SoxFan562004

God I can't wait until the U.S. plays Canada and after the game I can throw chairs around and knock women out in the name of athletic pride of my country!! I will feel such pride!!

I don't see it being much, maybe a backup catcher (didn't someone float an I-Rod rumor lately?)

WEC was a good card, a little marred by the end of the main event, but it still was a good fight. http://mmapayout.com/2009/01/affliction-da...reckoning-gate/ Looks like Affliction dropped in attendance and they papered the hell out of that event. A 1.5m gate on a 3.8m reported payroll may hurt, but PPV will tell a big chunk of it. Link mentions that Affliction's early reports are stronger than expected numbers, but 1) it's too early and 2) whatever Affliction of Zuffa ever says about PPV disregard, Meltzer usually has the best numbers.

Lesnar was a NCAA Heavyweight champion, he is a legit athlete. Anyone who doesn't like MMA and think it's not technical go to one of the Jiu Jitsu gyms around town and sit in for a class (most will let you) then ask to roll with a guy or girl smaller than you and watch yourself get schooled. I like both sports a lot and don't feel the need to slam boxing because over the last year or two I've watched more MMA. Also, being hit in the head over a 12 round boxing match, even with heavier gloves, does a lot more damage then a one punch MMA knockout. To answer TSs question, look at Joe's on Weed street, they show a lot of stuff, if you're looking for boxing PPVs that might be the place. Also, with the economic downturn some boxing matches that likely would have been on PPV before are on HBO and Showtime, such as the Margarito/Mosley fight

Boers and Bernstein have done great segments on the WBC the last couple of days.

WEC on Vs tonight. If you're new to MMA you should watch, usually those cards are very entertaining. http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templa...7&zoneid=14 They are also running a show in Chicago in April, I believe it's at the UIC Pavillion

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jan 25, 2009 -> 11:11 AM) Caught only the Fedor/AA & Belfort/Lindland fights on mmalinker.com Um, insane is how I can describe the punches there. Where does Fedor go from here? He fights Barnett next, then it's really up in the air. The production was better this time, not top notch, but the first one was like a high school AV club was running production. The live crowd booed Tito every single time he did an interview. It will be interesting to see where Affliction goes from here. They need to sign more fighters to run more shows. They attempted to run a card in, i believe Oct or Nov in Vegas but without Fedor on it and they shut it down and put this card in Anaheim. They hinted the UFC was throwing roadblocks with sponsors in Vegas, but PRIDE ran 2 sold out shows in Vegas with Fedor heading one and Wanderlei heading the other. Meltzer said there were only about 10k last night, and some of those are going to be comps. (Update, mmapayout.com had attendance at a little over 13k, which I believe is less than the first event, but I believe that includes total attendance so no word on gate numbers.) They need to get on HBO with their Golden Boy connections or get a CBS deal, then they can use the M-1 guys for shows on there, and promote the hell out of their PPVs with Fedor. The problem is Fedor's guys who run M-1 want a ton of control, hence why he hasn't signed the very cumbersome UFC contracts even though reports have it that they offerred Fedor the most money in a UFC contract ever. CBS basically ran the CBS shows, again why the UFC turned them down and why the UFC turned HBO down, they don't want to hand over production control. I don't think this will happen, but there's a small chance that if the live gate sucked and the PPV numbers tanked that this was the last Affliction show, but I still think they run at least one more no matter what. Around the first event Attencio said they would run about 3 shows with the current business plan and evaluate so they probably have one more of paying high high salaries, and that will be the Barnett/Fedor card, they may try to sign Tito so he draws some mainstream buys. It showed up a little last night because Yvel, while he took a hell of a beating, isn't in the same league as Barnett and it was really a one sided beatdown. They have some very good top fighters, but not enough. Who does Babalu fight next? Who does Belfort fight next? I guess they could fight each other but Belfort doesn't look great at 205 and is reborn at 185. All the Elite XC guys are hung up with contract issues right now, so there might be a few names they can pick up there, but no real HWs. Antonio Silva had his fight licensed yanked by the CSAC because he fought on NYE in Japan when he was on medical suspension. I imagine the UFC will go after a few of those guys too. It will be interesting to see the medical report from the CSAC because Fedor has a tendancy to break his hands quickly, he did in the Sylvia fight and that's one of the reasons it took from July to Jan for him to fight. http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templa...3&zoneid=13 Wow, 3.8m in fighter salaries (and ignore the Fedor # he gets a cut of the PPV and through M-1. They can't run too many more shows with a number like that. It's great for the fighters, but it's unrealistic, unless they boom in business, that Affliction can keep that payroll up

