Thursday, August 2, 2007

Pressure Point Fighting?

Just when I think I am the biggest moron on the planet I go to You Tube.

Apparently a fat white guy from Chicago has unlocked the centuries old secrets of "pressure point fighting." This technique uses pressure points to disable attackers. The YouTube.com video shows him trying this out on his "students" as thy drop like flies.

I think I saw Benny Hinn do this same thing on TBN. Praise Jesus.

The fat white guy goes on to claim that he is able to disable attackers just using energy, without actually touching anyone.

He has obviously been playing far to much Tekken.

I have a suggestion for this guy. Let's take his "pressure point" style and put it in a cage with Kimbo and his "I'm going to break you boss" style. Anyone willing to bet on that fight?


Thursday, May 17, 2007

Cuban agrees with Stern? What Now?

I don’t want to beat a dead horse. Instead I will chop one up and feed it to Michael Vick’s emaciated pit bulls.

David Stern’s ruling was wrong.

How do I know it’s wrong? The same reason that Stern turned on his computer around 6:30 Wednesday night and figured out he had made a mistake.

Mark Cuban agrees with the decision.

In his blogmaverick.com post for Wednesday Cuban states, “First, let me go on the record as saying that in the event that a vote comes up to change the rules about suspensions for players leaving the bench, I will vote against changing it.”

This comment did not surprise me. Cuban doesn’t want to change or challenge any rule that has nothing to do with his team. The part that surprised me was what he wrote next:

“That makes the NBA stronger because it removes uncertainty. Can it result in a game(s) being impacted, yes. However, that impact results from an action a player knew violated the rules and was a mistake. There is no uncertainty about it. All they had to do was not leave the bench.”

What? Come again?

This coming from the man that spent this last basketball season crying about how the leagues strict foul calls in the Finals cost his team the championship. This is the same style of officiating that Cuban used to push for in order to help his team exploit their offensive superiority.

But when a rule flies back in his face he always gets upset.

So as a basketball fan I can only pray to Red Auerbach that next year a fight breaks out in a Mavs game, and Dirk Nowitzki jumps off the bench to throw down some fighting moves he learned while watching Hasselhoff in Knight Rider. Then we will surely get an outraged Mark Cuban screaming and letting the foam and spit ooze out of his rage filled mouth.

Cuban should take his own advice, “Because it’s incredibly simple to educate players about the rule. It’s a rule they fully understand and they understand the consequences of violating the rule.”

Maybe he should sit down with his players next time they go to the Finals and explain to them that fouling one of the best players in the NBA repeatedly could cost them a playoff series. That is if they ever get to the Finals again. If they don’t Cuban will just blame it on Dwayne Wade, or the commissioner, or the planets being out of alignment, or…

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Pimpin ain't easy

On Thursday May 10th, Linebacker Richard Seigler was first cut by the Steelers and then arrested on charges of running a Las Vegas prostitution ring. The 26 year-old attended high school in Las Vegas, and apparently spent the off season pimping put two escorts in his former hometown. Seigler was also charged with trying to entice a juvenile to become one of his prostitutes.

Also on March 10th, Steve McNair was arrested in Tennessee and charged with the states “DUI owner” law.

March 5th saw the arrest of Jaguars CB Ahmad Carroll on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of ecstasy, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Football has entered its equivalent of baseball’s steroids era.

The crime era.

It seems like every day that you watch ESPN or look on the internet there is a story about a professional football player having a run-in with law.

The actual numbers? 35 players arrested in 2006 out of the 2,000 players in the league. That means 2% of the entire NFL population had arrests recorded in 2006.

This is not a new problem. In his 2001 state of the NFL address Paul Tagliabeu addressed the situation that had been brought into the media spotlight by Ray Lewis’s murder trial.

In 1998, Pros andCons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL, authors Benedict and Yaeger said that 21 percent of NFL players had been charged with at least one crime.

Has the number gone down since ’98? No. You must look at the population and see how many of them have ever been charged with a crime. This would include everything from crimes commited during their NFL careers, their college life, and youth.

This is a much larger population percentage than the earlier discussed 2%.

Profootballtalk.com has come up with the most creative way to track this phenominon in their “Turd Watch.” The website awards points to NFL teams based on the number and types of crimes people involved with the organization have been charged with. All staff are included in the numbers. You can check the project out at www.TurdWatch.com.

Football does not create criminals, it is just designed for them. It is one of the most violent sports ever played by mankind. In order to excel at this game you have to be an indivdual that does not only lack concern about your own physical well being, but also the physcial well being of your opponent. In fact, your job most Sunday’s is to physically cripple the person on the other side of the ball.

The people that make their way to the top of this sport are either extremely determined, or in some cases extremely violent sociopaths. If you add the idol worship that most of these players have had thrust onto them since high school you start to get the understanding of why some pro athletes would think they are above the law.

