all-other-sports
This didn’t make our Top 10 Gruesome Injuries List but if there was an amateur category, this might be #1. The best part is the guy filming it who just does nothing for the duration of this video. Dude, get the car and take me to a f’ing hospital. Does this look like it doesn’t hurt?!
ESPN rode the Oscar De la Hoya/Floyd Mayweather fight for as long as they could and now that the “fight of the century” has turned out to be the biggest waste of $55 since the last “fight of the century” it looks like the mother ship is ready to give the UFC some love. You know, the same Ultimate Fighting Championship that has been criticized by the world of “legitimate” sports news for years now. Well, ESPN doesn’t care about having a consistent approach to their professional beliefs; no, they are concerned with getting ratings and selling magazines. And that’s why the Iceman Chuck Liddell will be on the cover of the May 21st issue of ESPN The Magazine.
Could this be the push that the UFC needs to become a regular fixture on Sports Center? Will we soon be hearing Stuart Scott and Scott Van Pelt trying in vain to be funny as clips of Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes performing some ground and pound techniques roll during the voice over? Only time will tell, but one thing we do know is that professional boxing is losing steam with every 12 round, snooze fest, split decision that comes down the road. So, it’s no coincidence that ESPN has jumped onto the UFC bandwagon just as one of the most anticipated fights in recent history comes rolling around.
UFC went out of their way to lure one of Pride’s best fighters over to the U.S. and on May 26 at UFC 71, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will take on the light heavyweight champion, and current ESPN cover boy, Liddell.
We happen to be huge fans of the whole mixed martial arts scene here at Sportscolumn and, frankly, we don’t understand why it hasn’t moved past being considered a fringe sport long ago. So it’s no surprise to us that the UFC is on the verge of blowing up to mainstream proportions, and UFC President Dana White knows that his company can provide something that no boxing promotion has been able to do for quite some time, and that is have a fight that lives up to the hype.
Saturday night is what pisses everyone off,” said White. “It’s crazy. It just drives people further from boxing. You get one fight for 55 bucks. One fight for a $2,500 ticket. You get people all excited for the buildup and then the fight ends up sucking. Both guys try to outpoint the other and win a decision.”
“In the UFC, we give you eight or nine fights, they’re all good, and the guys are fighting their asses off trying to finish it. There’s tons of energy.
Links:
[BostonHerald.com]: Liddell, White have it covered
If you like the big mouthed portions and greasy trash talk that gets served on the side of every professional sport in the United States, then badminton is probably not going to be your cup of tea. There are no Chad Johnsons, Floyd Mayweathers or Gary Paytons floating around the pro badminton circuits. These guys pride themselves on their polite etiquette and gentle(wo)manly gestures.
Where’s the fun in that? Sportsmanship, we don’t need no stinking sportsmanship. In badminton, players are expected to honestly call their own faults and line decisions. Can you imagine a bunch of NBAers or NFLers calling their own fouls? Hell, you can’t even get a couple kids playing a pick-up game on the street to call their own fouls honestly.
They also gotta go shake hands with their opponent after the game which is a pretty customary practice for most sports but what we are really upset about is that players aren’t allowed to give the birdie a nice, hardcore, overhead smash when it gets popped up at the net. And some actually wonder why it gets labeled as a “sissy” sport. Badminton isn’t anything like the commercials make it out to be!
Links:
[MercuryNews.com]: No booing in badminton
We love Amanda Beard around here so the news/rumor that she has agreed to pose in Playboy was met with a very excited “hot damn!” According to timedfinals, FHM’s world’s sexiest athlete will appear in Playboy in the next five weeks. We have absolutely nothing to add to this story except “it’s about time!”
And if you think this entry was simply an excuse to post this picture of Amanda Beard looking extra sexy, then you would be correct.
Links:
[timedfinals]: Amanda Beard to Appear in Playboy
[With leather]: AMANDA BEARD IS GETTIN NAKED
A while back we told you about the National Xtreme Baseball League and now we’ve finally got the video proof that we weren’t just making stuff up after “Dollar Beer Night” at Mooseknuckles. So, here’s a little recap of the history and rules of the game with some sweet commentary to go along with the eternally classic Kiss hit Rock & Roll All Night in the background.
Does this guy know that he is talking about “extreme baseball?” Because by the tone of his voice it sounds like he’s reading the phone book or perhaps doing his best Ben Stein impersonation. C’mon man, give us something to get excited about; the game certainly isn’t going to do that by itself. Geez, we’ve heard more passion during an episode of Great American Gardens, um, not that we watch that or anything. But our favorite part is when this bore spouts out his lines in a monotone fashion at the 1:28 mark:
Links:
[Deuce of Davenport]: National Xtreme Baseball…ye Gods…
We love betting the trifecta. For a buck or two, you can win hundreds if not thousands of dollars on a race. Hell, sometimes we’ll even go crazy and go with the trifecta box. However, we also know enough about statistics to know that you can’t bet every single permutation in a race and expect to come out on top.
