Professional Tailgating: Tanking

I've never watched tanking live before bit last night I did as the Sixers took on the Wizards. Too bad th sixers forgot they are supposed to be tanking and beat the Wizards.

I actually saw the Sixers win. 

That was a rough watch

I knew WWE Fast Lane could be a hard watch but I never thought it would be this bad. 

The event being sold as a PPV was no better than an episode of Raw/ old WCW Clash of the Champions. Besides tag title match and Reigns/Bryan match most of the matches on the first two hours of the card lacked a ton. These type of shows usually have the crowd into them but the crowd in Memphis was totally dead. 

The best part of the show has been the spots that weren't matches. The Sting/HHH showdown and the Bray Wyatt segment challenging the Undertaker where the best parts of the show. Each developed a WrestleMania match without having it yet. 

As for the final stop before WrestleMania it was more like a rest stop for broken down vehicles. 

The mad scientist

So Sixers GM Sam Hinkie decided to deal Michael Carter Williams on trade deadline day. While it will take years to know if the deal was right, it did provide us all with something special. The Philadelphia Daily News gave us this classic front page. The graphics design team at the Daily News deserves a ton of credit. 

The most important class ever

Since the start of the season, the 2015 Rutgers recruiting class has seen like a salad before a dinner at a fancy restaurant. While the salad is tasty it's not the main course you are looking for.

While the 2015 group is an interesting class it's not the main course. The 2016 class is the most important class in the history of the program plain and simple. The state is overflowing with national recruits and Rutgers has to get a bunch of them to be successful in the Big Ten. 

Fans are so obsessed with the Class of 2016 that web sites have been developed urging the states most talented players to play on the banks. Fans of taken to Twitter and created works of social media art  to urge the states best to stay home. 

The Rivals 250 for the 2016 class features 10 players from the Garden State. The top 10 players in the state have 4-star rankings. The states top 10 is comprised of five guys from private school and five from public schools. 

While fans are infatuated with the likes of Walker and Gray, the key to this class for the Scarlet Knights will be that next tier guy like: Johnson, Hawkins and Fuller (pictured below). 

If Rutgers can get five of the top ten in the state as well as either Guarantano or Haskins to play qb. This class would be a huge success and go down as one of the great classes in the history of the program. 

Professional Tailgating: You have to make shots.

Purdue took Rutgers to the cleaners last night and one of the reasons why is because Rutgers went 11 minutes without making a field goal. Even Sgt. Slaughter showed up at the game. 

Maybe I was wrong on Owens and Zayn

Last night, I made NXT Takeover on the WWE Network appointment television. I told my wife to leave me alone so I could  focus all of my attention on watching how Owens and Zayn played out.

A couple of months ago, I expressed my concern about having Owens and Zayn feud again. During their time in ROH and PWG the duo put on one of the great feuds in the modern day era. The feud had everything from blood, over the top violence and psychological warfare. I never thought the WWE would let them take it to that level.

Last night, the pair had their first match in the new incarnation  of their fued and boy did they not disappoint. While lacking the over the top violence that their prior matches had, this told a great story and left both looking good for the future. They booked Owens as this monster similar to Brock and Zayn in a more sympathetic role similar to Daniel Bryan.

While the pair didn't take it to that level of violence,they did play out a high impact match. Zayn sold Owens multiple power bombs so well and the having the ref stop the match makes both look strong in future bookings of the match. Maybe they could let Owens and Zayn kick off WrestleMania this year in a ladder match.

After the match was over, I decided to put on Final Battle 2012 Ladder War match between Owens and Zayn. While it was very violent and entertaining it got me to thinking. The guys in the ring, while being the same, where totally different. The true measure of the true talents of the pair is how they made the same feud look totally different.

Maybe I was wrong about this and Zayn vs. Owens will rival Steen vs. El Generico.

ESPN Fail

I know ESPN does the best they can but can you at least get the right logo for Loyola Marymount and not confuse them with Loyola in Baltimore. Is that too much to ask.

Baseball season is coming

Went to the mailbox this afternoon and found this. It's always a highlight of year.

RIP Dean

Dean Smith was the reason I fell in love with North Carolina Basketball. He was the God father. I'm just happy I've been able to read about his life over the years. 

Never Forget

So the Popeyes Bahamas Bowls was one of the best bowl games of the year. The game featured a classic comeback from Central Michigan that fell short against Western Kentucky. The game was played more than a month and a half ago and Popeyes is still giving out stuff promoting the game. Come on enough is enough. 

NSD in Twitter

The hats are chosen and the NLI have been signed. Here are some of the best tweets highlighting another wild National Signing Day. 

 

Ranking Rutgers Greatest Recruits

The commitment of 4-star defensive tackle Marques Ford got me to thinking, who are the best recruit that Rutgers got since the start of the Schiano/Flood era. Here are my 10 recruits that have pledge to play on the Banks. My rankings take into account several things including: who RU beat for their services, the player they became, and the impact that they have had on the program.

1. Anthony Davis, 2007, 4-star: Davis picked Rutgers over USC and Ohio State during the US All America game. To turn down those nationals powers and pick Rutgers on national TV was huge for this growing program.

2. Savon Huggins, 2011, 4-star: While it has not worked out on the field, Rutgers went to war with some of the powers in college football to get Huggins.

3. Darius Hamilton, 2012, 5-star: According to Rivals, he is the only 5-star to play at Rutgers over the last decade. Hamilton has been warrior on the defensive line and showed the player he was during the knights first year in the Big Ten.

