Although two huge moves came weeks ago, the biggest name dealt was Manny Ramirez at 3:59 yesterday afternoon, one minute before the proverbial buzzer went off. Before I proceed, let’s get the specifics on the three-way deal between Boston, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh:

Los Angeles Dodgers Get: OF Manny Ramirez (From BOS)
Boston Red Sox Get: OF Jason Bay (From PIT)
Pittsburgh Pirates Get: IF Andy LaRoche (From LAD), P Bryan Morris (From LAD), P Craig Hansen (From BOS), OF Brandon Moss (From BOS)

Alright. At first glance, it seems like the Red Sox got hosed. But, as someone who follows the team insanely close, let me give you the actual value of the pieces Boston traded away. Manny Ramirez, by far the biggest name moved, was an extremely disgrunted 37-year-old outfielder with a talented bat and a lazy mind. The man never hustled, never tried, and was a huge disruption to the Boston clubhouse. The entire league knew it, which meant Boston had to overpay to get him out of town. The Red Sox also gave up marginal Major Leaguers Craig Hansen (the biggest pitching bust of the last five years, given his potential), and Brandon Moss (a serviceable outfielder that didn’t stand a chance of starting on this Boston roster). Boston agreed to pay the remainder of Ramirez’s 2008 salary — approximately seven million dollars — as part of the deal with Los Angeles. If you know anything about Boston’s checkbook, seven million dollars is basically pocket change.

In return, they received Pittsburgh outfielder Jason Bay. Bay, a 29-year-old two-time All-Star, played for the Canadian team in 2006′s World Baseball Classic. And, contrary to popular outrage, has outperformed Ramirez’s offensive numbers over the past four seasons. His presence does not give you the same “slugger” mentality that Ramirez gave, but it provides more agility, speed and defensive capability that Manny never provided. I’m eager to see how he acclimates himself to his new team and city.

Two other huge names — and starting aces, for that matter — were moved weeks prior to the deadline. Oakland moved fireballer Rich Harden to the Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland sent lefty powerhouse C.C. Sabathia north to Milwaukee. American League hitters rejoiced shortly thereafter. With these two Aces moving to the National League Central, we’re sure to see a fantastic race to the finish, as the Cubs and Brewers will no doubt finish one and two in the standings, regardless of the order.

As we sit here today, Major League Baseball is going through a new phase as it hits the stretch run of the 2008 season. The Tampa Bay Rays are sitting atop the A.L. East, easily having the best season in franchise history. The Florida Marlins are buyers, not sellers, at the trading deadline for once. Neither the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees are leading their division. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have turned into a slugging team. The Chicago Cubs look poised to break their century-long drought without a championship. The most exciting names around the sport aren’t Clemens, Bonds or Jeter; instead, we find Hanley Ramirez, Chase Utley and Ian Kinsler.

This seems like a transitional year for baseball. It is a youth movement, a shift in power, and a shake-up, the likes of which the sport hasn’t seen in decades. And I don’t think there could be a better time for it to happen.

As we approach th end of July, we are getting closer and closer to WCF’s next event, Project Mayhem, and rumors are heating up.

HUGE RETURN?

With the Open Invitational at Project Mayhem, rumors have been surfacing and two big names have surfaced as possibly returning at Project Mayhem. Pace yourself for this… the return of the one and only RAINER! But that isn’t even the big name in this, the other man rumoured to be making his hugely anticipated return MR. SKIDMARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are fingers are crossed.

WCF’s Biggest Disgrace?

A recent poll on a WCF fan site has named AJ the biggest disgrace to the WCF Asylum ever. Not only did he ruin Graphicsmania 5′s main event, he also continues to no show on a regular basis.

New Couple on WCF

Relationship rumors are swirling aswell, as many insiders and sources have reported that the whole Ashton as Twilight’s manager angle is just a cover up for their late night meetings.

Big Heel Turn?

WCF Mod, and Asylum competitor Luke has been getting extreme heat as of late, and many are expecting a big heel turn for the man who has stayed on the nuetral side for most of his life. Now that some of his closest supporters are getting annoyed, Luke has officially crossed to the dark side.

