Greg Pappas
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Posts posted by Greg Pappas
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Apparently there have been some good "twitter wars" going on recently between Punk and Austin and Miz and Jericho. Now, these could be just friends having some fun, or as with Rock and Cena, it could be WWE planting the seeds for a program with these guys. Mania next year maybe have a current stars vs legends theme?
Rock vs Cena
Austin vs Punk
Jericho vs Miz
Taker vs I don't know...Del Rio?
Mick Foley vs ????
Could be VERY interesting. The wrestling at the actual event wouldn't be great, but GD would the build be strong as hell and the buyrate would be off the charts!
You know, this wouldn't surprise me at all. I didn't know about Miz/Jericho. I do know that Jericho had a few comments about Punk though.
Again, you may be onto something.
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An odd Raw... WWE is not AS predictable as before. That's a good thing.
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Some of the wrestling rumor sites are saying HHH is looking to reestablish the tag team division by signing some teams from outside the WWE such as the Briscoes from ROH. If true I like this move as long as they use actual teams and not just random pairings.
This is something I'd do were I in charge, as it brings another element to the same old, same old routine. The Divas are unwatchable, and singles matches and occasional thrown-together tag matches are just dumb.
They need to build a great tag team division, but when they consistently have guys like Cena beating tag teams by himself in handicap matches, it severely weakens the validity of these teams as strong wrestlers.
I'd love to see them bring in a masked (or with wicked make-up) big brute team... mysterious guys (WWE could go all-out to keep who they are a secret) who simply bring the pain. They'd be monstrous men with vicious take-no-prisoners attitudes like the Road Warriors or Demolition, the Twin Towers, or Kronik. Perhaps a 7-footer like Steve Slocum (Jackson Andrews in the WWE) who was released earlier this year, could return and be one of the two. Ah well, it seems like if done right, it'd be pretty cool. =)
Also, just because guys aren't good on the mic doesn't mean they can't have great value. BRING BACK MANAGERS to do the hyping/interviews for them!
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Great idea for a thread Greg! I know we've all enjoyed discussing wrasslin' in the 'Vince McMahon is a freakin genius' thread, so this is perfect.
I have to say: WWE is in a great place right now. A lot of unanswered questions, a lot of exciting ways they can take things. Although maybe it's a bit of a played out storyline, I think having a some sort of "corporate" group, maybe Nash, Stephanie, HHH, John L, and maybe even Cena would be a really fun storyline and good for ratings.
I'm a HUGE Nash fan, so I'm very glad to have him back. I thought he looked to be in great shape at the Royal Rumble, so who knows, maybe he wrestles a bit? Obviously I would expect his role wouldn't involve a lot of wrestling, but I bet it could involve some.
Now if they would just get rid of Smackdown, go to a 3 hour Raw, abandon the Raw/Smackdown as being separate entities, and have a unification match between the WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion, I'd be very happy
Good stuff... and yeah, I really dislike the whole Raw vs Smackdown thing.
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Yeah, a lot to figure out. I wonder if anything with HHH will transpire on Smackdown?
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Well, the thought was Nash and XPac were going to help out HHH with identifying talent and working with them.
So, do they form some kind of a heel ownership faction? Perhaps building a stable of wrestlers, something like when Vinny Mac had his Corporation before?
Maybe Cena is the first guy in that?
It is very NWO-ish but those angles, if done right, can create major ratings and Cena turning heel and heading up something like that could be major for the company.
Plus, when he goes back to being a face, he will be that much more popular.
Oh well, just a thought of what direction they could go in.
I could see this... but Cena turning heel (something I ssssooooooo want) may have been passed over, as it seems it should've happened at SS. Regardless, I'm stoked to see what happens.
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I think overall Kevin Nash is a good guy but with a massively overinflated sense of self worth. This smells to me like a Kliq move but we will wait and see, I suppose. I was hoping HHH would know better by now.
I sure hope that the nWo and Kliq stuff remains history, but this is Sports Entertainment... so anything goes.
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This is long overdue for we wrestling fans.
Let's shoot the breeze on the latest happenings with the WWE, TNA, RoH or whatever organization you wish.
I'll start out by saying that I'm a bit surprised by the Kevin Nash appearance and 'screw job' on Punk last night at SummerSlam. That entire situation is at the very least- interesting.
Christian/Orton was great. I love Christian, and wish he'd get back to being a face.
Henry/Sheamus was solid, and a cool ending.
Tonight's Raw should be fun.
Thoughts?
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It bothers me because I always think Toronto when I see TOR.
Agreed... I say TotR should replace it. Who's with me?!
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The gurgster was trip-posting the lightastic, man! I've been screaming laughing, and I never got past the first page.
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Ranting. It's a rarity for me, but here goes...
