Mark Grace, First Baseman
Chicago Cubs 1988-2000
Arizona Diamondbacks 2001-2003
Awards
1992 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1993 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1995 NL Gold Glove - 1B
1996 NL Gold Glove - 1B
All-Star Selections: 3 (1993, 1995, 1997)
League Leader
1995: Doubles
Career Ranks
Doubles: 39th
Walks: 79th
Runs Created: 98th
Best Performance
July 7, 1989 - San Diego at Chicago
Goes 4 for 4 with three doubles and a home run.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 3 (507) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 86 (265) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 38.0 (165) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 60.5 (309) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Enos Slaughter)
Other Similar Batters: Keith Hernandez, Mickey Vernon, John Olerud, Hal McRae, Wally Joyner, Bill Buckner, Al Oliver, Joe Judge, Joe Kuhel
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1988: 16/4.3
1989: 25/7.6
1990: 22/6.4
1991: 17/5.4
1992: 25/8.0
1993: 23/7.6
1994: 12/4.3
1995: 23/6.9
1996: 20/5.7
1997: 20/6.8
1998: 27/6.4
1999: 21/5.2
2000: 18/4.8
2001: 16/4.8
2002: 8/2.0
2003: 1/-0.1
Career Win Shares: 294
Career WARP: 86.2
My Stupid Opinion
Grace always hit for a good average (Top 10 in N.L. batting average nine times), get on base at a good rate (Top 10 in OBP seven times), and was a superb defensive first baseman. Problem with him though is that he had very little power and the standards for HOF first basemen are higher than any other position and he just doesn't really have much of a case. Among first basemen who had a minimum of 3000 plate appearances between 1988 and 2003 (when Grace was active), he ranks only 17th in OPS+
-Comercials that most need to end-The Geico Cavemen. Look, it was amusing at first, but it got old fast. Now it's gotten past the point of flogging a dead horse-it's practically sodomizing it. The more I see these, the more annoyed I get.
-The finally cancelled award-Mind of Mencia and MadTV. While Mencia was horrible, it didn't pollute the airwaves as long as MadTV did. For giving the world terrible music video parodies, Ms. Swan, Stuart (I want to personally kill Michael McDonald), that annoying old lady who plugged her ears and said "La La La" over and over again, Bobby Lee, and helping to make Frank Caliendo a star, it may be the worst comedy show in history. At least it gave us Nicole Sullivan (who has always been easy on the eyes,), Phil Lamarr (who's turned out to be a pretty good voice actor), and Artie Lang, but that doesn't make for a case for forgivness. The crimes it has comitted are far too numerous.
-People actually like this?-Twilight. Really, when I was a kid, I saw a picture of Nosferatu. It gave me nightmares. Vampires should be cool, not this retarded shit. This almost makes the goth chic vampires of "Underworld" and their ilk look tolerable.
-Worst Food Network Personality-Guy Fieri. In a network with Paula Deen and Rachel Ray (who I'd fuck given the chance), this bleach blonede, sunglasses on the back of my head wearing douche makes my blood boil. My hatred of this man knows no bounds.
-Best type of Metal-Doom Metal. I like Technical Death Metal and Thrash and some Black Metal, but Doom is the best.
-Worst Critic-Armond White. A man who unironically references the Ting-Tings, hated "The Dark Knight", "Milk", "There Will Be Blood", "Slumdog Millionaire", and other acclaimed movies, but loved "Norbit" and "Chuck and Larry", he has to be a practical joke.
-Most Certifiable insane Presidential candidates-Cynthia McKinney and Lee Mercer jr. McKinney believes 9/11 conspiracies, that the government killed 5,000 men in New Orleans, and hates the Jews (kkktookmybabyaway comment forthcoming.) Mercer though-it's a shame his site is gone, because he was a whole golden pot of insanity. He also looked an awful lot like Michael Clark Duncan. Look him up on Google, you will be entertained for hours.
-Worst Avatar-Anyone with their picture as an Avatar-especially Enigma and NoCalMike. I can't believe I used to like Mike.
-Farewell To These Shows-"The Shield", "Pushing Daisies", and "The Wire." Shield and Wire are tied for me as best crime show ever, and had great runs, and while "Daisies" isn't gone yet, it will be soon. At least I still have "The Venture Bros."
-One Gets Worse and One Gets Better-"Family Guy" and "American Dad." "Family Guy" is so terrible now, I wonder if Seth isn't pulling some kind of "Wacky Deli" style prank on us. "American Dad" however, is much better, as it actually is funny, pays attention to things like plot and characterization, and doesn't rely on bad cut away gags. Plus, the social commentary is less forced and preachy.
-Worst Wrestling Promotion-TNA. I rarely mention wrestling here anymore, but TNA is like WCW in it's late period levels bad. It's like some kind of Dadaist interpretation of Professional Wrestling.
If Mrs. kkk would surprise me on December 25 with one of your yuppie cars parked on our driveway with a red bow on top of the roof, I'd still rank my Atari 2600 way higher on my list of favorite holiday gifts than your overpriced junk.
I can't remember when I got my first Big Wheel, but I'd put that above getting one of your cars.
11 p.m.
• So my local liberal rag ran an editorial earlier this month that I just stumbled across. There's a local RIGHT-WING RADIO station that is doing a re-shuffling of its lineup. Oh Noes, the left-wing editorial board doesn't approve.
I find it hilarious that the Shittsburgh Post-Gazette would comment about one-sidedness when their editorials are nothing more than a stream of never-ending hippie crap, but whatever. Basically, KDKA dumped a few hosts, brought back a long-time host and kept the station's best talker. Take it from me: Mike Pintek, Fred Honsberger and Marty Griffin is NOT an "overwhelmingly conservative" slant. Marty's a tool; I heard he's liberal but that's not why I don't listen to him -- he's an "investigative reporter" for a local television station and annoying as hell with his EVERYTHING is an OUTRAGE blather. I would put money on Pintek voting more Republican than Democrat, but he did say that, much to his regret, he voted for Fast Eddie in the 2002 governor's election. Fred has been a mainstay at KDKA for years and is a great talk-show guy.
Here's the bottom line, and the Post-Gazette even admits this:
That's why KDKA brought back Pintek, and that's why Honsberger still has a job at KDKA. It's business, you dipshits.
What in the hell has that got to do with talk-radio programming? If we're going to go by this logic, how come the Shittsburgh Post-Gazette, along with the legions of other liberal media outlets, suddenly didn't turn conservative from 1994 through 2006 to "reflect the national political mood"? Having read the Post-Gazette from 1994-2000 and then again from 2003-2008 I can say matter-of-factly that its left-wing drivel remained the same, if not cranked up a few notches here and there.
If there's one industry I want to turn to so I can learn how to make my business successful, it's the newspaper biz. Yessire. Nothing but black on those bottom lines.
9:30 a.m.
• For God's sake, ESPN, can we please stop making references to the TOUGH TIMES WE LIVE IN? During yesterday's bowel games each contest had several references, and within a 5-minute span "Outside the Lines" and "Sports Reporters" also made comments. Good God. Can we move up President Hussein's Inauguration so we can all say we are living in a gilded age?
9:45 a.m.
• Here's another one:
"What recessionlol... blahblahblah... does Baseball need a salary cap?"
Come on, Osama, make all this go away.
LOL -- one of the pinheads on the panel just said now with these free agent signings the Yankees will be the top story of this upcoming baseball year. The Yankees are ALWAYS the top story each year, no matter what they do. And the one panelist said salary cap opponents are disillusioned?
