- 06:18 AM
- 07/25/08
| Name: | Chris Bohnker |
|---|---|
| Location: | Tampa FL or Chesapeake, VA |
| Gender: | Male |
| AIM: | MIDNBonkers64 |
| Member since: | January 16, 2005 |
| Last visit: | July 24, 2008 |
Bonkers has posted no links and 124 comments to SportsFilter and hasn’t posted any threads or comments to the Locker Room.
Not tonight, honey, I have a game tomorrow. The notion of pre-game abstinence from sex to enhance athletic performance is a longstanding one. But is that notion as fictional as Rocky Balboa? Sean Cupp thinks so. Chris Byrd is the guinea pig. Tom Fornelli resents his high school coach.
posted to Culture at 9:35 PM CDT
Kimbo Slice is Going Primetime A sport that was once derided as "human cockfighting" and banned in most U.S. states is airing live on CBS Saturday night. Mixed Martial Arts fighter Kimbo Slice will face James "The Colossus" Thompson in the first live bout on one of the big four networks, a sign the brutal sport has gone mainstream. "Anyone who thinks CBS will not come out of this with some kind of black eye is fooling themselves," says sports consultant Marc Ganis.
posted to Boxing at 8:13 AM CDT
There's a few things that I see holding MMA back the most right now. This is coming from the perspective of a guy who is a pretty decent fan of boxing, just to explain where I come from on this (one quick thing-I notice a lot of people talking about how boxing has declined in American society, and how this is due to brutality. This is true. But it is not just boxing's violence that drove people away, it was also the terrible management of boxing itself. I think UFC right now is about a thousand times better-managed and run than any of the alphabet soup of boxing organizations).
1. The Bloodsport perception, largely unfairly earned, about how brutal the sport is. Witness large elements of this discussion. Kimbo Slice (3-0 now, BTW) I think actually hurts them in this regard because he is regarded as a brawler, a skilled street thug rather than a true fighter (and that perception is reinforced in a lot of MMA circles, as well). As long as Kimbo Slice continues to be the prime attraction for MMA Heavyweights (in this regard, I feel like MMA follows boxing-the Heavyweight Champeen of da Woild is considered the premiere fighter, even if there are much more talented guys in the lowerweights), MMA won't be taken seriously as a sport and not glorified barfights, which hurts the truly talented guys in lower divisions/other networks (I am aware that EliteXC is really Jay-V compared to UFC/WEC, but then again, which of them has big network TV deal?).
2. The fights. MMA fights tend to be real short, a lot of times not going out of the first round (at least from the ones I've seen). To me, this is a drawback because I'm used to the longer stretch of boxing matches, where we go up to 12 rounds, and a fight has time to build up momentum and atmosphere. Now, the shorter fights make for safer environments for the fighters, and probably make for better television, as well, but don't help the transition in the meantime.
3. The different organizations. Refer to boxing on how well it works out to have numerous groups giving away titles. And the earlier comment about perceptions especially applies here. A vicious screw up on PRIDE fighting or EliteXC hurts UFC and WEC, because no one can tell them apart.
4. Last but not least, stars. As boxing and tennis have shown, it's hard to make an individuals sport huge if you can't make people recognize the stars. Sure, there's a few in both (Floyd Mayweather and De La Hoya in Boxing, Sharapova, the Williams Sisters, and Federer in tennis), but for the most part these people are unknown to us. So it is in MMA-guys rise up and appear. The real thing that hurts this is the lack of major network television deals-UFC has tried to supplant this with cable shows, which I think has helped out a lot. Now, UFC has to try and develop some of those stars into people who can transcend the sport and become huge outside of it, to help market itself (as it's trying to do with Chuck Liddell).
posted at 12:17 AM CDT on June 1
Harkleroad fulfils naked ambition with Playboy shoot I had a hard time picking the category for this one, since it's not all that much about tennis, and spofi doesn't have a category for salacious. A 61st-ranked women's tennis player's who wasn't doing anything else at the moment further fuels the controversy of mixing court and camera.
posted to Culture at 1:45 PM CDT
Amazed she made it in, as she doesn't meet Playboy's normal requirements (ie huge fake boobs).
