Steel Skins

Whitlock’s logic on “NBA prison culture” doesn’t apply to Shaq’s rap?

2008-06-25T14:44:00.000-04:00

Jason Whitlock appeared this week on Best Damn Sports Show…Period and attempted to make the case that Shaquille O’Neal’s recent freestyle rap blasting Kobe Bryant was “funny,” a “joke” and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Whitlock on Shaq, Imus

I agree, the rap was funny. But it was also entirely inappropriate, if we apply Whitlock’s own logic for how an NBA player ought to be conducting himself.

In his April 2, 2008 column “Am I supposed to be mad about LeBron?”, Whitlock was more concerned about LeBron James “prison” ink than how Vogue magazine supposedly captured him looking like “King Kong clutching Fay Wray” on its cover. Whitlock has repeatedly taken LeBron to task for not meeting all of his potential, not as an athlete, but as a role model.

"You know, when he covered his body in tatts years ago, mimicking a death-row inmate, LeBron invited people to jump to the conclusion that he’s dangerous. Yeah, that’s the way the image-is-everything game is played. Ink is a prison and gang thing. Don’t act like you don’t know the origin of the current fad … Showing up to work in a white T and iced-out (heavy jewelry) was their way of showing loyalty to their boys in the ‘hood, a shout-out to the corner boys and girls."

His point was further elaborated in his May 29, 2008 column “In NBA playoffs, less ink means more viewers.” Here, Whitlock speculates that one very important (yet not discussed) reason for the resurgence in TV ratings for the NBA playoffs is because of the lack of ink displayed by the majority of players left in the conference playoffs:

"Part of the reason more people are watching these playoffs is because the average fan isn’t constantly repulsed by the appearance of most of the players on the court. Most of the key players left in the playoffs don’t look like recent prison parolees …

"No one wants to watch Delonte West or Larry Hughes play basketball. It’s uncomfortable and disconcerting. You don’t want your kids to see it. You don’t want your kids to think they should decorate their neck, arms, hands, chest and legs in paint. You don’t want to waste time explaining to your kids that some millionaire athletes have so little genuine self-confidence that they find it necessary to cover themselves in tattoos as a way to mask their insecurities."

Personally, when I think of tattoos, I don’t think of prison. At least, that’s not the first thing I think of. I think of S&M calendar pin-up girls in a dirty mechanic’s body shop. I think of grease monkeys in general. I also think of biker gangs like the Hell’s Angels (not too far away from prison inmates, I suppose). I think of dirty rock-n-rollers like Guns N’ Roses, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and all the countless emo bands clogging up the airwaves. I think of frat boys with generic barbed wire wrap-around tattoos on their biceps. Sometimes I even think of aboriginal tribes.

But yes, eventually, I do admit that I think of prison inmates. I absolutely do. However, given their depth on my list, I wouldn’t necessarily say that they have sparked “the current fad”—at least not in the white community, which is not nearly as affected as the black community by the disproportional targeting of its youth by the criminal justice system.

White people, generally, do not get tattoos so they can look tough like prison inmates. They get tattoos so they can look tough like rockstars … or tough like athletes … who may or may not, in turn, be mimicking prison inmates, I don’t know.

But my point is this: If Whitlock were David Stern, he would (in his own words) “commission Nike and/or Under Armor to create a basketball jersey with long sleeves, all the way down to the wrists. I’d make Iverson wear a turtleneck jersey with sleeves. I’d cover the tats.”

This so that the league does not continue to perpetuate the “prison inmate” ideal.

So what about Shaq’s rap?

In his freestyle, Shaq says two things that he should be held accountable for—even by Whitlock’s own standards—1. “That’s like a white boy trying to be more ni**a than me”; and 2. “Kobe, ni**a, tell me how my ass tastes.”

At best, such language is thuggish. No one wants their kids watching a bunch of grown men walk around calling each other the N-word. Parents in both the white and the black community do not want this for their children.

But at worst, Shaq’s language is reminiscent of the same prison inmate culture that Whitlock derides.

“Hey Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes” is about power—power derived from emasculating a man in a public forum and leaving him open to ridicule. Consequently, it’s the same sort of power that’s leveraged by prison inmates when they rape other prison inmates.

Shaq is not saying, “Hey everyone, Kobe just licked my ass because he wanted to.” Shaq is saying, “Hey everyone, I just made Kobe like my ass.”

There’s not a lot of settings in today’s culture where one can get away with saying something like that without either a physical or a legal confrontation. In fact, I can only think of one setting—and here only if you have the numbers stacked heavily in your favor: prison.

I liked Shaq’s rap. I also like tattoos, despite the fact that they are trashy. And I also wouldn’t blame the NBA for asking players to cover theirs up.

If Whitlock is going to encourage the NBA to cover players’ tats, he should at least recognize how his same logic should be applied to Shaq’s recent emasculation of his former teammate as a perpetuation of the prison inmate culture. Whitlock should call for the NBA to fine Shaq … or else stop complaining about the tats.

Chris Cooley is Better, Drunker than You

2008-05-22T11:52:00.002-04:00

Wherein I breakdown this this "blog post" by Chris Cooley:

Chris Cooley is a big drunk:

Past fashionably late, she had given me way too much time to sit and drink, and I knew it would be hard not to make an ass out of myself...

...Maybe her dad brainwashed me one of the nights I passed out at her house, because no matter what happened, I was crazy about her. More likely it was her mom, since I was usually trying to impress the old man by drinking him under the table.

Chris Cooley's fiancee is a gold digger.

It was a Saturday night in the summertime and Christy was thinking about me. I would have never known what she had on her mind, but I couldn't keep my eyes off her. She confessed that it wasn't coincidence that brought her to the house and she was prepared. If looks were bait then I was hooked. She dressed to make men panic, but beyond that she was beautiful...Christy was fired from cheerleading two weeks after we started dating. Since her big paycheck ($75 a game) had come to an end, at least the sneaking around was over.

Chris Cooley's fiancee is also a tight end.

Some people are hating on Chris Cooley for having a hot NFL cheerleader fiancee, and he can't understand why, but in case things go wrong, he has a backup plan: Christy's mom.

While I can't wait to put the ring on I've had some resoundingly bad conversations over the last couple of months. Golf may have an uncountable list of ethics, though bothering a complete stranger about getting married is not one of them. First of all, I'm excited for the big day, so please don't feel sorry for me because marriage sucks for you. No, I'm not nervous, I don't want any marriage advice, and yes Christy's mom is still hot.

Based on the above evidence, and if Christy's mom won't have him, Chris Cooley can always pimp out his wife, as if he isn't already:

P.S. I think she's barely 21.

Dan Snyder may not be invited to the wedding.

It should at least be an interesting night. I've had calls from numerous wedding guests, most recently Dan Snyder's assistant asking what table they could find their seats. Obviously my easiest seating solution, anywhere you can find a chair.

(Translation: we'll send you the wedding DVD, Dan, that you can masturbate to in your barcalounger at home.)

Bar Fighting 101 with Bas Rutten

2008-05-06T16:16:00.002-04:00

Mixed martial arts legend and commentator Bas Rutten is hysterical. He's also a bar fight expert.

Draft Stealers

2008-04-28T14:28:00.002-04:00

The Steelers, with huge draft needs at offensive guard and tackle, as well as defensive line, and picking at 1.23, a slot where you are just as likely to pick a bust as a boom player, let the draft come to them and found 2 first round talents in the first and second round: Rashard Mendenhall, widely considered to be the 2nd best running back in the draft behind Darren McFadden, and Limas Sweed, a big, tall receiver who can run and is a hard worker. However, he has suffered from a nagging wrist injury that wiped out half his senior year.

Day 2, with the Steelers having 4 picks (no 7th round pick), was a day that we fans hboped would address the OL and more importantly, the DL. The Steelers have a fine starting 3some at DL, but when Aaron Smith went down, lack of depth became a huge concern. The Steelers D went from allowing 3.4 yards per carry to 4.8.

In Round 3, two excellent 3-4 DL prospects were available, Dre Moore of Maryland and Red Bryand of Texas A&M. However, the Steelers went for a DE/OLB tweener, Bruce Davis of UCLA. Those two DL prospects were taken before the Steelers picked in the 4th round, so the Steelers traded down, added another 6th round pick, and selected a talented offensive tackle, Tony Hills, who also has a significant injury history.

The Steelers last 3 picks were an injured QB (Dennis Dixon of Oregon), a thumper ILB (Mike Humpal of Iowa) and a cerebral FS (Ryan Mundy of WVU). NOne of these picks resides in the trenches, which is unfortunate.

The Steelers are still very thin on the DL (Will Ryan McBean step up and be injury free? Can Keisel hold up the point and not wear down? Will Aaron Smith be the old Aaron Smith, and will Hampton be less fat and lazy?), and lack proven starters at the interior offensive line (will Kemoatu step up? Will Colon be moved to right guard? Will Hartwig be less of a turnstile than Mahan? Will Starks and his $7 million salary start? )

The Steelers added talent and depth at major positions, and look to be better on special teams. However, they still have the same holes they did pre-draft, which is a major concern, given that they don't do much in free agency. Here's hoping some players come through for us this year--Kemo, McBean, it's time to shine.

MMAmania Interview with Kurt Pellegrino

2008-03-31T16:57:00.003-04:00

MMAmania.com just published my recent interview with UFC Lightweight contender Kurt "Batman" Pellegrino. You can find it here.

Kurt was mighty cool to talk with. He shed some light on his upcoming fight with Nate Diaz, his "Batman" nickname and his skillz in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu.

Pellegrino/Diaz takes place this Wednesday at UFC Fight Night 13 and is free on Spike TV. It is also the lead in for the debut of The Ultimate Fighter 7 with coaches Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin.

Should be a great match-up for fans of BJJ. Both guys are incredible in the submission game.

SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings - 10th Edition

2008-03-26T18:06:00.006-04:00

Wow, I’ve been gone for a while, spending more and more of my time over at MMAmania.com, but wouldn’t you know it’s time to update those SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings! While it seems like forever ago since we last updated the Top 15, there has actually only been one UFC event in that time—UFC 82, which I was fortunate enough to attend live in Columbus, OH.

SteelSkins picks for UFC 82 were a good 6 – 3, but it was an easy card to score. This moves our overall record to 24 – 10. Not too shabby.

Now let’s see those Power Rankings.

Heavyweights

Heath Herring upset Cheick Kongo to win via split decision. Herring looked great and has significantly improved his conditioning, losing a few extra pounds along the way. While we didn’t pick it, we’re happy with the upset and felt Kongo was a bit overrated due to his win over a fading Cro Cop.

In the night’s only other HW bout, Andrei Arlovski fulfilled the last fight on his contract, earning a 2^nd round victory (TKO due to strikes) over the young Jake O’Brien. This was the most disappointing fight of the night. Without a contract, Arlovski had every incentive to pummel O’Brien, thereby making the case he was worth every dollar to keep. But Arlovski looked conservative in the first round and earned the occasional boo from the Columbus crowd.

I saw Jake O’Brien the night before the fight at the bar in the lobby of the hotel he was staying in. At first I thought he was drinking the night before a fight with the former HW Champion. I was shocked as he kept coming up and ordering more and more drinks for him and his entourage. Then I realized it was Jake’s twin brother ordering the drinks, and while Jake was present, he wasn’t drinking. Still, I was amazed at how young this kid is. His wrestling is very good, but his critics are right: he’s a one-trick pony who lays and prays. He’ll need to develop better striking and submissions if he ever wants to contend in the UFC.

Unfortunately, there’s really no one who deserves the #1 Contender spot in this division, and the occasionally boring Arlovski will have to do.

Only Frank Mir, Eddie Sanchez and Christian Wellisch have back-to-back wins inside the Octagon; while Arlovski has bettered that by one and is on a 3-fight win streak. He’s beaten Werdum and, more importantly, he hasn’t lost to a fighter who wasn’t named Tim Sylvia since March 2002.

Here’s to hoping the UFC resigns Arlovski, especially since Cro Cop has moved on to greener pastures in Japan, leaving the HW division thin to say the least.

In the meantime, the return of newly inducted Hall of Famer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman will have to do. We’ll see how the 43 year old does against the beast, Brock Lesnar, at UFC 87 in Minneapolis this August.

SteelSkins’ picks for Heavyweights this last month were 1-1, brining our HW total to 2-4:

Heath Herring def. Cheick Kongo (split decision) at UFC 82 – Our pick: Kongo (TKO – strikes, Rnd3)
Andrei Arlovski def. Jake O’Brien (TKO – strikes, Rnd 2) at UFC 82 – Our pick: Arlovski (TKO – strikes, Rnd1)

Upcoming Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

The double Octagon debut of #17 Brad Morris vs. #18 Cain Velasquez at UFC 83 (April 19) – Although he’s just 2-0, Velasquez has been lauded by his teammates as a future contender. That’s good enough for us. We’ll take Velasquez via TKO (strikes) in Rnd2
Christian Wellisch vs. Shane Carwin at UFC 84 (May 24) – Carwin’s debut is going to be a good one, as the 3-time NCAA Division II All-American and national wrestling champ is going to cruise to a 1^st Round TKO (strikes).
Fabricio Werdum vs. Brandon Vera at UFC 85 (June 7) – I’d love to see Vera take this, but Werdum is for real. Werdum by decision.
Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Coleman at UFC 87 (August 9) – I like both these guys, and if Coleman can weather the initial storm, this could prove to be a battle. That said, we have to pick Lesnar (TKO – strikes) Rnd1

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Light Heavyweights

There were no LHW fights since our last update, but there’s a shit ton coming up in the months ahead. We’re still 2-0 in picking fights in the division, for now.

The biggest news is Shogun Rua pulled out of his UFC 85 headliner with Chuck Liddell due to injury, and has been replaced by Rashad Evans (which temporarily left Thiago Silva without an opponent). Similarly, Stephan Bonner withdrew from his fight with Matt Hamill, and the explosive newcomer Tim Boetsch has stepped in. Oh yeah, and Wanderlei Silva is set to fight Keith Jardine. Holy shit, this is a great division!

Upcoming Light Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Houston Alexander vs. #17 James Irvin at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – We’ll take Alexander (TKO – strikes) Rnd1
Matt Hamill vs. #18 Tim Boetsch at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Hamill (submission) Rnd2
Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva at UFC 84 (May 24) – We’ll take Silva (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 – We’ll take Machida (decision)
Thiago Silva vs. #19 Antonio Mendes at UFC 84 – We’ll take Silva (submission) Rnd1
Wilson Gouveia vs. #25 Goran Reljic at UFC 84 – We’ll take Reljic (submission) Rnd2
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. #16 Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 84 – We’ll take Sokoudjou (TKO – strikes) Rnd1
Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans at UFC 85 (June 7) – We’ll take Liddell (decision)
Jason Lambert vs. #20 Luis Arthur Cane at UFC 85 – We’ll take Lambert (KO) Rnd2
Champion Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 (July 5) – We’ll take Griffin (decision)

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Middleweights

Middleweight Champion (and pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the world) Anderson Silva defeated a game Dan Henderson in the UFC 82 main event. While we expected this to happen, we didn’t expect it to end in the second round. Hendo seemed to have won the first round with a solid game plan, but either stamina or Silva’s aggressive stand-up was too much for Hendo to take in the second, leading to his eventual submission via rear naked choke.

UFC 82 also saw the return of former MW Champ Evan Tanner to action against the always tough Yushin Okami. While we picked Tanner to win this fight, we admit it was just wishful thinking. Okami is too strong an opponent to try to shake two years worth of cage rush off against, but we’re glad to see Tanner back in the cage regardless.

Rounding out UFC 82’s MW card, Chris “The Crippler” Leben slugged it out with Alessio Sakara and came out the victory. Hate to say we told ya so, but…

Martin Kampmann was rescued from being dropped from the SteelSkins Top 15 (is there a worse fate?) and is slated to return at UFC 85 vs. Jorge Rivera. His prolonged knee injury is apparently on the up-and-up, which is a good thing because he hasn’t fought since March 2007. He now gets to shake the cage rust off against Rivera, who’s coming off an explosive 1^st Round TKO victory over TUF3 Champion Kendall Grove.

Our record for picking Middleweight fights this past month was 2-1, moving our MW total to 4-3. Here are the recent fights, along with our picks:

Champ Anderson Silva def. Dan Henderson (submission, Rnd2) at UFC 82 to unify the UFC and PRIDE MW titles – Our pick: Silva (TKO – strikes) Rnd4
Yushin Okami def. Evan Tanner via KO in Rnd2 at UFC 82 – Our pick: Tanner (submission) Rnd3
Chris Leben def. #23 Alessio Sakara via TKO (strikes) in Rnd1 at UFC 82 – Our pick: Leben (TKO – strikes) Rnd2

Upcoming Middleweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Former Champ Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter at UFC 83 (Apr. 19) – We’ll take Franklin (decision)
Jason MacDonald vs. #28 Joe Doerksen at UFC 83 – This is a rematch from 2005 when MacDonald won via rear naked choke. We’ll take MacDonald (submission) Rnd2
Michael Bisping vs. #31 Charles McCarthy at UFC 83 – We’ll take Bisping (KO) Rnd2
Nate Quarry vs. #30 Kalib Starnes at UFC 83 – We’ll take Quarry (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
Ed Herman vs. #18 Demian Maia at UFC 83 – We’ll take Herman (submission) Rnd1
#22 Alan Belcher vs. #35 Jason Day at UFC 83 – We’ll take Belcher (submission) Rnd2
#24 UFC newcomer Rousimar Palhares vs. #27 Ivan Salaverry at UFC 84 (May 24) – We’ll take Salaverry (submission) Rnd2
Nate Marquardt vs. #16 Thales Leites at UFC 85 (June 7) – We’ll take Marquardt (submission) Rnd2
Martin Kampmann vs. #23 Jorge Rivera at UFC 85 – We’ll take Kampmann (KO) Rnd2
TUF 7 Finale, featuring Middleweights (June 21)
Ricardo Almeida vs. Patrick Cote at UFC 86 (July 5) – We’ll take Cote (decision)

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Welterweights

UFC 82 saw four Welterweight battles, including Jon Fitch welcoming Chris Wilson to the Octagon with a unanimous decision victory for the future title contender (big surprise); Diego Sanchez welcoming David Bielkheden to the Octagon with a first round submission (big surprise); Josh Koscheck bettering the young gun Dustin Hazelett is a fantastic slugfest; and Luigi Fioravanti out-pointing Luke Cummo (this last one surprised us).

For the second time in a row, our record for picking Welterweight fights was 3 – 1, pushing our record to 6 – 2. Here are the recent fights, along with our picks:

Jon Fitch def. #27 Chris Wilson (unanimous decision) at UFC 82 (March 1) – Our pick: Fitch (submission) Rnd2
Josh Koscheck def. Dustin Hazelett (TKO – strikes, Rnd2) at UFC 82 – Our pick: Kos (submission) Rnd3
Diego Sanchez def. #33 David Bielkheden (submission, Rnd1) at UFC 82 – Our pick: Sanchez (TKO – strikes) Rnd1
#17 Luigi Fioravanti def. Luke Cummo (unanimous decision) at UFC 82 – Our pick: Cummo (guillotine choke) Rnd2

Upcoming Welterweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Karo Parisyan vs. Thiago Alves at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – We’ll take Alves (split decision)
#16 Tommy Spear vs. #40 Anthony Johnson at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Spear (TKO – strikes) Rnd2
#17 George Sotiropoulos vs. #36 Roman Mitichyan at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Sotiropoulos (submission) Rnd2
Champ Matt Serra vs. GSP at UFC 83 (April 19) – We’ll take GSP (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
#22 Jonathan Goulet vs. #34 Kuniyoshi Hironaka at UFC 83 – We’ll take Goulet (submission) Rnd2
#19 Jon Koppenhaver vs. #23 Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 84 (May 24) – We’ll take Koppenhaver (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
#38 Dong Hyun Kim makes his UFC debut vs. #41 Jason Tan at UFC 84 – We’ll take Kim (KO) Rnd2
The extremely dangerous BJJ black belt (but low ranked because of his 5 – 3 record and history of backing out of fights due to training injuries) #43 Jeff Joslin vs. TBD at UFC 84.
Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick at UFC 85 (June 7) – We’ll take Davis (submission) Rnd2
#28 Jess Liaudin vs. #29 Paul Taylor at UFC 85 – We’ll take Liaudin (TKO – strikes) Rnd2
Ryo Chonan vs. Roan Carneiro at UFC 85 – This is a rematch from a 2005 DEEP event, where Chonan won via 3^rd Round TKO due to a cut. We’ll take Chonan (submission) Rnd3
Diego Sanchez vs. Luigi Fioravanti at TUF7 Finale (June 21) – We’ll take Sanchez (decision)
Josh Burkman vs. Dustin Hazelett at TUF7 Finale – We’ll take Hazelett (submission) Rnd3
Josh Koscheck vs. Chris Lytle at UFC 86 (July 5) – This one is still in the rumor stage, but we’d love to see it happen. Would Kos risk standing with the former boxer? We’ll take Lytle (KO) Rnd2
#30 Ben Saunders vs. TBD at UFC 86

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Lightweights

There was one Lightweight fight at UFC 82, which we picked correctly, pushing our overall record for the division to a stellar 11 – 1. Here are the recent fights, along with our picks:

#23 Jorge Gurgel def. #35 John Halverson (unanimous decision) at UFC 82 (Mar. 1) – Our pick: Gurgel (submission) Rnd3

Upcoming Lightweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – We’ll take Florian (submission) Rnd2
Frankie Edgar vs. #24 Gray Maynard at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Edgar (TKO – strikes) Rnd2
Din Thomas vs. #21 Josh Neer at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Thomas (TKO – strikes) Rnd2
Clay Guida vs. #38 Samy Schiavo at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Guida (submission) Rnd3
Kurt Pellegrino vs. Nate Diaz at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Diaz (submission) Rnd2
Marcus Aurelio vs. #35 Ryan Roberts at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Aurelio (submission) Rnd1
#23 Manny Gamburyan vs. #50 Jeff Cox at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Gamburyan (decision)
#16 Mac Danzig vs. #34 Mark Bocek at UFC 83 (April 19) – We’ll take Danzig (submission) Rnd2
#19 Sam Stout vs. #22 Rich Clementi at UFC 83 – We’ll take Clementi (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
Champion B.J. Penn vs. former Champ Sean Sherk at UFC 84 (May 24) – We’ll take Penn (submission) Rnd3
#18 Jeremy Stephens vs. #31 Terry Etim at UFC 84 – We’ll take Stephens (decision)
Thiago Tavares vs. #26 Matt Wiman at UFC 85 (June 7) – We’ll take Tavares (TKO –strikes) Rnd1
Joe Stevenson vs. #17 Gleison Tibau at UFC 86 (July 5) – We’ll take Stevenson (submission) Rnd2
#29 Cole Miller vs. TBD at UFC 86
#36 Corey Hill vs. #41 Justin Buchholz at UFC 86 – We’ll take Hill (decision)
#52 Steve Bruno vs. TBD at UFC 86

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Interview with Karo "The Heat" Parisyan

2008-03-21T20:51:00.003-04:00

Yo yo yo, so yesterday, I talked with Karo Parisyan on the phone. I got a chance to ask him how he's been preparing for his upcoming fight with slugger Thiago Alves (it takes place Wednesday, April 2 at UFC Fight Night 13).

I also asked him how he felt about the title picture, now that top contender Jon Fitch is cramping his style, moving in on that title shot that Karo feels should belong to him.

I also asked him about the Diaz brothers and if there's any bad blood between them and him. Because, let's face it, no Karo interview would be complete without that.

Anyway, check it out at MMAmania.com.

