Raw Meat 3-27-12

Final Raw before Wrestlemania. I tried to watch last nights show with the mindset of, "If I was on the fence about ordering Sunday's show, how would this show push me one way or the other?" I also want to touch on the build up of some matches and some overall Wrestlemania 28 talk so this may be a tad longer than average.

First, the show opens with a wrestling match, shocked me a bit. I've almost been trained by WWE to think that's not how it should be done. That match couldn't be a better place to start though. First off, a nice little tag match to open the show from were I sat. The matches it was designed to promote couldn't be more polar opposite though, and this match only widened the gap.

First, the good, because I like to be positive. Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan has been a pretty decently built feud. Not even sure if I'd say that before this match. I think before this one, I really felt more tension going on over AJ and Bryan's relationship. This tainted win over Sheamus before the PPV gives Bryan some serious fuel, we got another YES! moment. It was a little push over the edge I needed to really get into the match.

Orton vs Kane on the other hand, what the fuck is going on there? For the record, I think Glen Jacobs is an excellent performer. That being said, is there a harder character to get into than Kane? Is this day and age, I believe the key is getting people to suspend their belief somehow, and its harder everyday, which is why a lot of wrestling sucks. It is just impossible to believe Kane exists. And why, why are they fighting? A damn hand shake? I applaud the attempt to throw this thing together at the last minute, but I'd have rather Kane cut Orton off in traffic or something. Orton has totally dropped the ball in pushing this too. See, Cena vs Kane worked because Cena made it work. Kane can be silly if he doesn't have somebody really help in drive the story. Orton is just not as strong as Cena, that's why Cena's match has been promoted for a year, and Orton's was tossed at him last minute.

The final build toward the GM match, as goofy as the premise was, has to be considered a success. Both teams pull some last minute hail marys out. Both teams looked super strong before getting cut off by the 6th team member, which makes both final team members really appear to be game changers. One thing I love about this match, I very much question who wins and the build has been such that either side could win.

There was no build to the women's match, but I have to say fucking hates off to Maria Me-whats-her-face. She's planning on going out there with two broken ribs. Not bad for the broad I watched give the news in the 6th grade (She was on Channel One! How bout that for a reference!)

The final push towards Show vs Rhodes is kinda hit or miss. First off, let's go down the logic path again...why on Earth did Big Show vs Epico happen? They didn't make the Giants play my local high school football team 6 days before the Super Bowl. Not to sound like a grizzled vet, but this is a small way that TV tarnishes wrestling. "Well, we need to kill five minutes and push Show/Rhodes...trot out those Puerto Rican fellas." It was lazy. Rhodes promo was a nice touch though and overall, I've loved this build. Rhodes has stepped his game up lately, and I've failed to mention it before but those video packages that were made for him were fucking brilliant. "Wrestlemani 18, Woooooo!" about killed me. Rhodes deserves to and should win this one,but we'll see how it goes down.

Two of the top three matches fell way short for me. The fact that really nothing was done with HHH vs Taker tells me they simply ran out of ideas. Its a shame, because while it coulve been better, the build has been good. Punk and Jericho really needed something more as well. I love the promos from both men, and I love Punk snapping, but I just feel this one needed something physical. If I'm watching saying, "Man, I really want to see Punk vs Jericho, should I buy the show?" Jericho calling Punk a bastard doesn't make me want to throw down 60 bones. I think I get it, Jericho is manipulating Punk from afar, and the question is, what will Punk do to him when he finally gets his hands on him. Wouldn't it be better is Punk gets done snapping on Christian...only to be blind sided by Jericho? Then Jericho stands tall, mentally and physically, and Punk goes in a serious underdog. Everyone likes to see the underdog win.

Say what you want, but The Rock and John Cena brought it, and saving this for the end was perfect. My first thought was that it was a mistake for them not to get physical, but the more I mauled it over, why? Why give one person the upperhand? Why do the cliche pull apart brawl. These two guys really letting it all hang out, letting everyone feel that tension. That's what this is all about. That tension is what is selling Mania.

Overall, this was a good show and while some of the build fell flat, the closing promo should've pushed any wrestling fan over the edge. As always, I can't wait for Mania, and unlike last year, I don't expect this one to disappoint.

