Mr. Tito's Weblog

2005-03-17T00:25:00.000-05:00

NEW BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.livejournal.com/users/wrathoftito/

Go there... Thanks for coming to this BLOG.

2005-03-15T10:01:00.000-05:00

FU Blogger.com!!!

-That's TWICE that stupid Blogger.com has said "internal server error" and lost the post I was trying to make. I was discussing my latest stuff with MVP Baseball 2005, Star Trek First Contact DVD, getting an autograph from a celebrity, among other things. But NOOOOOOOOO stupid Blogger.com fucked up yet another long post.

That's it. I'm moving to another BLOG, preferably Live Journal where I can allow the readers to make comments and leave feedback.

FUCK THIS!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" as your subject heading.

2005-03-13T16:07:00.000-05:00

Rock N Roll, Rock N Roll, I'm the King of Rock N Roll...

Excuse the "Viva La Bam" reference, for I've been in a VLB kick lately. Great show and it's good to see new episodes of it on Mtv right now (Sundays @ 10:30 pm). Odd how they've moved "Wildboys" to Mtv2... So much for THAT show.

-I'm enjoying MVP Baseball 2005 for the Gamecube, but could someone please teach me how to hit? I know that holding up means you're swinging a homerun swing while holding down means you're hitting a grounder. Right or left means you're aiming for right or left. But I'm making poor contact with the ball and hitting too many groundouts and flyballs that are out. Can someone help?

-I'm currently reading Rodney Dangerfield's biography... It's hard to read, but not for the penmanship. It's for the one-liners throughout the book! You read about Rodney's life and then in quotes, a classic one liner is there to make you laugh.

-The Star Wars: Episode 3 trailer, at least the 2nd one that was just released, looked FUCKING BADASS!!!!!! Wow, wow, wow! My theory is that George Lucas only wanted to make this 3rd installment, which meant that the first two were somewhat filler (although I really like the Phantom Menace). Attack of the Clones was just awful and this movie looks as though it will redeem that pile of crap. More Emperor, the better! I felt that Episode 2 lacked more Darth Sidious scenes, as he was quite present in the 1st film, giving advice to Darth Maul.

May is going to be a GREAT month. Star Wars, Episode 3 and Dave Chappelle, Season 2 coming out on DVD... FANTASTIC!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" as your title.

2005-03-09T14:14:00.000-05:00

MVP Baseball 2005, bitches.

-I traded in some stuff to get a very cheap MVP Baseball 2005 for the Game Cube... I'm liking the features and seriously got off on the Dynasty Mode of creating my own franchise. I could do a fantasy draft ALL DAY LONG, alone... But I've been looking for a good baseball game for years...

I'm having problems, though:

1) I can't hit consistently. Even when I make contact, it's usually hit to a location where it's fielded easily. Advice?

2) Pitching. I throw a bunch of homerun balls. What's with the strike out zone and the colors? Do I throw at the colors or the black blocks?

Help!!!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" as your subject.

2005-03-08T11:55:00.000-05:00

Column will be late....

I actually had a mini-column typed up but when I posted, the browser went blank (could not connect to server, or whatever). So I hit back and all was released.

FUCK YOU BLOGGER.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not going to type it again... I'm running late on my work stuff, as finals week is coming up next week, so the column will be up sometime tomorrow. I have yet to watch RAW Yet.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2005-03-02T22:49:00.000-05:00

This BLOG is JUICED!

So I finished up Jose Conseco's book today... WHAT A GREAT BOOK!

-Jose seemed to be very honest about steroid use in baseball and very informative. I know more about steroids now than I ever wanted to. Is Jose truthful about the other players? Considering no libel suits have been filed by those players and considering the case of the late Ken Camineti (sp?) and a Padres GM admitting to suspecting steroid use of him, I'd believe Jose with regards to the steroid stuff.

-Racism in baseball? I personally don't play baseball, nor have I stepped into a lockerroom. Jose suggested that the media always protected white players but were out to get any other races. I don't know? I thought the media was all over Mark McGwire in 1998 during his chase for Roger Maris and they were very critical of the slimmer Jason Giambi last year. Of course, maybe back in the late 1980's or early 1990's, things were different.

-Is this a blackeye to baseball? No... suspected steroid use has been running rampant well before Jose's book came out. It just throws some icing on the cake... Jose has a point about being "blackballed" from baseball, and I agree with him on that as he had a strong year with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays one year. Then, suddenly, no teams had any interest in Jose. Not even a minor league contract!

-The stuff about Madonna is HILARIOUS!

The book is very well written and quite an entertaining/informative read. I highly recommend it to one and all. [ A ] in my gradebook.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" as your title.

2005-03-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

It's March already?

Wow... February just blew right by.

-My HIGHLY RECOMMENDED DVD purchase of the week goes out to D.C. Cab, a quality 1980's comedy that was just released on DVD today. It features Mr. T, Bill Maher, Paul Rodiguez, and many other funny comedians at the time (and one of the Baldwins) in a hilarious movie directed by Joel Schumacher. Probably a top 10 movie of all time for yours truly, if not to 5... HILARIOUS stuff about cabdrivers and some of the filthiest language/scenes you'll ever see. "Venus Club and I'm late"... All I need to say.

-Jose Conseco's book, "Juiced", is pretty good so far. He's pulling no punches and at the same time, he's appears to be truthful. The Padres GM confirmed a lot of Conseco's stuff about Ken Camineti (sp?) in that owners/executives suspected steroid use but didn't care to stop it. The guy KNOWS everything about steroids, and his descriptions of the symptoms of steroid usage back up his claims of what stars were using them or possibly using them. I'd recommend checking this book out.

-I was suprised to see Jeff Kent backing up former teammate, Barry Bonds, about steroid use. I figured Kent would trash Bonds for using roids, as he sort of hinted during his time in Houston. However, Kent gave Bonds props even though he has a personal distaste for Bonds. Funny how things work... Then again, Jeff Kent SUCKED when he was a Pirate and suddenly became a HR hitter when he was with the Giants. Go figure?

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "BLOG Feedback" in the subject.

2005-02-24T18:32:00.000-05:00

I'm JUICED!!!!!!!

-No, I haven't become a pro wrestler... I recently bought Jose Conseco's book "Juiced", and 75 pages into it, it's been an enjoyable read. I have YET to get into the dirty stuff, too, about other players. I AM amazed how at Jose Conseco feels how steroids BENEFIT you more than they hurt you. He suggests that there's a proper way to take them. Jose was a beast early in his career, but injuries soon plagued him. Listening to several interviews of his, he said that steroids don't make you more open to injury (or said something about taking them properly).

WHATEVER. But the book is fun to read, thus far... He's rather honest about himself, making me wonder how honest he's about McGwire, Palmerio, Gonzalez, Rodriguez, and Giambi. Giambi HAS admitted to regular steroid use, so ratting out the other guys might be truthful. We'll see.

-I saw "Million Dollar Baby" with Mrs. Tito the other night... Pretty good movie, overall. Worthy of Academy Award hype? Probably... The movie would struggle if it lost one of the 3 key characters who carried the film: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Hillary Swank. Eastwood, of course, directed it but he played a good boxing trainer. Freeman added a very nice personal touch and his scenes with Eastwood were very good. Hillary Swank was quite impressive, as I'm amazed she was the "Next Karate Kid" at one point...

Just because I HATE Leonardo DiCaprio, I'm cheering for Million Dollar Baby to win Best Picture and Jamie Foxx to win Best Actor. I fucking hate the Academy Awards, but anytime you can defeat DiCaprio at something, I root for it!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback"

2005-02-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

NHL Sucks.

Yeah, I said it... Nice false hope put out by the league and NHLPA to get the season started again OR to have an agreement set up for next year. NASCAR keeps growing and growing, NBA is rebounding strong off of a few dull seasons, MLB's attendance was up last year, and the NFL remains strong. WHO CARES about a league with too long of a season and too many anti-scoring rules? I meant "who cares" in general, as hockey isn't that popular in the United States, despite having over 20 franchises and many minor league teams.

-I'm actually digging the NBA lately, as the Dunk Contest was VERY fun to watch. I care about the season, too, thanks to Fantasy Basketball, where I'm hovering in 2nd or 3rd place, closing in on 1st place. I felt I made a nice trade to boost my scoring AND finally give me a position of Shooting Guard, as I had an abundance of point guards for a while... Now, I can maximize every position. Here's my current team:

-Steve Nash
-Shawn Marion
-Chauncey Billups
-Paul Pierce
-Rasheed Wallace
-Tyson Chander (rebounding/block hoss in a limited time frame of the bench)
-Nazr Mohammed
-Brendon Haywood
-Maurice Peterson
-Michael Finley
-Brendon Knight (sick on assists)
-Earl Boykins (great off the bench and seeing nice time with George Karl)
-Mike Miller

Looks like a strong line up. I traded Kenyon Martin for Wallace and Miller. Wallace is nice because he's also listed as a Center, so I can move him around. His stats are nearly identical with Martin's. Mike Miller gives me a second scoring option at Shooting Guard, and he's versitale at other positions as well. This is a 12 team league and very competitive.

-MLB starts soon! Yipee!!!!!!!! Fantasy Baseball fucking rocks!

-Nothing new on the music front... Just listening to the same old Chicago stuff... I'm also bored on my video games. Nothing good to play or nothing that I'd want to play. I may revert back to the Nintendo 64 or Super Nintendo. That's how bad it has become for stuff I'm interested in playing for the 'Cube.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" as your title.

2005-02-17T18:49:00.000-05:00

All you need it BLOG, BLOG... BLOG is all you need!

Hey, since the Batista mp3 "suggestion" worked so well... I've been searching for 2 songs for quite a while and if anybody can "help" me...

Peter Cetera - "One Good Woman"
Hall & Oates - "I'll Be Around"

Excuse my crackhead musical tastes..... but help would be appreciated!

-So the NHL season has been cancelled? Oh boo-fucking-hoo. That league was in trouble anyway, even if a half-assed labor agreement was signed for a shortened season. The fact is that it's NOT a league that can support 30 teams, let alone payrolls of over $50 million. Seriously, who thought of putting teams in Phoenix, Anaheim, Florida, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, or South Carolina? Ridiculous and I side with the NHL owners. It took until Monday for the NHLPA, ran by a total idiot looking out for his own interests, to accept some sort of salary cap. The sad thing is, too, that none of the proposals were even voted on by owners and players. Everything was "negotiations" and neither side giving an inch or a mile.

Good riddens! I loved hockey and I loved hockey when there was more scoring. Since the Penguins won the Cups in 1991 and 1992, more clutching and grabbing has occurred on the game's premiere scorers as well as very blind referees when it comes to goon-like activity. The rules needed changed, as Gary Bettman said he was FINALLY going to do (limit size of goalie padding, blue lines, etc), but the economic system refused to be fixed. So FUCK 'EM!

Baseball is just around the corner, as pitchers and catchers have reported. I'm actually more into NBA basketball thanks to Fantasy Basketball (currently #2 in my league). I usually kept up with the NHL playoffs throughout the years and that's it. Disenfranchised fan for a while now and this is just the icing on the cake.

-So how about Jose Conseco's book? Do I believe Jose? Partially... He USED roids and admits freely to taking them. BUT, he's a disgruntled former player who couldn't get on a MLB roster after a while and probably won't make the hall of fame. To spill his guts on Mark McGwire, Juan Gonzalez, Pudge Rodriguez, Raphael Palmero, and Jason Giambi was tasteless and embarrassing to their families, I can imagine. Did they use roids? Possibly, but let some other form of intestigation prove that as a fact. Not a disgruntled player shooting his mouth.

Big Mac on roids? Hard to say, as he had a big frame anyway. Same goes for Juan-Gone, even though he had huge years when Conseco was around in Texas. Same with Pudge. Palmero, he has a point because Raphael's HR stats boomed when Jose arrived. I have zero proof of the steroid use here and only speculation. The fact that Giambi admitted to it could show that Jose isn't exactly lying...

BUT, it's hard to say. Unless you have multiple eye-witness accounts of steroid use OR proof of steroid sales (like Whitney Houston and crack cocaine: "show me the receipts"), you cannot make blind accusations. Are they accusations? Yes, but what could lead them to be true is for the fact that Giambi, McGwire, Palmero, Rodriguez, and Gonzalez have NOT sued over libel charges. That's huge.

Still, no smoking gun on regular steroid use yet on those guys, besides Giambi, himself, admitting to it and with that being said, Barry Bonds has yet to be proven that he's used roids. Until I see smoking gun proof of steroid use, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they haven't used steroids. PLUS, you need to have a good hitter's eye to even be a good batter in the first place, for steroids can't help you see the pitch coming in. It can only help boost power and batspeed.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" for subject.

2005-02-11T17:26:00.000-05:00

Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

My email has been seeing some repetitive emails lately, so I figured I'd answer a few of those repetitive questions here on the BLOG for everyone's benefit:

A few years ago in your "Bad Tito" columns, you bitched about reporters like Matt Boone and Fred Cook (monkey and baboon) using ridiculous hype links to their webpages. For those links, they often lied about wrestling news and female wrestling pictures. Now, today on LoP, you have several newsposters doing the exact thing. Why the hypocrisy, Tito?

There's no hypocrisy, for I am STILL against that bullshit. I would suggest that I more or less don't care about it enough to write a column about it? Today, wrestling news reporters are hard to find who suscribe to PWInsider, PWTorch, and the Observer. With that being said, it's an unfortunately bi-product of getting those reporters.

At least they credit their sources and I'll have larger respect for that than the links that might anger me.

My suggestion is if you do not like their links DON'T CLICK THEM. Just ignore the links. If the links annoy you that much, email the poster and let them have it.

I don't like those hype links, but if it gives LoP news from the good wrestling sources in return as well as crediting the source, whatever.

This webpage is bashing you. What are you going to do about it?

I honestly don't care. I've been "Mr. Tito" for more than 6 years and I've seen the same bullshit every year. If it bothered me, I'd go after each author and tell them what they can do with themselves. However, I'm somewhat honored that they write parodies of me or take shots at me on a message board. It shows that they are not only still reading my columns, but that I get so much under their skin that they are willing to spend a few hours of their life writing about me. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and there's no such thing as bad publicity.

But the thing about me is that you won't be seeing me giving them publicity back in return...

In encourage people to attack me, mimmick me, or whatever else. As long as they keep reading my columns, that's the bottom line. And I sincerely thank anyone who reads my columns.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Label it as "BLOG FEEDBACK" or email will be discarded.

2005-02-10T18:06:00.000-05:00

I am Batista, hear me roar!!!

Funny... I hinted that I wanted the Batista theme and many responded. Very well done and thanks to those who "helped console" me in wanting the theme.

-I recently finished the Star Trek book "To Reign in Hell", which is the book that describes the life of Khan on Ceti Alpha V, or is the bridge between the original series episode "Space Seed" and the movie, Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan. I read the Eugenics Wars, parts 1 and 2, by the same author (Gregory Cox), and those books were OK. The Eugenics Wars describes Khan's life on Earth, and it's shall I say, overexaggerated. You know, when you have an "immortal" making a weapon that can alter the ozone layer... it's a bit far fetched. I can see the stuff with Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln, but the immortal with his weapon to destroy or repair the ozone layer? Right...

But, Cox redeems himself with "To Reign in Hell". He answered a lot of questions that Wrath of Khan brought up, such as the one glove, knowing who Chekov was, how Khan knew the Klingon proverb, the blond hair and blue eyed superhuman children, etc. Easily, the best Sci-Fi book that I've ever read. If you're a Star Trek fan or you liked Star Trek 2, I'd seriously recommend this one. Cox outdid himself, and the death of Marla McGivers (Khan's beloved wife) was insanely well written.

-I've been HOOKED on OZ: Season 4, which I purchased last Tuesday on DVD. This show is very worthy of collecting and I enjoyed the entire run on HBO. I'm about 11 episodes in on a 16 episode collection... If you're a wrestling fan and you need something well written with storylines and well built up characters, OZ is something worth looking into. If you have Digital Cable, OZ currently runs reruns on one of the many HBO channels.

-I also bought Sealab 2021: Season 2 on DVD, which I didn't intend to buy. Damn Circuit City displaying it by Oz!!! I love Sealab, at least the first 2-3 seasons when Harry Roz was still alive. While I respect his son taking over with a new character, it's not the same without Harry Roz doing the voice of main guy. He brought life to the show, such as when he was trying to find the Pro Shop when golfing on Sea Lab or when he was overspending on his credit cards. Anyway, great stuff and the Bizarro episode is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.

-Nothing new on the video game scene... I'm somewhat bored of the Game Cube/Gameboy Advance, insomuch that I might break out the N64 or SNES again... maybe even the NES?

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" as your subject line.

2005-02-07T01:03:00.000-05:00

New England Patriots = Dynasty

Once again, 3 out of 4 years, the New England Patriots are your Superbowl champions. NOBODY could lay a finger on Tom Brady, as he had all of the time in the world to throw against both the Steelers and Eagles. In addition, piss-poor quarterbacking cost the opponent the game. Before, it was Big Ben making BAD throws and interceptions, and this week in the Superbowl, it was McNabb making bad throws with terrible spirals. Pinkston, Owens, and Lewis made some unbelieveable catches to make up for many over or under thrown balls.

Tom Brady IS the next Joe Montana. Bill Belichick IS the next Vince Lombardi. The New England Patriots ARE a Dynasty.

What says anybody will beat New England next year? I'm calling it now... Patriots win their 3rd straight, as long as everybody remains healthy. They'll lose a few Free Agents during the offseason and losing both coordinators MAY hurt, especially the offensive one going to Notre Dame... but I have full confidence in Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady.

And until Donovan McNabb proves that he can make winning touchdown drives AND play mistake free during the Playoffs, he'll NEVER win a Superbowl ring. I like the guy and he's a great ambassador for the league... more players need character like McNabb. HOWEVER, as a quarterback, he has a lot of learning when it comes to making accurate throws or throwing perfect spirals instead of knuckleballs.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog feedback" in your title.

2005-02-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

What a woman! The last time I saw a mouth like that, it had a hook in it!

I had no idea what to title this BLOG entry, so I went with a Rodney Dangerfield quote. To me, he's the funniest guy I've ever heard and I strive to collect all of his funniest stuff, from movies to stand up.

-I am HOOKED on the new Star Trek book called "To Reign in Hell", which is a book written to tell the story of Khan's time on Ceti Alpha 5 from the original series Star Trek episode to the movie Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan. I'm 50/50 on the previous books author Gregory Cox wrote on Khan's life in the 20th Century, but this is a job well done. Recommended to read, based on what I've read so far.

-What am I playing lately? I can't find any CHEAP Gamecube games that I want, so I went to the Gameboy Advance adapter on my 'Cube for ideas. I bought "Sword of Mana" by Square-Enix, thanks to a reader suggestion. When I was younger and had the original game, I was fascinated and actually beat the "Final Fantasy Adventure" game. At the time, it was my claim to fame in terms of beating hard games (still is a claim, for it's not easy), and Sword of Mana is a graphic makeover of that game, with a few twists and a lot of additions. It's a little different and I'm probably too loyal to the FFA game to ease into this game. I do miss the Julius character, though, in the beginning story, but I'm sure he'll pop up later if he's still the main boss of the game. I liked how the power transferred, mid-game, from Dark Lord to Julius.

-What am I listening to? "Chicago: Love Songs". Did you have to guess? It's a good compilation, and I really like the "Never Been in Love Before" song. I HATE the Phillip Bailey live version of "If You Leave Me Now", as I would have preferred the studio version with Cetera, and older live recording of that song with Cetera with Chicago, or even Keith Howland with Chicago on that song, the guitar player who can be seen singing that song on 2 DVD's of Chicago's. But noooo, they bring in a sucky outsider and ruined what is a great song. Worth getting? I'd get the 2 disc Greatest Hits CD instead, for it basically has all of the songs on the Love Songs CD, with the exception of a few.

That's all today. Gotta post the column and go out to Circuit City and by "OZ: Season 4". What can I say, I need my "tits" (Oz inmates called drugs "tits", in case you don't watch the show). Seriously, if you've NEVER seen Oz before, make it so.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com and label it "Blog Feedback", or else the email will be discarded. That's not a threat, it's a promise!

2005-01-25T11:04:00.000-05:00

Late Column, but not late BLOG Update!

