Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 881 of 1503)

Friday MMA Review 4/10

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– Last weekend’s action was highlighted by Hayato Sakurai crushing Shinya Aoki at DREAM 8 and Miguel Torres putting in yet another legendary performance at WEC 40.

– Despite some fainting and a nasty herpes outbreak, the Team USA elimination round went down on The Ultimate Fighter. Lightweight castmember Santino Defranco gave us some insight on Dana White’s intimidating presence as well as his back-from-the-grave victory over Waylon Lowe.

– We gawked at sexy ring girls Laura Celeste and Maysa Quy.

– Brett Rogers is still kinda pissed off at Kimbo Slice, while Frank Shamrock thinks Nick Diaz has “social and emotional issues” and “a frayed mind.”

– Nick Diaz may not have been the best student in school, but at least he’s smart enough to cheat a drug test.

– For the first time in history, Brazilian dance-fighting worked in a real MMA match.

– July’s UFC 100 card is looking historically stacked.

– Japanese featherweight wrecking machine Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will finally return to competition at DREAM’s next event.

– Head over to CagePotato.com tomorrow night as we liveblog the Showtime broadcast of “Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz,” beginning at 10 p.m. ET. If you plan on throwing some money on the fights, read this first, and submit your final predictions for the main card in our pick ’em contest to win a bunch of crap from No Fear!

Is Tiger Woods a poor sport?

Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post writes that Tiger Woods is a ‘poor sport’ and a ‘sore loser’.

Miss a shot and Woods tosses the offending club in anger. It is a wonder he has not taken a divot out of the shin or forehead of caddie Steve Williams.

Is that how Jack Nicklaus or Ben Hogan or Bobby Jones believed in playing a game for gentlemen? Should we care?

The competitive fire in Woods’ eyes burns so hot they can burn a hole through the chest, and Tiger is so intense he has been known to walk past his own mother on the golf course and be blind to her presence.

On the opening day of the Masters, a sea of red numbers on the leaderboard posted by everybody from Chad Campbell to 50-year-old Larry Mize turned Woods green with envy.
After an inconsistent round of 70 in which his frustration showed when he slammed a club after airmailing the green on the final hole, Woods was asked what it was about him and the first round at this prestigious tournament, where in 15 tries he has never posted a score in the 60s.

“Yeah,” Woods said Thursday, barely concealing his disdain, “that’s how I won it four times too.”

Kiszla goes on to write about how competitive Woods is and whether or not we as sports fans should care whether or not he can be kind of prickly when he’s playing.

Personally, I could not care less. I think Tiger has been such a phenomenal presence in the sports world over the years that writers are trying to drum up new storylines. That’s not to say Kiszla doesn’t make good points in his article, but it almost seems nowadays that writers are finding ways to criticize Woods’ game anyway they can. The bottom line is that most great athletes have egos the size of Saturn (the planet, not the car company) and they buy into how good they are. Tiger is no exception and considering how competitive he is, it’s no surprise that he’ll toss a club after a bad shot or give a snarky comment from time to time. Most of the great ones hate to lose and Tiger is no exception.

Giants’ Joe Martinez takes line drive off head

I’m not posting this video for the shock and awe of watching a young pitcher being struck in the head by a line drive. I’m posting this video to show the camaraderie of baseball players throughout the league. I watched this game live and was touched by how caring the players were on both teams for this young man’s health.

Here is Giants’ reliever Joe Martinez being stuck in the head in the ninth inning by a Mike Cameron line drive in San Fran’s 7-1 win last night over the Brewers:

It’s often said that all baseball players share a brotherhood and this situation proves it. Cameron’s sensitivity and general care for Joe Martinez’s health shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Hopefully Martinez bounces back and considering he took a line drive to the head and immediately got up, it shows how tough this kid is. I would have laid there for a week after taking a Mike Cameron line drive to the noggin…

Cole Hamels healthy again?

According to the Wilmington Journal, the Phillies are confident that starter Cole Hamels’ elbow is almost fully healthy as he enters his 2009 debut against the Rockies on Friday.

Cole HamelsFor the past month, Hamels has had the most scrutinized left elbow in the Delaware Valley — and for good reason. To recap: For about three weeks in spring training, he felt persistent, lingering between-innings stiffness during his starts. So, he returned to Philly and underwent an MRI exam that didn’t reveal structural damage. He received an anti-inflammatory injection March 17 and has been insisting ever since that the discomfort is gone.

Surely, though, team officials still will be holding their breath as Hamels takes the mound here tonight for the opener of a three-game series against the Rockies. Even Charlie Manuel said he’s anxious to see how Hamels responds to the thin mountain air and forecasted temperature in the upper-40s. (Take it from me, it’s chilly here. I walked to dinner last night on the 16th Street Mall and had to bundle up.)

But after overseeing Hamels’ bullpen session Wednesday at the Bank, pitching coach Rich Dubee believes his ace will be just fine.

“Physically, I think he’s fine,” Dubee said. “We ran the MRI and all the tests, and we felt very good about the doctor’s evaluation. Cole is feeling much better than he felt a month ago. He’s definitely headed in the right direction.”

His last spring-training start left some questions, though. Facing the Rays last Saturday, he yielded six runs in six innings, threw 83 pitches and still didn’t crack 90 mph on the radar gun. His fastball maxed out in the high-80s but mostly sat in the mid-80s.

This is just a matter of the Phils’ coaching staff keeping a close eye on Hamels’ mechanics and his pitch count and going from there. I highly doubt he throws more than 85 pitches tonight and he’ll probably be on a short leash. No need to rush this kid with the entire season still ahead.

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