Boo!
January 26, 2009
Wrestlings fake ya’ know
Dean Malenko, an unassuming name for an unassuming wrestler. He is also the main crux of my argument when it comes to people saying to me “wrestlings fake you know Rich.”
That statement always annoy me. It’s plain ignorance which breeds that comment and i always think what exactly turns people on and off wrestling. But i digress. Why has Dean Malenko got the answers to my argument about the reality of wrestling.
Well for all of you that don’t know, Dean Malenko was an absolutely brilliant wrestler. He had every move in his locker and could execute them to perfection. It’s these skills that made him one of the most respected wrestlers in the business. So why didnt Dean Malenko become a huge success? Why didn’t Dean Malenko hit the pinnacle of Professional Wrestling?
Along with his brilliant technical wrestling ability, Dean Malenko was blessed with absolutely no charisma or personality. Chants of “bore us, bore us Dean Malenko” followed him everywhere. It was this that hindered him.
Because in case you havn’t noticed, Professional Wrestling is a pantomime. If you have no real discernable talent but can whip up a crowd into a frenzy with your personable style of charisma- step forward The Rock, then you have the wrestling world at your feet.
However flip the coin on it’s head and your going to be a jobber for the rest of your career. The Wrestling business is all about giving the crowd what they want and poor ol Dean Malenko was not what the fans wanted.
This is not all in my argument though. When somebody says that ” Wrestling is fake” i turn around and loudly quip and say “of course it is, because if it wasnt, then they would be dead”. This is a statement that cannot be argued with. If a Wrestletr encountered all of those moves for real, week in and week out for a considerable amount of the year then they would be dead. Suplex, DDT’s, Tombstones and piledrivers are orchastrated in Professional Wrestling in order not to harm somebody. Thats because if they wern’t given the correct due care and attention then the moves could do serious damage. Not something that the WWE really wants to be worried about.
And this coincides with the orchastrated endings which are fixed. Again if you think about it they have to be, because if not then you would have two wrestlers doing perfectly executed moves on each other for several hours. Not really what a Pantomime is all about really is it?
So the next time you turn around and say those insufferable words then just think, Wrestling isn’t real because it doesn’t need to be. Lifes real enough.
January 23, 2009
One Phone-call Mark
I have to say, i am under no illusions that it is very hard being at Mark Hughes at the minute. For the last several weeks though that all he has been doing is trying to prove he is control of his club. Which he isn’t.
It seems quite bold for me to say this but it is true. It is easy to see when you look at it. Mark Hughes has just been recently saying that they don’t want to pay over the top for players, he has, in pretty much every press conference stressed that there shouldn’t be a “Man City Premium”. In most instances he would be absolutely right, however in the instance of the Kaka saga, he is unutterably wrong. Because the prices that were mooted by the press could only be in the “Man City premium” bracket.
However, flipping the coin over and we have Mark Hughes quibbling over several million for Roque Santa Cruz, Craig Bellamy and Nigel De Jong. He’s on a one man mission to save money, whilst his owners are browsing Harvey Nicks, Mark Hughes is looking at nice loafers in Primark. He looks set to eventually get his men, however it really was a simple phone call to sort it all out.
Mark Hughes: Hi John, it’s ol Sparky here….
John Williams: Hi Mark, how are you?
Mark Hughes: Fine, but i will be better when we have signed Roque….
John Williams: Oh right, well i dont know about that
Mark Hughes: How much do you want for him?
John Williams: 20 million
Mark Hughes: Done, don’t suppose you have Messi’s number do you?
John Williams: No Mark i dont, i do have Matt Jansen’s though……
And that would be that. I am not saying that Man City should be doing this for everything and anybody but when you have certain funds available then you should just go for it. It seems completely ridiculous that Man City and Blackburn Rovers can’t agree over a couple of million when City are openly saying they would spend 100 million on one player.
It all points to one thing: Mark Hughes’s P45 landing on his doorstep in May.
December 29, 2008
The Good Ship Albion
Saturdays are a time of leisure and thought in my mind. I try to engage myself in the things I love, these being football, sleeping and reading. Sitting there listening to the dreary but immediate voice of Tim Gudgin and the classified results whilst reading an engaging article on British cycling in the Sunday times, I was in a hazy world of comfiness. My brew was in that lovely state of being warm and sweet and nothing could be better.
Then a result popped up which was nothing spectacular in itself but it pricked my ears. Montrose 1- Albion Rovers 2. Now two things immediately hit me; where in the Helen of Troy is Montrose? And why have I never heard of Albion Rovers?
