1 hour ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

There's two parts to this conversation and I've had this debate countless times over the years considering I've been a pro-wrestling fan for almost 30 years now since I was a kid.

1. Wrestling is not a sport in the same way that football, baseball, basketball, etc are. The fact that it is pre-determined disqualifies it from that point. Vince McMahon introduced the term "sports entertainment" a while ago and that's what everyone in the industry refers to it as because that's what it is. It has components of a sport with the athleticism required to perform, but it's also entertainment the same way your favorite TV show is scripted, choreographed, has characters, and a storyline. Vince Jr. changed the narrative that Vince Sr. had. Back in the 60s, pro wrestling was presented as "real". But as I said before, that cat has been out of the bag now for almost 50 years.

2. I've never liked using or hearing the phrase that "wrestling is fake". I've always viewed it as an uneducated, outsider take coming from someone who doesn't really understand or follow the nuances of pro wrestling, doesn't know its history, doesn't know what goes into it, and the fact that the talent actually suffer injuries while performing. Some devastating, life altering, or have caused death. If I went up to a stuntman and said "Hey, you know what you do is fake, right?" he would take that as an offensive comment based on the work he puts into the craft. There's nothing fake about those guys like Ric Flair being on the road 300 days a year back in the day, or about what happened to Darren Drozdov, or someone busting their tail in front of 30 people in a high school gym hoping they get noticed by a major promotion to make it big, and there's nothing fake about the countless other tragic stories that litter wrestling history.

For anyone who actually cares to learn more about it, I'd suggest watching the documentary Beyond the Mat.

Wrestling trying to present itself as a competition is swimming upstream, just the same way Movie Stuunt Men trying to present their performances as a competition would be. The performers in both cases are real and anything but fake. So your taking offense to what is being said about the competition is missing the point.

1 hour ago, Freshmilk said:

Wrestling = pre-determined outcome. I never liked it, never considered it a sport, definitely consider the wrestlers athletes, but it's the same as paying to watch a movie in my opinion.

Are Movie Stunt Actors athletes?

5 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Are Movie Stunt Actors athletes?

Are figure skaters and gymnasts?

11 minutes ago, Waiting4Someday said:

Are figure skaters and gymnasts?

Gymnasts are athletes. Try the rings or high bar.

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

On a trade deadline note, I think the Eagles primary needs heading into the trade deadline are CB, RG, and TE...with edge rusher as a dark horse.

Every team in the NFL would love to add more edge rushing threats...and Jalyx Hunt has hardly heard his name called all year. We could be better there. Unfortunately, it's one of the most expensive positions to improve via trade.

CB speaks for itself.

RG...again, Steen is more "fine" than anyone acknowledges. But this offense severely misses having a RG that pushes people backwards. That's just not his game. Offensive linemen have long careers and are usually longer-term holds...we've seen them get moved in the offseason, but I can't recall much trade deadline movement along the OL.

I don't criticize players for being "made of glass," but bodies can quit on professional athletes. It would just be wishful thinking at this point to pretend the TE position is any better than Grant Calcaterra. And this is the position where I think there may be some very interesting deadline deals this year. I was the captain of the 12 personnel hate train, but that was before we had a generational RB. If we have run blocking issues, adding a stud TE opposite Goedert, if he does establish some availability, might also help to compensate for our interior OL regression.

I can't see that the team would be able to upgrade the RB position through a trade a this point in the season. O-line is a complex position to play and the best teams have continuity along the line so they can do things like pick up stunts or other assignments. Moreover, teams have very little incentive to trade a good prospect mid-season. I am also not sure that CB is our biggest need. I think the defense is probably in good enough shape. Edge is a need. A blocking TE would be a good addition.

Are competitive eaters athletes?

3 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

I can't see that the team would be able to upgrade the RB position through a trade a this point in the season. O-line is a complex position to play and the best teams have continuity along the line so they can do things like pick up stunts or other assignments. Moreover, teams have very little incentive to trade a good prospect mid-season. I am also not sure that CB is our biggest need. I think the defense is probably in good enough shape. Edge is a need. A blocking TE would be a good addition.

Best bet for the OL would be one of the young guys being coached up. You are right that I can't see a team trading an upgrade to Steen at the deadline. Could be wrong, though.

17 minutes ago, Waiting4Someday said:

Are figure skaters and gymnasts?

Yes. They clearly compete with finely tuned athletic bodies. Pro wrestlers and Movie Stunt Actors have finely tuned athletic bodies, but they don’t compete.

