Inside The Squared Circle: The Passing of Steve Williams, Tommy Dreamer Leaves ECW, Bryan Danielson? Mystico Confusion

Wrestling has lost another...."Dr. Death" Steve Williams has died of throat cancer at the age of 49. I remember Williams very well from his days with the Mid-South/U.W.F. territory and later the N.W.A. Williams was an all-american wrestler and football player at the University of Oklahoma where he played under Barry Switzer.

Nice job by Tommy Dreamer last night giving a farewell speech to the crowd at the Meadowlands after losing to Zack Ryder. Although I have never really been a big fan of Dreamer, he has always been a professional as he showed by giving a boost to Ryder's career. Ryder now can brag that he drove Tommy out of E.C.W. Dreamer is reportedly headed for T.N.A.

Where is Bryan Danielson? He signed a deal with the W.W.E. but apparently is in Arizona training and waiting for the company to call him when they have something for him. Must be nice. My bet is that if he doesn't show up on this Monday's Raw, he will figure in on the "E.C.W. homecoming" angle and will get a shot at Christian and the E.C.W. title.

The W.W.E. last week signed Mexican star Mystico, who also goes under the name Incognito. There was a bit of confusion as some reported that the W.W.E. signed Mistico - a legit legend in Mexican wrestling. Mistico and W.W.E. had tried to negotiate a deal last year, but reportedly talks broke down after the W.W.E. wanted to change his entire gimmick around.

John Cena to Flip Coin at Fiesta Bowl

Vince McMahon did the obvious last night by confirming Bret Hart for next Monday’s Raw. However, one top W.W.E. star won’t be at the show and that is John Cena. He’ll be at the Fiesta Bowl game next Monday night in Arizona to do the opening coin toss. Monday Night Raw takes place in Dayton, Ohio so Cena obviously would not be able to do both. The Fiesta Bowl should deliver strong ratings with #4 TCU (12-0) playing #6 Boise State (13-0).

I Wish I Were This Irrelevant

Quite often I hear the classic rock bands labeled "irrelevant." Hmmm, the Rolling Stones were the most successful live band over the past 10 years taking in over $869 million, according to Billboard’s Top Touring Acts of the 2000s list.

Other things that stood out for me...

U2 had 288 shows in the decade and sold out all of them.

Rod Stewart has been labeled a "sell-out" by some, but I'm sure he's laughing all the way to the bank with the $233 million he earned through his concerts.

Meanwhile, Britney Spears may sing about being a slave for you, however, I guess it's too bad slavery isn't actually so lucrative. She took in over $216 million through touring!

The full list is here.

Bret Hart Returning

Vince McMahon will appear on Monday Night Raw this evening to address the rumors of Bret Hart's return to the W.W.E. Of course, McMahon is going to confirm those reports otherwise why would he be there (that and he signed Bret to a contract). Some people are scoffing at Hart's return, but I think it will definitely help the W.W.E. and give it a good shot in the arm.

So that will set Monday night January 4 as W.W.E./Monday Night Raw/Bret Hart vs. T.N.A./Impact/Hulk Hogan.

Just to illustrate how far T.N.A. has to go to compete with W.W.E; apparently they are worried that they won't fill up the Universal Studios in Orlando that night for the T.N.A. Impact show. Here's the rub, those tickets are free and capacity is 850!!!!

Odds & Sods

NEWS
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano is now saying that the system failed miserably in the attempted bombing plot of the Northwest Airlines flight headed for Detroit. No kidding.

Glad that's cleared up.

I wonder who is watching the watchers. The people that hold themselves up so high and mighty like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann and those of that ilk. The news coverage of certain items recently is disgusting and reckless. There is one item that has my interest, I'm not going to give it any oxygen unless necessary, but the coverage so far is just really pitiful.

So who is watching the watchers? I know I am. There are plenty of news outlets that I am cutting out....

SPORTS
Chris Jericho will be hosting "100 Most Shocking Music Moments" beginning tonight at 8 on VH1. The show is on all week, but I have no idea if Jericho is hosting every night.

Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella loves to jostle with the media, but seems to shrink when it comes to benching players. Tortorella will be fired if not after this season, but midway through next year. Mark - no pun intended - my words.

Yeah I suppose Mark Messier could be the next coach.

If the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight doesn't come off, then what is really the point of boxing even continuing?

UFC 111 is being held Saturday March 27 which is the night before Wrestlemania. UFC said they scheduled the event that night because they did not want to go head-to-head with Pac-Mayweather which was tentatively booked for March 13.

MISC
Who uses Yahoo! search anyway? They rank the top searches to appear important but I don't know of anyone that has ever used Yahoo! over Google.

VH1 Honors will return next summer and this time The Doors will be receiving their moment in the sun. Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters are scheduled to perform.

I heard this version of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" on 107.1 The Peak Friday night. Great acoustic version! The band played it at the Bridge School Benefit charity show which takes place every year in California. Just another charity effort that The Who and Pete Townshend have been involved with.

Merry Christmas!

Inside The Squared Circle: Johnny Damon, Jericho on VH1, Comings and Goings

Johnny Damon did a nice job as guest host of Monday Night Raw. He knew the product; was involved enough without being the focal point; and genuinely seemed to enjoy himself. Oh yeah, and he took a kiss from 86-year-old Mae Young. Still, I wish the “guest host” thing would end.

Next week is Timbaland and then January 4 is Bret “Hitman” Hart, who is making his return to the W.W.E. as an on-air character. Hart signed a short-term deal which runs for about four months. Word is that he will wrestle one match, probably against Vince McMahon.

Hart has not been in a W.W.E ring since the infamous "Montreal Screwjob." He also has not talked with Triple H or Shawn Michaels since that night in November 1997 and said in his autobiography that he could never forgive either one. Supposedly he is coming back to help push family members; David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd and Nattie Neidhart. I guess hell has frozen over.

Now if only Vince’s archnemesis Bruno Sammartino agrees to be inducted into the W.W.E. Hall of Fame then I will know that 2012 has arrived.

Chris Jericho will be hosting the "100 Most Shocking Music Moments on VH1" this coming Monday from 8-9 P.M.

High-flying Ring of Honor tag team Jay and Mark Briscoe are said to be close to a deal with the W.W.E.

Tommy Dreamer has reportedly asked for his release.

W.W.E. Forgets Umaga

The W.W.E. has been completely classless in not acknowledging Eddie "Umaga" Fatu’s death on any of their t.v. programming. Many fans – including myself – have sent emails to the W.W.E. complaining. A U.K. Sun story here quoted a W.W.E. spokesperson who said he could not comment on the complaints. The W.W.E. is just being completely gutless on this issue.

Fatu passed away on December 4. He was 36. Umaga was a superheavyweight that had unbelievable speed and agility for a man his size; weighing in excess of 300 pounds. Fatu comes from a Samoan family that has produced such greats as the Wild Samoans and The Rock. He had just finished up the Hulkamania tour of Australia where his final match was against Ken “Mr. Kennedy” Anderson. Reportedly, he was supposed to return to the W.W.E. next month.

The day after Fatu died, Ring of Honor (R.O.H.) remembered Umaga with a 10-bell salute before a show. This is amazing to me, because Fatu never wrestled for R.O.H. but did spend a considerable amount of time working for the W.W.E. and his death only got a very cold corporate-type mention on their Website.

Who Cares

The Who and Teenage Cancert Trust (TCT) have teamed up to launch Who Cares, which is designed to raise money for TCT. The news is here. Basically, it's a new way for the fans to get involved in raising money for the charity.

Incidentally, a fan has an authentic Pete Townshend shirt up for auction on eBay, which comes with an autographed photo of PT wearing a similar shirt. The auctioneer says that all proceeds will go to TCT. The link is here.

Roger Daltrey and Eric Clapton Hitting The Road

Roger Daltrey will be teaming up with Eric Clapton in February/March of 2010 for a few shows together. Meanwhile, Clapton and Steve Winwood will continue touring into the early part of next year. More on the news can be found here. I couldn't find any video of Roger and Eric performing - unless you count Clapton in the movie, Tommy - so I have posted Clapton with Pete Townshend.

Slammy Awards Predictions

It's that time of year again that everyone looks forward to. Well, perhaps not, but the Slammy's could produce some interesting moments tonight on Monday Night Raw which will be hosted by Dennis Miller. Here are the nominees and who I think will take home each award:

Superstar of the Year Nominees:
Undertaker
John Cena
Randy Orton
CM Punk

Although, there is no standout, somehow I think it will be Randy Orton.

Diva of the Year
Nominees: All are eligible.

I'm going to go with Maryse.

