GrzeTim's Domain

Movie Review - Spider-Man 3

2007-06-06T13:06:00.000-05:00

Over the past month or so, I have sat and read review after review take movies I enjoyed and rip them apart. Some of these reviews came from sites and people I felt were pretty close to my tastes. I have to take this time to step up and have my say:

WARNING - My reviews contain spoilers. If you don't want to be spoiled, read no further.

Spider-Man 3 - 5/4/2007

If the Spider-Man series ends with this movie, it would be a great ending. Each of the Spider-Man films has improved on each other. From start to finish, this movie had me. I enjoyed how there were shots from the first two movies in the credits as a recap. Always a nice touch for the folks who are not die hard Spider fans.

This film really explores the darker side of Peter and Spider-Man. The movie starts with Peter having life going his way. He's a famous superhero, his pictures are selling, school is going well, and he and MJ are going out. What could be better? To quote a famous Sith, "Twice the pride, double the fall.". After Spider-Man saves Gwen Stacy from falling to her death, there is a rally held for Spider-Man. With one "familiar" kiss, Peter's life starts to fall apart.

Harry Osborne has picked up where his father left off and is the New Goblin. In a stunning battle over the city, Peter seriously hurts Harry and takes him to the hospital claiming he was a victim of a hit and run. At the same time, MJ loses her role in the play she's in and her displeasure is compounded by multiple instances of Gwen showing up. To top it all off, we find out that Uncle Ben's killer was not who we thought it was and the real killer is on the loose. Cue Flint Marko aka The Sandman, who has his own back story and reasons for being bad.

All these negative feelings plus his powers cause an alien symbiont to be attracted to Peter. It merges with him to form the black suit. While amplifying Peter's power, it also amplifies him primal emotions. This leads Peter to do some very "unPeterlike" things. It takes a shocking moment between him and MJ to snap Peter back to reality. Peter tries in vain to remove the suit until, in a bell tower, he successfully removes it.

At this point, Eddie Brock Jr discovers both Peter's secret identity and come in contact with the symbiont becoming my favorite Spider-Man villain; Venom. Eddie, who has a grudge with Peter already, combined with the rage the symbiont has for being abandoned by Peter, track down Sandman and concoct a plan to eliminate Spider-Man. This leads to an action set piece that is at least the last 25-30 minutes of the movie. I wont spoil it here, but it is an amazing sequence that I feel was a great payoff to the wait for this movie.

Many of the bad reviews of Spider-Man 3 claim the story element and characters came on too fast and/or it varied from the comics too much. I don't' believe they ever wanted to do an exact copy of the comic. This was Sam Rami's vision of Spider-Man, and I enjoyed it.

Other complaints were about the "bad" or "fake looking" effects. What movie were you watching? If you've seen a man made of sand or a alien symbiont and would like to elaborate on how it should look, please, let us know how it should have looked.

As with any movie I see, in the end, I ask myself the question, "Was I entertained for the past X minutes?". If I can say yes, then the movie gets the thumbs up from me.

Starcraft II

2007-05-21T11:41:00.000-05:00

I have to agree with the tagline:

"Hell, it's about time."

http://www.starcraft2.com/

Random Things

2007-05-11T13:35:00.000-05:00

The term ended about a week ago here at Dominican and as most "break weeks" it's been slow. I've had a few calls and such, but nothing too severe. The big news has to be that the Pepper Construction trailers are not at the Parmer Hall site anymore which means we're closer to the building being handed over to Dominican. This summer will be very busy, exciting, and full of getting the new building ready for classes in the fall. Once there is some shape to the interior, I'll do a new photo album for the blog and for my Facebook profile. By the way, if you've not seen it, check out the links section on the right for some of the photos I've taken of the work done at Dominican over the past year. You can also find a link to out wedding site.

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Gears of War - New Maps / Annex

In the world of gaming, Epic released the Annex expansion and four new maps for Gears of War. I do like the new maps, with Subway being my favorite. All the new maps are based off of sections of the single player that we're represented in the original maps:

Garden - Probably my least favorite of the new maps, but I've played it the least. This map looks like the greenhouse you fight the 2nd Berserker in. In line with the free set of maps from last year, this map has an environmental hazard; to go into the greenhouses you have to turn off the gas or you will choke and die.

Bullet Marsh - This looks a lot like the areas outside the start of Act 4. It's a multi-level marsh setting with the environmental hazard being a generator you can turn off and then the Kryll will attack anyone stuck in the dark. Most matches seem to end up on the top middle of the map near the Boomshot. Watch out for snipers on the ends of the bridges.

