These four things I know are true…
- Michelle Beadle is Superwoman. She even has a cape.
- TNA Wrestling will never win the non-existent “wrestling war” of 2010-2011.
- It is so hard to remember that there are good moments as well as all of the bad in life.
- And, I’m Aaron Goins. All my thoughts on these topics and so much more (including my favorite person in wrestling today)… in The Highlight Reel!
NEWS and NOTES
**There was a time in my life when I really loved watching NBA basketball. I pulled for the Charlotte Hornets, collected basketball cards and followed the league religiously. Then, the lockout of 1999 occurred and my love did not return for the game when the players returned to play out a shortened 1999-2000 season. I still followed the sport enough to know the big news and who the marquee players were but I didn’t particularly care about basketball anymore. However, I must say that, for the first time in a long time, I am watching the NBA once again and I am enjoying it.
I watched NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles from February 18th-20th and loved every minute of it. From Kobe Bryant dunking on LeBron James in the All-Star Game to Blake Griffin dunking over the hood of a Kia to in the Slam Dunk Contest, I enjoyed the festivities and the stars on display. I watched and felt like I did when I watched guys like Jordan and Pippin rule, David Robinson and a young Tim Duncan tower over everyone in San Antonio, and Patrick Ewing sadly being victimized by everyone who played against the New York Knicks, It was all so much fun.
Since it seems that NASCAR is never going to return to a level of watch-ability and the NFL schedule doesn’t run 365 days a year, I’m glad to finally have basketball back in my life. Now, if only the Miami Heat could finish out the year on a massive losing streak or we could have a new “Malice at the Palace” brawl, my love for basketball would finally blossom to childhood levels.
**With a rekindled interest in the NBA, I was watching intently on Thursday’s SportsNation when Michelle and Colin were joined by numerous analysts who dissected all of the major trades at the NBA trading deadline. Last week was certainly a period of time where things were shaken up in a number of NBA cities.
The big move of the week saw Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets traded to the New York Knicks for four players, multiple draft picks, cash, a partridge and a pear tree. The move now put Anthony with Amar’e Stoudemire in a “super team” union in New York. Personally, while that may look good on paper, two stars without key role players will only reach a certain level of success before they crash and burn. The age of Billups paired with the loss of guard Raymond Felton will ultimate make this move a bust.
Deron Williams, one of the game’s top guards, was sent from the Utah Jazz to the New Jersey Nets for a ton of players too. However, unlike the Knicks move, I like this move for the simply fact that it showed the rest of the players in the league that New Jersey Nets owner and Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov could actually land the name he wanted. After failing in the hunt for LeBron, Amar’e, Carmelo, Chris Bosh, and countless others over the previous two years, Prokhorov landed one of the league’s premiere players in Williams. Suddenly, the Nets appear more attractive to future free agents.
Also, the Boston Celtics made a major move that will ultimately be a championship winning move for… the Oklahoma City Thunders. The Celtics sent Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Thunder for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. The Celtics have a “big four” in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo. But, Perkins was their young giant who banged under the boards and helped stop the LeBrons and Amar’es of the league. Now, the Celtics are putting that job solely on a Shaquille O’Neal a decade past his prime. The Thunder have came out like bandits with this move as they have landed a young stud to add to their youthful lineup of threats (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook) and have traded away the 2000 Busch Series Champion who really shouldn’t have been in the league to begin with (I was later informed that this was a different Jeff Green). Meanwhile, the edge the Celtics had over the rest of the Eastern Conference, size, is now gone. Disappointing move made by the Celtics.
**On February 8th, the SportsNation world was shaken by an injury. While exiting ESPN’s Studio B, my beloved Michelle Beadle suffered a broken ankle as she fell on a patch of ice in the parking lot while eating a cookie. Only Beadle would go down in such a crazy way.
As everybody prepared for SportsNation on February 9th, the news came out via Twitter and Facebook that Michelle indeed had suffered a broken ankle and was going to be out for a little while. Michelle had surgery to insert two plates and seven pins to repair two bones broken in three places. Depending on Colin Cowherd and substitute hosts Michael Smith, Doug Gottlieb, and Neil Everett for the better part of two weeks, SportsNation was simply appalling. However, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, fans rejoiced on February 19th when Michelle returned to Winners Bracket. The following Monday, February 21st, Michelle returned to SportsNation and all was finally right with the world again.
