bookerman

Looks like where the PDFs are being kept is no longer available. A new site will be needed. If anyone wants to send me a link to one of the diaries, I can do a test drive of turning them into an app.

<p>Any interest in turning these PDFs into Android apps that could be downloaded from the Google Play store? I don't know about most people, but I do most of my reading/gaming on my phone/tablet. They would be free to download, but I may need to use some ads to cover my cost.</p><p> </p><p> I'll try to do one tonight and see how it looks.</p>

10/28/12- yes, houston came out ahead. However, OKC having 4 max/near max guys would have hamstrung their budget/team for years. Also, people seem to think a guy like Lamb (D's and 3's) is a better fit opposite KD and Westbrook. Not a better talent than Harden, but his skills compliment those guys better. Athletically, OKC could run out Westbrook/Lamb/PJ3/KD/Ibaka for a few minutes and cause a lot of problems for teams. Houston can also still sign a max player next summer. Not that Howard would go there, but they are attractive to any forward/big man with Lin/Harden in the backcourt.

Howard is more concerned with being viewed negatively than being the alpha dog on a contender. He's too nice. He can't go somewhere that would a) put pressure on him to produce a title and b)have tough media. He's the Ed Whitson of the NBA. He's perfectly happy putting up his 20-12-3 in Orlando where the cry is "Get Dwight some help" versus going to NJ/LA/Chicago where it would turn into a Howard nit-picking fest. Can you win a title with him as your #2 player? With someone like Kobe/Rose/Lebron/Wade to attract the media attention, yes. Can he win in a big market as the #1? No. BTW his best comparison...he's the evolutionary Dikembe Mutombo. Rebounds and blocks, but not a stone scorer.

HBK stated on a Bill Simmons podcast that he stopped wrestling because his kids were getting older and he wanted to spend time with them. Following him on Twitter, he does travel some, but isn't doing nearly the grind that he was on with the WWE. I think he's happy with his career and isn't looking to "go back on the road" again full-time.

Doesn't Kane need to go over Cena to make the return worthwhile? If he comes back and Supercena beats him, then what's the point. From a story perspective, it would be interesting to have a cena/adr/kane storyline where Kane is conflicted about who to destroy first, Cena or ADR, the man who took him out. Do Cena and Adr work together to stop Kane from taking them both out? If they stick with Cena vs Kane 1 on 1, I'd like to see Kane go over and then face Henry or Punk. Not saying he needs to get the belt, but his return can be used to bridge to their WM programs.

Disagree. WINNING a feud with Orton gives Rhodes a rub. Being in matches with Main Eventers does not make them a main eventer. That's like the Royals winning 1 out of 4 against the Yankees and people saying the Royals got the rub just by playing them. Yes I know sports are different, but it's more or less the same concept. Until recently, look at how strong they booked Henry and how many matches he won. Same for Sheamus. Winning >>>> being in the ring and losing. Infact, I would say it makes Orton look weaker that he can't beat Rhodes clean. Why not have Cody take him to the limit and then make a mistake (top rope move misses, goes back to the same move too many time, etc). Cody flips out and attacks Orton after the match. You want Rhodes to be at that level, he's got to do something that "endangers" Orton to the point of people are concerned if he can come back and beat Rhodes.

What I find interesting is that a majority of the guys being mentioned are not he typical larger than life, HOSS types the WWE forces. Not that I'm shocked, but it shows that fans aren't looking for two giants to clash. They are looking for personalities/looks that are unique and entertaining. Punk/Sheamus/Barrett/ADR. Lots of International flavor there than the typical Hogan/Luger/Angle even Cena white American. Having a diverse roster with interesting personas should be their goal. Wider appeal. I'll add that I'm reading Wrestling at the Chase again and even though it's 6 years old it's amazing that WWE is still doing some of the same stuff he calls out in the book. Focusing on the champion and not the championship. Hot shots for short term business boom, but then lower attendance/rating afterwards (read: the Walkout angle). Booking for ratings and not to make money. Not focusing the promotion around 1-2 people. Keeping guys strong near the top instead of Champion to midcard free fall (Ziggler/Swagger). Teasing matches and confrontations for long term business so when people finally do meet, it's a big deal (Rock/Cena, Punk/ADR).

