Author: Steve Murray

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One Month to Wrestlemania XXV: The Road to Wrestlemania

One month from today, for the 25th time in history, the stars of the WWE will step between the ropes and enter the showcase of the immortals. The 25th edition of Wrestlemania brings to mind some of the great moments that Vince McMahon has given us. For all the crap that Vince takes, he’s given us Hogan/Andre, Rock/Austin, Warrior/Hogan, Savage/Steamboat, and I could go on and I’ll get to those moments closer to when the WWE takes to the grandest stage of them all.

Today, though, we build up to Wrestlemania. Almost as fun as the matches themselves is the feuds leading up to Wrestlemania unfolding. So to celebrate 25 Wrestlemanias, here’s some of the best video packages for Wrestlemania matches.

Wrestlemania 6 – Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior
This match was unprecedented for a number of reasons. The two combatants were champions going into the ring (Hogan holding the Heavyweight title and Warrior the Intercontinental) but one would leave empty handed. The match was also the first Wrestlemania main event where two babyface (good guy) wrestlers met which forced the crowd into making a choice to back Hogan or Warrior. And it led to some of the weirdest interviews ever like this one Warrior did.

Wrestlemania 14 – Shawn Michaels vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
This match was the one that ushered in the Attitude Era of the WWE. The man who led the WWE into and through that era was beer drinking, hell raising, son of a bitch by the name of Steve Austin. But to get there Austin had to go through Shawn Michaels and this match’s special enforcer and HBK’s D-X comrade Mike Tyson.

Wrestlemania 17 – The Rock vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
The Rock and Steve Austin was one of the great rivalries of the Attitude Era WWE. This match here though was their most iconic. The end of the match may have been the most shocking in the history of pro wrestling when Vince McMahon and Stone Cold joined forces. But what you knew heading into it was going to be a special match was given an equally as amazing video package to build it up.

Wrestlemania 18 – Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock
We’ll never see Bonds vs. Ruth. We’ll never see Ali vs. Tyson. We’ll never see Gretzky vs. Orr. But one night in Toronto, we saw the one of the biggest stars of the 80s take on one of the biggest stars of the 90s in a match for the ages. This match, like Hogan’s 15 years earlier with Andre the Giant, was the passing of the torch that launched The Rock into superstardom. On paper, this could have been one of the biggest train wrecks in history, it turned out to be an instant classic.

Wreslemania 24 – Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
This could be one of the greatest pre-match video montages ever in the history of the world. Because Flair/Michaels could have been (and was) Ric’s last match, there was so much emotional investment in this match that everything about from the build-up to the video package to the match itself would seem to be the greatest of all time. And every wrestling fan has to admit that he (or she) gets a little choked up seeing the WWE highlight Flair’s career.

Wrestlemania 17 – Gimmick Battle Royal
Alright, this isn’t part of any feud nor is there a video package. Think of this as a bonus. This is all about old fashioned WWF (and I use that deliberately) fun. Okerlund and Heenan calling the action with some legends between the ropes as well isn’t an amazing Wrestlemania moment but is worth the watch for nostalgia’s sake.


For Part 2 click here.

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Lowdown Prediction Game Results

Last night on The Lowdown radio show (which you can listen to here) we played the “Guess Where the Guy on the Trading Block is Going” game. We took a look at five big names and predicted their future less than 24 hours from the deadline. Results after the jump. Continue reading →

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NHL Trade Deadline Day Bash Live Blog

Welcome to The Lowdown’s live blog of the 2009 NHL Trade Deadline. While most other leagues see their trade deadline come and go with relatively little fanfare, in Canada, the NHL deadline day is almost like a national holiday. All three Canadian sports networks will cancel their regularly scheduled programming and have live coverage of the deadline from 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning through to at least 5:00. Now I know that nothing much happens until about 10:00 when it seems that the West Coast GMs wake up and then it’s game on.

Keep refreshing this page throughout the day to keep up with all the breaking news and rumours. Continue reading →

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Last Call: Education Piledriver

Let’s end today with a couple of education stories:

An education thinktank believes that the government of Ontario should increase university tuition by 25% in order to deal with the recession.  Their thinking is that this will keep the quality of education at the current level.  Of course, the middle class will no doubt call “shenanigans” on this plan and bounce the government if they go through with this. 

