For your on the job sanity. You're welcome. Justin Lovett-Blue Chad Sanders-White Greg D'Arco-Yellow Samson X-Grey
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tourney TV Ratings
This year the NCAA went with a new format for broadcasting its basketball tournament. Typically CBS controls what games we see for the tournament but this year the NCAA decided to show every game and used four different networks. CBS, TNT, TBS and TruTV (random), broadcasted the entire first two rounds of the tournament and it led to the highest television ratings for the first weekend in 17 years. Apparently I wasn't the only person that thought showing every game was a good idea. I just wonder what took so long?
MMA Digest
I don’t talk a lot about MMA but there have been two recent topics that can’t go without me giving my opinion. First, roughly 10 days ago very big news flew under the sports radar. Zuffa purchased Strikeforce. For those unfamiliar with Zuffa or even Strikeforce, this was the MMA’s equivalent to the WWE buying WCW or the NBA and ABA merger. It is huge news that solidifies UFC as the dominant MMA company, with little to no competition. In a sense they have monopolized the sport. If you’re wondering why I switched from talking about Zuffa to talking about the UFC, it is because Zuffa is a sports promotional company that acts as a parent entity to UFC. So basically UFC has purchased its biggest competitor and is locked in to take Mixed Martial Arts to the next level.
What does all of this mean and why should I care?
If you are an MMA fan this is your dream. UFC now controls probably around 90% if not more of the best talent around the world. Not only will we (the fans) be given more “must see” fights but there will be more fights in general. With such a large roster bolstering a plethora of talent, there will definitely be an increase in the number of shows and events. Every year UFC pushes to get mixed martial arts legalized in more states and thus far they have been marginally successful to an extent. The more states that legalize the sport, the more shows they can have in various places, the more fans get to see live events, the more overall exposure the sport gets. On paper, it’s a win-win for everyone. Dana White has already expressed interest in having two pay-per-view events per month or having two televised events on the same night in different locations. White has also said that he envisions a UFC channel in the near future. UFC is currently under contract with SpikeTv but in my opinion the company has outgrown the channel and I have a feeling Dana White feels the same way. It appears the foundation is set for UFC and Mixed Martial Arts to take off to the level not only nationally, but internationally as well. For those reading this in excitement, just as I was when I first read about the Strikeforce-UFC merger, I’d recommend you hold your excitement for a while. Even though Zuffa now has the rights to Strikeforce, Dana White has publically said that Strikeforce will act as a separate company for now. Showtime currently has a multi-year deal with Strikeforce and White said they will honor that deal. It appears White doesn’t see any reason to rush the merger so he is taking the patient route. For now, just imagine the WWE after if purchased ECW but acted like ECW was still its own company and brand. Just like that experiment ended with a merger, UFC and Strikeforce will ultimately merge rosters and produce any MMA fans dream product.
Okay, so you got me excited about something that isn’t going to happen for a while. What was the other thing you wanted to say?
Glad you asked. Now that we have the business side of this out the way, time to focus on the actual action. Saturday night, UFC hosted UFC 128. The main event featured a seasoned veteran Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and the very young and electrifying Jon “Bones” Jones. Rua came into the bout as the Light Heavyweight Champion and had yet to defend his title. His most recent win was very impressive as he completely dismantled Lyoto Machida’s defense and KO’d him in the first round. Jon Jones put together a remarkable resume, with a 12-1 record (side note, only two of his fights have ended in decision) in just his first three years of action. He has signature wins over Stephan Bonner, Brandon Vera, and Ryan Badar. His one loss was to Matt Hamil and it was a fluke disqualification for an illegal elbow. After Rua’s total domination over Machida many questioned if Jones would be able to handle the savvy veteran, even with Jones superior athleticism. Well to keep this short Jones put every question that anyone had to rest. The only question left was who is next? The fight was a colossal beat down. In the past, Jones has displayed his incredible ground game and ability to control a fight but I doubt many people expected the all-around domination that occurred on Saturday. Surprisingly Shogun looked like an amateur in this fight. He fought like he knew he lost before Bruce Buffer did his long-winded introductions. Jon Jones beat Rua up for two rounds and some change before finally putting him out his misery and knocking him out. The final hit count was 13 for Rua and 87 for Jones. There are no stats or scorecards that can show how ugly and dominant this fight was. It is truly something you must see with your own eyes.
