weekend picks

i've been waiting to get that one out. just enjoy it for a few moments.

after the sombre ruminations of yesterday, you'll be pleased to know that the globalised western capitalist simulacra-dwelling beast in me has realised that it's friday. which means it's the weekend. which means that there's another raft of sporting delights to soothe me. fucking excellent.

onto this weekend's picks...

sporting braga v sporting clube de portugal, liga sagres, 8.45pm friday.
if you were debating whether to go out to your local spoons and drink your week away, or save your liver and your cash, this delight from the liga sagres could help you decide. a couple of months ago it would have been a no-brainer- braga were looking strong at the top, whilst sporting appeared to have had a collective lobotomy and lost the ability to communicate with one another. but the board have held firm in lisbon, and carlos carvalhal has, incredibly, begun to turn it around. helped by the return of liedson and the astute signing of joao pereira, as well as miguel veloso rediscovering his form, the rookie coach can be satisfied with his tenure thus far. this begins a big couple of weeks for sporting, and i think they'd be satisfied with a draw away to braga- still going strong, and still boasting the best defence in the league. what's more, if you have an online account with bet365 (like sky sez, it matters more when there's money on it), you can watch this one fo' free, in english. although spoons are doing erdinger for £2.25 a bottle at the moment.

sevilla v valencia, la liga, 8pm sunday.
apart from xerez, sevilla are probably the worst team at home in spain right now. valencia, led by the best striker in the world, are the best away team. you know what's coming right...well, maybe. because if sevilla can't get up for this one, they might as well sack this season off. hyperbole aside, they do need to win this to stay in touch with the european places. people are struggling to understand why they aren't playing well, but i don't see why. any manager who selects kone over luis fabiano deserves to see his team lose. for valencia, it's nearly as simple. if they want to keep up the pressure on madrid (who are 5 points clear but facing a tricky away game at depor on saturday night), they need to keep winning. you'd have to think they will, but it's always worth watching a game featuring the exquisite passing skills of ever banega and diego perotti.

fluminense v flamengo, carioca division 1, 9.30pm sunday.
and right after that, you've got the delights of a rio derby! you lucky people. flu and fla have, along with vasco, been the strongest teams in the rio state championship thus far, with flu yet to concede a goal. this game will also feature 3 players who have returned from europe- vagner love and adriano will start up front for flamengo, whilst fred will provide the main goal threat from the tricolor. derbies in brazil are always great, even if the state championships- which are essentially pre-season tournaments and serve little purpose other than to give managers time to experiment - aren't as prestigious as they used to be. the 3 players i've mentioned will be most recognisable to a european audience, but also look out for flamengo's defensive midfielder fernando, and the fluminense winger maicon, two players who may be heading to europe at some point. this isn't on english language telly, but justin tv always has high quality links for brazilian games. nice one justin.

enjoy.

the long road home

tim parks, in one of his many moments of genius, came up with this description of professional footballers:

"they are simultaneously proud of what they have achieved and afraid of seeming stupid...always supervised, they haven't had time to develop...only when they run out through the players' tunnel into the big green stadium can they unleash all their pent-up emotion...immensely privileged, they are hopelessly deprived."

fabulous stuff, i'm sure you'll agree. those words have stayed with me since i first read them, and i've thought of them a number of times this week; as robinho has seen out what will, in all probability, turn out to be his final days in manchester.

in the last 18 months, it's been happening often. adriano, broken down psychologically and physically by life in europe, returned first to sao paulo, then to his boyhood team flamengo. in the same year ronaldo, the greatest striker of the last 20 years but with knees incapable of standing up to the pace of the european game, joined corinthians. he has been joined this season by roberto carlos, for one last tilt at the libertadores. vagner love, one half of a uefa cup-winning partnership, and the best player in russia for a time, failed on his return to palmeiras, but has now formed a partnership with adriano at flamengo. his CSKA moscow companion jo (a £19 million signing never given a chance under mark hughes) is now on loan at galatasaray, after returning to brazil without permission. another to break the rules of his club and return home has been anderson, who, it is reported in brazil, is in discussions with vasco da gama. at 21, the belief in rio is that he has already begun to have doubts. his teammates rafael and fabio, brought to manchester from rio at the ages of 16, have been quoted in brazil as saying how cold europe is, how poor the nightlife in manchester is, how they speak to their friends at home every day.

