Wednesday, October 24, 2007

And I Still Have Mine

So I'm reading over Deadspin today and they linked to 100% Injury Rates' celebration of the 21st anniversary of the William "Refrigerator" Perry G.I. Joe action figure. I suggest you read it, it's a great post that includes images of all the advertisements for it and everything. It also gives the back story on why they chose the Fridge for a figure (it includes Rocky). Not only did I get one of these when I was a kid, but I still have it to this day, it's one of my most prized possessions.
Here's the commercial from back in the day.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

In a Rivalry it Always Matters

I had to spend far more time in a Dave & Buster's than most people could have stood, but it was more than worth it to watch the Canes pull out a victory against FSU in Tallahassee (not that I don't like Dave & Buster's, but anything gets old after too long). Sure, both teams are mediocre this year, but it was a very fun game to watch and thankfully it may have brought the concept of offense back into the rivalry.

The rest of the schedule this year looks tough for UM, but hopefully we can overachieve and really make something out of this season.

In other news;

-Congratulations to Vanderbuilt, beating a top 10 team for the first time in 70 seasons. If you're an SEC fan with a soul you are at least a little bit of a Vandy fan and always hope they can pull out a big win after so many years as the doormat of the conference, just so long as that win isn't against your team.

-I could watch a Tim Tebow quarterbacked team play all day every day. It's just a pleasure. While watching UM-FSU on the screen directly in front of me Florida v. Kentucky was on. Getting to see all 3 (historyically powerful, sorry USF. I've enjoyed your run this year and have rooted for you, but you need to string a few good years like this together before you make the "3 teams from Florida" into the "4 teams from Florida) Flordia teams play simultaniously was nice.

Now I'm off to the Fox and Hound for UFC 77, what a great day.

I'm not saying Philly is Miami or Anything...

but this poll saying that Philly "is home to the least attractive people in the United States" is totally off. Just the fact I spent last summer in Philly should bump them up in the ratings a few spots.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Great Weekend

I'm busy but I figured I'd let everyone know what a cool weekend I've got coming up. Tomorrow at 6:30 AM I fly out for Philadelphia, at 4:20 PM tomorrow I've got an interview, on Saturday I'll be finding a place in Philly to watch Miami v. Florida State at 3:30, and I'll finish up the weekend by watching UFC 77 Saturday night before flying back to Pittsburgh at noon on Sunday.

I'm really excited about the interview. I can't wait, the rest of the stuff is just icing on the cake.

Friday, October 12, 2007

The Best Story in Sports is Over...or is it?

So, I get home from work today and suddenly I read that Randy Couture has stepped away from UFC and his heavyweight title. For a second I was shocked, but then I got hopeful (you'll see why). This story appears to have 2 elements, at least that's what Randy is saying;

1) Randy wants Fedor;
At 44 Randy has been pushing for UFC to sign Fedor Emelianenko, the fighter many consider to be the best heavyweight in the world. Simply put Randy wanted to end his career fighting to determine for certain who is the best fighter in the world.

Earlier this week Fedor was signed by M1, another MMA promotion, making a potential Couture v. Fedor match up just about impossible. With Randy now stepping away from UFC he might be able to sign with another promotion (M1?) depending on the wording of his contract. Even though he had 2 more fights on his UFC contract this article says that he could wait 9 months for his contract to lapse and then be free. That seems a little suspect to me, but I hope it's true.

In everything I've read quoting straight from Randy he has used the word "resign" not "retire." Until I hear something different I think there's a reason behind that.

Lastly, in his last fight he broke his arm while defeating Gonzaga. If he's got to wait a while to fight because of his contract it's not like he's losing time, he wouldn't have been fighting anytime soon to begin with.

2) Randy's Respect & UFC's new perception challenge, what they pay the fighters;
Regarding UFC's showing Randy respect, I'll just say this; I've always been mystified by the fact that Dana has always pushed Chuck Liddell as almost the singular face of the UFC when he is really a bland guy. Sure, Chuck is a great fighter, but when he talks he puts me to sleep. Dana made a pretty big mistake in my opinion by focusing primarily on one fighter (Liddell) when he has a ton of more interesting guys on the roster (Rampage). I mean come on...Just once I'd like to watch a UFC commercial with Rampage and not have him only referred to as "The man who knocked out Chuck Liddell" how about showing that he's MMA's most charismatic athlete. Even many non-UFC fans at least know Liddell, I just think Dana should have cast his net a little wider to they might know Liddell and Randy, Liddell and Rich Franklin, etc.

On to the pay...
Here's a good article on this issue. The sport had to fight long and hard to be considered legitimate and not barbaric. They've had great success on that front. Now something new might have popped up.

I've heard a lot of veteran mixed martial artists rip UFC for the amount they pay their fighters. For example, in a Frank Shamrock interview he said that UFC really stands for "You Fight Cheap." Now Couture has brought up that issue. We all know that Randy wasn't starving, in fact he was getting paid well, but if you Google "UFC Payouts" and look down the card it's interesting. The top guys get a ton, as they should. However the lower you go the pay seems pretty pathetic for world class professional athletes. These guys only get to fight a few times a year and have to find a way to pay for training and life in general. Here's an example, the payouts from UFC 70 (Information from the Nevada State Athletic Commission)

-Gabriel Gonzaga ($60,000) def. Mirko CroCop ($350,000)
-Andrei Arlovski ($160,000) def. Fabricio Werdum ($80,000)
-Michael Bisping ($24,000) def. Elvis Sinosic ($8,000)
-”Lyoto” Ryoto Machida ($40,000) def. David Heath ($6,000)
-Cheick Kongo ($40,000) def. Assuerio Silva ($8,000)
-Terry Etin ($12,000) def. Matt Grice ($3,000)
-Junior Assuncao ($6,000) def. David Lee ($2,000)
-Alessio Sakara ($20,000) def. Victor Valimaki ($3,000)
-Jess Liaudin ($6,000) def. Dennis Siver ($3,000)
-Paul Taylor ($8,000) def. Edilberto Crocota ($4,000)

I'm not saying for sure that the guys in the low and mid card certainly deserve a lot more money, but if you look at the numbers it looks like they might. Dana might want to be ready to explain the fair market value of a mid card fighter...then again I'm probably the only one who cares about the legitimate fair market value of a mid card mixed martial artist.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

I Wonder When They'll Diagnose This Disorder

Tonight I'm at the library putting the finishing touches on a writing project. I've been really diligent too, I haven't done any online shopping and I haven't gone to any web sites to distract myself like I sometimes do (except for posting this of course).

However, even at my most diligent I can't ever seem to just sit down and study continuously like most of those sitting around me. Every 10 minutes or so I find myself getting up and walking around for no reason.

I was going to the bathroom. Did I really need to use the bathroom? No, but I was going anyway.

Once the bathroom got boring I started looking out windows and reading stuff on the professors' doors.

Now I've gone to just walking laps around the third floor...

I'm going to leave before too much longer.

I've always thought that hanging out too long at the law school makes you a little bit crazier, now I'm certain.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Preach!

At pitt law we have an attendance requirement. Most of the students hate it, I've heard a lot of professors say they think it's stupid. I would rant on this a bit more, but this post from Quizlaw summarizes my opinions perfectly.