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jan 22, 2009 -> 03:05 PM) Thats a tricky statement. Is the best baseball played IN America? Yes. But is the best baseball PLAYED by Americans? No. And national/ethnic pride is so important to every country in the world but America. It's a bit disturbing. How is the WBC less important than winning a World Series? Would you rather represent a city you have no ties to or a country that you love? Hmm...tough one. I agree with nite 1000000% on this one. If America liked soccer at all, this silliness wouldn't even be discussed. How am I moving that around? Every other country national and ethnic pride is important except in the U.S. which you are disturbed by, then saying supporting the WBC is a way of showing national pride over city/domestic league pride. So it's not a jump for anyone to say you find it disturbing that people in the U.S. don't support the WBC. Tuesday was one of the proudest moments I've had in my country and that moment meant more to me that the world saw than any olympic gold medal or WBC win

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jan 22, 2009 -> 03:18 PM) What are you talking about? When did I say anything about booing anyone? I think, as does the majority of the world, that playing for your country, FAR outweighs playing for a domestic league. You are saying you agree with nite who is saying Americans don't have pride and that it's disturbing that the U.S. doesn't have national/ethnic pride then using the WBC as an example. That's far more than saying you agree with the rest of the world, it's attacking people from the U.S. who don't like the WBC

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jan 22, 2009 -> 03:13 PM) I'll never boo Danks because he won't play for the USA. Serbia doesn't play baseball, so I have no reason to boo. Do you think those of us from the U.S. who you are "disturbed" by should boo him because he doesn't play? I'm an attorney, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, should you report me to the Illinois Bar because I don't like the WBC?

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jan 22, 2009 -> 03:05 PM) Thats a tricky statement. Is the best baseball played IN America? Yes. But is the best baseball PLAYED by Americans? No. And national/ethnic pride is so important to every country in the world but America. It's a bit disturbing. How is the WBC less important than winning a World Series? Would you rather represent a city you have no ties to or a country that you love? Hmm...tough one. I would never judge someone's love or pride for their country by whether or not they chose to play a sport for it or how many flags they wave. A person's true love for their country should be gauged on how they follow and support the way of life and freedoms the country represents. I think the WBC is silly, and I don't feel one iota less patriotic than you or anyone else who loves it. So are you going to boo Danks now because he doesn't love his country?

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Jan 20, 2009 -> 06:13 AM) Thank you. It's marketed as the best of the best. I guess it is true, Americans really don't have pride in themselves. They rather win a league championship over a truly world championship. I don't see soccer teams complaining about their guys playing and they would have more of a gripe as countries play friendly matchups against each other all the time. I'm glad Danks and Co. are going as they are thought of as some of the best players. I don't have pride in my country because I think the WBC is silly and contrived? I just don't see that. I'm currently going through the process to see if I will be accepted as an FBI agent, which is time consuming and I have to put my life on hold for no guarantee that I'll be accepted, but I guess since I don't like the WBC that cancels that service I want to do for my country out. Being proud of your country isn't all about flag waving. Also, IMO the MLB World Series is clearly the true championship, there's no need for the WBC. MLB has the best players in the world, minus some Japanese players who are under their rigid contract system and some other obscure examples I'm missing that others will try and argue, for a full season and a playoff system.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Jan 19, 2009 -> 09:22 AM) Stuff owns me. I can not seem to throw stuff away. It isn't to the point where I'm some weird recluse. However, it is stuff like coffee mugs. Besides a set "for company", I have mugs from Scouting events, House of Reps, US Chess Federation, several colleges and clubs, and stuff like that. I don't need them, I only use one or two, but I just can't bring myself to toss them in the garbage. I have at least 50 t-shirts, I could toss out 40 and be just fien for covering my gut, but instead I leave them taking up space in my dresser. I have my spikes from college. I'm never going to wear them. for some of the stuff look around to see if there are charaties that would want them. It might get over that click in your brain if you're giving them to people who need them, Goodwill will take a lot of stuff.

