2012 Year in Review

Check out my biggest moments from the past year. http://fb.me/2efGZFvkj

sorry @CMPunk.. @HulkHogan is the Best in the World, not you or Stone Cold @SteveAustinBSR

CM Punk's yearlong WWE title reign, the longest in 25 years, has sparked the debate about who the greatest WWE champion of all time is, and where do guys like CM Punk, John Cena, The Rock, Stone Cold, and Hulk Hogan stand on that list?
On title reign length alone, Bruno Samaritno is hands-down the greatest wrestling champion of all time, while on sheer number of title reigns, Ric Flair's 16 world championships tops everyone. But greatness, especially in the world of professional wrestling, goes well beyond numbers or stats.
By my estimation, two things matter more than any stat when it comes to greatness in sports entertainment: dollar signs and butts in seats. By those metrics, two names top the list of greatest superstar of all time—'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan. Both men were at the center of the last two major booms in wrestling's popularity.


This time last year, at the beginning of CM Punks title reign, Punk said during an interview on the Soscia Network (@TheBrianSoscia) radio show on Mix 106 from Philadelphia, "Steve Austin, the biggest star in wrestling period. Bigger than Hulk Hogan by a landslide, I might add." (http://youtu.be/vitX9LX-d-k#t=8m0s) 16-time World Champion Ric Flair echoed the same sentiment at his WWE Hall of Fame induction. "Steve Austin is the biggest star in the history of the WWE. I'm so tired of saying Hogan's the biggest star of all time, it ends tonight." (http://youtu.be/6hQhO1sPbEI).

But is this true? While Steve Austin is arguably the top star of the WWE during the "Attitude Era", when WWE turned the tide against WCW during the Monday Night Wars, the swelled wrestling audience of the late 1990's wasn't drawn in by Austin, but by the heel turn of Hulk Hogan and his formation of the nWo. Austin, Goldberg and the Rock (the biggest crossover superstar of the Attitude Era) began their rise to fame because of the attention Hogan drew.
Simply put, Hulk Hogan was the catalyst for wrestling's popularity in both the 1980s AND 1990s.


Even if you wanted to credit Austin with the wrestling boom of the mid-to-late 1990s, it's hard to argue that it was a greater boom than that of the 1980s. Hardcore fans of the Attitude Era, because of it's edginess and popularity, argue that it was greater than the second Golden Age of the 1980's, but our numbers—dollar signs and butts in seats—don't lie. At the peak of the Monday Night Wars, RAW and Nitro averaged a combined 10 million viewers over a 6-year period, some of which were counted twice, since many fans switched back and forth and watched both. During the 1980s, Saturday Night's Main Event averaged 14 million viewers, also over a 6-year period.

More than Austin ever has, Hulk Hogan transcended wrestling. In 1979, his larger-than-life feud with Andre the Giant in the WWWF filled Shea Stadium. In 1980 he was crowned the first IWGP champion, beating Antonio Inoki, in New Japan wrestling, which would become the largest wrestling promotion worldwide. Hogan entered the mainstream with his small, but unforgettable role in Rocky III, which ignited a small boom for the AWA, and then the largest wrestling boom in history in the 1980s with the birth of Hulkamania and Rock & Wrestling. The golden age of the 1980s peaked with Wrestlemania III when the event packed the Pontiac Silverdome with more than 93,000 people. Still, that's only a third of Hogan's career at the top of the wrestling mountain. Rocky III was only the beginning for Hogan and Hollywood, as he would go on to star in more than 10 films.

Austin's anti-hero rebelliousness resounds with most of today's wrestling fans in the same way that Batman resonates more today than Superman. Older fans grew up with a good vs. evil simplicity, while new fans love a good guy with a bad attitude, who walks the line between good and evil. Many fans today are also enamored with Steve Austin's transparent love for the sport, fans, and the boys in the locker room, more so than Hogan's self-centered, self-promoting ways, and reputation for holding others back.

