Friday's Links - 02/17/2012

RIP Gary Carter

Hall of fame catcher, Gary Carter, lost his battle with brain cancer Thursday.  Tim Kurkjian reflects on "The Kid."  Here is a video worth watching of Carter's last at bat as a Major Leaguer.  Also a photo gallery of Carter through the years. 

Eye Candy of the Day

For todays eye candy I offer up Cobie Smulders, one of the stars of the hit show How I Met Your Mother.  On the show Cobie's character Robin Scherbatsky is a former child pop star known as Robin Sparkles.  Here are links to her classic songs Let's Go To The Mall, Sandcastles In The Sand, and The Beaver Song.   


Music Video of the Day

Last night I went to see Less Than Jake at the Brooklyn Bowl.  Here's a video for their song "The Science Of Selling Yourself Short" from their album Anthem.  Back in 2005, this video actually premiered during an episode of the O.C.  As an added bonus, here is Less Than Jake's video for the song "The Rest Of My Life" from their album In With The Out Crowd.  Look out for author and t.v. show host Chelsea Handler in this one.   


Daily Does of Lin

Lin and the Knicks had Thursday night of but return to action tonight at home vs New Orleans.  The other night Jeremy Lin got the 10 ten treatment from Late Night host David Letterman.

Using The Force

I read earlier today that the daughter of Star Wars creator, George Lucas, is a MMA fighter.  As a huge Star Wars fan, I decided to come up with a few nicknames for herself and her moves to strike fear into her opponents. 

10.  "Gamorrean Guard" position

9.  The "Tauntaun" rear naked mount

8.  "Amanda "The Death Squad Commander" Lucas

7.  "Death Star escape"

6.  Amanda "Darth Maul" Lucas

5.  "Wookie" throat crush

4.  The "carbonite" freeze

3.  The "Admiral Ackbar" Arm bar

2.  Amanda "The Emperor" Lucas

1.  Master of the "Force Choke" Amanda Lucas

Thursday's Links - 02/16/2012

WrestleMania XXIX

The WWE has announced through its website, wwe.com, that WrestleMania XXIX will be held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ in April of 2013.  There will be an official announcement with a press conference being held Thursday February 16th at 11:00 am.  As a resident of New York I am extremely excited.  Time to start figuring out how I can get a press pass.   


Star Wars Related Items

On Friday I was very excited to check out the re-release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace in 3D.  As a huge fan of the entire Star Wars franchise, there was no way that I would miss this.  When The Phantom Menace was released originally in 1999, I went to see the movie 5 times the opening day.  A little much you might say but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  It made for a great story.       

Here are some other Star Wars related items worth checking out.  Picture 1 Picture 2  Merch 1 Merch 2  Video 1 Video 2

Eye Candy of the Day

I've recently got hooked on the show The League which airs on the FX Network.   Nadine Velazquez is one of the stars of the shows and could have previously been seen on the show My Name Is Earl.    

That Jeremy Lin Guy Again

The Knicks blew out the Kings to extend their winning streak to 7 games and bring their record to 15-15 on the season.  With Lin set to become a restricted free agent after this season, Forbes takes a look at how Jeremy can cash in going forward.  In a matter of a few months we have had Tebow Mania and now Linsanity.  This is just crazy if you actually take the time to think about.  Here are "5 Reasons Linsanity is nothing like Tebow Mania".  I also stumbled across this video from ABC news.     

Awesome Video of the Day #1

Here is a video of Bobby McFerrin, the guy who brought us "Don't Worry Be Happy", showing the amazing link between the human mind and music. 

Awesome Video of the Day #2

Since I always find a way to incorporated music into the daily links I figured I'd be well served to also include some art.   



Educational Video of the Day

According to his Wikipedia page, "Juan Enríquez is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on the economic and political impacts of life sciences. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Biotechonomy LLC, a life sciences research and investment firm."  Here is a video in two parts of his thoughts and insights into what the future holds for us all. 

Wednesday's Links - 02/15/2012

Daily Dose of Jeremy Lin

Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks ran their win streak to six straight with a win against the Toronto Raptors last night.  Lin drained a 3 pointer with 0.5 seconds left to secure the win.  The Knicks will look to run their streak to 7 tonight at home against the Sacramento Kings and get back to .500. 

