Hello again friends! Tomorrow night is the 1 night of the year where the WWE goes extreme! So with that here is my preview of WWE Extreme Rules 2011!
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio
As with just about all of the matches on this card this will most definitely be the blowoff here but not after a great series of matches from these 2! Cody Rhodes scored perhaps the win of his career by beating Rey Rey at WrestleMania while Rey Rey evened the score with a victory over Cody on the April 22nd edition of Smackdown in London England! So who wins this blowoff? Well even though Cody clearly needs the win more I'm going to go with Rey Rey to win this fight for 2 reasons. 1. Cody won at WrestleMania and 2. Rey always excels in Falls Count Anywhere Matches! Should be a great opening fight to get the crowd going early!
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Tag Team Country Whipping Match: Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jim Ross vs. Michael Cole and Jack Swagger
Believe it or not I am going to go on the record here and say that this fight right here will be the worst fight of the night! Why? Because King and Cole put on perhaps the worst match in the long and illustrious history of WrestleMania for 1! 2. Jim Ross is not a wrestler but then again neither is Michael Cole so that's a recipe for disaster there! But since I have to pick a winner here I am going with J.R. and The King to win this fight as I could see my friend Derek Ferreira's theory that Jack Swagger turns on Michael Cole becoming a reality and you know what now that I think about it I could actually see that happening!
Winners: Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jim Ross
Last Man Standing Match: Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
Last month at WrestleMania these 2 put on the 2nd best fight of the night that match was so good! This time around they just might do that again because as we all know Last Man Standing Matches in the WWE are absolutely positively crazy! Don't believe me look up Triple H vs. Randy Orton from the 2007 No Mercy and John Cena vs. Edge from the 2009 Backlash! Anyways with this being the blowoff for this feud I will go with the Viper to win this match because just like Falls Count Anywhere Matches are made for Rey Mysterio Last Man Standing Matches are made for Randy Orton! Oh by the way he won his 1st WWE Championship by defeating Triple H in this very match! Just saying!
Winner: Randy Orton
Ladder Match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship: Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio
Originally Alberto Del Rio was supposed to face Edge in a rematch from WrestleMania. However 3 weeks ago on Raw Edge made perhaps the most shocking announcement in WWE history when he was forced to announce his retirement while in his prime by the way due to a spinal injury! So because of that the World Heavyweight Championship became vacant for the 1st time since late 2004 early 2005! As a result of that Alberto Del Rio needed a new opponent to face at Extreme Rules in a Ladder Match! That opponent turned out to be Christian thanks to Christian winning a 20 man battle royal on the April 15th edition of Smackdown! OK last month at WrestleMania The Undertaker and Triple H not only put on the greatest match in the history of WrestleMania but they also put on the match of the year for WWE in 2011 thus far! However if there is 1 match that could top that 5 star instant classic this just may be the fight to do it! Why? Because Christian helped make the Ladder Match a household name for 1! Don't believe me just look up the 1st few TLC matches all of which were instant classics oh by the way and also look up his most recent ladder match against Shelton Benjamin for the ECW Championship at the 2009 TLC PPV! The Ladder Match for me is the most fun and entertaining of all the gimmick matches in WWE and I fully expect this 1 to steal the show and then some! So who wins? Well there's really only 1 way to go here and that is Alberto Del Rio got drafted to Raw last week while Christian did not and because all 3 participants in the match that I think will be the main event of this PPV are still all on Raw that would leave Smackdown without a World Champion if Del Rio should win but because the WWE Championship is already exclusive to Raw that will mean Captain Charisma should and will win this match after what I think will be the best fight of the night and then some and another contender for WWE match of the year for 2011!
Winner: Christian
No Count-Out, No Disqualification, Loser Leaves WWE Match: Layla vs. Michelle McCool
If the Tag Team Country Whipping Match wasn't on this card then I probably would've called this fight right here the worst fight of the night as usual. Now originally this was supposed to be a loser leaves Smackdown match but then this past Friday on Smackdown it was changed to a loser leaves WWE match! If the original stipulation had stuck then I easily would've gone with Michelle to win this fight! However with the recent rumors of Michelle McCool leaving WWE coming out that means I now have to go the other way! Meaning if these rumors are indeed true then Layla would have to win this match. Personally I hope that these rumors are not true because if they are then this would be a big blow to the divas division on Smackdown and WWE altogether. But since these rumors appear to be true then I guess have no choice but to go with Layla to win this fight!
Winner: Layla
Triple Threat Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship: The Miz vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison
Originally it was supposed to be Miz vs. Cena vs. R-Truth in this match. However that all changed on the April 18th edition of Raw in London England when John Morrison goaded R-Truth into putting his spot on the line in a match which Morrison won putting him in and Truth out! Because of that R-Truth turned heel by attacking Morrison after the match! Now on to this match! Miz has been champion for an impressive 5 months now which is a lot longer than what I originally expected but anyways! Cena made a vow that his match with The Rock at next year's WrestleMania 28 will be for the WWE Championship and for that to happen then Cena will have to win the belt and hold it all the way until April 1 2012! Morrison has never been WWE Champion and if he were to win it then that would certainly make up for having to team with Snooki at WrestleMania 27 need I say more? So who wins? Well to be quite honest I am just about the biggest Morrison mark there is and I would love nothing more than to see this talented, fun, and entertaining superstar finally get his moment in the sun and oh by the way if he does then I will mark out like a crazy man on my Tony Rant blog tomorrow night! But sadly I don't see that happening as I see R-Truth coming out and getting involved thus costing Morrison his moment in the sun. So that leaves Miz and Cena. Wow tough to call! But in the end I am going to go take a chance here and say that Miz's awesome title reign will continue just a little bit longer as I think he will find a way to win this match in what I think will be the 3rd best fight of the night!
Winner: The Miz
This looks like a very strong card as I expect the Christian/Del Rio Ladder Match to steal the show with the Orton/Punk Last Man Standing Match, the Triple Threat Steel Cage Match, and the Mysterio/Rhodes Falls Count Anywhere Match to be the highlights of the show! While sadly I expect the diva fight to be OK at best and the Tag Team Country Whipping Match to stink up the joint as the worst fight of the night! Also since there's only 6 matches on this card I wouldn't be surprised if WWE sneaks at least 1 impromptu match in there! Overall this PPV card is so strong that I could possibly see this PPV as the best WWE PPV of 2011 that is how good this card looks to me!
Well friends those are my predictions for Extreme Rules thanks so much for reading and be sure to join me on my brand new Tony Rant blogsite tomorrow night as I will give you my thoughts on Extreme Rules and also be sure to check out my buddy Derek Ferreira's YouTube channel (slb200809) tomorrow night as he will have a complete video recap of Extreme Rules as well and be sure to join me on this blog on Saturday May 14th as I will give you my predictions for the TNA Sacrifice PPV! So until then you know the routine everybody! Thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
2011 NBA Playoff Preview (Conference Semifinals)
Hello friends! Tomorrow the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs tips off and without further adu here are my thoughts on each of the 4 series and 1 quick note before I start and that is I will be going in order of when the 4 series start so with that let's kick it off with the 1st 2nd round series to tip off!
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
Wow who would've thought that this series was coming? Not me boy! But none the less these 2 will tip off the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs at 1PM tomorrow on ABC! The Thunder got here by beating the upstart Denver Nuggets in 5 games while the Grizzlies shocked the NBA world by becoming just the 4th #8 seed to defeat a #1 seed when they upset the top seeded San Antonio Spurs in 6 games! Right now the Grizzlies have the slight advantage going into this series as Memphis took the regular season series from Oklahoma City 3-1! But that was the regular season this is the postseason so the regular season stuff doesn't really mean that much in my opinion! So despite Memphis winning the regular season series I like the Oklahoma City Thunder to win this series in 5 games as I fully expect Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to be the 2 headed monster that they've been all season long! The only way Memphis can pull the upset here is for them to do what they did against the San Antonio Spurs and that is win at least a game or 2 in Oklahoma City and if they do then they just may have a realistic chance to pull off another upset! But in all honesty I don't really see that happening as I think the Thunder are just too talented a team and with San Antonio now out of this postseason the road to the NBA Finals just got a little bit easier for the Thunder and if they should to get to the Western Conference Finals then the winner of the Dallas/Laker series will literally have their work cut out for them but don't sleep on this talented group of Grizzlies as this team could be to this year what the New York Knicks were to 1999 - a #8 seed that reached the NBA Finals! Just saying!
Winners: Oklahoma City Thunder 4 games to 1
(2) Miami Heat vs. (3) Boston Celtics
Before I give you my pick for this series let me just go on the record here and say that this just may be the most anticipated series in NBA Playoff history! Why? Well it's only the original big 3 (Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett) vs. the new big 3 (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) Now on to the preview! The Celtics got here by making quick work of the new and improved New York Knicks by sweeping them 4 straight which was very surprising to me because I had that series going 7 but anyways! The Heat got here by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in 5 games! Boston won the regular season series from Miami 3-1 including an 8 point win on opening night! So who wins this series? Well let me just say that the Heat need the win more in order for them to prove themselves and keep their championship dreams alive because remember what I said in my 1st round preview blog - anything short of a championship for the Miami Heat this year will deem their season a complete and utter failure! Which is exactly what the Heat's season will be as I like Boston to win this series in 6 games as I expect not only a big series from the C's big 3 but I also expect a big series from the X factor of this series Rajon Rondo aka the Triple Double Machine! Because aside from the big 3 who else does Miami have to beat the Celtics in this series? Nobody! Boston is just too good and too experienced and that is why I like them to win this series in 6 games but I wouldn't be surprised if this series went 7 but then again I thought the Celtics series with the Knicks was going to go 7 and look how that series turned out!
Winners: Boston Celtics 4 games to 2
(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
So far so good for da Bulls because despite getting tested by the chippy Indiana Pacers the Bulls still managed to make quick work of the Pacers as they took them out in 5 games! Meanwhile the Atlanta Hawks pulled what I consider the upset of the East so far by taking down the Orlando Magic in 6 games! Chicago won the regular season series 2-1 but would've swept the regular season series had they not blown a 17 point lead in Atlanta in their 1st meeting this season! So who wins? Well even though the Hawks will give the Bulls fits like the Pacers did I still like Chicago to win this series in 5 games as I expect the future MVP Derrick Rose to have another big series and I also expect a bounceback series for Carlos Boozer as he really didn't do much against Indiana in that series! Also expect Kyle Korver to continue his clutchlike 3 point shooting and for Joakim Noah to have a double double or 2 as well! Now even though Atlanta has some good talent in Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford I just don't think that they can overpower Chicago enough to win this series! Case and point Chicago just has too many weapons for Atlanta to overcome!