Anointing a great young athlete "King" before they've accomplished much in the pro's, is simply undeserved. As well, it's unfair to the player, unless he embraced/exploited it. King James? King Felix?
Please, stop with the ridiculous accolades.
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People starting threads that simply give a name: 'Nick Markakis'. 'Miguel Tejada'. 'The Orioles'. 'Andy MacPhail'.
Every time I see one of these threads I think, "Are you serious?! Are you THAT lazy?! Can I buy a clue Alex?" LOL :angryfire:
Then there are those that type a paragraph in the Thread Title. Oy vey! :angryfire:
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Bump to note that my buddy won the Pulitzer in fiction today.
http://www.boston.com/ae/specials/culturedesk/2010/04/paul_hardings_tinkers_wins_pul.html
Outstanding.
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Outstanding idea. Everyone will now be taking inventory of their skills.
Skills. That's what Napoleon Dynamite respects...
"Like there's Kip's computer dating skills," says Napoleon. "Or Deb's awesome picture-taking skills, Pedro's skills with ladies, Rex Kawn Do's karate skills. But I don't respect Uncle Rico's skills because he sucks at everything you can ever name and he's an idiot."
As for his own skills Napoleon says, "I'm probably the best ever at tetherball. I completely dominate. Then I've got my nun-chuck skills, my art skills, and I'm pretty good with a bo staff."
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After many conversations revolving around such things as waiver claims, the arbitration clock, arbitration itself, and the 'Rule 5 Draft', I felt that a place to sticky these things would be useful in bettering our collective understanding of these various MLB rules.
Thanks to McLovin for the sticky.
First item...
The Arbitration Clock
This is from Thomas Gorman of Baseball Prospectus...
Well, as soon as you're on a Major League Active Roster the clock is started (Active Roster is the 25-man from April through Sept 1, when being in the majors on the expanded roster starts to count, too).
When the clock starts, you accrue Major League Service (MLS) for every day that you're in the majors. That means that arbitration is on its way down the road. So if you're trying to plan your budget in 2009 you want to think a little bit about how expensive your guys will be when you get there. Will they be making the minimum, or will they be in arbitration? And if they're in arbitration, which year of arb are they in? The further you get in arbitration, the more expensive it gets.
Ideally a team would look even further out into the future, to figure out when guys become free agents and such, but that's pretty rare. There is too much uncertainty in baseball to forecast more than a corner of your Major League roster more than 2-3 years down the road.
One thing that teams ought to be more careful of is starting a service clock early enough in the year to make someone a Super-Two Arbitration Eligible player. Most players enter their first arbitration year, and their first big pay raise, after 3 years of MLS. By virtue of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, some players get into arb early if they have 2+ years of service, 86 days of service in the previous year, and a total MLS figure that is in the top 17% of 2+ players.
A Super-Two player is not only expensive for you a year early (see Dontrelle Willis), they also get a 4th arbitration hearing.
From 1990-2003 the cutoff for Super-Two players has been somewhere between two years, 128 days and two years, 153 days. In eight of those 14 years the cutoff was somewhere between 2.130 and 2.140. Upton already has 64 days of MLS, though, so bringing him up now would be too early if you're trying to avoid a Super-Two Arbitration. To be safe you'd probably want to wait till something like the second week of August.
--Thomas Gorman
Transactions Primer
By Rob Neyer-ESPN
General managers don't know them, agents don't know them, players don't know them, writers don't know them . and fans don't know them.
What are "them"? Them are the rules governing baseball transactions, some of which are so convoluted that even when you think you know them, you don't.
All the ins and outs of transactions are covered, sometimes in excruciating detail, in a large loose-leaf binder titled, "The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book," something completely separate from the "Official Baseball Rules" (which cover only the game on the field).
Unfortunately, Major League Baseball doesn't make that loose-leaf binder available to the public. There's not really anything controversial or confidential in there, so maybe they just think we don't care and/or wouldn't understand the arcana contained within. And of course, MLB isn't famous for its public-relations acumen.
So we've consulted a variety of sources, including that elusive "Rules Book," and come up with a "Transactions Primer" which should answer at least some of your questions
Disabled Lists
There are two Disabled Lists, the 15-day and 60-day. The only real difference between them is that players on the 60-day DL -- sometimes called the Emergency DL -- don't count against a team's 40-man roster.
To be placed on either Disabled List, a player must be certified disabled by a doctor. That said, such certifications generally aren't particularly difficult to acquire.
Players can be disabled retroactively, up to a maximum of 10 days, beginning with the day after the last day on which they played.
A player on the 15-day Disabled List may be shifted to the 60-day DL at any time.
