You have to love how people respond to the question of who their all time favourite MMA fighter is. The responses are hilarious, and highlight how little the average fan know about the sport. While I'm not putting down the fighters, as many are pretty damn good, I am sitting here wishing the average fan would vest a little more time getting educated before opening their sewers. Typically responses include the likes of Couture, Liddell, GSP, Silva, Bisping, etc. Fighters that for the most part are still fighting, or in some form still a face for the UFC in general. Sometimes you'll get a name from the recently defunct Strikeforce, but that's about it.
The average fan doesn't give a thought to other organizations such as Invicta, and even more rarely female fighters such as Michelle Waterson or Holly Holm. But the Holy Grail that isn't but a whisper are the early days. I'm talking the tournament style fights that occurred long before Dana White got involved, and actually had UFC banned in many places, and had the far east fall in love with Pancrase . Styles where fighters would gather, and then have multiple fights in a night where they would climb the ranks to be the ultimate bad ass in the land. We're not talking some 5 minute round, where the ref would stand you up if he didn't like what he was seeing after a few seconds. We're talking knock down, drag out, 30 non-stop minutes of beating your opponent senseless. Back when men like Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, and Tank Abbott ruled the cage.
You have the great Gracie family who have not only shown that size isn't always a factor in a fight, but have given the world what it knows as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Dan Severn who would tie his opponents up like a pretzel and ended his career recently with over 100 wins to his name. Now you're probably looking at the other names and thinking to yourself, "What the hell is he smoking?" So I'll start with Ken Shamrock. Yes, he's an obnoxious ass who needs to get away from the sport. However, if you take a look at his early career, his prime if you will, he was a great fighter. He racked up wins and was a submission machine. Up until his first retirement, he was a top fighter. I had a discussion with a friend the other day about Tank Abbott, who made a valid point. Tanks career is similar to Shamrocks in that he started off as a man to be feared. While his record was never spectacular, he was a man that would win or lose in spectacular fashion, and almost never allowed a fight to be left in the hands of the judges. Win or lose, someone was getting knocked out, or choked out, end of story. And this kept pace until his first retirement as well.
Retirement is where Shamrock and Abbott are virtual mirror images. Both went to "pro wrestling" organizations for brief runs. And then both returned to the world of MMA to pretty much trash their records, and look more like street thugs than fighters. Both talk an incredible amount of crap, which doesn't work well since they don't win often. And neither one of them seems to believe that they have nothing left in them. The only reason they get fights is so small organizations can put a name on the marque to generate a little more money. Which is sad. Apparently some managers think they'll be able to recreate the Rocky movies with an old MMA fighter.
My point is this, while these are fighters that have either had good endings to their careers or crap, they were pioneers that rarely get credit. For MMA they are the Babe Ruth, Roger Staubach, Wayne Gretzky, Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, and Hulk Hogan. Fans need to look at the history of the sport, commentators and practitioners need to teach the history when they can, and owners should make it a point to remind people of the fighters that made today’s sports possible. I love Mir, Nelson, and many of today's other fighters. But lets not forget the days of old either. Tribute is due. And knowledge brings more enjoyment, and pride to the sport.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Laundry the hard way
The curve balls life throws can be funny sometimes. So our washer went out. Total bummer. But at least we have alternatives as to how we can wash our clothes. Funny how we always take things for granted until they crap out on us. Oh well. But it brought back memories of boot camp.
Good ol MCRD San Diego made sure we wouldn't forget laundry day. Just another example of how Marines are different from others. For laundry day we would go behind our barracks where we had huge concrete slabs with water faucets spread out every few feet. Just like you'd hook a garden hose up to. And it was COLD. Which was one of the few refreshing points of going to boot camp in the summer time, yet I digress. So what would happen is that we'd put some laundry detergent into our individual canteen cups, and fill it with water so we'd have our soapy water. We'd proceed to soak our clothes. Then we'd take a scrub brush (scuz brush in Marine lingo), dip it into the soapy water, and then scrub the muck, crap, and whatever unholy crap we had gotten on our cammies that week, out of our clothes. Once that was done, we'd hose them off with the fresh water from the faucets again to get the soap out. Finally, we'd wring out all the water we could, and hang our clothes, in an orderly and proficient manner, hang our clothes on old fashioned clothes lines to dry. Trousers in one area, shirts in another, again with socks, and underwear.
