Between Saturday and Sunday, it was an absolutely insane weekend for the BBB realm. The NBA Playoffs began and for me the season ended by the end of the first game on Saturday. On Sunday night the WWE held their first pay per view event since WrestleMania, with a returning Brock Lesnar taking on John Cena in an epic main event.
First up the NBA Playoffs. The game that started off what was supposed to be an insane post-season was the 1 seed Chicago Bulls taking on the 8 seed Philadelphia 76ers. With just over a minute left and the Bulls holding a 12 point lead, Derrick Rose tore his ACL on a drive to the basket. This instantly crushes Chicago’s hopes for a championship this year and maybe for years to come as well. An ACL injury is no joke and it very likely may take a year for Rose to be in prime shape again. But what will prime shape be? Sure some people like Baron Davis have been able to regain all of their mobility following an ACL tear, but this is a major injury that once used to be a career-ender. Will Rose just be a solid, All-Star level player or can he regain his MVP form? Rose is a tremendous athlete and medicine is always improving, but it is still a long road to recovery and for somebody whose game is predicated on the ability to outrun everybody and dash to the hoop this is terrible.
The severity of the tear is still unknown and there is still no timetable for Rose’s recovery, but this takes the Bulls out of contention next season and if Rose doesn’t regain almost all of his mobility they may not be contenders again for a long time. This ruins the playoffs since the fun that would have come in a Heat-Bulls conference finals is thrown right out the window. For all the trash I talk about LeBron and the Heat, it is still just part of being a fan and the fact it is fun to rip on your team’s rivals. Now the fun is gone for me and I have little interest in the playoffs now. The Heat have just been handed the Eastern Conference Championship for the next few seasons and it is sad. It is sad for me since Rose is my favorite professional athlete in the history of life, and it should be sad for any basketball fan as well.
Regardless of if you are a Bulls fan or not, you can’t dislike Derrick Rose. He is the bravest player in the NBA and is what everybody should want out of a star. He will do whatever it takes for his team to win, gives all the credit to his team, and goes out and plays his heart out and wants the pressure of being the guy on him. It is rare for a star to demand so much from themselves, but Rose has an insane work ethic and extreme dedication. And he’s a nice guy and a terrific player. You never want to see somebody like that go down. I absolutely hate LeBron James but I would never, ever want to see him suffer an injury that could potentially ruin his career. Where is the fun in that? I would rather see him in top shape rivaling the Bulls than see him go down.
I don’t blame the condensed schedule for this, nor to I blame Tom Thibodeau for keeping Rose in the game. Thibs wanted to get Rose back in game shape and used to closing out games, and get him used to playoff minutes. It was a totally freak injury that could have happened at any time. Rose’s game is so hectic people have been saying for years that he was a major injury waiting to happen. The condensed schedule may have sped things along, but realistically it is not that surprising that Rose suffered a major leg injury. It is extremely sad, but if you think about it you can’t be shocked. I just hope Rose can make a full or close to full recovery since he has been on pace to have one of the greatest NBA careers.
As for the rest of the Eastern Conference, Miami is going to be handed their first round series with the New York Knicks. The Heat took over 20 free throws in the second quarter alone, that should say something right there. The refs even called a flagrant foul on Tyson Chandler since LeBron James started rolling around clutching his neck like he just got shot, obviously faking since he was fine within 15 seconds. The new rule in the NBA this year that if you lean into somebody then throw up a jumper the refs will not call a foul? Thrown away for that game since LBJ went to the line several times for that. In Boston’s first game against Atlanta, Rajon Rondo got eject and is facing a suspension for chest-bumping a ref while screaming at him. This very likely will cost Boston the series if he is out for more than a game, and this just means the Heat have become the luckiest team in the universe and will make it to the Finals unscathed.
Out West, San Antonio looked dominant in their first game against the Jazz. The Lakers embarrassed the Nuggets as well, and the Grizzlies squandered a massive lead, getting outscored 35-13 in the 4th and losing 99-98. I thought for sure the Grizzlies were a sleeper team and could easily clear house and make the finals, but after a collapse like that it takes some serious stones to get back in it. Dallas was able to against Portland last year since they had been through it before. Memphis has only won a playoff series once ever so they aren’t exactly the most experienced group. And how about Dallas? Nearly coming away with a win in OKC, but Kevin Durant buried a game winner with a second and a half left. Intense stuff, but Rose’s injury was like a black cloud hanging over my enjoyment of these games.
To take my mind off the sadness of Rose’s knee getting destroyed, I ordered WWE Extreme Rules. Pretty awesome show that certainly made me feel much better. The three main events totally delivered, and the undercard was entertaining as well. Randy Orton and Kane worked a falls count anywhere match that was worlds better than their WrestleMania match. They both worked really hard and while it wasn’t a technical masterpiece, it was still entertaining and they deserve some daps for that. I expected the worst match ever but it actually turned out to be a pretty good brawl. The Cody Rhodes-Big Show tables match had a great finish since the entire storyline for the match was ‘How can little Cody Rhodes throw the massive Big Show through a table?’ Well it was simple really; with a table set up next to the ring apron Big Show was standing on, Cody kicked Big Show’s leg and made him trip and step through the table. A clever, totally heel way to win. Then Big Show’s post-match freakout was awesome, spearing Rhodes and throwing him out of the ring through a table.
The first of the three main events was Daniel Bryan getting his rematch against Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship after losing at WrestleMania in 18 seconds. It was a 2-out-of-3 falls match and was brilliantly worked, and the crowd was totally into it. Bryan has been red hot since Mania as his “YES! YES! YES!” taunt has spread across the WWE Universe like wildfire and everybody is doing it. Bryan got disqualified in the first fall by repeatedly kicking Sheamus in the shoulder against the ropes after being told to stop. He worked the shoulder over for the last few minutes of the first fall, then once the second fall started he threw Sheamus in the YES! Lock and made him pass out, tying it at 1. Then they worked a nice little third fall which Sheamus won, retaining his belt. The match had great psychology and made me sad they didn’t get longer than 18 seconds to work at Mania since they have good chemistry.
After that, CM Punk defended his WWE Championship against Chris Jericho in a Chicago Street Fight. The show took place in the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Punk’s hometown. Last time they were there, Punk put on one of the greatest matches of all time with John Cena. I wouldn’t say this match was as good, but it was still great, told a pretty good story and had some cool spots. Punk’s diving elbow to Jericho through the announce table was pretty awesome, as was Jericho getting out of the Anaconda Vise by bashing Punk in the head with a Singapore cane. Punk and Jericho are two of my top five favorites of all time so I am basically guaranteed to enjoy whatever these guys do, but this match was an awesome brawl. Sheamus and Bryan worked a technical match, and Punk and Jericho worked a fight. Both were excellent championship matches, but the main event was the biggest selling point of the show and it delivered.
Brock Lesnar left the UFC since his battle with diverticulitis proved too difficult to come back from. His midsection was so weak he was totally unable to take a punch or kick to the gut without crumpling in pain. People will question his heart and effort, but he was really sick and it is admirable he was even able to return. His return to the WWE makes me laugh though because when he came out on Raw a few weeks ago Michael Cole used Brock’s UFC weight, and probably legit weight since he lost like 20-30 pounds from his illness, of 265. That was funny to me since in WWE they lie about weights and make dudes seem way bigger than usual. Then last night they said Sheamus weighs 267 and Lesnar weighs 283 so he can seem like this massive death machine. That’s what it is all about.
I loved Lesnar’s match with Cena. I hated everything about it within the first few minutes, but as it went on I loved it. I didn’t like how the show opened with a UFC style promo package where they show interview clips from both Cena and Lesnar talking very calm about how they are going to punish each other. When the match started Lesnar fought like it was an MMA fight, taking Cena down and resorting to ground and pound. Again, this isn’t the UFC so I didn’t like it. In wrestling, when people bleed they cut their foreheads open with a razor blade. A rule in WWE’s TV-PG era is that there is no blood. These guys broke blew that rule right away when Lesnar took Cena down and busted him open hard way (no blade) with elbows to the top of the skull. Obviously it was done on purpose since Lesnar stopped once he drew blood and they wanted Cena to bleed to make Lesnar look like an animal.
But it was lame since they had the ref put on rubber gloves because of the blood like this is MMA and they had doctors check on the cut and try to stop the bleeding like it is MMA. At Survivor Series ‘03 Vince McMahon bladed after the first punch thrown by Undertaker and lost like half the blood in his body and nobody checked on him! Having the ref stop the match over blood is not something that happens in WWE and I hated it. WWE is an elaborate performance, not the UFC, so I don’t like when they try to act like it is and mooch of the UFC’s heat. I didn’t like how Lesnar’s new ring gear is MMA trunks and gloves, I didn’t like any of this fake MMA stuff they tried doing with the takedowns and ground and pound. I’ve seen Lesnar break Heath Herring’s orbital and beat him into retirement. I’ve seen Lesnar pound Frank Mir’s face in so hard Mir looked like an alien after the first round was done. How am I supposed to believe Lesnar using his MMA techniques wouldn’t absolutely kill John Cena?
I was so mad because I thought Lesnar would get a few minutes of this in then Cena would just do a few moves and win. I was kind of right, but this match turned out to be a classic regardless. Lesnar beat the shit out of Cena for like 15 minutes. Cena was bleeding all over and at one point Lesnar wiped Cena’s blood across his chest and licked it off his gloves. It was savage. When I say Lesnar destroyed Cena, I mean he DESTROYED him. I’ve never seen anything like it. The WWE had their top boy get ransacked for at least 15 minutes. The match was just under 20 I think, and Cena totally had about one minute of offense total. It was wild. Cena wore his old school chain with a padlock to the ring, and Lesnar wrapped it around Cena’s legs, hung him from the ring post, and beat the shit out of him for a few minutes. Lesnar used some of his real wrestling, busting out the rolling German suplexes, but other than that he just used strikes and brutalized Cena and had him bleeding all over.
