Never has a Madden game produced as much controversy as last Madden 13. The backlash was immediate when the game arrived without the coveted franchise mode. EA did the best they could to fix it after the game was released but the big question now is what the franchise mode will look like in Madden 25.

I can tell you that I was one of those angry old-school Madden players that looked on with confusion as I tried to find the franchise mode last year. Yes I saw Connected Careers but that couldn’t be the franchise mode right? Nope it was and it missed some of my favorite elements about the game. It would appear after looking at some early reports regarding this year’s game is that the mode is back with some returning elements.

One of the biggest points of contention for me was the inability to import NCAA draft classes into my franchise mode. The reason the franchise mode appealed to me was that I could play with realistic players well past the end of that current season. Last year’s game took away that option and I quickly found myself bored with the mode after the second season. That won’t happen in Madden 25.

EA will bring back the NCAA draft class import to Madden 25. This is great news and a real bright spot early on as the hype begins for Maddenoliday 25. It also creates a little incentive to go out and get the NCAA game first. I passed on NCAA last year after import classes were abandoned.

Franchise careers as it is called has also brought back one of my other favorite features to the game. Players will now have the ability to control all 32 teams during a season. That was a big omission last year and another reason I grew tired quickly of the connected careers mode. I always enjoyed jumping into a big whether my true franchise team was involved or not. Removing that option made no sense to me and I am glad it’s back.

EA is off to a great start but there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered about the updated franchise careers mode. Is the fantasy draft back? Last year EA added the draft but only to online careers mode play. Quite frankly I didn’t care whether it was on or offline but plenty of players did, I was just happy it was back. I haven’t seen anything confirmed one way or the other on this mode.

Another big problem I had with last year’s game was the use of legends. The only way to play one of the legends like Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice, Lawrence Taylor, or Michael Irvin was to play them in superstar mode. Superstar mode is probably one of the most ridiculous features I have ever seen in a Madden game. Why can’t I have access to these legends in the franchise mode? I understand that the addition of legends would really blow up the mode, so why not offer it as an option when setting up your league?

The owners mode appears to have a ton of activity and options for players that desire to have a hands on approach to running their entire franchise. Again this is a mode that I never had time for. I really don’t care how much I charge for hot dogs or parking. I am playing Madden to win games! However, you are in luck if you are into that kind of activity.

Quite honestly I am still on the fence about whether I am going to buy Madden. I grew tired of last year’s game faster than any other Madden game and I have been playing since year one. The playbooks rarely change year to year and the game play has grown stale to me. The returning elements to the franchise mode certainly has me interested, but they still have some work to do before I place my annual pre-order.

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Before I get into my blog, I apologize for not having a regular blog. Without going into details, life has been throwing some curve-balls at me, and I just have not had the time. I believe that things are calming down, so I can blog more frequently and regularly. I want to thank my editor, Eric Gargiulo for his patience.

Now, let’s get to the blog. To my fellow NFL fans, tonight, April 25th, is the first round of the three day event we all look forward to, the NFL draft. We get to see which prospects get picked to start their NFL careers, and we also get to see which teams trade to move up or down in the draft.

I love the NFL Draft, especially the first round, which is tonight, April 25th, as I write this. There is a lot of drama and intrigue. I tend to go back and forth between NFL Network and ESPN as far as coverage. Of course, there is coverage on social media also. I do hope that the main networks stop the practice of “tipping” the picks. What I mean is that when “X” team makes the pick, or is about to, the networks show the likely pick on the phone with the head coach or owner. I mean, I like being surprised.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what the 2013 draft class does on the field, and what legacy they leave.

That brings me to my blog. On Tuesday, April 23, 2013, ESPN aired from ESPN FILMS and NFL FILMS as part of their “30 for 30″ series, “Elway to Marino,” which discussed the famous 1983 draft class where six QBs went in the first round. The film discussed Dan Marino’s fall to #28 to the Miami Dolphins, and John Elway’s refusal to play for the Baltimore Colts.

I will be giving a review of the film, and then I will be making my own personal comments, so I hope my readers will enjoy it.

THE MOVIE ITSELF:

I thought the film was fantastic. I highly recommend sports fans to watch it, not just NFL fans. This was a great analysis of wheeling and dealing on the part of the the other teams who really wanted John Elway. It also was great showing the ineptness and dysfunction of the Baltimore Colts. Elway, Marino, and former Colts General Manager Ernie Accorsi were interviewed for this film to offer their insights.

