2013 NFL: hypocrisy and softness

It has been a LONG while since I wrote something; nothing really caught my eye deeply enough to ramble about, until yesterday. As almost every Sunday from the beginning of September until the 1st weekend of February I spend a good amount of the day watching football but about 24 hours ago I saw a play that just got me pissed off.

Now let me go a few months back. The NFL has been involved in a HUGE class action lawsuit due to a ton of former players demanding a pile of cash as compensation for the injuries sustained while playing the league. The whole judicial system in the US is a joke (look no further than someone suing for coffee being too hot)  and you could sue anyone at any time for something that never happened, heck you could probably get some cheese off someone you have never met, the players have a point in the fact that the NFL clearly hid a ton of information of the risks of playing football. While I believe you have to be a retard to not know that playing football is inherently dangerous I also believe you are entitled to know the COMPLETE risks of a job beforehand. With that, I believe the players have a point and so does the league. Heck, they paid 765 million dollars to shut down the investigation. For more on this check out the PBS Frontline episode of League of Denial.

This lawsuit without a doubt changed the game, and not in a way I care for. The NFL had make a shitpile of rule changes to make the game "safer" but I say it is nothing more than bullshit and hypocrisy; look no further than the possibility of the season going to 18 games.

There are a lot of injuries in every game, part of it, but they are really scared of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). While I'm nowhere near qualified to dabble on this, it basically is a messed up brain. It usually happens to people who's daily activities generate an impact on the brain, people such as football players, wrestlers (a notable CTE victim was Chris Benoit, read on him), boxers.

My issue is not against player safety. Heck, I hope they never get injured, but the NFL is taking this shit too damn far. The game is violent by nature and no matter how many rule changes you make, this stuff will keep happening. Why not just be honest with the players and whoever signs up know ALL the risks. Take for instance this hit

It was from yesterdays 49ers-Saints game. Violent? Yes. Hard? Yes. Clean according to the rules? YES. But still it was flagged and nullified a 49ers fumble recover that ultimately cost them the game. This shit really gets me pissed and turned off the product. I want a game where the players decide who wins and loses, not some incompetent refs that decide what is legal and what's a flag. That should be the NFLs job, but they are too damn busy looking at new markets and making money to even give a shit about the integrity of the game.

Personal fouls and pass interference calls are game changers and the Roger Goodell led NFL has done such a poor job to define what is PI or a unnecessary roughness call that you may see the exact same play called both ways by 2 different crews. It's a damn shame to see games go so long because refs are stupid, incompetent, and cant get their shit together

Lets be clear on something, the body was not made to play football. The hit on Brees was totally legal and no matter what the heck you do with helmets they protect the outside of the head but you can't tell me that on this shot his brain didn't have a massive impact against his skull. I hear an expert talk about the brain and to think about it as a egg; you may take care and not hit an egg so the shell wont break, but you can still shake it and mess it up on the inside.

Relating to safety I don't know what you can do, it's not my job to know. But the thing I do know the NFL can be honest with the players when it comes to risks, not make stupid rules that don't do shit to protect players, and actually be clear on what said rules are. I understand that right now their main focus is to make all this bad press go away but there is a limit to what you can do protecting your ass until you look like a puss. 

I get pissed every single game I watch but I keep coming for more, so does most of the audience so I'm not sure if we aren't entirely to blame for the NFL not caring because they know the sport keeps growing and so does the money coming in.

Khakbaz out

UFC 157 preview

UFC 157 poster

The day is upon us. In a couple of hours the UFC will kick off it's 1st event to host a Women's MMA bout. I'm so pumped for the event due to the historical importance it has but also because the card from top to bottom is pretty darn sick. I'll be going into detail on what are the fights that excite me the most and predicting most of the card.

The 1st three fights will be shown on Facebook and are pretty solid. John Manley vs Neil Mangy is a bout from 2 of the best Ultimate Fighter contenders from last season. Both guys are fun as heck to watch and will be looking to put on a great show, more so due to the fact that the UFC is noticeably trimming it's roster lately (released 16 fighters were released this week) and a loss couple mean they'll be cut. Magny is the betting favorite at -160 and I expect him to pick up the win inside the 15 minutes.