4 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Gymnasts are athletes. Try the rings or high bar.

It’s a set routine - I don’t want to be suplexed either.

3 minutes ago, Waiting4Someday said:

It’s a set routine - I don’t want to be suplexed either.

Not a set routine at all. There are many different variable routines performed during each competition. Some competitors are simply unable to do the routines other competitors can do.

Changing the subject …

I give this one a 10, the stone cold stunner…

18 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Are competitive eaters athletes?

Absolutely. At least the serious ones. I’ve seen a few documentaries and the best ones are skinny gym rats who decided to do this stupid contest for some reason. The dedication they have is crazy though.

I met Razor Ramon in a Caldor. He crushed my hand. It was real damnit.

24 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Yes. They clearly compete with finely tuned athletic bodies. Pro wrestlers and Movie Stunt Actors have finely tuned athletic bodies, but they don’t compete.

They absolutely compete, that doesn’t even make sense. They have to do their job and establish themselves to be the best out of everyone else. Same with stunt actors, same with regular actors.

8 hours ago, DEagle7 said:

Eh it's a toe injury. My understanding is this are usually a bit more of a fluke than anything

He has been injured every year except last year.

16 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Absolutely. At least the serious ones. I’ve seen a few documentaries and the best ones are skinny gym rats who decided to do this stupid contest for some reason. The dedication they have is crazy though.

Can you imagine the long term effects they are going to have from doing that? Putting that much food into the body has to screw something up. Do they throw it up or digest it? I can't see how they do the latter.

11 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Can you imagine the long term effects they are going to have from doing that? Putting that much food into the body has to screw something up. Do they throw it up or digest it? I can't see how they do the latter.

There’s a guy on YouTube BeardMeatsFood who basically does all the challenges you’ve seen on Man Eats Food but just crushes them easily. He’s like your average 175lb British guy. There’s no way to know for sure if he doesn’t throw up after the fact but he said he basically fasts for three days before doing these completions and just eats small amounts of Greek Yogurt while working out everyday.

Similar stuff with the hot dog guys. There was a documentary about them where they just ate plain iceberg lettuce for a few days before the competition to stretch their stomach but not have calories. I can’t imagine Joey Chestnut can hold down 80 some glizzys though. He probably pukes.

45 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

They absolutely compete, that doesn’t even make sense. They have to do their job and establish themselves to be the best out of everyone else. Same with stunt actors, same with regular actors.

That isn’t competition. Competition includes an opponent or opponents. That is discipline, the kind of discipline Stephen King brings to his writing or Humphrey Bogart brought to his acting.

48 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

There’s a guy on YouTube BeardMeatsFood who basically does all the challenges you’ve seen on Man Eats Food but just crushes them easily. He’s like your average 175lb British guy. There’s no way to know for sure if he doesn’t throw up after the fact but he said he basically fasts for three days before doing these completions and just eats small amounts of Greek Yogurt while working out everyday.

Similar stuff with the hot dog guys. There was a documentary about them where they just ate plain iceberg lettuce for a few days before the competition to stretch their stomach but not have calories. I can’t imagine Joey Chestnut can hold down 80 some glizzys though. He probably pukes.

That guy’s been everywhere; he travelled to my hometown of 10,000 people in western Canada to do an eating challenge at the local restaurant. He’s got more than 5M subscribers because of how down-to-earth he is.

Did you ever see the one where he went to the Hard Rock Cafe and they gave him an entire colander of french fries to eat just so he couldn’t finish the challenge? That’s as angry as I’ve ever seen him, and it just made the restaurant look bad as a result.

26 minutes ago, mattwill said:

That isn’t competition. Competition includes an opponent or opponents. That is discipline, the kind of discipline Stephen King brings to his writing or Humphrey Bogart brought to his acting.

Not even close. In the entertainment industry your opponents are everyone else that’s trying to make it at your expense. That’s your competition. You have to compete against them all if you want to be successful.

9 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

That guy’s been everywhere; he travelled to my hometown of 10,000 people in western Canada to do an eating challenge at the local restaurant. He’s got more than 5M subscribers because of how down-to-earth he is.

Did you ever see the one where he went to the Hard Rock Cafe and they gave him an entire colander of french fries to eat just so he couldn’t finish the challenge? That’s as angry as I’ve ever seen him, and it just made the restaurant look bad as a result.

What do you mean they gave it to him so he couldn't finish the challenge? Why would they do that?