NHL Diary

A quick update. Even with all the injuries, we manged a league best 110 points this year. And long and short of it, we've raised the cup again. It was a rough go this time, as we were banged up all through the playoffs losing key guys like Leblanc and JC LaFlamme again. But we muscled through it and beat Minnesota (How did they make the playoffs, let alone the cup finals) 4_1 to raise another cup.

Now the offseason. Keslar and Price have contracts coming up and Im scared. Sorry forr the quick updated, not a lot of time.

Raw Meat 3-19-20

I've settled on Raw Meat. Anything cornier, please inform me.

I've seen a lot of people complaining about this week's show. It certainly wasn't as well done as the last few weeks shows, but it wasn't crap wall to wall, it had some bright spots.

First off, the Punk/Jericho interaction is getting very good. I think the problem with last nights show was that promo at the start sets it up for something else to happen. Punk go ballistic in the back, Jericho does a run in revealing he really is there, something. I think the whole show you were waiting for something new to happen there, and it was a major let down when nothing new happens.

A major complaint I can't really refute is the lack of decent wrestling. Only two matches really stick out at me. First, Santino vs Otunga. Sure it wasn't a five star classic but I've learned it doesn't have to be. If you get the people on their feet, you've done your job, and Santino might pound for pound have the most charisma in all of WWE right now. People just love him, listen to those crowds, he's as over as anyone. He did the impossible and got people into a David Otunga match! I would murder a puppy with my bare hands for his gig. He's becoming a top face in the company, he's got a major Mania angle, he's a champion, and oh yeah, he takes like two or three bumps a match, tops! Santino has the best gig going today, bar none.

Ryder vs Bryan stuck out at me too. I will admit right here, there was a time where I fucking hated Daniel Bryan. I blame it on my introduction to him. My first ROH show, and first Daniel Bryan match obviously that I saw, was in Chicago Wrestlemania 22 weekend. Bryan wrestled Roderick Strong in an hour long, classic, five star....snoozefest, if you ask me. I hated that match live. After all the high paced action we had that night, capping the show off with a hour long mat encounter was poor booking. I think it eventually picked up but I would say the first half hour was slow paced. I refused to believe the Bryan Danielson hype after that, only occastionally winning me over with bits like The Hybrid Dolphins and Mr. Smallpackage. I am now fully prepared to admit that I was wrong. Not only is he a great wrestler, which I never really disputed, but he is insanely charismatic. This character is right in his wheel house, really shows off his brand of charisma and promo ability. Not only that, I think its great acting. Acting and wrestling do not go hand in hand all the time, and Bryan is really displaying an amazing ability to fully immerse himself in this character. Once again, you wont often hear this...I was very wrong.

IWC - 1
Greg Jovi - 52,364

Rock/Cena was business as usual. Good promo from Rock and okay match from Cena, but I'm ready for them to lock horns next week.

Final note, the HHH/HBK/....U...T...K? segments are very good promos, obviously all three are very talented. This week was down from last week though. The best line uttered so far is "Isn't it ironic, that I can still be the guy to end the streak". I think that really needs to be the focus of all this, and this week Shawn pretty much could've stayed home, other than a little stare down with ol' deadman.

I would like there to be some sort of consequence for Shawn if he fucks over Taker. Right now, all thats gonna happen is Shawn is going to get his ass beat by Taker. I'd take an ass kicking for the glory of knocking off Taker. Either Hunter should be telling him not to aswell, creating conflict between them and jeopardising their friendship or something bigger. Like I dig the idea of Vince or some authority basicaly telling Shawn that if he doesn't call this down the middle, he'll be blacked balled by the WWE. No more paychecks for sitting at home, no more spot light or appearances or hall of fame status. Then you would have a real inner conflict with Shawn, because he would still consider it, he needs it to happen that badly.

NHL Diary

Wow, lots has happened early on. We are 25 and 13 and the last time I checked we topped the NHL standings. But we have had major shuffles to our lineup since the last update.

First, Tindori, my third line defensemen whose name I've butchered multiple times, gets post concussion syndrome and he's out for awhile. I had a decent replacement for him in Matt Smaby, so not too bad but he will be missed on the PK.