The film is told with the help of Marvin Demoff, who represented both Marino and Elway. Demoff had notes on the entire transaction of each QB. I thought that was great. His notes revealed some very interesting revelations. One of which was that 49ers coach, Bill Walsh offered to trade Joe Montana to the Colts for Elway. That revelation was pretty shocking to me, being a huge Montana fan.

Marvin Demoff starts off by revealing that he was a lawyer, but then got into the business of representing athletes. He started by representing Dan Marino, QB out of the University of Pittsburgh. He then started to represent the highly touted QB from Stanford, John Elway. Both men didn’t mind that they were represented by the same agent.

Holding the first pick in the 1983 Draft was the Baltimore Colts. John Elway was being promoted by the media as the #1 pick in the draft. Elway’s father, Jack was his high school coach. The Elways balked at the idea of John Elway playing for the Colts. Their reason was that the Colts head coach at the time, Frank Kush was not a coach that John would want to play for, as Kush was a strict disciplinarian. The Elways were not fond of the Colts Organization whose Owner Bob Irsay had just fired the GM, and hired Ernie Accorsi immediately as Accorsi was the Vice- GM.

A couple of months before the draft, the Elways and Irsay and other Colts officials met, and there was an agreement made where John Elway would not be drafted by the team, and Elway would be traded.. The Elways’ excuse was that John was from California, and did not want to play for a cold weather team. In his interview, John said it backfired on them because it gave him (John) the image of “sunshine boy, blond haired, California kid.”

As for Marino, his issue was that there were teams that were more interested in what he did on and off campus, than what he did on the campus gridiron. One team even interviewed his teammate as to whether there were any drugs in the room. In his interview, he said he realized he had a bad year.

Up to the draft, viewers get to hear what Ernie Accorsi wanted for Elway, and it was pretty steep. The Colts wanted ’3 #1s and 2 #2s. Many teams, including the Patriots and the Cowboys tried to make deals, but Irsay, who jumped in the middle of things, said no.

At the draft itself, when it was time to pick, the Colts Accorsi picked Elway right away, about a minute after the Colts were “on the clock.” Obviously, that gave none of the teams any chance during the 15 minute period to make any deal. Elway was the “property” of the Colts. During the first round, the Colts did have a chance to trade Elway’s rights if the price was right.

The film then shows which prospect got picked by which team, and such. The film goes back to Marino’s plight, as he watches several other QBs go before him. In his interview, Marino discusses how he thought he thought he would be going to this team, or how he was surprised that so and so went to that team, as the picks went on.

There were some head scratchers. The Kansas City Chiefs took QB Todd Blackledge with the 7th pick. The guy was just alright. People also thought the Pittsburgh Steelers would take the hometown hero, Dan Marino, but the Steelers stuck to building the team through the defense and took Gabe Rivera. The New York Jets needed a QB, but took Ken O’Brien.

In the meantime, as the draft progressed, as teams tried their best to convince the Colts to accept their offers for Elway’s rights, Bob Irsay kept refusing, so the teams picked whomever they felt fit their team..

As for the two main characters, Marino eventually slid all the way down to the 28th pick, and wound up being the face of the franchise for the Miami Dolphins. As for Elway, no deal, and Demoff wrote in his diary that the Elways were crushed.

On the day of that first round of that draft, John Elway made an announcement. He had decided to play for the New York Yankees, as he had been playing in their farm system.. He decided to play baseball, rather than play for the Colts.

Viewers then are told the story about how Elway gets a call a couple of days after the draft, and is told to get dressed, and get packed as he has to go to Denver, because Bob Irsay made a deal to trade him to the Broncos. Elways states in the interview that he sneaked out of the house, got on the plane, and then landed in Denver, and finally signed papers. The deal was made. John Elway was a Denver Bronco.

Isray traded Elway away for a song. For Elways’ rights, Denver had to give up quarterback Mark Hermann, the rights to offensive tackle Chris Hinton and a first-round pick in the 1984 draft, which ended up being guard Ron Solt. Ernie Accorsi was furious, and he said that he resigned immediately as he did not want to be part of it.

