probably knows who Reggie Williams is, and that is precisely the point.  Reggie was picked just ahead of Scottie Pippen in the '87 draft.  I would be willing to bet money that you know who Pippen is. The Clippers are who drafted Williams, who was coming off 24 PPG at Georgetown his Senior season. That seems like a pretty good selection for the 4th pick.  Pippen on the other hand, was a virtual unknown, who was actually booed when he was drafted. (It also needs pointed out that the Sonics are the ones who drafted Pippen before trading him that night for nothing in the same stratosphere as Pippen's talent.  Whoops factor on that trade: 5!  This is a double whoops scenario.) Williams topped out at 18.2 PPG in the '92 season, which was inflated due to being on the "run and gun" Nuggets of the early 90's.  He was in actuality a 10-13 PPG scorer the majority of his career, which ended in '97.  (Just for the record, in 1992 Pippen...