Today's edition of "The Wrath of Tito" will be late and probably posted on Wednesday. Why you ask? Because I have YET to watch Monday Night RAW and Surreal Life 4. That's like 60% of my column or so right there that I haven't seen yet. They are on tape and when I get 2 and a half hours free later today, I'll watch them both.

-I'll gladly take the New England Patriots over the Philadelphia Eagles in Superbowl 39. Yeah, the Eagles can stop Michael Vick, but Tom Brady can at least throw the ball downfield. In addition, Bill Belichick (or Belicheck, I can't get it right) is a master at creating defenses to stop superior offensive teams. McNabb will be in trouble throughout the game and Terrell Owens, if he returns, won't be open all game. Bryant Westbrook COULD become a hero in this game...

-I beat Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link the other day on my Gameboy Advance adapter for my Gamecube. Seriously, my memory for playing this game is still in tact. I'm currently destroying the game on the 2nd run, in which you have all of your attacks, hearts, and magic, as well as magic spells. I beat the first half of the game on my first try, but later had to kill myself because I had to go somewhere. This is seriously the most underrated game ever, and it's my favorite game of all time. No doubt!

Nothing more to say... wrathoftito@yahoo.com and "Blog Feedback" as the title.

2005-01-22T16:58:00.000-05:00

Baby it's cold outside!

Nothing like some good old wintery weather here in the Ohio Valley. Man, I'm sick of shovelling my driveway already! Of course, I'd suggest that I wished we had rain instead, but the people living by the Ohio River have suffered enough flooding this year.

-My current video game fix of the week is Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link. I gave up on "X-Men Legends". That game just bored me after a while of playing it. I bought the Zelda 2 for the Gameboy Advance as part of the NES Classics series, as it's my favorite video game of ALL time. That's right, I said it... My memory is still sharp as to where everything is on the game. My only troubles came from getting the hammer, but once I got it through that long maze of caves, enemies dropped like a bad habit after that.

-Overall, I thought "I Love the 1990's: Part Deux" by VH1 wasn't as good as previous installments... They seemed to scrape a lot from the bottom of the barrel and the personalities are getting way to egotistical or cynical on the show. Plus, the tiresome shots at Republicans seriously needs to stop on the heavily left-leaning Viacom stations. The panelists didn't even know what Newt Gingrich was talking about in 1996 regarding the gender of soldiers. They just used pieces of the segment to take idiotic personal shots.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" as your subject header.

2005-01-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

I'll tell you what, I got no respect as a child. My parents bought me two new bathroom toys: a toaster and a hairdryer!

^^^ Somewhat quoting the late and great Rodney Dangerfield. Everyone should make it a point in their lives to hear a comedy routine or two from him. There are various CD's out there (very cheap, too) that you can buy or go get his 3 disc DVD "Ultimate" collection...

-I'm actually getting bored with X-Men Legends. It just doesn't seem as though it's for me. I now find myself going back to Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and other games. Any good Gamecube games to recommend? Any good Gameboy Advanced games to recommend? I'm looking for something fun, yet time consuming.

I'll field some email questions...

Do you listen any newer music, besides only listening to Chicago?

Not right now, to be exact, but for 2004, I only bought 2 new CD's from newer artists. One was Velvet Revolver and the other was Big & Rich. Today's artists suck and their albums are NOT worth buying. VR and B&R have albums that are top to bottom good. Besides B&R, I feel that the country scene fell flat in 2004 and that's after strong 2002-2003 years for that genre. I dislike rap today and I feel that Eminem's new CD absolutely sucks. With the Rock side, I don't like pussy metrosexual bands like the White Stripes, Jet, or anything else that sounds like the rest of music. I respect Maroon 5, but their music isn't within my tastes.

Meanwhile, Chicago has 25+ albums of fantastic stuff out there, in addition to Peter Cetera's solo career. I'm quite happy listening to what I'm listening to right now, even though Cetera's solo stuff is really picking and choosing because a lot of it sucks with the filler music.

Why did you say Bush was showing adversity against Democrats when he fired stuff at Kerry like Swiftboat ads, labeling Kerry as a liberal, and FOX news?

First off, Bush had nothing to do with the Swiftboat Ads. It was unlike the MoveOn.org and other liberal 527's who had George Soros as a key donator to both those causes AND the Democrat party. While a few aids and lawyers volunteered their services to help set up Swiftboat Veterans 4 Truth, no real ties to the Bush campaign have ever been made. But even if Bush had ties, it's Kerry's dumbass fault for praising his own Vietnam efforts during the Democrat Convention instead of actually talking about issues and policies. Kerry boasting about his Vietnam service opened the door for veterans to attack him. I have a grandpa who was a prisoner of war in World War 2 and I NEVER hear him boast about his service.

Second, Kerry IS a liberal. He has a 20 year Senate record proving that and a study conducted measuring Senate votes for 2003 showed that Kerry was the most liberal Senator of 2003. It's very funny how liberal has become a bad name to Democrats, while Republicans proudly say "yeah, I'm a conservative, so what?". Be proud of what you are, Dems.

FOX News? It's funny how the #1 rated cable news network gets attacked on a regular basis for being conservative. The problem is that they aren't corrupt like CBS in making up fake stories to slander the President, and they aren't sucking the United Nations off like CNN. Yes, several key anchors of FOX are conservative. Yes, the FOX owner, Rupert Murdoch, is a big conservative. BUT, when you watch each talking segment, FOX brings in a guy from the Republican side and a guy from the Democrat side. That's in EVERY segment, and that's more fair and balanced than CNN trumping out the same liberal analysts, night after night after night. FOX is #1 not only for conservatives watching, but for many liberals who want a good news network. Besides, I found FOX to give Kerry a lot of coverage throughout 2004, moreso than the other networks. Fair and balanced, indeed.

With John Kerry, you had CBS news making up news and Rather being a CLEAR supporter of Kerry's with his many appearances at Democrat fundraisers, New York Times burying positive stories about Bush in their long newspaper while recycling stories on their front page (the weapons dump, for instance), Michael Moore making slanderous films about Bush but getting a seat next to Jimmy Carter at the Democrat Convention, Richard Clarke, a former Clinton guy, flip flopping on his praise of George W. Bush with a nasty book while John Kerry happens to go on vacation, more money spent by liberal 527's than conservative 527's (87% of money spent on 527's were in support of Kerry, I believe) and George Soros spending close to $30 million to help Kerry (campaign finance laws, where are you?), the entire Viacom cable channels attacking Bush at will with comedians and musicians, all of Hollywood attacking for Kerry and attending his fundraisers or doing Soros 527 ads... I seriously could go on and on and on.

But Bush won and Kerry lost... so I will no longer debate Kerry vs. Bush, ever again!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" in your title...

2005-01-15T16:25:00.000-05:00

Look at me, I'm riding a furry tractor!

Quoting Steve Carell (sp?) from the movie "Anchorman". His line about buying clothes from the toilet store is one of the funniest things I've seen in a movie. That had me in tears laughing!

-I'm flying through the Edge book right now. Hey, when you get a new Khan book, it gives me motivation to do whatever it takes to get through it. I really like Edge's book and if it ends well, there's no doubt it will receive high marks from yours truly. Things are made much better when you actually write the book instead of getting filtered through a sports writer, like most of the WWE books out there.

-I bought Peter Cetera's Soundstage DVD the other day, given my huge Chicago addiction lately. Color me disappointed. It's basically the same performance as seen with his Salt Lake City DVD that's out there (I'm told it was printed without Cetera's permission?), only with an added bonus of Amy Grant singing on "Next Time I Fall", I guess. It looks as though Cetera is using the same SLC orchestra for this Soundstage performance, as I wish he would have went with actual electric instruments. I can only hear the unplugged version of "25 or 6 to 4" so many times...

BUT, hearing Cetera makes me long for a Chicago reunion. I believe everybody BUT the horn section wouldn't mind it, although I believe Cetera is too much in the routine of a solo artist to stress himself with a long reunion tour. It's a damn shame, too, for Cetera is 60 and the rest of Chicago, minus Howland and Scheff, is getting up there in age, too. I feel it would be a great tour, as Cetera and Scheff can alternate on singing duties OR sing together because Cetera often mixed his voice as a background voice on the songs he wrote. The main problem would be Cetera wanting to sing his solo songs, which I guarantee would get frowned upon. Hey, "Glory of Love", "One Good Woman", and "Next Time I Fall" were huge hits and won a few Grammys...

-Several readers asked if I'd give Tito Awards for stuff non-wrestling... OK, we'll do...

BEST DVD: "Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country" - Crazy loaded with special features.

BEST CD: I'll go with the new Big & Rich CD, which the CD's name eludes me right now.. Top to bottom, and excellent CD. Velvet Revolver's "Contraband" comes in at a close second...

BEST TV SHOW: "Chapelle's Show, Season 2". Seriously, what even comes close to hilarity than that show or that season? Everybody knew who Rick James was and it made Lil' Jon a star.

BEST MOVIE: "Butterfly Effect". Critics hate it and many were disgusted by it. It fascinated me and the Director's cut was even better.

NFL MVP: Peyton Manning - Seriously, look at those touchdowns! He's a REAL most valuable player because he calls his own plays.

MLB MVP: Barry Bonds - Until you show substantial proof of long term steroid use and not accidentally using cream provided by an ignorant trainer, nobody is better than Bonds in MLB. Nobody!

BEST VIDEO GAME: "Spiderman 2". I swear, I felt like I was really flying around New York City after playing and beating this game. Bravo to Activision for the best superhero game, EVER!

TITO'S PERSON OF THE YEAR: George W. Bush. Not just because I'm conservative, but because he acted so professional as President and 2004 candidate when endless attacks were fired at him from Michael Moore, Richard Clarke, New York Times, Newsweek Magazine, Democrat Senators, CBS News and any Viacom outlet, Hollywood/music liberals, and the many George Soros 527 groups. All of these attacks and a very experienced Senator and Vietnam hero STILL couldn't muster up a win with Bush winning the electoral college AND the popular vote. The adversity Bush faced against a heavy attack machine earns him the award. Now, GW, fix my social security and I'll give you several more awards next year.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Label it as "Blog Feedback".

2005-01-11T01:46:00.000-05:00

I'll leave you, as you left me... in the center of a dead planet: BURIED ALIVE! BURIED ALIVE!

And any alert moviegoer would respond as Captain Kirk: KHAN!!!! That's from Star Trek 2: the Wrath of Khan, my favorite movie of all time...

-Speaking of Star Trek 2, I picked up a new book today: To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek: Eugenics Wars). This COULD be a major diversion to the Edge autobiography, which I'm about 75 pages into or so. I read the first 2 Gregory Cox books about Khan, which I thought were OK. But I think this book will add a lot more realism, especially with the ridiculous aspects Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln added to Khan's origin, in addition to that superweapon that an immortal could develop to destroy the ozone layer. Yeah, and immortal!

The Khan books are the only Star Trek books I've read. I'm more of a Khan fan than a Star Trek fan, even though I enjoy most of the Star Trek films, especially 2, 3, and 4, and the other even numbered Treks. Next Generation isn't my cup of tea, and the same goes for the rest of the Trek shows. I like Khan based on the Ricardo Montalban portrayal of the character, as he was masterful in playing that role. I can quote both "Space Seed" and "Wrath of Khan" perfectly. In fact, my column is in honor of the "Wrath of Khan", aptly named the "Wrath of Tito".

-X-Men Legends is pretty cool. I gotta say that learning how to fight with teamwork, especially when a whole bunch of thugs come running at you with guns and other weapons gets challenging. Nice roleplaying aspect to the game, though, as it was about time they made a good X-Men game. Activision has been excellent on video games lately, starting with "True Crime: Streets of LA", then "Spiderman 2", and now this. Well done.

-In case I forget to mention it in my column, congrats to The Path of Rage (TPOR) for winning this year's LoP Fantasy Football League. He's actually won both baseball and football this year, and oddly enough, he's #1 in Basketball. Incredible 2004 for him. I'm right on his heels at #3 in fantasy basketball and I hope my fantasy fortunes change for 2005, for the better (I sucked in baseball and football this year, my two favorites).

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "BLOG Feedback" in your subject heading...

2005-01-07T16:09:00.000-05:00

Ashlee Simpson sucks!

Seriously, I applaud the Orange Bowl crowd who booed the bejesus out of her. Trying to blame her lip syncing on her drummer or acid reflux (that affects your voice?) makes her deserve a complete trainwreck of a music career from now on. Boo her where ever she goes and let's hope that her second season of her shitty Mtv show completely tanks! The music industry propped her up only because she was the sister of Jessica Simpson and she deserves to go down in flames because only her image, not her musical talent, was pushed to make her a star.

-On video games, I picked up X-Men Legends for the Game Cube. It's pretty good, so far, even though I have a lot of learning to do on how to fight teamwork with my X-Men. I do hate how enemies can hit you when you're doing a throwing move or were just knocked to the ground. Realistic, yes, but very annoying.

-NFL Picks? I say home teams win out this weekend, with the Colts, Bolts (Chargers), Seahawks, and Packers all advancing. I'd look out for the Packers this year on the NFC, and I'm interested in seeing the Colts and Chargers play against the Patriots and the Steelers. Great football to come!

-I declare that the New York Yankees will win the World Series now that they've acquired Randy Johnson. It's over. Boston Red Sox DID NOT improve their pitching staff with David Wells, who is too old, and Matt Clement, who is overrated. Nobody is going to touch the Yanks, this year, as long as the Big Unit is healthy.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - "Blog Feedback" as your email heading.

2005-01-03T19:00:00.000-05:00

Would you like a twist of lemon?

You'll have to excuse me, for I've been in a Beverly Hills Cop mood lately. My friends tell me that I actually have the Eddie Murphy laugh down. Good! Speaking of impersonations, I do a MEAN Tom Anderson from Beavis & Butthead or Hank Hill from King of the Hill voice. It's a Mike Judge voice and I've been able to do it well since the days of Beavis and Butthead. I get everyone laughing with my "are you them boys who have been whacking off in my too shed". I've been trying to teach myself how to speak like Rodney Dangerfield, but that's not happening.

-Speaking of Rodney Dangerfield, I'd highly recommend getting his "Ultimate Collection" DVD that's out there. My sides have been hurting after watching just a few segments. Rodney is truly the funniest comedian around, as his one-liners absolutely destroy me. Not only that, but the way he speaks and looks is funny as well. Take him out of Caddyshack and the movie would suck.

While I'm on the subject of DVD's, it was my main Christmas gifts this year... not that I have a problem with that, whatsoever. Too many DVD's to watch! I picked up Quantum Leap 2 a week before Christmas and in addition to watching 22 episodes of that I have to watch:

-Unsolved Mysteries: UFO collection
-Looney Toons: Golden Collection, Volume 2
-Disney Treasures: Complete Goofy
-The Punisher
-Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Special Edition
-Star Trek: Generations, Special Edition
-Star Trek: Insurrection
-X-Men 2
-Death Race 2000

I'm a HUGE mark for older cartoon shorts. I grew up watching cartoon shorts of Tom and Jerry on TBS, Bugs Bunny and friends on TNT, and the older Disney shorts on the Disney channel, among other videos. I am also frantically collecting these for future generations of Titos to enjoy, as well as myself who likes a good thinking cartoon. It's not the crap you see today with animation. Sophistication, baby.

-What have I been playing recently? Too busy to be honest, BUT I did pick up X-Men Legends for the Game Cube with a few trade-ins and a giftcard. I'm rather high on Activision lately, as I really enjoyed "True Crime: Streets of LA" and "Spiderman 2". This one seems interesting with the ability to switch between X-Men during each level.

Any good games out there for the Gameboy Advance? I do have the GBA adapter for the 'Cube and only have a few games, namely older Gameboy games that I used to play as a kid. By the way, the best Gameboy game I've ever played and beat was Squaresoft's "Final Fantasy Adventure". Seriously, it's Zelda and Final Fantasy mixed into one!

-Music? Pfffft, you know the only band I listen to these days... I did purchase the Chicago album, which is considered Chicago II. Great album and nice digital remastering by Rhino. I highly recommend checking the whole album, but if not, "Make Me Smile" and "25 or 6 to 4" are truly incredible songs. If anything, check out the SICK guitar solos by the late Terry Kath. Incredible stuff.

-The NFL continues to rule as usual... The AFC is ridiculous with the loads of great teams, while the NFC is full of curtain jerkers. I'm still sticking with New England, especially with a healthy Dillon running the ball.... but I'm skeptical because the Colts and Chargers are tough and the Steelers are just sick at depth. Pittsburgh beat a backs-to-the-wall Bills team without a few key starters who were resting injuries. I say it's New England vs. Philadelphia, still, with New England capturing 3 Superbowls out of 4 years.

-With the MLB, if the Yankees do get Randy Johnson, IT'S OVER. Boston has made weak moves this offseason to fill the Pedro void in the pitching staff. I feel that Matt Clement is overrated (moreso than Pavano), and David Wells isn't young these days. Meanwhile, the Yanks upgraded with Randy Johnson and if Pavano doesn't choke like Vasquez (sp?) from Montreal, then look out! The Yanks already have a potent offense, as starting pitching was their achilles heel. Not any longer...

Oh yeah, meanwhile, the Pirates still suck! Given the economic shortcomings of MLB, I've turned into a NL CENTRAL fan, with the exception of the Cincinnati Reds. When the Cards, Astros, and Cubs are in the playoffs, I'm rooting for them!

-I'm glad that Ashlee Simpson was exposed on Saturday Night Live for lip syncing. Why? It's forcing her to sing LIVE at every show she does. It's completely exposed her as a terrible singer, as if her show on Mtv didn't tell us that already. I heard her sing during New Year's Eve and cringed at how terrible she was. Record companies really need to promote actual musicians, not images.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Label your emails as "Blog Feedback".

2004-12-29T13:38:00.000-05:00

Hard for me to say I'm Sorry...

-So, where are my columns, you ask? Well, I've been somewhat under the weather lately, getting my yearly cold. I'm usually good in terms of getting sick, as I just get a sore throat/runny nose once a year and that's it. I can't remember the last time I had the flu. In addition to taking shots of DayQuil©, the Holiday season has kept me too busy. When I have free time, I'm usually tired and lack the motivation to write a column.

Yeah, I said I'd try to write a Year in Review column and a Tito Awards column. I hope to maybe do a RAW review/Year in Review column sometime this week, but no guarantees. I certainly hope to at least do my Tito Awards column. To be honest, things are just to hectic for me in the month of December to worry about wrestling, along with writing about it.

I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed Monday Night RAW, though, this past Monday. Well written show with a nice theme to actually make a Pay Per View worth watching. How's that for a change in the WWE? It's funny how the WWE pays top dollar for their creative team members, yet they can only bang out original ideas like this once a year. Hilarious!

Hopefully, I can at least bang out one more column for 2004.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Label emails as "BLOG Feedback".

2004-12-21T13:35:00.000-05:00

No Column this week. :(

-Given that the "Best of RAW" show happened this week, I really have nothing for this week. In addition, the wear and tear of the weekend holiday season at work has got to me today as I'm tired as fuck. I slept in good this morning and will enjoy that Christmas is actually on a Saturday this week.

HOWEVER, I will try my very best to deliver two columns by the end of the year, as tradition states: Tito Awards for 2004 and the 2004 Year in Review columns.

The Tito Awards will follow the same format as the previous years, and likewise as the Year in Review, which is a complete rundown of wrestling in 2004. The Tito Awards are pretty much guaranteed to happen... but the Year in Review is a column that takes roughly 4 hours to write and some time to research for. I look at RAW, Smackdown, and Pay Per View cards, as well as title histories, business numbers, ratings, among other things. I usually take a lot of pride in those columns.

-I began reading Freddie Blassie's book the other day. Good stuff so far, as it's a different kind of book that rages quickly through time. But his early years are actually entertaining to read, which is a big difference with the Lawler book I recently read. Speaking of that, I'm due a review of Lawler's book...

-On the DVD front, I've actually cooled down my spending, as I'm awaiting what I get for Christmas. I did jump the gun and buy one DVD collection, and that was Quantum Leap: Season 2, which has 22 episodes to get through. JESUS CHRIST! I'd recommend getting the Quantum Leaps as far as television DVD's go, but I'd HIGHLY recommend getting the Dallas: Season 1 and 2 DVD collection that's out there. Dallas, in my opinion, is the absolute best television show ever made.