of those 9 players, 7 are within or approaching the age range where they should be at the peak of their powers. yet the brazilian game (which has recently opened 2010 with the state championships) is littered with players who have been to europe, and, for whatever reason, returned. clearly each case is different, and i'll leave the generalisations to the british media, but the case of robinho shows that if the player is not happy, it is unlikely that any amount of money or adulation will induce them to stay.

and those are just the names that we are familiar with. trawling through lists of squads from clubs around the world, i am regularly struck by the sheer size of the brazilian diaspora. here is a nation which is so rich in footballing talent, but for the majority of the 192 million inhabitants, such a crushingly difficult place to eke out a life of comfort; that families pin their hopes on their sons. some of them, like robinho, will be laden with multi-million pound contracts at the biggest clubs in the world. others will depart on the promise of a trial, on the words of an agent or investment group. but whether it's manchester city or turan tovuz (of the azerbaijan premier league, where attacking midfielder junivan earns a living) paying their wages, the majority of the money goes back home. and mentally, many of them never leave.

in a country where footballing excellence is so bound up with national identity, it's hardly surprising that many brazilian players speak of playing in europe in terms of familial duty. players often become mechanised, can't adapt to an unfamiliar way of living, and lose the joy of football. this is not unique to brazilians, but the example of adriano is particularly acute in displaying how sometimes the only place where people can live normally is home, even if home is one of the worst favelas in rio.

in the wire, the greek said that the world is a smaller place now. he might have been talking about international crime, but he could just as easily have been discussing football. but too often we discuss globalisation using a western perspective, where the internet means that i can watch games played thousands of miles and numerous time zones away, at any time i choose. but, as many pundits would do well to learn, the west is not the world. rereading the story of garrincha, beautifully told by alex bellos, i'm taken to visit one of his many children, who has never left her home state. and i'm reminded that manchester is still a long way from sao vicente.

no sleep till miami

after a strong performance in the wildcard round, my playoff prediction success rate took a bit of a battering (it's now a mediocre 4-4) in last weekend's divisional round, thanks in no small part to that man above. the saints handed the cardinals their asses on a plate, with bush putting in one of the best displays of individual brilliance i have seen in the nfl, including a superb 83 yard touchdown return. he, along with a rejuvinated drew brees, were the difference against a cardinals team who were clearly running on empty.

the top seeds from the AFC were the indianapolis colts, and whilst they weren't as spectacular as the saints, they too advanced with relative ease against baltimore. ray rice couldn't repeat his heroics from the new england game, peyton manning took his chances when they came, and that was that.

the two real surprises came from teams who, seemingly, were putting a real run together. the cowboys, who were so impressive against philly, were abject against a minnesota side who really pulled it out of the bag. i'll be honest, i didn't see it coming. minnesota hadn't played well since late november and the cowboys were on a hot streak. but they never really got going, and brett favre continues to defy the critics (myself included), and play like a man aged 25, not 41.

in hindsight, the vikings turning over the cowboys at home doesn't seem like such a shock, especially with what followed last sunday evening. for the jets, a team with, as so confidently pointed out, "no real plan b" to go and beat san diego on the road defies belief. i wonder what odds you would have got on the jets reaching the AFC championship game back in september? someone somewhere must have won a shitload of cash, because it turns out the old adage is still true in the nfl: defence and simple pass rush plays win games.

onto the conference championship matchups...

indianapolis colts v new york jets (AFC), sunday 7.30pm.

it's tempting, really, really tempting to pick the jets in this one. rex ryan has produced something quite remarkable in the past couple of months, despite the large amount of luck they've enjoyed. it's worth noting that if it weren't for the colts deciding to rest their starters for their game against the jets at the back end of the regular season, the jets wouldn't have made the playoffs at all. the jets won that matchup, and have been flying in the face of those who say the nfl is a passing league now, and that you need more than one gameplan. they have no fear on the road, they are on the run of their lives, and they would be "shocked" if they didn't win this one. but, as mike carlson points out in his excellent preview, believing you can do it ain't the same as doing it.