Extreme Moment of the Year Nominees:
Kofi Kingston lands a Boom Drop on Randy Orton at MSG.
Big Show chokeslams John Cena into arena spotlight at Backlash.
Jeff Hardy jumps from ladder onto CM Punk at SummerSlam.
Triple H invades Randy Orton's home.

The Kofi Kingston move was even more special because it happened at Madison Square Garden, so that's the moment I'm going with.

Breakout Star of the Year Nominees:
Yoshi Tatsu
Drew McIntyre
Sheamus
Abraham Washington

New W.W.E. Champ Sheamus takes this one.

Shocker of the Year Nominees:
Batista turns against former friend Rey Mysterio.
Randy Orton DDTs Stephanie and forces Triple H to watch.
CM Punk forces Jeff Hardy to retire after Steel Cage Match victory.
Sheamus slams Raw host Mark Cuban through a table.

In order to spread the wealth among the three brands, I think they go with Batista turning on Mysterio.

Tag Team of the Year Nominees:
Jeri-Show (Chris Jericho Big Show)
D-Generation X (Triple H HBK)
The Legacy (Cody Rhodes Ted DiBiase)
The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith Tyson Kidd

Anything that will add to Chris Jericho's obnoxiousness is a good thing. So I think he and Big Show take home this award.

Match of the Year Nominees:
Jeff Hardy vs. Edge - Ladder Match at Extreme Rules.
Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania.
John Cena vs. Randy Orton - "I Quit Match" at WWE Breaking Point.
Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown at WWE Bragging Rights.

Michaels vs. Undertaker may have been the best match ever, never mind 2009.

Raw Guest Host of the Year Nominees:
Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne
Bob Barker
Seth Green
Shaquille O'Neal

By a mile.....Bob Barker!!!

The "Oh My" Moment of the Year Nominees:
Chris Masters performs special "dancing pecs" routine for Osbournes.
Shawn Michaels superkicks little girl in cafeteria.
Michael Cole vomits on Chris Jericho at SmackDown's 10th Anniversary.
Santino Marella accidentally nails Vickie with a pie.

What would be an awards show without Santino Marella. I think he grabs this award.

The New York Sports Scene

Kind of lackluster if you ask me...

Football
Jets - Funny that Mike Francesa spent an entire WEEK talking about the Jets head coach crying, but he doesn't want to talk about Tiger Woods. Hmmm, maybe Jesse Ventura has a new topic for his Conspiracy Theory show.
Giants - Incredibly, IF they beat Dallas this weekend they are right back in the playoff hunt.

Hockey
Rangers - Are in trouble.
Devils - Rolling along, but don't get an ounce of coverage.
Islanders - Despite being 10-10-7, they are playing better than I would have expected. I have to give them credit for not tanking the season despite all of the off-ice ownership issues.

Basketball
Nets - 0-17
Knicks - Waiting for their savior, Lebron James. But what if he doesn't come next year...

College Basketball
St. John's - 6-0, although that will change against Duke on Saturday.
Fordham - Chuck Costello's Rams are 1-4.
Iona - Is 4-2 overall and tied with the Fairfield Stags, but conference play has yet to begin.

Baseball
Mets - Let's face facts: they are a joke of a franchise!
Yankees - Apologists think it's good for baseball if they land Roy Halladay.

Jesse Ventura Making The Rounds

Jesse Ventura hosted Monday Night Raw last week and then ripped Vince McMahon in an ESPN interview a few days later. Nice.

He walked out of the Opie and Anthony Show yesterday after getting into it with Jim Norton here over Ventura's 9/11 conspiracy garbage. But he had a more congenial interview with Kevin Eck of the Baltimore Sun here.

All in the name of promoting his Conspiracy Theory show which debuted last night on TruTv. I forgot it was on, oh well.

The End of E.C.W.

Old school E.C.W. fans can now celebrate as it has been reported that the W.W.E. will dispose of the E.C.W. brand next year, although nothing has been confirmed. What will come of the E.C.W. championship is anyone’s guess. But there will still be a wrestling show on Sy-Fy. The current E.C.W. brand never resembled the old version, but I think most people never believed that was a possibility. The W.W.E. is “corporate” and the original Extreme Championship Wrestling was anything but corporate. I do like the W.W.E. having a brand that is a step below Raw and Smackdown in order to rehabilitate talent, which is hopefully what is happening with Shelton Benjamin, or to bring in new stars. So we'll see what direction the company takes...

The Super Bowl Setlist

Twelve minutes is all the halftime act at the Super Bowl gets. “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is over eight minutes, so I wonder what direction the band will go. If Keith Moon and John Entwistle were still alive, I would suggest the same route they took with “My Generation” when they played Live at Leeds in 1970, which is above. Incidentally, the N.F.L. did a nice job on their promotion video for The Who performing at the SuperBowl, which you can watch by clicking this.

Townshend Wants His MTV

Speaking of MTV, the above video features Pete Townshend demanding his MTV and asking Americans to do the same. The promo, which aired in 1982 on MTV, also features Pat Benatar, Adam Ant, John Mellencamp, The Clash, Men At Work, Stray Cats, Joe Jackson, Hall & Oates and Billy Joel.

You Better You Bet

Just posting this because....

"You Better You Bet" was the fourth video to be played on the first ever all-music video channel, MTV, which was launched in the summer of 1981. The keyboardist is John "Rabbit" Bundrick and the drummer is Kenney Jones. The song is off of Face Dances, which is the ninth studio album by the band.

Roger Daltrey and His Fans

Someone made this video - and did a heck of a job by the way - of Roger Daltrey meeting his fans throughout his recent solo tour. The video is accompanied by “Without Your Love” off of Roger’s solo album and the soundtrack to the film, McVicar. Daltrey finished every concert with this song and dedicated it to the people that have followed him for so many years.

Daltrey Solo Tour Concludes

Roger Daltrey’s solo tour concluded Monday night in Florida. I saw Roger November 7 in Foxwoods and November 20 in New York. The latter was the better of the two shows because of the arena. Foxwoods is better suited to see a comedian than a rock star; New York City is New York City. Roger played around 30 shows between early October and late November.

The reviews have been good and it’s nice to see the positive press for Simon Townshend, Pete’s younger brother. Simon did a great job on "Going Mobile" (video above); which is off of the Who’s Next album. I always found that song to be an incredible testament to the band, because it only includes three members of The Who - minus Roger - and still produced an incredibly rich and full sound.

At the New York show, I actually met Roger Daltrey when he was leaving the building following the concert. Before the show while waiting to get into the Nokia Theater I ran into his guitarist for the tour, Frank Simes. Both seemingly were nice guys. The setlists from the two concerts are below.

Roger did quite a bit of storytelling at both shows and from the reviews I have read, he did the same at all of the venues he played. I liked that, some people in the crowd didn’t. There were some interesting stories he relayed before some of his songs such as that he recorded “Behind Blue Eyes” (also off of the Who's Next album) on the day that his beloved pinscher died. Daltrey also talked about working with Irish band, the Chieftains, in 1992 at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, which produced a Grammy-award winning album. Sadly, though, Daltrey said the Opera House - which already had been refurbished after sever damage from a bombing in 1991 - again was badly damaged by a bombing a week later. Undeterred, though, the Opera House has been rebuilt.

Here is a link to Roger performing the Johnny Cash medley (I Got Stripes/Folsom Prison Blues/There Ya Go/Train of Love/Ring of Fire) at the Nokia Theatre in NYC, while here is Daltrey singing "Blue Red and Grey."

So what’s next? Well, Pete Townshend has said he is at work on new music and Roger has said that upon concluding the tour he would be heading back to the U.K. to start recording with The Who. Then there is the Super Bowl in February; right now, the only reason I care about the “big game.”

MGM Grand Theatre, November 7, at Foxwoods, Mashantucket Conn.
Setlist:
Who Are You
Pictures of Lily
Tattoo
Behind Blue Eyes
Days of Light
Freedom Ride
Gimme a Stone
Going Mobile
I'm a Man/My Generation (blues version)
Walk on Water
Squeezebox
I Can See For Miles
Young Man Blues
Baba O'Riley
Johnny Cash Medley
Naked Eye
Blue, Red and Grey
Without Your Love

November 20, Nokia Theatre, New York City
Setlist:
Who Are You
Pictures of Lily
Behind Blue Eyes
Tattoo
Days of Light
Freedom Ride
Gimme a Stone
Going Mobile
Naked Eye
I'm A Man/My Generation
I Can See For Miles
Squeezebox
Born on the Bayou
Young Man Blues
The Real Me
Walk on Water
Baba O'Riley
Johnny Cash Medley
Blue, Red and Grey
Without Your Love

Tiger Woods Coverup?

