Zheroen

The penalty, followed by the save that leads to a rebound that leads to a goal was pretty much classic Szcezsny. I am impressed with the fight in midfield shown by Rosicky and Ramsey, though, especially since both players have been unfairly criticized in the past for being soft. Sucks that Gibbs was taken off after a promising start, but it isn't Arsenal if someone isn't requiring a substitution before half-time.I say take off Wilshere after the 60 minute mark and bring on Cazorla, withdraw Rosicky slightly, and start testing Vlaar on that yellow card.

Mignolet looks like an upgrade on Reina, though, that's for sure. Begovic seems to have recovered well from his Altidore nightmare, also.

Promising creativity/technical ability overshadowed by a lack of willingness to put forth much effort in any other dimension of the game? He looked incredibly lightweight and easy to muscle off of the ball, and seemed to get very discouraged as the match wore on. Granted, it's his first taste of the Premiership, but when Coutinho looks more stout and willing to mix it up than you, that doesn't bode well for being able to handle the physical rigor of English football.

Guilty. Just thought that the quoted portion was kind of incongruous, given that the best expectations listed for Swansea and Everton are essentially the height of what Liverpool has managed over the past eight seasons. But hey, Arsenal pipping Spurs for fourth/the final CL spot is like winning a trophy unto itself! Just like how Diaby's inevitable return to the side for a whopping eight matches a season is akin to a new signing.

Hmmm.

Nacer Chadli is going to be a coup for Tottenham, they've got quite the solid little Belgian contingent going on right now. I haven't seen terms of the deal yet, but I'd imagine they paid a decent sum. He primarily plays at left wing, so one has to wonder if he might be a contingency plan for the possibility that Florentino Perez makes Eugene Levy an offer he can't refuse for Bale?

I liked Dillinger's work with Mike Patton, that's about the extent of it. Recognize that there's a lot of talent in the musicians themselves, just not my personal cup of tea.Anyone care for Last Chance To Reason, at all? They are currently on indefinite hiatus, as their vocalist Mike Lessard has joined The Contortionist full-time, but I was extremely keen on their work - very Cynic-esque, IMO. And also, they created an awesome side-scrolling shooter to accompany their album Level 2, check it out:

He does have an annoying voice and random weird bias against certain fighters for no apparent reason (Joe Cazaghe comes to mind).

Fuck, who knows. All in for Fellaini, see if Giroud/Podolski as a strikeforce works out? Arsenal NEEDS a defensive stopper in midfield above all, I'm not terribly concerned with putting away the chances that are created, just the occasional bouts of defensive frailty.

DDP-Goldberg is kind of the culmination of what I felt was a rare perfect build up to a match that wasn't let down by overbooking and a shitty epilogue. I remember being like a junior in high school and watching this in the living room. My father, who hated wrestling and basically watched alongside myself and my brother solely for the purpose of delivering MST3K-style commentary (to our chagrin/his amusement), didn't have much to say once it got started. Afterward, he begrudgingly admitted, "That was pretty good."

Oh, come on. Slightly horse-faced, sure, but one of the top 25 ugliest? Chamique Holdsclaw, on the other hand, has a hairline to rival Gervinho's.

You know, I'd somehow totally missed Stekelenberg going to Fulham as being an official transfer. Let's see...established #1 keeper for the Netherlands moves from Ajax to a Serie A team for a relatively low transfer fee to avoid losing him for free on a Bosman, has mixed results and confidence begins to suffer, then moves to Craven Cottage largely unheralded based on his "failure" in Italy. Where have I heard this before?

Tenay and Tazz barely even call the match, they spend 90% of the time bickering about MEM and Aces and Eights. It's fucking pathetic.Ladder match was surprisingly good. I'd never actually seen Taryn Terrell, yet at this point I'd say she's probably the strongest face they have in Knockouts division. Why exactly are all of the best workers (Mickie, Gail, maybe Tara) heels?Not sure I understand the point of Magnus aligning with MEM just as he's starting to break out and look like a main eventer in his own right. Rather than carve out his own niche and blaze a trail, he's basically the junior member of the stable.Fuck all of the Hogan-related bullshit. That forearm tattoo is some embarrassing midlife crisis in action if I've ever seen it.TNA does this thing with me on a regular basis, where I'll stop watching for a year or so, then out of boredom check it out and get momentarily caught up in the potential of some of the things that are almost clicking. Of course, soon thereafter they'll fuck it up with their obsession to mirror the trajectory and booking philosophy of WCW at the end as it circled the drain. Damn it all.

I'm primarily a fan of atmospheric/dark anime like Boogiepop Phantom, Paranoia Agent, Another, and Monster. Aside from that, I like comedy in the vein of Cromartie High School, FLCL and Welcome to the NHK!...favorite of all time is probably Fist of the North Star, however. Anyone have any recommendations along those lines that might be a little more obscure, yet possible to track down?

I'd say Patrick Stefan easily takes the cake as the biggest #1 bust of all time, if only for this:

Thought it was a good match overall, not to mention the tension with England almost running out Australia for the last wicket before the lunch break, but I felt the actual last wicket was kind of dubious for such a close call that seemed fairly inconclusive with the hot shot replay.Wish it was shown on ESPN3 in HD and I didn't have to rely on a dodgy stream, though.

Wenger missing out Wanyama is truly mystifying, especially since a defensive midfielder should be a top priority, and he's half the price of Fellaini while having the potential to be just as good. That's the type of signing he would have made in his sleep back in the day. I really have no fucking clue what Arsenal are doing, especially after talking up how they were going to spend this year. A comedy bid for Suarez and protracted negotiations over Higuain that feel increasingly as though they will lead to nowhere? But hey, Wenger scored a French prospect on a free! Plus ça change, n'est-ce pas?

Norwich adds another shrewd Dutch buy after the capture of Van Wolfswinkel by signing former Everton target and NT-capped midfielder Leroy Fer from Twente. Add the capture of Martin Olsson, and they're quietly having a very good summer in the transfer market (especially for a team of their relative stature). Better than Arsenal's to date, that's for sure.