Interesting article from Times Online about life on the women's tour, featuring our lovely and liberated Miss Harkleroad.
posted at 8:46 PM CDT on May 27
FIFA suspends Iraq soccer association. Endangers qualifying for WC 2010
posted to Soccer at 9:16 AM CDT
Maybe they can compete in the Developing Nations Football Championship instead.
Man, I love The Onion.
posted at 8:53 PM CDT on May 27
Minor leaguer traded for 10 baseball bats. “They just wanted some bats, good bats—maple bats,” Broncos general manager Jose Melendez said.
posted to Baseball at 11:23 AM CDT
I think this was a better trade. Leon does not agree with me, though.
posted at 2:01 PM CDT on May 24
How soccer prepares athletes for the NBA NBA'ers credit much of there skills to playing soccer as young'uns
posted to Basketball at 9:58 AM CDT
Which would explain how international teams were able to field good basketballs so quickly...
posted at 9:08 PM CDT on May 20
There is an "I" in "Team"? Rochelle High School track standout Bonnie Richardson wins the state track title, the TEAM TRACK TITLE, all by herself.
posted to Other at 9:49 AM CDT
Did she thank her teammates, like is required of all athletes in victory speeches? She certainly could have.
posted at 7:18 PM CDT on May 12
This is my #1 draft pick... Well maybe a little lower than first. Size, strength, aggressiveness, quickness. With a little help on his technique, he could be an excellent offensive lineman.
posted to Football at 10:11 PM CDT
Mel Kiper thinks he's got a nasty streak, technically sound, and great explosion off the snap, but doesn't feel he can pull and get around the edge. Todd McShay, on the other hand, feels he's a liability on pass pro.
Overall, a good late day pick for someone willing to let him develop, put him in an NFL-weight room, and teach him some pass protection technique.
posted at 8:43 PM CDT on April 27
The Ten Worst Number One Overall Picks A look back at the surefire picks that weren't.
posted to Football at 6:11 PM CDT
The worst overall number one pick?
The first number one overall pick.
In a similar vein of argument, you could probably argue for John Elway, inasmuch he didn't help out Baltimore too much.
posted at 8:10 PM CDT on April 24
"Greg Maddux? I bet you could catch him with your eyes closed." What you are about to read is a story about grown men who should know better. It is included here as a means of illustrating the legend of one man and his unique place in baseball history. It should not be construed as an endorsement of the activity described, although we must admit it makes for a pretty cool story.
posted to Baseball at 4:48 PM CDT
Greg Maddux will go down as the greatest pitcher of this generation. Because he will kill and eat any one who challenges him.
On a serious note, it is interesting to think about how he will be viewed in 20 years vs. Roger Clemens, he of steroid fame.
posted at 6:16 PM CDT on April 15
The NFL in the year 2000 "Don't be shocked when the 21st century arrives and the NFL teams in Super Bowl XXXIV have women quarterbacks launching 135-yard touchdown passes with their power-assisted arms." Unintentional comedy gold from Sports Illustrated.
posted to Football at 7:06 PM CDT
Some of the better predictions.
"Everything will become more specialized. On defense, you'll get pass rushers and run defenders, first-down and third-down defensive ends. You'll see relief quarterbacks." —Tom Flores, Head Coach, Oakland Raiders
Except for the QBs, Flores was right on.
"I don't think there'll be a franchise in a poor-weather area without a domed stadium. And you won't see franchises moving into 50,000-seat baseball-oriented stadiums." —Tex Schramm
New England, Buffalo, Soldier Field and the Frozen Tundra are the holdouts, but pretty close. The move away from the universal stadium is well underway.
