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Irony is anybody calling for ECW footage calling WWE fans "sheep". -=Mike I'm not trying to imply that the WWE fans are the only sheep in the pasture. Each federation (from ECW to WWE to ROH to CZW, etc etc) has (or had) it's own sheep, as I find that wrestling fans that actually think for themselves to be in the minority. It's normally "who does everyone else find cool? Oh, I like them, too". Just my two cents. And having said all that, points to you for noting the irony. And using irony correctly.

I'm very, very tempted to steal this post as my new signature. Best laugh I've had all day.

Actually, that's untrue. They are 6-6-3 against the SE division. They are surprisingly best against the Atlantic Division, clocking in at a superb 12-2. How dare you bring stats and facts into my opinion-based, factless rant and rave?!? (nl5 considers himself corrected)

Warrior's charisma had a lot to do with the way that he was booked. Think of him in his greener days (either as Rock of the Blade Runners or as the Dingo Warrior in WCCW) - he came across as a stiff. It was only when he was given the 'run in, shoulderblock the guy a few times, shake the ropes and pin him after a splash' image was he viewed as being charismatic.

TC, am I reading your post wrong, or are there NO teams that you'd like the Leafs to face in round 1? Because if playing no one is an option, I'd like to see the Bruins play in round 2 for a change. Having said that, the teams that I'd most like the Bruins to face in round 1 are either Tampa or Montreal. And not just because I think that they'd be two of the most "win-able" series, but because I'm a very selfish person. If the B's were playing in Tampa, you'd see nl5 on a road trip to warm and sunny Florida. It'll already be April, so it's not like it'll be the dead of winter here or anything. But it'd be a fun trip to make for the first 2 games of the series. And if we played the Habs, I could drive up for each game that was in Montreal and barely have to miss work. I went up for the Montreal games when the B's and Habs played 2 years ago (fucking first round upset!) and would do that again in a heartbeat. Toronto & Ottawa are too far to drive to without having tickets in advance, Philly and Long Island are shitholes (plus, I'd be hesitant to go to Philly as a fan of the visiting team), and Jersey plays on an exit ramp off the highway. If the Sabres made it, and ended up matched against the Bruins, I'd contemplate making the drive - if tickets were available.

a) releasing a dvd has NOTHING to do with a push, it has to do with making the company some money. I'd don't think giving Flair half the tag straps was related to his dvd, it was just to give the 4 members of Evolution some gold. b) if they marketed it right (e.g. showed some of his bumps and risks from ECW) then the marks would buy it. Watching him somersault from the ropes into the crowd is not something that the WWE sheep see everyday, and if given teaser clips of bumps like that, people would buy it. c) I'm not a proponent of an RVD dvd, nor would I buy one. Just giving my two cents with parts a) & b).

Ew, NO. The Expos situation has been an unmitigated disaster for all involved. The league does need to force a sale, however. And how great would it be to see the entire Northeast division make the playoffs? While it's not my best idea ever, I'm sticking with my "league owns the team" dream. While my top choice would be to force a sale (to someone that cared even a slight bit about the team and it's fans, rather than just the almighty dollar), I'd rather have ANYONE own the team than Wirtz. It amazes me, as a Bruins fan who absolutely despises Jeremy Jacobs, that Wirtz might have done more irreperable damage to his fanbase than Jacobs has. Of course, no one is more hated than JJ: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/2001/0710/1224543.html And I agree, it'd be awesome to see all 5 NE teams make the postseason. It'd be so old-school to see division rivals playing in the postseason (reminiscent of the Bruins-Whalers, then Bruins-Canadiens postseason battles year in and year out)

Well, he was JTTS Leon "Bull Power" White in the AWA. But, that was 1986. -=Mike And I think he even went by "the Baby Bull" before he was "Bull Power". All I remember about him from that era was how bad Hansen brutalized him (both in the storylines and in reality).

