UFC 74 thoughts

Well, we had a legend continue, an upset, and a controversy.

The legend was Randy Couture doing what he does best, which is defy expectations. He did it in grand fashion by beating the tar out of a big, strong, hard-hitting Gabriel Gonzaga, with dirty boxing and slams and every other weapon he had, including his incredibly hard head. He ate a couple massive head kicks, like the ones that knocked out Cro Cop (tho RC checked them with his forearm), and one of 'em broke a bone in his arm. A particular slam brought up his hard head as well...many folks say Randy busted Gonzaga's nose open with an inadvertant headbutt during the slam, while others saw it as Gonzaga's leg coming up and hitting him in his own Napao. I saw numerous angles, and it looked like his knee did the damage. During the actual event I didn't see a headbutt, but Randy said he felt his head doing the damage. Of course, in a fight, things aren't always as they appear, and Joe Rogan lead him into that assumption during the interview. My take: The knee did the damage, and Randy would have wasted him anyways. Napao had a bit of controversy in that fight because he looked at the ref and told him he couldn't see. Herb Dean stopped the fight and told him "Either you fight or you quit" or something like, and a doctor took a cursory look at it. All was declared well, and many fans felt it was a cheap way to get a rest. Didn't help.
The upset came when Patrick Cote defied expectations and beat Kendall Grove, with a viscious punch to the temple that landed him in TKOville. Cote looked like the guy who fought Tito Ortiz to a near-standstill, and gaveme one of two wrong picks on the whole card. Damn I hate that. Good for Cote, though, he put up a hell of a fight, and earned the win for sure. Grove will likely be back, he's an impressive fighter. Maybe he'll opt not to stand with the striker next time...
The controversy came when Renato "Babalu" Sobral opted to hang onto an anaconda choke for about 4 seconds after David heath, bloodied and beaten, had tapped out. Steve Mazzagatti had jumped in to stop the fight, and Sobral looked up at him and held the choke for a few beats before letting go. In the post-fight interview, he told Rogan he wanted to "teach him a lesson", apparently for trashtalk at the weigh-in. I heard somewhere Heath wore a shirt with Sobral's recent mug shot on it as well, but haven't found confirmation of that. In the intervening days a lot of talk has gone on, the Nevada State Athletic Comission has held up his win bonus ($25,000) but not announced his fine, Dana White has announced he'll be released from his UFC contract (I thought he was on his last fight, but what do I know), and the NSAC has announced he won't be suspended, but will likely be fined. My take: Good riddance. It was a despicable move, and it breaks all the bargains you make in stepping in the cage. You agree that you'll let go when the ref tells you to let go. He broke the deal. Hopefully he faces that same situation some day. Someone on another blog commented that it's bad because some other organization will sign him and compete with the UFC. 1) Good, go away Babalu. B) Good, competition will force the UFC to be better. If another org having Babalu, a guy who's maybe a top 15 heavyweight, gives UFC the shakeys, tough shit for them. Work harder.
Oh yeah: Everyone who says "BJ Penn held his choke too long on Jens!" is a complete idiot. So if someone came up and kicked you in the nuts and runs off, then your friend says "Well, this other guy I saw kicked someone in the nuts too, and got away with it, so tough luck", you'd be cool with it because someone got away with it? Bullshit. If you want streetfighting, go outside and watch it. If you want a sport, you can't tolerate that garbage. If BJ looks at the ref yelling at him to release the hold with a "Me no speako english" face (as if the ref would be saying ANYTHING ELSE) while choking someone unconscious, then he deserves to be run outta town. I'm sure ICON would crown him King of the Entire Universe and hand him a golden pineapple. But Babalu broke the deal.
Overall it was an above-average event. I'd give it a solid B. They showed the four bouts set to be televised, and the Thales Leites/Ryan Jensen fight, which was a solid win for Leites. The room I was in at my brother's house was a solid ROAR, with about twenty people, during the Couture fight. It was invigorating. I hope the upcoming event (on stinking tape delay) matches up. There's an Art of War event on tomorrow night, with Jeff Monson taking on Pedro Rizzo, that I may purchase and enjoy. I'd recommend visiting UFC Daily, good site. They have some cool stuff coming, too.