Lots of Good Stuff in the Works

2008-03-19T17:38:00.003-04:00

While I've been pretty tied up at work and haven't posted as much stuff to SteelSkins or to MMAmania as I'd like, there is a lot of good stuff making its way in the near future.

Until then, you can check out my interview with UFC Lightweight Clay "The Carpenter" Guida here. Clay was super cool on the phone, and I wish him luck in his upcoming fight against French Top Team's Samy Schiavo at UFC Fight Night 13 on Wednesday, April 2.

Also, check out this post, where the man behind MMAmania himself has officially introduced yours truly to all the Maniacs. SteelSkins gets a plug, as does A Likely Story Film Productions. Speaking of which, check out ALSFP's newest short film, "Laugh Track".

In the next five days or so, I play to post an update to SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings right here. Looking forward to it.

Never Back Down Movie Review on MMAmania.com

2008-03-14T11:36:00.003-04:00

My review of the MMA-film Never Back Down is up on MMAmania.com. Check it out here. Props to SteelSkins own Austin O'Connor for providing the press passes. Austin does reviews for a public radio station in northwestern Massachusetts and for MediaNewsGroup, which owns a bunch of papers in the northeast. You can also find some of his older reviews on Rottentomatoes.com.

In a nutshell, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Never Back Down sucks monkey butt. One look at the trailer will send flashbacks of Top Gun, Karate Kid and the entire Fast and the Furious franchise shivering down your spine.

That said, with the right amount of booze, this film could have potential as the next big drinking game. Every time you see an obvious acting style stolen from either the Brad Pitt School of Acting or the Tom Cruise/Scientology School of Advanced AssMonkeyism, you know what to do...

Mark Coleman Interview at MMAmania

2008-03-10T11:29:00.003-04:00

So I interviewed Mark Coleman for the second time in as many weeks. It went up on MMAmania.com on Friday afternoon. Here's a link.

It was great talking to Coleman, the UFC Hall of Fame's most recent honoree. Rather than retiring any time soon, though, Coleman just inked a four-fight deal with the UFC and is set to face the dangerous Brock Lesnar in Lesnar's home state of Minnesota at UFC 85 this June. Should be a war between two national collegiate wrestling champions.

Vomiting Praise on Brett Favre

2008-03-05T13:38:00.006-05:00

I love this site. However this post is just too much:

Best Favre memories? They are not always the best games -- they were often the humble moments in between.

Jeebus Christ!! And it gets worse...

It was in those moments that you could see the whimsy of him, usually tormenting a rookie teammate or PR director Lee Remmel.

There's a famous clip of him asking team staff members for "buckets of steam" and "left-handed footballs." Favre knew that his presence commanded attention, and ie he raised his voice just a hair when he asked these young kids, ballboys, etc., for these ridiculous requests, he knew they would stop and listen, intent on finding these un-findable items, because Brett Favre was asking for them. The quarterback, in essence, was mocking his own fame. That made him human.

Yes, a bad human. One who makes fun of the powerless, who he can get fired. Great guy, that Favre. Oh, and I would love to whimsically torment someone, just like back in my big bully days of yesterday, when I would make little Jimmy cry and cower under the porch (NOTE: usually it was me under that porch...)

You want flawed? The man's first completed pass as a Packer was to himself ... for minus-7 yards. As a rookie the season before with the Falcons, he threw five passes. Two were picked out.

Picked out? Has this guy ever watched football before?

Look, you only appreciate the humbling moments in between BECAUSE of the best games! Like if you are dating a hot chick, and her hair is mussed up...it's so cute! But if she wasn't hot, and her hair was mussed up, you wouldn't find it cute, because...SHE'S NOT HOT! So stop pretending you only liked Favre for his "Aw Shucks" demeanor...because if he wasn't a great football player you wouldn't care about his demeanor. There's plenty of "Aw Shucks" guys out there who couldn't throw a left-handed football to save their life...but who gives a crap?

Brett Favre was a great football player, and may perhaps still be. But like Dr. Z said, he could have been better.

Brett Fav-re Retires

2008-03-05T10:42:00.003-05:00

Now that Brett Favre is retired, who will the media swoon over now? Dr. Z may be a crotchety old coot, but he nails it on Favre here:

His fourth quarter and overtime meltdown against the Giants last season, which put a sad end to a remarkably classy season? Never mind ... the redemption of the Giants' field-goal kicker was the angle. The goofy, looping interception that cost the Pack the Eagles' game in OT in the divisionals in 2004? Oh, let's put it on the defense for allowing McNabb his fourth-and-26 completion in regulation.

Always ready to make excuses, always braying about "what a good time he's having," that was the continual barrage from TV. Maybe a few frowns, a stern reprimand or two, might have toned down the wild maverick a little, but gosh, he sure is having fun out there. And that's what the game is all about, isn't it? Fun, boys acting like men and so forth...

...How will history evaluate him? Capable of almost anything on the field. Heroic. Indestructible. Maddening at times, but great to root for. With only this low key aftermath. Could have been greater.

So true. Brett and the Packers losing the Super Bowl in 1997 to the Broncos in my mind stains his career--even though it wasn't his fault, Holmgren's decision to let the Bronco's score the winning points was hard to take. Further, we forget that that year was the first time since the mid 80s that the AFC won a Super Bowl, and the air of inevitability that the Pack would win was palpable. Almost as big an upset as the Giants/Pats, especially because Elway was 0-3 in Super Bowls at the time.

Let's also not forget his deliberate turtling to give Michael Strahan the sack record, and his wasting the past few years before 2007, gunslinging just because he could.

Roethlisberger Extended!

2008-03-03T22:35:00.004-05:00

Perhaps I was being unfair to Kevin Colbert in the last post. Today the Steelers signed Big Ben to an 8 year, $102 million contract, with about $36-38 million guaranteed. It's the richest contract the Steelers have ever given out, and puts Ben up there in earning power with the elite QBs in the NFL (and also Michael Vick).

The Steelers also signed Vikings RB Mewelde Moore, a versatile player who can run the ball, catch it, and return punts and kicks. He was always lost in the shuffle in Minnesota, and is clearly not going to advance his career playing behind Purple Jesus and Chester Taylor. Now he will probably play a 3rd down back/Special Teams role, filling the critical return role that the Steelers lacked all last year.

Word from Pitt journos is that Ben's rich contract doesn't have any impact on the salary cap...so perhaps the Steelers will be more active in free agency once the mediocre players are done being overpaid by bad teams (49ers, Raiders, Jets, I'm looking AT you!). I am eager for them to lock up Max Starks, hopefully at a much more reasonable price than his curretn $7 million transition tag.

The Steelers and Free Agency, or Naptime

2008-02-29T13:59:00.009-05:00

Kevin Colbert, the Pittsburgh Steelers GM, catches up on some much needed rest during the NFL free agency period.

Meanwhile, Daniel Snyder, Redskins owner, is calling a press conference at 3pm to announce his latest $30 million signing:

And Now Back to Your Sporadic Steeler Football Posts

2008-02-28T12:46:00.004-05:00

Congrats to Adam for his MMAmania gig! His UFC info is interesting and original enough to be published anywhere, and I'm glad he's linking to it here.

But...on to Steeler Football. With only 6 picks in this draft, the Steelers will have to be creative in dealing with major depth issues. Special Teams stinks because their young players stink, and their DL suffered greatly when Aaron Smith went down. And we all know their Oline is a mess, in part due to the signing of Sean Mahan to play center, when indeed he could do no such thing.

The proverbial "Steeler Way" is just not working anymore, especially with "developing" defensive linemen...hey, why don't we get one that can play right away?

On the offensive line, Faneca is gone and the Steelers transition tagged Max Starks, a curious decision because a Transition Tag can be "poison pilled" with a contract clause that makes it unacceptable for the Tagging team to match the offer. (For example, a few years ago the Vikings inserted a clause that Steve Hutchison from the Seattle Seahawks would get a certain amount of guaranteed money if he wasn't the highest paid offensive lineman on the team. Well, he was the highest paid Minnesota player, but Seattle had T Walter Jones, who was being paid more than Hutchison. So Seattle couldn't match the offer.

Another curiousity is that a franchise tag is only $500,000 more, and can't be poison pilled.

Will Starks be poison pilled? Well, he won't sign before free agency, that's for sure, so there's a chance. Last year he was jerked around by the coaching staff, who insisted on starting short-armed Willie Colon at tackle, when he could be better used at guard. Hopefully the front office will sign Starks and Colon will move to guard to replace Faneca.

And here's hoping they sign a FA lineman who's better than craptastic Sean Mahan.

The Tomlin era is still establishing itself, but the Steelers are built to win now, with a franchise QB, so it will be interesting to see how 2008 plays out.

The UFC's Middleweight Division

2008-02-26T14:27:00.003-05:00

Just posted another article on MMAmania. My thanks go out to Tom, who's been a gracious host of some of SteelSkins thoughts about the UFC and the sport of MMA in general.

This week's article is the third one that has been featured on the site. It's about the UFC's Middleweight Division, its depth and some of the talented 185 pounders not being signed by Dana White and the UFC.

Check it out!

“Right Leg, Hospital. Left Leg, Running Scared”?

2008-02-15T15:55:00.002-05:00

Mirko Cro Cop and the UFC’s Dwindling Heavyweight Division

By Adam Wagner

With my first post up on MMAmania, I am now an official contributing writer to one of the best MMA blogs on the Internet. To all of our loyal readers (okay, both of you), please check the site out, and look for more posts by yours truly.

This week's post focuses on the dwindling talent pool of the UFC's Heavyweight Division, now that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has officially announced that he is leaving for greener pastures in Japan. It also specifically calls for Dana White and the UFC to re-sign Andrei Arlovski, as well as Tim Sylvia, once their contracts expire (they both have one fight each remaining on their contracts).

5 Good Minutes in the UFC

2008-02-14T11:35:00.010-05:00

As we previously noted, the British tabloid newspaper The Sun recently published Dana White’s answers to 12 questions posed by Sun readers on everything from Michael Bisping’s future as a Middleweight to the flaws in the 10-point must system for scoring MMA fights.

But what really caught my eye was White's announcement that the UFC is in the process of establishing an official ranking system so that fans can see who is in line for a title shot. According to White, "I said we'd never do that because I figured people would say our rankings are biased. But, when you look around at some of these other rankings that are out there, I think we probably will do our own after all."

While I wouldn’t expect a deeper ranking than Top 5 for each weight class, the announcement does add to the debate that any self-respecting UFC fan loves to engage in. Who’s next in line for a title shot? Who deserves one, even if they aren’t getting one? There are a ton of things to consider for each weight class, so let’s get right to it:

Despite the rumor that Werdum is next in line for a title shot in the HW division, there remains serious doubt on how deserved that title shot is, given that he’s just 1-1 in the Octagon. Interestingly enough, the timing of Arlovski’s prolonged contract dispute couldn’t have come at a worse time. When you consider that Couture’s likely out; Cro Cop’s out, Sylvia’s out; a ton of top talent who are coming off losses are out (Vera, Gonzaga, etc.); of the top contenders, only three have consecutive wins (Arlovski, Mir and Kongo). Where does Mir’s win over Lesnar put him in the rankings? Or Kongo’s somewhat lackluster win over Cro Cop? Had he re-signed months ago, Arlovski could have found himself as the #1 Contender in line for a title shot. Despite the lackluster fight against Werdum, he still won—moreover, the last time Arlovski lost to a fighter who wasn’t named Tim Sylvia was March 2002. There might not be a better example as to the ramifications of a prolonged contract dispute than the Arlovski situation.
On to the Light Heavyweights: with Jackson/Griffin tied up in the filming of TUF7 until their title fight sometime in July, the rest of the division is left jockeying for position. Of the upcoming fights, the winner of Liddell/Rua seems most likely to get a title shot. It seems unlikely that the winner of Thiago Silva/Rashad Evans would position either fighter to be the #1 Contender without at least one more victory. But what of Wanderlei Silva and Keith Jardine? And why not pit them against one another, given that everyone else is tied up in another fight. With Jardine being no slouch, would the UFC risk a fourth consecutive loss to Silva, or would they instead give him an easier opponent, if not a complete can?
The Middleweight picture is interesting in that, should Anderson Silva continue his dominant reign by beating Dan Henderson in March, we’ll likely have to wait until May to see any clarity on who the next #1 Contender is going to be. A win over Hendo would mean Silva’s beaten everybody who currently deserves a title shot (Franklin, Marquardt and Lutter). So the results from the April/May events will be key, with the importance of Okami/Tanner growing by the day. However, if Hendo beats Silva, the field is wide open. Suddenly the winner of Franklin/Lutter, as well as Marquardt, is once again a possibility, as is the winner of Okami/Tanner. Furthermore, could a strong performance from Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy in April have an impact on the title picture?
In the Welterweight division, GSP and Serra fight to unify the titles in April. No matter who wins, most think Jon Fitch deserves a title shot, assuming he gets past Chris Wilson in March. This is contrary to Karo Parisyan’s claim that he believes he’s been offered a shot, assuming he gets past Thiago Alves in April. If GSP beats Serra, we can expect a Serra/Hughes fight, while GSP will likely take on either Fitch or Karo. But what if Serra retains his title? Who’s next in line for GSP? Don’t be surprised to see GSP/Karo or even GSP/Marcus Davis. And is it time that we finally start talking about Marcus Davis as a Top 5 contender? An 11-fight win streak is tough to argue with.
For the Lightweights, Penn/Sherk happens in May. If Penn wins, all he really wants is GSP at WW, but is that really fair to the lot of LW talent climbing the ranks? Kenny Florian has gone 3-0 since losing the vacant title shot to Sherk, and a win over a game Joe Lauzon could, conceivably, secure a title shot. Roger Huerta is 6-0 in the UFC and hasn’t lost since June 2004. A win over Gray Maynard at Fight Night 13 could put Frankie Edgar into title contention. If Sherk beats Penn, it becomes even murkier, since a Florian/Sherk rematch might be too soon. And I hate to say it, but July isn’t that far away, and then comes the return of Hermes Franca, the former #1 Contender, who’s been sitting out on a steroids suspension.

Regardless of White’s announcement, don’t expect to see official UFC rankings for several months, at best. As White said, “…(I) have no idea when we will get to that, though. I wouldn’t look for any rankings anytime real soon.”

12 Questions with Dana White

2008-02-07T17:27:00.000-05:00

The British tabloid newspaper The Sun recently published Dana White’s answers to 12 questions posed by Sun readers on everything from Michael Bisping’s future as a Middleweight to the flaws in the 10-point must system for scoring MMA fights.

Dana’s always-interesting perspective was on display once again. A few tidbits:

Dana doesn’t seem crazy about “building a fighter’s brand” (ala Tito Ortiz) and instead respects fighters who are willing to fight whoever is thrown in front of them (he lists Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Chuck Liddell, Sean Sherk and Brock Lesnar as such).

He thinks Bisping’s potential as a Middleweight is “huge” and says he told Bisping to drop to 185 “when I first met him.”

He says when Wanderlei Silva arrived in the UFC, Silva told White that the UFC’s Light Heavyweights were a lot bigger than PRIDE’s best Heavyweights.

He says Sherk has done his time and deserves a return to UFC action. “He was stripped of his title, he was suspended, he was fined…He has lost the ability to earn a living for six months already…What else am I supposed to do, drag him into the street and stone him?”

He hates open weight grand prix tournaments because, among other things, “the best fighter never wins these dumb things anyway.”

He thinks Anderson Silva has the best odds of any current title holder to still be holding his title a year from now.

He denounces the notion of cross-promotions. “Why would I cross-promote with these organisations? They suck.”

His all-time favorite fight? Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg II (April 2005)—the one where Hughes comes back from a crotch shot to slam Trigg and win—hands down.

His opinion on Fedor? “Fedor isn’t a real fighter, he’s a complete joke. He’s fighting middleweights and guys who have absolutely no business fighting—and he’s looking like s*** doing it…He can’t live with anyone in the top five in the UFC and that’s why he’s not here.”

His opinion on Randy leaving? “...We give Randy Couture that huge opportunity (a return from retirement to fight Tim Sylvia for the title) and now Randy Couture is refusing to give a fighter like Antonio Nogueira that exact same opportunity he was given. ‘Captain America’ needs to honour his contract and honour fighters like Nogueira. You would expect him to do the honourable thing.”

He talks about a fight card that was discussed by UFC executives but ultimately didn’t happen where “fans play matchmaker and choose the fights on the card.” He said that, in the end, the fans already decide the fights. “If I can’t figure out what fights the fans want then, hey, I am pretty f*****.”

He agrees that the 10-point must scoring system that was developed for boxing is flawed when applied to MMA. The problem with changing it, White says, is that “unlike in the UK, the people who regulate sports over here—guys like the Nevada State Athletic Commission—are the government. These guys are part of the actual government of the state, so doing something as huge as changing the whole system for scoring won’t happen just like that.”

And finally, he announces that the UFC is in the process of establishing an official ranking system so that fans can see who is in line for a title shot. “…I said we’d never do that because I figured people would say our rankings are biased. But, when you look around at some of these other rankings that are out there, I think we probably will do our own after all…(I) have no idea when we will get to that, though. I wouldn’t look for any rankings anytime real soon.”

SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings

2008-02-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

Since our last SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings, we’ve seen three UFC events: UFC 80 (Jan. 19), UFC Fight Night 12 (Jan. 23) and UFC 81 (Feb. 2). SteelSkins picks for these fights were a very decent 18-7 with 2 “no shows” (i.e., one of the fighters was replaced at the last minute, thus cancelling our prediction). Our best prognosticating came in the Lightweight division, where we scored a 10-1 record.

We were also surprised to hear that the UFC has announced its intention to release official rankings. While we welcome this development—the absence of official rankings was the motivating factor in creating the SteelSkins Power Rankings in the first place—we’ll be surprised if the UFC lists anything more than the Top 5 in each division, like most sites with rankings do (such as Vegas Insider). Even MMA Weekly, which ranks all MMA fighters, regardless of promotion, only ranks the Top 10. In many ways, it’s all speculative after a certain point, but we still prefer the Top 15 so that we can more easily keep our eyes on up-and-comers.

With that, let’s see how all this movement has shaped our Power Rankings.

Heavyweights

“Minotauro” Nogueira outlasted a game Tim Sylvia to win the Interim Heavyweight Title at UFC 81 last Saturday. The win propels Nogueira to the top of the heap and pushes Sylvia, who’s lost two of his last three fights (albeit, both title shots) down a few pegs.

Interestingly enough, this puts Arlovski—in our eyes—right back on top. All of the marketable fighters from Brandon Vera and Heath Herring, to Brock Lesnar (and obviously Tim Sylvia) are coming off losses. Gonzaga’s had back-to-back loses, as has Cro Cop. That leaves these guys:

Mir has gone 3-2 since his return, with his biggest win being Lesnar, which was about as exciting a debut as we’ve seen since Houston Alexander stomped Keith Jardine. Even though he was submitted, Lesnar is a gorilla, and we’re bumping him up three spots simply because we doubt many fighters have the chin that Mir has and would be able to withstand Lesnar’s punishment. Had Sylvia beaten Nogueira for the title, you might be able to get enough distance on a Mir/Sylvia rematch storyline to grant him a title shot, but that’s stretching it. He’s said himself that he thinks he needs another fight before a title shot should be considered.

Kongo’s 4-1 in the UFC and on a two-fight win streak including lackluster performances over Cro Cop and Assuerio Silva. He’s one dimensional and at least one fight away. His first opportunity comes next month against Heath Herring at UFC 82 (Mar. 1).

Werdum—the only one of the three without back-to-back wins—is coming off a win of Gonzaga, after debuting in a lackluster loss to Arlovski. Nogueira already holds a win over Werdum from their PRIDE days. Still, he’s rumored to be getting the title shot. We’ll stick with out gut, which says Werdum is in the 3 spot.

We know that Arlovski and the UFC have been duking it out in the negotiating room for nearly a year now, and if their decision to put next month’s Arlovski/O’Brien fight on the untelevised undercard is any indication, the UFC isn’t going to budge. The fight is the last on Arlovski’s contract, making him a free agent who, reason would have it, could get a shot at Fedor Emelianenko. Without a contract agreement, the UFC doesn’t want to promote a fighter on his way out of the organization, and their insurance card is that undercard. An Arlovski win would never get airtime no matter how exciting the KO; an Arlovski loss, however, could see airtime. His bad relationship with his employers notwithstanding, with two wins over Werdum and Cruz in his last two fights, A.A. deserves a title shot next, if only because none of the others do.

Looking at the rest of the Top 15, just as we dropped Jake O’Brien from the list due to 12 months of inactivity, we have to put him right back on, with his upcoming fight against Arlovski being finalized. We are dropping Tom Murphy, who can’t seem to catch a break with a scheduled fight, and adding Shane Carwin (8-0), a three-time NCAA Division II All-American who has dominated the Art of War and WEC promotions. All eight of Carwin’s wins are first round stoppages (3 KOs, 5 submissions), with the average length of time at just 72 seconds.

SteelSkins’ record for picking Heavyweight fights this last month was less than stellar, as we went 1-3. Here were the fights, along with our dismal picks:

Fabricio Werdum def. Gabriel Gonzaga (TKO – strikes) Rnd2 (UFC 80) – Our pick: Gonzaga (decision)
Antoni Hardonk def. #22 Colin Robinson (TKO – strikes) Rnd1 (UFC 80) – Our pick: Robinson (TKO)
Minotauro Nogueira def. Tim Sylvia (submission – choke) Rnd3 (UFC 81) – Our pick: Sylvia (decision)
Frank Mir def. Brock Lesnar (submission – leg lock) Rnd1 (UFC 81) – Our pick: Mir (decision)

Upcoming Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Cheick Kongo vs. Heath Herring at UFC 82 (Mar. 1) – We’ll take Kongo (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien at UFC 82 – We’ll take Arlovski (TKO – strikes) Rnd1
Minotauro Nogueira vs. Fabricio Werdum for the HW title at a future UFC event, TBD – We’ll take Nogueira (submission) Rnd3

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Light Heavyweights

Tito Ortiz is fed up and leaving the UFC, according to his recent interview on the “Howard Stern Show.” He’ll first have to satisfy the last fight on his contract by taking on undefeated Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 in May. As we’ve previously noted, if Ortiz is unhappy with the amount of money he’s making, he should leave, and the UFC should let him go.

It’s been a bad 11 months for Jason Lambert. After TKOing Babalu Sobral (who himself was fresh off a title shot loss to Chuck Liddell), the future was wide open for “The Punisher.” But what followed was 10 months with nary a word from his camp. During those same 10 months, the UFC signed every LHW stud in the galaxy, including Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua, Thiago Silva, Houston Alexander, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Chewbacca. Seriously. Not to mention, Rampage Jackson, who had just made his debut 11 months ago, was about to win and then defend the belt. Wow, what a year. All these acquisitions dropped Lambert’s stock considerably. Once at #4 in the SteelSkins Power Rankings, we doubt Lambert will ever break the Top 10 again, unless he drops to Middleweight. It doesn’t help that when he finally made his return at last month’s UFC 80, he might have gotten a little cocky while beating the tar out of Wilson Gouveia and dropped his hands. Gouveia, known for submissions rather than heavy hands, saw an opening and knocked “The Punisher” out silly. We said it before, and we’ll say it again, so much for missed opportunities.

Our record for picking Light Heavyweight fights would have been a perfect 3-0, so long as you allow us Tim Boetsch as a late replacement for Tomasz Drwal, who was forced out with a last-minute injury. We’ll take 2-0 with 1 no show. Kudos to Tim Boetsch for keeping it real.