Not that I disagree with you, but the WWE has been pretty apathetic about teaming up guys that look like a tag team for a while now. (e.g. Flair & Batista, Cade & Jindrak, Storm & Morley, hell if it wasn't for their matching outfits you could put Team Angle in there)

Chicago would have a hard time winning the Frozen 4 this year, let alone make the NHL playoffs. While I recognize why they can't do anything about it, I really wish the league could intervene and stop Wirtz from further fucking up one of the original 6 teams. I couldn't care less about the new teams, but to see a team that has such a rich history in the league get turned into a laughingstock just sucks. I wish the NHL could do with the Hawks what MLB did with that team in Montreal and assume ownership. On a completely unrelated note, congratulations to the Sabres fans on the board. Your boys are looking really good lately. I'd like to see them leapfrog over the Isles and Habs and sneak into the playoffs. And to show how distorted the league is this year, I'd choose the Sabres (who are stuck in last place in the NE) over any team in the SE except the Lightning. And TB only has so many points because they have the luxury of playing the Caps, Canes, Thrashers and Panthers so often.

Actually, you might be surprised. There are definitely some people on this board that could persuade me to read a book or author by talking about it. (similarly, there are people that could dissuade me from reading a book or author by promoting it). I remember one of the last literature discussions that I participated on this board was from like April or May of last year and it was just people discussing which authors they'd been digging lately.

I have no issues with it ... Victoria is one of the few wrestlers that I like (of either gender) so her having a pretty swank finisher is a-ok in my book. Especially compared to the other options that you referenced (no offense meant to London-fans on this board, he's just not one of my favorites)

I think the fact that the arena started chanting "HBK" when the Bisch told hhh to pick his opponent for Wrestlemania will carry more weight than an internet-based petition.

Count me among those that thought that Mikka (however the hell you spell her name) was as close to hot as a "little person" could be. Her and (maybe) that one freaky girl with her lip pierced were the only two that I thought were cute. And their attractiveness was limited to when they were shown close-up, when you really couldn't make out their size limitations. When they showed them from a distance, or with a full body shot, it was just too much for me and I wasn't feeling them as much.

The cynic in me thinks that VKM will find out that Guerrero is only 5'9" and 220 pounds, and will have the decision overturned on Smackdown. The rest of me says congratulations to Guerrero. The fact that he was able to overcome his demons and succeed to this level is impressive. (Acknowledging that wrestling is fake, and thus he really didn't succeed the way that John Daly did. But he did succeed in that he reached a level of trust-worthiness to the point that the powers-that-be were willing to put their belt on him)

I'd love it if the Red Sox made some pitch to the Rangers and picked up Soriano. Not that I'm a Soriano fan by ANY stretch of the imagination, but it'd be a pretty good response to the Yankees getting Rodriguez.

When I'm trying to determine a conference's "toughness", I try to avoid their ranking in the top 25, but instead compare it to a different conference. For example, could the #5 team in one conference beat the #5 team in a different conference? What about if the bottom teams from each conference played each other? Or the top teams? If the top 2, 3, 4 teams in one would beat the same ranked in the other, then that conference is tougher. If the bottom 2 or 3 teams in one would beat the other (but not the top teams) then that conference is DEEPER but not necessarily tougher. I'm unsure if I worded that well, but I'm too damn lazy to erase it and try to re-explain it. Hopefully it makes sense.

NASCAR is a sport ... the same way that ballroom dancing is considered a sport. And bowling. And golf. And cheerleading. And anything else that's competitive and takes skill and practice. But even if you consider the people that play the sports listed above as "athletes", you have to admit that they're less athletic than people that play other sports (e.g. football, soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball, etc.) And 2GOLD, you mentioned Fielder and Karros as proof that baseball players aren't athletic. It's an unfair comparison, to take 2 of the least athletic players as symbols for the entire sport. For every Cecil Fielder or David Wells there are dozens of in-shape players. If you're going to take the least athletic of one sport, you'd have to take the least athletic of all sports. Or, conversely, take the most athletic of all sports. And, by that comparison, I truly think that NASCAR drivers can barely be considered athletes.

