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Post by HMARK Center on May 14, 2024 20:38:22 GMT -5
Btw, if anyone's following the PWHL playoffs, Montreal and Boston just keep going to OT against each other, and it's a pretty fun watch.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 14, 2024 7:08:29 GMT -5
Rags played not to lose after they scored their goal and it was their doom. Don't know if the Presidents' Trophy curse will hold, but I'm definitely expecting this series to go 7 games now. Let's be fair: they didn't show up at the start of the game, either, Carolina dominated the opening stretch of the first when it came to odd man rushes and offensive zone time. Multiple games in this series could've gone either way, the Rangers had the scoring touch advantage in most of them, but if the Canes are showing up like this next time then there's a very good chance of a game 7. What's been frustrating for us Rangers-haters in recent years is how often you'll see the Rangers get outplayed, but how special teams typically mean they'll win, anyway, since it seems like any breakaways they get are automatically in the back of the net, and that combined with Igor in goal for them is a potent combination. I'm under no illusion that they're going to lose this series just yet, but Carolina's a team you can't get away with playing like that for very long, and I hope it absolutely bites them. As UrinatingTree always says, the memes would be glorious. Meantime, not terribly shocked at Dallas winning; I know a lot of people had the Avalanche here, but the Stars are too damn good. My on-paper picks for this full playoff was Dallas vs. Florida in the final; my second thoughts keep prodding me that Vancouver might actually make a run, but Stars and Cats are just such complete teams. I'm sure Bruins/Panthers tonight will be a totally normal, not at all unhinged affair.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 14, 2024 7:00:42 GMT -5
I feel like Edwin Diaz is struggling mentally after recovering from his injury. But of course Joey Wendle was in the game for absolutely no reason at the end to pop up the bunt. Sure that should have been a swinging strike in the 9th, but every teams gets their lucky breaks in the season, can't whine about that. Early on this season it seems like Diaz isn't performing well if he comes into back to back games; could be him having to get his endurance back after missing last season, I suppose. Still, it sucks that he absolutely got what should've been strike three to end the game (he'd already had an obvious strike called a ball against him in that same AB) but that it ended like that. The much, much, much bigger issue is that the Mets' bottom half of their lineup is an absolute black hole with zero help on the horizon, and the top half of the lineup is good but not good enough to make up for that, especially when you're just apparently never going to get them all clicking at the same time.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 13, 2024 9:58:01 GMT -5
Damn, nothing fancy with Cleveland's City Connects but they're just very nice looking, like "could be a standard uni for the club" level.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 13, 2024 9:57:27 GMT -5
There's a part of me that keeps waiting for Vancouver to turn into a pumpkin, but it's not happening yet...
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Post by HMARK Center on May 12, 2024 5:49:47 GMT -5
Have to say, picking up from what I said before, so far it seems like AEW's learned some lessons from Hangman's reign when it comes to how they're booking Swerve: they're making sure the champ is on each show, is connected to the biggest storyline in the company, is featured in key quarters of the show, etc. They're "training" the audience to see him as a top draw, rather than letting him slide onto a back burner, which was unfortunately something that happened to Hangman after his Danielson feud.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 12, 2024 5:46:15 GMT -5
Another key of many "fighting spirit" spots is that the person rushing up on adrenaline will only have so much energy; they'll kick out at one, or get up quickly after taking a devastating move, might even nail a counter like a lariat or something, but it'll cost them and they'll collapse shortly afterwards.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 11, 2024 21:06:43 GMT -5
Hot shot title change wouldn't have hurt. Could've made Kyle tonight. I'd be down for it, but I'm guessing they want Copeland vs. Malakai for the PPV, and whatever this current arc Copeland's on at the moment. Still, O'Reilly's so close to a breakthrough moment, really hope he gets one before they risk him getting cold. Oooh, Claudio getting to discuss walking away during Danielson's promo, I like it...and it's because he still hates Eddie!
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Post by HMARK Center on May 11, 2024 21:04:41 GMT -5
Following up on my last post: Nigel knowing that Cope's tights are Canucks colors but not knowing that O'Reilly's trunks are current Canucks colors inadvertently tells me who he has and hasn't spoken to before the show.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 11, 2024 20:59:06 GMT -5
Someone may have already commented on this, but I kinda appreciate Copeland wearing the 80s/90s Vancouver Canucks colors while O'Reilly's wearing their current ones.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 11, 2024 20:57:49 GMT -5
You know someone's super gotta be unhappy with Rock's presence just given how that's phrased. "Rock's idea is [framing of the match with the name he clearly came up with that only he could care about]". Guy's really going to keep doing this huh There's been a pretty obvious war going on in the wrestling press between the Rock's and Triple H's camps since January, and odds are it ain't stopping any time soon. Honestly, if you go by the build to WM 40 then this is the only match that makes sense, but geez, there'd be work to do to ensure that a year-long Cody reign actually works out for them and then you'd have to feel safe with Rock working a main event singles match at his current age and conditioning.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 11, 2024 20:41:19 GMT -5
If Carolina can actually pull a comeback off, I'll drop $200 for a throwback Gordie Howe Hartford jersey and run down my street blasting Brass Bonanza from my phone.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 11, 2024 10:50:29 GMT -5
Doubt Danielson's leaving, given the backstage role he's built in AEW and how much Khan respects him, with the whole "he's in charge if anything happens to me" deal.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 11, 2024 8:15:06 GMT -5
I imagine that Ospreay is one of those guys where it's not only very easy to mock him, but it's also very, very, very fun as well. You even get the indirect insults, like David Finlay telling Flip Gordon "You're the dumbest wrestler I know, and I work with Ospreay."