Performify's picks at UFCJ

As usual Performify shows us his thinking on the upcoming UFC 74 card for Saturday. I'm jacked for this one, and I've pondered it long and hard. I came to a lot of the same conclusions as Performify, but there are a couple discrepancies. For one, he's got Marcus Aurelio beating Clay Guida in one of the undercard fights. I disagree with this pick, mainly based on the gas tank. Guida comes on at about 100 miles per hour and never stops. He fights like a Tasmanian devil and is exceptionally dynamic going from level to level, and will out-cardio Aurelio at the end, either by ground-and-pound or a choke brought on by strikes. Aurelio is a great fighter, but Guida has an unstoppable motor. I'd sure like to see this card instead of Kendall Grove vs. Patrick "The Submittee" Cote. Feh.
Performify also believes David Heath will be able to pull off the mild upset against Babalu Sobral. While I don't fault his reasoning, I think he's looking at Babalu wrong, believing he'll be tentative. He's right in saying that if Sobral loses, he's probably out of the UFC. I think this will make him even more ferocious. Lambert outfought Babalu pretty well in their matchup, but Sobral is a lion. He'll take some licks but I think he'll come through in the end and show his heart.
Perfomify has Grove by decision, while I think he'll submit Cote within two minutes. Maybe three. For a while, I thought maybe he'd submit him so fast that it would acutally warp time, and send us back before the fight, in which case I could make a lot of money remembering the undercard, but no, I think Grove's submission will come within the standard flow of linear space-time as we generally perceive it.
Sadly for UFCjunkie, most weeks we see at least one or two articles shilling bodog's sports book, and all of his articles analyzing fights come from a wagering perspective. I have nothing against wagering, believe me, but I'd like to see fight analysis from what I consider one of the top three MMA sites in the world that doesn't include a sportsbook line. His picks are generally well thought-out and interesting, but when, in the GSP-Koscheck fight, for instance, he bases his call on "a small play at this line", it kind of makes me go, "Eh". I personally don't see how Koscheck can beat GSP...I know I've overestimated GSP in the past (Hi, Matt!) but come on...Matt Hughes couldn't take down GSP. Is Koscheck that much better a wrestler than Hughes? We know for a fact that Kos has no striking compared to GSP, and the repeated takedown is his only offense. I see a KO or dominating decision win for GSP, and a rematch with a Matt of some variety.
Performify also sees Randy "The Natural" Couture as being unable to beat Gonzaga. I thought there was no way Randy could beat Tim Sylvia. I mean, he's got most of the same problems he had against Sylvia...size, age, striking, etc. And what did he do? Dominate Sylvia for 25 minutes, like a dog ripping at a bone. Gonzaga is impressive, I'll grant you. But no one is smarter than Randy, and no one comes in more determined. Of course Couture could lose, all fighters can lose. Ask GSP. But Randy won't. I have Randy winning by TKO in the fourth, covered in blood. One of these dudes is leaving on a stretcher. Either way, it should be a war, so keep your hats firmly on your head or they may fly off.
Ok, I don't know if anyone can tell but I'm pumped.

One other thing

That tournament that Babalu won? IFC Global Domination, September 6 2003, in Denver. Here's the opening round:

3 Renato Sobral Trevor Prangley Decision (Unanimous) 3rd 5:00
4 Mauricio Rua Eric Wanderlei TKO (Punches) 2nd 2:54
5 Jeremy Horn Mikhail Avetisyan Submission (Armbar) 1st 4:59
6 Forrest Griffin Chael Sonnen Submission (Triangle Choke) 1st 2:25

Next

9 Renato Sobral Mauricio Rua Submission (Guillotine Choke) 3rd 3:07
10 Jeremy Horn Forrest Griffin KO (Kick) 2nd 3:40

Final
15 Renato Sobral Jeremy Horn Decision (Unanimous)3 5:00

Man, nice freaking card. Looks like it had a four-man heavyweight tournament as well, some female fights, and Nate Marquardt pummelling someone named Steve Gomm into submission. The HW winner's name is Tom Sauer too. I bet he tricked the other fighter into whitewashing the ring, and then beat the hell out of him when he went for a drop cloth. That's what I'd do.

