MMA and General Sports Review

Hey everyone, thanks for the birthday wishes. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate this special day than to write about my favorite subject.

Normally Friday is reserved for my MMA Review and I’ll hit on that but a lot has been going on in the world of sports so I’m going to touch on a variety of topics. But first…

Music to listen to: Down by the River by Neil Young



During a Belmont baseball game, we were talking about the Cumberland River and somehow the subject changed to the best song with the word “river” in the title. This turned into a nice debate. Suggestions ranged from “The River” by Bruce Springsteen, “Take Me to the River” by various artists even though I prefer the Talking Heads version, even “Moon River” got some love. I’m going to stick with “Down by the River” by Neil Young, the acoustic version. Enjoy above.


Crush of the Day: Kara DioGuardi

You know, I was going to go with a certain blonde volleyball player that each of us is enamored with (one day she will actually be a Crush of the Day and you will be amazed) which is actually part of an inside joke with loyal readers of the Blog.

Instead I’m going to go with Kara DioGuardi, who showed the goods in the finale of American Idol. I meant to hit on her a few weeks ago, but tremendous upgrade by the American Idol producers bringing her to the table. I honestly haven’t watched an entire season of this show since Ruben beat Clay Aiken in the finals but if I would flip the channels to AI and Kara was on, I would at least watch and acknowledge.

Plus…



Yeah, that’s what I thought.

What the heck, this is my birthday sports post so I need to show some love to another one of my subjects, the ladies…



Carmelo Anthony. He went to Syracuse (Orangemen represent!), is having his best playoff season in his career and he’s apparently cute to the ladies. At least that’s what my friend Amber tells me. So, for the ladies, I give you Carmelo Anthony.


I’m actually writing part of this from the pressbox at the Atlantic Sun baseball tournament taking place here in DeLand, Fla. So shout outs to Matt, Amanda and Eric from the A-Sun office kicking it here with me while we wait during this rain delay. When this tournament is over, I’ll write in my Sunday Reflections how much rain we’ve seen here since Tuesday.

Lets get to some sports!

-I’m intrigued by UFC 98 on Saturday. Of course you know I’m hyped about seeing Matt Hughes face Matt Serra. I’m an unapologetically huge fan of Matt Serra so I will be pulling for him big time. However, unlike Serra, I don’t have a personal dislike for the opponent. Hughes is a legend of the sport however his time has come and gone. I don’t think that Hughes has advanced his skills enough to continue with the evolution of MMA. Furthermore, Hughes is dealing with a rehabbed knee, a major injury. But its not as if Serra is a world beater himself. He is dealing with a bad back and hasn’t fought in a long time. Both of these guys are tough, will bring maximum energy and truly dislike each other so the fight will be strong. I have to believe that Hughes will find a way to overpower Serra with some vintage wrestling and ground and pound. However, I’m going to take Serra to win the fight by submission.

The main event is of course Rashad Evans vs. Lyota Machida for the light heavy title. This was supposed to be Rampage Jackson vs. Evans but this is the matchup we will get and this may arguably be the tougher matchup for Evans. Machida brings his unique karate style to MMA that not many people have been able to comprehend. Some call it a boring style and I understand that. His style included a lot of defensive posturing, counter striking and other non-stylistic fighting styles for most fans. However, I don’t find him as boring, especially if you have someone who will be aggressive with him like Thiago Silva was.

Evans has elevated his game to an amazing level. When I saw Evans on The Ultimate Fighter show, I thought that he would just be a wrestler who would try to just by on takedowns but his standup has improved so much that he’s just as big of a threat on his feet then anywhere else in his game. I think that his style will work well against Machida. The key to beating Machida is patience. You can’t be too aggressive fighting him because the counters will frustrate and ultimately beat you.

So who do I take in the fight? I’m going to take Evans by decision. I think that he will show enough activity and not get caught up in the quagmire that is Machida to earn the win.

-The NBA playoffs have been entertaining at times, tedious in others. I guess the best way to do this is to do a quick review of the teams that lost so far.

Utah: Needs to let Boozer walk.

Detroit: Good job lying down to Cleveland in the final game of the series. Just blow that thing up.

New Orleans: Nothing went right for these guys all season. I would be seriously concerned with the financial state of the team. I say the chances of them keeping Chris Paul is at 30%.

Miami: Tremendous year by Wade but nothing else. I thought that he was guaranteed to stay in Miami his entire career, but now, not so sure. Beasley needs to improve some more.

Portland: Are we overvaluing their talent? Roy is legit and I like Aldridge and Fernandez. Everyone else is iffy. Oden is not the answer and I’m shocked if he even makes an All-Star game, let alone a championship. Need a point guard.

Philly: Nice effort to make the playoffs but Brand hopefully will get healthy for their sake.

San Antonio: Their championship window has closed.

Chicago: Game effort against Boston. Rose will lead them to a championship one day. That was the best I’ve ever seen Noah and Thomas play.

Dallas: Good job of getting out of the first round but this is their peak.

Houston: Great effort against the Lakers, especially with Ming out. I love the fire that Artest brought. Let McGrady walk next year when the contract is up and hopefully continue to build around Yao.

Atlanta: Good job getting out of the first round. That is all.

Boston: Garnett getting hurt ruined their chances of repeating but the improvement of Rondo and Davis has to be encouraging.

OK, on to the conference finals.

Orlando vs. Cleveland: At this moment, game two is at halftime and Cleveland is leading by a decent margin. I’m still taking Cleveland in seven. LeBron will make them win the series. Even in game one, Cleveland had a terrible game and still were a Lewis three-pointer away from winning that contest.

Los Angeles vs. Denver: This has potential to be an all-timer. I’m going to keep it real. I don’t like the Lakers. I don’t like the fans and their elevated sense of self (I feel the same about Boston fans, just to be fair). I don’t like how the media continually kiss their ass and wants to anoint them champions when they haven’t won anything. Finally, Kobe is one of the best dozen players ever but he’s not the best player in the game anymore. Lebron is. More on that later. However, in relation to this series, I like that Denver is going to stand up to them and make a challenge. Honestly, if I trusted the mental makeup of Denver, I would take them to win this series in a heartbeat. The Nuggets are a better team overall. Love the emergence of Carmelo Anthony into a complete player. He is the best pure scorer in the league and he is becoming a serviceable rebounder and defender. What the heck, Denver in seven.

Here are two rants Lebron-related:

1) He’s the best player in the game right now. Has he had a better career than Kobe? Absolutely not. Kobe has three rings and is one of the best players ever, we all know that. However, Kobe is wearing down and isn’t as consistent as James. I hate when people keep saying that Kobe is the better player.

You have to make the distinction between who is the best player is right now and over a career. In their respective peaks, who would I take? I would say Kobe because we’ve seen it. Who is the best player? LeBron.

2) I like Lebron but I’m also tired of people like Skip Bayless and others who continue to critique James by continuingly comparing him to Michael Jordan.

Look, Jordan is the greatest player of all-time. We get it. However, his career is over and we need to move on and stop the comparisons. I don’t know anyone who is comparing those two. When you are praising James, it isn’t a personal insult to Jordan. You have these Jordan worshipers who get testy whenever another perimeter player is given praise. It happened with Kobe and now with LeBron.

GET OFF OF JORDAN’S JOCK AND MOVE ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-I’ve enjoyed watching the hockey playoffs as well. Good to see Chicago doing their thing but Detroit is too experienced. Pittsburgh gets past Carolina to set up a repeat Stanley Cup finals, which isn’t a bad thing.

-I’ll hit on baseball next week with a review.

OK, that’s all for tonight.