That’s all for this edition of WCF Insider Dirt, stay tuned for the next one.

WCF Insider brings you it’s first interview of the new era. One of the must reads for sure here on Insider, as we are joined by a WCF legend. Enjoy.

Buka T: Nice little introduction from you zef, I am not too bad man thanks and yourself?

As i said in my thread on WCF, i just dont think this one works well as a whole, it seems off proportion-wize, but i thought i may as well show you how i construct them. If you ain’t going to sit infront of your computer for around 6-7 hours then dont even attempt something like it, they just dont look good unless you get a decent amout of detail in them (even though i propbally go overboard on things you’ll hardly see, lol) I done such a long sitting on this that ive pulled the muscle in my wrist. Do’h!

Warning: around 20 images so might take a little while to load them all

^ Started with the basic shape and color of the face, Its one of the most important parts of the image but its also one of my favorites to do aswell.

Hardly using the image for most of the shading, i really liked doing this part, it was the biggest different in this new piece to all my others, a totally different way of shading i usually rely on complex gradients intertwined perfectly, this way its just flat dark blueish but layering them to become darker. (lowish opacity). the nose is usually hard for me to do but i was quite happy with the outcome considering i had to make it along, as the picture i was using was way too low quality to get any detail like the form of a nose from.

I can allow to go over the line of the face here because hair will be on a higher layer later on.

LOOK AT THE LAYERS! probably double the amount you can see for the eye. thats the amout of details in the eye, from eye lash’s to the reflextions, to the light on the little thing in the corner of the eye. needed to have bright blue iris’s to make them striking. as always i really enjoyed doing the eye.

The reason i dont ‘draw’ is that i can not make a set of eyes i can do one awsomely then screw it up with the other.. this is kinda of avoided with the magic of cut paste and reflect. But i had to move around the shadows and things to make it look less obvious.

I Love doing big black outlines, kind of adds to my style of semi-realistic comic characters… i dont want to be 100% realistic because that’d take me ages and i like doing my own little twsits in there.

See Very comicy lips, i usually have a hard time with lips so this time i just went pretty basic.

The full face is nearly finished up now just adding lighting details

This was the end of DAY ONE, i just threw a rough hair in there, (this is where i found out something was off.. but i just kept going, i tried to fix it but was going wrong. so i thought i could fix it later.

Day Two – Ooooooo the fun of hair today! i both kinda of like doing this part and kind of hate it because it takes so long. Again i like my style of non realistic hair (i have tried it in the past and it just didnt work for me) So this is my style instead hinting of directions with high and low lights.

Now this was when i thought… this looks weird, only because i hadnt drawn the hands in yet.

Here is my example of the lighting on the hair, quite a nice curl, its actually pretty simple looking but figuring out how and where to place them is tricky.

Again more work on the hair, figuring out the flow.

Woo! one side is nearly finished!  Took around 80-100 min’s really loved how it came out, and the colors and just sexy as hell.

Wow this one is kind of a big jump probally another 80 mins later, i reused the curl because i was getting a little bored now… the hands were going to be hard because the picture was detail-less for them, and ive always struggled on hands.

Woo more shading! i removed the glove because by now i was really getting bored, i just wanted to get it done so i decided to loose alot of the details in the hand’s and keep the focus on the face.

Boobs are always fun to draw.

Just some finishing touch’s on the other arm

All my fun layers… my god thats 6-7 hours of work… So it is really annoying that it is that little bit off

Now i know alot of you are going to wonder of some of the stages came to be.. and well there is no secret, just hard work, Use the pen tool, change the opacity’s to around 3-13%’s and follow the contours of what your trying to do… there really is no other secret other than the pen tool. (And gradients, but not in this one because all of what you see is Flat colors at low opacitys because i used to rely too much on gradients and wanted to challange myself).

I hope this helps some of you with your vectors, but there really is no secret filters or anything like that in Illustrator, it just takes hard work and a lot of time! Hundreds of layers later you get a finished vector!

————————————

Off topic: I am going to be writeing a few tutorials and walkthroughs for some of my work on WCF Insider, so look out for them in the coming months!

The show opened with a video that recapped the top storylines.

Fireworks exploded on the stage.