For every controversy in sports there has to be a posterchild for it to truly take hold on mainstream societies mind.

Baseball has Barry Bonds swinging his bat in defiance of their efforts to sweep the steroid days under the rug.

Football has the adventures and misadventures of Pacman Jones. Other players have been charged with crimes more severe than jones, but few have had as many run ins with the law as he has. What also makes him unique is that it was his infamous strip club shooting that finaly forced the leagues hand in terms of dealing with their players off the field problems.

He now symbolizes the crime era.

Will crime in the league stop?

No.

Players are human and will make mistakes. They will drive drunk, they will have problems with jealous guys at night clubs. However, we could see a decline in the numbers of crimes commited by the athletes.

Why does this all matter?

There are a generation of kids growing up with idols that think their role in society is to get rather than give. They get big contracts, freebies, and women. They exploit the lifestyle they have been given by the fans all while forgetting that their purpose is for the fans. They are a member of society that wears pads and a uniform. As a member of society these athletes should be held accountable not only for their actions, but also how their actions will effect others in the future.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

In this ring a chubby white pitcher...

Curt Schilling is never short on opinions. He is willing to take on management, other players, and reporters. He is polarizing. For both fans and people in baseball.

Who could forget the 1993 World Series. Whenever Mitch Williams was on the mound television cameras caught Schilling in the dugout hiding his face with a towel. His fellow athletes felt like he was being overtly dramatic for the camera. He says he was nervous.

This year Schilling had a melt down because of press leaks from within the organization.

"I know that the comments that (sportswriters) make are a lot of times given to them by some unnamed source in the organization, which is disappointing," Schilling said yesterday. "Because I know it's people talking who haven't said a word to me. That's the way it always works. They'll try to get a message to us through you (media) guys sometimes without putting their name to it."

Now he is taking on the easiest fight of his life by badmouthing the biggest target in baseball.

In his weekly appearance on sports radio WEEI's "Dennis and Callahan" show, Schilling commented on Barry Bonds’ run at Hank Aaron’s record by saying, "Oh yeah. I would think so. I mean, he admitted that he used steroids," said Schilling. "I mean, there's no gray area. He admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes, and cheating on the game, so I think the reaction around the league, the game, being what it is, in the case of what people think. Hank Aaron not being there. The commissioner [Bud Selig] trying to figure out where to be. It's sad. And I don't care that he's black, or green, or purple, or yellow, or whatever. It's unfortunate... there's good people and bad people. It's unfortunate that it's happening the way it's happening."

For the record Bonds has never publicly admitted to using steroids, cheating on his wife, or cheating on his taxes.

To make matters worse in 2000 Schilling told the San Francisco Chronicle, "Barry Bonds is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I'd vote for him every day of the week and twice on Sundays, but when he retires, he's still going to be the biggest (butt) -- who ever lived. Ask his teammates. Ask anyone on their team or in their clubhouse. He is who he is."
So why the change in opinion about his validity as a player.
Apparently Bonds called Schilling “two faced” in a recent interview. He added "He has an attitude toward me, and I'm not a Curt Schilling fan," Bonds said. "He's one of the best power pitchers in baseball. That I will always have respect for. I have no disrespect for the guy, and I don't really dislike the guy. I'm just not a fan of his because, when you're supposed to be friends, you're supposed to be friends regardless of what happens on and off the field."
And so two of the best baseball players in the last two decades find themselves in the midst of a back and forth that you usually find in the halls of a middle school.

This is the reason baseball is not able to get the same kind of fan support as basketball and football, because the trash talk is just plain silly. He said/ he said nonsense that won’t even be solved on the field of play. San Francisco visits Boston for a three-game series June 15-17. We will get to see what happens when two guys that like to talk are put to the test.

Will Schilling hit him with a pitch. Will Bonds homer of him in the sixth.

I think Bonds should dress in all green and have 50 Cent rap him out to the plate. Maybe John Henry can sell pay-per-view tickets to a fight that might actually be more entertaining than the Mayweather, De La Hoya stinker.

Monday, May 7, 2007

A Showman's Weekend

This weekend was filled with showmanship and theatrics. In sports when you get showmanship, you lose substance. And so I sit back today feeling drunk. It was a fun time , but there is nothing left but a headache and regret.

De La Hoya Looks Old against Mayweather

The days and months leading up to the fight were filled with trash talk.

De La Hoya added controversy and intrigue by attacking Mayweather mentally through hiring and embracing the younger fighter's family. Mayweather came back at De La Hoya by ripping on his age and record.

The thick talk by the two most prominent fighters in the sport today had the entire sports world waiting with baited breathe.

All was for not.