The film concludes with the other teams facing the consequences of their choices. For example, Gabe Rivera only played 6 games for the Steelers while QB Terry Bradshaw suffered a career ending injury. The Jets Ken O’Brien was just alright, even though he had an 8-7 record against Marino. The Patriots QB Tony Eason led them to Super Bowl XX, but he wasn’t tough enough to last in the NFL, as he was very frail.

The Bills did get the great Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, who at first balked at playing there, and played in the USFL. After the USFL closed, Kelly did report to the Bills, and led them to four straight SB appearances, the only QB to do that in NFL history.

During the end credits, both Elway and Marino talk about what they are doing in retirement.

Overall, this was an excellent film which I’d highly recommend.

MY PERSONAL COMMENTS

I just want to quickly comment on the main characters. To me, the draft is kind of like a yearling sale. Horse buyers are spending hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions on a thoroughbred yearling that they don’t know if it can run. It was the same thing with the draft. Teams are spending MILLIONS on players who have yet to play a down in the NFL. Heaven forbid they screw up, especially at the QB position.

That being said, I can understand why Marino fell so far, especially with the drug use rumors. Of course, sometimes teams need to look into rumors themselves instead of believing what everyone is saying. I mean, yes, Rivera looked promising to the Steelers, but he went out drinking and driving, and never played again. I just would have gone ahead and picked Marino. Bradshaw was on his way out anyway. Nevertheless, Dan Marino had a Hall of Fame career with Miami. He lead the Dolphins to one Super Bowl appearance, but got destroyed by the 49ers. who were led by Joe Montana.

As for Elway, I don’t usually like power plays to get what you want, but considering that the following year, the Irsay’s moved the team out of

Baltimore in the dark like cowards, I think the Elway family had a good grasp of what kind of people the Irsays were like, and what kind of organization the Colts were.

Therefore, I cannot really blame John for refusing to play for them. It was all for the best anyway, as Elway became a legend in Denver, and took the team to 5 Super Bowl appearances, winning 2. Like Marino, Elway is also a Hall of Famer.

As for Bob Irsay, I found the guy to be a stubborn jerk. I don’t know if it were because of pride or ego, but I could not understand why if other teams were offering him the moon for Elway, he refused to consider them. I also got the impression that Irsay wanted to hold on to Elway’s rights just because he could. I also got the impression that Irsay wanted to do things his way, or the highway.

What really turned me off was after turning down all those offers, Irsay trades Elway to the Broncos for peanuts, behind Colts GM Accorsi’s back. Was it a power play? I just thought that was a cowardly move, and I just didn’t like Irsay at all.

Well, that was my review, and my personal commentary on the film. I hope you enjoyed it.

Terri Bey currently blogs for CamelClutchBlog.com about Wrestling, NFL, and other sports/pop culture related subjects. Her work has appeared in BleacherReport and for F4WOnline.com. Terri can be found here at Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/TerriBey and at Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/giopontifan

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WRESTLEMANIA XI
From The Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, CT
April 2, 1995

BACKGROUND
Three years after raking in over 60,000 fans to nearly fill a domed stadium, the WWF experienced the ignominy of putting their biggest show of the year on display in a shopping mall.

Imagine, shunted in between your local Best Buy and Bed, Bath, and Beyond is a moderately sized civic center, and that building is housing the eleventh annual WWF WrestleMania, in the middle of one of the smallest states in America.

Coming down from the enthralling and hallowed Madison Square Garden of one year prior, perhaps Vince McMahon was better off holding WrestleMania in an actual garden.

Despite dodging a bullet in July of 1994 by being acquitted on charges of steroid distribution, Vince McMahon was still reeling. Toymaker Hasbro pulled their licensing out, declaring the WWF a “dead brand”. The stench of illicit happenings in the World Wrestling Federation was enough to gag a large number of fans into turning away from the product. Those that stayed were treated to the rise of wrestling’s most cartoonish circus atmosphere to date, with silly storylines and nonsensical characters (garbage men, race car drivers, pig farmers, etc).

Attendance waned at television tapings and house shows. Pay per view buyrates were largely sliding. In 1994, the WWF began the still-running tradition of having sponsors for pay per views (Dominos Pizza would be the first for Summerslam ’94).

