Tuesday, May 27, 2014

2014 FIFA World Cup Bracket Predictor Challenge!



Greetings and salutations from the long-too-dormant KTND staff!

You may be aware that we are merely TWO WEEKS away from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.  The football (or soccer, if you’re so inclined) World Cup Finals is the biggest sporting event in the world.  Because this event is so big and because our March Madness Bracket Challenge was so successful, we are proud to announce our first ever FIFA World Cup Bracket Predictor Challenge!  The winner of this competition will receive EIGHTY AMERICAN DOLLARS ($80)!



The rules are quite simple:

1.      Create an account on ESPN.com, join the private Bracket Predictor group “TBOD Podcast” and enter the password “ktnd2014.”
2.      Fill out your bracket.
3.      Make sure you have a Twitter account and are following these accounts: @AmplifiedtoRock @AarontheBrain @NickGator @TheLasnerSport @TBODpodcast & @KeepNoiseDown.
4.      Cheer your country/bracket to victory!
5.      Winner will receive their prize via PayPal.

And that’s all there is to it! No entry fee. No other requirements.


So tell your friends and get them involved as we spend a month celebrating the world’s game, THE BEAUTIFUL GAME!


Sunday, March 16, 2014

The KTND March Madness Bracket Challenge!

by AmplifiedtoRock




It's that time of year again.  The time of year when men and women, boy and girls, and everyone in between take their chances with filling out a bracket comprised of 64+ teams, many of which they have never heard of and/or seen.  I am, of course, talking about March Madness.  Ever year, millions of people across America compete to see who is the best at deciding where upsets will occur and which schools will fit into Cinderella's glass slipper.  Why?  Because it's fun, dagnabbit!  Some compete for high stakes.  Some compete for the fun of it.  Some compete just because everyone else is doing it.  That brings me to the blog post you are reading right now.  You see, I have a very important announcement:

PEOPLE OF THE INTERNET!  HEAR YE!  HEAR YE!  I HEREBY ANNOUNCE THE FIRST ANNUAL KEEP THE NOISE DOWN MARCH MADNESS BRACKET CHALLENGE!

It costs nothing to play, but you'll be pleased to know that the winner of the competition will receive a $100 AMAZON GIFT CARD!

Again, entry into the competition is FREE!  To play, you just need to go to HERE and register an account.  Once you have done that, follow THIS LINK and enter the password "keepthenoisedown5x" without quotes to be entered into the league. 

You may submit your bracket anytime between the time it is released in the evening of Sunday, March 16th until just before tip-off at noon on Thursday, March 20th.

Also, AND THIS IS MANDATORY, you MUST be following @KeepNoiseDown, @tbodpodcast, @NickGator, @AmplifiedtoRock & @AarontheBrain on Twitter in order to be eligible for the prize.  If you should win the competition and are not following these 5 accounts, the next highest finisher will be awarded the prize.

Any questions?  Comment below, tweet us or send an email to KeepTND@gmail.com. Happy picking!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

WrestleMania Reaction - WrestleMania X

by AmplifiedtoRock



Yesterday, Nick and I collaborated with Billy Carpenter of 4CRWrestling.com as part of his WrestleMania Reaction series.  We reviewed the sights and sounds of WrestleMania X in a fun podcast that you should all check out.  You should also follow Billy on Twitter at @4CR_Billy and subscribe to his podcast network. It's really solid stuff.  Check out our WrestleMania Reaction episode HERE.

Friday, March 7, 2014

The Gator Pit #1

Brought to you by Nick Gator

I'm hoping this will be the start of a weekly thing where I come on and do my best Larry King impression, giving my musings on wrestling and anything else that strikes my fancy. If you like what I have to say then you should be following me on Twitter.

* I know many of us were hoping for the return to WWE of our favorite Chicago son, a guy who has held world titles and is beloved across the world. Unfortunately, Colt Cabana stayed home Monday night.

* Speaking of this past Raw, it was one of the better ones in recent memory. The "hijack" movement has led to Twitter accounts for upcoming venues. If that's what it takes to get excellent shows every Monday, then by all means keep it up.

* Also, the person who brought the "Cena Fears Freight Train" sign has won the game of life.

* Harley Race used to carry a gun in his bag. Today, wrestlers carry an extra Playstation controller.

* I love food with heat to it but I do not like food that's hot for the sake of being hot. Unless you're in a contest to win a t-shirt or something even nicer, I don't see the point.

* Watched WrestleMania 3 on the WWE Network. Why does Hulk Hogan think he can piledrive Andre The Giant? WHY? Also, why does the babyface try to piledrive the bad guy right onto the cement floor? Like John Cena today, Hogan did some things that are not exactly white-hat good.

* With NXT running on Thursdays, wrestling fans finally have something they can enjoy watching that night of the week.

* I am hoping for additional NXT arrivals to the WWE main roster as much as the next guy but you can't deplete the developmental talent pool. Continue bringing in new folks and those who are talented enough will not be forgotten.

* Leo might have gotten robbed at the Oscars but I think his harem of models will cheer him up. Just conjecture on my part.

* The best wrestling movie of all time? Body Slam starring Dirk Benedict and Roddy Piper. Take that Mickey Rourke. 

* Bill Apter popping up on the WWE Network makes me smile. 

* I love a backslide. The next person who wins an important match with a backslide becomes my new favorite wrestler of all time.

* What's the motivation for a neck tattoo? I asked someone earlier but he snarled and told me to stay down whatever that means.

That's all I can muster this week. You're out of touch, I'm out of time. 