Oh, no, in the next segment they are going to talk about the year that was 2008. Let's see if we more President Hussein or RECESSION~! references.
LOLx2 -- some panelist said Michael Phelps was celebrating when that one guy won the relay race for Team USA, Phelps was celebrating because now that guy made him "immortal" and got him all the post-Olympic deals. I'm sure Phelps was thinking, "YAY, now I get to host Saturday Night Live."
Wow, no references. Color me impressed.
Jay Bell, Shortstop
Cleveland Indians 1986-1988
Pittsburgh Pirates 1989-1996
Kansas City Royals 1997
Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-2002
New York Mets 2003
Awards
1993 NL Gold Glove - SS
1993 NL Silver Slugger - SS
All-Star Selections: 2 (1993, 1999)
League Leader
None
Career Ranks
None of note
Best Performance
July 27, 1991 - Pittsburgh at Houston
Goes 4 for 5 with two home runs, four runs scored, and four rbi.
Hall of Fame Stats
Gray Ink: Batting - 32 (727) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 26.9 (352) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 30.5 (576) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Toby Harrah, Ray Durham, Bobby Grich, Benito Santiago, Devon White, Alan Trammell, Frank White, Edgar Renteria, Alvin Dark, Amos Otis
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1986: 1/0.3
1987: 1/0.3
1988: 2/0.0
1989: 8/2.5
1990: 17/8.1
1991: 22/9.0
1992: 24/8.0
1993: 26/10.6
1994: 19/6.8
1995: 13/4.6
1996: 15/4.0
1997: 21/11.1
1998: 20/7.6
1999: 23/6.9
2000: 19/5.5
2001: 12/3.8
2002: 1/-0.1
2003: 1/-0.2
Career Win Shares: 245
Career WARP3: 88.8
My Stupid Opinion
Certainly not a HOFer but a much better player than the average fan probably remembers. Good hitting shortstop with good defense, at least early in his career, who was very durable as from 1990-2000 he never missed more than 13 games in a season. Fun Fact: Only player in MLB history to ever have 30+ sacrifice hits in a season (39 in 1990 and 30 in 1991) and also have a 30+ home run season (38 in 1999) in their career.
Matt Williams, Third Baseman
San Francisco Giants 1987-1996
Cleveland Indians 1997
Arizona Diamondbacks 1998-2003
Awards
1990 NL Silver Slugger - 3B
1991 NL Gold Glove - 3B
1993 NL Gold Golve - 3B
1993 NL Silver Slugger - 3B
1994 NL Gold Glove - 3B
1994 NL Silver Slugger - 3B
1997 AL Gold Glove - 3B
1997 AL Silver Slugger - 3B
All-Star Selections: 5 (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999)
League Leader
1990: RBI
1994: Home Runs
Career Ranks
Home Runs: 61st
AB/HR: 79th
Best Performance
April 18, 1993 - Atlanta at San Francisco
Goes 4 for 6 with two home runs, including a walk off in the 11th inning.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 8 (272) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 58 (426) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 29.4 (286) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 70.0 (258) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: 1 (Johnny Bench)
Other Similar Batters: Vinny Castilla, Andruw Jones, George Foster, Rocky Colavito, Ron Cey, Robin Ventura, Frank Howard, Gil Hodges, Jack Clark
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1987: 5/2.1
1988: 2/1.6
1989: 7/3.4
1990: 28/8.3
1991: 22/8.8
1992: 11/4.0
1993: 28/10.0
1994: 18/9.5
1995: 20/6.9
1996: 18/6.1
1997: 18/6.5
1998: 12/5.9
1999: 26/9.1
2000: 7/2.5
2001: 10/3.5
2002: 6/2.0
2003: 3/0.9
Career Win Shares: 241
Career WARP3: 91.2
My Stupid Opinion
Most famous for being "on pace" to tie Roger Maris' then single season record of 61 home runs (OMG STILL NON-STEROID RECORD!!!) in 1994 before the strike killed that opportunity. He was the best third baseman in baseball from 1993-1995, though it was in '95 where he started to have injury problems. Had a lot of power and played a very good third base but also a big time hacker who posted only a .317 career OBP. Overall just not impressive enough to warrant serious consideration for the HOF.
You know you’ve wasted too much time here over the years when you’re driving on the Westpark Tollway, pass a business named ‘Kinetic Furniture’ on your right, and immediately think of TSM.
So my Dad and I attended the final tragedy game at Texas Stadium this past Saturday night. I think I've written before about how we held season tickets to the Cowboys for the last four years but declined to renew this season for a variety of reasons. Going forward, we figured that we would just pick a game or two each season and acquire tickets from the Internet, possibly even throwing in a road game every now and then (if I can ever convince my dad to get on an airplane). For this season, we figured why not go to the final game ever at Texas Stadium?
Well, that, uh, didn’t turn out so well.
A couple of notes:
We thought it was weird that the final game was against the Ravens. How can the league NOT have the Cowboys play one of their long-time NFC East opponents in the final game at Texas Stadium? It’s crazy.
Then it came out late Saturday night/early Sunday morning that Jerry Jones petitioned the NFL before the schedule was finalized last spring to have the Ravens be the opponent in the final game because he thought they were an easy win.
Memo to Jerry: stop hand-picking opponents. You’re embarrassing yourself. First of all, if you’re going to pick a homecoming opponent this season, how in the hell did you not pick the Bengals? Or the 49ers. At least you have some history with them. Secondly, do you not remember the last time you picked your opponent?
Also, Texas Stadium is a neat place in that the Cowboys have played there for 38 years and won their first of five Super Bowls in the year it opened, 1971.
But let’s not kid ourselves. Other than the hole in the roof—so God can watch his favorite team play—and it being the first stadium built with public financing (the bonds sold for $6 apiece), there’s really nothing special about it. We’re not talking about closing down Lambeau or Soldier Field here. It’s not the most photogenic place and it just kind of sits there in the middle of a huge, ugly parking lot. The concourse is crowded, it can get really hot in there, I don’t think they’ve put a coat of paint on it since 1994, and if you sit in parts of the upper deck without binoculars you should have just saved your money and stayed home. So there’s no reason to get overly emotional about its demise.
(Note: the ticket prices at the new stadium they’re building in Arlington though? THAT is something to cry about.)
It was nice to see that they did put some effort into making the last game a big deal though. The Cowboys must have installed some new video boards in the offseason and replaced a few light bulbs because the place just looked a little brighter than usual and you could actually read all of the text displayed on the video boards without squinting. And it was nice to see them trot out a bunch of legendary Cowboy players during timeouts and whatnot, though to be honest, none of them said anything remotely interesting. I don’t think half of the crowd even knew who guys like Don Perkins and Lee Roy Jordan are.
As for the game itself, well, what needs to be said? It was truly historic because no team in NFL history had ever had two touchdown runs of 75 yards or more in the same quarter until the Ravens did it to ice the game late.
The Cowboys’ offense was terrible the entire game. We knew that was going to be the case because Tony Romo looked terrible in pregame warm-ups, missing most of his throws high. And the defense, after a hot first half, turned in a dog shit effort in the second, particularly in the fourth quarter. The two long runs made for an unfathomable way to lose a game and easily surpassed any other loss in the four seasons we had tickets, in terms of sheer lunacy. (The playoff loss last year to the Giants still ranks #1 on the “disappointing loss” list.)