4. Tom Savage, 2009, 4-star: The QB out of Philly was supposed to be the man who replaced Mike Teel, while it never happened, Savage found success at Pitt and now is with the Texans.

5. Scott Vallone, 2008, 4-star: Vallone was the type of player that showed the continued growth of the program. He was a lunch bucket type of player who have everything on every play.

6. Logan Ryan, 2009, 4-star

7. Leonte Carroo, 2012, 4-star

8. Khaseem Greene, 2008, 2-star

9. Brandon Coleman, 2010, 4-star

10. Gary Nova, 2010, 3-star:  

Frozen Tundra Golf

So it's 31 degrees put and I decide to head out to the golf course. Let's just say it's hard to a tee into frozen ground. 

What's the ruling on playing your ball from ice. 

Hitting over an ice hazard. 

Professional Tailgating: Wait this is not the WWE

Instead of spending the night at home, the crew headed out to watch Rutgers wrestle defending national champs Penn State. For a WWE fan it was interesting to see a college wrestling match. 

More than 6,000 people attended the match the largest in the history of the program. 

A cool giveaway for kids. Califlower ears for all. 

Calendar Fail

Gotta love NFL Calendars. On the 2015 Eagles calendar one of months features a photo of Bryce Brown. Yes the same Bryce Brown that was traded to #bills before the season started. I guess Ricky Watere was unavailable.  

My Matches of the Year

It's been a fun year to be a wrestling fan from the rise of NXT to the continued growth of Indy promotions all over the country. So here are my top matches of the year.

1. Neville vs Zayn: NXT Evolution. Amazing match that showed why these two are the next generation of the business. 

2. Young Bucks vs Red Dragon: ROH War of the Worlds. I'm a mark for both teams. These two are the best teams in the world. 

3. John Cena vs Randy Orton: Hell in a Cell. This 25 minute war showed how good these two can work together. 

4. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudleys vs. the Wolves: Their match series in TNA this year where some of the best you will ever see.
5. World Cuties Tag Team vs. Young Bucks: PWG 11: This matches spawn the debate over female wrestlers bleeding. A great match with tons of crazy spots.

Shoe Wars: Champions League Style

Around the world shoe companies are battling to grab attention of consumers. One way that they do that is by supplying uniforms to teams and in soccer that is no different. The Champions League Round  of 16 is a who's who of shoe companies.

A breakdown below: 

Paris Saint-Germain vs Chelsea: Nike vs. Adidas

Manchester City vs Barcelona: Nike vs. Nike

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atletico Madrid: Adidas vs. Nike

Juventus vs Borussia Dortmund: Nike vs. Puma

Schalke 04 vs Real Madrid: Adidas vs. Adidas

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Bayern Munich: Nike vs. Adidas

Arsenal vs Monaco: Puma vs. Nike

Basle vs Porto: Adidas vs. Warrior  

Nike has seven  of the 16 teams including an all Nike game in  Barca vs. Manchester City.  Adidas has six including an all Adidas match up of Schalke vs. Real Madrid. Also this years Round of 16 marks the first time that Warrior has had a club make the knock out round.

Deja Vu is not always good

So Kevin Owens finally made his much hyped debut in the WWE on Thursday night during NXT Evolution and boy did he impressed. Owens showed that hard hitting style that made him a fan favorite in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. 

The one thing that I was not a fan of is the direction that they are taking Owens. After the end of Sami Zayns world title win Owens came down and congratulated his friend and new champ. After a couple of minutes Owens came back and attacked his friend. 

While giving Owens a feud with the champ, in most cases, is a great thing. Here it is not. 

Watching them feud in NXT is never going to surpass their feuds in ROH and PWG. The program that they put on a couple of years ago is never going to be surpassed especially in the WWE PG era. That feud was up there with some of the best in the history of the business. There is mo way they are going to recreate that madness. I just hope at the end of the day they don't ruin it and let the two take the thing and run with it like ROH and PWG did. 

ROH PPV Fun but not great

I'm an Ring of Honor fan boy, always have been always will be. I love their product and the way the talent sells out in the ring. Their matches are always fun to watch and last night was no different with Final Battle.

Every year Final Battle is billed as their version of WrestleMania. While the show was good it lacked that moment that sent everyone home talking, like Sting at The Survior Series. Last year ROH used Final Battle to announce the home coming of Chris Hero and it was a great success.

Maybe its because I'm getting older but the blood fest main event between Jay Briscoe and Adam Cole was good it lacked that wow  factor. The tacks in the mouth spot is something that Pro Wrestling Guerilla did during its Young Bucks/World Cutest Tag Team match and it bored me in truth. Seen the staple gun thing in ECW.  

Also expected more from Jay Letheal and Matt Sydal match, while  it had good spots it was sloppy in a lot of respect. The only matches that really had me on the edge of my seats: The six man match featuring the Young Bucks/the Addiction and the Red Dragon/Time Splitters. Both matches showed how great tag team wrestling can be. Maybe the WWE can learn from this event.

Out of a scale of 10, I would give Final Battle a 6.5. 

Professional Tailgating: Maybe things are OK

So we made the trip down to College Park for Rutgers game vs. Maryland. Little did we know what we witness and aren't I glad we didn't leave at halftime. 

   Now this is a basketball arena 

   

    Not bad tickets for $6 

    

    Proof that we made it to the end. 

    

   My son's message for the Maryland fan  base