As for David Heath, Boetsch’s unfortunate opponent, he failed to capitalize on the one thing he had over Boetsch: he’s a veteran of the big show. Instead Heath allowed Boetsch (who took the fight on 10 days notice) to get comfortable in the Octagon and never pressed the action in the, albeit brief, fight. With three losses in a row, Heath is likely done in the UFC.

Here are the recent fights, along with our picks:

Wilson Gouveia def. Jason Lambert (KO) Rnd2 (UFC 80) – Our pick: Gouveia (submission) Rnd3
Alessio Sakara def. James Lee (TKO) Rnd1 (UFC 80) – Our pick: Sakara (decision)
Tim Boetsch def. David Heath (TKO – strikes) Rnd1 (UFC81) – Our pick was Tomasz Drwal to beat Heath (KO Rnd2), but Boetsch was a last-minute replacement for the injured Drwal.

Upcoming Light Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Houston Alexander vs. #17 James Irvin at UFC 83 (Mar. 8) – We’ll take Alexander (TKO – strikes) Rnd1
Matt Hamill vs. Stephen Bonnar at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – We’ll take Hamill (decision)
Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 (May 3) – We’ll take Machida (decision)
Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva at UFC 84 – We’ll take Silva (submission) Rnd2
Wilson Gouveia vs. #24 Goran Reljic at UFC 84 – We’ll take Reljic (submission) Rnd2
Keith Jardine vs. TBD at UFC 84
Chuck Liddell vs. Shogun Rua at UFC 85 (June 14) – We’ll take Liddell (TKO – strikes) Rnd2
Champion Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin after TUF7 Finale (scheduled for June 21) – Call us crazy, but we’ll take Griffin (decision)

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Middleweights

There were some decent Middleweight fights over the last two months, although the best is yet to come. The two largest upsets were Jorge Rivera over Kendall Grove and Marvin Eastman over Terry Martin. Grove isn’t the first TUF Champion to lose back-to-back fights (TUF1 Champ Diego Sanchez is coming off back-to-back losses to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch), but the quality of Grove’s competition is no where close to that of Sanchez, which drops Grove out of the Top 15 to a lowly #21 spot.

While the Terry Martin bandwagon seemed to be in full motion, following his back-to-back TKOs of Jorge Rivera and Ivan Salaverry when he dropped to Middleweight, that bandwagon has been hijacked and sent careening over a cliff, thanks to a unanimous decision loss to Marvin Eastman, Martin’s second loss in a row. Martin is now a dismal 2-4 in the UFC (2-2 as a MW), and likely cannot drop anymore weight. He’ll have to climb back up the ranks the old fashioned way, by earning it, although his UFC days might be numbered.

Ricardo Almeida dodged a bullet by having his original opponent, Alan Belcher, pull out at the last minute due to injury. Almeida was making his return after a three-year layoff from the sport, and Belcher was going to be a tough opponent to try to shake off the cage rust. Almeida fought Rob Yundt instead, an Alaska Fighting Championship veteran, and won easily. This makes his claim to the Top 5 a little more plausible.

Finally, the once-promising rise of Martin Kampmann seems to be coming to a close. His prolonged knee injury with no mention of a return has already dropped him from #4. Rather than dropping him anymore, we’re going to wait for his 1-year-with-no-action anniversary to come next month, when he’ll be dropped from the Power Rankings entirely, unless we hear of an upcoming fight.

Our record for picking Middleweight fights these last two months was 2-2, although it would have been 3-2, had we known Yundt was going to be a late replacement for an injured Alan Belcher. We’ll call it a no show. Here are the recent fights, along with our picks:

#25 Jorge Rivera def. Kendall Grove (TKO – strikes) Rnd1 at UFC 80 – Our pick: Grove (submission) Rnd2
Nate Marquardt def. Jeremy Horn (submission – choke) Rnd2 at UFC 81 – Our pick: Marquardt (decision)
Richardo Almeida def. #33 Rob Yundt (a late replacement for Alan Belcher) via submission (choke) Rnd1 at UFC 81 – Our pick: Belcher (submission) Rnd2
Patrick Cote def. #28 Drew McFedries (TKO – strikes) Rnd1 at UFC 81 – Our pick: Cote (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
Marvin Eastman def. Terry Martin (unanimous decision) at UFC 81 – Our pick: Martin (decision)

Upcoming Middleweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Champ Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson at UFC 82 to unify the UFC and PRIDE MW titles (Mar. 1) – We’ll take Silva (TKO – strikes) Rnd4
Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner at UFC 82 – We’ll take Tanner (submission) Rnd3
Chris Leben vs. #23 Alessio Sakara at UFC 82 – We’ll take Leben (TKO – strikes) Rnd2
Former Champ Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter at UFC 83 (Mar. 8) – We’ll take Franklin (decision)
Michael Bisping vs. #32 Charles McCarthy at UFC 83 – We’ll take Bisping (KO) Rnd2
Nate Quarry vs. #31 Kalib Starnes at UFC 83 – We’ll take Quarry (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
Ed Herman vs. #18 Demian Maia at UFC 83 – We’ll take Herman (submission) Rnd1
Patrick Cote vs. #22 Alan Belcher at UFC 83 – We’ll take Herman (submission) Rnd2
Jason MacDonald vs. #29 Joe Doerksen at UFC 84 (May 3) – This is a rematch from 2005 when MacDonald won via rear naked choke. We’ll take MacDonald (submission) Rnd2
#25 UFC newcomer Rousimar Palhares vs. #28 Ivan Salaverry at UFC 84 – We’ll take Salaverry (submission) Rnd2

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Welterweights

There’s not much to say about the Welterweights, other than a there’s a lot of action coming up in March and April. And that Swick/Burkman failed to live up to its headliner status. But you can say this: Let’s start talking about Marcus Davis as a Top 5 Contender. An 11-fight win streak doesn’t like to argue.

We know that if GSP beats Serra at UFC 83 (Apr. 19), there’s an extremely strong likelihood that Hughes/Serra and GSP/Fitch will soon follow. But what happens if Serra beats GSP? Fitch still gets a title shot, but what else? Don’t be surprised to see GSP/Karo or GSP/Davis.

Our record for picking Welterweight fights was 3 – 1. Here are the recent fights, along with our picks:

Marcus Davis def. #25 Jess Liaudin (TKO – strikes) Rnd 1 at UFC 80 – Our pick: Davis (submission) Rnd1
#34 Paul Kelly def. #24 Paul Taylor (unanimous decision) at UFC 80 – Our pick: Taylor (TKO – strikes) Rnd2
Mike Swick def. Josh Burkman (split decision) at Fight Night 12 – Our pick: Swick (decision)
Chris Lytle def. #26 Kyle Bradley (TKO – strikes) Rnd1 at UFC 81 – Our pick: Lytle (KO)

Upcoming Welterweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono at UFC 82 (March 1) – We’ll take Fitch (submission) Rnd2
Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett at UFC 82 – We’ll take Kos (submission) Rnd3
Luke Cummo vs. #17 Luigi Fioravanti at UFC 82 – We’ll take Cummo (guillotine choke) Rnd2
#16 Tommy Spear vs. #40 Anthony Johnson at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – We’ll take Spear (TKO – strikes) Rnd2
Champ Matt Serra vs. GSP at UFC 84 (April 19) – We’ll take GSP (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
Karo Parisyan vs. Thiago Alves at UFC 84 – We’ll take Alves (split decision)
The extremely dangerous BJJ black belt (but low ranked because of his 5-3 record and history of backing out of fights due to training injuries) #46 Jeff Joslin vs. TBD at UFC 84.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Lightweights

We saw a ton of Lightweight action since our last Power Rankings update. B.J. Penn defeated Joe “Daddy” Stevenson for the vacant LW title on January 19 and now faces Sherk probably at UFC 85 in May. There’s no love lost between these two champions, and it should be an exciting fight, no matter where the action goes.

Most of the Lightweight fights happened the way they were expected. Our record for picking the Lightweights was a stellar 10 – 1, with our only loss being a close split decision (Emerson/Nakamura). Here are the recent fights, along with our picks:

B.J. Penn def. Joe Stevenson (submission – rear naked choke) Rnd2 at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – Our pick: Penn (submission) Rnd3
#20 Sam Stout def. #32 Per Eklund (unanimous decision) at UFC 80 – Our pick: Stout (KO) Rnd3
#44 Corey Hill def. #55 Joe Veres (TKO – strikes) Rnd2 at Fight Night 12 – Our pick: Hill (submission) Rnd2
Thiago Tavares def. #53 Michihiro Omigawa (unanimous decision) at Fight Night 12 – Our pick: Tavares (submission) Rnd1
Kurt Pellegrino def. #31 Alberto Crane (TKO – strikes) Rnd2 at Fight Night 12 – Our pick: Pellegrino (submission) Rnd2
Nate Diaz def. #21 Alvin Robinson (submission – triangle choke) Rnd1 at Fight Night 12 – Our pick: Diaz (submission) Rnd2
#22 Jeremy Stephens def. #30 Cole Miller (TKO – strikes) Rnd2 at Fight Night 12 – Our pick: Stephens (TKO – strikes) Rnd3
#29 Gray Maynard def. #26 Dennis Siver (unanimous decision) at Fight Night 12 – Our pick: Maynard (decision)
#33 Matt Wiman def #40 Justin Buchholz (submission – read naked choke) Rnd1 at Fight Night 12 – Our pick: Wiman (decision)
Tyson Griffin def. #16 Gleison Tibau (unanimous decision) at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – Our pick: Griffin (decision)
#38 Rob Emerson def. #42 Keita Nakamura (split decision) at UFC 81 – Our pick: Nakamura

Upcoming Welterweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

#23 Jorge Gurgel vs. #35 John Halverson at UFC 82 (Mar. 1) – We’ll take Gurgel (submission) Rnd3
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – We’ll take Florian (submission) Rnd2
Spencer Fisher vs. Marcus Aurelio at Fight Night 13 – We’ll take Fisher (decision)
Champion Penn vs. former Champ Sean Sherk at UFC 85 – We’ll take Penn (submission) Rnd3

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

D'OH!!!

2008-02-06T15:16:00.000-05:00

Via Deadspin are these articles about a high school kid who got scammed into committing to a school to play football that never recruited him. Sad, but also kind of hilarious:

It was quite a scene in the Fernley (Nev.) High gym on Friday. A 6-foot-5, 290-pound football player, seated at a table with his coach beside him, was making his college selection before a cheering crowd. On the table before him were a pair of baseball caps -- one from the University of California and one from the University of Oregon.

The player reached for the blue Cal hat, bent the visor, and placed it on his head, signifying that he was accepting a scholarship to play at the school and would officially sign his letter-of-intent today, the first day senior high school football players can do so. Television crews and a newspaper reporter were present for what was believed to be the first Division I college athlete from the town of Fernley (pop. 19,700).

Hours later, the feel-good story began to fall apart.

Neither California, Oregon -- nor any of the handful of other college football programs mentioned by Kevin Hart -- had offered him a scholarship. In fact, some of the schools he mentioned had never put his name into their databases to send players recruiting literature.

And:

Hart said he had attended a football camp where a person claiming to be a recruiter had loaned Hart money. Hart said he paid the man back between $500 to $700 more than the initial loan but did not find out the man was not affiliated with any schools until after committing to California, Lange said.

This is the curious part. Usually the recruiter bribes the player, and I'm guessing the player never really repays the guy, right?

Or is there an underworld of 3rd party guys who take money from borderline players and try to get them into major colleges? Seems hard to do, and when you have not just coaches, but the whole sports training industry designed to take money from marginal players while marginally improving their athleticism, it seems odd that you would just have an unaffiliated guy serve as a broker and then trusting him so completely you never visit the college or a coach (whose pictures you can find on the web) in person. Maybe Kevin Hart is just really dumb.

Even weirder, as scams go, it seems like alot of effort to get $700 bucks. Unless Hart is lying about the amounts.

Dick Vermeil Says: Videotaping Didn't Lose the Rams the Super Bowl, Mike Martz Did

2008-02-05T12:40:00.000-05:00

Oh wait, maybe that's me saying it. With the allegations that the Patriots videotaped the Rams Saturday pre-game walkthrough before the Super Bowl back in Ought Two, many feel that gave the Patriots the advantage they needed to win this close game. If they did videotape it, I recommend banning Belichick for life. He got his already. However, let's also remember that the Coach on the other side of the field cared more about proving a point than actually winning:

The Super Bowl loss at the end of the 2001 season seems to be the turning point for Martz's offensive insanity. Remember, that game was "The Greatest Show on Turf" against a young, 6th round QB and a team that was supposed to lose by two scores. Belichick's Patriots dared Martz to run - they lined up in the nickel defense all game and said, "bring it." Martz, of course, never ran the ball and the rest is history. Thereafter, seemingly proving my case, Martz said that he should have passed the ball MORE during the game. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over all the while expecting a different result then this game produced the emergence of Mad Mike Martz.

Act Like You've Been There Before

2008-02-03T23:30:00.000-05:00

For the Giants anyway, they have been...at least against 3 out of their 4 playoff opponents.

In considering what the Giants accomplished this year (a #5 seed winning the Super Bowl...who happened to be a modest 10-6 team...who happened to be playing one of the greatest teams in NFL history...an opponent that was 18-0 going into it...yada yada yada), I discovered an interesting tidbit: Of the 4 teams that the Giants faced in the post-season, they had already faced 3 of them...and LOST to all 3 (twice to Dallas).

That's right. Of the 6 losses the Giants posted during the 2007 season, 4 of them came from their last 3 opponents faced...just earlier in the season.

In the Wildcard game, the Giants faced Tampa Bay, who they hadn't previously faced during the regular season game, and won 24-14.
The Division Championship game was against a Cowboys team that had previously beaten them twice during the regular season (35-45 in Week 1, and 20-31 in Week 10), but yet the Giants won 21-17.
The NFC Conference Championship game was against a Packers team that had previously beaten them 13-35 in Week 2, yet the Giants won 23-20 in OT.
Finally, in the Super Bowl, the Giants faced a Pats team that had previously beaten them 35-38 in Week 17, yet the Giants won 17-14.

Apparently seeing these guys a second (or even third) time paid off.

I do have to say that the 5th seed Giants beating the 2007 18-1 Patriots is probably a greater accomplishment than the 6th seed 2005 Steelers winning the Super Bowl. Well done.

Super Bowl prediction

2008-02-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

Brokeback Brady.

I hate to say it, but... Patriots 45, Giants 17.

I hope the ads are good, since the game won't be. What do I care? I'm mostly rooting for Arlen Spector at this point.

Redskins hire new coach!

2008-02-01T14:40:00.001-05:00

Oh, wait. That's the owner. My bad.

As you were.

What's wrong with HGH?

2008-01-30T14:57:00.001-05:00

While I do think that the all of the aging Patriots' linebackers are on HGH and I wish they'd get busted for it, just because I hate the Patriots, you really have to wonder if there's anything wrong with Human Growth Hormone, besides making your head really big, like Barry Bonds or David Boston.

Come to think of it, you don't hear the horror stories about steroids that much either anymore, like a Shane Courson or Lyle Alzado whose heart collapses, or the story in this book about the guy who got so hyped on 'roids he ran out into the middle of an intersection and tried to stop a car.

Meanwhile, there ARE horror stories with football that don't involve performance enhancing drugs, like this one:

Invited in by his wife Autumn, she finds the man she came to see sprawled on a couch, unable to stand. Although the house is cool, he is sweating profusely and can't find a position, seated or prone, that doesn't cause him grotesque pain. Every so often his huge body jerks in spasms of head-to-toe agony. The fits, when they come, turn him as white as the walls and send unself-conscious tears down his cheeks. It's DeMarco at 35: dirt-poor, broken, and in a headfirst spiral, taking his wife and children down with him.

The visitor, Jennifer Smith, takes a look around and can scarcely believe her eyes. "There was no food in the house, and I mean none -- not a box of mac and cheese or a can of tuna," she says. "Brian and Autumn hadn't eaten in a couple of days and between them had 75 cents. Total."

Finally, someone in the major media asks the obvious question: Why NOT HGH or testosterone? Money quote:

And the public has been deeply conditioned to think of these drugs in sinister terms, at least when it comes to sports: Any athlete using them is a cheater. Meanwhile, short-statured kids are prescribed HGH injections, AIDS patients get testosterone to combat their wasting away, and baby boomers take related compounds to stay young. A simplistic, good-and-evil judgment of these substances won't continue to hold.

The NFL already lets some players use them (and no, we're not referring to the gaps in its testing program you could drive a stretch Hummer through). Behind closed doors, the league's drug adviser, John Lombardo, has granted waivers to players who have failed drug tests but then explained their medical need for testosterone. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello won't disclose names or reveal how many players have been allowed to pump synthetic hormones into their bodies except to say it's "a very small number."

In each case, he says, testicular disease was the medical rationale. It's a little-used exemption to the league's drug policy, but it's a precedent-setting one: Any player who can show that replacing hormones is critical to his continued health should be allowed to take them.

Later, he notes that it's not just concussions that may be causing the serious injuries to football players:

But in the late 1990s, UCLA neurosurgeon Daniel Kelly noticed that many of his head-injury patients suffered from symptoms associated with pituitary failure: depression, fatigue, anxiety, poor concentration. His findings, which he published in 2000, have led to at least eight studies on three continents, which together involved more than 600 subjects. Each study confirmed the link between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and a loss of hormonal function. The most common deficiencies in men were those of growth hormone, which occurred in 15% to 20% of cases, and of testosterone, in 10% to 15%.

But researchers in Turkey, in a 2004 study, found growth hormone deficiency to be "very common" among boxers. The sample was small, just 11 top male amateurs, but the results were striking because the number of boxers who may have had deficiencies -- 45.4% -- was so much higher than that of the general population, which is usually less than 5%. More recently, those same researchers published findings from a larger sample, this time 22 kickboxers; 23% showed growth hormone deficits.

You may have noticed that football players get knocked around too.

I'm not saying there's an easy solution to this whole situation, but it seems like acknowledging reality might be a start.

Judo Chop!

2008-01-29T15:07:00.000-05:00

Karo Parisyan: I think I already have a title shot if I want to wait
SteelSkins: We don't think you do

After going 4-1 in the UFC from September 2003 thru June 2005, Karo Parisyan was given a title shot. Unfortunately, the Judo expert injured himself during training, and that title shot then went to Joe Riggs, who lost to Matt Hughes on November 19, 2005, the same night that rising talent Georges St. Pierre beat Sean Sherk. After recovering from his injury, Karo was expecting that title shot to still be valid. Only it wasn’t.

It’s a little confusing as to why—perhaps it was the increasing depth in the Welterweight Division—but when Karo eventually did make his return in April 2006, he submitted Nick Thompson, only to lose to Diego Sanchez four months later. Suddenly, Karo found himself even further removed from the title picture.

Karo has since bounced back, only not necessarily in as dominant a fashion as he would like. He’s eeked out decision wins over Drew Fickett, Josh Burkman and Ryo Chonan. His overall UFC record is 8-2 (2 TKOs/Submissions, 6 Decisions; his losses were both unanimous decisions). Now he believes he has earned a title shot—in fact, he believes the UFC has already promised him one, assuming he wants to wait until George St. Pierre fights Matt Serra to unify the titles.

We at SteelSkins admit that we do not know what conversations have gone on between Karo and the UFC, but regardless, we think his title shot is still a ways away. This is because of two factors, really: 1. Karo can’t seem to finish an opponent; and 2. The Welterweight Division of today resembles nothing of what it did in 2005. Consider this:

Before his injury, Karo’s fights included wins over Dave Strasser (via submission), Nick Diaz, Chris Lytle and Matt Serra (all via decision). His only loss during that time was a unanimous decision loss to GSP in Karo’s second UFC fight. These fights, coupled with his record since returning from injury in 2006, paint a picture that’s not exactly dominant. He can’t finish a sub-Top 15 fighter like Ryo Chonan, and he couldn’t get past a game Diego Sanchez, who at the time was ranked by SteelSkins at #4, but has since slid to #7 with back-to-back losses to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch.

Back in 2005, the Welterweight contenders list wasn’t nearly as long as it is today. Fighters like Diego Sanchez, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch and Marcus Davis—all of whom have since flirted with the Top 3 Contender spots or are currently there—were ranked significantly lower than they are today. Fitch, who was 1-0 in the UFC in 2005 and is today 7-0, hasn’t lost since 2002; Davis is on an 11-fight tear; and GSP has posted wins over some of the very best in MMA, including Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn, Josh Koscheck and Matt Hughes twice.

Many of the UFC’s Welterweight contenders back in 2005 aren’t even around anymore, including Nick Diaz, Brock Larson, Joe Riggs, Frank Trigg, Drew Fickett and Jason Miller. They’ve been replaced by—in some cases—even better talent, namely, Fitch, Kos, Davis, Sanchez, Thiago Alves, Josh Burkman, Mike Swick, and of course a rejuvenated Matt Serra, who might have been on his way out back in 2005, but today holds the belt that all these men seem to want.

Karo faces rising talent Thiago Alves next at UFC 84. With a decisive win, he could find himself next in line for a title shot…that is, after GSP and probably Jon Fitch get their chances, as well as after the loser of the GSP/Serra fight in a rubber match (assuming a GSP victory in April). Wow, that’s a long time to wait. But Karo knows what that’s like.

Learn more about Karo’s title shot hopes, his upcoming fight with Thiago Alves, his claim that he is not ducking Jon Fitch, and his opinion of women competing in MMA here:

Steeler Draft Followup

2008-01-28T14:49:00.000-05:00

One argument against my post below (and yes, I know I am arguing with myself) would be that the Steelers have dedicated roughly the same percentage of picks toward the linebacker position as they did over an 8 year period of the 1990s (1992 on--13/82 vs 9/62 -- or 15.8% vs 14%). Plus, if you look at the Chargers and Cowboys, both of whom have the best 3-4 LBs in the business right now, they only picked 10/11 and 9 LBs in the 00's also. However, some of their LBs were "can't miss" prospects, like Merriman and DeMarcus Ware. The Steelers only took an LB in the first round in 07, and Timmons did not contribute right away (unlike Jon Beason of Carolina, who some argued the Steelers should have taken.)

However, my argument is based not on percentages but raw numbers. Based on the
1980s and 1990s draft numbers, it looks like you need roughly 17 picks per decade at the LB position to develop quality 'backers. While 9/62 is a similar ratio, it's not enough critical mass.

Another argument can be made that you shouldn't devote that many picks to one position, especially when there are needs at every position. Also, the Steelers had fewer draft picks, which is partly their own fault for trading some away. This is true, but again, the Steelers have wasted alot of draft picks on 2nd day, and even some on the first (Ricardo Colclough, Alonzo Jackson, I would argue Kendall Simmons, perhaps Anthony Smith, etc.) As a result, the Steelers have paper-thin depth, which was exposed not just on special teams, but also on the defensive line when Aaron Smith went down.

It looks like the real problem is that the whole Steeler draft process in the 00s has broken down, and the lack of drafting quality linebackers is a symptom of the problem.

The Numbers Don't Lie

2008-01-25T15:10:00.000-05:00

You have heard me complain time and again about the lack of a Steelers pass rush, which, in my opinion has been exposed time and again since 2002, when the Raiders and Pats blitzed the Steelers with the spread passing game. The Pats threw 25 times in a row at one point during a 30-14 win (really 30-7, the Steelers scored a meaningless TD late in the game). The Pats did the same thing in 2007, except they threw it 33 times in a row. To me, though the worst loss was to Cincy in 2003, I think, when Jon Kitna drove the Bengals to a game-winning TD with less than a minute left. KITNA!!!!!!!!!!

