Bleacher Report - Articles by Chris Hood

Carolina Panthers: Head-Scratching Offseason

Chris Hood — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:50:35 -0400

I loved the cats from last year. I loved the team we had. I have always backed Carolina as a true/hardcore fan. Rodney Pete, Kevin Greene, and any other old guy they chose to sign (Vinny Testaverde).

Whatever they chose to do, I never critized them. I just went along for the ride, and for the most part of their short franchise lives, it has been a good one.

This offseason just has got to have you saying,"What are they thinking." If not, you probably haven't been paying attention.

First, Peppers wants out. Whoever is in charge seem content on making him play for them this year. We all know he isn't going to play every down. He might not even play at all.

Second, they make no move for Matt Cassel. The Patriots are on Julius Peppers' list of teams he wanted to sign with. They should have made some kind of move to see if they could land the QB.

Third, no Jay Cutler. Another young gun comes on the market and they still make no move. Cutler to Smith—would have sounded nice. Nice for years to come. They have no clear sign of a future at the position. And they let two slip by.

Fourth, extension for Delhomme. I love Delhomme and what he has done. But a five-year extension for an aging QB? This was probably the biggest blow to the fans. I know it was to me.

Steve Smith should be frustrated with the QB situation. I know I am. The Peppers deal, well if he doesn't want to be here, let's get something valuable out of him.

Just please, do something that makes sense.

Fast.

My Old Friends, How I Miss You, Please Come Back

Chris Hood — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:06:59 -0400

There is nothing about wrestling right now that keeps my attention anymore. Tivo has made it so i can watch something far more interesting now and catch up on raw later.

I don't care if my friends text me a spoiler anymore, its losing its appeal to sit through the whole show. The two guys above though, they are worth watching together.

Bring back the outlaw factions. Like the Horsemen, NWO or DX. Those where entertainment at its best. There's just nothing like that in wrestling today. Unless you count Legacy, but lets get real. Have your head checked.

Tag Team wrestling is no longer what it once was, and its not showing signs of approving.

With teams like the Colons and the Dirt Sheet fighting for unified belts on ECW and SmackDown. Oh, you have legacy, again, but there just out there for Orton's sake.

Let the Hardy boys get back together, start the tag teams rolling again. It was a decent part of wrestling growing up. The Freebirds, Legion of Doom, Harlem Heat, The Steiners, and the Dudley boys to name a few.

It's a good way of mixing things up without getting tired of seeing the same matches over and over. There are different parts you can mix and match to change things up a bit. You also have more than just two teams fighting for the gold.

Wrestling entertainment. When I first heard it called that, I was kinda upset by the fact they where admitting it was fake. Which its not! Don't get me started here.

Then watching Stone Cold, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, and Foley put on there skits I saw the entertainment come to live. Who's out there now? Edge? Jericho? Cena?

The only one that clearly stands out is Jericho, but he isn't the Y2J of old, so I don't care to see him. Cena just lost it all when he stopped rapping. Edge is decent. The dirt sheet is the best out there in my opinion right now.

The singles programs are ok, just getting repetitive. Let's see some new school ideas and stop playing it safe. I love wrestling, always have, and always will.

It just like a relative you hardly see anymore, but still know whats going on with them, and whats new in there lives, but can live without seeing for awhile. Sorry WWE, your that cousin these days. Please come back with better memories.

In a Perfect World The Final Four Would Look Like This

Chris Hood — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:00:26 -0500

Who's number 1? Right now no one wants to lay claim to the top spot so it seems. Hasheem Thabeet, or the stick down low has his team back up to number one at the moment.

Dejaun Blair of Pitt showed us what Thabeet is made of when it comes to guarding bigger centers. He out-rebounded, scored, and made the 7 footer look silly. Most importantly he moved them from number one.

North Carolina is back up to number 2. They play in so many run away games that it comes as a shock when they drop the ball against Maryland. Its losses like these they need to avoid to have a deep tourney run.