I wonder what WFAN’s Mike Francesa has at stake with Tiger Woods. This is a man that has devoted entire shows to such "riveting" topics such as what theme song a relief pitcher is using, but all he wants to do with the Tiger Woods story is brush it under the carpet.

This reminds me of when a caller years ago asked why Francesa and his former partner Chris “Mad Dog” Russo weren’t talking about some unflattering stories regarding Ray Handley. The guys had the call disconnected immediately. In that case, Francesa’s cozy relationship with the New York Giants clearly was the reason as to why he would refrain from talking about the story. In the instance of Tiger Woods, I’m not sure yet. The fact is that every talk show has covered the issue: Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, I assume the folks at MSNBC, and ESPN Radio, but Mike doesn’t want to. I wonder why. There is definitely a reason the "pompous one" wants to dismiss this story so quickly.

Tiger Woods has made a bundle of money not only because of his greatness on the golf course, but because of his squeaky clean image. Undoubtedly, it now takes a hit - to what degree is anyone's guess. It's a story! For someone to wave their hand at the rest of us as if we are peons and act so dismissively shows a total disregard for your audience. But what else should I expect from the "almighty one?"

Sunrise

A YouTube gem I came across recently.

Saturday Night's Fight$

Now let's get this straight boxing, $55 for Manny Pacquiao versus Miguel Cotto while UFC 105 is on Spike TV for free. The mixed martial arts event features Randy Couture getting back into the cage as a light heavyweight against Brandon Vera.

Boxing has destroyed itself by never offering quality matches on t.v. I would like to see Pac Man against Cotto, but I'm just not willing to shell out $55 with the chance - although unlikely in this case - that the fight could go one round. If I were to stay in tomorrow night, the choice is simple for myself and other fight fans and that's a shame for boxing.

Overture

It's been a while....this is "Overture" a close friend of "Odds & Sods."

NEWS
Sadly, our country has not learned its lessons from the past. When I heard about the massacre at Fort Hood, I immediately thought of Ali Mohammed. Don't know who he is? Mohammed was thrown out of the Egyptian army because he was too radical and joined the U.S. Army, while at the same time acting as a top advisor for al-Qaeda. Reports of his whereabouts are very sketchy, he was arrested in 1998 but has never been sentenced. His wife reportedly said that he basically "vanished into thin air."

SPORTS
The Who are rumored to be playing the SuperBowl.

That will give me one reason to watch the "big game." As thing stands right now, I am "footballed" out and quite honestly, "sportsed" out, if you can even write that, which I guess I can because I just did. Perhaps it's not the on-the-field stuff so much as the garbage that comes along with it. Regardless, it's just not doing it for me currently. Although there is a good fight this weekend.

Back to the SuperBowl....

Some people will like this, some will not. What else is new. The NFL is trying to avoid another Janet Jackson scenario, that we know - although the band will have to drop the f-word from the song "Who Are You."

The Who closed out the Australian Grand Prix in March in front of over 65,000 people and can still bring it live! I saw Roger Daltrey perform solo recently and even with a cold, he is better than most that are currently performing.

Should the NFL go with a younger rock band? Perhaps. But who? There's really nobody that is that intriguing and that's the other reason - aside from the Janet Jackson issue - why the NFL has gone with classic rockers the last few years: the lack of solid bands that are in their 20s and 30s that exist today. Hence, the popularity of Rock Band and Guitar Hero which feature legendary acts. Anyway, I'm not going to waste my time with people on this issue, the half-time show is a half hour, if you don't like it, change the channel!

MISC
Chris Jericho was pelted by some glow sticks while he stood in the ring at London's O2 arena and egged on the fans. Fast forward to the 1:47 mark of the below video, Jericho's delayed reaction shows why he is so darn good at the role of being a heel! The fans that threw those sticks are stupid and thankfully Jericho didn't get hurt, but the video is still funny!

Happy Halloween!

This has become an annual thing for me to post Vincent Price reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" in a way that only the master of horror can.

Happy Halloween!

Pete Townshend On Purcell

Fascinating radio interview here with The Who's Pete Townshend in which he discusses the influence that 17th century composer Henry Purcell had on his musical career. Townshend discusses the evolution of his music beginning with the band's first album all the way to his present day work and how Purcell's compositions impacted Townshend's work. The interview took place on a show called "Baroque and Roll," a radio program on BBC Radio 4.

Here's what RadioTimes.com wrote about the interview:

Why should it seem surprising that Pete Townshend of rock group The Who should name the 17th-century British composer Henry Purcell as one of his greatest musical inspirations? Snobbery, perhaps. But just listen to the organ intro to "Won't Get Fooled Again" or "I Can See for Miles" and you can hear Purcell's harmonies transmuted into the pop sounds of the 20th century. And it's not simply the music that Townshend is responding to, but also the "tragedy of mortality" that Purcell evokes in such sublime works as "When I Am Laid in Earth" or "The Gordian Knot Unty'd." In this miniature autobiography, Townshend tells us not only the who, but also the how and the when of his musical development, and why he identifies strongly with a long-dead composer whose feelings about the things that really matter so clearly echo his own.

Radio Times reviewer - Laurence Joyce

Odds & Sods

Twice in a week....maybe this should be called the "what the hell is so funny" edition for all you laughaholics out there.

NEWS
If the H1n1 is such a big deal and the government knew it was going to be so wide-spread, then why didn't they order way more of the vaccine then would be needed?

Here's something shocking, the government overstated the amount of jobs created by the stimulus. I guess that requires a LOL!

The Internet turned 40. LMAO!

SPORTS
The low class behavior continues, today I saw someone write that they want the Yankees to fly their own private planes to Philly because "Yankees are such great pilots." Just way out of bounds.

Henrik Lundqvist was in a one-car accident on the Saw Mill River Parkway on Tuesday and was supposedly not hurt. His Lamborghini, however, had to be towed because it could not be driven.

Phil Mushnick agreed with my email that the constant showing on t..v. of Rudy Giuliani at Yankee games is excessive. He mentions it in his column today.

I sent Mushnick an email regarding the new book by Irv Muchnick on the Benoit murders, since Phil wrote the book's foreword. Phil said in his email to me that Irv knows more than most. One reviewer said the book is a "flawed but valuable resource."

I will give Phil some applause for writing about Bill Chadwick's passing.

MISCELLANEOUS
Michael Jackson's "This is It" made over $20 million on day one. Meanwhile, his father said Michael is worth more dead than alive. Y'all stay classy now, ya hear.

Bragging Rights/Monday Night Raw/T.N.A. Thoughts

A few days late but...

Bragging Rights Results
John Cena beat Randy Orton for the W.W.E. Title.
Team SmackDown beat Team Raw after Big Show double-crossed Triple H and Team Raw.
World Champion The Undertaker beat CM Punk, Rey Mysterio and Batista.
U.S. Champ The Miz beat Intercontinental Champ John Morrison.
Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya defeated Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim.

Point of View:
- I like long title reigns and am hopeful that Cena keeps the belt for a while.
- Big Show explained the double-cross by saying that he did it so he could get a shot at Undertaker's World Title. *SPOILER ALERT* Funny thing is though, that he and Chris Jericho will face 'Taker at next month's Survivor Series for the belt.
- Batista turned on Rey Mysterio, which should set up a good feud. Mysterio can have good matches with anyone so I am looking forward to a Mysterio-Batista match.
- Miz = Whatever.
- Does Gail Kim ever win a match?

Monday Night Raw
- Decent job by the race car drivers, Kyle Busch and Joey Lagano, this past Monday night –despite Busch referring to Kofi Kingston as "Kofi Johnson."
- Next week, Raw is hosted by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.
- It was announced that Shawn Michaels and Triple H will face John Cena at Survivor Series for the W.W.E. Championship. So much for elevating new talent.

T.N.A. Wrestling
T.N.A. did a nice job of introducing Nigel McGuinnes to its fans by having him beat up Kurt Angle. But in typical T.N.A. fashion they have the two facing each other last night in a “street fight” match. Note to T.N.A.: those gimmick matches are usually the finale to a feud. T.N.A. just loves to make wrestling storylines much harder than need be.

I saw on YouTube this morning Desmond Wolfe (formerly Nigel McG) put Angle out with a vicious clothesline. I also read that T.N.A. waited until the end of the show to air highlights of Hulk Hogan's NYC press conference from this past week in which he announced his partnership with T.N.A. So really they kept fans waiting for....nothing!