In the Steelers 3-4 defense, the linebackers are supposed to make plays and sacks, while the DL are "two-gappers" charged with occupying blockers. Therefore, you can pretty much make a direct correlation between "poor linebackers" and "poor pass rush" in the Steelers scheme.

The Steelers built the LB core of their Blitzburgh D of the 90s almost completely through the draft:

Greg Lloyd: 6th round, 1987
Levon Kirkland: 2nd round, 1992
Chad Brown: 3rd round, 1993
Jason Gildon: 3rd round, 1994
Earl Holmes: 3rd round, 1996
Mike Vrabel: 3rd round, 1997
Joey Porter: 3rd round, 1999

Only Kevin Greene was a free agent acquisition. Also notice that none of these picks came in the 1st round, and most were in the 3rd.

Everyone knows the draft is a crapshoot, but the Steelers did pretty damn good from 1987 through 2001, picking up Clark Haggans and Kendrell Bell in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Then it went downhill. Maybe we did good in 2007 with Timmons and Woodley, but the jury is still out.

You can't be right all the time. But the draft IS a numbers game. The decline in the effectiveness of the Steelers pass rush (post 2001) roughly correlates to the Steelers' change of emphasis towards drafting for the Linebacker position. Thanks to NFL.com, you can track teams' yearly picks, all the way through their team history.

From 1980 - 1989, the majority of which the Steelers ran the 4-3 (they were the last team to switch to 3-4), the Steelers drafted 17 linebackers. Granted, these were 12 round drafts, so you had the opportunity to pick more players.

However, during the 1990s, which was 12 rounds from 1990 - 1992, 8 rounds in 1993, and 7 rounds from 1994 on, the Steelers drafted, yep, 17 linebackers. This number could be higher, because some players drafted were college DEs.

So how many linebackers have the Steelers drafted from 2000 on? Including college DEs intended for the LB position, through 7 drafts the Steelers picked 7 linebackers. Throw in Year 8 (2007) and you get 9 with Timmons and Woodley. For the Steelers to match their 80s and 90s totals, in 2008 and 2009 they would have to draft 8 LBs out of 14 rounds. Not going to happen, esp. with the need to rebuild the O-line.

I don't count Rookie Free Agent pickups, either; while it is possible to find gems, you are picking through a pretty big pile, mostly of guys not good enough to be drafted.

I guess you get what you pick for.

What You May Have Missed Last Night

2008-01-24T12:19:00.001-05:00

If you fast forwarded between UFC fights last night, you missed out on some real treats! More below.

What do you get if you combine the OC, Karate Kid, Rocky, and Fight Club?

Never Back Down. This movie is described thusly on IMDB:

At his new high school, a rebellious teen (Faris) is lured into an underground fight club, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran (Hounsou).

The trailer I saw last night includes an Ed Norton lookalike, a training montage involving a black man and a white man running with an oceanic backdrop, and lots of exotic kicking. How much you want to bet the white man wins the race in the end, while learning invaluable lessons along the way?

Those of us watching the UFC last night were also treated to a "sneak peek" of the new Rambo, which involved Rambo urging his male and female companions to run, setting up a claymore mine and then running like hell. The bad guys (looking very North Vietnamese but actually Burmese) uncover the claymore at the last second before it explodes, destroying half the jungle (apparently one of those nucular claymores.)

Thankfully, Rambo has the necessary footspeed to outrun the explosion, just like Ahnuld way back in Predator. I couldn't quite hear any maniacal, otherworldly laughter echoing through the jungle, because I was singing along to the soundtrack, Rob Zombie's classic "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor".

Anyhoo, upshot is, I'm disappointed that Rambo is stealing from other 80s action movies besides his own. I was kind of hoping the new Rambo movie would just be a bunch of clips from the previous Rambo movies thrown together, almost like Gus Van Sant's shot for shot remake of Psycho, but different.

UFC Should Let Ortiz Go

2008-01-22T17:22:00.000-05:00

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz (15-5-1) is set to fight rising contender Lyoto Machida (12-0) at UFC 85 in May, a fight which Ortiz has suggested may be his last in the UFC.

“I’m just looking to get my final fight over with the UFC,” Ortiz told Sirius’ Fight Network Radio on Monday, citing money as the bone of contention with Zuffa, LLC, the company that owns UFC. Ortiz has one fight remaining on his contract, which the bout with Machida will satisfy.

The UFC typically re-signs fighters prior to them fighting the last fight on their contracts. However, months of contract negotiations failing to produce a new deal has left Ortiz out of the Octagon since a July 7, 2007 fight with Rashad Evans (11-0-1), which ended in a disappointing draw. It should be noted that Ortiz would likely have won that fight, had he not been docked points for grabbing the fence during an Evans attempted takedown.

Ortiz was expecting a rematch with Evans to be his final fight. He’ll now look to hit the free-agent market, come May.

“(The UFC) said I wasn’t worth the money,” Ortiz said. “I was worth no more than what I’m getting paid now, and I’m not a commodity to them anymore. I’m not as viable to them anymore. That was a sign of disrespect.”

There is no doubt Ortiz has been a huge commodity to the UFC in the past for myriad reasons:

Ortiz has headlined 17 of his 20 UFC appearances, as Fight Network Radio pointed out.
He held the UFC LHW belt for three and a half years, still the longest LHW championship reign in the promotion’s history. He first won the vacant title with a unanimous decision victory over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25 (April 2000). He then defended his title five times, defeating Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock. He then lost the title to Randy Couture at UFC 44 (September 2003) via unanimous decision, followed by a second loss (his only back-to-back losses) to Chuck Liddell via a second-round TKO at UFC 47.
Ortiz remains one of the UFC’s largest draws. His rematch against Liddell at UFC 66 (December 2006) is the largest UFC pay-per-view to date and the largest in paid attendance in North America, with 12,191 fans and $5,397,300 in ticket sales.

But at 33 years old, Ortiz seems to be relatively stagnant while many of his fellow competitors are showing marked signs of improvement.

Since returning to the UFC in April 2006, Ortiz has posted a decent 3-1-1 record, including a split decision win over Forrest Griffin, two TKO beat-downs over aging hall-of-famer Ken Shamrock, a late-third-round TKO loss to the then-Champion Chuck Liddell and a draw to Rashad Evans. Take the 44-year-old has-been out of the equation, and Ortiz’s record is 1-1-1, and even his win is arguable.

Griffin, who is next in line for a title shot against Champion Rampage Jackson, has since bounced back from the close loss to Ortiz, going 3-1, including a third-round submission victory over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who at the time was considered the #1 or #2 LHW in the world.

Even Liddell, who has struggled at 1-2 since stopping Ortiz, has shown that old dogs can in fact learn new tricks in his recent win over Wanderlei Silva. The three-round slugfest, one of the best fights of 2007, showed a hungry Chuck Liddell (at 38) in significantly better shape than his two previous fights, with a solid chin willing to incorporate a spinning high kick and spinning back fist into his bag of tricks.

But what’s the most devastating to Ortiz’s fading hopes of a title shot is the increase in the UFC LHW talent pool. When Ortiz was granted a title shot last, in December 2006, the LHW division was rich in rising talent, but lacked real top contenders. Fighters like Forrest Griffin, Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans were no where near ready for a title shot. Liddell was fearless and largely considered unstoppable. The UFC was forced to sign fighters who Liddell had lost to in his early years so as to avenge his losses and prove once and for all that he was the greatest champion alive. So it was with Jeremy Horn, and so it was supposed to have been with Rampage Jackson…until Liddell lost. But back in December 2006, Ortiz was the only real option for a title shot—and a good option it was.

But those days are long gone now. Since that time, the UFC has signed an enormous stable of LHW talent, including former PRIDE LHW Champion Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson, former PRIDE LHW and current MW Champion Dan Henderson, Thiago Silva, Lyoto Machida, Houston Alexander and Rameau Sokoudjou. Two of these fighters have already challenged for the belt (one of them won it), and four of the six remaining fighters are capable, talent-wise, of immediately challenging for it. Only Alexander and Sokoudjou have a bit more room to grow before they are ready.

Plus during this same time, several fighters who were seen as “up-and-coming” in December 2006 are now legitimate contenders in their own rights. Forrest Griffin, Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans are all either worthy of a title shot or one fight away, and Matt Hamill and Stephan Bonner are closing in on that goal by showing marked improvement with every fight.

During this same time, the only LHW fighters that the UFC has lost have been Babalu Sobral (due to unsportsmanlike behavior inside the cage) and Ken Shamrock (due to retirement), neither of whom will be missed.

So if Ortiz wants to leave the UFC for more money, it’s safe to say the UFC would not miss him either. In fact, it might actually benefit both parties. Consider:

Competitor MMA leagues, like M-1 Global, HDNet Fights, EliteXC and Strikeforce, have only a few top contenders in any division who are truly worthy of challenging for the belt. HDNet Fights lists just four 205 lb. fighters on its website, while EliteXC lists only Murilo “Ninja” Rua and Strikeforce lists only Bobby Southworth. M-1 Global lists only one fighter regardless of weight class on its website: its HW posterboy, Fedor Emelianenko. (By comparison, the UFC lists 50 LHWs, although by our count, only about 34 have fought in the Octagon in the past year.) These competitor leagues would be fools not to scoop up Ortiz, should he leave the UFC.
Should Ortiz leave the UFC and challenge for a belt in a competitor league—and win—not only would Ortiz be happy, but the UFC would be thrilled as well, because it just shows how stuffed to the gills with talent the organization truly is. How better to demonstrate that the UFC is superior when its throw-aways are kicking your ass?

The bottom line: if Ortiz wants to go, the UFC should show him the door. It’s a great way to save about $210,000 per fight, which it can then re-allocate to a fighter(s) who’s truly next in line.

Pro Football Weekly is still a Cool Site

2008-01-17T17:08:00.000-05:00

Lost in all the hoopla around Profootballtalk.com, and I like them, though I like them less of late, is the solid football reporting on Profootballweekly.com. They have a weekly section called "Audibles", with the disclaimer that: The following quotes are from NFL scouts, coaches and front-office personnel, speaking on condition of anonymity.
These quotes are always entertaining, if not wildly offbase.

Where I'm in the Amen Corner: (From Jan. 10)

“Every year there is an undrafted rookie defensive tackle who winds up starting. You can find those guys after the draft. … Tony (Dungy) gets the best out of those guys.”

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh takes a lean, rangy 4-3 DT/DE and molds him into a stout, 3-4 DE. This process takes years, and has succeeded....ummm....once? once and a half? Aaron Smith and Brett Kiesel. That's it. Or, they could just find a guy in the draft and plug him in. But that would be too hard, and of course, it's not the "Steeler Way".

Where I'm not sure I believe what I'm hearing: (Jan 17)

“(Offensive coordinator) Bruce Arians is not a good fit for the Steelers. He likes to go four- or five-wide and pitch it around. That’s not Steelers football. The offensive line has gone downhill since Russ Grimm left. It’s lost its identity. I see the ship continuing to sink until they make some corrections.”

Oh, yeah, that's why he had one of the slowest QBs in the NFL run a sweep on 3rd and 6. Because he likes to dink, and dunk.

And wisdom from on high: (Jan. 17)

“You win on defense with talent. You win on offense with coaching. If you have (good) players on defense and you can’t win — you’ve got a big problem.”

Yoko Romo?

2008-01-16T11:59:00.000-05:00

Let me be the first to say that in my extremely amateurish opinion Tony Romo did enough for the Cowboys to win on Sunday. After a 20 play drive that should have sapped the life out of the Giants, the Dallas D allows New York to drive for a tying touchdown with less than a minute left in the half. Then Patrick Crayton drops a ton of balls, and gives up on a deep fade on the last drive that ended up barely out of his reach, and the Dallas vaunted O-Line performed like a leaky sieve. Some knowledgeable football guys have vouched that Pro Bowl tackle Flozell Adams was ineffective because he was too gassed at the end of the game.

By the fourth quarter, the Giants' rush had whipped the massive Cowboy offensive linemen and unhinged Tony Romo, and Dallas was finished. It was like a 15-round bout in which the better conditioned fighter is left standing. Left tackle Flozell Adams, for instance, a highly effective pass blocker, but not what you'd call a finely tuned athlete, was in a state of near collapse toward the end. Andre Gurode, the center, was going through some weird problem with snapping the ball. And so forth.

So no, I don't think that the Romo/Jessica Cabo San Lucas trip was a big deal, in the abstract. After all, Tom Brady was caught on TMZ out in NYC with Gisele during the bye week, and I'm sure Peyton Manning took his wife out to Hardees in between film watching--hey, he lost too.

At the same time, it's been speculated that Jessica's dad released the Cabo photos. Now, Jessica Simpson does seem like the kind of actress/performer who will eventually give up her horrible career to settle down with an athlete and have kids and maybe have a comeback special 20 years down the road. But I'm sure her dad is not thinking that way, and he's trying to build up some/any publicity for whatever terrible project that is being lined up next for her (movie/album/perfume/acne wash).

Whatever Romo's affection for Simpson and/or her knockers--perhaps their relationship is the real deal, as too are the twins. But Romo has to be smart enough to realize that Jessica probably isn't really in control of her life, her dad is. And Romo may not want to get into bed with Joe Simpson just yet.

Do I fault Romo for taking a beautiful young thing to Cabo for a few days of fun and sun? No. Do I fault him for doing it with Jessica? Kind of. Clearly if she's not using him, then Joe Simpson is, and Romo has to be smarter than that.

Sports Illustrated has an amusing slideshow of femme fatales (and in Marion Jones's case, femme fatalers) who brought down their athletic men. I didn't remember that Gastineau quit football in the middle of a season because of Brigitte and/or steroids. Or that Tatum O'Neal spelled the decline of McEnroe's career.

How Far Away?

2008-01-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

I say the Steelers are one dominant pass rusher and a solid center away from being a championship team. You look at a team, and there are so many holes, but not all of them get exposed every game, or even exposed in critical ways. They are solid at QB/RB/TE/LB/DB, but need real help at OG/C/DL. The secondary rarely gets any help, and the Steelers have placed such a premium (or gotten awfully lucky) with centers that they have almost as few centers (Mansfield, Webster, Dawson, Hartings) as coaches in the Noll/Cowher span.

But then you have to factor in coaching, and the Steelers seemed determined to mess that up. After their amazing 1st drive down the field against Jax, you never saw them come out like that again, even though it worked. And Tomlin calling himself "a gambler who plays to win" doesn't make sense in the context of a) the 2 point conversion from the 12 and b) the turtle play on 3rd and 6 with the game on the line. Unless by "a gambler" he means someone who bets too much on long odds and too little on short odds. Which makes him a loser.

At the beginning of games, it's the players and how well they execute. At the ends of games, it's the coaches putting their players in a position to win. You can play the supposed percentages all you want, punt the ball and put it in the hands of the defense and make them drive the length of the field, or half of it, or only 30 yards because of a shitty punt--or you could go with the player with the hot hand and let them win it for you. Don't put them in a bad position, then blame them for not executing. Too much of that happens in the Steel City.

Are you for serious?

2008-01-14T11:39:00.001-05:00

Read this despicable article blaming everyone but Peyton Manning for the Colts loss. Do you really think he needs another NFL journalist to wash his balls?

FACT: Peyton Manning killed a drive by overthrowing Reggie Wayne inside the 20.

FACT: On the last drive, Peyton went deep 2 plays in a row (which he also did in a playoff loss to the Steelers in 2005) when he had been eating up the Chargers on mid-range higher percentage passes.

Peyton surely wasn't the sole reason the Colts lost, but he must shoulder his share of the blame.

This article might make more sense if it was about Tony Romo. Patrick Crayton really let him down, esp. at the end when he gave up on a deep pass.

The Playoff Peaking Theory

2008-01-13T16:28:00.001-05:00

In 2004, the Steelers went 15-1 in the regular season and lost in the playoffs.
In 2005 the Steelers were 7-5 and went on a 7 game winning streak to take the Super Bowl.

In 2005 the Colts started out 13-0 and lost in the playoffs to the Steelers.
In 2006 they beat their longtime nemesis the Pats and won the Super Bowl.

Since 2004, teams that peaked in the regular season fizzed out in the playoffs, but the following year they peaked in the playoffs. Is that the case this year?

In 2006 the San Diego Chargers went 14-2 and lost to the Pats on a stupid play. They fired their coach, Marty Schottenheimer--known for choking in the playoffs and picked Norv Turner, known for choking, period. They started out 1-3 and finished strong, and guess what, they just knocked off the Colts.

But for my theory to become true, the NFL's worst head coach (Turner) must defeat the NFL's best coach (Billicheat). I think the Chargers are a bigger, stronger, and faster version of Jacksonville, who held their own against the Pats. Their offense just couldn't keep pace. Provided Rivers and Tomlinson are back, the Chargers have a chance...But will Norv fuck it up?

Let's say my theory holds true this year...well, that means the Pats will win next year. Here's hoping my theory dies a quick death post February 3, 2008.

Mike Holmgren Is Searching for a Tight End

2008-01-13T11:27:00.000-05:00

Great article on the problems Mike Holmgren has had with his Tight Ends, a key element in the "West Coast" passing philosophy. (See this link for the real history of the West Coast Offense, which is the Sid Gilman/Don Coryell/Zampese/Turner/Martz vertical passing offense, not the "dink and dunk" that Bill Walsh came up with as a coach for the Bengals.)

Holmgren had Mark Chmura, in Green Bay, and Jerramy Stevens and Marcus Pollard in Seattle. Chmura was reliable and athtletic, apparently, though he had character problems too. Jerramy Stevens was big and fast but a notorious pass dropper, esp. in the Super Bowl against the Steelers, while Pollard "pulled a Northcutt" yesterday and fumbled a pass that led to a Green Bay TD, dropped a pass in the end zone, and later dropped another just for good measure.

I, Dennis Northcutt, Am a Professional Pass Dropper

2008-01-13T10:53:00.000-05:00

I, Dennis Northcutt, am a wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars. I used to play wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns. And to this day I just don't understand why it's so important to catch the ball.

Catching the ball is hard, I know this. Believe me, I've tried. It's hard on the QB, too. People look at me, and say, why did you drop that ball? And I look back at them and say, how many perfect pass patterns have I run, wherein I was wide open, that went unacknowledged? The pass didn't even go my way!! And no one goes back to David Garrard, or, say Tim Couch, and asks them, why didn't you see Dennis out there? That fly pattern was a thing of beauty! And they might say, in reply, well, we ran the ball that play, but my retort is one and the same: Change the play!

But the real change needs to be made at the NFL level. What if wide receivers no longer had to catch passes? What if the quarterback just had to hit the wide reciver? That would make things much easier, on the both of us. And defenses, too! Because if they hit the ball, then it's their's! What a beautiful game that would be, with me running free like a gazelle, concentrating on my movement, with no concern in the world to turn back into the lights and try to bring my useless claws to around that fragile pigskin. And think of the pigs too! Maybe we could play without a ball!

For I am the T-Rex of football.

Editor's Note: Dennis Northcutt is widely hailed by Steelers fans for the easy TD pass he dropped in the Steelers/Browns playoff game in 2002, a game the Steelers did not deserve to win because for some reason the secondary, led by SS Lethon "Lee" Flowers, could not but look up for the ball without falling flat on their asses. Northcutt reprised his pass dropping performance as a Jaguar last night against NE, dropping 2 passes, one of which would have enabled the Jags to score a TD instead of settling for a field goal.

SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings

2008-01-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

It’s been two months since our last Power Rankings. Let’s see how things have changed.

Heavyweights

Randy Couture’s out, so we need a new Heavyweight Champion. While we’d love to see Arlovski in the mix somewhere (hopefully vs. Gonzaga one day soon), contract disputes have sidelined him for a while now, making his future outlook a little hazy. We’ve dropped him in the rankings accordingly, and since Gonzaga’s last fight was a loss (to Couture), we can’t expect him to hold the #1 Contender spot, now can we?

It only makes sense to give the #1 and #2 spots to former champ Tim Sylvia and “Minotauro” Nogueira—both of whom are coming off wins to “The Truth” and “The Texas Crazy Horse,” respectively. Sylvia and Nogueira will do battle on Super Bowl weekend, February 2, 2008 for an Interim Heavyweight Title. They deserve their spots, although thanks to a near knockout at the hands of Herring in his UFC debut, Nogueira takes the #2 spot, rather than the #1, contrary to what most of the rest of the world seems to rank him.

If you ask us about Cheick Kongo, we feel the giant Frenchman is still two wins away from a title shot, and he’ll get his chance against Heath Herring at UFC 82, assuming Hearing accepts the rumored bout. Eddie Sanchez is also climbing the ranks with a recent win over Soa Palalei, but he has far to go before he’ll see a title bout.

This month, we unfortunately had to drop Jake O’Brien off the list, due to the 12 months that have passed since his last UFC fight. We know he’s battling back from a potentially career-ending injury, and we wish him the best of luck. While Tom Murphy, who hasn’t fought in 22 months, is still on the list, this is because he was supposed to fight O’Brien, who had to pull out with an injury. If we don’t hear of any rumored bouts for Murphy in the next month or so, he’ll drop off the list once again, making room for Antoni Hardonk. In the meantime, O’Brien’s absence leaves room for Justin “The Insane 1” McCully to make his first appearance into the Top 15.

Upcoming Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabricio Werdum at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – We favor Gonzaga by decision.
#17 Antoni Hardonk vs. #21 Colin Robinson at UFC 80 – We’re going with the underdog via TKO ground and pound.
Nogueira vs. Sylvia at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – We’re going with the former champ, hands down, by decision.
Former champ Frank Mir vs. UFC newcomer and former big-time wrestling star Brock Lesnar at UFC 81 – This is the toughest call of the lot in our eyes, as we don’t know what to expect from Lesnar. We go with Mir by decision.
Kongo vs. Herring at UFC 82 (Mar. 1) – We’d love to see the Crazy Horse take this one, but chances are Kongo will come in in better shape and avoid the take down. We’re picking Kongo by TKO (strikes) in the 3^rd round.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Light Heavyweights

Last time we updated the Power Rankings, we moved Dan Henderson to Middleweight to challenge Champion Anderson Silva for the belt. Sticking with SteelSkins’ tradition of ranking a fighter in just one weight class at a time, he was removed from the LHW Power Rankings.

This month sees Michael Bisping do the same thing. His absence from the LHW Top 15 moves everyone below him up one spot (he was ranked #10 last time), and it introduces Wilson Gouveia to the mix, whose 3-1 record inside the Octagon includes back-to-back-to-back wins over Carmelo Marrero, Seth Petruzelli and Wes Combs, with his only UFC loss at the hands of the #1 Contender, Keith Jardine.

At UFC 79 in December, we watched Chuck Liddell defeat Wanderlei Silva in an absolute slugfest. Silva’s stamina and chin deserves consideration here, which is why we’re not dropping him, despite back-to-back-to-back losses to top talent. Plus, Tito Ortiz’s prolonged contract dispute isn’t helping his case for moving up in the rankings. If he wins his next fight, we see a strong case for him moving past Rashad Evans in the rankings, based both on Silva’s excitability and Evans’ inability to finish.

Although once ranked #4 in the SteelSkins Power Rankings, months of inactivity coupled with the introduction of numerous PRIDE veterans has dropped Jason Lambert considerably. Luckily for him, a fight with Wilson Gouveia for UFC 80 this month has been scheduled. A loss could drop him out of the Top 15 entirely. Unfortunately a win won’t do much to push him up, considering the amazing pool of talent ahead of him. So much for missed opportunities.