my pick- colts.

new orleans saints v minnesota vikings (NFC), sunday 11.30pm.

the saints have recovered from their stuttering end of season form, and against the cardinals, looked like a team capable of winning the super bowl. the vikings have done much the same, and did something few expected them to do when they humbled a cowboys team which i predicted were heading to miami. i have a feeling that the saints will be a step too far for them, but then that's what i said about the jets at san diego. in reggie bush and adrian peterson, the saints and the vikings have 2 of the most explosive runners in the league, and both quarterbacks are outstanding examples of how to direct and influence plays, with or without the ball. like neil reynolds says, whoever wins this one will produce this year's super bowl cinderella story. it'll be high scoring, but the saints look like a franchise headed for their first super bowl.

my pick- saints, with the help of another stellar game from reggie 'the bush it's ok to like' bush.

so, that'd give us the first super bowl between the 2 top seeds since 1994, when dallas and (no laughing at the back) buffalo met. and in truth it would be a fitting matchup, as for much of the season they were head and shoulders above the rest. but we're getting ahead of ourselves. enjoy the games, and if you're wondering about the clash between the milan derby and colts-jets game, go for the milan derby. the colts won't start scoring till the 2nd half.

weekend picks

he's smiling again. and not just because his team have taken a coveted spot in my weekend picks post either.

only 2 choices this weekend, because of the playoff action sunday night. i'll put together a full preview of the conference championship matches tomorrow sometime, but suffice to say it isn't the review i was expecting to write...

onwards, and prior warning: if you don't like italian football, you might want to look elsewhere for recommendations on what to watch this weekend.

juventus v roma, 7.45pm saturday

about the only advantage that juve have coming into this game is the fact that they are at home and the curva scirea (responsible for the amusing seat-burning against milan) has been closed. it's been another chaotic week in turin, after guus hiddink apparently rebuffed their overtures in favour of, er, liverpool? that should illustrate how desperate things are, and although they've added talented young midfielder antonio candreva on loan, it would be foolish to expect him to be the catalyst this team needs. playing felipe melo in the right position (ciro, if you're reading: he's not very fast, and his passing range is no more than ten feet) would be a good start, as would selling amauri to the highest bidder. immediately.

the aforementioned fans have been doing their bit as well, managing to get themselves banned from the upcoming coppa italia quarter-final against inter. however, in characteristic italian fashion, the ban isn't quite what it seems. no tickets will be sold to those living outside the milan area. you may have guessed the flaw in this cunning plan- it hinges on there being no juve (the best-supported team in the country) fans in milan. right.

as for roma, well they're flying aren't they? victory would put them 4 points clear in 3rd spot, which considering how woeful they were earlier in the season, is remarkable. much credit should go to claudio ranieri for reigning in some of the often reckless attacking tendencies exhibited under luciano spalletti, and establishing a more stable 4-4-2 formation.

however, the tinkerman has a problem. having signed luca toni, everyone- the fans, the owner, the press, and in all likelihood his wife, is urging him to unleash the trident- vucinic and toni up front, and the newly-fit francesco totti behind them. although it goes against his style, there is probably no better time to give it a go than against a juve side in desperate form. unleash it claudio!

inter milan v ac milan, 7.45pm sunday.

if it weren't for juve's spectacularly bad performances of late, we'd probably be talking a little bit more about the indifferent recent run that inter have been on. sluggish displays against siena and bari have let their city neighbours back in a race for the title that looked all but over a month or so ago. they've got a lot of players missing (eto'o, thiago motta, muntari, chivu and stankovic would all probably start), but they do have wesley sneijder, who, when fit, is probably the best player in serie a. and it's the derby. form goes out of the window right?

milan will be hoping not. leonardo has, by accident i suspect, found a way of compensating for milan's obvious shortcomings, namely 4-2-1-3, usually the preserve of desperate men in italy. andrea pirlo has been given freedom of movement, and with the continuing resurgence of ronaldinho, as well as marco boriello (who should be starting for italy in south africa if he keeps doing things like this), they have been playing some superb attacking football of late. this should be a cracker.