In more interesting news, someone finally made a version of Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain" remixed to "Linsane in the Brain."

Peyton Manning Update

Sports Illustrated's Don Banks broke the news that Peyton Manning had a fourth previously unknown procedure on his neck and will likely need to get bone spurs cleaned out and a second fusion procedure going forward.  The Colts will need to make a decision before a $28 million bonus is due on March 8th.  Colts owner, Jim Irsay, has let it be known that he plans on meeting with Manning within the next week to discuss Manning's future.  It is clear Manning is going to have to accept some sort of renegotiated contract if he plans on staying with the Colts.    

Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn underwent successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor inside of his cheek.  Gwynn's story should be a cautionary tale to all users of smokeless tobacco.  While Gwynn will likely recover and continue a productive life, the risks involved with tobacco use are great and he should consider himself lucky. 

Since 1993, all smokeless tobacco has been banned in Minor League games.  MLB should use this prominent case to help negotiate with the players union and ban all use of smokeless tobacco on its Major League fields.  It's not only the effect tobacco has on the bodies of the players who use it,  but it's also the influence on young fans watching at home.  

As a baseball fan, I never trust any player that needs to use tobacco to calm their nerves.  That especially goes for pitchers.   Case and point being A.J. Burnett and Jaret Wright.    

Amazing Video of the Day

Anytime I would play one of the games in the Tony Hawk video game series I always felt that the combos of freestyle skateboarding moves were like any other combo moves in the game, unrealistic to perform in reality.  That was until I saw this. 

Eye Candy of the Day

Yesterday we featured the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover girl, Kate Upton.  One of the features in this year's issue is photos of male athletes with supermodel Bar Refaeli which can be seen here.  Refaeli was the cover girl for the 2009 swimsuit edition and is also known for having dated Leo Dicaprio.   Here's an added video from here 2009 Sports Illustrated shoot.

Random Sports Video

I happened to stumble across this video of the starting line-ups of game 3 of the 1989 World Series between the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants.  As you may or may not know, game 3 of the 1989 World Series was disrupted and postponed due to the Loma Prieta earthquake that shook the bay area.  Watch the video and see if you can determine if this is footage from the originally scheduled game on October 17th or the rescheduled game from October 27th. 

Tuesday's Links - 02/14/2012

 I took an extended weekend but we're back for a Valentine's Day edition of the daily links.

Eye Candy of the Day

On Monday, news broke that model Kate Upton would grace the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue.  Here's a video which shows off Upton's talents. 

I personally had a subscription to Sports Illustrated from 1992 to 1998 and always looked forward to the yearly swimsuit issue.  The Swimsuit issue along with the March Madness issue were the two hightlights of the year for a teenage subscribing to Sports Illustrated.  Remember that this was a time period before the internet and personal computers became prevalent.  Sports Illustrated was the main way for a teenage boy to get a nicely printed bracket to use for record keeping and keeping track of the NCAA basketball tournament while skipping school to watch the games.  I bet you thought I was going to refer to the Swimsuit issue there.  Sorry to disappoint.  Lets take a look back at two of my favorite models from those issues though, Josie Maran and Daniella Pestova. 

As for Upton, she has seemingly been everywhere the past few months, so it was no surprise to find her on the cover.  A few months back Upton had Pat's Tight End, Rob Gronkowski, try to win her over via twitter and has since been linked to Jet's Qb Mark Sanchez.  For her sake, let's hope that is not true.  No need for her to get caught going down with that sinking ship. 


Grammy Time

To be completely honest if Whitney Houston didn't die within hours of the Grammys I probably wouldn't have even known the show was on Sunday, but since she did, curiosity dragged me in.  I'm sure there will be plenty of tributes and youtube videos going forward but the best Whitney related item I saw the past 2 days was this isolated vocal performance from the track "How Will I Know."     

