Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Sunday, 2 May 2010
Boxing Is Dead.....
Well, I am writing this to my readers today with a partially heavy heart. I have long loved the sport and art of boxing; the "sweet science". I have watched boxing most of my 40 years on this earth ans even competed in a few bouts when I was much younger and far more stupid.
But I am here today to tell you all that boxing is dead. The new king of combat sports is Mixed Martial Arts, i.e. UFC, Strikeforce, et. al. I watched in utter amazement as Floyd "Money" Mayweather defeated "Sugar" Shane Mosley by doing little more than landing the occasional jab, mixed in with a total of three straight rights. Floyd was paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $22.5 million for this sham, and Mosley received a paltry $7 million.
I was physically ill watching the "fight", and I'm still nauseous thinking about it. One of my buddies, who was also watching the fight said, "How can two grown men beat on each other for over 30 minutes and not even look like they've been in a fight?"
My thoughts exactly.....
MMA is not perfect by anyone's estimation. However, what MMA does offer to the fight fan is a complete package of fighting skills. In boxing, the only thing that you have to worry about is your opponent's hands. In MMA, you must worry about your opponent's hands, his shins, his legs, his elbows; all of it. And anyone who states that MMA is "human cock-fighting" is simply ignorant of what the sport has become through proper sanctioning and training.
Last night some paid nearly $50 to watch "Money" artfully dodge all that Mosley threw at him for 12 boring-assed rounds. This Saturday, I will likely pay nearly $50 to watch up to five fights that individually will be better than the trash I watched last night, and collectively better than any pay-per-view boxing event since Tyson-Douglas. The great heavyweights are either dead, comatose, or retired in boxing. The smaller weights, such as welterweight and super welterweight are all that's left and nobody other than hardcore fight fans care anything about those guys.
"Money" can take is money and go away. He is no longer relevant in the world of combat sports. Good riddance. I would rather watch Spencer Fisher or Clay Guida fight any day of the week than that bum and twice on Sunday!!
But I am here today to tell you all that boxing is dead. The new king of combat sports is Mixed Martial Arts, i.e. UFC, Strikeforce, et. al. I watched in utter amazement as Floyd "Money" Mayweather defeated "Sugar" Shane Mosley by doing little more than landing the occasional jab, mixed in with a total of three straight rights. Floyd was paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $22.5 million for this sham, and Mosley received a paltry $7 million.
I was physically ill watching the "fight", and I'm still nauseous thinking about it. One of my buddies, who was also watching the fight said, "How can two grown men beat on each other for over 30 minutes and not even look like they've been in a fight?"
My thoughts exactly.....
MMA is not perfect by anyone's estimation. However, what MMA does offer to the fight fan is a complete package of fighting skills. In boxing, the only thing that you have to worry about is your opponent's hands. In MMA, you must worry about your opponent's hands, his shins, his legs, his elbows; all of it. And anyone who states that MMA is "human cock-fighting" is simply ignorant of what the sport has become through proper sanctioning and training.
Last night some paid nearly $50 to watch "Money" artfully dodge all that Mosley threw at him for 12 boring-assed rounds. This Saturday, I will likely pay nearly $50 to watch up to five fights that individually will be better than the trash I watched last night, and collectively better than any pay-per-view boxing event since Tyson-Douglas. The great heavyweights are either dead, comatose, or retired in boxing. The smaller weights, such as welterweight and super welterweight are all that's left and nobody other than hardcore fight fans care anything about those guys.
"Money" can take is money and go away. He is no longer relevant in the world of combat sports. Good riddance. I would rather watch Spencer Fisher or Clay Guida fight any day of the week than that bum and twice on Sunday!!
Friday, 30 April 2010
James Toney on being in The UFC
This dude is delusional if he thinks he can last more than 1 round with a UFC fighter of any caliber. I believe that the pugilistic dementia has set in!
I hope Randy Couture chokes this fool out so we no longer have to listen to his B.S.
I hope Randy Couture chokes this fool out so we no longer have to listen to his B.S.
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Joe Rogan on James Toney and MMA
Joe Rogan gives a very good break-down of James Toney's chances against UFC champ Brock Lesnar. Excellent!!!
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Avatar: The Western
As I sat a watched the majesty that is Avatar, I had the eerie feeling that I had seen this movie somewhere before. Hmmm….
James Cameron is a genius, if for no other reason that he can put Leo DeCaprio in a film and make it tolerable. Not to mention the highest grossing movie of all time; that is, before Avatar showed up. Cameron spent an alleged $500 million and nearly 10 years making Avatar and it shows in the graphics, the colors, the set designs, and the multiple creatures he created. I did not risk permanent neural damage by watching the film in Imax 3-D; that’s simply too much sensory input for my mind to accommodate. I bought the DVD this past weekend for the Wal Mart “rollback” price of $15.94. (What did we do before Wal Mart?) I watched it at home on the big screen and enjoyed every minute of it. It is visually stunning from beginning to end.