Winners: Chicago Bulls 4 games to 1
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks
With the top seeded San Antonio Spurs now out of the mix the road to a 3rd straight NBA title for the Lakers just got a little easier! However this upcoming series won't be! But before I get to my pick for this series let me break it down for you! The Lakers advanced by defeating the New Orleans Hornets in 6 games while the Mavs were in a 6 game dogfight of their own with the Portland Trail Blazers before finally outlasting them! The Lakers won the regular season series from Dallas 2-1! So who wins? Well I like the Lakers to win this series in 6 games as I expect Kobe Bryant to have a big series like he always does but I also expect his band of merry men from Pau Gasol to Lamar Odom to Ron Artest to Derek Fisher to Shannon Brown to all have big series as well! I guess what I'm trying to say is the Lakers are just too good and too complete of a team for Dallas to overcome! Now while the Mavs have Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd who else does Dallas have to beat the 2 time defending champs? Eh nobody!
Winners: Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2
Overall I am looking forward to this 2nd round of NBA Playoff action! I fully expect the Celtics/Heat and Mavs/Lakers to garner all of the headlines as they should and will steal the show! While the Grizzlies/Thunder and Hawks/Bulls series should be good but not as great as the other 2 series will be!
Well friends those are my thoughts on the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs! Thanks for reading and I'll be back in just a moment with my preview of tomorrow night's WWE Extreme Rules PPV! So until then bye bye for now and I'll see you in just a short short!
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
Wow who would've thought that this series was coming? Not me boy! But none the less these 2 will tip off the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs at 1PM tomorrow on ABC! The Thunder got here by beating the upstart Denver Nuggets in 5 games while the Grizzlies shocked the NBA world by becoming just the 4th #8 seed to defeat a #1 seed when they upset the top seeded San Antonio Spurs in 6 games! Right now the Grizzlies have the slight advantage going into this series as Memphis took the regular season series from Oklahoma City 3-1! But that was the regular season this is the postseason so the regular season stuff doesn't really mean that much in my opinion! So despite Memphis winning the regular season series I like the Oklahoma City Thunder to win this series in 5 games as I fully expect Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to be the 2 headed monster that they've been all season long! The only way Memphis can pull the upset here is for them to do what they did against the San Antonio Spurs and that is win at least a game or 2 in Oklahoma City and if they do then they just may have a realistic chance to pull off another upset! But in all honesty I don't really see that happening as I think the Thunder are just too talented a team and with San Antonio now out of this postseason the road to the NBA Finals just got a little bit easier for the Thunder and if they should to get to the Western Conference Finals then the winner of the Dallas/Laker series will literally have their work cut out for them but don't sleep on this talented group of Grizzlies as this team could be to this year what the New York Knicks were to 1999 - a #8 seed that reached the NBA Finals! Just saying!
Winners: Oklahoma City Thunder 4 games to 1
(2) Miami Heat vs. (3) Boston Celtics
Before I give you my pick for this series let me just go on the record here and say that this just may be the most anticipated series in NBA Playoff history! Why? Well it's only the original big 3 (Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett) vs. the new big 3 (LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) Now on to the preview! The Celtics got here by making quick work of the new and improved New York Knicks by sweeping them 4 straight which was very surprising to me because I had that series going 7 but anyways! The Heat got here by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in 5 games! Boston won the regular season series from Miami 3-1 including an 8 point win on opening night! So who wins this series? Well let me just say that the Heat need the win more in order for them to prove themselves and keep their championship dreams alive because remember what I said in my 1st round preview blog - anything short of a championship for the Miami Heat this year will deem their season a complete and utter failure! Which is exactly what the Heat's season will be as I like Boston to win this series in 6 games as I expect not only a big series from the C's big 3 but I also expect a big series from the X factor of this series Rajon Rondo aka the Triple Double Machine! Because aside from the big 3 who else does Miami have to beat the Celtics in this series? Nobody! Boston is just too good and too experienced and that is why I like them to win this series in 6 games but I wouldn't be surprised if this series went 7 but then again I thought the Celtics series with the Knicks was going to go 7 and look how that series turned out!
Winners: Boston Celtics 4 games to 2
(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
So far so good for da Bulls because despite getting tested by the chippy Indiana Pacers the Bulls still managed to make quick work of the Pacers as they took them out in 5 games! Meanwhile the Atlanta Hawks pulled what I consider the upset of the East so far by taking down the Orlando Magic in 6 games! Chicago won the regular season series 2-1 but would've swept the regular season series had they not blown a 17 point lead in Atlanta in their 1st meeting this season! So who wins? Well even though the Hawks will give the Bulls fits like the Pacers did I still like Chicago to win this series in 5 games as I expect the future MVP Derrick Rose to have another big series and I also expect a bounceback series for Carlos Boozer as he really didn't do much against Indiana in that series! Also expect Kyle Korver to continue his clutchlike 3 point shooting and for Joakim Noah to have a double double or 2 as well! Now even though Atlanta has some good talent in Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford I just don't think that they can overpower Chicago enough to win this series! Case and point Chicago just has too many weapons for Atlanta to overcome!
Winners: Chicago Bulls 4 games to 1
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Dallas Mavericks
With the top seeded San Antonio Spurs now out of the mix the road to a 3rd straight NBA title for the Lakers just got a little easier! However this upcoming series won't be! But before I get to my pick for this series let me break it down for you! The Lakers advanced by defeating the New Orleans Hornets in 6 games while the Mavs were in a 6 game dogfight of their own with the Portland Trail Blazers before finally outlasting them! The Lakers won the regular season series from Dallas 2-1! So who wins? Well I like the Lakers to win this series in 6 games as I expect Kobe Bryant to have a big series like he always does but I also expect his band of merry men from Pau Gasol to Lamar Odom to Ron Artest to Derek Fisher to Shannon Brown to all have big series as well! I guess what I'm trying to say is the Lakers are just too good and too complete of a team for Dallas to overcome! Now while the Mavs have Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, and Jason Kidd who else does Dallas have to beat the 2 time defending champs? Eh nobody!
Winners: Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 2
Overall I am looking forward to this 2nd round of NBA Playoff action! I fully expect the Celtics/Heat and Mavs/Lakers to garner all of the headlines as they should and will steal the show! While the Grizzlies/Thunder and Hawks/Bulls series should be good but not as great as the other 2 series will be!
Well friends those are my thoughts on the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs! Thanks for reading and I'll be back in just a moment with my preview of tomorrow night's WWE Extreme Rules PPV! So until then bye bye for now and I'll see you in just a short short!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Preview (Conference Semifinals)
Hello friends! After 1 of the most exciting and dramatic 1st rounds in Stanley Cup Playoff history it is now on to the Conference Semifinals! 1 quick note before I start and that is I will be previewing each series in the order in which each series will start! So with that let's start with the series that will kick off Round 2 tomorrow night!
(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) Nashville Predators
After being eliminated by the Chicago Blackhawks each of the last 2 years the Canucks finally got that monkey off their back with an exciting and dramatic 2-1 OT victory in Game 7! Meanwhile the Nashville Predators made franchise history by winning their 1st ever Stanley Cup Playoff series by defeating the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games! Both teams split the season series 2-2. So who wins? Well I think that it's going to be a pretty good series for the most part but in the end I like Vancouver to win this series in 6 games as I expect the Sedin twins to have a big series as well as Roberto Luongo to bounce back from an average performance against Chicago!
Winners: Vancouver Canucks 4 games to 2
(1) Washington Capitals vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning
For the 2nd time in 3 years the Caps took care of business against the upstart New York Rangers winning the series in 5 games! Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Lightning came back from a 3-1 series deficit against a Pittsburgh Penguin team that was without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for their 1st playoff series win since winning their only Stanley Cup title in 2004! Washington dominated the regular season series against their division rivals 4-1-1! So who wins? Well to be honest I'm torn because my gut tells me to go with Washington but my heart tells me to go with Tampa to pull off another upset! Damn this 1 is tough but in the end I'm going to go with Washington to win this series in 7 games but watch out for Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson who is 6-0 all time in elimination games but I think that Ove (Alexander Ovechkin) and his band of merry men have too many more weapons than the big 3 of Tampa Bay (Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier) along with some very good goaltending from Michal Neuvirth!
Winners: Washington Capitals 4 games to 3
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings
Of the 2 Western Semifinals series I am looking more forward to this series as this will be the 2nd straight year that these 2 Western powers will be meeting in the Conference Semis! San Jose was tested quite a bit by their division rivals the LA Kings but still managed to win that series in 6 games! Meanwhile the Red Wings will have had 9 days of rest going into Friday night's Game 1 as a result of their dominating 4 game sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes! This for me is another very tough series to call because both of these teams are scary and crazy good! To be honest San Jose needs to win this series more because they are in my opinion the best team without a Stanley Cup title and a loss to Detroit will keep that burden on their back for at least another year! While Detroit is looking for pay back on the Sharks as they were beaten by San Jose in this round last year in 5 games! San Jose won the regular season series 3-1 which going into this series gives them the slight advantage! Both teams are loaded with offensive weapons with Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau, Devin Setoguchi, and Joe Pavelski leading the way for San Jose while Detroit counters with their veterans Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, offseason acquisition Mike Modano, and possibly could have Henrik Zetterberg back in their lineup as he did not play in the Phoenix series due to injury. San Jose has last year's playoff hero for Chicago Antii Niemi in goal while Detroit counters with Jimmy Howard! Very tough series to call but in the end I am going to go with Detroit to win this series in 7 hard fought games but I would not be surprised if San Jose wins this series but right now I have to go with the veteran and more experienced team!
Winners: Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 3
(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3) Boston Bruins
Before I get to my prediction for this series let me just give you some quick stats here! Philly overcame a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Buffalo Sabres in 7 games and in the process became the 1st team since the 1988 Detroit Red Wings to win a series using 3 different goalies (Brian Boucher, Michael Leighton, and Sergei Bobrovsky) while Boston overcame a 2-0 series deficit for the 1st time in franchise history to outlast their hated rivals the Montreal Canadiens in 1 of the greatest 7 game Playoff series you will ever see despite going 0-21 on the Power Play! Although I am looking forward to all 4 semifinal series this is the series that I am most looking forward to for so many reasons! 1. Boston will be looking for some big time payback against the Fly guys for Philly pulling off 1 of the most epic comebacks in Playoff history by overcoming a 3-0 series deficit and a 3-0 score deficit in Game 7 in Boston oh by the way! 2. Both teams are so evenly matched on the offensive side as Philly is led by Daniel Briere, Claude Giroux, Jeff Carter, and Scott Hartnell while Boston is led by Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and the wily veteran Mark Recchi! As of now I would give the slight advantage to Boston because they won the regular season series 3-0-1! To me this is without question the toughest series for me to call! So who wins? Good question I don't know! But if I'm going to pick a winner here I will go with Boston to win this series in 7 hard fought games as I think Tim Thomas will have another monster series like he did against Montreal while Philly's goaltending will be their downfall mainly because they have 3 goalies and in my opinion 1 goalie is better than 3!
