Cheech Tremendous

It was actually Mandalay Sports Entertainment which was a division of ME, but this is correct. Isn't it sad that Vince was able to buy WCW less than a year later for only $4m? Someone got some serious money under the table for that whole ordeal... You're comparing apples and oranges. Mandalay would have purchased the entire company, including talent contracts, television rights, the tape library and everything else that goes into running a wrestling promotion. Jamie Kellner killed that whole deal when he canceled WCW programming. Vince just scooped up the intellectual property and cherry-picked the few talents he wanted. He still got a hell of deal, but it's not really a comparable purchase.

The ending was fantastic.

Kevin Gregg, RP

Excellent choice. He was my second pick.

Bragging about a second place finish in the AFC West is like getting chlamydia and celebrating because it's not syphilis.

According to an article I just read, Kellerman and ESPN Radio have parted ways. http://simononsports.blogspot.com/2009/03/...st-got-lot.html

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090310/S...4/90310061/1088 The rest of the article is quite interesting. It looks as the though the Pacers are setting themselves up to bail on Indianapolis unless they get a sweetheart deal on a new lease. Kansas City is specifically mentioned as a potential destination.

Jeremy Bonderman, SP

No, Ted Dibiase definitely wore the winged eagle belt after the Main Event, so it was in play before Mania IV.

Yes, they are. Granted, this is the first place that I've ever owned a home, but my taxes are about equal to what my parents pay in California despite their home being worth about twice as much as mine.

I have a three bedroom, two bath home. I am currently living alone while Mrs. Tremendous finishes up her Master's degree. My mortgage payment is about $1,500 monthly, but that covers insurance and taxes as well.

Wrestlemania IX is certainly terrible, but I still maintain that the Hogan angle at the end looks okay on paper. The biggest problem with that angle is it cut off the legs of Yoko and Bret and had absolutely no follow-up. If Hogan spent the next six months as a face defending the title against Luger, Giant Gonzalez, Yoko and Crush before putting Bret over clean, would people hate the ending as much? As is, it's the ultimate Hogan blowjob finish, but in my mind I can't help but think that they had more in mind when they booked that finish. Really, a straight Yoko-Bret main event with no Hogan interference may have come off worse than what happened, and that's really saying something. The biggest issue, for me, is that they had some decent matches/feuds or possible pairings that they didn't capitalize on by stretching them out to Mania. Off the top of my head, they could have done Hart/Savage, Hogan/Luger, Taker/Gonzalez, Michaels/Janetty, Flair/Perfect, Steiners/Money Inc and Yoko/Duggan. That's not a bad card when you think about it. Combine it with one of the best venues they ever booked and you have a very memorable Mania.

There's certainly a degree of irony in people stating that WMVI is a one-match show and then coming right back and defending WMVII because of the great Warrior/Savage match. There is nothing redeeming about WMVII other than that angle. Sure, Hogan/Slaughter is a decent contest, but that's ignoring the fact that the angle sucked, Hogan got the belt back and Sgt. f'n Slaughter was main eventing a show in 1991! Other than that: the Demos match is a dud; Harts jobbing to the Nasty Boys kind of sucks; the LOD match is a throwaway; the IC title match ends in a DQ; and the venue is a letdown. Why are we suddenly praising this event as something special?

It has 25 replies and 487 pageviews. That clearly indicates a need for a thread. If a news item yields discussion, it gets a thread. It doesn't matter whether or not you think it's threadworthy.

Bosh is the one guy that strikes me as a possibility since he may be willing to take less money just to get out of Toronto. I can't really envision any scenario where Wade or Lebron leave, nor can I see Dirk or Yao switching teams. The only people who will move are those who aren't really worth max numbers, but might get an inflated contract because of all the teams with money. I can see this being a scenario for Steve Nash, Tracy McGrady, Joe Johnson and a few others. The true superstars aren't going anywhere. For reference, here are big name free agents available in 2010:

Hey Knicks fans, you may want to reconsider stashing away that champagne for the summer of 2010. From the NY Daily News:

You aren't alone in that assessment. I've been saying for quite a while now that any team banking on the summer of 2010 is going to be severely disappointed. The current salary cap rewards players who stay with their team and in the end, we know that the almighty dollar is the most important thing to most professional athletes. I could see one of the big guys moving to a new team, but this predicted scenario of massive star movement will never come to pass.

Rick Vaughn, er I mean Daniel Cabrera, SP

As I remember it they didn't even sell out the LA Sports Arena.

How about the Shane Mac/Kurt Angle street fight at KOTR 2000 with the gimmicked set that didn't break? Shane took some absolutely sick bumps as a result.

Don't you dare bring me into the middle of your tard fight, EHME.

That's the largest contract ever given to a pitcher with two years of service time. It more than doubles what Fausto Carmona got last year. I don't think there's anything wrong with locking up young players, but I'd rather go year-to-year with pitchers like Lester and Papelbon. A team like the Red Sox, with all their financial muscle, can afford to pay market prices for their players while minimizing the risk of a flameout. Then again, I don't run a baseball team, so maybe I don't know anything. Speaking of pitching contracts, I did like this bit I found in Gammon's newest:

FYI, here are the 20 biggest free agent signings this offseason, ordered by total contract value: • $180MM (8 years):Mark Teixeira signed the biggest deal of the offseason with the Yankees. • $161MM (7 years): C.C. Sabathia signed with the Yanks too, passing on a 5 year $100MM offer from the Brewers. He can opt out after three years, at which point he'll have $92MM remaining if he chooses to take it. • $82.5MM (5 years): A.J. Burnett signed with the Yankees after opting out of his deal with the Jays. • $60MM (4 years): Derek Lowe signed with the Braves after negotiations with the Mets. • $52MM (4 years): Ryan Dempster signed with the Cubs way back in November. • $45MM (2 years): Manny Ramirez signed with the Dodgers just this afternoon. • $37MM (3 years): Francisco Rodriguez signed with the Mets, who added J.J. Putz the next day. • $36MM (3 years): Oliver Perez chose this deal over a longer term option that averaged a lower salary. • $31.5MM (3 years): Raul Ibanez signed early on with the Phillies, a move he's surely happy with. • $30MM (3 years):Rafael Furcal signed with the Dodgers, but not before infuriating the Braves. • $30MM (3 years): Milton Bradley signed with the Cubs for up to three years, but some language in the contract protects the Cubs in case Bradley misses considerable time with injuries. • $23MM (3 years): Kenshin Kawakami signed with the Braves. • $20.5MM (2 years): Kerry Wood signed with the Indians for two years with a vesting option for a third year. • $20MM (2 years): Adam Dunn signed with the Nats after some suggested he might only make $5MM. • 18.5MM (2 years): Edgar Renteria signed a deal that's been criticized by many, but the Giants can buy him out for $500K after this season if they choose not to pick up his $9.5MM option. • 17.5MM (2 years): Brian Fuentes signed for at least two years with the Angels. • 17.5MM (3 years): Casey Blake signed a deal that could keep him in LA for four years. • $16MM (2 years): Jamie Moyer re-signed with the Phillies for a lot, especially considering he'll turn 48 just weeks after the deal's up. • $16MM (2 years): Pat Burrell signed with the Rays for the essentially the same amount as his former teammate. The difference? Moyer's 14 years his senior. • 12.75MM (3 years): Juan Rivera re-signed with the Angels.

Tom Tango had an interesting write-up on Juan Pierre's current value:

In terms of their singing ability or their respective runs in Black Sabbath? Dio has the classic metal voice, but I still think Ozzy's work on the first sixth Sabbath albums is superior.