-Music? Man, I listen to too much Chicago lately, it's pathetic! It's becoming ALL that I listen to, even so much that I listen to a lot of Peter Cetera's pop career. I highly recommend buying Chicago's Christmas Album, What's it Gonna Be, Santa? Great tunes like "This Christmas", "Bethlehem", "Let it Snow", "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas", and much more. Fantastic Christmas music. Cetera's Christmas album, though, is OK at best.

'Nuff said. wrathoftito@yahoo.com is my email and label your feedback as "BLOG Feedback". Who knows, your feedback could be posted and answered here!

2004-12-20T22:38:00.000-05:00

Rectum? Damn near killed 'em!

-I'm getting VERY SICK of the hype for this Saturday's (or Christmas) NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Miami Heat. So Kobe Bryant and Shaq don't like each other. Was it really necessary for Sportscenter to play out the drama all during the summer and have a 5 PART SERIES dedicated to them to build up for the game? I understand it's a publicity stunt, but man, it hurts when it's shoved down my throat! Lakers will get crushed on Saturday, for Wade will score as much as Kobe and nobody on the Lakers team can stop Shaq, who will definitely be geared to play well against his old team.

The Lakers should have NEVER got rid of Phil Jackson, who in my opinion, is one of the best NBA coaches ever. Yeah, he had the talent. There were coaches before him who had the same talent he had and never took them to the finals. END OF STORY! Phil has 9 rings and great playoff success outside of his rings.

-In gaming news, I've actually got addicted to NHL Hitz 2002 again. I'm playing the Franchise mode of that and I'm playing the tough hidden teams. 20 games and those hidden teams (ranging from Cows, Snowmen, Aliens, Midway employees, etc.) have stacked stats and always give me a tremendous fight each game. In a 5 minute period game, it's usually the first to 12 points who usually wins.

-If anyone has any GameCube game suggestions, please send them in! Is the Mario Golf game for the 'Cube any good? I've been eyeballing that for a while. How about the other EA sports games, outside of Madden? Any good?

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Label emails as "BLOG Feedback"

2004-12-19T01:19:00.000-05:00

BLOOD ORGY!

Excuse me, for South Park's latest Christmas episode is still in my head... Check out the latest episode either early Sunday morning at 3 am or late Sunday night at 11 pm. If you get offended by Satanic stuff, be patient with the episode until the point or the swerve is made. I actually had a co-worker who stopped watching that episode once the Satanic stuff started. For shame...

-A special thank you to "Goodman" for sending in this link: http://shopzone.wwe.com/Product_detail.asp?cat=cat-newreleases&productId=06-00703 That is "Randy Wear" for Randy Orton? What female would be willing to wear that shit in public or behind closed doors before a sexual encounter? I'd like to see sales figures on merchandise when this is all said and done and we'll see how deserving Orton is of his push.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Subject line is "BLOG Feedback".

2004-12-16T18:29:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm going to hell for watching South Park!

-Wow, what an Christmas episode of South Park! Seriously, Parker and Stone are coming up with beauties every year. The Santa/Jesus assault on Iraq is still my favorite, while last year's trip in Canada was hilarious, especially with the surprise Saddam ending. But this year's... oh my. I never saw it coming with the strange swerve the episode had. Once they panned to the classroom, I about shit my pants laughing at Cartman. Yet another Christmas classic from South Park, even though I'll go to hell for enjoying it. Remember, kids, don't kill the mountain lions who are killing off the pregnant porcupines. Lesson of the day...

-I have to say that I'm completely disgusted with Kobe Bryant. I don't like his attitude and the way he's alienated his now former teammates. I watched Kobe interviewed twice on ESPN yesterday, once on "Pardon the Interruption" and "NBA Shootaround", and I was NOT impressed. He seems say nothing is his fault, despite many players in the NBA disliking him, and former teammates/coaches (Shaq, Phil Jackson, and now Karl Malone) now completely against him. The stuff with Karl Malone could have been handled behind-the-scenes, and I highly doubt that Karl Malone is hitting on Kobe's wife. Ridiculous. Karma will be a bitch for Kobe, as he'll never win another NBA title with no Free Agents wanting to deal with him out in Los Angeles.

-I'm convinced... the New York Mets are the dumbest baseball franchise with their overpaying of Pedro Martinez. Even if his shoulder checks out in an MRI, it's still proven that Martinez can't pitch longer than 100 pitches or 6 innings. While Pedro might look interesting in the Mets's rotation with Glavine and Benson, nothing guarantees that Pedro will hold up for 4 years. But hey, leave it to the Mets to keep on overspending on overrated or past their prime baseball players. They keep wondering why the Braves, Phillies, and Marlins kick their ass every year since their Subway series World Series appearance. Keep it up, dumbasses.

-Jesus Christ, December 14th was a BIG DVD day. All kinds of stuff came out... I picked up Quantum Leap: Season 2 for my science-fiction needs. I really like that show or anything dealing with time travel. 22 episodes are enclosed in Season 2 and it's worth the $34.99 I paid for first week sale. Ahhhhh yeah!

Talk to me! wrathoftito@yahoo.com Label your emails as "BLOG Feedback".

2004-12-15T13:56:00.000-05:00

I said I'd try to update this!!!

I'm back and I said I'd update this bastard... today, I'll answer some questions in the email box. I'm getting pounded with emails and I can't answer all of them. So, here are some questions, some of which are Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Who did you vote for? Bush or Kerry?

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a fairly conservative guy. Now, while that fact is true, I personally thought that John Kerry was an insanely weak candidate presented by the Democrat party. It's not just that Kerry was a liberal... it's stuff like his economic plan, social security plan, and health care plan were heavily flawed. My own education laughed at Kerry's thought process of limiting or restricting free trade, even though he was a big free trade guy in the Senate. His willingness to do NOTHING about Social Security made me sick. I don't want socialized healthcare, for I'd prefer to fix and make the privatized healthcare system more affordable so that it can keep innovating and get me in quick for a surgery (as it did for my hernia surgery in August!).

I voted for Bush because I liked his domestic issues WAY better than Kerry's, outside of Bush's energy plan. War on Iraq? Kerry did NOTHING to prove to me that he'd be a better commander in chief against the War on Terror, including his pussy speech at the Democrat Convention which put the nail in his coffin for me. Yeah, Bush is flawed... but Kerry wasn't presidential and the Democrat Party should have gone with a more moderate or conservative candidate instead of a liberal with outlandish ideas and flip flops.

By the way, if my comments in yesterday's Wrath of Tito offended anybody, I'm sorry. I was only having a little fun.

Why aren't you responding to my emails?

Again, I'm getting pounded with email daily, especially after a column comes out. In addition, I have a shitty 56K connection here at the house. Yes, it's sad and don't ask me why I still have it. I can't answer everything or else I'd be sitting there for hours. When I do respond, it's usually short and brief and I apologize if it's not a long response you anticipate. I'm not a piece of meat, yo.

You read a lot of wrestling books, including a few written by several internet personalities. Would you consider writing your own book?

I've never looked into it, to be honest. I wouldn't write an opinion book, though. I'd more or less write some kind of economic analysis on professional wrestling which could turn some heads. I wouldn't know where to start to pitch a book idea and I don't believe I have the time to write a book, period, although I'd probably make time.

Speaking of economics, I may still do the Labor Unions in Wrestling column. I still have the notes I scribbled down in preparation for that. We'll see...

Can I report news for LordsofPain.net?

I'm not the person to ask. Calvin Martin is the guy who hires and fires at LordsofPain.net.

If you're looking to get hired, you best suscribe to PWInsider, 1wrestling, Torch, and Observer and be able to put together sentences in a presentable way. In addition, you better be able to quote your sources. We aren't like the many idiot webpages who steal news from a credible source and not give credit where it's due.

Can I write a column for LordsofPain.net?

Column offers used to fill Calvin's mailboxes... so one day, I formed the Phat Pharm as a farm system for LoP Columnists. They could be read while not being on the webpage, and when a spot was opened, a columnist was called up. Simply put.

After a while, the Phat Pharm wasn't working as well and I was getting burned out reading all of the application columns... so we moved it to LoPForums.com where applicants no longer had to go through me and fans could post their feedback right on the columns. It was a genius move on LoP's part and has provided excellent columnists who actually get better from this new style of farm system.

So, to write a column for LoP, join up with LoPForums.com and go to the Columns: http://www.lopforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=11

Columns DO get read there, as many posters enjoy reading the columns and providing suggestions for newcomers to get better. I would recommend reading the forum's rules, having a title that's not a WWE catchphrase, and being somehow original.

That's it for today... email me at wrathoftito@yahoo.com and label emails as "BLOG Feedback".

2004-12-13T18:49:00.000-05:00

Being without you takes a lot of getting used to... to learn to live with it, I don't want to!!!

After months of reader requests for its return, I've decided to bring back the BLOG. I have a little more free time now that school is out, therefore, I could post on this badboy more than usual.

-Many posters ask what I'm now doing for a living. Right now, I still work a part time job that I worked while I was going through school as a student, but I also have picked up a part-time instructor job at a local community college. It's a good amount of work, especially working 40 hours at at another job, but I really like it. I can see myself teaching college courses for the rest of my life and I hope to build up experience as a part-time instructor to get on full time. I'm also trying to get into the local economic development institutions, but it's hard to get in with those good ol' boy organizations, if you know what I mean when it comes to rural areas.

-What games am I playing lately? I'm still Game Cubing it, as I'm a Nintendo Loyalist and will be until I die! Actually, Nintendo is the cheapest of the current stuff out there and after my big spending SNES days, I refuse to overpay on video games... I've been playing Mario Power Tennis for the Game Cube... I like the Nintendo 64 version better, for that had more realism. I played Tennis for 3 years in high school (2 year letterman and 3 trophies to prove it) and I'm bothered by the lack of unenforced errors on the Game Cube. Plus, the powershots piss me off, as you are forced to play with those on during Tournament mode. That sucked.

I'm also playing Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link on the Gameboy Advance adapter for the Game Cube, as part of the Nintendo Classics series. That's my FAVORITE game of all time. And I love the first Zelda for NES... but this one has great role playing and a nice mix of action and adventure. Highly recommended, for this was just as an innovative game as the first Zelda.

-Music? I only really listen to one band now, thanks to a recommendation from a guy at work. It's good ol' Chicago. When I was little, I loved the Peter Cetera single called "Glory of Love". I listen to a lot of soft rock stations in my area, for I hate the KISS FM station since I'm not a big rap or r&b fan. I'd hear that same voice for a whole long list of songs. One day at work, my co-worker told me he was a part of a band called Chicago, for he is a big fan of their work. That sold me, as I bought their 2-disc Greatest Hits CD and have been HOOKED ever since. We're talking borrowing various Chicago music from that same guy at work, purchasing 3 Chicago and Cetera DVDs, buying Chicago Christmas/Cetera Christmas/Cetera Greatest Hits/Cetera Live/Chicago 17 with more coming on the way, and so much more. Chicago's music, namely the great instrumentals and Terry Kath kicking so much ass on guitar is ruining other music for me! That's why I quote Chicago a lot in my columns...

Otherwise, with newer music, I really like the Big & Rich album, as well as the new Contraband CD by Velvet Revolver. I can't believe VR's CD is rip-proof, though, for you can't rip mp3's off of that CD. While I understand the premise to stop CD copying, it screws me, the man who wants to make mix CD's for my car or personal use so that I don't have to haul many CD's around with me!

-Sports? Outside of Sunday and Monday, for NFL football, I'm somewhat bored. I miss Major League Baseball, even though off-season rumors are fun. Baseball gives you something to do every night. I'm not too much of an NBA fan, for it's too much of a ME-league, as the players control the league and are ruining it. Too much ball hogging and a lack of fundamentals are turning me off from watching games on a regular basis, which I used to do. I'm sincerely hoping for major changes in the NHL. I'm not talking about a salary cap... I'm talking about the games themselves. Since the NHL is out cold this year, my local FOX Sports is airing classic Pittsburgh Penguins games from the early 1990's and late 1980's, when the Pens were actually good and competitive. The style of play was much more wide open than the current style, which has too much clutching and grabbing, while the goons attack the best scorers, in addition too much padding on the goalies. I'd give anything for that style of play to come back, for I used to play hockey myself (roller hockey) and have been a legit Penguins fans since I was 5 years old.

I am in Calvin's NBA Fantasy League, as I was talked into it once again! Here is my team, which I think has some great potential:

Steve Nash
Doug Christie
Paul Pierce
Chauncey Billups
Michael Finley
Shawn Marion
Kenyon Martin
Tyson Chandler
Brevin Knight
James Posey
Nazr Mohammed
Brendan Haywood
Brian Cook

Finley and Posey just returned from stints on the Injured Reserve, and Finley has especially bounced back. Mohammed and Haywood are my Centers, as they are decent, but not great. However, I believe I am strong at my Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Foward, and Power Foward positions, respectively. I'm climbing the rankings as we speak.

That's all for today's update... I hope to keep this BLOG updated often. If not, well, it may not get updated for another 4 months. :)

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Label your Feedback to this weblog as "BLOG Feedback". Thanks!

2004-07-20T13:47:00.000-05:00

She was all upon me saying "YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH, YEAH!"

-I beat the first MEGA MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never defeated the first game, for I have a very successful track record against the other NES, Gameboy, and SNES games. The first Megaman is MUCH HARDER than any of the other MM games, in my opinion. And to think, this game came out in the 1980's and it was well ahead of its time... in ideas. You know, fighting bosses, having choices on who to fight first, using what weapons in certain situations, etc. The NES Megaman games put Capcom on the map until Street Fighter 2 took them to an even higher level! But the first one was innovative, and it had a lot of difficulties that were fixed in Mega Man 2, which is much easier (I'm on Wily's castle already on that game). I highly recommend the Mega Man Anniversary Collection!

-I gave up on Spider-Man 2, the video game. The Mysterio boards are just too annoying for me to continue or to take time away from Mega Man. I'm on the part where you have to swing your way to the Statue of Liberty and it's just not fun. I want to make it to Dr. Octopus, but noooo...

-I'm still in the Spider-Man mood ever since seeing Spider-Man 2 at the theaters, which was a fantastic movie and has pulled in $302 million so far in the box office, domestically (unfortunately, the movie has cooled down to catch Titanic). So I went out and bought the Essential Spider-Man, Volumes 1 and 2 from my local Walden's. Volume 1 contains the first 20 issues of the Amazing Spiderman, while Volume 2 continues with the next 20 issues. It's been a while since I've read Spider-Man, for I used to read comics and I suscribed to Marvel Tales, which mainly had Spider-Man in them. Reading these Essentials, it clearly shows me what a comic genius Stan Lee was with his writing and creative ideas regarding Spider-Man. That's why he has been successful for over 50 years.

-Baseball has been really exciting this year. While the All-Star game was kinda weak and it means that the New York Yankees or Anaheim Angels will have home field advantage, the rest of the league is featuring exciting divisional races and the fight for the Wild Card. It looks as though every team is getting smarter with putting together a team. While some are high spenders, the rest build their teams through the minor leagues or sound free agent signings (like the Cardinals signing Chris Carpenter). I love baseball and I have absolutely no problem with it going 162 games every season.

-Shaq went to the Heat, Kobe resigns with the Lakers. OK, ENOUGH ALREADY! I'm tired of the non-stop coverage of the Lakers. They DID NOT win the championship, yet they have received much more publicity than the Pistons have. I'm sick and tired of the majority of Sportscenters dedicated to Shaq and Kobe and what drama queens both of them can be. I personally see Kobe struggling in Los Angeles, for Vlade Divac is no Shaq. However, I see Shaq at least getting the Heat to the finals, if not winning it this year or in a few years. Keep in mind, though, that Rasheed Wallace resigned with the Pistons, so that team is in tact and could become a dynasty. Maybe winning back to back titles will get them more publicity than the Lakers?

-I'm also getting sick of non-stop political coverage! I can't wait for the elections to end already!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com, title your email as "Blog Feedback".

2004-07-13T12:03:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhhh YEAH!!!!

-Ok, I'm enjoying Spider-Man 2, the video game thoroughly, but that Mysterio board where you have to save 6 people in 60 seconds in a burning theater is FUCKING HARD!!!! The most I've ever had was 4 saved before the timer runs out. That's a crazy distance to websling in just 10 seconds per person you must save. Unfair! And I'm playing that board to death because I want to fight Doctor Octopus so badly. Help?

-I'll say it again... Mega Man 1 is an insanely hard board! I have every boss beat except for Gutsman, and the moving platforms at the beginning is VERY hard. The Iceman board was hell to get through, as well. All I need to do is beat Gutsman and it's on to Dr. Wily to beat the first Mega Man in Mega Man Anniversary Collection. Then, it's all downhill from there, for I've beaten 2, 3, and 4 in the past... but that was over 10 years ago! I could never find the first Mega Man when I was younger.

-The movie, Spider-Man 2, has pulled in $256.4 million in two weeks. It's on a good pace, although I feel it may cool down in the upcoming weeks to stop it from beating Titanic. That's my ultimate goal. Some movie needs to defeat it, although I fully respect James Cameron's work and I liked the movie when it was out (although I don't want to see it again, anytime soon, due to length and I hate dramas). But Spider-Man 2 is a fantastic movie and it's the kind that SHOULD be the top grossing film of all time. Everyone, see it again!

-The Butterfly Effect, from what I've heard, is doing well in DVD sales and rentals. A lot of people are enjoying the Director's Cut version of the film. Given the stuff added to the Director's cut, it's almost like watching 2 different movies to me. The best part is hearing the Directors on the commentary section of the DVD, for they give you TONS of insights into how they made their film. Pretty deep film is what was revealed on their commentary.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com, label it "Blog Feedback".

2004-07-10T12:05:00.000-05:00

Saturday, in the park, feeling like the 4th of July...

-My apologies for a lack of a column this week. I sat down, Wednesday morning, and had nothing creatively. I think I'm a tad burned out on wrestling lately, as I've become way more of a casual fan, given that I only watch RAW. When I do watch RAW, I usually have another TV on and watching baseball at the same time. I just don't care as much. I think the fallout of Smackdown is hurting my interest, in addition to BAD storylines like the whole Lita pregnancy angle. I hope to have a column this week.

-I've been in a MASSIVE Spider-Man 2 kick, so I got a bunch of CD's, DVDs, and games together and traded them in to buy Spider-Man 2 for the Gamecube! GREAT GAME!!! I'm used to Activision's style, given that I'm still trying to beat True Crime: Streets of LA. It's just so much fun flying around the city, crawling on buildings, and solving crimes. The storyline mode is a lot of fun, albeit without the Black Cat, one of my most hated Spidey characters, EVER. Absolutely a great game and it has my highest recommendation.

-I've also been playing the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the Gamecube. JESUS CHRIST, the first Mega Man is SOOOOOOOO HARD! I mean, you basically kill yourself getting to the enemies because the boards are so hard. The Iceman board is so frustrating, especially with the stupid helicopter platforms which can shoot at you. Mega Mans 2-6 corrected the insanity problems that the first game had.

-Butterfly Effect DVD is another high recommendation. Many badmouth it for the hatred of time travel movies, hatred of Ashton Kutcher, or how disturbing the movie is in parts. I liked the film at the theaters, and hearing the two director's thoughts on the film in addition to seeing the Directors' Cut makes me appreciate the movie more. It's a pretty deep film, one that you'd have to see several times to catch everything specific. And DAMN, what an ending to the Director's Cut.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Label your emails as "Blog Feedback".

2004-07-05T23:32:00.000-05:00

Just a Little Patience...

-I have a busy day coming up (Tuesday), so the column might not be up until Wednesday. HOWEVER, I have a busy day on Wednesday, too, so shit on me. I hope to have a column up sometime this week. Sorry for any delays, for it seems as though it takes about 2 hours to write my column now and I don't have 2 hours right now. Besides, I'm a bit burnt out on wrestling lately, if you haven't noticed...

-Congrats to Maria Sharapova, this year's Wimbleton champion. I watched the match and she picked Serena Williams apart. Serena was completely outplayed and she wasn't just "off her game" as she might think or some of the press might think. If you've played tennis, for I have several trophies from my high school days, you'll notice that Sharapova OWNED Serena. Serena tried to play the net game with Maria and got lobbed most of the time. Tried to play baseline and Sharapova killed her with the forehand. Sharapova has a pretty decent serve. Yes, Serena has a nasty first serve, but like Venus, it can lack accuracy. This is exactly the shot in the arm that Women's Tennis needed, as it pits two beautiful ladies against each other... in addition to reliving USA vs. Russia!

