Raw is... Entertaining???

Sean: A one time Hulkamaniac 

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

After facing reality that no matter how rash of a decision I wanted to make, I just wasn’t going to be able to make to WrestleMania this year, I decided that if I couldn’t make the 5 hour drive to San Jose, I’d make the one hour drive downtown to see the last Monday Night Raw before WrestleMania. Knowing that  attending a show alone isn’t the most enjoyable experience, I decided to ask my 
friend Sean to tag along. Sean hasn’t watched wrestling since Hulk Hogan was a cartoon character. I wanted to see how a non-fan related to the show that I am often very critical of these days. Sean agreed and on Monday night we had a more enjoyable WWE experience than I would have expected. 

Because the show was actually entertaining (maybe it was due to be in the arena instead of watching on TV) I didn’t get to question Sean to get deep analysis into the show. Instead, we just sat back, watched the show and enjoyed the ride. 

Hulkster, Snoop Dog and Axel

Without a doubt the highlight of the night was a surprise appearance from The Immortal one, Hulk Hogan. Sean was enjoying the in-ring antics of Snoop Dogg, as were the kids in front of us who kept holding up their “Keep Calm Snoop is Here” sign, when out of nowhere, “Real American” started blasting through the speakers. Sean and I looked at each other and for a split second I let go of my 
great dislike of the Hulkster and marked out like a small child reacting to John Cena. I’m curious where Axelmania goes from here but for one night it wasn’t about criticizing the booking. 

Rusev rules

The second highlight for Sean was Rusev’s destruction of John Cena. First off, I have to point out at the last Raw I attended which was in August 2014 before SummerSlam, I saw Rusev vs. Jack Swagger. Wasn’t thrilled that the booking of both guys hasn’t advanced that far in seven months to where I was watching the same match again.  The match not withstanding, the destruction of Cena was a nice sight.  Though the WWE cynic in me is now afraid Super Cena will prevail at WrestleMania. For Sean, it was flashback to his childhood when he would cheer Ivan Drago in his match against Apollo Creed. 

Everything else on the show was just kind of there. Thankfully though the crowd was into almost everything. Even Zack Ryder got a huge “woo woo woo” chant during his match.  There was one segment the fans weren’t into though. Unfortunately for WWE, that segment was the face off between the two guys fighting in the main event of the biggest stage of the year. 

Lesnar taunts Reigns

If Raw’s crowd was any indication, come WrestleMania, the audio team better have a loop of Roman Reigns cheers on standby.  There were definitely more “Let's go Lesnar” chants in the Staples Center than any cheers for Roman Reigns. The tug of war to end the show did not go off very well with the fans. Now that Brock Lesnar has announced he is sticking with WWE, I wonder if the Roman Reigns project becomes more like the 1995 Shawn Michaels project instead of the 1994 Diesel project. 

While I’m still not entirely sold on WrestleMania, after Raw, my interest is up a couple of notches. As for Sean, I don’t think he’ll be coming over to watch WrestleMania on Sunday. He said something about his girlfriend from Australia coming into town, but he did say that he did contract a full-blown case of Hulkamania.  Hopefully a couple shots of penicillin will take care of that before his skin starts to turn orange.

LA KISS Season 1 Thoughts

Chad meets Paul Stanley 

By Chad Smart

@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

I was inducted into the KISSArmy at the age of 5.  About a year ago, I sat down at my computer at work and saw the headline, “KISS TO BRING FOOTBALL BACK TO LOS ANGELES.” Being a fan of both football and KISS, I was intrigued. Clicking on the article revealed by “football” the headline meant Arena Football and “Los Angeles” meant Anaheim.  The article made mention of season tickets going on sale that morning. Since I have a tendency to make questionable impulse decisions, as soon as tickets went on sale I submitted a request for two field level tickets. Before that day my only knowledge of arena football was 1) it was played on a smaller field than the NFL, 2) the AFL had shut down recently for one season and 3) Jon Bon Jovi was part owner of the Philadelphia Soul team.  Point three is one of the most important reasons for my purchasing tickets. I wanted a rivalry to be born between the Soul and KISS. Who wouldn’t want to see Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Jon Bon Jovi trash talking each other and making public bets on the game? If the Soul wins, KISS has to cover “Livin’ on a Prayer” in concert. If KISS wins, Jon has to wear KISS style makeup during a concert. I have weird reasons for making decisions. 

