After going 4-1 last week, I have finished the year at 41-38-1. Here are my picks for the two playoff games today:
Cincinnati +3.5 at Indianapolis
Dallas -7 vs. Detroit
Also, don't forget to vote in the 2nd Round of Place to be Nation's "Greatest Song of the 90's" tournament. Click on the links below to vote in the Group S and T brackets:
http://placetobenation.com/greatest-song-of-the-90s-tournament-pool-round-two-group-s/
http://placetobenation.com/greatest-song-of-the-90s-tournament-pool-round-two-group-t/
And, RIP Stuart Scott, who passed away at the age of 49 this morning after a battle with cancer.
Cincinnati +3.5 at Indianapolis
Dallas -7 vs. Detroit
Also, don't forget to vote in the 2nd Round of Place to be Nation's "Greatest Song of the 90's" tournament. Click on the links below to vote in the Group S and T brackets:
http://placetobenation.com/greatest-song-of-the-90s-tournament-pool-round-two-group-s/
http://placetobenation.com/greatest-song-of-the-90s-tournament-pool-round-two-group-t/
And, RIP Stuart Scott, who passed away at the age of 49 this morning after a battle with cancer.
Stuart Scott was the coolest dude in the world to me in middle school. Fuck Cancer,
ReplyDeleteHe seemed like a really nice guy
ReplyDeleteHis ESPY speech was terrific.
ReplyDeleteGo Cowboys!
ReplyDeleteBayless: "When you're right 51 percent of the time, you're wrong 49 percent of the time."
ReplyDeleteHomer: "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT BEFORE?!"
TJ: legendary stuntman Richard Graydon passed away. He was in 10 James Bond films, as well as Star Wars and Batman, many other movies. He was 92.
ReplyDeleteSad about Stuart Scott passing away too.
In... the... game... between... In...di...an...a...po...lis... and... Cin...cin...na...ti.... we... must... con...si...der... many... things...
ReplyDelete....
The... wind....
That -3.5 on Indy looks so inviting, which can only mean Cincy will cover.
ReplyDeleteNone of the wildcard round I'm particularly interested in. Although Indy and Cinncy might be good.
ReplyDeleteStuart Scott was funny and fresh in the 90s. His act got stale but cancer sucks. R.I.P.
ReplyDeleteThat's how things go. New and fresh into old and stale.
ReplyDeleteDon't have much vested interest in these games. I want Dallas to win so the Panthers can take on Seattle next week. There is that
ReplyDeleteGotta pull for Indy here. If they win, it creates nightmare matchups for both Denver and New England fans.
ReplyDeleteI can't watch the games because Dish Network removed CBS and FOX over some contract dispute. FUCK YOU DISH NETWORK.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think they scare anyone. I believe Denver would take them over seeing Cincy again
ReplyDeleteNah. Indy isn't winning in Denver.
ReplyDeleteWHAT?!
ReplyDeleteGreen AND Gresham are out? That's a body blow.
Also known as john Cena syndrome,
ReplyDeleteHow have I never heard this before?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQ9bKBnIO4&spfreload=10
Do the eye gouge you turkey necks!
Going Colts and Cowboys today. 1-1 with my picks from yesterday, got Ravens/Steelers wrong.
ReplyDeleteSo close!
ReplyDeleteThat's just good D by Newman.
ReplyDeleteA good run by a RB that's not Richardson.
ReplyDeleteYou can describe 140% of NFL runs that way.
ReplyDeleteSuper pumped for Lions/Cowboys. Not sure if Detroit will get the win, they can, but just excited to see a Lions playoff game. I missed the one vs. Saints in 2012 due to being in Afghanistan, so this is my first Lion playoff game since I think 1999
ReplyDeleteWhich is really stupid because those are supposed to be the FREE networks
ReplyDeleteGood idea letting Allen get uncovered in the middle.
ReplyDeleteLuck looked pretty sharp on that first drive.
ReplyDeleteR.I.P. Stuart Scott 49 is WAY too young :(
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Heard about it on the radio this morning on Coachmans show, very sad. R.I.P. Stu
ReplyDeleteLet's go Bengals!
ReplyDeleteLOL Bengals D already woofing at each other.
ReplyDeleteStuart Scott will be missed. He was one of the few good people left on ESPN.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed he and Eisen on SportsCenter back in the day. Eisen's announcement this morning almost brought a tear to my eye. Very, very heartfelt.