To top it all off, McMahon watched Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage both defect to WCW and bring mainstream attention to Ted Turner’s “rasslin’” company. McMahon tried celebrity tie-ins to shuttle fans into his product, such as Leslie Nielsen, Chuck Norris, and senile NFL great Art Donovan, but to little avail.

However, at the 1995 Royal Rumble, two celebrities would become intertwined with WrestleMania XI, and it would help save the day.

THE EVENT
Shawn Michaels, long considered to be on the fast track to stardom after his stellar performance in the ladder match at WrestleMania X, won the 1995 Royal Rumble match from the #1 position. Lasting around forty minutes in the fastest Rumble match in history (just one minute intervals), Michaels survived all the way to the end of the match with the #2 entrant, Davey Boy Smith. After a false elimination that gave impression to the British Bulldog’s victory, Michaels snuck back into the ring (with only one foot having touched the floor), and deposited Smith over the top.

Shawn Michaels would be facing his former bodyguard, Diesel, for the WWF Championship. The two men went their separate ways after Survivor Series 1994, when Michaels inadvertently superkicked Diesel for the third time in three months.

Diesel, three days later, won said WWF Championship by defeating Bob Backlund at Madison Square Garden in just eight seconds. Diesel survived a title defense against Bret Hart at the 1995 Royal Rumble, wherein five different men (Michaels included) interfered.

Michaels was convinced that he had created the monster of “Big Daddy Cool”, and was equally convinced that he could break him as well. In Diesel’s mold, Shawn Michaels brought in Sid Vicious, now simply known as Sid, to be his new bodyguard, and to convince the world that Diesel was as replaceable as anyone.

In addition to winning the Royal Rumble match, Michaels won the opportunity to be accompanied to the ring by Baywatch sensation Pamela Anderson. In 1995, Anderson was at the apex of her fame, starring on a syndicated show that was watched worldwide, and it catapulted her into permanent stardom. Getting Baywatch’s own CJ Parker was a coup for the WWF, and would certainly turn some relatively positive attention toward the big event.

But Anderson wasn’t the only star who was tied in with that year’s Royal Rumble. Sitting front row at ringside to the January spectacular was future NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor. The fearsome linebacker was seated with friends, taking in the action, when he suddenly became a part of the show.

Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka had failed in their bid to become WWF World Tag Team Champions, and it was Bigelow’s clumsiness that was the difference maker. As the “Beast From the East” seethed in loss, he stomped around ringside on the verge of a tantrum. That’s when he caught “LT” giggling, and Bigelow perceived his merriment to be a slight against his manhood.

Bigelow confronted Taylor, who seemed keen on playing peacemaker. Taylor’s good natured attitude fell on deaf ears, as Bigelow shoved Taylor over a row of chairs, creating a new hot button story.

In WWF vernacular, Bigelow was suspended for thirty days for touching a spectator, but before long, the two men were signed to meet at WrestleMania in the main event.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler handled commentary duties for the second straight year, while Jim Ross provided post-match interviews from the aisleway. Special Olympian Kathy Huey sang “America the Beautiful”, while Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Nicholas Tuturro, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas were on hand as window dressing for the World Title match. Lawrence Taylor had with him an entourage of NFL defensive greats, including the likes of Reggie White and future Horseman Steve McMichael.

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THE RESULTS
The Allied Powers def. Eli and Jacob Blu in 6:34
(Lex Luger was in the World Title match one year earlier. The British Bulldog was the runner up in the Royal Rumble. The best thing you can do is give them the no-sell twins? Unusual opener)

WWF Intercontinental: Razor Ramon def. Jeff Jarrett by disqualification in 13:32
(Solid match, made interesting with future DX members 123 Kid and The Roadie serving as seconds. Historians may note that Kid performed what may be the first televised crotch chop in wrestling history. BREAK IT DOWN!)