Bodogfight show on Ion...Lee vs. Alvarez

Matt Lee and Eddie Alvarez squared off in July for #1 contender status in the bodog welterweight division, whatever that is. I know, I know, it's 170lbs. I just have trouble giving "bodog welterweight champ" a lot of...err...wieght. I watch Nick Thompson whup the living hell out of Eddie Alvarez to take his belt, though, rebroadcast from St. Petersburg, Russia.
Sam Caplan attended this show and reviewed it after the fact. I didn't get to see any of the card on accounta me being several thousands of miles away and also po.
Well, they showed an hour-long episode of bodogfight last night, and it was all build-up to Lee-Alvarez. I'm serious. about half an hour at least of just showing fighters working out, talking about their backgrounds and families....I was deeply pleased I had it on DVR. I'm sorry guys, I didn't listen to all of that shit. Less talky, more punchy.
From what they're announcing, it seems that they're going to show all of the fights from their Trenton NJ event on separate TV shows. Yves Edwards-Jorge Masvidal, Trevor Prangley-Yuki Kondo, etc.
The fight itself, for all the buildup, was a decent one. The crowd was mostly Alvarez supporters, and from what Sam reported they were barely through the card 4 1/2 hours after starting. The announcers seem to be under orders to really RATCHET UP THEIR REACTIONS to every single thing. Alvarez would throw one or two looping punches, connect with one mildly, and Lee would shove him away (since Alvarez apparently represents the Lollipop Guild). Then, the annoucer, at the top of his lungs, declaims "Alvarez stunned him with that right hand! He's stunned him! But Lee is game! He's got granite in his chin!!!" and I'm sitting there thinking....err....that was a mild exchange, no one got hurt. Lee looked shaken up once or twice, Alvarez has decently heavy hands, but he didn't appear to be in danger of a KO at any moment. Lee threw some strong hands, and except for a couple minutes of the first round this one stayed on the feet the whole way. Lee had one huge problem, in that he was considerably slower than Alvarez. Nick Thompson showed what happens to Alvarez when he's in against a bigger fighter who's as fast or faster than he is, and Lee showed a bigger fighter who's slower.
To Lee and Alvarez's credit, it WAS a good fight, lots of hands, some exciting moments, some in-fight trashtalking, sportsmanship at the bell. It's just that when the announcer is going out of his mind, and what I'm watching is good, not great, and when I have to wait (well, fast-forward) for thirty minutes to actually get to a fight, I react badly. Like beer in green bottles exposed to the sun, it left a bad taste in my mouth. which sucks since the fighters left it in the ring.
Bodogfight has some good fighters. But only half a card's worth, in my opinion. Trevor Prangley is the real deal at 185. But who does he fight? He's made mincemeat of the 185lbs div in bodog. Yuki Kondo, Kayce Uscola, Anthony Ruiz and Andrei Semenov. He's got a five-fight run going. They'll have to sign someone. Matt Lindland is available for a price. Babalu fights at 205 (they fought in a tournament, in 2003. Babalu won the whole thing, beating Prangley, Shogun, and Jeremy Horn in one night. That's one reason I'm a fan of Sobral's, even though he's on the downturn right now).
We'll see. I think they need to divorce the "bodog brand" from the fight division a little bit, to let it stand on its own. Either that or get back into sports booking and leave the fight promotions to other people.

Tito Ortiz

I've been thinking about Tito Ortiz^Sherdog and his history a bit. I've never been a huge fan of his, mostly because of his incessant trash talk. If he couldn't talk shit he'd be silent. Still, thanks to UFC Unleashed on Spike, and my brother's almost encyclopedic knowledge of UFC fighters, I've come to appreciate just what the guy's done in his career, even in his losses. I've seen him get beat twice by Chuck Liddell, pretty much whupped both times. The second fight I still believe should have been stopped in the first round. I've seen him win as well. Twice over Ken Shamrock, in fights that were more hype than substance, but against Forrest Griffin he dominated. That fight was odd because of the constant nuthugging going on from the announcer's booth. Stephen Bonnar was about the biggest cheerleader I've ever heard. The sad part is that what I saw was Forrest Griffin getting dominated. He was beaten all three rounds. Even though all the judges gave at least one round to Griffin (what fight was the other judge, who scored it for Forrest watching?!), I didn't think he did much of anything at all in that second round. Some punches, sure, but why not punish the chicken legs? One judge gave round one to Ortiz 10-8! Sheesh. Anyways, numbers:
In a 21 fight professional career, Ortiz is 15-5-1. The fight against Rashad Evans at UFC 73 Stacked was his only draw, after losing a point for grabbing the cage. I thought he frankly dominated Rashad as well, even into the third, before turning passive from what I can only believe was fatigue.