Jim Ross introduced the show.

1. Zach Ryder and Curt Hawkins defeated John Morrison and The Miz, Finlay and Hornswoggle, and Jesse and Festus in a four-way match to win the WWE Tag Titles in 9:06. Festus flipped everyone else left the ring. The tag champs grabbed Hornswoggle and threw him back in. Hornswoggle rolled up his sleeves and acted like he was going to face Festus, then turned around and dove at the tag champs. At 6:30, Finlay hit the Celtic Cross on Ryder, but Hawkins broke up the pin attempt. Later, Festus entered the ring and cleared most of the wrestlers from the ring. He tagged in Jesse, who went up top for a rocket launcher, but Hawkins swept his leg out. Jesse crashed to the mat and Hawkins made the pin to help his team capture the tag titles.

2. Shelton Benjamin pinned Matt Hardy for the U.S. Title in 9:40. Ross said no U.S. Champion in history has lost his title at the Bash. He also noted that Benjamin could become the 21st person in history to wear the U.S. and Intercontinental Titles. Early in the match, Hardy tried to skin the cat, but Shelton nailed him with a sliding kick to the back. Hardy received a Cena-like reaction in that the women and kids cheered for him, while the men chanted for Shelton. Good back and forth action and the live crowd was into it. Hardy missed a moonsault late. Shelton hit his finisher and scored the clean pin.

Highlights aired from Monday of Todd Grisham interviewing C.M. Punk after Raw. He talked about all the things his critics said he’d never do, but pointed out his name is on the World Hvt. Title. He said he’s not the biggest, strongest, fastest, and sometimes not even the smartest. He said you don’t have to be 6-6 and chiseled to win titles. He said he’s in the business of proving people wrong. He said his name is C.M. Punk and he’s the World Hvt. Champion.

Highlights aired from Smackdown of the Edge video and Vickie Guerrero’s reaction. A mobile pole asked voters to choose whether they sympathize more with Edge or Vickie.

3. Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) beat Tommy Dreamer (w/Colin Delaney) for the ECW Title in 5:30. Mike Adamle and Tazz were on commentary. Henry dominated Dreamer early, but missed a splash at 4:00. A short time later, Dreamer went to the second rope. Colin joined him on the ring apron and they both played to the crowd. Colin grabbed Dreamer’s arm and threw him to the mat. Henry slammed Dreamer and pinned him.

A Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels video aired.

4. Chris Jericho defeated Shawn Michaels via ref stoppage in 18:20. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler are on commentary for the first time tonight. Lance Cade did not accompany Jericho to the ring. Long staredown to start the match. The fist eight minutes of the match were mat based and the crowd wasn’t very vocal. At 9:00, Jericho caught HBK on the ropes. However, Michaels fought him off and pushed him to the mat. HBK followed up with a top rope elbow and tried to pump up the crowd for Sweet Chin Music. Cade ran out. Michaels held onto the ropes and kicked Cade. Jericho went for the Codebreaker, but HBK held on to the ropes. A short time later, Jericho charged Michaels, who flipped him over the top rope and onto Cade. HBK hit a moonsault off the top rope onto Jericho and Cade at ringside. At ringside, Jericho elbowed Michaels in his bad eye. When both men returned to the ring, HBK’s eye was a bloody mess. Jericho’s eyes lit up when he spotted the bad eye. He punched Michaels. The ref stepped in and asked Shawn if he was okay. Later, as the ref scolded Jericho for targeting the eye, Cade caught Michaels with a boot to the head. Michaels was pleading with the ref not to stop the match. Michaels caught Jericho out of nowhere in the crossface, but Jericho powered out of it. The ref hovered over Michaels, who was a bloody mess. He grabbed Jericho’s trunks and climbed to his knees. Jericho shoved him down and hit him with repeated forearms to the eye. The ref stepped in and called for the bell. Trainers hit the ring and tended to HBK.

A Summer Slam ad featured Chris Jericho dressed up like Indiana Jones, and other WWE performers in movie mode. The narrator hyped the event as the biggest blockbuster of the summer.