It was so ridiculous and aggravating that we didn’t even stick around for the “closing ceremonies” after the game. Apparently at least half of the crowd felt the same way. Watching local TV news the next morning, we found out that it probably wouldn’t have been worth staying for anyway. The newscasters were puzzled that so few decided to stay for that ceremony but, really, would you expect otherwise after the “effort” the Cowboys put forward?
The worst part might be that, on the way home, Dad and I made our peace with the Cowboys’ 2008 season. The combination of injuries, talent regression, and often-poor coaching just added up to a “Not Their Year”. Losing to the Ravens was really damaging to their playoff chances, as it meant they couldn’t get in without a lot of help from other teams.
And then Tampa lost to San Diego.
And Philly lost to Washington.
And, suddenly, the Cowboys are back in control of their own destiny. Win at Philly on Sunday, and all is forgiven.
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in…
I just wish I knew which Cowboys team is going to show up in Philly.
Ron Gant, Left Fielder
Atlanta Braves 1987-1993
Cincinnati Reds 1995
St. Louis Cardinals 1996-1998
Philadelphia Phillies 1999-2000
Anaheim Angels 2000
Colorado Rockies 2001
Oakland Athletics 2001, 2003
San Diego Padres 2002
Awards
1991 NL Silver Slugger - OF
All-Star Selections: 2 (1992, 1995)
League Leader
None
Career Ranks
Home Runs: 96th
Best Performance
July 5, 1990 - New York at Atlanta
Easy pick as he matches he career high in hits (four), home runs (two), RBI (six), and total bases (eleven) in the same game.
Hall of Fame Stats
Gray Ink: Batting - 52 (477) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 26.0 (377) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 41.5 (441) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Reggie Sanders, Jeromy Burnitz, Jimmy Wynn, Andruw Jones, Bobby Bonds, Roy Sievers, Greg Vaughn, Darryl Strawberry, Bobby Thomson, Frank J. Thomas
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1987: 1/0.4
1988: 16/5.3
1989: 1/0.1
1990: 21/7.4
1991: 25/8.6
1992: 17/3.8
1993: 25/6.0
1995: 21/6.1
1996: 18/5.8
1997: 11/3.3
1998: 11/2.5
1999: 16/5.3
2000: 7/3.9
2001: 4/1.4
2002: 12/3.3
2003: 0/-0.4
Career Win Shares: 206
Career WARP3: 62.9
My Stupid Opinion
Had a nice combination of power and speed in his prime but was never among the best players in the game in any particular year. Don't think the dirt bike accident he had in '94 where he broke his leg, costing him the entire season and a contract with the Braves that he just signed a week before (oops!), hurt him too much as he followed that up with of his best seasons in '95. His #1 comp of Reggie Sanders is one of the more apt comparisons I've seen with the Similar Batters tool.
You deserve to get into the playoffs after what you did at 0:12.
And LOL at the player that threw a snowball at 0:07. Also, one of the million reasons Alan Faneca is the man -- peep 0:37.
7:30 p.m.
• Remember when high gas prices were supposed to be BAD? This was from my local liberal fishwrap last week.
STOP THE PRESSES~!!!! You mean to tell me that when you tax an evil money-making company, that evil money-making company passes on the cost to the CONSUMERS? But ... but .... we're supposed to punish the evil money-making companies!
So I guess now when President Hussein raises gasoline taxes, it will be applauded by Medium-Large Media because it's going to fund welfare road construction. Actually, I'm not guessing on this one.
Jesus tap-dancing Christ, when are we NOT in a crisis? Everybody get in their bunkers.
• We could possibly have four NFL teams with double-digit win totals miss the playoffs but have two teams at 8-8 win their respective divisions. Awesome.
• Is anyone really surprised?
Hell, I'm starting to think giving out welfare to individuals might be the better bet. At least they don't pretend to be leeches.
• So I just had a Scott Keith's Biggest Fan moment. In my own house. The better half and I got a camcorder on Black Friday. She’s playing around with the thing and trying to burn her recently film creations to DVDs. I have no motivation to figure it out. Well, here’s a conversation we just had. Figure out who’s who.
“I can’t get this video to appear on the computer. What do I do?”
“I dunno.”
“I want to burn this to a disk. I’m putting in a blank disk and nothing is happening.”
“Are you using a DVD disk?”
“No.”
“You need a DVD disk to burn DVDs.”
“You do?”
It was at this moment that infamous TSM thread popped into my head. I’m dead serious.
Go away Enigma. Nobody likes you. Nobody cares about whatever useless newsbit you just got from The Observer. Nobody wants to see your long haired mug everytime you post. In fact, nobody likes it when you post. Just stop posting. Nobody will miss you. I doubt that even much of the WWE folder likes you that much. Nobody cares that some arena got torn down, or that Michael Cole turned 40, or whatever. Just stop it. Oh, and how do you know what gay smells like? "I smell a little bit of "the gay" around here is one of the worst things said on this board.
Intro
Part One
OK, switching up the format a little bit to make it easier to read. Let's begin...
Monday Night Nitro (11-6-00. Live from The United Center in Chicago, Illinois): The show begins with a shot of the ring, surrounded by members of the WCW Security Team. WCW CEO Ric Flair makes his entrance to a mixture of boos and cheers. Flair welcomes the fans to what he hopes will be an exciting, problem free edition of WCW Nitro. He mentions last night's ECW PPV which also took place in Chicago and tells the fans in attendance who also went to that show that the opening act is over so get ready for the main event WHOOO! Flair introduces the new commissioner of WCW, his best friend..."The Enforcer" Arn Anderson. Arn comes out and shakes hands with his best buddy. Arn says there's a new sherriff in town and he's not here to play friendly with you- whether you're jerking the curtain or are a five time world champion- everybody will be treated equally.
All of a sudden, we hear someone trying to lead an ECW chant and interrupts Anderson's. Flair angrily rips the mic away from his buddy and addresses the fans. Flair says that we'll see none of that crap and if any of those thugs try to get into the ring and mess with any of tonight's match ups, then he'll see it to personally that they be hauled away to the big house by Chicago's finest. He says that's if they get there- he's surrounded the ring with members of the finest security team in wrestling and if any of those punks even have the idea of trying to play to with one of the big boys then they'll be in a world of hurt. Ric notices Paul Heyman in the front row and points him out. He calls him Paul E. Dangerously, says he wasn't good enough to cut it as a manager so he decided to form his own pissant promotion. His guys are not even worthy of being in the same ring as the men of WCW. He references Mike Awesome and Lance Storm saying that they got the hell out of ECW the first chance they got. Heyman points to Scott Hall, who is sitting next to him. Flair says Scott Hall's a bum and they can have him. Flair says ECW is filled with hasbeens and never will bes. This prompts the ECW wrestlers seated in the front row to hop over the barrier. A bunch of WCW come out to fight them off.
Flair tells everybody to stop dead in their tracks. He doesn't want anymore of this crap, he doesn't see any one of his guys injured in a street fight with a bunch of hoodlums. Flair says he'll give Paul Heyman ten minutes on the mic tonight if the ECW guys take the next bus back to whatever Motel 6 they're staying at and never show up at a WCW event uninvited again. After a few seconds of talking it over with his men, Heyman accepts and the ECW guys head for the exits.
Later that evening, Mean Gene Okerlund interviews Goldberg. He asks him about the attack at Halloween Havoc '00 by the ECW wrestlers. Goldberg says he isn't even going to waste his time on those punks. It was a bunch of overzealous fans who like to call themselves wrestlers cheapshotting him from behind, nothing more. Goldberg just wants to focus his attention on his opponent at Mayhem on November 26th, Lex Luger, a real professional wrestler and keeping his streak alive.
