Way too much about Fedor's loss. Talk about fanboyism

It was a bad day for my rooting interests in sports as the mighty Buckeyes of Ohio State tasted bitter defeat on the basketball court for the first time this season, losing a close one at Wisconsin.

Many hours later, in the main event of Strikeforce's big Showtime event, in the first round of their much-hyped heavyweight tournament, Fedor Emelianenko suffered just the third loss of his storied career, to Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. Fedor, the man who I still truly believe is the greatest fighter to ever live, met his size match here, as Silva came into the cage fifty pounds heavier than "The Last Emperor". In modern mixed martial arts, that is an almost criminal advantage. This isn't an Akebono, Zuluhino, or even Bob Sapp type freak show with huge size but little in the way of skill we're talking about here. It is 2011, and the sport has evolved to the point that everyone competing at this level can be a dangerous opponent, and a 235 pound man has no business fighting in a 265 pound weight class. I can just see the MMA message boards going crazy right now, with knee-jerk posts about how Fedor is all washed up or, even more laughably, was never any good to begin with. It happens with every loss Randy Couture suffers, and it's even more preposterous in the case of Emelianenko. Could a move down a weight class to 205 pounds be the answer for the legend? Perhaps. The true answer is that there is a ridiculous gap from 205 to 265 and a new weight class badly needs to be instituted. The current and incoming generations of huge world class amateur wrestlers that cut weight to 265 pounds has made it impossible for a man of Fedor's (or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, and Randy Couture) size to be competitive. None of those men will last long enough in the sport to reap the benefits of such a weight class, but hopefully the latter stages of their careers will spur change in that direction and lead to a more equitable future in the sport.

Phew. Okay, I also saw The King's Speech tonight. Best movie I've seen in forever. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter totally killed it. Go see this film. Trust me!

Overall, a sad day indeed! How best to cheer me up?

Ahhhhh

Broken

Installing Little Big Planet: Game of the Year Edition requires no less than eleven updates before actual installation. In the age of broadband connectivity for all consoles, do developers care less about getting it right the first time in terms of bugs and such? Why perfect now what you can slap a bandage on two weeks after release? Even so, really looking forward to this gaming experience!

Another Love Letter to Netflix

Netflix has added 3rd Rock from the Sun to their Instant service. I approve. Starting episode six of season three right now!

Oh, and Broin' Down was, as usual, a rousing success. Eight men in attendance, each one gentle.

Heading to the Queen City for a few days as Jenny and I celebrate one year of being a couple. So look forward to some road trip entries as the rest of the week rolls by. Peace, Columbus!

Netflix or DVR?

It is the great question of our times, more pressing even than Team Jacob versus Team Edward (that's a thing, right?) Of the two greatest television advances of this young century, which could you more readily live without... DVR or Netflix Instant!? This is of course more a question for people who have both because until you experience Netflix Instant, you can't possibly appreciate it. Not even theoretically. My love for Netflix Instant burns so brightly!

Anyway, I've posed this question to five qualified people now, and Netflix is more important to four of them so far. Anyone else out there with both who would like to chime in?

Also, I had a dream I went to a Disney theme park with Kevin Nash.

Broin' Down Business

I just realized that Broin' Down 45 is taking place in the same month as Super Bowl 45. I hereby declare February 2011's event to be Broin' Down XLV: SuperBROwl Tuesday! Come one, come all! If you're a dude.

The last few days

Skype is awesome. Davekwon and (Sorry) Keith Jackson were at my place Tuesday night for a tape-delayed screening of the Royal Rumble, and in accordance with Lucas' suggestion, we Skype conferenced with he and Amanda during. I had downloaded Skype several years ago and not been terribly impressed with it, so I kind of anticipated disaster. But things have changed! This ain't your daddy's Skype! Or something. Anyway, everything went smoothly, we managed to sync up our videos of the event fairly well, and everyone had a great time. Probably going to try for this again after the Elimination Chamber pay per view, and then perhaps live for Wrestlemania XXVII.

As for the show itself, a really great pay per view overall. Edge and Dolph Ziggler got a ton of time, and Dolph looked like he totally belonged in there with a main eventer the caliber of Edge. Unfortunately, he was saddled with a horrible gimmicky name that is going to keep him from ever fulfilling his potential. That said, the crowd in Boston was biting on some of his near falls on Edge late in the match, so they definitely did something right.

Orton and Miz took a while to get going, mostly because Randy Orton is the most boring babyface in years. Actually, probably since the last time he was a babyface in 2004/2005. Eventually things started clicking and heating up, and once Miz pinned him, it was pretty good.

Women's match was nothing. Sorry.

The Rumble itself was awesome. I was against the idea of increasing the number of entrants from 30 to 40 just on principle, but it actually worked out really well. I won't go over the match in detail, but suffice to say there was tons of great comedy, mostly featuring Santino Marella. Also a couple of nice surprises with the returns of Booker T and DIESEL. Seriously, Diesel. Great show, and I'm excited for the rest of the road to Wrestlemania.

