cabbageboy

Ouch, Memphis got so exposed in that one today. If there is one thing Texas has it is some size down low, and Memphis gets entirely too reliant on the 3. It almost reminded me of that game against U of L last year that was like 53-44, where Memphis shot about 19%. Late in that game Memphis looked like a combo of a Pitino UK team that was having a bad, bad shooting day (I'm talking 1995 Elite 8 vs. UNC here)....combined with Cincy's late game execution under Huggins. Can't say I'm sad though. I mean it's Memphis. Seeing them lose is always a pick me up.

Man, fuck Virginia Tech. We had that one won today until Hunter Cantwell revealed why he's a backup redshirt freshman. Oh yeah guys, great win beating U of L without Brian Brohm after being down for the entire game. Eat a dick, Marcus Vick. Do I seem bitter? After this shit I frankly wish Petrino would flirt with the SEC or the NFL again. How hard is it to simply hand the ball off to Michael Bush in the 4th quarter and run the clock out with a lead? Instead we had Cantwell out there trying to make plays that he's simply not capable of at this point, and it bit us in the ass.

Why would Shelton call RVD though? Have they ever had any kind of storyline connection? How about Haas instead?

I assume it's just something due to it being a 4 day weekend and they are counting Monday in the final tally?

Memphis has already beaten UCLA and Gonzaga, I'd think those would get them a good seed over beating this ludicrously overhyped Texas bunch.

Right now I am very happy with the score for U of L, but why the FUCK wasn't Marcus Vick at least penalized or tossed for stomping Dumervil's leg at the end of the half?? Hell, he knocked him out of the game for a play and it looked like an intent to goon him and get him out of the game. I hadn't had anything against Va Tech before this, but they are some really cheap shot, punk bitches. I hope we can somehow beat them, even with Hunter Cantwell.

Actually they lost to NC St. by 20. I can't really argue on U of L's placement since even though we're 11-1 we've done jack shit this year to deserve any sort of top 10 ranking. But OSU in the top 10? What a joke. I know they are unbeaten so far, but let's get real here. They ain't shit. Once the Big 10 season starts they'll vye with Iowa for that #6 tourney spot. Pitt is an underrated team thus far. While I don't think they can go much beyond the Sweet 16, they are always a steady and consistent team. The coming weeks will tell the tale in the BE though. U of L gets Nova, Pitt, and UConn all at Freedom Hall from the 5th-21st. It's imperative to win 2 of those 3. If not, we're looking at multiple conf. losses with road games at UConn, Nova, Cincy, Cuse, and WVU left. In other words, we would be fucked.

Let's make one thing very clear: There are no serious plans for fucking Edge! Everyone here has these grandiose ideas regarding Edge and the MITB, but he's not going to use it the last 2 mins of WM, or whatever. He's just going to beat Flair and get the IC title at NYR, then cash in his MITB at the Rumble (feeling he's now on a hot streak)...and then job out quietly to Cena. The best scenario for Edge would be to ask whoever the new GM is for another MITB opportunity at WM. If it's Dusty Rhodes I can just see a new MITB being determined by the....LETHAL LOTTERY~!

I'm feeling Giant Gonzalez II with this guy. Do they EVER learn when it comes to guys like this?

That whole Edge WM scenario just reeks way too much of WM 9 for me to take seriously. Ending a WM with an impromptu title match that lasts 1 minute is a horrible idea. Look, Edge's MITB thing has been a huge debacle. I'm not saying it wouldn't work with someone else, but the way it's played out with him has been lousy. He's waited so long now that he now has essentially no heat left as a heel, and the whole Matt Hardy feud established what a dickhead he is and thus it's tough for him to ever go face again. Just put him vs. Cena or whoever at the Rumble and job him and end this storyline.