I'd place blame this way: 60% owners - can't stop themselves from spending good money on bad players - see the Lewis example above, too many teams 30% players - sign a big deal and mail it in until the final year 10% agents - undermining the union/negotiation process The system needs to be fixed, but the owners appear to have dug in their heels and feel fine with missing games/season. The players won't feel it until the checks stop coming in. Then you get to the superstars who potentially have money deferred in their deals so they still get paid. They aren't as bad off as the NHL was (and with the changed financials, that league is growing again and seems stable) nor are they as wise as the NFL where they would be killing the golden goose to miss games. Bill Simmons had some reasonable ideas on what to do: 4 year max deals, hard cap in place, as well as some other concessions to get things in line for both sides.

RAW got a 3.25 which is a .2 increase and the highest rating since mid-August. HOWEVER, they lost 13% of the audience during the 2nd hour. From what I've read, people tuned in for the walkout fallout, but as the show went on, people left in droves. Dunno if this will encourage more cliffhanger/HHH/GM/COO angles, but I'm sure someone is going to jump on the fact that the ratings jumped and think it was a great show.

The WWE misunderstood the "what is going to happen at MITB?" buzz for "what unpredictable thing is the WWE going to do now" and started employing Russo level shock tactics (fire Vince and hire HHH, fire Truth/Miz, Kevin Nash, post HIAC beatdown, the walkout, fire HHH and hire Ace) thinking that is what got the buzz going. The movie analogy is excellent. In July, we got a hot opening act, but things went downhill from there. Per WON, last night wasn't the original script for the show. If I could change ONE thing in WWE, it would the creative process and creating long term plans and then sticking to them. Look at the Henry push up to last Monday (cause then it went off the tracks). That is what they are capable of doing when they get behind a character and follow through. Former Creative guy John Piermarini (sp) suggested the WWE write in 3 month story archs. Not a bad idea at all. After 3 months, you have a better idea of if the story worked or not and can do longer term programs like Cena/ADR/Punk without having to rush things. That provides an opening act (month 1), rising action (month 2 - run ins, interferences, backstage attacks, new allies, etc), climax (month 3 - blowoff matches). They can also overlap stories such that if 6 stories are happening, then 2-3 can wrap up each month and characters can go in a new direction. I wouldn't think it would be too hard to layout a feud over 12 weeks that includes 3 ppv matches and 8-10 TV appearances (interviews, tags, 6 man matches 3/4 way matches, etc).

My tweets during RAW I turned on @wwe RAW and Impact broke out We need a sign that says I didn't pay to see HHH or Vince. I paid for wrestling! Watching RAW is like buying tickets for Cats and then watching the stagehands argue. I also recommend following @sethmates on twitter. Everything in the promotion is now 2nd to the COO/GM/Walkout angle. No reaction for the announced Cena vs ADR match which is not a good sign. Morrison and Melina will probably both wind up in TNA. Morrison certainly doesn't have the promo skills to be a main eventer, but his flashy offense and look will keep him in a good spot.

Excellent points and it further makes his points about UFC evolving seem idiotic. Most of their best stars recently have been guys with good personalities who are then able to turn it up to "11". See Rocky, Austin, Punk, Jericho, Orton, Henry etc. Instead, they are searching for guys with good bodies who they hope to be able to teach to work and talk. Yet, they don't want to use managers or tag teams to cover up for the weaknesses. Go figure.

Yeah, I think I drank the "Punk is going to get a lot of love a hot act for the WWE" kool aid. That's probably some of my disappointment. I will say it would seem a lot harder to mess that angle/story than get it right...

Heard a snippet of HHH's interview on busted open radio. "I was told early on you can either make money or make friends. I told Orton and Batista the same thing. It's a business, sometimes you've got to step on some toes...." I'm not only looking at this in regards to how Punk was handled, but also HHH's actions in the past as well as the company going forward. Am I wrong in thinking that in HHH's world, he's of the mindset that right now he's the only one that can make the company money? I know I might be reaching, but is it possible right? And going forward, is he going to reward those who are willing to "step on toes" to become stars? I think Punk has a similar mentality, but is less likely to use his position of power to repeatedly hold down others when giving them a win or two could draw more money for the company. Granted, Orton and Batista are two guys that it took the WWE a while to figure out what to do with them before they reached Main Event status. Being buds with HHH helped. Ask Sheamus how being friends with HHH helped as well. At some point, the purpose of the older talent isn't to remain on top, but to help elevate new guys on the way up as your own decent begins.