Winners: Boston Bruins 4 games to 3
Overall I am very much looking forward to Round 2 of these Stanley Cup Playoffs as I think that the Philly/Boston series will be the show stealer while San Jose and Detroit should be just as fun and entertaining while the Vancouver/Nashville and Washington/Tampa Bay series should be pretty good for the most part!
Well friends those are my thoughts on the Conference Semifinals thanks so much for reading and be sure to join me back here on Saturday night as I will not only have my predictions for Sunday's WWE Extreme Rules PPV but I might also have my predictions for the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs as well so stay tuned for that! So until then you know the routine everybody! Thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) Nashville Predators
After being eliminated by the Chicago Blackhawks each of the last 2 years the Canucks finally got that monkey off their back with an exciting and dramatic 2-1 OT victory in Game 7! Meanwhile the Nashville Predators made franchise history by winning their 1st ever Stanley Cup Playoff series by defeating the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games! Both teams split the season series 2-2. So who wins? Well I think that it's going to be a pretty good series for the most part but in the end I like Vancouver to win this series in 6 games as I expect the Sedin twins to have a big series as well as Roberto Luongo to bounce back from an average performance against Chicago!
Winners: Vancouver Canucks 4 games to 2
(1) Washington Capitals vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning
For the 2nd time in 3 years the Caps took care of business against the upstart New York Rangers winning the series in 5 games! Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Lightning came back from a 3-1 series deficit against a Pittsburgh Penguin team that was without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin for their 1st playoff series win since winning their only Stanley Cup title in 2004! Washington dominated the regular season series against their division rivals 4-1-1! So who wins? Well to be honest I'm torn because my gut tells me to go with Washington but my heart tells me to go with Tampa to pull off another upset! Damn this 1 is tough but in the end I'm going to go with Washington to win this series in 7 games but watch out for Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson who is 6-0 all time in elimination games but I think that Ove (Alexander Ovechkin) and his band of merry men have too many more weapons than the big 3 of Tampa Bay (Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier) along with some very good goaltending from Michal Neuvirth!
Winners: Washington Capitals 4 games to 3
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings
Of the 2 Western Semifinals series I am looking more forward to this series as this will be the 2nd straight year that these 2 Western powers will be meeting in the Conference Semis! San Jose was tested quite a bit by their division rivals the LA Kings but still managed to win that series in 6 games! Meanwhile the Red Wings will have had 9 days of rest going into Friday night's Game 1 as a result of their dominating 4 game sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes! This for me is another very tough series to call because both of these teams are scary and crazy good! To be honest San Jose needs to win this series more because they are in my opinion the best team without a Stanley Cup title and a loss to Detroit will keep that burden on their back for at least another year! While Detroit is looking for pay back on the Sharks as they were beaten by San Jose in this round last year in 5 games! San Jose won the regular season series 3-1 which going into this series gives them the slight advantage! Both teams are loaded with offensive weapons with Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau, Devin Setoguchi, and Joe Pavelski leading the way for San Jose while Detroit counters with their veterans Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom, Johan Franzen, offseason acquisition Mike Modano, and possibly could have Henrik Zetterberg back in their lineup as he did not play in the Phoenix series due to injury. San Jose has last year's playoff hero for Chicago Antii Niemi in goal while Detroit counters with Jimmy Howard! Very tough series to call but in the end I am going to go with Detroit to win this series in 7 hard fought games but I would not be surprised if San Jose wins this series but right now I have to go with the veteran and more experienced team!
Winners: Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 3
(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3) Boston Bruins
Before I get to my prediction for this series let me just give you some quick stats here! Philly overcame a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Buffalo Sabres in 7 games and in the process became the 1st team since the 1988 Detroit Red Wings to win a series using 3 different goalies (Brian Boucher, Michael Leighton, and Sergei Bobrovsky) while Boston overcame a 2-0 series deficit for the 1st time in franchise history to outlast their hated rivals the Montreal Canadiens in 1 of the greatest 7 game Playoff series you will ever see despite going 0-21 on the Power Play! Although I am looking forward to all 4 semifinal series this is the series that I am most looking forward to for so many reasons! 1. Boston will be looking for some big time payback against the Fly guys for Philly pulling off 1 of the most epic comebacks in Playoff history by overcoming a 3-0 series deficit and a 3-0 score deficit in Game 7 in Boston oh by the way! 2. Both teams are so evenly matched on the offensive side as Philly is led by Daniel Briere, Claude Giroux, Jeff Carter, and Scott Hartnell while Boston is led by Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic, David Krejci, and the wily veteran Mark Recchi! As of now I would give the slight advantage to Boston because they won the regular season series 3-0-1! To me this is without question the toughest series for me to call! So who wins? Good question I don't know! But if I'm going to pick a winner here I will go with Boston to win this series in 7 hard fought games as I think Tim Thomas will have another monster series like he did against Montreal while Philly's goaltending will be their downfall mainly because they have 3 goalies and in my opinion 1 goalie is better than 3!
Winners: Boston Bruins 4 games to 3
Overall I am very much looking forward to Round 2 of these Stanley Cup Playoffs as I think that the Philly/Boston series will be the show stealer while San Jose and Detroit should be just as fun and entertaining while the Vancouver/Nashville and Washington/Tampa Bay series should be pretty good for the most part!
Well friends those are my thoughts on the Conference Semifinals thanks so much for reading and be sure to join me back here on Saturday night as I will not only have my predictions for Sunday's WWE Extreme Rules PPV but I might also have my predictions for the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs as well so stay tuned for that! So until then you know the routine everybody! Thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
TNA Lockdown 2011 Predictions
Hello friends! Here are my predictions for TNA Wrestling's all steel cage PPV Lockdown!
Xscape Match: Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Robbie E vs. Suicide
Should be a fun and exciting spotfest opener! Very tough match to call but in the end I'll go with Jay Lethal based on experience!
Winner: Jay Lethal
4 Way Tornado Tag Team Match: The British Invasion vs. Crimson and Scott Steiner vs. Eric Young and Orlando Jordan vs. Ink Inc.
Not really looking forward to this match if I'm being honest as I think it will be your basic throwaway Impact match. But since I have to pick a winner here I'll go with the hot hand team out of these 4 right now.
Winners: Ink Inc.
Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez
Hopefully this will be the blowoff match for this feud because I have honestly not enjoyed it but since Hernandez and his new stable have been getting the best of Morgan as of late I'll go with the Blueprint to get his revenge in what should be an OK fight.
Winner: Matt Morgan
Samoa Joe vs. D'Angelo Dinero
Like the Morgan/Hernandez feud this is another feud that has been really pointless and unnecessary but since I have to pick a winner I'll go with Joe here since Pope won last month.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Title vs. Hair Match for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship: Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James
OK so if Mickie loses she gets her head shaved? Uh no not going to happen because this is finally going to be the night that Mickie James wins the TNA Women's Knockout Championship as I expect her to beat Madison in what will hopefully be a very good match but I got a bad feeling it will be a bad TV fight at best hope I'm wrong though!
Winner: Mickie James
"Ultra Male Rules" 2 out of 3 falls match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle
OK the 1st fall is pinfalls only, the 2nd fall is submissions only, and the 3rd and deciding fall is escape the cage. Now I am going on the record right now and I predict that this fight right here will be the fight of the night! Why? Because at last year's Lockdown Kurt Angle fought Mr. Anderson in 1 of the greatest cage matches in TNA history and I don't expect this to be any different. Like so many other matches on this card I am fully expecting this to be the blowoff right here and after all the weeks of Jeff Jarrett getting the best of Kurt Angle I am going with Kurt Angle to finally get his revenge on Jarrett in what should be an early contender for TNA match of the year for 2011!
Winner: Kurt Angle
Lethal Lockdown Match: Immortal (Ric Flair, Abyss, Bully Ray, and Matt Hardy) vs. Fortune (James Storm, Kazarian, Robert Roode, and Christopher Daniels)
To be quite honest I thought the Lethal Lockdown Match was going to be Team Jarrett vs. Team Angle but oh well it is what it is I guess. Anyways I expect this to be the typical Lethal Lockdown fight with the face team winning because every time the heel team gains the man advantage the face team almost always wins and once again I expect that to be the case! Oh by the way watch out for AJ Styles to return during this fight you heard it here first! Just saying!
Winners: Fortune
3 Way Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Sting vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Mr. Anderson
OK friends get ready for another you heard it here first moment because I am fully expecting 1 of these 3 uber faces to turn heel and join Immortal! So which 1 is it? The 1 that nobody expected that's all and oh by the way I also have him winning this match as well!
Winner: Sting
Overall it looks like a middle of the road PPV. The 3 main events should and will steal the show! Well friends those are my picks for Lockdown thanks so much for reading and I'll be back on this blogsite in 2 weeks when I give you my predictions for the WWE Extreme Rules PPV! Be sure to head over to my new Tony Rant blogsite as I will have my thoughts on tomorrow's event and also check out my buddy Derek Ferreira's YouTube channel (slb200809) as he will have a video recap of tomorrow night's event as well! So until then you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
Xscape Match: Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Robbie E vs. Suicide
Should be a fun and exciting spotfest opener! Very tough match to call but in the end I'll go with Jay Lethal based on experience!
Winner: Jay Lethal
4 Way Tornado Tag Team Match: The British Invasion vs. Crimson and Scott Steiner vs. Eric Young and Orlando Jordan vs. Ink Inc.
Not really looking forward to this match if I'm being honest as I think it will be your basic throwaway Impact match. But since I have to pick a winner here I'll go with the hot hand team out of these 4 right now.
Winners: Ink Inc.
Matt Morgan vs. Hernandez
Hopefully this will be the blowoff match for this feud because I have honestly not enjoyed it but since Hernandez and his new stable have been getting the best of Morgan as of late I'll go with the Blueprint to get his revenge in what should be an OK fight.