Next, the big one. J.C. LaFlamme sprains his MCL and is out about 3 months. That shit hurt. I've bumped Matt Puemple up to the first line, and brought Molin up to the second line. That makes everyone on my second line right handed, something that I hate. Had to be done though. I believe Dumount moves to right wen on line three, Helm moves to center on line four, and Victor Stalberg gets called up to fill the void. Phew.

Not the last move though, as I made a goaltending change. I glanced at free agency and saw that a elderly Rick Dipietro was not signed. He had went all through free agency and nobody got him (not even desperate Minnesota, who had Ben Bishop starting for them an 81 ovr). So I shopped around Josh Harding. I wanted a second round pick, but ended up accepting a 3rd round pick in the 2019 draft. I then signed Dipierto who, at 87 ovr, was 3 ovr points better than Harding and took about the same in cash.

My huge dilemma now is this. Cary Price will be a free agent at the end of this year. The last contract I gave him was a 4.5 milion dollar a year deal. He is now a 97 overall. So the amount should double, if not much more. I expect him to ask for atleast 10 million. Here's the deal though, other than when him and Brian Elliott dominated the league and won the Jennings Trophy, Price hasn't performed like a 97 ovr during the year. He dominates the playoffs and wins the Conn Smythe any time we win the cup, but I just don't know how I will justify having to get rid of guys like Kelsar and Giroux to pay him this money. Im a little scarred that the Dynasty will come crashing down hard after this season.

My question is, do I make a huge deadline deal of a guy like Keslar or Price to prepare for this, or just let the chips fall?

NHL 12 Diary Update

Well the 2017-18 season is off and poppin.

We had a really active off season. Draft day, more than anything. I was able to resign all my top stars, especially with Zeterbergs 6 million dollars now gone. Most guys resigned for good dollar amounts. The only huge jump was Louis Leblanc got a real deal. He was on a entry contract, now he's got a nice 2.2 million dollar deal for 3 or 4 years. I thought it was a mistake as Zach Phillips had produced a lot last year, and I planned to put him on the 2nd line, but Louis Leblanc has out performed him and earned the spot and money.

I took a big risk draft day and made a big trade with Dallas to try and replace Zeterberg. I traded a prospect who was thought highly of, but I wasn't a big fan of and a 3rd round pick to Dallas for Jean-Chritsophe LaFlamme. He was drafted in the 3nd round of the 2012 draft by Dallas and he's been productive for them, even won the Calder Cup for rookie of the year a couple years ago. I don't know he's ready to be that Big 3 guy, but he's there now. I thought I was making a mistake but with 8 goals and 8 assists in 20 games, he's done fine.

There was a mass exodus of my depth talent. With everyone needing new deals, they thought they could all get 1.5 mil to 2.5 mil and it just wasn't possible. So while my NHL lineup is basically the same, my AHL is full of vets who where kind of the bottom of the barrell, last few guys around.

Near the end of the season, I picked up off waivers a young guy named Michael St. Croix and he is now in my NHL lineup. Along with LaFlamme, those two are the only new forwards. I also added a new back up, as I spent some coin to get Josh Harding in free agency, my only big signing.

I think I made other minor trades, getting picks here and there but didn't log that. Got a couple good guys from the trades I made with Anhiem and The Wild in the draft. Kinda wasted the pick from LA on a shitty goalie but you live and you learn.

We are now 14-4-2.

NFL Free Agency Blog One

Incase you couldn't tell from my obsessive NHL 12 Diary, I would love to be a general manager in another life. I love trades, free agency, roster moves, ect. My favorite sport obviously is hockey, and I follow those deadline days religiously, but I still like to check out what's rumbling in the other sports.

Football is probably number two on my list, so today is a fun day to watch. So far, nothing huge.

Pierre Garcon has announced he plans to sign with the Redskins, which I dig for two reasons. I'm a passing Redkins fan, number one. I hate pretty much every other team in that division, so I dig them by default. Plus, they're always just a little bit crazy, which I dig in a franchise. Doesn't make for my favorite franchises, but makes for a fun one to follow. Also, it makes me respect Garcon. Garcon is going to get his money and hopefully get on a winning team (Dallas and the Eagles can be beat, and the Giants could easily be the team from the first half of the year). I am fully prepared to hate on any ex-Colt who is going to hang around for his bestie Peyton to sign first. Im interested in seeing how this impacts Denver's chances of getting Manning though. With no proven big play receiver, Im sure they will need to sign one to entice Peyton. What is Peyton dicks around so long they are all gone though? We've seen one fall already.