It sounds so vaudevillian. A team born from an ideal of living the renegade dream. A group of likeminded thinkers ripping up the rule book and priding itself on being one of a kind. This is obviously not true but my aspersions make me think for a second. A second longer than I should have.
My Dad is a geography teacher and his knowledge of this land is quite staggering. I inherited this thirst for geographical knowledge and spent my young says trawling the atlases and maps that sprawled the house. I used to watch the classified results back then as well and remembered thinking “Where on earth is Charlton? Why have I never heard of Walsall? A quick look would tell me where it was and then I was back to the results. So why had this never happened with me and poor Montrose?
I think it has something to do with the fact that nobody largely cares for Scottish Football in this country. In fact I would go on and say that we treat it with contempt. I didn’t check where Montrose was because I didn’t care, and I didn’t care because nobody ever told me to.
It is evident in today’s game. Many of today’s fans follow a Premiership team, in my case Newcastle United, so when the classified results are read I should in theory switch off, I don’t, I listen out for Carlisle United’s results and Macclesfield Town’s results for various reasons. However I do switch off at the time Gudgin mentions the words Scottish Football.
It isn’t really a surprise though is it? A quick look on the Sky Sport’s website shows that they have one story from the Scottish Premier and the select-a-team feature has no link to a Scottish football team, however in case you were dying to know about Roda-JKC from the Dutch Eredivise then a useful link will tell you. Marvelous for those legions of Roda JKC fans in the South East then….
Today’s issue of The Times ‘Game’ supplement shows very little on Scottish football, I know that it isn’t really it’s job, but it can do better than a snippet at the bottom of the page in their flagship football pull-out. To rub salt into it’s wound, the results are above a match report about Oxford United and Ebbsfleet, now thats not good. Especially on a Old Firm weekend.
I know that many will turn around and say its upto the Scottish to trumpet their own leagues but we don’t really help the situation by treating them like the village idiot.
I don’t know the fix, after a good 45 minutes looking at the representation of Scottish Football on the ol internet my brew had got cold. I had quickly grown bored of my task and that’s why I have only two real examples, but none of you out there can deny it, unless you support Scottish football, you just don’t care.
I originally thought that my attention span on tasks was waning but two hours later I was rigging the BBC League predictor to make sure Newcastle won the League, I was there for nearly three hours. The proof was in the pudding, I didn’t care about Scottish Football but maybe, just maybe whilst listening to the Classified Results next week I might actually switch on and not switch off to Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2- Hamilton Academicals 1.
December 15, 2008
Just a quicky….not literally
Hi people, just want to point out that sorry for lack of posting recently…..i will however be posting over the next few weeks with normal service resuming shortly. I have a lot of work on at the minute and it’s dragging me down
cheers
RT Wilcock
November 24, 2008
Weekend’s talking points….
So, the common theme is for me to talk about the weekends talking points. Not much has happened this weekend though. So all i have to say is well done Ricky Hatton for demolishing Paulie Malignagghi, comiserations for England Rugby team for being demolished by South Africa and a WTF happened to England’s One day squad in their defeat to India.
However, wait!
There are a few things to talk about. First off i cannot understand all of this talk about Paul Ince being sacked. It makes no sense to me. A few weeks ago i defended Mark Hughes by saying that he should be given time and the money promised to him, and although the situation is slightly different (Blackburn don’t have much money) the premise is the same. After watching some Blackburn matches, it is obvious that the win is coming and it’s coming soon. Hang on in there. Give Paul Ince a chance.
There has been enough said on William Gallas comments over the weekend. I don’t really want to dwell on it and give this spoilt, selfish and arrogant piece of crap any more of my time. Instead i will point you to the best sites that commented on his ridiculous outburst.
RT Wilcock
November 18, 2008
Weekends talking points…
So there has been several points to talk about from the weekend, and as per usual with International week, stories have circulated that don’t really deserve mentioning. However there have been some decent stories.
Micheal Mancienne is a Chelsea youngster currently on loan at Wolves. Nothing unusual there you might think, however on Saturday night he was thrusted into the limelight after some very impressive performances for Wolves and included in the England squad for the Germany international. Now i am a fan of playing youngsters in the main squad because it gives valuable experience to the youngsters for when they are carrying the nations hopes. But i think it is a bit early for Mancienne. If his policy to include youngsters then why not some of the burgeoning players in the Premier League? I know there are some youthful players in the squad but i think Mancienne wasnt at the top of the pile.