-Jesus Christ, playing the old Mega Mans is HARD! I'm so rusty at those 2D style action games! I'm referring to the Mega Man Anniversary Collection...

wrathoftito@yahoo.com and write "Blog feedback" as your subject matter.

2004-07-02T18:12:00.000-05:00

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.

-Spider-Man 2 was OFF THE HOOK!!!! I loved the first one, insomuch that it was one of my favorite movies ever. But Spider-Man 2 was actually superior to the first film! That movie is going to do some massive bank this weekend and in the next few weeks. Doctor Octopus was a great villain, and the whole storyline with Peter Parker losing his ability and struggling with his heart towards Mary Jane were great. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and it knocks off Kill Bill, Volume 2 for my "Movie of the Year" so far.

-I bought Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the Game Cube today. Convenient cheap new game price, too, from Nintendo/Capcom to price it at $29.99. APPRECIATED! I was a huge fan of the Gameboy and SNES Mega Man games, so I hope I can get into these. I didn't like the Sonic Mega Collection, insomuch that I already traded it in. I hope Mega Man doesn't bore me, but we'll see.

-I need some games to play!!! Any Game Cube recommendations are welcome. I'm looking for a game that's not sports and is an innovative on gameplay. I like some sort of role playing, with possible excessive violence. Any Marine games worth looking into? I wouldn't mind an absolute dick-off game, either, much like Conker's Bad Fur Day was for the N64.

-I'm getting SO CLOSE to achieving a perfect 160 on the 150cc All Cup Circuit on Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. Last night, I had a perfect 150 heading into Rainbow Road. Normally, I dominate that course. In fact, I had a pretty nice lead heading into the final straight stretch before the big turns at the end of the course. Lightning struck. Damn computer and their fucking weapons!!!! The lightning hit me and the force knocked me off the side. The computer then passed me and I couldn't obtain the lead back. Yet another 158 score. At least it wasn't a damn blueshell, which I've seen more of lately on the last lap.

I love Italian and so do you (YES). E-mail me at wrathoftito@yahoo.com and label emails as "Blog Feedback".

2004-06-29T09:13:00.000-05:00

Peter Cetera for President!

-It's funny... A guy at work was a HUGE Chicago fan. He one day hears "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera on the radio and bashes him hard. I, a big fan of the Karate Kid series, said "why"? My co-worker said because Cetera was full of himself and left the band, Chicago. So I fuck with him, singing what I thought were Cetera songs in "You're My Inspiration", "If You Leave Me Now", "Love Me Tomorrow", and "Baby What a Big Surprise". Little did that I know that those songs were songs Cetera did while in Chicago. Excited, I went out and bought the double-disc Chicago Greatest Hits and I now have a new band to enjoy. They are a great band with great musical arrangements and different styles of singing/lyrics used. It's no wonder why they are considered the 2nd top musical act behind the Beach Boys, in terms of American born bands.

-"True Crime: Streets of LA" is an absolute bad-ass game. I had a Bad Cop ratio of -12, which is actually much lower than what I had when I started. I happen to walk the coastline one day as Nick Cage and I walk up a street that appears to look like a slum. Here, I find all kinds of hookers, pimps, and thugs. I do TONS of citizens arrests, for everyone had drugs or guns and now I'm a Good Cop at +50. Was this a secret in the game? Anyway, that unlocked several missions I couldn't play earlier turning into Good Cop, so yipee for me!

-The next HUGE channel is the Gameshow Network, or now called "GSN" (yes, it's been on for a while, but it's been booming lately). It's gaining popularity by the week, and the Extreme Dodgeball show will create a youth movement for the channel. Last night, they had an excellent show called "Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal", where a man named Michael Lanson figured out the pattern of the board and won an excess of $110,000, whereas previous records by absolute luck were $40,000 or so. It was pure genious how he was able to figure out the board and never hit a Whammy. GREAT show and I hope there's more of this, with regards to gameshow scandals or controversies.

-Has anybody done a perfect 160 on the 150cc setting of Mario Kart: Double Dash on the All Cup Tour? I've been so close, with one time receiving a 158 score. I'm an excellent driver, but all it takes is one blue shell before you hit the finish line and it's over. Given the weapons of the course, in my opinion, it's hard to go perfect through 16 races. When I did the 158, I was perfect through 14, only to get blue shelled on the Donkey Kong race before the windy bridge. SOOOOOOO unfair!

-I bought "Badder Santa" last week. I enjoyed the initial theater release, seeing the movie twice when it came out. The unrated version only added a few minutes, in which we get to see Bad Santa at a titty bar. While I don't mind the nudity, big whoop. Added nothing to the film. The Special Features are OK, as the behind the scenes look is good, while the gag real and mistakes are only somewhat funny. Deleted scenes weren't much.

-Next week, "The Butterfly Effect" comes out. It had a moderate first week in the theaters, but tanked quickly thereafter. I enjoyed it just because the ideas behind the film were pretty fresh and it just messes with your head afterward. I recommend checking it out on DVD, for it looks to have a ton of special features and it's a good movie, in my opinion.

-I recommend checking out the "NFL Huddle" on ESPN Radio during 3-7 on Sundays. It's John Clayton and Sean Salsbury giving you tons of NFL news and notes, while giving great insider info into the NFL. Well recommended for those who are prepping for this year's Fantasy Leagues.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com, with "Blog Feedback" in your email title.

2004-06-21T22:38:00.000-05:00

Wrath Wednesday

-The "Wrath of Tito" is most likely going to be posted on Wednesday. I've got a busy Tuesday lined up, as usual, and I won't be home to type up a column. I'm off Wednesday from work, however, and I should be able to write a column then.

-I'm loving "True Crime: Streets of LA". I unlocked Snoop Dogg... OK, I used the code. But anyway, it's total fun to drive around as Snoop and tell people "get the fuck out of here" or that "white people can't drive". Great game and I completely recommend it since it's at a low price right now.

-"Bad Santa" comes out tomorrow. HIGHLY recommended DVD purchase, as I'm going to buy the "Bad(der) Santa" DVD, which has uncut extended footage of the film. Elf and Bad Santa were two incredible Christmas movies last year and the world was lucky to have them both in one Christmas season. Billy Bob Thorton plays a great role and it has some of the most filthy language out there.

-Bill Clinton's memoirs are coming out soon, and he'll be all over the press. Even if he mentions John Kerry's name, it's still bad news for John Kerry. Why? Because all of the Monica stuff will be hitting the press, once again, and taking any spotlight away from John Kerry (as if his flip flopping and fact spinning deserves it).

-June 30th is approaching and that's the handover date for Iraq. I'm sure that heavy violence could occur before, during, and after, but in the long run, I personally think that the Iraqi people will enjoy the freedoms of a Democracy. Given the running water, electricity, and the many facilities that were built (hospitals, schools, for instance), great things will happen in Iraq and it's the intent that Democracy will spread in the Middle East. Governments that harbor or assist terrorism must be overthrown in the Middle East, and when the citizens see benefits of a Democracy, they could begin to overthrow their governments (*cough*Iran*cough*).

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - put "Blog Feedback" in your title.

2004-06-15T13:33:00.000-05:00

Baby, What a Big Surprise!

-A friend of mine at work has got me into the band Chicago. I must say, I'm quite impressed. I've always had a guilty pleasure for Peter Cetera pop songs, such as the "Glory of Love" which is on the Karate Kid 1 soundtrack. Many Cetera pop songs are with Chicago, or at least his best ones, and I must say that the band Chicago can play! Great arrangements of musical instruments in every song. It's no wonder that out of their first 11 albums, 10 of them went platinum!

-I've been behind on my video game playing lately. You know, that thing called schoolwork needs some attention. Actually, I just received word that I have graduated Ohio University's graduate school with a Master's in Applied Economics! A lot of my recent time has been devoted to this, which is why my columns have been late. It has now paid off and now it's find to hopefully find a good paying job with this degree.

-I've been in a Jean Claude Van Damme kick lately, literally. His DVD's are selling at dirtcheap rates, and I'm buying them up! I basically have all of my favorites (Bloodsport, Timecop, Kickboxer, Sudden Death, No Where to Run, Lion Heart, etc.) except for Double Impact, which I'll get on either Ebay or pony up on Amazon or some other website. Yes, Van Damme isn't the best actor in the world, but I grew up watching his action flicks. He was the "cup of tea" for a while during the first half of the 1990's.

-In my opinion, the Oscars needs to take a few of the Mtv Awards's categories. Best Comedy, for example, should be an award....

Nothing else to B.S. aboot.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com, and please label your emails as "Blog Feedback" in hopes of a response.

2004-06-14T06:22:00.000-05:00

I watched Bad Blood

Just some quick thoughts, for I don't have time to write a column today:

-Benoit/Edge vs. La Resistance: This unfortunately had disqualification written all over it. The match was starting to really get going after a slow start when Grenier was in the ring.

-Chris Jericho vs. Tyson Tomko: Tyson looks like a crazed Bill Goldberg and I'm surprised no chants started. Not too bad, for Jericho carried him though a watchable match. Jericho won the match and I hope this Christian feud is over.

-Randy Orton vs. Shelton Benjamin: I liked the last few minutes, but the rest of the match was such a bore. Orton certainly lacks energy in his matches, and when you're with a guy who can't get over based on items outside of the ring (i.e. mic skills), good luck. Orton won after loads of interference by Ric Flair.

-Women's 4 Way: This was my bathroom break. I guess Trish Stratus won?

-Eugene vs. Coach: Same thing, basically, with the Johnny Nitro match.

-Kane vs. Chris Benoit: Started off slow, but it picked up late and the match had a sweet ending. The Crossface off of Kane's clothesline was sweet, as was the roll up pin after Kane kept fighting the crossfaces.

-HBK vs. Triple H, Hell in the Cell: These two had a good 40-50 minutes given to them to wrestle, and boy did they take it. There were points where the match was getting good, but overall, it just kept dragging on. I wouldn't say it was a total letdown, but it was given too much time. I did like the psychology of attacking HBK's back by Triple H, which actually angered Mrs. Tito (so you know it worked, to HHH's credit).

Overall, I'd give this show a [ B- ] (B-minus).

2004-06-11T01:49:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh, BLOG YOU!

-Some great news on the Tito front. I turned in my final edition of my Master's Thesis! That's right, I should have my Master's Degree in Applied Economics in the near future! Whoooo! I've seriously busted my ass during the last few weeks on revisions and revisions and revisions, possibly causing my migraines. I'm done with my college work and it's time to go get a job, and hopefully, a good one.

-Yikes to the Lakers! The Pistons looked fantastic from the last 2 quarters I watched of the game. The Pistons have a great, yet young, team and they are pretty deep. We'll see if the so-called great coach Larry Brown can drive the final nail in the Laker coffin for the Kobe-Shaq dynasty. And by the way, Gary Payton is worthless. At least Malone is injured.

-I didn't catch Smackdown at all this week. Sorry. I was hoping too, but I spent the evening driving 4 hours to drop off my final copy of my thesis. Sorry, schoolwork comes first.

-Jesus Christ, the Phillies-White Sox series has been a great inter-league match up! They are destroying each other's pitching. It's fantastic!

That is all. wrathoftito@yahoo.com, and label your emails as "Blog Feedback".

2004-06-08T08:14:00.000-05:00

Eat my BLOG!

-Rest in Peace Ronald Reagan. Reagan, on Saturday, died at the age of 93. He was our 40th president, and in my opinion, one of our very best. He took America out of embarrassment during the 1970's. The previous administrations made our military look weak with Vietnam and the Iran hostage crisis, in addition to the gas shortages and stagflation (inflation with high unemployment). Reagan's economy was the biggest expanding one that America has ever seen after 1982. Gas supply and prices improved or became stable. Our military grew and expanded, thanks to that booming economy to support it, and it forced Russia to outspend itself into submission. Any bashers of Reagan for his deficit spending should ask themselves if they want communist Russia around today. Any Reagan bashers, who are mostly uninformed about his policies, need to take heart in knowing that he made America a better place and the world a better place as well. Rest in peace, Ronnie.

-Bored with my current games, I bought a new one in "True Crime: Streets of LA". It was actually marked down significantly at Wal-Mart, so I said why not? I'm enjoying this game very much so far, although I can clearly see what a Grand Theft Auto clone it is. I, however, do enjoy the Good Cop/Bad Cop stuff and cinematic scenes in between each job are fun to watch. I'm on part 4 (but on Bad Cop level) right now. I have a bad problem with killing innocent people with my wild driving skills and I always accidentally shoot the hostages when trying to shoot the criminals. OOPS! It's a fun game and I recommend it if you don't have it already.

-Tampa Bay Lightning are your Stanley Cup champions... did I watch? I watched most of the 2nd and 3rd period of the game. Both goalies are pretty good, for they stopped nearly everything shot at them and made great glove and kick saves. The NHL, in my opinion, needed a Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since that's their strongest fanbase right now and because American teams have won the cup for the last many years. Those fans in Tampa Bay are only there because the team is winning, for they wouldn't show loyalty to that team at any other time.

Besides, I personally hope that the upcoming lockout fixes the NHL's financial problems, in addition to the Game 6 Calgary goal, that should have been allowed, raises some hell by Canadian fans. I'd be seriously pissed if I were the Flames regarding that goal, because it clearly went in and the instant replay guys missed it.

-I'm not convinced of Ken Griffey Jr.'s second coming until 2 things happen:
1) If he stays healthy this season.
2) If he can hit for average, in addition to hitting HR's.

-Quantum Leap, Season One comes out today. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - please label emails as "Blog Feedback" or it will be discarded as spam.

2004-06-03T19:41:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh, go BLOG Yourself!

Sorry for the lack of posts here. I've been really busy lately. I've been getting worked like a dog. I've been working hard to finish up my Master's degree. I'm literally one page away from getting my Master's thesis turned in! My hope is to graduate soon and start flooding my resume throughout my area for internships or actual positions. I would love to get out of shitty part-time work, get a nice place of my own, get married, etc...

A few things...

-I'm going to stop discussing politics on my BLOG. It's not worth getting extremely negative e-mails from a few readers. I don't mind a good debate, but when someone flames me for a political opinion, it upsets me. "Oh, you're fucking retarded about John Kerry". Excuse me, I've studied Kerry's record. I listen to him speak often on the news or C-Span. I KNOW John Kerry as a presidential candidate. I don't like him. Personally, the Democrats could choose someone better. Kerry has 20 years of playing politics as a Senator and more years on other social issues. I don't want him as president based on a very close look at his record, and that's an informed opinion. Maybe if a few other Democrat candidates were chosen, I might think otherwise (I like Joe Lieberman, very much, for example). That's all I'm going to say about politics on this Blog, unless something major comes up.

-Know what's great about Mario Kart: Double Dash!!? Playing with multiple players and hitting "Random Select" on the player select screen! Having to play with unexpected combinations of racers and vehicles is so much fun. Usually, I drive with Mario and Paratroopa in the Victory car, but when I get an unlikely duo in a different car, it changes things drastically. It just adds to the fun of that game.

-Thanks to everyone who sent in ideas for Game Cube games. I beat NHL Hitz and Ultimate Muscle recently, so I'm bored to play something. How is True Crime: Streets of LA?

-Quantum Leap comes out on DVD on Tuesday, June 8th... I'm so pumped for that. I've saved my money up, and I'm gonna buy it and enjoy it! That show was so fun to watch, and was Scott Backula's best work. I don't like him on Enterprise, and Unnecessary Roughness isn't bad. I love the drama of trying to fix time. Fuck that, I just love Time Travel films! I get off on it! My top time travel movies:

1) Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home
2) Timecop
3) Star Trek 8: First Contact
4) Back to the Future
5) Back to the Future 2

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, and I don't consider the Terminator films as time travelling. I'm referring to seeing actual characters in a present time travelling to another time. You don't actually see Arnold travelling, just arriving. I recommend Star Trek 4 to anybody out there, even if you hate Star Trek.

-I'm pumped about Spiderman 2!!! I seriously can't wait for that!

-I don't care about music right now. I've been listening to a few older stuff, namely the Who or a bunch of 80's hairbands (I love that stuff). Oh yeah, I'm starting to really like Country. Lonestar's "Let's Be Us Again" is a fantastic song, and I recommend everyone to download it. I'll admit that I've bought less CD's than ever, and that's not from my own personal finances, nor is it from downloading. It's from a lack of good choice out there, because every new artist out there sucks balls. I hate all of the R&B and Rock acts coming out right now. None of them have any talent, for they just do what's trendy and can make them cash. No passion for music anymore.

Email me at wrathoftito@yahoo.com. Please label it "Blog Feedback".

2004-05-25T23:21:00.000-05:00

Well, shit on me!

For the past few months, I've had severe problems with viruses. My email gets double digit virues daily, but I fend most of them off. However, some have been slipping by lately, and my assumption is that newer viruses are beating the free virus scanning software that I had on my computer.

So I tried to write the column on Tuesday morning... Everytime I opened up Internet Explorer, my computer crashed and reset. I tried System Restore, but that didn't work. System Recovery, however, worked. I then went out to my local computer store and bought the best internet security software (virus scan, firewalls, spyware killers, and ad blockers) that money could buy (not wanting to dig deep into my bank account, but I was tired of fighting Trojan viruses or worms lately).

I highly recommend getting the best software possible. More and more lately, virus makers are able to get past the free or outdated versions of virus software. Get a good one and download the updates. My complete recommendation.

I'm not sure when the next WRATH OF TITO will occur. I'm behind on restoring lost programs, drivers, etc on this computer as we speak. Sorry to the readers for the delay, and to others (namely several "buddies" in the LoPforums awaiting my reply to a post in the Sanctuary).

A few quick things...

-I beat NHL Hitz 2002... It was nice to get 4,000 credits for doing so, which enabled me to unlock 4 teams.

-I bought Ultimate Muscle for the Gamecube at a cheap price. More on that later.

-I thought GW Bush had a good speech on Monday night. I wish only the best for our soldiers as the Iraqi transfer of power gets closer (June 30th).

-I was actually watching the NBA and NHL more this week. Of course, they are in the last few playoff series or the championships of their league. I'll care then, but not for the remainder of the season (unlike MLB and NFL, which I follow for the whole league). Lakers and Flames are your winners in each.

-Congrats to Randy Johnson AND Ben Sheets for great pitching performances... I had Ben Sheets on my Fantasy Team. I'm in the middle of the pack right now in the official LoP Fantasy League, and I can go no where but up, in my opinion. CF Alex Sanchez was a GREAT pick up, by the way.

Sorry for being behind on email... I'll possibly respond to anything that says "Blog Feedback".

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

I love Italian and so do you (yes).

2004-05-18T16:09:00.000-05:00

Whooooo!

I guess it's time for my weekly post on this thing? Once work and school get settled down, then maybe I could post here more. Then again, maybe not?

-NHL Hitz is becoming a TOTAL BITCH of a game once you get down to the final 7 teams. I cannot beat San Jose for the life of me, for their goalie blocks everything and their wingers are so dangerous (Teemu Selanne, for example). I'm always a goal short, for none of my 30+ one timers per game can defeat them!

-I was proud that Saturday Night Live ripped John Kerry pretty good for what he is. Kerry does better when he keeps his mouth shut and has no firm positions on issues. It's the truth. He knows that if he even mentions the Iraqi prisoner torture, among other issues, he'll get crushed. Instead, he's going to each area and promising help on employment in certain oldtime industries, such as steel and oil, which he's tried to eliminate or crippled through legislation. Plus, he's pushing his Socialized healthcare, which completely shows what a Liberal he is. Seriously, the Democrat Party has to have someone better than Kerry.

-How about those Lakers? I couldn't believe my eyes at Derek Fischer's last second shot, nor could I believe that L.A. took San Antonio in 6 games. What happened to the Spurs after games 1 and 2? Tony Parker, that's what happened. He couldn't live up to the hype. That's OK, for he has a good 15 years of a career to improve.

-NHL playoffs? Who's still in that?

-Baseball has been quite good so far this season. Some extremely good pitching is happening, while everyone insists that the batters are just taking less 'roids. That's ignorant. Pitching is clearly strong right now, and roids can't account for a batter's eye or bat speed to hit it out of the park.

Maybe I'll post another time this week?

-wrathoftito@yahoo.com, and label your email as "blog feedback".

2004-05-12T00:07:00.000-05:00

Backed up...