Well let's see how I did in the final week: Saturday: Denver at San Diego. Denver has things wrapped up as much as possible, SD's playing everyone. Thus the Chargers will win by 10 or so. (Ok I fucked that one up pretty good...but then again I didn't count on Brees going down there) 0 for 1. NY Giants at Oakland. Giants have no excuse not to win this against the crappy Raiders, and I don't care if Kerry Collins wants revenge. Giants by 14. (Pretty much hit this, Giants won by 9). 1 for 2. Sunday: Arizona at Indianapolis. Colts need to get well here. Play the starters the first half and squash the Cardinals, then put in Sorgi and Co. and relax. Colts by 10. (Sorta had it right, though Manning didn't even play much at all...Colts held on barely). 2 for 3. Baltimore at Cleveland. Two jobbers. The Ravens played well this past week, the Browns got waxed 41-0, so of course I'll take the Browns here by about 6. (nailed that one) 3 for 4. Carolina at Atlanta. Very interesting game. Falcons are eliminated but will they just fold the tent or will they do what the Saints did and eliminate the Panthers? I think they will pull this one off in a thrilling game. Falcons by 3, putting the Panthers out. (The hazards of predicting last week games...I think ATL just rested people and Carolina squashed em, right?) 3 for 5. Cincinnati vs. Kansas City. Chiefs DO still have some life left, so they'll be ready here. Bengals had a hideous loss last week and I think they'll lose here too by about 10, thus knocking them to the 4 seed. (Much worse than I thought, KC in a rout...but the Bengals still got the 3 seed. Steelers get to beat them down next week). 4 for 6. Detroit vs. Pittsburgh. The no brainer of the week. The pitiful Lions against the now mighty Men of Steel. Steelers in an absolute assbeating by 20+, they're in the playoffs. (Remember when I said not to bet this since Cowher might let up and thus they might not cover?) 5 for 7. Miami vs. New England. One thing I like about Belichick is that he doesn't do this wuss crap of resting the starters. Of course when guys like Tedy Bruschi get hurt maybe he should. Regardless, the Pats should fend off a tough effort from the resurgent Dolphins (by about 7) and finish 11-5. Pats get the #3 seed. (Ok, so Belichick did the wuss thing and rested everyone, and still damn near won.) 5 for 8. New Orleans at Tampa Bay. The 2nd no brainer as the sad sack Saints likely get their asses kicked by the Bucs, who need this to win the division and make the playoffs. Tampa by 14. (Hit that dead on) 6 for 9. Seattle vs. Green Bay. Mike Holmgren will just be resting guys here, so the Pack wins by 9 or so. Seattle still has homefield at 13-3. (Pack won by 6, late Christmas gift from Holmgren). 7 for 10. Buffalo vs. NY Jets. Buffalo had a big win last week so how do they finish the year? By losing on the road to the Jets. NY by 4. (Damn, hit that one right on too). 8 for 11. Houston vs. San Francisco. The so called Reggie Bush Bowl. Niners have won a couple of baffling games, so I'll take them here by 7. (Niners were slightly less inept and won in OT). 9 for 12. Tennessee vs. Jacksonville. I'm not sure if the Jags are resting people, but they might well since they are the #5 seed and can go no higher. If so, Titans by 7. I predicted weeks ago that the Jags would finish about 11-5. (Way off on this one, Titans didn't give a shit and got killed). 9 for 13. Chicago vs. Minnesota. Bears are locked in as the 2 seed, but will they rest guys? It IS a division rival after all. Vikings are done anyway, so this will be the ho hum hangover game of the day. Bears by 6, something like 16-10. (Way off here too, Minn. trashed the Bears, who also giveth a shit not). 9 for 14. Washington vs. Philadelphia. Skins are on a roll, and I don't care if Brunell is out. Like Mike McMahon is THAT much better than Patrick Ramsey? Skins by 7 to make the playoffs. (Skins won by 11 and made the playoffs) 10 for 15. St. Louis vs. Dallas. People seem to think the Cowboys are done, but all they have to do is beat the mediocre Rams and get a Carolina/Washington loss and they are in. Cowboys by 10. (By this point the Cowboys were eliminated and didn't give a shit). 10 for 16. Might as well toss out some early predictions for next week. On Saturday I'll take Washington over Tampa Bay and also in what some would consider an upset I'll take Jacksonville over NE. On Sunday I'll take Pittsburgh over Cincy and might as well go with the Giants over the Panthers (though I feel weird about it somehow).

