Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Thoughts on a Rivalry...

They say the best villains are mirror images of the hero. Two sides of the same coin. Batman's strict moral code enmeshed with the Joker's nihilism and whatnot. And pro wrestling has the potential to have a classic feud developing between the Miz and Daniel Bryan.

The former Bryan Danielson is someone who represents the self-made wrestler. He's the world traveler. The one who willed himself through a lengthy match with a 300 pound Japanese man beast with a broken eye socket. The one who built a following on the fact that he could wrestle. The one everybody on the internet seemed to hope for success, but half-expected him to fail.

That being said? The Miz is the MTV star. Real World-Road Rules challenge icon. The one who willed himself into tag teaming with Coral whilst Danielson went through the Best of the Super Juniors. The one with the following built on the fact that he made himself into a character. The one the internet seemed to hope for failure, but is delightfully surprised to see that he has a legitimate claim to awesomeness.



And in this one minute? The Miz tells the viewing public why this feud has a real chance to be something memorable. Two sides of the same coin.The Miz has put in a lot of work to be where he is today, and the average fan doesn't realize, and the internet fan would never deign to put him on the same level as the heroic Daniel Bryan. Thus Bryan must pay.

On a pure storytelling level? This has a chance to be a starmaker and a moneymaker. I cannot wait to watch this unfold.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Live from the Portage Public Library!

It's me telling you that this time off is legitimate. As I have been without computer for the last 8 days. It should return at some point this week. Whee.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Five Fantastical Football Thoughts on Quarterbacks

1) The quarterback with the best playoff schedule? Joe Flacco. It’s not as if he’ll be starting too hot this year. But if you’re a contender looking for an insurance policy at QB? Flacco is the one to target. And he now has Anquan Boldin.

2) The quarterback with the easiest starting schedule? Jason Campbell. Yeah, I know, telling someone to take a Raiders quarterback is like telling someone that Plaxico Burress is draftable. But for what it’s worth? Everybody loved Chaz Schilens last year and Darius Heyward-Bey doesn’t seem as useless as he did last year.

3) On schedule alone? The one top-tier quarterback that worries me beyond anyone is Matt Schaub.

4) On schedule alone? Peyton Manning is going to have another boringly awesome year.

5) And if you need a quarterback who’s going to be a fine one-week plug in for the byes? Why not get into the Josh Freeman business. Week 5 at Cincy is marginally good and Week 10 vs. Carolina is probably a recipe for not good, but here’s weeks 6-9. New Orelans, St. Louis, @ Arizona, @ Atlanta. Even a marginally good quarterback can find his way into a good month through that schedule.
Funny how it takes twitter going down to actually get me to blog.