And then, the next morning, dry or not we got our clothes off the lines, feld up, and stowed away in our foot lockers. It made it easy to figure out why military footlockers always smell like mildew. Yes, mystery solved. Keep it in mind next time you're at a legit military surplus store that sells used gear.
Good ol MCRD San Diego made sure we wouldn't forget laundry day. Just another example of how Marines are different from others. For laundry day we would go behind our barracks where we had huge concrete slabs with water faucets spread out every few feet. Just like you'd hook a garden hose up to. And it was COLD. Which was one of the few refreshing points of going to boot camp in the summer time, yet I digress. So what would happen is that we'd put some laundry detergent into our individual canteen cups, and fill it with water so we'd have our soapy water. We'd proceed to soak our clothes. Then we'd take a scrub brush (scuz brush in Marine lingo), dip it into the soapy water, and then scrub the muck, crap, and whatever unholy crap we had gotten on our cammies that week, out of our clothes. Once that was done, we'd hose them off with the fresh water from the faucets again to get the soap out. Finally, we'd wring out all the water we could, and hang our clothes, in an orderly and proficient manner, hang our clothes on old fashioned clothes lines to dry. Trousers in one area, shirts in another, again with socks, and underwear.
And then, the next morning, dry or not we got our clothes off the lines, feld up, and stowed away in our foot lockers. It made it easy to figure out why military footlockers always smell like mildew. Yes, mystery solved. Keep it in mind next time you're at a legit military surplus store that sells used gear.
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| Scuz Brush |
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Foot Locker that may or may not stay in one piece
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Sunday, April 21, 2013
Pizza by the Balls
This one's a shorty. So a few weeks back I came across a post on Facebook that looked delicious. So I shared it, and gave it a try. It was a hit! It was devoured so fast everyone was disappointed they couldn't have more. So for those that don't follow me, I'll share it here complete with the picture that came with it. Try it, do a variation, we're talking pizza here man! We had it as shown and with Canadian bacon. I'm thinking a fire Hawaiian may be needed in the near future. I don't know who came up with this recipe, but kudos to whoever it was.
PIZZA BALLS
3 cans Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits (10 per can),
56 pepperoni slices,
block of Colby cheese,
1 beaten egg,
Parmesan, Italian seasoning, Garlic powder,
1 jar pizza sauce
Cut the block of cheese into 28 squares.
Flatten a biscuit out and stack pepperoni and cheese on top.
Gather up the edges of the biscuit.
Line up the rolls in a greased 9x13 in pan.
Brush with beaten egg.
Sprinkle with parmesan,
Italian seasoning and garlic powder.
Bake at 425°F for 18-20 minutes.
Use the pizza sauce for dipping
PIZZA BALLS
3 cans Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits (10 per can),
56 pepperoni slices,
block of Colby cheese,
1 beaten egg,
Parmesan, Italian seasoning, Garlic powder,
1 jar pizza sauce
Cut the block of cheese into 28 squares.
Flatten a biscuit out and stack pepperoni and cheese on top.
Gather up the edges of the biscuit.
Line up the rolls in a greased 9x13 in pan.
Brush with beaten egg.
Sprinkle with parmesan,
Italian seasoning and garlic powder.
Bake at 425°F for 18-20 minutes.
Use the pizza sauce for dipping
Friday, April 19, 2013
It's a game, not a dating site.
Games. It happens a lot with guys, and I with some women too. I find it annoying as hell. So here I am, I have my lovely smartphone in hand, and I'm looking to kill some time. So I do what so many others do, and I pull up a game on my phone. Doesn't matter what it is, a scrabble like game, mini golf, dice, or name that tune, I always run into the same problem. You send out an invite to start a game with a random person, and if you're the same sex you get declined almost every time! It makes it hard to find a good game. To make matters worse, you get some moron who wants to ask age, if you're married, etc. What the french toast! It's a friggin game, not a damn dating service!
