Tape reviews page (suggestion to Hisa)

[El Fiasco]

Just a friendly suggestion from me...I had an idea that a tape reviews forum would be a cool idea for this site. Members could reccomend strong tapes/shows, link others to sites where these tapes can be bought, etc. What do the rest of you think?

[edgehead1984]

I agree completely with you Fiasco.

[pete]

Good idea. And very useful to the newbies like me, drowning under the weight of stuff that's available.

[Luds]

Yeah that could be a good idea... we should have a method of traking the tapes... for example, have all titles go like this:

PROMOTION - DATE - MAIN EVENT MATCH or Event...

Like

NJ - 03/29/03 - NAEBA FINAL

[Jason]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[GlobalHonored]

I strongly agree with this idea.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Sounds good, but isn't there a Tape Traders section already? Why not rename it the Business section?

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

Two issues for me to concern:

1) Format - like Luds said.

2) We use numbers for the scores and points in the sports, but we never use numbers to rate the quality of the matches/games. I don't wanna use a bunch of *'s to rate the art of our great "sport." No star rating for me.

[GlobalHonored]

Very good point. I have never been a 5 star kinda guy myself. I believe if we could implement a set format where we could review what happens in the match, its importance, some memorable moments, etc. and just "rate" it based on our opinions to either recommend, or not, and perhaps to a degree, then it could be done respectfully. I may not say that the Fiesta Bowl was a ****1/4 game, but I could definately tell you how big that pass int call was, write on the OT drama, and tell you how important it was to Ohio St football and surprising of an upset that the final was that the Buckeyes toppled the "unbeatable" Hurricanes after their huge win streak seemed to be too much going into the game and say that you should definately check it out. Also, if their was history between 2 sporting competitors, like a Yankees-BoSox AL Championship series match up may seem more dramatic than the Diamondbacks-Yanks World Series despite lesser value in trophies because of their pasts, such as Kobashi-Misawa's match has built in drama due to their pasts that adds to the match even though spot for spot it may not be as good or well played out or as important championship wise as the Nakanishi-Nagata or Hashimoto-Muta, it felt more important, IMO, b/c of the 2 men involved and how everything played out including the result. I would recommend it. Nagata-Nakanishi too. Muta-Hashimoto, no. And in a review I would break it down why. Plus, many may not know about the rest of a show other than the main event, and reviews could go into detail on entire cards. I may want to see Kobashi-Misawa, example again, but not have to wait through Kimura-Mimota matches or Honda squahes, and a review may steer me to wait to get it in a comp or best of tape than buy the entire show just for that one match, although I did enjoy all the 3/1 show. Just thoughts.

[El Fiasco]

I respect Hisa's feelings about no star ratings, but to be fair, wrestling matches are choreographed and predetermined. It's an entirely different form of sport than say baseball, football, etc.

[Jason]

If Hisa says no star system, then that's the way it is. It's his board. I see no reason why we can't keep it to what we like and don't like about a tape or match. Personally, I like to rate matches just for the fun of it, not because I fashion myself an expert on match quality or anything like that, but I have no problem keeping it off the board.

[Luds]

Originally posted by Hisaharu Tanabe
Two issues for me to concern:

1) Format - like Luds said.

2) We use numbers for the scores and points in the sports, but we never use numbers to rate the quality of the matches/games. I don't wanna use a bunch of *'s to rate the art of our great "sport." No star rating for me.

So we could just give a recommendation such as (MUST SEE, GREAT ADDITION TO YOUR COLLECTION, SOME GREAT MATCHES, AVERAGE SHOW, BAD SHOW) and so on...

[MARTYEWR]

I'm a star rating kind of guy, but the concept is overrated. A lot of people seem to think that star ratings are a necessity of a show review, but really, they're just a way of summarizing one's opinion of a match. And even then, not everyone looks at a match the same way. So, I can certainly see where Hisa's coming from. Certainly, I'd like to actually read a tape review that's very descriptive. I don't want to read something like:

NJ - (Insert date) - Tokyo Dome Show
- Misawa v. Kawada: ****1/2
- Mutoh v. Hashimoto: ***1/2
...
- Nagata v. Kojima: ****
Overall: GET THIS TAPE!

I'd like to read something that tells the reader a bit more detail about the matches, you know!

[pete]

I agree. Star ratings are by their nature wholly subjective and arbitrary, but carry a sort of finality and spurious authority. They can also lead to ridiculous arguments about half or even quarter of a star.

It's harder work to write, but much more informative to read, a descriptive review that highlights the strengths (or weaknesses)of a match, gives some idea of the kind of match it is, but doesn't slap a score on it and label it thereafter.

I also feel it's kind of disrespectful of those of us who are not pro-wrestling workers to 'score' a match in such a way. I hope that if this review forum comes about, the reviews will be positive and respectful. No talk about people 'sucking', please.

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

Originally posted by El Fiasco
wrestling matches are choreographed and predetermined. It's an entirely different form of sport than say baseball, football, etc.

Whether or not wrestling is a sport isn't really my point.

I don't even use stars to rate restaurants, movies, TV shows, drawings, etc. I just don't believe in the usage of the numbers to rate any form of arts. Once a while, I use numbers only to joke about it but not seriously.