Duke and Wake Forest had their share of the spotlight before quickly being dismissed to the back of the back. While each showed great promise, the also went on a slide, and at a costly time.

The consistent Sooners of Oklahoma are a team I really like to be there at the end of March. Just be glad Bob Stoops is the football coach. Blake Griffin is about as fearless as they come, and he is a wrecking ball on both ends of the court.

To get to the Final Four this year, i don't think your going to have to look outside of the top eight as they stand right now. North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pitt, Memphis, are the teams I look to be there.

1. Seed UNC, 1. Seed Oklahoma,1. Seed Pitt, and 2. Seed Memphis.

They have everything you need to get there. A solid big man in the middle, a point that knows how to run a team and minimize turnovers, NBA ready talent on each team, and senior leadership with the will to win.

Our WrestleMania: One Year Later

Chris Hood — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:57:45 -0500

It was just a year ago, we lived the wrestling fans dream, me and some friends went to our first Mania. We traveled from as far as Seattle and as close as an hour away from Orlando.

Four lifelong WWE fans gathered in a house in Orlando, FL to live out the childhood dream. We also lived out the dreams of everyone over the age of 21 while we where there as well.

After picking up our buddy at the airport coming in late on Saturday night we headed straight to the bars. Downtown was being set up with all kinds of parties for the event. It was amazing to see. It was crazy to talk to some people and to how many they have been too and where they come from to get there.

The next day was the big day, and provided many memories for all us (a little fuzzy thanks to the Miller Light). And I'd like to share my top five from the night with you.

5. John Cena not Walking Out With the Belt

It was refreshing not seeing him hold the belt, or walk out with it. I personally was rooting for Triple H. But, all in all, it was a great match. I think everyone expected Orton to lose, but the kick to Hunter ended every ones hopes that night. Especially for John Cena.

4. Kane Wins ECW Title

Kane had to first win a battle royal before the event kicked off to get the title shot. The match for the belt last barely 10 seconds. But, if you hate seeing Cena with the belt all the time, it was even worse seeing Chavo with the ECW belt.

The guy sucks and lives off the name. They need to give it up with him being a big time player in any brand.

3. Undertakers Streak

One of the things you think about when you hear mania is the streak. Its the best streak in wrestling by far. If you can count on anything its the Deadman coming out with a W in March. This time it was for the Belt, which he deserves at least once more.

2. Morrisons Backflip

One of the best moves I have ever seen came during the MITB match. Morrison went to the top rope with ladder and did a back flip to the opponents on the floor with the ladder in his hands. We all know what a tremendous athlete he can be.

It was just a wow moment. I think we all looked at each in amazement after he pulled it off. The rest of the match was a like a train wreck and there were bodies laying everywhere.

1. WWOOOOOOO

Did you not see this coming? Ric Flair VS. HBK. It wasn't the best match, but, it was a good one. These two guys still put on a show. Seeing HBK mouth his,"I love you" before the final Kick of the match was pretty cool. The thank you Flair chant at the end was deafening. Being a big Nature Boy fan, being there for his last match was something I'll remember forever.

It was simply...Priceless.

Why The WWE Needs to Go Back a Few Years.....

Chris Hood — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:32:25 -0500

It wasn't to long ago, wrestling was entertaining to watch. You had the gimmicks, the great matches, and the wrestlers who could electrify on the microphone. With the exception of Kennedy and the dirt sheet crew, the old schoolers are dieing out. You still have Edge, Triple H, HBK, JBL, Jericho and well noone else really puts all three of them together anymore.

The Miz and Morrison are entertaining when on the mic, they put on great matches (singles and as partners, and they have there gimmick going for them. Though Kennedy hasn't been wrestling much, he still has all three.

Edge and Triple H are some of the best at what they do now, and have been for a long time now. JBL has became really good at it over the last 5-6 years, and no one does it better than Michaels and Jericho. And these guys are getting old, and no ones stepping up to take there spots.

