The Critic

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 5, 2012 -> 03:25 PM) I'll pull like hell for them to win and I was disgusted at the Sixer fans for cheering Noah's injury. Philadelphia sports fans are legendary for being pieces of s***. Just horrible human beings.

Without some level of rooting interest, I don't want to watch. And I haven't been watching much, so obviously my rooting level is not high. Not apologizing for liking the way the Blues play now, though. They're an entertaining team to watch, regardless of how fans are supposed to feel about them. I am far too old to care about rivalries. Or to care if that makes me "less of a fan" to others. For me, watching sports is a mindless exercise - if "my team" wins, great. If not, life goes on. I lived-and-died with my teams for far too long. It's pointless to get so angry about pastimes.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ May 4, 2012 -> 12:32 PM) I've had enough, I'm taking your Hawks fan card away. Detroit and now them too? Of the teams left in the running, I like them the most. Since they got rid of that idiot Payne they learned how to harness their physical play into a good system. I haven't been watching them, though. I've barely seen any of the playoffs since the Hawks failed.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 3, 2012 -> 09:06 PM) Hey look, another overtime playoff game, how boring. OT games or not, I actually have found this round of the playoffs to be quite boring. This is primarily because I don't really want any of the remaining teams to win other than maybe St. Louis, who are about to bow out.

I'm going to wait to see how stupid things get on Sunday before deciding if I need a personal day off on Monday. I'm not worried about violence, I just don't want to get stuck downtown if they f*** with public transit.

Yeah, Crawford kind of came out of nowhere and now seems to be headed back there. He played well at times and played really not-well at the worst possible times. I don't know what to expect from Salak, but he doesn't seem worth the gamble right now. Of course, the whole salary cap thing makes acquiring a "surer thing" a little tricky. I was kind of hoping they would make a play for Ben Bishop at the deadline. He's an RFA, I think, but he'd be a bit of a risk, too, in his own way.

I guess it has to be encouraging that so many players could play that poorly and they still had a real chance to win the game. Still baffling how the power play can be that bad all year long.

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 6, 2012 -> 06:56 PM) Staying at a hotel in Amarillo, Texas. Anyone know where I can run into Terry Funk? The Double Cross Ranch, of course. ...or the nearest doctor's office or emergency room.

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 5, 2012 -> 08:44 PM) How good is that for mania? I don't know about those numbers. How is TNA still around? I don't have numbers to compare it to, but from all accounts WWE is thrilled with that number. TNA is a pet project for Dixie Carter - her dad owns an energy company and he's just now getting sick of the red ink. I guess they do fairly well overseas, and I've read that the Spike contract earns them enough to sort of stay afloat.

Estimated buyrate for WrestleMania: 1.9 million buys. Estimated buyrate for TNA's Victory Road PPV: 7,000 buys. Ouch. (Even without the humiliating WWE comparison, 7K buys = Ouch)

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 1, 2012 -> 11:04 AM) What do you guys think leads off the show? I'm thinkin Bryan-Sheamus maybe? My guess is Cody/Show.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Apr 1, 2012 -> 08:53 AM) If Austin is fighting at Mania next year it should be vs Punk and no one else. And how often does Vince do what "should" be done? I agree that it should be Punk/Austin, by the way, but I'm still not sold that Vince is sold on Punk. I could easily see Vince giving Punk the Miz Treatment at any time for no reason.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Mar 31, 2012 -> 05:17 PM) Assuming the Blackhawks stick in the 6th seed, I definitely don't want to see Quick and the Kings. I suppose, although Phoenix seems to give them fits and I don't trust them against SJ even though they should stomp them. From a matchup standpoint, maybe Dallas? I was just going by which teams I like best.

Well, the new rumor/spoiler is that he's signed a contract and will debut at Mania somehow. The three rumored scenarios: He will have something to do with the finish of Rock/Cena and feud with Cena afterwards. He will feud with Taker building up to next year's Mania He will do the one-year buildup to a match against Steve Austin at next year's Mania. Of those three, I think I'd like the Austin scenario best.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 31, 2012 -> 12:02 PM) The Pacific division is ridiculous right now. Each team has 4 games left: LA 90, 3rd Dallas 89, 7th Phoenix 89, 8th San Jose 88, 9th, outside looking in One game, or even a point, could be the difference between hosting a first round series and missing altogether. My preference of who I'd like to see get in: LA to win the division Phoenix to finish 7th Dallas to finish 8th San Jose to miss the playoffs entirely. I've come to dislike that team quite a bit, and I want to see Doug Wilson blow it up if they miss the postseason.

I actually watch very little wrestling anymore. I read spoilers and results and then look for the video of anything that sounds interesting. When I do watch Raw or Impact (I rarely watch SmackDown, not really sure why other than the fact that SyFy is not in my regular rotation of channels), I usually end up bored or frustrated with what I'm seeing. I'll probably always keep an eye on wrestling websites to keep up with it, since I have for this long.

Not sure if this is a spoiler or still just a rumor, so I'll err on the side of caution and black it out:

The buildup to "the grandest stage of all" has been dismal. I agree that Cody's been really good, but showing all of Show's embarrassing WM moments for weeks on end can only mean he goes over. Nothing on this card interests me at all. They've even bungled Punk/Jericho into meaninglessness. Raw last night was a snore from start to finish. Brutal.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 23, 2012 -> 06:35 PM) I remember Carlton "human rain delay" Fisk from that year. Adjust each glove, adjust the pants, put one foot in the box, pull on the jersey a couple of times, look skyward and take a couple of deep breaths. Between every pitch. Yep. f***ing unbearable. Get in the box and hit.

Vince is shutting down Florida Championship Wrestling effective immediately. Everyone there will be relocated to Stamford until a decision is made regarding where the developmental fed will be situated. The thinking is that VKM will open a fed in Connecticut or somewhere nearby.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 19, 2012 -> 09:36 PM) The identity of the new Lord Tensai character on RAW tonight is Matt Bloom. Bloom was reported to have signed with WWE over the weekend, but he personally denied the reports via Twitter multiple times. Obviously he was trying to keep his return a surprise. Per 411mania A-Train has returned. That breeze you felt was the collective yawn of America's pro wrestling fans.

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 20, 2012 -> 01:29 PM) I think the biggest problem with hockey popularity is that it is not played nearly as commonly at the youth level as the pro sports it competes with. It is much more difficult to understand a game that you have never played in any way, shape, or form. If I wanted to play hockey when I was young, my parents would have had to drive me 45-90 minutes just to get to a league. Why would they do that if they themselves never played hockey or had the opportunity to play... Instead, I could go in the backyard and play baseball, football, basketball, golf, snowmobile, grabass When I was a kid, we played tons of street hockey. All we needed was 6 to 8 guys with a stick, one or two street hockey balls or pucks, an empty street (or even better, an empty tennis court at the park with the net taken down) and a couple of garbage cans for "nets" on each side. We were lucky to have guys with goalie equipment most of the time, but if nobody had goalie s***, you didn't really even need goalies. When I got older we played in some VERY competitive floor hockey leagues, but as kids getting a hockey game together was not an expensive or difficult endeavor.

I think s*** like that makes the league (and the sport) look like a joke, but the cheering you hear is why it will never leave the game, no matter what the NHL tries to say publicly.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Mar 17, 2012 -> 11:11 AM) Going to my in laws tonight. Dinner will consist of potato leak soup, black and white pudding, irish sausage, some irish bacon,corned beef and then trifle for dessert. After dinner, The kids are staying over. The wife and I are going out to watch the insanity. I hope they use leeks instead...

St. Patrick's Day minus alcohol equals St. Joseph's Day.