Cheech Tremendous

The Astros don't suck and they play in a winnable division. However, they struggled to win 82 games last year (didn't they win like 8 out of 9 to close the year?). The starting pitching will be taking a step back. Jennings will probably give them more than Pettitte did last year, but they'll miss Clemens if he doesn't return. Carlos Lee adds some punch to that lineup, but I don't know how many runs that outfield defense will give back. It could get ugly out there. Overall, there isn't much to suggest that they'll be better than last year, and last year they had a .500 ballclub at best.

I don't think that the media is that hard on him outside of New York. In fact, they've sort of come around to the idea that he's getting a bum rap from NY fans. It will be a much more interesting story if he goes somewhere else, exercises his so-called demons and wins a title. Everyone in the media loves Torre and Jeter, but it's blatantly obvious to everyone that they've handled this situation poorly. There's a chance for redemption there.

I think there was an article up on ESPN's website around the time of this year's Super Bowl that ranked all 80 teams that have appeared in the game and Carolina was either the worst or close to the worst. I don't have the article on hand, but I remember it said that they barely snuck by a bunch of lousy teams during the year and then had a lucky couple of weeks in the playoffs. Their performance the past couple of years would seem to support this, injuries notwithstanding.

It does seem more apparent than ever that A-Rod's going to bolt after the 2007 season. He went there to win championships and that hasn't exactly happened yet. He doesn't seem to particularly like NY and if he can make his money and compete for a title elsewhere, I don't see why he wouldn't do it.

Hey viva, I know you're the requisite Astros homer, but how far over 78.5 wins do you realtistically think Houston can go? The pitching will probably be much worse this year, especially if Clemens rides off to greener pastures. The hitting will be marginally better with Carlos Lee in the lineup, but that outfield defense will be wretched. I think the best case scenario is flirting with .500 most of the year and trying not to finish fourth (which is probably where they stack up on a pure talent basis).

With the exception of Dallas, there are no coordinator jobs left. He will have to accept a job as a positions coach or take the year off. Ron hasn't really had a good month, has he?

Even if Dibiase got the belt at WM IV, they probably would have done the switch to Savage shortly thereafter, or at least by Summerslam. The WWF had never promoted a long-term heel champion at that point (well with the exception of Superstar but he was over like a face anyways). I guess in hindsight, running Warrior-Perfect or Warrior-Savage at Mania VI and saving the Warrior-Hogan match for Manian VII makes a lot of sense. On one hand, it gives you a chance to see how Warrior does in the main event role before burning the big Hogan rub, but then again it would just be a repeat of the whole Savage '88 angle. Warrior might have had even less success if he was viewed as a placeholder champ.

I still maintain that A-Rod needs an "I'm Keith Hernandez" moment to finally get some of the pressure off his back. He just sounds like a whiny pussy the way he says something interesting then backtracks so that no one gets offended. He should just tell Jeter to go fuck himself.

The WWE tends to get criticized a lot these days for changing their minds a million times leading up to an event, but things really weren't much different back then. I just always assumed that the plan was Warrior/Hogan at Mania, but looking over the dirtsheets from that period, at different times in the months leading up to the show they considered Hogan/Zeus, Hogan/Perfect, Warrior/Perfect, Hogan Savage II, Hogan/Beefcake (heel), Warrior/Savage and Warrior (heel)/Hogan.

OVER/UNDER MLB WIN TOTALS FOR 2007! Arizona Diamondbacks 77.5 OVER Atlanta Braves 81.5 OVER Baltimore Orioles 73.5 OVER Boston Red Sox 90.5 OVER Chicago Cubs 85.5 UNDER Chicago White Sox 86.5 UNDER Cincinnati Reds 76.5 UNDER Cleveland Indians 84.5 OVER Colorado Rockies 74.5 OVER Detroit Tigers 87.5 UNDER Florida Marlins 78.5 UNDER Houston Astros 78.5 UNDER Kansas City Royals 67.5 OVER Los Angeles Angels 89.5 OVER Los Angeles Dodgers 88.5 UNDER Milwaukee Brewers 81.5 OVER Minnesota Twins 83.5 OVER New York Mets 88.0 UNDER New York Yankees 97.0 UNDER Oakland Athletics 84.5 OVER Philadelphia Phillies 88.5 OVER Pittsburgh Pirates 71.5 OVER San Diego Padres 84.0 OVER San Francisco Giants 81.5 UNDER Seattle Mariners 75.5 OVER St Louis Cardinals 84.5 UNDER Tampa Bay Devil Rays 67.0 OVER Texas Rangers 81.5 UNDER Toronto Blue Jays 86.5 OVER Washington Nationals 66.5 UNDER

Wow, fire a guy because he can't win in the playoffs and then hire a coach who probably won't even get you there. Interesting.

