One Year in Calgary…
It’s official. I’ve been here in Calgary for one year. Looking back on this past year, I never would have thought things would end up the way they did. But things are the way they are, and I regret nothing.
When I first came up with the idea to come out here, I was frustrated beyond belief with the lack of work in Ontario. I kept going from contract to contract, 3 months here, 6 months there, 3 months here… it got to the point where I was so sick of it I just didn’t know what to do anymore. I was not happy, having no friends in Hamilton, barely did anything or saw anyone. It sucked. My only friend was in Oakville, and I only saw him once in a while. Brianne’s friends didn’t come around very often, and most of our free time when we weren’t home was spent at either her parents’ or her cousin’s house. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, but we need more. So all those things came to a boiling point, and I knew that for the sake of my family, I needed to do something drastic to make a change for us for the better.
2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs - Round 1
Well the regular season is over and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to begin this Wednesday, April 15. 16 teams remain, only one will stand at the end as the 2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
Every year around this time I get thousands of e-mails asking me who I think is going to make it to the next round of the playoffs. Well, here are my OFFICIAL Round 1 predictions…
WESTERN CONFERENCE
(1) San Jose vs. (8) Anaheim
Prediction - San Jose in 5 games
The Sharks are way too good to go out in the first round. I don’t doubt that they will beat the Ducks.
(2) Detroit vs. (7) Columbus
Prediction - Columbus in 6 games
Columbus is one of the best young teams in the NHL. I am calling for the upset here with Columbus toppling the defending champs in 6 games.
(3) Vancouver vs. (6) St. Louis
Prediction - Vancouver in 7 games
It’s hard to see Vancouver going out already, especially to St. Louis. No disrespect to St. Louis, but I don’t think they have what it takes to beat Luongo.
(4) Chicago vs. (5) Calgary
Prediction - Calgary in 6 games
You didn’t think I’d bet against my Flames, did you? Yes, Chicago is another one of the hottest young teams in the league but Calgary has a lot to prove, and they need more than anything to get out of the first round. Yes, they’re bitten by the injury bug and plagued by a short bench due to salary cap restrictions, but the playoffs remove cap implications so they can now bring up the reinforcements. Chicago does have a lot of great young players, but their inexperience will probably do them in, if nothing else will.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Boston vs. (8) Montreal
Prediction - Boston in 4 games
I’m calling for the sweep here. Boston is unstoppable right now. I don’t think Montreal stands a snowball’s chance in hell. Nuff said.
(2) Washington vs. (7) NY Rangers
Prediction - Washington in 6 games
Can’t bet against the Capitals here. They’re also one of the hottest young teams and they have what it takes to go far in the playoffs. Ovechkin is arguably the best player in the game right now and I am sure he will lead them past the Rangers.
(3) New Jersey vs. (6) Carolina
Prediction - Carolina in 7 games
Since the trade deadline, Carolina has been deadly. Their high-octane offense will overwhelm Brodeur, who hasn’t been the same since breaking Patrick Roy’s all-time wins record. I’m calling for the Hurricanes to upset the Devils here.
(4) Pittsburgh vs. (5) Philadelphia
Prediction - Pittsburgh in 6 games
Pittsburgh is another team who has stepped up huge since the trade deadline. With the new coach and players at the deadline, they’ve become another team who can’t be overlooked these playoffs. They’ve got the NHL’s leading scorer in Evgeni Malkin, one of the game’s top stars in Sidney Crosby and a host of other hungry young players, and they want nothing more than to avenge last year’s defeat in the Finals.
So there you have it, my first round predictions. We’ll see you in Round 2!!
WrestleMania Recap & Thoughts
So WrestleMania 25 is in the books. Overall it was alright, but didn’t seem to have that “big PPV feel” that you’d expect from WrestleMania. Not very many “WrestleMania Moments” to speak of either. However, I’m not saying it was a bad PPV. I did enjoy it, but hopefully they do better next year.
Let’s go over what happened, shall we?
WWE/World Tag Team Championship Unification match: John Morrison & The Miz vs. Carlito & Primo
I guess this match happened before the show went on the air, as I didn’t see it at all on the Pay Per View. I saw on WWE.com that the match did happen and they had pictures, so I can only assume that it was a pre-show match. Anyway, Carlito and Primo won the match to unify the titles. Not sure what they’re going to do with 1 set of champions for 2 shows, but the tag team titles aren’t used much anyway so I’m not sure if it’s going to have much impact.
