WHERE CHATTERS GO TO TALK ABOUT OFF TOPIC STUFF!
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If you watched the Monday Night Football game between the Patriots and the Jets, and stuck around during halftime, you got to see the world premiere for the final trailer of Star Wars: Epsiode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Otherwise, just click on the link above.
- Opening shot: Are we back on Endor? Later shots seem to show remains of the second Death Star, or at least the throne room, which would make a return to Endor seem likely. - ♪♪Guess who's back, back again Palpatine's back, tell a friend Guess who's back, guess who's back? Guess who's back, guess who's back? Guess who's back, guess who's back? Guess who's back?♪♪ My best guess is that like certain Jedi Masters can become Force Ghosts, that Palpatine figured out how to survive his death as a Sith spirit until he could inhabit a clone body (similar to the Dark Empire graphic novels). That's way easier for me to believe than he just survived being tossed down the pit in the Death Star, and SOMEHOW escaped before it got blown up... - Uh...ok, so what's going on with C-3PO there? Is he sacrificing himself, or does he say goodbye because his pessimistic nature believes nobody else is gonna be coming back from whatever mission they are about to go on? - Classic Star Destroyers, instead of the First Order ones? Decommissioned and then brought back to life? Hiding for all this time, as part of a secret underground Imperial mission to protect Palpatine? Empire vs. First Order? This TGIF thread is 100% freeform. There is no specific topic, talk about what you are gonna do this weekend, any movies/TV/books/Games you recommend, post links to songs you want people to check out, post memes, tell jokes, whatever.
Of these artists, who deserves to be inducted? Apparently, this draft isn't just a storyline, pre-planned roster shakeup. This is going to an actual, real draft of wrestlers, conducted NOT by the WWE, not by Vince McMahon, not by backstage "authority figures", but by FOX and USA Network executives.
That is, the WWE doesn't fully control who goes where, because it's not just a gimmick. It also very likely means that crossovers won't happen. USA and FOX are owned by two different companies. USA isn't going to want RAW wrestlers appearing on FOX for Smackdown, and FOX isn't going to want Smackdown wrestlers showing up on USA. Yesterday, the WWE posted the actual rules:
Now, I am sure that the "draft" has already happened. What we see tonight, and on RAW this coming Monday, will just be the public face of the draft. When wrestlers "find out" where they are going, it's act, because they already know. That is, the "draft" we see, is just for TV. The real draft likely happened Wednesday or Thursday, behind closed doors. This is logically necessary, in my opinion, to make sure the rosters are balanced. The last thing the WWE would want is to have BOTH champions drafted to same show. That is, they had to have retained SOME veto power, just in case FOX tried to draft both Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar, or both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, or both the IC and US title holders, something like that. Or, if RAW drafts the women's tag team champions, the Kabuki Warriors, but then Smackdown drafts all of the established female tag teams besides them...The WWE has a vested interest in maintaining a balance, even if Network execs are making the picks. By doing it behind the scenes, ahead of time, it gives USA and FOX time to make trades to provide that balance, while keeping everyone happy. One thing I would like to see, is automatic belt-swapping, IF champions get switched. That is, Becky Lynch is the RAW women's champ, and Charlotte Flair is the Smackdown women's champ. If FOX drafts Lynch to Smackdown, Charlotte should automatically go to USA, and they should trade belts, so Charlotte becomes RAW women's champ, Becky becomes Smackdown women's champ...or if Brock Lesnar gets drafted by USA, Seth Rollins goes to Smackdown, and they trade the WWE title for the Universal title, something like that. There is no argument, that since the 1980s, we have been blessed to have been alive for the home video game console market. Largely beginning with the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision (Yes, there were systems that came before, but none achieved the same level of popularity as these two did), carrying on all the way to today and into the future, as we anticipate the Playstation 5 and next-Gen XBox machines...We have had some truly great consoles, and we have had some...not so great ones too. But, as someone who has grown up along with the video game market, I am convinced that out of all of the consoles that have ever been released, the best, the most impactful one, is the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, aka the SNES. I could focus on what a step up it was visually from the older 8-bit systems, or how you had much better MIDI audio capabilities...but that's just tech jargon, nobody really cares about the minutia of the specs. Gamers really care about a few specific things, things the SNES absolutely got right: 1. The controller. The SNES controller is still probably the single most comfortable controller ever made. They took the basic design of the NES controller, and corrected the most annoying thing about it...they took those hard, 90 degree corners, and rounded them off. Instead of your index fingers getting sore right at the knuckle from the sharp corner of the NES controller, you could now comfortably curl it around the soft, rounded corners on the SNES. It's a design that pretty much every console maker after has copied to some extent. The controller was also the first to introduce the L + R trigger buttons, as well as the ABYX 4-button diamond...more staples of video game controllers now. Basically, the SNES controller featured multiple design ideas that have lasted ever since. 