"It's a very tough, very hard game, and I think more and more it's going to be played by the so-called underprivileged. It's too tough, too physical a game for a society that's become so affluent. Kids can get the same great cardiovascular exercise from soccer." —Marv Levy
I think this was more true during the 80s, but I don't think it's as prevalent anymore. Not necessarily true because of the toughness aspect, as opposed to the speed that coaches were able to draw out of places like Miami and LA.
The coaches will begin to dress alike, and maybe there will be a machine out there doing the coach's job. It'll be second and four, the guy will punch a button on his chest and—wonk, wonk, wonk—he'll say, 'O.K., run off tackle.' " —John Madden, Former Coach, Oakland Raiders
Not quite, but a lot of coaches do now have scripts for various situations.
"First, they've got to figure out ways to make more of the positions more glamorous. The field must be divided into different colored zones. There's got to be more strategy put into football. It's got to be more of a war game. I'm really very concerned about football because I've loved it all my life, and if it doesn't move ahead, we are going to be a country of soccer players in 2000." —Vintage Byron Donzis
Quite wrong, even though this guy was right about better safety equipment.
And what else do the NFL seers envision for 2000 A.D.?... The feeling is that rosters will grow, but the schedule will not (you believe that?), and that the NFL won't expand abroad because the foreigners wouldn't be sufficiently interested in an American game played by Americans. No, even in 2000 the referees won't use TV replays to assist them in making their calls.-From the article.
1. Wrong. 2. Wrong. 3. Wrong, but still in an only limited fashion. 4. How very wrong.
"No one in the game has even suggested there might be a black head coach in 2000." From the article.
Glad to see this one was wrong.
Overall a good article.
posted at 1:14 PM CDT on March 26
No Jokinen, Zednick's Throat Slashed During Hockey Game. Florida Panthers' forward Richard Zednik had his throat slashed by teammate Olli Jokinen's skate in Buffalo Sunday night while playing against the Sabres. Zednik is in stable condition following surgery to repair a "deep gash" in his neck, and the Panthers are flying his wife Jessica to Buffalo to be with him.
posted to Hockey at 10:02 AM CDT
I know that I don't know a lot about hockey, and I understand that hockey is a tough, hard-nosed sport, but after an incident like this, doesn't it become time to start mandating full-coverage face masks, like I see a lot of in NCAA hockey? I cannot contemplate why the NHL allows players to skate with only visors on, or nothing but helmets. At some point, it becomes time for the league to step in and say, you will wear this for your own protection.
posted at 8:22 PM CDT on February 11
posted to Football at 9:07 PM CDT
I thought the G-Men had lost it when they utterly abandoned the blitz on the 2nd Half NE touchdown drive. Then Manning made his move, and the G-Men held out.
Congrats to the New York Giants.
posted at 10:03 PM CDT on February 3
Victory and Ruins - The Story of the 2000 Rose Bowl Champion Washington Huskies Pity Ty Willingham who inherited a program that protected and enabled:
UCLA fans, ask Rick Neuheisel what price you're paying for victories next year. Tampa Bay fans, stay off the roads. posted to Football at 12:49 PM CDT
Greg Maddux makes Anton Chigurh look like a baby sleeping in its crib.
posted at 7:43 PM CDT on January 30
Bite Me NY Giants and former Patriots offensive lineman Grey Ruegamer has an interesting part-time job. Please be advised that this is not for the weak-stomached.
posted to Football at 3:05 PM CDT
That's nothing. Mr. T eats grown men's balls, and has since the early days of the Internet.
posted at 11:34 PM CDT on January 26
I agree that physiological benefits from abstinence prior to the fight are overrated (and have known that), but what about mental aspects? Namely, self-discipline, gained from strenghtening will power? Certainly a useful skill for any athlete.
(I'm trying to come up with a counter-argument for this debate, and this is the best I can come up with so far)