The Brandon Marshal deal was a bit of a shocker. Once again, I figured a big play receiver was a must for Peyton, and Miami wasn't looking good for him in the first place. This guy must be a huge problem to always be dealt around. And the Bears take themselves out of the Mario Williams hunt to go get him? Could be a mistake on their part. I think I could play offense for the Bears if they had Peppers and Williams on their D line.

I think all this makes the Titans the front runners in the Peyton race. They have a big play receiver in Kenny Britt. Chris Johnson well...he supposed to be a big name runner, ask his fantasy owners if he was last year. I think its an attractive team to go to, they were right on the cusp last year.

Mario Williams, that situation puzzles me. Now, im not a die hard fan so maybe I don't know what Im talking about, but if Im the Texans I keep him at all costs. Even if that means losing Arian Foster. They had Ben Tate come in last year and run huge behind him. They had a servicable replacement for him, there is no replacement for a franchise guy like Williams. Not to mention, they where right! Reggie Bush is no where near as valuable. They should've kept him, and sent a letter to everyone who doubted their pick of him saying "Suck our dicks, Love, The Houston Texans."

As for Mario, he's clearly all about the money. That's okay, but its a fact. The Texans are right there man. They stay healthy and play like they did last year they got a shot at this thing. Where is Williams going? The front runners are the Bills and Seahawks! Are you serious bro? The Bills are terrible. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a joke, that franchise is a joke, the only thing that isn't a joke is their cap space. Seahawks, I've backed off on my hatred of them (You want the ball and you're gonna do what now?!?! Huh?!?!) but I still don't see it as the sexy pick, unless they are cutting the biggest check.

A quick sidebar, I kind of got behind the Seahawks last year. Now that every piece of the team I once hated is gone, they're kind of a young, scrappy team. If they went on got Matt Flynn and Mario Williams, or even just another good reciever to go with Rice, they could do damage. All im saying is, Seattle isn't a sexy city for the biggest price in free agency to head to.

One last bit. Rams fans, keep laughing at the Randy Moss signing, you morons. The team stomped the world last year without him! Its not like adding Randy means they're going to somehow lose games they would've won. If it gets to that, they'll cut'em. He came to them because they were winners, and if they keep winning, he's gonna make Alex Smith look even more legit than last year. And who knows, maybe he IS legit, now that he has real weapons and some confidence.

NHL 12 Diary Update

Post trade deadline was up and down, but we met and exceeded our goal of 50 wins, ending up with 53. We actually regained not only the division but the conference lead, as our 110 points were enough to tie the Flyers for the tops in the East, and we won the tie breaker. Not enough to bring home another Presidents Trophy though, as Nashville actually was best in the league with 118 points.

I only played one game threw our entire 2016-17 playoff run. I played an exciting, down to the wire Game 7 in the first round against Florida. The Panthers have become a gritty, defense first team and Jacob Markstrom was impossible to beat. It was 1-0 us most of the game, until they tied it with 9 minutes left. That lit a fire under Zeterberg and Kesler though, and we ended up winning 5-1. A game that was a hard fought win, without captain P.K. Subban as he had post consussion syndrome in this series and would be out until Mid April.

I didn't play a single other game. We handed the Penguins a 4-1 series defeat and moved on to play the Flyers for best in the East. We proved our self against them, getting P.K. back early in the series and defeating them in 6 games to move on to the cup. We faced the Kings fresh off their defeat of the league best Nashville Predators and in 6 games, the Montreal Canadian brought home their 3rd cup in 4 years!

Carey Price takes home the Conn Smythe. This off-season we will celebrate not only the great season, but the great career of Hendrick Zeterberg. As after three more cups, not counting the ones he had won in Detroit, Hendrick is calling it a career. Hendrick retires with 1,033 points in 1,068 games with both Detroit and my Montreal Canadians. He was one of the big pieces of the puzzle that lead to me having my Miami Heat style Big Three and I'm glad I traded Sharp instead of him. He will be missed.

I'm now in the offseason. Lots of contracts up again but if I could pull it off the last few seasons, no reason I can't this year. I've renewed my contract or another three years, despite a offer to join the by far league worst Minnestoa Wild, which I thought would be fun to rebuild.

