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      Strikeforce Predictions: Fedor vs. Werdum

      June 26, 2010 /

      Strikeforce holds its next big card tonight featuring Fedor Emelianenko taking on Fabricio Werdum. The card features four fights and here are my thoughts on what will happen tonight.

      Heavyweight Bout – Fedor Emelianenko (31-1) vs. Fabricio Werdum (13-4-1) – This is the next big bout for Fedor, who is one of the greatest mixed-martial artists of all-time, let alone in the heavyweight division. Werdum is a solid grappler, but he doesn’t have the style to defeat Fedor, as he has not standup and he is slow on his feet. Emelianenko should have no problem winning this fight by TKO in round one or two.

      Women’s Featherweight Championship – Cris Santos (9-1) vs. Jan Finney (8-7) – Finney is a game fighter, but she is running into a buzzsaw in Santos, who may eventually become as dominant as any champion in a weight class, men or women. Santos will overwhelm Finney with her strength and her striking. Look for a first round TKO win for “Cyborg” as she retains her title.

      Middleweight Bout – Scott Smith (17-6) vs. Cung Le (6-1) – Smith handed Le his first pro loss last December on a miracle KO punch in the third round. Le was dominating the fight up until that point, which is why the rematch is taking place. Le has a better skill set and more tools than Smith, who simply will be relying on one punch to win. Look for Le to fight a smart fight and finish Smith in the third round.

      Lightweight Bout – Josh Thomson (16-3) vs. Pat Healy (23-15) – Thomson clearly has the edge in this fight. Healy is an experienced fighter, but that experience hasn’t resulted in a great record. Look for Thomson to control the fight on the ground to earn a decision win in his quest to get back into the Lightweight title picture.

      External Sports, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC

      The self-implosion of Carlos Zambrano continues

      June 26, 2010 /

      Carlos Zambrano, who may or may not be certifiably nuts, was suspended indefinitely by the Cubs following his outburst in a game against the White Sox on Friday night.

      Here’s what happened (via the Chicago Sun-Times):

      Zambrano stormed up and down the dugout, turning on several of his teammates, including first baseman Derrek Lee. Zambrano accused his teammates of failing to dive for ground balls that went for hits.

      Piniella, pitching coach Larry Rothschild and other coaches interceded as Zambrano appeared ready for a physical confrontation. He was held back and sent to the clubhouse before the Cubs took the field in the bottom of the second.

      Big Crazy also apparently went into a tirade with some cameramen on his way out of the stadium last night, which should be really, really fun to watch whenever it reaches the light of day.

      Roughly $45 million is still owed to Zambrano, but it might be time for the Cubs to cut him like a dead limb and move on. He’s been nothing short of an absolute disaster both on and off the field the last two seasons and this latest outburst may have bought him a one-way ticket out of town – Milton Bradley style. I’m not sure if the Cubs could get anything in a trade for him (at least not without paying most of his salary), but if I’m Jim Hendry I’m on the phone right now figuring out which GMs didn’t see the outburst last night.

      “Hey Jon, it’s Jim. I was just wondering if you caught SportsCenter last night or early this morning? No? Great…I’d like to talk about Carlos Zambrano and what he’d look like in a Rangers uniform…”


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      D-Backs’ Edwin Jackson pitches MLB’s fourth no-no of the year because, you know, they’re easy to do now

      June 26, 2010 /

      The year of the pitcher continues.

      Edwin Jackson became the fourth pitcher this season to throw a no-hitter, after he blanking the Rays 1-0 on Friday night. He walked seven of the first 13 batters he faced and threw a career-high 149 pitches, yet still managed to stay in the game in order to make history in the end. Perhaps what’s most amazing about his feat is that he did it against a very good hitting offense in Tampa.

      Just what in the name of David Cone is going on here? It used to be that we would see one or two no-hitters a season, but we’ve already been privy to four this year alone. It’s not even July; we haven’t even reached the All-Star break yet.