I know, that's what made those matches really cool. RVD would bust Kurt open hardway and Angle retaliated with some stiff shit of his own. Thing is, I wonder if Kurt can take it like he did in 2001? Here's one reason RVD is more of an asset than Shelton at this point: He has an effortless charisma and command of the crowd. Recall earlier I said that it was goofy to use RVD to put over young guys when he himself had never had the main event title run that would establish him as a guy notable enough to put others over? It's sort of pointless since his near legendary ECW TV title run was over 5 years ago and in WWE he's never had a truly major run. In other words, I'd let him have his one run a la Jericho and then use him to put others over since he'd have that main event rub to give. I've never really understood Bps' RVD markdom. It's like "Yeah I like the guy but he's really not any good." While I'll admit that Van Dam can be very formulaic when he's unmotivated (as in most of his post IC run in 2003 on), the guy HAS had a bunch of excellent matches with a variety of opponents. He's had **** type affairs with not only guys like Lynn, Eddie, Jericho and Benoit, but also guys you wouldn't think he'd have much chemistry with like UT and Bam Bam Bigelow. Christian had the best match of his singles career vs. RVD in that ladder match. It was funny in 2002 reading about the Eddie ladder match that "Eddie was carrying RVD" considering that Eddie flat out admitted he was very unsure of how to work a ladder match and that RVD had planned out most of the match. The only times RVD really struggles is when he has to work a match that simply isn't his style, namely any of the HHH matches where Hunter works the leg and all that shit. RVD is a master of bumping and short term selling of a move, but not so great at stuff like long term selling of a leg (hell his offense revolves around using his legs...working his leg is good psychology but makes for an insanely boring match).

Surprised no one mentioned much on the Denver/SD game. What a debacle for the Chargers that one was. All I heard from Shottenheimer this week was "We're playing everyone, we wanna get to 10-6!" Not only did they not win but Drew Brees left with a dislocated right shoulder. Anyone care to explain why ol Marty has a job? He took a team that was AFC title game caliber and went 9-7.

Pitt is more about their style and system than who they actually have. At least I think so. Lose Knight? No problem, just plug in Krauser. Lose Taft or Troutman? Just plug some guys in who can rebound and defend, you'll be ok. I joked about the possibility of Pitt/Cincy this year in the Big East, but Cincy is actually playing some up tempo ball at the moment. Then you see some of these U of L scores this year (53-45 over Richmond, 56-48 vs. Detroit, 58-43 vs. Miami)....man that U of L/Pitt game has the chance to be bowling shoe ugly.

This to me is the last chance with RVD. When he gets back he's going to be uber over with the crowd and they have got to capitalize on this. And really, Raw does need him more than Smackdown at the moment. SD has a decent roster of faces, with Batista, Rey, UT, etc. What SD is lacking is a heel with any heat. But Raw? Raw right now has hardly anyone that the fans actually like. Cena is getting booed out of various buildings. Shawn is Shawn, some like him, some don't (depending on the week really and if they blather about Montreal, etc). Flair is too old to really build around anymore, and his personal problems being mentioned on the air for reasons that I don't quite understand. Shelton is being buried to the point of no return. RVD will be outpopping everyone on the roster when he gets back. Why job him out to Carlito or Masters? Could any possible good come of this? It's not like it'd even get either of them THAT over anyway...has anyone really gotten all that over by beating RVD? Lesnar didn't especially (though he didn't really win that feud), neither did Orton when he won the IC title. Know why? Van Dam's never had that main event run or world title, so beating him isn't as significant. If they'd actually PUSHED RVD then he'd be in a position to actually make some guys. I would get pissed if he was out there jobbing to Carlito and Masters, but frankly that might be a step up from jobbing to Kenzo Suzuki and Rene Dupree like he was on Smackdown before getting hurt. The ideal guy for him to feud with however is Edge. The battle of the two guys who have never quite gotten to the upper echelon.