Have any questions you want answered? Tweet them to me @NickGator or email keeptnd@gmail.com

Thursday, February 20, 2014

IT'S SABBATICAL TIME!

by AmplifiedtoRock



During the question and answer session of today’s WWE 4th Quarter Earnings Report conference call, Vince McMahon was asked about the status of CM Punk.  In response, McMahon said, "He is taking a sabbatical. Let's just put it that way."  With investors concerned about the absence of one of WWE’s top performers, his answer was political and ambiguous.  It was also perfect.

To everyone outside of the company, the CM Punk situation is a mystery.  Neither Punk nor WWE had made any statement about the performer’s status with the company outside of an official denial by WWE on Monday that he had been released.  As such, it was expected that there would be some sort of inquiry during the call as to what his current status was.

McMahon clearly found himself in a tough situation.  If Punk is, in fact, gone from the company without any plans to return, he had to find a way to spin the loss of his second biggest star.  If Punk’s absence is part of some elaborate creative angle, McMahon didn’t want to give it away.  And, of course, if the situation is entirely up in the air, with Punk’s imminent return or permanent exit still to be determined, McMahon would want to be careful with how he described it, lest he accidentally concede any leverage he may have.

All that being said, I think McMahon’s use of the word “sabbatical” to describe CM Punk’s absence from the WWE was the best way to sum up a situation that is apparently, as of now, unresolved.  He gave nothing away and didn’t lie.  As a business move, I don’t think he could have handled the question any better.

Now, of course, a lot can be read into his tone of voice when he gave his answer (I thought he sounded frustrated and almost annoyed), but that would only be more speculation.  That being said, here are my thoughts.

I simply cannot buy into the idea that CM Punk’s absence and apparent deletion from current WWE television programming is a storyline.  Punk was in a similar situation in 2011 and I find it very difficult to believe that the company would go to that well again not three years later.  CM Punk’s authenticity has played an enormous role in making him the star he has become, and that authenticity would take a huge hit if he was a willing participant in such a similar angle so soon after the first one.  I also find it difficult to believe that WWE’s creative team is capable of the sort of complex, intricate and multi-faceted storytelling that would be required to work not only the majority of WWE’s audience, but the thousands of writers, internet smart marks and dirt sheets.  I’m not saying it’s impossible.  WWE has shown its ability to keep a secret before, with Chris Jericho’s 2013 Royal Rumble appearance being a shining example.  It just seems highly improbable here. 

As of right now, I believe CM Punk is gone from the company with no plans to return at any point in the near future.  I don’t think, however, that this necessarily implies he will stay away.  It is very possible that Punk could return to WWE television and creative during the build up to WrestleMania, but if this happens (and it is a very big if), it means that something or someone managed to change his mind.  Perhaps a month or two away will be all he needs to clear his mind.  Perhaps Vince McMahon will work his famous Jedi mind tricks to lure Punk back.  Perhaps he just misses being on the road with his girlfriend.  Whatever the case may be, I believe Punk’s current status is in his own hands, and not some group of writers’.  Vince McMahon said nothing today to change my mind.

Friday, February 14, 2014

The Ultimate Warrior According to The Ultimate Warrior

By NPC Del

According to his interviews, the Ultimate Warrior "was sent in a capsule, from a place far from here." He claims that he was given the power of the Ultimate Warrior in "[his] final meeting with the gods from the heavens above." He's also said that he can "feel the power, floating through the veins, of the warriors," and that he "feel[s] the injection from the gods above," further implying that these mysterious gods are the source of his power. To date, Warrior's gods have yet to be implicated in any of the steroid scandals surrounding the WWF/WWE.

Warrior made frequent references groups of "warriors" other than himself. Information on these other warriors is scant, consisting entirely of cryptic, poetic references. Warrior has stated that "the family that [he] live[s] for only breathes the air that smells of combat," and that he "looks to the skeletons of warriors past." He has also discussed loading a spaceship with rocket fuel so that it could be boarded by the warriors.

The emergent narrative seems to be that the Ultimate Warrior is a member of a caste of slave-soldiers, who serve a technologically advanced alien race whom they do not understand and regard with religious Reverence. The Ultimate Warrior, as his name implies, is possibly the greatest and the last surviving member of this race. Warrior has said that he "live[s] for anger and frustration" and that "Nightmares are the best part of [his] day." In context with his statements about his fellow warriors, this implies post-traumatic stress resulting from conflicts fought under orders from his alien masters. His statements clearly imply that they used their technology to grant him physical enhancements, explaining his ability to survive suffocation, cobra venom, and poisoning by an expert practitioner of voodoo.

NPC Del is approximately ⅓ of the @npccast by volume. You can follow him on the Twitter machine at @npcdel.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

NFL Picks - Super Bowl

by AmplifiedtoRock



Today is the day.  Not only does the long NFL season culminate in today's Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, but it marks the end of Keep The Noise Down's NFL picks competition.  In actuality, it was over as a contest a few weeks back thanks to a late push by Aaron the Brain, but we have to go through all the formalities.  Of course, it’s a different story for who finishes in the basement.  Nick and Corey enter the final week tied.  Who will win?  We’ll just have to see.

Thanks for following along with us this season.  It's mostly been an experiment for us this year, but it has definitely been fun and it has given us some ideas for what we can do next year to make our competition bigger, better and more interesting for you the reader.  We'll have some announcements as to how that ends up taking shape as we approach next season.  For now, we should get down to business.  If you listened to the first episode of The Brothers of Destruction Podcast, you know who Aaron and I have this week.  Corey agreed with us, but Nick went the other way.  Who did we pick?  Look below!

KTND NFL PICKS STANDINGS
Aaron the Brain – 66-42
AmplifiedtoRock – 58-50
Nick Gator – 51-57
Corey Santiago – 51-57

KTND NFL PICKS – SUPER BOWL XLVIII

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS VS. DENVER BRONCOS
Amp:  Seattle
Aaron:  Seattle
Nick: Denver
Corey: Seattle