While she has some detractors (few and far between) who believe that she is “too emotional” or “too much of a hater” to be on ESPN, Michelle Beadle is clearly one of the best reasons to watch ESPN and the only reason to watch SportsNation. Besides being an incredibly beautiful woman, Michelle Beadle doesn’t take any crap from anyone. She has valid opinions (that I agree with 99% of the time), an incredible depth of sports knowledge, an amazing wit, biting sense of humor, and remains firm on her beliefs in an age of sports personalities flip-flopping to pander to the masses. Instead, Michelle says her peace and you can take it or leave it. I respect that and love the woman for it.
Glad to see that even a broken ankle can’t stop Michelle Beadle from being awesome and carrying Colin Cowherd on a daily basis. Michelle Beadle is simply amazing!
**For many years in my life, I have absolutely loved this time of the year because now if the Road to WrestleMania. And yes, 2011 is no different as the WWE is currently in the midst of the build-up for WrestleMania XXVII with the Road to WrestleMania. It is in full mode with less than six weeks between now and the big event on April 3rd from Atlanta, Georgia. However, after seeing the announcement of the main event for WrestleMania and the huge hullabaloo regarding the guest host of the event, I can safely say that my April 3rd will be better spent enjoying the Academy of Country Music Awards also held on the same night. Vince McMahon and WWE officials continue to claim to be ushering in a “youth movement” while WWE sycophants continue to love bashing TNA Wrestling for pushing “old” performers. Yet, WrestleMania XXVII appears to be a reflection of the same old sh*t in WWE mixed with the best of WWE circa 1999-2001. There is nothing fresh about this company.
John Cena will compete for the WWE Championship for the seventh consecutive year as he will face WWE Champion The Miz. Considering that The Miz is fresh and new along with Cena being 5-1 in the previous six WrestleMania championship matches, it is a safe bet that Cena will be champion once again. Meanwhile, World Heavyweight Champion Edge will defend that title against 2011 Royal Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio in a match that will probably be great but will ultimately be disappointing as Del Rio’s push will end shortly afterwards even with a title win while Edge will never reach the heights a man of his skill should have reached in the grand scheme of professional wrestling.
But, the real main event at WrestleMania will see a culmination of a long-time feud… wait, no it won’t. It will be a match-up of icons we’ve never seen before… wait, we’ve seen this. But, it’ll be a battle between these icons that we’ve never seen at WrestleMania before… oh, we saw it a decade ago. It’s going to be Grandpa Deadman vs. The Chaperone at WrestleMania XXVII when The Undertaker faces Triple H again at WrestleMania. Excuse me while I yawn.
Looking at this lineup of marquee matches featuring the “youth movement” of the WWE, Vince McMahon clearly knows that this lineup wouldn’t draw flies covered in feces. That is why the guest host of WrestleMania is Dwayne Johnson. Who, you ask? Oh, wrestling fans remember him as The Rock. Plus, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Trish Stratus are coming back for this event and the return of Tough Enough. Nothing like bringing back retirees to show that the company is all about pushing fresh faces with a “youth movement.”
In all honesty, the WrestleMania lineup and the addition of former popular Superstars and Divas don’t show WWE reaching back to the past to help push the present and future. Instead, it all simply reeks of desperation. Vince McMahon is so desperate to relive the success WWE saw in the late 90s through 2001 that he has gone from reusing angles (last summer/fall’s Kane/Undertaker feud) to now reusing matches and personalities popular in that time in order to rekindle the magic. Sadly for Vince, it doesn’t work like that. It is the reason WrestleMania has not been good in years and why World Wrestling Entertainment as a whole has been garbage the last couple of years. It is why I am looking at this once-cherished time of the year differently this time around; there is truly nothing to be excited about regarding WrestleMania.
