HarleyQuinn

To me it looked like it was Psychosis, although I also thought it could've been Super Calo on first take.

WCW Desire

Bumping this thread given the recent action in the "dropped ball" thread... I think (aside from the big names) there were several harmful factors... #1: The first "WCW" match between Booker T and Buff Bagwell. They not only changed the entire set, etc. to give off a WCW feel but ended the match by literally throwing both Booker and Bagwell out of the arena. This match was promoted as a WCW match and featured the then WCW Champion. You really can't bury a company more than by saying that their product is so inferior, their talents should be thrown out of the arena (even the Champion). #2: A lot of the talent that was brought in were not only marginal lower card guys but guys that simply wouldn't have made a dent otherwise. They signed several cruiserweights (Billy Kidman, Shane "Gregory" Helms, Chavo Guerrero Jr) despite a very poorly featured lightweight division in general. They signed decent talents and barely gave them any time to be featured as nothing more than fodder (Lance Storm, Kanyon, Mike Awesome, Sean O'Haire, Chuck Palumbo). They could've brought in different mid level talent to bolster some depth (esp. tag teams: David Flair/Crowbar maybe with Daffney to compete in the newly reborn Women's Division, Bam Bam Bigelow was a familiar name to WWF fans at the time, Ernest Miller could've gotten over with his James Brown dancing gimmick, Konnan could've been a draw to the diversity of fans the WWF had at the time ala Eddie Guerrero later on) #3: The big guys that they did sign (Booker T, DDP) were immediately fed to guys like Undertaker/Steve Austin/Kurt Angle and were basically massacred on arrival. No way was The Alliance going to be taken seriously by anybody when Undertaker/Kane just demolished the WCW Tag Champions and Steve Austin/Kurt Angle were routinely getting an edge over the WCW Champion. Not to mention, Undertaker would go on to annihilate DDP. I'm not really sure that the same scenario would've changed if the WWF had brought in guys like Ric Flair, Hogan, Goldberg, and Sting. They might've had them dominate for a bit but eventually they were gonna get run over once their usefulness was done. #4: The WWF never built up a reason to build the names outside of "They're WCW/ECW" and never gave any sort of background for the fans to give a damn... They were largely just a brand coming in without any individual identity outside of maybe Booker T and DDP. #5: WCW/ECW's Alliance got buried immediately. The Smackdown after the formation: Mike Awesome loses the Hardcore Title to Jeff Hardy. On the following Raw: Kurt Angle easily dispatches Raven (who really could've been a useful guy promo wise to help build things up) and fends off an ambush with a steel chair by himself. Smackdown: Chris Jericho loses to DDP by DQ but still puts him into the Walls after the match. All the "big" main events went to no contests. A lot of the focus was on NWO style beat downs by The Alliance but they never had that domination like the NWO had in WCW. The NWO there had the WCW Title, the Tag Titles, and were legit beating down any and everyone that they wanted to. Here, The Alliance didn't hold any major titles and were largely seen as inferior because they were never given a clean finish win over guys like Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, or The Undertaker. #6: They kept the WCW Titles around despite the lack of a WCW show. This decimated them because it gave The Alliance no incentive outside of just to be around. It's not like Booker T or DDP "invaded" with the goal being to win the WWF Title and change it to the WCW Title. Sean O'Haire/Chuck Palumbo didn't come in to prove WCW superiority and claim the WWF Tag Team Titles. It was all about Shane/Stephanie/Paul Heyman getting revenge on Vince McMahon and outside of Heyman, they didn't have ANY ties to WCW or ECW to make them mean anything. It didn't help when the WWF guys started winning the WCW Titles (The Rock, Angle as WCW Champion, X-Pac as WCW Cruiserweight Champ, Undertaker/Kane as WCW Tag Champs) when the inverse should've been happening almost immediately. #7: The invading talent were immediately given "roles" in the company. The signed cruisers never fought the big name WWF guys (or even the mid-level guys). Torrie Wilson/Stacy Kiebler couldn't wrestle to save their lives so they didn't impact the Women's Division at all. There was no sense of anarchy at all... you had RVD becoming the Hardcore Champion when he really should've been in the IC Title/WWF Title mix at the very least but he came from ECW, so there he was stuck. You suddenly had Undertaker/Kane "down" at the Tag Title level partly because they kept the WCW Tag Titles and as a result, the feud fizzled when it should've been that Palumbo/O'Haire were coming in and challenging the "elite" pairing of Undertaker/Kane without any titles.