The show opened with Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussy Cat Dolls singing America The Beautiful. She looked nice in a black dress. I don’t follow them at all, but one of my friends mentioned she’s the only one in the group who can/does sing. Ah well… onto the show!!!
Money In The Bank Ladder Match
They opened the PPV with the Money in the Bank match. This is one of the matches I was looking forward to, as I’ve always been a fan of ladder matches and I think it’s a fabulous idea to incorporate this match into WrestleMania because it gives more guys a chance to shine and do something special at the big show. It did have a few cool moments in the match, like when Christian and someone else were on a ladder, it tipped over and the other guy fell off but Christian stayed on and pushed the ladder he was on to the upright position, and proceeded to climb it. Shelton Benjamin also had a few cool moves, especially when he dove off the “Jeff Hardy ladder” (it’s about 20 feet tall) onto everyone else outside of the ring. I was hoping Christian would win, but CM Punk prevailed and became the first man to win back to back MITB matches. I was a bit disappointed, but I do like CM Punk and am once again looking forward to when he decides to cash in the briefcase for his title match. One thing I’m wondering is when they’re going to give it to Shelton. He’s a phenomenal athlete and has been in every one of these matches and has had one of the coolest moments in each match. So hopefully one day they give him his due and put him over.
Kid Rock Surprise Concert
After the MITB match, we were treated to a brief performance by Kid Rock. He played parts of a few songs, and then the divas from the battle royal came out to join him. It was nice to see him there, as I saw one of his concerts in Toronto and it’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
25 Diva Battle Royal to crown “Miss WrestleMania”
So we now get to the Battle Royal with Divas from past and present. We had Sunny, Torrie Wilson, Molly Holly and Victoria from the past, might have been a couple others but I don’t remember. They never focused on any of them, I just noticed them at various parts of the match. We thought Beth Phoenix was going to win, but a mysterious Diva tossed her and the Diva she was eliminating over the top rope to win the match. Turns out to be “Santino Marella’s twin sister”, Santina Marella. Candice Michelle crowned “her” with the crown and sash and “she” danced around to Kid Rock’s song “So Hott”. Needless to say it was a unique WrestleMania moment…
Chris Jericho vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka & “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
Well, this match was probably as good as it could’ve been. Piper and Snuka can’t wrestle anymore, but Steamboat surprisingly put on a pretty good match. Jericho ended up making Snuka tapout and pinning Piper and Steamboat. After the match, Ric Flair came into the ring and was beaten up by Jericho. Then Jericho got on the mic and called Mickey Rourke, who was sitting at ringside, into the ring to “apologize for starting all of this”. Mickey then came into the ring, showed some of his boxing moves and eventually socked Jericho with a left and sent him out of the ring. Then Flair came back into the ring and celebrated with him. Mickey didn’t look too good physically (especially in HD), but he did look comfortable being in the ring and in front of the crowd. Was a pretty cool moment for sure.
Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy
The buildup for this match was about 3 months long, and it culminated at WrestleMania. It was a violent match, being Extreme Rules and all, and the ending of the match was probably the coolest I’ve seen in a while. Matt put a chair around Jeff’s neck and gave him the Twist of Fate, which had Jeff landing with the chair going into his throat and Matt picking up the victory. I’m hoping that Jeff wasn’t injured by that, but I don’t think he was. He’s a tough cookie. Anyway, I’m glad Matt won. He deserves a push as a top star, he’s definitely paid his dues. Usually only one of the members of a tag team that breaks up gets the big push (Shawn Michaels, Edge, etc) so it’s nice to see them finally starting to give Matt his due. Oh, and Matt was rocking wrestling tights and a long jacket. Kinda Edge-ish, but still had the Hardy flair. Guess we’ll see if he sticks with it or goes back to the custom made jeans.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: JBL (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
JBL came out to the ring with a mic in hand, talking about how he’s back to give Texas the hero/winner they are lacking. He went on and on, and finally Rey came out with the coolest outfit I’ve ever seen him have: The Joker. He had the greeen wig, the lips on the mask and even did the tongue thing like Heath Ledger did. It was sweet! So before the bell rings, JBL starts beating on Rey and almost gets himself DQ’d. The ref asks Rey if he still wants to fight and obviously Rey says yes, so the ring the bell and start the match. 21 seconds later, Rey Mysterio is the new Intercontinental Champion. After the match JBL loses it and says “I QUIT!!”. He walks away berating the crowd and goes back to the dressing room. I know that JBL’s back has been giving him problems again and was thinking about retiring again, so perhaps this is the end, or the start of a storyline leading to the end of his career. Guess we’ll have to wait and see…
Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
HBK has a wicked entrance. Starts to sound like Taker’s entrance, but turns out to be HBK. He is lowered down in a white hat/trenchcoat combo like he had on SmackDown a couple weeks ago. They had a good match, lots of close finishes. Shawn kicked out of every finisher that Undertaker had, even the Tombstone/stick out tongue combo. Undertaker also kicked out of Sweet Chin Music. Match ends when Taker catches Shawn’s moonsault and drops a 2nd Tombstone on him and gets the pin. So the streak is alive and well at 17-0. I’m not surprised at all, but I wish Shawn would’ve won.