The fight went just as anyone who has seen either of these two guys fight thought it would. De La Hoya, a slugger, was unable to move and get power hits in on the younger tactician, Mayweather. It was not a close fight. I couldn't even understand the split decision, until I remembered that everything in boxing is incomprehensible. The fight was one sided and it was not worth the hype, let alone the pay-per-view price.

Roger Clemens, Yankees Savior

The only way Roger Clemens could have made a flashier entrance into this season is if he bedazzled his new pinstripes in rhinestones and para sailed into Yankee Stadium with his hair on fire.

Today I had to deal with the Yankee fans.

The fans that have been silent thus far this season as they dwell in the bottom of the AL East.

The fans that have seen big name pitchers betray them.

Today those fans are rejoicing in Clemens, the Rocket, the savior.

They paid $28 million dollars for less than 20 games. He will pitch somewhere around his 3.10 career ERA, but it remains to be seen if that will really help the Yankees, with their thin bullpen, win games. He went 7-6 last season. Hardly a year worth a $28 million monster contract.

New Yorkers love the big names. At least until they lose in the post season.

Lane Kiffin Works in Cheese

According to blackandsilver.com, Lane Kiffin let his players' scheduled hour of meetings hang in the balance as Sebastian Janikowski attempted a 48 yard kick. The raiders kicker made teh field goal and the entire team roared with applause. Then the gorganzola began to rain from the sky.

When he was asked about the event Kiffin said, "We had hour-long meetings after this, the last meetings before they take off. So, same thing, competition, putting guys in situations, putting Janikowski in a 48-yard field goal I think it was right there. And if he made it, they got meetings off, and if he missed it, they had meetings. So he made it and it was a good thing because there would have been some guys down if he had missed it. It worked out good."


I think that my high school coach did the same thing. If his teammates were anything like my high school football team, Janikowski, would have been beaten with a sock and a roll of quarters if he had missed the kick.






Saturday, May 5, 2007

Week on of my website

The following entry is about the first week of my website bigdaveonsports.com.


The first week of this site has been an interesting one.

My work load has increased ten fold, as I keep up with my writing assignments for various internet outlets, and try to keep fresh, interesting content on Big Dave on Sports. At the same time it has been a great week as I now have a medium which I completely control.

Luckily for me it has been a sports week full of news. The draft, the sweep of the Heat by the baby Bulls, the early ejection of the Mavs, and the Michael Vick story. In fact I have not even been able to keep up with all of the news and now find my self stuck with Chris Carpenter on my fantasy baseball team.

My hope for this site is that I can deliver fresh and original stories and features about sports. The internet is full of the same opinions echoed over and over. Hopefully, sports fans can come here for a change, even if they do not agree with me and speak amongst each other about these ideas on my forum. After all that is why sports have held their popularity in our culture for so long. They are activities that almost anyone can be an expert on. They make all of us into pundits and talking heads, and we love that feeling of relevance.

So I hope this website offers you a space where you can read and speak freely about sports. My hope is that it grows into a place that is not like the mainstream outlets, with there game break downs and their vanilla analysis of sporting world issues.

Friday, May 4, 2007

Mock drafts make me laugh

I have spent the last couple of days doing a couple of things:

1) Trying to get this website going
2) Sulking over the Heat’s pathetic attempt at a championship defense
3) Trying to sort out the NFL draft

And in this last item I have found enough humor to get me through this miserable sports week. Well, that and the Marlins beating the Mets last night.

Looking over all of the pre-draft nonsense I have realized the draft prognosticators don’t know any more about draft day than my 20 month old. It’s true. I put a bunch of names with a piece of construction paper and glue sticks in front of little Dante and he created his own draft boared. The next day he slicked back hair, put on a suit, and began ranting that Cam Cameron was an idiot for not taking Brady Quinn.

Every mock draft I saw was completely off the mark.

Just look at the top five picks. Most did not see Joe Thomas going to Cleveland, and everyone said Millen can’t draft a wide receiver because he is bad at picking the position. Well if a blind man goes up to Angelina Jolie feels her breasts and says, “You are the one for me,” are we going to judge that choice just because his last wife was 300 pounds and had a wooden leg (by the way this is an exact description of ex-Lion first rounder Mike Williams).

Rounding out the top five, Gaines Adams to the Bucs didn’t seem to fill an immediate need and screamed value, and the Cardinals reached out to grab Levi Brown. The only pick that the experts got right was Russell, the most obvious choice of the draft, and they went back and forth on that until Roger Goodell made his first step to the podium.

But next year I will be back reading every mock, and their will be about 4,000 more than there were this year. Why? Because mock drafts are male gossip columns. Who is the fastest? Who is the strongest? Who gets high and fights dogs for sport?

I can’t wait until next year, with all of the mocks trying to out do each other who knows what info will come out. This will most likely be the way that we get our first outed gay football player.

Would that make his draft stock fall or rise?