Notable Wins:
Ken Shamrock three times
Guy Mezger
Wanderlei Silva
Yuki Kondo
Elvis Sinosic (back when that counted in '01)
Vladimir Matsyushenko
Evan Tanner
Vitor Belfort

Notable losses:
Chuck Liddell twice
Randy Couture
Frank Shamrock
Guy Mezger

That's a pretty damn good resume. He's fought the top tier his whole career. The first UFC he entered, according to his wikipedia page, was for no pay, and he won his first match before later falling to Guy Mezger for in their first fight. He's had controversy, yes, appearing in general to be a complete dick to opponents at every opportunity, especially in victory, with his "famous" insulting t-shirt sayings. But he's still gotten in the ring with the best, and taken beatings when they were coming to him. So Tito Ortiz is still in my top ten light heavyweight (205lb) fighters list, at #10, til someone shows me something impressive.

more roids

Here's the MMAweekly.com article from earlier this year looking at drug tests for MMA fighters in CA. A couple interesting points in the article that make it, in my mind, kind of irrelevant:
The first one made me think...whoa, that's a lot of boxers...

In addition to 31 professional boxers in the same time period, 23 mixed martial artists tested positive for banned substances in the past year, and the complete list of these fighters can be found below.

The next comment kind of made me go "Eh? What's the point of this story?"

You may notice in the list below that not a single fighter tested positive for steroids over the past year in California. This is because there has been no steroid testing in California over the past year. This will change in April 2007, according to CSAC head Garcia, who said, "No steroid policy has ever been in place in California. Obviously, I was not satisfied by this." Starting in April, a total of approximately 25 fighters per month will be tested for steroids in California, and any fighter who tests positive for steroids will be suspended for six months and fined $2,500.

So...no steroids testing at all? And when the do start testing, dudes start popping up positive? Apparently they started at the end of March, and we end up with this. Looking hard at it is making me realize how hard it is to get a handle at this. there's a lot of fighting going on around the country, as well.
Let's hope smarter folk than me are getting their mitts in this. either legalize, or test properly. that's all there is to it.

White boys from the Midwest

Sam Caplan at Five Oz. of Pain has a post talking about Bob Arum being interviewed about MMA. In it Arum claims that the UFC is just a bunch of "white boys from the Midwest" and that "50-60%" are using banned substances. I have problems with both of those characterizations.
First off, the white boys from the Midwest point. I could care less if it was, frankly, if those were the best fighters in the world. It's simply not true, however. Though there's a good representation of Midwest white boys fighting in UFC and every MMA promotion, it's because of merit. There are some of the greatest wrestling programs in the world in the Midwest, at Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa State, and so on and so on.
I'll use one page of the UFC fighters list as a sample. It may or may not be perfectly representative, but I don't really want to go through every page right now.
This page goes A through some of the E's:

Abbadi Danny 2-2-0 5' 11" (180 cm) 185 (84 kg)
Ultimate Fighter castmember, kind of an idiot. Sadly, niether white nor midwestern. Orlabdo FL

Alessio John 25-11-0 5' 10" (178 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Possibly midwestern, but a differnt country. Definitely white tho.

Alexander Houston 7-1-0 6' 0" (183 cm) 205 (93 kg)
Good lord! A midwesterner! Omaha NE. He also matches the male criteria, but comes up short on whiteness.

Alves Thiago 16-4-0 5' 8" (173 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Brazil. Brazil is noted for having a lot of non-Midwesterners roaming around, not doing Midwestern things. Same nickname as the next guy, "Pitbull".

Arlovski Andrei 12-5-0 6' 4" (193 cm) 240 (109 kg)
I didn't look it up yet, but I'm gambling he's Russian. No! The Pitbull is Belarussian. However, he is white, male, and fights out of Chicago, which is in the Midwest. I don't think that "international Sambo practitioner" is what Arum was driving at, however.