The Undertaker def. King Kong Bundy in 6:36
(That’s four. Undertaker’s urn would be stolen, mid-match, by Kama, who apparently melted it down into a necklace fit for the jivest of pimps. Hmmm)

WWF World Tag Team: Owen Hart/Yokozuna def. The Smoking Gunns in 9:42 to win the titles
(Wanna hear something awesome? Watch this match, and listen to the crowd reaction when Owen pins Billy Gunn and gets his first piece of gold in the WWF. Owen’s celebration seems to be at least half legitimate, and it makes you happy for a deserving man)

I Quit Match: Bret Hart def. Bob Backlund in 9:34
(A far cry from their classic at the 1994 Survivor Series. With Rowdy Roddy Piper as referee, the match seemed to be little more than rushed comic filler, and that’s no use for either Hart or Backlund. Bret called it his worst PPV match in his WWF tenure, and for good reason)

WWF World Heavyweight: Diesel def. Shawn Michaels in 20:35
(Really good match. Michaels ended up being escorted by Jenny McCarthy, while Diesel arrived with Anderson, who was, in character, repulsed by Shawn’s ego. Of course, she married the likes of Tommy Lee and Kid Rock. To paraphrase Jeffrey Ross, keeping it cleaner, doesn’t she screw anyone with talent?)

Lawrence Taylor def. Bam Bam Bigelow in 11:42
(The best celebrity match in wrestling history. Bigelow could take a beating, and Taylor obliged with wicked forearms, hard slams, and even sold admirably for Bigelow. The highlight was Vince McMahon’s ring introductions for both men’s entourages, doing his best pre-game PA announcer impression)

ITS PLACE IN HISTORY
WrestleMania XI was premised as a two match show, and both matches were loaded with outsiders and celebrities in order to entice casual buys. With a lot of wrestling fans either turning to WCW or ECW, or tuning out altogether, at the time, Vince McMahon had to try and grasp as much of a new audience as possible, and thus resorted to these means.

The most telling image of the show was in the post-match of Diesel vs. Michaels. When Diesel won, he stood in the ring with his arms raised, celebrating with Anderson, McCarthy, Thomas, and Tuturro, in an attempt to achieve some kind, any kind, of rub. Diesel’s World Title reign had been lukewarm thus far, and his match with Shawn would basically be the peak.

Late in the match, the crowd was booing Diesel’s forced “fist pumping” gestures (to insinuate that he was loading up on ‘Diesel Power’), and it was clear that making Kevin Nash into a Hogan clone was failing miserably.

McMahon couldn’t have forced Diesel down the fans throats any harder, even if he’d used a plunger. But the image of Diesel celebrating, flanked by pseudo-stars, still left a foul taste in our mouths.

Justin Henry is a freelance writer who splits time between this site, WrestleCrap.com, and FootballNation.com. He can be found via his wrestling Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wrestlecrapjrh

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If you thought being a cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs was brutal, try WMMA fighting! I don’t know what’s harder? Let’s be honest. Rachel Wray got in more offense in her first five MMA fights than the Chiefs did all season.

Rachel Wray was on her way to making a smooth transition to the world of Mixed Martial-Arts. Wray has assimilated an impressive amateur WMMA record since entering the sport. Wray was 5-0 and just won her previous two by KO. Taking a look at her fights on You Tube it appears that the former cheerleader has some heavy hands and doesn’t mind using them. Unfortunately her winning streak was derailed last week when she ran into Nadia Nixon at UBCB 19.

Check out the video below. If you enjoy standup WMMA fighting you may find this one entertaining. There is certainly no lull in action here. Hopefully she can bounce back better from this loss than the Chiefs did all of last season.

Does Ronda Rousey have anything to worry about? I doubt it.

Check out the video below.

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If there is one thing synonymous with WWE WrestleMania it is celebrity. WrestleMania has brought out the A, B, C, and plenty of D celebrities for the last 27 years. Here is a look back at the top 10 based on the contribution and legacy that they left behind at the big WWE event.

The WWE has certainly been hit and miss over the last 27 years when it comes to celebrity involvement at WrestleMania. They all have left lasting legacies, some for better reasons than others. I thought it would be fun to take a look back and rank the top ten based on the attention they brought to WrestleMania, importance to their event, quality of appearance, and more important lasting legacy.

Based on the above criteria here is my listing in order of top 10 celebrities at WrestleMania. Agree or disagree? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Mr. T - People may argue Donald Trump, Mike Tyson, or even Cyndi Lauper but to me there is no celebrity more important to the success of WrestleMania than Mr. T. It was Mr. T that brought the WWF international attention the months leading up to WrestleMania 1. Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan were hot at the time but Mr. T was even hotter. I do think WrestleMania would have been big without him but I don’t think it would have been nearly as big nor got the mainstream media attention that it did if Mr. T wasn’t wrestling in the main-event. Unfortunately he didn’t have the same impact on WrestleMania 2.