After a while I stopped bugging about the fake MMA stuff and just started digging the match since it was the most unexpected and insane main event you could see. How often do you see the top guy get bloodied and thrown around like a piece of garbage? The finish of the match pissed me off initially but I’ve come to accept it. Cena was on the apron outside of the ring and Lesnar leapt at him. Cena had his hand wrapped with his chain and punched Lesnar in the face, Lesnar bladed (!!!!!), and Cena gave him the Attitude Adjustment onto the ring steps Lesnar had brought in. That was it. Cena pinned him, match was over. Initially I flipped out since Lesnar had beaten the living shit out of Cena then got caught with two moves and lost, but it really isn’t that bad.
Lesnar looks like he got sloppy because he tried to hit Cena with some flying something or another and got caught with the chain. He messed up and Cena barely escaped with his life. After the match Cena was selling an arm injury, at least I’m assuming he was selling and it wasn’t actually hurt, and said he may be taking a vacation and thanked the fans. Pretty random as I don’t see why you would have Lesnar job to Cena if Cena is leaving, but this is why people watch Raw the night after a PPV. I kind of like that they made Lesnar look like this wrecking machine who got too sloppy and got caught, but if Cena is taking time off this finish makes no sense as there needs to be another match.
So that’s about it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this long-winded recap of the weekend’s madness, assuming you actually read it all and didn’t just skip to the end. Stay tuned for more Playoff thoughts at some point!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
Joe's 2011-12 NBA Regular Season Awards
The NBA regular season has finally and mercifully come to a close. There have been many surprises this year like Linsanity, the Spurs once again being the 1 seed out West, and Dwight Howard evidently having no soul. Now we stand just one little day away from the Playoffs, so like all people not good enough to actually be in the NBA we must declare winners for the regular season awards.
Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving, Guard, Cleveland Cavaliers - Good for the Cavs, man. You can’t match losing a once-in-a-generation talent like LeBron James, but Irving will be a pretty good player and most likely will be an All Star. If the Cavs can put a good team around him he will be able to make them a playoff team for sure and the assist numbers will go up. Though he’s missed time this year he has proven to be a leader on the floor and if he can stay healthy he will be the guy in Cleveland for a few years until he hosts a television special and leaves. If Ricky Rubio had stayed healthy and gotten the Timberwolves into the playoffs I would say he gets this award, but alas the Basketball Gods can be cruel sometimes and robbed us of that reality. Irving has had a great rookie year but it will be interesting to see if his health woes from college and now the pros stick with him.
Most Improved Player: Nikola Pekovic, Center, Minnesota Timberwolves - While my brother is may have won our NBA fantasy championship, I deserve a trophy for making this pick up during the season. In only 26 minute per, he put up 14 and 7. He has had absolutely beast games during the year but has also battled injuries. Either way, this was a guy who started the season behind Darko Milicic in the rotation and now starts. They thought freaking Darko was better than him, man. Ryan Anderson is also worthy of this award, but I take Pekovic since it is much more unexpected that he has had such a good year. I’m also partial to centers who can get it done down low rather than big men who have to camp out and shoot threes to get his points so I am more impressed with Pekovic.
Defensive Player of the Year: Tyson Chandler, Center, New York Knicks - I guess somebody should throw him a bone for being the only guy on that team who plays defense. Amar’e Stoudemire has never been a particularly good defender, and despite his newfound dedication to defense Carmelo Anthony has never exactly been known for anything other than being able to score. Chandler holds it down on defense for New York and when he misses games it instantly becomes a worry as to how anybody will be able to stop the opposing team from putting points on the board. People compare what Chandler has done in NY this year to what Kevin Garnett did in Boston in 08 by transforming the culture of the team and making them focus on defense. I don’t agree with that completely since Garnett completely changed his style of play and was responsible for the creation of an elite team while Chandler is doing what he always does and has guided the Knicks to stay a few games over .500. I don’t mean to take away from what he does though. All of a sudden the Knicks aren’t this soft, candyass team down low. You have to be wary about going into the paint and you have to actually fight for rebounds since Chandler can boss people and has also inspired the other guys on the Knicks to hustle more. Chandler doesn’t get a ton of blocks or anything like he’s Dwight Howard, but the mere fact he is in the paint is enough to throw shots off course. He was the big reason Dallas could play defense and win last year, and now he’s inspired the Knicks to fight on the defensive end for the first time in years.
Sixth Man of the Year: James Harden, Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder - Here is a guy who people have been talking about a lot lately as somebody who could go start on any other team and be an absolute animal. He scores so efficiently and is the ultimate spark a great team needs off their bench. He is having a career year and has proven to be every bit as important to the team as Durant and Westbrook. Look at the Thunder’s recent loss to the Lakers. After Harden nearly died from Ron Artest’s brutal elbow the Thunder didn’t have that same spark to help with the scoring and defense and they ended up losing in double OT. Without Harden the Thunder are not even close to being the same team. He used to be furious about this role but he has since grown to appreciate it and is now thriving. Harden dropped a career-high 40 points on Phoenix the other night and was staring at a big role in the playoffs until Artest murdered him.
Coach of the Year: Tom Thibodeau, Chicago Bulls - Gregg Popovich is also deserving but really nobody has had to overcome as much as Thibs. Last year Chicago won 62 games despite significant injuries to Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, their starting front court. This year the Bulls are once again the 1 seed in the East and were one of two teams (Popovich’s Spurs being the other) to finish with 50 wins despite even more injures. Reigning MVP Derrick Rose has missed significant time, Rip Hamilton has barely played, Luol Deng hasn’t been as effective as usual since he clearly needs surgery on his wrist, and CJ Watson has been nursing a few injuries and missed time. So that’s three injured starters and one of the most important reserves. In spite of this the Bulls have been able to scrap and fight their way to victory time and time again. This shortened season has been absolutely brutal and has taken its toll on a lot of teams, and there have been so many times when it looked like the Bulls were done and the injuries would be too much to overcome but somehow they keep winning. Sure Carlos Boozer has actually played well this year and all, but the main reason behind all of this is the fact Tom Thibodeau’s defense-first mindset has taken hold on the roster and keeps them in games always. Nobody else has had to deal with ⅗ of their starting line up being out or depleted, and not everybody could face that and still have a winning team that could win a championship.
Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant, Forward, Oklahoma City Thunder - I was thinking LeBron for a while, even when I first started writing this thing, but really I can’t go with LBJ since it just doesn’t seem right. I will explain that in a little bit. This year you could make the case for Durant, Kobe, LeBron, or even Chris Paul since it is all pretty wide open, and really there isn’t much to say when making the case for anybody since I feel this year hasn’t seen any particular standouts aside from LeBron filling up a stat line in historic fashion. Durant has had yet another stellar season and is still the guy in OKC. It has now become apparent that he can co-exist with Russell Westbrook and together they can form a devastating one-two punch. Westbrook has taken on more of a scoring load and is starting to share the spotlight more this year, but it is still Durant’s team through and through and he is the leader. Durant has no fear taking over in the fourth quarter and has inspired that team for years. He is shooting a career-best 49.5% from the field, he is having a career year in rebounding and assists, and his scoring is back up as well and he’s this year’s scoring champion. He has still been a killer this year, starting off the season right with that sick game winner over Dallas. It seemed like he took a step backwards last year after everybody thought he was poised to be a destroyer, but he is right back on track. Of course Durant won’t win and LeBron will since everybody gushes over the numbers only, but it is the little things that count and though some late-season struggles have hit OKC, this team has been poised to bust loose for a couple years now and it seems very likely that this is the time. We haven’t had to spend countless hours thinking about Durant’s drive or his focus or if he’s ready to finally make a statement, Durant just goes out and proves time and time again that he’s a great player and a great teammate. Durant inspires his team to win and they all believe in him, but with LeBron it comes across as the Heat all say they believe in him so he’ll man up and play better in the playoffs. This isn’t high school and I don’t like having to baby somebody to give him confidence regardless of how amazing his skill set may be.
LeBron is going to win this award but I still took the time to put together a case against him as only three people have multiple MVP awards with no title: James, Karl Malone, and Steve Nash. They all have two, and I can’t get behind LBJ with a third right now. Who can forget that even in the All Star game where nothing really matters, LBJ was afraid to take over in the clutch and ignored an open Melo to throw that ridiculous cross-court pass to Dwyane Wade that got stolen and cost the East the game, then looked like he wanted to cry since Kobe asked him what's wrong with him? Sure LBJ has more confidence this year, but he still openly shirks responsibility late in games to Dwyane Wade. I can’t get behind him as King no matter how much he says he’s changed. I am not cool with saying LeBron deserves to be a three-time MVP yet since I still am not certain he is the most valuable guy on that team. Sam Smith said it, a ton of people say it, and you can just tell by watching a Heat game that in the first half you have to beware of LeBron, but in the second half that is when you worry about Wade since that’s when he goes to work. I am not ready to crown LeBron for adding that ugly post-game and cutting out the three-pointer from his game since these are things he should have done back in Cleveland. It isn’t just about statistics to me, it is about the intangibles and it seems like Wade is the guy who is still counted on to drag this team out of danger when the game is on the line. LeBron fills up his stat sheet and is an amazing player, but he isn’t the player of most value since Wade has to do the dirty work at the biggest moments. Obviously LeBron is the greatest athlete to ever set foot on a basketball court, and his two MVP awards are a credit to that skill, but I don’t think he’s the one this year. I don’t think he’s totally undeserving at all, but I won’t agree with it when he does win in a few weeks.
So that’s that. Playoffs start Saturday and since this crazy lockout schedule has left so many teams nursing injuries, people seem to think there will be a lot of upsets. I’m not sure, and I probably won’t bother writing predictions, but each series will be pretty competitive and intense so I’m looking forward to it.
Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving, Guard, Cleveland Cavaliers - Good for the Cavs, man. You can’t match losing a once-in-a-generation talent like LeBron James, but Irving will be a pretty good player and most likely will be an All Star. If the Cavs can put a good team around him he will be able to make them a playoff team for sure and the assist numbers will go up. Though he’s missed time this year he has proven to be a leader on the floor and if he can stay healthy he will be the guy in Cleveland for a few years until he hosts a television special and leaves. If Ricky Rubio had stayed healthy and gotten the Timberwolves into the playoffs I would say he gets this award, but alas the Basketball Gods can be cruel sometimes and robbed us of that reality. Irving has had a great rookie year but it will be interesting to see if his health woes from college and now the pros stick with him.