ReplyDeleteThat's a moderately fast white RB run there. lol
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think Andy Dalton has helped the Bengals to four straight playoff appearances.
ReplyDeleteSomebody asked me the other day if we're getting a lot of new customers from Dish and I had no idea what she was talking about. This explains that.
ReplyDeleteFucking sad about Stuart Scott, he pretty much was THE sports anchor for me. It hits pretty hard because I lost my stepmom to cancer before she was 50, and that's just way too fucking short for good people. I didn't think anyone could touch the Jimmy V ESPY speech, but he came very goddamn close.
ReplyDelete"When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live."
He's a solid QB and the Bengals have a good defense.
ReplyDeleteNot so crazy to think Andy Dalton has lead them to zero playoff wins
ReplyDeleteHis worst days are days when you wonder how he's in the league.
ReplyDeleteBurkhead ruled at Nebraska.
ReplyDeleteHow do you flub a swing pass? Come on, Dalton.
ReplyDeleteHis worst days are Sundays and occasionally Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays.
ReplyDeleteIt's always DISH with these fucking blackouts. Comcast may provide me shitty customer service, but at least they give me channels I'm paying them for.
ReplyDeleteHE'S A GINGER! HE'S A GINGER! LOOK THERE'S A GINGER!
ReplyDeleteHey look, it's the Ginger Guy. The hell you doin' here, Ginger Guy?
ReplyDeletePunting in opposing territory in the playoffs on 4th and short is "we're getting eliminated" football.
ReplyDeleteHilton gonna have to catch one of these soon.
ReplyDeleteTime Warner pulled that shit a few years ago.
ReplyDeletePacman did slightly more on that punt return than he did during his entire TNA tag title run.
ReplyDeleteNow, Skeeter. He ain't hurtin' nobody.
ReplyDeleteThings in real life are not as cool as commercials.
ReplyDeletehttp://deadspin.com/rich-eisen-hannah-storm-others-react-live-to-stuart-1677360761/all
ReplyDeleteDon't watch either unless you're ready to cry.
Didn't Rodman win a tag title in his WCW appearances?
ReplyDeleteI was welling up when I watched Eisen this morning. It hurt to watch him become more devasted at the loss of his friend as time went on. RIP, Stu.
ReplyDeleteLook at Burkhead go!
ReplyDeleteGreat throw, great catch.
ReplyDeleteHe's taking it back for white people!
ReplyDeleteThe Bengals actually playing like a competent team in January?
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Bizarro World
I accidentally voted for the Chili Peppers. God. Damn. It.
ReplyDeleteThey're probably gonna lose anyways. Without Green and Gresham is a big problem.
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to set my fantasy hockey lineup on New Year's and missed out 15 points that day, now I'm in a tight matchup with my perfect record on the line. Rooting hard for the Blackhawks today (specifically Toews and BIG RED MACHINE KANE)
ReplyDeleteWhat?
ReplyDelete.....Where? (/Barbarino)
ReplyDeleteThe Eisen one had me crying.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. Andy Dalton will remember he's Andy Dalton and panic.
ReplyDeleteAin't nothing wrong with voting for the Chili Peppers.
ReplyDeleteByron Scott literally said that Kobe shooting less is working, but he wants him to shoot more. He's the WOOOOORRRRR-OOOORRRRST!!!
ReplyDeleteFFS, man. We're gonna have to start the whole thing again now.
ReplyDeleteAndy Dwyer would've caught that go route.
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel any better, Kobe was going to shoot more regardless.
ReplyDeleteAlso, nobody can take 3's. Except Kobe, who can take any shot, including 29 footers with 4 seconds left on the shot clock.
ReplyDeleteThat's how Kobe's mind works. He needs more shots, always.
ReplyDeleteBengals defenders doing a nice job knocking the ball out on these deep routes.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE YOU GUYS!!!
ReplyDeleteUgh, I had to wake up at 10 am (7:15) this is awful I wish I lived on the east coast because waking up at 10 am (7:15) is just terrible!
ReplyDeleteOf course. As long as Luck keeps the spiral tight.
ReplyDeleteThat;s how Lindsay Lohan's mind works too. MORE SHOTS WOO HOO!
ReplyDeleteMarv's high.
ReplyDeleteHilton's pretty badass. Dare I say... underrated?