At ringside, Ross and Foley discussed HBK’s injury and then transitioned into an interview with Edge. “Triple H, what kind of a man—what kind of a pervert—puts a camera in another man’s hotel room?” he asked. Edge said he no longer has personal life. He said Hunter ruined his life and now he’s going to ruin Hunter’s by taking the WWE Title.

5. Michelle McCool defeated Natalya via submission for the WWE Divas Title in 4:45. Ground based match with both women going for submissions early. Natalya grabbed McCool’s hand and leg and stretched her around the ring post until the ref counted four. McCool locked in the Brazilian heel hook. Natalya tried to roll out of it, but she eventually tapped. Afterward, Eve and Cherry ran out and celebrated with McCool.

While the women were in the ring celebrating, Chris Jericho walked onto the stage and interrupted. He told the crowd to keep their ticket stubs because Shawn Michaels’ career was over. He said the trainer told him that HBK has a detached retina. “Shawn Michaels’ career is over,” he said. He said it’s good to know that sometimes the wicked are punished.

A Ric Flair DVD commercial aired.

A video recapped C.M. Punk’s Money in the Bank win, the World Title win, and his run-in with Batista from Monday night.

6. C.M. Punk fought Batista to a Double DQ in a World Hvt. Championship match at 11:10. Cole and Lawler on commentary for the Raw match. Cole said he thinks this is the first time in history that the champion enters the match as the underdog. Punk went for an early roll up, but Batista didn’t budge. A short time later, Punk dove through the ropes onto Batista at ringside. At 7:15, Punk hit a high knee in the corner. He followed up with a kick and scored a nearfall. He went for the GTS a short time later, but Batista punched him and powered out. At 9:30, Batista caught Punk’s leg. Punk punched him twice and hit him with a spinning back fist. Batista backed into the ropes and came back with a clothesline. A short time later, Batista hit the spinebuster at ringside. Punk was out. Batista picked him up and rolled him back into the ring. Kane showed up out of nowhere. He rammed Batista into the ring post and then caught him with the big boot. Kane continued to rough up Batista at ringside and the referee called for the bell. Kane entered the ring and chokeslammed Punk. He grabbed his burlap sack and started to leave the ringside area. Kane stopped and asked, “Is he alive” and then turned and kicked the camera man. Lillian Garica announced that the ref had ruled the match a double DQ. Inside the ring, Punk lifted the title over his head. Batista kicked Punk in gut and then hit the Batista Bomb. Cole said he believes Batista was on his way to becoming the World Champion before Kane interfered.

A John Cena and JBL video aired.

7. JBL pinned John Cena in a parking lot brawl in 17:00. The live crowd watched the video monitor for this match. The match was held in the backstage area. There were several cars and trucks parked in a circle. JBL’s limo pulled up and he got out wearing a suit and carrying a tire iron. JBL called out for Cena and looked around for him. JBL stood on the hood of a car. A car engine revved and Cena drove a car into the car that JBL was standing on. JBL climbed onto the hood of the car as Cena slammed into the car. Cena slammed the hood of a car on JBL and then hooked his nuts up to a pair of jumper cables. Cena touched the other end of the cables to the car battery and it sparked, while JBL shook as if his testicles were being fried. JBL made his comeback. He hit Cena with punches and slammed his head onto the hood of a car. They stood on the hood of a car and JBL hit Cena with a spinning neckbreaker for a nearfall. Later, JBL placed Cena in the backseat of a car and slammed the door shut. He walked over to his limo and grabbed a gas can. JBL doused Cena’s car with gas and pulled out a lighter while the ref pleaded with him to stop. JBL lit the car on fire and the referee started yelling, “Fire!” With the car engulfed in flames, several workers showed up and used fire extinguishers to put the fire out. Once the fire was out, Cena climbed out unscathed and attacked JBL. He put JBL in the front seat of a car, and then sat down behind the wheel of a forklift. He slammed the forklift into the car and lifted it into the air with JBL still inside. Cena drove the forklift and the car into the arena. JBL stumbled out of the car and Cena attacked him on the stage. Cena dominated JBL. He stood over him and delivered the Five Knuckle Shuffle. When JBL got to his feet, Cena picked him up for the FU. He looked at the car he brought out with the forklift. He walked toward the car, but JBL fought off Cena and then threw him through the windshield. JBL covered Cena on top of the car and scored the pin.