Most Improved Player: Nikola Pekovic, Center, Minnesota Timberwolves - While my brother is may have won our NBA fantasy championship, I deserve a trophy for making this pick up during the season. In only 26 minute per, he put up 14 and 7. He has had absolutely beast games during the year but has also battled injuries. Either way, this was a guy who started the season behind Darko Milicic in the rotation and now starts. They thought freaking Darko was better than him, man. Ryan Anderson is also worthy of this award, but I take Pekovic since it is much more unexpected that he has had such a good year. I’m also partial to centers who can get it done down low rather than big men who have to camp out and shoot threes to get his points so I am more impressed with Pekovic.
Defensive Player of the Year: Tyson Chandler, Center, New York Knicks - I guess somebody should throw him a bone for being the only guy on that team who plays defense. Amar’e Stoudemire has never been a particularly good defender, and despite his newfound dedication to defense Carmelo Anthony has never exactly been known for anything other than being able to score. Chandler holds it down on defense for New York and when he misses games it instantly becomes a worry as to how anybody will be able to stop the opposing team from putting points on the board. People compare what Chandler has done in NY this year to what Kevin Garnett did in Boston in 08 by transforming the culture of the team and making them focus on defense. I don’t agree with that completely since Garnett completely changed his style of play and was responsible for the creation of an elite team while Chandler is doing what he always does and has guided the Knicks to stay a few games over .500. I don’t mean to take away from what he does though. All of a sudden the Knicks aren’t this soft, candyass team down low. You have to be wary about going into the paint and you have to actually fight for rebounds since Chandler can boss people and has also inspired the other guys on the Knicks to hustle more. Chandler doesn’t get a ton of blocks or anything like he’s Dwight Howard, but the mere fact he is in the paint is enough to throw shots off course. He was the big reason Dallas could play defense and win last year, and now he’s inspired the Knicks to fight on the defensive end for the first time in years.
Sixth Man of the Year: James Harden, Guard, Oklahoma City Thunder - Here is a guy who people have been talking about a lot lately as somebody who could go start on any other team and be an absolute animal. He scores so efficiently and is the ultimate spark a great team needs off their bench. He is having a career year and has proven to be every bit as important to the team as Durant and Westbrook. Look at the Thunder’s recent loss to the Lakers. After Harden nearly died from Ron Artest’s brutal elbow the Thunder didn’t have that same spark to help with the scoring and defense and they ended up losing in double OT. Without Harden the Thunder are not even close to being the same team. He used to be furious about this role but he has since grown to appreciate it and is now thriving. Harden dropped a career-high 40 points on Phoenix the other night and was staring at a big role in the playoffs until Artest murdered him.
Coach of the Year: Tom Thibodeau, Chicago Bulls - Gregg Popovich is also deserving but really nobody has had to overcome as much as Thibs. Last year Chicago won 62 games despite significant injuries to Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer, their starting front court. This year the Bulls are once again the 1 seed in the East and were one of two teams (Popovich’s Spurs being the other) to finish with 50 wins despite even more injures. Reigning MVP Derrick Rose has missed significant time, Rip Hamilton has barely played, Luol Deng hasn’t been as effective as usual since he clearly needs surgery on his wrist, and CJ Watson has been nursing a few injuries and missed time. So that’s three injured starters and one of the most important reserves. In spite of this the Bulls have been able to scrap and fight their way to victory time and time again. This shortened season has been absolutely brutal and has taken its toll on a lot of teams, and there have been so many times when it looked like the Bulls were done and the injuries would be too much to overcome but somehow they keep winning. Sure Carlos Boozer has actually played well this year and all, but the main reason behind all of this is the fact Tom Thibodeau’s defense-first mindset has taken hold on the roster and keeps them in games always. Nobody else has had to deal with ⅗ of their starting line up being out or depleted, and not everybody could face that and still have a winning team that could win a championship.
Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant, Forward, Oklahoma City Thunder - I was thinking LeBron for a while, even when I first started writing this thing, but really I can’t go with LBJ since it just doesn’t seem right. I will explain that in a little bit. This year you could make the case for Durant, Kobe, LeBron, or even Chris Paul since it is all pretty wide open, and really there isn’t much to say when making the case for anybody since I feel this year hasn’t seen any particular standouts aside from LeBron filling up a stat line in historic fashion. Durant has had yet another stellar season and is still the guy in OKC. It has now become apparent that he can co-exist with Russell Westbrook and together they can form a devastating one-two punch. Westbrook has taken on more of a scoring load and is starting to share the spotlight more this year, but it is still Durant’s team through and through and he is the leader. Durant has no fear taking over in the fourth quarter and has inspired that team for years. He is shooting a career-best 49.5% from the field, he is having a career year in rebounding and assists, and his scoring is back up as well and he’s this year’s scoring champion. He has still been a killer this year, starting off the season right with that sick game winner over Dallas. It seemed like he took a step backwards last year after everybody thought he was poised to be a destroyer, but he is right back on track. Of course Durant won’t win and LeBron will since everybody gushes over the numbers only, but it is the little things that count and though some late-season struggles have hit OKC, this team has been poised to bust loose for a couple years now and it seems very likely that this is the time. We haven’t had to spend countless hours thinking about Durant’s drive or his focus or if he’s ready to finally make a statement, Durant just goes out and proves time and time again that he’s a great player and a great teammate. Durant inspires his team to win and they all believe in him, but with LeBron it comes across as the Heat all say they believe in him so he’ll man up and play better in the playoffs. This isn’t high school and I don’t like having to baby somebody to give him confidence regardless of how amazing his skill set may be.
LeBron is going to win this award but I still took the time to put together a case against him as only three people have multiple MVP awards with no title: James, Karl Malone, and Steve Nash. They all have two, and I can’t get behind LBJ with a third right now. Who can forget that even in the All Star game where nothing really matters, LBJ was afraid to take over in the clutch and ignored an open Melo to throw that ridiculous cross-court pass to Dwyane Wade that got stolen and cost the East the game, then looked like he wanted to cry since Kobe asked him what's wrong with him? Sure LBJ has more confidence this year, but he still openly shirks responsibility late in games to Dwyane Wade. I can’t get behind him as King no matter how much he says he’s changed. I am not cool with saying LeBron deserves to be a three-time MVP yet since I still am not certain he is the most valuable guy on that team. Sam Smith said it, a ton of people say it, and you can just tell by watching a Heat game that in the first half you have to beware of LeBron, but in the second half that is when you worry about Wade since that’s when he goes to work. I am not ready to crown LeBron for adding that ugly post-game and cutting out the three-pointer from his game since these are things he should have done back in Cleveland. It isn’t just about statistics to me, it is about the intangibles and it seems like Wade is the guy who is still counted on to drag this team out of danger when the game is on the line. LeBron fills up his stat sheet and is an amazing player, but he isn’t the player of most value since Wade has to do the dirty work at the biggest moments. Obviously LeBron is the greatest athlete to ever set foot on a basketball court, and his two MVP awards are a credit to that skill, but I don’t think he’s the one this year. I don’t think he’s totally undeserving at all, but I won’t agree with it when he does win in a few weeks.
So that’s that. Playoffs start Saturday and since this crazy lockout schedule has left so many teams nursing injuries, people seem to think there will be a lot of upsets. I’m not sure, and I probably won’t bother writing predictions, but each series will be pretty competitive and intense so I’m looking forward to it.
Friday, April 20, 2012
UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans Prediction
Tomorrow, April 21, marks the first UFC pay per view in six weeks and it is headlined by one of the two biggest grudge matches the company has to offer. Light heavyweight Champion and company golden child Jon Jones takes on former teammate at Greg Jackson's camp, the former champion Rashad Evans. This match has been in the offing for roughly a year, but injuries (legitimate or questionable) and mismatching timetables have put this off until now. This is essentially a one card show, as the rest of the night features prospects and not quite ready for primetime players looking to get exposure from the hype the main event is receiving. Therefore, rather than go into each fight in excruciating detail, Joe and I are solely discussing the main event.
This fight is happening now for several reasons. First, Rashad Evans was originally slated to fight for the title March 2011, but suffered an injury in training that forced him to pull out. He was replaced by Jon Jones, who thoroughly abused Shogun Rua en route to a TKO win. Prior to this fight, Jones made the comment that if he had to, he would be willing to face Evans. Rashad took umbrage at this remark, left Greg Jackson's camp and the two were slated to fight last July. Jones then pulled out of this fight with a hand injury requiring surgery and was eventually replaced by Tito Ortiz. Oddly enough, he then opted out of having the surgery two weeks later and signed an agreement to face Rampage Jackson last September. Rashad was miffed and accused Jones of chicanery. Rashad then annihilated Tito and Jones dispatched Jackson with ease. Unfortunately for Evans, he suffered a broken hand in this fight and had to sit out until January. In the meantime, Jones defeated Lyoto Machida after a brief scare that saw him get tagged for the first time in his career. Evans then solidified his top contender status by beating Phil Davis in a dominant but dull decision.
That brings us to now. A year's worth of verbal sniping and waiting ends this Saturday. At this point the feud has evolved from Evans and Jones to Evans and Greg Jackson, but that is a discussion for another time and place. Jackson does play a key role though, as he is still coaching Jones and was Evans' principal trainer for several years. While Evans says that his time sparring with Jones gives him more insight into Bones than anyone else has, I think it is a bigger detriment to Rashad. Jones has experience sparring with him, plus the knowledge and gameplanning from the coach that helped Evans ascend to the top of the division and really played a vital role in the development of his skills.
