The Original Game » ok no further than Perth, Hobart and Christchurc

NEW YORK - As Finn Balor sat in a green room overlooking Times Square after?an appearance on Good Morning America, his journey to this point, let alone the championship belt sitting in front of him, seemed like a dream. Cheap NFL Jerseys .I still cant believe Im a professional wrestler in the first place, he said in between sips of coffee. That hasnt sunk in yet. Im sure Ill look back when Im 50 or 60, if I make it that far, and think about everything thats happened.Balor, who wore a sling on his right arm before and after his Good Morning America interview, but didnt want to talk about the severity of the injury, found out that he would be on the show around midnight after his victory over Seth Rollins to win the inaugural WWE Universal title. SummerSlam was his first WWE pay-per-view and the culmination of a dream he had growing up as Fergal Devitt in the town of Bray in north County Wicklow, Ireland, which has population of 31,872.Everyone that watches wrestling as a kid dreams of being a wrestler for WWE, he said. For me, coming from a small town in Ireland and being under six feet tall and 145 pounds as a kid, it wasnt a realistic dream. A lot of people tell you that you cant do things, but the message that should be taken from me being the first ever WWE Universal champion is for kids that are told that they cant do things they should say, No, I can do it. I can do whatever I want.Balors match against Seth Rollins was one of the most anticipated of SummerSlam, as was the introduction of the new WWE Universal championship. Many fans at the Barclays Center, however, booed and chanted disparaging remarks when the belt was revealed. Many fans online felt it was nothing more than a red version of the WWE World Championship or WWE Womens Championship. The fans buy their tickets and theyre entitled to their opinion, Balor said. I wasnt aware of the chants when I was in the ring. I was focused on the task at hand. I have been made aware that there was a little bit of displeasure, but with anything new, theres always reluctance to accept. Its a red title. Its red leather as opposed to black. I dont see the big deal. Im sure after a couple of weeks that it will be the norm that its a red title. Raw is red, its the red brand and the Demon is black and red, and now the championship is red.Sitting across from Balor in the green room was WWE Womens champion, Charlotte, who defeated Sasha Banks at SummerSlam to claim the championship for a second time. Both Balor and Charlotte, who is the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, initially made their marks as champions at NXT before being called up to the WWEs main roster. The evolution and growth of NXT from Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), the companys developmental promotion in Tampa, Florida, can be seen across the roster today, as many of the champions and headline talent can trace their roots to FCW and NXT.I got the chance to see NXT evolve into what its become today because I started at FCW in Tampa, Charlotte said. Seth [Rollins] had just won the first ever NXT title when I got there and Paige was crowned the first ever NXT womens champion. This was before NXT was going on tour and we still had 20 people at shows. For me to watch where NXT is now and what it has grown into is amazing because I know it wasnt always like that. Its now its own brand. When we were at FCW, it was harder to get on the main roster. There were showcases maybe twice a year, and the producers would come and look at the talent and say they liked him or her because they fit a certain role. Now NXT talent is getting seen all the time and they have more opportunities now to join the roster and that makes a huge difference.Balor came to NXT in 2014 after a successful run with New Japan Pro Wrestling and credits his two years with the companys developmental division with helping him get to where he is today.When I came to WWE, to be able to go to the NXT system and be able to be integrated that way was the best possible scenario for me, Balor said. To be able to get comfortable with a new working environment, a new style and a new country and make relationships with other talent that will stand the test of time. When youre in NXT youre really fighting and trying to dig down deep and chase your dream. For the likes of myself, Kevin Owens, Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn and guys that have followed similar paths and come through that NXT system together, weve all bonded so tightly. That team morale that we have in the WWE locker room now was built in NXT.Before leaving the Barclays Center as champions after SummerSlam on Sunday night, Bálor and Charlotte watched NXT Takeover on Saturday and couldnt help but feel like they were at the graduation ceremony for some of their friends who could soon join them on the main roster.I was really excited for Billie Kay. I was still in NXT when she was hired, and to be able to watch her in her debut match and being out there for Bayley and Asuka was extremely special. But competitively I was thinking we have to outdo both of those matches [Sunday], Charlotte said. To see how much they mean to the fans and see Bayley get that moment after was special. You could feel how much the crowd was invested into both womens matches.Balor took a seat in the crowd for the main event between Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe and perhaps for the first time in his career, got a sense of what its like to watch his peers from the fans perspective after either being in the ring or watching in the back for years.To me it was weird not to be involved in Takeover, Balor said. I was a little envious of everyone involved. From a personal standpoint, I cant remember the last time I watched a wrestling match from the crowd and I had the opportunity to watch Shinsuke and Joe and it was unbelievable from the contrast to both entrances to their styles. They had me right from the bell. Sometimes I take this for granted because Im doing it. Im in control. But when you see other people do it makes you realize how difficult it is and how much pressure is on them to perform. I felt pressure for both of my friends in the ring. It was great to get an outsiders perspective looking in as opposed to watching on the monitor behind the curtain.As he prepared to leave the green room to get ready for Raw later that night, Balor was still coming to grips with holding his new championship belt and being on Good Morning America with Charlotte the morning after SummerSlam. Just three years ago, he was in Japan with Karl Anderson forming the Bullet Club and now theyre both in the WWE.I was texting Karl Anderson late last night and he goes, Man, how the hell did this all happen? We started Too sweet in front of a 1,000 people in Tokyo a couple of years ago and now were here in the WWE at SummerSlam, Bálor said. Its quite surreal. The amount of work that goes into those 25 minutes Sunday; youre not just talking days of preparation; youre talking years of preparation.Last night was an unbelievable milestone moment in my career. Its something I never, ever expected to happen. Its still really hasnt sunk in yet. Talking about it Monday morning is a little difficult but if you fast forward a week, maybe Ill be able to articulate it a little better. China Jerseys Online . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/ . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. For a disciple of Test cricket, the last few days have been heaven on the big screen. Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott nipping the ball about in Hobart, the New Zealand and Pakistani fast bowlers doing likewise in Christchurch,while over in India, Haseeb Hameeds and Alastair Cooks brilliant defensive techniques provided a magnificent contrast to their dazzling, wristy strokeplay.It would be true to say that the last fortnight has provided as much breadth and variety as a Test purist could hope for in terms of pitches, techniques and skills.The unique beauty of Test cricket is that a tense draw can be as riveting as an outright result. So long as at least one team is trying to win the match, a pitch that produces a draw is not necessarily a poor one. And a pitch that produces a fourth- or fifth-day result is arguably better than one on which a game finishes on the third day.Lets look at the two most recent Tests in Asia and the two in Australia and New Zealand as examples. Which of these pitches, on a statistical basis, provided more balance between bat and ball and between different bowling styles?The Hobart Test was effectively a two-day affair, allowing for the washout on the second day and some rain interruptions on the third. Fewer than 194 overs were bowled, and 572 runs were scored, with one century. Of the 30 wickets that fell, 29 went to fast bowlers, zero to spinners (there was one run-out). So of all the wickets claimed by bowlers, 100% of them were taken by one type of bowling (fast).In Christchurch, another Test that finished before the halfway point (if you count the washout on the first day), New Zealand won easily against Pakistan, who looked incapable of batting in seam-friendly conditions with extra bounce. A total of 612 runs were scored; no centuries. Of the 32 wickets that fell, seam bowlers claimed 31. The only wicket that fell to a spinner (part-timer Azhar Ali) was at the very end of the game, with victory just one run away. So thats close to 100% in favour of seam.In the first Test in Rajkot against England, India were under some pressure to save the match on the last day before it petered out in the final minutes. A total of 1457 runs were scored, with six centuries. More revealingly, the split between seam bowlers (seven) and spinners (22) suggested the pitch conditions were more balanced.In Visakhapatnam, 1072 runs were scored, with two centuries. Fourteen wickets to fast bowlers and 25 to the slow men. Again, a significantly more balanced snapshot than the matches in Australia and New Zealand.Even if you go back to Australias recent tour of Sri Lanka or New Zealands tour of India, the numbers look more balanced than the ones from Hobart and Christchurch. In Sri Lanka, the three Tests finished on day five, day three and day five respectively. Fast bowlers took 36 wickets and spinners 80 through the series.In India, the Tests against New Zealand lasted five, four and four days respectively. The seam-spin split was 37-62. In both India and Sri Lanka, the fast bowlers took approximately 33% of the total wickets that fell in the series. Thats significantly more balanced than heavily pace-favouring Hoobart and Christchurch. Wholesale NFL Jerseys. .Imagine the raised eyebrows if the spin v fast stats in the Tests played in Asia had been as heavily skewed in favour of spinners as they were for seamers in the Antipodes.Theres no question that weather conditions played their part in Hobart and Christchurch, but the same could also be said about the impact of weather on Asian pitches. Dont forget that in Hobart 15 wickets fell for 256 runs on the first day. This was the best pitch the groundsman could serve up for Bellerive Ovals marquee event of the summer. Christchurch was similar - 13 wickets for 237 runs on the first day of actual play. That can sometimes happen on any pitch that offers too much to the bowlers anywhere in the world.The success of Mitchell Starc in Sri Lanka and of Englands seamers in India proves that fast bowlers can do well on Asian pitches, contrary to some of the mutterings from Starc about how much better it was to be back at the WACA. His figures in Perth and Hobart were less flattering than the ones he got in Sri Lanka! At least his style of bowling was allowed to succeed on the Asian pitches, whereas it can hardly be claimed that the same tolerance was shown towards spinners in Hobart and Christchurch.Sure, Australias, New Zealands and Englands batsmen may be less comfortable against better spin bowlers, so it is only natural that the Asian spinners will be more successful against them. And it is worth pointing out that the Asian fast bowlers took more wickets in Asia than the spinners did in Hobart or Christchurch. More to the point, the Hobart and Christchurch Tests did not last long enough to allow the spinners to come into the game.It ultimately boils down to the strengths, weaknesses and unique characteristics of each team in different conditions. It should be no surprise that most teams are more skilful in conditions that they are familiar with, but the doctored pitch accusation should not be thrown around carelessly.Watching Pakistan bat on that second morning against New Zealand was as fascinating as watching England trying to survive in the fourth innings in Visakhapatnam - fascinating contrasts in technique, temperament and skill. I watched every ball of both those innings and it reminded me why I love this format above all else. One run per over in Visakhapatnam was as exciting as David Warner or Quinton De Kock teeing off.Its not always the case that the home team is guaranteed to win because the odds have been unfairly stacked against the visitors. Australia were all over Sri Lanka at times before they squandered winning positions; England had much the better of the Rajkot Test and might have won if Cook had been more adventurous with his declaration.For all those who argue that the toss can sometimes decide a Test match, look no further than Perth, Hobart and Christchurch. Theres talk of the toss being hyper-crucial in Adelaide too, so there goes the theory that its only in Asia that the game is done and dusted before the first ball is bowled. The numbers dont lie. Cheap MLB Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping cheap nfl jerseys Cheap Jerseys USA China Jerseys Cheap NFL Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys For Sale Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys ' ' '