Process - This uses the graphics from the end of Act 4 when you battle the Corpser. All the Imulsion around the level looks dangerous, but I haven't found a way to fall into it...yet.

Subway - My new favorite map. It's large and works best in 4 vs 4 matches. There is a large subway tunnel to fight in with derailed subway cars and a large above ground area with concrete guard rails to hide behind. Be you a sniper, a torque master, or a shotgun surgeon...you'll find something to love in Subway.

The game mode Annex adds a new spin to Gears. The other game modes rely on you sneaking around and taking cover as best you can to not get killed and then have to wait for the next round to help your team. In Annex, the goal is to hold a specific spot on the map, similar to King of the Hill in other games. After 60 seconds of being held, the hill moves to another location. To make it easy to find, the hill only appears at weapon spawn points. You also get a nice new part of your HUD so you can find it easily. Also, you respawn in between 2-15 seconds depending on how your previous life went. It seems the more good you do (killing opponents, taking the hill, etc) the quicker you respawn. It breaths a fresh air into Gears. Execution and Warzone were still good, but having Annex in the mix makes it feel new again.

Feel free to send me a buddy invite to my GamerTag - GrzeTim

In 40 Years...

2007-05-11T13:02:00.000-05:00

I hope I can still be half the gamer this Grandma is when I'm 70. This is 100% amazing.

http://oghc.blogspot.com/

The Ultimate Star Wars Personality Test

2007-04-18T09:34:00.000-05:00

Lots of Stuff...Guitar Hero 2, Dominican Happenings

2007-04-16T21:23:00.000-05:00

Wow,

Haven't done a post in a while and it shows since I have tons to write about now:

- Kathy and I got Guitar Hero II last week for the X-Box 360 and it is A LOT of fun. I never thought I would get into a game like that, but it's very challenging and most likely the closest I'll ever come to playing a real instrument. I would highly recommend it.

- I finally got to get inside of Parmer Hall at Dominican today (4/16). I thought the building looked big from the outside. It's even BIGGER from the inside. I took a whole bunch of pictures of the inside and I have a link on the side for both pictures of Parmer and the new Parking Pavilion, which is now complete and cars have been parking in it for about a month now. You can find the links to the pictures on the right of the blog in the Links section.

- While in the Links section, you can visit out wedding site as well. Six months and counting as of last Friday. Kathy maintains a lot of that page and she updates from time to time.

Well, I have to get back to Raw...

Transformers Posters

2007-03-27T13:24:00.000-05:00

New posters for the Transformers movie have been released. The movie comes out July 4th, 2007.

Transformers posters

My "friend" Jack Thompson

2007-03-24T00:40:00.000-05:00

Well,

He's at it again:

Thompson countersues Take-Two

I wish people would focus on all the REAL problems there are in the world. Remember when people used to play games for fun and that was it? Good times...

Let It Snow...

2007-02-13T12:52:00.000-06:00

I hate people in SUVs. I know some of my friends, and even family, drive them, but they are a pox on humanity. I live in the Chicago area and today it starting snowing overnight and was a very hard drive to work today. The roads were so bad, my normal 25-30 minute drive took over an hour and a half.

I don't mind driving in bad weather...when I got my car back in 2002, it was in December, in a snow storm. My first week driving it, I saw three people spin out in front of me. The weather doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when a 200 ton piece of crap SUV gets behind me at a red light and honks at me when I don't start moving right away because of all the slush and ice on the street. Then, once I get moving, he blows past me with all his four wheel drive and glares at me. This is all in the RIGHT LANE. Sorry, buddy, some of us don't have a SUV that makes us feel that we can go 45mph in the slush and ice.

Now that I got that out of my system, I have to get back to work. Anyone caught in the storms, take it easy and if you drive a big car, watch out for those little guys...they need to take their time.

Latest "Parenting Terror"

2007-02-09T13:33:00.000-06:00

So I was browsing through the web comics I read and I found a link to this news story:

Nintendo Hand-Held Child Molester Target

The story is about the Nintendo DS and its ability to do short range wireless gaming and chat. The "official" range of the wireless antenna of the DS, according to Nintendo, is about 65 feet.

Anyone who has worked with any type of wireless device knows that a lot of things can hinder your signal. These are not limited to physical obstruction, other wireless signals in the area or interference (electrical, environmental, etc). The folks at FOX Channel 6 Milwaukee took two DS units and went to the local shopping center and were able to connect across the food court (about 200 feet) with no problems.