Another prelim fight that I love, this on is on FX, is Michael Chiesa vs Anton Kuivanen; I don't really know that much about Anton but am a huge fan of Chiesa right from the start of his TUF run. How could you not root for this guy to win the series when in episode 2 he lost his father, in the end he wound up winning it all and getting the six figure UFC contract, this will be his debut and I expect him to win without any real problem. Still I would not be on him, not because he will lose but the -200 is not an enticing number to risk any cash on.

The final prelim fight will be Brendan Schaub vs Lavar Johnson. This fight between 2 heavyweights will be pretty darn awesome, these guys may not have the best record but win or lose they always put on a show. Schaub is the favorite at -150, Big Lavar is at +120. I find the +120 enticing enough to take the risk but regardless of who you are rooting for or betting on this is a fight that will most certainly not go the distance. If there is a prop regarding the fight ending in a KO, I'd take it in a heart beat.

The main card features 5 bouts, 3 of them are really attractive to me. The other 2 are Josh Koscheck vs the returning Robbie Lawler; not a fan of Josh but I expect him to win and so does Vegas with a -450 spread. And Urijah Faber vs Ivan Menjivar, Faber never comes through in the big spotlight  (i.e. title fights) and Menjivar has been winning but not being really entertaining; I think the California Kid will take it but love the +300 for The Pride of El Salvador.

Court McGee has been a personal favorite for a long time, Josh Neer always puts on fun fights so this has the makings of a fun scrap. I'm really interested to see how McGee works now that he is down to fighting at 170; I really expect the bearded one to take the win, although that -300 is not a good bet IMO.

The fight that has me really hyped up is Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida vs Dan "Hendo" Henderson. These are to warriors that have made their mark all over the world: Japan, Brazil, the US and their styles make it for a really interesting fight. Hendo and his H bomb a sick overhand right he is famous for, as seen here KOin Michael Bisping at UFC100

are always on the attack, while Machida is widely known as one of the best counter strikers in the world today as seen here when he knocked Ryan Bader out cold at UFC on Fox.

So we get a guy who is always hunting against a guy who patiently waits for his opponent to open up to kick/punch the shit out of him; while some say this means Machida will be running away for 15 minutes I see it the other way around where it will be a awesome, action packed chess match. Machida is favorite at -260, I will gladly take Hendo at +200; the one thing that scares me a bit from Henderson is his 13 month layoff and knee injury during that time (if you remember it was his knee injury and subsequent failure to find some to fight Jon Jones the reason UFC151 was canceled back in September), but if there is one thing I've learned from Dan is that, even at 42, he has the biggest heart in all of the UFC. Picking Hendo to win.

The main event of the evening will feature the 1st ever womans MMA bout in UFC history pitting "champion" Ronda Rousey vs Liz Carmouche (the first openly gay fighter in the UFC), this is a huge step into making WMMA relevant and this is a matchup that will be good. Rousey has become a huge star and rightfully so: she is the 1st American woman to win a medal (bronze) in Judo in the Olympics, she has won all 6 of her pro MMA bouts in the 1st round via armbar, she freaking hot and is great with the media. Check out this sick armbar she put on a very tough Meisha Tate, it's pretty sick

Carmouche has been in the Marines, has fought for Strikeforce, Invicta and other smaller companies and has busted her ass to get where she is and, according to the UFC, was the only fighter willing to step up and face Ronda.

This fight is crucial for the future of womans MMA and I really hopes it goes well. Which result is better for the sport? Rousey winning quick and not even making it interesting? Liz pulling off the huge upset? I was discussing this with a buddy, @thekrankylopez, a few minutes ago and he says the UFC needs Ronda to win, I think Ronda is already a star and regardless of the outcome she will continue to be so if Carmouche wins the fight you now have another start and a rematch set up. It's always fun to play fantasy booker but we never know what will happen until it actually does.

From what I've read ticket sales have been great, PPV advance buys are looking good, there has been tons of media for the event -talking big media like ESPN, HBO, USA Today and other large outlets, not shitty blog writers and specialized media that already covered the sport-, maybe more than at any other UFC event. So all is looking good, now it's time for the ladies to get in the octagon and prove everything us hardcore fans already know and the world wants to see.