ReplyDeleteGetting there, I've just been noticing that I wake up naturally about three hours before the "lol you guys have to wake up at 10 am sometimes for football" hour is even reasonably close. I'm not sure how waking up at totally reasonable times is an argument against living here.
ReplyDeleteNo AJ?
ReplyDeleteIndy finally adjusted to Cincinnati's zone by going short and medium.
ReplyDeleteParis Hilton does have a bad ass
ReplyDeleteConicidentally, that's how I adjusted to my ladyfriend's lady parts.
ReplyDeleteI prefer football on the west coast. Football from 10 AM-9 PM. Still have time to do stuff after.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the STDs
ReplyDeleteLast year Undertaker in the main event fought Yokozuna, Diesel, Crush, Bam Bam, Jeff Jarrett, Adam Bomb and a few other jobbers and barely lost.
ReplyDeleteThis year he's jerking the curtain one on one with....IRS...
Bit of a drop.
I'm hoping you lose, but it won't hurt your position after the Sharks shit all over the ice yesterday. Hopefully this goes like the first half of the season, slow start then a good run of wins. But this team is... deficient.
ReplyDelete*boop* okay I'm hitting the snooze button. Don't talk again for 8 minutes Gerry.
ReplyDeleteKicks off a really rough 1995 for him. By January 96 they finally get him back where he belonged.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever had to deal with the Internal Revenue Service?! They're MERCILESS!!!
ReplyDeleteIs that what the new Titan book is about?
ReplyDeleteI don't think they believe that he's dead.
ReplyDeleteIs he doing a second one?
ReplyDeleteI love that poor Rotunda had to drive at 3 am between like, Dubuke and Kansas City, trying to think of a new way to cut a promo about taxes.
ReplyDeleteKat Dennings could get the D. like all of it.
ReplyDeleteOMG...he's SO the Gerry of this blog!
ReplyDeleteAt least he didn't die.
ReplyDeleteFalse start on 3rd and 5. Stupid!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he tried pitching Vince to tag him and Taker up and call themselves Death and Taxes.
ReplyDeleteRandy Orton should yell at them.
ReplyDeleteShe's hot. She's kinda annoying in the Thor movies but those movies are weak anyways.
ReplyDeleteLike Tom, I refuse to be the new Gerry
ReplyDeleteDruids...and IRS....and now Bundy....and the urn is stolen AGAIN...
ReplyDeleteFucking hell Taker was really stuck in booking purgatory for a LOT of years.
http://s2.postimg.org/652l9z8ft/Kat_Dennings_Thor_Premiere_white_dress_05.jpg
ReplyDeleteYes sir.
You don't get to choose!
ReplyDeleteBe careful, you may die of a fart attack!
GERRY'S FAULT! GBSM!
ReplyDeleteReal and spectacular, esp. in the leaked pics.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, Rock vs. Austin has an interesting build hampered by shit writing. The main storyline of two faces who don't trust each other had the tacked on Debra-as-Rock's-manager thing.
ReplyDeleteDon't get in the way of us romanticizing the Attitude Era!
ReplyDeleteMcMahon in every corner was the biggest jerkoff fest ever by Vince.
ReplyDeleteOnly reason I don't have it as one of the worst is the match wasn't terrible
It would sure make acknowledging the main event of it easier now...
ReplyDeleteI agree it wasn't terrible, but nowhere near what it should have been (Rock vs. HHH.) Foley wasn't clamoring for a return (and in terrible shape) and Big Show was a joke.
ReplyDeleteYes, I got fired up the moment Hogan said he wanted "that Jap, brother"
ReplyDeleteThe other shitty thing about this is HHH retains and then drops the belt to Rock at Backlash (or Unforgiven or whatever it was called then).
ReplyDeleteWhich tells me the only reason HHH retained was because they wanted to throw people off the scent of the champ always losing the belt at Mania. Which is the worst reason to do something.
I'm starting to rethink it. This may be one of the worst.
Randy Poffo was not a dog, like Owen was not a nugget!
ReplyDeleteIn that case, the Vaudevillains for the semi main!!!!
ReplyDeleteOr that he was black, or that he was a "wcw" guy. One of them.
ReplyDeleteHHH in 2000/2001 was a great heel, but looking back his backstage manipulations were almost Machiavellian.