Fakebook Faux Pas

This morning I couldn't believe the amount of venom being spewed by some people on Fakebook toward the New York Yankees. For example, calling for certain broadcasters to slit their wrists, wanting the stadium to get bombed, etc. Just low class. I mean at a certain point the whole Yankees hatred thing gets really tiresome. The way some people dump on Alex Rodriguez just reeks of jealousy. For the life of me, I really have no idea why people have such hatred for him. There's jabbing and ribbing and then there comes a point where it just goes way over the top and is out of line.

More importantly though...

"I guess you've just gotta find something you love to do and then... do it for the rest of your life. For me, it's going to Rushmore."

Thoughts On Sports and Game 1

I watch football and there is Keith Olbermann; the man that declares anyone that disagrees with his usually incoherent ramblings as the “worst person in the world.”

Riiight!

I watch baseball and I see FOX showing Rudy Giuliani over and over and over and over again. Who cares? He’s just another fan. By the way, I would really love to know where he made all of his money that he can afford such great seats at Yankee Stadium and membership at various upscale country clubs in the area. I'm sure it was all as a result of blood, sweat and tears.

Again, riiight!

It's cool that the Obamas throw out first pitches, go on expensive dates in New York City and campaign for other politicians in the tri-state area. But, once, just once, can they visit Ground Zero?

A lot of people are calling for Nick Swisher to be benched but I think Joltin' Joe Girardi is too loyal to sit him. But I'm sure the Yankees' manager will ask his computer first.

A new season, yet it is the same old Knicks (Miami 115, NY 93).

There Goes The Pain

The Brock Lesnar-Shane Carwin match scheduled for November 21 has been moved to January 2, due to Lesnar suffering from an undisclosed illness. Some have speculated that it is swine flu, or H1N1, but UFC President Dana White has shot down those rumors. Still, Lesnar says that he has never felt this sick in his whole life and has been unable to train.

Hulk Hogan Signs With T.N.A.

Hulk Hogan has signed with T.N.A. wrestling and will be appearing on tomorrow night’s show on SpikeTV. Hogan’s business partner and former W.C.W. head Eric Bischoff is also coming along and there is speculation that some other big names such as Ric Flair – could be following Hogan. Hogan has a new book out and funny enough the W.W.E. is scheduled to release a new Hulk Hogan DVD in the next month or so. I wonder if that still stands now that Hogan is working for the competition.

My point of view on this is that Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea is back where he belongs and that is in the wrestling business. Hogan has told some tall tales over the years, but there is no question that the last couple of years for him have been tough. I hope he is able to get some level of normalcy back in his life.

From a wrestling standpoint, Hogan will help T.N.A. in terms of visibility and exposure, but the bigger piece of this deal is Bischoff. He is partners with Jason Hervey of Wonder Years fame and has put together some reality shows over the years. There has been talk of a Hogan-Flair reality show and perhaps this deal opens things up for Spike to air that show.

BetweenTheRopes did a good job of covering the story on last night's show.

Odds & Sods

A few random thoughts...

NEWS
Larry David thinks it's funny to urinate on a picture of Jesus. Sarah Silverman and Bill Maher like to insult Catholics. Just me wondering, but why don't they go insult Muslims or urinate on a picture of the Prophet Mohammed. The story is here. I've already sent a complaint to HBO here.

October is now the deadliest month in Afghanistan since U.S. forces entered that country eight years ago with 55 soldiers having been killed so far this month.

Meanwhile, Nero is still fiddling while Rome burns.

SPORTS
There’s nothing worse in sports than fans that throw tantrums when their team loses but then rub it in everyone’s face when their team wins. Even worse are people that constantly blame the refs. I see this at every level and in my 12 years of covering high school football in various capacities, it is insidious. Certain high schools never lose because the other team is better, no, it has to be the refs.

Riiight...

Before the pundits anoint Mark Messier as the G.M. of the Rangers, I have one question, is Mess going to scout potential draft picks at a game between the Windsor Spitfires and Owen Sound?

When I think of the N.B.A. right now, I have a vision of Bruce Springsteen yelling "is there anybody alive out there?"

Crickets.

Yankees in 4.

MISCELLANEOUS
The best living American author, Anne Rice, released a new book yesterday, Angel Time.

Speaking of books, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Swimming with Piranhas by former National Wrestling Alliance president Howard Brody. The plan is for Brody to come on my show in late November.

Roger Daltrey says that "The Who: Rock Band" is in the works for next year.

W.W.E. Bragging Rights Preview & Predictions

The W.W.E.'s latest pay-per-view, Bragging Rights, takes place this Sunday night. Although the premise of this show doesn't make sense due to guys changing brands so frequently and thus there really isn't any loyalty to one particular brand over another, I do think it is a solid show.

W.W.E. Champ Randy Orton vs. John Cena in 60-minute Anything Goes Iron Man Match
The other stipulation to this match is that if Cena loses he has to leave Raw. His loss to Triple H on Monday night sets up Hunter as the new number one contender. By the way, a very misleading remark by Jerry Lawler on Monday night saying that Cena and Hunter have only faced off one on one four times. While true, everybody knows that they have faced each other a gazillion times in triple-threat and fatal-four-way matches. Meanwhile, Orton will probably go on to feud with Ted DiBiase. Bottom line: good match with Cena taking the title.

Team SmackDown vs. Team Raw
Team Smackdown made some changes which will become evident on tonight’s show. In is Finlay, Matt Hardy and the Hart Dynasty; out is Dolph Ziggler, Cryme Tyme, Eric Escobar and Drew McIntyre. I like the insertion of the Harts over Cryme Tyme, but Matt Hardy and Finlay don’t do a whole lot for me. Nonetheless, they will join Chris Jericho and Kane against HHH, Shawn Michaels, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, Cody Rhodes and Kofi Kingston. If done right, this match could be very good, but they have to leave enough time for it. I think a feud between Cody Rhodes and Shawn Michaels comes out of this match. If I had to pick, I'll take the Raw team as the winner.

World Champion The Undertaker vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
I can't stand the fact that the titles change hands so frequently, but I think it is going to happen again, this time with Dave Batista coming away with the gold. Undertaker is too banged up to carry the belt; Mysterio and Punk are presumably still in the doghouse for their recent transgressions and so that leaves Batista. I can't see any other reason why he was moved to Smackdown from Raw.

U.S. Champ The Miz vs. Intercontinental Champ John Morrison
This is the least talked about match, but could be the best with Morrison coming away as the winner.

Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya vs. Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim
I have no idea how this match will end, probably with a Smackdown win.

Best "Mad Dog" Russo Impression

The above video is one of the best impersonations of sports talkie Chris "Mad Dog" Russo. Classic! It's over eight minutes long, but worth it! Fast forward to around 5:40 when the impersonator tells "Pac Man" Jones to "go to hell." Funny stuff, although a serious subject. Russo was asked about it here and gave a favorable review.

The original rant that the guy is imitating is the second video.

Truly an unbelievable impersonation...even the shirt is a close match!

Get A Life Titans' Fans!

Some fans of the Tennessee Titans are upset that Jeff Fisher wore a Peyton Manning jersey at a charity event at Lipscomb University. Basically, Fisher, the coach of the 0-6 Tennessee Titans, said he wanted to feel like a winner and thus revealed the jersey of Manning, QB of the 5-0 Colts.

Fisher has said since that he would do it again and if you are offended you've go to recheck your priorities. Amen to that! Lighten up!

Pacquiao/Cotto 24/7 Debuts Tomorrow On HBO

HBO debuts Pacquiao/Cotto 24/7 tomorrow night at 10 as the cable channel gears up for the November 14 HBO pay-per-view match between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. They replay it a bunch of times during the week, so if you are interested click this for times and such.

The 24/7 series that HBO does is first-rate; although I think when the match rolls around it will be the Pac Man in a laugher.

UFC 104 Means....

We are that closer to UFC 106 on November 21!

Tomorrow night's show features Lyoto Machida defending the light heavyweight championship again Mauricio Rua. I'm curious to see how the pay-per-view will do and if it will be impacted by the New York-L.A. playoff game.

Incidentally, UFC 105 takes place on November 14 and is going to air on SpikeTV. That card will feature a light heavyweight bout between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera.

But the big event is UFC 106 which features Brock Lesnar putting the UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line against the undefeated (11-0) Shane Carwin. Carwin has been outspoken about Lesnar, which doesn't bode well for the challenger. See Frank Mir for how well that tactic worked out.

Rock Hall Celebrates 25 Years

I guess what has spurred on Rachael Ray to get Hall and Oates into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is that the Hall of Fame is celebrating 25 years with a pair of concerts next week at Madison Square Garden and she noticed that the duo are not in the Hall of Fame. Could also be that they have a new box set out and are coming on her show Nov. 6, just a guess. In all seriousness, I totally agree with the chipmunk-cheeked Ray that Hall & Oates should get inducted.