playoff preview to come tomorrow.

new season, same winners

if you read the memoirs of cyclists from years gone by, the season seems so much more sedate. sure they might have raced for more days overall, but the season didn't start until march with paris-nice, and it was over for most of the big hitters by the time the tour finished, in late july. if you fancied the world championships or the giro di lombardia in october then you kept training, but there was plenty of recovery time in between the tour and then.

fast forward to 2010, and the season has started already, with the santos tour down under. santos? as in the brazilian football club that produced pele, robinho and neymar? no? no, santos are an energy company, providing, you guessed it, energy, to australia and asia. in the world of cycling sponsorship, populated by floor tiling amongst other things, energy is actually a fairly exciting sponsor. but i digress...

the season ended in late october, and the cycling world has endured a long, well no, not that long, winter of no racing. and after all that, the first race back is thus far being dominated by the newly-named HTC-Columbia. andre griepel, the winningest rider of last season (apart from some guy hailing from the isle of man, can't remember his name), has taken the first 2 stages, apparently without the aid of any sort of leadout train. kudos to 'the gorilla', who knows damn well that he better rack 'em up while he can, cause there's no way they'll let him do it at the tour.

the pre-race criterium was won by greg henderson of the newly-formed team sky, who last season rode for, you guessed it, HTC-Columbia, or Columbia-HTC as they were known. i hate to return to sponsorship, but does it really make that much difference which one comes first in the name? maybe they had some sort of deal going on, you know, one season Columbia gets to be first, etc etc.

seriously though, henderson's win is just another sign of how ridiculously dominant bob stapleton's squad have been in the sprinting stakes. familiarity breeds contempt, and the rest of the peloton was certainly feeling some contempt by the end of 2009 towards a team that racked up 384629346 wins last year. so i find it quite amusing that in the first race of the year, even when they're not winning, they're winning.

as you might be able to tell, i'm finding it quite hard to get excited about the TDU. this isn't helped by the sprinter-friendly course, or the fact that i'm 12 hours behind what's going on.

still, it's the GP Marseillaise in 11 days. thank fuck for the french, that's what i say.

divisional round preview and predictions

last week, that man, aged 38, threw more touchdown passes than he did incomplete passes. i'm going to let that statement have a paragraph to itself.

it was, as jim ross would say, a hellacious wildcard weekend. on a personal level, i'm fairly happy that i called 3 of the 4 games correctly, and i'm especially happy with my cardinals-green bay assessment, which i think deserves repeating: "warner is a difference maker, and i wouldn't be surprised if he pulls it out again. this will be close, and high-scoring." damn i'm good.

it did indeed turn out to be close, high-scoring, and one of the best playoff games in history. the cardinals just might pull another one out of the bag later today, but more on that in a bit.

elsewhere, the jets punked the bengals for the second time in a week, although it could have been different if poor chad ochocinco had managed to hold on to a long pass inside the end zone. the cowboys did a similar job on the eagles, and look more and more like a team bound for miami. as for new england...i definitely didn't see that one coming. boos rang out for the first time in a while at the gillette stadium, and i can't really blame the fans either, after their team lay down for a solid but unspectacular baltimore side. despite the hysteria, it still, in my opinion, remains to be seen whether this is the end of an era or a stutter for bill bellicheck, but i think it'll be a different patriots side next september. some house cleaning is needed.

on to the divisional round, all kick-off times are GMT.

new orleans saints v arizona cardinals (NFC), 9.30pm saturday.

i honestly haven't got a clue who will win this. i hate it when pundits sit on the fence, but i'm starting to sympathise, because this one, could go, er, either way. apologies, the playoffs turn my prose into mush.

the saints haven't won in a month, and have been on holiday since mid-november. this is a plus in some areas of the field, where key players like darren sharper have been given time to recuperate from a hard regular season. on the other hand, you have to think that drew brees and his receivers will be a little rusty, at least at first. first quarter will be key in this one, because you know that the cardinals are thinking back to when the cowboys turned the saints over at the louisiana superdome- they came out swinging and the saints never caught up. problem with that is, the cardinals can't defend for shit, and threw away the lead a number of times last weekend against the packers.