NHL 12 Diary Update

Post trade deadline was up and down, but we met and exceeded our goal of 50 wins, ending up with 53. We actually regained not only the division but the conference lead, as our 110 points were enough to tie the Flyers for the tops in the East, and we won the tie breaker. Not enough to bring home another Presidents Trophy though, as Nashville actually was best in the league with 118 points.

I only played one game threw our entire 2016-17 playoff run. I played an exciting, down to the wire Game 7 in the first round against Florida. The Panthers have become a gritty, defense first team and Jacob Markstrom was impossible to beat. It was 1-0 us most of the game, until they tied it with 9 minutes left. That lit a fire under Zeterberg and Kesler though, and we ended up winning 5-1. A game that was a hard fought win, without captain P.K. Subban as he had post consussion syndrome in this series and would be out until Mid April.

I didn't play a single other game. We handed the Penguins a 4-1 series defeat and moved on to play the Flyers for best in the East. We proved our self against them, getting P.K. back early in the series and defeating them in 6 games to move on to the cup. We faced the Kings fresh off their defeat of the league best Nashville Predators and in 6 games, the Montreal Canadian brought home their 3rd cup in 4 years!

Carey Price takes home the Conn Smythe. This off-season we will celebrate not only the great season, but the great career of Hendrick Zeterberg. As after three more cups, not counting the ones he had won in Detroit, Hendrick is calling it a career. Hendrick retires with 1,033 points in 1,068 games with both Detroit and my Montreal Canadians. He was one of the big pieces of the puzzle that lead to me having my Miami Heat style Big Three and I'm glad I traded Sharp instead of him. He will be missed.

I'm now in the offseason. Lots of contracts up again but if I could pull it off the last few seasons, no reason I can't this year. I've renewed my contract or another three years, despite a offer to join the by far league worst Minnestoa Wild, which I thought would be fun to rebuild.

Untitled Raw Review

I think im going to start doing short Raw reviews on here. I would like them to have a stupid, cliche title too. Like The Raw Deal or whatever, but ridiculous. Early candidates are "Raw Meat" and "Rubbed It Raw". I would be open to suggestions, but only if they are as brutal as mine.

Last night's Raw was a fun show, and I'm very much digging a lot of the Mania build up. I think last night's Cena and Rock buildup was great from both guys. As for Cena, like I tweeted during Raw, who the fuck doesn't love Basic Thuganomics?! God damnit that shit is what's up! As far as the segment, it did what it needed to do. It kept Cena looking hard and rough instead of goofy and yellin' Cena. I do think this is the first week Rock really turned it on. He clearly out did Cena this week. I loved to old heel Rock Concert segments, and he lived up to them with this one. The line of the night was Rock calling out Cena's wife, for sure, he should've closed with that I think.

I think there is a couple reason's we saw The Rock turn it on this week. I think part of the reason is some of what Cena has been saying is the truth. I think The Rock, past his prime and out of practice was having trouble hanging with Cena at the top of his game in promos, that could be seen on last weeks Raw. Also though, I think its clear that this was the first week Rock was supposed to outshine Cena. The Rock is amazing, but he's also a buisness man. He knows that while he is getting something out of this, the ultimate goal from the WWE's side is to elevate Cena's game and to kill off some of the boo birds. While Rock has been legitimatly stunned I believe at just how good Cena can be, a lot of this was designed. For instance, do you really believe The Rock needed promo notes on his wrist? He may have been gone for awhile, but Rock has been in this buisness a long time and is one of the greatest promos ever. He left for hollywood, were you have to remember your lines word for word. Hell, i've been in wrestling for under 3 years and don't need to write notes on my wrist, I'm sure The Rock doesn't. That was clearly a cleverly designed, subtle gimmick to make Cena look more capable than The Rock and get some more fans in Cena's camp.

My only concern is, how many more creative ways can Cena and Rock get at each other the next few weeks without touching each other. I know contact is being held off until the last Raw and that's a brilliant choice, but I hope they don't have to have a bake off next week to make it happen.

The Jericho promo was also top notch. They're doing what they need to do and keeping Jericho strong going into Mania.