At the top of the hour, Pamela Paulshock brings out Paul Heyman, owner of ECW to address the audience at The United Center and watching at homes around the world. Heyman asks Paulshock who she slept with to get her job. Heyman says say what you want about that carnival barker Scheme Gene Okerland but at least he paid his dues. Heyman says that's what he's going to talk about tonight; paying your dues. The men and women of ECW have more than paid their dues. They've bled their way across North America, fighting everywhere from dog racing tracks to VFW halls to sports arenas, and yes, bingo halls. They've risked life and limb not for the almighty dollar but for a sense of respect, the ability to say that they're the better man.
The ECW fans are nearly as passionate for the sport as the wrestlers are. They will follow them to the death. Just like the wrestlers, they refuse to play by the rules and conventions. WWF and WCW have seen this and they have tried to their damndest to stop them. They've stolen some of Heyman's best wrestlers from under his nose and watered them down. They offered Mike Awesome, his World Champion, all of the money in the world to jump ship and join WCW. Mike Awesome was a killer! The most dangerous man in the sport and they turned him into a Fat Chick Thriller and a David Cassidy wannabe! WCW doesn't care about being innovative- all they care about is trying to recapture the past. Look at that vampire Kevin Nash trying to suck the heat off of a bunch of 21 year olds. Heyman mentions Goldberg trying to recapture the past by redoing his streak. No wonder why people are changing the channel!
He says that his wrestlers were not going after the Sean O'Haires, the Mark Jindraks, The Billy Kidmans, or even The Booker Ts. They're going after the establishment, the wrestlers that have hogged the spotlight for the past ten years. Kevin Nash, Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page, Ric Flair, Sting...those guys deserved it at one point but now it's time to give it over! And if they aren't willing to step aside, there are plently of guys in ECW and WCW willing to knock 'em out of it! Heyman asks the fans to make their choice; if they want to see more of the same, keep tuning into Nitro and Thunder...but if they want to see the most exciting and revolutionary names in wrestling... check your local listings and tune into ECW Hardcore TV! Heyman says the choice is theirs and thanks Flair for giving him this time and for the years of entertainment he's provided.
Heyman heads to the back and he's greeted by Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash on the entrance ramp. Heyman exchanges heated words with the duo. Heyman backs off and ends up back in the ring. Page grabs him and hits him with The Diamond Cutter and Nash hits The Jackknife Powerbomb. Paramedics rush out to attend to Heyman. While being taken to the back on a stretcher, Heyman gives the double bird to the cheering fans in attendance.
Thunder 11-8-00 (United Center in Chicago, Illinois): During a matchup between Lance Storm and Meng, a concessions worker hops over the guardrail. A few security guards to stop him but the concessions worker fights them off and climbs in the ring. He tries to fight Meng but his blows are to no avail on big man and Meng locks him in The Tongan Death Grip. Storm pulls Meng off and holds the concessions worker down until police can show up. While Meng is distracted, Storm lets go of the concessions worker and the worker rips off his disguise to reveal that he's ECW World Champion and former partner of Storm's, Justin Credible. Meng turns around and gets hit with stereo superkicks by Credible and Storm and the two engage in a beatdown of the veteran. Storm and Credible embrace and Storm grabs the mic and tells the audience while WCW may have taken Lance Storm out of ECW, you can't take the ECW out of Lance Storm.
Ric Flair grabs the mic after a commercial break and announces that you will never ever see an ECW wrestler in a WCW ring again, even if he has to hold WCW events in empty arenas with armed guards surround the building! And you will never ever see Lance Storm in a WCW ring again...period. He's fired!
ECW Hardcore TV, The Weekend of 11-11-00: The show opens with an address by Paul Heyman. Heyman announces that he's placing three $100,000 bounties on the careers of Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page, and Goldberg. These bounties aren't just available for ECW wrestlers, they're avaialble to any wrestler; ECW, WCW, WWF. He wants these men out of wrestling and he's willing to pay the price.
Later in the show, we see David Flair in the front row enjoying the show. As Sabu enters for his return match against Balls Mahoney, he notices the young wrestler and begins mocking him. David Flair shoves Sabu. Sabu challenges Flair right then and there and Flair agrees. Paul Heyman walks out and asks Balls Mahoney to step out of the ring. Flair hops over the barrier and into the ring. Sabu quickly overwhelms Flair and dominates the impromptu match. Sabu viciously assaults Flair with a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat, bloodying the son of The Nature Boy and hits a moonsault on Flair through a ringside table. After being pinned, Flair is taken out on a stretcher and Sabu hits another moonsault on the young wrestler which causes the stretcher to collapse. Having seen enough, Tommy Dreamer runs out. Sabu, expects Dreamer to join in on the assault only to be decked. Dreamer ends up helping Flair to the back to the beratement of Heyman and the ECW announcers.
Monday Nitro (11-13-00, The London Arena in London, England): The show opens with CEO Ric Flair coming out and grabbing the mic. He welcomes the fans to the event and says it's great to be back in London, England, one of the great cities in the world. He should be having the time of his life...but something's weighing on his mind. Something has upset him greatly. This weekend, his son David Flair participated in an unsanctioned match in that little beer league known as ECW. The man he fought doesn't belong in the wrestling ring, he belongs in the mental asylum! Now as a result, his son is back home clinging for his life. He's tried to ignore those punks in ECW...but he can do so no longer.If they want a fight, Ric Flair is going to give it to 'em!
At first, he was going to try to ignore. Hope that they would realize that all that they would turn back, realize what they were doing was stupid and go back to hitting each other with cheese graters in front of 500 people in a bingo hall in Philadelphia. But they kept tugging their chains and now they've woken a sleeping, angry giant! WHOOO! Ric Flair tells Paul Heyman and the rest of his punks that it's time to go to school! This is where the big boys play! Flair says they can't afford the plane fare over here but next week, they can take the Greyhound to Augusta, Georiga, Flair Country WHOOO! for Monday Nitro and try and mess with WCW!
Out of nowhere, we hear the ECW TV theme and Paul Heyman enters. Heyman tells Flair that he can't act like WCW is the innocent victim. They've stolen talent from under ECW's noses for the past five years. And don't forget that they instigated the fight at November To Remember. In fact, David Flair attacked Sabu, who was minding his own business preparing for his match. What the hell did Sabu do to deserve that? David Flair got what he had coming to him. This causes Ric Flair to snap and hit Heyman with several big chops and then puts him in The Figure Four Leglock. The CEO of WCW has to be pried off by several security guards and referees.
Thunder (11-15-00, Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, England): WCW Executive Board Member, James J. Dillon announces at the top of the show an agreement that's taken place between ECW and WCW. Since nobody wants any more of these unruly, unsanctioned brawls inside and outside of the ring, WCW CEO Ric Flair and ECW owner, Paul Heyman have agreed to a talent exchange between the two companies starting November 26th at The Mayhem PPV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Four WCW Vs ECW matches have been signed; ECW Television Champion Rhyno will take on WCW United States Champion Hugh Morrus, WCW Cruiserweight Champion "Above Average" Mike Sanders will defend his title against Yoshiro Tajiri, WCW Tag Team Champions Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak will take on ECW Tag Team Champions The Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke). In the last of the ECW Vs WCW bouts, The Impact Players (ECW World Champion Justin Credible and Lance Storm) will take on The Insiders (Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page). In addition to these four bouts, there will be a bout between two yet to be announced ECW wrestlers.