this one's going to be a shootout between brees and warner, and while brees was unplayable for most of the season, warner looks like a man who wants to go out on top. it's a cliche, but QB is the only place i can separate these 2 teams.

my pick- cardinals, on the last drive of the game.

indianapolis colts v baltimore ravens (AFC), 1am sunday.

like the saints, the colts lost the chance of securing an undefeated season, and have been on a break for the last month or so. unlike the saints, the colts players were, it seems, pretty unhappy about this, and enter the playoffs with a point to prove. peyton manning in particular seemed disgusted with the manner in which the colts finished the regular season, and the recently-named MVP (for the record 4th time) will be looking to cap a fantastic season with another super bowl ring, and i don't see how the ravens can stop him this weekend.

baltimore are a tough side, but against the patriots they didn't actually need the explosive defence that they're so well known for, the pats just laid down. i can't see the colts doing that, and i definitely can't see manning being as listless as brady was last weekend, break or no break.

my pick- colts, who will draw ahead after a tight first half.

minnesota vikings v dallas cowboys (NFC), 5.30pm sunday.

in theory, i should be umming and aaahing about how close this one is. however, after watching the cowboys demolish the eagles last weekend, the only thing that's giving me pause in picking the cowboys is the fact that minnesota have the home field advantage. fact is, the vikings faded badly in the second half of last season, with favre, peterson and harvin looking like shadows of their former selves. the tension between brad childress and brett favre can't have helped either.

in recent years, you could apply the above paragraph to the cowboys. but they've finally got their act together in the post-season, and are looking super-strong. tony romo is in the form of his life, and miles austin is the best wide receiver left in the playoffs. i wouldn't be surprised if this was a sub-28 point game for both teams, but, regardless...

my pick- cowboys, by 7.

san diego chargers v new york jets (AFC), 9pm sunday.

the only team on a better streak than the cowboys going into the post-season were the san diego chargers. 11 straight wins, and QB philip rivers playing like a future hall of famer. which is just as well, because the chargers can't run the ball for shit. they also have trouble stopping the run, which could be tricky against the jets, who like nothing more than a spot of good old blitzkrieg. whatever rex ryan might say about super bowl parades in the itinerary, the jets are in the playoffs because of the failings of other teams, not just their admittedly strong defensive game.

that said, the chargers are the best team for them to face, because of those running issues.

first quarter is key in this one as well, as is the protection that the chargers give to rivers. if they do a good job at that, and if rivers carries on his form, then they'll simply outscore the jets, who, let's face it, don't really have a plan b.

my pick- chargers, by 3-4 scores.

so, that would mean the conference championship round would look like this:

NFC- dallas cowboys v arizona cardinals

AFC- indianapolis colts v san diego chargers.

i definitely didn't call that in september.

weekend picks

apologies for the lack of frenzied daily blogging, but i've started a new job in the last couple weeks- going to bed at 11, commuting, you know, normal life. i'm not going to lie, it's had something of an impact on my sport consumption, but i'm dealing with it. it'll be ok. to that end, i'm aiming to produce 2 posts over the next few days. below you will find my weekend picks, excluding the divisional round of the playoffs, which clearly merit their own preview. that'll appear some time on saturday morning, but for now, the ball(s) are round...

1) barcelona v sevilla, la liga, saturday 9pm.

do i really need to explain this one? on their day, barcelona and sevilla are probably the best 2 teams to watch in europe, both possess players capable of some beautiful, incisive attacking football, and this one is made more interesting by the fact that they've already met twice in the last week, in the copa del ray. sevilla won that on away goals after a shock win at the nou camp last wednesday, despite losing 1-0 at home last night. in a strange way, it suits them to be playing away, as their home form has been poor this season, and the crowd has begun to turn in recent games. it's become clear this season that the best way of unsettling barca is to play high and press back dani alves, and there are few better at unsettling full-backs than jesus navas, who was again outstanding last night. that tactic, combined with a barca team who are sure to be sore after losing their first cup game in fucking ages, should make for a great match.