Cyndi Lauper - Yes I’ll go back to 1985 and the first WrestleMania for my top two celebrity rankings. I struggled for awhile between Lauper and Mr. T for the top spot. MTV was such a critical piece in promoting the WWF during this time period and I highly doubt that the WWF would have gotten on MTV if it were not for Lauper’s involvement. Not only was she involved, but she was great, and delivered passionate promos every time she had the chance to promote the big New York event. Her legacy is highly underrated when the legend of WrestleMania is discussed. So much so that the WWE even left her out of their top 20 WrestleMania celebrity list. Blasphemy!

Donald Trump - You probably don’t like him but it is hard to argue with what he meant to WrestleMania. Of all of the celebrities there is probably nobody that brought more business to WrestleMania than Trump. It wasn’t until last year and WrestleMania 27 that the WrestleMania 23 buyrate was broken. Trump like Lauper was fantastic in his role and delivered all of his pre-match promos with the same fire he uses to fire celebrities on television. For whatever reason it all clicked and it is impossible to deny the money 23 brought in wasn’t highly attributed to the Donald.

Mike Tyson - Tyson never wrestled at WrestleMania but it is hard to argue with the impact he had on WrestleMania X-3 as well as overall business at the time for the WWE. Not since Lauper and T did any other celebrity bring the WWE as much attention leading into WrestleMania as Mike Tyson did. His confrontation on RAW with Steve Austin is legendary and credited by some for turning the Monday Night Wars around. The controversy, the intrigue, the personality, and the timing just worked out for everyone involved. If I were to create a Mount Rushmore of WrestleMania celebrities it would be T, Lauper, Trump, and Tyson.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. - Here is where the list starts getting interesting. I think there is a top four and everyone else. I struggled with putting Dwayne Johnson here for his role in WrestleMania 27 but I didn’t think that would be fair. Instead I went with one of only a handful of celebrities that had the guts to actually get into the ring. Of course he had a reported (but worked) 20 million reasons to do so. Mayweather really doesn’t get enough credit for the impact he brought to WrestleMania 24. WrestleMania 24 is only one of five Mania events to break 1 million buys. In addition, he actually wasn’t that bad in the ring. Unlike Taylor who was painful to watch at times, Mayweather looked like a natural at times against The Big Show. People also forget about how much media attention that Money brought with him to the event that year. I have no problem putting Mayweather at the five spot.

Lawrence Taylor - Again we have one of the few celebrities to actually have the guts to wrestle at WrestleMania. Signing L.T. was a big coup for the WWE back in the 1990s, especially for a match in New York. Sure he could hardly walk on those bad knees at the time but he gutted out a passable, borderline good match with Bam Bam Bigelow. Once again I go back to the media attention that Taylor brought to the company as justification for his sixth position on the list. Unfortunately it wasn’t nearly as much as anyone in the five spots ahead of him.

Bob Uecker - Bob Uecker is a unique place in WrestleMania history. Unlike the others on this list who made a major impact in the ring or through media attention, Uecker did neither. Uecker’s legacy is for all of about three minutes but it is a legacy that remains one of the most memorable moments in WrestleMania history. Uecker is remembered most not for being a ring announcer at arguably the biggest WrestleMania in event history, but simply for a backstage interview he had with Andre the Giant at WrestleMania IV. The appearance was so memorable that it landed Uecker in the WWE Hall of Fame!

William Refrigerator Perry - If you look back at WrestleMania history, the Refrigerator should have had a bigger impact on the event. But I remember the promotion leading into WrestleMania 2 and he really didn’t mean a whole lot for the event. I think the media still had a bit of a WrestleMania 1 hangover and needed a break. Regardless, Perry did get in the ring and compete against some of the biggest stars in WWE history like Andre the Giant and Bruno Sammartino in the NFL-WWF Battle Royal. Heck he even eliminated Big John Studd! That memorable elimination lands him on the list.

Pete Rose - Pistol Pete has appeared at three WrestleMania events! Rose didn’t wrestle but his appearances turned into a fun storyline over those few years with Rose looking revenge on Kane. Rose made his first appearance at WrestleMania XIV and took a Tombstone from Kane (a move now banned it is so dangerous). He returned twice and his interactions with Kane remain some of the most memorable in Mania history.