Afterward, they aired a replay with a shot of Cena slamming the car into the other car that JBL was standing on top of. Back live, both guys sold the battle. JBL had to be helped to the back by two referees. Cena was still lying on the car and his arms were cut from the glass. The refs tried to help him, but he brushed them off and walked on his own.

At ringside, Ross and Foley revealed the results of the poll. 55 percent of the fans sympathized with Edge, while 45 percent of the fans sympathized with Vickie.

Highlights aired of the Edge and Vickie wedding angle with Triple H crashing the party.

Eve approached Hunter as he was walking in the back and asked if he regretted spoiling the wedding reception. “Eve, do I look like I guy who regrets anything,” he said…

8. Triple H pinned Edge to retain the WWE Title in 16:45. Ross and Foley questioned whether Edge could use the negative energy from the wedding reception and use it to his advantage in the match against Hunter. Edge ran at Hunter and attacked him as soon as the bell rang. It was a back and forth brawl both in and out of the ring for the next eight minutes. Lots of punches. At 10:00, Edge DDT’d Hunter at ringside. The ref started the 10 count. Ross and Foley worked hard to put over the intensity of the match the desire both men have to hold the title. At 13:30, Edge set up for the spear. He charged Hunter, who turned it into a spinebuster that popped the live crowd. At 15:00, both men were lying on the mat and the referee was counting. Alicia Fox (the wedding planner and Edge’s make out partner) ran out and grabbed the WWE Title belt. She placed it in the ring near Edge. Vickie Guerrero ran out and attacked the woman. Vickie got the better of the battle, climbed inside the ring, and picked up the belt. The referee tried take it from her, but she shoved him aside. The wedding planner ran in and had a cat fight with Vickie. They both stood up and Edge tried to spear Alicia and/or the referee (he was trying to pull the women apart), but they moved and Edge speared Vickie. Edge looked distraught. Moments later, Hunter Pedigree’d Edge and scored the pin. Hunter celebrated the title win after the match and the show ended with him posing with the title on the stage.

WCF Member Comments

Adam – Fell asleep during Henry/Dreamer.

Rik D’Tripp – Good PPV in most places, bit boring in others. On the whole though, way better than any other Bash they’ve put on in recent memory.

Al Insane – Overall, probably the worst WWE PPV of the year, and second worst out of both promotions (only Sacrifice was worse).

Xain – Nothing too special, but decent enough to be watchable.

EGame vs. Hawt Es vs. Jae vs. Global RKO

Four Way for the Top Junior X Spot

Winner: EGame

Entry: http://img501.imageshack.us/img501/9264/kanyesplashsj9.png

UYI vs. Subcore

Winner: Subcore

Entry: http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7322/puzzleburgersadvertismetr5.jpg

Scarecrow vs. Gary

Winner: Scarecrow

Entry: http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd270/alibaxbreeze/ortonpostercopy.jpg

Twilight vs. Zefree vs. Sturgeon vs. Razr

Winner: Twilight

Entry: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/unwind23/twilight4.jpg

And the MATCH OF THE WEEK!

XAIN VS. BUKA VS. LUKE VS. ADAM!!!

Xain’s Entry: http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7857/pwnmachinefinqr6.jpg

Buka’s Entry: http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/5704/barbukaposteriy0.jpg

Luke’s Entry: http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8477/69070789cy2.jpg

Adam’s Entry: http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/1141/clubgothamfourwaymatchejc1.png

Who would come out the winner? The votes were cast and the winner was decided, and that man was…

LUKE!!!

The asylum is getting better and better with all of it’s latest action.

Upcoming Rivalry Match

Twilight vs. Pro GFX – Yes, it’s finally happening.

What To Look Out For

The new rankings!!! Xainy should have them up soon.

That’s all for this addition of Asylum news. Stay tight until next time.

This weeks Quote of the Week presented by WCF Insider comes from Stevo…

Stevo on Lazytown- Its a good show with good meanings aka gettin people healthy which is what the world needs a sporty guy flying everywhere who actually won medals at the olympics and he only done that as a dare

I like the songs aswell choreography is good aswell

The villains pretty good aswell

That’s all for this weeks quote of the week. Make sure to tune in next week.