Me: As much as this mental aspect of the two men knowing each other well plays a role, the physical differences are quite pronounced. Jones is 6'4 and has an 84" reach, while Evans is about 5'11 and is giving up just under a foot of reach. Also, Jones is considering moving to heavyweight in the next year and Evans could cut to 185 lbs. with little trouble. Most analysts are discussing Rashad's speed advantage, but I'm not totally convinced that he holds that strongly enough to get inside on the lanky Jones. That is his real key, as Jones controls distance better than anyone else not named Anderson Silva. I'm apt to criticize Jones for shoddy footwork or lacking power because he is too busy going for style over substance, but he is amazing at keeping opponents at the range he wants them at until he chooses to go for a clinch throw and those brutals elbows.
If Evans can get inside of Jones' reach and land a big shot, he has a chance to get a win. I don't think he has a way of winning a decision, as the odds of him landing a big enough blow to set up enough takedowns to ride out five rounds without getting finished are slim. He could possibly steal a round or two, but I think Jones being bigger and stronger than him makes it tough to get a finish. I see Evans maybe eeking out a round or two early on before Jones adjusts. He did this remarkably well in the Machida fight in the second round and got the stoppage after being knocked around in the first. I don't know how well Rashad can adjust. He failed to adjust against Machida and got killed. He caught Forrest while he slipped in the third round of their title fight and was able to exploit that opportunity. Rashad is typically a smart fighter with a sound (but dull) gameplan, but I don't think he can use that against Jones. I would like to see him win and see Jones knocked down a peg, but I give Rashad about a 25 percent chance of winning. I think after about two rounds of feeling it out, Jones opens up in the third and ends it in the fourth. Winner by fourth round TKO: Jon Jones
Joe: Earlier Jimmy asked me if I thought Rashad has more than a 10 percent chance of winning. I said he has at least a 35 percent chance of beating Bones. The biggest thing Rashad has to do, and everybody who has analyzed the fight has said it, is attack Jones early. He is going to be so much smaller than Bones it will be ridiculous. Jon Jones is almost a half foot taller and will have nearly ten inches of reach over Evans. Working around the height of Jones is one thing, but his length is going to be the biggest obstacle Evans will face in his entire career most likely. What Jon Jones has yet to pick up in technique he makes up for by understanding how to use his reach. He can use his length to easily keep people from getting in on him, though against Rampage he just ran away rather than actually defend Jones has newfound confidence after being able to take Machida’s stand-up in his last fight, and that makes him even more dangerous since now he probably won’t worry about if he can take a shot or not. But while Jones is constantly improving, there are still holes in his game, and Machida kept attacking and looked like he was on pace to outstrike Jones early on. Then the fight went to the ground and Machida was done.
The same goes for Rashad here. He has to avoid the ground and push the pace early and use a Randy Couture-style game plan of closing off the distance and using the dirty boxing from the clinch. There are a few problems with that still since he has to be strong enough to muscle Jones around, come in, strike fast, then move out before Jones throws him around. Also he has to hope and pray he hits Jones with one of those big punches that finished Chuck Liddell or almost finished Rampage Jackson. It has to happen quick too because the longer this fight goes the more likely it is that Jones does one of his suplexes from the clinch and then pounds Rashad into a pulp on the mat. Some people say Rashad’s best course of action is taking Jones down but I disagree. I don’t know if he has the strength to even get Jones down, and I would want to avoid any situation where you can get rolled over and then start eating those vicious elbows Jones has or he can use those long arms to lock in a choke. Rashad has the power to finish Jones and he is faster than Rampage so he has a better chance of getting in and landing one of those punches, but he is so much smaller than Jones it is going to be very difficult. Jones still has a lot to learn, but he is very strong and has knows exactly how to use his size so he has been able to dominate at 205. It is not very likely Rashad catches him flush within the first 5-7 minutes of the fight so we can expect Jones using his reach to keep Rashad back, picking him apart for a round or two, then bringing him down and finishing him off. Jones by TKO in Round 3.
There you have it. Feel free to share your pick on facebook or in the comment section. I'm sure we'll discuss the fallout from this fight at some point next week.
This fight is happening now for several reasons. First, Rashad Evans was originally slated to fight for the title March 2011, but suffered an injury in training that forced him to pull out. He was replaced by Jon Jones, who thoroughly abused Shogun Rua en route to a TKO win. Prior to this fight, Jones made the comment that if he had to, he would be willing to face Evans. Rashad took umbrage at this remark, left Greg Jackson's camp and the two were slated to fight last July. Jones then pulled out of this fight with a hand injury requiring surgery and was eventually replaced by Tito Ortiz. Oddly enough, he then opted out of having the surgery two weeks later and signed an agreement to face Rampage Jackson last September. Rashad was miffed and accused Jones of chicanery. Rashad then annihilated Tito and Jones dispatched Jackson with ease. Unfortunately for Evans, he suffered a broken hand in this fight and had to sit out until January. In the meantime, Jones defeated Lyoto Machida after a brief scare that saw him get tagged for the first time in his career. Evans then solidified his top contender status by beating Phil Davis in a dominant but dull decision.
That brings us to now. A year's worth of verbal sniping and waiting ends this Saturday. At this point the feud has evolved from Evans and Jones to Evans and Greg Jackson, but that is a discussion for another time and place. Jackson does play a key role though, as he is still coaching Jones and was Evans' principal trainer for several years. While Evans says that his time sparring with Jones gives him more insight into Bones than anyone else has, I think it is a bigger detriment to Rashad. Jones has experience sparring with him, plus the knowledge and gameplanning from the coach that helped Evans ascend to the top of the division and really played a vital role in the development of his skills.
Me: As much as this mental aspect of the two men knowing each other well plays a role, the physical differences are quite pronounced. Jones is 6'4 and has an 84" reach, while Evans is about 5'11 and is giving up just under a foot of reach. Also, Jones is considering moving to heavyweight in the next year and Evans could cut to 185 lbs. with little trouble. Most analysts are discussing Rashad's speed advantage, but I'm not totally convinced that he holds that strongly enough to get inside on the lanky Jones. That is his real key, as Jones controls distance better than anyone else not named Anderson Silva. I'm apt to criticize Jones for shoddy footwork or lacking power because he is too busy going for style over substance, but he is amazing at keeping opponents at the range he wants them at until he chooses to go for a clinch throw and those brutals elbows.
If Evans can get inside of Jones' reach and land a big shot, he has a chance to get a win. I don't think he has a way of winning a decision, as the odds of him landing a big enough blow to set up enough takedowns to ride out five rounds without getting finished are slim. He could possibly steal a round or two, but I think Jones being bigger and stronger than him makes it tough to get a finish. I see Evans maybe eeking out a round or two early on before Jones adjusts. He did this remarkably well in the Machida fight in the second round and got the stoppage after being knocked around in the first. I don't know how well Rashad can adjust. He failed to adjust against Machida and got killed. He caught Forrest while he slipped in the third round of their title fight and was able to exploit that opportunity. Rashad is typically a smart fighter with a sound (but dull) gameplan, but I don't think he can use that against Jones. I would like to see him win and see Jones knocked down a peg, but I give Rashad about a 25 percent chance of winning. I think after about two rounds of feeling it out, Jones opens up in the third and ends it in the fourth. Winner by fourth round TKO: Jon Jones
Joe: Earlier Jimmy asked me if I thought Rashad has more than a 10 percent chance of winning. I said he has at least a 35 percent chance of beating Bones. The biggest thing Rashad has to do, and everybody who has analyzed the fight has said it, is attack Jones early. He is going to be so much smaller than Bones it will be ridiculous. Jon Jones is almost a half foot taller and will have nearly ten inches of reach over Evans. Working around the height of Jones is one thing, but his length is going to be the biggest obstacle Evans will face in his entire career most likely. What Jon Jones has yet to pick up in technique he makes up for by understanding how to use his reach. He can use his length to easily keep people from getting in on him, though against Rampage he just ran away rather than actually defend Jones has newfound confidence after being able to take Machida’s stand-up in his last fight, and that makes him even more dangerous since now he probably won’t worry about if he can take a shot or not. But while Jones is constantly improving, there are still holes in his game, and Machida kept attacking and looked like he was on pace to outstrike Jones early on. Then the fight went to the ground and Machida was done.
The same goes for Rashad here. He has to avoid the ground and push the pace early and use a Randy Couture-style game plan of closing off the distance and using the dirty boxing from the clinch. There are a few problems with that still since he has to be strong enough to muscle Jones around, come in, strike fast, then move out before Jones throws him around. Also he has to hope and pray he hits Jones with one of those big punches that finished Chuck Liddell or almost finished Rampage Jackson. It has to happen quick too because the longer this fight goes the more likely it is that Jones does one of his suplexes from the clinch and then pounds Rashad into a pulp on the mat. Some people say Rashad’s best course of action is taking Jones down but I disagree. I don’t know if he has the strength to even get Jones down, and I would want to avoid any situation where you can get rolled over and then start eating those vicious elbows Jones has or he can use those long arms to lock in a choke. Rashad has the power to finish Jones and he is faster than Rampage so he has a better chance of getting in and landing one of those punches, but he is so much smaller than Jones it is going to be very difficult. Jones still has a lot to learn, but he is very strong and has knows exactly how to use his size so he has been able to dominate at 205. It is not very likely Rashad catches him flush within the first 5-7 minutes of the fight so we can expect Jones using his reach to keep Rashad back, picking him apart for a round or two, then bringing him down and finishing him off. Jones by TKO in Round 3.
There you have it. Feel free to share your pick on facebook or in the comment section. I'm sure we'll discuss the fallout from this fight at some point next week.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The Rights and Wrongs in the Sporting World 1
In the three realms we cover here on BBB, a great deal has happened as of late. As the title of this post suggests, I will be covering what out of the past few weeks is right in the universe and what is wrong. All pretty straightforward, so let’s just get to it.
The Right:
1. Stephon Marbury Gets a Statue - When Stephon Marbury left the NBA to go play for the Chinese Basketball Association, his life was a mess. He had left the Knicks in shame after threatening to blackmail Isiah Thomas and then feuding with Mike D’Antoni. He turned down a contract with the Boston Celtics so he could focus on “business” and then started broadcasting his life via webcam and did weird things like eat Vaseline and cry listening to music. Then he went to the CBA and has become a new man. He has matured and has become a superstar over there and lead the Beijing Ducks to their first CBA Championship. He averaged 33 and 6 in the Finals, and scored 41 points in the deciding Game 5, but CBA rules ban a foreign-born player from winning the MVP award. Luckily, a million CBA fans signed a petition calling for a massive bronze statue of Starbury to be made in honor of his contributions. It is great to see Marbury finally act like an adult and finally become a winner. It is even better that he is going to be immortalized with a sick statue.