Mickey Rourke - He probably should have had a bigger impact that year on WrestleMania but believe it or not the publicity he received for the appearance was moderate compared to the above celebrities. Unfortunately he opted not to wrestle, a decision I remember reading about that went back and forth leading up to WrestleMania. However, his appearance and his KO of Jericho was more of a WrestleMania memory than anything that had any lasting impact. Hey, it was either him or Maria Menounos.

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Well, February 3, 2013, which was Super Bowl Sunday, has come and gone. The NFL 2012/13 season is over. That means it is the beginning of the off-season where trades, releases, and mock drafts begin. It also means that we NFL fans have to wait about six months for the new season to start, so let’s start tuning into hockey, the NBA, or MLB.

For me, I am starting to get Derby Fever. I will be watching all the Kentucky Derby prep races, and waiting patiently for Paynter to make his first start as a four year old. Is it the first Saturday in May yet?

Anyway, back to Super Bowl Sunday, where in the Super Dome in New Orleans, LA, Beyonce performed a half-time show at the Super Bowl, and reunited her former group, Destiny’s Child. During breaks in the game, there were plenty of those Super expensive Super Bowl ads, and, of course, the game itself was played. A new champion was crowned, and it was the Baltimore Ravens.

Since the production of the Super Bowl is such a huge operation with the game, the ads (some people watch the game just for the ads), and the half-time show, I decided to do a blog about the entire experience, writing about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the entire Super Sunday.

Hopefully, you will enjoy this.

The GOOD:

Concerning the Game: Overcoming a bad start, and nearly letting the game get away from them, the San Fransisco 49ers, lead by QB Colin Kaepernick, made a furious come back in the second half to get within several points of the Ravens.
Some people with the tin foiled hats will say the blackout (more later) helped them, but nonetheless, it was a great comeback, especially for Kaepernick.

Kaepernick, even though he didn’t complete the comeback, has nothing to hang his head about. He is the real deal. He shook off the early jitters, and lead that team down the field for scores. This young man is going to be the future.

Joe Flacco for the Ravens did a wonderful job as QB for the Ravens in the game. He was very much in control in the game.

Jacoby Jones’ 108 Yard Punt return was so awesome. Anquan Boldin was lights out as well, when he made those clutch catches.

Ed Reed and Ray Rice getting rings. They are about the only members of the Ravens with any kind of class.

No more Ray Lewis on the field. Good riddance.

Concerning the Ads: The only commercial I liked was the Budweiser ad. It was the one where the farm hand was feeding the baby Clydesdale, and three years later, the two are reunited. It was so awesome, I cried. Great ad.

I also liked The Rock’s “Got Milk” ad. That was funny and cute.

Concerning the Half Time Show: Beyonce was lights out. No pun intended. Great performance. I really enjoyed her music. She put on a fun, energetic show. Seeing Destiny’s Child up there was real cool too. I also loved the stage settings.

The BAD:

Concerning the Game: The 49ers wasting their timeouts. I know that this is a huge game for Kaepernick, but he has to know when to take a time out, and when not to take a time out.

The 49er’s play calling at the end, when they were trying for the go ahead score. Why didn’t they run the ball a couple of times? That was just a mess.

Seeing Ray Lewis get abused. Oh wow. I could not believe it myself. Some of those 49ers RBs and WRs just went by Lewis as if he wasn’t there. Lewis just could not make the tackles.

Concerning the Ads: The rest of the ads were just stupid. There weren’t any other ads I liked.

Concerning the Half-Time Show: The ripping off Ace Frehley’s (original KISS guitarist) “shooting fire/rockets from the guitar” trick.

The UGLY

Concerning the Game: The black out was bizarre to say the least. I am glad that , at least for me, it didn’t affect the outcome. Let’s face it. BOTH teams had to wait for the power to be restored, so I don’t buy that the Ravens could have lost,etc.

The referees were horrid on both sides. It did seem to me that the replacement refs got into these regular refs’ bodies. Man, were there some terrible calls, and no calls. This one call in question was a defensive holding call near the very end that I think should have been called against the Ravens was not. Nevertheless, the refs just stunk up the place.