As for the show itself it was more or less an Adele love fest.  The English recording artist took home the three major awards of the night for Best Record, Best Album, and Song of the Year.  While these are the awards that get the most attention, my favorite part of the Grammys is always the Best New Artist Award.  I enjoy the parallels between Best New Artist and Rookie of the Year Awards in the major sports.  For every Derek Jeter and Justin Verlander who reaches their potential there is a Bob Hamelin who fails to continue their early success.  Here's a look at all the Best New Artist winners and nominees through the years.         

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I knew all the best new artist nominees this year and was actually a fan of one of the nominees, Skrillex.  For those who didn't watch, or could care less, an artist named Bon Iver won who seems more destined to a Marty Cordova comparison in 10 years than on his way to a lifetime achievement award but I guess that's the fun in all of this.     


Skrillex is a dubstep DJ who turned to electronic music after performing in a screamo group named "From First To Last".  Even though I don't find myself listening to much electronic music, I caught wind of Skrillex through a friend and was hooked right away after watching some videos on youtube.  For pure comedy purpose it would have been fun to see Skrillex win the award.  I can't wait to see where an artists whose main audience are college age kids that are doing massive amounts of "blow" and popping Adderall's in dance halls ends up in 10 to 15 years.  God bless Rock n Roll in all of its forms.  Here are a few tracks of his worth checking out to get an idea of his sound.

 

LIN-SANITY!!!!!

Jeremy Lin showed up just in time to save both the New York Knicks and my fantasy basketball seasons.  If you haven't heard about this, you're on the wrong webpage right now.   

Mr. 40/40

I received a series of text messages early Monday informing me that none other than Jose Canseco is taking inspiration from Kenny Powers and is heading to the Mexican Leagues.  You can count on hearing more about this in the days to come on here.  

 

Educational

Replacing plastics with mushrooms...I'm listening.

WWE Video of the Day

Considering the Grammys were this weekend, I would be remiss if I didn't share an original song performed by a WWE Superstar.  That's me speaking from the heart.  Now hear "Macho Man" Randy Savage speaking from his...

4 MLB Trades That Should Happen

Earlier this week I read this article by former Reds and Nationals GM Jim Bowden suggesting 5 trades contenders should make to boost their chances this season.  ESPN isn't paying me big bucks for failing at my previous job so you only get 4 instead of 5 trade suggestions.  Jim has clearly improved though since trading Paul O'Neil to the Yankees for Roberto Kelly but regardless, his current suggestions left more to be desired.  Thus my four....        


       
1. New York Mets trade 3B David Wright to the Los Angeles Angels for OF Peter Bourjos and C Hand Congers.



Met's ownership is currently bleeding money. The Madoff Ponzi scandal has left the Mets franchise crippled with it already dropping payroll by $50 million... It is public knowledge that the Wilpon family thought it had in the hundreds of millions sitting in the bank with Madoff which were unrealized and is currently being sued for between $300 million and $1 billion depending on sources. Ownership needs to realize that with the financial restraints, this team needs to bottom out before it can move forward.

The easiest way to bottom out is to trade away valuable assets. This will allow for two things. First and most importantly it will allow the put the Mets in the top five of the draft, thus securing talent for the future. Secondly, it will give the ownership group and opportunity to be honest with their fans. There have been plenty of trust issues between Met fans and ownership over the course of the past year and a half. Come clean and let the fans know how bad the financial restraints are. Show that you plan on building for 2015 and beyond because of mistakes and damaging investments. The Wilpons would be surprised by the amount of sympathy they will gain by just being honest with their fans.

David Wright clearly has value to a great many franchises around Major League Baseball. While he is not a franchise player, he is in the upper echelon of complementary players around the big leagues. By trading Wright for young Major League talent then can either move each of these pieces for other Minor League players in a year or two or make Bourjos and Congers the building blocks of the franchise going forward. If the Mets don't have confidence in Ike Davis going forward, Mark Trumbo would be a nice substitute for Hank Congers in this trade.

As for the Angels, they've clearly made the next 3 to 4 years their window to win championships and make Los Angeles an Angels town with the signings of Pujols and Wilson this offseason. Bringing in Wright would give the Angels a nucleus of Pujols, Wright, and Trout going forward which could compete with any 2, 3, and 4 in the MLB. With the contracts of Tori Hunter and Bobby Abreu expiring after the season, the Angels will have $27 million coming off the books and also have the ability to either trade Mark Trumbo or Kendrys Morales going forward as well.