Mullin's in for sure. I'm not 100% sure about Dantley.

She WAS fucking Pac behind his back. That's why it's great.

I'd never thought I'd see the Bushwhackers and Adam Bomb mentioned in the same sentence as greatest gimmicks. Back on topic, I'd like to see Special Edition releases of the best PPVs from the past. Make them 2 or 3 disc editions that have the unedited show, plus angles leading up to the event, special commentaries from the participants, historical information, etc.

I just ehard that on ESPNews after waking up. It's a shame... I really liked him when he was with the White Sox. He was a cool guy. I jawed with him in the bullpen up in Seattle last year and he seemed intelligent and personable, if generally disinterested with the game at hand. Not like Mike Timlin, who scared the living fuck out of me.

Don't forget Ric Flair winning a first blood match by pinfall while bleeding heavily and Randy Savage winning a no DQ match by DQ. Russo? gotta be Nope. That stuff happened long before Russo ever came to the company. The stupidity of the WCW braintrust over the years makes Russo's stuff look like Shakespeare.

You know, for a couple of months in a bench role, Pippen might still have some value. There are a lot of contenders that could use a versatile guy off the bench with a little bit of experience. The fact that he wants a ten day contract to prove he still has it is encouraging. It indicates that he's actually serious about giving this a try. If he does get signed, where does he end up? Off the top of my head, I can think of Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland, LAL and Chicago as being possibile destinations.

That's the rumor. I'm not sure it was ever confirmed as truth.

Then what would you call "Who Shot Ya?" And it's close. No ones the winner between TI and Flip. Who Shot Ya wasn't about Pac. That song was written and recorded before he got shot. Depends on who you ask. Biggie and Puff always denied that it was about Pac, but he still went to his death bed swearing that they had him shot in 1994 and that the track just confirmed it. Although it wasn't necessarily a Pac diss, the line "If Faith had twins she'd probably have two Pacs... Get it? Two Pacs" is one of my all time favorites.

A lot of time there are cliches thrown around about "leaving it all on the field" and "sacrificing the body", but that's what Foulke literally did in the 2004 playoffs. The Red Sox never would have won that World Series without him, and it basically ended up costing him his career. I don't have a problem with him saying he doesn't like baseball and that it was just a job. It never affected his performance on the field. I wonder what Cleveland does now with their bullpen. Borowski probably becomes the de facto closer, but that bullpen looks a little thin. I still think they are the best team in the Central heading into the season, but the same question marks that plagued them last year appear to be cropping back up.

Hennig had a nice run against Hogan but there were a lot of politics involved because of his size. I'm not sure that the program drew all that well either. At the time, a lot of the dirtsheets were speculating that Hennig would win the belt at SNME after the Rumble and then drop it to the Ultimate Warrior at WM VI. Think about how different history would be if that happened.

Nah, it was stupider than that. More like the guy who argued that V for Vendetta was a clone of Sin City. Was that the same guy who couldn't pay attention to movies if they were "boring" and without action? Pretty much the Uwe Boll of TSM... Yeah that was him. He was also the author of the famous "no sold" topic.

Nah, it was stupider than that. More like the guy who argued that V for Vendetta was a clone of Sin City.

And if he gets 150 that would have to put Johan at about $500 million Zambrano, if he has a 2007 similar to his 2006, will likely get a $200 million deal. Santana would be in line for the same if he were a free agent. Yeah and if Santana has a year like the last 3 years will be WAY more than Zambrano Not exactly sure what point you are trying to make. Yes, if Santana makes it to free agency in 2008 he will get a boatload of money and it will probably be the most ever for a pitcher as long as current contract inflation holds. What exactly does this have to do with Zambrano, who will be a free agent next offseason?

No, he's been defended by serval media outlets today, including ESPN Radio. They weren't advocating his opinion, but lending him support for speaking on the behalf of many other athletes. I don't think you should get a pass just for being honest.