But maybe there is a point to raising tuition.  After all, look where the economy went with the current education system.  If somehow dumb people can be filtered out of the education system, then that would help the everyone out a whole bunch.  After all, there’s a fair number of people that have shitloads of book smarts but are an unmitigated disaster if you take them away from a text book.

The second story comes from Connecticut’s education system.  In what also could be considered governmental suicide, Linda McMahon (yes, the same that is married to Vince McMahon and is the CEO of the WWE) has been appointed to the Connecticut state board of education.  At the very least, I’m sure she’ll have some unique solutions to deal with problems in the classroom.

And just because I can put it here, Total Pro Sports points out something curling fans already know.

25% Tuition Hike Touted [Toronto Star]
Linda McMahon Piledrives Her Way Onto Board of Education [Rumors & Rants]

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The First NHL Trade Domino Falls

Breaking news:  The Pittsburgh Penguins trade Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi.

Whitney is considered one of the best young defensemen in the game today and has the potential to be a first-pair defenseman in the future.  The fact that he was traded is not surprising because the return of Sergei Gonchar to the Pens’ lineup left Pittsburgh with a surplus of blueliners.  With the Pens looking (again) for a winger for Crosby, Whitney was seen as likely to get the best return in a trade.  With Scott Niedermayer expected to spend at most one more season in the NHL, this is Anaheim’s long-term solution.

Kunitz isn’t the biggest name in the league and probably not the biggest name that the Pens could have received if they pushed the issue.  In his favour, Kunitz is a decent goal scorer with a career high of 25 goals in a season.  Playing with Crosby or Malkin, that number should go up but Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko (who came to Pittsburgh this season) haven’t thrived playing with those superstars (both are on pace to score less than 40 points each).  As for Tangradi, he’s been rated as the second best prospect in the Ducks’ farm system.

My early pick for trade winner:  The Ducks
This past off-season, defensemen were paid a huge premium with even second pair defensemen getting contracts in the $4 million per season range. Being able to get a top player through 2013 for $4 million per year is a great spot for the perpetually salary cap challenged Ducks to be in.

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Red Light District: Leafs Try To Ruin More Coaches Careers

NY Rangers 1 @ Toronto 2 (SO) – It wasn’t the prettiest game ever and neither team really deserved to win but Nikolai Kulemin’s shootout goal was all the Make Believes needed for two points.  New Rangers coach John Tortorella was already calling out his team after one game saying that they needed better conditioning.  Well, that’s one way to get them on your side.

NY Islanders 0 @ Pittsburgh 1 – Petr Sykora scored with less than 3 minutes left in the game to prove that the Pens don’t need Sidney Crosby to compete.  They just need him to have any jump.  Without Sid the Kid, the Pens played down to the level of the cellar-dwelling Islanders and were lucky to escape with a win.

Los Angeles 0 @ Philadelphia 2 – In another exhibition of an offensive master class, Jeff Carter scored in a scramble in front and Simon Gagne scored an empty netter to pickup two points for the Flyers.  Martin Biron made 34 saves for his 25th career shutout.

San Jose 1 @ Detroit 4 – Henrik Zetterberg scored a highlight real goal while short handed to put the dagger to the Sharks.  In a game that was being hyped for the return of super villain Claude Lemieux’s return to Detroit, there were no major incidents involving the cheap-shotting one.  The win moves the Wings within 3 points of the Sharks for top spot in the West but the Sharks still have two games in hand.  As a bonus, here’s that Zetterberg goal.

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Morning Link-Off: The Sens Have Lady Problems

I’m trying the day-long blogging thing again.  If you have any tips, send them in to thelowdown@live.ca.