When I ordered my tickets, the AFL had yet to announce the schedule for the 2014 season. Unfortunately for me, the game makers failed to consult me in the decision making process. Once the schedule was announced, I found out due to my travel plans for the months of April and May, I was going to miss three out of the first four home games.  This was disappointing but there were seven other games that I would be able to see.

The fans!

Again, because I make questionable impulse decisions, my season tickets were six rows off the field. At the time of order, my thinking being close to the field would be most exciting. Between ordering the tickets and attending my first game, I embarked on my trip of hockey fandom and got accustomed to sitting in the upper levels of arenas where I could see the entire field. Attending my first LA KISS game, I was excited to be near the field but also felt my view was hindered by being to the left side of the LA KISS bench, which blocked my view of plays on the near side of the field beyond the 25 yard line.  Also, I was seated next to a season ticket couple that spent the majority of the first quarter telling me how upset they were with how small the seats were and how they wouldn’t be renewing their tickets. Needless to say, the first impression of the environment left a bit to be desired.

Once the game started, however, any negative thoughts were quelled. Now, I’m not going to sit here and pretend LA KISS were a great team this season. They finished the season with a 3-15 record. I don’t think any fan expected them to be great. They were an expansion team playing their season. Barring some type of miracle this was going to be a learning season. The true test will be the next 2-3 seasons to see how they improve on the foundation that was laid this season.

As stated earlier, I wasn’t too familiar with AFL before becoming a KISS ticket holder and I failed to really expand my knowledge during the season. Part of that is due to a lack of coverage the AFL gets in mainstream coverage. By that I mean Yahoo sports and the ESPN score app doesn’t list scores or news. I am also a sports fan that doesn’t focus much on stats. My basic following of sports is, “did the team I like win” and “did the team I don’t like lose.”  I am trying to become a knowledgeable fan. It just hasn’t happened yet.

Paul Stanley

With the regular season of the AFL finished and LA KISS missing the playoffs, it’s time to look toward next season. It’s pretty clear the standout player for the KISS this season was the 2008 Rookie of the Year, Donovan “Captain” Morgan.  I would like to see KISS get behind Morgan and promote him as the franchise player.  Or at the very least, market a jersey with his name and number.

From my untrained eye, the two areas that need the most work in the offense are Quarterback and Pass Defense.  After starting the season 2-8, KISS traded Quarterback J.J. Raterink and acquired 18-year AFL veteran Aaron Garcia. Towards the end of the season, Garcia suffered a shoulder injury and was replaced by rookie, Kenny Guiton. While Garcia is an AFL legend, if I’m the one in charge of a new team, I would look towards the future and go with a younger QB who can be molded and have a team built around his strengths.

Since arena football is mostly passing plays, pass defense is a key part to the game. At the last few home games, there were way too many times where the receivers for the visiting team were pretty much standing alone on the field. The field is about half as wide as an NFL field so when a receiver has no one around him, there’s a problem.  I’m not going to sit here and armchair quarterback how to fix this problem because I would sound even more like an idiot than normal.  I trust the coaching staff does know how to address this issue and will take the necessary steps during the offseason to try and rectify the lack of coverage. 

The best thing I can say about the games is they were fun.  After the first game, the people sitting next to me never returned. Instead, fans that were into the game and into the team surrounded me. Even when the team wasn’t doing well, the fans were there to offer support. No one left before the end of the game no matter the score. They cheered the team even after a bad play or two.  Most of all, I was thrilled there were no annoying belligerent fans in my area. The positivity and fun atmosphere made me rethink my decision to get tickets in the upper deck next season.  Instead, I renewed my tickets for the same seats.

Paul Stanley & Schuyler Hoversten

LA KISS management needs to be commended for their dedication to the team. I may be naïve, but hearing Paul Stanley speak to the fans during halftime (not to mention actually sitting in seats near the field instead of in a luxury box) and team President Schuyler Hoversten addressing the crowd at the final home game, you can tell this is management that cares about it’s team, about it’s fans and wants to put the best team on the field.

As of now I don’t have any major travel plans on the calendar so when the schedule is announced, I should be at every game proudly wearing my LA KISS “Stanley” jersey (unless they start selling a “Morgan” jersey) and rooting on the team to victory.  It’s exciting to get a chance to support a team from their beginning. Now if I can just learn more about the team so I can talk about them in more context of did they win or lose. 