Winner: Matt Morgan
Samoa Joe vs. D'Angelo Dinero
Like the Morgan/Hernandez feud this is another feud that has been really pointless and unnecessary but since I have to pick a winner I'll go with Joe here since Pope won last month.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Title vs. Hair Match for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship: Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James
OK so if Mickie loses she gets her head shaved? Uh no not going to happen because this is finally going to be the night that Mickie James wins the TNA Women's Knockout Championship as I expect her to beat Madison in what will hopefully be a very good match but I got a bad feeling it will be a bad TV fight at best hope I'm wrong though!
Winner: Mickie James
"Ultra Male Rules" 2 out of 3 falls match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle
OK the 1st fall is pinfalls only, the 2nd fall is submissions only, and the 3rd and deciding fall is escape the cage. Now I am going on the record right now and I predict that this fight right here will be the fight of the night! Why? Because at last year's Lockdown Kurt Angle fought Mr. Anderson in 1 of the greatest cage matches in TNA history and I don't expect this to be any different. Like so many other matches on this card I am fully expecting this to be the blowoff right here and after all the weeks of Jeff Jarrett getting the best of Kurt Angle I am going with Kurt Angle to finally get his revenge on Jarrett in what should be an early contender for TNA match of the year for 2011!
Winner: Kurt Angle
Lethal Lockdown Match: Immortal (Ric Flair, Abyss, Bully Ray, and Matt Hardy) vs. Fortune (James Storm, Kazarian, Robert Roode, and Christopher Daniels)
To be quite honest I thought the Lethal Lockdown Match was going to be Team Jarrett vs. Team Angle but oh well it is what it is I guess. Anyways I expect this to be the typical Lethal Lockdown fight with the face team winning because every time the heel team gains the man advantage the face team almost always wins and once again I expect that to be the case! Oh by the way watch out for AJ Styles to return during this fight you heard it here first! Just saying!
Winners: Fortune
3 Way Match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship: Sting vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Mr. Anderson
OK friends get ready for another you heard it here first moment because I am fully expecting 1 of these 3 uber faces to turn heel and join Immortal! So which 1 is it? The 1 that nobody expected that's all and oh by the way I also have him winning this match as well!
Winner: Sting
Overall it looks like a middle of the road PPV. The 3 main events should and will steal the show! Well friends those are my picks for Lockdown thanks so much for reading and I'll be back on this blogsite in 2 weeks when I give you my predictions for the WWE Extreme Rules PPV! Be sure to head over to my new Tony Rant blogsite as I will have my thoughts on tomorrow's event and also check out my buddy Derek Ferreira's YouTube channel (slb200809) as he will have a video recap of tomorrow night's event as well! So until then you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
| Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Robbie E vs. Suicide | Xscape match | |||
| Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Robbie E vs. Suicide | Xscape match | |||
| Amazing Red vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Chris Sabin vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck vs. Robbie E vs. Suicide | Xscape match | |||
Friday, April 15, 2011
2011 NBA Playoff Preview Part 2 (Western Conference 1st Round)
Hello again friends! As promised here is the conclusion to my 2 part NBA Playoff preview as I preview the 1st round matchups in the Western Conference!
(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
On Wednesday night the Spurs lost 1 of their 3 best players when Manu Ginobli went down with an arm injury and without Ginobli the Spurs could be in big trouble in this series and beyond! However his status is day to day right now and if Ginobli can play then the Spurs will be just fine! Memphis on the other hand is 1 of the best young teams in the NBA today and if Zach Randolph can be the double double machine he has been throughout this season then the Grizzlies will be primed for a huge upset! Believe it or not this is a tough to series for me to call because my gut is telling me to go with San Antonio while my heart is telling me to go with Memphis for the upset! But in the end I am going to go with my gut and say that San Antonio will win this series in 6 games because San Antonio has too much experience to lose this series whereas the Grizzlies don't really have much postseason experience! I do however see Memphis stealing a game or 2 in Memphis but if they can steal 1 in San Antonio then the Grizzlies have a chance but for right now I'm going with San Antonio in 6!
Winners: San Antonio Spurs 4 games to 2
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Denver Nuggets
OK what the Knicks/Celtics series is to the East this series is to the West and that is the most compelling and intriguing series of the 1st round! Oklahoma City has the league's leading scorer and in my opinion 1 of the most fun players to watch in Kevin Durant and another dynamic and fun player to watch in Russell Westbrook! Those 2 players along with a handful of others make the Oklahoma City Thunder 1 of the most fun teams to watch in the NBA today and in all honesty 1 of my favorite teams to watch as well and I am extremely looking forward to watching this team in the playoffs! As a matter of fact my partner in crime Mike Flecha has once again gone on the record and has said that he has the Oklahoma City Thunder facing the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals and if that should indeed be the Finals matchup then I will have an absolute ball watching those 2 fun and exciting teams go at it for the Larry O'Brien trophy this June! Denver on the other hand has played very well ever since they traded Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks! In fact I think that Denver is a better team without Melo and that's why they have played so well as of late! However in the end I like Oklahoma City to win this series in at least 6 maybe 7 but make no mistake about it friends this should be 1 heck of a series to watch and I look forward to watching these 2 go at it in the 1st round!
Winners: Oklahoma City Thunder 4 games to 3
(3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers
Once again my partner in crime Mike Flecha has gone on the record and has said that Portland could pull the upset here that is how good Portland is! However I am going to slightly disagree with my best buddy and go with Dallas to win this series in 7 as I think that they are due for a playoff run based on their past experience! Now I know Dallas has lost in the 1st round in 3 of the last 4 years and that's probably why Mr. Flecha is going with Portland but Portland hasn't won a playoff series since 2000 and that's 1 of the reasons why I like Dallas to win this series! The other reason is because of Dallas's dynamic duo of Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry! Now while Portland has LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, and trade deadline acquisition Gerald Wallace I just think that Dallas is just a smidgen better than Portland sorry to say!
Winners: Dallas Mavericks 4 games to 3
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
The $1,000,000 question heading into this year's NBA Playoffs is can the LA Lakers pull the 3 peat? Well you can certainly make the argument that they can because they have the best player in the game today in Kobe Bryant, a loaded roster that includes Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Shannon Brown, and Andrew Bynum along with the greatest coach of all time in Phil Jackson. However the other big question is can Andrew Bynum stay healthy? Because if Bynum is healthy the Lakers just may be the team to beat yet again. However if Bynum is hurt in any way shape or form then the Lakers run for a 3 peat just might be in Jeopardy! Now let's not sleep on New Orleans because they have 1 of the best point guards in the game today in Chris Paul! But other than Paul who does New Orleans really have to beat the champs? Nobody! So with that I like the Lakers to win this series in 5 games as I think New Orleans could steal a game in New Orleans but Kobe and the rest of the bunch will be too much for the Hornets to overcome!
Winners: Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1
Well friends that concludes my NBA Playoff preview thanks so much for reading along and I will be back tomorrow night with my predictions for TNA Wrestling's all steel cage PPV Lockdown! So until then you know the routine my friends thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
On Wednesday night the Spurs lost 1 of their 3 best players when Manu Ginobli went down with an arm injury and without Ginobli the Spurs could be in big trouble in this series and beyond! However his status is day to day right now and if Ginobli can play then the Spurs will be just fine! Memphis on the other hand is 1 of the best young teams in the NBA today and if Zach Randolph can be the double double machine he has been throughout this season then the Grizzlies will be primed for a huge upset! Believe it or not this is a tough to series for me to call because my gut is telling me to go with San Antonio while my heart is telling me to go with Memphis for the upset! But in the end I am going to go with my gut and say that San Antonio will win this series in 6 games because San Antonio has too much experience to lose this series whereas the Grizzlies don't really have much postseason experience! I do however see Memphis stealing a game or 2 in Memphis but if they can steal 1 in San Antonio then the Grizzlies have a chance but for right now I'm going with San Antonio in 6!
Winners: San Antonio Spurs 4 games to 2
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Denver Nuggets
OK what the Knicks/Celtics series is to the East this series is to the West and that is the most compelling and intriguing series of the 1st round! Oklahoma City has the league's leading scorer and in my opinion 1 of the most fun players to watch in Kevin Durant and another dynamic and fun player to watch in Russell Westbrook! Those 2 players along with a handful of others make the Oklahoma City Thunder 1 of the most fun teams to watch in the NBA today and in all honesty 1 of my favorite teams to watch as well and I am extremely looking forward to watching this team in the playoffs! As a matter of fact my partner in crime Mike Flecha has once again gone on the record and has said that he has the Oklahoma City Thunder facing the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals and if that should indeed be the Finals matchup then I will have an absolute ball watching those 2 fun and exciting teams go at it for the Larry O'Brien trophy this June! Denver on the other hand has played very well ever since they traded Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks! In fact I think that Denver is a better team without Melo and that's why they have played so well as of late! However in the end I like Oklahoma City to win this series in at least 6 maybe 7 but make no mistake about it friends this should be 1 heck of a series to watch and I look forward to watching these 2 go at it in the 1st round!
Winners: Oklahoma City Thunder 4 games to 3
(3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers
Once again my partner in crime Mike Flecha has gone on the record and has said that Portland could pull the upset here that is how good Portland is! However I am going to slightly disagree with my best buddy and go with Dallas to win this series in 7 as I think that they are due for a playoff run based on their past experience! Now I know Dallas has lost in the 1st round in 3 of the last 4 years and that's probably why Mr. Flecha is going with Portland but Portland hasn't won a playoff series since 2000 and that's 1 of the reasons why I like Dallas to win this series! The other reason is because of Dallas's dynamic duo of Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry! Now while Portland has LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez, and trade deadline acquisition Gerald Wallace I just think that Dallas is just a smidgen better than Portland sorry to say!
Winners: Dallas Mavericks 4 games to 3
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
The $1,000,000 question heading into this year's NBA Playoffs is can the LA Lakers pull the 3 peat? Well you can certainly make the argument that they can because they have the best player in the game today in Kobe Bryant, a loaded roster that includes Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Shannon Brown, and Andrew Bynum along with the greatest coach of all time in Phil Jackson. However the other big question is can Andrew Bynum stay healthy? Because if Bynum is healthy the Lakers just may be the team to beat yet again. However if Bynum is hurt in any way shape or form then the Lakers run for a 3 peat just might be in Jeopardy! Now let's not sleep on New Orleans because they have 1 of the best point guards in the game today in Chris Paul! But other than Paul who does New Orleans really have to beat the champs? Nobody! So with that I like the Lakers to win this series in 5 games as I think New Orleans could steal a game in New Orleans but Kobe and the rest of the bunch will be too much for the Hornets to overcome!