The other main story that has hit the headlines is the old chestnut of club versus country. I don’t see the argument. Gerrard is injured, Lampard has rib troubles and Joe Hart was visibly injured on Sunday. Do you honestly think Gerrard wants to shirk his responsibilities for England.There have been grumbles about unneccessary friendlies disrupting the domestic programme but i see that as ridiculous. Just when England make some progress and look like they are going somewhere again, we get some selfish premier league managers telling Capello and the Journalists that it is a waste of time. I think they should do their jobs and let Capello do his.
Just a quick note on Maradona’s Argentinian circus that is heading Hampden Parks way tomorrow night. I can only see tears with this marriage. Maradona was a fabulous player, no doubt about it. However he is just to volatile and inexperienced as a manager to make it.
It’s good to see the F.A actually see through some of their pre-season threats in respect( pun intended) to their respect campaign. Manchester United Manager Alex Ferguson has been handed a ten thousand pounds fine and a two match touchline ban for improper conduct. And damn right. Quite frankly, he should know better, and he probably does. It’s only now that the F.A have decided to get tough with him and other Premier League Managers for improper professional behaviour. Lets hope it continues
RT Wilcock
November 14, 2008
Olympic D-Day
So the big day is upon seven sports who are bidding for the chance to compete at the 2016 Olympic games. There are two spots available for the 28 sport extravaganza and the sport’s bidding for the chance to compete couldn’t be further detracted from each other if they tried.
In what promises to be an extraordinary day at the I.O.C Headquarters in Lausanne in which Squash, Rugby Sevens, Karate, Baseball, Roller Sports ( I know…say whaaaat), Softball and Golf all pitch for the right to compete.
Now, there is no saying what the I.O.C are looking for in the sports however for me there are two sports that stand out in this race. Squash is a highly competitive and exhilirating sport that requires supreme strength of mind and remarkable stamina. The I.O.C have in the past expressed concerns about how it translates to the T.V screens. This is a fair comment because the sport does struggle to show it’s best parts. However, if they are concerned about the T.V viewing figures and the all important bums- on- seats, then i am astounded that they havn’t looked at the values of Table Tennis and Syncronised Swimming. Nothing against the prospective games but they aren’t any more exciting from a spectator’s point of view than Squash is.
My second vote would be for the Karate programme to be included. I think it’s close with Rugby Sevens but my vote would be based on the simple fact that Karate is a sport that has a internationally developed set-up and is not just a shortened quickened game of a rather more established sport. Put simply, you wouldn’t put in twenty20 Cricket instead of the full game. It doesn’t make sense in the long-term development of the Olympic movement or Rugby Sevens. Golf has a strong case, however Golf is just Golf. It doesn’t really need the Olympic movement for the promotion of it’s sport and there are serious doubts over whether or not tour players would turn up.
A Golfer playing Golf….yeah i know, boring isn’t it
As for Roller Sports, Softball and Baseball, they don’t stand a chance in my opinion.
What does everybody think will happen?
November 14, 2008
What respect….
I mentioned at the start of the week that i thought Joe Kinnear had called the wrong person into question over Newcastle’s failings in the sunday game against Fulham. Now, i think my case has been vindicated by the charade that has ensued since then.
In case you don’t know, Joe Kinnear called referee Martin Atkinson a “mickey mouse” referee after a non existant push on Cacapa by Andy Johnson wasn’t punished. It angers me that over the last week the only story that has really eminated from the Newcastle camp is the repurcussions of Joe Kinnear’s ridiculous remarks.
He’s told that his remarks are out of line, he’s then called into the F.A Office to explain himself and then he is told that he has to apologise to Atkinson- and quite rightly so, and after all of that we get Kinnear releasing a statement telling us he might have been wrong. It shows that Joe Kinnear hasn’t quite grasped 21st Century football and all of it’s trappings. The day’s are gone when press conferences were three guys and a dictaphone. Everything you say is scrutinised, everything you do is straight on SkySports News in the morning. You can’t run your mouth nowadays without it coming back to haunt you. In a day and age of respect campaigns and disiplinary panels, it only serves as a hinderence to doubt a referee’s credentials.
It all points to one thing and one man, whilst Joe Kinnear is doing his best in a bad situation he is lacking in respect of referees, he’s lacking in common knowledge of how 21st century football works. At a time when Newcastle sit ugly in 18th position and relegation becoming the unwanted buzzword on Tyneside, a petty squabble between a referee and Newcastle’s Manager is the LAST thing the squad needs.