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Post by HMARK Center on May 11, 2024 5:29:07 GMT -5
Haven’t read it, but I hope he confirmed that he was responsible for giving John Blud the Overdrive as a finisher when they added the Deadlock Boyz to the season 4 pass of Fight Forever.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 10, 2024 20:16:45 GMT -5
Hey, Boston? I get the call sucked, but you're down 3-0. And it's to Florida. I can assure you, the refs aren't screwing you over to make sure the @#$%ing Panthers make the conference final over an original six team, so stop throwing shit on the ice.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 10, 2024 20:11:04 GMT -5
I don't really know people like this in real life, thankfully, but even online the part that's really grating above all else is when a person is just being dishonest about what they really like in pro wrestling, because they need to phrase what they like and dislike in the context of "how can I make my preferred promotion look good and the one I choose to hate on look bad?" Like, the classic one from a lot of WWE fans has been the "it's all highspots!" complaints that have historically been thrown at seemingly every indie promotion, AEW, TNA, and even many puro companies when, if anything, most of these promotions, with some exceptions, engage in a lot more psychological in-ring storytelling than WWE typically does; hell, if anything I'd argue WWE is just as and sometimes even more guilty of things like "finisher spam" and "kickout fests" in their big match formula. Same with the "story" stuff; "there's no story", but that's perfectly fine when it happens in THIS promotion (e.g. not really having Cody or Roman evolve as characters at all through 2023, calling something like Rhea vs. Charlotte an all time match when it had minimal story to it), but not ok when I see it in THAT promotion (Danielson vs. Ospreay was most recent for this in AEW), that sort of thing. You'll get the visa versa on that, I'm sure; some AEW diehards would support MJF doing long in-ring promo segments in 2023 while decrying WWE doing the same, for example, but there isn't a cottage industry in online shows and clickbait aggregators built around that the way there is around "let's drive rage clicks about AEW", so it doesn't dominate online or, apparently, real life conversations about this stuff the way it does going the other way. Not me saying WWE is bad at all, mind; it's not my thing, but they do a hell of a job presenting most of their top talent (though I feel like their WM build this year shortchanged a *lot* of their current standard bearers) as big deals, they do "big time presentation" very well, and by committing to Cody this year they gave their audience that always necessary "if you follow this guy and support him, you WILL see him break through to the next level" reassurance that they spent so many years denying audiences under Vince. I find their stuff pretty dull, but even my antipathy towards the product doesn't blind me to the fact they've had real improvement since McMahon was finally shunted aside. But that's not what most of the conversation ends up being, is it? Because the money and algorithm metrics aren't in fans of each company really discussing in-depth the pros and cons of their respective approaches and why some find more appeal in one than the other, it's in kneejerk reactions and basically deciding one show can do no wrong while the other can't do anything right, even if both shows are doing similar things at the same time. It just sucks to see so much conversation about something so many of us are passionate about warped to suit what clickbait formulas want us to base it around. Dude, I dunno, that sounds like a sad way to go through things; Kenny's really as good as advertised, and you can't know if something's for you unless you actually watch, you know? I know what you mean about people doing stuff like that about movies or whatever, but why let that become something that stops you from enjoying something? For what it's worth, I put the guy on another level compared just about anyone else out there save a very small amount of wrestlers, and it's honestly only partly because he's a freak athlete who can perform moves in the ring like few others can, it's honestly more how good of an in-ring storyteller he is and how much he can hook a crowd through his background story arcs and his character beats in the ring. Like, someone like AJ Styles is excellent, but I've always felt Kenny has him beat on that level. I know I'm just doing what you say you don't want to hear, but I just figure if I lived like that I might never have watched The Big Lebowski or something, and that's one of my top ten favorite movies. Basically, just doesn't seem worth it to me to let spite keep you from watching top level performances in any field. Yea well...That's just like your opinion man.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 10, 2024 19:55:18 GMT -5
The fact there are still people trying to pretend current Jericho has X-Pac Heat proves either A - how well this new gimmick is working or B - which people don't actually watch the product but comment on it all the time, anyway.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 10, 2024 18:22:31 GMT -5
I personally have absolutely no desire to ever watch Kenny Omega wrestle. I don't care how good he is, I don't care how many stars Dave Meltzer gives him. I just plain couldn't give less of a shit about Kenny Omega.
