Rangers shakeup with Davidson and Gorton out

Rangers shakeup with Davidson and Gorton out

In a shocking turn of events. The New York Rangers have changed the course and have relieved President John Davidson and G.M. Jeff Gorton. A day after a statement was released by the team about how disappointed they were that no action was taken against Tom Wilson, which definitely more should’ve been done, and George Parros the head of NHL Player Safety the Rangers had a release on Twitter expressing disappointment.

Some reports have said JD and Gorton tried to distance themselves from the report and that didn’t sit well with Rangers owner James Dolan. Others have said he didn’t like the results of the last two games vs the Islanders and wanted to speed up the process due to lack of toughness and grit on this team as well, but Davidson and Gorton kept preaching patience. I was ok with letting Gorton go honestly. He’s made nice moves, but hired a flawed coach in David Quinn. Davidson never got a real shot here, but if the first report is true and they didn’t want to be associated with the statement shame on them for not backing the players.

So what happens next? Well reports are Chris Drury will be president and GM of the team. He was the assistant GM to the Rangers, as well as the GM to the USA hockey team. He was a guy who was a finalist for Florida Panthers, and Pittsburgh Penguins jobs, but backed out of them. My guess is taking over the Rangers was his dream job. He seems like a popular guy around the league as well. Will see how this shapes out. What do I think? We can’t say it’s a good idea or bad because we don’t know what Drury is. Do I agree with the move on Davidson, no, but Gorton I am ok with, just as long as Drury puts the right people around him, he will succeed. We will also wait and see if this is an interim thing or full time.

Will the 49ers really select Mac Jones?

Will the 49ers really select Mac Jones?

Mac Jones to the 49ers. Does that work for everyone if you’re a fan of the team? I’m not, but it doesn’t make any sense at all. You traded all that draft capital for a guy you could’ve had at the 12th spot. Jones was surrounded by two top receivers and a good offensive line at Alabama. What doesn’t make sense even more so is you’re going to take him over a guy in Justin Fields who played really well in college and made the big plays when he needed too, and Trey Lance who some believe may have the highest ceiling of any of the quarterbacks.

I’m just not a fan of Jones. Doesn’t move in the pocket, his deep throws are meh to me, and he was surrounded by four or five potential first and second round picks in Devonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Alex Leatherwood, Najee Harris and Landon Dickerson. Not to mention his off the field DUI arrest in 2017 as a freshman. Questions will surround this pick if it happens. I would go with Fields if I was San Francisco. Jones too many is highly overrated, and not worth what they traded. He doesn’t move in the pocket all. He also doesn’t have the arm talent to make deep throws in the pros. He is the more traditional pocket passer, which isn’t becoming so traditional anymore. Just because Kyle Shanahan thinks he may fit the system, he is what he is, meaning I don’t see any growth for him. His ceiling is where it is now. A mistake could be coming for the 49ers if they do the wrong thing here.

AEW Revolution a flop?

AEW Revolution a flop?

AEW “Revolution” looked to be not the best, but could be a special card on paper. Instead we got arguably the worst pay per view in the AEW era. Now I’ll give AEW a pass because they haven’t been around long, but long enough where I leave the show impressed every time. This was a first for me where I left completely underwhelmed and frustrated.

The tag team match starting the show was a good idea as “The Young Bucks” are always a guarantee to put out a great match. Having Chris Jericho and MJF was a good opponent, but not where I would’ve gone. You could’ve had Matt and Nick Jackson go up against “The Good Brothers.” Now that would’ve been special, but again potential and I’m sure down the road will get it.

You had Matt Hardy vs. Adam “Hangman” Page in a match where the winner gets the other’s first quarter makings. To me it was just a match or a rivalry I wasn’t invested in. Same thing with “Best Friends” vs. Miro and Kip Sabian. Just not invested in it at all. It’s time for Miro to breakaway from Sabian and Penelope Ford. Don’t get me started on the Battle Royal. That should’ve been on the preshow. It was a joke that it wasn’t.

The women’s match between Hikaru Shida Ryo Mizunami was pretty good, but the build wasn’t really with me. It had to be rushed obviously due to the tournament, but hey at least it wasn’t Nyla Rose. Maki Itoh also coming out on the pre-show Buy-In was a nice idea.