World Heavyweight Championship Match: Edge (c) vs. Big Show vs. John Cena
John Cena had a cool entrance. He had dozens of people come out with his outfit on playing his old theme song, Basic Thuganomics. They all stood up the ramp in 2 rows and did the “You Can’t See Me” gesture while Cena came out. He ran to the ring and the match got started. Typical Triple Threat match, with one guy getting incapacitated briefly while the other 2 worked. Match ends with Cena giving the “Attitude Adjuster” to both Show and Edge, then getting the pin on Edge to win the match and the title.
2009 WWE Hall Of Fame Inductees Honoured
They then bring out the 2009 WWE Hall Of Fame inductees. They line up at the top of the ramp and are all announced. Stone Cold leaves right after his name is announced. He then comes back out on an ATV with the classic “Austin 3:16″ t-shirt on and his music blaring. He drives down to the ring, makes a couple of laps around it and starts to go back up the ramp. He then stops half way, reverses back down to the ring and gets in the ring to do his thing. Drinking beer, going to each turnbuckle and acknowledging the fans. It was nice to see that, as he mentioned in his HOF speech the night before that he was closing the door on his wrestling career. If he never comes back, it was a nice way to go out. But I am pretty sure he will be back from time to time to be a referee or be involved in some sort of angle. Will he ever wrestle again? Who knows. Would I love to see it? OH HELL YEAH!!!
WWE Championship Match: Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton
Orton came out by himself, no legacy. The match itself was nothing special. They played on the stipulation that if H gets counted out or DQ’d, he’d lose the title. He almost got counted out once and DQ’d once, but ended the match with a sledgehammer shot (when the ref was out) and a pedigree. I’m sure they could’ve had the Cena/Edge/Show match last, to end the show with a new champion, but I guess because Triple H is Triple H, that’s just the way it is.
So there you have it. WrestleMania 25 is in the books, and now we look forward to next year in Arizona. John Cena has apparently challenged The Rock to a match there. Not sure if Rock will accept, but who knows. Would be cool to see that match for sure.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
WrestleMania 25
Ladies and gentlemen, once again we have the most wonderful day of the year right around the corner. Bigger than the Super Bowl, bigger than the Stanley Cup, and even bigger than the XFL Championship game…
WRESTLEMANIA!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I’ve decided to write this post with the answer that everyone is asking…
What are Adam’s WrestleMania picks?
Well, here ya go!!!
- The Streak On The Line: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
Prediction: The Undertaker. As much as I love Shawn Michaels and want him to win, the reality is that no one is going to end The Undertaker’s streak. It’s unfortunately the thing that will never be broken, IMHO. - WWE Championship: Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton
Prediction: Randy Orton. I think it’s time that HHH put him over on the grandest stage of all. - World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) vs. John Cena vs. Big Show
Prediction: John Cena. Not like I want him to win, but I just have a feeling he’s going to win. - Money In The Bank: CM Punk vs. Christian vs. Finlay vs. Kane vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Mark Henry vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin
Prediction: Christian. He came back to the WWE for a reason. I’m sure that the success he achieved down in Florida will follow him back home. - WWE Intercontinental Championship: JBL (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
Prediction: Rey Mysterio. JBL is apparently on his way out with more back problems so it makes sense to give Rey the strap. - WWE/World Tag Team Championship Unification: John Morrison & The Miz (World) vs. Carlito & Primo (WWE)
Predicion: John Morrison & The Miz: WWE obviously sees these guys as the next superstars so it’s only fitting they go down in history as the team to unify the Tag Team Titles. - Legends Match: Chris Jericho vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat & Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka (w/Ric Flair & possibly Mickey Rourke)
Prediction: Piper, Steamboat & Snuka. How can they not win? With all the smack Jericho has talked since the Royal Rumble, I think the Legends are going to get their revenge. And if Mickey Rourke does show up, I don’t see why he wouldn’t take a shot or two at Jericho. But what I think is going to finally shut Jericho’s mouth for good is a run-in with a Rattlesnake the next night on Raw… - Battle of the Hardy Boyz: Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy (Extreme Rules match)
Prediction: Matt Hardy. The only way to make Matt Hardy into a main event calibur wrestler is to put him over his brother at the big show. It won’t hurt Jeff to lose to his brother, so I think Matt has to win so he can be elevated to fight for the title. - 25 Diva Battle Royal: 25 WWE divas from the past and present.