The WRATH OF TITO column is late this week. I've been pretty busy with school stuff, work, among other things. I have half of the column written, for I just have to add my RAW thoughts and it can be posted. I typed the column on Monday night, but I was so tired from a long weekend and workday that my vision was blurry. So I went to bed.

Some stuff...

-Color me crazy, but I'm liking Liz Phair's new stuff. "Extraordinary" is a fantastic song in my mind, and "Why Can't I" isn't bad. I'm a sucker for some things in pop music, so sue me! In other music news, I really like the "Let's Be Us Again" song by Lonestar. Lonestar is one of the best country acts around, and their music has great lyrics. Makes you want to like country.

-My baseball team caught FIRE on Tuesday night. In one night, I shot up from last place to 5th place. That's insane! Tons of runs, homeruns, stolen bases, and RBI's... Now, if Roy Halladay, my first round pick, could just improve a little bit...

-I'm getting sick and tired of seeing Iraqi prisoners getting tortured on TV (and the response to it with the beheading clips). Too much publicity for this stuff and it's not for everyone to see.

-NHL Hitz... great game! Still playing it and loving it!

-Any good Game Cube game recommendations will be accepted. :)

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - label every email as "Blog Feedback".

2004-05-06T00:07:00.000-05:00

NHL Hitz~!

I can't say enough good things about NHL Hitz for the Game Cube. I'm absolutely loving this game by Midway, possibly their best sports themed game yet!

I love the 3 on 3 hockey, for it's nothing but open hockey and back and forth non-stop action. Playing the games in the season is fan-fucking-tastic.

But what's even better are the custom team mode OR to unlock teams. I unlocked this one team of Aliens, and I played them on the moon with a green glowing puck! The teams you can unlock are CRAZY (like a team of actual cows) and their arena settings are even more insane.

It's a well done game with lots of extra options to keep gameplay going and going and going...

Anybody else get excited by this game? wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-05-05T11:56:00.000-05:00

Some Shite

-Right now, I'm beginning to research some papers, books, and other economic materials on Labor Unions. Why? Not for my thesis paper, but for an upcoming wrestling column. Given the monopolistic conditions set by the WWE, which doesn't give any wrestler grounds for negotiating contracts, it's a good time to discuss IF wrestlers in the WWE should form a union. Pro wrestling is unique in that it has additional pressures to perform and on cosmetic looks, money is based on the drawing power of the federation, etc. It should be good and a nice twist to what you normally see from my columns. If it goes well, I'll explore other economic issues in pro wrestling.

-I'm loving baseball this year... damn Fantasy Team is doing bad, though. On Paper, I have a dangerous team. However, I'm just seeing inconsistency. I hope to turn things around, and I've got a good many months to do it.

-I saw "13 going on 30" the other day, the movie starring Jennifer Garner. Some suggest it's a Big rip-off. Somewhat, although you can argue that her whole experience as a 30 year old was a dream. It's somewhat touching, though, with the ending. Jenna Rank (Garner's character) saw her life in shambles as a 30 year old, so she changes that when she wakes back up in the closet as a 13 year old. Aside from what I thought was a corny magazine competition, I enjoyed the movie as a whole. I can't say it's up for an oscar, but it's worth seeing at least once.

-I'm awaiting 3 movies only this year... Van Helsing, Shrek 2, and Spider-Man 2. Nothing like Wolverine going up against Werewolf, Frankenstein, and Dracula. Shrek 2 will be enjoyable for Donkey only (good ol' Eddie Murphy). And I'm seriously pumped about Spider-Man 2. The story looks great and Dr. Octopus looks fantastic! It's a shame that nobody wants to do Spidey vs. the Sinister Six, though...

Email me about the Blog, and I should respond. Title it "Blog Feedback".

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-04-27T11:15:00.000-05:00

Ain't No Thang

-I'm absolutely loving NHL Hitz for the Game Cube. Best hockey game since NHL 95 (for the SNES), in my opinion. The more recent hockey games are getting too technical, and some goalies are just bastards to score on. NHL Hitz has a more open style of hockey, which the real NHL doesn't have. The NHL you see now has Neutral Zone Traps, clutching, many penalties not called, and the goons run the league. A talented offensive player like Mario Lemieux can't get down the ice without getting slashed or bodychecked. That's why I don't watch the NHL, and not just from the economics reason.

-MLB Slugfest 2003 from Midway is pretty good, too. I don't like the defense, though, as your outfielders are soooo sloooowww to get a ball that's hit past the infield. Otherwise, it's a good baseball game. Nothing, though, beats the original Ken Griffey Jr. game for the SNES!

-I'm actually pretty burned out of Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. I could drive every course now in my sleep, and my recent goal of getting a perfect 160 in the 150cc All Tour Cup has been deemed "impossible". I can't do it. One night, I won 10 races in a row. Then, on the last lap of one race, 3 freakin' blue spiked shells hit me. The dirty weapons make it impossible to get a perfect 160 on that cup. Argh, it frustrates me!

-I wanted to see John Kerry in Wheeling, WV the other day, but I was scheduled to work. Kerry's arrival might have received 3 days of hype in this area in advance, so I didn't know he was going to show up. Kerry's campaigners actually got pissed off when about 30 GW Bush supporters showed up outside of his speech in protest. Kerry played up his Coal mine visit and said he'd protect coalminers from foreign competition. For one, foreign competition on coal? Secondly, this is the same guy who has voted to reduce the usage of coal in the United States for the advent of more modern energy issues, such as more fuel efficient automobiles and looking into other forms of energy, such as solar energy or hydrogen power (which I actually agree with him on). Now, he's showing full support of the coal miners, a complete FLIP FLOP on yet another issue. You can say whatever about George W. Bush, but why would you want someone this inconsistent, like Kerry, in the White House?

-Fantasy Baseball... I'm just not getting consistency on my team. One week, my pitchers are great. Another week, they suck. One day my hitters are killing them out of the ball park, another week, they aren't. ARGH!!!!!!!! I look up and down at my team and am baffled why I'm not in the top 3 in my league. Baffled, I tell you. I have until late September to get there, though...

-NHL Playoffs. Don't care. NBA Playoffs... still don't care, especially for the first round. Teams like Boston or New York have no business being in the Playoffs. Watching the Lakers vs. Rockets the other day made me sick, too. The NBA officiating has become so bad that it makes the games unwatchable. Also, the Rockets vs. Lakers game didn't have to go into overtime. Damn ballhog Kobe Bryant couldn't pass to a wide open Karl Malone, who mind you, was red hot that day, in the final minutes of the game. Good thing Kobe caught fire in overtime, or lots of controversy would have happened.

-NFL Draft!!!!! I've never seen a draft with this much hype behind it. It was fun as usual, with many moves making you very intrigued for the 2004 season. I really liked Detroit's moves, especially getting Roy Williams. Harrington better have a good season this year, or he'll be out as QB. The NE Patriots have restocked and will repeat as Superbowl champions, you watch.

E-Mail me about anything on the blob. Be sure to put "Blog Feedback" so that I won't delete your mail.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-04-22T00:31:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Long time, no see. Sorry, for I barely have time to write anything online anymore.

April 21st was my birthday. I'm a good 24 years old now. Do I feel it? Of course. I can feel joints getting stiffer, namely my surgically repaired back and my right knee which I sprained at a workplace one time. I probably look slightly younger than 24, for I keep myself in good shape and I believe that excessive alcohol use results in some aging (I don't drink, whatsoever, nor do I smoke or do drugs).

I got a Game Cube for my birthday. Given that I play my brother's so much (Mario Kart, baby!), I was given one yesterday. That rules. I went out to my local Electronics Boutique and bought some used games that interested me. I bought NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz, and MLB Slugfest. I LOVE Midway sports games. The EA games have become too technical for my liking, as I prefer a more arcade style of play where more offense is to be had. I also bought Def Jam Vendetta. I'm so happy to be playing the AKI gaming engine again. The WWE and THQ are so arrogant to think their games would be great without that engine. HA! Damn game needs a create a wrestler, though.

I was shocked to see Parker and Stone DEFENDING Michael Jackson on South Park, aside from his parenting and poor physical conditioning. They ripped into the police pretty hard, but at the same time, made good points about MJ I never thought of. Good episode, albeit not a hilarious one.

Lil' Jon was SNUBBED out of the 2nd Season Greatest Hits Chapelle show! I swear, you can't go anywhere without someone imitating him. Great move by Comedy Central to move Chapelle to Tuesdays at 10 with new shows. They already had repeats in that timeslot of Chapelle, so the move is natural. Dave Chapelle has become HUGE in pop culture now, and for a moment, Charlie Murphy was more popular than his brother, Eddie. Just for a moment or at least for now.

Fantasy Baseball... UGH, talk about inconsistency! My pitching is on fire one week, but cold the next week. I'm guessing that Woody Williams is playing hurt, so I've benched his ass. What hurts my team, overall, is the HR output. I'm getting loads of RBI's from Ordonez, Berkman, Dye, and others, but nobody is going yard. For anyone who is asking about the SS position, I picked up Jack Wilson to bench Jimmy Rollins. Wilson is playing great to begin the season, and is even stealing more bases than ever... and he's a Pirate! Whooo!!!!!

I've got a busy weekend. I'll see you Tuesday!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-04-13T11:53:00.000-05:00

STUFF

-I don't know why various Democrats (Byrd, Kennedy) and various Democrat biased publications (Newsweek) are calling the War on Iraq as Bush's "Vietnam". It's the new smear campaign by John Kerry from behind the scenes. How low can it get for the Democrat party? Can't they provide their own policies instead of insulting the troops overseas, questioning Bush's National Guard service, or trying to pray that the economy goes bad (but it's quickly improving and booming?).

-Dave Chapelle's Show was probably the 2nd best Chapelle show ever, behind the Rick James/Charlie Murphy one. Wayne Brady was hilarious in his role, and Tyrone on Fear Factor had me laughing for a while. "I don't know if you know this, but I smoke rocks". The 2nd Season of Chapelle Show is a MUST HAVE on DVD.

-South Park was pretty good with the "You Got Served" episode, completely ripping on that movie and other dance movies that Hollywood puts out. I'm surprised, though, that South Park has yet to go after Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, or other recent events (they've covered Iraq several times already).

-Baseball... my players are starting to hit and pitch now, but the opening week was pretty damaging. All of my power hitters went cold, while every pitcher had opening day jitters. Plus, Jason Schmidt is on the Disabled List. I picked up Adam Dunn from the Free Agent market, and he seems for REAL this year. My closers aren't getting the opportunities, thus far, to collect saves. My shortstop position really sucks... anybody got a good one to suggest to me?

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-04-09T22:17:00.000-05:00

Hey, I didn't forget this thing...

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been working like a dog and have been away from the internet this week. My time is valuable.

-Smackdown SUCKED. It has truly become the B-Rated show that Vince McMahon has personally wanted it to be. No main event, making this 3 WWE shows in a row without true main events. I supported Bradshaw the first two weeks, but his character just didn't come off as intended this week. He needs to go get some tapes of Dallas and learn the tricks of the trade of what made J.R. Ewing so hated in the 1980's. The show, overall, just had nothing interesting going and no good matches, whatsoever. Chavo Guerrero is ready to jump into the heavyweight division, too.

-My fantasy baseball team SUCKS! All of my starters, except for Kip Wells (go Pirates!) started off bad. Opening day jitters, for I won't panic yet in 2nd to last place. My hitters are off to a cold start, too, especially Brian Giles and Lance Berkman. Both were hurt last year, and Giles is definitely hurt by the new Petco field's longer centerfield with wind blowing in.

-I'm so happy Major League Baseball has returned. NBA/NCAA basketball just doesn't turn me on anymore (I long for the days of the fast break) and I've grown tired of the NHL (too much clutching and grabbing, and too much goalie padding! Needs more offense!). I'm pleasantly surprised at the Detroit Tigers, who have had a year of experience with their youngsters and made some good Free Agent signings last year. I'm pleased with the Pirates already, but I know the end will be near when players begin to get traded. Oh well, I still love the game of baseball and I chear for any NL Central team to win it all (except for Cincinnati).

-Speaking of homeruns, Condoleezza Rice hit several out of the park in front of the heavily Democrat backed 9/11 Commission. For over 3 hours, this biased commission tried to make her sweat or slip up on something they could attack her on. She backed up everything with facts, and in 8 months, the poorly organized domestic intelligence and FBI weren't able to sniff out Al Quaeda's plan to attack the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and possibly another landmark in Washington DC. Why are we wasting precious tax dollars on this finger pointing campaign? Everyone agrees that an INTELLIGENCE FAILURE happened here in the United States, so why the hell are we wasting precious time instead of making domestic and foreign intelligence better? America is getting too divided on Iraq, the War on Terror, and stupid Washington politics during a time when we don't need to be divided!

I'll be back with a column on Tuesday, discussing RAW and other various issues. I've been itching to write a few extra columns based on economic issues in professional wrestling. Maybe if I turn in my latest revisions of my thesis paper sometime soon, I can get into some of the material that's been in my head for a few years now (i.e. wrestling unions, statistical analysis of WWE's business cycles, etc.). Hopefully, I can at least discuss the issue of wrestler unions, for that's a hot topic now that the WWE is somewhat of a monopoly (unless NWA gets on FOX Sport Net).

wrathoftito@yahoo.com - Title it "Blog Feedback", and I'll guarantee a reply.

2004-03-31T23:24:00.000-05:00

STUFF

-I bought the "Splash" DVD the other day. Fantastic stuff. I loved that movie as a kid, probably watching it the most other than Star Wars, Star Trek, and Beanie and Cecil cartoons. The DVD has been well restored, and the commentary with Ron Howard, the producer, and writers is great, along with the documentary on the movie. Good stuff. Recommended DVD buy.

-I disliked South Park. It just didn't do it for me. As a big Looney Toons fan, I saw that Mel Gibson was acting like Daffy Duck. It just didn't work, although I laughed when he was driving the vehicle ala the Road Warrior. Cartman was just too over the top with his Hitler impersonation and intentions. Not a good episode, in my opinion, and this was after 2 weeks of build up. But hey, Parker and Stone have 7 episodes this season, and one was bound to fail.

-I'm loving the Guns N Roses Greatest Hits CD. While I may wish songs like "Dead Horse" and "One in a Million" were on there, that's just nitpicking. The songs on the CD have been digitally restored and it's good collection of songs. "Sweet Child of Mine" is a fantastic song!

-On the subject of Music, I've been buying up greatest hits of my favorite bands lately. Stuff like Guns N Roses, the Who, Poison, Peter Gabriel, among others. I used to buy a lot of new stuff, too. That was when I could download mp3's before the feds started sniffing people out. Usually, I'd download a few tracks of an album. If I liked those songs, I'd buy the album. I've bought MANY albums that way since 2000. I would have never bought CDs from Lifehouse, Disturbed, Staind, among other bands if I didn't download several songs from each before buying. I'll just screw over the newer artists and pay the already rich bands by buying up Greatest Hits albums.

By the way, if the RIAA had any balls, they'd go after the dealers who sell USED compact discs. In my opinion, the resale of a CD is just as damaging if not worse than downloading, for a resale of a CD does not go to an artist or the recording industry's pocket.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-03-29T22:14:00.000-05:00

I'm going to Smackdown!

Watching Smackdown last Thursday, I saw an advertisement for Smackdown coming to Columbus, OH this Tuesday. Assuming tickets went on sale about a month ago, it took until 5 days before the event for me to find out. It either shows my area doesn't advertise Columbus stuff OR I just don't look up event dates anymore.

Regardless, there's a chance I'll be absent for the RAW review column. I need sleep and I need to get up early tomorrow to take care of some stuff before I travel to Columbus for the day.

Live long and prosper,
wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-03-28T17:13:00.000-05:00

"It's All Relative in West Virginia"

Governor Bob Wise of West Virginia is FURIOUS at Abercrombie and Fitch for their West Virgina t-shirt that says "It's All Relative in West Virginia". Bob Wise insists that it promotes an "an unfounded, negative stereotype", and he said that the shirts be stopped in sales, removed from catalogues, etc.

I actually cheer on Abercrombie and Fitch. Why? Because West Virginia earned that reputation. I'm not saying there's incest in West Virginia, don't get me wrong. But this state is such a joke economically and politically. You have idiots in Charleston making bad decisions for the state. The state budget is a total joke, and that's with taxes out the roof on everything (which scares businesses away). The state is divided by the North and South.

For example, I live by Wheeling, WV on the Ohio border. Wheeling, for years, relied on old-time industries for their economy, such as steel and other factories. When those industries diminished, there were no jobs created to replace those. Instead, Wheeling tried to keep those older and inefficient industries going. It's killed them to this day, for there are no jobs available in the area for young kids coming out of college to get. West Virginia, as a whole, has one of the worst college student moving rates around!

A few years ago, Wheeling made propositions in Charleston, WV for double digit funding to create outlet malls. For over 2 years, politicians in Charleston debated on the money given to Wheeling, and wasted a lot of time by sending government officials to Wheeling to "research" the area for the money. As time went by, other outlet malls were built around Wheeling... The outlet mall plan was to begin a clean up process for the entire city, which has a lot of run down buildings. The politicking in Charleston enabled Wheeling to get screwed out of funding needed to clean up the city and revitalize what was once a bragging point of West Virginia.

Stupid Bob Wise and his cries. This is a guy who wants to spend the Tobacco settlement money on his extreme spending habits rather than on healthcare or other things associated with tobacco problems. He's Bill Clinton wannabe (even cheating on his wife) who always sweet talks the state of West Viriginia into thinking everything is ok. It's not OK. West Virginians are over-taxed, the state is probably the poorest economically in the United States, the state's unemployment is high, workmen's compensation is out of hand, among MANY other problems politicians have given its citizens.

The worst problem is that when West Virginia sneezes, Ohio catches a cold. While Ohio's governor isn't perfect with Bob Taft (a Republican who acts like a Democrat with his want for tax hikes), it's not relative like West Virginia!

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-03-27T17:30:00.000-05:00

Fantasy Baseball Update

Thanks to any of the readers who analyzed my roster. After the draft, I knew my starting pitching COULD be in trouble for being weak after Halladay, Schmidt (if healthy), and Oswalt (if healthy). So I made some moves... I made two trades...

GONE: Brad Penny, J.D. Drew, Brad Radke, Jorge Julio, Al Leiter

GAINED: Kip Wells, Woody Williams, Fernando Rodney

Here's my updated line-up:

C - Javy Lopez
1B - Frank Thomas
2B - Luis Castillo
SS - Jimmy Rollins
3B - Aramis Ramirez
LF - Lance Berkman
CF - Brian Giles
RF - Magglio Ordonez
Utility - Hideki Matsui, Alex Sanchez, Erubiel Durazo

SP - Roy Halladay
SP - Jason Schmidt
SP - Roy Oswalt
SP - Mark Buehrle
SP - Kip Wells
Bench - Woody Williams, Ben Sheets, Jerome Williams, John Thomson

RP - Troy Percival
RP - Eddie Guardado
RP - David Riske
RP - Rocky Biddle
RP - Fernando Rodney

I'm loving my starting pitching, especially if Jerome Williams and John Thomson(now down with the Braves) turn out to be HUGE sleepers. I gave up JD Drew, yes, who could be the biggest sleeper of 2004. Then again, can he play through a season without getting injured? If my pitchers stay healthy, I should be pretty tough to beat this year, especially if sleepers come through.

I picked up Alex Sanchez purely for Stolen Bases. I'm afraid Rollins/Castillo won't pad those statistics like they used to, but you never know. Castillo doesn't run as much since he has Pierre in front of him, and Rollins thinks he's a power hitter.

By the way, my league is a Rotisseree style league... there are 5 offensive categories and 5 pitching. For offensive, it's HR's, RBI's, Runs, Steals, and Batting Average. For pitching, it's Wins, Strikeouts, ERA, WHIP (Walks + Hits / Innings Pitched), and Saves.

Several of you questioned why I had shitty relievers Biddle and Riske on my team. They are the named closer on the team, and Saves is a category. I used Jorge Julio as tradebait (he may eventually lose his closer job in Baltimore), and picked up Fernando Rodney. Rodney, barring a triceps injury, WAS going to be Detroit's closer. Detroit, however, just signed Ugeth Urbina, whom wasn't available in the Free Agent market. But anyway, it's to your advantage to get the team's official closer on your team just to rack up saves since it's a category.