This wasn't to show how powerful the device is, but how a child molester can use a DS to lure your kids into giving away personal information. They actually come up with a scenario where while you are driving and your child is playing with a DS in the back seat, a child molester can be driving next to you and chatting with your child. Let's ignore the facts that:

If they wanted to find out where you lived that badly, they could follow you home and
They are driving AND writing on a the DS with a stylus at the same time and not crashing into other things in the road.

The story then shifts to some parents whose children have the DS and were shown how easy it is for someone with another DS to start a chat with their child. Of course, this person would have to be within 65-200 feet of them, and the further they are away, the fewer obstructions there have to be. The parents are outraged that this can happen and wonder why Nintendo did not inform them of this feature. The sad part is, the ability to chat is right in the manual and on the information page for the DS.

In both the manual and on the website, Nintendo recommends talking with your children (imagine that, talking to them...) about the dangers of chatting with someone they don't know and about the dangers of giving ANY personal information away. But, why should the parent be expected to parent? Isn't that everyone else's job? Maybe if parents were smart consumers and looked into what they are buying and not just bending to the pressure their child is applying they could avoid looking like idiots.

Have a good weekend, true believers.

Back From The Dead...Yet Again

2007-02-08T15:28:00.000-06:00

Well,

Looking at the last entry I did, it's been about three months I've been away. It's also a new year...I'm going to try and update more often...yet again.

I can't believe it's 2007. When I bought my car back in 2002 and the last payment was listed in the fall of 2007 that felt like forever. Where has forever gone? The past few months have been filled with some bad, but mostly good.

- Kathy had her purse stolen back in December (part of what lead to me not posting consistently). It was hard for her and she had much trouble with some of her cards giving her a run around on things. It's all sorted out now, but it was not a fun two or three weeks right before Christmas.

- Christmas itself was great. This was the first year Kathy and I tried to spend time with both sides of the family. Christmas Eve was at the condo with Kathy's family for dinner. Christmas Day was spent at my folks' place with my side of the family. It worked out pretty well, but we were both burned out after that.

- Da Bears. What else can I say? Over the past three seasons to go from a 5-11 team one year, to playing in the Divisional Playoffs the next, to winning the NFC championship the next is something special. Do I wish they had gone all the way? Yes. Am I any less proud for the team and for being a loyal fan all these years? NO. Sure you have a lot of people bad mouthing the team, but the sad part about the playoffs is someone has to lose and someone has to go home disappointed. So, congrats to the folks in IN. The Bears will be back next year and be they 13-3 or 3-13, I'll be there to cheer them on.

- I turned 29 just a little over a week ago. The people around me make a bigger deal of my birthday than I do. It's just another day for me. Thanks to everyone for the wishes, all the same.

- Jib is back! Jib is our friend who went to Dominican with Kathy and me years ago. She moved back to Thailand a while back and has just moved back to the US full time. I'm looking forward to seeing her in a few weeks for a welcome home party.

Time to get back to work...

Wii Wii Wii

2006-11-21T16:31:00.000-06:00

In a move that has shocked me and many others, my wonderful fiancée Kathy went to Best Buy at 6:45am on Sunday and got us the Wii and The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess. She had mentioned the night before she was going to go, but I figured that she was playing around and I went to bed.

The next morning, she wakes me at 6am or so to let me know she is leaving. I asked if she was serious and she walked out and was on her way. About two hours later, she comes walking back in with the Wii and Zelda. She then got together to go dress shopping with her friends for the wedding we're attending this weekend (only three days Liz & Ted!).

Later that evening, we played around with Wii Sports and had a blast. The Wii is not a gimmick; it works as well as the demo videos show. We just tried Zelda last night and, so far, it stands up to the Zelda legacy. I agree with some that the graphics aren't as impressive as you might have hoped from a next gen system, but it looks beautiful and it's a Zelda game at launch (the first time Nintendo has launched a system with a Zelda game at the start). I hope to have some more time this weekend to play with it. I also have to be sure not to ignore Gears of War and my 360.

Seriously, Christmas came early for me this year, in a big way.

It Lives!

2006-11-15T00:17:00.000-06:00

I got my replacement X-Box 360 and it works! The overall experience is amazing; I can see why people were raving. Gears of War is intense and hard and fun all at the same time...and I haven't even tried online play yet.

Now for sleep, and then tomorrow a DSL install at Kathy's folk's house.

The Boy Who Cannot Win

2006-11-13T20:33:00.000-06:00

There is a time when you wonder if there is a God. Then there are times if you wonder if there is God that takes joy in making your life crazy.

I FINALLY got an X-Box 360. There is a GREAT deal for the next week at Micro Center for the Core for $199 and the Premium for $299 after $100 mail-in rebate. It's a steal, no tricks, no hitches. I don't eat lunch and drive to Micro Center; they have a TON of them. I buy it and get a free charger for the wireless controller for being one of the first people at the new gaming section they just opened.

