Boom Goes the AEW Dynamite!

 This post starts as many of mine have in the past, with a question about stats. In the past year or so, I've noticed a trend with AEW Dynamite. And specifically, with the opening match of the show. The main event is the money-maker. It's what everyone came to see. But, I got intrigued by the start of the show. It's the hook. The thing that draws the crowd in. A tone-setter. 

Now, I know that some other wrestling companies are known for their show-opening promo-trains. "Welcome to...the other show. Let's get started". But AEW is often known for getting right down to the business of wrestling. So, that first match better grab you by your pants and say 'come on folks, we're going for a ride'. I did all of my research via Cagematch.net. And to be fair, Cage Match doesn't detail promo segments, so this was always going to need to be about the first match, not the beginning of the show. There have been 241 episodes of Dynamite as of this writing. And I didn't have this idea until 240, so I'm not going to go back and try to watch the beginning of every show. Plus, match data is better anyway.

So, what did I find in my research? I found the frequency each wrestler has appeared in the opening match of Dynamite, and their record. There are also some interesting tidbits that I'll try to share throughout. Lots of people featured less then 5 times, but there are a fair few who have made a habit of appearing in the opening slot.

Here are some parameters before we get started. First, I only included people who had actually competed in the opening match. All stablemates, managers, valets, and interference wrestlers were removed from the set-up. For each wrestler, I found their total number of appearances, wins, losses, or time limit draws. These matches include singles, tag team, and multi-person matches like battle royales. If a person was not the winner of a battle royale, I considered everyone else the loser. So that really racked up losses for some people. I'll detail the top 10 wrestlers and then a few extra oddities of note. The full data table and each chronological match listing will be available somewhere for reference. The full data table and each chronological match listing will be available somewhere for reference.

10. Trent Beretta- 18 matches: 3 wins, 15 losses

As we move up this list, the records will start to yield what you would assume would be the top of the top in AEW. Hence why they keep getting featured in these opening matches. However, there are two sides to every match. And someone has to lose. Trent is part of a stable that is know for its lovable losers. Guys that heels just want to ruin so you can feel sad and want them to get their wins back later in a different show's main event. From the very beginning, that was Best Friends, losing on episode 3. But you wonder, shouldn't Trent's tag team partner be up here too? Well, Chuck wasn't always Trent's partner. And later in the run, Trent struck out on his own to be a devious singles guy. But, face or heel, as of this writing, Trent has the dubious distinction of owning the most losses by anyone in a opening match slot on Dynamite.

9. Dax Harwood- 19 matches:  9 wins, 9 losses, 1 time limit draw

I know what you're thinking. Brian, it's another tag team guy. Why aren't you listing Cash Wheeler with Dax? Well, Uncle Dax took on a few solo missions, battling the likes of CM Punk, Jay Lethal, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and Cash himself. The FTR internal battle was Cash's only singles appearance to start a show. Guess we know which half of the Top Guys Tony Khan feels more strongly about...

8. Rey Fenix- 19 matches: 10 wins, 9 losses

Another member of a tag team, and also a trio, but also Fenix was, for a time, the All Atlantic/International Champion. As a result, he had a few more matches to his start-of-the show card compared to Penta or PAC. Rey is also considered a reliable hand to go against some of the other guys on this list who perform at a high degree of difficulty.

7. Bryan Danielson- 19 matches: 16 wins, 2 losses, 1 time limit draw

The intriguing thing about Bryan Danielson is that while he has as many matches to start a show as Fenix and Dax, he's had far less time to do it in. Fenix is an AEW lifer and his first show opener was episode 4. FTR debuted on Dax's first show opener on episode 36. Meanwhile, Danielson first arrived in AEW at All Out 2021 and had his first match as a show starter where he wrestled Kenny Omega to a 30 minute draw on episode 103. That's a lot of opening matches in 2 less years. And speaking of his first opponent...

6. Kenny Omega- 20 matches: 15 wins, 4 losses, 1 time limit draw

Kenny by-God Omega. What a bout machine this guy is. And to think, he had a few stretches where he was the main event. And some even longer stretches for the first time in his career where he didn't wrestle at all due to injury. So, to still garner 20 openers is an accomplishment. He did 7 within the first 26 episodes, but then spaced out his appearances after that. A good EVP knows when to start booking up-and-coming talent instead of themselves.

5. Matthew Jackson- 25 matches: 16 wins, 9 losses

Speaking of EVPs, here's Matthew Jackson (yes, I will be using their God-given names, thank you). And much like the previously mentioned entrants, you're probably wondering, where is Matthew's tag team partner? But unlike everyone else on this list, we'll get to that. Matthew has competed in 25 Dynamite starters. His first, a tag team loss all the way back on episode 2. Most recently, he did the opening honors on episode 201. It's been more sparse lately, but in the early stages, there was Young Bucks match to start the show about every 5-10 episodes. But there was one time Matthew worked solo against Rey Fenix. He lost. And his tag team partner for all those other matches, you ask?

4. Nicholas Jackson- 26 matches: 16 wins, 10 losses

Everything mentioned about Matthew, also can be applied to Nicholas. Episode 2 to 201. All 16 wins were together. 8 losses together. But what about that extra loss Nicholas has? Another singles match. And you'll never guess. Nope, not sibling rivalry. It's Rey Fenix. Both times. So, in singles action, the Young Bucks are collectively 0-3 against Fenix. I wonder how they feel about that. Now we move to the top 3. Heavy-hitter time. And frankly, two of the three reasons I got interested in researching this in the first place.

3. Jon Moxley- 29 matches: 27 wins, 1 loss, 1 time limit draw

I'll be honest. This intrigue really started with All Atlantic/International title as well as the Continental Classic. I began to notice "Wild Thing" play a lot to start a show and see Mox swagger through the crowd. And don't get me wrong. I love it. Big Moxley guy. But I thought to myself, 'Mox sure does start the show a lot. It helps pop the crowd'. If I had put bets on who was going to be number one before actually doing the research, I'd have lost a lot of money pushing it onto the Jon Moxley square. Also, Mox just doesn't lose. He's got a win in 27 of his 29 matches. His one time limit draw just happened a few weeks ago with Claudio as a tag team against FTR. And his only loss was to Hangman Adam Page. Neither blemishes are anything to be embarrassed about. Mox's 27 wins are currently the most in a show opener. Long may he reign. Now, we're going to skip number two because...

1a&b. Orange Cassidy and 'Hangman' Adam Page- 32 matches: 23 wins, 9 losses

These two crazy kids have, as of now, the exact same number of show starters and wins and losses. They only faced each other once, and that was a Dynamite Diamond Ring Battle Royale. There was a lot of Cowboy Shit in the early days, as the Hanger wracked up 21 of his showings within the first 100 episodes. Cassidy, meanwhile, only actively participated in 3 matches in the first 100 shows. Orange does most of his damage between episodes 164 and 222, featuring in 20 starting matches, mostly owing to his 'anyone, anywhere' mentality while holding the All Atlantic/International Title. We heard "Jane" to start a show 5 straight weeks from episodes 176-181. The Hangman hasn't started a show since episode 227 or worked a match at all since Revolution in March. Meanwhile, the piece of fruit locked up with former Best Friend Trent just two weeks ago. Will the orange one pull ahead soon? If Tony Khan stays on brand, yes.