On a Rampage

The top story that broke Tuesday afternoon is that former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, was arrested on two felony charges. According to reports, Jackson did a hit-and-run on two cars, was asked to pull over by a motorcycle cop, hit another car, drove on the sidewalk, and was eventually apprehended at gun point. Jackson’s bail was set at $25,000. Some reports are saying that Dana White de-boarded his private jet in the OC to post bail for Jackson, but no one within the UFC has made a statement about the ordeal. Jackson’s hearing has been set for August 15th.

Breaking News: TMZ.com is reporting that Jackson was picked up by  the Police last night after they were flagged down by someone near where Jackson was staying. The Police deemed Jackson a danger to others and took him to a hospital.

Two quick notes: Long time UFC veteran Chris “Lights Out” Lytle has signed a four fight contract extension and is set to fight Paul Taylor at UFC 89. Also, UFC Light-Heavyweight contenders Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva are set to square off at UFC 89.

Affliction vs The UFC

July 19, 2008 may seem like just another day, but it’s not if you are a MMA fan. On this day, we have two amazing fight cards to watch. One is Affliction: Banned. This show marks the first show that Affliction is promoting in promotion with M-1 Global. The main event for this card is former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion, Fedor Emailienenko vs former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia and the winner will be the first ever WAMMA Heavyweight Champion. The under card for this card is stacked with great fighters. UFC veteran Andrie Arlovski makes his long awaited return to action taking on IFL ace Ben Rothwell. Josh Barnett will try to get revenge in his rematch with Pedro Rizzo. Former UFC fighter Matt Lindland takes on Fabio Negao. Former UFC contender Babalu Sobral will face TUF 2 fighter Mike Whitehead. Before the PPV takes place, tune in to Fox Sports Net to see Vitor Belfort face Terry Martin and Aleksander Emailienenko face Paul Buentello.

To counter act the Affliction show, The UFC is airing  Ultimate Fight Night 14.  The main event sees the #1 Middleweight in the world and UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva making his move to Light-Heavyweight to take on James Irvin. Although it may just be a one time deal, Silva it looking to build his legacy and cement himself among at the top of the Pound-for-Pound rankings. Irvin is looking to derail Silva’s win streak and be the first man in the UFC to defeat him. The under card for this show sees Brandon Vera also making his debut at Light-Heavyweight to take on UFC new-comer Reese Andy. In a battle of the Lightweights, Frankie Edgar takes on former title contender, Hermes Franca. Jake O’Brien is set to fight Cain Velasquez in Heavyweight action. Anthony Johnson looks to climb higher up the Welterweight ladder by beating Kevin Burns. Ultimate Fighter 7 finalist, CB Dolloway takes on Jesse Taylor.

This weekend will be awesome no matter which show you watch, I would recommend both.

Until next time, stay addicted.

I sit here on the heels of one of the most memorable All-Star Breaks in Major League Baseball history. We saw the bright lights upon the game’s new stars. We witnessed the love radiating from the Yankee Stadium faithful as the Legends of Summer poured onto the hallowed Bronx grass. We stood in awe as Josh Hamilton – one of the greatest comeback stories the game has ever seen – dazzled us with blast after towering blast. We stayed up to all hours of the night as the best from each league slugged it out in an epic fifteen-inning war to determine home-field advantage in this year’s Fall Classic.

And yet, I feel unfulfilled.

Perhaps it was the absence of Mariano Rivera notching the save in his backyard’s final hurrah. Or maybe it was the fact that, had the game progressed to the sixteenth inning, play may have been stopped. We were a heartbeat away from the same fiasco that plagued the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee. We were a blink from Bud Selig calling the game a tie. Seven years ago, the game had no real significance attached to it. In more recent years, however, the victorious league earns his World Series representative the all-important home-field advantage. I’m not going to sit here and propose a solution to this problem. I’ll simply sum up my feelings with one thought.

Let home-field in the World Series be awarded to the team with the better record!