Assuncao Junior 5-2-0 5' 9" (175 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Looks male and white. From Atlanta GA, according the UFC's site. Funny note: Under strengths, lists, "heart". Damn, that's rough.

Aurelio Marcus 14-4-0 5' 10" (178 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Coconut Creek FL. Originally from Brazil. Beat Gomi in a non-title fight.

Baroni Phil 6-5-0 5' 9" (175 cm) 184 (83 kg)
Long Island NY. The New York Bad Ass is known for gassing in the late rounds, not eating deep-fried things at county fairs. Though I bet he would, especially if he could have a smoke and a beer with it.

Belcher Alan 10-3-0 6' 2" (188 cm) 205 (93 kg)
Born Arkansas (Midwest!) fights out of Biloxi MS. Damn, so close. Recently beat Sean Salmon after taking the fight on about 15 minutes notice and moving up to light heavy. Sean Salmon has no luck.

Belfort Vitor 12-5-0 6' 0" (183 cm) 205 (93 kg)
I'm guessing this fellow may be from abroad. The Phenom was born in Rio de Janeiro. I think thats in Kansas.

Berube Allen 2-1-0 5' 8" (173 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Misses the region completely. born in Maine, trains in Tampa FL. Also nicknamed "Monstah Lobstah". Should be banned forever from fighting for his acts on TUF and for his insipid nickname.

Bisping Michael 14-0-0 6' 2" (188 cm) 205 (93 kg)
Definitely white...born, sadly for Bob, in Liverpool England.

Black Jason 22-2-1 5' 8" (173 cm) 155 (70 kg)
BINGO! Born in Iowa, trains in Iowa. Midwesterner, white, male. Nailed it Bob!

Bocek Mark 4-0-0 5' 8" (173 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Stupid wrong country again.

Bonnar Stephan 12-4-0 6' 4" (193 cm) 205 (93 kg)
Munster, IN , USA...that is pretty Midwestern.

Braga Wander 16-0-0 5' 8" (173 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Brown Mike 9-3-0 5' 6" (168 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Portland, Maine

Bruno Steve 12-3-0 5' 10" (178 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Born Brooklyn NY, fights out of Coconut Creek FL

Buentello Paul 20-9-0 6' 2" (188 cm) 235 (107 kg)
Amarillo TX

Burkman Josh 19-4-0 5' 10" (178 cm) 170 (77 kg)
The SLC, UT

Byrnes Steve 6-1-0 6' 0" (183 cm) 185 (84 kg)
Born in Cleveland! fights out of Hawaii though, noted for its lack of whiteys not wearing tourist gear.

Carneiro Roan 11-5-0 5' 9" (175 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Carter Shonie 66-14-7 5' 9" (175 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Chicago IL. Deceidely not white tho. The blinged pimp goblet gave that away.

Caudillo Luke 15-7-0 5' 7" (170 cm) 155 (70 kg)
North Platte, NE. Midwestern also. Lacking in whiteness. Bob's theory is looking not only stupid, but pathetic so far. What do you say to fighters who work hard, and prefect techinque, and show all this heart and effort, and get dismissed by some corrupt old scumbag like Bob Arum? Who's white, I'm afraid to say.

Chalangov Ansar 7-2-0 5' 11" (180 cm) 170 (77 kg)
2-3 isn't bad I guess. It just says "Russia" on his profile page.

Christison Dan 8-5-0 6' 8" (203 cm) 265 (120 kg)
Born LA CA, fighting out of Albequerque.

Clementi Rich 34-12-1 5' 9" (175 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Edison NJ

Combs Wes 12-2-0 6' 2" (188 cm) 205 (93 kg)
Victorville CA

Cote Patrick 11-4-0 5' 11" (180 cm) 185 (84 kg)
Rimouski, Quebec, Canada

Couture Randy 15-8-0 6' 2" (188 cm) 220 (100 kg)
Everett, WA

Cox Jeff 13-3-0 6' 4" (193 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Cleveland, OH There's one!