Whatever your feelings are along those lines, Hogan's effect on sports entertainment has been unequalled by any other wrestler to this day. Not only has he put more butts in seats and more money in the pockets of promoters and fellow wrestlers, he has done so for more than 30 years. That longevity alone puts him at the top of the wrestling mountain and may even qualify him as being one of the greatest entertainers ever—period. Just think for a moment of how many musicians, actors, writers, or painters have had careers of 30 or more years while maintaining a die-hard fan base like Hulk Hogan. The names are few and far between.
Some might argue that The Rock has transcended like Hogan and possibly even more so, or that John Cena makes a strong case for the title of The Greatest, but the truth is that Hulk Hogan, not Steve Austin, is the greatest wrestling superstar of all time, and Stone Cold, Cena, The Rock, CM Punk, and the popularity of wrestling over the past 30 years, have him to thank.
Jim Ross's perspective on Hogan's rub on Wrestling: http://youtu.be/415HU_y1rig

Writting and Editing Contributions by @RMartian Ruben Diaz

Thank you to everyone for making Chloe’s first birthday and baby dedication special.

We wanted to keep the tradition of having guests sign our baby's photo book on their first birthday. But it just happens to be that it was lost in the shipping process and is being re-sent. So.. we couldn't have our guest sign it. But this is the year 2012.. books are now digital and so should signings. Sign Chloe's first year photo book for her to see for many years to come. http://on.fb.me/NXPcez

Chloe's first birthday was planned and ready to be at Key Biscanye's Cardon Park..
but Issac decide that he was going to try and spoil those plans.

But even the threat of a Hurricane wasn't going to ruin this day for Chloe.  Everyone braved the weather and came to our house for a wonder celebration and the blessing of Chloe's dedication.

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Watch, view and sign:

Chloe's Birthday to Birthday! Birth and First Year 20 minute epic.   VIDEO: http://on.fb.me/QLP2G2

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Chloe's 1st Birthday Party and Baby Dedication – Picasa Photo Album   PHOTOS: http://on.fb.me/OnZELs , http://on.fb.me/PnH72N

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Chloe.. the Photo Book of the Year you were Born   PHOTO BOOK: http://on.fb.me/NXPcez

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Chloe's First Birthday Party and Baby Dedication   VIDEO: http://on.fb.me/PWFRGp

You can't expect people to take criticism well from above if you can't take it well from below.  Christ taught servant leadership. We serve those below us, not above.
Moses annoyance with Israel cause him to sin disobey God (Numbers 20:1-13). God didn't allow Moses to get rid of them. He made Moses have to suffer with them through the consequences of their sin (Numbers 14) and improve his leadership in dealing with them (Numbers 11:4-16).

I'm the first to complain about the over reach of government, but these two stories happen because we aren't active and educated consumers or citizens. Both the government and the healthcare industry will serve their own purposes if we don't demand transparency.


Study: Appendix surgery costs differ around U.S.
CBS This Morning
http://on.fb.me/JlO2sL 


GAO says Medicare bonuses are bogus
The Washington Times
http://t.co/RQlOSbbO

Pleasant Travel to the New Marlins Park

I have to rave about my experience going to the @Marlins game at the new @MarlinsPark. I really recommend going on a Miami-Dade Metrobus. What a pleasant experience. It took the #7 bus 20 minutes from Flagler and the Palmetto to drop us off footsteps from the stadium for only $2. We walked up to the Box Office and asked for their cheapest seats, $17. The seats were in right field and the view didn't disappoint. There isn't a bad seat in the park. The team played great, so after a few home runs, watching that monstrosity in center field light up and 'Take Me Out to the Ball-game' in the 7th.. the Marlins were up 7-1, so we decided to walk around the stadium and check out the amenities. What a beautiful stadium. Loved the walk way in the outfield and watching the game from the wall, with that enormous glass wall behind us with a beautiful view of the Miami downtown skyline. Then it only took us 5 minutes to walk out of the stadium and to the bus stop on 7th street. Surprisingly, only one other person was waiting to take the bus. We were back at my mother's house 20 minutes after jumping on the bus. I was really concerned about going to a ball-game on a weeknight and having to deal with traffic, finding, paying for parking and getting home late. Taking the bus was the best decision. I can't wait to go again.

View Photo Album: http://on.fb.me/I1lrGV

The Marino Curse Lives

I know I have been negative about the @MIamiDolphins. It's hard not to after so many years of disappointment. But I held out hope and once again.. the they broke my heart again.

Peyton Manning called the Dolphins and tells them they're out of running

Gary Nelson @CBSMiami story covering the hope for Manning and the disappointment of the last decade for #Dolphins fans. http://cbsloc.al/xA3hjm