Prediction: Lots of hot girls fighting!!! I have no idea who is going to win. I’m just gonna sit back and enjoy the scenery
Well there you have it. There are the OFFICIAL Massonite WrestleMania 25 predictions. Like em or not, that’s how I see the event unfolding. As I said, I wish I could say HBK will end the streak, but I don’t think anyone will.
See you next time!!
What’s happening…
Hey everyone
A lot has happened since I last posted here. It’s a new year, the Flames are kicking butt and the weather here in Calgary is crazy. Cold, warm, can’t make up it’s mind!
Anyway, here are some tidbits…
- I got a BlackBerry Storm. It’s not bad so far. Been trying some of the Beta OS’s and I just installed 4.7.0.86 and it seems to be the best one so far. Guess I’ll have to play with it more and see what happens.
- We have to move. Our lease isn’t being renewed. But we found a bigger and nicer place for the same price, so we can’t complain about that!
- I just passed my 3 month probation period at my job. Guess they’re stuck with me now! :) I was Top Sales and Employee of the Month at our new store, so I think that’s pretty good for a rookie! I love it there and can’t wait to see what the future holds for me. The people I work with are fantastic and make me look forward to going into work.
Those are the important news items of the day.
Here’s looking forward to the Royal Rumble!!
HOCKEY SEASON STARTS TONIGHT!!!
Can you feel the excitement? Can you feel the electricity in the air?
HOCKEY SEASON STARTS TONIGHT!!!
This is especially exciting for me, because now I live in Calgary. The home of my favourite team, the Calgary Flames. I’m sure the city will be buzzing throughout the whole season. It’s going to be fantastic!
I am going to see the home opener on Saturday night vs. Vancouver, and also to the game on Tuesday night against Colorado. So I get to partake in the first 2 home games. I don’t plan to go to every game, but I hope to go to at least 15-20. With $20 tickets at SportChek, I don’t see that being much of a problem.
Obviously I’m cheering for my Flames to go all the way, but other teams I think will do well are Chicago, San Jose and hopefully Ottawa picks it up and gets back to where they should be. Alternatively, I hope the Leafs suck!! I hope they finish in 6th last overall!! That way, they don’t quality for the John Tavares sweepstakes hehehe.
New Forum
Hey guys
I just setup a new forum on the site here. If you want to discuss anything, this is the place to do it. We have all kinds of topics to talk about, so check it out at http://forums.adammasson.com and make sure to sign up and participate!
I will be adding topics all the time, so if there’s something you’d like to discuss that isn’t there, be sure to let me know so I can add it.
WWE No Mercy - Official Predictions
OK so we’ve got No Mercy this Sunday. I’m actually looking forward to it moreso than other PPV events as of late. Mainly because my man HBK is in a ladder match of the World Heavyweight Championship!!
So here’s the card for the event along with my predictions in Bold
- World Heavyweight title - Chris Jericho (C) vs. Shawn Michaels
- WWE title match - Triple H (C) vs. Jeff Hardy
- ECW title match - Matt Hardy (C) vs. Mark Henry
- #1 Contenders match for World Heavyweight title - Batista vs. JBL
- Big Show vs. The Undertaker
- Women’s title match - Beth Phoenix (C) vs. Candice Michelle
- Kane vs. Rey Mysterio (if Rey loses he must unmask)
So there you have it. Leave a comment with your predictions for the show!
Guess who’s back
Hey!! Long time no see :) Miss me? Bet ya did!
I know I haven’t done much with this site in a while, but I got a friend who’s going to help me get the hang of this WordPress program so hopefully I’ll have more to say.
So stay tuned…