I seriously like my chances in 2004 for winning it all.

2004-03-26T01:09:00.000-05:00

SMACKDOWN THOUGHTS

I don't have much time for a column, so I'll post thoughts here.

Pretty good show overall. GLAD to see Booker T turned heel. Now, pair him up with Teddy Long and you'll have a KILLER duo. Booker T, in my opinion, seemed a lot more energetic getting the opportunity to wrestle a main event singles match again. He has been clearly going through the motions since the WWE shit on his Tag Title run with Goldust. His match with Eddie was his best in a long, long time. Great to be able to work without Triple H screwing with your motivation.

Bradshaw has a new gimmick, as he's now in line for singles push number 37737474. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, however. He's using his actual publicity on the FOX News channel for his financial advice (good move) and he's changing his look, gimmick wise (another good move). I think the gimmick CAN work if he adds a lot of sleeze to it. Maybe watch old tapes of DALLAS and study up on what made J.R. Ewing a great heel on television. It's time for Bradshaw to do something with this push, meaning working on his new character and changing his stale style of wrestling. He should also become a locker room leader, not a locker room bully, with his almost 10 years in the WWE, in addition to being more cooperative in the ring. I've been a long critic of Bradshaw, but I'll give this new character and push the benefit of the doubt. Please, Bradshaw, don't let the WWE fanbase down with this latest push.

While is was kinda cool to see the Dudleys on Smackdown, their style will quickly get old. Turn them heel and give them mic time to rip into the crowd. Watch some of their old ECW shoot rants and how the crowd wanted to kill them back then. VERY over as heels back then.

RVD needs a new look and a heel turn, too. Maybe call him "Mr. Monday Night" again, since he's a RAW wrestler who moved to the Smackdown roster.

Decent show overall... I'll give it a [ B ]. I don't know why, though, you have Charlie Haas your jobbing guy. Wasn't the point of the Haas/Benjamin split to push those guys as singles wrestlers?

E-mail is encouraged: wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-03-24T23:57:00.000-05:00

South Park - Cartman/Jimmy cheating on Special Olympics

Holy shit! Parker and Stone have done it again! They've taken current events and spun them into great episodes.

I was in TEARS laughing at Jimmy calling Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and Mark McGuire "nothing but a bunch of pussies". Funny how they made Jimmy absolutely crazy on the steroids. I remember an after-school movie that delt with a teenager who was taking roids to enhance his football performance. He ended up getting really violent.

Cartman acting like a retard hilarious although I'll go to hell for laughing, but then again, he got his because he couldn't win the $1,000. He didn't account for being a lardass would hurt him in the competitions. Comparing steroid use to trying to cheat in the Special Olympics by acting like a retard was quite the comparison.

Great show, as Season 8 of South Park is shaping up to be one of the best seasons. Next week, it's Kyle watching "Passion of the Christ", after a 2 week build up by Cartman. Oh boy, that should get interesting!

As for Chapelle's show... It was OK overall. Some of the P. Diddy stuff was funny, and the thing with the Puppets at the end was pretty funny. I didn't expect the Snoop Dogg puppet to drop its pants. The lyrics of Charlie Murphy's trash character were hiliarious! The rest of the show was just there... The show needs more "True Hollywood stories by Charlie Murphy"!

2004-03-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

WWE Reads My Column?!?!

Just as a warning, this BLOG post contains spoilers....
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*****SPOILER*****

What did I say in my most recent columns? Move Rob Van Dam and Booker T to Smackdown, where they'd start a new career without having Triple H dominate them. THAT HAPPENED. Triple H was traded back to RAW, which avoided my fear of having HHH and Undertaker on the same freakin' show! Then, Stephanie wasn't named Smackdown General Manager, as Kurt Angle was named General Manager.

Holy shit, is the WWE reading my columns? Everything I asked for or questioned was immediately changed. Hell, they even turned Booker T heel, and the funny thing is that Teddy Long also moved to Smackdown. With Booker T and Orlando Jordan being the only black guys on Smackdown now, who is Teddy Long going to manage?

Just hire me as a booker already, that way I can bring up your ratings with good and logical storylines, and I can push your wrestlers in the right way.

*****END SPOILER*****

2004-03-23T10:44:00.000-05:00

Let the Celebrations Begin!

I've been pretty busy lately with work and my Master's thesis lately. No time to spare...

Best Hour of Television
Comedy Central, Wednesday Nights from 10 pm to 11 pm. NEW South Park and NEW Chapelle's Show. How in the hell can you beat that? South Park was classic with the Ninjas stuff, one of their funniest episodes ever. Amazing how they have instantly incorporated Mel Gibson's "Passion" and the Janet Jackson fiasco already. There's definitely more to come. Chapelle's 2nd Season has been out the roof! The Rick James sketch was pure brilliance and had me laughing for DAYS. The last episode had me laughing with Chapelle possibly knocking up Oprah. Chapelle isn't afraid to do anything on his show, much like South Park. It's my favorite hour of television!

DVD anticipation
I'm pumped for the June release of "Quantum Leap", first season, on DVD. That was a great series, one that actually got you pretty emotional at times with some of the time leaps Sam did. Secondly, novacaine of LoPForums.com informed me of "Dallas", the first season, coming out on DVD. Sure enough, I found that it's coming out by the end of 2004. I didn't watch Dallas growing up, but I got instantly hooked when my mother put on re-runs on TNN during dinner time. I then watched the entire series from start to finish on TNN and loved every moment of it. Dallas, the first 8 seasons at least, can't be touched in terms of dramatic television shows. Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing was pure gold, and Miss Ellie, Pamela Ewing, Sue Ellen Ewing, Jock Ewing, Bobby Ewing, and Ray Krebbs were fantastic characters as well. JR Ewing is the best heel that television has ever produced, hands down!

I'm also anticipating Matrix Revolutions and Kill Bill: Volume 1 on DVD in the next month or so. I hear Star Wars, the first 3, are coming to DVD in the Fall of 2004, if not by Christmas. I'm wondering, though, how much George Lucas has doctored those films up. Maybe he made everybody a Wookie like South Park did?

Terrell Owens in Philadelphia
Well, the crybaby finally got his wish. In my opinion, he would have been better off in Baltimore, if Jamal Lewis avoids legal problems. Baltimore has a better offensive line and the best running back to boot. In Philly, you have Donovan McNabb trying too hard to make plays, a running back by committee set up, among other things that's hidden by good coaching by Andy Reid. What says Kyle Boller is worse than McNabb? McNabb is a very inaccurate passer. Yeah, the Eagles receivers were dropping balls last year, but you can't blame everything on them. It's not like Terrell Owens caught every ball thrown to him, either, last year for the 49ers. Just you wait, too, if Owens has one bad game, the Philly media will be all over him like a pack of wolves!

Fantasy Baseball Update
The other day, I got rid of Al Leiter from the Mets in a trade for the Pirates Kip Wells. Leiter scares me with the 1.49 WHIP of last year, in that he gives up a lot of walks. Usually with pitching, I strive to keep my ERA and WHIP as low as possible. Wells did well in both departments last year. The problem with Wells is that he's a Pirate and won't rack up wins. That's OK, because I'm thinking Halladay, Schmidt, and Oswalt could possibly reach 20 wins each this season.

Movies...
Just nothing out there that interests me right now, and there's nothing this Summer that does, either. Unlike last summer, which unloaded blockbuster after blockbuster, it seems to be a dry summer for the box office (and good, cause they deserve this with the crybaby piracy stuff lately). Spider-Man 2 and Kill Bill 2 are the only things I'm anticipating this year. Especially Spidey, for I can't wait to see him do battle with Dr. Octopus, now made possible by CGI. I really enjoyed the first Spiderman, probably ranking it in my top 5 favorite movies of all time... Hey, what is my top five you ask?

MR. TITO's Top 5 FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL TIME

5. Spider-Man (Great storytelling, and Willam Defoe as Green Goblin ruled...)
4. Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (One of the funniest movies ever!)
3. Time Cop (I don't care if people hate Van Damme. The ending makes me cry, everytime!)
2. The Crow (The best comic book adaption, ever. Brandon Lee was awesome!)
1. Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (Ricardo Montalban was the man, and it had great producing, directing, and writing... revived Star Trek, singlehandedly)

Those are my FAVORITES... I'm not saying those are everyone else's favorites!!!!!!!!!!

Back on subject....

Various Multimedia Reviews...
While I'm busy, I always find time to dick around with multimedia. Let me give you reviews of what I've bought or was given lately:

Sonic Mega Collection for the Gamecube - I never had a Genesis, so when I saw this in the Walart Bargain Bin, I ate that shit up with a spoon! I always enjoyed playing Sonic over friends' houses, but I never liked the Genesis system as a whole to get it myself. Thank you Gamecube. Good game, although I don't care for several of the games that are advertised to be unlocked. Unfair. [ A- ]

Rocky for the Gamecube - Myself and Mrs. Tito have been on a Rocky kick, so given that this game is cheap now, I went out and bought it. It's pretty good, only missing Hulk Hogan as Thunderlips as a playable character. The boxing engine is OK, but not spectacular. I worked hard to unlock everyone, especially Ivan Drago so that I can attack everyone with his mammoth punches. I liked the Movie mode, which basically made you play through the entire 5 movies (although some animated scenes are very choppy). Overall, it's pretty good though. [ B ]

OZ, Season 3 DVD - I'm glad to get my "tits" (Tits is what the inmates call drugs) for my OZ fix, a show for which I followed heavily when it was on HBO. I'm extremely happy to have OZ on DVD, the first 3 seasons. This DVD, though, seemed rushed. The transfer doesn't seem like it was cleaned up and the special features just seemed empty. Only a few commentaries on the shows and deleted scenes? Can't you do more with the cast? [ B ]

Running Man, Special Edition DVD - Kudos to Artisan or whomever for really cleaning this movie up and boosting it with great surround sound. VERY nice. The special features, though, are a joke. They have nothing involving the movie or the actors featured in the movie. Instead, they have 2 documentaries. One was on reality TV shows, and the other was on government privacy. The latter was basically a bunch of professors, sociologists, and other so-called experts giving you a very Liberal interpretation of the Patriot Act, a bill which many Liberals actually signed into law. It seemed like a big stab at the person who pushed for this act to be passed, George W. Bush. The interpretations are very ridiculous and overblown, insisting that the Government was going to overtake your privacy. No, Liberals are going to take your privacy by creating a dependency on social programs, which will in turn give them total power on parts of your life. You wonder why Hollywood is accused of being Liberal... [ B- ]

---------------------

Not much else to say in this big update. Please email me at wrathoftito@yahoo.com . I like to hear from readers on stuff other than wrestling.

Live long and prosper.

2004-03-17T10:20:00.000-05:00

LOP FANTASY BASEBALL TEAM

Late last night, the 4th annual LoP Fantasy Baseball League draft was held. The league consists of 5 original members (myself included) and several members of LoP's staff. It's a pretty competitive league, especially given it's tradition of 4 years in the running now. I won the first year, while The Path of Rage won 2002 and VinceMig won 2003.

I had the 9th pick out of 10 picks last night. Rather upsetting, for I wanted a really strong bat at the top of my line up. However, I decided to start off with pitching and Cy Young winning Roy Hallada was my first pick and Jason Schmidt was my immediate next. Here's my line up:

C - Javy Lopez
1B - Frank Thomas
2B - Luis Castillo
3B - Aramis Ramirez
SS - Jimmy Rollins
LF - Lance Berkman
CF - Brian Giles
RF - Magglio Ordonez
Utility - Hideki Matsui, Erubiel Durazo, and JD Drew

SP - Roy Hallada
SP - Jason Schmidt
SP - Roy Oswalt
SP - Mark Buehrle
SP - Al Leiter
Bench - Brad Penny, Brad Radke, Ben Sheets

RP - Eddie Guardado
RP - Troy Percival
RP - Jorge Julio
RP - David Riske
RP - Rocky Biddle

I'm liking my offense. It's a nice mix of power, speed at SS and 2B (which is my usual plan going into the draft), and great batting averages. The Pujols, the A-Rods, the Bonds, and the Sorianos went rather quickly. Giles, Berkman, and Ordonez is a pretty nasty outfield, with Matsui and in my opinion, a big sleeper in JD Drew can fill in whenever. I made a great catcher pick, if only Lopez plays like 2003. I wanted Posada, though. Frank Thomas returned to old form at the end of last season, and ignited my team after I traded for him last year. I had to have him back and he was the best available 1B. Aramis Ramirez sucks at batting average, but his power numbers were returning by the end of the year. He's still young and a big HR season is very due. I may need more speed in the end, but we'll see.

I got out of the draft with 5 closers to fill 5 RP positions. You can't ask for anything else. I think the Angels and Mariners are going to give Guardado and Percival plenty of opportunities this year. Smoltz, Gagne, and Wagner went pretty quickly, as did many other closers like Rivera.

I have a decent starting pitching core. My league's starting pitching was spread out pretty evenly, so I'm not freating too much. Halladay and Schmidt are both well capable of 20 wins this year. Roy Oswalt is always good and he's in a staff with Clemens and Pettite! I'm banking on Buehrle and Leiter to have comeback seasons, and Penny, Radke, and Sheets were the best available. Starting pitching went FAST. I figure I could pony up a closer or something for another decent arm. I'm not to worried, though, with Halladay, Schmidt, and Oswalt as my first 3 starters.

Let me know what you think of my team: wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-03-16T17:11:00.000-05:00

STUFF

Long time, no see on the BLOG. I am strapped for time lately...

As for e-mails... I got POUNDED with e-mails regarding Wrestlemania. To make my use of time more efficiently, many of the emails are just getting read unless they ask something specific. I debate enough with people on wrestling to get into several hundred arguments with readers of a match or the whole event. Emails ARE getting read, and ones that say positive things like "I love your column" are always appreciated, even if I can't reply to them.

I've got the LoP Fantasy Baseball draft tonight... I won the first year, while The Path of Rage won the second and VinceMig won the third. It's a very competitive league and I can't wait for the baseball season to begin. I'll probably post my roster here.

I'm loving my brother's Gamecube, insomuch that I may breakdown and buy one myself. Mario Kart is one of my top 5 favorite games of all time now. I bought the Sonic Collection and Rocky from bargain bins to play. I never had a Genesis, but loved the Sonic games... now I have them all! I played Rocky to death just to unlock Ivan Drago. Pretty sick, eh?

Do I care about the NCAA Final Four men's basketball tournament? In the early 1990's, yes. I can remember Kentucky vs. Duke for the rest of my life. HOWEVER, thanks to the current style of basketball (where the guards don't play fast break and shoot with terrible percentages, leaving everybody else to rebound) AND from the NBA signing high school players, I've grown tired of basketball. NCAA, in my mind, has been diluted of great players and there's too much parity now. Too many upsets, in my opinion. I care about MLB baseball starting, which makes for February and March being my most annoying months for sports.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-03-12T18:41:00.000-05:00

Wrasslin' Stuff~!

I hope to write a Wrestlemania preview column. To be honest, it just doesn't feel like Wrestlemania time. Whether it's the lousy hype, no standout match on the card, or the possibility of Chris Benoit getting screwed. I'm just not motivated to write my annual Wrestlemania predictions, hype, and ranking column, which I usually do before the day before Wrestlemania.

Last night, I finished the Owen Hart book written by his widow, Martha Hart. My hope is to review it Wednesday. It's one of the most sad and sincere wrestling biographies that I've ever read and Martha Hart holds nothing back on details or thoughts on her husband's death.

Smackdown was good in terms of Undercard matches and GREAT with Steve Austin and Brock Lesnar at the end. I hope that Brock's leaving is a total work, because a Lesnar/Austin feud on Smackdown could equal great ratings. It's well worth giving Lesnar an easy schedule and more money if you can get a top money feud AFTER Wrestlemania. Instead, the WWE is going to let Lesnar walk away and the Undertaker is totally going to stink up the Smackdown roster as its top guy.

2004-03-10T19:04:00.000-05:00

Brock Lesnar GONE from the WWE!

This is HILARIOUS! It serves Vince McMahon right for overworking his talent AND from his constant hard-on for the Undertaker. Brock Lesnar is your present and future, while the Undertaker is your past. The WWE is touring way too much since the brands split, as they pack in a few thousand now at a 15,000 arena for a houseshow (not worth the time).

Maybe it's time to sign Goldberg to another year? I bet that Lesnar vs. Goldberg results in a double DQ, with Austin giving the Stunner to both. Just great.

2004-03-10T18:38:00.000-05:00

FEEDBACK!

what is your problem with Bradshaw?

Problems? First, he's had many opportunities at a push, only to fail each and every time. For someone whom the bookers seem to favor thanks to seniority or favoritism by the "Locker Room Enforcer", the Undertaker, he sure doesn't make much of an opportunity to improve his ability or drawing power. He just wrestles the same way he has since he was Justin Hawk Bradshaw.

Secondly, for being a so-called WWE veteran, he seems to be the one getting rowdy on long airplane trips (which leads to the whole fed getting blamed for troubles). Secondly, he acts immature by not selling for his opponents or working stiff in the ring. While we're on the subject of immaturity, he hazes every new wrestler who comes in. It's no little prank, but very cruel and painful initiations.

He's the type of locker room cancer that goes unseen by the WWE thanks to his seniority in the WWE, although it's under 10 years. Morale is hurt whenever the WWE turns a blindeye to his antics.

What did RF Video do to LoP?

RF Video used to have good news scoops (USED TO). LoP is a news compiler site, and we are one of the few out there who actually credits the source. So we credited RF Video for news, and for whatever reason, their news reporter named Gabe attacked one of LoP's news compilers for not crediting the source. The news compiler in question DID IN FACT credit Gabe at RF Video. Maybe he misread it or just ranted based off an incorrect informant, but his shots at the LoP reporter were very unnecessary. We haven't used any of their news ever since, although they no longer have any good exclusive news anyway right now.

What made things worse was the Ring of Honor stuff. That website and staff are REALLY particular any news being reported and they don't want their results posted. I remember when Feinstein was sending out news releases to LoP and I replied "why are you doing this when you're so strict on the news that's reported about your federation?". Needless to say, the e-mails stopped...

I have nothing against Ring of Honor. The guys at RF seem to have put together a nice and well run independent wrestling organization. I hear raves about them all of the time for being the best workrate shows in the country. Good for them. I wish them the best when it comes to Ring of Honor. Just save your hissy fit internet stuff for someone else.

2004-03-10T18:16:00.000-05:00

I'm BACK!!!!!!

My time is valuable, as I've said often. I just have no time to discuss wrestling, let alone a few other issues. Here we go...

Terrell Owens to Baltimore
Owens can cry and bitch all he wants. The Bottom Line is that his agent failed him and should be fired for not filing papers with the 49ers, stating that Owens would become a Free Agent. The 49ers had every right to trade him to Baltimore. Owens is crying because he had intentions of signing with Philly. Seriously, which team can be better in 2004? Philly is going to lose their backfield on defense, while Baltimore has a growing team, with Jamal Lewis (assuming he gets off his drug charges). I'd rather play in Baltimore, a place without the pressure of the always negative Philadelphia sports media, too.

Senate hearing on Steroids held today with NFL and MLB representatives present
People laughed when George W. Bush discussed cleaning up steroids in professional sports in his State of the Union speech. Well, it appears with the designer steroid, there is a serious steroid problem in both sports, namely baseball who just started testing from the last collective bargaining agreement. It IS a federal matter when you have million dollar teams in a billion dollar league that contain employers on illegal drugs. Steroids can be used to enhance performance, which can change an outcome of a game OR the amount of money a player receives. Sports need to be cleaned up of steroids, an illegal drug, and it's taking the Federal government's pressure to get the job done. Bravo to Bush.

Passion This!
Through this weekend, "Passion of the Christ" has accumulated $214 million domestically. In my area, it sells out often. I hope that the critics, namely the nutjob in the New York Times with a religious agenda, eat crow. People WANT to see this, and those who actually see the movie aren't offended. The anti-Jewish sentiment appears to be clearly overblown.

Top E-Mail providers sue spammers!
About damn time. I get HAMMERED with Spam on a daily basis, and it hurts my inbox from reading YOUR feedback. I'm not a big fan of having my name tossed around the internet by advertisers and scam artists.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-03-05T01:37:00.000-05:00

STUFF!