Lyoto Machida’s win over highly regarded UFC newcomer Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou catapults him past both Shogun and Thiago Silva, who recently halted Houston Alexander’s title hopes. Machida is extremely dangerous and has been calling out Chuck Liddell—a fight we’d hate to see happen, based on both fighters being counter-punchers. Machida should instead be asking for Tito Ortiz or Rashad Evans, in our eyes. Rumor has it, he just might get Ortiz at UFC 84 in May. Otherwise, Ortiz might be pitted up against Shogun Rua.

Upcoming Light Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Lambert vs. Gouleia at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – This is a tough fight to call, but we’re going with the underdog by submission in the 3^rd round.
#24 Alessio Sakara vs. #25 UFC newcomer James Lee at UFC 80, after which Sakara will drop to MW no matter the outcome, which we agree is in his best interests – Our pick is Sakara via decision.
#19 David Heath vs. #22 Tomasz Drwal at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – Drwal will hand Heath his third straight loss, via KO in the 2^nd round.
Houston Alexander vs. #17 James Irvin at UFC 83 (Mar. 8) – Alexander wins the slugfest late in the 1^st round via TKO (strikes).
Hamill vs. Bonnar at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – A great matchup! Unfortunately for Bonnar, who we like to watch fight, we don’t see him getting past Hamill, who will win by decision.
Shogun Rua vs. TBD at UFC 84 (April 19)
Ortiz vs. Machida at UFC 84 (April 19) – If this rumored fight happens, we see Machida eeking out a win via decision.
Champion Rampage Jackson will fight Forrest Griffin after coaching TUF7 (currently unscheduled) – Call us crazy, but we’re going with the underdog here, by decision in five rounds.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Middleweights

A lot of action is planned in the Middleweight division in the next few months, which is good because we’ve seen nearly no movement in the Middleweight Top 15 for quite some time.

In the months ahead, we’ll see how a three-year layoff from the sport will affect Ricardo Almeida, who inked a 6-fight deal with the UFC. Almeida is a PRIDE and UFC veteran and MW King of Pancrase, with wins over Nate Marquardt and WW Ryo Chonan.

Over the past two months, we saw #18 Dean Lister defeat #34 Jordan Radev (big surprise) at UFC 79. We also welcome Michael Bisping to the Middleweight Power Rankings, thanks to his drop in weight.

With Martin Kampmann’s prolonged knee injury and no mention of his return any time soon, he’s dropping quickly from his one-time #4 status. We hope he returns soon, because his division needs the depth.

Upcoming Middleweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Kendall Grove vs. #25 Jorge Rivera at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – Grove is going to wipe the floor with the old timer, winning by submission in the early 2^nd round.
Nate Marquardt vs. Jeremy Horn, who is filling in for an injured Thales Leites, at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – This is going to be a great fight, and we hope Horn pulls it off. That said, our money is on Marquardt by decision.
Richardo Almeida vs. #21 Alan Belcher at UFC 81 – The UFC isn’t doing Almeida any favors by re-introducing him to the UFC with Alan Belcher. We say Belcher submits him in the 2^nd round.
#24 Patrick Cote vs. #28 Drew McFedries at UFC 81 – McFedries is going to wish his severe staph infection would have sidelined him even longer. Cote wins this slugfest in the 3^rd round via TKO (strikes)
Terry Martin vs. #23 Marvin Eastman at UFC 81 – Eastman’s welcome to the MW division will be a rude one. Martin by decision.
Champ Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson at UFC 82 to unify the UFC and PRIDE MW titles (Mar. 1) – Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but we think Hendo has a shot at the upset. Smart money says otherwise. Bet on the champ, but not until the extra innings. Silva by TKO (strikes) in the 4^th.
Yushin Okami vs. Evan Tanner at UFC 82 – Man, we like Tanner, but Okami is a beast at 185. That said, we refuse to bet against the old man. Tanner by submission in round 3.
Former Champ Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter at UFC 83 (Mar. 8) – Another incredibly tough fight to call. If Franklin gets taken down, it could be over. He won’t, winning by decision.
Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy at UFC 83 – Yawn. McCarthy’s only hope is he’s a submission wizard. Bisping KO’s him in the 2^nd round.
Jason MacDonald vs. TBD at UFC 84.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Welterweights

The #1 and #2 WW Contenders, GSP and Matt Hughes, fought their rubber match in late December at UFC 79 for the Interim WW title (GSP was filling in for an injured Champion Matt Serra). GSP won in convincing fashion to earn himself a unification bout with the Champ, which should take place this April in GSP’s own backyard, Montreal, Canada. The loss knocks Hughes down several spots, and it’s anyone’s guess where he’ll go from here (although with a GSP win over Serra, Hughes will most likely fight “The Terror” in a grudge match).

UFC 79 also saw #21 Roan Carniero defeating #22 Tony DeSouza via TKO (strikes) in the 2^nd round. We’ve also removed Hayato “Mach” Sakurai from the rankings (apparently that deal fell through).

Additionally, the TUF 6 Finale on December 8 featured a crap ton of WW action, including:

Finalist Mac Danzig defeated #16 Tommy Speer via rear naked choke in the very 1^st round (Danzig will now drop to his natural weight, 155, where we rank him at #17—we had him at #13 among WWs).
#20 Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver defeated #35 Jared Rollins via TKO (strikes).
#18 George Sotiropoulos defeated #44 Billy Miles via rear naked choke.
#29 Ben Saunders defeated #41 Dan Barrera via unanimous decision.
#37 Troy “Rude Boy” Mandaloniz TKO’d #39 Richie Hightower (strikes) in a terrific slugfest.
#30 Matt Arroyo defeated #38 John Kolosci via arm bar.
#33 Roman Mitichyan defeated #47 Dorian Price via ankle lock.
UFC veteran #23 Jonathan Goulet defeated newby #42 Paul Georgieff via rear naked choke.

Upcoming Welterweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

Marcus Davis vs. #25 Jess Liaudin at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – Davis will continue his climb up the WW ranks with a late 1^st round submission.
#24 Paul Taylor vs. #34 Paul Kelly at UFC 80 – The Battle of the Pauls will end with a Paul Taylor TKO (strikes) in the 2^nd round.
Mike Swick makes his WW debut vs. Josh Burkman at Fight Night 12 (Jan. 23) – This is going to be a battle, and Burkman could nail it with a submission, but we see Swick taking this fight in a decision.
Chris Lytle welcomes UFC newcomer #26 Kyle Bradley to the UFC at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – Lytle KO anybody?
Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono at UFC 82 (March 1) – We see no way for Gono to win this fight. Fitch via submission in the early 2^nd round.
Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett at UFC 82 – Another tough fight, but Kos will take him via submission in the early 3^rd round.
Luke Cummo vs. #17 Luigi Fioravanti at UFC 82 – Cummo is going to sink in a guillotine choke late in the 2^nd round.
#16 Tommy Spear vs. #40 Anthony Johnson at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – Tommy Spear will ground and pound his way into a TKO (strikes) victory in the early 2^nd round.
Champ Matt Serra vs. GSP at UFC 84 (April 19) – GSP will regain his title in a great fight. Watch for it in the 3^rd or 4^th round.
Karo Parisyan vs. Thiago Alves at UFC 84 – So much for trying to dodge tough competition in hopes for a title shot. Karo will have his hands full with the striker. We see an upset here, with Alves winning by decision.
The extremely dangerous BJJ black belt (but low ranked because of his 5-3 record and history of backing out of fights due to training injuries) #46 Jeff Joslin vs. TBD at UFC 84.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Lightweights

Sean Sherk’s steroid appeal fell on deaf ears, which strips him of his title; however, his suspension was cut in half from one year to six months. Because of this reduction in time, he has not been bumped entirely from the UFC Power Rankings, unlike his ‘roid buddy, Hermes Franca.

In the meantime, the #1 and #2 LW Contenders, B.J. Penn and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson, respectively, will fight on January 19 for the Interim LW Belt. The winner will likely fight Sherk, upon his return.

In other LW action, crowd favorite Roger Huerta defeated Clay Guida in one of the best fights of the year at the TUF 6 Finale. Despite Guida’s 2-3 UFC record (which SteelSkins believes should be 3-2, as he may have been robbed in his split decision loss to Tyson Griffin), we hope to see Guida continue to fight in the UFC, and we’re sure he will. In the slugfest with Huerta, Guida was actually winning after two rounds, until Huerta sunk in the rear naked choke.

We also saw #24 Rich Clementi defeat the foul-mouthed pity-party-craving Melvin Guillard via rear naked choke in the very 1^st round at UFC 79. SteelSkins normally doesn’t knock a fighter, but Guillard has no class and needs to seek action elsewhere until he can learn some.

TUF 5 Runner-Up #25 Manny Gamburyan also submitted #47 Nate Mohr via heal hook at UFC 79, and #39 Mark Bocek upset Doug Evans via unanimous decision, dropping Evans to #43.

Upcoming Welterweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include:

B.J. Penn vs. Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 (Jan. 19) – If Penn shows up in shape, this fight is likely his; however, if he takes this fight light, or if this fight goes into the 4^th or 5^th round, we can see Stevenson pulling off the upset. Our money is on Penn to submit Stevenson in the 3^rd round.
#20 Sam Stout vs. #32 Per Eklund (filling in for Terry Etim) at UFC 80 – We don’t know much about UFC newcomer Per Eklund, but we know Stout’s punching power ain’t nuttin’ to mess with. KO in the 3^rd round, Stout.
The long-awaited premier of 6’6” lightweight #44 Corey Hill vs. #55 Joe Veres at Fight Night 12 (Jan. 23) – Something tells us Hill won’t disappoint. Submission victory in the 2^nd round.
Thiago Tavares vs. #53 Michihiro Omigawa at Fight Night 12 – Thiago Tavares will easily submit Omigawa in the 1^st round.
Kurt Pellegrino vs. #31 Alberto Crane at Fight Night 12 – We like Pellegrino’s chances vs. the relatively unknown Crane. Batman wins by submission in the 2^nd round.
TUF 5 Winner #18 Nate Diaz vs. #21 Alvin Robinson at Fight Night 12 – Robinson is actually one inch taller than the lanky Diaz, so this should be a good fight. Still though, Diaz will follow his big brother’s advice: “Fuck him up, and don’t be a bitch.” Diaz via submission in the 2^nd round.
#22 Jeremy Stephens vs. #30 Cole Miller at Fight Night 12 – The even lankier Miller will likely have his hands full vs. the “Little Heathen.” Stephens wins by TKO (strikes) in the early 3^rd round.
#26 Dennis Siver vs. #29 Gray Maynard at Fight Night 12 – We see Maynard pulling off the upset via decision.
#33 Matt Wiman vs. #40 Justin Buchholz at Fight Night 12 – While few people will actually care to see this fight, Wiman will win by decision.
Tyson Griffin vs. #16 Gleison Tibau at UFC 81 (Feb. 2) – This is a great match-up! Tibau is riding a 4-fight win streak with his only UFC loss coming against Nick Diaz. But we see Griffin eeking out another victory with yet another decision.
#38 Rob Emerson vs. #42 Keita Nakamura at UFC 81 – The hood-rat Emerson deserves to be in jail for his involvement with the rich, pretty-boy SoCal gang, the Lords of South County. We hope to see him lose badly to Nakamura, which is wear our money is. We don’t care how it happens.
#23 Jorge Gurgel vs. #35 John Halverson at UFC 82 (Mar. 1) – The Ohio native will win in front of his home crowd. Gurgel by submission mid-way through the 3^rd round.
Kenny Florian vs. Joe Lauzon at Fight Night 13 (April 2) – This is a great match-up for Florian, but we think Lauzon is still a little too green to be challenging such an experienced fighter. Florian will win by submission in the 2^nd round, set up by an intense ground and pound.
Spencer Fisher vs. Marcus Aurelio at Fight Night 13 – Another great match-up. Fisher will look to keep this fight standing, but Aurelio could surprise him. Safe money says Fisher rebounds from his one-sided loss to Frankie Edgar and survives to win a decision.
Former Champ Sean Sherk vs. the winner of Penn/Stevenson at UFC 84 or 85.

Your Top 15 Contenders are:

The U.S. Exports Democracy, What Does Canada Export? Ass Beatings, That's What!

2008-01-10T12:19:00.000-05:00

Russian players, like other Europeans, were often regarded as "soft" when they started playing in the NHL because they weren't down with the NHL's long and storied tradition of dropping the gloves when a) the team needed a "spark" b) the game was boring c) the game was out of hand d) the goalie looked at me cross-eyed and b) during regulation time. But as we can see below, the Russians think fighting is pretty cool after all!

I didn't listen with sound, which I imagine is in Russian, but it looks like some footage replayed at different angles. I like the part where they are all standing around and then someone's like, "Hey guys, we never fight on other side of rink! Let's check out!" Plus, it's always good to see the fight instigators deliver the most vicious beatings.
(Hat Tip: Deadspin)
Cross-posted on Barrelhouse

This Blogging Thing is Hard!!

2008-01-10T12:18:00.000-05:00

But do prepare for a deluge of MMA and Pittsburgh Steeler turtling posts.

How to NOT Breed a Champion

2007-12-14T14:53:00.001-05:00

Hook these two up.

Luckily, they are both on the north side of 50. For those of you not in the know, Chris Evert was most known for losing to Martina Navritilova, and Greg Norman had some memorable choke jobs. For more on choke artists, see this ESPN article.

Formula One's Michael Schumacher Turns Cab Driver

2007-12-12T11:15:00.000-05:00

Formula One's Michael Schumacher--one of the most recognized faces in sports outside the U.S.--apparently used his celebrity to commandeer a taxi cab that was going too slow for comfort.

The Schumacher family flew to southern Germany from Switzerland on Saturday via private jet to buy a puppy. The cabbie drove the family to a breeder in Gesuelz, then back to the airport.

But on the ride back, the cabbie apparently wasn't going fast enough for Schumacher's taste, so the seven-time Formula One Champion--the most successful FO driver in history--told the cabbie to skooch over.

"It was sheer lunacy," cabbie Tuncer Yilmaz told the Muenchener Abendzeitung newspaper. "He took the curves with full speed, but you couldn't even notice it. He just knows how to do it."

Schumacher showed his appreciation by giving the cabbie a €100 ($146.72) tip, on top of the €60 ($88.03) fare.

Yilmaz' only regret? He wishes German photo radar would have caught Schumacher speeding.

"I so much would have loved to get a speeding photo of this ride," Yilmaz told the Abendzeitung. "I would have gladly paid a ticket for that."

The 4-3 vs. the 3-4 -- Why the Steelers Should Make the Switch in 2008 -- Post 1 of 2

2007-12-10T12:23:00.001-05:00

This is a GREAT article...money quote:

Part of the problem is 3-4 teams have more competition for players who exclusively fit the scheme. A quarter of the league’s teams are expected to run the 3-4 this season, including the Browns under second-year Coach Romeo Crennel — who helped make the 3-4 so popular with his success as defensive coordinator in New England.

More teams are using it now than it any point since the mid-’80s. Just three years ago, only four teams used the 3-4.

“There was a time there when you could look at certain guys (who fit the 3-4) and say nobody else in the league is going to have this guy rated very high because he’s not a 4-3 end and he’s not a 4-3 ’backer,” Patriots Coach Bill Belichick says. “That’s not the case now.”

The other issue is unless a 3-4 team is scouting a player at Virginia or Texas A&M, it can’t see that player use the techniques required in a 3-4 defense. As NFL teams have warmed to the 3-4, colleges have cooled to it. That means almost every outside linebacker a 3-4 NFL team looks at is a projection

The way the Steelers do the 3-4, they draft a guy at DE or OLB and groom him for years—Aaron Smith, Brett Kiesel, Joey Porter, Clark Haggans, James Harrison. Do the Steelers have the people to replace these guys? At DL, definitely not. At LB, probably not, but you never know.

An advantage of the 4-3, is that many college teams run it, so you can get a DT or DE or LB “out of the box”, that is, you can plug and play the guy without having to sit him for 3 years so he can learn the complex schemes of the Steeler 3-4.

Another distinct advantage of the 4-3 is that the most dominant players from a defensive perspective end up being pass rushing DEs (Dwight Freeney, Jevon Kearse, Mark Anderson, Alex Brown, Terrell Suggs, etc.) who don’t have the bulk to play 3-4 DE and don’t have the linebacking skills to play OLB. That means you take a player (or more typically you pass on the player) who can have an outsized impact on the game relative to his position, and then try to make him into something he is not, which means that you may diminish his pass rushing skills just so he can drop into coverage, or you have to wait 2 years for him to master those skills and then have an impact on the game.

For example: Mark Anderson, DE Chicago. Had 12 sacks as a rookie last year. Picked in the 5th round. Why couldn’t the Steelers take a flyer on him as a situational pass rusher? Oh, right, because he can’t cover the TE. But how is that different from the other Steelers LBs?

Caveat: Granted, Terrell Suggs is considered an OLB in the Ravens 34, but for his first few seasons he rushed the passer almost exclusively and had a huge impact...believe me, Suggs won't sign a rich FA contract in the offseason because he is good at covering in the flat.

The 4-3 vs. the 3-4 -- Why the Steelers Should Make the Switch in 2008 -- Post 2 of 2

2007-12-10T12:07:00.000-05:00

The fabled Steelers D got ripped to shreds last night by the Pats, in a scenario that was first documented by the, yep, New England Patriots way back in 2002. 25 passes in a row by Tom Brady let to a 30-14 win, where the last Steeler TD was in garbage time. Last night Tom Brady threw 33 times in a row -- the result, 34-13, Pats. Since Pittsburgh got exposed by the Pats 5 years ago, little has changed. The Steelers still don't have a dominant pass rush, and thus must take risks to get to the quarterback.

Meanwhile, Tony Dungy runs the Tampa 2, a base defense with a somewhat basic scheme that relies on pressure from the Front 4, allowing 7 players to routinely play coverage. Mike Tomlin, Steeler coach, is a Tampa 2 guy, but in deference to old lion Dick LeBeau (and probably owner Rooney's wishes), the Steelers have stuck with their 3-4 concept this year. In Dungy's defense, players dictate schemes, while in the Steelers defense, schems dicate the players. Here's my argument for why that should change in 2008.

Steelers 2008 Draft Needs: 3-4

3-4 DL depth: currently the Steelers have a quality front 3, Smith Hampton Kiesel. They have one quality backup: Hoke. The steelers need to find 2 3-4 DEs in the draft or FA next year.

3-4 LB depth: Farrior is getting old, Foote is average. Timmons is not a 3-4 OLB, and will probably have to move inside. Woodley has shown flashes, but didn't paly much and is now injured. Haggans is average, J. Harrison is quality, and A. Harrison and A. Frazier are solid backups. Clint Kreiwaldt is only good for STs. At the very least, the Steelers need a pass rushing OLB who can also play well in coverage, which is kind of a funny requirement given how poor the existing Steeler LBs are in coverage.

Secondary: Because of the rules that favor the offense, pass rush becomes more important than coverage. Plus, there are maybe 3 shutdown corners in the league: Charles Woodson, GB; Champ Bailey, Denver; and the Oakland guy with the crazy name. Asante Samuel of NE could be considered too. The Steelers have big, physical corners who are often ineffective in soft zone coverage, as they are asked to play often in the 3-4. The Steelers shouldn't looke for a gamebreaker, but rather look for depth here.

2008 Steelers Draft Needs: 4-3

4-3 DL depth: Kiesel would stay at end, Smith would move inside with Hampton, and Woodley would put his hand down to be a full-time pass rusher. The steelers would need to draft a 4-3 DE and a 4-3 DT, with Hoke as the one quality backup. NOTE: I assume that a 4-3 is easier on the DL, because there are more of them, and they typically have one gap to play rather than 2. Plus, both Hampton and Kiesel can drop weight, which will make them quicker and more effective.

4-3 LB depth: 43 backers are SAM--or strongside linebacker, who is big, physical, and must jam the TE. the MIKE, or middle backer, should be quick and able to flow to the ball (in the Tampa 2 43 he must also be able to cover the deep zone down the field). The WILL, or weakside backer, is set up to be the star--he can roam in space and make plays. In the Steelers 43 system, Haggans plays the SAM, Farrior moves to back him up (he can also back up as MIKE), as he played OLB early in his career. If you want to run the Tampa 2 43, Timmons plays the Mike because of his speed and pass coverage skills. James Harrison must get on the field, but he doesn’t have the range to play a 4-3 Tampa MLB. He may have the skills to play WILL, but I can see a situation where Harrison plays inside and Timmons weakside OLB.

Final Analysis:

In the 43, the Steelers need 2 defensive linemen commonly available in the draft to "plug and play." They also would need a SAM backer and maybe a WILL, but as depth.

In the 34, the Steelers need 2 DEs who must be selected and then forced to add weight and then groomed for the position in 2 years. They also need to find a rarity: the OLB who can rush the passer effectively and play in coverage. They haven't had that player since Joey Porter in 2002.

So, in 2008, you can look for 2 DLs and one LB who can possibly play right away, or two DEs and one OLB that you need to groom for 2 years first. Given the way the game changes from year to year, I don't think the Steelers can afford to go this route again.

Can the Steelers Beat the Pats and/or the Spread?

2007-12-05T17:24:00.000-05:00

In a word, yes, or maybe. Actually I don't think so. This game has the makings of the Steelers Colts in 05 where the Steelers got blitzed 26-7. But remember, they came back in the playoffs and beat the Colts on their way to the Super Bowl.

Also, I read on one of the major sports sites that since the 38-7 cremation of the Ravens, where Big Ben had 5 TD passes, he has thrown 5 TDs and 5 INTs in the following 3 games. Not good.

Watching the Steelers week to week, I know these things: If they have a shutdown corner in Ike Taylor, I haven't seen it yet, but maybe it's more scheme than ability. If they have a pass rush that can get to the QB without blitzing, I haven't seen it yet. If they have an offensive line that can impose it's will on a defense, I haven't seen it yet.

Maybe they are holding back, playing possum, not revealing too much lest it show up on tape for Belichick to analyze. But obviously I haven't seen that yet.

Another thing that I haven't seen, that I wish I have, is Rookie LBs Timmons and Woodley playing bigger roles. Woodley seemed to show an ability to get to the quarterback off the edge, which the Steelers need like the Dolphins need a win. Timmons is fast, fast enough to be split wide on the punt team, and apparently has flashed enough coverage skills in practice that he may prove valuable in covering the New England TEs and RBs. But that's in practice.

But there's one thing I HAVE seen from the Steelers is inconsistency. Mental lapses, seemingly deficient gameplans and attention to detail, bumbling plays, and a knack for playing down to their opposition. Will they be able to get up for the New England megalith? I hope so. But if not, maybe if they meet again in the playoffs, things will be different. I would like to see that.

Which Douchebag Coach Do The Patriots Have to Thank for a Perfect Season?

2007-12-04T00:14:00.001-05:00

Bill Belichick? Or Rex Ryan?

With 1 minute left in the game and the Pats driving for the game winning TD, the Pats rushed the line of scrimmage on 4th and 1 for a patented Tom Brady QB sneak. You would have to be stupid not to expect that play, and the Ravens D knew what was up, and took Brady down behind the line of scrimmage. Say Goodbye, Perfect Season...

But...But...Wait...Oh, timeout? By whom? Oh...Ravens...What?? Ravens Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan called timeout from the sidelines just as the play snapped. Do Over, Pats 1st down, Game Over.

Calling timeouts from the sideline has been NFL coaches signature douchebag move this year (see Shanahan, Mike), esp. right as a game winning or tying field goal is about to be kicked. As much as I hate the Patriots and wanted to see them lose, I am pretty pleased to see the sideline timeout backfire on a coach. Maybe then they'll actually change the rule so that only players within the lines can call timeout, as it should be.