I wait all day to get home and open it. I set it up, power it on...and get an error. I call support and it's a hard drive issue. Since the unit is so new, I have to FAX my receipt and info so they can process a new hard drive. Until then, I can't use it. The WORST part? My fiancée surprised me after hearing I got one with Gears of War, the biggest game out for the X-Box 360.

So I have an X-Box 360 and the hottest game for it, but I can't play it. To play Gears, you need an update for the 360, which you can't do without X-Box Live, which you can't do without a hard drive.

As I said, God is a vengeful child with a hot poker.

WWE - Eric Bishoff as GM again…

2006-11-06T21:38:00.000-06:00

Eric Bishoff as GM again…

Controversy = Low Quarterly Ratings

Transformers The Movie!

2006-06-30T01:26:00.000-05:00

I had read about it and heard the trailer was coming and here it is!

http://www.transformersmovie.com/

Michael Bay directed and Steven Spielberg produced!

July 4th 2007!

I was excited about this summer's movie season; next summer is already shaping up to be something too...Spider-Man 3, Pirates 3, Transformers.

I love summer movies.

Return + GrzeTim Books...WWE Vengeance

2006-06-25T16:56:00.000-05:00

I'm back after a little break. One Night Stand and the weeks after it saw me get upset at the handling of the WWE Title. The lack of respect for it by RVD was terrible. He's keeping it because "it spins". Please. It's like taking a dump on all the stars that MADE professional wrestling and without the WWF / WWE Title there NEVER would have been an ECW as it is know and RVD would be back in Battle Creek going "Dude, do you want fries with that?". Ok, end rant.

The PPV for tonight looks good, let's get to it:

GrzeTim Books...WWE Vengeance

Match 1 - Eugene vs. Umaga – While I think it’s a mistake to open with this match; I wouldn’t put it anywhere else because it’ll kill the crowd. I would like to see Eugene get the win here via some new “tutor” or some outside interference, but Umaga is being built up for something, who knows what, but something. All we can hope for is a quick match.
Winner – Umaga

Match 2 - Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair – 2 out of 3 falls – This match worries me because of how they are promoting it. Foley was talking on Monday about how it was going to be a stinker so he could embarrass Flair in Charlotte. I know Foley isn’t a great matt wrestler, but this could still be salvageable. I look for Foley to win the first fall with a backslide or something using the ropes. Flair will win the 2nd fall in the same manner. The final fall will most likely be Foley tapping to the Figure Four.
Winner in 3 falls – Ric Flair

Match 3 - Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match – Shelton Benjamin(c) vs. Johnny Nitro vs. Carlito – This and the match between Angle and Orton could steal the show. All three of these guys are hungry and very good at what they do. I look for some great spots between Shelton and Carlito and with Nitro in the mix, this could be something special. I look for Nitro to get the win over Carlito. This will setup some nice rematches in the future between all these guys.
Winner and NEW Intercontinental Champ – Johnny Nitro

Match 4 - John Cena vs. Sabu (Extreme Lumberjack Match) - This match will be interesting just for the fact of how they are booking Cena with ECW. I thought the segment where he proposed the match was great. The ECW guys seemed both shocked Cena would walk into their arena and also that he would call them all out tonight. They seemed to respect it. In the end, that is what I think this is about, respect. I don’t see Cena getting the win, but I do see him giving Sabu a great fight…enough that the ECW guys will finally respect him, including Heyman.
Winner – Sabu

Match 5 - Kane vs. "Impostor Kane" – I have no idea where they are heading with this, but I have liked the way they built it up. Kane is afraid of this man, and the only person Kane has feared is Undertaker. I don’t think it’s Taker, but I think it’s someone from his past, maybe another half brother from Paul Bearer and a different woman (not Taker and Kane’s mom). It could also be the true killer of Taker and Kane’s mother and step-father. We will see, or maybe we won’t till Monday. I still have to make a pick:
Winner - “Imposter Kane”

Match 6 - Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton – Like I said earlier, this could be the match of the night if it’s given time. These two had a decent match at One Night Stand, but it felt too rushed. Give them a solid 15-20 minutes and you have a match of the year candidate. I look for Orton to get the win back and setup for a rubber match in the future.
Winner – Randy Orton

Match 7 - WWE Championship - Rob Van Dam(c) vs. Edge – While I never like booking the title match below something else, the crowd will not go home happy on this one. I think Edge will win this for two reasons:

1. If RVD retains, then without someone coming to ECW and beating him for it or him coming to Raw, the next time there is a Raw PPV is SummerSlam. I don’t see Raw being without a main title that long.