2. Memphis Grizzlies - The team I said would rival the OKC Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference has not been the truth this year. Granted Zach Randolph being hurt cost them, but he is now back and the Grizzlies have a very solid team. Marc Gasol is one of the best centers in the league, then you’ve got guys like OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay who can pile on the points and play good defense. Even Gilbert Arenas has proven to be a solid addition thus far, and it seemed like his career was at an end. Over the course of their last 10 games, the Grizzlies are 8-2 and have beaten the likes of the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, the Miami Heat, the Lakers, the Clippers, and the West-leading Thunder. They have put together a nice late-season stretch that could give them a ton of confidence come the playoffs.
3. Anderson Silva’s Revenge - It has been announced that Chael Sonnen will get another shot at Anderson Silva’s Middleweight Championship on June 23 in Silva’s native Brazil. The Brazilian fans are always rabid at the UFC shows and after all the trash talk Sonnen has dished out for two years about Silva, the Nogueira brothers, and the country of Brazil, somebody is going to want to see Sonnen get smacked up. An article on BJPenn.com asked if Sonnen’s trash talk is getting old. It was old after he got submitted by Silva in their first fight yet still talked the noise about how he was the true champion. Silva’s victory was maybe the most heroic in UFC history as he went into the fight mentally unprepared due to the loss of his grandmother and he was physically unprepared as he had busted ribs. Also, Sonnen was juiced up, but that will be touched on later in this post. It didn’t matter as Silva still made Sonnen eat his words about how a Nogueira black belt is like a Happy Meal toy. Now Silva is healthy and will be out to prove that Sonnen’s dominance over him in the first fight was just a fluke.
4. Tom Thibodeau - Thibs may be on pace to become the first back-to-back winner of the NBA Coach of the Year Award. He totally deserves it, and not just because I’m a Bulls fan. With Derrick Rose having a historic season in terms of games missed by a reigning MVP, the Bulls are still poised to win the East and maybe finish with the best record in the league. Best in the league despite being depleted by injuries all year and Carlos Boozer having to be the best player on the team. Chicago is staring down 50 wins in this brutal, lockout-shortened year even though Luol Deng has a serious wrist problem and isn’t playing as well as he could, Rip Hamilton plays a game or two then leaves because he’s hurt, and Derrick Rose has only played 35 of the 58 games this year. That’s three of the five starters down, and Chicago is just chugging along thanks to Thibodeau’s defense-first teachings.
5. The WWE and John Cena - Ten days ago was a terrific show at WrestleMania XXVIII. In a shocking turn of events in the main event, the WWE put The Rock over John Cena. Usually when they do these clashes of an icon from the past with the icon from the present, the classic guy always loses. WWE has forced Cena down everybody’s throats for years so everybody expected him to go over The Rock. In terms of storylines, it was a brilliant move to have Rock go over since this makes Cena’s character far more interesting. Had Cena won, he would have beaten literally every big star except for Undertaker. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, everybody has had to job for Cena. If Cena had won he would be unstoppable forever. But now that he loses a match he said he had to win or he would lose “everything,” he is far more interesting. Compound that with Brock Lesnar returning the next night on Raw and delivering the F5 to Cena, and Cena instantly becomes interesting for the first time in years. Even the other night on Raw Lesnar got the better of Cena. WWE never has their top guy get jobbed out repeatedly, but now that they are doing it Cena is actually entertaining. The days of Super Cena who cannot be touched by mortal men are long gone and now Cena is just another superstar. However, this leads me to the first thing I want to discuss with what is wrong in the realms these days.
The Wrong:
1. WWE - Vince McMahon is going to be stepping down soon and relinquishing control of the company to his daughter Stephanie and her husband Triple H (not his real name). Vince has been pissed as of late since aside from the rise of CM Punk as a main event star in the last year, nobody other than Cena has gotten over with the fans. Normally if you want to get people over, you put them in high profile feuds and have them win. Hell, give them a secondary title like the Intercontinental or US title and have them work matches. Dolph Ziggler should be US Champion right now after being made to look like absolute crap against CM Punk but now is getting jobbed out to the “Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay. Cody Rhodes was making the Intercontinental title mean something again by cutting good promos and working good matches, but then they jobbed him out to Big Show at Mania so his push has declined. Zack Ryder gets jobbed out and made to look like an idiot every week. Ron Killings is portraying R-Truth, a gimmick I feel is offensive since it requires him to just be the token wild black guy who says crazy stuff and break dances. Daniel Bryan, who has won Wrestling Observer’s Best Technical Wrestler award seven straight years, was jobbed out in 18 SECONDS at WrestleMania. Rather than put some of these guys in feuds with Cena and make them stars they are being made to look like clowns. Vince is pissed there are no new stars, so what did they do? Bring back The Rock, who can only work for like maybe a month then disappears to make another movie, and put him over the biggest star in the company. The next night they bring back Brock Lesnar and put him over the top star in the company. How does this solve the issue of there being no new talent? The new blood isn’t even being given a shot and stars of the past like Brock and Rock aren’t putting anybody over, they are just being pushed like they are the future.
2. Alistair Overeem Fails a Random Drug Test - The Nevada State Athletic Commission granted Alistair Overeem a conditional license to face Brock Lesnar back in December. Part of this conditional license was the provision that he would be randomly piss tested since he has put on so much muscle the last few years it is obvious he must be on steroids. His temporary license expired on December 31st, 2011 and he passed his drug test both pre and post-fight. Reem’s victory over Lesnar has put him at the front of the line for a heavyweight title fight with champion Junior dos Santos. Overeem isn’t currently licensed but at the UFC 146 press conference, the NSAC administered a random drug test on Overeem and he failed, putting what would have been a great fight in jeopardy. The legal testosterone ratio for competition in Nevada is 6:1, while Overeem’s ratio was 14:1. Now the title fight seems to be in jeopardy since Nevada can refuse to issue a license on these grounds when Reem has his hearing. UFC President Dana White is furious since Reem looked him dead in the eye and swore he was not on steroids, but this test says otherwise. Overeem could claim testosterone replacement therapy as so many fighters do (more on that in a moment), or his defense could be that he isn’t licensed so this test means nothing. He has never failed a pre or post-fight drug test, and if he tests clean right before the fight and right after why should he be punished? The fight isn’t until the end of May so who is to say he won’t have a normal ratio on fight night? While a cheap defense, it still raises a valid point. But the fact remains, Overeem swore he wasn’t juiced up and here he is with the second highest ratio for a major fighter. Who was first? Well that’s what is so interesting...
3. Chael Sonnen Gets a Second Title Shot - The highest testosterone level belongs to Chael Sonnen with 16.9 when he had his title fight against Anderson Silva back in August of 2010. Not only did Sonnen get choked out, he cheated also since he failed to ever document he underwent testosterone replacement therapy for a condition called hypergonadism. It is worth noting one of the causes of hypergonadism is steroid use. He nearly pulled off the biggest upset in MMA history and it would have been tarnished because he had testosterone levels 17 times higher than that of a normal man, which is ridiculous even if he underwent TRT since a proper procedure would not cause that as the article I just linked to explains. He is being rewarded for nearly shaming the company by getting another title shot, while Alistair Overeem’s future with the UFC is in jeopardy. The Overeem test was just a random test on an un-licensed fighter, while Sonnen was in the biggest fight of the year and failed right before and right after the fight. Everybody is calling for Overeem to be punished, but people love Sonnen’s professional wrestling-style promos that embarrass the sport and they ignore the fact he cheated badly. Reem has never failed a drug test pre or post-fight and is going to be punished, but Sonnen fails pre and post-fight and is being rewarded despite the fact that if he had won that fight with Silva the UFC would have been shamed and all the good will the sport had built up would have been done.
4. Derrick Rose - Rose has missed numerous clutch free throws this year, most notably the other night against the Knicks. People could say it is a mental thing, and I agree to an extent, but we can’t forget Rose has been in horrible shape all year. Last year he was an absolute killer and carried Chicago to unexpected heights. This year he has barely played half of the games and gets injured all the time. Turf toe, bad back, bad groin, and now a sprained ankle. Maybe he wasn’t his usual clutch self against New York because he sprained that ankle again during the game and has been injured all year. Either way, his struggles to get healthy are going to cost the Chicago Bulls come playoff time. Granted it isn’t entirely his fault since he keeps getting hurt since he hasn’t had the chance to get in game shape, but still he is doing more harm than good right now. And the fact he has missed so many fourth quarter free throws this year is even worse. While the regular season hardly matters, it is still a dire situation when Derrick Rose has been more injured and hasn’t even had as good of a season as Carlos Boozer.
5. LeBron MVP Talk Despite a Great Canadian Having a Great Year - Yeah I hate LeBron but just hear me out. He is clearly the MVP this year and all, but depending on how these last few games go we may have to consider somebody else for a three-time MVP winner. If the Phoenix Suns make the playoffs, Steve Nash totally deserves to be MVP. He is battling it out with Rajon Rondo to be league leader in assists, and is sixth in the league in field goal percentage, with a ridiculous 54.1%. He’s the only non-post player up that high, with LeBron James sitting at 10. Did I mention he is a 38-year-old 6’3” point guard averaging 13 and 11? Not the most electrifying numbers in terms of scoring, but getting the Suns into the playoffs with Marcin Gortat as your second best player and Grant Hill out for the season is unreal. Michael Redd and Channing Frye are relied on as major options. LeBron is having an amazing year and all, but the Western Conference is the still the Bestern Conference, and if Nash can lead the Suns to the playoffs being several games over .500 hopefully somebody throws him a bone here.
That’s all for now. God speed and party on.
