JRGoldman

I think Avon had true respect for cutty. even when Cutty up and quit and told Avon he couldn't do it anymore, Avon still said privately to Slim Charles that Cutty was a real man, which is about as respectful a comment Avon makes to anyone throughout the entire series. I don't understand why Season Two gets the hate it does. I would say that it's better than season 5 and (hot take alert) better than season one.

Judging by the number of people that tweet about Raw and post about Raw here immediately after it finishes, I would bet that a sizable contingent of Raw watchers still watch live.

Seeing Dion contribute is like see that crazy girl you dated in your early 20s get engaged on facebook. You are legitimately happy that they figured it out, but you can't help but think you still sort of dodged a bullet. I am also fascinated by his impending free agency.

Someone should show them old clips of the Val Venis/Godfather tag team. The concept was pretty clearly explained.

I sort of love the logic here. It's a concession that James Harden will never ever play any defense, so you may as well play fast enough that he scores 45 a game to kind of counteract that?

One of the truly amazing things about The Wire is how many characters are separate archetypes. Bubbles could be viewed through a Campbellian lens. Bodie is a tragic Greek Hero. Omar is a modern anti hero. Herc and Carver are essentially Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The scope is that of Tolstoy. It's truly the most literate show ever filmed, and quite possible the best example of American fiction in the 21st century.

Stringer and Marlo in some ways have the same fatal flaw, they just do it on two different levels. String wants so desperately to go legit that he gets taken at every turn in a game he doesn't understand, but thinks he's smart enough to eventually get. Marlo does literally the exact same thing in the poker game, where he loses hundreds of thousands of dollars and writes it off as the cost of learning. They can't help themselves. They are good at one game, really good, and their hubris makes them think they will subsequently be good at all other games too. Bodie is the most tragic and best character. There is no hero in the show, I would argue. Just various points of view.

I saw an interesting stat that 17 of the Warriors 36 defensive rebounds were grabbed by Klay and Steph. This is a great look in to the trickle down effects from going big. When the Thunder go big and pack the paint, it forces the Warriors backcourt to have to crash hard in order to help an overmatched from line. This in turn prevents things like Draymond getting a head of steam after a rebound, or a long outlet pass, and the semi transition baskets that the Warriors thrive on were essentially muted for large stretches of the game. I'm sure Kerr will adjust, but if the Warriors bigs can't fight down low without the help of the shooters, it slows down the whole machine. All this said, I would not be shocked in the least if the Warriors win game two by 25.

I'm sure the name "Shining Stars" was settled on after someone realized that having a tag team called "The Fabulous Colon Brothers" might be a little misleading, especially after the "Submission Sorority" fiasco.

I mean, in most of those vignettes they basically said "Puerto Rico is great and wherever you are from is garbage". Were you also unclear as to whether The Iron Sheik was a face or a heel?

I think there is a pretty good chance there will be a fight in this series. I also think there is a pretty good chance that Draymond Green will be involved, but somehow won't be suspended despite clear video evidence that he probably deserves to be. There is also a better than even chance that Dion Waiters tries to go shot for shot with Steph Curry at a crucial time, and the camera cuts to Russell Westbrook with murder in his eyes and heart. The Cavs have opened as 11 point favorites for tomorrow night. That seems high, unless you really think that Atlanta was a better team than Toronto or Miami.

McMillan's teams always generated and took a huge number of threes, way before it was in fashion. I wouldn't be surprised if he has more modern ideas that a lot of people realize. Im in not sure it's the greatest hire considering who he is replacing, but McMillan got really screwed with such bad luck in Portland. He deserves another shot, and he's proven he can maximize a star at every job he's had. I hope he does well.

Do those two teams have 8 healthy players?

One more thing about Curry, which I hope is the last nice thing I'll say about him: he won a deserved MVP award last season, and this season he was so much better that he is probably the best candidate for most improved player. They'll obviously never give that award to an MVP, but his stat jump from what was a career year to this year was bonkers. Manu should absolutely be a first ballot hall of famer. The best player on a Euroleague champion, the best player on an olympic gold medal team, a 6th man of the year and a multi time all star and NBA champion. Was probably the second most important player on the Spurs.