Have you ever been in one of those situations where people keep telling you over and over and over and over and over and over about how great something is? Whether it's a movie, a TV show, a musician, or whatever, there's people that'll beat you over the head with something that they proclaim as being the greatest thing that has ever existed and you hear it enough that you want absolutely nothing to do with it because you're f***ing sick of hearing about it. That's me with Kenny Omega. I hear so many stories about people hyping him up so much that he sounds like God Himself became a pro wrestler. And because of that, I actively avoiding watching even highlights of his matches because for good or for bad, I'd be disappointed no matter what since my aversion to the hype has already made my mind up for me.
That said, if you like Kenny, great. I'm glad you have a wrestler you enjoy watching, and I'm not gonna shit on your good time. Kenny's just not for me.
This is some weird stubborn cry baby logic. Go watch a damn match and THEN make up your mind. Can we f***ing chill, guys? Address other posters politely, this isn't that hard.
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Post by HMARK Center on May 10, 2024 15:58:42 GMT -5
I don't really know people like this in real life, thankfully, but even online the part that's really grating above all else is when a person is just being dishonest about what they really like in pro wrestling, because they need to phrase what they like and dislike in the context of "how can I make my preferred promotion look good and the one I choose to hate on look bad?" Like, the classic one from a lot of WWE fans has been the "it's all highspots!" complaints that have historically been thrown at seemingly every indie promotion, AEW, TNA, and even many puro companies when, if anything, most of these promotions, with some exceptions, engage in a lot more psychological in-ring storytelling than WWE typically does; hell, if anything I'd argue WWE is just as and sometimes even more guilty of things like "finisher spam" and "kickout fests" in their big match formula. Same with the "story" stuff; "there's no story", but that's perfectly fine when it happens in THIS promotion (e.g. not really having Cody or Roman evolve as characters at all through 2023, calling something like Rhea vs. Charlotte an all time match when it had minimal story to it), but not ok when I see it in THAT promotion (Danielson vs. Ospreay was most recent for this in AEW), that sort of thing. You'll get the visa versa on that, I'm sure; some AEW diehards would support MJF doing long in-ring promo segments in 2023 while decrying WWE doing the same, for example, but there isn't a cottage industry in online shows and clickbait aggregators built around that the way there is around "let's drive rage clicks about AEW", so it doesn't dominate online or, apparently, real life conversations about this stuff the way it does going the other way. Not me saying WWE is bad at all, mind; it's not my thing, but they do a hell of a job presenting most of their top talent (though I feel like their WM build this year shortchanged a *lot* of their current standard bearers) as big deals, they do "big time presentation" very well, and by committing to Cody this year they gave their audience that always necessary "if you follow this guy and support him, you WILL see him break through to the next level" reassurance that they spent so many years denying audiences under Vince. I find their stuff pretty dull, but even my antipathy towards the product doesn't blind me to the fact they've had real improvement since McMahon was finally shunted aside. But that's not what most of the conversation ends up being, is it? Because the money and algorithm metrics aren't in fans of each company really discussing in-depth the pros and cons of their respective approaches and why some find more appeal in one than the other, it's in kneejerk reactions and basically deciding one show can do no wrong while the other can't do anything right, even if both shows are doing similar things at the same time. It just sucks to see so much conversation about something so many of us are passionate about warped to suit what clickbait formulas want us to base it around. I personally have absolutely no desire to ever watch Kenny Omega wrestle. I don't care how good he is, I don't care how many stars Dave Meltzer gives him. I just plain couldn't give less of a shit about Kenny Omega.
Have you ever been in one of those situations where people keep telling you over and over and over and over and over and over about how great something is? Whether it's a movie, a TV show, a musician, or whatever, there's people that'll beat you over the head with something that they proclaim as being the greatest thing that has ever existed and you hear it enough that you want absolutely nothing to do with it because you're f***ing sick of hearing about it. That's me with Kenny Omega. I hear so many stories about people hyping him up so much that he sounds like God Himself became a pro wrestler. And because of that, I actively avoiding watching even highlights of his matches because for good or for bad, I'd be disappointed no matter what since my aversion to the hype has already made my mind up for me.
That said, if you like Kenny, great. I'm glad you have a wrestler you enjoy watching, and I'm not gonna shit on your good time. Kenny's just not for me.
Dude, I dunno, that sounds like a sad way to go through things; Kenny's really as good as advertised, and you can't know if something's for you unless you actually watch, you know? I know what you mean about people doing stuff like that about movies or whatever, but why let that become something that stops you from enjoying something? For what it's worth, I put the guy on another level compared just about anyone else out there save a very small amount of wrestlers, and it's honestly only partly because he's a freak athlete who can perform moves in the ring like few others can, it's more how good of an in-ring storyteller he is and how much he can hook a crowd through his background story arcs and his character beats in the ring. Like, someone like AJ Styles is excellent, but I've always felt Kenny has him beat on that level. I know I'm just doing what you say you don't want to hear, but I just figure if I lived like that I might never have watched The Big Lebowski or something, and that's one of my top ten favorite movies. Basically, just doesn't seem worth it to me to let spite keep you from watching top level performances in any field.
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