Edit: See Replacement Pick Above

Replacement Pick (If okay with MJ. F'n Mussina) SP Wandy Rodriguez

I'm in favor and didn't a guy draft a player who was out for the year in the past?

All I have to say is poor Glen Ruth... Eats a Dragon Suplex, Steiner Screwdriver, and the Flying Bulldog and looks good as dead by the end.

Question: Did the WWF have a working relationship with Japan during 1999? I was looking through old events and this popped out at me: March 29th, 1999 - Malia Hosaka defeated Brandi Alexander. Note that Shotgun and Super Astros were taped after and Raw aired live. Was the WWF looking at bringing in female workers at this time period?

Former Bears and Bills guard Ruben Brown announced his retirement from football.

Some NFL nominees... Using the idea of literally "disappearing" after they appear. RB Rashaan Salaam (2001): 296-1074-10 TD his rookie year. Gone by age 25. RB James Allen (2000): 290-1120-2 in his 3rd season. Gone by age 27. RB Olandis Gary (1999): 276-1159-7 his rookie year. Gone by age 28. RB Karim-Abdul Jabbar (1996): 307-1116-11 in his rookie year. Follows it up with two seasons over 890 yards and gone by age 26. RB Ronald Moore (1993): 263-1018-9 in his rookie year. Gone by age 28.

I thought these rating notes were interesting... Numbers came from Wrestling Information Archive - Raw's First "Explosion" Ratings Wise: April 6th, 1998 (Jumped from a 3.8 the week before to a 4.7 that show) - Raw's First "Peak" Ratings Wise: April 28th, 1998 - May 18th, 1998 (Hit ratings of 5.7, 5.5, 4.3, and 5.3) - Raw's Second "Peak" Ratings Wise: November 9th, 1998 - December 14th, 1998 (Hit ratings of 5.0, 5.5, 4.9, 5.0, 5.15, and 5.2) - Raw's First Surreal Eye Popping Numbers: May 10th, 1999 - June 28th, 1999 (Hit at least 6.7 on 5 of their 7 shows) - Raw's Subsequent Demise: August 28th, 2000 (Dropped from 5.9 and 6.2 the previous two weeks to a 4.9 that show) - Raw's Low Point: December 24th, 2007 where they registered a 2.5

I'll argue the WCW/Bret Hart scenario for several reasons... 1: You're coming off an event where Bret Hart essentially "got screwed" by the WWF, lost the World Title in his home country, and was proficient enough on the mic to keep up with the stars you had. This guy was arguably the face of the WWF from 1992-1997. It's like luring an in his prime Hogan. 2: He had plenty of feuds that could've been utilized at the time from mid-card level up to the elite tier if you wanted to build him up that way: DDP, Chris Benoit, Lex Luger, Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Ric Flair, Goldberg, and Sting. Many of these guys Bret had some familiarity with from his WWF days that could've been built up as well. 3: An ideal scenario would've been Bret coming in and joining up with Sting/Flair/Goldberg taking on the NWO in a fresh feud with the NWO featuring Hogan, Hall, Nash, and a fourth member of your choosing. He also had Bulldog/Neidhart coming in and you could've set that trio up as a third stable (throw in Benoit possibly) and have them feuding with the NWO with others on their own such as Sting and Goldberg. 4: You had several "dream matches" instantly: Bret Hart vs. a red hot DDP, Bret Hart vs. Sting, Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair, Bret Hart vs. Goldberg, and finally Bret Hart vs. Hogan. WCW could've easily milked those individual matches for at least 5-6 months each if not longer. You could've also had Benoit feud with Bret over the US Title to build him up, then move Bret to the top.

Surprised a guy like Ralph Wilson beat out Tagliabue if they had to go that route... or the Sabols, although it seems the NFL is trying to phase them out so meh.