Intriguing Odds and Ends

Cody (he hadn't gotten Rhodes back from WWE yet) defeated Sammy Guevara on the first match on the first ever episode on Dynamite. The last time Cody worked the first match on a Dynamite, was his last match in the company. And of course because Cody loves the lore, he dropped the TNT Championship to...that's right, Sammy Guevara, on his way out the door.

Adam Cole is the only person to have double digit appearances and has never lost. His current record is 9 and 0 plus one time limit draw.

These people appeared less than 10 times but were undefeated in openers:
8- CM Punk
3- Malakai Black, Kyle O'Reilly, Samoa Joe
2- Britt Baker, Sting
1- Mr. Brodie Lee, Nine, Jade Cargill, Shaq, Doc Gallows, Billy Gunn, Jamie Hayter, Kazuchika Okada, Julia Hart

Jade Cargill and Red Velvet were the first women to be included in an opening match on Dynamite. It was an inter-gender tag match that happened on episode 74. The match saw Jade and Shaquille O'Neal defeat Red Velvet and Cody.

The first and only show-starting match featuring all women was a tag match on episode 185. That match featured Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter defeating Ruby Soho and Toni Storm.

The only other opening matches to feature women are inter-gender tags as Britt Baker and Adam Cole defeated Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander on episode 120. Congratulations to Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D., you hold the record for most appearances as well as most wins, for a woman: 2. And Brody King and Julia Hart defeating Adam Copeland and Willow Nightingale recently on episode 237.

36 people have only ever competed once on the opening match of Dynamite. Only 9 of those got a win.

A total of 138 different people have appeared in matches over the 241 episodes. 57 of them have never had a win. That's 41% of combatants with zeroes in the win column. The Butcher, The Blade, Angelico, Matt Sydal, and most surprisingly, Daniel Garcia have all made 6 appearances without a win.

Some sort of title has changed hands 8 times to start Dynamite.

Some combination of members of the Elite (including Cody) featured in 51 of the first 100 episodes.

Wrapping up, what does it all mean? Obviously, booking patterns can change, but to this point, Tony Khan has some guys that he trusts a lot. Some of them happen to be EVPs. And some guys that he really feels like he needs to protect. And a lot of people are willing to do a job if it means exposure at the beginning of a show. But most importantly, he knows that if you want to start a show off on the right foot and get the crowd jumping, the best move is to play "Jane", "Ghost Town Triumph", or "Wild Thing".

Boom Goes the Dynamite! (DATA)