I'm a long time wrestling fan, basically as long as I can remember, and I just don't see it in Orton. I think it's contrived and he lacks charisma. I think a lot of it to me was he was overpushed. That's the think with wrestling though, not everyone is going to see it in the top guys, Vince's opinoin is worth more than mine and obviously Orton seems to draw, so I'm in the minority.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jan 19, 2009 -> 08:26 PM) Well, Bernstein is smarter than almost every single meatball caller that gets on the show. If fans weren't such idiots he wouldn't have to go off like he does. How many 'orton is god' and 'why doesn't lovie talk into the headset' calls does he have to take? They know what calls they are taking, it's kind of their gimmick. They could do a differnt type of show if they wanted. Bernstein decided this is what he wanted to do. Feder reported he had similar offers from the Score and WLS to be with Roe Cann (sp?). He gets to be the smartest kid in the room on the Score and he wouldn't of been at WLS. I'm not criticizing him at all, I listen to them a lot and when they become too much I shut them off. I think he's entertaining, IMO he's playing a character, probably exaggerated from his own personality. Honestly I don't like any show that invovles too many callers. When Dan Patrick was on ESPN radio he was great because he took very few calls, i thought he was entertaining on his own and when he conversed with guests and his staff. He's still good now, but not as good because he takes too many calls.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jan 20, 2009 -> 01:18 AM) Arlovski is getting $1 million according to Yahoo! Affliction cant stay in business that long if this is the case. link I would have to check sherdog's archives, but Tom Attencio (one of the guys who is running the Affliction cards) basically said as much around the first card. He said they were going to run 3 cards and see how everything is at that point, but he basically said they won't throw money into it forever. Also, I know Trump is involved, but he won't support a company that's bleeding money for too many shows and it's debatable how much he actually has to do with Affliction. The real PPV numbers, not the ones Affliction will throw around, will obviously be important. If they are stagnant or drop it might spell an early end for Affliction. If it raises, even a little, I think buy a few more cards, especially if they can sign Tito who is still a draw. Affliction or Zuffa don't have to release PPV numbers so you really can't believe what they say, usually Meltzer is the go to, trusted guy. Since his main coverage is pro wrestling he has great sources in the PPV area that he's had for years. Also, you start running into the problem of good matchups for Fedor. Arlovski is a legit matchup and so is Barnett who is fighting Gilbert Yvel on the card to probably set up that match. Once you get past that who does Fedor fight that is of much interest? Tito can fight him at HW, wouldn't be very competative, but to casual MMA fans it's a matchup they'll watch. Cro Cop with another win or two in Japan, but US fans probably will see him as a guy who failed in the UFC. UFC castoffs? AA was popular in the UFC, but what heavyweight will they let go that would have casual fan interest? I'm probably missing somebody, but stuff isn't popping to my head right now. You can play around with ticketmaster.com and see that ticket sales aren't the greatest for Affliction, they didn't economy proof their prices like the boxing match in Staples the same night did, which ended up basically a legit sell out. I e-mailed Meltzer about what he's hearing for ticket sales and he said Affliction is saying they're fine but he's skeptical, although he said he expects the place to be full or near full, I assume he thinks they will discount tickets and paper it. The card is in a weird place timewise, I think PPVs can do fine in bad economies because if you get 5 people to watch it it's 10 bucks a piece, throw in antoher 10 bucks for food and drinks and you're only talking a $20 night and if you believe Meltzer's numbers for the Nov and Dec UFCs, somewhere around 1m each, it shows that good cards can still do well. I was thinking more of along the lines of being between two UFCs, one of which they're pushing the hell out of. I'm a HUGE MMA fan and I'm not going to get it at my house. I got the one last weekend and will get the St. Pierre Penn fight if my friend doesn't. Even in good economic times an extra $100 on a cable bill is enough, I don't want to do $150, especially since a lot of my friends who are casual MMA fans aren't willing to eat 3 weekends in a row to watch MMA and the one they'll miss is Affliction. Looks like my friend will get it or I'll go to a bar to watch it.