People say it's the best sport to watch live generally for a reason... The TV broadcasts just can't match the live feel for a couple reasons I think. 1: The cameras are too zoomed in and as a result, you'll see the camera often "jerk" to catch up with the puck. I saw it with the most recent Bruins game and even as a hockey fan, it's hard to stay with a game when the camera loses the puck a bit, meaning you, the viewer also lose the puck. This also limits the ability to catch long feed passes (a breakaway pass was largely missed and the camera just barely caught up to the shooter in the Bruins game). The few times they have panned back from the action/zoomed out, it's given it more of that live feel. 2: Because of #1 coupled with the constant action, it's hard to follow just one player. In other sports, you can usually see where Player X is at all times whereas in hockey, between the unannounced line shifts and speed, it's nearly impossible to figure out if your favorite player is on the ice (unless you can catch a glimpse of all of the jersey numbers) and where he is at all times so it's harder to market a guy when the fan struggles to follow them the entire game. The few times a camera would zoom in on a defenseman's face after an outlet pass, I found myself annoyed that I couldn't see the action that was going on for 1-2 seconds. It's really not the kind of sport set up (on TV anyway) to isolate individual players like basketball because the speed is just too constant for that to work. 3: There's almost no downtime for broadcasters to "analyze" a play or explain to casual fans small things/strategy going on outside of brief penalties and icing calls. This is all largely done during the intermissions when most fans do other things until the game gets back on. Unlike every other sport, the NHL can't "stop" and have a broadcaster diagram how Player X swung around on a centering pass, dodged Player Y, and hit the crossbar all in slow motion from multiple angles. It's hard for the casual fan to get in and understand a bit of the intricacies in comparison to say the NFL, where John Madden is honestly a great broadcaster for a casual fan watching his first ever NFL game.

Some notes/news... - The Vikings are reportedly interested in getting QB Tarvaris Jackson involved in Mixed Martial Arts this offseason to improve his hip work. I've seen offensive linemen (and defensive linemen) mention that they've used martial arts as a form to increase their hand technique (one example came from the 1999 Rams "America's Game" show on NFL Network). Not sure that this will help Jackson much. - New offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye believes RB Frank Gore has the "capability to carry the ball 25 times (a game)." There's a difference between capability and production. The past 3 years he's averaged 20, 17, and 17 carries a game. Not sure his health would allow him to carry the ball 25 times a game and if he were completely healthy, that would be 400 carries on the year. I could see him around 19-20 carries a game on the high end (16 game season = 304-320 carries).

QB Jim Everett... the late 80's/early 90's "Archie Manning" of my generation. He had only 2 seasons with more than 7 W despite his numbers - Career 57.7% completion rate - Threw 203 TD vs. 175 INT - Had 5 seasons where he threw for more than 3,800 yards - Had 6 seasons with over 20 TD and led the NFL with 31 and 29 in back to back years - Ran for almost 600 yards in his career - In an 8 season stretch, he threw for over 20 TD in 6 of them On the downside, he had 6 seasons with 17 or more INT

In Football... Some of these come from fans too. 1: Overachiever with a High Motor - A guy who gets drafted in the 5th/6th/7th who's average but in the right scheme (i.e. maybe fits 2-3 teams at best) could be good for a few seasons. 2: Player X can be coached up - Has all the talent in the world but struggles character wise and has deficits that can be fixed by sheer willpower from the coaching staff, ignoring the fact that said character struggles will likely render him a bust more than likely. 3: Player X needs a change of scenery - This coaching staff/front office really fucked up the kid's talent/potential but if he goes elsewhere, he'll be a journeyman backup at best or out of the league entirely at worst. Look at QB Alex Smith in San Francisco right now who'll be 23/24 next season. 4: Team X has a history of drafting good players at this position - This ignoring the small sample size and where the players are drafted. See the Steelers taking LB in the 3rd-5th rounds or later and people thinking all these guys came earlier in the draft. 5: Team X got "lucky" taking Player X - Tom Brady, 6th Round, 2001. Of course they got lucky! Any player drafted after the 1st round who plays really well with a team means that team got "lucky" taking them. Credit to the front office/coaching staff for giving the guy an opportunity to start. 6: Player X at QB was carried by a great defense - Every team that wins in the playoffs more often than not has a great defense. Very rarely do you see a QB carry a piss poor defense on his back to a SB win. Just because a QB doesn't put up gaudy stats doesn't mean he sat there itching his ass while the rest of the team played around him. Also: Game Manager is NOT a bad thing... 7: Quarterback X is a system QB - Fuck.Off. Every single QB out there is a system QB in some way, shape, or form. Peyton Manning has played in the same system since 1999 but nobody calls him out on being a product of the system. Steve Young & Joe Montana were monsters in the WCO, where's the clamoring? I know this more relates to "gimmicky" offenses like the Run & Shoot or Spread Pass but they excelled in those systems just like any good QB is supposed to. You learn the system and play it well... 8: Team X just needs one piece - Yeah, if it was that simple than every single team could add a stud WR/stud RB/stud QB/stud "insert position" and go to the SB in the ensuing year. New England's success in 2007 was they added Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Sammy Morris, and completely overhauled their offensive system as well as adding pieces here and there elsewhere... but it was all thanks to them adding Moss/Welker that the light went on. 9: Team X's Coaches/Players have experience in the playoffs/SB - Everybody says this or says a team doesn't have experience (Arizona in 2009) ignoring the fact that players or assistants may have experience (i.e. QB Kurt Warner, Coaches Ken Whisenhunt & Russ Grimm)