So briefly I tried an experiment on one of them. I put up a random pic that doesn't show a person. It was obvious people didn't look at my screen name. Instead not only was the game accepted, but I'm getting in game messages asking if I'm a girl, where I am, how old I am, if I'm seeing anyone. Yeah, YOU ARE SOME DUMBASSES! And what makes it worse is that it's not all school kids, it's grown adults doing this! As soon as I changed my pic to show who I really am, it came to a screeching halt, and again I'm in exile with most men. Which isn't all bad, because at least when I do get a game going, I know it's someone like me that actually wants to play the game.
This is where good parenting comes in and parents limit, screen, and spot check what they allow their kids access too. Some of these deviants are down right disgusting. Yes, that includes women. Seriously, you're not going to get a date from playing a game. Do these people really think they're going to find love in a round or words with friends or draw something? Just because I played word feud with you, does not mean I want to marry you. In all honesty, you're lucky if I even respond to a message outside of "good game" or "rematch".
A lot of people are complaining that they can't find love. Here's why. IT'S NOT IN A VIDEO GAME! Unplug for a while, get a job, move out of your parents basement, and learn how to talk to real live people. Oh crap, what a concept! Talking. It's not a new invention, it's just one that seems to be lost in the gibberish of text talk and playing Wii instead of actual basketball.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Crap Gifts
A couple of days ago I got a crap gift. We all get crap gifts at some point, but this is one I almost took personally. The other day, one of our transporters come in and says, "Hey, I hear you like cigars. I brought you one of mine to try." Keep in mind he's dead serious. He then proceeds to hand me a cheap gas station monstrosity with what I like to call, a bitch cap. It's that plastic piece at the end. You almost got to see what this little thing looks like once stuck into one of the dog turds in my backyard.
At first I wanted to laugh and say, "What the heck is that?" And I told him what I prefer to smoke. Names like Gurkha, and Vegas were quickly lost on him and I knew I was talking to a novice. But then when I mentioned basics like Churchill, or Torpedo, and the deer in the headlights look told me he's not just a novice, but totally ignorant in the world of cigars. Keep in mind I do try to keep things in layman's terms here.
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So I took this as a reminder that sometimes, people do give us things with the best of intentions, and just don't realize what they are doing. They're not necessarily the village idiot, though they may be. They're just uneducated. In this case, I believe a bit of both came into play. Still, now I need to decide what to do with this POS that some would call a cigar. You may end up seeing a pic of it stuck in a dug turd yet. I'm open to suggestions!
At first I wanted to laugh and say, "What the heck is that?" And I told him what I prefer to smoke. Names like Gurkha, and Vegas were quickly lost on him and I knew I was talking to a novice. But then when I mentioned basics like Churchill, or Torpedo, and the deer in the headlights look told me he's not just a novice, but totally ignorant in the world of cigars. Keep in mind I do try to keep things in layman's terms here.
So I took this as a reminder that sometimes, people do give us things with the best of intentions, and just don't realize what they are doing. They're not necessarily the village idiot, though they may be. They're just uneducated. In this case, I believe a bit of both came into play. Still, now I need to decide what to do with this POS that some would call a cigar. You may end up seeing a pic of it stuck in a dug turd yet. I'm open to suggestions!
Saturday, April 13, 2013
MMA Underdog
MMA. Love it or hate it, it's the sport that's taking the world by storm for the past decade. While it was breaking ground, and gaining momentum, you have to give Dana White credit for launching it into the spot light. Minus the hair, he really is the Don King of cage fighting. But today I'm looking at one of my favorite fighters Big Country Roy Nelson.