1.  1.     Cody defeats Sammy Guevara (11:53)
2. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) defeat The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (13:39)
3. SCU (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) (9:57
4. The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix) defeat Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) (12:30)
5. Adam Page defeats Sammy Guevara (8:09)
6. PAC defeats Trent  (11:42)
7. Jon Moxley defeats Michael Nakazawa (1:09)
8. Rey Fenix defeats Nick Jackson (11:55)
9. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) defeat The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix) (7:53)
10. Dustin Rhodes & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat The Inner Circle (Ortiz, Sammy Guevara & Santana) (10:55)
11. Jon Moxley defeats Alex Reynolds  (0:14)
12. The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix) defeat Adam Page & Kenny Omega (17:48)
13. Cody defeats Darby Allin (17:18)
14. Adam Page & Kenny Omega defeat Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) (12:26)
15. Adam Page & Kenny Omega defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) and The Inner Circle (Ortiz & Santana) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (16:35)
16. Adam Page & Kenny Omega defeat SCU (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) (c) (19:11) - TITLE CHANGE !!!
17. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) (8:39)
18. Jon Moxley defeats Ortiz  (7:47)
19. Adam Page & Kenny Omega (c) defeat SCU (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky)  (13:16)
20. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) and Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) and The Inner Circle (Ortiz & Santana)  and SCU (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) and STRONGHEARTS (CIMA & T-Hawk) and The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) and The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) and The Hybrid2 (Angelico & Jack Evans) and The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (17:59)
21. Kenny Omega defeats PAC [2:1] (30:58)
22. SCU (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) & Colt Cabana defeat The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno, John Silver & Stu Grayson) (10:42)
23. Cody defeats Ortiz (11:35)
24. The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) (14:08)
25. Cody defeats Jimmy Havoc (10:40)
26. Kenny Omega defeats Trent  (20:08)
27. Lance Archer defeats Alan Angels (1:38)
28. Lance Archer defeats Colt Cabana (11:21)
29. Darby Allin defeats Sammy Guevara (10:51)
30. Cody defeats Darby Allin (20:11)
31. Cody defeats Joey Janela (13:29)
32. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) defeat The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus)  (10:49)
33. Jon Moxley defeats Ten (4:30)
34. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) & Matt Hardy defeat Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) & Joey Janela (8:54)
35. Adam Page & Kenny Omega (c) defeat Jimmy Havoc & Kip Sabian  (13:38)
36. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeat The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) (10:20)
37. Adam Page & Kenny Omega (c) defeat The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall) (12:56)
38. Wardlow defeats Luchasaurus  (9:16)
39. The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) defeat MJF & Wardlow (11:02)
40. Adam Page & Kenny Omega (c) defeat Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) (10:34)
41. Cody  (c) defeats Sonny Kiss (10:44)
42. Cody  (c) defeats Eddie Kingston (11:21)
43. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent), The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) & Orange Cassidy  defeat The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Ortiz, Sammy Guevara & Santana) (12:06)
44. The Dark Order (Evil Uno, Five, Mr. Brodie Lee, Nine & Stu Grayson) & Colt Cabana defeat The Elite (Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) & FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (17:19)
45. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) (12:28)
46. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (defeat Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) (12:52)
47. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) and The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall)  and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (21:32)
48. The Inner Circle (Ortiz & Santana) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) (6:56)
49. The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) defeat The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix) (9:28)
50. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeat The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (12:14)
51. Kip Sabian & Miro  defeat Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss (10:39)
52. Darby Allin defeats Ricky Starks (9:54)
53. Brian Cage (c) defeats Will Hobbs (9:09)
54. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (c) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) (16:33)
55. Wardlow defeats Jungle Boy  (8:26)
56. Adam Page defeats Wardlow (9:47)
57. MJF & Wardlow defeat The Inner Circle (Ortiz & Sammy Guevara) (9:27)
58. Brian Cage  defeats Matt Sydal (7:45)
59. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Top Flight (Darius Martin & Daunte Martin) (9:00)
60. Adam Page defeats John Silver (9:46)
61. MJF and Orange Cassidy defeat Adam Page and Alex Reynolds and Isiah Kassidy and Joey Janela and John Silver and Jungle Boy and Kip Sabian and Lee Johnson and Luther and Marq Quen and Matt Hardy and Matt Sydal and Miro and Sammy Guevara and Scorpio Sky and Serpentico and Shawn Spears and Wardlow (12:21)
62. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat The Hybrid2 (Angelico & Jack Evans) (11:48)
63. Matt Hardy & Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) defeat Adam Page & The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) (10:48)
64. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho & MJF)  defeat Top Flight (Darius Martin & Daunte Martin) (11:46)
65. Colt Cabana & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Matt Hardy & Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) (13:31)
66. SCU (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) & The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) & The Hybrid2 (Angelico & Jack Evans) (9:58)
67. PAC defeats Eddie Kingston  (9:37)
68. Adam Page & The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Colt Cabana & John Silver) defeat Chaos Project (Luther & Serpentico) & The Hybrid2 (Angelico & Jack Evans) (6:20)
69. Eddie Kingston defeats Lance Archer (8:55)
70. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho & MJF) defeat The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) and The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) and Top Flight (Darius Martin & Daunte Martin) and The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) and Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) and The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) and The Inner Circle (Jake Hager & Sammy Guevara) and The Inner Circle (Ortiz & Santana) (11:37)
71. Darby Allin (c) defeats Joey Janela (9:50)
72. Adam Page & Matt Hardy defeat The Hybrid2 (Angelico & Jack Evans) (7:06)
73. Jon Moxley defeats Ryan Nemeth (2:44)
74. Jade Cargill & Shaq defeat Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet  (12:02)
75. Rey Fenix defeats Matt Jackson (14:17)
76. Cody Rhodes defeats Penta El Zero Miedo (10:08)
77. Kenny Omega [c] defeats Matt Sydal  (11:30)
78. Christian Cage defeats Frankie Kazarian (16:33)
79. Adam Page defeats Max Caster  (10:04)
80. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (c) defeat Death Triangle (PAC & Rey Fenix) (23:22)
81. Adam Page defeats Ricky Starks  (8:16)
82. Brian Cage defeats Adam Page (5:49)
83. Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley defeat Kenny Omega & MT Nakazawa (8:03)
84. Jon Moxley (c) defeats Yuji Nagata  (8:29)
85. Christian Cage defeats Matt Sydal (9:15)
86. Darby Allin defeats Cezar Bononi  (4:15)
87. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat The Death Triangle (PAC & Penta El Zero Miedo) (9:27)
88. Christian Cage defeats Angelico  (9:06)
89. Jake Hager  defeats Wardlow by referee's decision [Runde 2] (9:13)
90. Adam Page defeats Powerhouse Hobbs (11:09)
91. Eddie Kingston & Penta El Zero Miedo defeat The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) [c] (13:49)
92. Cody Rhodes defeats QT Marshall  (10:39)
93. Jon Moxley (c) defeats Karl Anderson (9:28)
94. Chris Jericho defeats Shawn Spears  (10:59)
95. The Elite (Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Adam Page & The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno, John Silver & Stu Grayson) (25:35)
96. Chris Jericho defeats Juventud Guerrera (9:51)
97. The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Dante Martin & The Sydal Brothers (Matt Sydal & Mike Sydal) (12:08)
98. Darby Allin & Sting defeat 2point0 (Jeff Parker & Matt Lee) (6:16)
99. Orange Cassidy defeats Matt Hardy (9:53)
100. The Inner Circle (Ortiz & Santana) defeat FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) (13:34)
101. Malakai Black defeats Dustin Rhodes (9:53)
102. Adam Cole defeats Frankie Kazarian (8:05)
103. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega - Time Limit Draw (30:00)
104. Adam Cole defeats Jungle Boy (13:39)
105. The Elite (Adam Cole, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage & The Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (17:58)
106. Malakai Black defeats Dante Martin  (9:38)
107. Bryan Danielson defeats Dustin Rhodes by referee's decision (14:28)
108. CM Punk defeats Bobby Fish (12:58)
109. Kenny Omega defeats Alan Angels (8:01)
110. Bryan Danielson defeats Rocky Romero  (10:51)
111. Bryan Danielson defeats Evil Uno by referee's decision (6:22)
112. CM Punk defeats QT Marshall  (11:08)
113. Bryan Danielson defeats Alan Angels (6:09)
114. Dante Martin and MJF defeat Frankie Kazarian and Jay Lethal and Lee Johnson and Lee Moriarty and Lio Rush and Matt Hardy and Matt Sydal and Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks and Wardlow (8:26)
115. Adam Page (c) vs. Bryan Danielson - Time Limit Draw (60:00)
116. Adam Cole defeats Orange Cassidy (17:06)
117. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) & The Hardy Family Office (Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen & Matt Hardy) defeat Christian Cage, Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) & The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (12:33)
118. Adam Page (c) defeats Bryan Danielson (29:06)
119. CM Punk defeats Wardlow  (14:06)
120. Adam Cole & Dr. Britt Baker DMD defeat Kris Statlander & Orange Cassidy (14:25)
121. Sammy Guevara (c) [Interim] defeats Cody Rhodes (c) [TNT] (22:59) - TITLE CHANGE !!!
122. Jon Moxley defeats Wheeler Yuta  (7:29)
123. Wardlow defeats The Blade (6:15)
124. Bryan Danielson defeats Lee Moriarty by referee's decision (12:14)
125. reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) defeat 2point0 (Jeff Parker & Matt Lee) and Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) and FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) and Ortiz & Santana and Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) and The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) and The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds & John Silver) and The Gunn Club (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (18:25)
126. Bryan Danielson defeats Christopher Daniels by referee's decision (11:17)
127. Adam Page (c) defeats Dante Martin (7:27)
128. Adam Cole & reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) defeat Adam Page & Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (13:58)
129. CM Punk defeats Dax Harwood (12:51)
130. CM Punk defeats Max Caster  (7:09)
131. Adam Cole defeats Christian Cage (14:56)
132. CM Punk defeats Penta Oscuro  (13:38)
133. CM Punk defeats Dustin Rhodes (17:26)
134. Dax Harwood defeats Cash Wheeler (15:05)
135. Jeff Hardy defeats Bobby Fish (10:20)
136. Adam Cole defeats Dax Harwood (15:34)
137. Samoa Joe defeats Johnny Elite (10:25)
138. Wardlow defeats Shawn Spears (6:53)
139. CMFTR (Cash Wheeler, CM Punk & Dax Harwood) defeat Max Caster & The Gunn Club (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) (11:50)
140. Kyle O'Reilly defeats Andrade El Idolo and Austin Gunn and Bobby Fish and Colten Gunn and Daniel Garcia and Dante Martin and Darby Allin and Eddie Kingston and Jake Hager and John Silver and Keith Lee and Konosuke Takeshita and Lance Archer and Max Caster and Powerhouse Hobbs and Rey Fenix and Ricky Starks and Swerve Strickland and Tony Nese and Wheeler Yuta (24:59)
141. Chris Jericho defeats Ortiz  (11:06)
142. CHAOS (Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta) defeat United Empire (Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis & Will Ospreay) (11:37)
143. Orange Cassidy defeats Ethan Page  (10:57)
144. Wardlow defeats Scorpio Sky (c) (8:29) - TITLE CHANGE !!!
145. Wardlow (c) defeats Orange Cassidy  (11:36)
146. Brody King defeats Darby Allin (12:35)
147. Jon Moxley (c) defeats Rush by referee's decision (13:27)
148. Jay Lethal defeats Orange Cassidy (12:18)
149. Darby Allin defeats Brody King (13:28)
150. Bryan Danielson defeats Daniel Garcia [2:1] (26:16)
151. Jay Lethal defeats Dax Harwood (12:51)
152. Bryan Danielson defeats Jake Hager (10:48)
153. Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) & Orange Cassidy  (12:58) - TITLE CHANGE !!!
154. Jon Moxley defeats Sammy Guevara (13:27)
155. Chris Jericho defeats Claudio Castagnoli (c) (14:49) - TITLE CHANGE !!!
156. Bryan Danielson defeats Matt Menard  (8:36)
157. MJF defeats Wheeler Yuta (15:06)
158. Luchasaurus defeats Jack Perry (14:05)
159. Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (c) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) & Orange Cassidy (11:45)
160. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta) defeat The Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho & Daniel Garcia) (11:40)
161. Jay Lethal defeats Darby Allin (9:08)
162. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) & The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) defeat Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland) & The Gunns (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) (12:22)
163. Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli) defeat The Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara) (17:58)
164. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Jake Hager  (8:38)
165. Bryan Danielson defeats Dax Harwood (14:49)
166. Ricky Starks defeats Brian Cage and Dalton Castle and Ethan Page and Kip Sabian  and Lee Moriarty and Dustin Rhodes and Jack Perry and Matt Hardy and Orange Cassidy and Shawn Dean and The Butcher (13:08)
167. Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) [3] defeat The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) [1] (14:58)
168. The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) [2] defeat Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) [3] (13:41)
169. Bryan Danielson defeats Ethan Page by referee's decision (16:25)
170. Ricky Starks defeats Chris Jericho (12:36)
171. Adam Page defeats Jon Moxley (14:13)
172. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Jay Lethal (9:07)
173. The Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara) defeat Action Andretti & Ricky Starks (12:44)
174. Jon Moxley defeats Adam Page (16:34)
175. MJF [c] defeats Konosuke Takeshita (13:19)
176. Billy Gunn, Orange Cassidy & The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) defeat Jay Lethal, Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh & Sonjay Dutt (8:57)
177. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Wheeler Yuta (16:51)
178. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Big Bill  (12:23)
179. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Jay Lethal (14:46)
180. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta) defeat Adam Page & The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) (13:26)
181. Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy & Sting defeat Kip Sabian & The Butcher And The Blade (The Blade & The Butcher) (11:19)
182. Jack Perry defeats Matt Hardy  (10:02)
183. House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black) (c) defeat Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) & Orange Cassidy (11:38)
184. Darby Allin defeats Swerve Strickland (14:40)
185. Dr. Britt Baker DMD & Jamie Hayter defeat The Outcasts (Ruby Soho & Toni Storm) (9:37)
186. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Bandido (15:17)
187. Adam Cole, Bandido, Orange Cassidy & Roderick Strong defeat The Jericho Appreciation Society (Angelo Parker, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager & Matt Menard) (14:19)
188. Claudio Castagnoli defeats Rey Fenix  (14:28)
189. Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy defeat Big Bill & Lee Moriarty (11:13)
190. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Kyle Fletcher (15:05)
191. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta) defeat Bandido & The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (11:00)
192. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Swerve Strickland  (15:45)
193. Adam Cole vs. MJF [c] - Time Limit Draw (30:00)
194. The Gunns (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) defeat The Hardys (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) (7:02)
195. Jon Moxley defeats Tomohiro Ishii (15:10)
196. Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy defeat Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland  (11:16)
197. Chris Jericho defeats Komander  (12:50)
198. Jack Perry defeats Hook (c) (11:40) - TITLE CHANGE !!!
199. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats AR Fox (13:46)
200. Chris Jericho & Konosuke Takeshita defeat The Jericho Appreciation Society (Daniel Garcia & Sammy Guevara) (12:21)
201. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeat The Hardys (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) (11:15)
202. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Wheeler Yuta (11:49)
203. Jon Moxley defeats Rey Fenix  (13:37)
204. Jon Moxley defeats Komander  (8:46)
205. Jon Moxley  (c) defeats AR Fox (8:23)
206. Jon Moxley (c) defeats Big Bill  (11:27)
207. Eddie Kingston (c) [NJPW] defeats Claudio Castagnoli (c) [ROH] (15:17) - TITLE CHANGE !!!
208. Rey Fenix  (c) defeats Jeff Jarrett (8:17)
209. Rey Fenix  (c) defeats Nick Jackson  (13:44)
210. Bryan Danielson defeats Swerve Strickland  (16:07)
211. Jay White defeats Penta El Zero Miedo  (13:18)
212. MJF defeats Juice Robinson  (15:04)
213. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Claudio Castagnoli  (17:02)
214. MJF (c) defeats Daniel Garcia  (10:37)
215. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta) defeat Hook & Orange Cassidy (11:29)
216. Swerve Strickland [3] defeats Jay Lethal [0] (13:51)
217. Jon Moxley [6] defeats Jay Lethal [0] (11:19)
218. Jon Moxley [9] defeats Rush [3] by referee's decision (14:32)
219. Adam Page defeats Roderick Strong  (14:48)
220. Swerve Strickland [12] defeats Rush [6] (14:53)
221. Jon Moxley defeats Jay White and Swerve Strickland (23:14)
222. Orange Cassidy (c) defeats Dante Martin (13:29)
223. Adam Page defeats Claudio Castagnoli (17:11)
224. Christian Cage  (c) defeats Dustin Rhodes (15:25)
225. Adam Page defeats Penta El Zero Miedo  (13:45)
226. Jon Moxley defeats Jeff Hardy by referee's decision (15:04)
227. Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland - Time Limit Draw (30:00)
228. Jon Moxley defeats Dax Harwood (18:38)
229. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) - Time Limit Draw (20:00)
230. Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli & Jon Moxley) defeat Eddie Kingston & FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) by referee's decision (21:53)
231. Samoa Joe & Swerve Strickland defeat The Undisputed Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (6:52)
232. Samoa Joe (c) defeats Wardlow by referee's decision (11:08)
233. Kazuchika Okada defeats Eddie Kingston (c) (15:52) - TITLE CHANGE !!!
234. Will Ospreay defeats Katsuyori Shibata (18:56)
235. Will Ospreay defeats Powerhouse Hobbs (13:18)
236. Adam Copeland (c) defeats Penta El Zero Miedo  (20:41)
237. House Of Black (Brody King & Julia Hart) defeat Adam Copeland & Willow Nightingale by referee's decision (8:53)
238. Swerve Strickland [c] defeats Kyle Fletcher (14:45)
239. Adam Copeland (c) defeats Buddy Matthews (21:02)
240. Orange Cassidy defeats Trent Beretta (13:17)
241. Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley) defeat Jeff Cobb & Kyle Fletcher (12:57)