A few things: I think on the whole, most of us are underwhelmed with where the Punk stuff went post MiTB. The genesis of what made him interesting (rallying against Vince and Co) has been replaced with determining whether the new figurehead is actually in control or not. It has helped other talents get over (Miz and Truth and weirdly Otunga), but Punk's heat has slowly been drained off. I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of long term planning in WWE. I doubt when the angle started that 3 months later they would have HHH feuding with Miz/Truth/Funkhauser. I don't think they had a clear idea of where they wanted this to go and when in doubt you go with the "safest" plan which is to make a former star the center of the program. The fact that Punk was the #1 merch seller should be a BIG indication that the fans are willing to get behind him. I can only hope someone sees this and makes Punk a fixture at the top. Can he carry a company long term? Dunno. Has he shown flashes of ability to be a "draw" and move "merch"? I think so.

Who was the main focus of the past Raw? The new champ ADR? Nope, wasn't seen until 30 minutes in. Cena? Nope. Punk? Nah. The person who got the most face time on the show was HHH. HHH has the highest sustained overness of anyone on the show based on his lengthy career and accomplishments. However, just because someone is in a segment with him it doesn't make them look more important. That's like saying anyone who is in a scene with House looks more important because they are interacting with him. Punk's material didn't help nor did the sudden shift from being screwed out of the title by Nash to feuding with HHH about whether he texted Nash or not. They killed Punk's heat by putting him a muddled, confusing story which in the end had zero payoff. Punk got bested physically by Nash numerous times, but never got to touch him. He got to throw some jabs at HHH on the mic, but was never allowed to drop "pipebombs" on him. Then Punk faces him in the ring and loses. Punk then gets pinned again to end the HiaC PPV. He gets beat on quite a bit during the 12 man tag and never gets to make his comeback. His character is being made to look weaker and weaker and instead of being someone special, he's being pulled back to earth as just another guy.

Morrison has some nice flashy moves and has tag experience. Morrison could play Ricky Morton to Riley's Robert Gibson. It allows Riley to come in and clean house while not over exposing him in the ring. Pre-Air Boom, I thought Bourne/Riley and Kofi/Morrison would have been good teams. The aerial ability of Ko-Mo would have been nuts.

Thanks. They need to take the Batista route with Ryan. Muscle as part of a group or paired with a better worked in a tag team. I just don't see him getting over right now as a face. I actually think Alex Riley is a better prospect all around, but he's already on Superstars duty which doesn't bode well. I think A-Ry and Morrison would be a fun tag team and give both something to do, especially when the tag titles are on Miz/Truth. Going forward with Punk...have him work his way through the new heel stable until he's beaten all of them and finally gets a shot at ADR. Instead of taking a title shot against ADR, he decides he wants to chop the head off the snake and challenges HHH for WM.

See...I think Punk calling out ADR as the company chosen golden boy to capture the hispanic market would have continued his ranting about how others get chances he never got, how the "office" is still bad, and how Punk doesn't care that ADR's thug set him up, he's going to take the title back...cause he's the best in the world. This firmly establishes Punk as the face, lets ADR be champ and establish himself, keep Punk's anti-establishment vibe going. For Cena, he can complain about HHH's job as ref. HHH admits the mistake and gives Cena a chance for another shot. Cena has to win 3 matches before NoC to make the match b/w ADR and Punk a 3 way. I could go further, but it keeps HHH out of the ring and put the focus on the in-ring talents (Punk/ADR/Cena) with each having something to prove. You could really do the HiaC match as singles with Ricardo/Cena happening exactly how it did (except Cena runs in to stop Ricardo) which allows ADRs muscle man to get involved as well. They'd have to find Cena someone to feud with until Survivor Series (which if they had used Mason Ryan instead of Nash, I'd have made it him...Ryan beats down Cena, trying to keep him out of the 3 way..per ADRs orders), but he's already getting the big program going into WM, so a couple of cool months shouldn't hurt him. This gives Punk/ADR a chance to headline a few shows and see what they can do. As Henry has shown, someone fresh on top can be a good thing. A SS series match of Rock/Cena/Punk/Air Boom vs ADR/Ryan/Miz/Truth/??? would have been fun. Especially if ??? turned out to be HHH who turns heel and reveals that ADR/Ryan/etc are the future of the WWE...his chosen picks to carry the company to new heights. Sets up multiple people fighting the odds with Cena/Rock fighting b/c of miscommunication during the SS match (ie Rock causes Cena to get pinned).