Crane Alberto 8-0-0 5' 9" (175 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Santa Fe NM

Cro Cop Mirko 22-5-2 6' 2" (188 cm) 220 (100 kg)
Zagreb Croatia

Crocota Edilberto 10-0-1 6' 0" (183 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Camp Formoso, Bahia, Brazil

Cruz Marcio 2-2-0 6' 4" (193 cm) 246 (112 kg)
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Cummo Luke 8-4-0 6' 0" (183 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Long Island, New York, USA

Curran Jeff 16-6-1 5' 6" (168 cm) 150 (68 kg)
Woodstock, Illinois, USA Another one!

Davis Rick 3-1-1 5' 9" (175 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Los Angeles, California

Davis Marcus 17-4-0 5' 10" (178 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Houlton, ME

Dent Jason 12-8-0 5' 9" (175 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Madison, OH Another one!

DeSouza Tony 9-3-0 6' 1" (185 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Lima, Peru The Peruvians make an appearance

Dewees Edwin 34-10-0 6' 1" (185 cm) 185 (84 kg)
Phoenix, AZ

Diaz Nick 14-6-0 6' 0" (183 cm) 170 (77 kg)
Stockton, California

Diaz Nathan 5-2-0 6' 0" (183 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Stockton, California

Doerksen Joe 27-8-0 6' 0" (183 cm) 185 (84 kg)
New Bothwell, Manitoba, Canada

Drwal Tomasz 14-1-0 6' 1" (185 cm) 205 (93 kg)
Krakow, Poland. With a good midwestern name like Tomasz....

Eastman Marvin 13-7-1 5' 9" (175 cm) 205 (93 kg)
Merced, California

Edgar Frank 6-0-0 5' 6" (168 cm) 155 (70 kg)
Summit, NJ

Edwards Yves 28-10-1 5' 9" (175 cm) 155 (70 kg)
The Woodlands, TX

Eilers Justin 9-5-1 6' 1" (185 cm) 235 (107 kg)
Nampa, Idaho

OK, thats 51 fighters. Decent number. Let's see what the numbers show.
8 are white and listed as being born in the Midwest, or fighting out of it if no birthplace was listed. Two of those are born in the midwest but fight elsewhere. so I'll be generous and say 8. that's 15.68% of the sample that is "White boys from the Midwest". Given that aproximately 65 million people live in what's generally defined as the Midwest, that is a good percentage, since something like 6 billion people live in the rest of the world. Unfortunately, it puts a definitive lie to Arum's claims that they're all the UFC has to offer.

He also claims "50-60%" of fighters test positive for banned substances. Though I don't have the resources to do this quickly, I pretty strongly feel this is incorrect on its face. I recall several high-profile cases of people showing up positive, obviously Stephen Bonnar, Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca. I can't think of too many others, though I'm positive they've happened. Sherdog shows the UFC as having put on 11 events this year, with six more to come so far. That's 90 fights this year. From what I know, 2 fighters have tested positive in the UFC. One event from what I can gather was not tested, that's the UFC event in London, "Nations Collide". So take those 10 out. 80 fights, 2 positives, one under appeal. Look, I'm no statistician, but I can pretty plainly see that is not "50-60%".
So none of Bob Arum's points are true. He's a senile moron who should not be given any credibility at all.
Good night Bob.

TapouT ep

I just finished watching the TapouT episode with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, as well as a number of other fighters, and I've gotta say it again...I really like this show. They show you aspects of this game you don't see elsewhere, and they do a real good job of bringing across the constant menace that exists in the cage. I was watching this fight, that I'd already looked up on Sherdog, and I'm sitting on the edge of my seat rooting like crazy for some mad redneck I've never met, and actually got the chills when it ended. I won't spoil it in case my reader hasn't seen it yet. If you have something else to do while the hosts are doing their dumb act, which is interspersed with actual moments of honest business, the interaction with the fighters, trainers (a group woefully underrepresented in my opinion), officials, etc, it's a real kickass TV show. It's about as close as you can get to the actual thing without getting off your pasty white saddlebags.
The TapouT site is a bit cludgy...can't send comments, you get the php written in your browser window, not good. Hey TapouT guys! Let me fix your site! And thanks to Sam Caplan for convincing me to get past my initial hatred of the promos for this show.