2) roma v genoa, serie a, sunday 2pm.

both roma and genoa have hovered around the top 4 of serie a in recent times, but both find themselves slightly off the pace this season. roma have continued to be hurt by a chronic lack of investment, whilst genoa have continued to be hurt by a chronic inability to defend. despite these problems, they are still probably the 2 most attractive teams in italy, and the fixture at genoa earlier this season produced a frantic 3-2 home win. both teams have been active in the transfer window- genoa have made a great signing in former fiorentina captain dario dainelli, who should calm the jittery back line. roma have in the last few hours swapped julio baptista for nicholas burdisso, who was on loan from inter anyway, but more significantly, they have secured the services of luca toni on loan from bayern munich. he has his detractors, myself included (i've seen 3 legged cats move faster), but he's a proven serie a goalscorer, and is playing for a place at the world cup. don't be surprised if he scores in a 3-2 home win.

no sunday night pick, because you'll all be watching the playoffs.

wildcard weekend

playoffs! yes that's right, the masterclass in sports marketing returns tonight at 9.30pm, as the wildcard round sees the NFL 2010 post-season get underway. think the champions league is drawn out? listen, those idiots are still kicking games off at the same time, can you believe that shit? four games, four kick off times, 3 different cable channels, 4 if you count the NFL network which will have round the clock coverage, over a 2 day orgy of american football. delicious.

but if you put all the commercial nastiness aside, admittedly quite a task, what you are left with is four sweet games, with at least half of the teams involved realistic prospects to reach the super bowl. without wishing to resort to cliche, the 'any given sunday' element has been one of the main reasons why the NFL have been so successful in selling the playoffs as a big deal, and why they get away with whoring their sponsorship-shaped booty to all and sundry- these games are genuinely difficult to call. the fact that some of the matchups are return games from week 17 only muddies the waters further. but, i've got me some rocket-powered flippers, so here goes...

saturday, 9.30pm (sky sports 3), cincinnati bengals v new york jets:

in what is likely to be the ugliest matchup of the weekend, it's the run the ball bowl. last sunday's match was an easy win for the jets, but you have to think that cincy, who rested cedric benson, were holding something back. carson palmer is a pretty one-dimensional QB, but he does have benson, as well as everyone's favourite joker, chad ochocinco. there's little doubt that the bengals can be more explosive going forward, but the way they got punked by the jets, especially the superbly-named d'brickashaw ferguson last weekend, will be fresh in the mind. the jets are average on paper, but they are the kind of team who's done well in the playoffs in recent times- stifling defence, lots of aggression and turnovers. they might have woken up on monday certain that the bengals know all their plays, but i think they knew that they might well have broken over-achieving cincy. my pick- jets.

sunday 1am (sky sports 2), dallas cowboys v philadelphia eagles:

as mike carlson says, philly couldn't have played much worse last weekend. while you can forgive the bengals for wanting to play the one-dimensional jets, i can't see why philly didn't go for the win and avoid the cowboys, one of the hottest teams in the NFL. as it is, they were pathetic, and now face the long journey south, with only 100000 mad texans and tony romo in the form of his life to welcome them. philly have been pretty poor since securing a playoff spot, whilst the cowboys have been busy ignoring the december curse. coach wade phillips has still yet to win a playoff game, and will probably be fired if they lose, but, after last week, i just can't see it. these cowboys are going to miami (that's where the super bowl is). my pick- cowboys.

sunday 5.30pm (sky sports 2), new england patriots v baltimore ravens:

the only game we didn't see this weekend, and definitely the hardest to call. on one hand, the patriots have the super bowl experience, tom brady, and er, that's it. on the other hand, there is no wes welker, he limped off last weekend. baltimore have an explosive defence, and the momentum from their late charge into the post-season. this one will be won and lost on defence. if new england can stop ray rice, and manage to expose the baltimore second row, then they should take it. but, as many have said, take away welker (probably the best wide receiver in the playoffs, or not) from brady, and all bets are off. i'm having real trouble here. but...here comes a meaningless yet crucial for the purpose of this preview stat! baltimore have never beaten new england. beautiful. my pick- patriots.

