Posted under Sports
Roy Nelson wrecked Cheick Kongo tonight. Nelson is a hero to fat white guys everywhere. I say he should get the winner of Velasquez vs. Silva, which will likely be Velasquez. Velasquez vs. Nelson would be huge.
Posted under Sports
I’ve just wrapped up the winter portion of the high school sports season where I live and work as a journalist so I’ll be able to enjoy some time off for much of this week. One of the sports I cover is wrestling and I was at a pair of state tournaments over the past few weeks. And needless to say the Olympics decision to remove wrestling from its line-up for the 2020 games is a not a popular one.
Someone once said being involved in wrestling isn’t really about having fun, it’s about fulfillment. You dream of something like a gold medal in the Olympics or the state or NCAA tournament, you work your tail off night and day to achieve it. See the goal – achieve the goal. Considering the amount of sweat equity and pain put into this sport having covered it for over 20 years, I get that. To have a bunch of elites take those dreams away just so they can have wushu in the Olympics is just sickening.
Although wrestling is one of the most popular participatory sports around the world, it doesn’t have the mass media appeal other sports have to the casual viewer. Thus, the wrestling community tends to be rather isolated from other athletic endeavors. And isolation often times leads to feelings resentment. Wrestlers often feel put upon by people who don’t understand them or who take their sport for granted and these feelings I do concur with out of sense of fairness. After all, it’s sport which really has no scandals in it (unlike say, cycling, one of the dirtiest sports man has ever created and it still has its Olympic slot). Nobody gets into wrestling for the money. Wrestlers live a hand-to-mouth existence, especially when training for the Olympics. Wrestling champions, at least in the U.S anyways, never receive the fame or the endorsement deals other Olympic gold medalists get like gymnasts, swimmers or track stars. For the most part, these largely middle class boys and girls are the kinds of people (most, not all, but most) you want representing your county and being a good example to children. So why, given all these positives, and given the fact wrestling has been around since Biblical times when Jacob wrestled an angel, would the Olympics simply say “Nahh, we don’t want you around here anymore. Get lost.”? Why is it wrestling, which is one of the cheapest sports in comparison to others, is the one to feel the budget ax at many colleges and universities?
I would hate to think wrestling would no longer be in the Olympics because wrestlers refuse to engage in politics or because they didn’t supply enough hookers and blow to those folks making the decisions at the IOC or because they did “sex up” their sport just for the sake of the cameras. It’s a sad commentary on what the world values most these days if true. Wrestling’s only hope is that broad numbers and the outrage this decision has caused would be enough to make the IOC change its mind. It’s a hope but not something I want to bet my life on knowing how one has to take a shower after dealing with that crowd of elites. It’s sad, it really is when a whole community which generally tries and usually does do things the right way, ends up being punished for it.
Posted under Sports
This editorial has a lot of intel on why wrestling lost out in the IOC vote. Apparently some people had concerns that wrestling might be in danger, but the international governing body refused to take heed. It is well worth a read.
For the record, I don’t want to give the false impression that I am a huge fan of amateur wrestling. I’m not. I’m a huge fan of MMA and a fan of professional wrestling. (I used to qualify as a huge fan of professional wrestling also, but probably don’t anymore.) Amateur wrestling serves an an important feeder for both. My love of MMA has made me gain an appreciation for all the amateur and professional fighting sports.
(BTW, why is amateur so hard to spell? I spelled it so wrong that spell check didn’t even suggest the correct word.)
This story might cause RonL to have a stroke.
The caretakers of the Olympics may have inadvertently accomplished what has eluded diplomats: Galvanizing Iran and the U.S. on a common goal.
Wrestling officials from the arch foes appeared to be in bonding mode Tuesday on the sidelines of a Tehran tournament less than a week after the stunning decision by the International Olympic Committee that will force the ancient sport — as old as the Olympics themselves — to lobby for a spot at the 2020 Games.
