Bleacher Report - Articles by Ron Leyvas

Goodyear to retire?

Ron Leyvas — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:53:38 -0400

The Brickyard in 12 lap segments? What a novel approach. After so many problems with the Badyears maybe it's time for better competition. Competition among the tire builders. Are you listening Firestone, Goodrich and others?

With all the changes to the "car of tomorrow", it is now the car of today" and the future. Why can't you guys catch up?

We have cars capable of driving 200 m.p.h., and they would have been safer running at half that speed. This should have been a restrictor plate (REAL RESTRICTED) race.

Where was the research? Research possibly meant running more practice sessions with more cars. Did you do it? NOOOOO! We've got a new car tire guys, it's D-I-F-E-R-E-N-T! That was spelled out real slow for the guys up there in Akron.

I've seen car fires in practice not from broken lines, but from rubber building up under and over sides of cars. There were cars blowing tires on THE STRAIGHTAWAYS. They were laying rubber down everywhere but the track. Car cams were full of rubber. Take a look at the above picture. We could have had a better race in these cars. At least Badyear might have had something that gave us more than a 12 lap segment.

Oh, by the way my hats off to NASCAR for seeing what was on the cars and saving lives and teams money by not purchasing a quality tire.

WWE Ready to Crumble II

Ron Leyvas — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:27:52 -0400

In my last article I attacked the direction of the WWE. Well I'm not going to do it this time.

Like hell I'm not.

Mike What's-his-name?? Give me a break. The guy was a no-talent announcer who only needed less than an hour to drive people to sleep or turn the channel.

We have gotten two major disappointments from Vinnie McMahon this year, the retirement of Ric Flair and now this new G.M. I'd rather have Regal back turning out the lights. By far the second is the worst of all time, not just this year. I am mad at both Cena and Batista for not crushing this idiot when he stood there with that shit-eating grin.

Where are they taking us? With the talent on the roster of all three shows and we get this no-talent knucklehead. Gosh, Jamie Noble was there, he would have been better.

The worst part was we had to wait two hours and five minutes for the biggest disappointment in sports entertainment history. I though getting "hit on the head" was just another gag. Can we see the replay again to see how hard Vince really got hit? I wish you a speedy recovery Mr. McMahon, and get back soon.

I know you want to take us in a new direction now, but to the toilet? Can we send Kane out to "welcome" him? Welcome the ass to hell, Kane, you could become a fan favorite again and make this black mark on the WWE a one night stand. Shame on you, Shane McMahon for going along with this crap.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I now it's sports entertainment. The key word being entertainment, which the new G.M. is totally lacking. Please fix this or you'll soon see Smackdown take over the No. 1 spot. Vickie Guerrero generates heat—Mike generates yawns.

WWE ready to CRUMBLE!

Ron Leyvas — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:44:40 -0400

Wrestling is at the crossroads that it seems to reach about every seven years. Which way to go?

It's all in Vince's court, and he may be playing with a deflated Dunlap. Recently, things have been getting pretty lame.

With the news of a more PG friendly-product the ratings are due to fall off a cliff. With a lack of standout new talent and rehashed story lines, the retirement of Ric Flair and Vince's "injury," there's not much to tune in for now.

With that said, here's how I would revamp the scene. Step one is to give each show a unique indentity all its own.

Let's start with ECW. This seems to be the double A training ground. Let's get back to the old ECW violence. We need to dump the world title for a hardcore title. Tables, ladders, chairs, and flames. People jumping from the balcony.

It seems most the new kids have very little mic skills, so bring back the irritating, loathsome managers who can help to develop the bond with the fans. Love or hate, as long as the kids learn to make contact with the fans. Women on this program are for eye candy only.

Wrestling should be very limited except for the run-in or (yikes) low blow to conclude a match. The only other title here is a cruiserweight title. Fast paced matches with a lot of aerial moves. This is only an hour show let's try 10-minute time limit matches and two belts are enough!

Now, let's look at Smackdown. I'll start with what's right. No. 1 is Vickie Guerrero. Yeah, that puta Vickie, because I've noticed how much heat she draws. She doesn't even have to open her mouth to get the fans riled up.

Now we can go to the biggest plus to the show in a long time, HHH. The only problem is his lack of airtime since the "draft." Did you see he even made MVP look good on his visit to the VIP lounge? I even got a warm feeling listening to how HHH brought the best out in MVP.

Edge generates a lot of heat so enough said there. Belts, okay, so they need a heavyweight champ, U.S. champ, and tag champs. Let's quit dragging the tag belts back and forth between shows and leave it on Friday nights.

I wasn't real happy with the diva belt at first, but they have enough talent to have two women's belts. This is the show to prep the guys for the big time(RAW). Give them the mike more.

We need a PG-friendly show since they are on a national network and kids will be watching. We do need some gimmicks though. What about 20-minute time limits, Strap matches, some loser getting their hair shaved. Maybe a car filled with cement, or rolled over by a monster truck. We need some long, drawn out feuds.

O.K. Vince, let's fix your creation of genius. Raw was a perfect show. Perfect when you took the steps needed to kick Eric Bischoff's butt and return your show from No. 2 to the top of the "RATINGS WAR." So what's wrong with bringing E.B. back as the GM of Raw, people love to hate him.

Your belts are arranged pretty well. Although, I can't figure out why the Intercontinental champ isn't the No. 1 contender any longer. You need to be violent and leaving people wondering "I can't believe they did that."

We're at the point where we can figure out story lines long before they end. Stories need to last more than a few shows. You want people to want to turn in next week to see what that crazy s.o.b. will put on TV next.

The guys on the roster now are all deserving to be there with few exceptions. You just need to bring them back to that point where the fan can't tell the character from the man (or women) that is delivering your product.

This is a cable show so let's see some of the bizarre once in a while. Not each week, because it get to be expected. Just when it's safe to go back in the water, set up a shark attack.

Some bizarre stunts need to be pulled, just don't go over the top like with the JBL/Cena car stunt. That just didn't make sense. Dumb idea. We need to see the next big thing, not the same old thing.

O.K. Vinnie, since you're home, let's get on with the homework, you got a lot of catching up to do. Oh, by the way I'm a fan of 35 plus years, so I've seen it all and you do have the best of what's out there, I'd just like you to return it to world class entertainment.

Danica Patrick is a Throwback to a Golden Era

Ron Leyvas — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:56:10 -0400

Why does this woman receive so much grief? She's just a racer on the track, as so many men drivers will tell you about themselves.

What made the first nationally broadcast NASCAR race a hit and a staple from that point on? Not the winner, but the fight in the infield afterwards. It's what the fans came to see. Emotion.

Didn't thousands upon thousands sit on the edge of their seats to watch the Intimidator stuff someone into the wall? God bless him.

We now have Rowdy Busch thumbing his nose to the fans that boo him in the stands, but I think he's winning them over.

People pick on Danica to see her cry. She might, but she is a driver from a golden era when passion ruled the sport.

I'll be waiting for her next incident, as it will surely come, and I'll applaud the first female to be a driver before being a woman on the track.

Go win, then slap the pudding out of their mouths Danica. I'll be watching.