2. Atlanta Braves trade P Jair Jurrjens to the Kansas City Royals for OF Wil Myers and P Chris Dwyer.




The Kansas City Royals are more than likely two years away from competing for the Central and winning a World Series but the Royals can compete in the present without jeopardizing their future.

Acquiring Jurrgens would give then a front of the rotation starter to complement their lineup, which has been at the top of the Major Leagues the last two seasons, and bridge the gap while top pitching prospects such as Mick Montgomery and Jake Odorizzi make their way to the Major Leagues. Myers and Dwyer project as complementary pieces going forward for the Royals but hold greater value to teams who lack the depth KC's minor league system holds.

As for the Braves, they have Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino, and Randall Delgado making their ways to the Majors quickly. With a surplus of pitching, it makes sense to move Jurrjens and add a top hitting prospects to improve the line up going forward. Don't sleep on the fact that Royals GM Dayton Moore worked with the Braves from 1994 until joining the Royals in 2006.





3. Houston Astros trade P Wandy Rodriguez to the Boston Red Sox for OF Brandon Jacobs.




Currently the Red Sox have Daniel Bard and Alfredo Aceves. With John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzake injured, the Red Sox would be unwise to enter camp with only 3 proven Major League Starters. Bard has a dynamic arm and Aceves has proven to be very affective as a spot starter but adding another quality left handed arm will only booster the Red Sox chances of making the playoffs this season.

The Astros held their own mini fire sale last season, dumping their top two players in Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn for limited returns. With a new ownership group in Houston, now is the time to take advantage of value of potential free agents such as Rodriguez. With the new CBA signed by the owners and players, players traded mid-season no longer bring with them the complementary draft pick if they sign elsewhere. Controlling the rights to a player all season is the only way to secure the draft pick. Trading Rodriguez and his reasonable contract allows the addition value of the added draft pick which will save the Astros around 8 million for this season which they could invest in the draft and international players this year.




4. Seattle Mariners trade P Felix Hernandez to the Miami Marlins for OF Mike Stanton, P Anibal Sanchez and OF Chris Coghlan




With the Marlins rumored to be signing Yoenis Cespedes, they will have a major surplus of outfielders going forward. They might as well utilize that strength to imrove their team. Mike Stanton appears to be more Adam Dunn than Babe Ruth, so now seems the opportune time to move him in a blockbuster while his stock is high.

The Marlins give up three Major League ready players all coming at very reasonable salaries to a Mariners team that lacks depth across the board. If they decide to keep Hernandez going forward, he might leave via free agency before the team currently constructed is able to compete. If either of these GM's were approached with this trade, I'm not sure who would say no.   

Friday's Links - 02/10/2012

With this being a new site, the format is still a work in progress.  I’d like to include the things that I enjoy the most going forward.   Hopefully it will include some sports, humor, educational, and of course beautiful women.  I have way to much free time on my hands, so I’d like to share the gems of information that I find on the internet.  So today, Friday February the 10^th, will be the first of a daily installment of links, videos, and responses to current events in sports and pop culture. 

Super Bowl XLVI

As a Giants fan this was a great game to watch and a terrible game for my liver.  The NFL has an upper hand on all other professional leagues simply because of Steve Sabol and NFL films.  Here is a quarter by quarter look at the sounds you don't get to hear watching at home.  I'm impressed.  First Quarter.  Second Quarter.  Third Quarter.  Fourth Quarter.   Post Game. 

NBA All Star Game 2012

The NBA announced the reserves for the 2012 NBA All Star Game to be held in Orlando later this month.  Someone needs to make sure Dirk Nowitzki has a microphone during the game.

EDUCATIONAL

If you were wondering why you had to waste your time in elementary school fooling around with Origami, it was so you could design the next generation of space technology or lifesaving medical technology.