Posted under Sports
The Iron Sheik isn’t gonna take the IOC’s pansy decision to drop rasslin’ lyin’ down. And if the IOC knows what’s good for ‘em they won’t step to the Iron Sheik. Please pardon the language, but the Iron Sheik is ticked:
“After 1000 years they take away the best sport in the world? This is the first time the dumb motherf**kers have no balls for they make the walking an Olympic sport.”
He adds, “If I see anybody on the street that work from the IOC I swear to the Jesus I suplex them put them in camel clutch break their back make them humble.”
“The #TEAMSHEIKIE respect the Olympic now they can all go f**k themselves and make the Curling Olympic sport because they all the biggest piece of no good s**t and I never watch the Olympic again. Also buy my t shirt [on my website] or go f**k yourself.”
Posted under Sports
This is a non-political issue that should outrage paleos.
Wrestling has been a part of the modern Olympics since its inception in 1896 and was part of the ancient Olympics. The Olympics without wrestling is not the Olympics. The Summer Olympics includes synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics? Anybody who thinks synchronized swimming belongs in the Olympics but wrestling doesn’t is obviously some sort of Communist sympathizer.
Wrestling, particularly catch-as-cach-can, is America’s indigenous martial art, and judging by how well wrestlers did in the early days of MMA before everyone cross-trained (and still do), it’s a pretty effective one.
I say we send Kurt Angle to suplex all the members of the IOC onto their heads to hopefully knock some sense into them.
Posted under Immigration & Political Correctness & Sports
Tonight, Cain Velasquez will have a rematch with UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos. Dos Santos won their first match with a quick knock out. Velasquez was reportedly injured. Velasquez is the superior wrestler. He wrestled in college for Arizona State. Dos Santos is the superior striker. If Velasquez can get the fight to the ground and keep it there, he’ll likely win. If Dos Santos can keep it standing, he likely will. (Some odds have Velasquez the favorite. Some have Dos Santos.)
I will be rooting for Dos Santos. Velasquez sports a large “Brown Pride” tattoo across his chest. I really don’t care the Velasquez, who is Mexican American, has brown pride, although brown is a less precise designation than even white. Caucasoid Arabs and Indians are supposedly “brown,” as are Amerindian and Mediterranean (Spanish and Portuguese) admixture Central and South Americans such as Velasquez and Dos Santos. At least white usually means European. My beef is with the PC double standard that says a “brown pride” tattoo is just fine, but if some white guy had a similar “white pride’ tattoo there is no way he would ever see the inside of a UFC octagon and everyone know it.
I will be rooting against the PC double standard tonight more than I will Velasquez.
Addendum: There was a 1.5 hour wait at the local establishment where I usually watch UFC pay-per-views so I won’t be watching it live.
Posted under Culture & Sports & The South
I generally root for other SEC teams when they are not playing Georgia, and I have relished the fact that SEC teams have dominated the national championship in recent years although I wish one of them was Georgia, but I have to admit there was a part of me that was thinking I wouldn’t really mind it if Notre Dame won the upcoming BCS Championship because I think a Notre Dame victory would be good for college football. It would signal the return of a once proud program that a lot of people have said would never play at the top level again.
Well that ever so slight inkling is now history, wiped from my mind by the smart alec shenanigans of one Jimmy Clausen. The former Notre Dame QB, who is riding the bench behind a SEC Heisman Trophy and National Championship winner I might add, Tweeted a picture of this shirt, Catholics vs. Cousins. Well that does it! I hope the Crimson Tide rolls over them fifty to nuthin’ now.
Cousins? Really? I can assure Mr. Clausen that moonshine sippin’ inbred Hillbillies and Rednecks are not the segment that his team needs to be concerned about. Perhaps Mr. Clausen should spend more time trying to win back his starting QB job and spend less time propagating hurtful stereotypes.
Tonight’s card is stacked. The UFC is to be commended.
I’m a big fan of the Diaz brothers. I’m not sure why. They’re both pains in the butt. But I still like them. I like their striking style. Anyway, I’m predicting a Diaz victory over Henderson.