If you’r
e reading this and feel this is a totally biased article from a Jon Jones band wagon rider, well your partially right. I assume if you feel that way you probably didn’t watch the fight because as much as I’m hyping Bones Jones, he was really that dominant. And yes, I am officially riding the Jon Jones band wagon, as should anyone that saw that fight. As for Rua, I truly thought he would be the Light Heavyweight Champion for awhile. Maybe even a year. In his first bout against Machida he got robbed by the judges and in the rematch he didn’t give the judges a chance to play a role in the fight. At the time I would have argued Machida had one of the best strike defenses in the UFC and definitely in his weight class. After witnessing Shogun dominate Machida, I saw a potential long-term champion in Rua. In fact, if he had defended his title against Rashad Evans or Rampage Jackson like he was initially supposed to, I think Shogun would still be the champion. Unfortunately, he ran into something he was not prepared for in Bones Jones and if there were a rematch this could potentially go differently but after that beat down I don’t see a rematch anytime soon.
For those who still aren’t sold on Jon Jones I want you to remember a few numbers…He is 6’4 with an 84.5” reach (the longest in MMA history). He currently has a 13-1 record and is just 23 years old. The sky is the limit for this guy.
Image above provided by Getty Images
What does all of this mean and why should I care?
If you are an MMA fan this is your dream. UFC now controls probably around 90% if not more of the best talent around the world. Not only will we (the fans) be given more “must see” fights but there will be more fights in general. With such a large roster bolstering a plethora of talent, there will definitely be an increase in the number of shows and events. Every year UFC pushes to get mixed martial arts legalized in more states and thus far they have been marginally successful to an extent. The more states that legalize the sport, the more shows they can have in various places, the more fans get to see live events, the more overall exposure the sport gets. On paper, it’s a win-win for everyone. Dana White has already expressed interest in having two pay-per-view events per month or having two televised events on the same night in different locations. White has also said that he envisions a UFC channel in the near future. UFC is currently under contract with SpikeTv but in my opinion the company has outgrown the channel and I have a feeling Dana White feels the same way. It appears the foundation is set for UFC and Mixed Martial Arts to take off to the level not only nationally, but internationally as well. For those reading this in excitement, just as I was when I first read about the Strikeforce-UFC merger, I’d recommend you hold your excitement for a while. Even though Zuffa now has the rights to Strikeforce, Dana White has publically said that Strikeforce will act as a separate company for now. Showtime currently has a multi-year deal with Strikeforce and White said they will honor that deal. It appears White doesn’t see any reason to rush the merger so he is taking the patient route. For now, just imagine the WWE after if purchased ECW but acted like ECW was still its own company and brand. Just like that experiment ended with a merger, UFC and Strikeforce will ultimately merge rosters and produce any MMA fans dream product.
Okay, so you got me excited about something that isn’t going to happen for a while. What was the other thing you wanted to say?
Glad you asked. Now that we have the business side of this out the way, time to focus on the actual action. Saturday night, UFC hosted UFC 128. The main event featured a seasoned veteran Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and the very young and electrifying Jon “Bones” Jones. Rua came into the bout as the Light Heavyweight Champion and had yet to defend his title. His most recent win was very impressive as he completely dismantled Lyoto Machida’s defense and KO’d him in the first round. Jon Jones put together a remarkable resume, with a 12-1 record (side note, only two of his fights have ended in decision) in just his first three years of action. He has signature wins over Stephan Bonner, Brandon Vera, and Ryan Badar. His one loss was to Matt Hamil and it was a fluke disqualification for an illegal elbow. After Rua’s total domination over Machida many questioned if Jones would be able to handle the savvy veteran, even with Jones superior athleticism. Well to keep this short Jones put every question that anyone had to rest. The only question left was who is next? The fight was a colossal beat down. In the past, Jones has displayed his incredible ground game and ability to control a fight but I doubt many people expected the all-around domination that occurred on Saturday. Surprisingly Shogun looked like an amateur in this fight. He fought like he knew he lost before Bruce Buffer did his long-winded introductions. Jon Jones beat Rua up for two rounds and some change before finally putting him out his misery and knocking him out. The final hit count was 13 for Rua and 87 for Jones. There are no stats or scorecards that can show how ugly and dominant this fight was. It is truly something you must see with your own eyes.