Ray, though, inspired me to look at the nominees for 2010: ABBA (performing their 1975 hit, "S.O.S." above); The Chantels; Jimmy Cliff; Genesis; The Hollies; KISS; LL Cool J; Darlene Love; Laura Nyro; Red Hot Chili Peppers; The Stooges and Donna Summer.

This stuff doesn't really get me bent, but, unless I've overlooked something, The Shadows are not in the Hall and are not on the list of nominees. What?!!!! How can that be? The Shadows, and in particular their guitarist Hank Marvin, have influenced everyone!

I'm gonna start my own petition!

Rachael Ray Wants Hall & Oates in Rock Hall of Fame

Rachael Ray has started a petition to get Hall and Oates into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can read about it on her blog here.

On a side note, have you ever noticed the similarity between the opening to Hall & Oates' "I Can't Go for that (No Can Do)" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean;" both videos are posted below. Hall addresses the likeness of the two songs here by saying:

“No question about it,” Hall agrees. “Michael Jackson once said directly to me that he hoped I didn't mind that he copped that groove. That's okay; it's something we all do. [Eddie] Van Halen told me that he copied the synth part from ‘Kiss on My List’ and used it in ‘Jump.’ I don't have a problem with that at all."

Kanye West Chimes in on MLB Playoffs

Courtesy of http://imaletyoufinish.com/

Inside The Squared Circle: Danielson/McGuinness Update, Hogan's Book, Health of Jim Ross

Credit Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net for getting to the bottom of the Nigel McGuinness situation. McGuinness was not offered a contract by the W.W.E. after he failed a screening test.

McGuinness said he signed with T.N.A. because the W.W.E dragged their feet on getting a deal done. Powell, however, said it is not a drug failure but rather something else such as some sort of pre-existing health condition. The wellness test in 2007 did find an issue with M.V.P.’s heart which could have been disastrous if not discovered and now is controlled with meds. Let’s hope that the issue with McGuinness is not something that is life-threatening.

Although I look forward to seeing McGuinness on T.N.A. wrestling, couldn't they have come up with a better name for him then Desmond Wolfe?

Powell also says that Brian Danielson is set to debut with W.W.E. shortly.

Hulk Hogan has a new book coming out and is doing the rounds on the media circuit. He said that during the height of his family troubles he was set to pull the trigger on a gun and end his life, when Laila Ali called him on his cellphone. I feel for him if he was in that position, but Hogan also has a history of stretching the truth.

Announcer Jim Ross wrote this on his blog:

"I saw my neurologist today in Norman and had a long consultation and some testing. He diagnosed me, as expected with full blown Bells palsy. It is on the right side of my face and has adversely affected my vision in my right eye more than previous bouts. We are concerned about the cornea in my right eye being damaged which is why I am using a ton of artificial tears and having to tape my eye shut at night to sleep along with using a gel in my eye under the eye patch. For those fans that think that this is the end for me or the end is near I suggest you rethink your position. I won't allow your views to adversely affect me because I still love to play the game. I am an old school guy who still loves calling wrestling matches and sitting at ringside soaking up the adrenaline from the fans."

Hopefully J.R. gets well soon.

Danielson/McGuiness TNA Bound?

Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net is reporting that Nigel McGuinness is backstage today at the T.N.A. t.v. tapings. He is also saying that Bryan Danielson may be following suit. Of course, the big story for the latter part of the summer was that the two were leaving R.O.H. and coming to the W.W.E. The two had agreed in principal but did not sign with the company. Powell is saying that both wrestlers are tired of waiting for a formal contract and are looking to join T.N.A. McGuinness told Alfonso Castillo of Newsday's Steel Cage blog before his final match for R.O.H. that he had not officially signed with W.W.E., though many thought it was just a formality. Click this for that story.

The question becomes, is T.N.A. being used as bargaining leverage or are these reports accurate? Whatever company ends up with one or both of these guys has hit the lotto, no question about that.

Roger Daltrey "I Want it All"

I came across "The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert" on VH1 Classics Sunday night and remembered that the above song, "I Want it All," with Roger Daltrey doing the honors on lead vocals, is from that show. I only caught the finale on Sunday - with Liza Minnelli (who is probably the only big-time singer I've met) leading all of the concert's performers in "We are the Champions." The concert was held at Wembley Stadium in London and from what little I've seen, must have been an amazing experience in person! What is really cool about this video is upon introducing Roger, the band played the beginning of "Pinball Wizard."

Keith Moon Movie On Hold For Now

Roger Daltrey was interviewed last week by Westword - a Denver music blog - and the subject arose about a potential Keith Moon biopic. Essentially, Daltrey reiterated what has been said before: that there is difficulty in coming up with the right script. The full interview can be read by clicking this. Mike Myers of Austin Powers' fame has been cast to play The Who's late drummer.

The Last Hope For American Heavyweights?

Vitali Klitschko has agreed to defend his W.B.C. Heavyweight Championship against Kevin Johnson, - an American! The match will take place on December 12th in Switzerland. Johnson is 22-0-1 with nine of those wins coming by way of knockout. Klitschko is 38-2, with 37 knockouts. This will be the third time in 2009 that he has defended the belt.

Mark Rosen on The Sean Kilkelly Show

Mark Rosen, formerly of WGCH and a huge college football fan joined me in the first half of the show last night. We discussed college football from top to bottom. The link to the show is here.

Lou Albano Dies

Captain Lou Albano died today at the age of 76; the cause of death was not disclosed. Wrestler's Resuce reported yesterday that Albano was ill and was under hospice care. The group is collecting donations to be forwarded to the Albano family for medical expenses. Information on how to donate is on the charity's MySpace page here.

For me, I'll always remember Albano as the manager of tag team champions, at least 16 depending on whom you ask. Such great teams as the Moondogs, the Wild Samoans, Barry Windham/Mike Rotundo and the British Bulldogs to name a few. He also managed Ivan Koloff when the "Russian Bear" ended Bruno Sammartino's reign as W.W.W.F. Champ in 1971 after nearly eight years as the title holder.

In many ways, the current stars can thank Albano for the money they are making today, because the Captain helped to bring wrestling to greater heights during the 1980s in association with MTV and the famed rock and wrestling connection.

Albano was also a heck of a football player in the 1950s at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.Y.

Click this for more on his career.

Uncertain Girl

While checking out Pete Townshend's version of "Bargain" that I posted below, I came across this song "Uncertain Girl" which I was unfamiliar with. After googling, I found that it is an unreleased song and was part of Pete Townshend's 2006 rock opera, The Boy Who Heard Music which became the album, Endless Wire.

Pete's "Bargain"

I liked Roger Daltrey and Eddie Vedder's version of "Bargain" (posted here) and was curious to see Pete Townshend's spin on the song which he signs In The Attic.

Blue, Red and Grey

Before he started his current tour Roger Daltrey promised new takes on some songs that The Who hasn't done in a long time or that the band never did in concert. In the first two shows of his solo tour, Daltrey breaks out the ukulele for his version of "Blue, Red and Grey." I'm curious to watch a video of this, although there isn't one on the Internet as of yet, but I saw a couple of reviews in which the critics applauded his rendition of the song.

The above video is Pete Townshend's version of "Blue, Red and Grey." In my opinion, Townshend can make any instrument sound great. The only other ukulele player I know of was the late Tiny Tim, who strangely is somewhat of an Internet hero these days.

"Blue, Red and Grey" is off the By Numbers album, which has always been one of my two or three favorite Who records (a dated word, I know).

Eddie Vedder Shows Up At Roger Daltrey Show

Roger Daltrey's solo tour kicked off on Saturday night in Vancouver; followed up by a stop in Seattle last night. Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder joined Roger for a couple of songs last night, including "Bargain"which I unearthed on the fab YouTube and posted above.

Both setlists are below (courtesy of TheWho.com).