2. You need to start establishing the ECW Title again. RVD can’t do that if he’s on Raw too.
For those reasons, I see Edge becoming a two time WWE Champ tonight. It’s also a good place to be with the title on an established heel that can be chased all summer up to SummerSlam.
Winner and NEW WWE Champion - Edge

Match 8 - D-Generation X vs. Spirit Squad - Most people consider this result a no brainer, but I beg to differ. One side is Triple H and Shawn Michaels and while that is a formidable team on the other side you have not just the Spirit Squad, but the McMahons. They should NEVER be underestimated or forgotten about. Still, I would be surprised if DX doesn’t get the win tonight. I also don’t see ANY new or old members of DX showing up. I don’t think it’ll happen tonight or ever. I look for Michaels to be the face in peril for most of the match. He then gets the tag to Triple H and they clean house. The finish is either a botched attempt by Vince and Shane to interfere or a tandem Pedigree and Sweet Chin Music.
Winners – D-Generation X

That will do it. Enjoy the PPV and I’ll be back.

GrzeTim

GrzeTim Books...ECW One Night Stand 2

2006-06-11T14:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight is ECW One Night Stand 2 and it’s shaping up to be an interesting show. Let’s get to the picks:

I’m not even going to try and predict an order to the matches since I expect there to be unannounced matches, so I’ll work with what they gave me:

Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler – I like both guys but this will be hard to watch. I hope Tazz will go back to doing commentary with Joey after this or maybe manage. Anyway, I see Tazz getting the win with the Tazzmission after a short match.
Winner - Tazz

The FBI vs. Super Crazy & Tajiri – This is actually one I’m looking forward to. I love watching Tajiri wrestle and with Super Crazy, it’ll be something to see what double team madness they can come up with. I’m picking Crazy and Tajiri to pull this one out (and I hope to see at least one mist tonight by Tajiri).
Winners – Super Crazy and Tajiri

Mick Foley & Edge vs. Tommy Dreamer & Terry Funk – This match will be the only sure blood bath of the night. All four of these guys are nuts and will do ANYTHING. I just hope all four come out without any major injury. I’m hoping this match will be for the Hardcore Title, because that plays into my theories about later on in the show.
Winners and NEW co-Hardcore Champions – Tommy Dreamer & Terry Funk

Balls Mahoney vs. Masato Tanaka - Sadly, I have never seen Balls wrestle and the first full match of Tanaka’s I have seen was last One Night Stand with Mike Awesome. I would GUESS that Tanaka will get his win back from last year.
Winner – Masato Tanaka

Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton – This one could be a clinic. I see Kurt playing the face in peril for a while and then coming back to make Orton tap out. I am afraid of what Kurt could be thinking of doing tonight based on how badly he wants to get ECW over. I just hope he remembers this will be a marathon not a sprint to sell ECW to the WWE faithful who were groomed to “hate” WCW and ECW as the “enemy” in years past.
Winner – Kurt Angle

Now, here is where things get dicey and I am going to get flak from some for it:

World Championship - Rey Mysterio(c) vs. Sabu – Considering that both these guys have mostly ariel offence, they will have to be careful how they book this so it doesn’t become just a high spot fest. I don’t see Vince giving either title to ECW (also, see my notes about the WWE Title Match).
Winner and STILL World Champion – Rey Mysterio

WWE Championship - John Cena(c) vs. Rob Van Dam – Now here it the tough one. I do NOT see Vince giving Heyman even the storyline victory of destroying the history of the WWE Title, which was the WWF Title. It would be killing the history of that title, a title that Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, Chris Jericho, and many many others help build. I also think it would turn classic WWE / WWF fans off from the ECW brand. So, how to keep the belt on Cena without killing RVD…here’s how I would do it:

The match will be something special, with each guy taking the other’s best shots and still coming back. In the end, RVD will hit a move on Cena and knock him out. RVD will then look to the crowd and go to the top to hit the Frog Splash. As he is about to jump, Lita comes down and pushes RVD off the top. Cena starts to come to and stumbles up. RVD starts to recover from getting pushed off the top rope and walks into a FU attempt by Cena that RVD counters into a DDT or some other move. Edge hits the ring and coils in the corner ready to strike. He rushes out of the corner and spears…RVD. He then places Cena on RVD. 1…2…3. Cena retains.

The reason for this? As Edge will tell us on Monday, he is the #1 contender for the WWE Title at Vengeance in a few weeks and he’ll be damned if he’ll lose his chance to get the title back cause Cena lost the title in a “bingo hall” to an “ECW chump”.