sunday 9pm (sky sports 2), arizona cardinals v green bay packers:

don't let the spectacularly uncompetitive green bay win last week fool you, if kurt warner has a good day and marshals his receivers, then the cardinals will win. preview over? not quite. the cardinals have been characteristically inconsistent this season, capable of scoring 30 points but conceding 35. remember though, it was that kind of play which took them within 30 seconds of winning the super bowl last year. sense would dictate that if green bay can continue their solid offense, and QB aaron rodgers can hold his nerve, then they should edge it, but warner is a difference-maker, and i wouldn't be surprised if he pulled it out again. this will be close, and high-scoring, but...my pick- cardinals.

if we assume my predictions are correct, then next weekend's divisional play-offs will be:

indianapolis colts v new york jets (AFC)

san diego chargers v new england patriots (AFC)

new orleans saints v arizona cardinals (NFC)

minnesota vikings v dallas cowboys (NFC).

so expect it to look completely different. these games should be really exciting, and i shall try to catch as many as possible. for those of you not blessed with sky, or a fast internet connection, or a life, BBC2 has highlights, tuesday 00.10.

sorry there's no weekend picks, but the blog has gone all american, at least for the next 48 hours. god bless football! and commercialism.

thoughts on monday night raw

they might have broken out the big guns, but monday night raw was still as schizophrenic a show as it has always been, and this week must be up there as one of the most bizarre and surreal episodes of all time. there was some good stuff, there was slightly more terrible stuff, there was stuff that made no sense to anyone, expect vince mcmahon. but i'm an optimist, so we'll start on a happy note- it was great to see bret hart back in the WWE. he might have his health problems, but his mic work and ring presence are still superior to 90% of wrestlers working today. his interaction with jericho, which saw perhaps my two favourite performers together for the first time in years, was fucking awesome, to put it bluntly.

but alas, this wouldn't be the WWE, hell this wouldn't be wrestling, without some issues that i just can't ignore. perhaps it comes from being a smart mark, someone who reads about the lives and relationships between the people behind the characters, but when vince kicked bret in the crown jewels, even though it was obviously coming, my first reaction was, really? really? are WWE really going to start a conflict between a 64 year old and a 52 year old with a history of heart and concussion problems? word is that there's going to be a mcmahon-hart streetfight at wrestlemania. i guess that stipulation means they wouldn't have to work as much, but come on. there are so many other roads WWE could have gone down. besides, it's been made clear by mcmahon and hart that they 'buried the hatchet', as michael cole kept calling it, a few years ago when bret was inducted into the hall of fame and they collaborated on his dvd. they might not ever be best friends, but there is at least an understanding, and something approaching respect.

on the other hand, there is little to suggest that any of the heat between bret and shawn michaels following the montreal screwjob has dissipated. bret closed his autobiography by stating that he'd never forgive shawn and hhh for what they did to wrestling. so why not have bret screw shawn in the dx-jerishow match (more of which later), get his own back, and plant the seeds of disunity in dx, ultimately leading to a michaels-hbk match at 'mania?

because dx sell too many shirts and glowsticks of course. and i'm still going to be clued to every episode of raw featuring bret, and i'll be rooting for him against vince, if it happens. i just hope he's getting well paid, and that he doesn't risk the health he fought so hard for.

and as for jericho...the minute hhh avoided that stupid pancake jump thing from the big show (has anyone ever actually seen him land that), i knew dx were going to win. but did hornswoggle have to get involved? really? that aside, i'm actually happy jericho is off raw, there's that long-awaited feud with edge on his horizon...

i'm also happy that randy orton beat kofi, especially after the ultimatum that rhodes and dibiase issued. him losing at that point would have made him look weak, and i'm starting to hope for a face turn for dibiase, along with some sort of alliance with kofi. sure, kofi has lost a bit of momentum, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was in the final two in the royal rumble, along with orton.