The Sens traded for secondary scoring but Mike Comrie’s tougher half is in the stands. (Us Magazine)  Carrie Underwood mocks Duff’s attempts to make a spectacle of herself at a hockey game. (YouTube)

Carlos Delgado wants your bank account information. (Sports Rubbish)

Ovi proves that he is clinically insane. (Total Pro Sports)

While most teams are freezing ticket prices, the Make Believes continue to gouge their fans. (CNBC)

The prosecutor changes the charges in The Pirate Bay trial.  It’s still the most important trial in the history of the interweb. (The Guardian)

Bud Selig is being paid $17 million to run baseball into the ground while Roger Goodell is getting paid less and willing to take a 20% pay cut. (Reuters)

ESPN may contribute most of Disney’s total revenue but costs are expected to go up. (Wall Street Journal)

As a door slowly closes on Williams, a window opens for the F1 team formerly known as Honda. (Daily Telegraph)

You may not have heard but Tiger played a round of golf yesterday. (Sky Sports)

Spiderman is going to Broadway with Bono and The Edge. (CBC)

In tribute of Steven Page leaving the Barenaked Ladies (Toronto Star), here’s BNL butchering The Hockey Theme.


Well, it might have been passable without the lyrics.  Sorry for ruining your morning with that.

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USF1 Launches in NASCAR Country

In what might be one of the most unlikely stories in Formula 1 history, a member of the press and a shock specialist are starting a U.S.-based F1 team. More interestingly, this team will be based out of NASCAR country in North Carolina with a testing base in Europe and using (ideally for the team) two American drivers to pilot the cars.

The men in charge are Peter Windsor (Speed Channel reporter, F1 interview room questioner, former Williams team manager) and Ken Anderson (former CART team manager, wind tunnel designer, Indycar designer). Their plan is to create what they call a “Skunkworks.” This name comes from the special ops division of Lockheed Martin which was staffed by the best of the best. By taking this approach and with all the cost cutting measures that the FIA have imposed on F1, they believe they will have a competitive team in a few years for a budget of around $100 million. But can this actually work as well as they hope? Continue reading →

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Canada’s Sexiest Sportscasters

Playboy is following up on their sexiest sportscaster poll (won, of course, by Erin Andrews) with a list of the sexiest international sportscasters.

Canada has two entrants on the ten woman list.  And in case your firewall at work won’t let you click on to Playboy’s complete list, I have the nomination videos for you here.

Martine Gaillard (Sportsnet)


This video of Martine isn’t as flattering as most of the other videos Playboy uses and definitely not as flattering as the next one. On the other hand, she is probably the best of Playboy’s bunch at doing her job. But just to be mentioned with the world’s hottest does Martine justice.

Jennifer Hedger (TSN)


What was I saying about flattering? What was I on about in the first place? Is it too late to mention that YouTube suggests that the video may not be suitable for minors? Does anyone care?

The Lowdown’s Unofficial Honourable Mention: Evanka Osmak (Sportsnet)


I’ll admit, I was surprised she didn’t make the list. But then again, when was the last time anyone saw her on Connected? Do something about it Sportsnet!

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UWO’s Vaughn Martin is NFL bound?

The CIS Blog and the London Free Press are reporting that Western Mustang’s defensive lineman Vaughn Martin has declared his eligibility for the 2009 NFL draft.  This is the sort of move that would tend to find its way on to our “What Were They Thinking?” board.

NFL rules state that a player must be three years removed from high school to be eligible.  The best players at that age are often the subject of rumours and speculation guessing if they will or won’t enter the draft.  CIS players are seldom even mentioned on an NFL team’s draft board let alone part of the media or scouting buzz leading up to the draft.  Hec Crighton (CIS outstanding player) award winners seldom get a sniff from NFL teams.  Jesse Lumsden was the most recent player looked at by the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks signing him after he went undrafted and cut him by the end of training camp.

That isn’t to say the same would happen to Martin.  But having watched him for three months in the fall, he’s one of Ontario’s better defensive linemen, perhaps slightly more adept as a run-stopper than a pass-rusher.  He isn’t, however, the top defensive tackle in Ontario and certainly not in Canada.  Since he’s not even close to the All-Canadian level, I doubt he would even get a training camp invite from most teams.

In two more years, with some more muscle and experience, he has all the makings of an All-Canadian DT.  He might even be good enough to win the Metras Award for Canada’s best down lineman.  Until then, Vaughn should keep his mind on the here and now.  The Mustangs have a legitimate chance to win the Vanier Cup next season and distractions like this can only hurt their chances when their top defensive lineman is more upset about not getting drafted than missing a tackle or losing a game this fall.

Update: Vaughn Martin Drafted