The Unknown Poster

Is the field at grade as opposed to below ground like at IGF? Seems very high. And will they be enclosing the other end zone with seats? If not, it seems rather odd...

Kind of gave me chills hearing the traditional Star Trek fanfare there. Cool!

TNA has lasted longer as a money losing venture that no one cares about. WCW was the most profitable promotion of all time up to that point (WWE later surpassed it). And due to the AOL Time Warner merger, too many people cared about it (and didnt care about wrestling) at the worst time possible. Ted Turner had previously had execs suggest dumping WCW when it was a money loser but Turner warned them never to bring that up again. He loved wrestling and credited it with making TBS a success. So as long as Turner was in control, WCW was safe. Eric Bischoff had a deal to buy WCW in 2001 and save it and had ideas to revamp it. But with Turner out of power in his own media empire an exec named Jamie Kellner who hated wrestling decided to cancel all wrestling from the Turner stations and that killed Bischoff's deal. He had previously negotiated a long term deal to air Nitro on Turner so pulling the deal changed everything. Bischoff still frantically tried to find a new Television home but just ran out of time. Shame really. There has been suggestions that Kellner cancelled WCW as a favour to WWE who had kicked tires on buying it (they earned right of first refusal due to their infringement lawsuit against WCW) but wouldnt spend that much money on it... Kellner cancelled the TV and killed the value of the company and WWE swooped in and bought it for next to nothing...with AOL/Time Warner agreeing to keep the big contracts WWE didnt want to take. TNA is like a kid's lemonade stand. At the end of the day it might have cost you more money to open the stand but at least it made your kid happy for a few hours. Im not sure who TNA makes happy. But it basically has no business being in business other than there is no one left to care about it so Dixie keeps blissfully chugging along losing money every day.

I guess reporters get bored and come up with wild grade suggestions. This one is hilarious. ESPN.COM: Rob Vollman makes the case for the Washington Capitals to trade left wing Alex Ovechkin as a means of shaking things up, citing Ovechkin’s age (he’ll turn 31 this fall), his expensive contract (nearly $10 million annually) and the inevitable decline of his skills. He suggests the Winnipeg Jets as a trade partner, citing their available cap space, that they’re holding the second-overall pick in this year’s draft, that Ovechkin could skate alongside Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler and the Jets need for offense. He notes Ovechkin has a limited no-trade clause in which he lists 10 acceptable trade destinations, noting the Jets might not be on that list. Still, they’re just one example of several clubs that could be interested in acquiring him. While Vollman expects the Capitals won’t trade their captain, if a club like the Jets comes calling he thinks they should at least listen.

Well to be fair I'd do it. Sans coke.

Assuming Toronto takes Matthews, if the Jets dont take Laine it means a lot of very smart people who should know, were very wrong. I dont see the Jets going off the board, even to take JP. Unless something happens between now and then. This is the same management team that signed Kane to a long term deal even after he asked for a trade and asked for one every single year. So Im not sure anything short of Laine getting busted for snorting coke out of a Russian politician's ass or publicly saying he hates Winnipeg would cause them to think twice. Judgement and guesses factor in later. Not in the top three. Laine is the best player according to virtually everyone. So thats who the Jets should pick.

Speaking of Suicide Squad: THR is now reporting that WB is "working to smooth out" the third act of SUICIDE SQUAD. The outlet states that since the audience perception of the film is largely positive as a result of the past two stellar trailers for the film, they want to make sure that the finished product either meets or exceeds all fan expectations. It's not really clear based on the article what smoothing out really means? Did they make substantial changes in reshoots? Are they rejiggering the ending using existing footage? Or are they simply working on the film per usual with the mind of keeping a solid third act? There are no other real details in the piece, so it's hard to say what one should think regarding this news, as that can change based on how they interpret this news. - See more at: http://www.latino-review.com/news/suicide-squad-dc-and-wb-working-to-smooth-o

Maybe Affleck was suggesting changes and not actually sitting down to write. But his rising power in the DCEU would seem to indicate he felt he needed more power and they felt he should get more power. Affleck has become a good film maker so Im hoping its a positive change.

