Precious Roy

Have you ever watched Bush's national TV addresses?

I never thought Nomar would be like that, he's always seemed like a great team guy. I read a lot about how Ted Williams' death messed with his head, and he's obviously bitter about the Red Sox trying to trade him and upgrade at SS with A-Rod, but is it also possible that "the curse" has gotten to him?

My best idea pre-GAB was to have Mordecai work for Heyman (Heyman can pull off the twisted mind game rationalizations that would be necessary with Mordecai's ultra-religious character) and become the "keeper of the urn" and the guy who keeps Taker under Heyman's control. With Undertaker seemingly remaining a face who wants to fight Heyman's claim to lordship over him that plot could still work, but it all depends on if they want to make the urn the focus of the angle. Based off the SD! spoilers and Taker's explanation for killing Bearer I'm not quite sure where they're going with Taker/Heyman at the moment.........

Maybe it's just me, but 5 good minutes is one of my favorite parts of the show. The interaction between Tony/Wilbon and the guest is always great and gives an impetus for more arguments between the hosts with the guest as the "straight man," plus they always get top notch analysts, athletes and coaches. It really adds to the overall format IMO. Maybe they don't need to do it every day just for the sake of having it (sometimes the guests are repetitive or weak), but they shouldn't ditch it completely.

I love 95 and the WCW/New Japan competition, plus the triple threat and Flair-Savage match might be my absolute favorite post-Hogan WCW Flair shit. I think that gets my nod. 88 was great on the strength of Flair/Luger and a super undercard Other than 94 (an AWFUL show) the rest are pretty much interchangable IMO, but I did love the concept of the 89 Iron Man tournys, even if the matches weren't booked as well as they should have been. If that show had been done right it would probably get an easy nod from me.

Speaking as a Yankees fan I think it's in our best interests to add another starting pitcher, but I don't want Benson or Anderson (the two names that always come up in trade talk). I'm confident about Vazquez, Moose and Contreras, optimistic about Lieber, but I'm really worried about Kevin Brown. The Yanks have been very tightlipped about the severity of his injury, but his, "it feels like I have a steel rod in my back," quote before he went on the DL didn't sound good. The Yanks think El Duque will be ready to go by late July/August, and if he can pitch like he used to in pinstripes he'll be a major addition. They're wasting their time going after a guy like Benson or Anderson though, they need to find a legit #1 or 2 starter and get him, I don't care if they have to give up their top prospect catcher to get him. Get a guy like Livan Hernandez, Jamie Moyer or Miguel Batista, that's what we need if we're serious about winning this season.

PTI still rules, best sports show on TV for my money, nobody can touch their "skit" segments (mail bag, top 5 lists, good cop/bad cop etc.), plus they always get awesome guests for "5 good minutes" I loved Max on ATH, but since that show doesn't exist anymore I have to go with ATH hosted by Tony Reali as second best, it's still a very entertaining 30 minutes. The format rules and Woody Paige, Jay Mariotti, Tim Cowlishaw and JA Adande are great. The show is MUCH better when Bob Ryan is the Boston rep though, and I LOATHE that bald dude with the lisp from LA I think Kellerman is great but the I, Max format kind of sucks, they need to tweak it a bit. BTW, I love Wilbon, but Kornheiser and Ryan are awesome together!!

I agree completely. Kerry/Clinton is political suicide, Edwards is still the best candidate.

NYY - A-Rod, Rivera, Sheff, Matsui, Jeter, Vazquez, Posada - With Torre as manager I wouldn't be suprised if they all go. Boston - Ortiz, Ramirez, Schilling, Foulke, Pedro (I doubt he'll go though) Houston - Clemens, Kent, Berkman and Lidge Cubbies - Sosa, Ramirez and Clement are the only clear cut ones. Alou is an outside shot. Prior may not make it because he was out for so long and Wood is hurt. Cincy - Griffey, Casey and Graves, Dunn shouldn't (IMO) make the cut

I think Dampier in LA (minus Shaq) or Indiana is VERY dangerous. As long as he's on a contender I see him continuing to play as well as he did last year, those two teams would demand nothing less from him, and after playing so well last season he'd be a fool to stop putting in work just for a big payday with a mediocre team. Even a team like Denver or Memphis would benefit greatly from his presence. Barry could put San Antonio or Houston over the hump, he's one of the best role players in the league and he might be willing to take the 5mil exception to play for a contender.