Flash forward to Vengeance…Edge has Cena beat and is waiting for Cena to get up so he can hit the spear. Cena dodges the spear, Edge hits the ref on accident, and then walks into a FU but Cena is unable to make the cover and falls over. From the crowd, RVD comes out and jumps to the top rope. He looks over his targets, shrugs, and jumps…OVER the prone Cena and hits Edge. He then places Cena on Edge. 1…2…3. Cena retains.

The next night on Raw, Edge is pissed at RVD and promises to get revenge on RVD. He’ll be at ECW’s show Tuesday night! This also moves Edge and Lita over to ECW.

Feud commences and all is well in the world.
Winner and STILL WWE Champion – John Cena

Well, that is what I see happening tonight. I’ll be back next week with the results and my thoughts.

Take care.

Return

2006-06-11T12:15:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I fell behind again... The biggest thing to happen over the past few weeks was asking Kathy to marry me on May 18th. Last year around her birthday, I had promised I would ask before her next birthday (May 19th). I cut it pretty close, huh? Of course, she said yes and we've already set a date: Saturday, October 13th, 2007. Why so far off you ask? Kathy wants to have a fall wedding in October and this October would be WAY too close to try and get everything ready. Also, one of our friends won’t be coming back from Thailand until this Fall, and that's just too close to risk. So I am now made her an "honest woman" as she used to put it. :)

I'm going to work on an ECW One Night Stand predictions post and have it up before I go to my folks to watch the PPV. This one is always hard to predict since they never let us know all the matches.

Atari Quiz

2006-05-10T10:35:00.000-05:00

Again, I am too big a nerd for my own good...

WWE Thoughts

2006-05-10T10:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a long two weeks or so for me. With the end of term, I didn't get a chance to finish my Backlash results and it's a little late to do them now. Gotta try better with Judgment Day. Speaking of Judgment Day, it seems JBL is going to be fighting for the World Title. This leads me to an interesting theory...JBL vs. RVD and One Night Stand 2 for the World Title. Follow me here...

Right after winner the MITB match, RVD said the timing was "extreme". This pretty much cements that he'll use the shot at One Night Stand 2. This past week on Raw, we had our first face to face of Cena and RVD as Cena left and RVD came out for the IC title defense. I consider this a ploy; they are waving Cena vs. RVD in our face to mask the truth...JBL vs. RVD at One Night Stand 2.

The World Title match for Judgment Day is Mysterio vs. JBL. I see JBL pulling out a cheating win here. Do you recall the leaders of the WWE factions that were at One Night Stand last year? Eric Bishoff and JBL. There was even some blowback with an incident between JBL and The Blue Meanie that came onto SmackDown for a few weeks.

Now, how to get RVD to notice JBL...easy, have JBL jump all over ECW. I say the week after Judgment Day, start doing the ECW tapings before SmackDown. Before the first match can start, have JBL's music hit and he comes down to the ring with some other SmackDown heels. He can run his mouth about ECW ("This isn't a bingo hall...", "Extremely Crappy Wrestling", etc, etc). Once he's done, the WWE gang rushes the ring and destroys the ECW guys. They could even rip into Joey Styles a bit. This can continue up to the Raw before One Night Stand 2.

That night on Raw, RVD calls Vince (or a GM if named by then) to the ring to announce that he is going to cash in. Before he can finish, Cena's (or whoever has the title then) music hits and he comes down. RVD will tell him to chill and that he isn't using his shot tonight...and not against you. Queue Teddy Long's music and he struts to the ring. Teddy gets on the mic and confirms that RVD will be using his MITB shot at One Night Stand 2 to challenge for JBL's World Title.

The next day on WWE.Com, they can have a video from JBL taunting RVD and challenging him to show up on SmackDown. That night, for the whole show, they have a camera watching for RVD to arrive. Near the end of the show, still no RVD. JBL and his crew from the ECW taping head to the ring and JBL again calls out RVD.

Nothing.

JBL then runs down ECW and RVD some more. RVD's music hits and the crowd goes nuts. RVD comes out on the ramp and stands there. JBL and his crew are then jumped from behind by the ECW stars they attacked. JBL tries to flee and is trapped on the ramp between RVD and the ECW stars. JBL ends up back in the ring and takes a few signature moves from the ECW stars before RVD walks down and gets on the mic.

"I hope you liked that, JBL, because that is just a taste of how EXTREME this Sunday will be. Our match at One Night Stand is an ECW Rules match!"

The crown goes wild.

Now, ask yourself, would you order One Night Stand 2 now?

