EVIL~! alkeiper

A thread for ongoing discussion of WCW Monday Nitro. Could this be the greatest thread in the history of our forum?

I remember DDP coming out and just having this look of sheer exhilaration on his face. You could tell it was the highlight of his career.

Better question! who the hell cares? Shut up Snitsky. Don't insult the good name of Snitsky like that.

Second-guessing the manager (or head coach, GM or what have you) is a part of sports culture. Every baseball city has a group of fans and a sports columnist/radio guy who wants the manager's head. Managers become the scapegoat for anything that goes wrong, be it a failure for a player to develop, a litany of pitcher injuries, etc. There are parts of the job such as strategy and assigning playing time that are fairly accessible to the average fan. What most fans don't realize is that there are other parts of the job they don't see. Working with the media, training players, setting up a routine, etc. They are not immune to criticism though, and quite a few get into deep water when they try and analyze past performance. When a Joe Morgan says something like pitcher wins are all that matters, it's frustrating.

Billy Crystal is going to play for the Yankees in Thursday's exhibition game.

Just for kicks, Volkoff is only 16 months older than Ric Flair.

We have monthly threads for WWE 24/7 On Demand content. I thought it might be a good idea to start a new subholder, providing different threads for each major show. It would allow more organized discussion and provide an easy reference point for shows in the future. Any thoughts?

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the DVDVR setup. I think there are too many subfolders, pinned threads etc. and it becomes daunting to navigate.

If the ball hadn't gotten to Cervelli, what is he doing in front of the plate? By the rulebook a player is not to block the plate or a base without possession of the ball. Of course no one enforces it, and that's going to cause a controversy one of these days.

Don't forget that catchers are notorious for being late bloomers as well. I'm not sure what it is about the position, but it seems like many guys don't hit their stride until their mid-to-late 20s. With Montero, even if his defense blossoms in the next few years, it might be hard to crack the major league team. Pitchers often call the shots when it comes to what catchers they will use, and a young kid with sketchy English skills and gamecalling experience could be at a disadvantage. Most players don't hit their stride until their mid to late 20s, regardless of position. Several recent catchers have reached the majors and excelled at a young age recently, including Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Joe Mauer. As far as the English language, isn't that a silly statement? Over a third of the catchers in the league right now come from Latin America, and now Kenji Johjima has performed admirably coming over from Japan.

I like the idea of turfing the General Discussion thread, at least temporarily. The issue are the posters who would make pointless topics but let's face it, the forum is generating less than one new topic a day. Things need to be opened up a bit. Scroby, I was the one who suggested making monthly threads to ease up on the page counts. I do agree with the "this belongs in the other folder" thing as that gets tiresome in a hurry. The CTDWAT trolls were bothersome in their time, we hardly see them nowadays because few people start new topics. I like the idea of a WWE Folder reclamation project. It might do well to come up with a list of bad posting habits that people can avoid, though I see that getting out of hand in a hurry.

One other thing is that with a rookie ball 18 year old, don't expect him to jump to the Majors right away. This kid is a long ways away.

Last year's Wrestlemania was the first PPV I ordered in years. The only thing stopping me from ordering this year is that I already ordered the Rumble. I can't keep plunking down $40 a month on wrestling shows.

Good stuff here, considering I just finished watching No Way Out today. Honestly, it is a concept that seems terrific in theory but comes out flat in execution. I would be hard-pressed to find a really great multi-man elimination match in any format. It just doesn't lend itself to great matches. 1. What was your favorite EC match? I think the first one was the best of the lot. A couple memorable spots including Van Dam injuring HHH, and a popular title change. 2. What was your favorite spot from an EC match? Umaga crushing Chris Jericho through the plexiglass was as good as anything I've seen. 3. What spot have you thought of that would be great in the EC? I don't have that creative of a mind. I'd think one of the plexiglass panels breaking with a wrestler still inside, but that could be altogether dangerous. 4. Should this match be done less often, more often, or as is? Less often, once a year at most. 5. Should the match be reserved for title matches/contender matches? Yes, otherwise it is very difficult to explain why six men are beating the piss out of each other in a gigantic steel structure.