The Final Battle For the Throne

There aren't too many people left. Only a select few that we have followed for a long time are left to claim the Throne. So, I found the 20 characters who I think might be able to take the seat and make it their own. Then I decided to line them up in order of who would be least to most likely to survive to the end. This is merely my opinion. Some of these are off-the-wall, but so is a show with dragons and people who can wear other people's faces. So, here we go.

The "No Chance In Seven Hells" Division

20. Hot Pie's not dead, so he's on the list. But our chubby friend will go on making wolf-shaped bread and being blissfully ignorant to the rigors of political life.

19. Back in Pyke, Yara Greyjoy is holding it down now that Theon is dead. Euron isn't going attempt to usurp her anymore either, so she will be happy to just rule the Iron Islands and be left alone. Whoever is on the Throne would do well to remember that.

18. Another "well, he's still alive" guy, I assume dopey Robin Arryn is still Lord of the Vale. We haven't seen him since the 4th episode of season 6. So, he's probably a bit older. But really, that kid? Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms? Not likely.

17. The best guy for the job isn't a guy at all, but he is the goodest boy. Every single person gets obliterated in the final battle and all of Westeros is left to the animals. In the absence of humans, Ghost takes his place on the Throne. I assume that means 'A Song of Ice and Fire' is a prequel series to 'Isle of Dogs'.

16. I doubt she'd ever have any interest in ruling the land, but Sam will probably keep Gilly alive to the end, so she's a candidate. Negatives: from North of the Wall. Folks probably will be leery of that.

15. Out of necessity, Samwell Tarly will stay alive, if for no other reason, because we're fairly certain he's the stand-in for George R.R. Martin writing the story within the story. He's too smart to want the job. He's only slightly in front of Gilly because he's from the 'ros.

