Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

It has been quite some time since I wrote about wrestling. But this was something that I planned on writing when the time came and now, it has.

March 23rd, 2001: This was the day that the World Wrestling Federation bought World Championship Wrestling from AOL-Time Warner. Just a year or two before this, Ted Turner had owned the company a good decade before merging his company with AOL. After Turner was no longer in charge, that began the downfall. I won’t discuss too much about what else went wrong during that time but more so, my personal views on this.

I am sure others out there in the wrestling world also coined the phrase, “The day wrestling died.” For me, I was a freshman in high school at the time. I knew at that time that this was a big deal because there was no longer competition. ECW had filed for bankruptcy and WCW hadn’t been relevant about two and a half years before this. I just remember going onto the computer with the dial-up internet to check the WWF website as I did on a nearly daily-basis. And the image with both the WWF and WCW Logo was on the front page with the word “purchases” in-between them. I couldn’t believe it. Storylines played out afterwards and the rest was history.

Looking back on that time, there wasn’t a better time to be a wrestling fan. Every week was just something different and exciting. I can remember racing to get home from somewhere just to catch Smackdown. On weekends, I stayed up late to catch the highlights of Raw on Shotgun Saturday Night/Jakked. That’s how it was for a good four years or so.

Now, every week is stale and it doesn’t seem to get better anytime soon. Most of the time, I set the DVR and fast forward through a third of the show. I am not a fan who screams for the same types of storylines 15 years ago. It doesn’t have to be that good and I don’t think it ever will be. That was truly, the greatest era in wrestling with two companies fighting for ratings at the same time every Monday Night. The product just needs to be less saturated with garbage storylines and less duration.

I compare those few years for wrestling fans to the 90’s Bulls. While I may still be a fan of both, many others don’t care for either anymore. Some people I know always talk about how they always use to watch wrestling but not anymore. Likewise for people who were Bulls fans. Myself, I am still watching both and next week, I am heading to Dallas for Wrestlemania. Something is wrong with me.

Petition to remove Kenny Albert from NBC

Well folks, it has come to this. The Blackhawks lost yet, another game with Kenny Albert announcing. That’s three in a row and three games the Blackhawks needed to try to win their division. And thanks to The Kiss of Death to Chicago sports, the Blackhawks are losing the chance to grab the division. As I have stated here numerous times, Albert announced all seven games in the 2014 Western Conference Final in which the Blackhawks lost to the Kings. Then last year, the Blackhawks found themselves down 3-2 with four of those games (three of them losses) being called by this weasel. Thankfully, NBC made the switch to have Emrick call Game Six and, what do you know? The Blackhawks win that game as well as the decisive Game Seven in Anaheim on their way to winning the Cup.

Without further ado, here is what I submitted online to NBC Sports:

My name is [name redacted] and I am a fan of some Chicago sports’ teams. I am writing to you because I have a complaint about announcer Kenny Albert.

For the last decade, Kenny Albert has called games involving teams that are from Chicago. With the Chicago Bears, most important games since 2007 have resulted in losses with Albert on the call.

The Blackhawks lost the Western Conference Final in 2014 with Albert announcing all seven games. Last year, the Blackhawks found themselves down 3-2 with Game Six at home. Albert announced four of the five games. Mike Emrick called Game Six in which, the Blackhawks won and likewise for Game Seven.

With this track record, Kenny Albert is the Kiss of Death to Chicago sports. I am tired of him announcing games involving teams from Chicago because they lose many of them, especially important ones.

Tonight, this was the tipping point. I am writing this to you on March, 20th. The Blackhawks have lost have lost their last three games on NBCSN with Kenny Albert announcing. As my proof above states, this has been a trend for the Blackhawks since 2014 in games he has called. While they have won some of those games, important ones like the last three and the last two Western Conference Final series are proof that they lose most of them. When Mike Emrick announces, the Blackhawks have a better chance of winning.

Please, I am begging whoever is in charge to please, release Kenny Albert from NBC Sports. I am already gathering a letter to Fox Sports as well to release Albert. He is bad luck and what I coin at my blog as “The Kiss of Death to Chicago sports”.

You have my email address and if someone could call me, please email back and I will reply with my phone number. I am a frustrated fan who has had it and I do not want the Chicago Blackhawks to lose their chance to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions because of Kenny Albert like they did in 2014. I have submitted evidence in this letter to prove that the Blackhawks lose many of their games with him on the call.

Thank you.