I Love Itunes.com and so do you!
I was given 2 Pepsi bottle caps with Free Songs from Itunes. When downloading the songs, they force you to download the Itunes program. It's not bad and it's a pretty cool selection of stuff, although some major artists want no part of this program (Metallica). At $0.99, I'd be willing to pay for a wanted song. Hell, if I was craving the song enough, I'd pay $5.00 for a song, at most. The reason why downloading occurs is because record stores are overpricing their albums AND they offer no CD singles (and when they do, they are overpriced). Teenagers/college students, your biggest album buyers, don't have all the money in the world to spend $15 or more on CDs at a place other than Circuit City or Best Buy. That's why downloading occurs, in addition to someone wanting ONE SONG off an album of total crap. I'd rather pay for ONE SONG.

What I'm discovering from Itunes is that they save their files as a .m4p file and not your typical .mp3... I guarantee that doesn't burn well onto a CD. I'm sure a conversion can be made...

Terrell Owens to the Baltimore Ravens
Wow, wow, wow... Assuming that Jamal Lewis gets off his year 2000 cocaine charges, Jamal Lewis will no doubt beat Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record with a dangerous passing threat in Owens. I guarantee that Ray Lewis will keep Owens in line, in addition to MUCH BETTER coaching in Baltimore than in San Francisco. Mariucchi was overrated and Erickson is a complete goof, and Owens had no respect for them. Baltimore won the Superbowl in 2000 and they are rebuilding to get to that point... the final piece of the puzzle has arrived, again, assuming Jamal Lewis doesn't go to jail.

SMACKDOWN
It was OK... Both shows just lack that one big match that will draw interest, or in the WWE's case, 1 million Pay Per View buys. That's a ridiculous number to achieve, given that the Wrestlemania 15, 16, 17, and 18 had 900,000 buys, tops. This is including the much larger fanbase than there is today. The WWE may be embarrassed with the PPV buyrate for Wrestlemania 20 of all things, and it could be a hurtful thing for the WWE stock in investors' minds.

But the Smackdown show was a cookie cutter for PPV hype shows, and it even tried the goofy wrestler vs. boss angle with Guerrero vs. Heyman. Of course, it went no where but a heel beatdown on the part of Kurt Angle.

The WWE seriously needs to sign Bill Goldberg for another year. The fact that they didn't AND did not hype Lesnar vs. Goldberg as the BIG match is simply ludicrous. Japan or NWA-TNA is going to ride off the WWE's fame on Bill Goldberg, and it's $1.5 million lost. I'd like to think Guerrero vs. Angle is a big deal and it should be a 5-star classic, but it's nothing to draw wrestling fans outside the industry, in addition to HBK vs. HHH vs. Benoit, which shouldn't have been booked as a 3 way match to begin with.

E-Mail is very much encouraged: wrathoftito@yahoo.com (if email wasn't responded to, it was deleted with the majority of spam I receive daily)

2004-03-03T12:36:00.000-05:00

How about some TITO NEWS LIVE~!?

McDonalds to Eliminate Supersizes by the end of 2004
What the hell? McDonalds insists that their menu will be "healthier" if they eliminate the Supersize products, such as fries and drinks. Healthier? You can eat anything in this world as long as you work out daily and don't snack. If anybody gets fat based off McDonald's food it's because they aren't working out and just sitting around at home. Get real. I'm tired of McDonald's, an industry who gives jobs to many people at the bottom of the economic ladder, getting blamed for America's fatass. People make their own decisions, and deciding to eat too much McDonald's and not working it off is what makes someone fat.

Who will run with John Kerry?
The names are out there... Wesley Clarke, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and even John McCain. Regardless of who Kerry takes, George Bush has $150 million to play with for 8 months, and Kerry's voting record WILL get badly exposed for inconsistency.

Bonds is BUSTED
More and more reports are surfacing that Barry Bonds took steroids... This breaks my heart. Bonds was a former Pittsburgh Pirate, and I've been a fan of his throughout his career. For steroid allegations to be forming in true fashion, it just greatly upsets me. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that steroids were distributed to Bonds in 2001, before he hit 73 Home Runs. This greatly upsets me and I hope baseball gets its act together, even if it means the Federal government using its muscle to clean the sport (and people said Bush was ridiculous to bring that up in a state of the union speech...).

Passion THIS!
$83.8 million during the 3 day weekend.... No such thing as bad publicity. It's funny that many factions in the United States denounced this film, yet during the weekend, you were lucky to find tickets for this show. People WANT to see it, and believe it or not, a good bit of the USA are christians. I hope the dollar signs will shut up Liberal Hollywood and the media, and finally give Mel Gibson some credit for producing a vision and what appears to be a great film (I'll see it sometime soon).

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-03-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

Some of your feedback...

Did you ever keep track of the number of crowd signs?

Mostly from 1999-2000, there were over 40 signs with my name on them spotted in the crowd, and even more with just Lords of Pain or LoP on them. For my personal signs, I lost count after 2001 after 50 or so. Given the amount of signs during 1999-2000, I could argue that I was one of the most popular wrestling internet columnists during the peak years of the WWE. This was when I wrote daily and was in your face. Plus, I had the chance to be on LordsofPain.net when we had loads of multimedia, which also helped my column get attention greatly.

If the WWE annoys you so bad, then why do you still watch?

Because I know that with the LOADED talent roster that the WWE has, anyone with a brain can put together great storylines and make the federation big again. Seriously, you've got some of the best polished workers in North America on your roster, but yet your business is rapidly declining? It's all about storylines AND pushing the right wrestlers. You can't push the likes of Rikishi, Billy Gunn, Mark Henry, and Bradshaw over younger guys or wrestlers who could work circles around them. In addition, I think the McMahons are making bad storyline decisions regarding the long term growth of their product, opting to let Triple H dominate the scene and greatly damaging the likes of Kane, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Chris Jericho. All 4 wrestlers have suffered since feuding with Triple H. Kevin Nash sucked beforehand and Shawn Michaels/Bill Goldberg were actually allowed to win more than once against HHH.

If you were offered a job with the WWE, would you take it?

Depends... If, for instance, I landed a role in the WWE on the writing team. I would first want to be offered a guarantee for not getting fired for offering ideas to the McMahons. Secondly, I would want several bodyguards present because my ideas would make a bunch of wrestlers mad. My philosophy is that the WWE needs to book on a long term basis. Right now, it's short term. The McMahons have become too cocky at the top, and now only book for their own personal amusement (I guarantee that the Mr. America feud was Stephanie and Vince's favorite storyline, ever). I would push the best wrestlers hard (Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels), turn Booker T and Rob Van Dam heels, try to make Triple H like he was in 2000 and that was as a heel who didn't squash every opponent, I'd put the mask back on Kane, I would merge the tag titles and have travelling tag champions again, push the Cruiserweight division and let them break free of the WWE handcuffs, and I would give Bill Goldberg an one year extension to his WWE contract. I would also be HISTORY INTENSE on my storylines, where wrestlers actually remember getting attacked in the past by another wrestler (whether it was years or months ago)

Would I get the job? wrathoftito@yahoo.com

Since you talk about him a lot, do you fear John Kerry?

No I don't. I just like to bring up what a hypocrite this guy is on issues, despite the LIBERAL media putting out polls and media smear campaigns against Bush. The dangerous thing about Kerry now and Bush's negative publicity now is that this is March 2nd, 2004. The election is November 2nd, 2004... A WHOLE 8 MONTHS AWAY! Once Kerry is officially elected as the Democrat candidate, his voting record (very inconsistent) will get exposed and there is plenty of time for unemployment to decrease and for Bin Laden to be found. Plus, I'm of the belief that the Clintons want the Whitehouse for 2008, and given their power in the Democrat party, they'll attempt to sabotage Kerry, behind the scenes, at any cost.

I don't fear Edwards or Kerry, even if they pair together. Both are against no real Democrat opponents, whereas Bush in 2000 was in a big dogfight with John McCain. Edwards is no match for Kerry, and Kerry has no match from the rest of the Democrat candidates (surprisingly, Howard Dean was a flop). Kerry has a longtime inconsistent voting record, and Edwards already has a heavy liberal voting record that will get exposed, too. Bush will win in 2004, period, and I'm very confident of that. Today, I voted Bush as my Republican candidate... he's running without opposition, but hey, I'd vote for him anyway.

LOTR won the "Picture of the Year" at the Academy Awards... which movie do you think should have won the award?

This is based on my own opinion, but MY FAVORITE movie of 2003 was either Finding Nemo or Kill Bill Volume 1. One of those two, but I'm playing favorites.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-02-28T23:32:00.000-05:00

I'M MR. TITO, BITCH!!!

Oh where, oh where have I been? Rather busy, actually. I wrote a significant chunk of my Master's thesis on Wednesday and have been out of the house for most of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. What can I say, my time is valuable?

I've got a lot on my plate, too. I've got DVDs to catch up on and I'm reading Owen Hart's book co-written by Martha Hart, Owen's widow. I said I wouldn't buy it, yes, but I was lured into temptation. It's very good so far and one of the most intimate writing styles I've seen since Foley/DDP's books. Poor Martha's world was rocked in an instant when Owen died. They were about to move into a new house, maybe try for a 3rd child, etc. It's a complete shame as to what happened to not only wrestling fans, but those who knew Owen personally. This book captures a lot of the heart of Owen and his family, and the first two chapters that I've read are very moving to say the least.

I caught most of Smackdown. Eh... The show is lacking the sparkplug that Chris Benoit provided, especially when you have Billy Gunn getting a longer match with Brock Lesnar. Jesus, that was a BAD match and Gunn's inability to perform here in 2004 was greatly exposed. I also wonder what happened to the World's Greatest Tag Team's push? They beat the APA at No Way Out, but it appears as though the APA is getting the Tag Team title shot and the Bashams, too, are still involved with Rikishi/Scott 2 Hotty.

Enough, I have a book to continue...

2004-02-25T18:04:00.000-05:00

News, Notes, and more!

John Kerry blames Ohio Job Losses on Ohio
Seriously, does John Kerry ever analyze the situations of the states before he goes there for a pep talk? Firstly, many of the big factory jobs went under during the CLINTON ADMINISTRATION. Take, for instance, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel who went bankrupt under Clinton's watch. Look at how Cleveland has rotted during the 1990's and all of the river jobs lost. John Kerry is still insisting that it's ALL Bush's fault that jobs are being sent overseas, when hypocrite Kerry is fully behind Free Trade and voted YES to NAFTA and other free trade legislation. What a hypocrite. Last time I checked, Bush tried to put tariffs on steel and is trying to attempt to put them on textiles. Looks more anti-free trade than John Kerry. John Kerry will be a tremendous joke of a president, if elected.

Jamal Lewis busted for Drugs
It's funny that the NFL threw a hissy fit over ESPN's Playmakers, insisting how it incorrectly portrayed professional sports athletes. Here is a guy who almost broke Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record, but can't keep his nose clean. Just throw away your potential, please, and continue to give the NFL a bad name. Great role models, indeed.

Liberal Media reports "Greenspan wants to CUT SOCIAL SECURITY"
I bet several older people had heart attacks when they saw CNN or the AP report Greenspan's suggestions this way. What a joke. Talk about a smear campaign against Bush. What Greenspan said is that unless tax hikes occur, several social security benefits will be cut. If these media outlets would actually THINK for once, they'd realize it was implying that Social Security be REFORMED. Seriously, the current system will go bankrupt in 10-20 years at the rate of the babyboomers beginning to retire. Things need to be changed and current workers need to have a way to spend money for themselves and not to the current retirees.

Citrus Listerine is FANTASTIC
Have you tried the new Natural Citrus Listerine yet? Holy cow, it's delicious! I'm hardlined on using Listerine, for it's stinging sensation makes your mouth feel clean. Yeah, it takes like shit, but this new Citrus flavor is very nice. If it wasn't poisonous to drink, I'd chug the stuff!

Oral sex causes mouth cancer!
Scientists in England have linked ORAL SEX to mouth cancer, stating that STD's obtained from oral sex will open the door for cancerous tumors to pop up in your mouth. Yikes, I'm sure that's bad news for many people who already aren't getting oral from their partners! I can see it now... "honey, can you give me oral"? "No, I'll get cancer if I do so!" Another reason to panic in this world...

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-02-25T01:20:00.000-05:00

How about some more News Headlines?

So much for John Edwards...
John Kerry won Idaho and Utah pretty easily against John Edwards, instead of the close Wisconsin race we saw last week. Whoopee... John Edwards is too unknown, still, to be winning votes in the primaries to run for president. He should try to run in the future. Both Edwards and Kerry were touting that Bush was already moving on the attack against John Kerry, though, in both recent campaigns. Well, what has been Edwards and Kerry's campaigns? They don't give us real issues other than the usual (let the UN do everything overseas, support union workers (but lie to them in the end, such as John Kerry who supports free trade!!!), take back Bush's tax cuts, and socialize healthcare), and their campaign speeches are nothing but Bush bashfests. I'm beginning to see Kerry sweat, though, when the Republicans begin to question his record. Here's a guy who flip flops on EVERY issue, and a good case will be Gay Marriage, which he was clearly against when own homestate tried to make an amendment. Now that Bush is trying to make a Constitutional amendment, guess who will now be FOR gay marriage.

Bush wants to impose a Constitutional Amendment to outlaw Gay Marriage
Great transition, eh? I've said it once and I'll say it again. MAKE A LAW. Either ban it or make it legal. I'm tired of all of this pussy-footing around the issue for votes and I'm tired of the courts making decisions to create the laws. For the love of God, say it's legal or illegal. I like Bush's idea of Constitutional Amendment, and then allowing for states to offer Civil Unions if they choose to do so. It gives a clear definition to marriage AND it gives the states some rights and freedoms of their own. It's a win-win situation, in my opinion.

Clinton Portis for Champ Bailey/2nd Round Pick
If it happens, that's quite a blockbuster trade in which both teams win. In my opinion, Clinton Portis is a gem of a running back. Then again, look what the Broncos have produced in terms of running backs. Mike Shanahan is a master at eyeballing running back talent, and Portis does have a pretty good back up to fill his shoes. If that remains true, getting one of the best defensive backs in Bailey and a 2nd round pick is well worth trading Portis for. I love a good blockbuster trade, especially in football where the caps are so tight. Also in trade news, Keyshawn Johnson may be traded to Dallas. Wow, they really need him with Galloway, Glenn, and Bryant, each of which are just as good as Keyshawn here in 2004.

Eminem is going after Apple
For an Itunes commercial, Apple had a kid listening to a song on headphones. The song was "Lose Yourself" by Eminem from the 8 Mile soundtrack, and he was singing along. Eminem's voice and likeness weren't used, it was just someone singing his song. What an idiot. Yes, it's his lyrics. Great. But if a kid is listening to it on Itunes, wouldn't that mean that the song is available on there? If someone purchased the song on Itunes, wouldn't that translate into money for Eminem? Couldn't that song maybe interest someone into buying the 8 Mile soundtrack? Maybe get them into other Eminem songs or albums? It snowballs more positively than negatively for Eminem. Yet, he's such a stuck up asshole and hypocrite to do such a thing. I grow more sick of the guy by the year.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-02-23T15:00:00.000-05:00

MORE Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How can I join LoP as a columnist?

Since I began the Phat Pharm a few years ago, LoP has used a farm-system style to hire columnists. Right now, we use LoPForums.com as a farm system in the Columns section. "Columnist of the Month" contests are held there, and your column is open to criticism from other posts (which makes for improvements for the future). When an opening happens, LoP puts their heads together and decides who is ready for the main board.

Do you make money as Mr. Tito?

No. Calvin has never paid me for my services, ALTHOUGH I have been given a few t-shirts during the several attempts to sell merchandise. The closest thing to making money was getting to run an ad banner at the bottom of my columns, in addition to one website (X-Entertainment.com) paying for advertisement in my column. Other than that, no real payment. I've always done wrestling columns for fun and I'm completely grateful for getting the opportunity from Calvin.

Have you ever considered retiring as Mr. Tito?

Fall of 1999, I almost retired. Schoolwork that quarter was HEAVY (Calculus, Chemistry, and 2 English classes), and I was stressing out that I couldn't write my column daily and respond to readers through email. I was somewhat talked out of it by former assistant webmaster, Ryan Brander, and I also reorganized my ways to become a more efficient columnist.

Early 2002... I was completely fed up with the WWE product after the WCW/ECW Invasion completely failed, thanks to the WWE's creative team and Vince McMahon's ego. Absolutely terrible stuff, but for whatever reason, I didn't stop and kept writing/watching despite a very, very bad product. I think the brand extension sparked my interest, especially the Smackdown roster when Paul Heyman got the head booking job.

Ever consider jumping to another website?

Never. While I did help out other websites (I posted for top-rope.com, for example, since Chill-N or Nick Evanish was a fellow poster of LoP to help him out), I never considered leaving LordsofPain.net for another website. Several rival websites of the late 1990's made me offers, but I always recognized that LoP was not only the best situation for my column, BUT I felt that the sites who made offers weren't as good as LoP. I don't think I'd ever leave the man who gave me an opportunity to write, Calvin Martin, that is unless someone offered me a guaranteed contract of 5 digits to leave, meaning I'm writing as a full time job. :)

What wrestlers have contacted you?

Crash Holly (may he rest in peace) and a few ECW midcarders (forgetting names...) are the only wrestlers who have contacted me themselves. I mostly get wrestler comments about my column through their webmasters, which was the case of Diamond Dallas Page, Hardy Boys, Zach Gowen, and a few others. Many wrestlers know that their own words will burn them in the long run, especially if it's a criticism of a paying customer.

What wrestlers have you met and did you admit that you are Mr. Tito?

I never admit that I am Mr. Tito to them. Why? I want an autograph and a picture, fool!

I've met Torrie Wilson, Matt Hardy, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels through autograph sessions or meet and greet. All 4 of those WWE personalities were extremely nice and caring about their fans. I've just had a few brief words with Perry Saturn and Shane Douglas at an ECW houseshow, and I met Virgil once at a gym when I was little. Wrestlers don't come to this area very much, and only lately have I been trying to attend meet and greets in the big cities.

Are the Bad Tito columns coming back?

The Bad Tito columns were specialty columns I made for Ryan Brander's Evolution website and for the Phat Pharm. It was more or less, criticisms of internet wrestling websites and their ridiculous ways. I'm not really motivated to look around and get material by looking at petty websites that make up news. I still hate Monkey and Baboone, for the record.

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-02-23T00:33:00.000-05:00

So I said RECTUM, damn near killed 'em!

-HOLY TESTICLE TUESDAY! Great day for DVD on this coming Tuesday, February 24th. "OZ: Season 3" comes out on DVD, for I've been craving my tits (it's what the prisoners call drugs in Oz) since getting Season 1 and 2 during the holiday season. I watched all of it on HBO, but seeing them again is just as addictive! Secondly, "Just One of the Guys" finally comes out on DVD. This is a very overlooked comedy from the 1980's and a recommended rental for everyone. I used to watch it daily when it was on HBO. Also on DVD Tuesday, we get the first season of Star Trek: Voyager. Seriously, who is going to buy that? Voyager was a total pile of crap, especially with the way they handled the Borg and turned them into complete pussies!

-CHAPELLE SHOW! Probably the funniest show on TV right now. I was in tears from laughing at the Charlie Murphy/Rick James stuff. I can't help but keep saying "I'm Rick James, Bitch!" to everyone I see! Oh man, it's too funny!

-BARBIE and KEN have broken up? I guess that confirms everyone's theory that Ken was gay all along. I guarantee his true role was as Barbie's metrosexual shopping buddy. Then again, Ken could be following the song "Who's Your Daddy" by Toby Keith and being Barbie's sugar daddy while everyone is away from school. Ah fuck it, Ken is gay and how could he not want to please a rich blond bimbo with gigantic breasts with lots of gorgeous friends with enormous knockers, too? When you have two missles aimed at you like that, how can you possibly turn it down or be gay? Poor Ken gets the FINGER OF SHAME for breaking up with Barbie, and I'm sure Mattel will introduce a new shopping buddy for Barbie in the upcoming months.

2004-02-23T00:04:00.000-05:00

Monday...

I'm taking Monday off. I'll be pretty busy, insomuch that I won't be able to sit down at a computer.

I HOPE to have columns for both Tuesday and Wednesday this week. HOPE. RAW will at least be reviewed.

2004-02-21T21:30:00.000-05:00

What a shame!

I'm convinced that Nelly and Justin Timberlake are trying to ruin GOOD things.