Why? Because he is opposite of what people want in a fighter. He's not a big trash talker. That mantel has been taken by Chael Sonnen, and is continually targeted by many others. He isn't an arrogant, spoon fed, neanderthal. Brock Lesner not only got that crown, but is too stupid to realize it. Nor does he have the look that makes the groupies go nuts. I'm pretty sure GSP has owned that for a while now. No, he's a average guy, with a head for fighting, that's built like Dan Conner with a mullet. Essentially, he's carrying all the cards that make for a good underdog in that respect.
Here's a guy that's had quality training, and was an IFL Champion. But ended up in highly contested bouts, and in organizations that couldn't even make it through breakfast before they closed shop. Then he tried out for, and qualified for The Ultimate Fighter. Hey, a little recognition, great! But then that starts to get shot because here comes Dana White mocking him, and making it clear he doesn't like him. Basically Dana comes in and pulls a page one how to be a douche bag out of Vince McMahon's book by judging the book by it's cover. Now while the show went out of it's way not to promote Roy, it did have a few points where he got to show his mind. In one such scene he's at the TUF house explaining to the other fighters the concept of fight smarter, not harder. He explains you don't have to set out to hurt the other guy if you don't have too, you just have to keep working him over. Clearly it was brushed off by the others. In what I felt was a genius move to prove his point, he showed it in a fight against Kimbo Slice. Basically he laid on top of him in a crucifix position, and continually hit him in the head in a manner that was basically tapping him until the ref was forced to call the fight. Brilliant!
Then came the moment of truth, his fight for a contract. Knock out of the night! He made Dana White eat crow! The boss said, no way. And he showed him up big time. Then he says he's going out for some burgers while rubbing his belly. You have to respect that. Then, in order to try to wash him out of the UFC, Dana tried to feed him to a supposedly better fighter. KO of the night again! His legacy in the UFC has been highly understated in my opinion. The only three fights he's lost have been to decision, and even one of those was awarded fight of the night. And they were to other top rate fighters. Every single win however, has been via KO or TKO, with every KO and one TKO being awarded knockout of the night.
Any way you cut it, he's a dangerous guy to get in the cage with. Aside from promotion, his biggest flaw is typical of a big man. He gets gassed really fast. That's just my opinion though. He's an underdog if for no other reason than the fact that Dana White doesn't care for him and wants him gone. And I love an underdog.
Why? Because he is opposite of what people want in a fighter. He's not a big trash talker. That mantel has been taken by Chael Sonnen, and is continually targeted by many others. He isn't an arrogant, spoon fed, neanderthal. Brock Lesner not only got that crown, but is too stupid to realize it. Nor does he have the look that makes the groupies go nuts. I'm pretty sure GSP has owned that for a while now. No, he's a average guy, with a head for fighting, that's built like Dan Conner with a mullet. Essentially, he's carrying all the cards that make for a good underdog in that respect.
Here's a guy that's had quality training, and was an IFL Champion. But ended up in highly contested bouts, and in organizations that couldn't even make it through breakfast before they closed shop. Then he tried out for, and qualified for The Ultimate Fighter. Hey, a little recognition, great! But then that starts to get shot because here comes Dana White mocking him, and making it clear he doesn't like him. Basically Dana comes in and pulls a page one how to be a douche bag out of Vince McMahon's book by judging the book by it's cover. Now while the show went out of it's way not to promote Roy, it did have a few points where he got to show his mind. In one such scene he's at the TUF house explaining to the other fighters the concept of fight smarter, not harder. He explains you don't have to set out to hurt the other guy if you don't have too, you just have to keep working him over. Clearly it was brushed off by the others. In what I felt was a genius move to prove his point, he showed it in a fight against Kimbo Slice. Basically he laid on top of him in a crucifix position, and continually hit him in the head in a manner that was basically tapping him until the ref was forced to call the fight. Brilliant!
Then came the moment of truth, his fight for a contract. Knock out of the night! He made Dana White eat crow! The boss said, no way. And he showed him up big time. Then he says he's going out for some burgers while rubbing his belly. You have to respect that. Then, in order to try to wash him out of the UFC, Dana tried to feed him to a supposedly better fighter. KO of the night again! His legacy in the UFC has been highly understated in my opinion. The only three fights he's lost have been to decision, and even one of those was awarded fight of the night. And they were to other top rate fighters. Every single win however, has been via KO or TKO, with every KO and one TKO being awarded knockout of the night.