ReplyDelete- Retires Foley, twice
- Wins WM
- Loses to Rock, but only due to outside interference from Austin
- Wins title back a month later.
- Loses title but isn't pinned.
- Is rebooked to be mastermind of "who ran over Austin," throwing himself into the biggest feud at the time and cutting the legs under Rikishi.
- Technically wins the feud with Austin in the "3 stages of Hell" match.
- Refuses to turn face and overshadows Austin as the #1 heel
No wonder Austin didn't want to lose to HHH at Summerslam '99. He saw what was coming.
I appreciate the Andre build even more reading the Superstars reviews here. It pretty much started with the Machines angle less than a year before. I don't know how I missed the bits about heels defending his private hearing the first time around.
ReplyDeleteMegapowers' story crossed 3 different years in total.
And because PG ensured it would be a toned down match anyway.
ReplyDeleteOr Chris "I'm Savage to HHH's Hogan" Jericho.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that angle was so bad they bailed halfway through.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe more people haven't mentioned 21. Triple H/Batista is by far the best built Mania main event of the modern era, and one of the better builds of all time.
ReplyDeleteThe first Taker/HHH match at X-7 had a great build if I remember.
ReplyDeleteThats the joke of it. I mean, you can argue that hes a great wrestler or the top 10 best or whatever. But as a leader of a multimillion dollar industry? There's a reason why these people tend to go to to harvard or somewhere and are not wannabe body builders. I mean the guy laughed when Chris Jericho asked for directions to an arena. How is this guy in any shape qualified to run the place. Id like to think he matured. But I doubt hes changed.
ReplyDeleteLoved the build going in to 26, but almost all the matches felt lackluster to me.
ReplyDeleteI freaked when I realized that was the next arc they're tackling. Gonna be so good.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in an effort to give some more modern main events some love, thought XXX was built pretty well. And I LOVED the build to Michaels/Taker at XXVI. Lost a little steam once the match was announced, but the slow build to making the match official was awesome, made even better by that AMAZING Placebo music video.
ReplyDeleteMegapowers explode is the greatest storyline in wrestling history to me. Shakespeare type storytelling at its finest. That said Wrestlemania 21 was the last time a really good build was done.
ReplyDeleteREDEMPTION!
ReplyDeleteWe had like 2000 posts on it last night, this thread is way too late.
ReplyDeleteI definitely liked that build-up, but I felt it kind of peaked with the powerbomb through the contract signing when Batista turned on Trips. The stuff that happened the following weeks was cool too, but not on the same level.
ReplyDeleteI honestly can't think of a single clean win Jericho had during his title reign.
ReplyDeleteHis loss to Rocky had outside interference from Austin, but you fail to mention that HHH had his cronies (including crooked ref Shane) with him. Rocky winning without help would've been dumb, and the Austin's return made an already great match even better and was a hell of a moment.
ReplyDeleteYou also neglect to mention that when he won the title back a month later, he once again had the entire McMahon-Helmsley faction with him in the final stages of the match, and only won because of a DQ caused by Undertaker's interference.
Also, I don't see how he overshadowed Austin during the Power Trip. Austin was the guy holding the WWF title and feuding with big brother 'Taker, while HHH was IC Champ and facing Kane.
He looked good in the great matches with Rocky, but his match with Austin sucked and did nothing for him, and his matches with HHH were decent but again did nothing for him.
ReplyDeleteOn rewatch, Nakamura/Ibushi is ****3/4 easy.
ReplyDeleteThat was a bad match. Indicative of Angle's deteriorating ring ability.
ReplyDeleteWere we watching the same feud? Remember Bryan attacking HHH during that Orton/Batista match on RAW and pretty much singlehandedly kicking Evolution's ass? Remember Bryan being injured going into WM and kicking out of the Pedigree and beating Trips clean with one running knee? Remember him knocking Trips out with his own sledgehammer in the main event? Also, why should Trips be limping after the match when he was on offense for most of it, didn't have his legs targeted and only lost after a knee to the face? He was stumbling after the match and breathing heavily, and I thought that was perfect.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that there weren't times during the buildup/actual match where HHH was the one looking good, but that's the way a feud works. Every time during the buildup that he got over on Bryan it was with the help of a fleet of other guys (Orton, Batista, Kane, whoever) or with handcuffs that one time. Whereas every time Bryan got over on Trips, it was with him massively defying the odds, which is the way the little underdog should be booked against the huge heel.