2. Truth be told, even the controller, as innovative as it was, isn't the biggest reason the SNES is the GOAT. It's the games. Of course, it's the games. Not only did the SNES have a LOT of them (over 780 officially licensed titles), but they were GOOOOOOOOD. Like RPGs? The SNES had The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Dragon Quest, Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, and the truly legendary Final Fantasy VI (released as FF3 in the US). Like Sports games? the SNES had Tecmo Super Bowl (SNES version of the NES classic), NBA Jam, the world-famous NHL 94, Super Punch Out, Madden, Ken Griffey Jr Baseball, WWF Royal Rumble, and more. Maybe fighting games are more your thing: Try Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, TMNT Tournament Fighters, or Fatal Fury. Action/Adventure games? The Super Star Wars series, Donkey Kong Country, Super Metroid, Mega Man X, Super Castlevania IV all come to mind, as well as Super Mario World. How about Racing games? Well, there's Super Mario Kart (I am sure you have heard of that game, lol) and F-Zero, both of which used the 3D like "Mode 7" the SNES was capable of. If flying is more your thing, there is Starfox... Point is, the SNES had some of the truly great all-time titles in multiple categories. Even if you have never owned an SNES, chances are you have heard of most of these games. If you ever watch Twitch, and find yourself in the Retro category, will still find a lot of these games being played today thanks to emulation. - Dave Think another console deserves the nod as the GOAT? The NES? PS2? The ahead of it's time Sega Dreamcast? Tell me why I am wrong in the comments! This thread is based on a Tweet from Golic and Wingo this morning, regarding the installation of a "disassembly room" for the Philadelphia Flyers fans to just scream and shout and get their anger out in...
As a Detroit/Michigan based sports fan, there are lots of things I choose... - Jim Joyce robbing Galarraga of his perfect game. - The Phantom foul against Bill Laimbeer in the '88 NBA Finals - Appalachian State - Kordell Stewart's Hail Mary - Every draft pick Matt Millen ever made for the Lions - The kicked ball that led to Nebraska stealing a share of Michigan's National Championship There are more than just those, obviously as well. I mean, I am a Detroit sports fan. Crap like this happens to Detroit teams every year... But the biggest thing for me, what grinds my gears, is the phrase "Completing the process". I hate those 3 words with a passion. Not just because it makes NFL catches overly complicated, but in the knowledge that even under the definition of "Completing the process", Calvin Johnson STILL DAMN WELL CAUGHT THAT BALL. It took years, but even the NFL Competition committee actually admitted that despite the rule, Megatron should have been awarded the TD, because the refs screwed up. (They also admitted Dez Bryant caught the ball, but that's something for a Cowboys fan to bring up)
I didn't do a preview thread for the WWE Hell In A Cell PPV last week, because the WWE didn't really advertise a full card leading up to it. They only announced like 4 matches, so it wasn't really worth doing a preview thread over.
The Kickoff show: 1. Natalya beat Lacey Evans. Woo hoo. (were they even feuding???) Grade: C. PPV 2. Honestly? If you turned the PPV off after Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, you already saw by far, the best match of the night. This was the 1st match of the entire PPV, the first of the two HIAC type matches, and it was GOOD. Far better than the main event, but we will get to that. Grade: A. 3. Predictable outcome, nothing really to talk about, other than the WWE might be tweaking "The NEW" Daniel Bryan to be less of a heel. Grade: I dunno, maybe a B-? C+? Somewhere around there. 4. Why was this match even on the card? They could have easily just kept this one until tonight. It felt like a Monday Night Raw match, not one worthy of a PPV. Grade: C. 5. I have made my adoration of Asuka's abilities well known, and it pains me to see her stuck in midcard hell. She should be competing for the Raw or Smackdown Women's championship consistently, not this. The Kabuki Warriors get the win after using the green mist (ala Great Kabuki and Muta), but really, WWE? Asuka's spot in this tag team should be given to NXT's Io Shorai, with Asuka being returned to singles action. She is wasted in tag teams. Grade: B. Yay for Asuka wearing gold again, boo that it's the tag team title. 6. I didn't pay any attention at all to this match. I don't think anybody else did either. Grade: whatever total apathy gets. 7. No. 8. The match itself was decent, but the crowd was chanting something during the match that made the WWE mute out the crowd for pretty much the entire match, and then most of the rest of the PPV. Once you noticed the silence, it became hard to ignore. Grade: (Match) B+, (WWE muting crowd) F. I wanna know what the crowd was chanting, dammit. 9. Again, no. The entire 24/7 belt was created just to give R-Truth something to do. 10. Thank goodness they finally took the belt off of Bayley. 11. Seriously, WWE? WHAT THE EFF. Entire match is done with red lighting. Looked terrible. Then you couldn't decide if Bray Wyatt's "Fiend" character is '90s Undertaker invincible or not, so at first, nothing Seth Rollins did would even phase him...until it did, and then you had him be SOOOOOOOO injured you stopped the match, raised the cage, had medical come in, just for Wyatt to be faking, so he could then attack Rollins outside of the ring, when the belt was no longer on the line? If you didn't want Wyatt to win the belt, just have Rollins win the match after a hard fought battle, no need to resort to a bullshit "no contest" finish. Grade: D-. Overall, apart from the Becky Lynch/Sasha Banks match, this PPV was entirely skippable. NOTE: I won't be doing a preview or review of Crown Jewel on October 31, as it will air during the day, when I am at work. Next preview/review will be Survivor Series on November 24. So, we finally got to the first weekly TV production of AEW last night on TNT. It aired at exactly the same time as WWE's NXT show on the USA Network.
