EVIL~! alkeiper

Here's the semifinals. Vote totals can be found in the previous thread's polls. With both leaders winning by a two to one margin, it seems safe to progress. Voting will run through Monday night.

I just found out Philadelphia is getting an MLS franchise for the 2010 season. About time, now I have a reason to watch.

Feel free to post your choices and mock your choices publicly. I just won't have to count them all.

Everything is working fine, so this topic will stand. Get voting! This will run through Sunday evening.

Making things a little easier. Pick two of the four choices in each group. The top two vote getters in each group will reach the Final Four.

Mecca (12) truthiness (15) Chazz (10) edgehead69 (17) MVP (23) jericholic82 (4) Here is a result I disagree with. Jericholic82 is the worst poster on this forum, for several reasons. First, his posts are awful. The grammar is terrible, the writing structure is bad and he says nothing whatsoever of substance. Second, he stops in periodically and makes multiple posts at a time. Stop by the General Wrestling folder sometime and cringe at the line of topics that say, "last post by jericholic82." After he posts, he goes away for a couple of days again. The idea of a discussion forum is discussion! At least with a poster like Marvin you converse, make him your bitch and have a good time. No such luck here. For shame people. dustinbeaverton (18) Vanhalen (9) Enigma (14) majormayhem1 (13) EHME/Simon Brigante (14) Kawalimus (13) Marvinisalunatic (26) Flairfan (1) MOD BRACKET/FINALS! Cena's Healed Pec (11) Mole (15) One null vote. Grow a set of balls and pick one Smues.

Yes, Gosunkugi's ballot counts.

I'm closing voting, results upcoming shortly. Sorry for the abbreviated length of this round, but it's either this or waiting two days. We've gotten 26 ballots this round, so we're just down nine from last round.

The NWA weekly show was incredibly good this week. The crowd was insanely hot and the wrestlers seemed to turn things up a notch as a result.

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. The Rock 2. Hulk Hogan 3. Steve Austin Most Outstanding Wrestler 1. Shawn Michaels 2. Randy Savage 3. Bret Hart Best Box Office Draw 1. Hulk Hogan 2. The Rock 3. Steve Austin Best Feud 1. Steve Austin vs. The Rock 2. Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon 3. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant Best Tag Team 1. Edge & Christian 2. Demolition 3. The Hart Foundation Best on Interviews 1. The Rock 2. Jake Roberts 3. Roddy Piper Most Charismatic 1. Hulk Hogan 2. The Rock 3. Randy Savage Best Technical Wrestler 1. Bret Hart 2. Kurt Angle 3. Chris Benoit Best Brawler 1. Terry Funk 2. Steve Austin 3. Mick Foley Best Flying Wrestler 1. Jeff Hardy 2. Shawn Michaels 3. Rey Mysterio Most Overrated (Overpushed) 1. Mr. T 2. Triple H 3. The Ultimate Warrior Most Underrated (Underpushed) 1. The Big Show 2. Tito Santana 3. Bob Orton Jr. Best Match 1. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Wrestlemania XIII) 2. Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania X) 3. Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage (Wrestlemania III) Best Non-Wrestler 1. Howard Finkel 2. Pete Rose 3. Bob Uecker Best Announcer 1. Jim Ross 2. Jesse Ventura 3. Gorilla Monsoon Worst Announcer 1. Susan St. James 2. Michael Cole (Wrestlemania XV) 3. Vince McMahon Best Major Show 1. Wrestlemania XVII 2. Wrestlemania XX 3. Wrestlemania III Class B (Pick One) Worst Major Show: Wrestlemania XV Best Wrestling Maneuver: Vince McMahon's Ladder Legdrop. Was that cool or what? Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Use of Iraqi War to promote Wrestlemania VII. Worst Match: Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper (Wrestlemania II) Worst Feud: Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper Best Gimmick: The Undertaker's undefeated streak. Worst Gimmick: Red Rooster Best Wrestlemania DVD: Wrestlemania 2000 Best Babyface: Bret Hart Best Heel: Andre the Giant Best Manager: Elizabeth Worst Wrestler: Andre the Giant Worst Tag Team: The Godwinns Worst Manager: Harvey Whippleman Most Embarassing Wrestler: Eugene Worst Non-Wrestling Personality: Vince Russo

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:

That 40 man battle royal on Prime Time wrestling is one of the matches I remember clearest despite not having seen it in fifteen years.