People are going to say what about the Undertaker, but seriously have you heard him speak lately?

Who's going to take over? Cena? Batista? Maybe The Russian Mauler? They have the personality or wrestling style of a cardboard box. Really big card board boxes.

The gimmicks become less and less. Wrestlers mic skills are embarrassing, listening to them stumble over themselves, or sounding like they stepped outta rehab.

Gone are the best where The Rock or Austin could hold your attention in the ring for 20 minutes by themselves. I Personally love Tivo, for the fact I can skip all the crap that's coming our way now, and get to the best 5 mins of a two hour show.

Someone please step up and save us all? Good try Jericho, but you need some more help.

While It Was Bad, Jake, It Wasnt The Worst

Chris Hood — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:04:44 -0500

Jake Delhomme picked some kind of game to throw 5 interceptions and have one lost fumble. I would have put big money, if I had any, on Carolina being able to put away the Cards with ease.

But, one thing got in the way...okay, six things.

A year after coming back from surgery on his throwing arm, leading Carolina to a 12-4 record and the number two seed in the playoffs was a good start. Everyone else will be saying it's a bad ending. Lets give him one more year.

Speaking of bad ways to end the season, how about "Brett's Jets"? Going up to Tennessee to ruin the Titans perfect season and then crashing. Followed by Thomas Jones assessment of Favre, followed by Brett admitting he tanked. I'd rather my quarterback have a bad game than to say he tanked, and miss the playoffs all together.

Time to move on to greener pastures...like the ones marked retirement.

He cant win the big one...or any step it takes to get to the big one. Can you guess who? No, not Peyton (he finally did it and seems content on that). It's that guy in Dallas. Not Dirk either, that is a different sport...and Wade was playing...ah, nevermind back to Romo.

Well, at least Jake and Brett have been to the big game. Brett won it, but they both have won playoff games, with less talented teams. Romo and the Cowboys are a complete waste of talent.

Jay Cutler's words about how he has a better arm than Elway and Favre wasn't the worst part of this guy's year. It's blowing the season given to him during the first game by the officials. Your team was scoring like crazy and on the move. Then you hit the wall, and the Chargers again. Well, your vacation started early.

Both number one seeds are out. Collins replaces Young and did a better job than Vince would have with this team. They then ran into the Ed Reed...I mean, the Ravens. Eli, on the other hand, can thank Andy Reid for his demise. Benching Donovan lit a fire under the Eagles and that was that.

For one reason or another all of the other 28 QBs are sitting at home on the couch with Jake. Some blew it, some never had the team, some never had a chance, and there are those who let it slip away.

So, one bad game at the wrong time, everyones calling for your job...maybe its better to not even go the postseason at all.

Leaving Heel Prints On the Competition

Chris Hood — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:35:41 -0500

This year's group is super talented, depth to no end, and a hunger to avenge their loss to Kansas in the NCAA tournament last year. This is bad for the ACC and worse for everyone else.

Led by reigning National Player of the Year, Tyler Hansbrough and company are walking over anyone that they come across. With Wednesday night's 23 point victory over Nevada, the Tarheels moved to 13-0 on the year. It's also a school-record 13th victory by double digits and they are doing so at a margin of 26.8 points per game in their wins. All of these have come outside of their conference.

ACC play will be starting soon and I think it's safe to say the Heels are well prepared to do damage inside their division as well. With Duke still over a month away, all we can do is hope they don't remove the foot from the accelerator and coast along.

Many people think they will be tested when they play Wake Forest. Personally, I don't see anyone challenging them until the dreaded "D" word comes to town. Coach K and those guys. Nothing would be sweeter than to roll them by nearly 27 points and leaving Heel prints on Singler and Paulus.

The only thing that could slow this group down is Roy Williams. Watch out nation, Heels coming are back to the top.