Winners: Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 1
Well friends that concludes my NBA Playoff preview thanks so much for reading along and I will be back tomorrow night with my predictions for TNA Wrestling's all steel cage PPV Lockdown! So until then you know the routine my friends thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
2011 NBA Playoff Preview Part 1 (Eastern Conference 1st Round)
Hello friends! Just like I did the other night with the Stanley Cup Playoffs I am going to post a 2 part preview blog previewing the 1st round of the NBA Playoffs! So with that here's part 1 of the NBA Playoff preview with my preview of the Eastern Conference 1st round matchups!
(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Indiana Pacers
For the 1st time since the 1996-1997 season the Bulls own the outright best record in the NBA and oh by the way they went on to win the NBA Championship that year! Now in 1997-1998 they finished tied with the Utah Jazz for the league's best record however Utah had the tiebreaker by winning the head to head with Chicago that year but the Bulls still won the NBA Championship that year! Now on to this year's team which bolsters the league's MVP (in my opinion) in Derrick Rose, the Coach of The Year (in my opinion) in Tom Thibodeau, and the big offseason acquisition in Carlos Boozer! For the 1st time in all these years Bulls fans have a reason to be excited because this Bulls team has a realistic chance to reach the NBA Finals they are that good! As a matter of fact my partner in crime Mike Flecha has already gone on the record and said that he has the Bulls going to the NBA Finals! Now before I give my pick let me just say that I am not expecting a 7 game instant classic like these 2 teams had back in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals. Why? Because Chicago is going to win this series in 5 games because I could honestly see Indiana win a game in Indiana but it will be all D-Rose all the time for da Bulls!
Winners: Chicago Bulls 4 games to 1
(4) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
This is a rematch of last year's 2nd round series when Orlando swept the Hawks 4 straight and winning each game by an average of 25.3 Points Per Game! Talk about a beatdown. Anyways I expect this rematch to have the same outcome as last year's series as I like Orlando to win this series in 6 because I can see Atlanta stealing a game or 2 in Atlanta but as long as Dwight Howard is around Orlando is going to be tough to beat in these playoffs!
Winners: Orlando Magic 4 games to 2
(3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) New York Knicks
OK now this is the series that almost all diehard NBA fans are looking forward to the most! Because you have the Knicks big 3 of Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and Chauncey Billups going against the Celtics big 3 of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett! But other than Melo, Amare, and Chauncey who else do the Knicks really have to beat Boston? No 1! Boston on the other hand has Rajon Rondo a triple double machine! So because of that and their past experience I like Boston to win this series in 7 hard fought games but the only way New York can win this series is if they steal a game or 2 in Boston and in all honesty Boston is a very tough place to win especially in the Playoffs!
Winners: Boston Celtics 4 games to 3
(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
No team in NBA history has had bigger expectations than the Miami Heat! Because anything less than a championship will be deemed a failure and then some! When LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh are on the floor together they average as a combined unit at least 75-80 points per game! So with that I like Miami to win this series in 5 as Philly could steal a game in Philly but the big 3 will be too much in this 1 but let's see how this team does against the top echelon of the East in Boston and then maybe Chicago in the later rounds! But for now the overhyped and overrated Heat win this series in 5!
Winner: Miami Heat 4 games to 1
OK friends those are my thoughts on the East matchups now stay tuned for my West preview which is coming up in a short short! Bye bye for now!
(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Indiana Pacers
For the 1st time since the 1996-1997 season the Bulls own the outright best record in the NBA and oh by the way they went on to win the NBA Championship that year! Now in 1997-1998 they finished tied with the Utah Jazz for the league's best record however Utah had the tiebreaker by winning the head to head with Chicago that year but the Bulls still won the NBA Championship that year! Now on to this year's team which bolsters the league's MVP (in my opinion) in Derrick Rose, the Coach of The Year (in my opinion) in Tom Thibodeau, and the big offseason acquisition in Carlos Boozer! For the 1st time in all these years Bulls fans have a reason to be excited because this Bulls team has a realistic chance to reach the NBA Finals they are that good! As a matter of fact my partner in crime Mike Flecha has already gone on the record and said that he has the Bulls going to the NBA Finals! Now before I give my pick let me just say that I am not expecting a 7 game instant classic like these 2 teams had back in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals. Why? Because Chicago is going to win this series in 5 games because I could honestly see Indiana win a game in Indiana but it will be all D-Rose all the time for da Bulls!
Winners: Chicago Bulls 4 games to 1
(4) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
This is a rematch of last year's 2nd round series when Orlando swept the Hawks 4 straight and winning each game by an average of 25.3 Points Per Game! Talk about a beatdown. Anyways I expect this rematch to have the same outcome as last year's series as I like Orlando to win this series in 6 because I can see Atlanta stealing a game or 2 in Atlanta but as long as Dwight Howard is around Orlando is going to be tough to beat in these playoffs!
Winners: Orlando Magic 4 games to 2
(3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) New York Knicks
OK now this is the series that almost all diehard NBA fans are looking forward to the most! Because you have the Knicks big 3 of Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and Chauncey Billups going against the Celtics big 3 of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett! But other than Melo, Amare, and Chauncey who else do the Knicks really have to beat Boston? No 1! Boston on the other hand has Rajon Rondo a triple double machine! So because of that and their past experience I like Boston to win this series in 7 hard fought games but the only way New York can win this series is if they steal a game or 2 in Boston and in all honesty Boston is a very tough place to win especially in the Playoffs!
Winners: Boston Celtics 4 games to 3
(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
No team in NBA history has had bigger expectations than the Miami Heat! Because anything less than a championship will be deemed a failure and then some! When LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh are on the floor together they average as a combined unit at least 75-80 points per game! So with that I like Miami to win this series in 5 as Philly could steal a game in Philly but the big 3 will be too much in this 1 but let's see how this team does against the top echelon of the East in Boston and then maybe Chicago in the later rounds! But for now the overhyped and overrated Heat win this series in 5!
Winner: Miami Heat 4 games to 1
OK friends those are my thoughts on the East matchups now stay tuned for my West preview which is coming up in a short short! Bye bye for now!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Preview Part 2 (Western Conference 1st Round)
Hello again friends and now as promised here is the conclusion of my 2 part Stanley Cup Playoff preview as I will now give you my thoughts on the 4 1st round matchups in the Western Conference! Enjoy!
(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (8) Chicago Blackhawks
For me this is the 1st round matchup in the West that I am most looking forward to and here's why! This marks the 3rd straight year that these 2 teams will meet in the playoffs and in the 2 previous meetings Chicago came out on top! Now Vancouver won the President's Trophy as they finished with the best record in the league while Chicago is the defending Stanley Cup champion! However after their epic cup win last year the Blackhawks basically pulled a Florida Marlins if you will and cut several key players including the player who I felt should've won the Conn Smythe Trophy in Dustin Byfuglien! So with that I like Vancouver to win this series as I feel they are a complete team whereas Chicago is not as good as last year's team was!
Winners: Vancouver Canucks 4 games to 1
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings
OK in my honest opinion the San Jose Sharks are the best team to have never won the Stanley Cup! Just like the Washington Capitals in the East they do so well in the regular season but are unable to win the big 1 in the playoffs as they have been to the Conference Finals twice and came up short both times including last year! So with that I expect the Sharks to win this series against the plucky young Kings and how they do from Round 2 on is anybody's guess!
Winners: San Jose Sharks 4 games to 0
(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Phoenix Coyotes
So Detroit and Phoenix meet up in the postseason for the 2nd straight year! It took the Wings 7 games to top the Coyotes and the Coyotes have lost 12 straight quarterfinal series dating back to their days as the Winnipeg Jets! So with that I like Detroit to win this series in 5 games!
Winners: Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 1
(4) Anaheim Ducks vs. (5) Nashville Predators
Another intriguing 4/5 matchup featuring 2 great young teams! NHL on VS. analyst Keith Jones went on the record and picked Nashville to come out of the West and win the cup! Jonesy that's a bold pick on your part my friend but I have to slightly disagree with you as I like Anaheim to win this series in 6!
Winners: Anaheim Ducks 4 games to 2
Well friends those are my thoughts on the 1st round of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs! Thanks for reading and be sure to join me back here on Friday night as I will preview the 1st round of this year's NBA Playoffs! So with that you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
(1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (8) Chicago Blackhawks
For me this is the 1st round matchup in the West that I am most looking forward to and here's why! This marks the 3rd straight year that these 2 teams will meet in the playoffs and in the 2 previous meetings Chicago came out on top! Now Vancouver won the President's Trophy as they finished with the best record in the league while Chicago is the defending Stanley Cup champion! However after their epic cup win last year the Blackhawks basically pulled a Florida Marlins if you will and cut several key players including the player who I felt should've won the Conn Smythe Trophy in Dustin Byfuglien! So with that I like Vancouver to win this series as I feel they are a complete team whereas Chicago is not as good as last year's team was!
Winners: Vancouver Canucks 4 games to 1
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (7) Los Angeles Kings
OK in my honest opinion the San Jose Sharks are the best team to have never won the Stanley Cup! Just like the Washington Capitals in the East they do so well in the regular season but are unable to win the big 1 in the playoffs as they have been to the Conference Finals twice and came up short both times including last year! So with that I expect the Sharks to win this series against the plucky young Kings and how they do from Round 2 on is anybody's guess!
Winners: San Jose Sharks 4 games to 0
(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Phoenix Coyotes
So Detroit and Phoenix meet up in the postseason for the 2nd straight year! It took the Wings 7 games to top the Coyotes and the Coyotes have lost 12 straight quarterfinal series dating back to their days as the Winnipeg Jets! So with that I like Detroit to win this series in 5 games!
Winners: Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 1
(4) Anaheim Ducks vs. (5) Nashville Predators
Another intriguing 4/5 matchup featuring 2 great young teams! NHL on VS. analyst Keith Jones went on the record and picked Nashville to come out of the West and win the cup! Jonesy that's a bold pick on your part my friend but I have to slightly disagree with you as I like Anaheim to win this series in 6!
Winners: Anaheim Ducks 4 games to 2
Well friends those are my thoughts on the 1st round of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs! Thanks for reading and be sure to join me back here on Friday night as I will preview the 1st round of this year's NBA Playoffs! So with that you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!! Bye bye for now!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Preview Part 1 (Eastern Conference 1st Round)
Hello friends! Today is the day that diehard NHL fans including myself call their Christmas as today marks the start of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs! So with that please enjoy the 1st of my 2 previews as right now I will be giving you my thoughts on the Eastern Conference's 1st round matchups and then in a bit I will give you my thoughts on the Western Conference's 1st round matchups! Get it? Got it? Good now let's begin!