I was a big fan of the ladder match and having Ethan Page debut, which I had guessed right before the show, was a good idea. Big signing for them in the mid-card circuit for them. Scorpio Sky winning was a great idea. A new face and a guy who’s earned the push. Him vs Darby Allin in the ring is perfect with similar styles.

Christian Cage was the big AEW signing that Paul Wight said would happen. I was all for Christian, but didn’t it feel like it was being built much bigger or just me. I love Christian, don’t get me wrong, just felt like the huge buildup was a bit of a letdown.

Sting and Allin together vs Brian Cage and Ricky Starks I thought was a fun, entertaining match. It was the cinematic style it was rumored to be. Everyone did a good job in playing their role in the match. Nice to see Sting on television again wrestling as well.

And now we get the main event. The “Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match”. I will say this, I thought the match was good, I wasn’t a huge fan of the setup. Usually with barbed wire matches you replace the ropes with straight barbed wire. Also the barbed wire tables on the floor looked very indies style which is ok. I think they should’ve just copied the way Atsushi Onita used to do his matches and run with it. I mean they had him do a promo, why not just take the idea? Maybe have Moxley come out to “Wild Thing” as well would’ve been a cool idea. I mean he had the Onita jacket on. Now the match, again I liked, but what we all remember? The ending.

I mean that was an atrocious way for this show to end. Vince McMahon said it best “people will always remember the ending.” I agree with that. Having Eddie Kingston come out to try and save his friend Moxley who was lying in the ring handcuffed was great storytelling. Then the sparklers went and the explosion was well non-existent. As Marvin Martian once said “Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom.” Instead, we got a tiny fart. Moxley then cut a promo after the match saying “Kenny Omega may be a tough son of a b—, but he can’t make an exploding ring worth a s—!” Moxley said. “I’ve seen more dangerous s— on MTV’s Ridiculousness, what the f— was that?”

So that’s my review of “Revolution.” A disappointment for sure. Many things I would’ve fixed, but this tells me AEW will be more motivated when “Double or Nothing” happens. Can we get the shows back to Saturdays please? One Saturday where UFC isn’t on? Please and thank you.

Is Tom Brady the GOAT?

Is Tom Brady the GOAT?

At Tom Bradys age, you would usually have the saying “as one door closes, another opens.” Well, not in his case. After winning his seventh, yes seventh, career Super Bowl it’s time to ask the question that people don’t want to bring up, but it must be asked. Is Tom Brady the greatest QB in NFL history? A lot of factors can put into play in this conversation.

The first is how good statistically does, he match-up against the argument that of course has always been discussed which is Joe Montana. Well, Brady has more championships then Joe, seven to four, but let’s be realistic, both have done plenty in the big game. Montana is undefeated in his games, in which he dominated every single one, but have won plenty. Brady has lost some tough one sin the process such as twice against the 2007 Giants, the Nick Foles led Eagles going seven and three in the process.

But what about diving deeper into the numbers? Of course Brady is going to lead Montana in every category because he’s played longer. But when I say deeper, I’m talking still doing it at an elite level. Now people will say well look at the Buccaneers, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, Leonard Fournette, and Antonio Brown, not to mention OJ Howard before he got hurt. You ask is this fair? Look, Brady didn’t really have a choice.

He wanted the 49ers, but they passed. The Chargers didn’t have as deep a roster offensively as Tampa and those were really it for Tom. Teams passed on him. People thought he was done, including myself. Everyone said he’s a system of Bill Belichick and the Patriots. But what if Brady is the system? What if he’s that good where he has his own system? I mean look at the Patriots this past year missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 years. We also dream playoff matchups for Brady. He didn’t play well vs Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers, but those guys, and a Matt LaFleur blunder, didn’t play particularly well either. The key is he made the key plays when he had to, even at age 43. That’s right 43 years young.

Patrick Mahomes was overwhelmed in the game. Look, he will be back, but people were wondering if Mahomes would get the torched pass from Brady. And of course Tampa’s defense was extremely dominant, but Brady was unbelievable in the game. I will say this, is he the most athletic skilled QB I’ve ever seen, that belongs to Aaron Rodgers, but what Brady does is have a clutch gene. No mater franchise he’s on he will bring whatever he needs to succeed regardless. That’s why he will go down as the greatest of all time.

