BillThompson

I'm one of a bevy of writers/reviewers for Free Pro Wrestling. It's run by TJ Hawke, and the basic premise is that we offer reviews of matches that are offered for free by the promotions themselves on websites such as YouTube and Daily Motion. I have a lot of fun writing for this site, and without any bias I can say that if nothing else the website is a tremendous resource for free, legal wrestling available online. Outside of Dylan Waco I'm not sure if any other posters here write for the site. If you're looking for interesting writing about some free wrestling then by all means stop by; and we're very appreciative of anyone who gives the website some of their hard earned time. Free Pro Wrestling

This is my other wrestling blog. For whatever odd reason a lot of people starting sending links my way and asking me to review matches for them. I'm humbled that people would think my writing was worth seeking out, but on Blue Thunder Driver I only review matches I think are great. Thus I had the idea for Random Match Generator. You send something my way and I'll review it. I've reviewed a lot of stuff so far, and lots of CHIKARA because lots of people hate me. Don't care who the wrestlers are or what the promotion may be, if you send me a request to review a match I will review it and give it a fair shake. (I had very positive things to say about a Tozawa match for instance). I don't do whole show reviews in general, but you send me one to review and I'll review it. I believe, I may be wrong though, that a few regulars from here have already sent me some matches to review. Caveats: -- I need to be able to easily access the match/event somewhere online. --If I've previously reviewed it I'm not going to write it up again, sorry. --If I end up thinking it's a MOTYC then the review will appear on Blue Thunder Driver and not Random Match Generator, If any of this appeals to you then stop by, read some reviews, leave some comments, and keep the train rolling by suggesting some stuff for me to review. Random Match Generator

Figured it was about time I made a topic for my main blog, Blue Thunder Drive. I've been writing about great wrestling for a year now. I say great because one of the goals with this blog is to keep things positive, hence why I only write about the great matches. Basically if I watch something and I think it's a MOTYC, think ****+, it gets a write-up on the blog. I've written about a lot of stuff from a lot of different promotions, ranging from the sleaziest of small indies to WWE itself. I also have some ongoing projects where I pick out great matches from said projects. Couple of those projects would be WWE Nertwork PPVs, NXT from the beginning, and PWG from the beginning. Am hoping with the advent of CZW Studios to start a CZW from the beginning project as soon as they upload their shows chronologically from the beginning. Stop on by if you want, there's a lot to see, and I'm thankful for anyone who stops by and/or chimes in with comments. Blue Thunder Driver

Wesley Morris is probably the best writer ESPN has, and a damn fine movie critic.If Wesley Morris is considered "a damn fine movie critic" than #IDontWantToLiveInThisWorldAnymore.God, I miss Gene Siskel. Can't say I'm super familiar with his work, but he won a Pulitzer so yeah, its considered good work. The Pulitzer was huge, they usually aren't given to film critics. But, in general I like Morris because he writes eloquently about film and explores film in the same way I like to think I explore film. I'm not able to express myself as well as he does, and it's a joy to read his reviews and have my mind opened up to new ideas of what was in the film. But, the idea of exploration and looking at a film from many levels is something I love; something that Morris excels at. I think Morris is obviously intelligent and is a tremendous writer. He has a unique eye and voice and his ideas on film are clear. That said, I think the job of a critic is not to bash or put down, but to use their superior knowledge to educate the reader on why something could and should be better. By doing so, you increase the love for the medium you are critiquing. I think Morris often fails at this, and because of that his work can often seem a bit arrogant. I think film criticism could, and should, be both why something should be better, as well as how it could be, and why it isn't very good. Morris finds a happy medium with me when it comes to presenting all those things.

Wesley Morris is probably the best writer ESPN has, and a damn fine movie critic. If Wesley Morris is considered "a damn fine movie critic" than #IDontWantToLiveInThisWorldAnymore. God, I miss Gene Siskel. Can't say I'm super familiar with his work, but he won a Pulitzer so yeah, its considered good work. The Pulitzer was huge, they usually aren't given to film critics. But, in general I like Morris because he writes eloquently about film and explores film in the same way I like to think I explore film. I'm not able to express myself as well as he does, and it's a joy to read his reviews and have my mind opened up to new ideas of what was in the film. But, the idea of exploration and looking at a film from many levels is something I love; something that Morris excels at.