Now, the big question...should RVD win the title? My gut reaction is yes. The main issue with this is then RVD has to move to SmackDown or the World Title comes back to Raw. Both pose issues:

- Move RVD to SmackDown and when Batista comes back, it's a foregone conclusion they are going to put the belt back on him. If RVD is squashed by Batista, it would destroy all the building they did here, but they've done it before.

- Move the World Title to Raw and now there is no major title on SmackDown....unless you turn the show into 100% ECW, but I doubt it with it being on network TV.

Of the two, I would wager on RVD coming to SmackDown, if this all happens, of course.

Well, enough for me, I should get back to work.

GrzeTim Books...Backlash

2006-04-30T13:56:00.000-05:00

Once again, I’m in a rush at 1:30 the day of the show to put up my predictions. Let’s get right to it:

GrzeTim Books…Backlash

Women's Championship - Mickie James(c) vs. Trish Stratus – I’ve loved how they have gone about booking this feud. Trish dressing up as Mickie (they finally called her Trishy James on TV, as I’ve been doing since the first time she came out like that) has been a hoot. I’m expecting Trish to continue her mental attack on Mickie tonight. My only concern is that Trish might focus too much on mentally beating her and Mickie will pull it out with a quick roll up.
Winner and STILL Women’s Champion – Mickie James

Ric Flair vs. Umaga – I’m not even going to get into this match too much. It’s, once again, Ric Flair lying down for the new talent. Umaga / Jamal isn’t even new talent. Also, whose idea was it to put a Cuban manager with an Islanders rip-off? I see Umaga going over on this to push his character as a “monster” with his thumb of death.
Winner - Umaga

Kane vs. Big Show – I’m surprised how fast they jumped on this one. I expect the usual big man vs. big man stuff. It would be cool to see Kane go psycho and start to hit that MAYBE he is the man from the See No Evil movie. Maybe even bring the hook from the movie down with him. Kane will get himself DQed by using a weapon of some kind.
Winner via DQ – Big Show

Intercontinental Championship vs. Money in the Bank - Shelton Benjamin(c) vs. Rob Van Dam (MITB) – This could be the match of the night. Both these guys can deliver in the ring and while they have conflicting styles, if they can mesh, it’ll be something special. I expect a lot of “crash and burn” high spots in this one. With the ECW One Night Stand poster having RVD with the briefcase, I would be VERY surprised if he doesn’t win here and go on to One Night Stand to face the WWE Champ.
Winner and NEW Intercontinental Champion – Rob Van Dam

Carlito vs. Chris Masters – This is another match I’m looking forward to. The slow build has been great. They had been hinting at Carlito turning on him since before WrestleMania. The time is right; the crowd is REALLY into Carlito. He needs to be the one to break the Masterlock. I see it as he takes a bite of the apple, gets caught in the lock, looks up and spits in his face. This allows Carlito to break the hold and reverse it into the back cracker for the win.
Winner - Carlito

Shawn Michaels & "God" vs. Mr. McMahon & Shane McMahon – While this is a handicap match on the surface, a lot can happen here. I could see them doing things with the lights, ring, and pyro to make it seem like Michaels has a partner. I have the same feeling about this match as I did about the Michaels vs. Mr. McMahon match from WM. A lot can happen in this match, but I’m not building it up too much in my head. I expect the McMahon’s to get their win back in this one.
Winners – Mr. McMahon & Shane McMahon

WWE Championship – John Cena(c) vs. Edge vs. Triple H – Now the match everyone is waiting for. I thought I had this one figured out, but with RVD going to be using the Money in the Bank at ECW One Night Stand, everything is out the window. Let’s look at the three possible outcomes in the match starting with the least likely and going up:

3. Cena retains the title. I SERIOUSLY doubt this will happen. I think it would be a massive mistake to send Cena to the ECW PPV as the champ. The crowd there will eat him alive…or worse yet they’ll leave when he comes out. While I do see the flip side that it’ll make RVD into a superman to the fans, does RVD really NEED the cheap heat going into an ECW PPV?

2. Edge wins the title. If Edge wins, he will NOT pin Cena. That way, there is an easy setup for a rematch. I do like the idea of Edge bad mouthing ECW for a month. He could be pissed about how he is the WWE Champion, not the champ of a bingo hall and he wont defend there. Also, Edge just had a nasty Hardcore Match with Foley at WM, so his toughness won’t be in question.

1. Triple H wins the title. This could be a win over either man. Triple H is the most likely person to go into an ECW PPV as the champ. RVD and Triple H have some title history in the past and imagine Triple H walking into ECW Arena…the fans will go nuts on him. Even more so, what if he BEATS RVD there…he better get the three, grab the belt, and RUN.