The "We'd All Love to See It, But These People Probably Don't Have a Shot Either" Division

14. If you're looking for a guy who's led people before, look no further than Tormund Giantsbane. He knows what he's doing. And he's a blast to be around. His only major knock would be the fact that he's a Wildling.

13. Leadership skills are once again on display from Grey Worm. But the same issue for Tormund will come in to play for Grey Worm. He's got some Unsullied who will still follow him, but most of Westeros won't care for him. Also, if Dany is still alive, Grey Worm won't try to claim the Throne over her.

12. Oh, Podrick Payne. Sweet, simple Pod. Silly, carefree, huge-dong Pod. The goofy bastard would have no idea what he was doing, but he'd just bone everyone into submission.

11. With Jamie gone and the Stark girls protected, Brienne of Tarth will need something to do oath-wise. Perhaps and oath to protect the whole realm? If she survives, she could give it shot.

The "Probably Qualified Based on Merit or Family Standing, But a lot of People Would Have to Die For Them to Get to the Throne" Division

10. On to the top ten. The bigger contenders. He's served under several commanders. He's pulled himself up from his bootstraps from Fleabottom. Davos Seaworth would know what the common man would like. But I don't know if he'd have the ambition to take the Throne.

9. He's another outsider. He's a man's man. The best sell-sword we know. He fights every day. Bronn of the Blackwater will do what he needs to survive. And if somehow he can outlive everyone of noble birth, he might be able to take the throne by force and sheer will.

8. TIN FOIL TIME! Let's set the scene: The fighting has raged. Bodies are strewn about the streets of King's Landing and the halls of the Red Keep. We begin a slow pan up the steps and begin to see the bottom of the Iron Throne. As we move up the body, we arrive on the face of a smug-looking Daenarys Targaryen. The score begins to play. Just as we believe that this is the end, Daenarys reaches up and grabs her chin. She pulls her face off to reveal Arya. We believe she has dispatched with The Unburnt and we now have our Queen. Then Arya reaches up and pulls her face to reveal Jon Snow. Jon's shoulders slump with the weight of the station. The music begins to quicken. Jon pulls his face off to reveal Sansa. The camera begins to pull out as Sansa pulls her face off to show Tyrion. Faster now faces get pulled off. Cersei, Littlefinger, Jamie, Renly, Varys, Stannis, Olenna, Tywin, Robb, Loras, Tommen, Margaery. Then the faces slow down. We see Joffrey. Then Robert. And finally, we see Ned. Lord Eddard Stark smirks one last time at us, then as the music stops, he tugs at his chin. He reveals Jaqen H'ghar. Jaqen says, "no one is the king of Westeros." He then pulls his face for a final time as we can now see the whole throne and Jaqen disappears and his clothes crumple to the floor. Fade to black. Credits.

7. If we ignore all the foreign invasions, and the line of succession of the oldest living male heir of the most recent king is taken into account, then Gendry Baratheon has a pretty good argument. Now, does he have any political ambition? Probably not. He's a blacksmith. But all of the sudden, he's now the Lord of Storm's End. And we're pretty sure he wouldn't be a total jerk. But, this one is going to require people with more drive to get out of the way and/or nominate him to take over.

6. With his family standing, Bran Stark would have a pretty good claim to the Throne. However, he doesn't seem to have an interest in taking over since becoming the Three-Eyed Raven. He would have the knowledge of all of history to help him rule. But something would really have to change for him to take over.

The "Legit Contenders. Because We've Been Most Invested in Their Stories, so Obviously it's One of Them" Division

5. Daenarys Targaryen is a bit too obvious of a choice at this point. They've foreshadowed too much "Mad Queen". With this being the finale, I can't see her redeeming herself from this massive heel turn enough to be a good ruler. Even if she takes control of the throne now, someone's just going to murder her and take over. But she is one of the longest-tenured characters on the show. And she does still have a dragon and armies that still back her. So, if she took out every single person who opposed her right now, she could stay in power. 

4. With "murdered the Night King and made all the Army of the Dead explode" on her resume, Arya Stark seems to be a logical choice for hero-thrust-into-leadership role. Even more so if she has to go take out Daenarys too. But Arya has said time and time again that she does not want to lead anyone or marry anyone of importance. So, convincing her to take over the whole realm would be a tall task.

3. Jon Snow-- Aegon Targaryen if you're nasty-- has been the main character for quite some time. While this has long been an ensemble cast, Jon has always been the underlying glue. Many others have come and gone, but through a combination of plot armor and a resurrection, the Man Who Knows Nothing just keeps tripping into these huge situations. He's definitely in the "some have greatness thrust upon them" camp. He's gonna have to do some stuff that tears at his moral code, including probably having a hand, if not THE hand, in taking out his lover/aunt. But if he can get past all that with a clear head, he may just reluctantly rule the Seven Kingdoms as well.

2. Littlefinger liked to think he knew how to play the game. Ned Stark was an honorable man who thought he was above the game. Both of them got dead for their theories. Tyrion Lannister seems like the man who was able to best play the game while still trying to use a moral code. He's had to betray some people he loved and trust some people he despised, but in the end he may be the only one who can reconcile all that needs to be done and still live with the results. His life as an outcast has uniquely prepared him to care for the needs of the downtrodden. Perhaps the only person better suited to take the throne than Tyrion is...

1. Sansa Stark. When the series first began, I like many others, couldn't stand Sansa Stark. She was stuck-up and spoiled, having never left Winterfell. She knew no pain, no heartache, no loss, no want for anything. And after she was promised the one thing she always wanted, to be Queen, she began a journey that would show her who she really was, and what the world really was. She has grown and changed possibly more than any other character in the entire series. She understands the game. She remembers where she came from. She knows the value of family, but also caring about the commoners and strangers in her midst. She's come to realize the value in everyone. The only way I could see her not taking the Iron Throne is if she decided she didn't want it, instead remaining Queen in the North and allowing the rest of the Realm to be ruled by someone else. Perhaps her somewhat still husband Tyrion will take over and they will rule jointly from afar?

All of this hinges on the fact that a bloodbath hasn't just laid waste to my entire list and anyone of note is left to sit on the Iron Throne. I can also see a scenario where a group of whomever is left installs some sort of democratic society and the Throne is melted down, never to be seen again. 

FC Cincinnati Anthems

FC Cincinnati continues to grow in its sophomore campaign. Monday, they released the renderings of their proposed soccer-only stadium. Tonight, they take on Columbus in the U.S. Open Cup in a game dubbed the "Hell is Real" Derby. Cincinnati has aspirations to be an MLS club on the same level as Columbus, despite its fledgling status. Cincinnati has established a strong fanbase. Their colors and banners and scarves and shirts can be seen all over the city. Ticket sales are through the roof. Everyone is saying and doing the right things. The team is doing moderately well for only playing together for a total of about 17 months. But I feel like one thing is missing: an anthem.

Sure the Bailey sings some songs and has some creative chants. But there is no song that has been established to sing before and after every game. A song that the whole stadium could join in on. Atlanta United sings "Georgia on My Mind". Manchester United edits "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" to "Glory, Glory Man United". And several teams have adopted "You'll Never Walk Alone" following the lead of Liverpool. So, I submit to you after much preamble, my top 10 choices for the anthem of FC Cincinnati. Obviously, this is by no means a definitive list. And there is always plenty of disagreement. But perhaps this could start a conversation that the Supporters Council might take into consideration and an actual song may be adopted. Or maybe it will just be for entertainment. Either way, critique the list. Add your suggestions. Send it to friends. Let's have some fun with lists!