Wesley Morris is probably the best writer ESPN has, and a damn fine movie critic.

Dragon was more than that though, he had a real aura about him and it's why he still resonates to this very day. There's been very few guys on the indie scene, or in wrestling in general, that have been able to create an aura and back it up time and again since Dragon made his debut.

Ross is far and away the best in the league at pitch framing, and he's been just as good if not better than Montero when it comes to gunning down runners. You can hate on Ross' hitting all you want, but he has tons of defensive value, there's really no way to refute that; unless you don't put any stock in statistics or facts. As for Lester, I'd say you're reacting with a bit of hyperbole. He has been a disappointment, mainly because he's not pitching at an Ace level. However, outside of three or four truly awful starts he's had a slew of good to really good starts. He's not playing up to his contract, he's not playing at the level he's capable of; but he's far removed from the worst starter on the team.

Al Yellon, is that you?

More than likely he won't be closing for the Cubs. It's still Rondon's job right now, but if anything I think they are positioning either Strop or Motte to take over that role if Rondon continues to struggle.

Same, it's a minor league deal and he's being brought in to add bullpen depth. If he works out that's great; if he doesn't then it was a risk with very minimal damage.

Unfortunately the QPro video freezes about two minutes in. Was looking forward to that one, and it's the only version out there I guess.

Medina will be in AAA for a while; has some major issues to work through. Command is off, velocity is way down, and his strikeout rate has plummeted while his fly ball and walk rates have soared. The Cubs obviously see something they think they can work with, but that work will take a while and there's a chance Medina is headed for TJS anyways. All that being said I still like the trade. It's about what you could expect for Castillo, and he was done in Chicago anyways.

Darren Rovell, class act and diplomat.

Rizzo is playing on a different level entirely. He's turned into the complete package; and the only thing that possibly sucks is that what he's doing is largely being ignored by the national media. And, he does all this while popping into hospitals to visit kids with cancer; MLB says they want more marketable starts and Rizzo is right there for them to use better.

Personally speaking, I think it's a sign that they are using all there magic early. I think most are looking at the game from an odd angle. Sure, it's a lousy loss, but in years past the Cubs wouldn't have put up those runs let alone competed the way they did. This is a still a team in the finishing run of a rebuild, and I had them pegged as at best a Wild Card team this year. They've shown that they can possibly be better than that. The starting pitching is there, the offense is there, the defense is there in some areas and average in others. The only real weakness on the team right now is the bullpen, and with Grimm close to coming back I think that will be somewhat shored up soon. However, we've reached a stage where the team can have a glaring weakness and still compete, that's a lot of progress that people are ignoring by taking a micro view of a macro situation.

Does Aramis Ramirez have a no-trade? If not he will provide a nice bat to a contending team in need.

Usually attend every year, been a real joy since my daughter got into comic books, super heroes, and Pokemon. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to attend this year. Soccer game early in the morning, and then the annual Cinco de Mayo fest the rest of the day.

I live in Rockford, and I'm pretty sure we're blacked out of all Cubs games. Stupid, stupid rule.

Davey's done it a handful of times I can remember. Regal did it to Steamboat in their Fall Brawl 93 match. I'm pretty sure I've seen Jeff Cobb do it on the indies from time to time, and Thatcher has pulled it off a few times against Busick.

Watching guys take advantage of the shift with little slappers or bunts down the third base line is always great. There's really nothing wrong with the shift, it's a solid defensive strategy and something that smart hitters take advantage of. I really struggle to see how they would be able to implement removing it, opens up a bag of worms fielding wise.

Not just a great player, but a great man, and perhaps the most perfect ambassador the sport ever saw.

I love this thread.

They should be able to get a decent return for him. Young, decent bat, okay defensive catcher in every regard but pitch framing, and a really good guy in the clubhouse by all accounts. I liked Beef, but with the way Schwarber has been progressing his time was limited anyway, so I'll be more than happy to see him go and stay a starter with another squad.

Hey, anything is possible when it comes to the MLB off season.