WWE Video of the Day

Whether you're a fan of professional Wrestling or not, you should know a major component to a performers success in the business is his ring music and entrance.  Well, this is how to make an entrance.  Without further delay the greatest debut in WWE History.  For fans of The Rock, go to the 6:00 mark, classic Rock…

Music Video of the Day

I’m trying to pull some strings to get this guy to open up for the Jose Canseco Project band this summer.  Simply based on the fact all of his instruments look like they should be played by Muppets…..and most likely the first law suit this site will face is right there for typing Muppets. 

Powers is Coming Back F#*king Soon!!!

Everyone’s favorite washed up Major Leaguer is due to report to camp/HBO February 19^th.  If you haven’t seen it yet, Mr. Powers gave his thoughts and opinions on Tebow Mania here.  There is an uncanny parallel between the two.  Also make sure to check out a preview of Season 3. 

Eye Candy of the Day

This page will have plenty of WWE references going forward, so no better way to start off with some eye candy of the beautiful Kelly Kelly.   So nice they named her twice baby.

2012 Royal Rumble

As a nice way to start this website off, I decided to pay homage to one of my favorite sports writers Bill Simmons and write a running diary as I watched the 2012 Royal Rumble. Simmons borrowed the idea from Normal Chad, so I won’t lose any sleep over using the format. The Royal Rumble, along with The Super Bowl and first weekend of the Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship, remains my favorite events in all of sports to watch. The anticipation every 90 seconds, awaiting the next wrestler to make his way to the ring, can’t be beat. Enjoy.


8:05 pm: Welcome the the 2012 edition of the Royal Rumble!!!


8:05 pm: The World Heavy Weight Champion Daniel Bryan makes his entrance to the ring before the two challengers. That’s never a good sign. Bryan might be looking at a short reign as Champion.


8:09 pm: It’s safe to say that none of these three will still be holding the championship belt come WrestleMania. I’m sure one of the runner ups tonight from the group of Orton, Sheamus, and Barrett will take control of the title at the Elimination Chamber PPV.


8:10 pm: Our announcers for tonight’s action, Michael Cole, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Booker T.



8:12 pm: The first match is between Daniel Bryan, Big Show and Mark Henry. It’s a steel cage match where pin fall or exit from the cage secures a victory.



8:13 pm: The crowd is behind Daniel Bryan early on. WWE fans have showed big support for the likes of Daniel Bryan, Zack Ryder, and CM Punk in recent months which has led to the WWE brain trust putting titles around the waists of all three. The formula for success in the WWE is easy. Win over the crowd, make the company money, and you’ll be headlining events.



8:19 pm: Holding out hope that Big Show and/or Mark Henry attempt a maneuver off the top of the cage in this match. There are only so many ways they can pancake each other and Bryan between their bodies and the cage.



8:20 pm: As I was typing that Big Show made his way to the top of the cage chasing Bryan as he attempted to escape.



8:21 pm: Bryan just won in curious fashion. It looks as if Big Show was supposed to lift Bryan back into the ring with one arm but lost his grip. Regardless, I’m sure all three of these competitors will be competing in the Elimination Chamber, so no lose in attempting such a maneuver.



8:25 pm: First promo of the night. John Cena vs. The Rock at WrestleMania is the subject of the promo. The WWE has completely embraced the divide between the fans on Cena. At least they’re not ignoring it anymore. They’re even making money selling Cena Sucks t-shirts.



8:28 pm: Up next, a 4 on 4 woman’s tag match.



8:30 pm: Just found out that Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart have daughters competing in this match. Thinking of those two, I love wrestlers who have real names with nicknames attached such as "Ravishing" Rich Rude, "The Model" Rick Martel, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, and "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. God I miss the 80's.



8:32 pm: Michael Cole just compared the Bella Twins to Harlem Heat, I couldn’t agree more. Sadly, no comment from Booker T though.



8:34 pm: The WWE needs to liven up the Woman’s Division and by liven up I mean Kelly Kelly needs to pose for Playboy.



8:36 pm: And that’s finally done. Beth Phoenix pinned Kelly Kelly for those keeping score at home.



8:38 pm: We have a Zack Ryder sighting backstage. Ryder is sporting a neck/chest brace after the assault he received at the hands of Kane on Monday Night Raw. A little background on Ryder, he’s a Jersey Shore look alike who became a huge crowd favorite and his catch phrase is Woo Woo Woo!! I’m pretty sure he’s sole purpose tonight is to take another beating from Kane.