People say Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are the worst NFL commentating team. I got that beat. It is Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. Oh dear. These guys were horrible all night long. Simms said about that controversial no call that he got confused everytime he saw it. Simms is supposed to know what is going on in the game he played in for over a decade. What a buffoon.

Jim Nantz just killed me when he said that ever since Ray Lewis announced his retirement, Lewis has had a “ROUGH MONTH” because the media has brought up the Atlanta murder case he was involved in in 2000, and the deer antler charges, etc. My jaw dropped.

What did Nantz expect? Not every person in the media acts like ESPN and kisses Ray’s butt, and forgets that the slaying of those guys never happened.

The duo’s announcing and call of the game was horrendous. They called Joe Flacco “elite” after every throw, it seemed. Very annoying.

No imagination in giving someone else the MVP award. Joe played an awesome game, but I though Anquan Boldin or Jacoby Jones should have gotten it. Why is it (most of the time) the QB?

The automatic crowning of Flacco as elite. Slow down. He has the same amount of rings now as Peyton Manning (who IS elite). Flacco is a very good QB. He had nice stats in the playoffs, and the SB, but whoa a little bit.

Concerning the Ads: Nothing.

Concerning the Half-Time Show: Nothing.

Well, that is my review of Super Bowl Sunday. Congrats to the fans of the Ravens. Enjoy your parade on Tuesday. Your team played a very good game, and deserved to win.

Terri Bey currently blogs for CamelClutchBlog.com about Wrestling, NFL, and other sports/pop culture related subjects. Her work has appeared in BleacherReport and for F4WOnline.com. Terri can be found here at Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/TerriBey and at Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/giopontifan

Super Bowl XLVII 47 Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers NFL Football Official Game Program

NFL San Francisco 49ers 2012 NFC West Division Champs Men’s T-Shirt

Madden 13 video game on all consoles

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Let’s take a look back at some of the things that stood out from Super Bowl 47 in my final edition of the 2012-2013 NFL weekly thoughts blog here at the CCB!

- The 2012-2013 NFL season has been a lot of fun to cover this season (with the exception of a “Super Storm” interruption in late-October/early-November) as I looked forward to recapping the games here on the CCB every week. The National Football league once again has proven why it is the very best sport in the world right now after delivering on another exciting Super Bowl finish. I’m already looking forward for September to come back around so I can enjoy Football yet again!

- There are two reasons why San Francisco is not Super Bowl 47 Champions right now. First off you can’t consistently play from behind in a playoff atmosphere. A veteran team like Baltimore won’t let you get back in the game like a younger team such as Atlanta would as we saw in this year’s NFC Championship Game. San Francisco lacked intensity in the entire 1st half and it came back to hurt them in the 2nd half.

Second I believe San Francisco isn’t Super Bowl 47 Champions right now because they just didn’t get it done in the redzone. The 49ers would put together great drives, notably in the 1st half and then stall once they got to the redzone. You cannot be a Champion if you can’t take full advantage of great opportunities. San Francisco did not take advantage of great opportunities and therefore they watched the Ravens celebrate as Super Bowl Champions.

- Baltimore proved to all of us something that I have been harping on for quite sometime now. Momentum wins Championships. The Ravens continue the trend of being the “hottest team” in the playoffs to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy at season’s end. Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens on becoming Super Bowl 47 Champions.

We all knew the Ravens were a good defensive unit but we also knew the offensive side of the ball was lacking a bit for Baltimore. Well Joe Flacco and offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell fixed that at the right time in the season and now they are Champions of the National Football League. Say what you will about this team but they deserved it and they earned it. They showed the national stage what it’s like to have the “heart of a champion.”

- Lastly I’d like to finish up my final “weekly NFL thoughts” blog by thanking Eric Gargiulo for giving me the stage yet again to write a weekly NFL blog for the Camel Clutch Blog and to you the reader for enjoying the ride all season long with me. Thank you all for a great NFL season and congrats once again to the Baltimore Ravens on winning Super Bowl 47!

You can listen to Jeff on “The Bower Show” every Monday – Friday from 3pm – 7pm ET on 97.9 ESPN in Hartford, CT. You can listen online at www.979espn.com

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Super Bowl XLVII 47 Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers NFL Football Official Game Program

NFL San Francisco 49ers 2012 NFC West Division Champs Men’s T-Shirt

Madden 13 video game on all consoles

NFL Jerseys on Amazon.com