Red Sox Discover Bats, WWE Draft Thoughts

The Boston Red Sox finally scored a few runs and won their first game since opening day, defeating the LA "wheres Anaheim?"Angels 6-4 on saturday.

Unfortunately, do to my work schedule, I was unable to watch said game; however, I did get to watch friday nights loss at Anaheim,oops, LA (btw, who are these guys fooling with this?) in a game that, due to the emotion involved, was a game that the team was going to win, no matter whom they played.


A few observations from fridays game, and the first week of the season in general : 1) Bostons rotation, heralded during the entire pre season, has yet to deliver- Jon Lester and Dice K have been knocked pretty hard in their inaugural starts of the season.

2) the line up has as of yet gelled together. with the exception of Kevin Youkilis, overall production hasnt quite reach predicted levels.

But lets face it, its the first week, and this team is way too good to not bring everything expected. No need to fret over this one....if next week is like this one, maybe Ill get a little more aggravated.

This monday, at 8 pm est, the WWE presents its annual "Draft", in which wrestlers from the respective Raw, Smackdown, and ECW 'brands" get selected to another.

Lets face it, at this point, this is a promotional gimmick done to attract additional viewers- initially, when these "brands" were truly separate, not in the sense that they werent all working for the same company, but that they didnt cross over to the other shows but periodically, this was an interesting show, from the standpoint that changes equalled fresh,or at least refreshed, match ups.

With the weaker home network for Smackdown (MyNetwork, which is the network equivilent of state college campus tv) it has become necessary for WWE to showcase many of its Smackdown stars on RAW & ECW, to maximize their potential revenue value.

The former fed suffers from a tremendous staleness in most of the top spots, and simply moving one wrestler to another show will not scure this problem. It does, however, create a scenerio of potential excitement to the "undereducated" fan, one which does not challenge them to be creative, or preemptive, in the elevation of new talent.

For the pure hell of it, allow me to throw the names of three wrestlers, whom, while all fans know, are not "top" stars currently, whom, by moving to another show, could be showcased in a manner which could potentially put them up to the next level within the year.

Kofi Kingston ( current brand: Raw; suggested move: Smackdown) SOS! The young jamaican has been quite impressive in his first year in the WWE, and was quite spectacular in his debut Wrestlemania appearance last week. Smackdown needs a young, fresh exciting star to float around the top of the cards, and Kofi fits the bill; unproven as of yet as an interview ( and will likely remain that way, until someone of the creative team comes up with a goofy way to word him) his athletic ability, and unique ( for pro wrestling) ancestry could make him the companys next Rey Mysterio.

Festus ( current brand: Smackdown; suggested move: ECW) a completely underutilized big man (6'6, 320 lbs legit) Festus has done a remarkable job with what he has been dealt ( giant comotose,semi retarded hillbilly whom, when the bell rings, becomes a uncontrollable force, only to return to original form when the bell rings again) The young man has the ability, as a talker and a wrestler, to become one of the next big stars in the company; last years match vs The Undertaker looked as the though it could have been his launching point, but the company stalled on him. Moving him to ECW, at least thru the end of the year, would give him additional tv time he hasnt enjoyed in recent months, and standing tall as the "giant amongst smaller men" would enhance him tremendously, as would a run as ECW champion. Hes just even a small gimmick modification away ( or a big one- hes that versatile) from being a big player.

Mike Knox (current: RAW suggested change: Smackdown) Knox is an unorthodox worker, in the sense that he uses very basic offense and pure power (another 6'6ish, 300lb plus guy) as his main weapons. Smackdown is in need of a big man whom can challenge Triple H for its title ( providing H stays put; if not Cena will end up on the show, since it "requires" a world champion) Knox has a gimmick where he comes across as cold and unfeeling, not given to emotion or reaction; in other words, as classic loner type. Placed accordingly, and allowing his personality to come to the fore, he could be involved in a variety of compelling "storylines" with either champion.


Just a few ideas- I would love to hear anyones feedback, or even better, a few of your own selections.

Closing thought: when your in the dog food aisle at your local store, and read on a label "new and improved flavor", do you ever wonder who is the lucky bastard that gets to make that determination?

Thank you and Happy Easter!