I’m a big fan of both Gufstasson and Rua, but I’m a bigger fan of Gustafsson because I’ve been following him as his career has progressed. I’m predicting he’ll dominate the striking game. The winner will be the number one contender for the Light Heavyweight Championship. Gustafsson vs. Jones would be awesome.
I’m rooting for BJ Penn who was one of my first favorites, but I doubt he’ll win. MacDonald is a talented fighter.
Posted under Gun Control & Sports
Do we really need or want liberal pontificating when we’re trying to watch football? Apparently not judging by the reaction to Bob Costas’ half-time gun control apologia.
Gun control is, of course, a controversial issue, with such rabid belief on both sides that even politicians tend to steer clear of it. And politics are so laden with potential conflict that most sports commentators give anything remotely political a wide berth, as well. So when you’ve got gun control and politics jammed right in the middle of your football game, well, you can see how that might get a few people a touch upset. Social media and comment sections across the Internet boiled over on Sunday night with vitriol both against Costas for his views, and against NBC for permitting any kind of political commentary on its broadcast.
As The American Conservative recently observed, gun control is effectively off the table at the national level. (It’s still a problem at the state and local level in some areas.) And it’s a good thing it is.
Posted under Sports
Just saw a tweet that Jeff Blatnick has passed away. May he Rest in Peace.
Those of us who were fans of the UFC before the UFC was cool know Jeff Blatnick. For those who don’t know who he was, Blatnick won a Gold Metal at the 1984 Olympics as a Greco-Roman wrestler. He became a favorite of MMA fans because he worked as a commentator for the early UFCs before they made the big time. He was a vocal advocate of the sport back when some (like John McCain) were trying to ban it. Also, since he was a wrestler, he actually knew what he was talking about at a time when many didn’t. (For example, running back Jim Brown was an early commentator also.) Recently Blatnick had worked as a judge for UFC events so MMA fans still heard his name announced from time to time. Whenever I did, I always felt confident he would call it straight.
May God be with his family and friends. The sport of MMA has lost one of it finest.
Posted under Culture & Election 2012 & Media & Sports
… to compete against Monday Night Football? Are the debate planners really that out of touch?
This is an attempt at humor, but I’m at least half serious. This was a clueless move. Not only will it cut down on the audience, but it will tick off half the audience that does tune in. (Although a smaller audience for the foreign policy debate might be a good thing for Romney since he can’t seem to come off as anything but a war mongering buffoon every time he opens his mouth about foreign policy.)
Posted under Sports
I think he does. I’m not predicting it. I just think he has a better shot than most people (including the odds makers) are giving him. Bonnar is huge compared to Silva, and he has a granite chin. Bonnar has never been submitted or knocked out. If he stands and has a kick boxing match with Silva he is going to get whupped, but if he uses his size advantage and makes it ugly and especially if he takes Silva down, he could win.
What say you?
I posted this partially because I wanted a record of it if Bonnar wins, but I’m not brave enough to predict an upset. Let’s just say that I wouldn’t be all that surprised if Bonnar wins. 
Posted under Culture & Humor & Media & Sports
At the risk of sounding insensitive or as if I don’t appreciate female anatomy, I can’t be the only one who thinks that this whole breast cancer thing is getting a little out of hand. You know, breasts aren’t the only organ system that gets cancer.
This rant is occasioned by watching all the pink NFL teams, announcers, etc. are wearing today. This has prompted a few questions.
If the NFL was raising money for prostate cancer, what color would they be wearing?
Since I presume pink was chosen because breast cancer primarily effects women, what color do uterine, cervical and ovarian cancer get?
If the NFL is going to wear pink for breast cancer awareness, shouldn’t they do it before Labor Day so they don’t look like a bunch of out of season clowns?
Addendum: It seems I’m not the only one who thinks the breast cancer campaign is overexposed, Andy Nowicki at AltRight does too..
Posted under Sports
So the proverbial stuff has hit the fan when it comes to the NFL lockout of the regular officials. Not only did the scabs make a bad call in a NFL contest, par for the course, but they made one which cost a team a game. And not just any old team, but one of the most popular in the NFL: the Green Bay Packers.