(1) Washington Capitals vs. (8) New York Rangers
So for the 2nd time in 3 years the Ovechkins and the Blueshirts meet in the 1st round of the playoffs! In that 2009 series the Rangers had a 3-1 strangle hold on the series before Ovechkin and company came back to win! My partner in crime Mike Flecha went on the record and told me that the Caps are under the most pressure mainly because they have been so good over the last several seasons but they have been unable to get the job done! Now I know on paper this looks like a total mismatch but not for me and here's why! Yes the Caps have Ovechkin, Green, and several other offensive threats but what the Caps don't have is a quality #1 goalie whereas the Rangers have 1 of the best goalies in the game today in Henrik Lundqvist who led the league with 11 shutouts! So with that I am going to go with the Rangers to pull the upset and win this series in 7 games as Henrik Lundqvist will be the difference maker!
Winners: NY Rangers 4 games to 3
(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres
Wow what happened to the Flyers? They led the Eastern Conference standings throughout most of this season but then sputtered down the stretch and let the Capitals sneak up from behind and take their #1 seed! Now Chris Pronger is a ? for this series but if the Flyers get Pronger back then watch out for Philly but even without Pronger I still like Philly to win this series! Now although they didn't the finish the season great I still think that the Flyers have enough weapons to get by Buffalo but Pronger is the key factor if Philly wants to go back to the Stanley Cup Finals!
Winners: Philadelphia Flyers 4 games to 1
(3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens
OK now on to the series that almost all diehard NHL fans are looking forward to the most! This rivalry is to the NHL what the Yankees and the Red Sox are to Major League Baseball, what the Lakers and the Celtics are to the NBA, what the Bears and Packers are to the NFL, what Ohio State and Michigan are to College Football, and what Duke and North Carolina are to College Basketball - the game's premiere rivalry! So who wins? Well I like Boston to win this series because they have Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas and they also have too many weapons for Montreal and I also think that they are too big for Montreal and the only way that Montreal stays in this series is if Carey Price does what Jaroslav Halak did last year and that is have an unbelieveable series! But for now I like Boston to win in 7!
Winners: Boston Bruins 4 games to 3
(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Now we come to the most interesting series in Round 1 featuring several of the game's premiere young talent! Pittsburgh with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Steven Stamkos on Tampa Bay who has become an absolute phenom in such a short period of time! Now since January 5 Sidney Crosby has not played a game and if he cannot go in this series then I can in all honesty pick Tampa Bay to win this series as they not only have Stamkos but also 2004 Stanley Cup heroes Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier! Now what Pittsburgh did this season without Crosby was absolutely phenomenal and all the while they have 1 of the best young goalies in the game today in Marc Andre Fleury and some other great young weapons such as Eric Staal and Chris Kunitz the Penguins are going to have to play great to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning with all of their offensive weapons! But I'm going to go with the upset here and pick Tampa to win this series in 6 as I think the loss of Sidney Crosby will eventually be the Pens downfall!
Winners: Tampa Bay Lightning 4 games to 2
OK so there are my picks for the East now stay tuned for my West preview coming up in just a short short! So with that bye bye for now!
(1) Washington Capitals vs. (8) New York Rangers
So for the 2nd time in 3 years the Ovechkins and the Blueshirts meet in the 1st round of the playoffs! In that 2009 series the Rangers had a 3-1 strangle hold on the series before Ovechkin and company came back to win! My partner in crime Mike Flecha went on the record and told me that the Caps are under the most pressure mainly because they have been so good over the last several seasons but they have been unable to get the job done! Now I know on paper this looks like a total mismatch but not for me and here's why! Yes the Caps have Ovechkin, Green, and several other offensive threats but what the Caps don't have is a quality #1 goalie whereas the Rangers have 1 of the best goalies in the game today in Henrik Lundqvist who led the league with 11 shutouts! So with that I am going to go with the Rangers to pull the upset and win this series in 7 games as Henrik Lundqvist will be the difference maker!
Winners: NY Rangers 4 games to 3
(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres
Wow what happened to the Flyers? They led the Eastern Conference standings throughout most of this season but then sputtered down the stretch and let the Capitals sneak up from behind and take their #1 seed! Now Chris Pronger is a ? for this series but if the Flyers get Pronger back then watch out for Philly but even without Pronger I still like Philly to win this series! Now although they didn't the finish the season great I still think that the Flyers have enough weapons to get by Buffalo but Pronger is the key factor if Philly wants to go back to the Stanley Cup Finals!
Winners: Philadelphia Flyers 4 games to 1
(3) Boston Bruins vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens
OK now on to the series that almost all diehard NHL fans are looking forward to the most! This rivalry is to the NHL what the Yankees and the Red Sox are to Major League Baseball, what the Lakers and the Celtics are to the NBA, what the Bears and Packers are to the NFL, what Ohio State and Michigan are to College Football, and what Duke and North Carolina are to College Basketball - the game's premiere rivalry! So who wins? Well I like Boston to win this series because they have Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas and they also have too many weapons for Montreal and I also think that they are too big for Montreal and the only way that Montreal stays in this series is if Carey Price does what Jaroslav Halak did last year and that is have an unbelieveable series! But for now I like Boston to win in 7!
Winners: Boston Bruins 4 games to 3
(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Now we come to the most interesting series in Round 1 featuring several of the game's premiere young talent! Pittsburgh with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Steven Stamkos on Tampa Bay who has become an absolute phenom in such a short period of time! Now since January 5 Sidney Crosby has not played a game and if he cannot go in this series then I can in all honesty pick Tampa Bay to win this series as they not only have Stamkos but also 2004 Stanley Cup heroes Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier! Now what Pittsburgh did this season without Crosby was absolutely phenomenal and all the while they have 1 of the best young goalies in the game today in Marc Andre Fleury and some other great young weapons such as Eric Staal and Chris Kunitz the Penguins are going to have to play great to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning with all of their offensive weapons! But I'm going to go with the upset here and pick Tampa to win this series in 6 as I think the loss of Sidney Crosby will eventually be the Pens downfall!
Winners: Tampa Bay Lightning 4 games to 2
OK so there are my picks for the East now stay tuned for my West preview coming up in just a short short! So with that bye bye for now!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
WWE WrestleMania 27 Predictions
Hello friends! The premilinaries are over and now it's time for the main event! So with that let's get right down to business! Here are my predictions for the biggest event in all of Wrestling WrestleMania 27!
Kane, The Big Show, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston vs. The Corre (Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater)
On Saturday afternoon I received a phone call from my partner in crime Mike Flecha and he informed me that Vladimir Kozlov was attacked by The Corre during his WrestleMania Axxess match with Tyler Reks and because of that attack Vladimir Kozlov may not be able to compete in this 8 man tag match! If that is the case then Kofi Kingston will most likely be Kozlov's replacement and what a replacement that is! However even with Kofi in this match I am still going to go with The Corre to win this match as they are the dominant force in WWE right now and I expect this stable to receive a big time push beyond WrestleMania! As for this match I can honestly say that I expect this fight to most likely be the worst fight of the night and I can also say that out of all the matches on this card this is the only match I am really not looking forward to. Sorry!
Winners: The Corre
WWE United States Championship Match: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan
The match these 2 had on Raw a few weeks ago was a very good match to say the least! As for the rematch well all I can hope for is that these 2 get at least 10 minutes and if so then this could be a sleeper pick for fight of the night! But sadly because of the other great matches on this card I really doubt that this fight will get the 10 minutes I hope it gets. I think it is going to be a TV quality match at best but I hope that I am proven wrong and these 2 put on a damn near instant classic! As for who wins well I have to go with the champ to successfully defend the U.S. strap in what I hope will be a fun and entertaining match like their match on Raw was a few weeks ago!
Winner: Sheamus
Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
Reportedly backstage Rey Mysterio handpicked Cody Rhodes to be his WrestleMania opponent this year how cool is that? Anyways the build for this match has been pretty good! It all started several months ago when Rey Rey exposed his knee brace and broke an orbital bone in Rhodes face costing Rhodes nearly a month or so of action. In 1 of the most well executed setups I've seen in a long time Cody's father WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes came to Smackdown to try to make peace between the 2 men and after a handshake and an embrace Dusty held Rey's hand long enough for Cody to jump him from behind and beat Rey senseless and then Cody went on to do the unthinkable as he unmasked Rey and held said mask for all to see! Wow so who wins? Well originally I was going to go with Rey to win this fight but now I am starting to lean towards Cody to pull the upset! Damn this went from being a foregone conclusion pick to a toss-up! UGH!!! But because I see this feud continuing into next month's Extreme Rules PPV I am going to take a chance here and go with Cody Rhodes to pull the upset here in what I think could be another sleeper fight if given enough time but look for Rey to get his revenge on Cody at Extreme Rules next month!
Winner: Cody Rhodes
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Trish Stratus, and John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool)
Before I give you my pick for this match I would like to get a little something off my chest if I may and that is John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler deserve so much better than this let's not kid ourselves for 1 moment! However with them in this match this went from being the bathroom break fight of Mania to a passable TV quality match at best. If not for the 8 man tag match this fight would've most likely been the worst fight of Mania in my honest opinion. OK enough of me whining let's pick a winner shall we? Question: What will Snooki have in common with Lawrence Taylor, Donald Trump, and Floyd Mayweather? Answer: They are all celebrities who have participated in a WrestleMania match and went on to win that match and I fully expect that trend to continue as I expect the Jersey Shore Queen Bee to pick up the winning fall in this 1! Overall the only way this fight will be any good is if Morrison and Ziggler carry the bulk of this match which I think they will and please WWE put these 2 in the Raw MITB match at the MITB PPV in July and also please let 1 of them win that fight because we all know that both men deserve so much better than this K? Thanks!
Winners: Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Trish Stratus, and John Morrison
Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Michael Cole
The only thing that Jerry Lawler has done at WrestleMania is sit behind the broadcast booth with Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Joey Styles, Michael Cole, and Matt Striker. Now for the 1st time in his Hall of Fame career The King is finally going to wrestle in his very 1st WrestleMania match! On the other side of the coin you have Michael Cole who over the last several months has become 1 of the most over heels since Vickie Guerrero! Despite having Jack Swagger in his corner for this match Michael Cole realistically has no chance what so ever to win this match! Why? Well I'll tell you why! 1. Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special referee and 2. Jerry Lawler has waited for several months to get his hands on his former broadcast colleague and in all honesty I think that this fight could be this year what the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon match was at last year's Mania a very long squash match which Lawler will dominate from start to finish and with that I am picking The King to get the win here and what will become of the WWE broadcast team after this 1 will be most interesting to say the least!