“Illinois views Lovie Smith’s mediocrity and condescension as a step up”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/ct-lovie-smith-illinois-rosenbloom-20160307-column.html

As you may have noticed, we haven’t had much activity going around on here, the darkest corner of the internet. It’s been a busy few weeks for me.

The Blackhawks are doing their thing on the ice as well as off the ice. It’s great to see an old friend in Andrew Ladd return. If only the Blackhawks would have brought back Dustin Byfuglien and the meatballs would have been in a frenzy. Oh well. Good win by them as well against the Capitals this past Sunday. That was a close one.

The Bulls continue to be a tire fire and will remain that way for the next decade. I think most of us NBA fans are aware that the Warriors are what the Bulls were in the 90’s. They may very well win five or six in a row. As of this writing, they are one win ahead of the pace of the 1995-96 Bulls for the best record in an NBA regular season. I never thought I would see a team get close to that mark.

Last, but not least, the Bears still have Ted Phillips employed. That fucking sucks. But hey, Alshon Jeffery is coming back with the franchise tag. Let’s pray the Bears don’t fuck it up by letting him go after next season.

Your thoughts as always, are welcome below.

As some of you may have noticed, things have been a bit slow here at the darkest corner of the internet. It usually is this way after the football season because the Bears suck so bad, the amount of down time increases and thus, gives me less motivation to write.

Today, I finally decided to get to something I have been wanting to write about for a while. We had a tournament of Chicago babes in 2013. It was fantastic and generated conversation of some of the various ladies we get to see on Chicago television. After a year off, I organized another one and thought the choices were great.

It seems, though, that when have we these tournaments, bad things happen to the contestants. I called it the curse of Chicago TV babes. From getting married to fired and/or leaving Chicago completely, it has made yours truly, a very sad man. After looking at the two tournaments, you can see for yourself how awful this has been. So after looking at this list, do we have another tournament? Do we have it with less contestants or just not one at all? Weigh in with your thoughts.

2013 (12 of 16 contestants)

Cheryl Scott (champion) – Left NBC 5 for ABC 7; thrown into rumors of a now, former player of the Chicago Blackhawks

Susannah Collins (runner-up) – Fired for a slip-up on the air in regards to the Blackhawks

Jen Lada (Both 2013 and 2015) – Left Comcast SportsNet for ESPN (ANGRY)

Erin McElroy – Married Demetrius Ivory

Alicia Roman – Married a douche

Kate Sullivan – Fired

Krystle Gutierrez – Left

Daniella Guzman – Left

Kerry Sayers – MIA

Anna Davlantes – No longer on TV (Went to WGN Radio)

Lauren Jiggetts (Both 2013 and 2015) – Married and had a child

Kim Vatis – Left

2015 (5 of 16 contestants)

Brooke Weisbrod – Left

Erin Kennedy (runner-up) – Pregnant (again)

Lyndsay Petruny (winner) – Left (ANGRY)

Who do you have for the Super Bowl?

https://firejohnfox.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/tanks-fer-nuttin/

Our good friend Dan from Fire Ron Turner received a letter from Ted Phillips the other day. You can see that in the link above for the full story. It turns out, Ted is telling all of the fans that he and the Bears are sorry for sucking again. But no worries says Teddy. The Bears are going to do their best by raising ticket prices 10 fucking percent this year. You’re telling me that my $200 seats are going to cost $220 this year? These fuckers keep raising prices for a franchise that continues to lose double-digit games every season? Oh, that’s just fucking awesome.

PATHETIC.

The Super Bowl is now set with the Denver Broncos going up against the Carolina Panthers. And with these two teams in the final game of the season, I will point out some ways it’s tied to decisions that the Bears have made over the course of the last decade.

Lovie Smith fires Ron Rivera for his friend, Bob Babich. Babich goes on to suck for the Bears and since, they have been in a realm of irrelevancy. Rivera, on the other hand, goes to Carolina, builds a team over the course of several years and is now, in the Super Bowl.

Lovie and offensive dumbass, Mike Martz, decide that Greg Olsen is no longer needed on their team. The Bears trade Olsen to the Panthers. Olsen now has a chance to win a Super Bowl.

And last, but not least, what do these two teams have in common?

Both have fired John Fox, who currently coaches the Chicago Bears. And both of his replacements are in this game.

I only pray that history is on our side as fans of the Bears.

Championship Sunday is upon us in the NFL. And yet, it’s another one without the Bears in it. Who do you have winning?

Also, for you WRASSLIN’ fans, it’s the Royal Rumble as well that night. The Road To Wrestlemania officially begins. It will be a busy Sunday night with that, football and the Blackhawks all going on at the same time.