To say Wisconsinites are livid after what happened Monday night is an understatement. Even those supporting Gov. Walker against the public employee unions are not the kinds of people who employ those who know nothing about electricity rather than employ a union electrician. Thus only an ideological idiot would say “Yes, continue with the Division III refs because Lord knows we have to hold the line against unions.” They also know that one’s tax bill and a mere difference of $3.3 million (which is the sticking point in the negotiations between the refs and the NFL) is not the same thing. NFL will make $10 billion in revenues this season.
Ultimately it’s up to the owners to settle this thing since NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell works at their behest. As much as they may want to hoard their cash they also don’t want their teams to be robbed a playoff berths (and the money you make from them) because of some bush league official and his bad call. Not to mention the fact the games are getting damn near close to the point of violence between players themselves and coaches and officials for their ball calls. This not the Flint Sit-Down Strike here, not even the Wisconsin brouhaha of 2011 here. We’re talking $3.3 million or a whole season of tarnished games (and were just past Week 3, plenty more to go). It’s in everyone best interest to bring the professionals back and send the amateurs back to where their level of football competence, otherwise they would be locked out too.
All of this goes to show that expertise does count for something. Not everyone is an interchangeable parts for the function of the machine. You wouldn’t put Little League umpires in the middle of calling a World Series, so why anyone would think a small college football ref could seamlessly weave themselves into calling an NFL game, would be beyond comprehension unless one understands modern business practices in this globalized world. Maybe the best thing that can happened from Tate Golden’s illegitimate catch is reaffirming the faith knowing what you are doing still counts for something.
Posted under Political Philosophy & Sports
Everyone is whining about the “replacement” refs. Well a good way to show your displeasure would be to start calling them what they really are, scabs.
I know that most conservatives don’t have much use for unions, which is understandable given the tendency of organized labor in America to support the Democrat Party. Theoretically, conservatives shouldn’t have anything against collective bargaining. The problem is that the historical context in which unions arose in this country was leftist and they have largely remained so. One could envision a not necessarily leftist populist framework for labor unions, and I am sure some of the original motivation for them was more populist in nature (standing up for the little guy against the Man), but they were quickly co-opted.
That said, there are just some things a man doesn’t do. And taking another man’s job while he is in a dispute with his employer and trying to better his lot in life is one of them. And in the case of the NFL refs, they aren’t even on a strike of their own doing. They have been locked out by the Fat Cat owners. I place being a scab in the same moral category as being a rat. You’re saving your own skin at the expense of the other guy.
Also, is there a bigger douche bag on the planet than Roger Goodell? The scab refs are going to “improve” the NFL, you see.
Posted under Sports
All the Jon Jones love in the MMA community drives me nuts. The guy is clearly a very gifted athlete, has an excellent wrestling base, is a quick study and has awesome physical tools, but the guy strikes me as a tool. (Although part of his success is his ability to cut weight. He is a natural heavyweight, and that is what he should really be fighting as.) He reminds me of a Hollywood star who got too much success too early. Who knows if he was a tool at baseline.
Anyway, here is the occasion for this rant. UFC 151, Jones vs. Dan Henderson, has been cancelled (read the comments) due to Henderson sustaining a knee injury. The problem for Jones’ rep is that he was offered Chael Sonnen, a middleweight (natural light heavy), and turned it down. A whole card had to be cancelled, unprecedented in UFC history, because Jones wouldn’t sack up and fight a significantly smaller man. Now he is going to fight Lyoto Machida at UFC 152 instead. I hope Machida kicks him upside his prima donna head, and I bet 99% of the rest of the MMA world is going to feel the same way. This has likely done irreputable harm to Jones’ reputation and rightly so.
BTW, notice that Dana White, who has absolutely no filter, is totally throwing Jon Jones under the bus.
Update: White is punking Jones in the newly updated release:
With Henderson out, White tried to salvage the event before making the decision to pull the plug on the 11 fight card, with one particular loquacious contender willing to step up and take the bout with the youngest champion in UFC history.
