Friday, May 25, 2007

Covering All The Bases...


Just a little bit on a lot of everything, based on the fact that I woke up at about five o'clock this morning with a fierce bug, anyway thank God for Immodium. Whoa slow down there, that's just a little bit too much information!

SPORTS
Anyway, former New York Rangers' defenseman Brian Leetch hung up his skates yesterday, after sitting out the 2006-2007 campaign. Leetch will get his night at M.S.G. this year, I'm assuming when the Rangers host the Boston Bruins. Leetch was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2004, and later signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Bruins for the 2005-2006 season. He forever will be remembered as a New York Ranger. I hope he comes back to the organization in some capacity. I read in a newspaper that he mentioned yesterday on Mike and the Mad Dog, that he would indeed love to be an assistant coach. Leetch would be great with the Blueshirts, especially with all the young defenseman they have, including the very much anticipated debut of Marc Staal.

This is not to take anything away from the Rangers' current assistants, Perry Pearn and Mike Pellino. Both men by the way are pretty well sought after to be N.H.L. Head Coaches.

Rangers' Assistant G.M. Don Maloney appears poised to take the G.M. job in Phoenix with the 'Yotes. My question is, why? We've got great golf courses around here! Seriously, New York has a bunch of young draft picks ready to make the jump to the N.H.L., why wouldn't Maloney want to be around to see the fruition of all his work. Plus, Glen"The Savior"Sather won't be around forever, but then again there is the Mark Messier factor. Messier has already said he would love to be the G.M. of the Rangers if Glen Sather left. So does that mean that Messier is the heir apparent?

I still believe the Yankees will make the playoffs, anyone counting the Bombers out at this point in time is clearly engaged in wishful thinking.

Don't overlook the Detroit Pistons, it seems that members of the fourth estate already have the Spurs winning the NBA Championship.

Is it football season yet?

NEWS
I just get the feeling that this could be an especially ugly summer in the Middle East. Last year, Israel battled Hezbollah to a stalemate and this year not only is Hezbollah and Hamas doing their usual rocket launching into Israel, but Islamic Jihad is also involved. Eye-opening fighting erupted yesterday between the Lebanese army and an al-Qaeda-linked group holed up in a refugee camp in Tripoli. I give Fox News' Steve Harrigan and his cameraman a lot of credit. I watched him reporting the battle while hiding behind an already burned out building with bullets whizzing by his head. If you recall, last year Harrigan's coworker Steve Centanni and his cameraman were kidnapped in Gaza, and later set free, to many people's amazement. Godspeed to those reporters, so many have already been casualties of war.

RETIREMENT
Bob Barker the host of the Price is Right hung up his wheel-spinning gloves this week. Barker, 73, won 18 Emmy Awards as the show's host. Anyone who ever stayed home sick from school most definitely would tune in to the CBS game show. Just to let everyone know, I've always wanted to spin "The Big Wheel" or at the very least make a $1 bid.

WRESTLERANT
Well, it didn't take long but Vince McMahon has ruined E.C.W. Resurrected a year ago after a four year hiatus, McMahon gave the founder of Extreme Championship Wrestling and Scarsdale native, Paul Heyman, the boot and quickly put his mark on the promotion. So much so that he is the E.C.W. World Champion. Look, I'm not going to take anything away from what Vince McMahon has done with professional wrestling, but c'mon, Vinny Mack as World Champ over former marine Bobby Lashley. I'm hoping his reign is short-lived. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I can distinguish between the Raw and Smackdown brands; Raw has the better and more established talent. But I have no clue what E.C.W. is. Gone are the days when the promotion took things to the limit. The skits used to be hilarious and there was always something outlandish that occurred in a wrestling match that made announcer Joey Styles scream his patented, "Oh my God!"

The great Sabu was fired last week and it appears The Sandman is also on his way out. Meanwhile, my favorite active wrestler, Rob Van Dam in all probability is headed for T.N.A. (Total Nonstop Action), after rejecting every offer the W.W.E. has made to him. R.V.D. is the only man to hold both the W.W.E. and E.C.W. World titles simultaneously. I can't understand why they jerk this guy around!

The heyday of E.C.W. was in the '90s through 2001. Those days are sadly gone. No more will we see guys like Yonkers' resident Tommy Dreamer smashing The Raven with a steel chair as pictured. I'll also never forget when one of the Bruise Brothers took the chair I just happened to be sitting in, and smashed it over Mr. Hughes' head. That, my friends, occurred when E.C.W. came to Yonkers' Raceway.
McMahon has a monopoly on wrestling which is good for him, but bad for the fans. Not having a serious competitor hurts everyone. T.N.A. and R.O.H. (Ring of Honor) just don't have the money to make a serious run at Mr. McMahon.

But never fear old school E.C.W. fans, you can watch E.C.W. on W.W.E. 24/7. Yep, as soon as the channel became available on my cable system I ordered it, I guess back in the fall. For $7 a month I get access to all the great matches from the W.W.E., N.W.A., A.W.A., E.C.W., and World Class, plus many other promotions. They do a great job by going back into their deep archives to produce some real classics. I especially like the matches from E.C.W. back in 1995, but the W.W.E. classics from the early '80s at Madison Square Garden are priceless.

Finally, check out this montage of Geico Cavemen commercials!

Keep it in the Ring!


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