My only complaint is that in the middle of two very real feeling story lines, we have this GM bullshit. I think the single most ridiculous thing that happens in wrestling today, is power in a company being decided in the damn ring. Dana White is never going to fight Tito Ortiz for ownership of the UFC. David Sterns is never going to assemble an all-star team to defend the NBA from Mark Cuban. Gary Bateman is never going to suit up for a shootout to decide who is the commissioner of the NHL. So the idea that one of the most important jobs in WWE will be decided in the ring is silly and it shouldn't happen, on any level I might add. Its even more assinine to think the board of directors would decide this. Im pretty sure I'll be fired if I storm into the next YMCA board meeting and challenge my boss to a fist fight for control of the building.

All in all though, a good show, and it has been lately. I'll likely do a blog on this all of its own, but damnit I wish we could've pulled off going to Mania. Around this time of year, when we decide not to go, all of the logical, sound reason's we passed on it seem to go out the window. I don't care who you are or how long you've been wrestling, Wrestlemania is a good fuckin time and im a little sad I've got to miss it this year. I've been to five and they've all been great in their own way. The whole weekend is great. Dragon Gate, ROH, $5 Dollar Wrestling, and yeah even Axxess are all great times. If you're too jaded to let go and enjoy all of that then i'm sorry that the fan inside you died. I had every reason not to go to Mania this year, but it still stings a bit. Maybe I just need to start saving to take me and my lady to the Jersey Shore in 2013 ;).

NHL Diary Update

Two season milestones have passed, the All Star Game and the trade deadline.

We had a couple selections in the All Star Game. Hendrick Zeterberg was selected and played on the third line. Cam Fowler started and is having a great year with great offensive. This is the first year I can remember that Carey Price was not selected and is having an extremely disappointing year with a GAA above 2.0. He was actually injured and has played better since returning. Matt Hackett actually did well for a few games starting in his place.

I was extremely active at the deadline as well. When I looked at my roster, I only had 2 forwards with future potential. Moline, the guy who plays RW on the 3rd line and Matt Guille, I guy I actually drafted in the 5th round who is going to be a nice sniper someday. But I decided that I needed some potential upfront, as my back half is set for years. So, I had planned to pull the triggar on Sharp for Matt Pumpmel, but on deadline day, after all I times I turned them down, the Senator refused the the deal. I still decided I would take a good offer for Sharp as he was 35 years and the fourth best talent. The Kings came threw and offered me a 2017 1st Round Pick and a 2018 first round pick. So now I have atleast 3 1st rounders this year, as I've also acquired Minnesota's pick in the Clutterbuck deal and the Ducks pick, as I dealt my 2022 1st rounder for the Ducks 2017 first rounder, as my scouts said to expect many top prospects. I also dealt away Ryan O'Byrne for a 5th Round pick, as he was replaced by Brock Beaukebeum. Ryan got injured and Brock took over as a 79 with some upside. He's already advanced to 80 ovr and has played well alongside Tinboli.

After all that, in the last hour, I decided I was getting Matt Puempel. I over paid for him probably, but his upside is huge and that gives me a good left winger for the future. I dealt the aging Rene Bourque who was in a contract year, and a 2nd and 3rd Rounder in 2022 (I've basically decided to sell that entire draft).

We currently hold 4th in the East. The fact that we're not dominating is what lead me to shake it up.

1st Line
Zetterberg - Kesler - Giroux

2nd Line
Puempel - Leblanc - Oshie

3rd Line
McGinn - Dumount - Moline

4th Line
Gagne - Helm - Phillips

D-1
Fowler - Subban

D-2
Sbisa - Demars

D-3
Tinboli - Beaubebeum

Goaltenders Price Hackett

NHL 12 Diary Update

The 2016-17 campaign is underway and we've had an interesting start. Before I started I took a quick glance at were Brian Elliott landed as the last time I let a back up go (Budaj, 82 ovr) went and started in Boston. He signed with fucking Carolina to backup Cam Ward! Virtual Brian Elliott needs to fire his virtual agent.

We are still an overall great team. We have a 16-4-1 start which is good for a division lead and 2nd in the east. Started off 13-0 though, so we hit a bit of a skid.