Winner: Jerry "The King" Lawler
Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
This feud really started back at the 2008 Unforgiven PPV when Randy Orton punted CM Punk in the skull thus costing Punk the World Heavyweight Championship as Punk was unable to defend it that night! 2 and a half years later Punk would cost Randy Orton a chance to regain the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble as Punk hit Orton with a GTS! So after all that these 2 young studs will meet on the grandest stage of all in what I expect to be a very good and physical fight! So who wins? Well in all honesty this fight is a lot like the Rey Mysterio/Cody Rhodes fight because originally I was going to go with the face which is Orton in this case but now I'm starting to lean more towards the heel which in this case is Punk! But since Punk got the upper hand on Orton on the go home edition of Raw last Monday I am going to take a chance here and go with the Viper to win this fight but regardless of who wins this match at WrestleMania I fully expect this feud to continue into next month's Extreme Rules PPV!
Winner: Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship Match: Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio
Since bursting onto the scene last fall Alberto Del Rio has done the following things. 1. Put Rey Mysterio and Christian on the injured list. 2. Wrestled in an outstanding series of matches with Rey Mysterio. and 3. Won the biggest Royal Rumble match in history by outlasting 39 other men to earn this main event championship match with the Rated R superstar at WrestleMania! Speaking of the Rated R superstar he is strongly over as a babyface for the 1st time since his megapush of 2001! However on the grandest stage of all he has never won a World Heavyweight Title match as both champion and challenger! In fact this will be Edge's 4th consecutive World Title match and 3rd as the champion going in and in addition to that Edge has lost all 3 of his previous Mania World Title fights which could be prove to be a major disadvantage! However it has just been announced that Christian will be in Edge's corner while Brodus Clay will be in Del Rio's corner for this match! So who wins? Well I'll tell you! I am going to go with Alberto Del Rio to make history and become the new World Heavyweight Champion after Christian turns heel and costs Edge the belt setting up a Triple Threat match between Del Rio, Edge, and Christian at next month's Extreme Rules PPV! Overall you're looking at a surefire candidate for fight of the night right here! Just saying!
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
No Holds Barred Match: Triple H vs. The Undertaker
OK before I give you my pick for this match I am going to go on the record right here and right now when I say that this will most likely be the fight of the night right here! Now on to the match! We have actually seen these 2 throwdown at Mania before back at WrestleMania 17 in 1 of the greatest matches in WresteMania history! Can this 1 top that epic battle in Houston on 4-1-01? Well I think it can and here's why! This whole thing came about on 2-21-11 on Monday Night Raw when the Undertaker made his return to WWE after being out 4 months! Then just as Taker was getting settled in enter The Game setting up 1 of the most memorable confrontations in recent memory that was until the most epic and emotional in-ring segment in Raw history last Monday night when both men along with Shawn Michaels stood in the ring in Chicago and put on a verbal masterclass! Aside from that epic segment the build for this fight had been rather dull and boring mainly because it was several weeks of individual promos on their respective shows but after the epic confrontation from last Monday's Raw the stock in this fight went from mediocre to skyhigh and then some! So who wins this epic confrontation at Mania? Well in all honesty there's really only 1 way to go here friends and that is to go with The Deadman extending his undefeated WrestleMania streak to 19-0 but make no mistake about this friends while I think it is going to be the fight of the night anything less than a 4 star match from these 2 will be a major letdown but in all honesty if they book this match correctly and give it all the time it needs then this should and will be a 5 star classic and then some and I for 1 cannot wait to see how this 1 goes down!
Winner: The Undertaker
WWE Championship Match: The Miz vs. John Cena
OK originally I was going to go with John Cena to not only win the WWE title again but I was also predicting that this would be the usual and vintage Super Cena bury job! However I am in all honesty starting to believe that Miz just might go over here and here's why! 1. The return of the great 1 himself The Rock as the host of Mania! 2. The weeks of verbal banter between Rock and Cena which has been some of the best verbal banter I have ever heard it has been that good! 3. Miz getting the better of Cena for each of the 1st 3 weeks of Raw after the match became official and 4. John Cena attitude adjusting Rock to end last week's epic go home edition of Raw! Cena's AA on The Rock could lead Rock to get involved in the WWE title match at Mania and it could also lead to Rocky costing Cena the match! So who wins? Well before I give you my pick let me just go on the record once again when I say if Miz does indeed do the unthinkable and goes over Cena at Mania then in my honest opinion this win would surpass Randy Orton's win over Cena and HHH at WrestleMania 24 as the most shocking victory in WrestleMania history! So with that said will it happen? Damn I am torn but after careful consideration the answer to that $1,000,000 question is - YES it will! Miz will earn his lifetime membership into WWE's main event mafia when he defeats John Cena and retains the WWE title if you smell what The Rock is cooking! But regardless of who wins this match I fully expect this feud to carry over into next month's Extreme Rules PPV!
Winner: The Miz
Overall it looks like a very strong show on paper with the exception of 1 maybe 2 matches! Now the next $1,000,000 question is can WrestleMania 27 top WrestleMania 26? Right now I cannot give you a clear and honest answer but what I can tell you is this if these matches are booked correctly as well as given enough time and if WWE keeps the campy comedy nonsense to a minimum then I truly believe in my heart of hearts that WrestleMania 27 could go down as 1 of the greatest WrestleMania's of all time and I am extremely looking forward to seeing how this WrestleMania plays out!
Well friends those are my picks for WrestleMania 27 and I hope you all enjoy WrestleMania and be sure to check out my other partner in crime Derek Ferreira's YouTube page (slb200809) as he will have a complete video recap of tomorrow night's event and also check out my Facebook page as I will post a note giving you my thoughts on WrestleMania 27 and be sure to come back here in about a week or 2 as I will preview the 1st Round of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs so please keep your eyes peeled for that so until then you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!!
Kane, The Big Show, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston vs. The Corre (Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater)
On Saturday afternoon I received a phone call from my partner in crime Mike Flecha and he informed me that Vladimir Kozlov was attacked by The Corre during his WrestleMania Axxess match with Tyler Reks and because of that attack Vladimir Kozlov may not be able to compete in this 8 man tag match! If that is the case then Kofi Kingston will most likely be Kozlov's replacement and what a replacement that is! However even with Kofi in this match I am still going to go with The Corre to win this match as they are the dominant force in WWE right now and I expect this stable to receive a big time push beyond WrestleMania! As for this match I can honestly say that I expect this fight to most likely be the worst fight of the night and I can also say that out of all the matches on this card this is the only match I am really not looking forward to. Sorry!
Winners: The Corre
WWE United States Championship Match: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan
The match these 2 had on Raw a few weeks ago was a very good match to say the least! As for the rematch well all I can hope for is that these 2 get at least 10 minutes and if so then this could be a sleeper pick for fight of the night! But sadly because of the other great matches on this card I really doubt that this fight will get the 10 minutes I hope it gets. I think it is going to be a TV quality match at best but I hope that I am proven wrong and these 2 put on a damn near instant classic! As for who wins well I have to go with the champ to successfully defend the U.S. strap in what I hope will be a fun and entertaining match like their match on Raw was a few weeks ago!
Winner: Sheamus
Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
Reportedly backstage Rey Mysterio handpicked Cody Rhodes to be his WrestleMania opponent this year how cool is that? Anyways the build for this match has been pretty good! It all started several months ago when Rey Rey exposed his knee brace and broke an orbital bone in Rhodes face costing Rhodes nearly a month or so of action. In 1 of the most well executed setups I've seen in a long time Cody's father WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes came to Smackdown to try to make peace between the 2 men and after a handshake and an embrace Dusty held Rey's hand long enough for Cody to jump him from behind and beat Rey senseless and then Cody went on to do the unthinkable as he unmasked Rey and held said mask for all to see! Wow so who wins? Well originally I was going to go with Rey to win this fight but now I am starting to lean towards Cody to pull the upset! Damn this went from being a foregone conclusion pick to a toss-up! UGH!!! But because I see this feud continuing into next month's Extreme Rules PPV I am going to take a chance here and go with Cody Rhodes to pull the upset here in what I think could be another sleeper fight if given enough time but look for Rey to get his revenge on Cody at Extreme Rules next month!
Winner: Cody Rhodes
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Trish Stratus, and John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool)
Before I give you my pick for this match I would like to get a little something off my chest if I may and that is John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler deserve so much better than this let's not kid ourselves for 1 moment! However with them in this match this went from being the bathroom break fight of Mania to a passable TV quality match at best. If not for the 8 man tag match this fight would've most likely been the worst fight of Mania in my honest opinion. OK enough of me whining let's pick a winner shall we? Question: What will Snooki have in common with Lawrence Taylor, Donald Trump, and Floyd Mayweather? Answer: They are all celebrities who have participated in a WrestleMania match and went on to win that match and I fully expect that trend to continue as I expect the Jersey Shore Queen Bee to pick up the winning fall in this 1! Overall the only way this fight will be any good is if Morrison and Ziggler carry the bulk of this match which I think they will and please WWE put these 2 in the Raw MITB match at the MITB PPV in July and also please let 1 of them win that fight because we all know that both men deserve so much better than this K? Thanks!
Winners: Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Trish Stratus, and John Morrison
Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Michael Cole
The only thing that Jerry Lawler has done at WrestleMania is sit behind the broadcast booth with Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Joey Styles, Michael Cole, and Matt Striker. Now for the 1st time in his Hall of Fame career The King is finally going to wrestle in his very 1st WrestleMania match! On the other side of the coin you have Michael Cole who over the last several months has become 1 of the most over heels since Vickie Guerrero! Despite having Jack Swagger in his corner for this match Michael Cole realistically has no chance what so ever to win this match! Why? Well I'll tell you why! 1. Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special referee and 2. Jerry Lawler has waited for several months to get his hands on his former broadcast colleague and in all honesty I think that this fight could be this year what the Bret Hart/Vince McMahon match was at last year's Mania a very long squash match which Lawler will dominate from start to finish and with that I am picking The King to get the win here and what will become of the WWE broadcast team after this 1 will be most interesting to say the least!
Winner: Jerry "The King" Lawler
Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
This feud really started back at the 2008 Unforgiven PPV when Randy Orton punted CM Punk in the skull thus costing Punk the World Heavyweight Championship as Punk was unable to defend it that night! 2 and a half years later Punk would cost Randy Orton a chance to regain the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble as Punk hit Orton with a GTS! So after all that these 2 young studs will meet on the grandest stage of all in what I expect to be a very good and physical fight! So who wins? Well in all honesty this fight is a lot like the Rey Mysterio/Cody Rhodes fight because originally I was going to go with the face which is Orton in this case but now I'm starting to lean more towards the heel which in this case is Punk! But since Punk got the upper hand on Orton on the go home edition of Raw last Monday I am going to take a chance here and go with the Viper to win this fight but regardless of who wins this match at WrestleMania I fully expect this feud to continue into next month's Extreme Rules PPV!