overall raw was better than usual, and it definitely made the lines of conflict clear...even if they weren't the ones i expected or hoped for. but that's the sign of good creative i 'spose. i'll be watching TNA tomorrow evening, although i've already fucked up my mission to view it spoiler-free goddammit.

the return of the monday night wars

for those who don't know, tonight is the night where the david (TNA) goes up against the goliath that is the WWE. who will win? i'm going to ruminate on that question in this post.

wrestling has always been a controversial industry, and the level of debate, particularly online, generally veers between the moronic and the only slightly retarded. not much of a range. there are exceptions, but it's still something that i find difficult to look at objectively, being, well, a wrestling geek. that geek has been pretty excited for the last few days, in the run-up to TNA impact (featuring the debut of recent acquisition hulk hogan) going head-to-head with monday night raw, with guest host bret 'hitman' hart. just in case the picture hadn't given it away, i know who i'm more excited to see back in the ring.

the first thing to say when looking at this growing rivalry concerns competition. competition, in wrestling as in other sports, is generally a good thing. by that, i mean that there won't be any segments involving dx in the little peoples' court. well, they aren't being built as the main attraction anyway. this link also has the matches which TNA have announced, and it's worth looking at before you read on.

WWE have booked a match for the unified tag titles, between dx and jeri-show, the two hottest tag teams in the company. they have been engaged in a feud which has been built over the last couple of months, and this match also contains a lose and you're off raw stipulation for jericho, arguably the most effective heel in the whole WWE. in short, it's the logical end to a feud which has been well booked and well-presented, and which has captured the passions of the audience, always the key element in wrestling. the same can be said for the kofi kingston-randy orton match, which pits a rising star against an established heel. the feud between these two has been outstanding, and has elevated kingston whilst not hurting orton.

and i haven't even mentioned bret hart yet. he played a crucial part in carrying WWE through the difficult early 1990's, and is arguably the only performer who has not been adversely affected (in terms of their adoration from fans) by very public conflicts with vince mcmahon, hhh and, in particular, shawn michaels. his peak was before my time, but his fantastic book and dvd footage have cemented my view that he's probably the greatest all-round wrestler ever. that debate aside, his return to raw is a big deal. wwe did a great job of teasing potential conflict between hart, mcmahon and michaels last week, in what was the most compelling ten minutes raw has seen for a long, long time. i can't wait.

TNA have built the hype of their broadcast around hulk hogan, and run an ad campaign promoting his debut, the centrepiece of which has been this billboard in times square. at the time of writing, his debut and an x-division match inside the steel asylum are the main event attractions.

this points to why i agree with john bradshaw layfield, when he says WWE will win, regardless of how this new wrestling war unfolds. there are a number of blindingly obvious problems in basing the planned growth of your company around a guy who is the wrong side of fifty, alongside a guy (eric bischoff) who ruined the highest grossing wrestling promotion ever (WCW). quite apart from those, the publicity for the show makes minimal mention of the TNA world heavyweight champion, and arguably the best wrestler around today, aj styles. ok so the x-division, which at its best is superior to anything the WWE offers, is present on the show, but there are no storylines building to the match, it's essentially an exhibition. storylines are, and always will be, the main 'hook' in wrestling which keeps people tuning in after hulk hogan has creaked away. i don't want to bash TNA, because i love the product they put out, but i just wish they would take the good things from WWE (like how to promote yourself on a worldwide scale, how to follow through with storylines, etc etc), and then combine them with the fantastic wrestling talent they possess.

one of the fundamental problems that wrestling faces is that the audience simply isn't there in the same way that it was 10-12 years ago, when i began watching. in many ways, i'm quite close to the demographic that TNA are aiming for- i accept and enjoy the modern WWE output, although i remember how awesome and dangerous the attitude era was as well. but this so-called war is not really about people like me, who (let's face it) will watch whatever happens, it's about people who have tuned out, looking for newer and more exciting entertainment, like UFC.

which brings me back to competition. hopefully tonight will mark the start of a new competitive era in pro wrestling, where promotions will compete for an audience that wants something different. competition is a good thing! but there are different types of competition.

i'll be watching the TNA and WWE broadcasts sometime this week, and will post my thoughts after.