But that’s exactly what a man in Rochester, NY did. On the day of the Kentucky Derby, a man walked into an OTB and asked how much it would cost to buy every possible trifecta combination. And now we break for a quick math lesson–
If you have 20 horses in the field, the possible outcomes for the first three horses would be 20! / (20-3)! = 6,840. Likewise, a superfecta (first 4 horses) would be 116,280. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming–
The man was told the answer and came back to place the wagers. It cost him a total of $13,680 for his $2 trifectas and he wound up winning… wait for it… wait for it… $440. If you’re gonna make a bet like this, you better know what you’re getting yourself into. And since the payout odds are terrible on favorites, you should just eliminate those trifecta combinations. But alas, the man had more cash than math skills so now he’s $13,240 poorer for his trouble.
This story would only be better if he does the exact same thing in the Preakness.
Links:
[Democrat and Chronicle]: Encore: Yes for Street Sense; no for Oscar
First it was limited to the world of bicycling and Lance Armstrong, then it hopped over to baseball with Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Conseco and Barry Bonds to mention a few. And now we can’t even enjoy coverage of the Kentucky Derby without having to endure a bunch of conspiracy theories involving the purity of blood cells and muscle density. All the horses will be drug tested prior to the race in order to uphold the integrity of the event. Apparently, Barbaro wrote a book before his death that exposed some of the other horses as being users of enhancing substances.
In other news…
[ESPN]: When it comes to golf, Derek Jeter is no Ryan Longwell.
[Yahoo]: “Naked man superglued to exercise bike during heist.” Ummm… ok.
[SI.com]: Barry Bonds isn’t the only Giant with a drug problem. Wonder if they shared needles?
[Yahoo Sports]: Tractor Traylor’s cousin was a bad man. A rich man, but a bad man.
[Larry Brown Sports]: Please fire Scott Van Pelt. Please fire Scott Van Pelt. Please fire Scott Van Pelt…
[WFTV.com]: The Juice finds time during his hunt for the real killer to enjoy a day at the track.
And finally, for all you house hunters out there, 50 Cent’s 52-room mansion in Connecticut is up for sale. 50 bought the house, which used to be owned by Mike Tyson, for $4.1 million in 2003 and has since spent around $6 million to pimp his crib. According to the agent who was listing the house when Iron Mike was there, “He’s put a lot into it, and it’s all very tasteful, except the stripper poles.”
We don’t hate the whole Barbaro thing as much as the guys over as Deadspin but we do think it’s really silly. The latest Barbaro news? The field at the Kentucky Derby this year will be racing against the ghost of Barbaro past. If the winner of the Derby wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths (the margin of Barbaro’s victory), the winning trainer, jockey, owner, and a charity will each received 25% of a $1M bonus.
It’s certainly creative, it’s certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,” Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. “What’s really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.
Force us to remember Barbaro? I think the media is doing a thorough enough job of that. It is impossible to read a single story on the Kentucky Derby without hearing about Barbaro. Look, it was a sad story. We pulled for Barbaro to make it through surgery. But when he was euthanized, that was the end of that story. Why is Barbaro’s death that important? Because he was a pretty horse? Please. There’s less public remembrance of athletes who died last year.
Links:
[ Cincy Post]: Sponsor offers $1M bonus
When will people catch on that sex between a player and coach, or a teacher and a student just isn’t cool in the eyes of the law or most deans? Especially when the student is just 17-years-old!
Well, former Canadian Football League quarterback turned high school coach and substitute teacher Tom Porras found out the hard way on Thursday when he was arrested for suspicion of sex abuse and public sexual indecency with a student. The 49-year-old Porras confessed to the sexual abuse charge while sitting under that bright light at the Scottsdale, Arizona police headquarters.
Porras could always score on the field as he spent 17 seasons in the CFL, AFL and USFL, but now we see that the guy has some serious problems when it comes to reaching the end zone off the gridiron. C’mon, how pathetic do you have to be to hook up with high school chicks when you’re freakin’ 49? Not to mention a former professional athlete. Look, do we really have to show you where the line should be draw when it comes to sexual harassment? Let’s just say that you shouldn’t cross this line …
Actually, on second thought, don’t even approach that threshold. Especially with the minors.
Links:
[KVOA.com]: Former pro quarterback arrested on sex charges
Boston College womens hockey coach Tom Mutch resigned abruptly on Tuesday after allegations of inappropriate conduct with one of his players. While the BC athletic director initially cited Mutch’s desire to pursue other career interests, it turns out that he was romantically linked to his top scorer, Kelli Stack.
Mutch was busted when sexually graphic text messages were discovered on Stack’s old cell phone by a teammate. Sadly, Boston College is a private college and we can’t use the Freedom of Informaction Act like Mitch Mustain did to request Houston Nutt’s cell phone records. However, the text messages were described as “filthy. They were very sexual in nature.” Shane Warne would be proud.
Oh yeah, Mutch is 39 years old and married. High Five For shame!
Links:
[Sports By Brooks]: BC COVERS COACH’S LEWD CONDUCT WITH 19 YO PLAYER
[Boston.com]: BC’s Mutch quits amid allegations
[Boston Herald]: Students mum on beleaguered BC hockey coach