CanadianGuitarist

My dad never watched ECW, but the first time he saw it, he became a mark for John Finnegan, especially how cower-y he'd be during an RVD splash, or how terrified he'd look during a big spot.

No one with Honest Ed Mirvish?

Edmonton should have taken Montreal. There was more than enough offensive punch to get a few past Roy, and Fuhr should have taken care of most of the Habs. I don't see a blowout, but I do see Edmonton in no worse than six, and probably five. On the other hand, Montreal would have won in 1993, but likely in six or seven. Roy won the Conn Smythe that year for a reason, and they had also rebounded after dropping the first two in the first round against Quebec.

So when you said that the first time, you meant it sincerely? I thought you were being facetious....I don't follow how Crosby or Ovechkin or Anze or Nash getting clobbered is a good thing for the marketability of the league.

I don't see it as a "Gretzky" rule. Gretzky wasn't touched not because he was a star, but because he had a guy who would beat the tar out of anyone who dared hit him. The idea that the stars shouldn't be touched because they're stars isn't bad, but there should be more substance to it. I see this as leading to a discussion of how the instigator rule should be abolished.

Having a fan grab your opponent? I don't like the sounds of that.

Great find. This wound up really high in the "Best of the 90's" tourney we had a few months ago. The find, however, should be underlined by some of the great YouTube user comments: "This is when Michaels was a jobber", and my favourite "Everyone was wondering what happened to Isaac Yankem, but he was developing a new character".

I actually have the Diana Hart book, and would be willing to part with it. She's got some pretty interesting stories about living with a 14-person family, as well as having wrestlers and celebrities like Muhammad Ali around. Ultimately, I hated it, however. It's blatantly self-serving, and pretty much nothing but dirty laundry, a lot of which I have trouble believing. I didn't mind Flair's book, and he had some great road stories, but a fair amount of was revisionist or just personal attacks. Decent read. Adam Copeland on Edge I only browsed while in a bookstore shortly after its release. Seemed pretty good, you could really see the similarities between him and his character. He struck me, based upon his writing style, like he'd be great to have a beer with. His writing really just seemed like he was telling you a story as though you were sitting with him. And it's been mentioned a few times now, but Have a Nice Day was a stellar read, both for wrestling and non-fans alike. Easy to read, great storytelling, not self-serving whatsoever, honest, funny - an all around great book.

Now that I think of it, as much I hate to say it, would the WWF/E still be around had Montreal never happened? Probably not. No springboard for Vince/Austin. Austin was still going to become the flag carrier, and rightfully, but if he takes the title, Wrestlemania could have been infinitely different: Maybe Owen, Bulldog, and Neidhart vs. HHH, Chyna, and Tyson in the semi main event? But where's HBK in all this? Facing Shamrock instead of the Rock at WM14? Now we're talking about drastically changing a landmark (and still wildly entertaining) Wrestlemania 14. And he hadn't even considered who his opponents might have been after winning. And I'm really gonna hate to say this: Maybe had Bret still been around, we wouldn't have seen HBK-Taker at RR'98, which meant a little more time in the spotlight for HBK? It wouldn't be enough to save the company the way Austin/Vince did, but HBK along with DX could have at least kept the WWF going financially. But does that continue the Harts vs DX into 2008? Where's the Nation in all this? DX vs Nation was a tremendous feud in the summer of 98, but a lot of that was fuelled by Owen Hart. Coupled with the prospect of him not being fighting for the IC title at WM14, does the Rock springboard into one of the biggest names in the history of wrestling? Look at the re-writing of history that would have happened, some of them the most integral moments in wrestling ever. As much as a mark for the Harts as I am, had Montreal not happened,

Fair, but I'd say the consistent excellence of ECW and WWF at that point were enough to prop it up.

1989 would give it a strong challenge. Tough to overlook 98, also.

So many variables to that, and this topic pops up every now and then. For an answer, you'd have to define best a little more deeply.

Why did the WWF change the time between participants in the 95 Royal Rumble? Faster = more action? More time for a decent, but not stellar undercard?

And it rocked, IIRC.

How does playing 'on the clock' work? Currently, Steve Stricker is. What's the time limit for shots now? Does that mean from address? from the beginning of his pre-shot routine? Will his playing partner, Mike Weir, be affected?

If Bret hadn't left, he'd have lost to Austin at WM14 anyway.

You can still us about your fried pickles.

Also, a few weeks ago while I still worked at Wal*Mart, a little kid bought a Game Boy Advance copy of I don't remember what precisely, but it did feature a handful of Nick Toons characters, which led to a co-worker and I singing the old school Nick Toons theme, back in the days when it was Doug, RugRats, Ren and Stimpy, and Rocko's Modern Life. And speaking of Nick

They do. She-ra, also. IIRC, it's not like a 'Season 1' box set, but a two or three disc compliation. It was in Wal*Mart like three weeks ago. Big ups to those who mentioned Wacky Races, Cops, and Denver the Last Dinosaur. I'll offer two: You're fucking welcome

Makes no difference, unless there's a held note that ends a star, in which case the meter will fill faster. My theory was to not use SP during the first two verses, but use it every other time it was ready to use. I've actually reverted to breaking down each part of Free Bird on hard in practise mode and hoping to kill both the 400k and 500k birds with that stone.

What's the logic behind the signing of Clemmensen by the Leafs? Replace Aubin on the Marlies? They can't be signing him as a backup to Toskala, can they?

You think 43 goals warrants three million a season tops?

KJ Choi and Stuart Appleby have the clubhouse lead after 36 holes, on a vastly different scoring day than yesterday. With two potential President Cuppers atop the lead, Mike Weir is currently -4 for the day, playing fairly inspired it looks like. Tiger also shot a 66 today, and he's six back.

For the golfers here, although it's a bit of a stretch: What if Jack Nicklaus had won the Masters in '98? He was 58 at the time, and wound up tied for sixth, four back of eventual winner Mark O'Meara. He was two back of the lead making the turn. This thread is a great topic, by the way.

Gimme a quick history lesson? I thought Wendel's hat trick in game 6 kept the series alive for the Leafs, and then Gretz scored the winner in OT in Game 7, when he should have been in the penalty box. If I'm wrong, which game did he call "The best I've ever played"? Baron and I have been arguing over this one for about, oh, as long as we've known each other. The Habs would have got slaughtered. Compare Roy's stats to Potvin's in the regular season, and it's not even close.