“One of the things you’ve heard me brag about a million times is how UFC doesn’t have to cancel events and that we can always find a replacement,” he said. “For somebody to fight Jon Jones on eight days’ notice is tough to do. But to be totally honest, one guy did. Not only when I called him did he say I’ll take the fight, he said I’ll fly to Las Vegas tonight and fight him. And that was Chael Sonnen. Chael Sonnen accepted the fight with Jon Jones, wanted the fight bad, so as of eight, nine o’clock last night, we had a fight. We started working, started creating commercials, PR started getting ready to crank up, but the one thing that I never thought in a million years would happen happened. Jon Jones said I’m not fighting Chael Sonnen with eight days notice.”
If the fight was going to happen, it would have been Sonnen’s first at 205 pounds in the UFC since 2005, but that didn’t deter the self-proclaimed “Gangster from West Linn,” who has poking at Jones on Twitter since moving back to light heavyweight.
“These guys have been talking smack back and forth to each other and I thought it was a fight that people would be interested in, and Chael was the guy who accepted it,” said White. “And Chael was pumped and excited for this fight. In the heat of the moment, when things are going down, this is the guy that you pick up the phone and call, and he will fight anybody.”
Posted under Affirmative Action & Culture & Political Correctness & Sports
I searched the ‘net for the loopiest reaction to the news that Augusta National Golf Club has knuckled under and agreed to admit women. I found it at the Washington Post:
The recent token actions at the Augusta National Golf Club and the repugnant comments of Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) serve as the best public reminders of how entrenched male domination and arrogance carry the power to wound women deeply — and the fight that must be waged to stop them.
Both actions force the public mind to return to the often overlooked crime of gender abuse and domination. They arrive at a perilous time in this highly politically charged season to demonstrate the abusive power privileged men have to define the role of women, to exclude them from normal affairs of society and to act as if male birthright has made them the center of the universe.
Got that? If a private club is allowed to exercise freedom of association, and to organize itself along lines that violate (or worse, ignore!) the absolutes of Cultural Marxism, why, that’s a crime! And a fight “must be waged” against those who commit such crimes.
News flash: That fight is well under way. In case you hadn’t noticed, the forces of Cultural Marxism are winning.
Yes, that’s how far we’ve sunk, ladies and gentlemen. No aspect of our lives can escape the reach of radical egalitarianism, which is our beloved central government’s core value and justification. And what better way for Augusta to honor that value than to offer membership to Darla Moore, a banker, and Condi Rice, a war criminal who famously invoked the Civil Rights movement to justify the government’s wars? The representation of heartless plutocracy and militarism is picture perfect.
So what’s next for Augusta? Should the club install ladies’ tees? Or would shorter yardage goals for women constitute yet another assertion that women aren’t as capable as “privileged men”?
I don’t know what I’d do in their position. I really don’t. But then, the absurdities of make-believe equality — or “Potemkin parity” — are just part of the institutionalized insanity we must submit to. There’s plenty more to come.
Posted under Sports
Holly crap! Tyrann Mathieu, the guy I argued should have won the Heisman Trophy last year, (see my intemperate Heisman rant here) has been booted off the LSU football team.
He has limited options. I hope he goes and plays NAIA just because I think it would be interesting to see such a mismatch. He would be a man among boys.
Correction: Apparently Mathieu can play for an FCS school this year. He wouldn’t have to transfer to the NAIA.
The acclaimed ESPN documentary series, 30 for 30, is now available on Netflix. If you are unfamiliar with it, the documentaries focus on certain sports stories from the “ESPN era.”
So far I have watched Unguarded, the story of basketball player and drug addict Chris Herren, and The Real Rocky, the story of boxer Chuck Wepner, the inspiration for Rocky. Both were solid, especially Unguarded. Next I plan to watch Pony Exce$$, the story of SMU and the events leading up to them receiving the death penalty.
Anyone else watched any of these? Any suggestions?
And no Netflix is not paying me.