Im wrestling with weather to trade somebody or not. At the start, I was intent on trading Sharp (1 yr left, 4.5 million, 88 ovr) but I've gone back and forth. When we started 12-0 I took him off and said no way im touching the team. Then I got great offer I nearly took. Sharp for Matt Puemel, Brett Sterling, and two 5th round draft picks. This was a move for the future, which im not used to in this particular franchise. I ended up balking at it, but when we lost 4 straight I questioned it. Was going to try and get the same deal...until I saw Sharp was our leading scorer with 22 points in 21 games. So im torn.

I also ask, should I trade Sharp whose 34, but fairly replaceable or Hendrik Zeterberg. Hendrik is a 93 overall and the best on the team, but with a 6 million dollar contract and a looming retirement, it makes me think. I want him to finish his career here and want his production now, but wonder if he would be better bait than Sharp.

Oh well. Im stopping for now to deliberate.

What's On Tap: 2012 Wrestling Intro Blog

2011 ended great for me wrestling wise.I have two very solid wrestling companies that I am genuinely proud to be a part of. I can decidedly say im no longer a ring announcer. Not that I had an issue with it, looking back, I'm very proud of the work I did and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better ring announcer than me.

But the end of 2011 and now on into 2012 has been and will continue to be about showing everyone what I'm really capable of. I would like to branch out, although my real job certainly limits my ability to do that since I work early Monday and late Fridays with no real replacement for me. Im going to attempt to find a way though, and if not, i'm going to make an impact on St. Louis.

If you've followed me, family, friends, or by some off chance fans then thank you. So far i'm only with St. Louis Anarchy and Dynamo, but expect big things out of me in 2012 in both. I'll be posting after each show in 2012 if possible, if for no other reason than to have something to look back on at the end of the year.

St. Louis Anarchy kicked off 2012 with a bang with a huge show in Granite City. My very close personal friend El Hijo Del Masko (son of famous, possibly fictional Lucha Legend, El Masko) made his Anarchy debut and lost in a tag match. I was very proud of his performance. I was even more proud of myself, later on in the night. Fitchett and Vega vs Davey Richards and Kyle O'Reily was what wrestling is all about. A five star classic that is easily going to be a match of the year candidate. I was happy to be even a small part of it, when I emerged from the front of the building to cost Fitchett his big match. I loved it, here was this knockdown drag out display and the fans where just about to get what they wanted, and I showed up and shit all over them. Anarchy does not have a new date yet, but hopefully very soon there will be a big announcement and we will let you know what I have in store.

Dynamo hasn't had a show yet in 2012, but I will be there on April 6th to make some noise with the First Church of Karington.

NHL 12 Diary Update

Played through the offseason before work today and the team stayed roughly intact.

Bryan Elliott had to go, as he wanted 4.7 million and couldn't pay that to a backup, especially with Cary Price locked down at 4.5 millions for two more years.

TJ Galleardi was let go as well, he wanted 2.3 million and he was a third liner, his role was replaced with cheaper talent I had in the AHL.

I let go some grey beard D-men like Andrew Alberts and Derick Engelund. Cory Sarich retired. All were pretty much replaced by call ups.

In an effort to clear some cap, Cal Clutterbuck was traded back to his original team the Wild. I received a matured prospect Zack Phillips to replace him and a first round draft pick. Plus used that to sign some depth guys, most noteworthy Sam Gange, who is aging but still has blinding speed and will be the first call up incase of injury.

Luckily the top guys all signed on at decent rates. Giroux and Kessler both took considerably less than they wanted, about a million or so of a cut. Subban and Sbisa I paid their money and they gave me more years than they wanted. Sbisa is mine till he's 30 and Subban will pretty much finish his career in Montreal.

Let's see if I can remember the lines and list them like a sports collumn.

Line 1
Zetterburg - Kessler - Giroux

Line 2
Bourque - Sharp - Oshie

Line 3
Helm - Leblanc (matured prospect) - (Can't remember his name, a matured prospect I drafted in the fifth round)

Line 4
McGinn - Dumont - Phillips

Def 1
Fowler - Subban

Def 2
Sbisa - Demars

Def 3
Tinbilini (matured prospect) - O'Byrne

Goaltenders
Carey Price
-
Matt Hackett

NHL 12 Diary: Montreal Canadian

Let me tell you guys, I love hockey, and I loved playing NHL 12. The Be A GM Mode is better than ever and I love starting new ones and trying to build teams up.