Winner: Randy Orton
World Heavyweight Championship Match: Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio
Since bursting onto the scene last fall Alberto Del Rio has done the following things. 1. Put Rey Mysterio and Christian on the injured list. 2. Wrestled in an outstanding series of matches with Rey Mysterio. and 3. Won the biggest Royal Rumble match in history by outlasting 39 other men to earn this main event championship match with the Rated R superstar at WrestleMania! Speaking of the Rated R superstar he is strongly over as a babyface for the 1st time since his megapush of 2001! However on the grandest stage of all he has never won a World Heavyweight Title match as both champion and challenger! In fact this will be Edge's 4th consecutive World Title match and 3rd as the champion going in and in addition to that Edge has lost all 3 of his previous Mania World Title fights which could be prove to be a major disadvantage! However it has just been announced that Christian will be in Edge's corner while Brodus Clay will be in Del Rio's corner for this match! So who wins? Well I'll tell you! I am going to go with Alberto Del Rio to make history and become the new World Heavyweight Champion after Christian turns heel and costs Edge the belt setting up a Triple Threat match between Del Rio, Edge, and Christian at next month's Extreme Rules PPV! Overall you're looking at a surefire candidate for fight of the night right here! Just saying!
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
No Holds Barred Match: Triple H vs. The Undertaker
OK before I give you my pick for this match I am going to go on the record right here and right now when I say that this will most likely be the fight of the night right here! Now on to the match! We have actually seen these 2 throwdown at Mania before back at WrestleMania 17 in 1 of the greatest matches in WresteMania history! Can this 1 top that epic battle in Houston on 4-1-01? Well I think it can and here's why! This whole thing came about on 2-21-11 on Monday Night Raw when the Undertaker made his return to WWE after being out 4 months! Then just as Taker was getting settled in enter The Game setting up 1 of the most memorable confrontations in recent memory that was until the most epic and emotional in-ring segment in Raw history last Monday night when both men along with Shawn Michaels stood in the ring in Chicago and put on a verbal masterclass! Aside from that epic segment the build for this fight had been rather dull and boring mainly because it was several weeks of individual promos on their respective shows but after the epic confrontation from last Monday's Raw the stock in this fight went from mediocre to skyhigh and then some! So who wins this epic confrontation at Mania? Well in all honesty there's really only 1 way to go here friends and that is to go with The Deadman extending his undefeated WrestleMania streak to 19-0 but make no mistake about this friends while I think it is going to be the fight of the night anything less than a 4 star match from these 2 will be a major letdown but in all honesty if they book this match correctly and give it all the time it needs then this should and will be a 5 star classic and then some and I for 1 cannot wait to see how this 1 goes down!
Winner: The Undertaker
WWE Championship Match: The Miz vs. John Cena
OK originally I was going to go with John Cena to not only win the WWE title again but I was also predicting that this would be the usual and vintage Super Cena bury job! However I am in all honesty starting to believe that Miz just might go over here and here's why! 1. The return of the great 1 himself The Rock as the host of Mania! 2. The weeks of verbal banter between Rock and Cena which has been some of the best verbal banter I have ever heard it has been that good! 3. Miz getting the better of Cena for each of the 1st 3 weeks of Raw after the match became official and 4. John Cena attitude adjusting Rock to end last week's epic go home edition of Raw! Cena's AA on The Rock could lead Rock to get involved in the WWE title match at Mania and it could also lead to Rocky costing Cena the match! So who wins? Well before I give you my pick let me just go on the record once again when I say if Miz does indeed do the unthinkable and goes over Cena at Mania then in my honest opinion this win would surpass Randy Orton's win over Cena and HHH at WrestleMania 24 as the most shocking victory in WrestleMania history! So with that said will it happen? Damn I am torn but after careful consideration the answer to that $1,000,000 question is - YES it will! Miz will earn his lifetime membership into WWE's main event mafia when he defeats John Cena and retains the WWE title if you smell what The Rock is cooking! But regardless of who wins this match I fully expect this feud to carry over into next month's Extreme Rules PPV!
Winner: The Miz
Overall it looks like a very strong show on paper with the exception of 1 maybe 2 matches! Now the next $1,000,000 question is can WrestleMania 27 top WrestleMania 26? Right now I cannot give you a clear and honest answer but what I can tell you is this if these matches are booked correctly as well as given enough time and if WWE keeps the campy comedy nonsense to a minimum then I truly believe in my heart of hearts that WrestleMania 27 could go down as 1 of the greatest WrestleMania's of all time and I am extremely looking forward to seeing how this WrestleMania plays out!
Well friends those are my picks for WrestleMania 27 and I hope you all enjoy WrestleMania and be sure to check out my other partner in crime Derek Ferreira's YouTube page (slb200809) as he will have a complete video recap of tomorrow night's event and also check out my Facebook page as I will post a note giving you my thoughts on WrestleMania 27 and be sure to come back here in about a week or 2 as I will preview the 1st Round of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs so please keep your eyes peeled for that so until then you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
2011 NCAA Final 4 Predictions
Hello friends! Before I start I just want to take a moment and say that aside from Super Bowl weekend this weekend in my honest opinion is the most exciting weekend to be a diehard Sports fan! This weekend you have opening day baseball, the Final 4 of the Men's and Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament, and of course the biggest event in Wrestling WrestleMania 27! So with that here are my predictions for the Final 4! Enjoy! Virginia Commonwealth vs. Butler Our 1st game on Saturday features 2 proverbial Davids! VCU the 3rd 11th seed to reach the Final 4 joining George Mason in 2006 and LSU in 1986 have by far in my opinion the most impressive run to the Final 4 of all the Final 4 teams defeating 5 teams from 5 power conferences - USC (Pac-10), Georgetown (Big East), Purdue (Big 10), Florida State (ACC), and perhaps the most impressive win thus far Kansas (Big 12)! While Butler the #8 seed has defeated the likes of Old Dominion, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, and Florida to reach their 2nd consecutive Final 4! So who wins this battle of Davids? Well let me break it down for you all 1 time. VCU in my honest opinion is this year what Butler was last year - a plucky underdog who many people felt had no chance of going far in the NCAA Tournament! They are led by their star player Joey Rodriguez and their brilliant young head coach Shaka Smart who to me looks a lot like former WWE and TNA wrestler Shawn Daivari but anyways. On selection Sunday when it was announced that VCU had made the 68 team field a lot of people were not happy about it at all mainly ESPN analysts Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas! But over these last 2 weeks VCU has not only busted almost everyone's brackets but they have also made Dicky V, Jay Bilas, and countless other critics and haters eat a lot of crow! While Butler on the other hand are trying to prove to everybody that last year's run was not a fluke! Led by their dynamic duo Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard along with their brilliant young head coach Brad Stevens the Bulldogs are out to finish the job they nearly did last year in Indy win the National Championship! Now my gut tells me to go with Butler but my heart on the other hand is telling me to go with VCU. Aah this is so tough to call but in the end I am going to take a chance here and go with VCU to pull off yet another upset and continue their magical run but I would not be surprised in the least if Butler pulls this 1 out! Overall I am really looking forward to this matchup as I think that it will not only be 1 of the greatest Final 4 games in recent memory but also something damn special! Winner: VCU Kentucky vs. Connecticut So now we go from a battle of Davids to a battle of Goliaths! Kentucky the #4 seed has defeated the likes of Princeton, West Virginia, #1 overall seed Ohio State, and North Carolina to reach the Final 4 for the 1st time since winning their 7th and last National Championship to date back in 1998! UConn the #3 seed defeated the likes of Bucknell, Big East rival Cincinnati, San Diego State, and Arizona to reach the Final 4 for the 2nd time in the last 3 years! Not only is this a battle of Goliath powerhouses but it is also a battle of 2 coaching legends! Kentucky head coach John Calipari recently made history by becoming only the 2nd coach in history to take 3 different schools to the Final 4 (Rick Pitino who took Providence in 1987, Kentucky in 1996 and 1997, and Louisville in 2005) taking UMass in 1996, Memphis in 2008, and now Kentucky this year! However his 2 other Final 4 apperances were both vacated as UMass vacated their trip in 96 when it was revealed that Marcus Camby took $28,000 from 2 agents and Memphis vacated their magical run in 08 amid allegations of Derrick Rose's SAT. Of course this run will be scrutinized for the most part mainly because of his past schools transgressions but none the less I truly believe that coach Cal's run this year is his personal best coaching job ever and here's why! Last year he had an NBA calibur team that all left to go to the NBA and while this bunch may not be as fun and entertaining as last year's team was you still have to admit that this team has been unbelievable over these last 2 weeks! Led by Brandon Knight and Josh Harrelson the Wildcats are poised to win their 8th National Championship which would put them within 3 of tying UCLA's all time mark of 11 championships! UConn head coach Jim Calhoun like Calipari is also in the midst of his personal best coaching job ever and here's why! 1st off he lead UConn to 5 wins in 5 days to win the Big East Tournament and then add their 4 wins from this tournament and that equals 9 wins in 19 days which is remarkable in itself! Of course coach Calhoun is not alone as he is led by in my honest opinion the best player in the game today in Kemba Walker and Alex Oriaki as they look to lead the Huskies to just their 3rd National Championship to go with the 2 they won back in 1999 and 2004! So who wins this battle of Goliaths? Well I am going to go with the hot hand here and that is UConn because I think Kemba Walker will have another monster game which will be just enough to get by Kentucky and set up another David vs. Goliath battle for the National Championship against VCU! Overall I am looking forward to this game just as much as the VCU/Butler game as I think it will be an exciting game just like their last matchup back in the 2006 tournament was! Winners: Connecticut Now if it should indeed come down to VCU and UConn for the National Championship I would have to go with UConn to ride this momentum to capture their 3rd National Championship in a game that I think could top last year's epic battle between Butler and Duke but even if I get 1 or both of these games wrong we are still going to get a David vs. Goliath type matchup for the National Championship for the 2nd year in a row and enclosing I truly believe that this year's Final 4 will truly be something very magical and very special and I for 1 cannot wait to see how it all plays out! Well friends that's all I've got for now but be sure to join me right back here tomorrow as I will have my predictions for the biggest event in all of Wrestling WrestleMania 27! So until then you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!!
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