RULES: My list, my rules. You don't have to play by them if you don't want to.

• First, no "Zombie Nation" or "Seven Nation Army". Too many college football games. Over-used. "Seven Nation Army" is especially annoying to me.
• It has to be easily singable. Is "Enter Sandman" intimidating? Sure. But, you lose a lot of people trying to sing along.
• It's gotta be easily recognizable or easy to be learned for a majority of the crowd. We want this to be something the whole stadium can sing in unison.
• I'm avoiding swearing.
• Extra consideration to songs or artists with local ties or the song may relate to the team in some way.

Honorable Mentions: "Witch Doctor", "Blue Moon", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

10. "Cincinnati, Ohio" by Connie Smith- I know the Reds use this song already, but I mean, it's a song about loving Cincinnati. What else can you ask for? It would probably have to be relegated to just the first verse and the chorus. Too much song to learn.

9. "Shout" by The Isley Brothers- Despite the fact that others have covered it and made it famous, Cincinnati's own Isley Brothers wrote and first performed "Shout". "Shout" is upbeat. It has crowd involvement. There's movement. It's a pretty good choice.

8. "WKRP in Cincinnati"- The theme to the TV show about a fictional radio station in town has a catchy tune and it's not very long. Easy to learn. And again, it's directly about Cincinnati. You gotta love that.

7. "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs- Repeated phrases for easy learning. Nonsense words. A song that's basically shouted. It lends itself well to a stadium setting. Plus, it's just goofy enough to be entertaining.

6. "Let's Go Fly a Kite" David Tomlinson and Dick Van Dyke- In the vein of West Ham United's "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" I added in a totally ridiculous fun song that has nothing to do with soccer, Cincinnati, or really anything other than having fun and flying a kite. And if you don't like it, well you know what you can go do.

5. "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers- It's got a nice, slow cadence. The words are easy to learn. It can also be versatile enough to be sung happy and fast or slow and somber depending on the mood and the result.

4. "Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley- The idea is obvious here. A song that mentions blue and shoes is going to get a lot of points. Unfortunately, Elvis fails to mention any orange. But he does make his words easy enough to learn that anyone can join in.

3. "Twist and Shout" by The Isley Brothers- The Isley Brothers are back. If you've never heard this song anywhere else, you've probably heard it in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'. Ferris does a lip sync during the parade scene. If he can lip sync it, you can learn the words. Another song that can go happy and fast or slow and somber. Plus, as I said, Cincinnati groups get extra points.

2. "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon- While the Isley Brothers represent the old guard of Cincinnati music, Walk the Moon is my entry for a current band from the Queen City to make it big. How else can you tell the world you love your team? You tell them to shut up, we're going to dance. It has a nice natural clapping beat. However, this one is tougher to sing slow. But, if you want to make people notice you, you sing it loud and happy regardless of the result. Plus, wouldn't it be fun to get the guys to come play it live some day before or after a game too?

1. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens- Spending plenty of time in the Bailey, I'm well aware of the "In the Nati, the mighty Nati, we're gonna win tonight". However, I feel that a full rendition of the real song with the lion in the song is appropriate, given the logo. I also think it's another song that can be sung loud and proud or slow and somber when the situation dictates. Plus, I imagine a large portion of the crowd would already know this one.

As I have said. this is by no means a definitive list. Nor is the order necessarily the most logical. But it's the list I like. Again, got a better one? Think I'm a genius? Let me know. Share my list. Get the conversation going. Or maybe we let enough people know and we can just try some out at the pitch and see how we feel about them.

Automatically Qualified for What?

As the Madness begins this afternoon, two teams will be watching from their living rooms. I know, a lot of teams will be watching from their living rooms, because they didn't make the dance. However, I'm thinking of two very specific teams. Fairleigh Dickson and Southern. These two teams played Tuesday and Wednesday and fell to Florida Gulf Coast and Holy Cross respectively in the First Four.

Well, at least they got to play in a game, you say? I don't find that fair. These teams worked their tails off, were told that if they tried hard enough and won their conference tournament, they would be rewarded with a trip to the NCAA tournament. The Big Time. These two teams may not see the bright lights again for a while. They might have been fluke tournament runs. And their reward? Games on TruTV in Dayton two days before the actual tournament, just to see if they could make it.

And the response will always be, 'well if you want to make it, you gotta win the game'. And that's a valid point. But didn't they already win a game? Their conference championship? What's the point of an automatic qualifying bid if you do actually qualify? That's like saying you've automatically qualified to enter a drawing with 63 other people to win a car, but then you're told that in order to get into that drawing, you have to win a bare-knuckle brawl against some other guy first, but the other people don't. Why do those other people get to enter without getting beat up? Cause they came from better neighborhoods?

I think from now on, teams with automatic qualifying bids should AUTOMATICALLY make the field of 64. Now, will most of these teams do anything? Probably not. But at least they'd all be given a chance. This year, including automatic and play-in bids, the ACC, Big 12, Big 10, and Pac 12 were given 7 bids each. The Big East got 5. The American got 4. The Atlantic 10 and SEC each got 3. And the Missouri Valley got 2. Every other conference got just their conference tournament champ in the field. And the only teams outside of the ACC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac 12, Big East, American, Atlantic 10 and SEC to be ranked higher than a 12 are Northern Iowa, Gonzaga, and Wichita State.

So what I propose is this. There are 23 teams in the list of conferences that got single bids and one that got two. We're aren't gonna lie to ourselves here. Unless someone just has a phenomenal year, the only reason most of those schools are in there is to round out the field and because they were promised a shot. So, why not just assume they'll all be the 11-16 seeds? They almost all are now anyway. Now every team that won a conference tournament gets a real game on Thursday or Friday. And what you're left with is 4 games in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday made up of at-large bubble teams fighting for 10-seeds.

10-seeds tend to make a lot of trouble in the tournament. Upsetting 7's, then making 2's worried. And these are teams that were on the bubble anyway. Why not make them work harder for it. And you'll be left with more compelling games on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. No offense to these schools, but no one outside of Holy Cross, Southern, hardcore NCAA junkies, and degenerate gamblers was watching that game Wednesday evening. Wouldn't Pittsburgh-Michigan or VCU-Tulsa have been a more compelling draw? You may get more people attempting to find TruTV a few days early.

It would be good for everyone. The lower-tiered teams. The television ratings. The fans. The only ones that really suffer are teams like Temple, who got in by the skin of their teeth. But ever since they expanded the play-in games from one to four in 2011, I felt like some teams that used to get in by winning their conference tournament were getting jobbed at the expense of getting a bigger name school into the field. Syracuse has prestige, sure. But they went 19 and 14 this year. They had a self-imposed ban from the post-season last year. Before that, they hadn't missed a tournament since 2008. Seems like the committee really wanted to see the Orange make the field again.

Maybe if bubble teams want to make sure they make it into the Big Dance, they win their conference tournament and lock up that automatic qualifying bid.

10 Ways to Make the Home Run Derby Even Better

It seems to be a consensus that the new Home Run Derby format was a rousing success. Fans loved the drama. Players were excited for the amount of home runs hit. And writers were glad it didn't last long into the wee hours of the night so they might make the morning edition (you know, in that paper thing that no one reads anymore). So you might be asking yourself, why change it then? Why mess with success? Cause it can always be better.

