UFC 83 set a landmark for Canada; for the first time, Dana White, alongside Matt Serra, Georges St. Pierre and other top level fighters, brought the UFC to The Bell Centre in Montreal. It seemed the entire city came out to watch as the sellout crowd (including me) lined up for what seemed like forever. After a great night of fights and excitement, it finally concluded with Georges “Rush” St. Pierre redeeming his recent loss of the Welterweight Title, as he won his belt back from Matt Serra. In an interview afterward, Dana White said that he had never heard a crowd as loud as when the official decision was announced by Bruce Buffer. It seemed like this would spark a new reign of sports entertainment in Canada.
However, after an altercation at a recent Titan Fighting event, The QAC (Quebec Athletic Commission) has been trying to change the regulations of mixed martial arts, and therefore, the rules governing the UFC for their next trip to Canada. At the Titan Fighting show, a gentlemen’s contract was issued to the fighters. The contract stated that the fighters were to keep all fights standing along with other small changes to the regular MMA rules. It seems somebody decided to neglect one fighter, as James Thompson shot for a take down instantly in the main event. The crowd rioted and charged the cage as the two fighters (Thompson and Steve Bosse) and referee Yves Lavigne ran. After this debacle, the QAC underwent a process to try and change their rules. The new set of rules excluded elbows, knees and takedowns, and may even regulate cage sizes moving forward. The QAC has notified the board of directors of the UFC that in order to hold UFC 97 at the Bell Centre as planned, they would have to comply with these new rules, or there would be no show.
More after the jump!
That’s right. Today signifies the day that the God of Golf returns to his throne. The robot I refer to is, of course, Tiger Woods.
Just to clear things up, I’m calling him The Robot because it’s true, he’s a robot. He started out as the new hot golfer but people were slowly starting to catch on to the truth. He was designed by the PGA to add some zing to the TOUR, which he has successfully done.
Eight months ago, however, the PGA dealt with the fact that he was winning too much. The PGA tried to deal with it via a less than drastic measure – by taking out some screws in his knee and messing with the wiring, but he still came out on top in the U.S. open, so more drastic measures were being considered. He ended his season early to have work done on his knee (read: re-programming), and conveniently had a kid over this time (read: test-tube baby). Shameless acts by the PGA to make him look more “real,” but now, he returns…
More after the jump!
So, I couldn’t find a Blue Jays topic that could keep my interest for 500 words. Today, instead, you get a few small Toronto Blue Jays spring training notes and opinions.
Vernon Wells Out a Month
And you were ready to jump when Mike Maroth’s MRI came back iffy! Well, V-Dub is out a month with a strained left hamstring. There are a few ways to look at this. Pro: The season opener (April 6) is about six weeks away, which means Vernon should be back in time. Con: The rest of your spring training coverage will include speculation about Vernon’s health. Pro: He’s a slow starter anyways (.769 career April OPS vs. an .812 career overall OPS) so this shouldn’t hold him back too much. Con: He’s already a slow starter, so this could mean a disastrous first half. Pro: Extra spring work for Lind, Rios, and Snider in the outfield. Con: Those three could combine for 100 HR and the Jays aren’t making the playoffs. The point here, of course, is that we always go through this with Vernon and the Jays – consider this your own personal spring training as you get ready to deal with minor injuries and minor disappointments all summer.
More after the jump!
As sports fans we are all guilty of hopping on a bandwagon at some point in our spectating career. Maybe it was watching the young Tampa Bay Rays make a run at the World Series last year, which most people and so-called experts would have thought was impossible. Some of you might have hopped on the New England Patriots bandwagon during the early part of this decade to cheer for a franchise that was as close to being a championship dynasty as we have seen in a long time. Maybe some of you hop on teams’ bandwagons just because of certain players that you love, like the Cleveland Cavaliers because of LeBron James or the Washington Capitals because of Alexander Ovechkin. What I am getting at here is that it doesn’t matter why you hop on to a team’s bandwagon, but that we are all guilty of doing so.
For those of you who are still living in denial and swear that you have never hopped on a bandwagon, let me educate you on the definition of “hopping on the bandwagon.” Hopping on the Bandwagon, can be closely related to opportunism, as more people come to believe in something, others will follow and hop on regardless of how they might have previously felt.
Now it is my pleasure to introduce you to the Oklahoma City Thunder and their bandwagon, which, trust me, has plenty of room for us all to hop on. Some of you might be wondering why I would talk to you about hopping on to the bandwagon of a team who is currently 13-43. My response to you would be that yes, usually the term hopping on the bandwagon refers to cheering for a team because they are winning. But this one is different, because people are going to hop on this team’s bandwagon regardless. Not only are they becoming one of the NBA’s most exciting teams to watch, but they are also on the verge of being a monster franchise within the next five years.
More after the jump!
The Weekend Connect is a weekly round-up piece I’m going to be experimenting with, recapping the week past (ODC articles, links from around the internet, etc) and pointing you in the direction of the weekend ahead. Feedback on what you would like to see included would be appreciated.