On another note, the Ravens D thought they had this game won, and they did. They certainly have a beef with Head Coach Brian Billick, who resorted to unimaginative playcalling when trying to protect the lead and left Kyle Boller to be fed to the wolves by passing in obvious passing situations. However, Ed Reed did fumble an INT right before the half--if he merely held onto the ball, the Ravens would have been in scoring position--which is unconscionable, esp. for Bill Belichick's favorite player. And Bart Scott's meltdown, being assessed 30 yards in penalties after the go-ahead touchdown, basically downgrading the Ravens chances from slim to none, is also unforgivable. The Ravens D is just as much to blame in this loss as their Offense...but maybe not their coaches.

They Are Not Who We Thought They Once Were, But Now Are

2007-12-03T16:37:00.001-05:00

Dear Joe Gibbs:For Christmas, I will buy you a car. Hell, three cars, but if I do, that football has got to go. Don't worry, it looks like your poop. So you won't miss it. And it won't miss you.

Dear Marvin Lewis:

I guess coaching God's Linebacker in Baltimore made you think that you could draft questionable characters and still get results on the field. Well, it's true. But you didn't learn another thing from God's Linebacker, or He Who Sanctioned But Did Not Commit--So, You Must Acquit!--Murder Because It Is God's Will: Don't draft pussies.

Chad Johnson: If he acts like a transvestite when he scores, maybe he is. He even has a stage name!

T.J. Housmenzadeh: This guy is prettier than your wife.

Carson Palmer: He's like Troy Aikman, but gayer.

P.S. Don't play grabass with the refs, either. It's unprofessional.

This Week in Non-Sports News: HuckaChuck

2007-11-30T15:45:00.000-05:00

Next Top Model

2007-11-29T15:36:00.001-05:00

Found in a recent Sports Illustrated:

I think this dramatically alters the equation of that eternal question discussed here.

I am going to start the bidding that this is worth 10 annoying Peyton Manning commercials.

SteelSkins UFC Power Rankings

2007-11-19T14:53:00.000-05:00

It’s been two months since our last Power Rankings. Let’s see how things have changed.

Heavyweights

The big question here is, will estranged HW Champion Randy Couture agree to come back to the UFC to finish his contract (he has two fights remaining over the next nine months)? UFC President Dana White is sitting down with Couture on Tuesday, November 20, to discuss the terms of their arrangement and an upcoming fight with “Minotauro” Nogueira on Super Bowl weekend, February 2, 2008.

Otherwise—if Couture walks—Nogueira will face former champ Tim Sylvia for the vacant belt. This makes some sense, as Andrei Arlovski’s future is still stalled in a contract dispute (plus, Sylvia has beaten the Belarussian twice), and the only other HW contender coming off a win is Cheick Kongo, who we believe is still one win away from a title shot. Regardless, we hope there’s an Arlovski/Gonzaga fight somewhere in the near future.

This week, we dropped Arlovski three places due to inactivity (since April) associated with his contract dispute; Sylvia gains one with a win over Vera (via unanimous decision), dropping “The Truth” two spots; Jeff Monson, who is no longer under UFC contract and hasn’t fought in the organization in more than a year drops off, as does Marcio Cruz; and Brock Lesnar and Tom Murphy make their first Top 15 appearances (Note: Murphy also hasn’t fought in more than a year—since March 2006—but is supposed to be fighting in the UFC soon).

Upcoming Heavyweight fights currently scheduled and/or rumored include Eddie Sanchez vs. #19 UFC newcomer Soa “The Hulk” Palalei at UFC 79 (Dec. 29); Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Fabricio Werdum at UFC 80 (Jan. 19); #17 Antoni Hardonk vs. #21 Colin Robinson at UFC 80; Nogueira vs. either Couture or Sylvia at UFC 81 (Feb. 2); and former champ Frank Mir vs. UFC newcomer and former big-time wrestling star Brock Lesnar at UFC 81. Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Light Heavyweights

The Light Heavyweight Division saw its own share of shuffling over the past two months, including:

It was just announced that Dan Henderson will be dropping back down to Middleweight to challenge Champion Anderson Silva for the belt. Sticking with SteelSkins’ tradition of ranking a fighter in just one weight class at a time, we have removed him from this month’s LHW Power Rankings.
Tito Ortiz’s prolonged contract dispute has cut into any momentum he might have once had, pushing him down a few spots.
Renalto “Babalu” Sobral’s choking stunt against David Heath at UFC 74 earned him the boot from the organization, so he’s dropped off the map.
TUF2 winner Rashad Evans outlasted TUF3 winner Michael Bisping to win via split decision at UFC78.
Also at UFC 78, Thiago Silva stopped Houston Alexander’s “meteoric rise” up the LHW rankings, earning him four spots (TKO due to strikes).
Then-#16 Stephan Bonnar defeated then- #22 Eric Schafer at UFC 77 (TKO due to strikes), which re-introduces the “American Psycho” into the Top 15.
Jason Lambert continues to get no mention from anyone anywhere, pushing him even further down the ranks (he was once ranked #4 in the SteelSkins Power Rankings due to his win over Babalu—before the recent influx of PRIDE talent).
And the UFC recently announced the signing of free-agent Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, a widely considered top 10 contender who holds notable wins over Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (“Little Nog”).

Upcoming LHW bouts include Wanderlei Silva making his Octagon return vs. Chuck Liddell at UFC 79 (Dec. 29), both of whom are coming off rare back-to-back losses; Ryoto Machida will introduce Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou to the Octagon at UFC 79; and #24 Alessio Sakara will take on #25 UFC newcomer James Lee at UFC 80 (Jan. 19). Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Middleweights

The thin Middleweight division saw the introduction of Champion Anderson Silva’s biggest threat to date: PRIDE’s MW Champion Dan Henderson. The two Champions are scheduled to meet in a unification bout at UFC 82 in March in Columbus, OH.

Another addition to the MW division is a PRIDE and UFC veteran and MW King of Pancrase, Ricardo Almeida, who last fought in the UFC at UFC 35, back in 2002. Now signed to a six-fight contract, Almeida hasn't fought professionally in more than three years, although he's riding a six-fight win streak, including wins over Nate Marquardt and WW Ryo Chonan.

Fights over the past two months included:

MW Champion Anderson Silva defeated former Champ Rich Franklin (TKO due to strikes) for the second time at UFC 77.
Yushin Okami defeated Jason MacDonald via unanimous decision (UFC 77).
#19 Alan Belcher defeated #24 Kalib Starnes via TKO (doctor stoppage due to cut) at UFC 77.
UFC newcomer #17 Demian Maia defeated #33 Ryan Jensen via rear naked choke in the first round (UFC 77).
And Ed Herman earned sweet redemption over a past lost to Joe Doerksen at UFC 78. The win (via KO in round 3) earned him $55,000 in “KO of the Night” money and his first appearance in the SteelSkins Top 15 Power Rankings.

Upcoming fights include #18 Dean Lister vs. #34 Jordan Radev at UFC 79 (Dec. 29); Kendall Grove vs. #23 Jorge Rivera at UFC 80 (Jan. 19); Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites at UFC 81 (Feb. 2); #22 Patrick Cote vs. TBD at UFC 81; and Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson at UFC 82 (Mar. 1). Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Welterweights

Normally one of the more busy divisions, the Welterweights saw little action over the last two months. Along with knocking Drew Fickett down two pegs due to inactivity (he hasn’t fought in the UFC since April, but has gone 1-0 in other organizations), the SteelSkins Top 15 saw the following activity:

Josh Burkman defeated #26 Forrest Petz via unanimous decision (UFC 77).
Karo Parisyan defeated UFC newcomer Ryo Chonan via unanimous decision (UFC 78).
Thiago Alves defeated Chris Lytle via TKO (doctor stoppage due to cuts) at UFC 78.
And UFC newcomer #20 Akihiro Gono defeated #22 Tamdan “The Barn Cat” McCrory via arm bar (UFC 78).

Despite the slow couple of months, the TUF 6 Finale on December 8 will include a plethora of WW action—likely 6 or 7 matchups, along with the LW headliner detailed below. Other upcoming fights include Champion Matt Serra vs. former Champ Matt Hughes (UFC 79); #19 Tony DeSouza vs. #22 Roan Carniero (UFC 79); Marcus Davis vs. #24 Jess Liaudin (UFC 80); #23 Paul Taylor vs. #29 Paul Kelly at UFC 80; and Mike Swick making his WW debut vs. TBD (Fight Night 12). Your Top 15 Contenders are:

Lightweights

Sean Sherk’s steroid appeal has been postponed for a third time, and will now take place on December 4. Barring a miracle, Sherk will be stripped of his title and removed from the SteelSkins Power Rankings until his suspension is served (likely on July 5, 2008, when both he and former #1 Contender Hermes Franca will return to action).

In the meantime, the UFC announced a match up for the “Interim LW Belt” between #1 Contender B.J. Penn and #2 Contender Joe “Daddy” Stevenson. The winner will likely fight Sherk, upon his return, to unify the belts.

The last two months saw moderate action, including:

#25 Alvin Robinson spoiled hometown favorite #21 Jorge Gurgel’s Cincinnati debut (via unanimous decision) at UFC 77.
#42 Matt Grice upset #23 Jason Black to win via split decision at UFC 77.
Frankie Edgar impressed against Spencer Fisher to win via unanimous decision at UFC 78.
Joe Lauzon defeated then-undefeated #40 Jason Reinhardt via rear naked choke at UFC 78.
And Marcus Aurelio defeated #54 Luke Caudillo via TKO (strikes) at UFC 78.

Upcoming fights include Roger Huerta vs. Clay Guida (TUF 6 Finale); Melvin Guillard vs. #31 Rich Clementi (UFC 79); TUF 5 Runner-Up #26 Manny Gamburyan vs. #42 Nate Mohr (UFC 79); #30 Doug Evans vs. #44 Mark Bocek (UFC 79); B.J. Penn vs. Joe Stevenson (UFC 80); #18 Sam Stout vs. #33 Terry Etim (UFC 80); The long-awaited premier of 6’6” lightweight #39 Corey Hill vs. TBD (Fight Night 12); and Tyson Griffin vs. Gleison Tibau (UFC 81). Your Top 15 Contenders are:

No one asked, but I'm telling

2007-11-15T12:54:00.000-05:00

Sorry to interrupt Adam's multiple post epic on how to beat up Anderson Cooper (answer: tell him he has a hair out of place and then punch him in the groin when he panics), but I'm ready to roll out my NFL Power Rankings. Kind of a pointless task this season, since it really is the Patriots and everybody else, but I always enjoy the art of placing increasingly mediocre teams in some kind of order based on pretty much nothing.

So here goes. I may do another one of these at some point this season. I may not. Depends.

Ladies and germs, your 2007 Week 10 NFL Power Dower Dippsy Doo Rankeroos:

New England – Head and shoulders above the rest.
Dallas – They gave Pats their closest game, and have been very good nearly every week.
Pittsburgh – Getting more impressive by the week now, but those losses to bad teams still scare me. The comeback against the resurgent Browns was more impressive than most think.
Indy – Injuries are starting to take their toll. Peyton and company will have to go back to outscoring every opponent. They can do it, though.
Green Bay – Favre is the best story of the season. A matchup against the Pats in the Super Bowl would be good vs. evil. And a TV ratings bonanza. Probably wouldn’t be a close game, though.
New York Giants – Despite the stumble against the Cowboys, this might be the NFC’s best team. But troubling signs are popping up: Burress has been slowed and seems injured, and this is about the time of year when Giants teams of the past have gotten sick of Coughlin’s bullshit and essentially mutinied. We’ll see.
Tampa Bay – Here’s a team that no one is talking about. Not sure how Gruden is doing it, but they’re in good position for the playoffs. Yep, coaching matters.
San Diego – With the kind of talent this team has, appearing this low on the rankings this late in the season seems insane. But they eeked out a win over Indy on a night when they caught 6 interceptions. Only an uncharacteristic Vinateiri gak job saved them from a loss. Poor Norv. Yep, coaching matters.
Cleveland – The Browns might have the most explosive offense in the game. Wasn’t Romeo a defensive guy in New England. I like this team slipping into the playoffs, and they’re looking good for years to come.
Seattle – And here’s about where we start to run out of good teams. What do I like about Seattle? Um…the coffee? And even that is overrated. They’re over .500, so slot ‘em here, though there was nothing impressive about shutting out San Fran. My dog could shut out San Fran.
Arizona – If Warner can keep his wing healthy, this team has talent to make the playoffs. They’re playing better each week, and they actually have a decent home field advantage out there now. The wonders never cease.
Jacksonville – I gotta be honest. I haven’t seen this team play once this season. I do know that they’re getting their starting QB back from injury this week and they’re somehow 6-3. Maybe I should have them higher.
Tennesee – Vince Young has 4 TDs and 10 INTs. Both numbers are higher than his Wunderlic score.
Philadelphia – This is the team to watch in the NFC Wild Card race. McNabb is showing signs that he’s healthy again, Westbrook is simply an offensive machine, and if those guys are healthy, I’d put this team up against any in the NFC. They were lucky to win in DC, but I think it might launch them to a real reversal in the second half of the season.
Washington – Introducing the worst-coached team in the NFL, and it pains me to say that as a Redskins fan. Joe Gibbs is one of my heroes, but he’s clearly not all there anymore. Watching him stand befuddled and confused on the sidelines has gone beyond infuriating – it’s actually quite sad at this point. The team has good young talent on both sides of the ball, but it’ll take another coach to do anything with it. It hasn’t helped that injuries have ravaged about 30% of the team’s starters.
Detroit – Yeah, I know they’re 6-3, but I’m not a believer. I still say Kitna will be wrong about his 10-win prediction. This team will stumble to the finish, and will keep dropping.
Minnesota – The only reason to watch this team is Adrian Peterson, and now he’s hurt (There goes my fantasy payday, by the way). There’s no reason to watch this team anymore.
New Orleans – I admit it. I was buying into the Saints last week as a legit contender in the NFC. But a home loss to the Rams? Are you freaking kidding me?
Cincinnati – Ah, it’s mid November and the Bengals are completely out of it. The world makes sense again.
Buffalo – Should be a Sunday night massacre against the Patriots this weekend.
Houston – I keep thinking this team is on the rise, and I still believe that Matt Schaub is going to be a top tier NFL QB.
Kansas City – WTF is with this team’s mascot. It’s like a wolf or something. It’s stupid.
Denver – John Elway was interviewed on the radio this morning about teens and safe driving. That was far more interesting than his old team has been this season. It’s not often that the Broncos suck, but they sure do this year.
Atlanta – Michael Vick might be glad he’s missing this debacle. Nah, probably not. Either way, this season has long since gone to the dogs.
Carolina – With Vinny Testarverde down with an injury, the Panthers this week contacted Bubby Brister. But they didn’t leave a message.
Chicago – Yeah, Grossman is definitely the answer. This should change everything. It’s hard to believe this team made the Super Bowl last season. Egads.
Baltimore – The offense stinks – as usual – but the defense is no great shakes either. And that’s a bad combo in my book.
New York Jets – This team is not as bad as its record. The bet here is that it surprises some teams as the season winds down.
Oakland – Just lose, baby.
St. Louis – Steven Jackson killed a lot of fantasy owners this season. Try the toasted ravioli next time you visit. Perfecto!
Miami – I know they’re winless, but I like the move to the rookie QB. I bet they win a couple games down the stretch. Question to ponder: How much luster would it take off the franchise if they add the only winless NFL team in 16-game history to go with the only undefeated SB champ in league history. Probably not much, I guess.
San Francisco – This team is actually painful to watch. It’s amazing that so many pundits had them tabbed as playoff contenders in the preseason. Pundits suck.

How to beat Anderson Silva (4 of 4)

2007-11-14T13:05:00.000-05:00

So to recap, how to beat Anderson Silva (20-4):

1. Beat him when he's inexperienced, as Luiz Azeredo did in May 2000. Seeing as how that can't happen again now that Silva has 24 fights under his belt, we can rule this one out.

2. Fool him into thinking you are a can and submit him when he's annoyed at your attempts to roll around and cower at his ankles, as Daiju Takase did in June 2003. But you know what they say, fool me once... I think we can rule this one out too.

3. Get your ass handed to you for three rounds straight and then pull a flying submission move out of your ass that has about a 1 in 30 chance of success, as Ryo Chonan did in December 2004. This one has potential.

4. Get Silva to kick your face off and hope the ref sees it as illegal, as Yushin Okami did in January 2006. No thanks.

How to beat Anderson Silva (3 of 4)

2007-11-14T11:51:00.000-05:00

Before even stepping into the Octagon, Anderson Silva had the reputation for being one of the most devastating and dangerous strikers in the 185-pound division. Although his clinch is perhaps the sickest in MMA, the only question mark was, and perhaps still is, his ground game.

While the UFC has fed Silva some tough strikers, including former champ Rich Franklin (twice) and bruiser Chris Leben, the truth is, these fighters never stood a chance at defeating Silva. The Champion’s other two opponents fared little better, although they matched up well on paper. While Nate Marquardt is fairly well-rounded, he is best known for his BJJ, kickboxing and kenpo skills, and is the only man to be a seven-time King of Pancrase. Even still, Silva manhandled Marquardt and won via TKO in 4:50 of the very first round.

Silva’s only other Octagon opponent was Travis Lutter, a black belt in Machado Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and world class grappler, having previously competed (twice) in the invitation-only Abu Dhabi World Championships, largely considered to be the highest level grappling tournament in the world. Other than Franklin in his second crack at the Champ, Lutter is the only man to make it into the second round against Silva since April, 2005. Although extremely gassed from cutting so much weight (which he failed to do successfully), Lutter actually looked tough against the then-new Champ; however, Silva turned the tables on Lutter midway through the second round and ended up submitting the Ultimate Submission World Champion and TUF4 winner via triangle choke.

Even though it is largely considered his only potential weakness, Silva’s groundwork has improved significantly since his last two PRIDE fights. The latest (a loss to Ryo Chonan), we’ve already commented on. But before that, on May 8, 2003, Silva was submitted by Daiju Takase (7-11-1). While Takase is a very experience fighter with excellent submission skills, he was largely seen as a low-level can who was fed to Anderson as a stepping stone. While no video is available at this time of the fight, Takase’s rolling triangle choke submission of Anderson has been called “one of the most unique submissions ever seen.” See the picture to the right.

Silva’s only other loss was his very first professional MMA fight—a two-round decision to Luiz Azeredo (11-6, although he was 2-1 going into the fight at the time). Azeredo is also a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioner who holds a win over Naoyuki Kotani (17-7-5) and has been defeated twice by the #1 Lightweight fighter in the world, PRIDE Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi (one of those fights is shown here ). Azeredo trains at Chute Boxe with Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

How to beat Anderson Silva (2 of 4)

2007-11-14T10:53:00.001-05:00

Continuing in our series of how to beat the seemingly unstoppable Anderson Silva (20-4, 5-0 in the UFC), let's look at Silva's most recent loss: to Yushin Okami (21-4, 5-1 in the UFC). Rumor has it that Okami, who has fulfilled his fight contract with the UFC, will not be re-signed. Why the UFC would risk further depleting its extremely thin Middleweight Division is beyond me, especially when the fighter in question holds a win over the champion.

Regardless, Okami's one loss inside the Octagon is to former champ Rich Franklin, placing a possible title shot on the distant horizon, if he's re-signed at all. But with 4 of his 6 UFC fights going to a decision, it seems improbable that the UFC wants him back.

Still, back on January 20, 2006, Okami met Silva in a tournament called Rumble on the Rock 8. What's interesting is that this fight took place at 170 lbs. Both Silva and Okami are considered to be HUGE middleweights today--Silva for his height and reach advantage, and Okami for his bulk. Apparently, back in early 2006, both fighters were significantly smaller.

The fight lasted only 2:33, and it ended with a disqualification of Silva due to illegal kick. I still don't understand what was illegal about it (had Okami not been kneeling and instead, standing, it would have been legal--but I still see it as an amazing KO), and Okami could have chosen to continue fighting; however, he likely knew Silva had his number that day, and he had the rest of the tournament to consider. So Okami took the win, albeit one that, in my eyes, is a dishonorable one. You decide:

How to beat Anderson Silva (1 of 4)

2007-11-14T10:36:00.001-05:00

The UFC recently signed welterweight Ryo "The Piranha" Chonan (14-7), who will be making his Octagon debut against Karo "The Heat" Parisyan (25-3, 7-2 in the UFC) this Saturday at UFC 78. Chonan's 14-7 record is deceiving, as it includes losses to some of the MMA elite, including Dan Henderson, Paulo Filho and Ricardo Almeida (who's beaten Nate Marquardt).

Chonan's biggest win, by far, is over the seemingly unstoppable Anderson Silva (20-4) via a very rare flying leg scissor takedown turned heel hook. While the larger Silva, a natural middleweight, was crushing Chonan the entire fight, Chonan managed to survive late into the third round, when he sank the acrobatic move for the improbable come-from-behind win.

This video shows the win, with commentary provided by former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett.

Kimbo Slice vs. Bo Cantrell: 19 seconds

2007-11-12T12:07:00.001-05:00

Here is the "Internet fight sensation's" first official MMA fight. Anyone think Bo Cantrell took a dive? These guys say No. Regardless, Cantrell chickened out. If you watch the reply closely, Kimbo's uppercut doesn't even connect with Cantrell's jaw (it connects with Cantrell's armpit!) Big time chicken.

I know there's a weight class difference, but I'd like to see Kimbo take on another bruiser: the UFC's Houston Alexander. That'd be a fight. When Sakara (a BJJ blackbelt), takes him down, Alexander bucks him so fast it's no wonder the big guy benches a reported 450 lbs. And despite the rumors that Alexander's scar on his stomach is from a gunshot wound, it's actually because he only has one kidney. He gave the other to his daughter (he's a single father of, count 'em, six kids).

Week 10 Picks

2007-11-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

Wagnerav:

It's sweeps week:
MIN @ GB Brett Favre for the sweep
JAX @ TEN TEN for the sweep
DEN @ KC KC
BUF @ MIA BUF
STL @ NO NO
CLE @ PIT PIT for the sweep
PHI @ WAS WAS for the sweep
ATL @ CAR CAR for the sweep
CIN @ BAL Cinny for the sweep via deep bombs
DAL @ NYG NYG for the upset split
DET @ AZ DET
CHI @ OAK CHI
IND @ SD IND
SF @ SEA SEA for the sweep

Aaron:

MIN @ GB GB
JAX @ TEN TEN
DEN @ KC KC
BUF @ MIA BUF
STL @ NO NO
CLE @ PIT PIT
PHI @ WAS PHI
ATL @ CAR ATL
CIN @ BAL Cincy
DAL @ NYG DAL
DET @ AZ DET
CHI @ OAK OAK
IND @ SD IND
SF @ SEA SEA

Boss Hog:

MIN @ GB MIN
JAX @ TEN TEN
DEN @ KC KC
BUF @ MIA MIA
STL @ NO NO
CLE @ PIT PIT
PHI @ WAS PHI
ATL @ CAR CAR
CIN @ BAL BAL
DAL @ NYG NYG
DET @ AZ AZ
CHI @ OAK CHI
IND @ SD IND
SF @ SEA SEA

Who What Now?

2007-11-09T15:34:00.000-05:00

I'm still trying to figure out this "nugget" of newsworthy information:

Tomlin making friends: Just after Monday's night's 38-7 domination of the Ravens, the new, emotional leader of the 6-2 Steelers waited in the tunnel to high five and hug every player as they came in. Who was it? Rookie head coach Mike Tomlin. Unlike former head coach Bill Cowher, the 35-year-old Tomlin generally isn't a rah-rah guy. Also unlike Cowher, Tomlin isn't a yeller, which players appreciate. Ben Roethlisberger told me Tomlin "has brought fun back." -- Bob Holtzman

So Tomlin high fives and hugs every player after a game and he's NOT rah rah? What is the definition of rah rah? But I guess he didn't yell while he was doing it, so that's okay. And coaches who don't yell, and aren't rah rah...how can they be fun? Maybe he throws great parties?