If you’r
e reading this and feel this is a totally biased article from a Jon Jones band wagon rider, well your partially right. I assume if you feel that way you probably didn’t watch the fight because as much as I’m hyping Bones Jones, he was really that dominant. And yes, I am officially riding the Jon Jones band wagon, as should anyone that saw that fight. As for Rua, I truly thought he would be the Light Heavyweight Champion for awhile. Maybe even a year. In his first bout against Machida he got robbed by the judges and in the rematch he didn’t give the judges a chance to play a role in the fight. At the time I would have argued Machida had one of the best strike defenses in the UFC and definitely in his weight class. After witnessing Shogun dominate Machida, I saw a potential long-term champion in Rua. In fact, if he had defended his title against Rashad Evans or Rampage Jackson like he was initially supposed to, I think Shogun would still be the champion. Unfortunately, he ran into something he was not prepared for in Bones Jones and if there were a rematch this could potentially go differently but after that beat down I don’t see a rematch anytime soon. For those who still aren’t sold on Jon Jones I want you to remember a few numbers…He is 6’4 with an 84.5” reach (the longest in MMA history). He currently has a 13-1 record and is just 23 years old. The sky is the limit for this guy.
Image above provided by Getty Images
Big East Basketball and March Madness:
This year's "powerhouse" conference in NCAA basketball has performed rather poorly in the "big dance." Minus the teams that have had to play each other, for the inevitable elimination, Big East play has been nothing short of horrendous. Everything that the public has thought about Big East Basketball has been proven null and void from the performances and lack thereof during tournament play. Eight of the 11 qualifying teams in the Big East (those not-so fortunate: Louisville, Georgetown and Villanova) made it out of the 64 team round, but the play of teams in that round and in the round since has been all but pathetic. Both Georgetown and Villanova appeared not to have even showed up to play basketball, and Louisville lost a heart breaker in the final seconds against Morehead State... Surprisingly enough, in the ensuing week, coach Rick Pitino (Louisville) is on the March Madness halftime shows analyzing the play of other teams participating in March Madness. Honestly speaking, both Louisville and 'Nova should have won their respective games and advanced to the next round... VCU ran Georgetown out of the gym, just as they did last night against Purdue.
West Virginia played well in their first game of the tournament, subduing a hot-handed Clemson team that many thought had a shot at doing some decent damage in the tournament. Despite playing well against Clemson, in the following game against Kentucky, the Mountaineers just couldn't get it going against the Wildcat defense.
Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, O Pittsburgh!!! Congratulations on being the first number one seed to be bounced out of the tournament. Being an alumnus of Pitt, I cant help but laugh at the irony in which "we" lost that game. For those familiar with the situation, I want people to stop blaming the Coach Jamie Dixon for having his players lined up on the free throw line. Maybe he thought it would have been tough on Gil Brown to make the free throw with only opposing players on the line... I don't know, but what I do know is this: Robinson is at Pittsburgh to play basketball, keeping that in mind, he should have been aware of the situation and know that the chance of Butler making that shot from under Pitt's goal with .8 seconds left is 1 in 899 Billion. Don't blame the coach, blame the player that commits what will arguably be the silliest play in this year's March Madness. -----> More on Pittsburgh, they played sloppy in their tournament opener against UNC-Ashville, and the sloppiness continued against Butler; not surprised in the fact that that game ended up going to the wire. It goes to show you that if you let a team hang around long enough, and you increase your opportunity to go home.
Marquette and Syracuse both did well in their round of 64 openers against Xavier and Indiana State, respectively, which resulted in a head-to-head clash against one another in one of the most competitive games that the tournament has seen thus far. Both teams played with heart and desire, but Marquette went for the hat-trick beating Syracuse for a total of three times in as much games this season and as a result, heading to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since Dwayne Wade took them there in 2003.
Another pair of Big East teams dueled for an opportunity to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, the Bearcats of Cincinnati and the UConn Huskies... Cincy showed out with their impressive 15 point victory over Missouri and were heading into the round of the 32 with a head of steam. They then had to compete against Big East Champions, Kemba Walker and the Huskies, after their 29 point rout of Bucknell. Anyone would have been intimidated after watching a team maul their opponent the way UConn picked apart Bucknell, however Cincy did play a respectable game and only ended up losing by eleven.
Number 2 seed Notre Dame played well against Akron in the 64 team round, but it got embarassed against an energetic Florida State Seminole team that seems to be out for blood. The Seminoles started out on top and continued to pound away at "Fighting Irish" team that lost their fight early.
All in all, the Big East has played badly and has failed to live up to its hype as a powerhouse conference in the tournament. Do not be surprised if UConn or Marquette make it to the Final Four, but be very surprised if they both do!!!
Kemba Walker is going to make a serious impact on this tournament. He is playing like a man possessed, and I fear for any team that gets in way!!!