8:43 pm: Less than a minute into Cena vs. Kane we have alternating let’s go Cena/Cena sucks chants. I can’t remember a more polarizing star in WWE history.



8:46 pm: The WWE writers have had some weird “embrace the hate” storyline going on with the resident superhero John Cena.



8:48 pm: With Kane bringing back his mask, I can’t help but think of the Undertaker. Speaking of the Undertaker, he’s due for an appearance either tonight or this week to start the buildup for WrestleMania.



8:53 pm: So the match ended in a double count out. Cena and Kane have brought the fight backstage.



9:00 pm: After assaulting Cena with a steal chair, Kane bust down the door to Ryder’s dressing room. Kane uses his new finishing move, which is basically Mr. Socko, to knock Ryder out before wheeling him to the ring. I’m pretty sure they could have come up with a better finishing move for Kane. Cena attempts to rescue Ryder to no avail. Kane exits with the bodies of both Ryder and Cena left motionless in the ring. Unfortunately this story line doesn’t appear over.



9:02 pm: As I mentioned the three earlier, I’m guessing tonight’s Rumble winner comes from the group of Randy Orton, Sheamus, or Wade Barrett. Also I’m holding out hope that the WWE has some nice surprise entries in store for us tonight. Last year they brought out Kevin Nash as Diesel and Booker T. That was a slight upgrade over the likes of Honky Tonk Man and Hacksaw Jim Dugan. Who knows, maybe we’ll get to see a non-roster guy such as Batista or Goldberg make an appearance or even someone on the roster such as HHH or the Undertaker.



9:05 pm: More Cena vs. The Rock promos. This one focuses on The Rock. Brief background on his family and WWE roots along with trailers for his current movie projects. Ticket sales to The Rock’s movies must have been hurting for him to come back to WWE. I have a feeling the crowd is going to have to carry this match at WrestleMania.



9:09 pm: Looks like I was right. That World Heavy Weight Championship match ended quicker than expect. WWE just added a filler match between Drew McIntyre and Brodus Clay. For some reason WWE and its fans can’t get enough of fat guys dancing. Rikishi anyone?



9:10 pm: Some of the loudest cheering tonight with Funkasaurus chants right off the bat.



9:11 pm: And it’s over. Brodus Clay channeling his inner Ultimate Warrior by using more energy on his ring entrance than on the match itself.



9:20 pm: WWE Champ CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler with guest referee, Raw GM John Laurinaitis. These are two of the better athletes in the WWE today. Good to see the WWE putting some of their weight behind performers with similar skills sets to a Shaun Michaels or a Chris Jericho. It’s always more entertaining to see a high flying fast paced match than two giants putting each other in headlocks and arm bars.



9:26 pm: Ziggler’s manager, Vickie Guerrero has been ejected from ringside by Laurinaitis. Also Laurinaitis has elected to observe from outside the ring while having an actually WWE official call the match in the ring. Is the WWE actually willing to have a bad guy (Ziggler) win the title in a fair and even match?



9:26 pm: The referee has been knocked out. Booker T – “referee totally out of position there”. You think? Thanks for the in depth analysis.



9:37 pm: CM Punk managed to cover Ziggler three times while the referee was being attended to by Laurinaitis outside of the ring. Classic WWE.



9:40 pm: Ziggler pulled off the move of the night so far with a great counter to the "Go to Sleep" from CM Punk. He managed to twist his body and did a leg drop onto the back of Punk’s neck. Punk recovers and wins the match to retain his title with the GM calling it down the middle. Possible the most boring collection of undercard matches in recent memory.



9:45 pm: It’s finally time for the Royal Rumble to get started! We start with two competitors in the ring with another being added every 90 seconds. We already know that the Miz will be the first competitor in the ring tonight.



9:49 pm: #2 - C.T. from the real world Paris.



9:50 pm: #2 - Alex Riley, the Miz’s former protégé.



9:52 pm: Well Riley didn’t make it 90 seconds. 29 left.



9:53 pm: #3 – R-Truth, it appears we’re watching an episode of This Is Your Life with guest the Miz. John Morrison next? Perhaps Coral?