But as I watched it, I became aware of the feeling that I had seen this movie before. And I had never seen this movie before! And then it came to me; I have seen this film before. It was entitled Dances with Wolves. Now stay with me a minute people. For those of you that have seen DWW, you will quickly understand where I’m headed with this train of thought. I wrote off the theory as silly and that the visual effects of Avatar had completely sapped my brain f the ability to reason. Typical. But then I decided to do a comparison of the two films.
The male lead character of both films is a soldier sent to a remote outpost
The lead character befriends the local natives
Lead character falls in love with and mates with local native woman
Lead character becomes a member of the native clan and fights against his former commanders
Lead character befriends the native wildlife
Do you see any similarities? In short what Cameron gave us in visual effects; he certainly shorted us in storyline. This particular storyline has been written and re-written multiple times. As I thought about it, I was uncertain as to whether I should be confused, angered, or apathetic. I chose apathetic because it’s not a real stretch for me. The movie made untold millions, if not billions worldwide for nothing more than its special effects. And that’s fine. I’m cool with that, but come on James! We should expect more from a magician such as you! Must we go to the Downtown West 8 to get an original script or one that hasn’t been regurgitated? Avatar is a good movie, but it could have been a great movie with a better plot.
Thus endeth the lesson…………
James Cameron is a genius, if for no other reason that he can put Leo DeCaprio in a film and make it tolerable. Not to mention the highest grossing movie of all time; that is, before Avatar showed up. Cameron spent an alleged $500 million and nearly 10 years making Avatar and it shows in the graphics, the colors, the set designs, and the multiple creatures he created. I did not risk permanent neural damage by watching the film in Imax 3-D; that’s simply too much sensory input for my mind to accommodate. I bought the DVD this past weekend for the Wal Mart “rollback” price of $15.94. (What did we do before Wal Mart?) I watched it at home on the big screen and enjoyed every minute of it. It is visually stunning from beginning to end.
But as I watched it, I became aware of the feeling that I had seen this movie before. And I had never seen this movie before! And then it came to me; I have seen this film before. It was entitled Dances with Wolves. Now stay with me a minute people. For those of you that have seen DWW, you will quickly understand where I’m headed with this train of thought. I wrote off the theory as silly and that the visual effects of Avatar had completely sapped my brain f the ability to reason. Typical. But then I decided to do a comparison of the two films.
The male lead character of both films is a soldier sent to a remote outpost
The lead character befriends the local natives
Lead character falls in love with and mates with local native woman
Lead character becomes a member of the native clan and fights against his former commanders
Lead character befriends the native wildlife
Do you see any similarities? In short what Cameron gave us in visual effects; he certainly shorted us in storyline. This particular storyline has been written and re-written multiple times. As I thought about it, I was uncertain as to whether I should be confused, angered, or apathetic. I chose apathetic because it’s not a real stretch for me. The movie made untold millions, if not billions worldwide for nothing more than its special effects. And that’s fine. I’m cool with that, but come on James! We should expect more from a magician such as you! Must we go to the Downtown West 8 to get an original script or one that hasn’t been regurgitated? Avatar is a good movie, but it could have been a great movie with a better plot.
Thus endeth the lesson…………
Friday, 23 April 2010
How Did We Survive?
As I was on vacation this week, lying in the golden Florida sun, I was talking to my beautiful wife about the things are (or aren't) on television these days. We stayed home last night and rented a movie that was a complete and total bust. So we turned on the TV to see if we could find anything there to watch, and much to my chagrin there was nothing! Nada. Nil. Zilch.
We began talking about our favorite shows as kids growing up in the 70's and 80's. There was Little House on The Prairie, Sanford & Son, The Brady Bunch and the list goes on and on. Every afternoon immediately following school, Batman was my world. And as we spoke, I began to wonder aloud, "How in the world did we survive as children without XBox, PS3, and Netflix?"
My wife and I grew up in world pre-cable and pre-satellite television. We had 3-5 channels depending on the weather. There was CBS, NBC, and ABC. That was it! If you couldn't find something to watch on one of those three channels, guess what? You went outside, where Mom wanted you to be anyway, and played until the street lights came on.
Today, there are as many channels in as many different languages as you choose to pay for. The condo we're staying in this week has basic cable and has 60 damn channels! (and there's STILL nothing on!) How in the world did we make it through such a tumultuous childhood?
Answer: we had parents that made us play outside. Parents, run your freakin' kids off the Play Station and outta' the house and let them run around in the woods and bring home dead stuff to show you.
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