Kahran Ramsus

Any state in which you don't have a choice is a bad one. Any state in which religion (or atheism) affects state policy is a bad one.

Respect has to be earned. Benoit & Orton succeeded. Taker & JBL did not, and the fans responded accordingly. It isn't the first time. The real bad crowds are the ones in places like Anaheim where they sit on their hands the whole night no matter what happens.

Well, Royal Rumble 1995 worked too, but it wasn't the intention since he was supposed to be the heel. You are right in that the only time it truly was effective was the marine beatdown and eventual collapse on RAW.

They can't do anything WWF now, anywhere, cause they lost in court. Originally, they couldn't do WWF overseas but since Vince broke the agreement, they've lost WWF entirely. That explains it then. Thanks.

Not really. He's tried, but it hasn't always worked. Shawn is popular because he's talented, but he's not particularly sympathetic. He has always been more known as the obnoxious asshole. Mick Foley is the better example.

I have a question since I don't know much about the whole situation. Now, the copyright issue is largely to do with Britain right? I understand the name change, but for the older stuff, couldn't they just do the blurring for the European DVDs?

I don't remember any complaining when they did the wave during Dibiase/Roberts at Wrestlemania VI. Gorrilla & Jesse even found it enjoyable. Why should it be any different here?

Well, I guess it is pretty much settled now. Ian Thorpe is still the best swimmer in the world.

I agree absolutely. The biggest problem is pacing, and we will definitely see it now that Orton won the title so soon. The problem isn't as much that Orton isn't ready, but that now the peak interest of HHH/Orton should be occuring sometime around Royal Rumble, rather than Wrestlemania. It is going to be extremely difficult to delay an in-ring confrontation between HHH & Orton for 7 months without the interest in the match having declined by the time they actually get in the ring. You now have to delay the start of the HHH/Orton program until January, or have them fight right away and build towards a rematch. It is also going to be tough to explain why the biggest star on RAW doesn't deserve a title shot for 7 months, in addition to finding HHH something to do for the rest of the year (Benoit, Eugene & HBK have been done. My guess is Shelton although that would be counterproductive to any future pushes for Shelton since there is no way HHH will be allowed to lose this feud). Giving Orton the belt at Survivor Series would have been ideal. On the Smackdown side, JBL is great. WWE Champion JBL is not. Had Booker kept up his 'I want back on RAW' gimmick because he considers himself better than anyone on Smackdown, I think he would have made a good heel champ for a little bit. He isn't a great wrestler anymore either, but he is a former 5 time WCW Champion so he has credibility that JBL didn't when they began his push. JBL is getting there, but he's still got a long ways to go to be completely accepted as champion. Booker would have required less time to accomplish this. Big Problem #2 is the insistance on making comedy figures instead of serious wrestlers. This has neutered the ability of Eugene, Eddy Guerrero & John Cena especially this summer. Comedy wrestlers sell T-Shirts, serious wrestlers sell tickets. There is a purpose for comedy wrestlers, just don't push them to the top or the crowd won't take them seriously.

Canada goes to 2-0 in baseball with their 9-3 win over Italy. And right now Child/Heese are beating the Americans 1 set to 0 in Beach Volleyball. EDIT: The Canadians crush the Americans in the second set to win two straight and go to 1-1.

What the NBA sent this year was far from there best. Grouping a bunch of young guys and giving them 2 weeks to train is not gonna beat teams who've been playing together for years. Don't look at Team USA as a reflection of the NBA. Why not? The exact same problems are visible when watching the NBA game. Of course, there are better players than the group they sent over, but these are the guys (except for Iverson) which symbolizes what is wrong with the game today. Players are coming in too young, they don't learn how to shoot and play defense properly and the game is suffering. You see it in the NBA all the time.

South Africa wins the 4x100m Freestyle. The Dutch are second. Michael Phelps and the Americans finish with the Bronze.

Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton - This was pretty much decided a long time ago. WINNER AND NEW WORLD CHAMPION: Randy Orton JBL vs. Undertaker - Taker isn't around enough to be given the title, so expect Heidenreich to interfere and cost him the title. Maybe a DQ, but Bradshaw keeps the belt and that's what's important. WINNER: JBL HHH vs. Eugene - On one hand, if you are building HHH up for Wrestlemania, it makes little sense to job him here. On the other hand, you have to facilitate the Evolution break-up and HHH being unable to beat a retard could lead to Orton & Batista losing faith in him, especially with Orton winning the World Title. Storyline-wise, Eugene should win, but this is HHH we are talking about. Still, I think he will suprise us here. WINNER: Eugene Eddy Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle - It makes no sense to give Angle the win when he's one false step from retirement. His lone purpose left is as a big name to use as talent enhancement. WINNER: Eddy Guerrero John Cena vs. Booker T - Generally the heel jumps out to an early lead, then lets the face come back. If Cena wins, that guarantees Booker wins the next two, so I think Booker will take this one as it gives more options. WINNER: Booker T Edge vs. Batista vs. Jericho - Jericho has no chance. Personally, I think they should give it to Batista who is just waiting for a chance to get a push (he's treading water right now), but Edge just won it and I don't see him jobbing it this soon and on the cusp of a heel turn. Jericho does the job, no matter who wins. WINNER: Edge Paul London & The Filthy Animals vs. The Dudleys - Could go either way, but Spike is getting a new push so it makes sense for it to be his team that wins. WINNERS: The Dudley Boyz Kane vs. Matt Hardy - Could Kane's months long PPV jobbing streak be over? Given the match stips and Steph's love for overblown soap opera storylines, the answer is yes. WINNER: Kane

Thorpe d. Phelps in the Semi-Finals of the 200m Freestlye, but van den Hoogenband posts the best time overall (he raced in the other semi).

Canada just got done beating Chinese Taipei 7-0 in baseball. Next up is Italy, and surely we can beat them.

Canada's 8-Man Rowing team which was undefeated for the past two years went down in the heats and are now headed to the rep. The US team that beat them set the new World's Best time.

Unforgiven is a RAW PPV.

I'm looking forward the most to HHH/Eugene as well. Normally it would be Angle/Eddy, but Kurt's constant injuries have made it somewhat scary to watch him in the ring.

When is the H2H? 200 Freestyle, Aug 16th. Thorpe is the WR holder.

Australia won the 4 x100m Freestyle Woman's Relay over the Americans and set a new WR.

Klochkova (Ukraine) won the Women's 400 IM. She had a bit of a scare, but managed to hang on to no surprise.

Except that I believe they have time issues to deal with. It is unfortunate, but that's the way it is.

Phelps & Thorpe both won. I am so hyped for their H2H now. That's the event of the games right there.

Dumont & Martin just won their first set against the Swiss in Women's Beach Volleyball. The Swiss team kept botching their serves and sending them out. Set 2 coming up. EDIT: We win in two straight sets. 21-13 in Set 2.

It affects everyone. You will get the channels via a cable/sat converter but it will DOWNCONVERTED to display on your analog set. To properly view television when it happens you WILL need a HDTV. Directv's signal (which is digital) is already downconverted in the reciever for analog tvs as it is, so I don't think it would change anything. Correct. Same goes for any DSS. Cable might be another story, I'm not sure. I know I can watch the HDTV channels on my analog TV.