SEATTLE
PICTURES OF LILY
GOING MOBILE
A SECOND OUT
TATTOO
I CAN SEE FOR MILES
GIMME A STONE
FREEDOM RIDE
GIVING IT ALL AWAY
SQUEEZEBOX
DAYS OF LIGHT
BETTER MAN (with Eddie Vedder)
THE REAL ME (with Eddie Vedder)
BLUE RED & GREY
WALK ON WATER
YOUNG MAN BLUES / SHAKIN' ALL OVER
BABA O’RILEY

ENCORE
JOHNNY CASH MEDLEY (FOLSOM PRISON, RING OF FIRE)
BARGAIN (with Eddie Vedder)

VANCOUVER
Who Are You
Pictures Of Lily
Going Mobile
Blue, Red and Grey
Boris the Spider
Days Of Light
A Second Out
Walk On Water
Freedom Ride
I Can See For Miles
Young Man Blues
Tattoo
Johnny Cash Medley: I got Stripes/Ring of Fire
2000 Years
Squeezebox
Give Me A Stone
Baba O'Riley

ENCORE
Cache Cache
The Real Me

Rangers Over Caps

As far as big wins go at this time of year, last night's victory for the Rangers over the Caps is as big as it gets. But keeping it in perspective, it is very early in the season and there are as many positives as negatives with the Rangers right now. But the good news is that New York has a defense and some forwards that can actually defend sans Michal Rozsival who is abysmal right now.

Inside The Squared Circle: Frequent Title Changes, The Guest Host, Roddy Piper Rumors, Big Returns

Kevin Eck over at The Baltimore Sun's Ring Posts blog has posted his thoughts on the frequent title changes in the W.W.E.. I know we will never go back to the days of Bruno Sammartino holding the belt for nearly eight years, but what was the point of taking the title off of John Cena just three weeks after he beat Randy Orton? The championships have become nothing more than props.

I've stated my feelings on here about having a guest host of Monday Night Raw; once in a while it would be OK, but as a recurring occurrence, I dislike it immensely. Having said that, Ben Roethlisberger was one of the better hosts this past Monday night. So far it's Shaq, Freddie Prinze Jr, Bob Barker and Big Ben. Nobody else - in terms of celebrities - is even worth mentioning.

Rumors that Rowdy Roddy Piper's cancer has returned and is terminal have been debunked.

Umaga and Booker T are reportedly headed back to the W.W.E.

Rob Van Dam is trying to decide if he will work for the folks in Stamford, Conn. or join Dixie Carter and T.N.A.

Scott Steiner is supposedly on his way out of T.N.A.

Finally, I have to "put over" the guys at Between The Ropes. This week they had Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer as a guest. Meltzer is one of the best sportswriters out there.

Whatever!

'Whatever' was recently voted the most annoying word. I don't know of anyone that voted or was asked to vote, kind of like Gallup polls I guess. Speaking of whatever, how about the fact that Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense and Peppermints" hit number one in 1967? Whatever indeed. That's why I don't put much stock into rankings and such.

I have to credit this one to Bill O'Reilly as I finished his book Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity last week and he listed this song's success as something that he never understood.

Again, whatever.

75 Grand For the NWA Title

Highspots.com, a pro wrestling memorabilia Website, is auctioning off Ric Flair's National Wrestling Alliance World Championship belt, which he held through much of the 1980s. The bidding starts at $75,000.

Sure the championship does trace its lineage back to the beginning of the last century and has been held by Harley Race, Bobo Brazil, Giant Baba, and Danno O'Mahoney (the inventor of the "Irish Whip"), but $75 grand? I can't see it.

But here's why this is all occurring: Ric Flair has major financial trouble and earlier this year was loaned money by Highspots in advance of some appearances, which Flair reportedly never fulfilled those appearances or paid back the money.

That's how the story goes, so who knows if it is all true or not. The belt is up for auction so I believe it. Flair's financial troubles have been well-documented. It is pretty well-known that Vince McMahon has bailed Flair out of some serious tax trouble on at least one occasion.

Sad story. Ric Flair's personal life is tragic and in many ways is looking more and more like Mickey Rourke's broken down character in The Wrestler.

Remembering John Entwistle

The late bassist for The Who, John Entwistle, was born today in 1944. "The Ox" passed on June 27 2002. Above is a video of the band performing one of Entwistle's tunes, "Heaven and Hell," in front of over 600,000 people at the Isle of Wight Music Festival in 1970. By the way, I use this song as the theme to my show on BlogTalk Radio.

Roger Daltrey Giving It All Away

If Roger Daltrey is looking for ideas for some songs from his past to perform on his upcoming solo tour perhaps he will revisit Leo Sayer's "Giving it All Away," which Daltrey sings in the above video.

Roger Daltrey Begins Solo Tour

Tomorrow Roger Daltrey hits the road in Vancouver to kick off his "Use it or Lose It" solo tour. I posted a couple of videos above; the first is Roger talking about Jim Morrison. The Who used to tour quite a bit with The Doors back in the day. In fact, the song "Sally Simpson" which is on the Tommy album is about an incident that occurred at a show in which a woman was violently thrown off the stage by The Doors' security after trying to touch Jim Morrison. The lady ended up with some pretty bad cuts and the like.

The second video is of Roger Daltrey and Peter Gabriel appearing on "Fox and Friends" on the Fox News Channel back in 2005. The two were talking about some new DVDs that were being released - a Tommy/Quadrophenia DVD and Peter Gabriel's Africa Calling. The interviewers - E.D. Hill and Brian Kilmeade - were absolutely appalling and ruin a golden opportunity to talk with Daltrey and Gabriel. Really that's why I am posting the video, because Hill and Kilmeade are so horrible. Journalism professors around the country should use this video to illustrate how bad t.v. commentators can be.

Nick Fox on The Sean Kilkelly Show

WGCH sports reporter Nick Fox joined me in the latter portion of my show last night to discuss the W.W.E. and the new direction of T.N.A. wrestling. The link to the show is here.

Bob Heussler on The Sean Kilkelly Show

Bob Heussler joined me in the first half of the show last night. We discussed the Mets; M.L.B. in general; the WNBA and the state of the league and also Fairfield Basketball. Bob is the play-by-play commentator for the Connecticut Sun, Fairfield Stag's Men's Basketball team and is the long-time update guy at WFAN in New York. The link to the show is here.

The N.H.L. is Back!

The N.H.L. opened the season last night with four games and Joe Sakic getting his jersey retired in Colorado. Today St.Louis plays Detroit in Stockholm, Sweden while Florida and Chicago get together in Helsinki, Finland. The Rangers begin tonight in Pittsburgh and then all three of the New York locals are at home tomorrow.

It should be an interesting season. Fifteen years ago I could name the top eight teams in the league, but now there are so many similar teams, it's really hard to predict who will be standing alone with the Stanley Cup in June.

The season is condensed due to the Olympics in February. I hope that this is the last year that the NHL sends its players, because although the action is great, I don't think it has helped the league. This year the Olympics are being held in Vancouver so it makes sense for the pros to be there from a t.v. standpoint with time zones.

Thus as a result of the Olympics I'm going to say that we will not see Detroit (the oldest team in the N.H.L.) and Pittsburgh in the Finals for the third year in a row. Both clubs will be heavily represented in February and both teams have played a lot of hockey over the last two years, which can't be discounted.

I think it would be hard enough for either team to get back to the finals, but with the Olympics it makes it damn near impossible.

So who is ready to rise in the N.H.L.? I love Chicago and with the additions of Marian Hossa and John Madden they could be ready to take the next step in the playoffs. The Hawks are also the youngest team in the league, which usually I don't put all that much stock in, but with this year's grueling schedule youth is more of a factor. Calgary should be fun with Brent Sutter taking over as head coach. As far as rookies, look out for Swedish right wing Nicklas Bergfors of the Devils and of course the Islanders number one overall pick in this year's draft, John Tavares.

In regards to the Rangers, I don't really know what to expect from them. Head Coach John Tortorella has to manage Henrik Lundqvist's playing time, because "The King" will be a major factor in the Olympics for Sweden. I'm not sure about the team's on-ice chemistry and I wonder if Dan Girardi will be better in the regular season then he was during the pre-season. I like their blueline overall, but it may be a bit inexperienced. Up front, Marian Gaborik has to stay healthy for this team to have any shot.

Some things to watch...
Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy situation. Ah whatever happened to the days when the Yotes were the Winnipeg Jets and winning Avco Cups in the old W.H.A?

How much of a factor will the Olympics have in terms of injuries?

The salary cap is expected to be lowered significantly after this season, so that will definitely impact trades, etc.

What coach gets fired first? Wayne Gretzky doesn't count. If either of these two teams gets off to a slow start, I think Randy Carlyle in Anaheim or Claude Julien in Boston could be walking the plank. Lindy Ruff in Buffalo is also a possibility.

Where to go...
I thoroughly enjoy Michael Landsberg's Off The Record show on TSN. For reading, Andrew Gross does a nice job covering the Rangers here and then there is always Hockey 24/7. Don La Greca and E.J. Hrdaek and company break the game down on NHL Radio here.

One thing you may not know...
In the N.H.L. general managers refer to one another as managers.