ECW Hardcore TV (The Weekend of 11-18-00): Paul Heyman addresses the audience again from his office. He thanks James J. Dillon and The WCW Executive Board for giving ECW the opportunity to perform on such a big stage next Sunday. He will not, however, thank Ric Flair. Ric Flair has unfairly verbally disparaged ECW and its wrestlers for weeks now. Heyman wonders who the thugs really are. The past two weeks he, an untrained businessman, has been attacked by wrestlers twice his size for no good reason while his employees were unable to defend him. Well they won't get that chance. On Monday Nitro, ECW will be there and there's nothing WCW can do to stop them!
Heyman also announces the ECW match that will take place at Mayhem. He says Tommy Dreamer has said he is an ECW diehard...but in reality, he's been waiting for the day that he'd get the call to join one of the big boys. He showed his true colors last weekend when he turned his back on ECW and everything its stood for by helping David Flair. Well next Sunday in Milwaukee at Mayhem, Dreamer will get what he asked for when he faces Sabu.
Monday Night Nitro (11-20-00, Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, Augusta, Georgia): Ric Flair starts the show with another speech in the middle of the ring. We see ECW wrestlers seated in a special suite backstage. He welcomes ECW and its wrestlers to tonight's show. He hopes they can get their recent history for one night before WCW kicks their ass on Sunday night at Mayhem! Wooooo!
Paul Heyman interrupts and he says he can't put behind him. He's been brutally assaulted for the past two weeks by two WCW wrestlers without provocation and Ric Flair has the balls to call his wrestlers thugs? Heyman tells Flair that he's going to start the Mayhem a little bit early. All of a sudden, Rhyno runs out of nowhere and gores Flair. Then Sabu, The Impact Players, and The Baldies run out and join in on the assault. The Insiders and The Misfits In Action come out to make the save.
All of a sudden "Enter Sandman" and we see Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman emerge from the audience. They come down to ringside and the brawling stops to see which side the two men will take. To everyone's surprise, Sandman and Dreamer begin attacking men on both sides and a wild three way brawl ensues with Spike Dudley and New Jack running into to join Sandman and Dreamer.
Later on, Tommy Dreamer walks up to Ric Flair backstage. He thanks Ric Flair for all of the years of entertainment he provided to him growing up and he thanks him for giving him the opportunity to compete on such a grand stage. Dreamer says he knew Heyman would hate him forever for helping David Flair but it's not about ECW Vs WCW, it's about right and wrong. Dreamer says he'll love ECW until he dies for giving him everything he has but he's not about to follow them blindly. Flair thanks him and tells him to kick Sabu's ass on Sunday.
WCW Thunder (11-22-00, Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, Augusta, Georgia): Ric Flair announces before the show that he's going to get the party started early and show some of those ECW punks that this is where the Big Boys play. It's easy to punk somebody out from behind but he wants to see if these guys can cut it in the ring. Flair announces that thug Rhyno who hit him from behind will be facing the seven foot tall Sgt. A-Wall and that maniac Sabu will face WCW Hardcore Champion Crowbar.
Flair himself comes out to guest commentate on The Sgt. A-Wall-Rhyno match. Rhyno, much to Flair's shock, quickly dispatches A-Wall. Defeating him in under four minutes with The Gore. After the match, Rhyno hits A-Wall with another Gore this time through a table. Luckily before the CEO can run in to mix it up with the ECW TV Champion, Hugh Morrus makes the save himself and gets into a wild brawl around ringside with Rhyno.
Later on, Sabu and Crowbar have a brutal brawl all over the arena. Sabu clearly is getting the upper hand but Tommy Dreamer runs out of nowhere and hits a DDT on the Arabian Madman and Crowbar gets the fluke win. After the match, Sabu goes nuts, taking his aggression out on ringside officials and WCW security guards.
ECW Hardcore TV (Aired The Weekend of 11-25-00): We see a promo cut backstage at The Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center with Ric Flair conducted by Joey Styles. Flair says he cannot believe that he is being interviewed on ECW Hardcore TV. He asks when the show is on and if it's even on a real network. He says him appearing in ECW is like Lawrence Olivier doing a stag film!
Flair says he's excited for Mayhem on Sunday. He says WCW is going to take ECW to school. Big Hugh Morrus, one of the most underrated men in professional wrestling, the most agile big man he's ever seen, is going to destroy that thug Rhyno. Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak are two future World Champions, they are unstoppable right now. The two little pizza men they're facing don't stand a chance. Speaking of World Champions, Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page, two certified superstars of professional wrestling are facing two wannabes. Lance Storm couldn't win a match to save his life cleanly and Justin Credible, their beanpole so-called "World Champion", looks like he should be baking breadsticks at the Olive Garden.
WOOOOO! Flair says he's looking forward to Heyman eating his words on Sunday. Yes and if any ECW wrestler wants a shot at him on Sunday, they're free to take it! Just remember, that he's not afraid to stoop to their low. In fact, he'll stoop to their low and do it better! Don't forget that The Nature Boy is The Dirtiest Player in The Game WOOO and WCW IS WHERE THE BIG BOYS PLAY! WOOOO!
Don't worry, Miss Cromartie Tournament II will be early in 2009.
Now, the first annual Cromarties:
Best Posters of 2008:
10. Draft thread participants
9. Well-dressed posters (must wear a tie)
8. Posters who are above everything
7. Misandrists
6. Sexual incompetents
5. Barack Obama supporters
4. Funny posters
3. Elitists
2. Intellectuals
1. Posters who cite sources
Best of Love, Sex, and Dating for 2008:
10. Still being friends
9. Pornography actresses
8. Going to "da club" or a party
7. Meeting a potential mate online
6. Flirting (preferably shameful flirting)
5. Dating
4. Miley Cyrus
3. Making out (necking)
2. Love
1. Sex
Best of Graphics & Testing Grounds for 2008:
10. PSD
9. PGF
8. JIF
7. BMP
6. PCX
5. TIFF
4. TGA
3. JPEG
2. GIF
1. PNG
Best of Food for 2008:
10. Pure fat
9. Vegetables
8. Vegetables that are actually fruits
7. Pure sugar
6. Whatever I can find on this God-damned island
5. Oils
4. Bird eggs
3. Fruits
2. Raw animals, live
1. Raw animals, dead
Watching the Glory Days documentary of the 1980 Phillies, former owner Ruly Carpenter mentioned a potential trade with the Texas Rangers over the winter of 1979 that would have removed three star performers of the 1980 season. Narrator Dallas Green states, "of course, we won't mention the players involved," while showing a clip of Tug McGraw. What was that trade? What would it have entailed?
Paperofrecord.com carries archives of the Sporting News. Searching for "McGraw" over the period of 1979 would bring up potential trade rumors, I would think. Sure enough, we find our answer. The Phillies seemed keen on acquiring an ace reliever. Whispers of offers to the Cubs for Bruce Sutter are mentioned, but the big one is a package to the Rangers for Sparky Lyle. Specifically, the Phillies would have sent Tug McGraw, Larry Christenson and Bake McBride to the Rangers for Sparky Lyle, outfielder Johnny Grubb, reliever Adrian Devine and maybe shortstop Pepe Frias.
Swapping Lyle for McGraw must have looked good at the time. Sparky Lyle at the time was the greatest lefty reliever of all time. Lyle however was hanging on the precipice. He bombed in 1980, producing a 4.69 ERA with Texas. Tug McGraw meanwhile battled tendonitis, but after a three week stint on the DL he came back and posted an amazing 0.52 ERA from July through the end of the season. I count 12 one-run victories among his appearances. Given that the Phillies won the NL East by a single game, surely that trade costs them the pennant.