In the end, this all comes down to who they want to walk into the ECW PPV as the champ. I have to go with the best choice (in my opinion)
Winner and NEW WWE Champion – Triple H

Enjoy the PPV folks. I’ll post the results tonight or tomorrow.

NES Quiz

2006-04-28T11:16:00.000-05:00

This was a fun quiz. It shows you a screen from a NES game and the box art and you have to type in the title. I got all of them but one. Give it a shot.

The Sheep Say "Baaaa Cena Sucks Baaa"

2006-04-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

I have to cover something that has been grating on me for months now; the crowds DRASTIC turn on John Cena. As a man over 25, I know I'm going out on a limb here by saying "I still enjoy watching John Cena.".

"The Sheep" is my term for the masses of wrestling fans that come to the live events and don't have A SINGLE CLUE as to what is going on. Why do you pay $40+ to go to a live event if you have no idea who is who and what is what? My favorite is the guys (that always seem to be in front or behind me) who chant the whole night for "puppies", chant "boring" at nice chain wrestling, and then again chant "We want puppies" or "HLA" when Trish and Mickie come out and put on a good match. It's disgusting. If you want HLA or puppies, might I recommend a strip club or the Playboy channel? It's cheaper, you can still drink, and it doesn't cost $6+ a glass.

Now, back to Cena. It has obviously become the "cool thing" if you're male over 13 to boo Cena. Why is this? Is it because the girls love him? Is it because he has become a bit younger fan friendly? Is it because he is Champ? I don't think so...I think it's because one crowd booed him. Not any crowd in particular...just a crowd. Here's where the "sheep" mentality comes in. Every crowd, every week, tries to out do the last. What we end up with is Cena being booed and Triple H being cheered...what? I thought the world hated Triple H...? Don't get me wrong, I have been a fan of Triple H for a long time...but I hate these sheep who cheer for him because he's against Cena. Heaven forbid we THINK FOR OURSELVES!

For my last point, and the lock on the sheep, think back to New Years Revolution. The crowd was all over Cena the WHOLE MATCH. When he won, they booed him. When Edge hit the ring and won, they cheered like crazy and then it dawned on them, "Wait, Edge just won the title.” You can see it in the tape. Watch the crowd, they are cheering and jumping because Cena lost...then it hits them like a ton of bricks...you can see it in your faces. Let me also make it clear that I am a big fan of Edge and I'm happy to see the push he's gotten as of late.

The SAME THING will happen at Backlash if Cena loses the belt. And, if they truly hate Cena and love Edge or Triple H, when one of them comes out with the belt the next night on Raw, they better cheer like mad.

Of course, they won’t. Cause they're sheep. They were sheep when they "hated" the Rock and booed him...but they would still talk along with his catchphrases. They were sheep when they would pop for Triple H when he came down, but when he would talk they would boo him because he was dating / married to Steph. So, as sheep, when Cena goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, they all go "You can't see me." If you don't like the man, then don't talk along with him.

If you don't like it, I got one word for ya!

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

The Plague

2006-04-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

Well,

Raw was fun back in the first week of April. It was a good show and it was great to see it. Sadly, the day after I developed what can only be described as the worst cold / flu / ill I have ever had. I was DOA from Tuesday after Raw all the way though until the Wednesday before Easter. For the first time in my life, I got medicine from the doctor (two things, a five day antibiotic and a prescription level cough medicine). I, of course, forced myself into work Wednesday and Thursday of that week and then spent my three day weekend in bed. I'm about 100% again, almost a month later, but I still have a bit of the cough.

Of course, this pretty much made anything beyond watching TV and trying to breathe impossible. You know I'm sick when I'm off for a week and I don't get online or turn on the X-Box once. Some people at work thought I must be dead since I never miss that much work unexpectedly. But, here I am, almost back to normal.

A lot happened here while I was away. The head of my department had announced he was resigning and moving to a new job in Connecticut about a month ago. His last day is this Friday. My direct supervisor is moving up to fill his position. We're not sure if she is going to stay there full time since the original head's boss (the Provost of the university) is ALSO leaving at the end of April. The new Provost won’t start till this summer, so it's all up in the air. What do I do? Keep on truckin...

I started playing Madden 06 on All-Madden recently. Man, it's tough. The DBs and LBs seem to know where the ball is going before I decide. Has anyone played with the sliders in the AI section and found a good setting where they are challenging but not psychic?

I'm working on a post to recap the past few weeks of WWE and some Backlash predictions, which I'll have up by Friday (hopefully...).

Wish me luck kicking the rest of this cough.