About That Keith Moon Movie

I have no idea what the status of the Keith Moon movie starring Mike Myers is. Last I read it was in production and slated to be released at some point next year.

By the way, Roger Daltrey who is hitting the road for some solo dates wrote and performed this song in 1978 in honor of Keith, "Under a Raging Moon."

The song features drummers: Martin Chambers (The Pretenders), Roger Taylor (Duran Duran), Cozy Powell (The Jeff Beck Group, Black Sabbath), Stewart Copeland (The Police), Zak Starkey (The Who, Oasis), Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) and Mark Brzezicki (Big Country, The Cult).

More On Bret Hart Possibly Returning

The news that Bret "Hitman" Hart could be returning to the W.W.E. is perhaps the biggest story of the year in wrestling. If you have listened to Bret over the years or even read what he wrote in his autobiography, you know that Hart has some severe hatred for Shawn Michaels and Triple H.

I’m trying to think of someone in sports, movies, politics etc. that has exhibited so much hate for something for such an extended period of time and then gone back to it and I can’t think of anyone. I don’t begrudge a person for making as much money as they can, especially if they are doing something they love, but if Bret does go back to working for Vince McMahon he would prove to be the very thing that he has railed against for years and that is a hypocrite.

Bret Hart, though, should never have left W.W.E. for W.C.W. because as Vince McMahon so rightly predicted, W.C.W. would have no idea what to do with Bret Hart. If he does come back, perhaps, he can have a great sendoff, which would make up for the final time we saw Hart in the ring - on the bad end of a brutal kick to the head from Bill Goldberg which gave Bret a concussion and ended his career in 2000.

Below is an excerpt from the last page of Bret's book, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling:

“To me, Shawn will always be a phony, a liar and a hairless yellow dog. …I’ll never forgive Shawn, or Hunter, for killing the business that so many of us gave our lives for.”

Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H) are still very much employed by the W.W.E. The book was released at the end of 2008, could Bret's feelings have changed that much?

Inside The Squared Circle: Raw Hosts, Returns, Etc.

The guest host thing on Monday Night Raw has really worn thin for me and apparently the fans also showed their displeasure with this past week’s show (hosted by Al Sharpton) which was the lowest rated Raw of the year. So far the only Raw hosts that have been worthwhile are Bob Barker, Shaq and Freddie Prinze Jr, other than that they’ve all been pants.

Next Monday, Pittsburgh Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger is hosting the show and all of the sanctimonious types are up in arms. According to the AP, the Steelers have a team meeting on Monday and then have off on Tuesday. So what gives? If he gets involved in the ring, then you have an argument, but until then, lighten up.

Roethlisberger, a huge wrestling fan, is doing the spot to promote his charity The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation, which is mainly geared toward helping cops and firemen around the country. Is that really such a bad thing?

Oh yeah, and “Big Ben” is bringing the entire Steelers’ offensive line.

I guess retirements are never final...

Ric Flair has agreed to wrestle Hulk Hogan on his upcoming “Hulkamania” tour of Australia.

Bret Hart – who has ripped Vince McMahon and the W.W.E. for the past decade – is reportedly in talks for a return, though the extent of what his role would be is unclear. Hart wrote in his autobiography that he would never forgive Shawn Michaels and Triple H for "ruining the wrestling business." Of course, this all goes back to the Montreal Screwjob. I can't see why Hart would return other than to help out his nephews.

D’Lo Brown, who two weeks ago announced his retirement on the Between the Ropes wrestling show heard on ESPN 1080 The Team is now working behind the scenes for T.N.A. Brown also says he will may make the occasional in-ring appearance for the company. He even said that owner Dixie Carter is taking the company in an entirely new direction, but he wouldn't elaborate.

Interestingly enough, but D'Lo stated that there is a part of him that thinks the "Montreal Screwjob" was a "work." Brown was using the same locker room that night as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels and got a first hand look at what happened between Vince and Bret, i.e. a black eye for McMahon.

If it is indeed a work, then Bret "Hitman" Hart is the greatest conman of all time.

Boxing Thoughts

I watched Vitali Klitschko toy with Chris Arreola for 10 rounds last Saturday night – OK Arreola got some shots in during the eighth round – but later had his nose broken in the ninth round and thus Vitali retains his W.B.C. Heavyweight Championship.

HBO did the smart thing by showing a replay of the Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez bout before the Klitschko fight and they even interviewed Mayweather from his Las Vegas home. I’ll give credit to Mayweather for not calling out Shane Mosley who interrupted Mayweather after his win in a Kanye West fashion. Anyway, we all know that boxing wants Manny Pacquiao to beat Miguel Cotto on November 14 and then the "Pac Man" and Mayweather can fight a dream match – possibly at Yankee stadium sometime next year.

Back to Klitschko, unless he is going to fight his brother Wladimir, the holder of the I.B.F., W.B.O., I.B.O., I.B.M., AT&T and Ring Magazine world heavyweight championships, I have no idea why he is still boxing.

Jenni Carlson on The Sean Kilkelly Show

Sports columnist Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman joined me on the show last night to discuss the status of Sooners' quarterback Sam Bradford. Carlson also gave her thoughts on what she has seen so far this season in college football. The link to the show is here.

Nicole Hart on The Sean Kilkelly Show

Blues singer Nicole Hart joined me on the show last night to talk about her career, influences and future plans. The link to the show is here. If you want to buy her most recent CD, Treasure, you can click this.

Nick Fox on The Sean Kilkelly Show

Nick Fox of WGCH Radio in Greenwich, Conn. was nice enough to join me for the latter portion of my show on Sunday night. We talked Philadelphia Eagles and T.N.A. Wrestling. The first part of the show I discussed the NFL, college football and some boxing. The link is here.

Tommy Dee on The Sean Kilkelly Show

Tommy Dee of TheKnicksBlog.com joined me on last night's show to discuss the Knicks, NFL, College Football and baseball. Here is the link to the show and past shows, as well.

Harts vs. Steiners

Every once in a while, I find something on the Internet that I find to be worthwhile. The above video is of Bret and Owen Hart taking on Rick and Scott Steiner back in 1994. Talk about a dream matchup!

Remember 9/11

Remember

2,998 deaths

6,291 injured

No other song encapsulates my feelings about September 11 as this Who classic. A few weeks after the attacks, The Who performed “Won’t Get Fooled Again” along with three other songs at the Concert for New York City, which was a star-studded event at Madison Square Garden honoring the first responders of September 11, 2001.

W.W.E. Grabs Another R.O.H. Star

Ring of Honor this morning announced that former R.O.H. Champion Nigel McGuinness has signed on with the W.W.E. This is another big loss for R.O.H. and follows Bryan Danielson's move to the W.W.E.. I recently wrote here that there were rumors that W.W.E. was going to raid the roster of Ring of Honor after R.O.H. decided to air their weekly show on Monday nights at 8 as a lead-in to Raw. That was a rumor and I'm not going to call it an official raid after just two signings, but where there is smoke there could be fire. We'll see.

What the W.W.E. gets in McGuinness is a solid in-ring talent that knows how to get under a crowd's skin. At the end of the Ring of Honor show I saw last year, McGuinness stood in the middle of the ring all alone with the R.O.H. Title on his shoulder and was being booed like I have never seen anyone booed before! I could definitely see him fitting in on E.C.W. with William Regal's new faction.

Couture Looks For Title Shot

Randy Couture goes back into the cage this weekend at UFC 102 against former PRIDE Heavyweight champion and former UFC Interim Heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The event taking place in Oregon is pivotal for Couture. If he wins, he moves closer to a rematch with Brock Lesnar. A loss and the 46-year-old Oklahoma State University alum could be that much closer to retirement.

What's most interesting about the overall card to me? The buyrate. I wonder how strong the interest level is for an event that is taking place at the end of the summer?

Seriously, there are two matches I would like to see: Couture's match and Thiago Silva's fight. The light heavyweight is just dynamic to watch and when he gets his opponent down, they are finished.

Below are the main matches:
Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
Light Heavyweight bout: Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
Middleweight bout: Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia
Light Heavyweight bout: Brandon Vera vs. Krzysztof Soszynski

Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk on Smackdown!

CM Punk will defend the World Championship tonight on Smackdown against Jeff Hardy inside a steel cage. The match was taped on Tuesday night and is said to be a classic!

Also, mixed reviews from what I have seen about the new DVD, The Rise and Fall of W.C.W. I could imagine that the W.W.E. wants to make W.C.W. look bad, which isn't too hard. But I'm not sure why they would want to continue to bury the old promotion since it is now defunct and the video library is fully under their control.

Rey Mysterio's suspension will begin next Wednesday, so that gives the W.W.E. the opportunity to take the Intercontinental Championship off of him, plus add some sort of injury to the mix to make an excuse for his absence.

