Front Office Fans: FanPosts

MMA - Its FANtastic

2010-02-14T21:16:32Z

I've never been to an MMA event and honestly the closest I've ever come to getting into it is watching clips of Kimbo Slice on Youtube, but this article by SBN sr editor Andrew Sharp about his first experience at an MMA match in Vegas really gives a great summary of the fan experience and why its becoming increasingly popular with folks from beyond the world of Affliction t-shirts and barb wire tattoos.

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/2/10/1300771/meeting-mma-outsiders-encounter

Who is the worst commissioner in the four major sports?

2010-02-09T03:49:21Z

Is it David Stern who controls basketball with an iron fist. Just get caught with a gun and find out. Also. love to fine players left and right. Is it Roger godell who just oversaw a great super bowl but now his to deal with labor issue's. Is it Gary Bettman the "quiet" commish who has got hockey ratings up a little. Could it be Bud Selig who was commissioner in the steroid era but still claims he has no or little responsibility and will not even listen to arguments to why Pete Rose should be reinstated.

Monday Night Football Commentators Suck

2009-10-27T18:38:44Z

Watching Monday Night Football has becoming increasingly painful with both Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden into the booth. Jaworski feels the need to turn every game into a painful, three hour telecast breaking down each team's quarterback play. This would be fine if he actually provided valid criticism or praise. Last night he felt the need to to blame all of the Redskins problems on quarterback Jason Campbell. While Campbell was certainly far from perfect, many of his problems on the night stemmed from the offensive line's inability to block anybody. Gruden even attempted to point this out on one occasion before Jaworski started yelling about the Eagles showing their blitz and that Campbell should have audibled at the line.

Actually Gruden trying to justify a player's mistake and pass blame off for them is nothing new from the rest of his tenure in the commentary booth. Gruden's obvious desire to return to the sidelines as a head coach seems to have him kissing every NFL's team ass during each Monday night telecast. His only negative comments yesterday concerned Redskins tight end, Fred Davis who he felt needed to do better in pass blocking. However he tempered all that by telling everybody watching how good Davis is as pass catcher. His monologue at the beginning of the game about how much talent the Redskins had would have convinced you we were watching the 80's Redskins.

The only thing worse than last night's performance was when Brett Favre and the Vikings were on Monday night. Both times Favre certainly performed very well, but Gruden and Jaworski sounded like a couple of teenage girls watching N'Sync perform with how they were fawning over Favre. I lost count of how many times we were subjected to hearing that Favre just plays the game like a kid and how much he loved the game. I'm going to assume what makes Favre an all-time great quarterback has nothing to do with the joy with which he plays the game. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I would bet that there are a lot of players in the NFL that really enjoy playing the game.

It was even worse when Favre would make short passes that were converted into longer gains by the receivers and rather than talking about the run after the catch, we were shown how Favre was confidently moving in the pocket. They certianly were right in giving Favre plenty of attention for his play that night, but it would have been nice to hear some acknowledgment of the fact that there were 21 other players on the field at the same time as Favre.

Mike Tirico is the unfortunate third member of the crew who has done a commendable job with the play-by-play so far this year. Don't feel too bad for Tirico though, I'm sure when they finish up the telecast he tries to have some fun with the female producers of the show.

Bob Griese thinks Montoya should eat tacos

2009-10-26T14:48:08Z

Listening to Griese here for a promo for the NASCAR Sprint for the Chase Cup was hilarious. It almost sounds like Griese desperately tries to hold himself back from making a comment on Juan Pablo Montoya and tacos, but after five seconds just says f*** it and says it anyway. While we can all agree this was racially insensitive Griese's attempt to hold his tongue only to fail miserably was one of the seminal moments of an uneventful Big Ten matchup.

Taco (via karinpulley)

UFC Betting Tips - UFC 104 : Will Shogun's muay thai defeat Machida's karate?

2009-10-19T10:53:25Z

UFC 104 Machida Vs Shogun Match Preview & UFC Betting Picks

Mauricio Shogun Rua wants Machida's LHW Belt.

Mauricio Shogun Rua used to rumble through pride opponents with sheer aggression. TKO's by soccer kicks and stomps. Come on! Shogun rocked people. He won the PRIDE Fighting Championship's 2005 MW Grand Prix. If one of Shogun's matches went to the later rounds he could even pull out a submission victory. In his first 18 fights only two went to the final bell and Shogun came out victorious. Both wins were by unanimous submission.

Shogun is a powerful, pressing muay thai striker and a BJJ black belt who will punch your head off or kick you on the ground until you quit or the referee saves you. That is Shogun.

Before joining the UFC, Shogun's list of victims, and I don't use the word lightly, include Evangelista Santos, Akihiro Gono, Quinton "BA Baracus, I'm done fighting" Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem (x2), Ricardo Arona, and Kevin Randleman. Many of these top level men were punished. This is the Shogun the UFC signed, this is the Shogun the UFC fans wanted and expected. What they got was something different.

The problem was that Shogun has knees, and sometimes they don't always hold together. Shogun's knee injury during training did not allow for a competitive camp and he lacked the fitness to compete against Forrest Griffin. After losing the first two rounds, Shogun ultimately succumed to a rear-naked-choke in the final seconds of the third round.

Shogun looked exhausted. His fans slumped in their chairs and looked bewildered. I remember that. I can accept the injury excuse/reason. It really didn't look like Shogun. There was also the fact that it was his first fight under the Unified Rules of MMA, which include no kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent. Injured, out of shape and lacking weapons. Shogun looses the match and the chance to make a first impression on UFC fans that hadn't seen him before.

You can find all the UFC 104 previews, UFC 104 odds an UFC Betting Tips at BetRepublic.com

Shogun's next chance was also a chance to avenge his earlier loss to Mark Coleman. This time UFC fans had a chance to see two well known fighters almost not make it to the end of the fight due to exhaustion. "Fight of the Night" or not, nothing overly impressed me here except the fact that someone actually won before I fell asleep. I was beginning to wonder if Shogun was just collecting the cheques and finishing out a contract before retiring. Then came Liddell. The Iceman was out in the first round due to Shogun's big left hook and a flurry of hammer fists. This was getting back on track, even if it was against a fading Liddell.

So the question remains, do we get the original Shogun, or the lumbering, out of breath Shogun. My guess is that Shogun has had a full camp, he's fit and adjusted to the cage, and is more than ready for a title fight. He's too much a professional and too proud of a guy to take this fight anything less than completely serious. I expect a new and improved Shogun.

I expect Machida is expecting the same.

That may be Shogun's downfall against Machida. Shogun's aggressive style is exactly what a counter-puncher loves, and exactly what Machida is waiting for. I think Machida's accuracy and timing will prove to be too much for Shogun.

Shogun's coach, Andre Dida disagrees, "For the pace of fighting that Lyoto forces, always looking for the knockout, I think this fight won’t go past the third round. Shogun will knock out him in the 3rd round for sure. Shogun is going to be the unique guy to show the world how to beat Lyoto. Everyone will learn how to beat Machida so on."

UFC 104 Picks: Machida by TKO, later rounds.

Sorry Shogun.

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