I think Punk could have continued the feud/rivalry with Cena sans HHH and still be where he is today. The promo that sparked everything had nothing to do with HHH or Vince. It dealt with the way WWE decided who to hire and who to give chances to. Everything Punk said in that initial promo was kept within the framework constructed by the WWE and did nothing to take away from people wanting to see him and Cena in a match. The momentum of that promo and the performance at MITB lasted until Summerslam and then things went sideways. The logical feuds coming out were Punk vs ADR and Cena vs HHH with Nash (who had the idea in creative to bring him in - Vince? HHH?) either acting as ADR's muscle or eventually revealed as being sent in by HHH to put Punk in his place. The story has changed from how is Punk's rebellious outspoken character going to do in the WWE to has HHH lost control? As always, the WWE hotshotted a lot of stuff (Punk's return, HHH/Punk match - I agree the COO stip was pointless, the umpteen title changes in less than 3 months) while somehow managing to make Mark Freakin Henry into a viable monster despite his limited in-ring abilities and average at best promo skills (which haven't hurt him since he found a very good promo style). The frustrating thing about Punk/Cena is what could have been with that feud without the overinvolvement of HHH and going back to a GM/figurehead story.

I may be in the minority, but I think Punk/ADR or Punk/Miz for the title with good build and solid promos focusing on the belt could be fun.

Guess who is on the cover of the WWE mag.... Not Henry talking about the Hall of Pain and his 15 year quest Not ADR talking about his destiny it was to win the title Not Miz/Truth exposing the conspiracy Starts with an H....ends with an H....has an H in the middle. The question shouldn't be who has HHH held down, it should be who (besides HBK) had a feud with HHH and came out of it in a much better position than they were when they started. Batista? Sheamus (his lifting buddy)? Look at the Angle/Steph/HHH story and how well put together it was only for HHH to come out on top in the end. The basic HHH MO has been 1 - find hot face who is getting over 2 - start feud with top face 3 - run down face on mic (including comments of "you aren't in my league") 4 - hit face with sledgehammer 5- win match with face/outsmart face at every turn (this is where Batista came out ahead as he wasn't made to look so idiotic) 6 - after a match or two where the face gets exposed as unable to beat HHH or unable to get ahead in anyway - point 3 is more or less shown to be the case. HHH comes out on top and face is no longer as popular/over as they were before. HHH still roughly at same level. HHH rarely if ever shows weakness, whether in the ring or in promos. It's why his stuff as COO is so bland. He is written/decides to come out ahead in every segment he is in. His stuff with Punk didn't give Punk "the rub", Punk reached that level before HHH came back by virtue of his promos and the MITB match. He was over and he was cutting good/great promos. Now he's lost on 2 straight PPVs and doesn't appear to be in the hunt for the title anymore. He also doesn't have a clearly defined "what next" for the next PPV.

The figurehead/COO/GM/laptop/Assistant Vice Commissioner in Charge of Wrestlers/etc storylines pull all of the attention away from the in-ring action and do nothing...NOTHING to enhance it. Take HHH out of the picture for a minute and think about how things went at HIAC. Instead of Miz/Truth being fired, they are barred from the PPV b/c of their previous actions. Same stuff goes down at the end of the PPV. Now on RAW, you open with ADR telling everyone that he is the one that let them into the building b/c he wanted some insurance and wanted Cena/Punk and everyone else to understand who was going to be top dogs going forward. This helps set up ADR/Miz/Truth vs Cena/Punk/Face #3 for Vengance. ADR gets ****y and say if his team loses then the winner gets a future title shot. Instead they've sent a mixed message to fans and focused everything on HHH. Did Punk get to talk? What about Cena? The new champ is hanging around midcarders talking about a lawsuit. Are they even having Smackdown Friday since everyone walked out? (kidding) Is that just a "we don't like you, but we're still going to work here"vote? I feel more certain we'll see a Beth vs KellyKelly match at the PPV than I do of seeing any other match. Since HHH showed up, Punk has been brought back down to earth with two straight PPV losses, ADR's title reign that was building for 8 months lasted 4 weeks, the title has changed hands way too often. HHH does not equal ratings/buyrates/etc

Last PPV that didn't have a WWE title change....Capitol Punishment...in June.