I am not going to get into a rundown of every specific match, like I might for one of the WWE PPV threads I do previews for, but rather focus on general things I saw, impressions I got, as I flipped between AEW Dynamite and NXT. As far as being a competitor to the WWE goes, AEW's production values were miles ahead of TNA/Impact Wrestling when that debuted. AEW is bankrolled by billionaire Shahid Khan, who owns the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars and the British Premier League's Fulham FC team. This isn't an organization like the original ECW, where wrestlers are going to wonder if they are getting paid week to week, AEW has a shit ton of cash they can spend. From the very opening of the show, you could tell that their set design, with the lights, the smoke, etc was expensive. This isn't Ring of Honor, folks. These guys aren't trying to be the biggest independent Wrestling promotion, they want to be the WCW to Vince's WWE. AEW's first show came from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, which has about a 20k seating capacity...Normal size for RAW or Smackdown audience. On NXT, the production quality is...minimal. NXT, as the WWE's "developmental territory" doesn't get the budget RAW or Smackdown do for entrances, pyro, or anything like that. Of course, it's not supposed to either. NXT isn't about the production, it's about the matches themselves. Plus, NXT doesn't get the big arena treatment, it comes live from Full Sail University's Live Venue, which has a seating capacity of about 1,500. AEW easily beats NXT when it comes to the "presentation" aspect. However, that's where honestly, it all kind of went to shit. First things first: It pains me to say this, but it might be time for Jim Ross, "Good Ol JR", to retire. The pairing of him and former WCW announcer Tony Schiavone was AWFUL. They had no chemistry between them whatsoever, their announcing felt...wooden, like they were unemotionally reading from a script or something. Maybe that will improve in weeks to come, as JR gets better acquainted with AEW's roster, but it seemed to me like he was struggling to remember names, and Schiavone wasn't offering much help. There just wasn't any emotion in the commentating, it kind of felt like both were on autopilot, neither one really excited about what they were watching. Meanwhile, over on USA, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuinness were doing the commentary for NXT. None of them have nearly the individual charisma that Jim Ross used to have, but they sounded engaged, like they were into the matches while Jim Ross and Tony just sounded like they couldn't wait for the show to be over so they could get back to their hotel room. And don't look now, but that referee looks familiar...It's one of the 70 year old Hebner twins! Was it Dave or Earl? Who cares? Despite the history and decades of commentary experience the AEW team had, it just didn't click for me. NXT's commentary team just felt more alive and into it. Rosters: Obviously, NXT's roster are wrestlers were are still learning the trade, and aren't quite ready for Prime Time yet. At least, that's theoretically the case...while AEW's roster, in theory, should be RAW or Smackdown caliber talent, given that's who they want to compete with. Honestly though, outside of Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes, NXT's roster is more talented than AEW's is. AEW fans love Kenny Omega...but he came across to me like a spot-monkey without a personality. Maybe I just need to see more of him, but he was so hyped, I guess I expected...more. AEW had Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes (Jay and Silent Bob) in the front row, as guests of Chris Jericho. That was pretty cool, apparently Y2J is in the Jay and Silent Bob reboot that comes out soon. Now, for the surprises at the end!!!!! NXT reveals that WWE fan favorite Finn Balor is back on NXT permanently, while AEW gives us the highly anticipated wrestling return of.... Jake Hager, aka Jack Swagger. Jack fucking Swagger is their surprise. WOO HOO. Let me contain my excitement. Maybe next week they will bring out Chris Masters! OOOh or Shawn Stasiak! Maybe Buff Bagwell! Wouldn't that be a hoot! I really want to like AEW. I love competition, I was one of those guys who constantly flipped between Nitro and Raw during the Monday Night Wars, not really picking a side...but if AEW wants to make sure I do the same on Wednesdays, they are gonna have to do better than what I saw last night. Despite all of the money behind AEW, it felt like an independent show a hell of a lot more than a potential WWE competitor. Overall, NXT gets a 3.5/5.0, and AEW's Dynamite premiere gets a 2.5/5.0. It has potential, but they have a lot of room for improvement. We all have our collections of memes and animated gifs that we like to use on Disqus or other online commenting platforms to either agree with a good comment, snark at a stupid one, insult someone, or just to make a joke. When we find a new one that we like, maybe we download it and add it to our collection. That's what this thread is about, sharing some of our favorites...
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February 2021
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