Kinetic, I officially apologize for putting you in the worst poster tournament. Well done.

They rate him the Yankees' #6 prospect. I have not seen him play of course and I would not trust GCL stats, so I can not add much more. I would bet on him moving from behind the plate, but remember that Mike Sweeney and Carlos Delgado developed in the same fashion. BA Rates the Yankee catching prospects: Jesus Montero (6th in the system) Austin Romine (22) Francisco Cervelli (23) Chase Weems (unranked) Kyle Anson (unranked) They profile Cervelli as a future backup, an effective catch-and-throw guy.

I've got Baseball America handy, I'll type out their profile for you.

Reminder that the NL league drafts tomorrow. Still have openings available.

Also Venk, keep in mind I'm not cutting short any existing threads. We're talking expansion. And thanks King.

Probably a pinned programming thread of some sort. Or a general discussion thread about upcoming shows.

Girardi's beef is that his player got hurt, otherwise there would be no issue. Shame to see any player get hurt, and Cervelli's already had trouble staying healthy.

I've had this idea for awhile, thought I would give this a spin. The same awards the Wrestling Observer Newsletter uses, but consider only Wrestlemania performances as your criteria. Class A (Your Top Three Choices) Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award This award is given to the professional wrestlers who have the ability to carry an entire promotion (Wrestlemania) by themselves. 1. 2. 3. Most Outstanding Wrestler 1. 2. 3. Best Box Office Draw 1. 2. 3. Best Feud 1. 2. 3. Best Tag Team 1. 2. 3. Most Improved 1. 2. 3. Best on Interviews 1. 2. 3. Most Charismatic 1. 2. 3. Best Technical Wrestler 1. 2. 3. Best Brawler 1. 2. 3. Best Flying Wrestler 1. 2. 3. Most Overrated (Overpushed) 1. 2. 3. Most Underrated (Underpushed) 1. 2. 3. Best Match 1. 2. 3. Best Non-Wrestler 1. 2. 3. Best Announcer 1. 2. 3. Worst Announcer 1. 2. 3. Best Major Show 1. 2. 3. Class B (Pick One) Worst Major Show: Best Wrestling Maneuver: Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Worst Match: Worst Feud: Best Gimmick: Worst Gimmick: Best Wrestlemania DVD: Best Babyface: Best Heel: Best Manager: Worst Wrestler: Worst Tag Team: Worst Manager: Most Embarassing Wrestler: Worst Non-Wrestling Personality:

I listed Big Show on the opposite list. Show at this point is 1-6 in Wrestlemania matches. He jobbed in his first six appearances before finally beating Carlito and Chris Masters in a tag team match. What less can a promotion do besides not put him on the card at all? He has obvious talent, so that hardly seems optimum.

I'm not a big fan of General Discussion threads as it is. The way I see it, I would have separate threads for big events like Wrestlemania 2 and Wrestlemania 18 this month. Television shows would get ongoing threads, one for Raw, one for Nitro, ECW, Championship Wrestling from Florida, World Class, etc. I think that with separate threads, it will encourage activity as we can make specialized points rather than the "I watched X, it was good," posts that we tend to see now. That's not interesting to read. If someone takes the effort though to break down major shows, we have something going. Perhaps encourage King to cross post his blog reviews as well.

Writers like Paul Daugherty though? Dusty Baker gets criticism not only because he disagrees with the general stat community, but because his theories generally collide with what other managers are doing in this era. Washington's Manny Acta and Kansas City's Trey Hillman have recently espoused the merits of OBP in interviews. As far as Joe Morgan, he says some silly things because he gets information second hand. He never managed and as a player, he did as much to contribute to winning teams as any player in history. I would point out that most of the criticism of Adam Dunn comes from sportswriters and a certain tenured radio broadcaster. The front office themselves have never seen fit to trade Dunn. Watching what Baker actually does in Cincinnati will be very interesting.