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.
Nate Weinstein on 25 Oct 2012 at 2:32 am #
Mixed Martial Arts is a gratuitously violent sport that damages the brains of thousands of men who partake in it and noticeably lowers the moral tone of people who watch it. Why would any conservative have anything to do with it?
MattSwartz on 25 Oct 2012 at 2:44 am #
Nate,
I prefer boxing, but any sport is better than none. Athletic participation purifies the mind and edifies the viewer.
And as to the idea that the men involved might hurt themselves, I wonder what sort of paternalist remedy you’d recommend? They have big-boy pants of their own, I suppose.
Nate Weinstein on 25 Oct 2012 at 3:12 am #
Matt Swartz,
How exactly does watching two roided up monsters in a cage beating each other to a bloody pulp edify the viewer?
Bruce on 25 Oct 2012 at 11:00 am #
Holy cow! I actually agree with Nate/Kyle on something. Thomas Fleming would agree as well.
Kirt Higdon on 25 Oct 2012 at 11:09 am #
MMA is substantially less dangerous than boxing and race car driving and probably does less long term damage than pro football and pro wrestling. Drug use seems endemic in almost all pro sports and I am unsure whether there should even be an attempt to regulate it since the rules seem to vary so much and the arguments for doing so are weak. But the ban is enforced in the UFC as Alistair Overeem found out.
May Jeff Blatnick rest in peace.
savrola on 25 Oct 2012 at 3:54 pm #
Personally, I think Red shut cut down on these fake-trolls, unless they happen to be related to him, or are in fact, facsimiles of Colonel Sanders.
I find UFC comparatively boring and whiggerish, and a feeble bastion of masculinity in post-male America, but one that needs to be supported, I suppose.
Rollo the Cat on 25 Oct 2012 at 6:09 pm #
Kurt has this right.
Some people are allergic to testosterone. I don’t mean the latent homosexual prancing around stuff, but just the idea of combat in any form.
MMA is not defined strictly by what happens in the UFC or in any competitive event. Until recently, most fans were actually practitioners of martial arts and not just t-shirt wearing fanboys.
Nate Weinstein on 26 Oct 2012 at 1:27 am #
Darren, sorry I mean Savrola,
Perhaps read should cut down these fake conservatives who support terrorism like yourself.
Nate Weinstein on 26 Oct 2012 at 1:35 am #
Rollo,
Why don’t fans of MMA like yourself who sit around watching UFC while chugging beer and yelling at the TV stop being effeminate little bitches and get in the ring yourselves and fight like real men?
Meissner on 26 Oct 2012 at 4:24 am #
I don’t see any contradiction in being a conservative and being a die hard MMA fan. I am actually a huge fan of the sport myself and Jon Jones and Kurt Crum are my favorite fighters.
Bruce on 29 Oct 2012 at 2:48 pm #
I rented a MMA video many years ago. It was basically a bunch of guys beating the crap out of each other (pounding each other into a bloody mess, etc.). I don’t find practicing for combat to be un-Christian. Quite the opposite. We should be prepared to defend our families and our faith. I know serious Christians who wrestle and practice combat fighting techniques.
It’s the bloody-voyeurism aspect of MMA I find to be un-Christian. Similarly, I think there’s a difference between bodybuilding and powerlifting. Bodybuilding is narcissistic and, therefore, un-Christian (I think an article in Chronicles I saw years ago talked about this). Powerlifting (making oneself as strong as he can possibly be through weightlifting) can be used to protect and serve one’s family and Church.
Kirt Higdon on 29 Oct 2012 at 9:37 pm #
MMA requires a lot of skill. Yes, no doubt some people practice it or watch it for the wrong reasons, but that does not make it intrinsically un-Christian. Both bodybuilding and power lifting may be subject to abuse. Bodybuilding can be narcissistic and at the extreme flat-out freakish. But it can also be used simply for good health, self-discipline, and to maintain an aesthetically pleasing appearance. Nothing wrong with any of that.
Nate Weinstein on 30 Oct 2012 at 4:50 am #
Kirt,
Bodybuilding can also be used to further ones ability to kick terrorist ass. Keeping America safe and free is my main motivation for hitting the weights at the gym. The looks that I get from the ladies are just an added bonus.
Bruce on 30 Oct 2012 at 11:01 am #
Almost any activity can be abused. Bodybuilding (I don’t mean just lifting weights) is, by nature, narcissistic.
Kirt Higdon on 30 Oct 2012 at 2:52 pm #
“Bodybuilding can also be used to further ones ability to kick terrorist ass.”
But of course, Nate. Look at all the terrorist ass Ahnold has kicked. And now that he doesn’t have to waste time governing Cahlifornia or banging nannies, he can kick some more. In “The Last Stand”, due out in February, he’ll take down a Mexican drug cartel and in “The Legend of Conan”, he’ll kick some more ancient fantasy terrorist ass.
Bruce, I don’t see how trying to improve your body or even trying to improve its appearance is intrinsically narcissistic. If that’s the case, then even trying to dress nicely is narcissistic. I think sound moralists would say that you can have sins of either excess or defect here. A person who cares nothing about his appearance is not the moral ideal because he has avoided narcissism.
Bruce on 30 Oct 2012 at 3:39 pm #
I may be thinking of competitive bodybuilding. Again, I didn’t say weightlifting.
Kirt Higdon on 30 Oct 2012 at 6:19 pm #
No, I’m not saying weight-lifting. Any program which is designed to change the appearance of your body to something more pleasing to you and (hopefully) others can be considered bodybuilding. Some of these such as the Beachbody programs, the dance-based Zumba, and the MMA-based TapoutXT make minimal use of weights or none at all. But the giveaway is the emphasis on before/after pictures in the advertising.
Competitive anything, especially on the professional level, has more danger of excess and abuse, but competitive bodybuilding may have other motives besides narcissism, such as the thrill of competition or (at the professional level) earning money.
Nate Weinstein on 31 Oct 2012 at 4:49 am #
Kirt,
I am not talking about one of your whimsical movies. I am talking about real life American heroes who pilot remote controlled drones into enemy territory on counter terrorism missions and gun down the enemy with deadly precision resulting in only minor collateral damage as a Kid Rock song blares in the background. That is the definition of kicking terrorist ass and it probably makes wimps like yourself squirm.
Bruce on 31 Oct 2012 at 8:45 am #
I don’t think anyone would recognize Zumba as bodybuilding. I don’t mean overweight people trying to get a reasonably slim figure.
Kirt Higdon on 31 Oct 2012 at 10:50 am #
Lard ass drone pilots? They definitely need to do something to stay in shape with such a sedentary job. Maybe they can take up Zumba. And be careful about calling Ahnold’s movies whimsical. He’ll be back – to take you down.