My ten favorite baseball books I've read, in chronological order. The Natural, by Bernard Malamud Eight Men Out, by Eliot Asinof Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter Universal Baseball Association, J. Henry Waugh Prop., by Robert Coover Ball Four, by Jim Bouton The Pitch That Killed, by Mike Sowell Lords of the Realm, by John Helyer Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?, by Bill James The New Historical Baseball Abstract by Bill James Moneyball, by Michael Lewis I have heard so many people recommend Eric Rolfe Greenberg's The Celebrant that I am going to make a point to read it this month. In the above list I particularly wish to point of Glory of Their Times. It is flat out one of the best pieces of oral history ever produced, over 20 interviews of stars of the deadball era including Sam Crawford. Anyone who is familiar with Ken Burns' documentary would recognize many passages from the book.

Voting here will run through Saturday morning at the latest. Quick round as I'll be gone over the weekend. Mecca truthiness Chazz edgehead69 MVP jericholic82 dustinbeaverton Vanhalen Enigma majormayhem1 EHME/Simon Brigante Kawalimus Marvinisalunatic Flairfan MOD BRACKET/FINALS! Cena's Healed Pec Mole

Results are in! canadiandestroyer213 (8) Mecca (27) dx1997 (5) truthiness (30) Bruiser_Brody (9) Chazz (25) One null vote Superjerk (16) edgehead69 (18) One null vote MVP (23) Matt Young (12) KingPK (4) jericholic82 (31) dustinbeaverton (26) Razateca Bix (14) Vanhalen (20) One null vote Battlenuts (5) Enigma (30) pbone (5) majormayhem1 (30) EHME/Simon Brigante (25) C-Bacon (10) Kawalimus (26) TaigaStar (9) UsethesledgehammerUh (14) Marvinisalunatic (21) Cheech Tremendous (7) flairfan (28) MOD BRACKET Cena's Healed Pec (24) Illustrious One (11) Downhome (16) Mole (17) Two Null Votes Couple Quick Thoughts: -Do you seriously need a coin flip to tell you that jericholic82 is a worse poster than KingPK? -I think we've gotten all of the undeserving candidates out of the tournament. The sweet 16 is truly a cornucopia of awful posting. -Every single entrant received a vote. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Oh, The Book was just awful. They would pose a question like "Should the pitcher bat eighth" and then present 20 pages of regression analysis and tables and end with "batting the pitcher eight can lead to .5 extra wins per season" or some other non-sense. Even though I could understand the math (and I don't think most people would) I still couldn't figure out what they were trying to accomplish half the time. One of the big problems (and others do this as well) is that they establish a new statistic in the introduction, weighted OBP in this case. They then use the stat in most of their commentary. If you show me the numbers for a new stat, I'm not going to know what a reasonable threshhold is, I can't draw any type of conclusion looking at it. The biggest problem though is that while even if the analysis is solid, the writing just completely fails to interest the reader.

The Historical Abstract is fantastic, I still find it interesting six years after I first bought it. I can't say enough good things about it. The Prospectus book reads like a collection of term papers. Some of the individual chapters are pretty interesting though. I read "The Book" by Michael Lichtman and others, and found that one completely unreadable.

For a more balanced approach along similar lines, check out Alan Schwartz's The Numbers Game. It goes back deeper to the days of Henry Chadwick, discusses Bill James and the Sabermetric Revolution, and gives organizations their due that Moneyball kind of dismisses. And for a book on baseball statistics, it really is an easy read. It's about the men behind the statistics, not the statistics themselves.

Mike Sowell's The Pitch That Killed. A riveting account of the Cleveland Indians' 1920 season, along with Ray Chapman and the Yankees' Carl Mays. It's written in the same style of Eight Men Out. A work of history that's written in the style of narrative.

Czech, that candy buttons rant is one of the most brilliant things you've ever written.

Nah, just because a thread is long doesn't mean it is good. Just look at the 2004 ALCS thread. That shit was awful.

WWWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - November 27, 1972 El Olympico defeated Joe Turco Tony Garea defeated Chuck O'Conner Black Gordman defeated Sonny King WWWF World Champion Pedro Morales defeated Ray Stevens at 11:58 when referee Danny Bartfield stopped the bout, ruling the challenger could not continue Eddie Graham defeated Blackjack Slade Victor Rivera fought the Spoiler to a 20-minute draw Verne Gagne defeated Buddy Wolfe WWWF Tag Team Champions Prof. Toru Tanaka & Mr. Fuji fought Gorilla Monsoon & Chief Jay Strongbow to a 20-minute draw WWWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - February 26, 1973 Susan Green & Lily Thomas defeated Peggy Patterson & Paula Kaye at 18:12 Tony Garea defeated Mike Conrad at 15:05 Mike Graham defeated Joe Turco at 5:42 Terry Funk defeated Chuck Richards at 10:55 Victor Rivera defeated Dory Funk Sr. at 11:45 Mil Mascaras defeated Buddy Wolfe at 9:46 AWA World Champion Verne Gagne defeated Eddie Graham (sub. for Ray Stevens) at 14:35 WWWF World Champion Pedro Morales defeated King Curtis at 5:37 WWWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - November 12, 1973 Jose Gonzalez defeated El Olympico at 15:22 Dick Slater defeated Mike Pappas at 6:20 Iron Mike McCord fought Manuel Soto to a 20-minute draw Dean Ho defeated Pancho Valdez Don Leo Jonathan defeated Tony Garea at 18:45 Verne Gagne defeated Mr. Fuji at 12:16 Chief Jay Strongbow & Andre the Giant defeated Blackjack Lanza & Stan Stasiak in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-0 WWWF World Champion Pedro Morales defeated Larry Hennig at 12:45 when the match was stopped due to blood WWWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - August 9, 1975 Baron Mikel Scicluna defeated Manuel Soto Chief Jay Strongbow fought Waldo Von Erich to a draw Spiros Arion defeated Dean Ho Victor Rivera defeated Butcher Vachon Bugsy McGraw defeated Tony Garea WWWF Tag Team Champions Pat Barrett & Dominic DeNucci defeated the Blackjacks Andre the Giant & Verne Gagne defeated Johnny & Jimmy Valiant in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-0 WWWF World Champion Bruno Sammartino defeated George Steele WWWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - August 29, 1977 Televised on the MSG Network and HBO - featured Vince McMahon on commentary: Lenny Hurst defeated Rocky Tomayo Johnny Rivera defeated Joe Turco at 10:51 SD Jones defeated Jack Evans at 8:19 Peter Miavia defeated Stan Stasiak at 7:35 via count-out after Miavia avoided the Heart Punch on the floor and Stasiak accidentally hit the ringpost; prior to the bout, Vince McMahon interviewed Miavia on the ring apron Tony Garea & Larry Zbyzsko defeated George Steele & Baron Mikel Scicluna in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match, 2-0; fall #1: Steele & Scicluna were disqualified after Steele shoved the referee; fall #2: Garea pinned Scicluna with a sunset flip off the top WWWF World Champion Superstar Billy Graham defeated Ivan Putski via count-out at 18:01 after the challenger was backdropped to the floor; prior to the bout, McMahon interviewed the champion inside the ring; the Grand Wizard escorted the champion to the ring before the match (20 Years Too Soon: The Superstar Billy Graham Story) Bruno Sammartino (w/ Arnold Skaaland) pinned Ken Patera in a Texas Death Match at 12:13 by kicking off the corner, as Patera had a full nelson applied, and falling backwards onto his opponent; prior to the bout, Capt. Lou Albano escorted Patera to the ring (Bruno Sammartino: Wrestling's Living Legend) Verne Gagne pinned Nikolai Volkoff at 7:10 with a roll up as Volkoff attempted an over-the-knee backbreaker Chief Jay Strongbow fought Mr. Fuji to a curfew draw at around the 6-minute mark; prior to the bout, Freddie Blassie & Prof. Toru Tanaka escorted Fuji to the ring, with Tanaka on crutches and announced as being unable to compete WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - April 30, 1979 Televised on the MSG Network Cowboy Lang & Tiny Thumb defeated Little Tokyo & Butch Cassidy Johnny Rodz defeated Frank Williams at 9:42 Ivan Putski fought Greg Valentine to a 20-minute draw Alan Coage defeated Jose Estrada at 4:19 Roddy Piper defeated Steve King at 9:37 Andre the Giant, WWWF North American Champion Ted Dibiase, & Dominic DeNucci defeated Johnny, Jimmy, & Jerry Valiant in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match at 8:32 Verne Gagne defeated Mr. X (Jack Evans) at 12:05 NWA World Champion Harley Race defeated Steve Travis at 5:14 WWF World Champion Bob Backlund defeated Bulldog Brower at 11:08

Hogan got his start in Florida, trained by Hiro Matsuda (among others).

Tyson-Spinks was almost certainly the most one-sided major event, particularly since it was so quick. The 30-3 Rangers/Orioles game wasn't that one-sided, honestly. It was competitive through the sixth and then it just fell out of hand. It wasn't that one team was clearly better, it's just that funny things happened. Sports are odd that way.

Al can't handle pain... EHME encourages it! Bullshit I can't. Two weeks ago I had a root canal done on my lunch break.