The rest of the package looks a little more interesting. Bake McBride was the starting right fielder and a good player. McBride hit .309 in 1980 with 52 extra base hits. Among right fielders, he was middle of the pack. Grubb meanwhile was a lefty slugger, a tremendous platoon player in the era. With Grubb, the Phillies likely platoon him in right field with blazing rookie Lonnie Smith. Offensively that's a good move. Defensively with Smith in right and Greg Luzinski in left? Thank god Maddox was the Secretary of Defense.
Adrian Devine had a good ERA in 1979 but it was a fluke. He struck out merely 22 batters in 66.7 innings pitched. Sure enough, he had a 4.82 ERA the next season and never again pitched in the Majors. Frias was just an awful hitter.
So that trade costs them 1980. McBride faded after the season. Christenson gave the Phillies about 350 quality innings the rest of his career. McGraw had another good season in 1981 and hung on three more years. Grubb was a quality player but not a star. Oddly, the Phillies snagged Sparky Lyle later in the season in a September trade, sending Kevin Saucier after the season for a PTBNL. 1981 was the strike year, that is almost impossible to gauge. One wonders if the Phillies in 1982 could have contended without Christenson pitching a full season. And of course in '83 they won the pennant.
In retrospect, the trade costs them a World Championship. Thank goodness it did not happen.
David Cone, Starting Pitcher
Kansas City Royals 1986, 1993-1994
New York Mets 1987-1992, 2003
Toronto Blue Jays 1992, 1995
New York Yankees 1995-2000
Boston Red Sox 2001
Awards
1994 AL Cy Young
All-Star Selections: 5 (1988, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999)
League Leader
1988: W/L Pct.
1990: Strikeouts, K/9, K/BB
1991: Strikeouts, K/9
1992: Shutouts, K/9
1995: Innings
1998: Wins
Career Ranks
Strikeouts: 22nd
Games Started: 99th
W/L Pct: 95th
H/9: 62nd
K/9: 20th
Best Performance
July 18, 1999 - Montreal at New York (A)
Throws only 88 pitches in tossing the 15th perfect game in MLB history.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Pitching - 19 (101) (Average HOFer ≈ 40)
Gray Ink: Pitching - 165 (76) (Average HOFer ≈ 185)
HOF Standards: Pitching - 39.0 (73) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Pitching - 103.0 (90) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Pitchers in HOF: 2 (Dazzy Vance, Bob Lemon)
Other Similar Pitchers: Dwight Gooden, Tommy Bridges, Bob Welch, Orel Hershiser, Dave Stieb, Kevin Brown, Jack Stivetts, Dave McNally
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1986: 0/0.2
1987: 5/1.9
1988: 19/7.2
1989: 11/4.4
1990: 13/6.9
1991: 15/7.0
1992: 18/7.5
1993: 21/9.0
1994: 20/10.8
1995: 19/9.7
1996: 8/3.7
1997: 16/7.7
1998: 17/6.7
1999: 15/6.6
2000: 0/1.0
2001: 8/3.6
2003: 0/0.1
Career Win Shares: 205
Career WARP3: 94.2
My Stupid Opinion
You know there are crazier cases to be made than trumpeting David Cone as a HOF, although I'm not going to do it. The 1994-95 strike very likely cost him a shot at 200 wins as it occurred in the prime of his career and he had 10 to 11 potential starts wiped out in the middle of his Cy Young season of '94. But that being said he was definitely a notch below the elite pitchers of his era. Would be worthy of staying on the ballot but I think he has less than a 50/50 chance of getting the necessary 5% of the vote.
Best Poster-Agent of Oblivion. Honerable mention goes to Slayer, Venkman, Czech, Kamala, and Cheech.
Worst Poster-Tie between Marvin and the now banned Deon. Honerable mention goes to Marney, Superjerk, Chazz, Matt Young, Canadian Dragon, Taiga, cabbageboy, DarKnight, JPopStarKatsumi, kanerulesfan, Enigma, and Brody.
Best Thread-I Banned Choken One. Sure, Hawk 34 didn't deserve to be banned, but it lead to an excellent meltdown from Matt Young. Honerable mention goes to the Metal thread, where I was introduced to the likes of Paradise Lost, and talked about metal woth others. Nice to see other fans of Death.
Worst Thread-Campaign 2008. Oh yeah, I started it, but I had no idea it would lead to this: Marney's return (complete with racism and xenophobia), Marvin becoming even more annoying (yes, it was possible), Superjerk's not so well hidden issues with women and "Obama will fix everything" attitude, the liberal echo chamber growing louder, NoCalMike being an idiot-the list goes on. Honerable mention goes to this, where Marney got banned after she practically asked to be, and more happened, and the Guns n' Roses thread, which featured an ever annoying Jaxl and UYI. Hey Jaxl: 1.) Nobody but you and UYI gives a shit about Axl Rose, and 2.) Go back to telling stories about your life.
Not as Bad-EHME and The Truthiness, who don't annoy me that much these days.
Still Sucks-Marvin, who brought his act to new lows this year. Superjerk meanwhile, sucked up to Obama far too much, making me embarressed to like Obama. Chazz contines to be Chazz, Deon was finally banned, thank God, Enigma is still a mouthbreather, and Brody, who other than being a deviant, also pointlessly bumped threads (much like Deon and VanHalen, yet he doesn't get shit over it), posts unfunny pictues, and generally is not a good poster. Why people like him other than his off board antics is beyond me.
Favorite Post I Made (aka self fellatio)-Saying Taiga looks like Penn Jillette as a Post Op Tranny.
Thanks for stealing my joke that was going to be used at just the right time. Oh well, you may have those fly rhymes already posted, but you ain't got deez skills. Now chiggety check yo' self befo you wriggety wreck yo' self.
Aw hell no. Damn remixes...
5:11 onward is how it goes down in the hood.
So I recently got a Facebook account. Want to link up? PM me your name/e-mail. I have Carnival confirmed so I figure it can't get worse.
10 p.m.
• So I saw the following headline on Drudge: HITWISE INTERNET NEWS RACE: YAHOO OVER CNN.COM... GOOGLE TOPS DRUDGE... MORE...
Oh what the hell, let's give this a shot. I opened it up, and it was a PDF. I looked at the Top 10 News and Media Category Websites Ranked By US Market Share of Visits.
Yahoo! News
The Weather Channel - US
CNN.com
MSNBC
Google News
Drudge Report
Yahoo! Weather
OMG FAUXFox NewsLOL2008~!
The New York Times
People Magazine
I then went to Top Search Terms for News and Media Category. From the PDF file description: "The following report lists the most popular search terms for the 1 week ending 12/13/2008, that resulted in traffic to websites classified by Hitwise within the 'News and Media' industry. For example, the most popular search term was 'cnn' representing 0.69% of all search terms that delivered users to websites classified by Hitwise within the 'News and Media' industry."
Now I wonder why someone puts "CNN" in a search engine when "www.cnn.com" would make more sense, but whatever. Here is the list. Take a gander at what was #19.
cnn
weather
OMG FAUXfox newsLOL2008~!
drudge
drudge report
weather.com
msnbc
weather channel
cnn.com
news
caylee anthony
huffington post
tv guide
noaa
people
accuweather
national weather service
yahoo
jennifer aniston
new york times
• Get used to this. Today a state computer. Tomorrow your home PC (after they take your guns away first, of course). If the speech gestapo ever stumble across this place I'm fucked.