After embarrassing the NFL at the Superbowl this year with lousy and offensive performances, Nelly and Timberlake just released a very bad single that uses riffs from AC/DC's "Back in Black". It sounds freakin' terrible and both artists should be ashamed of not coming up with something on their own.

A good reason I hate the majority of R&B, hip hop, or rap is because of the sampling of older stuff. I prefer bands, who can not only sing, but write the music that they play with INSTRUMENTS, not equipment at a recording studio or a turntable.

It's a damn shame, I tell you.

2004-02-21T21:25:00.000-05:00

Go wrestle in China, already!

Joanie Laurer, which most people know her as the WWF's Chyna, appears to not be in NWA-TNA after all. It didn't take long for her to blow yet another opportunity in professional wrestling. Her big head got the best of her, for she had a brief dispute over plane tickets, among other things.

After being on the cover of Playboy and getting lots of attention while in the WWE, she's become NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING. And why? She bit the hand that fed her, and she, like many others before her, thought she was better than the place that made her. Until she improves her attitude, she'll never find steady work, whether it's acting or wrestling.

Karma has hit her so many times, and she has nobody to blame but herself.

2004-02-21T02:33:00.000-05:00

How about more news and notes?

Ralph Nader to run for President!
Oh no, the Democrats are going to run for cover! Nader declared that he'd run on an independent ticket, but in my opinion, he'll most likely reunite with the Green Party to get on more ballots (and since the other Green candidates are much weaker). Democrats blame Nader for New Hampshire and Florida's loss through Nader taking away key numbers of votes. HOWEVER, if memory serves me correctly, didn't Al Gore fail to win his homestate of Tennessee in 2000, in addition to Clinton's homestate? Besides, I'd argue Pat Buchanan was just as damaging as Nader was in Florida for George W. Bush.

Gay Marriage in San Francisco
San Fran, arguably the gay capital of the United States, is issuing out marriage licenses to homosexual couples at will. This causes a great deal of controversy, due to it violating state law (Proposition 22, voted for and created in 2000) and since the Mayor of San Francisco isn't upholding state law. Arnold probably should have cracked down from the beginning, but he let it get out of hand. This is sooo going to get tied up in the courts, and eventually make it to the Supreme Court. I, myself, would like it not to be decided in court. Either make it an amendment or declare Civil Unions legal. Do one or the other, eliminate the controversy, and let's move on to other more important issues in this world. Especially in California, a state of which has enough stupid shit to get attention as it is.

So long Sex and the City...
I never saw the point in this show, other than females or gay fashion critics enjoying the chit-chat or the clothing trends each of the stars would start. I only watched every once in a while just to see Kim Cattral's boobs, and that's getting desparate for softcore porn. I find other HBO shows to be MUCH better than Sex and the City, namely Dream On, which still remains the best half-hour HBO show ever.

Great Barrier Reef in Trouble
A study was released recently citing that the Great Barrier Reef, a coral reef on Australia's coastline, will lose it's cover in 2050 and collapse in 2100. The reason? Global Warming. Oh please. How can a slight temperature change in the water cause coral not to be produced? It's WATER POLLUTION that is causing the coral reefs to suffer. Just look at all of the studies about Mercury content in the fish lately. Our oceans and rivers have had crap dumped in them for years by industries, and given that many 3rd world countries are beginning industrialization, more water pollution is occurring on top of the past water pollution. Quit using a theory with some merit (but not fully proven) as a reason to make people care about coral reefs.

University of Colorado Mess
What a crazy place. My best wishes goes out to the families if the females who are pressing rape charges that are true. I guarantee this type of behavior, having hookers at college parties for high school recruits, happens at every major campus. But for it to get out of hand like this... Isn't it amazing at how quickly college programs are getting busted on illegal accounts lately?

wrathoftito@yahoo.com

2004-02-21T00:51:00.000-05:00

Taking the Weekend OFF...

The streak ends at 5. I just want to thank everyone who made it possible.

Actually, I've got a lot to do this weekend, including writing a good bit of my thesis paper on Saturday. Besides, it's late at night as I type this and I don't feel I could give a column a full effort. The next column was intended to review the latest Best of Backyard Wrestling DVD, and I wanted to talk about backyard wrestling in addition to this.

I may be posting some stuff here...

I encourage feedback, to which you can send it at wrathoftito@yahoo.com. I have posted some feedback here, and the more the merrier to make for some interesting posts here.

2004-02-20T00:53:00.000-05:00

Some feedback...

Do you like any of the Democrat candidates?

I like Joe Lieberman. He's got a respectable voting record, one that doesn't play politics unlike John Kerry's or John Edward's early career. I actually started liking Lieberman in 1998 when he openly scorned Bill Clinton for his sex scandals in Congress. I'd easily say that Lieberman is one of the most respectable Senators that we've had in the last 10 years or so? He's a good man and I don't know why Democrats hate him so much (I'm sure they'll say he's a closet Conservative, the usual).

You've been high on WWE DVD's lately. What are you going to review next?

I have Monday Night War, which I'll review after publishing this BLOG. I also have the Shawn Michaels DVD, which is a little late to review that. I give that DVD an A-. Great matches, but lacking in the information department for each match, including the fluffy commentary by HBK and Kevin Nash during one of their matches. Many have suggested Mick Foley's. Maybe I'll ask for it for my birthday, which comes up in 2 months and 1 day. :) I'm not too interested in the Cage Match DVD, though. I've seen most of those matches already. I want inside info on each match, not just the matches themselves.

You seem to reference Star Trek all of the time in your columns. Are you a big Trekkie?

Yes and no. I don't like watching the television shows. The ones I like, I have on tape, such as TOS's Space Seed, Mirror Mirror, and others, while I like just a few from the Next Generation, such anything involving the Borg. I'm more of a movie Trekkie, for Wrath of Khan is my favorite movie EVER and always has been since I was a little kid. I love the whole trilogy of 2, 3, and 4, which in my opinion, is a trilogy I'll line up against any other trilogy (I can hear the hatemail piling up!). I like Parts 6, 8, and 10 as well... I'm more of an original series movie kind of guy, as I watch those way more than the TNG films.

Will you ever post a picture of yourself or reveal your real name?

No, no, no, and no. Did I say "no"? I'm one of the few people who have stayed with a nickname, and I like to keep it that way. I like to keep it mysterious, and part of the fun is hearing a reader ask "is your name really Tito?".

2004-02-20T00:42:00.000-05:00

More News and Notes...

This was fun yesterday, so how about it again?

AFL-CIO backs John Kerry
What a joke. The AFL-CIO is or was the largest organized labor union in the United States of America, and they are completely against Free Trade and have been since 1970's when jobs began moving overseas. Labor unions have mostly backed Democrats since the days when Woodrow Wilson was pretty nice to them during the 1910's. So they follow suit here, but the problem is that John Kerry SUPPORTS Free Trade. *GASP* He was for NAFTA, and it's utter hypocrisy to hear him preach on at a union rally when he's voted on legislation to hurt unions, in theory. So stupid...

Mel Gibson's Passion movie stirs debate
Does anybody else believe that the movie studios for this film purposely send out feelers to the media to get discussion going to equal more ticket sales? They let many media outlets, already, view the early edition of the film (minus the special effects) to get discussions going. Clearly an advertising ploy, and we'll see how it does in the box office.

Mark Brunell signs with the Washington Redskins
I question this signing, even though Joe Gibbs is now calling the shots in Washington. Brunell had the convenience of having Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell to throw to, and he still couldn't take the Jaguars to the Playoffs regularly. In my opinion, he's not worth roughly $6 million per year that the Redskins are paying him (and where does Daniel Snyder find the cap room for this guy?). The Redskins need a RUNNING BACK, for Patrick Ramsey isn't a bad quarterback and he'll make another team pretty happy.

2004-02-19T01:35:00.000-05:00

Some News and Notes...

Howard Dean backs out of Presidential Campaign
While I disagree with him politically, I admire the energy he had in his campaign. It's funny, though, that he was once the frontrunner of the party before Iowa and dominated the polls, yet he never won a Primary once the elections began. Dean, in my opinion, killed himself with his mouth, insisting that Bush knew about 9/11, saying he supported guys with Confederate flags on their trucks, among other things. Plus, in every speech, he kept saying "we'll take back that flag that doesn't belong to Rush Limbaugh". What does Rush have to do with your campaign? You are running against DEMOCRATS, not a conservative radio host.

Yahoo and Google Split, so does Disney and Pixar
Many are predicting that Yahoo and Disney are making BAD decisions by letting go pretty big sub-companies. YES, the Google search engine has become insanely popular and Yahoo has benefitted. YES, Disney benefitted from Toy Story, Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., and Finding Nemo. But as the big businesses they are, don't you believe Yahoo/Disney will pick off several staffers from each company and move on? Seriously, because great businesses don't let bigtime moneymakers walk away for nothing. And it makes you wonder if Yahoo and Disney were there to regulate or sift out the bad ideas from each of the sub-companies. Maybe Pixar and Google are like Vince Russo to Disney/Yahoo's Vince McMahon. Vince Russo thrived under Vince McMahon, but suffered on his own.

Norah Jones sells 1 million copies in first week!
Holy cow! I'm shocked. It's possible to sell many albums in the modern age of downloading! Congrats to her, although I'm not sure why anyone would buy her music or why she dominated the Grammy awards last year. Then again, she's not in my musical tastes.

2004-02-19T01:29:00.000-05:00

Greg Maddux signs with Chicago Cubs

Maddux rejoins his first club with a 3 year, $24 Million deal. In my opinion, it's a CRAZY deal since Maddux has battled injuries the last 2 years and is getting older. He's no Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, or Roger Clemens, who pitch on pure heat. Maddux is a placement pitcher, who wins or loses based on how the umpire feels that night.

I do especially like the Cubs rotation now with Prior, Wood, Maddux, Clement, and Zambrano. This should help them compete with the Astros, but in my opinion, the Astros seem more potent on both sides of the ball than the Cubs. The Cubs seriously need someone to help Sosa in the order.

In other news, the Pirates have signed headcase Raul (sp?) Mondesi and Orlando Merced to contracts. Merced? He was washed up after his first few years in the majors, and Mondesi was thrown off the Yankees for bad behavior. Ugh. It's no wonder why the Pirates are in the cellar, while the Oakland A's, with the same payroll, are in the playoffs. DUH!!

2004-02-18T02:48:00.000-05:00

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why not?

Can I join your Fantasy Baseball League?

No, sorry. The league I run was originally started on the old LoP Forums, and it's in its 4th year running. 5 out of 10 of us are still in the league, and the other 5 spots I fill with LoP staffers I can know and trust to play all year round and to not sabotage the league.

If there's enough encouragement, I'll open one to challenge readers, for I'm pretty damn good at Fantasy Baseball (out of the 3 years, I won once, placed 4th another time, and placed 2nd last year). Fantasy Baseball, in my opinion, is the best fantasy sport to get into and it truly makes you appreciate the game of baseball. Highly recommended to join a league somewhere.

Why don't you go daily any more?

No time to write daily, to be honest. I work a good 40 hours and my schoolwork is pretty intense.

Plus, to be honest, I can't write on the WWE more than 3 times a week any longer. It bores me, and I had fun reviewing WCW, ECW, and the WWF at the same time. Too much fresh material to write about. Now, it's just the WWE since it's the only fed on cable to watch.

I am trying to go daily this week, given the heavy amounts of wrestling multimedia piling up.

Where did you get your start?

I was a big fan of LordsofPain.net during the summer of 1998, and one day in October of 1998, I saw a post from the webmaster, named Painlord at the time, asking for someone to write a daily column. I applied and Painlord (later using his real name, Calvin) gave me an opportunity out of the blue to write daily. The rest is history, and I sincerely appreciate the opportunity he gave me to express my wrestling views on LordsofPain.net.

The Mr. Tito name?

I love Vh1, and I watched the Jackson 5 movie that they air from time to time. One night in 1997, on my cousin's computer, I posted as "Tito" in an old Microsoft chatroom just because I found it to be funny when Joe Jackson yelled "TITO!! GET A SWITCH!!" after Tito broke Joe's guitar string. It stuck, and my cousin and his friends called me that from there on out. In a mechanical drawing class I took my Senior year, I took the name a step further by screwing with the Teacher's head in writing "Tito" as my first name. It stuck there, too, and soon there were other Jacksons in the classroom, with Jermaine, Michael, Marlon, Randy, and Jackie signing their names to their drawings, while we called the teacher Joe Jackson. It was fun at the time. With the Tito nickname, I found it convenient because I could use it on the internet instead of my real name (good idea to avoid your real name getting signed up on advertisers). When I was hired for LoP, I wanted to use the Tito name, so I stuck the "Mister" in front of it to sound professional.

What is the best column you have ever written?

Easily, my NWO History Column, which is probably my biggest column in length and it's heavily detailed, capturing events on the television shows/Pay Per Views and backstage gossip/news. The version I posted here, I believe, is the older version of the column. I have updated it several times. Search the archives to find the fully updated NWO column, namely after the NWO was broken up in 2002 in the WWE.

2004-02-18T01:32:00.000-05:00

Big bad John Kerry

Kerry Edges Out Edwards in Wisconsin Primary

Kerry won Wisconsin with around 40% of the votes, while John Edwards had around 34%. Can Edwards win? Of course not. Kerry has a lot of momentum and Edwards is just too much of an unknown to challenge Kerry. Seriously, did anybody really hear of Edwards, Howard Dean, or Wesley Clark before the Democrat primaries? No they did not. Kerry is the most popular because he tried to run for president once and he's been a politician for quite some time.

The fact that the media overblows this dominance by Kerry in the Democrat primaries is ludicrous. He has NO strong opposition among the Democrat candidates. Throw Al Gore or Hillary Clinton against him, he'd lose in a heartbeat (although I'm shakey on suggesting Gore could win, given his downfall lately in the public eye and after the election of 2000).

Sure, because of the extensive coverage and the appearance that Kerry is a strong frontrunner (although having no strong competition for the Democrat candidate) helps him in various polls against Bush. It's amazing, though, that he's not beating Bush harder because of the intelligence problems regarding Iraq and the unemployment rate. Keep in mind that this is before Bush is able to start his own campaign, and Kerry's voting record WILL get exposed for being very inconsistent.

By the way, some reports are hinting that Ralph Nader might run for President again. I hear a lot of Democrats certainly don't want that again (then again, Pat Buchanan took away a lot of Bush votes in 2000, namely in Florida).

2004-02-17T00:36:00.000-05:00

Free Songs from Pepsi?

I'm curious about the Free Downloads from the Pepsi bottles. If you win (and apparently, there's a 1 in 3 chance of winning), you get to go on Itunes.com and download a song for free using a special code. If anybody has one, I'm curious about the song selection.

Just wondering, in case I have to drink a lot of Pepsi to get some hard to find songs without purchasing an album for ONE song.

2004-02-16T19:20:00.000-05:00

A-Rod Trade

Yet another example of why Baseball's economics system is shooting the game right in the foot. The Yankees are set to go over $200 million in payroll for 2004's season, and that is utterly ridiculous. While I personally think they'll miss Soriano at 2nd for his offense (not defense!), A-Rod's addition to the line up is just SICK! Lofton, Jeter, A-Rod, Giambi, Sheffield, Williams, Posada... I mean, COME ON!

Hopefully, the loss of the starting pitching, namely Andy Pettite will be the undoing of the Yankees. Their farm system is seriously shot at this point, for it will be interesting if they can make any significant moves for players at the Trading Deadline. Hell, I don't even think their bullpen is that special.

I'm wondering how the A-Rod trade rumors to Boston AND A-Rod's signing will affect Boston, not that I'm a fan. I like the acquisitions of Schilling and Foulke, especially if Derrick Lowe gets his stuff together again. Should be a fun season, even though my Pirates will suck.

2004-02-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

Some stuff about Mr. Tito

People ask me about my personal stuff or opinions on outside stuff all of the time. Let me just give you a brief introduction:

Political affiliation? I grew up in a heavy Democrat/Liberal household, but I was always more conservative than the rest and I disliked Bill Clinton's run as the President. I was unsure about George W. Bush until he started his tax relief of 2001 and I liked him ever since. I'll definitely vote for him in 2004, for I don't think that the Democrats have a good candidate against him (Edwards is too inexperienced and is like Kerry, Dean and Clark are crazy, and Kerry has a bad political voting record, and so on). With Bush, my wishes are that he'd just admit he went to Iraq to exert force and show the Middle East that the USA won't take any crap and that some of the spending be curbed. Otherwise, I stand firmly behind the president and I do not like the Democrat party's top dogs (Clintons, Kerry, Daschle, Kennedy, Edwards, etc.) or the politics they play.

Religion? I haven't been to Church in years. I don't have anything negative or positive to say about Religion. If you want to go to Church on Sundays, then please go, but if you don't want to, then it's fine with me. I've never been too religious or tried to be religious, even though I was somewhat forced to go through Junior High and was even confirmed into a Church (but didn't pay attention or was extremely bored in the class). I have no problems with Church, other than the old "separation of church and state" type deal.

Music? I like all kinds of music, ranging from 80's hairbands, oldies, metal, some pop, and even country music lately. I'm not too big on R&B, rap, or hip-hop, other than a handful (don't mind Tupac, Biggie, Dre, Ice Cube, and a few others). I just don't like the current rap scene, with guys like Ja-Rule, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and a few others getting severely overhyped. I'm liking Country more and more because it seems to fill the Rock and Roll void the radio stations seem to have now.

My Personal Life? I've been dating the same girl for well over 6 years now, and just spent our 7th Valentine's Day together. This is the famous "Mrs. Tito" I've referred to in various columns. I'm extremely happy with her, and we've got a great relationship. She's easily my best friend, the one I trust the most, and the one person who can brighten up my day when my skies are gray. I love her very much!

Movies? I absolutely get off on Science Fiction. Whether it's Star Trek, Star Wars, anything involving Time Travel, etc., I'm there brother. I used to be a big Star Wars fan until I started watching the Star Trek movies again and love those even more than Star Wars. Parts 2, 3, and 4 of Star Trek is my favorite trilogy of all time. I am also a horror buff (I have every Friday the 13th and Freddy movie on DVD) and love a good comedy. Sometimes, I like action movies. Depends. I could care less for dramas, mobster movies, or stories about love. Give me movies that either make you think (Sci-fi) or laugh out loud. My DVD collection, too, is getting badly out of hand (DAMN YOU WALMART!).

School? I have a Bachelor's in Economics, with a minor in Math. I'm currently working on my Master's of Applied Economics, in which I have just a thesis paper to write to get that degree. I hope to do some kind of statistics, economic development, or business management work when I get out of school. I'd personally like to become a professor, but I honestly don't have 3-4 more years of tough schooling in me. I study very hard, but get burned out very easily (I was suffering from severe migraines for a while). Plus, I don't want to spend a severe portion of my young life in school. I'd rather go 9-5 every day but have a life than to study hard and work a bunch of part-time jobs to pay stupid bills.

Sports? I used to play tennis and rollerhockey, with some basketball. I was a good tennis player in my day, to which I have 2 runner up trophies, one for doubles, the other for singles, in 2 athletic conference tournaments. I was on 2 championship winning teams for Rollerhockey. I played some high school basketball and some intramural in college. My biggest sport lately is bowling, to which I was really getting good at for the first half of 2003 (I was in the 200's, often). As for professional sports... I love the Pittsburgh Pirates, even though the economics of baseball screw them over royally. I love Mario Lemieux for the Penguins, although Hockey and its goons bore me. With the NFL, I don't like any team specifically thanks to Fantasy Football (I root for players!). The NBA annoys me with the lack of team play, therefore, I try not to watch. NBA finals aren't bad, though.

I hope that's a good picture of Mr. Tito, outside of wrestling.

2004-02-16T18:15:00.000-05:00

WELCOME!

Welcome to Mr. Tito's Weblog. For a few months, I've wanted to explore creating a website outside of professional wrestling to post my opinions, thoughts, or ideas on stuff such as politics, sports, entertainment, life, etc. I've sort of done this at LoPForums.com, LoP's message boards.

With the election coverage out there, I've been following a lot of weblogs or Blogs, in addition to admiring Scott Keith's Blog.

It's my turn now. Hopefully, I can have a lot of fun with this and that I don't offend people with opinions on stuff outside of professional wrestling.

Thanks for coming and I hope you enjoy this.