The Right:
1. Stephon Marbury Gets a Statue - When Stephon Marbury left the NBA to go play for the Chinese Basketball Association, his life was a mess. He had left the Knicks in shame after threatening to blackmail Isiah Thomas and then feuding with Mike D’Antoni. He turned down a contract with the Boston Celtics so he could focus on “business” and then started broadcasting his life via webcam and did weird things like eat Vaseline and cry listening to music. Then he went to the CBA and has become a new man. He has matured and has become a superstar over there and lead the Beijing Ducks to their first CBA Championship. He averaged 33 and 6 in the Finals, and scored 41 points in the deciding Game 5, but CBA rules ban a foreign-born player from winning the MVP award. Luckily, a million CBA fans signed a petition calling for a massive bronze statue of Starbury to be made in honor of his contributions. It is great to see Marbury finally act like an adult and finally become a winner. It is even better that he is going to be immortalized with a sick statue.
2. Memphis Grizzlies - The team I said would rival the OKC Thunder for the top seed in the Western Conference has not been the truth this year. Granted Zach Randolph being hurt cost them, but he is now back and the Grizzlies have a very solid team. Marc Gasol is one of the best centers in the league, then you’ve got guys like OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay who can pile on the points and play good defense. Even Gilbert Arenas has proven to be a solid addition thus far, and it seemed like his career was at an end. Over the course of their last 10 games, the Grizzlies are 8-2 and have beaten the likes of the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, the Miami Heat, the Lakers, the Clippers, and the West-leading Thunder. They have put together a nice late-season stretch that could give them a ton of confidence come the playoffs.
3. Anderson Silva’s Revenge - It has been announced that Chael Sonnen will get another shot at Anderson Silva’s Middleweight Championship on June 23 in Silva’s native Brazil. The Brazilian fans are always rabid at the UFC shows and after all the trash talk Sonnen has dished out for two years about Silva, the Nogueira brothers, and the country of Brazil, somebody is going to want to see Sonnen get smacked up. An article on BJPenn.com asked if Sonnen’s trash talk is getting old. It was old after he got submitted by Silva in their first fight yet still talked the noise about how he was the true champion. Silva’s victory was maybe the most heroic in UFC history as he went into the fight mentally unprepared due to the loss of his grandmother and he was physically unprepared as he had busted ribs. Also, Sonnen was juiced up, but that will be touched on later in this post. It didn’t matter as Silva still made Sonnen eat his words about how a Nogueira black belt is like a Happy Meal toy. Now Silva is healthy and will be out to prove that Sonnen’s dominance over him in the first fight was just a fluke.
4. Tom Thibodeau - Thibs may be on pace to become the first back-to-back winner of the NBA Coach of the Year Award. He totally deserves it, and not just because I’m a Bulls fan. With Derrick Rose having a historic season in terms of games missed by a reigning MVP, the Bulls are still poised to win the East and maybe finish with the best record in the league. Best in the league despite being depleted by injuries all year and Carlos Boozer having to be the best player on the team. Chicago is staring down 50 wins in this brutal, lockout-shortened year even though Luol Deng has a serious wrist problem and isn’t playing as well as he could, Rip Hamilton plays a game or two then leaves because he’s hurt, and Derrick Rose has only played 35 of the 58 games this year. That’s three of the five starters down, and Chicago is just chugging along thanks to Thibodeau’s defense-first teachings.
5. The WWE and John Cena - Ten days ago was a terrific show at WrestleMania XXVIII. In a shocking turn of events in the main event, the WWE put The Rock over John Cena. Usually when they do these clashes of an icon from the past with the icon from the present, the classic guy always loses. WWE has forced Cena down everybody’s throats for years so everybody expected him to go over The Rock. In terms of storylines, it was a brilliant move to have Rock go over since this makes Cena’s character far more interesting. Had Cena won, he would have beaten literally every big star except for Undertaker. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, everybody has had to job for Cena. If Cena had won he would be unstoppable forever. But now that he loses a match he said he had to win or he would lose “everything,” he is far more interesting. Compound that with Brock Lesnar returning the next night on Raw and delivering the F5 to Cena, and Cena instantly becomes interesting for the first time in years. Even the other night on Raw Lesnar got the better of Cena. WWE never has their top guy get jobbed out repeatedly, but now that they are doing it Cena is actually entertaining. The days of Super Cena who cannot be touched by mortal men are long gone and now Cena is just another superstar. However, this leads me to the first thing I want to discuss with what is wrong in the realms these days.
The Wrong:
1. WWE - Vince McMahon is going to be stepping down soon and relinquishing control of the company to his daughter Stephanie and her husband Triple H (not his real name). Vince has been pissed as of late since aside from the rise of CM Punk as a main event star in the last year, nobody other than Cena has gotten over with the fans. Normally if you want to get people over, you put them in high profile feuds and have them win. Hell, give them a secondary title like the Intercontinental or US title and have them work matches. Dolph Ziggler should be US Champion right now after being made to look like absolute crap against CM Punk but now is getting jobbed out to the “Funkasaurus” Brodus Clay. Cody Rhodes was making the Intercontinental title mean something again by cutting good promos and working good matches, but then they jobbed him out to Big Show at Mania so his push has declined. Zack Ryder gets jobbed out and made to look like an idiot every week. Ron Killings is portraying R-Truth, a gimmick I feel is offensive since it requires him to just be the token wild black guy who says crazy stuff and break dances. Daniel Bryan, who has won Wrestling Observer’s Best Technical Wrestler award seven straight years, was jobbed out in 18 SECONDS at WrestleMania. Rather than put some of these guys in feuds with Cena and make them stars they are being made to look like clowns. Vince is pissed there are no new stars, so what did they do? Bring back The Rock, who can only work for like maybe a month then disappears to make another movie, and put him over the biggest star in the company. The next night they bring back Brock Lesnar and put him over the top star in the company. How does this solve the issue of there being no new talent? The new blood isn’t even being given a shot and stars of the past like Brock and Rock aren’t putting anybody over, they are just being pushed like they are the future.
2. Alistair Overeem Fails a Random Drug Test - The Nevada State Athletic Commission granted Alistair Overeem a conditional license to face Brock Lesnar back in December. Part of this conditional license was the provision that he would be randomly piss tested since he has put on so much muscle the last few years it is obvious he must be on steroids. His temporary license expired on December 31st, 2011 and he passed his drug test both pre and post-fight. Reem’s victory over Lesnar has put him at the front of the line for a heavyweight title fight with champion Junior dos Santos. Overeem isn’t currently licensed but at the UFC 146 press conference, the NSAC administered a random drug test on Overeem and he failed, putting what would have been a great fight in jeopardy. The legal testosterone ratio for competition in Nevada is 6:1, while Overeem’s ratio was 14:1. Now the title fight seems to be in jeopardy since Nevada can refuse to issue a license on these grounds when Reem has his hearing. UFC President Dana White is furious since Reem looked him dead in the eye and swore he was not on steroids, but this test says otherwise. Overeem could claim testosterone replacement therapy as so many fighters do (more on that in a moment), or his defense could be that he isn’t licensed so this test means nothing. He has never failed a pre or post-fight drug test, and if he tests clean right before the fight and right after why should he be punished? The fight isn’t until the end of May so who is to say he won’t have a normal ratio on fight night? While a cheap defense, it still raises a valid point. But the fact remains, Overeem swore he wasn’t juiced up and here he is with the second highest ratio for a major fighter. Who was first? Well that’s what is so interesting...
3. Chael Sonnen Gets a Second Title Shot - The highest testosterone level belongs to Chael Sonnen with 16.9 when he had his title fight against Anderson Silva back in August of 2010. Not only did Sonnen get choked out, he cheated also since he failed to ever document he underwent testosterone replacement therapy for a condition called hypergonadism. It is worth noting one of the causes of hypergonadism is steroid use. He nearly pulled off the biggest upset in MMA history and it would have been tarnished because he had testosterone levels 17 times higher than that of a normal man, which is ridiculous even if he underwent TRT since a proper procedure would not cause that as the article I just linked to explains. He is being rewarded for nearly shaming the company by getting another title shot, while Alistair Overeem’s future with the UFC is in jeopardy. The Overeem test was just a random test on an un-licensed fighter, while Sonnen was in the biggest fight of the year and failed right before and right after the fight. Everybody is calling for Overeem to be punished, but people love Sonnen’s professional wrestling-style promos that embarrass the sport and they ignore the fact he cheated badly. Reem has never failed a drug test pre or post-fight and is going to be punished, but Sonnen fails pre and post-fight and is being rewarded despite the fact that if he had won that fight with Silva the UFC would have been shamed and all the good will the sport had built up would have been done.
4. Derrick Rose - Rose has missed numerous clutch free throws this year, most notably the other night against the Knicks. People could say it is a mental thing, and I agree to an extent, but we can’t forget Rose has been in horrible shape all year. Last year he was an absolute killer and carried Chicago to unexpected heights. This year he has barely played half of the games and gets injured all the time. Turf toe, bad back, bad groin, and now a sprained ankle. Maybe he wasn’t his usual clutch self against New York because he sprained that ankle again during the game and has been injured all year. Either way, his struggles to get healthy are going to cost the Chicago Bulls come playoff time. Granted it isn’t entirely his fault since he keeps getting hurt since he hasn’t had the chance to get in game shape, but still he is doing more harm than good right now. And the fact he has missed so many fourth quarter free throws this year is even worse. While the regular season hardly matters, it is still a dire situation when Derrick Rose has been more injured and hasn’t even had as good of a season as Carlos Boozer.
5. LeBron MVP Talk Despite a Great Canadian Having a Great Year - Yeah I hate LeBron but just hear me out. He is clearly the MVP this year and all, but depending on how these last few games go we may have to consider somebody else for a three-time MVP winner. If the Phoenix Suns make the playoffs, Steve Nash totally deserves to be MVP. He is battling it out with Rajon Rondo to be league leader in assists, and is sixth in the league in field goal percentage, with a ridiculous 54.1%. He’s the only non-post player up that high, with LeBron James sitting at 10. Did I mention he is a 38-year-old 6’3” point guard averaging 13 and 11? Not the most electrifying numbers in terms of scoring, but getting the Suns into the playoffs with Marcin Gortat as your second best player and Grant Hill out for the season is unreal. Michael Redd and Channing Frye are relied on as major options. LeBron is having an amazing year and all, but the Western Conference is the still the Bestern Conference, and if Nash can lead the Suns to the playoffs being several games over .500 hopefully somebody throws him a bone here.