That said, WWE still has the ratings battle clearly in their control and TNA is nothing but a joke to the majority of so-called wrestling fans. Why, you ask? I think the answer to that question is very simple and very sad. The so-called wrestling fans are so young and stupid that they do not have a clue what professional wrestling is really all about. Most of them became fans during the famed “Attitude Era” of the late 1990s through 2001. News Flash: that was NOT professional wrestling. That was a soap opera on Red Bull; a show with three-minute matches featuring spot monkeys crashing through objects. The grown-up fans of today are wanting that and are introducing WWE to their children because World Wrestling Entertainment is the only company left remaining from that era when they grew up watching the sport. However, the reality is that these so-called wrestling fans are actually sports entertainment fans. So, when they see TNA Wrestling, they see a company offering something they do not want: professional wrestling.
TNA Wrestling can not win the “wrestling war” because TNA is professional wrestling and professional wrestling is not in. TNA Wrestling offers great storylines being built and executed, quite a few really good matches on free TV weekly, and some very good promos done by legendary talent, young up-and-comers, and some of today's top wrestling talent. The company is filled will the young and old alike, established and up-and-comers, without a lip service of a “youth movement” being said by management on a daily basis. However, that management is also part of the reason why the new generation of fans will never give TNA a fair chance. They have a stigma about Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Vince Russo. So, instead of giving pro wrestling a chance, they worship Vince McMahon’s inferior product or they sit and pout about everything being crap in the wrestling world without giving TNA Wrestling a chance in the first place. The sad reality is that TNA Wrestling is damned if they do and damned if they don’t in the eyes of these so-called wrestling fans. If TNA pushes AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Kaz, Beer Money, the Motor City Machine Guns, Madison Rayne, Angelina Love, etc., then “fans” want to know who these jobbers are as they refuse to watch. When TNA Wrestling brings in established names like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Ken Anderson, Mickie James, etc., those same “fans” say who wants to see these WWE castaways as they refuse to watch. The company is damned by the WWE sycophants either way and that is why TNA Wrestling will never beat World Wrestling Entertainment.
That is also why I don’t look at the two companies as being in the same business or competition to each other at all. TNA doesn’t stand a chance against WWE because TNA is pro wrestling. Pro wrestling is out. Right now, it is all about Sports Entertainment in the eyes of the ignorant masses.
**I love Lady Antebellum and I was thrilled when the Grammy Awards were handed out on February 13th to see that the music industry loves Lady Antebellum too. Up for six awards, they were able to bring home five awards including the prestigious overall Song of the Year and Record of the Year for “Need You Now.” Plus, they won Best Country Song and Best Country Group Performance for “Need You Now” and Best Country Album for Need You Now. Normally I don’t find myself agreeing with the Grammy voters but I don’t think they could have done any better this year than they did with the Lady A love.
**The King’s Speech was the big winner at the 83rd Academy Awards on February 27th as the story of King George VI’s battle to overcome a stutter in time to give a crucial speech to England at the beginning of World War II overcame the good-but-overrated Inception and the other awards season darling, The Social Network. While I haven’t seen The King’s Speech yet, I do have to admit that I’m looking forward to it when I check it out on DVD soon.
Colin Firth won Best Actor for The King’s Speech while Natalie Portman left, as expected, with the Best Actress trophy for Black Swan. Also as expected, Christian Bale won Best Supporting Actor and Melissa Leo won Best Supporting Actress both for their performances in The Fighter.
The weekend was not only a weekend to celebrate the best in cinema though as the 31st annual Golden Raspberry Awards were handed out. The Last Airbender was named the Worst Film of 2010 while Ashton Kutcher took home Worst Actor for Killers and Valentine’s Day and the four banshees from Sex and the City 2 won Worst Actress in a combined effort. I can’t say I really would disagree with any of them awards either.
**I didn’t see any of it but was happy to see that Jeff Gordon finally returned to Victory Lane as soon as I finally gave up on the mess that is NASCAR. Gordon scored his 83rd career victory, now fifth on the all-time wins list alongside Cale Yarborough. Congrats to Jeff on the win. Hopefully it won’t be another two years before career win #84 comes.