In other news, we’re about a month removed from the Boston Celtics capturing their record-17^th NBA Championship in a dominant Game 6 performance over the Los Angeles Lakers. As a Boston native and lifelong Celtic fan, this championship means a great deal to me, considering how long ago the 16^th banner was raised to the Garden rafters.

There are a select few fans from my generation that remember the 1986 NBA Finals — I’m not one of them. I don’t remember the original “Big Three” of Bird, McHale and Parish. I can barely hear the echoes of Johnny Most in the old Boston Garden, and I can’t see mental snapshots of Red Auerbach lighting up another victory cigar.

I do remember a number 40 jersey in white with “RADJA” draped across the back. I remember Dino’s second-best offensive weapon being Andrew DeClercq. I remember owning an Eric Montross jersey and feeling like he was one of the elite big men in the game. I remember Kenny Anderson running the point as he tried to lead a playoff charge. I remember Danny Ainge giving Jiri Welsch the blessing to wear his number 44. I remember Antoine Walker shimmying up and down the parquet floor and Paul Pierce standing on the announcer’s table as I watched them lead an historic comeback over Jason Kidd’s New Jersey Nets on a lazy weekend afternoon. I remember proclaiming “We’re going to the Eastern Conference Finals!” as I watched a game conclude in 2002. I remember Pierce waving his jersey over his head as he left the floor of the Conseco Field House. I remember Rick Pitino walking out on the franchise, only to be replaced by his assistant, Jim O’Brien. I remember being devastated when O’Brien left the team a few years later. I remember wondering why Antoine was traded in order to acquire Raef LaFrentz. I remember re-acquiring him years later, slapping the number 88 on his chest and thinking that the next banner was imminent. I remember watching the Celtics draft Ryan Gomes from a bar stool at the Cask n’ Flagon. I remember Draft Day 2007, and wondering why Ainge traded away Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak to acquire an aging Ray Allen. I remember being just as upset giving up Al Jefferson, Gomes and Gerald Green to acquire Kevin Garnett.

These have been superceded by Ray Allen drilling a buzzer-beater in Charlotte. By Glen “Big Baby” Davis making a name for himself at the Palace of Auburn Hills. By wondering how an amazing home team could possibly lose every game my family attended this season. By a clean, convincing sweep of the Texas Triangle. By Kevin Garnett laying out an obliterating pick on Zaza Pachulia in the First Round. By Paul Pierce challenging, hanging with, and out-performing LeBron James in the Second Round. By the team joining together for an improbable road win in the Conference Finals. By the greatest comeback in Finals history. By the landmark blowout that clinched the banner I’d waited two decades to see raised.

Many people my age became Celtic fans last month. Even more will become fans in the near future. That, friends, is the nature of sports, for better or worse.

Until next time.

Minors Leaguers Running Around

An insider reports, a few members of a WCF type minor league program have been running around trying to spread the word about their forum. These few have used poor attempts at innocently advertising. Luckily their advertising thread has been moved to the recycling bin, where them and their forum belongs.

An Odd Duo

Recent reports have well reported, that Twillight has hired Ashton of all people as his new manager. A very odd duo to say the least. How will this work out?

A ‘Legendary’ Return

Their has been many rumors going around that a beloved WCF member known by the name Legendary is planning a huge return to WCF. Insiders tell us that he no longer suffers from Black Cloud. When will he return? Stay tuned

A Huge Signing Made?

The wrestling cover forum world has been shaked as huge rumors are going around that Ben and Xain have went out and attempted to sign the famous Audio Artist. Could this be possibly true? If it is, the WCF world will be changed forever.

Undisputed Championship

How will the Undisputed Championship be decided? That has been a question among many in WCF, no one is sure, but early reports state that a Bra and Panties match has been decided to headline the next PPV for the Undisputed title. The match was proposed by Xain, but it is not sure if creative has made the call to make it happen yet.

New WCF Couple

A unonimous insider has reported that their is a new couple in WCF. Razr and Pro GFX recently hooked up and are now dating on a regular basis. The bizarre part of this story is Razr and Pro GFX have been rumoured to have ‘fun’ while staring at pictures of Luke. Unusual to say the least.

That’s all for WCF Dirt this time around, keep checking in for the next edition.