9:57 pm: #4 Cody Rhodes, #5 Justin Gabriel, #6 Primo. R Truth was just tossed by the Miz. Looking like he might have a long stay in the Rumble tonight.



9:59 pm: #7 - Mic Foley!!! Primo falls victim to Foley. Glad to see WWE give a Hall of Famer like Foley another moment in the Rumble.



10:00 pm: #8 - Alberto Del Rio. Check that. It’s his ring announcer on his behalf, Ricardo Rodriguez. FYI, the Miz is currently watching the action from ringside, using one of the staple moves of the Royal Rumble, after going under the bottom rope and being “knocked out” by R-Truth.



10:02 pm: #9 – Santino. Right off the bat we get the epic showdown of Santino vs. Ricardo. Adios Ricardo.



10:04 pm: Cobra vs. Mr. Socko. Well played WWE. That’s two Mr. Socko references tonight. For those who took the over, congrats.



10:04 pm: #10 – Epico. Welcome and goodbye. Foley, Santino, Rhodes and Miz are still in the ring.



10:05 pm: Santino has been eliminated with Mic Foley right behind him...



10:06 pm: #11 – Kofi Kingston. Kingston wrestles under a Jamaican moniker but the announcers always make a point of saying he’s from South Africa. Tighten it up WWE



10:07 pm: #12 – Jerry “The King” Lawler.



10:08 pm: and the king is dead.



10:08 pm: #13 – Ezekiel Jackson, our first "larger than any human you will ever see in life" entry. Good to see WWE’s wellness program doing its job.



10:12 pm: #14 Jinder Mahal and #15 The Punjabi Playboy himself, The Great Khali. You can always count on one or two sets of rivals squaring off during the Rumble to set a storyline involving them going forward. I feel sorry for viewers of Smackdown who will get to see lots of Mahal vs. Khali going forward. Out goes Mahal with Jackson not far behind.



10:13 pm: #16 - Ludaco????? No reaction from the crowd at all. I can’t find anything on WWE’s website pertaining to him. For those of you reading, Ludaco came to the ring on a low rider bicycle along with his apparent tag team partner. You got to love the WWE, where racist stereotypes are still fair game.



10:15 pm: #17 – Booker T. So we’ve had a manager and two of our announcers among the first 17 competitors. I can’t imagine Michael Cole being far behind.



10:16 pm: I stand corrected, Kofi Kingston just pulled off the move of the night. While both feet need to touch the floor to be eliminated, Kingston just touched the floor with both hands. Kofi succeeded in walking across the floor on both hands and reached the ring stairs thus staying in the match. Not as impressive as John Morrison launching himself onto the barricade a year ago, but still noteworthy. We might need to get an official ruling from WWE, two hands equals one foot? God only knows about an elbow.



10:16 pm: #18 – Dolph Ziggler, making his second appearance of the night. WWE must be seriously short on talent right now.



10:17 pm: Somehow someone named Ludaco is still in the ring???!!!!



10:18 pm: #19 – Hacksaw Jim Dugan. Hooooooooo!!!!!!! With this being the 25^thanniversary of the Rumble, no surprise the first winner reappears to a round of USA cheers.



10:19 pm: Goodbye Hacksaw. The Great Khali and Booker T go out together shortly afterwards.



10:20 pm: #20 – Michael Cole. So the entire announcing team gains entry into tonight’s Rumble. This is sad.



10:21 pm: #21 – Kharma. She is the third female entry into the Rumble in WWE history. Kharma follows in the footsteps of Chyna and Beth Phoenix.



10:22 pm: Michael Cole just climbed over the top rope to avoid Kharma and his announcing partners did us all a favor by pulling him to the floor. It’s time to go back to announcing boys.



10:23 pm: Ludaco is finally knocked out by Kharma. We now know why someone named Ludaco was involved tonight; someone had to get thrown out by the woman entry. Dolph Ziggler show’s her the door immediately afterwards.



10:23 pm: #22 – Sheamus. Sheamus sends Kingston packing leaving the Miz, Ziggler, Rhodes and Sheamus in the ring.