Franz and Ashley lost power for a couple of nights, which meant QUALITY TIME WITH FRA-DIGGITY for me. We watched Moon and determined that while it was entertaining and never dragged or anything, it had been over-hyped to us both. No spoilers here, but there was an obvious direction to take the movie in, and a less obvious one. They chose the latter, and the movie probably suffered for it. We also played (well, I played, Franz watched) Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands for a while. Which brings me to a larger point.

I had forgotten how awesome platform gaming can be. Everything I play nowadays is either an RPG, a sports game, or mission-based, and the platforming genre has completely fallen by the wayside for me. Most likely because most of the platform gaming these days takes place on the Wii or on handheld consoles. In short, I miss Mario. Very much. I probably should just bite the bullet and finally buy Little Big Planet though.

I had another topic I wanted to write about, but it's completely escaped me at the moment. Oh well, if I remember, there's a good excuse for another blog entry over the weekend. Until then, be good to each other, readers!

A direct appeal

My dad is now officially retired from Kraft Foods USA. He has to turn in his company car and his company laptop on Monday. So today, he told me that he bought a truck in the most nonchalant manner possible. It's a used Dodge, so it's not as if he went out and bought a brand new, fully loaded model or anything, but still, big changes afoot. I wonder how he'll adjust to paying for gasoline for the first time in about 30 years.

I watched Poltergeist last night for the first time since probably the '90s, and there's a movie that holds up. Somehow I had never noticed/picked up on Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams being stoners in any previous viewings. The movie makes much more sense now, as I feel this explains why they were targeted by supernatural forces much better than disturbed graves under the house. Especially when you tie in the Reagan bio that Coach is reading while smoking a joint.

As alluded to in the comments section of the below entry, mainstream wrestling sucks right now. The Royal Rumble is tomorrow, and unless something major changes between then and now, I won't be watching it live for just the second time since 1998. I missed it in 2007 for reasons I really can't fathom, especially because WWE was very good at that point. Anyhow, looking two months down the road, I think there's an excellent chance that I also won't order Wrestlemania, which would be the first time since 1998. As it draws closer, I may waver on that just because Wrestlemania Sunday does seem to be the one day of the year I can still get a good group of people over at the house for a viewing party, so we'll see. Still, not encouraging. DO A BETTER JOB OF ENGAGING ME, WWE.

A Questionable Remake

As I was reading the Observer this evening, something caught my eye. Something I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard about prior to learning it from Dave Meltzer.

"Maria Kanellis and Gene Snitsky shot an independent movie called “Manos” about a family lost on country roads and stumbles upon an underground cult of devil worshippers."

Yes. I know. This rasies a lot of questions, clearly. First and foremost, is Gene Snitsky going to play Torgo? Because in some ways he's perfect casting, but in most ways he's absolutely not.

Second, are Riff Trax going to be built into the DVD release or do we actually have to wait?

Third, REALLY?

Fourth, no, REALLY? You get a little bit of money, and then, of all the movies in the ENTIRE WORLD to remake, you pick Manos: The Hands of Fate? What is wrong with you?

Fifth, the news item was written past tense, as if the film has already been completed. Again, how did I not know about this!?

Sixth, we need to watch this soon, obviously.

Peace, Connecticut!

Short Takes at the buzzer

I Am Number Four looks way awful. As I get older, leading men in movies seem to get younger and my patience for them grows thinner. I'm completely aware that a lot of it is jealousy of younger, better looking guys making a lot of money, but I strongly feel that these movies would suck regardless of who's in there as the top star.

How many times do I have to watch John Morrison wrestle Sheamus on RAW? I swear I've seen this match in some combination about eight times in the past three months. I like both guys very much, just get them some new dance partners.

I watched the BBC's Emma miniseries from 2009 this past weekend, and it's very strange to watch the source material for Clueless years after having actually seen Clueless. I spent the entire 3 hours and 50 minutes piecing together who was who between the two films. I liked Emma better than Cher, but Paul Rodd's Josh kills Jonny Lee Miller's Mr. Knightley. Dating a Jane Austen devotee certainly has its perks and drawbacks.

That's all for tonight, back with more soon!

Do I remember how to do this?

Happy Bloggiversary, baby. I've got you on my mind.

Seven years, daddio! It was seven years ago today that I first set out to tell the world more than it ever wanted to know about me, the television shows I watch, and the concerts I go to. In that time, not much has changed. I've crept onward towards my undergraduate degree, been stymied at every turn by medical woes, and invented a nearly four year old religion. All in all, an awesome run, and I'm back full time to spread the word to each and every one of you, my faithful Blog Nation. Keep your ear to the ground, and your eyes on the screen, because the content you can expect is back in full force!

Starting tomorrow. I really don't feel like digging up a Jenna pic tonight.