That’s all for now. God speed and party on.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
BBB's WrestleMania XXVIII Predictions
Tonight is the Grandaddy of ‘Em All! The Showcase of the Immortals! The biggest WWE event of the year! Tonight is WrestleMania XXVIII live from Miami! And don’t worry Warrior, we will all be watching it or traveling to it by conventional means. It features a pretty solid card of course headlined by a main event that now joins Hogan-Andre, Hogan-Warrior, and Hogan-Rock as one of the biggest main events in WrestleMania history: The Rock vs. John Cena. So to continue what I hope to make a new tradition for the “Big Four” WWE shows (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series), here are some predictions for everybody’s favorite fake sporting event:
Team Johnny (David Otunga, Drew McIntyre, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, & Jack Swagger) vs. Team Teddy (Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, & Booker T): A few thoughts on this match. First, I feel like every year they have a big match like this just to get everybody on the card and usually it is a waste of time. Second, how far the mighty have fallen! A year ago Miz was headlining Mania as WWE Champion now he is reduced to this. Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis and SmackDown GM Teddy Long have put together these gigantic teams and whoever wins becomes GM of both shows. David Otunga is the worst wrestler in the company, as is shown by him having the lowest rating in the WWE ‘12 video game, but is still Johnny Ace’s captain. Christian and Alberto Del Rio were supposed to be on Team Johnny but Christian is still hurt and they felt this match is beneath Del Rio so they took him out of it, and I now have no interest in this match whatsoever. Teddy Long has been an on-screen character for like 10 years. WWE seems to love bastard authority figures so they’ve been high on Johnny Ace and he’s only been around the last few months. There’s nothing more to do with Teddy Long and WWE always wants to replicate the evil Mr. McMahon character from the 90s so Team Johnny will win.
Maria Menounos & Kelly Kelly vs. Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix: Yes, that Maria Menounos from Access Hollywood and Extra. Not only is she a die hard Boston Celtics fan, she apparently enjoys doing work with WWE as this is like the third or fourth time she’s appeared at an event. Not to sound like a sexist bastard, but women’s matches are usually always terrible and this will probably be. Kelly Kelly sucks, Eve hasn’t been good from all one match I paid attention to, and Beth Phoenix is awesome. This match has no point other than to be a quick Divas match to kill time with and to get some kind of celebrity involvement. Menounos just broke some ribs doing Dancing with the Stars so I don’t know if she’ll even still be in this match or what. If she is she won’t do much other than probably get the pin. Maria & Kelly Kelly win.
Randy Orton vs. Kane: This is the most pointless match on the card and hopefully will open the show to get it out of the way. Just like Cena’s feud with Kane was done just so Cena would have something to do before The Rock came back, this feud serves no purpose other than to get Orton on WrestleMania. The WWE loves Orton for whatever reason and he has gotten better in the ring than he was when I remember him first getting his super push in 2004. Kane also showed in his matches with Cena that he’s still got some stuff left in the tank and can work, but really this match won’t be that good. I had to look on Wikipedia to find out what these guys are even feuding over since I had no idea. Apparently Kane is upset he shook hands with Orton after a match in JULY OF LAST YEAR because it made him look like a mere mortal and weak. What the hell? Whatever. Even a fake wrestling “news” site which is like The Onion but about wrestling has made jokes about how this match is over nothing. Orton wins.
Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show: I will give Cody Rhodes some credit since I always thought Ted DiBiase Jr. would be the breakout star from Randy Orton’s lame ass stable Legacy. I thought DiBiase had it on the mic and would become this badass heel, but instead he’s become pretty lame. Cody Rhodes, however, has worked his ass off and become a great upper mid-card heel. He is cutting great promos and the WWE is obviously high on him since he’s been Intercontinental Champion since August and was one of the longest participants in the Royal Rumble this year, and had the most eliminations in the match. I have gone from hating Rhodes to actually enjoying his work now. As for Big Show, he has been and remains pretty much my least favorite wrestler ever so I’m not really that pumped for this match since I don’t want to watch 10 minutes of Big Show. I’ve loved Rhodes’ promos going into this match about how Show always loses at WrestleMania and will again. I don’t know why Big Show would win this match since the IC title does nothing for him at all and a loss isn’t what Cody needs right now with this momentum. Cody retains.
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus: Not much to say about this match since it seems pretty cut and dry. Bryan has been a great heel champion. The WWE has done a really good job at building up Bryan’s chickenshit, asshole character. Bryan is one of the greatest technical wrestlers on the planet but seemed lacking in personality, but this run as champ and a bad guy has been so entertaining. He retains the title in ridiculous and cheap ways and it has been fun to watch. Sheamus is the Royal Rumble winner and it has seemed like the WWE has been gearing him up for a good push for a while. It is always possible Bryan retains and his quiet, nerd girlfriend AJ pulls some shenanigans to help him and turns heel but that seems like it would be way too WCW and far more unlikely than Sheamus getting his push. This will likely be a pretty good match, and Sheamus will win the title.
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho: While people probably aren’t as excited for this as they are for HHH-Taker or Rock-Cena, this is probably going to be the match of the night. There are rumors this could open the show, which I find to be idiotic since such a well-built match for the biggest belt in the company should be worth more than the opening slot. A few weeks ago Punk suggested to Jericho that they go out and put on the best technical wrestling match in WrestleMania history. A tall order considering classics like Savage-Steamboat, Angle-Benoit, Angle-Michaels, Jericho-Michaels, Hart-Hart, and Hart-Michaels all have taken place on the grandest stage of them all. Though really if any two performers could go out there and do it, it would be these guys. Jericho has been gold on the mic in this feud. He has spent the last three weeks attacking CM Punk’s family. First, as Punk was in the ring Jericho appeared on the video screen to say he knows Punk is straight edge because his father is an alcoholic. The next week he said he wouldn’t make comments about Punk’s father, but instead brought up Punk’s sister having a substance abuse problem. Then this past Monday he said Punk’s parents got married after Punk was born, making him a bastard. That has caused Punk to go crazy and he has vowed to beat the hell out of Jericho. This should be a great match and will hopefully be a classic, though it isn’t getting the hype it deserves. As for a result, I could buy Jericho winning since the next pay per view is in Chicago, Punk’s hometown, so Punk could chase the title and regain it in front of a rabid hometown audience. That would be a cool way to go, but I still look at it as if it were 2002 and the WWE just hates Jericho and never wants him to win, so CM Punk retains.
Hell in a Cell with Special Referee Shawn Michaels - Triple H vs. Undertaker: The match is being dubbed as “The End of an Era.” Of course this is the end of the Attitude Era, the late-90s era that made the WWF popular again. These two guys are the last ones left from that time period, other than The Rock but when you work one match every seven years it doesn’t count. Also noteworthy is that Undertaker is looking to make his WrestleMania record a ridiculous 20-0. This is a rematch of last year’s bout where Aitches beat Undertaker so bad the Deadman couldn’t stand up but still had enough strength to choke Trips out. Undertaker needs redemption for almost losing, and Triple H needs to prove he’s the man. Shawn Michaels gets inserted since he’s best friends with Triple H and bitter rivals with Undertaker. At Manias 25 and 26 Michaels lost to Taker and retired, so they’ve built drama by making it seem like Michaels may screw over Triple H so he can’t do what Michaels failed to do. At the same time HBK could screw over Taker so he still can be the man who ended the streak. I don’t know if this match will suck, but I expect it to be boring and feature a lot of these guys laying around tired. This will most likely be Undertaker’s last match since he literally has nothing left to do. He takes off 10 months then comes back to hype up WrestleMania, win, then take off another 10 months. It has been that way for a couple years now. He’s in no kind of shape, had to shave his head since he’s balding so bad, looks too weak to stand after matches, and really he has nothing left to do. This will be a long match, Shawn Michaels will superkick somebody, and Undertaker goes 20-0. The bigger prediction here is from the start of the entrances all the way to the final pinfall or submission, how long will this entire thing be? I’m saying 56 minutes. Yes, nearly an hour of a four hour program is going to this.
Once In a Liftetime (Until they do a rematch at next year’s Mania) The Rock vs John Cena: I’ve written about how the build to this match absolutely sucked for months since they announced this match a year ago. The Rock has only been around to promote it this last month, and as sick as this is to say I’ve actually enjoyed the fact the WWE has had Cena get the better of him in their promos. This is all intentional since WWE doesn’t want Cena getting booed too bad at Mania so they’ve had him come across as the “real” person and Rock look like Hollywood. The crowd is going to be as insane as they were for Rock-Hogan ten years ago. Maybe even more insane since this is in Miami, The Great One’s hometown. This is going to be a very pro-Rock crowd because it is Miami, because of nostalgia, and because there are a lot of people who are still mad Cena has been shoved down everybody’s throats as the new Hogan or even the new Rock. The match itself is not going to be very good. I know Rock has been working hard to get back in ring shape and all, but he was never a particularly great worker in his prime and the fact he’s worked one match since WrestleMania XX doesn’t make me think he’s improved. Cena is also not a particularly great worker though he has gotten better over the last few years. There will be some power moves, a lot of rest holds, and they will probably both kick out of a few of each other’s finishers. A lot of people think Cena turns heel and Rock wins, but I don’t buy it. Cena moves too much merch to turn him heel, and while that would be cool and would bring some freshness to Cena’s character the WWE never goes with the obvious or cool move. There are rumors of a rematch next year at Mania so that is sparking theories that Rock wins tonight then returns the favor next year. I feel people are adding more drama to this match than necessary. Also there are some rumblings of a former WWE star being re-signed (Potential Spoiler Alert?) so if that is true maybe that will have an effect on this match. If not, then it is pretty simple to me: Hogan did the job for Rock at X-8, and Hogan NEVER loses, so it only makes sense that the guy who was more than willing to put anybody over back in the day does it again. You have to put over the current generation, so Cena wins.