In Which Pats Homer Bill Simmons Finally Gets Unbearably Annoying About It

2007-11-09T15:14:00.000-05:00

Me and Bill Simmons didn't get off on the right foot. The first article I read of his, way back in 01 or 02, was making fun of Kordell Stewart after a regular season dismantling of the Steelers by the Pats...you know, the one where Brady threw it 25 times in a row.

But I grew to like him, because he basically wrote as a fan, albeit one with an impressive pop culture knowledge. But the downside of his fan-ness is when it takes over, and his defensiveness over the Pats this season has become amazingly annoying. His most recent column devotes more than 3,500 words to grievance with the offciating of the Pats/Colts game, a game the Pats won, of course. There were some shaky calls, mostly the pass interferences, but these are also calls that are routinely screwed up by officials in almost every game, not only because the refs suck, but also because the current rules are so poorly written.

Such defensiveness stems from Simmons' Belichick-like refusal to call a spade a spade. He has vilified Eric Mangini, called him a snitch (btw, an extremely loaded word these days--given Carmelo Anthony's appearance in and "anti snitch" DVD, as well as the impact "snitching" has in Simmons' supposedly favorite show, The Wire) and defended the Pats by whining that "everybody does it." How can you say the Pats were "hard hit" by the punishment for cheating when they still have a first round pick (SF) that could well be top-five?

What's most rich about this is that the whole Pats dynasty, if you want to call it that, was built on the rock-solid foundation of a combination of shitty officiating and poorly written rules--the "Tuck" rule. Anyone who watches that game and thinks that Tom Brady was still in a throwing motion, or that such movement should be interpreted as a throwing motion, is an idiot.

Back in the old days, people who became unbearable through great success and even greater arrogance were ostracized. Everybody likes a winner, we understand. What they don't like is a braggart. So, at the risk of becoming even more annoying, I will only say this once:

Bill: We get it. You're a fan. Now shut up about the Pats already.

This Week in Non-Sports News: No One Over 150 after 1:50

2007-11-08T13:36:00.000-05:00

According to the Miami Student, the oldest university newspaper in the United States since 1826 and the newspaper of record of my alma mater, Miami University (the real Miami, not that fake place down in Florida), a slogan incorporated on the Delta Chi fraternity’s rush T-shirts has kicked up quite a storm within the Greek community in Oxford, OH.

While D Chi chapter president Anthony DePine insists that the meaning of the slogan “is to be left up to the person reading the shirt,” that explanation fell on the deaf ears of several Miami sororities, as well as the Panhellenic Association (the governing body of sororities).

The slogan in question—“No one over 150 after 1:50”—which was printed on the backside of the D Chi rush shirts, has been interpreted by some to mean “No girl over 150 pounds after 1:50 a.m.”

Imagine that.

Now the Interfraternity Council (IFC) has gotten involved and has met with D Chi to discuss repercussions. In response, D Chi leadership has largely folded, issuing a formal apology and agreeing to sign a contract “ensuring IFC that they would not be wearing the shirt anymore in public or in view of anyone,” according to Michael Simon, vice president of public relations for the IFC. Delta Chi also agreed to work with student ambassadors from the Women's Center on “issues of programming.”

According to Claire Dickerson, vice president of public relations for the Panhellenic:

“We feel that wearing this shirt undermines the message of self-acceptance we hope to cultivate in all our chapter members and forces women to unfairly question their body image… The Panhellenic community is working hard to instill confidence in women and celebrate the beauty of being a woman, independent from the number she sees on the scale. We are disturbed that a Greek chapter would work against our goal of self-acceptance and inner beauty.”

Rebecca Bailey; president of the Kappa Delta chapter at Miami, a leading voice against the slogan, said that at least 90 percent of the members of KD signed a petition against D Chi’s slogan. According to Bailey:

“We decided not to invite Delta Chi to help us with (our) philanthropy…before their shirts came out, but once I learned about the shirts it definitely reinforced the decision not to help us.”

Another voice of opposition, Katherine Ruhl of Gamma Phi Beta has signed on to the petition, saying:

“We previously thought really highly of Delta Chi…we were just really shocked they would have a shirt that had such an offensive slogan on it.”

This incident begs several questions:

Rather than admitting guilt, why didn’t Delta Chi come up with a plausible excuse for the slogan? Like, “Oh that. Yeah, we’re sorry about the misunderstanding, but it was due to a misprint. There was supposed to be a period before the first ‘150’, meaning, “No one over .150 (blood alcohol level) before 1:50 (a.m.)” We encourage our pledges to sober up before getting some shuteye. We stand by our slogan.”
Or even better, why not simply alter the existing slogan into a truism that Delta Chi should have used in the first place? It only takes a Sharpie and a carrot: “No one over 150 [INSERT: until] after 1:50.” It makes more sense that way anyhow, because at that hour, who really cares what she looks like and with an appropriate thickness of beer goggles, you can’t really tell anyway. Plus, rather than saying (as their existing slogan suggests), "You can party with us, but ya gotta leave before 2", this new message sends a positive message to women of all shapes and sizes: "Give us time, ladies, you'll do the trick. Oh, and bring more beer."
And finally, why isn’t anyone stating the obvious? The two leading opposition voices are from KD and Gamma Phi Beta—two sororities notoriously known at Miami as “hit or miss, at best.”

Don’t take my word for it. Take theirs:

Here's some of Miami's own KDs at their annual "Luck be a KD" party:

Here again, some KDs gather at a toga party (like I said, hit or miss):

Here are some pledges of Gamma Phi Beta:

And finally, here’s Gamma Phi Beta’s “1^st place dance competition video” (granted, this is from USI, but it was too good to pass up):

I recently spoke with an ’05 alum of Miami—who also happens to be a Delta Chi alum—to see how he felt about the slogan. His only complaint? Why not go with a slogan touting Delta Chi’s long tradition of mediocre athleticism during Greek Week? In his words:

“What about, ‘Win or lose, we’ll probably lose.’ Or better yet, ‘If you can’t beat us on the field, you can always beat us off.’”

I’m sure one of those suggestions would be taken with less severity than the “150” slogan.

Fortunately, all those D Chi rush t-shirts won’t go completely to waste. Apparently girls from the Theta sorority—well known for their hotness—have taken up wearing the “150” shirts. How’s that for justice, ladies?

(If anyone has any photos of hot Thetas wearing the "150" shirts, please send them to this site and we will update this post. Thanks.)

We Are Who ProFootballWeekly Thinks We Are

2007-11-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

ProFootballWeekly, which is basically a better sourced, more football facts and schemes focused than rumors/entertainment based like ProFootballTalk, has an article with midseason reports on each team. I think their assessment of the Steelers is right on:

4. Pittsburgh
Biggest surprise: CB Ike Taylor had fallen out of favor with head coach Bill Cowher after Taylor struggled with his confidence and his ability to defend the deep pass. Mike Tomlin has worked to build Taylor back up, and the result has been Taylor’s finest season to date.

Biggest disappointment: There haven’t been many to date, but the offensive line’s play at times — especially in pass protection — has left something to be desired. Another area of disappointment: The Steelers haven’t gotten much from rookie OLB Lawrence Timmons, their first-round pick.

Player to watch: When QB Ben Roethlisberger limits mistakes, the Steelers are ultratough at home and about as formidable a road team as there is in the league outside of Indianapolis, New England and Dallas. But when he’s bad, the Steelers look downright average. His development remains an issue that bears monitoring in the second half.

Team MVP: For the last two seasons, RB Willie Parker has been the Steelers’ workhorse back, and he’s relished the extra responsibility. He isn’t going to run anyone over, and he isn’t going to make highlight reels with his moves in the open field, but few backs hit the hole like he does, and few are as fast.

Fearless prediction: The most balanced team in the division, the Steelers will win the AFC North, even after having to face New England, Jacksonville and Baltimore in the season’s final month.

Steelers fans are too used to excusing or ignoring QB play--running the ball and playing stout D are the linchpins of Steeler football--and treating the QB like an unquantifiable variable (which it is...see Super Bowl XXX) surrounded by a complex series of checks and balances that aim to make the QB position irrelevant (see the Kordell Stewart years). But ultimately, to win a championship, your QB has to make championship throws. Can Ben do it this year? He still makes 1 or 2 seemingly unforced mistakes per game, and a better team will kill us with them. But maybe this is the year he becomes a superstar. Here's hoping.

Pittsburgh is #2!!!

2007-11-07T12:17:00.000-05:00

Not in Power Rankings--I think the popular #4 ranking is correct--but in NFL fan experience, as rated by Sports Illustrated.

I was unlucky to never see a Stiller game at Three Rivers, but I've seen a few at Heinz Field. It was a great experience--the awesomeness of both the food and the memorabilia of the Great Hall beats out the cheesiness of the Ketchup Bottle. You have to love the Visitors endzone being unmarked too. That's old school.

I've also seen a Ravens home game, and I have to admit that particular game was extremely exciting--the Ravens scored 14 unanswered points to tie in the last 5 minutes and beat the Seahawks in OT. However, the announcer played up every 3rd down by the Seahawks to get the crowd to make noise, which to me says that the Ravens don't trust their fans to "read and react" and make enough noise on their own.

Guess what: the Steelers do.

This Guy Scares the Living Bejesus Out of Me...

2007-11-06T15:02:00.000-05:00

But will he do the same to experienced MMA fighters? Let's use this article for a point/ counterpoint:

Point:

While Slice has dominated almost every street fight he was in, the quality of most of his challengers is dubious and street fighting is not the same sport as MMA. His one loss came at the hands of Sean Gannon, a Boston police officer who trained in MMA and later went on to a very brief and rather unimpressive MMA career of his own.

But Slice said he's turned the corner from loving the internet fame to being ready for the real deal. "In a backyard fight, I used to enter those things high," Slice said. "I was smoking before I went out to fight."

Counterpoint:

His training has also turned a corner: he has been training in MMA for the past two years and recently teamed up with two of the sport's top coaches -- Shawn Tompkins and MMA legend Bas Rutten. "Bas Rutten and Shawn Tompkins...swear by this guy's determination [and] swear by this guy's desire to learn, persevere, and succeed," said Luke Thomas, editor of the MMA blog BloodyElbow.com.

But then, it probably doesn't even really matter, because of this:

While there are question marks about Slice's ability right now, there isn't much doubt about his drawing power. The prevailing wisdom is that, at least initially, Slice will be able to capitalize on his vast entertainment value. Mention Slice to industry insiders and the word "marketable" pops up in almost every conversation. He's the subject of the new ESPN show, E:60, and a hot topic with MMA fans ready to see if he's worth the hype.

THE BESTEST GAME EVER!!!!!!

2007-11-02T14:31:00.000-04:00

In case you have been hiding under a rock or have been having nonstop sex with a Brazilian transsexual hooker in a crack den for the past 3 weeks, Sunday features a regular season matchup that truly is THE BEST GAME EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pats vs. Colts. Battle of UnBeatens. Heartthrob vs. HeadKnob. Saintly Coach vs. Devilish Coach. Fat Fuck Coaches vs Baby Faced Coach Impersonators (Seriously, this guy calls the plays for New England? Seriously?)

But the most important reason why this is the GREATEST GAME EVER BAR NONE is that Dr. Z has done a position by position breakdown, which he usually only does for the Super Bowl. So what does Dr. Z have to tell us that we don't know already?

The Colts offensive line, with the exception of one player and one game, has played together the whole season.

For real? Guess what? The Steelers have a mediocre to crappy O-Line and they've played together all season too.

Wes Welker might be the greatest hot receiver, or blitz-control guy, who ever lived.

Heady, heady praise for a kid who basically is a white Troy Brown, who did everything Welker has done, and more, and over more than 1.5 seasons. But the thing with Troy Brown? He wasn't hot enough. He doesn't look like Vince Vaughans retarded younger brother.

On Adalius Thomas: know they're very proud of themselves for grabbing an obvious Belichick-type Jack of all trades from the Baltimore system, and he'll make a key play here and there, but he'll disappear, too, as he did against the Skins.

Did he even have to show up?

Vince Wilfork (75) Wild and a bit out of control when he first came into the league, he has become a master technician at the nose position.

Let's see, do I have all my craftsman tools here? Massive meaty forearms? Check. Battering Ram of a Head? Check. Stubby Legs and Oceanic Ass That I Need a Customized Terlet for? Check. Bloated Belly that serves as a third leg? Check. All set then, you technician you.

So there you have it. This is a game for the ages, where the Master Technician Nose Tackle Vince Wilfork will not be able to exploit the Offensive Line of the Colts because They Are All In This Together Best Friends Forever, while Adaliaus Thomas could well end up on the side of a milk carton and Wes Welker will control the blitzes of a team that never blitzes.

Special Preview Here:

SteelSkins Boast Post

2007-11-02T11:44:00.000-04:00

I'm a little proud of this one, so I thought I'd post it to the SteelSkins site, as well as the Metcalf Up the Middle site. After all, this post stars Billy frickin' Zabka.

Since the SteelSkins have handed yet another loss to Metcalf Up the Middle, we thought we’d honor this occasion with some foreshadowing: Don’t worry NFL, the Steelers (once again) have got your backs.

What the dismal Browns (albeit, at 4-3 they’re not as dismal as they usually are) failed to do back in Week 5—what some pundits are now calling for—the Steelers sell in dime bags.

Yes, it’s about time we take the pundits seriously. Finally, people are calling for Tom Brady’s knees. And why not? Belichick and his cheating Patriots have now run up the score on all 8 of their opponents (what, with their fancy fake spikes and keeping their starters in despite a 42-point lead). And while Cleveland, along with the rest of the league, failed to do much of anything to their former coach while happily accepting their 34-17 defeat, the Pittsburgh Steelers have never failed to excel in the “accidental low hit” category.

You may ask, why the Steelers, and why not the Browns? Excellent question. And to be honest, we here at SteelSkins are equally stumped as to why the Browns’ veins, which normally flow with red vengeance toward the countless teams that have embarrassed them (insert Broncos, insert Steelers, insert Art Modell, insert…the league), why were those same veins flowing with pink pansy goodness during Week 5 against the Pats? The Brownies should have been foaming at the mouths for the opportunity to crush Tom Brady and give their former coach his first loss of the season. It just goes to show, if it’s Brown, flush it down.

The Steelers, on the other hand, proved two things this pre-season: 1. You don’t need a fatty named Kimo von Oelhoffen to put a quarterback’s season in jeopardy; and 2. Just like Charlie Hustle in an All-Star game, we always go all out.

So let this be a warning to you, Coach Belichick: If you keep up the shenanigans, you’ll pay a hefty price, come Week 14. A price not paid since Ralph Macchio last met up with Billy “Sweep the Leg” Zabka.

SteelSkins Week 9 Picks

2007-11-02T11:17:00.000-04:00

Week 9 is here! Let's see if the fellas from Metcalf Up the Middle can keep up this week. Here are our picks for Week 8:

wagnerav
DEN @ DET - DET
SF @ ATL - ATL
CIN @ BUF - CIN
CAR @ TEN - TEN
GB @ KC - Brett Favre
SD @ MIN - SD
JAX @ NO - NO
WAS @ NYJ - WAS
AZ @ TB - TB
SEA @ CLE - SEA
NE @ IND - IND
HOU @ OAK - HOU
DAL @ PHI - DAL
BAL @ PIT - PIT

Boss Hog
DEN @ DET - DET
SF @ ATL - ATL
CIN @ BUF - BUF
CAR @ TEN - TEN
GB @ KC - KC
SD @ MIN - SD
JAX @ NO - JAX
WAS @ NYJ - WAS
AZ @ TB - AZ
SEA @ CLE - CLE
NE @ IND - NE
HOU @ OAK - OAK
DAL @ PHI - DAL
BAL @ PIT - PIT

Sean
DEN @ DET - DEN
SF @ ATL - SF
CIN @ BUF - BUF
CAR @ TEN - CAR
GB @ KC - GB
SD @ MIN - SD
JAX @ NO - JAX
WAS @ NYJ - WAS
AZ @ TB - TB
SEA @ CLE - SEA
NE @ IND - NE
HOU @ OAK - HOU
DAL @ PHI - DAL
BAL @ PIT - PIT

Phew! It's not just us.

2007-10-31T18:42:00.000-04:00

Steelskins Victory Post at Metcalf Up the Middle

In the same vein, we have the most convincing argument yet for going "Gillooly" on Tom Brady: (hat tip: cnnsi.com)

Why Yes, I'll Have Some More Gogoplata Please

2007-10-30T09:45:00.000-04:00

Brad Imes, a heavyweight MMA fighter who lost out to Rashad Evans in the Ultimate Fighter 2 Finals (Evans is now a top contender at 205), has won his second fight via the very rare Gogoplata submission. Only a few fighers have won via gogoplata, and none back to back.

But the question remains about the quality of competition for Imes, who is fighting outside of the UFC, and when on TUF 2 was very raw, and quite possibly gay (see picture).

Apparently there are many versions of the gogoplata, and in the interests of full disclosure, SteelSkins brings you two of the most representative:

This is the gay version (which Imes may well have used):
And here is the Real Man's Gogoplata:

Whatever you do, Tom Brady, don't go on PTI

2007-10-29T16:38:00.000-04:00

From Michael Wilbon's chat wrap on the Washington Post website:

Tom Brady's Knee: I can understand Bill Belichick's desire to crush every team in the NFL, but why keep your franchise QB in there to do it? One cheap shot helmet to the knee and it's goodbye Super Bowl unless Cassell suddenly gets good.

Michael Wilbon: You're absolutely right. And if I was on the opposing team, I'd hit Tom Brady with everything I had as late as I could and take the penalty and join the fight that would surely follow. Football is a violent game and there's got to be somebody out there sharpening his fans for the Patriots Golden Boy in the 4th quarter one of these weeks.

Stevensville, Md.: What are your thoughts about running up the score? In my opinion it's a teams job to put up points, not save their opponent from embarrassment. The Redskins' players are cashing million dollar paychecks just like the Patriots', so they have no one to blame but themselves for the blowout.

Michael Wilbon: Your thought is my thought. You want somebody not to run it up...don't let 'em. On the other hand, Belichick is a cheat and during games behaves with little class...If I was on the other side my goal would have been for Brady to be helped off the field, by whatever means necessary.

Arlington, Va.: Let me get this straight - you're suggesting blatantly trying to injure a player on the opposing team for no good reason other than you can't compete head-to-head. What kind of message are you trying to send?

Michael Wilbon: I'm saying football is a violent game and I believe in an eye for an eye. You think Sam Huff wouldn't have taken out Brady yesterday? And when I say "take out" I don't mean go for his knees; I mean a clean shot with every once of force one can summon...right in the strike zone. You think Butkus and LT and Bednarik would have stood for that stuff? No way. No chance.

Are the Patriots the BEST TEAM EVER? Or do they still have a ways to go before they become the New England Brett Favres?

2007-10-29T15:59:00.000-04:00

This article from a while back tries to describe the secret of the Patriots success from a defensive standpoint--oft overlooked in the Patriots previous Super Bowl victories was that their offense, which was dangerous in the clutch mainly because the defense had kept it close through the 4th quarter.

What I didn't know, and what that article mentions, is the success that Belichick-coached Giants defenses had against Joe Montana. (you'd think this would have gotten mentioned once or twice over the 6 year period when Belichick owned Peyton Manning) Granted, it seems their favorite ploy was to knock him out of the game, but when the greatest QB ever struggles against Belichick, no matter how evil he is, or perhaps because of his evility, all QBs must BEWARE!!

Remember: Bill Belichick = Evil

You Have GOT to See This

2007-10-28T15:27:00.000-04:00

Last play Millsaps vs Trinity TX DIII game

SteelSkins Picks for Week 8

2007-10-26T15:36:00.000-04:00

Let's see how our picks for Week 8 stack up against those boys from Metcalf Up the Middle. We still owe them a post for kickin' their Brown asses in Week 7. Maybe Boss Hog should get on that one! Here are our picks for Week 8:

Boss Hog:

SUN, OCT 28
Lions at Bears	Bears
Steelers at Bengals	Bengals
Giants at Dolphins	Dolphins
Raiders at Titans	Titans
Eagles at Vikings	Vikings
Browns at Rams	Browns
Colts at Panthers	Colts
Bills at Jets	Jets
Jaguars at Buccaneers	Jags
Texans at Chargers	Chargers
Saints at 49ers	Saints
Redskins at Patriots	Skins
MON, OCT 29
Packers at Broncos	Packers

Aaron:

SUN, OCT 28
Lions at Bears	Bears
Steelers at Bengals	Steelers
Giants at Dolphins	Giants
Raiders at Titans	Titans
Eagles at Vikings	Vikings
Browns at Rams	Browns
Colts at Panthers	Colts
Bills at Jets	Jets
Jaguars at Buccaneers	Bucs
Texans at Chargers	Chargers
Saints at 49ers	Saints
Redskins at Patriots	Pats
MON, OCT 29
Packers at Broncos	Broncos

Sean:

SUN, OCT 28
Lions at Bears	Lions
Steelers at Bengals	Steelers
Giants at Dolphins	Giants
Raiders at Titans	Titans
Eagles at Vikings	Eagles
Browns at Rams	Browns
Colts at Panthers	Colts
Bills at Jets	Bills
Jaguars at Buccaneers	Bucs
Texans at Chargers	Chargers
Saints at 49ers	Saints
Redskins at Patriots	Pats
MON, OCT 29
Packers at Broncos	Broncos

Did Someone Say NFL Power Rankings?

2007-10-23T16:16:00.000-04:00

Okay, so the big question is, why do I have a tie for first place, when all season long I've had the Pats #1 and the Colts #2.

First off, I don't believe in this bull crap about how the Colts should be #1 because, after all, they are the defending champs and they are undefeated. Who the hell cares who the defending champs are, that was last season?! Just ask the Chicago Bears how much last season matters. Or the Saints.

Secondly, the Pats have blown everyone out of the water, whereas the Colts' games against Tennessee and Houston were both relatively close (score-wise, at least). By the way, Brady is averaging 3.857 TD tosses per game. If he keeps up this pace, he'll break Manning's 3-year-old single season TD pass record of 49...by 12!!! That's right, he's on pace to throw 61.7 TDs this season (per his average). Thank God I'm a genius and drafted him in BOTH my fantasy leagues. Suckers.

Anyway, back to reality. All of these things are why the Pats were solo #1 on my list this entire time. On most people's list, I'm sure. Until now.

On Monday night, the Colts manhandled their division rivals 29-7...in Jacksonville...at a time when the Jags were coming off back-to-back-to-back-to-back wins. We can talk about how the Pats did the same on Sunday...only their division rivals are arguably the worst team in football. Hell, all three of the Pats' division rivals (all of whom they've manhandled) have a combined record of 3-17. Way to go, Brady, next time why don'tcha kick the fat kid while he's down.

The Colts' division rivals, on the other hand, (all of whom they've faced and beaten) have a combined record of 11-8. If the season were to end today, 3 of the 4 AFC South teams would make the playoffs, while the 3 of 4 AFC East teams (all except the Pats, of course) would be preparing their draft picks, which would be (roughly), #1, #3 and somewhere between #5 - 11 (seven teams are all 2-4).

Yes, the Pats have played amazingly. Kinda like how the Colts were playing in 2005 when PeyPey's D learned how to stop sucking it up and all the pundits were calling him Jesus Christ resurrected in a #18 jersey.