10:24 pm: #23 – “The Road Dogg” Jesse James.



10:25 pm: Oh you didn’t know??!!!



10:25 pm: Your ass better call somebody!!! DX is in the house. The Road Dogg just pulled off an array of moves while the crowd serenated him with chants of “You Still Got It!!!”



10:26 pm: #24 – Jey Uso. Michael Cole just informed the audience the Uso is the son of Rikishi. I’m getting old. Also that makes two Mr. Socko and two Rikishi references. I’m also dating myself.



10:27 pm: #25 – Jack Swagger. The All-American American. I think it’s time to change Swagger’s gimmick. Perhaps make him the guy who has size and talent but drinks and parties rather than work hard at his craft so his career never advances. Seems like something he could pull off. A little life imitating art imitating life…



10:29 pm: #26 – Wade Barrett. Barrett sends the Road Dogg packing. The King – “Oh you didn’t know, it’s time to go.” Poetry King.



10:30 pm: #27 – David Otunga. Otunga’s WWE character is based 100 percent on his real life where he is a graduate of Harvard Law School and married to singer and actress Jennifer Hudson. Even if I didn’t have the internet to verify these things I’d have to believe them because no one in WWE’s creative department is smart enough to come up with that on their own. I’m looking at you Michael Hayes.



10:32 pm: #28 – The Legend Killer. The Viper. Randy Orton. On his way to the ring, Michael Cole reminded everyone at home that St. Louis, the host of tonight’s event, is the hometown of Orton. Whether it was Shaun Michael’s in San Antonio winning the iron man match or CM Punk winning the title in Chicago, the WWE loves bringing wrestlers to their hometown’s to pick up big wins.



10:33 pm: Orton makes quick work of Uso and Barrett. That leaves us with 9 wrestlers left tonight if I’m counting correctly.



10:34 pm: #29…the lights are out. BREAK THE WALLS DOWN!!! Y2J makes his return to WWE competition. Jericho sends Otunga packing. We have one more entrant into the Rumble tonight. I’m pumped hoping for a surprise here.



10:35 pm: #30 – The Big Show. Big disappointment. That makes two guys coming back from earlier matches to compete in the Rumble tonight. Show eliminates Swagger without even entering the ring. Big show then makes quick work of the Miz and Rhodes, knocking them out at the same time. Ziggler becomes Big Show’s next victim seconds later. Michael Cole tries to keep up and rattle off the Big Shows career number of combatants eliminated in the Royal Rumble. I’m pretty sure I heard 25 somewhere in there.



10:37 pm: We are down to the Final Four. Big Show, Chris Jericho, Sheamus and Orton. Nice mix of youth and veterans.



10:38 pm: To no one’s surprise, we get a triple team on Big Show. Orton manages to throw Big Show out on his own. Much to the crowd’s disappointment, Jericho throws Orton over the top rope after Big Show hits the floor.



10:39 pm: Y2J vs. Sheamus for a title shot at WrestleMania. I can see both of these wrestlers fighting for titles at WrestleMania this year. Best match ups being Y2J vs. CM Punk for the WWE Championship and perhaps a triple threat match between Sheamus, Randy Orton and Wade Barrett for the World Heavyweight Championship. Not likely, but I can hope. I can also hope that the action continues for 15 minutes or so much like the HBK vs. Undertaker conclusion to the 2007 Royal Rumble.


10:43 pm: Y2J showing why he may be the 2^ndbest athlete in WWE history behind HBK. Sheamus is doing more than holding his own as well. Both wrestlers alternate near eliminations. On a side note, I watched the WWE documentary Breaking the Code: Behind the Walls of Chris Jericho the other day. Definitely worth checking out even if you’re not Jericho fans.


10:45 pm: Sheamus is going to WrestleMania. With Jericho outside the ropes holding on, Sheamus used a Brogue Kick to send Jericho to the floor. For those who weren’t keeping track at home we had…8 entries that fall under the comic relief/old timers’ category, 1 female, 6 lower tier wrestlers, and 15 WWE Superstars. It won’t go down as the greatest night in WWE history but the Royal Rumble still remains one of the most compelling and exciting events in all of sports.