So that's it. It should be a pretty fun show since the top four matches are all pretty solid. And there are rumors that my boy Batista is going to be making a return tonight. I hope that's true since the last time I was this pumped for a Mania, I was in 8th grade and Batista was facing Triple H for the World Championship. Either way, it isn't every WrestleMania where you get one of the biggest main events of all time so tonight is pretty monumental.
Team Johnny (David Otunga, Drew McIntyre, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, & Jack Swagger) vs. Team Teddy (Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, & Booker T): A few thoughts on this match. First, I feel like every year they have a big match like this just to get everybody on the card and usually it is a waste of time. Second, how far the mighty have fallen! A year ago Miz was headlining Mania as WWE Champion now he is reduced to this. Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis and SmackDown GM Teddy Long have put together these gigantic teams and whoever wins becomes GM of both shows. David Otunga is the worst wrestler in the company, as is shown by him having the lowest rating in the WWE ‘12 video game, but is still Johnny Ace’s captain. Christian and Alberto Del Rio were supposed to be on Team Johnny but Christian is still hurt and they felt this match is beneath Del Rio so they took him out of it, and I now have no interest in this match whatsoever. Teddy Long has been an on-screen character for like 10 years. WWE seems to love bastard authority figures so they’ve been high on Johnny Ace and he’s only been around the last few months. There’s nothing more to do with Teddy Long and WWE always wants to replicate the evil Mr. McMahon character from the 90s so Team Johnny will win.
Maria Menounos & Kelly Kelly vs. Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix: Yes, that Maria Menounos from Access Hollywood and Extra. Not only is she a die hard Boston Celtics fan, she apparently enjoys doing work with WWE as this is like the third or fourth time she’s appeared at an event. Not to sound like a sexist bastard, but women’s matches are usually always terrible and this will probably be. Kelly Kelly sucks, Eve hasn’t been good from all one match I paid attention to, and Beth Phoenix is awesome. This match has no point other than to be a quick Divas match to kill time with and to get some kind of celebrity involvement. Menounos just broke some ribs doing Dancing with the Stars so I don’t know if she’ll even still be in this match or what. If she is she won’t do much other than probably get the pin. Maria & Kelly Kelly win.
Randy Orton vs. Kane: This is the most pointless match on the card and hopefully will open the show to get it out of the way. Just like Cena’s feud with Kane was done just so Cena would have something to do before The Rock came back, this feud serves no purpose other than to get Orton on WrestleMania. The WWE loves Orton for whatever reason and he has gotten better in the ring than he was when I remember him first getting his super push in 2004. Kane also showed in his matches with Cena that he’s still got some stuff left in the tank and can work, but really this match won’t be that good. I had to look on Wikipedia to find out what these guys are even feuding over since I had no idea. Apparently Kane is upset he shook hands with Orton after a match in JULY OF LAST YEAR because it made him look like a mere mortal and weak. What the hell? Whatever. Even a fake wrestling “news” site which is like The Onion but about wrestling has made jokes about how this match is over nothing. Orton wins.
Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show: I will give Cody Rhodes some credit since I always thought Ted DiBiase Jr. would be the breakout star from Randy Orton’s lame ass stable Legacy. I thought DiBiase had it on the mic and would become this badass heel, but instead he’s become pretty lame. Cody Rhodes, however, has worked his ass off and become a great upper mid-card heel. He is cutting great promos and the WWE is obviously high on him since he’s been Intercontinental Champion since August and was one of the longest participants in the Royal Rumble this year, and had the most eliminations in the match. I have gone from hating Rhodes to actually enjoying his work now. As for Big Show, he has been and remains pretty much my least favorite wrestler ever so I’m not really that pumped for this match since I don’t want to watch 10 minutes of Big Show. I’ve loved Rhodes’ promos going into this match about how Show always loses at WrestleMania and will again. I don’t know why Big Show would win this match since the IC title does nothing for him at all and a loss isn’t what Cody needs right now with this momentum. Cody retains.
World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus: Not much to say about this match since it seems pretty cut and dry. Bryan has been a great heel champion. The WWE has done a really good job at building up Bryan’s chickenshit, asshole character. Bryan is one of the greatest technical wrestlers on the planet but seemed lacking in personality, but this run as champ and a bad guy has been so entertaining. He retains the title in ridiculous and cheap ways and it has been fun to watch. Sheamus is the Royal Rumble winner and it has seemed like the WWE has been gearing him up for a good push for a while. It is always possible Bryan retains and his quiet, nerd girlfriend AJ pulls some shenanigans to help him and turns heel but that seems like it would be way too WCW and far more unlikely than Sheamus getting his push. This will likely be a pretty good match, and Sheamus will win the title.
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho: While people probably aren’t as excited for this as they are for HHH-Taker or Rock-Cena, this is probably going to be the match of the night. There are rumors this could open the show, which I find to be idiotic since such a well-built match for the biggest belt in the company should be worth more than the opening slot. A few weeks ago Punk suggested to Jericho that they go out and put on the best technical wrestling match in WrestleMania history. A tall order considering classics like Savage-Steamboat, Angle-Benoit, Angle-Michaels, Jericho-Michaels, Hart-Hart, and Hart-Michaels all have taken place on the grandest stage of them all. Though really if any two performers could go out there and do it, it would be these guys. Jericho has been gold on the mic in this feud. He has spent the last three weeks attacking CM Punk’s family. First, as Punk was in the ring Jericho appeared on the video screen to say he knows Punk is straight edge because his father is an alcoholic. The next week he said he wouldn’t make comments about Punk’s father, but instead brought up Punk’s sister having a substance abuse problem. Then this past Monday he said Punk’s parents got married after Punk was born, making him a bastard. That has caused Punk to go crazy and he has vowed to beat the hell out of Jericho. This should be a great match and will hopefully be a classic, though it isn’t getting the hype it deserves. As for a result, I could buy Jericho winning since the next pay per view is in Chicago, Punk’s hometown, so Punk could chase the title and regain it in front of a rabid hometown audience. That would be a cool way to go, but I still look at it as if it were 2002 and the WWE just hates Jericho and never wants him to win, so CM Punk retains.
Hell in a Cell with Special Referee Shawn Michaels - Triple H vs. Undertaker: The match is being dubbed as “The End of an Era.” Of course this is the end of the Attitude Era, the late-90s era that made the WWF popular again. These two guys are the last ones left from that time period, other than The Rock but when you work one match every seven years it doesn’t count. Also noteworthy is that Undertaker is looking to make his WrestleMania record a ridiculous 20-0. This is a rematch of last year’s bout where Aitches beat Undertaker so bad the Deadman couldn’t stand up but still had enough strength to choke Trips out. Undertaker needs redemption for almost losing, and Triple H needs to prove he’s the man. Shawn Michaels gets inserted since he’s best friends with Triple H and bitter rivals with Undertaker. At Manias 25 and 26 Michaels lost to Taker and retired, so they’ve built drama by making it seem like Michaels may screw over Triple H so he can’t do what Michaels failed to do. At the same time HBK could screw over Taker so he still can be the man who ended the streak. I don’t know if this match will suck, but I expect it to be boring and feature a lot of these guys laying around tired. This will most likely be Undertaker’s last match since he literally has nothing left to do. He takes off 10 months then comes back to hype up WrestleMania, win, then take off another 10 months. It has been that way for a couple years now. He’s in no kind of shape, had to shave his head since he’s balding so bad, looks too weak to stand after matches, and really he has nothing left to do. This will be a long match, Shawn Michaels will superkick somebody, and Undertaker goes 20-0. The bigger prediction here is from the start of the entrances all the way to the final pinfall or submission, how long will this entire thing be? I’m saying 56 minutes. Yes, nearly an hour of a four hour program is going to this.
Once In a Liftetime (Until they do a rematch at next year’s Mania) The Rock vs John Cena: I’ve written about how the build to this match absolutely sucked for months since they announced this match a year ago. The Rock has only been around to promote it this last month, and as sick as this is to say I’ve actually enjoyed the fact the WWE has had Cena get the better of him in their promos. This is all intentional since WWE doesn’t want Cena getting booed too bad at Mania so they’ve had him come across as the “real” person and Rock look like Hollywood. The crowd is going to be as insane as they were for Rock-Hogan ten years ago. Maybe even more insane since this is in Miami, The Great One’s hometown. This is going to be a very pro-Rock crowd because it is Miami, because of nostalgia, and because there are a lot of people who are still mad Cena has been shoved down everybody’s throats as the new Hogan or even the new Rock. The match itself is not going to be very good. I know Rock has been working hard to get back in ring shape and all, but he was never a particularly great worker in his prime and the fact he’s worked one match since WrestleMania XX doesn’t make me think he’s improved. Cena is also not a particularly great worker though he has gotten better over the last few years. There will be some power moves, a lot of rest holds, and they will probably both kick out of a few of each other’s finishers. A lot of people think Cena turns heel and Rock wins, but I don’t buy it. Cena moves too much merch to turn him heel, and while that would be cool and would bring some freshness to Cena’s character the WWE never goes with the obvious or cool move. There are rumors of a rematch next year at Mania so that is sparking theories that Rock wins tonight then returns the favor next year. I feel people are adding more drama to this match than necessary. Also there are some rumblings of a former WWE star being re-signed (Potential Spoiler Alert?) so if that is true maybe that will have an effect on this match. If not, then it is pretty simple to me: Hogan did the job for Rock at X-8, and Hogan NEVER loses, so it only makes sense that the guy who was more than willing to put anybody over back in the day does it again. You have to put over the current generation, so Cena wins.
So that's it. It should be a pretty fun show since the top four matches are all pretty solid. And there are rumors that my boy Batista is going to be making a return tonight. I hope that's true since the last time I was this pumped for a Mania, I was in 8th grade and Batista was facing Triple H for the World Championship. Either way, it isn't every WrestleMania where you get one of the biggest main events of all time so tonight is pretty monumental.
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