That seems like something that would have made sense beforehand. And anyone who watched Man of Steel knew Snyder wasnt the guy (or at least not the guy to do it without some major creative over-site). If Justice League hadnt been scheduled to begin filming so soon after BvS I bet he would have been pulled altogether. I've read rumors that the script is being re-written every day on set. And thats a rumor that was out there for BvS too that Affleck was trying to correct issues with the script on-set. The good news is, Wonder Woman is complete with lots of lead time before it launches. And Suicide Squad has lots of positive buzz (and got a significant investment in re-shoots too). So it might just be the Snyder-led aspects that are in trouble. DC cant let this all slip away over a lousy director.

I can't remember which thread we were talking about OJ LOS ANGELES -- After nearly a month of testing, Los Angeles police detectives have concluded a knife found at the former estate of O.J. Simpson was not the weapon used to kill Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1994.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/premier-wall-says-risk-analysis-in-the-works-for-sasktel-after-mts-sale-to-bell-379846721.html

Just checked, TNA makes just over $18,000 in ad revenue per two hour episode. Its former lead-in, Days of Our Lives reruns made $44,000 and DOOL was cancelled by POP and replaced by That 70's Show reruns. If the ad split is 50-50 that means TNA generates around $480,000 per year which is very low for US TV rights fees. Considering the Hardy's are probably paid upwards of $300,000 each (Im speculating but I believe James Storm got a $250,000 deal from TNA so the Hardy's would be significantly more), TNA is losing money based on their TV deal. They dont run house shows and their TV tapings are done at Universal Studios in front of a non-paying audience.

Eric ran WCW for about three years before Rey came in but Rey was a huge free agent that everyone wanted. He actually worked for ECW first and gained American acclaim there. Same goes for Eddie, Malenko, Benoit, Tajiri and many Mexican workers too. Heyman saw the business changing. Rey might have been the biggest masked high flyer in America but he was just another guy (albeit talented) in Mexico ofcourse, where there was a long history of masked high flyers. So Rey was definitely not the first. Just the biggest in America during a time wrestling exploded. Del Rio was a masked Mexican wrestler too and didnt want to lose his mask in WWE... Ultimo Dragon is a unique case as he was Japanese but went to Mexico in search of his first break and thats where he made it big. Dragon entered WCW around the same time as Rey if I recall and was probably better than Rey for awhile. I had the pleasure of working with Ultimo a few years ago when he came to down to wrestle Mentallo and Kenny Omega. Very nice guy. WWE has been looking for a Lucha star whether its in the vein of Rey or Eddie for ages. But remember, they had Rey put the mask back on after he had worked WCW for years without it because they saw the marketing appeal in the mask. Which is the same with the Luchadores. So in that respect, they want Kalisto to be the next Rey but they also know he will never be the next Rey. Kalisto will never be World Champion.

It was cancelled by Destination America a year ago. ;-) You mean POP TV. Its really inevitable. TNA is in an ad-share arrangement with POP, meaning they get paid nothing for their programming and split the ad revenue. But wrestling generates lower ad rates per rating then other programming (this is true even for WWE). I dont recall the details but I saw the ad revenue estimates and they were very low. When TNA signed the deal with POP, the CEO of POP was incredibly positive saying they expected TNA to eventually build up to their SPIKE TV numbers (1 million viewers). They've been in the 200,000-300,000 range. POP stopped doing social media promotion for them a few weeks ago around the time of the up fronts where TNA wasnt mentioned at all. The TNA replay was moved to Saturday a few weeks ago and now cancelled outright which is the same thing that happened on DA before it was cancelled for good. TNA has continued to be late paying people including talent but mostly production people. They have borrowed money from their production company (run by the Harris Twins) just to be able to afford their TV tapings. The Harris' were rumored to be working on a deal to buy TNA...the same Harris who are Neo Nazi's. Once that came out, their Nazi ink and shirts photos were tweeted en mass to POP's CEO, The one thing TNA has, the international TV, is anchored by a big deal they have with India which supposedly pays tens of millions of dollars but required TNA to do a yearly tour which they have cancelled at least once supposedly due to terrorism concerns but more likely because they simply couldnt afford it. It was May last year when word came out that Destination America was not going to renew TNA. So its probably a similar timeline this year if the contracts are similar. Remember, two things that sunk TNA on DA were bad ratings and Dixie sent an email bad mouthing DA's President and accidentally CC'ed him on it.