Samson X
Thursday, March 10, 2011
What a lockout would really mean
There appears to be a very dark cloud hanging over the NFL and the NBA right now. While many are getting ready for the NFL draft and NBA playoffs in April, there is a looming distraction that finds its way to headlines almost daily—the potential lockout. The NFLPA and the owners have been meeting for over 10 days while trying to iron out an arrangement for a new collective bargaining agreement CBA. The good news is that the two groups continue to talk so it appears they are at least attempting to get a deal done. The bad news is they can do all the talking they want but until a deal is done there isn’t a reason to be very optimistic. On the NBA side of things, unlike the NFL, the NBA is still in season. We are about a month away from the playoffs, so most teams (players and owners) are focused on finishing the season with a championship, or for all the non-playoff teams (sorry Wolves), momentum for next season. The lockout is still in the back of everyone’s mind but is not priority number one at this point. To be honest, I think the NFL will get a deal done relatively soon, but unfortunately I think the NBA is headed for every fan’s nightmare. But instead of breaking down what the players and owners are fighting about in their respective organizations, I think it’s best to shed light on what is really important in the case of a lockout…FANTASY SPORTS.
Let’s be honest, how crushed would we be if there were no fantasy football or basketball next season? I’d actually be somewhat heartbroken if a new CBA was agreed upon mid-way through the season and we only had half a season of fantasy football or basketball. I understand fantasy sports are extremely popular within my group of friends but I was interested in how many people really participate, so I dug up a little information.
According to a Dave and Buster’s survey, about 15,000,000 people participate in fantasy football yearly. I couldn’t find a stat on fantasy basketball but I do know that it is not close to being as popular as fantasy football. Regardless, there are approximately 30,000,000 people that participate in fantasy sports and about half of them play fantasy football. It can be assumed that at least 2-5 million play fantasy basketball so we are looking at roughly 17-20 million people that can’t participate in their annual fantasy leagues because of potential lockouts next season.
If you participate in any fantasy leagues, you’re aware of the benefits. Not only is it fun, but it brings out the competitor in most of us. It makes us follow sports more attentively, and above all, anyone can be successful. You don’t have to know every player on every team, or know stats that are really only important if you’re a coach or some type of sports analyst to be a winner. There are rankings and suggestions to help you during drafts and throughout the season, so as long as you make decent decisions and set your roster (I hate it when people don’t set their rosters!) you will always have a chance.
So, while the players and owners fight over money and power, I hope someone is considering what a lockout would do to the fans. Not only would an NFL lockout put a damper on Sundays, but an NBA lockout would leave us with only NHL highlights on SportsCenter (sports gods please shoo the lockout devils away!). If the players and owners can’t agree on a new CBA, for themselves and for the sake of their respective sports, I just ask that they get a deal done for fantasy sports.
Let’s be honest, how crushed would we be if there were no fantasy football or basketball next season? I’d actually be somewhat heartbroken if a new CBA was agreed upon mid-way through the season and we only had half a season of fantasy football or basketball. I understand fantasy sports are extremely popular within my group of friends but I was interested in how many people really participate, so I dug up a little information.
According to a Dave and Buster’s survey, about 15,000,000 people participate in fantasy football yearly. I couldn’t find a stat on fantasy basketball but I do know that it is not close to being as popular as fantasy football. Regardless, there are approximately 30,000,000 people that participate in fantasy sports and about half of them play fantasy football. It can be assumed that at least 2-5 million play fantasy basketball so we are looking at roughly 17-20 million people that can’t participate in their annual fantasy leagues because of potential lockouts next season.
If you participate in any fantasy leagues, you’re aware of the benefits. Not only is it fun, but it brings out the competitor in most of us. It makes us follow sports more attentively, and above all, anyone can be successful. You don’t have to know every player on every team, or know stats that are really only important if you’re a coach or some type of sports analyst to be a winner. There are rankings and suggestions to help you during drafts and throughout the season, so as long as you make decent decisions and set your roster (I hate it when people don’t set their rosters!) you will always have a chance.
So, while the players and owners fight over money and power, I hope someone is considering what a lockout would do to the fans. Not only would an NFL lockout put a damper on Sundays, but an NBA lockout would leave us with only NHL highlights on SportsCenter (sports gods please shoo the lockout devils away!). If the players and owners can’t agree on a new CBA, for themselves and for the sake of their respective sports, I just ask that they get a deal done for fantasy sports.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Rim Breaker
In this video, a high school coach tries to show his team he can still dunk. Watch as he tears down the rim...literally.
Amazing Home Video
Unbelievable video of Kansas State's Zach Enyeart. Long snapping has never been so interesting.
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