F.C.W. End of Summer Bash

If I lived in Florida - which I don't - I would be all over Florida Championship Wrestling's "End of Summer" show tonight at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee.

Included is a meet and greet autograph session with the injured and oft-injured, Dave Batista.

The card includes stars from F.C.W., Monday Night Raw, Smackdown and E.C.W.

Incidentally, Dos Caras Jr., who claimed that not only was he not going to W.W.E.'s developmental league, but that they would not change his name was wrong on both counts. Caras not only wrestles for F.C.W. but goes under the name Alberto Banderas. I'm sorry, but the name change is lame.

MSG's Fight Night Classics

Madison Square Garden was for many years considered the mecca of professional boxing, but times have changed considerably for both the arena and the sport of boxing and although matches still take place at The Garden, it doesn't have the same aura that it once did. However, I do have to tip my cap to the MSG Network for airing MSG's Fight Night Classics throughout the summer. According to their Website, the last episode was last night and featured four Hector Camacho matches. It was all part of their summer block party in which they needed to fill air time since the Knicks and Rangers are obviously off during the summer. I hope they continue the boxing show, because there were some real gems that aired this summer. It beats them showing "classic" Knick games from this past season!

Tiger Woods Doesn't Like Liberty

Tiger Woods joked during a recent Pro-Am at Liberty National in Jersey City that "Maybe Tom did this course before his eye operation" in reference to one of the course's designers, Tom Kite.

Liberty's other designed is Robert E. Cupp and cost over $129 million to build. The course is backdropped by the Statue of Liberty and was built on a former landfill.

Incidentally, the same project manager for Liberty National is now at work on Ferry Point Park, which is right next to the Whitestone Bridge and on the site of another landfill.

Ferry Point is the brainchild of former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Rich Calder wrote an article here in the New York Post about how much of a financial disaster the project has been for the City. Consider the course was supposed to be up and running in 2001!!!

The last I heard, they were busy digging up dead bodies from the landfill. Not kidding.

Rey Mysterio Suspended

W.W.E. Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio has been suspended for 30 days for violating the company’s wellness policy. Presumably Mysterio will drop the IC title at Tuesday night’s Smackdown tapings to Dolph Ziggler who he was supposed to fight at next month’s Breaking Point pay-per-view. This is disappointing for many reasons, but primarily because Mysterio is incredibly popular with the kids.

Alice in Chains "Squeezebox"

Bands covering other bands' songs is something that can be a tricky thing, because quite honestly, it doesn't always work so well. But this one is pretty cool. Alice in Chains covers The Who's "Squeezebox," which is the correct title of the song and not what it says on the video screen.

Ernie Palladino Leaves Gannett

Ernie Palladino is leaving The Journal News and writes a farewell blog here. I used to buy The Journal News more for their local sports, then pro sports coverage. But, Palladino was one of the guys that was a worthwhile read in his coverage of the Giants. I guess the paper – which is literally smaller physically and in number of staff – is really making some major changes. Here’s hoping that Palladino lands on his feet somewhere.

Fedor's Strikeforce Debut Set

Following a public workout yesterday in New York City, it was announced that newly signed Strikeforce fighter Fedor Emelianenko will have his first fight since January against undefeated Brett Rogers this fall, although the exact date and time has yet to be determined. The bout will be aired on Showtime. Too bad this isn't going to be on CBS so more people can see Fedor in action.

Dixie Carter Interview

Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun's Ring Posts' blog has posted an interview with T.N.A. owner Dixie Carter here. I like to plug worthwhile stuff of other people. The fact is that it's lame when people try to put down things that are important to you or they treat you like a red headed step child. Kevin's a good guy and has a very keen sense on what is going on in the business of pro wrestling. In other words, he's no wanker!

A Song For You

I decided to post The Who's "Squeezebox" in honor of all those wankers out there! This song should be pretty easy for you to get, since all you do all day is naval gaze and partake in mental masturbation anyhow. I have no problem with self-promoting but when you show so little regard for other people, then I have a problem with it.

To paraphrase Charlie Brown, "of all the wankers in the world, you are the wankiest" or something along those lines!

Overture

Status of the Day
I'm going to be on television and radio all over the world today and I want you to watch me because everything I do is so important and no I don't care about anyone's feelings but my own. So come buy my CD, listen to my show, read my article in the It's All About Me Journal....What? What's that? Oh I don't have time for you, can't you see how busy I am.

---F'ing wankers!

UFC vs. Mayweather Heats Up

September 19 will be an interesting evening. That's when boxing and mixed martial arts will go one on one. UFC 103 takes place that night in Dallas as does Floyd Mayweather versus Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas.

First, Golden Boy Promotions adds three matches to the undercard of the Mayweather show, then UFC says they will have a one hour lead-in show on Spike TV that evening with a couple of fights added. Now, Golden Boy says the Mayweather-Marquez bout will be seen in 170 movie theaters across the U.S. The promotion adds that this is the first time a fight has been shown in cinemas since "Sugar" Ray Leonard took on Roberto Duran in 1980.

By the way, that match is remembered by many as the "no mas" match. Those words were never actually uttered by Duran, but rather commentator, Howard Cosell.

Boxing is literally on the ropes these days and there is no question that Golden Boy will do everything possible to sell this match.

Joe Hennig Goes "Between the Ropes"

Fantastic interview with Joe Hennig on Between the Ropes last night. Hennig, of course is the son of the late "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. He currently is wrestling for Florida Championship Wrestling and is reportedly on the radar of the W.W.E. The interview is here. By the way the show airs every Tuesday night at 6.

Hennig talks about an end of the summer show this Friday night in which Dave Batista will be signing autographs.

Top 10 Moves of Bryan Danielson

It would be an understatement for me to say that I am looking forward to seeing Bryan Danielson in a W.W.E. ring. Above are 10 of the best moves by Danielson courtesy of YouTube. I called in last night to Between The Ropes on 1080 ESPN Orlando with Brian Fritz and D-Lo Brown and Brown thought that Danielson will go to either Smackdown or possibly E.C.W. That would make the most sense. He can hone his character on E.C.W. and work his way up, much in the same way that R.O.H. alum CM Punk has done. There are so many guys I am looking forward to seeing Danielson work with such as William Regal, Rey Mysterio, former trainer Shawn Michaels and the aforementioned Punk.

E.C.W. On Sy-Fy

E.C.W. put on a very solid show last night. I’m not sure who is writing E.C.W. on Sy-Fy, but they are doing a fantastic job.

William Regal and Christian put on a match that should have taken place at Sunday night’s SummerSlam. Regal won after help from Kozlov and so William Regal will get a shot at the E.C.W. title soon.

Goldust and Sheamus also fought one another in a very good, hard hitting match that ended with both men getting counted out of the ring.

Shelton Benjamin and Zack Ryder lost to Yoshi Tatsu and Tyler Reks. It is amazing to me that Benjamin is not on the main event level in the W.W.E. I think he is one of the most athletically gifted performers on the roster.

Kim Couture vs. Lisa Marie Varon

Kim Couture, with all of two mixed martial arts bouts under her belt, says that Lisa Marie Varon, better known to wrestling fans as Victoria or Tara, should get her feet wet in m.m.a. before throwing out challenges. The two have been going back and forth in the media over the last few weeks in a feud that is rivaling Rosie-The Donald.

Oddly, Couture and her husband Randy are going through a divorce while he still is helping her out with her m.m.a. career.

Randy Couture gets back into the cage this Saturday night at UFC 102 against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Couture hopes to get the win and then a shot at Brock Lesnar down the line.

Raiding Ring of Honor?

I mentioned in a prior post that there is word that World Wrestling Entertainment (W.W.E.) is going to raid the the roster of Ring of Honor (R.O.H.) I don't know if that is accurate; the signing of Bryan Danielson doesn't necessarily indicate any sort of imminent talent raid. Regardless, if the W.W.E. is looking at R.O.H. there are five names that I would suggest: Tyler Black, Claudio Castagnoli, Jay and Mark Briscoe and Nigel McGuinness.

Tyler Black has all the tools in the world plus "the look." Same with Castagnoli. He's a big guy that has some talent to boot. If the W.W.E. is serious about rebuilding their tag team division then the Briscoes would be a perfect way to provide some real spark. Nigel McGuinness is a tremendous in-ring talent and he also has that good annoying factor where he can really tick off a crowd. I think he would make a tremendous addition to William Regal's stable on E.C.W. to start. The full roster for R.O.H. is here.

By the way, Ring of Honor returns to the New York area with a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom on September 26.