Up an Ocean Without a Paddle

Standup Paddle Boarding (how it should look)
Photo courtesy: SUP USA

By Chad Smart
@chadsmart & @my123cents on Twitter

Being unemployed allows for new hobbies to be tried. These hobbies help take the mind off the fact I’m unemployed and really need to find a job.  A couple of weeks ago, for the first time, I tried stand up paddle boarding.  For those not familiar with stand up paddle boarding, or SUP for short, it’s essentially standing on a board similar to a surfboard. While there are differences (probably greater than I imagine) for the simplicity of the argument, we’ll say the SUP is akin to a longer throwback surfboard. Once on the water, the rider will start out on the board on their knees before casually standing up and using a lightweight oar to paddle.

Sounds simple right? After seeing several people having no difficulty staying on a board and paddling, and after watching a few “How To” videos on YouTube, I decided to give SUP a try.  Had this been a battle, it would be fair to say, I walked into a gunfight with only a pen. I am really bad with analogies.

Photo courtesy: clcboats.com

The first lesson learned was paddle boards are heavier than they look. I’ve seen surfers carrying their boards under one arm like it was nothing. When I tried to pick up the paddle board, I could barely get my arm under the bottom of the board to lift it. Upon seeing my struggle, Wesley, the liaison from the Surf Shack, pointed out there was a handle in the middle of the board that would make carrying it “easier.”  Once I had the board somewhat firmly in hand it was time to head to the beach. Did I mention the boards were kept in a van on the side of the road and to get to the beach there was a 100-foot walk across a parking lot (which was being repainted resulting in taking a longer detour) before walking down a twenty-foot staircase? Forget actually paddle boarding. Just getting to the beach with the board was enough of a challenge.

Once on the beach, I was pleased to see the ocean was pretty calm.  One of the biggest concerns before going paddle boarding was trying to get the board out past the waves. Thankfully, a calm ocean meant no waves to keep me washed up on the beach.

Photo courtesy: kiteboardingcairnes.com

I walked the board into the ocean until the water was just shy of being waist deep. From there, I pulled myself onto the board, settled onto my knees and started paddling out to the deeper part of the water. If I was going to fall, I wanted to make sure I didn’t go head first into shallow water. I paddled around the ocean a bit to get a feel for how the board felt and to master the use of the oar.

Quickly the realization occurred that the idea of how far I was going by paddling and the reality of how far I was going were two separate distances. A good few minutes of alternating right and left strokes got me not the 20-30 feet I imagined, but rather a paltry 3-4 feet further from the beach.  I should have known it was going to be a long two hours. Two hours being the amount of time for the board rental.

Photo courtesy: kailuasailboards.com

Paddling may have taken longer than expected, eventually though, I made it out to a point in the ocean I thought was the right spot to get off my knees and stand up on the board. The videos I had watched on YouTube made a point to highlight when standing your feet should be side by side instead of one foot in front of the other like how a surfer would stand. I placed my hands on the board to steady myself and slowly start to stand. Very slowly I get to my feet and steady my balance. Noticing my feet to not be even, I try to move my right foot forward about six inches. SPLASH!  Thankfully the ocean wasn’t cold because I was now treading water trying to keep my head above water and getting back to my board.

Once you fall off, you have to get back on the horse, right? Pulling myself out of the water, I get back to my knees on the board. Compose myself. Mentally run though the steps of getting to my feet and paddling. In my mind I see myself paddling to Mexico. Okay, lets do this. Hands down, steady, knees come off the board and with a slight teetering I stand up. Few seconds of uneasiness while finding the sweet spot for perfect balance and then the oar hits the water. One stroke. Two strokes. Three SPLASH!  Unfortunately Mexico was more than three feet away. I couldn’t even manage to get from Malibu to Topanga Canyon road. This is not going as planned.

Clear the water from my eyes and get back on the board. As I sit on the board contemplating another go and trying to figure out what went wrong I look back toward the beach. There I see two kids roughly around ten years olds standing on boards and paddling like they’re on dry ground. My pride had taken enough of a beating for one day. I spend the remainder of the rental time alternating between paddling on my knees and simply sitting on the board soaking up the sun. Somehow I mange to sunburn the top of my left foot and while no other part of my body got even the slightest tan.

Round one of SUP went to the ocean. Now I have a goal to master the paddleboard and show the ocean I can’t be beaten.  Not sure when I’ll get back out into the ocean, but eventually I will be there and I will be standing up. After I achieve this goal maybe I’ll try surfing. Or maybe I won’t. I saw Point Break and am scared of accidentally invading a surfer’s turf and then Anthony Kiedis will try to beat me up.