**Everyone knows that I am one of the most diehard Mickie James fanatics around. She’s an amazing in-ring performer and one of my all-time favorites to ever enter the squared circle. On top of that, Mickie is just unbelievably sexy. In fact, Mickie is actually the three-time reigning winner of the Top 50 Most Beautiful Women in the World edition of The Highlight Reel (the 2011 edition coming this April 28th). All of that said, I must confess that Mickie James has been joined by another young woman as the apple of my eye in professional wrestling.
“She’s a Killlllllaaaaaa Queeeeeeeen!”
Without a doubt, the most interesting performer in all of professional wrestling to me, male or female, is Madison Rayne. The current TNA Knockouts Champion, Madison Rayne is a terrific in-ring performer who only has the sky as her limit. Still learning her craft, the 25-year old Ohio native has already won three Knockouts titles and defeated a majority of the best female performers in the world including Mickie James, Tara, Angelina Love, Awesome Kong, and ODB. But, the thing I love about Madison Rayne most (besides her drop-dead gorgeousness) is the fact that she brings a fresh vibe to the often-seen and often-terrible bitchy heel persona in professional wrestling. Rayne cuts promos filled with screaming and with catty comments reminiscent of Trish Stratus in 2004-2005 and not the hurtful management-veiled remarks of LayCool in 2009-2010. In fact, Rayne is the first woman in the business since Mickie James to remind me of Trish Stratus. There is a common beauty, drive, and in-ring skill set between these women that I appreciate not only as a man but as a wrestling fan too. Madison Rayne is definitely one of the best reasons to watch professional wrestling today.
CHEERS and JEERS
Superstar of the Week: Trevor Bayne
I didn’t watch a single lap of the 2011 Daytona 500. In fact, I didn’t watch a single lap of any activity from the 2011 Daytona Speedweeks. But, after the Daytona 500 was over, there was a winner in Victory Lane with a story that overshadowed the ignorant points system, incompetent leadership running the sport into the ground, and irritating pricks being celebrated by the masses of sycophants in the stands. Trevor Bayne stood victorious at Daytona.
Bayne, a 20-year old from Knoxville, Tennessee, drove the #21 Wood Brothers Ford to Victory Lane in only his second Cup Series start while becoming the youngest winner in the history of the Daytona 500. A fresh face, Bayne’s youthful exuberance and refreshing humility won him fans with every appearance he made during the following week. From a charming interview on Scott Van Pelt Tuesday (in which he admitted to wanting to meet Michelle Beadle and made me a fan) to appearances on SportsNation (in which he finally got to meet Beadle), George Lopez, Conan O’Brien, and the Late Show with David Letterman, Trevor Bayne’s star emerged brightly from the muck that is NASCAR’s un-charismatic next generation.
While I personally believe that Bayne will be Derrick Cope 2011, I am pulling for him for he’s a good kid in a world of talented jerks. If nothing else, at least he had a great week in 2011 when the Cinderella story came true.
Jerk of the Week: Harvey Updike and Canada (TIE)
In a rare moment, there were two entities so terrible that one clearly was not the biggest jerk of the week. So, we have a tie for Jerk of the Week between Harvey Updike and the country (and I use that term loosely) of Canada.
Harvey Updike is a 62-year old former Texas state trooper from Dadeville, Alabama who recently took a sporting rivalry way too far. Updike, using the name Al from Dadeville, called the popular Birmingham-based Paul Finebaum radio show and admitted to poisoning two of the oak trees on Auburn’s campus. These trees were not just any trees however as these two oak trees were a part of the famed Toomer’s Corner in Auburn, Alabama. For over 130 years, these trees have been a part of Auburn University’s tradition as they were rolled with toilet paper in celebration after huge victories by the school’s beloved Tigers. Updike, an Alabama Crimson Tide fan, decided to poison the trees after the Tigers defeated the Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl on November 26th. Then, he took to the airwaves to brag about the cowardly, disgusting, heinous action as Auburn University began valiantly trying to save their beloved trees.
Hopefully there is a law around that will put this man in prison for a long time. To be that evil and vindictive, Updike doesn’t deserve to have any freedom or any pleasures for a long time. There is participation in a sporting rivalry and there is taking it too far. This act of cowardice and vandalism crossed a line that will never be forgiven.
