The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

The last time I followed the WWE extensively was about a decade ago. More times than not, when I do pay attention to it now, it's usually for the wrong reasons. Reading up on the latest deaths of pro wrestlers seems to be common place as time wears on. I still visit a handful of websites to read up on things, but it's mostly out of habit, and sometimes I even forget to do that.

But when a chance to see the WWE for a Smackdown! TV taping @ Scotiabank place presented itself, I couldn't turn it down. And I'm glad I went. The crowd was very energetic and the wrestlers put on a good show, and it reminded my of why I used to enjoy it: it was pure, mindless fun. And being so close to the action made you really appreciate the physicality of it all, as it does tend to get watered down somewhat watching it on television. One of my favourite momements was when the monster-sized Big Show, over 7 feet tall and 400 pounds, would get his World Champion opponent, Jack Swagger, up against the turnbuckle and bring his finger to his lips to shush the crowd. The audience did was they were told, and BOOM, a hard, open-handed slap against the chest of Swagger, who sold it like he got hit with a shotgun. The crowd sadistically approved and chanted "One more time!", which of course Show obliged, a big grin on his face knowing that he had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Yup, for one evening at least, I enjoyed the antics of World Wrestling Entertainment. Too bad they don't come to town more often.

NEW PICTURE ADDED: See if you can spot SBP!

Some more predictions. What the hell eh? Why stop something I'm so good at?

Eastern Conference Final, Montreal vs Philadelphia: Montreal in 7. Yes, Montreal just got smoked in game 1 6-0, but is this anything new to the Habs? They beat the two juggernauts in the East, Washington and Pittsburgh, so anything after that is just peanuts for them. Their strategy of playing 85% of the game in their own end combined with the highest shooting percentage in the NHL post-season is working, so why should we think it'll end now against a team that needed a shootout in the last game of the regular season to make the playoffs?

Western Conference Final, Chicago vs San Jose: Chicago in 6. Niemi is providing the goaltending most people, including me, did not think he was capable of before the playoffs started. Chicago is a fun team to watch and with lots of history being made so far this post-season, it would seem appropriate that the Hawks will erase a near 50 year Stanley Cup drought this year.

- What a fun dinner tonight. Collecting my Stuby's Cup winnings with a quarter chicken breast table d'hote, complete with coleslaw, chicken noodle soup, some draft lager and a yummy, chocolaty lava cake. The best part was when the bill came and I left my wallet in my pocket. Not since 2009 have I enjoyed such a meal!

- An unbelievable comeback by the Flyers that the NHL has not seen since the year I was born in 1975. Adding to the moment was, like the series, the Flyers fell 3-0 but stormed back to score four goals. I'm no Flyers fan (one of my more loathed teams in the league) but I wouldn't mind seeing them pull an upset over the Habs.

- How much would Vegas have paid if you bet the farm on the 7th and 8th placed seeds in the East meeting in the Eastern Conference final?

- I had the pleasure of watching Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call New Orleans and, when was the last time I said this, I loved the performance of Nicolas Cage and the not-sure-if-it-was-intentional laughs that accompanied it. His doped out, hallucinatory adventures of corruption was something else. I enjoyed the original Bad Lieutenant immensely and had my doubts about this one, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

An eighth placed team (16th really, if you include the point totals for the Western Conference teams) unseating the defending Stanley Cup champions in one round and the President's Trophy winners in another?

Yup.

Luongo using his Olympic gold medal as a confidence booster to get revenge for losing to the Blackhawks in last year's playoffs?

No chance.

It's a good thing I don't wager for a living. Only an idiot would have thought Pittsburgh would be heading to the Conference Finals. Only a moron would have thought the surging Detroit Red Wings would have finished the ABC (always be CHOKING) San Jose Sharks.

And as I write this, the Philadelphia Flyers are up 2-0 heading into the third period against Boston. They were down 3-0 in the series, losing their THIRD string goaltender to injury in game 5 and leaning on goalie #4 to hang on to force a game 7 to complete a comeback we haven't seen in 35 years.

So of course they will put it off.

And Montreal fans, I hate to say this to you, but if they can get through the Capitals and Penguins, surely no matter who they face next round will be easy pickings for them. Halak is on fire and stopping everything. You'd be stupid NOT to think they aren't going to the Stanley Cup finals.

So as a result of that prediction, it looks like they're going to lose.

Right?

I'm going to give it another go this year. Last year some work training got in the way of another visit, but it's wide open now for my second visit to Vegas...well, five days after I move into my new home.

With the new house and a baby girl on the way, I have to think this may be my last chance to go. M-C has been great and has supported me in entering another tournament and feels maybe I'm being too negative on dismissing possible future visits. Guess like anything, we'll see.

Instead of playing no limit hold em, I'm going to enter a seven card stud tournament. The fields are much smaller than no limit...the tourney I entered in 2007 had almost 3,000 players. Last year's stud event had 360 entrants total. With those odds, I like my chances much better. I think you need to find every advantage you can, and being in a position to play for a bracelet with less competition, well, I think that's just being smart. And I really enjoy stud, too. There's a lot more hands I feel comfortable in playing, the only real detriment is all my experience has been online.

I think I might make too big a deal of going to play at the WSOP. So far I have nothing to show for the tournaments I've entered. But I can safely say I've done better and lasted longer as my experience has gone up. Just being there three years ago was enough, anything after that was a bonus. Now it's a different story, it would be extremely disappointing if I have nothing to show for it when it's all said and done.

I can only hope this might be my time. My tournament will start June 10th and will take three days to declare a winner.

Where I spend a great majority of my life. Note the Halo calendar, Ric Flair figure, and newspaper clipping of the 2010 gold medal team. Good times!

Not so little though is her head. Check out the size of that cranium! Hope M-C is up for the challenge :-)

Guys, I am sorry. I am really struggling to come up with things to chat about. I guess I find myself thinking that the blog entries are repetitive and not terribly original. Moving to a new home next month, expect a baby girl in August, so much change this year, and suddenly there's little to put up here. Hmmm...maybe I'll just keep up with the boring posts.