Yeah the last few PPVs WCW had were quite solid I thought. In fact the action on the 2001 shows were better than what WWE is currently doing.

I never thought Pitt was any kind of fraud team. In fact I am more worried about U of L playing them than I am either Nova or UConn. At least those teams play similar styles to Pitino ball. U of L has a rare opportunity to begin BE play. Nova will be undefeated, Pitt might be, UConn might be...all when coming to Freedom Hall. Good chance to puncture some balloons.

I think he'll show up about a week before the Rumble and announce he is in it. But I wouldn't put any faith in my rambling at the moment....I've had about 6 glasses of wine and/or champagne.

Not sure but I think it was when both were on Smackdown and the rumor came out about someone cheating and all that (which was Lita/Edge/Matt actually).

I sorta thought this would happen to Oregon, losing to an Oklahoma team they should have beaten. Teams that are "screwed" out of the BCS tend to do this. There's been the mention of Cal from last year, but what about the time Kansas St. lost the Big 12 title game, got screwed out of any kind of major bowl, and ended up in the Alamo vs. Purdue....and lost. It's tough to get up for a lesser bowl against a lesser opponent. Now the U of L vs. Va Tech game will be interesting along those lines, since Va Tech figured they'd be in the BCS, but so did U of L. It's the game of underachievers.

Well I mentioned the D'Backs since they were involved in the best World Series of the decade by far. And yes, I know Angels/Giants went 7 but that series had all the appeal and heat of a damp rag. And as far as the Red Sox and White Sox, the World Series they were in were both just squash series. The best story of this decade? Red Sox winning. Best Series? 2001 easily. Best actual team? I'd go with the White Sox this year. Hard to argue with an 11-1 playoff record, with the 1 loss by 1 run.

The 1997 Nebraska title is really the only one that was a joke, because they actually DID lose that game to Missouri but the officials blew that bizarro world TD play. You know what cost Penn St. in 1994? A couple of close games to the uninspired likes of Illinois and Indiana. They dicked around and let IU back in that game and won by about 4 points. I mean yeah they should have gotten a share of the title still, but they did some things that put it in the hands of voters.

Well, of course the Red Sox will get that since them breaking the curse was way more interesting and notable than the White Sox this year. I might actually go with the D'Backs from this decade though. It was to me the appropriate ending to that World Series. Just because of 9/11 that didn't entitle the Yankees to yet ANOTHER World Series title. Mark Grace getting a ring > Red Sox winning.

I agree that Spring Stampede 99 was a very good PPV, but man it all totally fell apart after that. By WCW sucking in 1999 I refer to the "Post DDP title win in the 4 way on Nitro till Russo arrived" period. That was the worst shit of all time. That's like a 6 month period of time that was a black hole from hell. I mean hell, have you guys attemped to watch BATB 99 or GAB 99?? As far as title runs go, I prefer it when it changes a couple of times a year, but nothing near what WCW did in 2000 (where it killed the belts entirely). 1992 in the WWF for instance, the year began with it vacant...Flair won it at the Rumble, Macho at WM, Flair back after SS, then Bret beat Flair at year's end. Or WCW that same year...Luger had it to begin, Sting beat him, Vader beat Sting, Ron Simmons beat Vader, Vader won it back at year's end. To me, a champion nowdays shouldn't hold the title for a year. That's just boring as crap with 2 TV shows a week.

I'd like Tea a lot better if she ditched the blonde look that she's had since Deep Impact. Check out how hot she was with the darker hair in Bad Boys.