If you have not seen the great UFC Primetime specials they put of hyping this fight you are missing out on something great. After watching all 3 episodes how could you now root for these two chicks (not saying it in a derogatory way, you pricks). Here is the 1st episode:

Ronda is a HUGE favorite at -1400, Liz is the underdog at +700. If I was going to bet, I'd take the +700 just for the heck of it since 10 bucks will make 70 and in Ronda's case $10 will make you under a dollar. I expect Ronda to go home with the Bantamweight belt but I'm rooting for Liz since she trains in San Diego.

No doubt this will be a great night of fights at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Who do you expect to win? Agree with my picks? Either way let me know at @MrKhakbaz and enjoy this historic card!

Mr Khakbaz out!

Stich Duran book commentary

Stitch Duran book cover
Credit: Amazon (click image to buy book)

So I've been a big UFC fan for the past 6-7 years and every time I catch an event I saw this Carlos Santana look-alike that worked on the fighters before, during and after the fights; being a boxing follower I knew about the importance of a great cutman but Stitch showed up on damn near every event, there must have been something good about this guy that he was there every time.

After reading a but about him I learned he had a book, I mentioned it randomly to my girlfriend -who is also kind of a UFC enthusiast- but nothing came about it. Not until Valentines Day where she got me the book as a gift. I'm a pretty fast reader, more so when it it something that gets me hooked. Needless to say I was into this one from the foreword -written by Bas Rutten- and I finished it in a couple of days, no more than 3 hours.

This will be an awesome read for so many kinds of people, not only MMA or boxing fans, since it depicts the life of a man who is a prime example of what the so called "American dream" is all about. Of Mexican descent, he was a kid that worked from before the sun came up in the fields of Planada, California; I'd say that 99% of field workers don't amount to anything else in life but you can read the drive Duran had. Hell, who can pull off working in the fields then going to school and staying late for baseball practice?

Not to spoil the book, but it takes you on the ride he took from Planada to Oakland to join the Armed Forces, his service in Thailand and how his love for martial arts grew. Upon his return he gets involved in the boxing world , opens a gym, has a soccer team of kids (nah, he just has 4), keeps his day job while running the gym, moves to Vegas, travels the world over, develops some cutmen products based on his years of experience, gets into UFC... basically takes us from the 60's all the way to 2010.

I know the last paragraph basically takes 280 something pages into a couple of lines but the idea of the blog is to comment on the book as a whole and a couple of the great stories.

How many people in this world say that Don King tried (unsuccessfully) to hustle them out of 500 bucks? That story alone is worth the book; most people won't understand that but if you are into boxing you know big of a figure (I'll leave my personal feelings out of it) King is in that world and to have him try to hustle you out of money is a story that will stick to you for ever.

The travel is a big part of this book. Stitch has been all over the freaking world! From working UFC events in Vegas and all over the States, to Klitschko bothers boxing fights in Germany, stuff with Pride in Japan and every other place you can image. I love how he tells stories relating to the events and also travel stuff; things like Josh Barnett helping him make 500 bucks for wrapping Japanese fighters, to a back alley fight in London involving the infamous Lee Murray (read into him here, some crrrrazy shit), Tito Ortiz and other well known UFC fighters; also, who can say he taught stuff to a Klitschko while dining in a Japanese restaurant in Hamburg, Germany.

The book gives a great perspective into the stuff behind the scenes we never get to see during a boxing or UFC pay-per-view. What fighters, cutmen and everyone involved go to. I loved every moment and story in the book; the amount of big names Stitch has met and interacted with is amazing: Tyson, Cro Cop, Barnett, Lesnar, Couture and Rampage to name a few; the stuff he got to see being with them in their most intimate and vulnerable moments is beyond cool.

While I'm a huge MMA fan and respect what Stitch has done inside and out of the octagon what I take away from this book is that no matter where you came from or what you where "supposed" to be in life you can actually achieve your dreams and goals if you persevere, keep your focus on it and work you freaking ass off.

I'd really encourage you check out the book, well worth the 14 bucks it'll cost you on Amazon, and learn about a great journey in life of Stitch Duran...

... Only one missing thing, he doesn't get into any detail about his awesome guitar playing and music career :)

Mr Khakbaz out!