I do not get angry a lot. I am usually a very nice guy, but there is one thing that can get me mad very quickly: unmitigated nostalgia. The theory that at some point back then everything was better. That all the problems of today (i.e. violence/racism) did not somehow exist back then. This makes me angry, because no thing ever occurred like that.

Take the 50s as an example. People as look at the 50s as a Golden Era or something dumb like that. They say things about how we should go back to the 50s in terms of morals or something dumb like that. You see a pattern forming. Yeah, this nostalgia is dumb, because they forget all the bad parts. The racism in the 50s was just as bad as it was in the 60s (worse even), when they had to march against it. The violence was just as pronounced back then (people just did not have as much access to weapons to carry out their anger). Take just about every problem in America today and it was much worse "back then." The view is that all problems were somehow fixed between then and now they are bad again. No, that is not the case. I will not make the assumption that America is a free country, because frankly, it is not. Each day, however, we move one step closer to this freedom. Each day, minds open more. Each day is a step towards solving the problems that do plague our society. The 50s were a great time to live if you were a WASP (and even then not so much), but for everybody else we need to focus on today. We need to stop listening to the propaganda of TV Sitcoms of that era.

Sports, baseball in particular, are another good example. Nowadays people are complaining that baseball is uncompetitive. They say that only the teams with money can win and are oppressing the other teams (i.e. the Expos) by taking their good players. A writer by the name of Charles Krauthammer wrote an article in Time Magazine saying Baseball is dying for that reason and several more. Ok, then I have a question. How come the Yankees winning 5 WS in a row and all but 2 in the 50s is a dynasty, but them winning 3 out of 4 and not even being the Team of the Decade (which easily goes to the Braves) is oppression? Just like the last paragraph the same thing in baseball has always been happening. There have always been the small teams getting stepped on in baseball. If anything, it is better these days. The As are able to contend with a smaller payroll. Same with the Reds (up until they signed Griffey, at least). Baseball is far more competitive than it has ever been. But since people only remember the good things (and not the Kansas City As continually losing great prospects to the Yankees not unlike the Expos), they think it is terrible nowadays. The cause: Unmitigated Nostalgia.

Now, how does this relate to wrestling? Pretty simply. WMIII sucked. WMVI sucked. I have seen these PPVs, the only match that comes close to being decent is the Savage-Steamboat match. It was kinda short and the finish was odd, but it was still pretty exciting. The problem is that people do not remember that. And they certainly seem not to remember the other 20 million or so absolutely brutal matches between King Kong Bundy, Farmer Joe, and a bunch of midgets. They somehow think that the Hogan matches were any better. I have seen both matches (Andre, Warrior) and they are exactly like any other Hogan match (re:boring, uninspired). In fact, most wrestling up until the Shawn Michaels era is just vastly inferior to today's wrestling. At least most WWF wrestling. I saw some Tiger Mask stuff and it was decent (except for this really boring DKid match). Perhaps it would not be the best to compare the two eras, because wrestling today is just so much better than it was back then. Take WM2K for instance. The Triple Threat 2 Fall match should be one of the best. The Triple Threat Ladder match could be a MOTY. Spotty? Sure, but who cares. It will be far better than anything that showed up on WMIII or VI or I or II or IV or XIII for that matter (and certainly better than anything from the upper card). The wrestlers are just more innovative these days. They make up new spots involving tables and ladders, things which were unthinkable back in the days.

Another thing that people do is compare apples and oranges. They go "Man, look at Prince Albert. Wrestling sucks these days, I remember when they had Warrior v. Hogan. That was great." Well, besides the fact that I feel that Warrior v. Hogan is just a case of mismemory of marks, that is a bad comparison. They think that "back then" the only thing that was around was this upper card Warrior v. Hogan stuff. They should compare Prince Albert v. Big Bossman and That Full Nelson match at WMIII. They should compare Hogan v. Andre and HHH v. Foley in a Hell in the Cell. Then, the truth will come forward. The truth being that wrestling is the best it has ever been. For all the naysayers trying to ruin it by saying otherwise, the action is just fast and furious. Ok, well WCW just plain sucks. ECW is on top of its game with Cyrus and that storyline. ROLLERJAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! The WWF is red hot and cannot do any wrong. The Ayatollah of Rock and Bowlah is also red hot :-). All their storylines are coming together nicely and the wrestling is the best it has ever been.

Please people stop trying to go back to a past that did not actually exist. I would bet money that if all those people who wanted to go back to the WWF of the 80s actually did, they would be bored out of their skulls. That would serve them right. We need to enjoy the present and look forward to a very enjoyable future. A future of not only racial harmony (some day), but also great wrestling action. Those who continually look behind them will trip. Just some words to the wise there. No more Unmitigated Nostalgia. And remember there is no better time to live, then in the present.

Anyway if you have any comments, concerns, questions, or criticisms, or just wanna chat about governmental intervention in the case of Health Security then please by all means email me at talboito@uclink4.berkeley.edu.

P.S. Go check out this cool new website. It has message boards, where you can get your opinion across without being censored by those dudes at 1Wrestling.com. Plus no Adcast! The URL is www.a1wrestling.com. Check it out, today!