Hardy/Kane - A Hardy win is too much to ask for, but the least they can do is put Hardy over in a losing effort. Make it no DQ or Falls Count Anywhere, give the Hardy win a strong tease, the fans will respect his fire. Eugene/Regal - GREAT story to play out here. Regal, "the teacher," doesn't want to hurt Eugene and attempts to keep him grounded with mat wrestling while refusing to brawl. Eugene, blinded by anger, wants a roughneck fight. Regal loses because he's unwilling to turn it up a notch while Eugene shows ruthless agression. La Resistance v. Hurricane/Rosey v. Tajiri/Rhyno - This seems like the only way to put any heat into the tag titles. There are no credible challengers so you might as well build up two contenders at once. They should have had Tajiri make a save on Monday to "officially" (ie: on RAW because nobody watches Heat) kick off his team with Rhyno, and it's not like the WWE will put any time into the tag title match, but best case scenario they could get some heat behind an elimination match with these three teams. Trish/Tomko v. Victoria/Richards - This is what I see: a mixed tag where the title can change hands to the respective women on any pinfall, Richards (in drag) makes the fall on Tomko and claims the women's title for himself (because he thinks he's a woman). Typical WWE nonsense and this is the only logical way to play out this Richards crap. Flair v. somebody - might as well put Flair on the card, can't hurt the buyrate or the live crowd. Start a mini program with somebody like Venis or better yet, somebody who IS Venis. Gives Venis a rub and well deserved PPV payoff and Flair a well deserved PPV victory.

Call me crazy, but I think Dampier and Barry, with the right team all things considered, could make or break next years champion.

Where do you find this runs created stat? And what's the formula? As for Toronto, Wells probably would have hit his way into the game if he hadn't got hurt. Frasor has been very good for them, cleaning up an ugly bullpen situation. I still think Halladay gets the nod though, he's the reigning Cy Young and opposing teams hate to deal with him. Even with weak run support and his DL stint he'll still win 18-20 games when all is said and done. Here's some other tough calls: Milwaukee - Podsednik, Overbay, Sheets or Kolb? Based on the stats arguments can be made for all 4, but there's no way more than 2 make it. Cleveland - Sabathia, Hafner, Victor Martinez? I assume only one will make it, and I really think Posada will get his annual all-star spot courtesy of Torre which screws over Martinez who's been far and away the better hitter. Kansas City - has already been discussed, I think Affeldt would have been a good pick if he hadn't gotten hurt, gotta give the nod to Harvey even though he's slumping badly right now. Minnesota - Nathan, Ford and Radke seem like the only logical candidates, I give it to Nathan. Pittsburgh - Mesa? Perez? I don't like any of their hitters, especially not Wilson and Mackowiak. San Diego - Hoffman? Giles? Lawrence? EDIT* nevermind on Pitt, forgot about Craig A. Wilson

So why aren't we going after Niger?

It's funny, I thought Manny would be the one to sulk about the Sox trying to move him but it's been the complete opposite. Never thought Nomar would give up on the team.

Wilkerson, despite an ugly average, is their best hitter, but I'd give the nod to Livan Hernandez, he's amazingly consistent and constantly overlooked, plus he's an absolute workhorse, leads MLB in pitches thrown and regularly goes the full 9.

