Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 669 of 1503)

      Saturday MMA Review: October 17

      October 17, 2009 /

      – Benson Henderson edged out Donald Cerrone in an epic five-rounder at WEC 43, while Mackens Semerzier came out of nowhere to score the upset of the year over Wagnney Fabiano.

      – Chuck Liddell’s storybook run on “Dancing With the Stars” came to an abrupt end when his country-fried two-step failed to win over the judges.

      – Half-crazy UFC vet Wes Sims was quickly choked to sleep by Justin Wren on Wednesday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter, extending Team Rashad’s undefeated reign of destruction.

      – “The Simpsons” devoted an entire episode to MMA, in which Marge went from killjoy protester to ass-kicking cage-fighter.

      – Brock Lesnar was as big and scary as a baby as he is now, and Nick Diaz had lost all ability to give a fuck by age six.

      – We met Mika Nagano, one of Japan’s sexiest MMA fighters.

      – After contract negotiations with the UFC fell apart, veteran fighter Dan Henderson is jumping ship to Strikeforce.

      – Leaner and meaner, Ben Rothwell laid out his plan to beat Cain Velasquez at UFC 104 next Saturday.

      – If Tito Ortiz is your favorite fighter, you are either Jenna Jameson, Donald Trump, or Tito Ortiz. No exceptions.

      Mixed Martial Arts

      Bears trade for Gaines Adams

      October 17, 2009 /

      In a rather surprising move, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded former top 5 pick Gaines Adams to the Chicago Bears for a 2010 second round pick according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

      This could turn out to be a great move by Bears general manager Jerry Angelo, who continues to acquire talented defensive players. The Bears are going to have trouble re-signing Adewale Oguneleye, who is having a solid start to the season and who becomes a free agent in the offseason. Angelo knows this and if doesn’t think he can find a premier pass-rusher in the second round next April, then it’s worth it for him to take a shot on Adams, who was the top defensive end prospect in the 2007 draft. Adams is also under contract through 2012 and is only 26.

      The X-factor in this trade is Chicago defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, who has a knack for getting the most out of his players. Adams has the talent, but it hasn’t developed yet and unleashed his full capabilities as a pass rusher. If anyone can get him to reach his full potential, it could be Marinelli.

      As for the Bucs, they get a second round pick out of this deal but lose their most talented pass rusher. I realize that Adams wasn’t exactly the player Tampa that he’d be when they drafted him, but this seems a tad early for the Bucs to give up on him.

      Who knows, maybe Adams will never develop and Tampa will draft a starter with the second round pick it got out of this deal. But as of now, this is a questionable decision by the Bucs’ new regime.

      NFL

      So much for Sabathia being a postseason choke

      October 17, 2009 /

      Remember all the talk before the playoffs started about how CC Sabathia couldn’t hack it in the postseason? Well, apparently Sabathia took it to heart because so far the Yankees’ ace has been dominant.

      Sabathia limited the Angels to one run on four hits over eight innings in the Yankees’ 4-1 Game 1 victory in the ALCS Friday night. Sabathia also struck out seven and walked just one as he threw 76 of his 113 pitches for strikes.

      Of course, New York was helped dramatically by L.A.’s inability to make routine plays. The Halos played a brutal game, committing three errors and allowing a routine popup fall between Eric Aybar and Chone Figgins between shortstop and third base in the third inning. The play allowed two runners to score and the Yankees never looked back after that.

      The only good thing that can come out of this loss for the Angels is that they played so bad that it could re-focus them for the rest of the series. It’s hard to get over a tough loss when you played well and just didn’t execute in the end. It’s a little easier to chalk up a loss and move on when you make a bunch of routine errors and overall just had an off night.

      We’ll see how the Halos respond in Game 2.

      MLB

      Will Freeman take over the Bucs’ starting QB job soon?

      October 16, 2009 /

      According to a report by NFL.com, the Bucs could start rookie first round pick Josh Freeman as early as Week 9, or the week after Tampa has its bye.

      From Rotoworld.com:

      NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora reports that “people in the (Bucs’) organization” expect first-round rookie Josh Freeman to take over as the team’s starting quarterback by as soon as Week 9.

      Week 8 is the Buccaneers’ bye. There has been a startling lack of commitment to quarterbacks among team brass so far, so this isn’t a surprise. Coach Raheem Morris also admitted following Week 5 that he strongly considered letting Freeman make his debut against Philadelphia. La Canfora says a change may only happen if Tampa loses its next two games, but that’s a fair bet to happen against Carolina and New England.

      I’ve been befuddled by the way Raheem Morris has handled things in Tampa since taking over for the fired Jon Gruden. I don’t know if the guy is completely overmatched and incapable of being a NFL head coach, or if he’s just feeling his way through things in the early going. He deserves a chance either way, but he has plenty of skeptics already.

      As far as Freeman is concerned, the Tampa coaching staff knows if he’s ready or not. If he has made significant strides since offseason workouts and preseason, then maybe he deserves to start. Personally, I wasn’t very high on him as a prospect. He’s a great kid with great work ethic and he has all the physical tools to succeed in the NFL, but he’s incredibly raw and will probably need a few years to develop.

      Hopefully Morris and company exercise patience with Freeman.

      NFL

      Former Michigan QB rips Lloyd Carr

      October 16, 2009 /

      Former Michigan quarterback Rick Leach lambasted ex-Wolverine coach Lloyd Carr recently on an Ann Arbor radio show, claiming that Carr “flipped a huge middle finger right in our current coach’s face.”

      Here are the details, courtesy of the Detroit Free Press:

      “I saw an article that said Lloyd Carr was at the game in Iowa,” Leach told WTKA-AM (1050). “… No. 1, whose ticket did he go on? Whose private box was he sitting in, and whose university staff was in the box with him?

      “As far as I’m concerned, as a former player that loves this program, I love our head coach, I love what they’re trying to do — our ex-coach flipped a huge middle finger right in our current coach’s face.”

      Carr couldn’t be reached, and Michigan spokesman David Ablauf declined to comment on Leach’s comments.

      If you read between the lines, Leach must be accusing Carr of getting a ticket to the game thanks to someone at Iowa. Seeing as how he and Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz are friends, it’s a possibility that Carr got the ticket through him.

      That said, who gives a flying crap? Considering Bobby Petrino has negotiated multiple times with other programs (and one NFL team) behind his school’s back, I don’t think Carr attending the Michigan-Iowa game on Ferentz’s ticket is that big of a deal. And Petrino is just one example of a coach that has left his team high and dry: Nick Saban, Brian Kelly and Leach’s homeboy Rich Rodriguez have all done the same.

      I think Leach is being a little too sensitive here. If he wants to preach loyalty, he shouldn’t be backing Rodriguez.

      College Football

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