According to the Rules, players on a Disabled List "may be assigned to a Minor League Club for the purpose of injury rehabilitation for a maximum of 20 days in the case of non-pitchers and 30 days in the case of pitchers."
Options
After three years as a pro, a player must be protected on a team's 40-man roster, or he is eligible for the Rule 5 draft (more on that later). Once he's served those three years, and assuming he is added to the 40-man roster, his club then has what are called "options" on him.
When a player is on the 40-man roster but not on the 25-man Major League roster, he is on "optional assignment." One common misconception about the rules is that a player may only be "optioned out" three times. Actually, each player has three option years, and he can be sent up and down as many times as the club chooses within those three seasons.
When you hear that a player is "out of options," that means he's been on the 40-man roster during three different seasons, beginning with his fourth as a pro, and to be sent down again he'll have to clear waivers (more on those below).
Waivers
Waivers just might be the most complicated single aspect of the rules. In the rule book, a waiver is defined as "... a permission granted for certain assignments of player contracts or for the unconditional release of a Major League player ..."
If a player placed on Major League waivers is not claimed by another team during the three business days after waivers have been requested, then the players is said to have "cleared waivers," and the team has secured waivers for the remainder of the waiver period.
And what does that mean? Essentially, the team can do with the player's contract as it pleases. This generally means one of three things:
(1) They can send him to the minors (subject to his consent, if he's a "Veteran Player," more on that below).
(2) They can release him, which makes the player a free agent and thus available to sign with any team.
(3) They can trade him to another team, even if the so-called "trading deadline" has passed. Any trades made after July 31 may only involve players who have cleared waivers.
If a player doesn't clear waivers -- in other words, if he's claimed by another team or teams -- the club requesting waivers may withdraw the waiver request.
If the club doesn't withdraw the waiver request, the player's contract is assigned in the following manner:
(A) If only one claim is entered, the player's contract is assigned to that claiming club.
(B) If more than one club in the same league makes claims, the club currently lower in the standings gets the player.
© If clubs in both leagues claim the player, preference shall always go to the club in the same league as the club requesting waivers.
There are other, more esoteric rules involved here. For example, during the first 30 days of the season, the previous season's final standings are used to determine claim order, rather than the current standings.
Designated for Assignment
You'll sometimes read that a player has been "designated for assignment."
What does this mean? Essentially, it allows a club to open up a roster spot while it figures out what it's going to do with a player. As we'll see below, there are certain situations in which a team needs a player's permission to either trade him or send him to the minors. So rather than force the player to make a quick decision, the team can simply designate him for assignment while he decides.
More commonly, a player is designated for assignment so the club can open up his roster spot while they're waiting for him to clear waivers, which can take four or five days. Occasionally, a club will designate a player for assignment while they're trying to trade him. That's what happened to Hideo Nomo this past June.
'Called Up' vs. 'Contract Purchased'
When a player is summoned from the minors to the majors, you'll see that he was either "called up" or his "contract was purchased." For most practical purposes, this really doesn't make much difference. If he's already on the 40-man roster, he's called up. If he's not on the 40-man roster, then his contract is purchased (for a nominal fee) from the minor-league team.
However, the player must be added to the 40-man roster when his contract is purchased, which often necessitates dropping another player from the 40-man roster, whether by release or trade.
Veteran Players
Any player who has been in the major leagues for five full seasons may not be assigned to a minor-league team without his written consent. This sometimes puts the team in a bad position, because a player with five years has every right to say, "I don't want to go to New Orleans. You can either release me and keep paying me, or keep me on the major league roster and keep paying. Your choice."
Also, a player with five years of service time who is traded in the middle of a multi-year contract may demand another trade prior to the start of the season following the one in which he was traded.
Any player with at least 10 years of Major League service, the last five of which have been with one Major League Club, may not be traded to another Major League Club without his written consent. This is commonly known as "the five-and-ten rule."
Player To Be Named Later
Quite often, you'll read that a player has been traded to another team for "a player to be named later."
There are two restrictions at work here. First, the transaction must be completed within six months. And second, the player named later can't have played in the same league as the team he's being traded to. That's why the player named later is almost always a minor leaguer.
And what if the teams can't agree on who that player will be? This happens rarely, but if no names are agreed upon initially, the clubs will agree on a price to paid in lieu of a player.
Sometimes, at the time of the deal the team receiving the player will provide the other club a list of minor leaguers, and later the club will have their pick of the players on that list. This list is negotiated at the time of the trade. In recent years, the Minnesota Twins lost Enrique Wilson this way. When it came time for Cleveland to make their choice, the Twins did what they could to "hide" Wilson, but the Indians found him anyway.
Finally, sometimes "Player to be named later" is used to trade players on the Disabled List, since it can be embarrassing for a club to trade for a guy who's on the DL.