LOL
"State officials were unaware..." Yeah, I'm sure some Alaska public servant is working 40 hours/week going through other people's e-mails. Then again, there probably is an entire department for this. I may stand corrected on this one.
Alright if you haven't already, I advise you to read my last entry. To sum it up, after the cancellation of ECW on TNN in October '00, ECW agrees to a talent exchange with the also struggling WCW.
So I'll basically do written summaries for this first part, but as this progresses, I'll do entire results of cards for PPVs and supershows and what have you.
The story begins at WCW Halloween Havoc '00 on October 29th at The MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show is main evented by a handicap match between the team of Kronic (Brian Adams and Bryan Clarke) and WCW's beloved #1 superstar, Goldberg, who is currently fighting for his career. After a couple minutes of tepid action, Goldberg comes out victorious with his career intact much to the fans delight. However, during Goldberg's postmatch celebration, a trio of men slip past security and hop over the guard rails and into the ring. Although identified by the announcers as "overzealous, psycho fans", it's clear to the informed wrestling fan that they're ECW wrestlers Rhyno, Justin Credible, and Sabu. The three men jump Goldberg from behind and assault him viciously in the ring. However, a large contingent of the WCW roster, led by Tag Team Champions, Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak charge the ring to make the save and pummel the ECW wrestlers. Conspicously absent from the mob of WCW wrestlers are some of WCW's established veterans (Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Luger, Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T). The PPV ends abruptly as local police drag Credible, Rhyno, and Sabu away in cuffs.
The next night on Nitro, it's business as usual. The annnouncers try to ignore what happened after the main event and focus on the current storylines. Their attempt to proceed with business as usual cracks when new WCW Commissioner Mike Sanders references the event in a State of WCW address and specifically mentions Extreme Championship Wrestling, Justin Credible, Rhyno, and Sabu. He mentions that this weekend ECW will hold a PPV of its own in Chicago and Sanders says he and The Natural Born Thrillers will be there and if ECW wants a fight, they'll give it to them and any WCW wrestler who wants to join them will be gladly invited aboard Sanders' private jet to kick some ass at whatever bingo hall ECW is running this weekend.
Later during the event, "Nature Boy" Ric Flair is announced as the new CEO of WCW. During his spiel, Mike Sanders confronts Flair and expresses his disgust at the announcement. He says as long as Ric Flair, Sting, Kevin Nash, and all those old timers keep coming back, there's no room for progress for WCW. Sanders asks Ric Flair where Sting was last night when Goldberg was in trouble? Where Kevin Nash was? Sanders says they don't care about the good of the company, they care about the good of their bank accounts. If he really cares about WCW, Sanders tells Flair that he should be in Chicago on Sunday to take care of business. Ric Flair says he's forgotten more about the storied history of wrestling than Sanders will ever know. Flair says that WCW is where the big boys play, ECW is a pissant pennyante operation run out of a bingo hall in Philadelphia. They're a bunch of violent thugs, not professional wrestlers. Flair says it isn't worth their time to bother with them and encourages WCW wrestlers not to go to Chicago on Sunday and if they do show up there and get involved with ECW thugs, there will be consequences.
Soon after, ECW owner Paul Heyman issues a statement on the promotion's website, sending an open invitation to anybody on the WCW roster to compete at the November To Remember PPV on November 5th in Chicago. On that week's Thunder, Flair addresses the challenge and reiterates that anybody who wrestles or participates in any other type of attack against the ECW roster will be punished severely. He also says he's been given word from the WCW Board of Directors that if Mike Sanders shows up at the event, he will be stripped of his position as Commissioner of WCW. Sanders comes out and responds that the position doesn't mean nearly as much as defending the honor of WCW and he will be at November to Remember as will the WCW Tag Team Champions, Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak who have accepted Paul Heyman's open invitation and will compete in a match against an ECW team at November to Remember. Flair then says he'll have to strip them of their titles!
During that weekend's episode of ECW's syndicated show Hardcore TV, Paul Heyman issues a rebuttal to Ric Flair. Heyman says that ECW doesn't only house hardcore wrestlers such as The Sandman and New Jack but superb athletes like World Champion Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam. High flyers better than anybody in the joke that is the WCW Cruiserweight division. Heyman also proudly boasts that November to Remember has been sold out for months, something WCW hasn't been able to say about the venues it runs in this country for years. Heyman emphasizes that he did not order the attack on Goldberg at Halloween Havoc but he is not going to condemn. For far too long, ECW has been ignored. Since they haven't been able to get the spotlight they deserve through more passive methods, some of them have decided to do what they do best for attention, by fighting for it. Heyman says he believes ECW wrestlers are the best in the world and if anybody in WCW wants to try and prove them wrong, they are more than welcome to show up at ECW events to try and do so. As Flair once said, to be the man, you have to beat the man! WHOO!
Midway through November to Remember, there has been no sign of any of WCW's rosters. However, right before Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak's scheduled match, a parade of WCW wrestlers, led by The Steiner Brothers, make their way down to ringside to watch the match/protect their fellow WCWers. Amongst these wrestlers is Ric Flair's own son, David. Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak handily defeat their opponents, Christian York and Joey Matthews much to the chagrin of the audience. After the match, Scott Steiner grabs a mic to address the audience. Steiner disparages ECW and its fans in his own inimitable way, prompting ECW fan favorite Tommy Dreamer to come out. Dreamer says he didn't ask for a fight with WCW, a bunch of lunatics did but he can't sit here idly while Steiner tears down the promotion that's given him his livelihood. Steiner says its the only promotion that would hire Dreamer's bitch tittied, wind pants wearing ass. Dreamer says at least he worked for his spot and didn't take any shortcuts. Steiner asks what Dreamer's implying and the fans chant the short cuts that Dreamer is implying. Steiner angrily shoves Dreamer and Dreamer responds by decking Steiner to the fans' delight.
The WCW guys rush in to make the save and attack Dreamer. This prompts the ECW locker room to empty to protect one of their leaders. WCW begins to appear to get the upperhand of the brawl with Steiner placing a bloodied Dreamer in The Steiner Recliner in the middle of the ring. All of a sudden, we hear "Enter Sandman" over the PA and The Sandman makes his entrance with kendo stick and beer entoe. He manages to clear out most of the guys- WCW and ECW out of the ring until it's just The Steiner Brothers and the fallen Dreamer in the ring. The Sandman manages to fight both Steiners off to the back and the rest of the WCW guys quickly follow.
The crowd manages to calm down enough before the main event; a Double Jeopardy match for the ECW World title between Champion Jerry Lynn, The Sandman, Justin Credible, and Steve Corino. Corino eliminates the exhausted Sandman with The Old School Explosion and Credible pins Lynn with The That's Incredible. Corino hits Credible with a superkick and appears to have the victory and The ECW World title when Credible's old friend, Scott Hall appears out of nowhere and attacks Corino and hits The Outsider's Edge on him. Credible covers for the win and The ECW World Championship. After the match, Credible and Hall celebrate in the ring together. Paul Heyman comes out and offers Hall an ECW t-shirt which Hall gladly accepts. Heyman grabs the mic and says that tomorrow night...Monday Nitro will be in Chicago and he and the rest of ECW will be in the audience!
Alright part two will be up in the next couple days. Any feedback (negative or positive- just try to make it semi-constructive) is welcome.
Hey, you people elect them.