TC, goalies not handling the puck behind the goal line and the no-touch icing are two different entities. You're right, goalies don't touch the puck on icing, so the one rule change (no-touch icing) doesn't effect the other rule change at all. If it's icing, blow the play dead as soon as the puck crosses the goal line, without the footrace for the puck. If it's not an icing call, the defenseman will have to come back and play the puck. I don't endorse the no-touch icing rule as a way to protect the defensemen, but instead support it because I like the flow of it better. I also think that a team that's shorthanded shouldn't be able to ice the puck without repurcussion. If a team was unable to ice it on a PK, and the no-touch icing rule was in effect, a team would have to work to get the puck out of it's zone which would increase the chances of a turnover and thus an odd-man rush. I do agree with you that the goalies are allowed to make too much contact for a player that can't be hit. If their ability to handle the puck was limited, though, their chances to hit people would be limited as well. But for obstruction, charging, tripping, etc. penalties, call the goalie the same as every other player. Lastly, most of the problems that I see in today's game have happened since Bettman took office (e.g. over-expansion, escalating salaries, stupid rule changes, etc.). He's made it into the NBA-lite, and I hate that fact. Someone that had more love or respect for the game would have taken care of it better for this last decade, and I don't think that the game would be in such dissaray today.

I used to think that the league should make hitting the goalies legal, but have just recently changed my views on the subject. With the number of teams in the league, there aren't enough quality goalies for each team to have an NHL-level backup. And I'd hate to see a team's chances of doing ANYTHING worthwhile get pissed away by a 4th string nobody taking out another team's goalie for any stretch of time. (e.g. if the Bruins lost Raycroft for any stretch of time, they'd be FUCKED with Potvin as their #1). The goalie is like a quarterback, and needs some special rules to ensure their safety. The rules changes that I'd like to see: no-touch icing; touch-up offsides; limiting the size of the goalies pads; not allowing the goalies to handle the puck behind the net; eliminate the instigator rule; change the OT rules so that no points are awarded for a tie, it's 2 points for a win or no points for a loss or tie. And the biggest, most important change of them all: FIRE GARY BETTMAN, and replace him with someone who CARES ABOUT THE SPORT.

Seeing as hockey is one of the two sports that I actually care about, yes, I'll miss it if/when there is a lockout. Luckily, though, I live in the college hockey capital of America, so I can go see BU, BC, Harvard, etc. play to get my live-hockey fix.

First, the sarcastic prick comment: "oh, who will I ever root for in the Olympics soccer without the US to passionately follow?!?". Soccer goes over in the US about as well as a fart in church, so I don't think many Americans will be losing sleep over us not qualifying. Second, angry prick comment: I've heard that the fans chanted "Osama, Osama" to the point that it drowned out the US National Anthem. Fuck them if that's true. I'd love to see the US refuse assistance if/when they get hit by an earthquake or some other calamity. Not that the US gov't ever would, but it'd be fine by me if they did.

What's the point of trading for Burke to leave the kid as your #1? If they were going to keep playing Niittymaki for the stretch drive, they shouldn't have pulled the trigger on the Burke trade and just rode Niittymaki until Esche got healthy. Then, come playoff time, keep Esche as your starter with Niittymaki as your backup. And count me among those that thought the Comrie to Philly trade as a good move by Clarke. Not a great move, mind you, b/c I don't think that depth at forward was a concern for Philly, but anytime you can pick up a decent player without costing yourself too much from your present team, it's got to be considered a good trade. (e.g. Weinrich to the Blues, Slegr to the B's, etc.)

Michaels is a tweener ... he'll be a face at WM (probably even getting more or louder pops than Benoit) but he'll be a heel at Backlash. My guess is the same as a few other people's - Michaels wins at WM (probably over HHH) and then faces Benoit the following month, and Benoit finally wins the title there. And for all the people who are saying "Benoit's title reign won't mean shit if it's not at WM" ... many of you are the same ones that have been bitching forever about getting Benoit into the main event scene, and now that it's happening it's still not good enough. If someone had told you a year ago that your God would be winning the belt in his hometown, the collective masturbation session would have been audible for miles. But now that it might come to fruition, it's not good enough. Bunch of masochists.

I'm not 100% sure (I'm not the biggest connoisseur of gay porn) but I do think that there's a black gay porno star named Sean Michaels ... the spelling might be off, but I do know that it's spelled differently than the pro-wrestling Shawn Michaels. Due to the name, people have mistakenly thought that the wrestler has appeared in gay porn. Personally, I always thought that Shawn Michaels the wrestler was kind of "gay" ... I don't know why, really, but between the leather and his hairy chest and just the way he posed and strutted, he just seemed like he preferred the company of men. Not a knock against him or anything like that, but his attempts at seeming tough or macho always seemed two parts Freddie Mercury & one part Frankie Goes to Hollywood.