Any way you cut it, he's a dangerous guy to get in the cage with. Aside from promotion, his biggest flaw is typical of a big man. He gets gassed really fast. That's just my opinion though. He's an underdog if for no other reason than the fact that Dana White doesn't care for him and wants him gone. And I love an underdog.
Motorcycle Blues
Time for a brief venting session. Is it just me, or are mechanics getting worse? For instance you take your car in for some basic maintenance, and you tell them to let you know if they see anything else that needs or will soon need work done. They hold your car hostage for a week, give it back with just the maintenance done and say it's good to go. Next thing you know, you're broke down on the side of the road. When you finally get your death cage towed into the garage they say, "Yeah, this has been bad for a while. It should have been replaced about a century ago." Hey dick, you said it was good a week ago! And it doesn't matter if you go to a second garage to get it looked over, because they pull the same thing!
Then you have our lovely motorcycle mechanics. Seems like most places you're looking at a week just to get a friggin tire changed. Now on my bike, I can understand having to wait a few days. After all it's almost 30 years old, and doesn't use a common tire size after all. But for an oil change, and carb cleaning to take 2 weeks... really? Absolute crap.
This time I took my beloved motorcycle in, I knew it would probably be a couple weeks. It's been 3 weeks, and I'm still waiting! Yes, order the new tire. (I blew my front tire stem coming off the interstate). I TOOK them a new gauge box. (My old one died, about a year ago and I'm tired of not having accurate readings). I needed a new front right blinker, since the bulb died. (They have it in stock). And it was due for an oil change and have the carbs cleaned. #1) I'm not just in for a quick oil change and out, I'm here to give your work that you and I both know you're going to overcharge the crap out of me on man time. #2) We're looking at some $$$ being spent. Not a little, but 1 full paycheck minimum. Which bring me to #3) Call and tell me what's up, it's been 3 damn weeks! I know customer service has gone the way of the dodo bird, but how about some damn courtesy! 3 weeks, and I have to call you to find out the status of my bike!
All this prime riding weather, and I'm stuck waiting. Got invited to go on a ride on Tuesday when I'm off, and had to tell them what's up. What's worse is they weren't surprised either! I miss my old shop. They had good customer service, and got the job done. Wish I had a place close by where I could learn to do this stuff myself. I'd open my own garage.
Then you have our lovely motorcycle mechanics. Seems like most places you're looking at a week just to get a friggin tire changed. Now on my bike, I can understand having to wait a few days. After all it's almost 30 years old, and doesn't use a common tire size after all. But for an oil change, and carb cleaning to take 2 weeks... really? Absolute crap.
This time I took my beloved motorcycle in, I knew it would probably be a couple weeks. It's been 3 weeks, and I'm still waiting! Yes, order the new tire. (I blew my front tire stem coming off the interstate). I TOOK them a new gauge box. (My old one died, about a year ago and I'm tired of not having accurate readings). I needed a new front right blinker, since the bulb died. (They have it in stock). And it was due for an oil change and have the carbs cleaned. #1) I'm not just in for a quick oil change and out, I'm here to give your work that you and I both know you're going to overcharge the crap out of me on man time. #2) We're looking at some $$$ being spent. Not a little, but 1 full paycheck minimum. Which bring me to #3) Call and tell me what's up, it's been 3 damn weeks! I know customer service has gone the way of the dodo bird, but how about some damn courtesy! 3 weeks, and I have to call you to find out the status of my bike!
All this prime riding weather, and I'm stuck waiting. Got invited to go on a ride on Tuesday when I'm off, and had to tell them what's up. What's worse is they weren't surprised either! I miss my old shop. They had good customer service, and got the job done. Wish I had a place close by where I could learn to do this stuff myself. I'd open my own garage.
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