I have to LOL regarding "the rich" paying more for luxury items. Because it worked so well with George H.W. Bush taxed yachts during his administration.
I also have to LOL when people make fun of the South for being overwhelmingly Republican considering the Northeast is more Blue than the South is Red.
10:30 p.m.
• I like Charles Barkley. He's an entertaining fellow. But please STFU already about this.
As most of you know, when it comes to college football I know jack shit. However, once I found out Chizik was the defensive coordinator at Auburn a few years ago when the team was 13-0 and in a BcS "National Title" controversy I knew the "Number 1" reason he was picked. He's a good ol' boy that had success at the school not too long ago. Complain about that if you want. But when you, and other PC faggots, start throwing around the RACSIM~! card, most of us just roll our eyes and go "n*gga plz."
Charles added that Turner Gill would have won at Auburn if given the chance. Other ESPN pinheads have commented on Chizik's record at Iowa State. Fair enough. I wondered a bit why a 5-19 record warranted a career advancement. However, would Turner Gill have been successful at Iowa State after two seasons? Maybe Chizik was in a bad situation and wanted to get out. The Big 12 is a bigger playground than the Mid-American Conference.
Because I'm curious, I decided to compare the resumes of both Chizik and Gill. From Wiki:
Chizik
Gill
So which one would you take? I would go with Chizik because he played a bigger part in the success of the schools he was a coordinator at than Gill and his accomplishments. Guess that makes me a RACIST~! Then again, Gill's photo isn't on Wiki, yet Chizik has an image posted. Uh-oh. Could it be Wiki-RACISM~!?
Mo Vaughn, First Baseman
Boston Red Sox 1991-1998
Anaheim Angels 1999-2001
New York Mets 2002-2003
Awards
1995 AL MVP
1995 AL Silver Slugger - 1B
All-Star Selections: 3 (1995, 1996, 1998)
League Leader
1995: RBI
1996: Runs Created
Career Ranks
Homeruns: 91st
SLG%: 56th
OPS: 59th
Best Performance
September 24, 1996 - Baltimore at Boston
Hits three homeruns against the Orioles, all of them off of David Wells.
Hall of Fame Stats
Black Ink: Batting - 4 (405) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 78 (301) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 29.9 (274) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 86.5 (191) (Likely HOFer > 100)
Similar Batters in HOF: None
Top 10 Similar Batters: Paul Konerko, Ted Kluszewski, David Justice, Kent Hrbek, Carlos Lee, Derrek Lee, Hal Trosky, Joe Adcock, David Ortiz, Richie Sexson
Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3)
1991: 6/1.3
1992: 7/1.8
1993: 19/6.3
1994: 17/6.8
1995: 24/7.3
1996: 29/8.1
1997: 22/7.4
1998: 25/9.3
1999: 19/4.3
2000: 17/4.9
2002: 15/3.5
2003: 1/0.1
Career Win Shares: 201
Career WARP3: 61.2
My Stupid Opinion
Although his 1995 AL MVP was a complete joke, Vaughn did have a nice little run with the Red Sox. But it was not surprising that a man of his, um, girth did not age well at all. He was already in the middle of perpetual decline when he missed the whole 2001 season due to a ruptured tendon in his left arm. Fun Fact: Vaughn was the highest paid player in baseball during his final active season where he hit .190/.323/.329 in 27 games. Remember kids, it pays to have a good agent.
Alright folks, I'm back with some fantasy wrestling stuff far too dorky even for the wrestling sections of this book.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be exploring an interesting "What if?" What if, after the cancellation of ECW on TNN in October 2000, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling agreed to a talent exchange? In addition to featuring each others talent on their respective shows, what if Paul Heyman was named head booker for WCW and color commentator for its flagship show Monday Nitro?
Now this would be an extremly unlikely scenario for a multitude of reasons but hey it's called fantasy wrestling and for the next few weeks, I'll explore the possibilities of this scenario and book the company from the initial invasion till the planned Big Bang PPV that was scheduled to take place on May 6th, 2001 before WCW was bought by Vince McMahon.
Before we start though, let's run down the champions and top five contenders for both companies, shall we?
WCW World Champion- Booker T
Top Five Contenders
1. Scott Steiner
2. Goldberg
3. Lex Luger
4. Kevin Nash
5. Jeff Jarrett
WCW U.S. Champion- Hugh Morrus
1. Lance Storm
2. Buff Bagwell
3. Bam Bam Bigelow
4. Sgt. A-Wall
5. Disco Inferno
WCW Cruiserweight Champion- Mike Sanders
1. Kwee Wee
2. Elix Skipper
3. Rey Mysterio Jr
4. Kidman
5. Lieutenant Loco
WCW Tag Team titles- Sean O'Haire and Mark Jindrak
1. The Insiders
2. Kronic
3. The Filthy Animals
4. The Perfect Event
5. The Boogie Knights
ECW World Champion- Jerry Lynn
1. Rob Van Dam
2. Justin Credible
3. Steve Corino
4. The Sandman
5. CW Anderson
ECW Television Champion- Rhyno
1. Yoshiro Tajiri
2. New Jack
3. Spike Dudley
4. Nova
5. Super Crazy
ECW Tag Team Champions- Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke)
1. Yoshiro Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck
2. Danny Doring and Amish Roadkill
3. Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney
4. Christian York and Joey Matthews
5. Chris Chetti and Simon Diamond
Not posters, people.
Wost Overall: Rod Blagojevich-It's all pretty obvious really. Trying to sell Obama's seat is one thing, and so is corruption, and that hair which makes him look like a giant Lego figurine, but witholding money from a fucking Children's hospital is another.
Rush Limbaugh-From racist comments, "Operation Chaos", and saying "COLIN POWELL ONLY SUPPORTS OBAMA CUZ HEZ BLACK LOL!", Rush contimues to make my blood boil.
Alex Jones and the 9/11 Truth Moviement-Also file under "why won't they go away" These idiots, no matter how many times they are proven wrong, no matter how many times science, common sense, and logic disproves them, continue to cling to straws, It's like arguing with a kid who just sticks their fingers in their ears and says "LA LA LA I'M NOT LISTENING!" Even Bill Clinton called them out.
Ron Paul Fans-The most annoying political supporters don't go to McCain, or to Obama-they go to Ron Paul. Picking up truthers, white supremacists, dumb anarchist kids, dumb teenagers, frat boys, socialists, hippies-they all flocked in. I hate them.
Lifetime Achievement Award-Robert Mugabe-As much as I dislike Bush, he ain't got shit on this motherfucker. Really. He earned it in a way. This is pure evil incarnate people.
I normally don't pay attention to the NFL's Thursday Night Game, so I didn't know who won/covered the spread. After going through your picks this week I now know New Orleans was the victor -- either outright or the team lost by less than 3.5 points. Thanks for saving me a trip to NFL.com.
1 p.m.
• So the guy from Oklahoma won the Heisman. Whatever. I was pulling for Colt, but this guy had the bigger numbers 'n stuff. Not like any of this matters in the NFL, though.
• And last night while having SportsCenter on as background noise, I got to hear this gem. Some idiot anchor was trying to make a connection with the RECSSSION and people getting there jobs turk'en with the plethora of NBA coaches getting fired. Uh, dipshit, NBA coaches getting fired isn't quite the same as Joe Blow getting laid off because his business is closing. Why can't you idiots just stick to reading scores? Even Jay Harris, who is probably my favorite SportsCenter anchor, was acting a fool alongside this other guy, who I saw host a NFL Live once in a while but that's about it. Ugh.