Thought this was an interesting find... Note: Draft results from 2001 - 2007

I found this interesting and didn't realize just how many "name" starters on both sides actually went undrafted out of college. I also noticed that Pittsburgh has a serious knack for drafting their defense in the 3rd-5th rounds. - RB Willie Parker (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of North Carolina - RB Gary Russell (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of Minnesota - WR Nate Washington (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of Tiffin - TE Jerheme Urban (Arizona Cardinals) out of Trinity - K Jeff Reed (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of North Carolina - DT/DE Travis Kirschke (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of UCLA - LB James Harrison (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of Kent State - DB Ryan Clark (Pittsburgh Steelers) out of LSU - DB Roderick Hood (Arizona Cardinals) out of Auburn - DB Aaron Francisco (Arizona Cardinals) out of BYU

Some contract signings... San Diego Chargers signed CB DeJuan Tribble, their 6th round draft pick last year out of Boston College. Buffalo Bills signed WR P.K. Sam, a special teams player who's bounced around the league since being drafted by New England in 2004. Baltimore Ravens signed WR Justin Harper, their 7th round pick last year from Virginia Tech, WR Ernie Wheelwright, a UDFA from Minnesota, and RB Matt Lawrence, a UDFA from Boston College. Coaching News - Chargers named former Browns offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski assistant head coach/tight ends. - Carolina Panthers hired Ron Meeks as defensive coordinator. He was with Indianapolis.

ESPN Scroll just said that New England hired GM Floyd Reese (Hi, ESPN!) as a senior football adviser. I'm surprised another team didn't hire Reese earlier.

As Al pointed out, it seems to be a book by Tom Verducci about the New York Yankees with Joe Torre as possibly a subplot to it all. Much like Moneyball featured Billy Beane as a subplot but wasn't really about him.

I need a hot leather clad vampire... Selene - And I now realize I have too many characters with one name...

Well, keep in mind that Vince will be 26 next year and we've seen QBs start even later with decent success. He completed 62.3% of his passes in 2007 and I think he was thrown to the wolves, contrary to how Fisher likes to bring his QBs along. Even with the mental question marks, I believe VY sitting behind a proven vet in Collins will only help him in the future. McNair started 6 games in his first 2 years in the NFL and VY could've used time to sit (especially as he wasn't a proven passer as it was coming out of college and the pro game is so much faster). I also think Fisher kind of realizes that this may be one of those "win now" seasons next year and he'll already be losing guys like Albert Haynesworth to FA. The past 4 seasons: 4-12, 8-8, 10-6, and 13-3 and I don't see the Titans winning much more than 10-11 games next year and winning the AFC South again over the Colts. Just noticed: Fisher's getting into his 50's now and most of his peers have coached around 15-16 seasons in their careers. See Cowher (15), Vermeil (15), and Dungy (13 years and retired at 53). Even Belichick is getting up there at 14 years as head coach and 57 years of age next season.

Some signing news and coaching news... Only listed the notable names. Futures/Reserved Contracts (New York Jets): RB Noah Herron (Noteworthy with Green Bay at times), RB Marcus Mason (Washing Redskins pre-season star), and DL Kareem Brown. Futures/Reserved Contracts (San Francisco): WR/KR Michael Spurlock, most notable for playing at Mississippi after Eli Manning. Pete Mangurian, the Patriot's tight ends coach since 2005, will not be back with the team next season according to a league source. The Broncos have hired Clancy Barone as the team's tight ends coach. He was with San Diego the past 2 seasons.