So here are ten ways that next year's Home Run Derby can be even more awesome:

10. Now this one is purely cosmetic from the standpoint of someone who might need to work in the morning. Start it a half-hour to hour earlier. I know with the timed format, it gives a better sense of when the whole thing will be done, but add in timeouts, interviews, commercials and the time it takes to get from the locker room to the plate, the whole thing got a bit lengthy. Make it so more small kids can stay up to see it and fall in love with America's pastime.

9. Mascots out in the field. I know, we love watching the little kids out there trying to catch the can of corn moonshots that hit the warning track. But man, wouldn't it be just as entertaining to see those goofy stuffed characters out there running to and fro with the kids, no idea where the ball is. What if one gets plunked in the midst of it all? The crowd would love it. And I assume based on the construction of the suits, the person inside would barely feel it. Hell, I'll give somebody credit for a homer if they can plunk a mascot.

8. Run the bases. I know we're trying to increase the crowd enjoyment here by raising the number of home runs hit. But, wouldn't it be fun to have to watch Prince Fielder try to get around the bases as fast as he could every time he hit one so he could get back to the plate to swing again? I know this favors the younger, more spry participants, but I'm a man who enjoys hustle. And if you don't want to hustle, I guess you don't want to hit another home run.

7. Miss USA rules. Sure, a dude can hit 15 home runs in his uniform. But how about formal wear? I'd like to see Todd Frazier swat a few cowhides in tails and a top hat. And if we're really adventurous, I suppose we could do swimwear too. I'm sure more than a few female viewers would tune in to see Joc Pederson shirtless in trunks or Bryce Harper swinging in nothing but cleats and speedo. Would everyone enjoy it? No. But we're trying to make it more interesting and expand a fanbase here.

6. Alumni division. Each All-Star Game should be about every team. But after seeing it in person, I believe even more that each All-Star Game should be so much more about the host team. So, have a separate bracket. Only four guys. The best living sluggers who can still muscle it from the home team. So if the Reds had done it this year, you get Griffey, Dunn, E. Davis, and maybe Casey. Sure, there won't be as many home runs, but imagine the pop from the crowd. And aren't the fans the reason we're doing this in the first place?

5. Fungo bats. So, you take that alumni division and realize after year one that they only combined for 20 homers for the whole thing. So let's make it better. Hand them each an aluminum bat and let 'em go to town. Tell me you wouldn't have paid good money this year just to see Griffey and Dunn go head-to-head with a metal bat seeing who could put one in the Ohio River on a fly first.

4. Hello Money Ball. The Money Ball in the NBA Three-Point Contest counts for double. It's the last ball you shoot in each rack during your turn. So with the timed format, anything within the last 30 seconds of your regular time should count as double. you're down 5 with 30 seconds to go and you're starting to press. Boom, all you have to do is hit 3 instead of 5 and you win! Instant drama.

3. The Money Ball, with a twist! Again, an adjustment because after year one, you realized too many guys were losing because the other guy was doing better with the Money Ball, so we even the score here. No more Money Ball during the last 30 seconds. After the allotted time period is over, out walks a new pitcher. But not just any pitcher, the best fireballer in the game. So right now, I would assume everyone would agree that's Aroldis Chapman. He's gotta throw you strikes. You get 5 strikes to work with. There's an umpire now to call strikes. If he throws it outside the zone, you get another pitch. He's not gonna try to strike you out per say. He's just trying to put it past you as hard as he can. Here it comes. 102. In the zone. Catch up to it, get the meat on it, and see if you can put it over the wall. Clear the yellow and you get 2 for the price of one. If you even see it before it hits the mitt.

2. Many complained that the only flaw with the bracket format is that the higher-seeded batter has the advantage. All he has to do is hit one more than the lower-seeded batter and he's done. Which is true. And you know what? If you don't like it, hit more home runs before the All-Star Game and you won't be a lower-seeded batter. But if you wanna level the playing field a little, fine. I present to you...Rebuttal Time. So lower-seed guy bats. Hits 9 out. Higher-seeded guy comes up and just keeps swinging til time is up. He ends up hitting 11 out. Now, lower-seeded guy comes back. I debated on the time limit for this. I thought perhaps everyone gets 30 seconds. Maybe it's based on the number of homers you hit. That would have to be worked out. For now, I'll go with 5 seconds for every homer you hit. So lower-seeded guy now gets 45 seconds to see how many more he can pop. Maybe he starts to groove and hits 6. So now its 15 to 11. Higher-seeded guy now gets his 55 second Rebuttal Time. Maybe he gets the 5 he needs and moves on anyway. Maybe he only get 3. Who knows. It still favors the higher-seeded guy batting second, but it gives the lower-seeded guy a sporting chance.

1. Head-to-Head Finals. For real. This is the pressure cooker. Two guys staring each other down. All the marbles. For this, we're going untimed. Each guy gets 20 swings, regardless of how many outs they make. But here's where we make it interesting. They alternate. Guy One takes a hack and puts it out. He moves out of the way and Guy Two and his pitcher walk out and take a crack. Some sort of a clock to keep them moving. Say 15 seconds between when the previous guy's ball hit. We don't want them to keep waiting for the perfect pitch. Back and forth we go til we've hit 20 pitches or one guy can't catch the other with the amount of swings left. Nobody really gets in a groove this way. You just focus on the one pitch at hand. Tied after 20? Sudden death. Hello Home Run Derby Penalty Shots!!!!

Like 'em? Hate 'em? Got a better idea for an awesome twist to the Home Run Derby, let me know.

Saves Leaders Achieve their 100th Save

Challenge accepted. Once again, Jed Demuesy (@jdemuesy) challenged me to figure out a difficult sports statistic, and I couldn't help but try to figure it out. It was a simple question: Aroldis Chapman had just achieved his 100th save. How fast had he achieved it compared to other pitchers who had hit that milestone?

There was no established list that I could find on the internet of when each pitcher had hit their 100th save milestone. So I used baseball-reference.com and an age calculator. Because Jed was unspecific on what "fastest" meant, I calculated the age of the pitcher at the time of the save, the number of games they had appeared in before achieving the save, and the number of innings they had pitched before achieving the save.

I wanted this spreadsheet to be more interactive, but it doesn't seem like I'm able to make it re-order itself. If you would like to see the spreadsheet and re-order the lists based on the different criteria, here is a direct link to the Google sheet I used. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19Qi-7qP3NdY0gvBlFDFZ5TJUjXM88ggmD6biBjy26wo/edit?usp=sharing Or if you know some HTML coding and can help me figure out how to embed a code that would allow re-ordering, please let me know.

As for Jed's question: The answers regarding Aroldis Chapman are:
Age: 26 years 5 months 4 days Rank: 9th of 136
Number of games: 238 Rank: 24th of 136
Number of innings: 232.0 Rank: 9th of 136

Sports Through the Eyes of a Dog

I've had a dog for the majority of my life. When I was born, my parents already had a dog. It passed after a few years, but we got another then later, another. I may have experienced a total of 5 years of life without a dog. My wife and I recently bought an Australian Shepherd/Poodle puppy. He's about 6 months old now, and he has watched several sporting events on TV with me. We haven't gone to a Bark in the Park yet (he's not trained enough in my opinion to handle it). However, what follows is what I believe is his take on sports and what a trip to Bark in the Park will be like.

Hey, where are we going? I see you've got my leash in your hand. Usually we go for walks with it. But you seem like you're headed for the garage...