On February 10th, the Ottawa Senators traded center Mike Fisher to the Nashville Predators. While this move didn’t make any news in America, this move made headlines in Canada and caused outrage among Ottawa fans. That outrage was undeservedly directed towards country singer and Fisher’s wife, Carrie Underwood. The belief is that Fisher was traded to Nashville because that is where Fisher’s wife resides. Now, I personally don’t believe that Carrie Underwood has that kind of pull in the National Hockey League. But, one Ottawa radio station does and they have boycotted her music as a result.
Considering that this move is being supported by many Canadians, I have to wonder (once again) why Canada is even allowed to be a country to begin with. Seriously, they depend on America for protect and entertainment, they’re best citizens move to America when they can escape, and half of the country speaks French. Canada sucks! Why they have not yet been overtaken by a band of angry Idaho potato farmers is beyond my comprehension. Banning Carrie Underwood’s music over a hockey trade is one of the stupidest things I have heard and Canada should just be annexed as America’s attic as a result. This country clearly has shown they can not be allowed to run amuck any longer.
POWER RANKINGS - Favorite Best Picture Winners from the Academy Awards
5. Driving Miss Daisy - 1989
4. Platoon - 1986 / Gladiator - 2000 (TIE)
3. The Silence of the Lambs - 1991
2. No Country for Old Men - 2007
1. The Departed - 2006
BIG A RECOMMENDS…
Texts From Last Night - found at www.textsfromlastnight.com (recommended by reader Stephen King)
Are you in the need of a laugh? Especially the kind of laugh that comes at the expense of drunken morons or the aftermath of people being drunken morons? Then, this site is for you. Texts From Last Night is a site filled with exactly what is advertised: real text messages sent by people from all over the globe stating their activities and their regrets from the previous night’s debauchery. Some are funny, some are weird, and all are for a very entertaining time killer. Check it out!
Also, if you have a request for Big A Recommends that you’d love to see in The Highlight Reel, send me a message and maybe you’ll one day be a part of The Highlight Reel too.
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK…
It seems like I am consistently being reminded about the delicate balance between life and death. More often than not, it is the tragedy of death that I am encountering. In 2011 alone, I have lost a beloved cousin in Clarence Cheshire and most recently have lost two of my adored cats. I found the remains of Riley, my orange tabby, last week after he’d been missing for almost a month. Then, as I’m typing this on Sunday night, I can’t help but still feel sad about the passing of my white fluffy fuzz ball Cloud. Cloud was hit by a vehicle over night and was found the morning of February 27th. I understand that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away but I still wonder sometimes why he has to do so much taking.
He has given recently too and I am thankful for the blessing that were given to friends of mine.
On February 19th at 3:58PM, my friends Mike and Leslie Overby were blessed with the birth of their first child, a daughter names Mylie Alexis Overby. I have happily teased Mike about having a daughter (including a countdown until when she is “legal”) but am, in all sincerity, happy to be an uncle once again. I love Mike like I love my friend Doug too. Brothers from different mothers as the saying goes and definitely among the best things I ever got out of my time at Rockingham Community College. With that, I hope to be the crazy uncle that young Mylie will come to know with forever have her back and hopefully make her laugh as she goes up to be a wonderful human being. I know that she’ll be wonderful because she comes from good people.
Congrats to Mike and Leslie on their first child. I’m very proud of you both and thrilled for you.
Also, another friend of mine from the RCC days, Torie Franklin gave birth to her first child, a son named Seth on February 21st. Knowing how kind and wonderful she is, I believe wholeheartedly that youth Seth will be a tremendous young man too.
In the births of these children, I can not help but think that even in a time of darkness and gloom caused by death that there are still a lot of wonderful moments and joyous occasions in this world that are often taken for granted. The Good Lord did take my cousin and my cats home in 2011. But, He also gave my friends children and blessed them and their families with a new life that will be cherished and loved forever. With the bad, there comes a lot of good too. And, in reflecting on all of this, I hope that the one thing I’ve learned this week is just that: with the bad comes a lot of good too. The roller coaster ride of life is filled with many highs and lows. When stuck in a low, I hope that I can remember the good times with those lost and remember that there is a high point just around the corner.
-- Aaron Goins