First off, "Flash Man" is a great, great user name.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I was reading through these and thinking about how much I loved the build to Cena-Rock II. I'd put that among their best ever (and I've been watching since WM III). I'm not even really an active fan of either guy, and I loved it. Then again, I also love that match, so I'm in the minority in a lot of ways when it comes to that feud.
Strangely, if Bryan didn't get injured last year, Sheamus would have made a great opponent for Bryan at a B-Show PPV. "You never beat me Bryan. Infact, I beat you in less than 20 seconds at Wrestlemania. You might as well hand that belt over, because I'm gonna destroy you."
ReplyDeleteThe WM 13 to the specific Taker-Sid match was really bad, but the build overall to WM 13 was completely unique at the time and very, very good. It's weird. It's mostly all Bret, but the whole "It's WM and no one's happy" angle for the company as a whole really worked well. Like, if you watch a highlights build to it (I actually made a two hour one), it's a blast of a disc to watch.
ReplyDeleteBut then, if you pause to consider the build to Taker-Sid, to the tag-title match, and to the IC match, it's awful.
Good call. They could have even brought Hogan out at the end to help clean house of heels or something. Have the three heroes in the middle of the ring. End with a great match, the title, and the heroes celebrating. It would've worked.
ReplyDeleteI give them a fair bit of credit because even though it wasn't the original plan, they still executed it excellently. There were a million ways to get to WrestleMania, and they went the perfect route.
ReplyDeleteHow did he make him look like shit?
ReplyDeleteThat match should have been the equivalent of Austin-Foley at Over the Edge. Run-ins from Legacy, counter run-ins from the McMahons, brawling and weapons all over the building. The only question is could Orton & HHH pulled off the same kind of intensity...I'm not sure they could have. I can't recall them ever having done it before.
ReplyDeleteTheir best match is a pretty good Last Man Standing match at No Mercy 2007, but I too doubt they could've pulled it off. Still would've been better than what we got.
ReplyDeleteXXX was accidentally built really well, but yeah, it worked.
ReplyDeleteI'd say it seems kind of obvious that they're giving Bryan the Rumble. Ignore everything you read online and focus only on what's actually on screen, and it's pretty easy to see what ship they're really backing. IMO, of course.
ReplyDeleteI DEMAND, DEMAND (!!) that Scott reviews this!
ReplyDeleteOnly if you were on the internet (like I was). They didn't talk about the neck injury on the air as I recall correctly.
ReplyDeleteI'd say the Miz/Cena build was worse than 2000 (goddamn, I wish my OCD would allow me to refer to it as XVI), but Jericho/Trips is by far the absolute worst.
ReplyDeleteI'll stick with ****3/4 for Okada/Tanahashi. Neither it or the IC title match are quite the full monty for me, the one lacks a little in the ending, the other takes a little too long to get going. Both great, great matches however.
ReplyDeleteI watched the second time with the JR/Striker commentary. Didn't feel like it added anything. Felt like they were always a few seconds behind the action, trying to remember the names of the moves, and certainly didn't feel like they were at ringside. Still, if people watched the PPV because of the English commentary than that can only be a good thing.
I don't know what people are talking about saying the finish was out of nowhere
ReplyDeleteNakamura had been trying to hit the Knee all match and couldn't. Then he did, more than once, and it killed Ibushi.
But... but... Cena's gangster entrance gave us the debut of CM Punk!
ReplyDeleteCrazy talk! Next thing you'll tell me is that Undertaker/Punk wasn't the main event.
ReplyDeleteThe Rock/HHH part was good (surprise) but the rest of the match wasn't all that good.
ReplyDeleteThe camera angle didn't help. Since you don't see the impact the move doesn't feel quite so definitive. Really fun match though, and I can see myself watching it again. Okada/Tanahashi had the better closing sequence, but this was a better story.
ReplyDeleteHogan/Warrior had a good build with stuff. Plus, Warrior/Savage was terrific both coming alive in wild promos and really selling "putting you down" well to get crowd hot.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you. BOO-YAH!
ReplyDeleteTournaments for the title can do that, same thing happened with me & Survivor Series '98.
ReplyDelete**** 3/4 for IC Title and **** 1/4 for the main event, I thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. It matters.....said no one ever!
ReplyDelete