I hate that any White Sox are playing in it, especially the pitchers

They also announced a few main events.... Jardine vs. Rampage.... well, i'm not 100% sure what the point of this fight is. I read that Rashad was offered but said he couldn't get ready in time. This is a a fight where on paper it's Rampage via whatever he wants, but s***, mma is not an exact science. If Jardine wins this and Silva beats Machida on the 31st the 205 is completely up in the air. Then they announce Iceman vs. Shogun. You tell me this 2-3 years ago and I'm selling everything I own to watch this live, now I'm watching this, but in a weird intriguiging way. I can't even begin to pick this fight. This whole PPV is evidence is why athletic comissions should sanction 5 rounds for non-titles and 7 for title fights.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jan 17, 2009 -> 10:50 PM) Just a brief update, I drove by Shea today and they appear to have torn half of it down with little fanfare. It’s more of a husk now, no seats, no real structural support by what was Left-Center field , the only thing that remains is a gigantic poster of Tom Seaver that graced the outside of the stadium, along with some of the light structures that they had by the entranceway. It’s really quite depressing that I’ve heard nothing about them actually beginning the process of tearing the damn thing down, but there it goes. As for Citi? Still looks awesome. You mean the Sklar brothers aren't doing a Cheap Seats episode trying to save it??!?!?!?!?

QUOTE (LosMediasBlancas @ Jan 18, 2009 -> 01:22 AM) I agree about Sweet.. but he's a guy resting on his laurels. Part of the problem is that he's in love with Scarlett Johanson and has apparently decided to use her in as many films as possible. Hot chick, bad actress. I agree with the ScarJo fascination. I'll even take the unpopular stance that she's really not all that hot.

QUOTE (LosMediasBlancas @ Jan 18, 2009 -> 01:03 AM) 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' is average at best. What has Woody Allen made in the last 10 years that was solid? Sweet and the Lowdown was in 99, that was an underated movie IMO. Excellent acting and very good story, I even think Celebrity was OK. You're right though, since then not much. If you're a Woody Allen fan you need to see 'Wild Man Blues' that is something to see

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 17, 2009 -> 11:03 PM) Well, in the past couple of years, as I live very close to two theaters. And in the past month, I've seen even more than normal. And to add on to the list, I just watched The Visitor. Richard Jenkins was great in it, and the movie itself was very good. I love to see character actors really shine in movies when given a lead part (kind of like Forest Whitaker in The Last King Of Scotland). I forgot to mention that I watched In The Valley Of Elah a couple of days ago. A decent movie with sort of a twist ending, and a very good performance from Tommy Lee Jones. I worked at a movie theater for 5 years, Northgate on North and 53. I basically saw every movie that came out for those 5 years if we didn't have it we would trade with other theaters and run midnight shows. It's weird when you see that many movies. I've gone into a movie freeze the last 2 years only seeing a few. Milk, you feel that way? I just stopped enjoying movies because you just see everything? Also, watched "Gone Baby Gone" the other night for the first time. Very good acting in that movie. Ben is getting way over knobbed for that movie. I thought the directing was poor. I did enjoy it, except I thought Kasey's characters decision was the easy one to make, so I wasn't torn as other people were. With all that said, good movie, worth watching

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK PPV. Opening match with Lytle and Davis was very good. Shogun v. Coleman was a great match to watch. I couldn't say it was a great "fight of the year" type match, but meltzer descibed it as an "emotional" match and that nails it. Weird fight. Coleman gassed roughly 10 seconds into the fight but kept staying alive, then Shogun, who somehow was insanely out of shape again, slogged through the fight ultimately nailing a old school NES Ring King upper cut and the fight was stopped. Shogun won but didn't establish himself in anyway. Kang lost, he tapped. I still hope UFC keeps him around and matches him with some strikers. This is the point where I rail that the UFC needs to sign Cung Le. Hendo won the decision. VERY close fight, I had it 29-28 Franklin but still don't think he was robbed, can easily see why Hendo won. Affliction is next Saturday, I may get it, anyone up for going to a bar to watch it? I would meet people out in the western burbs, PM me

watched the UFC at my house tonight with 6 friends... the title of the thread describes me right now

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Jan 18, 2009 -> 12:15 AM) Hopefully Fry's Electronics replaces some of those stores. What are Frye's locations around Chicagoland? I know in Lombard area they won't take over Circuit City's old spot becaue they have a big store about a mile from it right off 355.