My all-star ballot AL 1B - David Ortiz - write in vote, leading the AL in homers, RBI and slugging 2B - Alfonso Soriano - Yankee loyalty, thought about writing in Brian Roberts but he's cooled down considerably. SS - Jeter - Yankee loyalty again, and he's been killing the ball since he got out of his funk, on pace for a career best in home runs. Tough call over Tejada and Guillen but I think they'll both make it as reserves. 3B - A-Rod - Easy pick, Blalock has hit well but A-Rod's base running puts him in another league, plus he's made a seamless transition on D. C - Pudge - Tough call over Victor Martinez though - I hope Torre does the right thing and leaves Posada at home this year. OF - Vlad, Manny, Matsui - tough call on the 3rd man between Matsui, Sheff and Ichiro, but I think Matsui deserves the nod. P - If I had a vote it would go to Mulder NL 1B - Thome - comes down to him and Pujols but Thome is playing too damn well to pass on. The + .300 BA is unreal for him. 2B - Kent - no one else is even close. Consistent hitter and capable fielder. SS - Larkin - hate the choices here, Renteria is having an off year so far, going for nostalgia. 3B - Rolen - Aramis Ramirez has been great but Rolen has been better, plus he's a better defender. C - Estrada - I refuse to vote for Piazza because he's a 1B now, Estrada has been better than advertised and a clutch run producer for a weak hitting Braves team. OF - Abreu, Bonds, Berkman - tough to leave off Cabrera but these three deserve it. P - Randy Johnson - I'm a big Clemens fan but Johnson is the better pitcher this year, save the Clemens-Piazza battery for late in the game

I will never vote for a ticket that includes Hillary Clinton, not because she's a woman, but because she's an evil bitch. And this is coming from someone who is strongly opposed to another four years of Bush. I'm in a reasonably safe state for the Dems so my vote really doesn't matter as much as it would if I were living in a swing state, but running with Hillary is a death sentance and I will disavow any support for Kerry should it happen.

DON'T BE A HERO DAVE MCCARTY!

It's amazing how poorly Bowa has used Wagner this year, is this like the first time he's had an ace closer at his disposal or what?

~GODZILLA! Shouldn't trust Embree either. Stupid BoSox coaches

Sox should have brought Foulke in to start the 8th, he's capable of going 2 or 3 innings. They knew Williamson was hurt and you shouldn't trust Timlin in such a big spot, bad management IMO.

I hate to break it to you, but most pros aren't as concerned with textbook holds and transitions as they are with getting reactions from the crowd. If you gave the Dudley Boyz the choice of wrestling 5* matches every night and getting semi-dead crowds or wrestling **1/2 matches and blowing the roof off the place I think it's obvious which option they'd take. The term "workrate," at least to me, has never been about just the holds and reversals, the presence in the ring and manipulation of the crowd is just as important. A lot of people will claim Ric Flair is the greatest wrestler of all time, yet there was nothing flashy or fancy about his work, it was simply proficient. There are lots of guys who had Flair blown away in terms of surgical work and impressive moves, but what seperates Flair is the charisma and the presence, the guarantee that he could work any crowd to a fever pitch. At the end of the day that is what every pro wants to have, that connection and hold over the audience. Excellent technical wrestling is a beautiful thing, but it doesn't always guarantee food on your plate. Excellent crowd heat does, it's why Hogan can still demand huge paydays and why Flair continues to be a top guy despite diminished skills. There isn't a single tag team in the world today that can compare to the awesome presence of the Road Warriors. They made matches memorable just by being in the ring, they didn't even have to do anything to get a reaction. And not every aspiring wrestler will be inspired by the same things, but it's obvious that the Dudley Boyz have never wanted to be The Midnight Express, they've always wanted to be the intimidating brawlers in the vein of the Road Warriors. Have they succeeded? IMO no, they're not even close to the LOD, but it's a lofty goal, no shame in coming up short.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! TONY CLARK IS THE MOTHERFUCKING MAN! NICE DEFENSE PAPI!