      Not since the 1991 season has baseball seen four pitchers throw no-hitters in a single year. The Rangers’ Nolan Ryan, the Phillies’ Tommy Greene, the Expos’ Dennis Martinez, the White Sox’s Wilson Alvarez and the Royals’ Bret Saberhagen all threw no-no’s in ’91, while members of the Orioles and Braves each threw combined no-hitters that year as well.

      Considering there have already been four thrown this season, we could be looking at a potential record-breaking year for no-hitters. It’s almost like fans are expecting them every month now. I saw that Jackson threw his last night and the first thing that crossed my mind was, “Yeah, that’s about right.”

      Not to pile it on, but had Jim Joyce not blown Armando Galarraga’s perfect game in Detroit a couple weeks ago, this year would have already matched 1991’s output. That’s incredible.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      More trouble for Michael Vick?

      June 25, 2010 /

      The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that Michael Vick is not a suspect in an incident that occurred early this morning that resulted in a man named Quanis Phillips being shot outside a nightclub in Virginia. Vick had been celebrating his 30th birthday at the restaurant/club sometime before the shooting occurred.

      The police have stated that they have no interest in Vick, but that doesn’t mean he won’t face punishment from the NFL. When commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Vick last July, part of the deal was that Vick wasn’t supposed to associate with anyone from his days as a dog fighter. And Phillips was just one of the people that Vick had a close “business relationship” with when he owned Bad Newz Kennels. Goodell also announced upon Vick’s reinstatement that the quarterback’s margin for error was “extremely limited.”

      Falcons’ receiver Roddy White, who was apparently with Vick earlier in the night, said that the two of them had left the party before the shooting took place. Said White: “I don’t know what’s going to go on with that or whatever, but we didn’t have anything to do with it.”

      Not many details are available right now, so we can only speculate about what transpired leading up to the shooting. Maybe Phillips was there without Vick’s knowledge or arrived to the restaurant after the quarterback had left. Who knows?

      But the mere fact that Vick’s name is being brought up in relation to another off-field incident is troubling to say the least. It sounds as if he did nothing wrong and wasn’t involved in the shooting. It also isn’t a crime to celebrate your birthday with your friends, although if one of those friends is an old acquaintance that helped you set up an illegal dog-fighting ring, then that’s a problem. And if Phillips was invited to the party, then Vick’s decision-making is yet again up for criticism.

      Check back for more details on this developing story.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      USC appeals NCAA ruling, asks for 1-year bowl ban instead of two

      June 25, 2010 /

      USC has appealed the NCAA’s sanctions that prohibits them from playing in any postseason games over the next to years and has asked that the ban be reduced to only one year.

      From ESPN.com:

      USC appealed only certain aspects of this month’s ruling. Among the penalties were a two-year bowl ban, four years of probation, scholarship losses and removal of several victories. The school will accept a bowl ban for the upcoming season and certain scholarship penalties in football, but believes the full sanctions were unduly harsh.

      USC asked for the two-year postseason ban to be reduced to one year. The school also wants the NCAA’s scholarship reductions in football from 2011 to 2013 to be reduced to five lost scholarships in each season, rather than 10.

      “We disagree with many of the findings in the report from the NCAA Committee on Infractions and assert that the penalties imposed are too severe for the violations identified and are inconsistent with precedent in similar cases,” said Todd Dickey, USC’s senior vice president for administration.

      USC already announced it would appeal immediately after the sanctions were handed down June 10. The NCAA’s appeal process typically takes at least several months, and Dickey said the Trojans might get an answer by spring only in a best-case scenario.

      If the NCAA wants to make an example out of USC, then there’s little hope that the ban will be reduced. This situation could serve warning to all programs that if they’re caught breaking rules, that they could be punished as severely as the Trojans were.

      That said, considering those that were at fault (ahem, Reggie Bush, Pete Carroll, etc.) for the ban aren’t involved with the program anymore, one can make the argument (and many certainly have) that the NCAA was too harsh in its ruling.

      We’ll see what they rule…in a year.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football, External Sports

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