Did WWE get the Royal Rumble matches right?

Did WWE get the Royal Rumble matches right?

Many are feeling excited because you can make the argument it’s the best time of the year to be a wrestling fan. We just had “Wrestle Kingdom” from New Japan. You have AEW “Double Or Nothing” around the corner in a few months, and the biggest one as the “Road to Wrestlemania” officially has begun.

Now, people will be asking did WWE get the “Royal Rumble” matches correct? Many different opinions will be heard and said. But I will explain why one was the right way to go while the other went backwards? Yes when I say backwards I mean it. I also want to give my congratulation to Bianca Belair and Edge on their Rumble wins.

Let’s start with the right decision. That is Belair, “The EST of WWE.” Remember you can’t spell Wrestlemania without EST. She has proven since she was signed by NXT that she has what it takes to be the face of the women’s division. But let’s add to this. How about the final two with her Rhea Ripley as the last two competitors in the match.

What WWE did was let the creative side of making new superstars on the main roster show in this match. You would’ve though Charlotte Flair, who is still arguably the top women’s competitor in the business winning it again, or Becky Lynch returning, or even a Ronda Rousey surprise, but no. WWE gave you a glimpse into the future of the division. It was a nice change for WWE to do this. We also saw Ripley have a match with Flair at Mania last year, so it seems they’re starting to get a changing of the guard. The women’s division in WWE, let’s face it, next to “IMPACT” has the best women’s division in the business. Kudos to them for making the right call, and for Belair for having her well deserved moment. And her post match interview was phenomenal. How can you not be happy for her.

Now we get to the backward part. And I had an argument with a certain someone about this, and I will give him his credit when the time is right. He knows who I’m talking about. I was so excited for Edge that I didn’t want to hear anyone say anything bad, but the truth is this. I had to take a step back and a night to ponder the match more, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought the person was right. This is going backwards, and it doesn’t make any sense of the matter unless it was Edge vs. Randy Orton for either the WWE or Universal Championship, which doesn’t seem to be the case.

This is a very different year for Mania because they won’t have full capacity due to the continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic. That one problem. The other problem is this.. I want to be very clear I grew up going with my family on vacations to Tampa, Florida. I love the city, the beaches, everything about it. The problem is it isn’t New York which has Manhattan, California which has Los Angeles or San Francisco, or Louisiana which has New Orleans. Those are marketable travel destinations. Tampa is still over an hour or so away from Orlando, nor does it have a huge popular place to go and visit.

Why do I say all this. I think I understand why WWE did what they did, but I don’t agree with it. They have two nights this year at “Raymond James Stadium” not at the Performance Center, so they’ll be selling tickets to fans who I’m sure have reservations of going due to the virus still all over this country. So, how do you sell tickets? Well you book a Hall of Famer in the main event of course. The Rock, I can guarantee they’re saving for Wrestlemania 39 in Los Angeles in front of a sold out packed “SoFi Stadium.” The Undertaker is retired, at least we think this time. Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels don’t wrestle anymore. Hulk Hogan is way to old. Triple H has taken a more backstage role. And who knows with John Cena’s hectic schedule if he’ll want to risk getting the virus while he’s doing his business in LA.

That’s what leads me to Edge winning. I wanted a new star to take it. Big E has earned it, Daniel Bryan, a great veteran, has earned it, Shinsuke Nakamura has earned it. They wanted the high profile guy to come and sell tickets. It’s that simple. Edge is a name that will draw to the fans. Do I agree with this decision, absolutely not. The problem is they’re trying to sell tickets in a non destination city in the middle of one of the worst pandemics this world has ever seen. I just feel like not giving a new superstar the opportunity such as a Big E wasn’t the right decision. WWE needs to start building for the future more, and it feels like they’re just spinning in circles all the time. Undertaker, Goldberg, now Edge. While I am a fan and respect those men, new blood needs to take the reigns, no pun intended, of this company. Again don’t get it twisted I’m glad Edge is back and want to see him at Wrestlemania, just not in the main event.

So I tell you this, you can draw any conclusions you want. You’re allowed to, it’s your right, but you have to ask yourself why did WWE give the future a chance in the women’s division, but not the men’s? The women’s rumble match was right, but sadly the men’s wasn’t.