If you follow the real NHL, you'll see that the Montreal Canadians are in a skid. Despite having great young talent like Subban and Carey Price (who I hate, btw) they are full of overpaid, past their prime veterans and under performing folks. Even though NHL 12 didnt predict this skid, I figured my latest venture would be to start a Canadians franchise (with the most recent roster update) and try to reinvent them.

My strategy was to obviously build from the net out, with Price. To give a brief history, I decided I would do this by only have one major scoring line of superstars and having the rest of my forwards be gritty two way players and grinders. I started putting together insane packages of players and while I don't remember who I sent off for the most part (wish I had written about this from the start) I ended up accomplishing that. I know I sent Markov off with a prospect for Patrick Sharp (a deal the computer offered me, actually). I had him at center with Bourque on the left and the newly aquired TJ Oshie on the right. Bourque and Oshie really fit my vision more for the second line than the first, so I put together other huge deals that shipped off guys like Scott Gomez and Thomas Plecanic for Claude Giroux and eventually Hendrick Zeterberg. In turn, it was also easy to grab guys I really wanted for depth like Daren Helm, George Parros, Cal Clutterbuck, and Sean Avery.

Im currently in the offseason after the 2015-16 season. The first season I was in town, we barely made the playoffs and got dumbed first round, since these trades will still coming together. The 2012 campaign got us a bit closer as I added some better pieces to depth and ended up signing great Dmen to compliment my maturing forwards with guys like Brad Stewart and young folks through trades like Jason Demars and Cam Fowler. In doing this, I have pretty much sold all my high draft picks for forever. Alas, we got booted in the second round.

2013, I had the team pretty much the way I wanted it. Despite that, it was up and down most of the year and we were very streaky. I decided we needed another top six scorer to sit inbetween Oshie and Bourque to help us score. So I sent off Brad Stuart and some picks to aquire Ryan Keslar. Keslar was a higher caliber guy than I had even planned on getting and even fit the big body, two way mentality I wanted out of my fowards. I was then able to deal some pieces to get Lucas Sbisa from the Ducks to plug the hole left by Stuart. We squeaked into the playoffs, and with these two big deals, surged on to beat the Sharks for the Stanley Cup.

2014 I was torn. I couldn't decide to stay and try to repeat (where they wanted a seemingly impossible 48 wins) or move on. I stayed and luckily got all the guys resigned under the cap for long term deals. I also added some new pieces and adding more scoring, getting away from my bang'em forward style. Well, 48 wins was apparently not the task I thought it was, as the team continued to steam roll as it did the previous year in the playoffs. We won 56 games, the presidents trophy, and whooped the Sharks' ass again in the cup finals.

2015, we again stayed strong and resigned players. My only big move was to send some prospects to the Blues for Brian Elliott. The talent was just too much. We steam rolled the compition and went 61-15-6. We again captured the presidents trophy. We even netted our first individual awards (beyond Prices two Conn Smythes). Subban won the Norris Trophy. Price nabbed the Vezina and the William M. Jennings Trophy (although, Elliott should've been listed too, as he played in nearly 30 games and had a ridiculous season. Alas, some how, it was not our year as the NY Islanders (43 god damn wins!) booted us from the 3rd round and went on to beat Nashville for the cup.

I'll keep this updated. Its going to be a hard off season, we will see who I can and can't sign as Sbisa, Keslar, and Giroux all wanna get paid.

My Grand Return.

Well I'm getting the writing bug again.

I've taken a long stint away. I do that. I'll blog every little detail for months then just stop. As always, so much has happened in my life since I last wrote I couldn't possibly catch you up fully. At the end of the day, if you are reading this you likely already know me and my goings on. If you don't already know me, you likely don't care about my past exploits.

I will say, that what lead me to stop writing regularly was a kind of dark period in my life. I was in love with my now girlfriend Stephanie, who was in an abusive relationship. This fact was a secret and so plastering it all over the internet wasn't the best of ideas. Since it was pretty much all I thought about, it was hard to get motivated to write. As I said, my life has much changed since then. That dark place is a distant memory, only occasionally visited to reflect on how great things are now. So im ready to bore you all again. A little of everything, my everyday thoughts and feelings, some sports talk, some video game talk, and some wrestling stories too.