The Rule 5 draft
First off, note that it's not the "Rule V Draft," but the Rule 5 draft. It's called the Rule 5 draft because the section of the Official Rules that covers the draft just happens to be Rule 5 in the book.
Eligibility: A player not on a team's Major League 40-man roster is eligible for the Rule 5 draft if: the player was 18 or younger when he first signed a pro contract and this is the fourth Rule 5 draft since he signed, OR if he was 19 or older when he first signed a pro contract and this is the third Rule 5 draft since he signed.
A player drafted onto a Major League roster in the Rule 5 draft must remain in the majors (on the 25-man active roster or the DL) for all of the subsequent season, or the drafting club must attempt to return him to his original club. However, since a returned Rule 5 player must first be placed on outright waivers, a third club could claim the player off waivers. But of course, that club would then also have to keep him in the majors all season, or offer him back to his original club.
Occasionally, the drafting club will work out a trade with the player's original team, allowing the drafting club to retain the player but send him to the minors.
I hope this has been helpful. Please feel free to add new information relevant to this thread, such as rule changes, or other interesting rules that you'd like to see posted here.
Thank you.
--Greg
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Great stuff but use the spell check provided by OH (it underlines in red) to make your written word more spiffy!
The funny thing is, I usually do. LOL Thanks.
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Greg65 is now Greg Pappas....
Who is this mysterious *Greg Pappas?
At least my name change is just a bit different, so hopefully most will be okay with it. I'm trying to further my writing career and thought it best to get my name out there in as many places as possible. A plug on OH? The shame!
*Mr. Pappas retains all rights and privileges associated with the name Greg Pappas. Anyone attempting to use this incredibly popular name for themselves without prior written permission from Mr. Pappas shall forfeit their opportunities in the future to have a real life signed autographed picture of Mr. Pappas and may face severe legal consequences. Batteries not included...
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* Going to a new major movie premeire, waiting in a theatre-formed line thats 150 people deep or more for a long time waiting for the show and just as the line begins to move, people who were never in line just merge into line ahead of you as if they were v.i.p.'s. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! Line jumping is so discourteous.
* Food shopping at a grocery store (Giant) with a fairly full store of customers... along comes a "person" with a cell phone up to his ear talking quite loudly to a friend or whomever and while standing besides a mother and her 4 year old girl he uses language that would be par for the course at a strip joint. No respect, that is at least the tenth time I've been witness to this ridiculous public display.
* Driving for the first time along a lengthy one lane road that is winding to a degree, up and down hills, like a bad roller coaster... 7 children in my SUV, returning from a movie that I've taken them all to see, doing the speed limit (35) ... all the while an idiot is riding my bumper like his appendix is bursting. I tap my brake repeatedly to 'advise' the other driver to back off, I would do this anyway, but I have 7 kids with me. This fool just didn't care and stayed close enough to my vehicle to read the VIN # on the 'front!' of my car. As he eventually passes me he gives me the finger.
People need to learn to treat others far better, for society continues to spiral down a discourteous, rude, me-first drain. Rant over... I feel better. LOL
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Gwen Stefanie--eat something, and also I wish she would realize she is not a little Japaneses girl its just creepy.
That's hilarious, I literally LOL.
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*People who are too stubborn (me) or too lazy (me) to look up the difference between the words 'affect' and 'effect'. I can't stand myself.
*Spilling hot coffee on yourself and sueing the place you bought it for its being 'too hot'.
*Spam. - Unless it's a Monty Python reference.
*Verizon DSL claiming to be just as fast as cable. There needs to be a group that monitors these commercials, so that at the end of a commercial they can hit a button and claim "Shenanigans!!". At which point we'd all get are brooms and storm the culprit's corporate office.
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Im thankful your brother does not drive in Bel Air!
Hi Cindy. I am in Abingdon, just a few minutes from you. So, I guess I'm saying "Howdy Neighbor." Or something to that effect.
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This program should be bound, gagged, tortured and killed, as recompense for the torture it's put the human race through.
That's funny, as Excel is my absolute favorite program, with Word next in line. I use them almost exclusively.
Of course I am no expert at all functions within these programs, but I've been using them since roughly they first came out. Practice makes you still imperfect. LOL
Pro Wrestling Thread
in Pro Wrestling
Posted
Bourne and Kingston are a solid tag-team, and are decent as current 'Champions', but I hope HHH's vision of improving the TT Division comes to fruition in short order. We need 'real' TT Champs. Miz and Truth are a good combination, yet I'd prefer Miz to remain as a viable single's contender and occasional champ.
The Briscoe Brothers from RoH may be coming in time, but what other current tag teams could be brought in to bring glory and proper respect to the TT Division? I want to see at least 6 strong teams.