I tend to agree with Mike. I havent seen much and Im no scout. But the guys that get paid money to be scouts and to be media analysts all talk about Laine as #2. Sure, JP didnt play at the World's so he's not talked about as much but I tend to think the smart guys take into account the talent of the player and dont just discount him because he got hurt. Everyone that matters talks of Laine as closer to #1 than JP being closer to #2. Jets have gone off the board before. On the other hand, picking Connor was because he fell to them and they couldnt believe their good fortune. Cant see the Jets doing anything but #2. But until they step up to the podium they will gladly pay lip service to the idea they havent decided. And they probably havent decided 100%...interviews will be a factor. But they've decided 80% I would guess.

Ill take 50 cents for that one.

Yeah the stomp just cant be done safely without looking bad. And it replies on the guy taking it to sit up and the right moment. I'd cut it too. It can be done well but requires great timing and the guy taking it to have great timing in taking it. Not easy. But its one of those set up moves WWE likes because fans see it coming, react to it etc. Cesaro is a tough one. I agree he got screwed by the booking. He got a push at first because he was Cena's work out buddy. Then WWE did what they always do - over-estimate how popular someone is. Cesaro had a good heel run in him and they flipped him face due to the swing being over complete with Dunn doing the stupid zoom in zoom out. Then back heel to be with Heyman which should have been awesome except Heyman just talked about Brock and Cesaro looked like a forgotten man. Vince didnt like his look and that was that. Cesaro is good. But he lacks something. Some call it "babyface fire", he doesnt have fire on his comeback so its hard to get into. But at least they seem to be going with it now. keep in mind the only reason they are going with it now is because a group of fans made it their mission including printing their own Cesaro Section signs to distribute to other fans. Voila.

Well Im hoping to arrange a scenario where I can post Eklund, state clearly that its simply to generate a discussion and then somehow get a dollar for everytime someone just bashes the "Eklund" part and ignores the discussion part. So you owe me a dollar.

Why would I read the article when I can just run off at the mouth about the headline?

This was my favorite reply: I think maybe the Leafs could trade 1st overall + Nylander for 2nd overall and pray that the Jets take Matthews

Okay, for discussion purposes only, from resident goofball Eklund (I said DISCUSSION PURPOSES): Per one source: "You need a combination of grade A prospects as well as be willing to detach yourself from a regular top 6 guy...and those prospects need to be ready NOW. It will also take teams who are not too married to their current setup or who have the right amount of desperation to make such a monumental move for a single, unproven, potential superstar..." The Flyers and Leafs may have the best shot here. From Philly's side it would take Brayden Schenn, Travis Sanheim, Sam Morin, plus two picks in the first 4 rounds...or Travis Konecny....That's the kind of ransom this kid would command. For the Leafs, you are looking at combinations of Rielly, Nylander, etc... The Jets would demand either a top, young d-man already playing, or a few d prospects who are ready for prime-time. So...how do those deals sound?

Who cares really. Emma Watson has a company in Panama too. Unless she might be some international criminal mastermind, I find the whole thing yawn inducing. Billionaire companies hiding assets from fair taxes? Sure, go get 'em. Average people, somewhat wealthy celebrities? Who cares.