Category Archives: Commentary

The End of the World (Or Maybe Just a Fun Pay-Per-View)

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Tom Garrett

The 2012 Royal Rumble pay-per-view includes just four announced matches, but the show nonetheless looks like the most interesting edition within memory. The WWE has done a great job of enhancing each match with intrigue that goes beyond the basic … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sports, Television | Tagged Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Commentary, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Kane, Professional Wrestling, Randy Orton, Royal Rumble, Sports, Sports Entertainment, Television, The Undertaker, Triple H, WWE, Y2J | 1 Comment

SitCombat: 1/26/12

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Tom Garrett

Archer dominated SitCombat last week with an impressive season premiere featuring Burt Reynolds. However, 30 Rock has a chance at redemption with the payoff to a two-part episode. But there’s a twist to tonight’s SitCombat battle . . . No … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Reviews, Television | Tagged 30 Rock, Archer, Commentary, Mick Foley, Reviews, SitCombat, Television | Leave a comment

The Take-home Message from the SOPA Debate

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Tom Garrett

Tracking the political discourse regarding SOPA proved to be quite instructive in ways I hadn’t anticipated. My own view on the proposed bill was that, while the aims weren’t entirely bad, some of the presumptions in the law overreached in … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Gaming, General Culture and News, Movies, Music, Politics, Television | Tagged Commentary, Crysis 2, Gaming, General Culture and News, Intellectual Property, Internet, Internet Piracy, Movies, Music, Occupy Wall Street, Politics, SOPA, Television, Torrents | 4 Comments

What I’ve Learned So Far

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Tom Garrett

Today is my birthday. That fact triggers no negative emotion whatsoever. I don’t feel as old as the calendar tells me I am. That’s one thing I’ve discovered as I’ve gotten older: I don’t feel the age I’m supposed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News | Tagged Birthdays, Commentary, General Culture and News, Introspection, Lessons, Philosophy | 5 Comments

SitCombat: 1/19/12

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Tom Garrett

30 Rock took the first SitCombat win of 2012, but Tina Fey and company didn’t have to tangle with Archer. The much-anticipated return of the FX comedy comes after a strong run to end the second season, followed by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Reviews, Television | Tagged 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin, Amber Nash, Archer, Burt Reynolds, Commentary, FX, NBC, Reviews, SitCombat, Television, The Office, Tina Fey, TV | Leave a comment

Six Open Questions About Tim Tebow

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Tom Garrett

If you can’t stand Tim Tebow, here’s the good news: This will be the last Tebow-related piece I write until at least August, barring some unforeseen incident involving a trade or the Rapture. The bad news is that it’s going … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, General Culture and News, Politics, Sports | Tagged Commentary, Denver Broncos, Focus on the Family, General Culture and News, John Elway, NFL, Politics, Pro Football, Religion, Sexuality, Shahid Khan, Sports, Tebow, Tebowmania, Tim Tebow | 10 Comments

The Return of SitCombat

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Tom Garrett

I figured the season premiere of 30 Rock was as good a time as any to renew the weekly comedy showdown known as “SitCombat.” Archer comes back next week, so the opening contest of the year will be a one-on-one … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Reviews, Television | Tagged 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin, Archer, Commentary, Ed Helms, James Spader, Jane Krakowski, Reviews, Television, The Office, Tina Fey, TV | Leave a comment

An Abridged History of Pro Wrestling’s Ethnic Identity Crisis

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Tom Garrett

Highlighting ethnicity or nationality to help get certain professional wrestlers “over” is a technique as old as the business itself. The WWWF (later the WWF, now the WWE) used the origins of Bruno Sammartino (Italian), Spiros Arion (Greek), and Pedro … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sports, Television | Tagged Commentary, Ethnicity, Fritz Von Erich, Gorilla Monsoon, Ivan Koloff, Johnny B. Badd, Kofi Kingston, Mark Mero, Mohammad Hassan, Nikita Koloff, Pro Wrestling, Professional Wrestling, Race, Racism?, Razor Ramon, Scott Hall, Sports, Sports Entertainment, Television, The Iron Sheik, The Undertaker, TV, Vince McMahon, WWE, Yokozuna | 13 Comments

What it Means to be the Best

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Tom Garrett

The old adage about Ric Flair held that the Nature Boy was such a skilled in-ring performer in his prime that he could have a four-star match with a broomstick. What I always liked about that aphorism was that it … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sports, Television | Tagged Chris Jericho, Commentary, Pro Wrestling, Sports, Sports Entertainment, Television, The End Begins, WWE, Y2J | 8 Comments

Best of 2011

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Tom Garrett

This year began with me being bitten in the face by a dog and will end with me staring at a dwindling bank account and vowing to reform my questionable eating and exercise regimen before I suffer a coronary. Yet, 2011 … Continue reading →