Sound familiar? Insert Brady. Repeat each year, inserting the most amazingly unstoppable team ever to take the field for the first 8 weeks. Call me crazy, but I'm not willing to pop a boner for the Pats just yet, unlike all the talking heads...every single season.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Why don't the Pats deserve #1? Besides the Cowboys, who have they played?

San Diego? Yes, but in Week 2 the Chargers were playing like the Saints. Is it just me or has anyone else noticed LT's chronic slow-out-the-gate syndrome plaguing him each year? Plus, a new coach playing against the well-oiled machine that is Indianapolis? Please, the Chargers were lucky to have scored 14.

And guess what, take away the Cowboys and the Chargers and what are you left with? The Cleveland Browns. The Cincinnati Bengals. And, of course, the Triple Powerhouse: the Bills, the Jets and the Dolphins. I think I need to change my shorts. Tom Brady, thou art Apollo.

Compare that with the Colts. They've beaten all 3 of their division rivals on the road, most recently destroying the Jags on both sides of the ball. They've also hosted--and crushed--a Tampa Bay team coming off 3 wins (they've also hosted and crushed Denver and New Orleans, who are about as good as the competition facing Brady and the Pats thus far this season, which is why they're not worth mentioning).

Bottom line: The Colts are playing terrific ball against better competition than that facing the Pats. Yes, the Pats look even more impressive. And so would you, if you were playing the equivalent of the Bay City Rollers in cleats, Dallas Cowboys aside. I also think the Colts are going to grind that Patriots bangwagon to a screeching halt, come Week 9.

That said, my Power Rankings:

1. (tie)/1./1. Patriots 7-0 (NYJ, SD, BUF, CIN, CLE, DAL, MIA)

1. (tie)/2./3. Colts 6-0 (NO, TEN, HOU, DEN, TB, JAX)

3./4./4. Cowboys 6-1 (NYG, MIA, CHI, STL, BUF, NE, MIN)

4./5./5. Packers 5-1 (PHI, NYG, SD, MIN, CHI, WAS)

5./3./2. Steelers 4-2 (CLE, BUF, SF, AZ, SEA, DEN)

6./7./21. Chargers 3-3 (CHI, NE, GB, KC, DEN, OAK)

7./6./8. Jaguars 4-2 (TEN, ATL, DEN, KC, HOU, IND)

8./9./10. Panthers 4-2 (STL, HOU, ATL, TB, NO, AZ)

9./11./23. Giants 4-2 (DAL, GB, WAS, PHI, NYJ, SF)

10./12./7. Titans 4-2 (JAX, IND, NO, ATL, TB, HOU)

11./8./6. Ravens 4-3 (CIN, NYJ, AZ, CLE, BUF, STL, BUF)

12./14./16. Lions 4-2 (OAK, MIN, PHI, CHI, WAS, TB)

13./10./15. Buccaneers 4-3 (SEA, NO, STL, CAR, IND, TEN, DET)

14./13./11. Redskins 4-2 (MIA, PHI, NYG, DET, GB, AZ)

15./16./13. Seahawks 4-3 (TB, AZ, CIN, SF, PIT, NO, STL)

16./19./27. Chiefs 4-3 (HOU, CHI, MIN, SD, JAX, CIN, OAK)

17./17./25. Browns 3-3 (PIT, CIN, OAK, BAL, NE, MIA)

18./24./14. Broncos 3-3 (BUF, OAK, JAX, IND, SD, PIT)

19./15./18. Cardinals 3-4 (SF, SEA, BAL, PIT, STL, CAR, WAS)

20./22./22. Bears 3-4 (SD, KC, DAL, DET, GB, MIN, PHI)

21./27./31. Bills 2-4 (DEN, PIT, NE, NYJ, DAL, BAL)

22./18./9. Texans 3-4 (KC, CAR, IND, ATL, MIA, JAX, TEN)

23./26./17. Bengals 2-4 (BAL, CLE, SEA, NE, KC, NYJ)

24./21./20. Vikings 2-4 (ATL, DET, KC, GB, CHI, DAL)

25./20./24. Raiders 2-4 (DET, DEN, CLE, MIA, SD, KC)

26./28./32. Saints 2-4 (IND, TB, TEN, CAR, SEA, ATL)

27./25./19. Eagles 2-4 (GB, WAS, DET, NYG, NYJ, CHI)

28./23./12. 49ers 2-4 (AZ, STL, PIT, SEA, BAL, NYG)

29./29./26. Jets 1-6 (NE, BAL, MIA, BUF, NYG, PHI, CIN)

30./30./30. Falcons 1-5 (MIN, JAX, CAR, HOU, TEN, NO)

31./31./28. Dolphins 0-7 (WAS, DAL, NYJ, OAK, HOU, CLE, NE)

32./32./29. Rams 0-7 (CAR, SF, TB, DAL, AZ, BAL, SEA)

Why Oh Why Don't I Follow Women's Sports?

2007-10-23T15:44:00.001-04:00

Oh right. Because I'm a man. And because of this.

Apparently the U.S. Women's team didn't win the women's World Cup. I figured as much a few weeks ago because the headlines went like this: 1) U.S. women advance, 2) U.S. women win again, 3) U.S. women to semifinals, 4) How 'bout that NFL? I figured no news was bad news.

Well, the way they lost was even worse. The male coach benched his goalkeeper, who had won every game so far, for the backup, who had been successful against Brazil in the past. Final score: 4-0, Brazil. After the game, the benched goalkeeper ripped her coach and her replacement. Understandable, and it's happened a thousand times in men's sports.

But these are women--and no matter how athletic they are, how dedicated they are to sports, how aggressive they are, how quickly and deicisively they can expose my level of fitness for the charade it is--at the end of the day they like to curl up and act all catty and shit. Case in point:

Solo wasn't just benched after publicly criticizing Ryan. She was exiled -- banned from practice, and barred from attending the team's third-place match against Norway three days later. She took her meals alone. Ryan and several players talked of working toward "forgiveness" and "reconciliation."

It all sounded more like a slumber party gone bad than an elite team reacting to the stress of high-level competition.

The ostracism of Solo perpetuated the stereotype that women's teams put a higher premium on harmony than they do on competing. And as long as people believe that, they'll regard women's team sports as a lightweight version of the real thing.

Damn skippy. In honor of the real Xena Warrior Princess of U.S. soccer, ladies and gentleman, I give you: Hope Solo, great great great great grandaughter of that lovable scamp Han. Hope, call me, you won't be solo for long. And we have so much in common--we're the same height!

The Teddy Roosevelt Sucks at Racing Theory

2007-10-23T14:55:00.000-04:00

I started a new blog with Sean Flaherty called Flat Black Ops, where, being the conspiracy theorist that I am, I post a theory, and he, being the skeptic, follows it with a rebuttal about how I'm dead wrong.

While Sean has yet to respond to my first conspiracy theory (expect his response sometime this week), I thought you'd all enjoy it, especially Boss Hog.

It's the "Defeated Teddy Theory", and it's all about how Teddy has yet to win a race at the Washington Nationals' Presidents Races.

You can find it here.

Levels of Losing

2007-10-19T15:46:00.000-04:00

Bill Simmons is at his best in defining how we experience sports, from a fan's perspective, not masturbating online over the recent successes of Boston-area teams. He adds to his Levels of Losing chart here, and it made me think about my own worst experiences with my favorite teams losing. Here's my top choice:

1993: Pittsburgh Penguins lose to Islanders in OT, Game 7, 2nd round of the playoffs. In 1991 and 1992, the Penguins won Stanley Cups with a roster of Hall of Fame talent, not just Lemieux, but Mark Recchi (traded for Rick Tocchet for the 2nd cup), Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Larry Murphy, and a gangly perm-mulleted Czech named Jaromir Jagr (his first name is an anagram for Mario Jr.), plus Kevin Stevens (who was the original John LeClair), Ulf Samuelsson, Troy Loney, and other names only I would know..

In 1993, this team ripped through the regular season, winning the President's Trophy for most points overall, and beat the Devils in five and then faced the Islanders, who were a low seed. The Islanders hung tough through 6 games though, forcing a Game 7 in Pittsburgh.

I didn't even expect to watch this game, because it was on during the day and my family was traveling to Lancaster PA for a wedding. When we arrived at the hotel, I insisted that we see if the game was on. My mother, tired from the trip I guess, said no, we couldn't watch it. We would make alot of noise and we were all in one room and she didn't want to have to deal with us moping and cursing if the Pens lost. Despite my dad's unwillingness to take a stand, I precipitated shouts and gestures and raised tempers, and prevailed in the cause of truth and righteousness, and we turned the game on. Then my face fell. 3-1 Islanders, five minues to go in the 3rd period.

With "I told you so" ringing in my ears, the Penguins then mounted a glorious comeback, getting 2 goals to tie it up, the last one with only a minute or so to play. We bounced on the hotel bed, giddy with anticipation as overtime started. NO Mom, I Told YOU so!

Five minutes later, I wanted to throw myself off the hotel balcony. David Volek scored on a one-timer to end the game and eliminate the Pens from the playoffs. This loss combined 3 of Simmons levels of losing: XII--Sudden Death (self-explanatory), VIII--This Can't Be Happening (Pens heavily favored), and III, Stomach Punch (The loss was that much harder to take BECAUSE of the improbable comeback to tie the game in regulation)

This game was the death knell for the budding Pens dynasty. In the next few years, the Pens would make decent playoff runs, only to lose to less talented teams that played better defense and had much better luck. Meanwhile, they kept giving away their talent, like Markus Naslund, who they traded for peanuts to Vancouver, only to see him become a star, and getting rid of incredibly gifted players like D-Man Sergei Zubov because they didn't mesh well with Lemieux's style of play (Zubov was a key player in the Dallas Stars Stanley Cup victories). And of course Lemieux would be plagued by back problems and Hodgkins disease.

This game also featured the end of 50 goal scorer Kevin Steven's career. He collided with an Islander defenseman and hit the ice face first, requiring facial reconstructive surgery. He was never the same again and only got alot of press when he was arrested with a crack whore in 2000. Meanwhile, top goaltender Tom Barrasso--who rivaled Ron Hextall in stickhandling ability and level of prickitude--would give up soft goals and was never the brick wall he used to be.

In honor of that gut wrenching lost, here is all you need to know about the game: (thanks to www.thepensblog.blogspot.com)

Other gut wrenching losses: Steelers/Chargers AFCC 1994, the Neil O'Donnell Super Bowl Giveaway, and the 1992 NLCS loss to the Braves, which has made me hate baseball to this day.

So Steelskins, tell us about your worst losses experienced in separate posts.

SteelSkins Owns Metcalf Up the Middle...This Week

2007-10-16T21:07:00.001-04:00

We won Week 6, 23-16 to 21-18. Check out our winning post, wherein the legion of Browns failures are discussed, and a sexy Steeler picture is featured (not the one at the top)

http://www.metcalfupthemiddle.blogspot.com/

Does the UFC Need a Union?

2007-10-16T21:02:00.000-04:00

Union? We don't need no stinkin' unions!

In the wake of finding out Keith Jardine got paid like a Mexican migrant worker ($14,000) for beating Chuck Liddell ($500,000) some people are considering whether there should be an MMA union. For a serious, but incomplete take, check this here. (hat tip, Deadspin)

The best part would be: UFC 105: Scabs versus Strikers

Eff You, Bill Simmons

2007-10-15T20:30:00.001-04:00

If I hear another laudatory article on the dominance of the Patriots coming from Bill Simmons piehole, I may have to drive to LA and personally kick his ass.

The Pats are good. They were good before the season started, before SpyGate. The only question mark was: Will Randy Moss come to play? And he did. Thus, they are good, because they have one receiver that no one can guard as of yet.

SpyGate didn't make them mad, it made them assholes.

And all this Eric Mangini is a snitch bullshit is bullshit. Bill Belichick knows Mangini knows, yet he STILL tries to get away with it--in Mangini's stadium? There is some shit even Eric Mangini won't eat.

And let's remember, it's a long season. Enjoy it Bill, it could be your last.

Now I'm the asshole.

Steelskins Picks O' The Week: Week 6

2007-10-12T17:59:00.001-04:00

Aaron

MIN @ CHI MIN
MIA @ CLE CLE
WAS @ GB WAS
CIN @ KC CIN
TEN @ TB TEN
STL @ BAL BAL
HOU @ JAX HOU
PHI @ NYJ PHI
CAR @ AZ AZ
OAK @ SD SD
NE @ DAL NE
NO @ SEA SEA
NYG @ ATL NYG

Sean

MIN @ CHI CHI
MIA @ CLE CLE
WAS @ GB GB
CIN @ KC CIN
TEN @ TB TEN
STL @ BAL BAL
HOU @ JAX JAX
PHI @ NYJ PHI
CAR @ AZ AZ
OAK @ SD SD
NE @ DAL NE
NO @ SEA SEA
NYG @ ATL NYG

Wagnerav

MIN @ CHI CHI
MIA @ CLE CLE
WAS @ GB GB
CIN @ KC CIN
TEN @ TB TEN
STL @ BAL BAL
HOU @ JAX JAX
PHI @ NYJ PHI
CAR @ AZ AZ
OAK @ SD SD
NE @ DAL NE
NO @ SEA SEA
NYG @ ATL NYG

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture: The Last of the PRIDE vs. UFC Matchups that will Never Happen

2007-10-12T17:44:00.000-04:00

First, some background: As MMA grew in popularity from the late 1990s until today, consistently at the forefront among all MMA fighting organizations were the UFC (America’s premiere MMA league—which, arguably, created the sport in 1993) and PRIDE (Japan’s equivalent). Japan has a very strong and very loyal MMA fan base, which was evident in their ability to sign the very best fighters in the world, including the #1 ranked fighter in the world in any weight class, the heavyweight Russian Sambo fighter Fedor Emelianenko. Japan’s fan base, in fact, was largely considered more sophisticated than the American equivalent, which took significantly longer to develop.

The fighting styles featured in these two leagues were different as well. While PRIDE fights were staged in a boxing ring, the UFC incorporated the much larger, and more dramatic, steel cage. Over the years, in order to gain more widespread appeal and to secure pay-per-view providers, the UFC realized it needed official sanctioning and opted to cooperate with state athletic commissions to regulate the fights; thus, they reformed their rules, banning certain types of strikes that were deemed “brutal”—things like soccer kicks (kicking an opponent while he’s down), head stomps, etc. PRIDE, however, continued to allow these types of strikes, and in fact, some of their fighters, like Wanderlei Silva, were even known for them as their bread and butter moves.

Fighters in the UFC and PRIDE were constantly being compared by MMA fans. Which organization features the better fighters? Who would win between the champions of the UFC against their counterparts in the West? Up until about a year ago, most well-versed MMA fans considered PRIDE as having the slight edge.

However, all that changed in early 2007 and in the months leading up to the UFC’s eventual buyout of PRIDE. While much speculation still exists about what exactly happened between the two organizations, it was not unlike an MMA Cold War, where the more financially mismanaged PRIDE eventually succumbed to the “meteoric rise” of the UFC, which was assisted by the popular reality show The Ultimate Fighter series. On May 25, 2007, the UFC officially closed the deal on PRIDE for reportedly just under $70 million. What the UFC got out of the deal was access to PRIDE’s extensive video library and, even more valuable, the contracts of fighters currently signed to the PRIDE roster. Finally, MMA fans around the world would get answers to their questions of who would win between PRIDE’s best and that of the UFC.

Unfortunately for all of us, there was a catch in some of those contracts, most importantly, in Fedor Emelianenko’s, whose PRIDE contract had a non-transferable clause. Without a contract, the UFC was forced to negotiate with the free agent, a process that took more than five months and only recently ended.

Central to the contract dispute were three things: 1. Emelianenko’s management team, led by Vadim Finklestein, requested that the UFC work with his Russian M-1 promotion; 2. That the UFC allow Emelianenko to compete in combat Sambo tournaments, as PRIDE had permitted previously; and 3. That the UFC extend contract offers to other members of Emelianenko’s training team, Red Devil Sport Club (likely including his brother, Aleksander).

While the UFC and Emelianenko’s camp took months to close in on a deal, other PRIDE featured fighters—including Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson—all made the crossover to the UFC. But while many MMA fans thought that the PRIDE elites would come over and manhandle the UFC veterans, what they found was hardly the case. Cro Cop, Shogun and Henderson all have seen defeats in the Octagon (while Hendo lost to the former PRIDE fighter Rampage Jackson, the much-touted Cro Cop has seen at least one embarrassing loss), and Minotauro saw a near-defeat to a former PRIDE fighter he had previously beaten twice. Many attribute these losses to the sheer size of the caged ring and the differing match lengths (PRIDE consisted of one 10-minute round, followed by two five-minute rounds and intermissions lasting two minutes each; whereas the UFC features three five-minute rounds with 60-second intermissions). Still others, most notably Rampage Jackson, have seen success—Jackson has even captured the UFC Light Heavyweight title by beating UFC poster boy Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, before defending his title against Hendo.

But the Emelianenko deal continued to be elusive, and what happened in October 2007 shocked the MMA community. It was announced that Emelianenko had signed a multi-million dollar deal with the upstart (and hardly heard of) M-1 Mixfight Championship, the very promotion owned by Emelianenko’s manager Finklestein. Since the move was made public just a few days ago, MMA blogs and chat rooms have been flooded with posts by angry MMA fans, calling for Finklestein’s head and calling the deal one of the worst decisions a fighter presumably at the top of his game could have made—one that was made in his manager’s best interest, not in his own. Additionally, many MMA fans want to know how Emelianenko can continue to be considered the world’s #1 fighter when he will no longer be fighting top competition.

The fallout is already being felt. Just one day after the highly credible MMA blog MMAJunkie.com confirmed the Emelianenko announcement, UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture announced his resignation, despite two fights remaining on his contract. Reportedly miffed by the UFC’s inability to sign the Russian heavyweight, as well as frustration with the amount of money rumored to have been offered Emelianenko by the UFC—money that, in Couture’s eyes, is not being offered to him and other fighters who helped establish the UFC—Couture thought it best to pursue other interests. After all, he’s already proven he can beat the best heavyweights the UFC has to offer. Without the potential for a bout with Fedor, what else does he have to prove?

The loss of Emelianenko stings, but the loss of Couture could spell even greater repercussions, especially as many of the UFC’s largest draws are all nearing crossroads of their own:

Chuck Liddell – The highest paid UFC fighter to date, Chuck Liddell recently lost his title to PRIDE standout Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and then followed it up with another loss to rising talent (but not highly marketable) Keith Jardine. While Rampage’s popularity won’t hurt the Light Heavyweight division, Liddell is still the UFC’s largest draw, and questions about the future of his career do not help the UFC at this time. Plus, how marketable is a Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva matchup now? Once touted as the SuperBowl of MMA events, both fighters are coming off back-to-back losses.

Matt Hughes – Once called the “Most Dominant Welterweight in UFC History,” the former golden boy has since fallen—to rising star Georges St. Pierre who took Hughes’ Welterweight title. That in itself wouldn’t be considered a bad thing necessarily; after all, GSP is Canada’s golden boy and often called “the future of the sport.” However, GSP turned around and lost his very first title defense to a reality show winner, Matt Serra. Slightly embarrassing. Now Hughes faces Serra, a less marketable fighter, in a fight that the UFC is undoubtedly hoping goes Hughes’ way. If not, where does Hughes go to from here? The 34-year-old recently stated that he “only has two or three fights left in him.”

Rich Franklin – The Cincinnati native was a perfect poster boy for the up-and- coming sport three and four years ago. But now that the former Middleweight Champion has lost his belt—in embarrassing fashion—to the seemingly unstoppable Anderson Silva, where does Franklin go from here? Should he lose his rematch next weekend at UFC 77 in his home town of Cincinnati, is there anywhere for him to go, other than early retirement?

Georges St. Pierre – At just 26, GSP is already a former UFC Champion, but he has the brightest future ahead of him as any of these top draws. On top of that, he’s already earned the next title shot, facing either current Champion Matt Serra (who embarrassed him in their last fight) or former Champ Matt Hughes (who GSP embarrassed). Most expect GSP to beat whoever he faces, but should he lose, what does that spell for the future of the Welterweight division?

Forrest Griffin – While certainly a top draw on account of his fan base, no one is sure who the UFC will match Griffin up against next. At an odd time in the Light Heavyweight division when all of the top talent is coming off recent losses, Griffin and Jardine find themselves with recent wins over two fighters largely considered to otherwise be the #1 and #2 contenders. While Jardine cannot command top box office appeal, Griffin certainly can. Unfortunately, no one expects him to be capable of beating the Champ, Rampage Jackson. What would a loss do for Griffin’s career?

On top of all these questions is the recent doping scandal involving Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk, who will likely be stripped of his belt at the end of this month when the California State Athletic Commission is expected to uphold their one-year suspension at Sherk’s appeal hearing. While Sherk’s possible departure actually helps the UFC in that it brings in more appealing contenders like B.J. Penn and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson, the growing steroid controversy—especially when a title is at stake—is nearly crippling.

What does all this mean? It means that Couture’s resignation (and announcement that he wishes to “severe all ties to the UFC”) comes at the worst of times. The UFC needs to consider life without Couture, Liddell, Hughes and even Franklin (not to mention Sherk). And while it has a stable of young fighters eager to fill those shoes (and capable of doing so), there are definite holes in its ranks. Noteworthy hopefuls are Lightweights Penn, Stevenson and Roger Huerta, who the UFC fancies as their ticket to breaking into the Mexican market; Welterweights GSP, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez; and Light Heavyweights Jackson, Griffin, Shogun Rua, Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping, who the UFC has leveraged to break into England. The much weaker divisions are definitely the Middleweights and Heavyweights, made all the more thin by the loss of Couture.

Can the UFC survive without Emelianenko and Couture? Absolutely. The UFC is just too big, and MMA is too popular not to survive this fallout. But re-negotiating with Emelianenko and convincing him to renege on his M-1 contract (if even possible at this point), and then going out and securing Couture for a title bout would definitely help their situation. Until then, it looks like the greatest PRIDE vs. UFC match up that never happened.

This Week in Non-Sports News: Reason #346 Why Lohan Should Have Died Immediately Following Mean Girls

2007-10-09T17:22:00.001-04:00

#346: Referred to rehab as a "sobering experience."

2007-10-05T16:44:00.000-04:00

After an embarrassing last week loss to MetcalfUpTheMiddle, the SteelSkins are ready to make right this week. Here are our picks:

Adam's picks:
MIA @ HOU - HOU
ATL @ TEN - TEN
JAX @ KC - JAX
NYJ @ NYG - NYG
CAR @ NO - NO
AZ @ STL - AZ
CLE @ NE - NE
SEA @ PIT - PIT
DET @ WAS - WAS
TB @ IND - IND
SD @ DEN - SD
BAL @ SF - BAL
CHI @ GB - GB
DAL @ BUF - DAL

Sean's picks:
MIA @ HOU - HOU
ATL @ TEN - TEN
JAX @ KC - JAX
NYJ @ NYG - NYG
CAR @ NO - NO
AZ @ STL - AZ
CLE @ NE - NE
SEA @ PIT - SEA
DET @ WAS - DET
TB @ IND - IND
SD @ DEN - SD
BAL @ SF - BAL
CHI @ GB - Brett Favre
DAL @ BUF - DAL

Austin's picks:
MIA @ HOU - MIA
ATL @ TEN - TEN
JAX @ KC - JAX
NYJ @ NYG - NYG
CAR @ NO - NO
AZ @ STL - STL
CLE @ NE - NE
SEA @ PIT - PIT
DET @ WAS - DET
TB @ IND - IND
SD @ DEN - DEN
BAL @ SF - SF
CHI @ GB - CHI
DAL @ BUF - DAL

Notice, no Browns.