Whoa, wait. I don't like the garage. That big metal thing with the wheels is in there. It's loud and I got sick that one time. I mean, we go to the pet store in there, but we also go to the vet. So this is a toss-up. Nope. Nope. Not going. Just leave me in the yar...shoot, you picked me up. OK fine.

Mom, where are we going? You guys are wearing that lighter shade of gray that's the same color as my Kong. Wait, is my Kong here?!?! It has peanut butter in it!!! Oh, it's not. Dang.

Oh, we're getting out? Where are we? This isn't the pet store or the vet. This place is big. There's lots of people! Oh, I very much like people. And! And! And!  Look at all the other dogs that are here!

Hello friend! Oh, you don't want to play.
Hello friend! You're kinda big.
Hello friend! Oh, you've got another friend over there? OK.

Dad, where are we going? Oh, this is nice. Look at all that grass and dirt. Dad, can I play in the grass? That man has a stick. I think he wants to throw it. Nope. Gonna keep it. Oh, hey, other dogs are ov...IS THAT A BALL?!?! Dad you didn't say there'd be balls here. Can I chase it? C'mon. Pleeeease.

Oooh, water bowl. Thanks, I forgot I was thirsty. Oh hey, another dog. Do you want to be friends? You do! Let's wrestle is this narrow area full of beer bottles and peanut shells. Woohoo! Wrestle, play, grrr, growl... DAD, we were playing. We weren't gonna hurt each other.

AAAAAHHHHH what was that noise? You know I don't like loud noises. It was hot too. Very hot. Dad, what's PEET-ZAH? And why is everyone yelling it? Whoa, is that grass? Can we run on the grass. Never mind, I'm gonna munch on these peanuts shells.

What? We're going somewhere else? But I was just starting to enjoy this. Hey! Other dogs! Lots of people! Friends, friends? No? Oh, we're walking out? Mom, can I play with the man with the saxophone? I like that noise. Ah, nuts. OK. Waaaaaait, not the car again!

I better not get sick again guys. You know I hate this stuff. Boy, I could go for some more of those peanut shells. Did you get one of those sticks, Dad? I'm gonna nap for a minute.

ZzzzzZzzZZzzz

What? We're home? OK. Can we run in circles in the backyard for a little bit???
SWEEET!!!

*runrunrunrunrunrun*

Did I have fun at the what? Baseball game? What's a baseball game? We've been running in the backyard. Did we do something else today? I forget.

TV Tricks and Aspect Ratios

**ALERT: This is not a sports post. I know, it's a departure from my normal stuff. But hey, I'm a nerd too. Fair warning**

Recently, my wife and I subscribed to Netflix. We've enjoyed many shows, new and old. Two that she loved as a teenager were "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its spinoff "Angel". She has gotten me to start watching them as well. Today, she was watching an episode of "Angel" when she noticed something peculiar and brought it to my attention.

So, a little background about "Angel" if you're unfamiliar. The show centers around David Boreanaz as Angel, a vampire with a soul. Angel is tormented by his previous life of killing and blood-sucking and has since resigned himself to atone for all this by saving the lives of people caught in supernatural predicaments in Los Angeles. He has two human associates who work with him to solve cases and save lives. They are all characters who were created on "Buffy".

The screenshot is from season 2, episode 1 entitled "Judgment". In the beginning of the episode, Angel and his friends are looking for something regarding a case at a health club. This health club, as you can see, has mirrors lining the walls, as many do. And Angel, staying true to vampire lore, does not have a reflection.

So how did the crew achieve this illusion? Well, in some instances, you could edit the person out in post-production. But that would have been very hard in this instance, with all the gym equipment in the foreground. So the simple solution? Just don't have the actor in the shot. But that can't last forever. They do it just long enough for us to get it that Angel is a vampire without a reflection. We have to see him eventually.

Now as the scene progresses, the camera refocuses off the mirrors and back onto the original subjects, with Angel added in. There was just one slight problem with the way they shot this particular scene.

David Boreanaz is in the scene, but not where he is supposed to be! The two yellow arrows are pointing to his two associates. The green arrow is the gym manager following them. The red arrow suggests where David Boreanaz is supposed to be walking, owing to the fact that he has no reflection. But look over on the right side of the screen. There's David waiting to join the group. As they all pass that green post, the camera racks focus, the camera is now focused on the actual people and the mirror is out of focus, and David is now at the head of the line. That's how they got around not having him in the shot. But why is he so obviously in the shot right now? I mean, it's a fast move. But it was on the screen long enough for my wife to catch it.

Here's what we think probably happened. This episode originally aired in September of 2000. While the show was originally shot in a 16:9 format, there was not a high use of 16:9 aspect-ratio capable television signals or home televisions that could receive such a signal. I imagine that was also the case when editing the episode. As a result, no one would have noticed David standing by the post, because they would have seen it something like this.

Everything outside the blue line would have been chopped off on an analog 4:3 aspect-ratio television.

I know. Nerd things. Something that we found interesting. Perhaps it interests you too. I'm now going to have to watch other shows from around that time closer to see what was shot in 16:9 and got cut off on a 4:3 TV. Gotta see what else I've been missing in widescreen.

Plotting the Post-Season Roster

The season is winding down. After tonight, the Reds have a mere 10 games left. And if we are to assume that they are going to be able to make the post-season, one question still looks like it might need some answering. Who is going to be on the post-season roster?

The obvious choices are set in stone.

Barring injury setbacks, these are your starting pitchers: Cueto, Latos, Arroyo, Bailey, Leake

Your regular fielders are: Votto, Phillips, Cozart, Frazier, Bruce, Choo, Ludwick, Hanigan

The bullpen choices I see making it are: Chapman, Hoover, LeCure, Simon, Marshall

Bench players I think will definitely be there October 1st: Mesoraco, Heisey

That's 20 players. The final 5 roster spots are what give me some pause. Which players will be most effective in helping the Reds navigate the playoffs?

The remaining pool consists of these players. I'd remove these September call-up guys immediately:

Paul, Izturis, Hamilton, H. Rodriguez, Soto, Robinson, Hannahan, Miller, Christiani, Cingrani, Duke, Ondrusek, Parra, Partch, and Reynolds.

That leaves us 9 players for 5 spots.

Because there are currently no back-up infielders, I see Izturis and Hannahan both on the team. I think Parra has also earned his spot.

So that leaves us with Paul, Hamilton, Robinson, Cingrani, Ondrusek and Reynolds for 2 spots.

With a couple of short series to start, and extra starters there, Reynolds is not needed.

If you only take one more pitcher, I imagine it's Cingrani...unless he's not healthy.

So who's the last player? Each player has their positives and shortcomings.

Hamilton is the hype choice with his super-speed in pinch-running situations. He's also a decent fielder, but you're wary of him having to bat.

Paul provides more pop with his bat than the other two. He's also put in the work for the whole season. Is there a loyalty factor involved?

Robinson also provides decent speed on the basepaths and in the field. His special advantage is that he can switch-hit.

Unless they choose to carry less pitchers and use starters for relief purposes, I think this is going to be a really tough decision. I could see any these guys being the 25th man and even being rotated between each series, depending on which teams they play and what their strengths are. If they take 2 of the 3 and leave a pitcher, I think Cingrani is off and they take Paul and Hamilton.

As I write, Jay Bruce just hit a grand slam...I'm thinking his spot is pretty safe. These other guys? Well, it's gonna be an interesting week and a half.