Should Michael Jordan not have won MVPs after his comeback because the Bulls still won 50+ games without him? The past two rounds, the Warriors have looked better than two teams who struggled to get to .500. The difference between a good basketball team and a team that literally won more games than any other team ever is immense. That difference is Steph Curry related. I hate Steph Curry, and I think he's a falsely modest douche with a punchable face with a bunch of front running shit head fans, but he's is 100% clearly the MVP of this season in the NBA. It wasn't close.

RT 1. Finding Dory 2. Jason Bourne 3. The Conjuring 2 4. The BFG 5. Neighbors 2 6. Nice Guys 7. X Men: Apocolypse 8. Central Intelligence 9. Now You See Me 2 10. Tarzan 11. Angry Birds 12. Ice Age 13. Alice Through the Looking Glass 14. TMNT2 15. Warcraft Box Office 1. Independence Day 2 2. Finding Dory 3. X Men 4. Alice 5. Suicide Squad 6. Jason Bourne 7. Ghostbusters 8. Central Intelligence 9. Star Trek 10. TMNT 2 11. Neighbors 2 12. Ice Age 13. The Conjuring 2 14. Now You See Me 2 15. Warcarft Tiebreaker: Finding Dory: 375m

I think you sort of answered your own question. It stems from a time period where people were using quarter hours to compare competing companies. When one company had higher ratings, it meant the product/team you supported was more popular/creatively more interesting/better. Now, because people don't have another company to compare ratings to, they compare individual performers within the same company, even though that is insane and a preposterous thing to do.

It's a little bit different, but sports fans also really dig in to financials. They look at salary caps, and contracts, and trade simulations, etc. Granted, that has a potential effect on the on screen product, which makes it inherently different than TV ratings and quarter hours and what not, but it's not an aspect of fandom that is unique to wrestling.

When Enzo debuted, Naylor posted a story about his time in developmental when Enzo Amore had to come up with his character name, and Bill Demott told him he couldn't have a name with the initials EA, so he had to come up with 25 alternatives he would be okay with. So Enzo wrote down 24 names that all had the initials EA, and Canyon Cemen as his final choice. That's all I think of when I hear his name now. Enzo trolling Hugh Morris.

It's really, really hard to win 12 games in a row, let alone 12 games against playoff teams. I don't hide my love for the Cavs, but they have won two games already where the other team had a good look at the buzzer to win. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they lost one like that on the road in the next round.

I conceded and made mention of the fact that their career output was similar in the eyes of many. I even brought up the GWE, for whatever that is worth. I also prefaced the exact lines you quoted with "I think". Please stop cherry picking lines within a larger point to make me sound as though I'm putting forth my opinion as fact, and being dismissive of others. I feel as though I've been firm in my beliefs but generally encouraging of the conversation, because like you, I have found it interesting.

I'm not sure anyone was arguing otherwise? I was looking to compare them both in terms of match quality, others have compared their star power. I don't think anyone has said that one is the bigger star because he had better matches.

For what it's worth, Cena finished 30th in the GWE poll and Austin finished 24th. It's a noteworthy discussion and it's not apples and oranges. The people defending Austin are doing so based on qualitative things; his charisma, his aura. I don't think anyone will argue that Steve Austin had more of an allure, and for most of us, was around during a more formative part of our fanhood. That being said, John Cena has had a metric ton of great matches at this point. My initial point was purely based on in ring accomplishments, and I think that Cena based on sheer output is way ahead of Austin. Even if you think their top 5 matches or so are comparable, Cena crushes Austin under the weight of so many tremendous TV matches, week in and week out.

I love that dude being like, "Uh, Dave.....It's true because it's on the INTERNET"

Shaun Livingston getting his first ejection ever in order to force Steph Curry in to more playing time is some next level veteran leadership.