The Heat and the Shine

Have you ever been told, “you suck”?  You probably have.  Maybe recently.  It is never pleasant and it always causes conflict. When you are great at something, being told, “you suck,” usually means little.  You accept the words, consider the source and move on.  It causes a reaction.  It makes you wish ill towards the person who told you, “you suck,” if only for a moment, but it doesn’t stick.  They suck.  They can’t touch you.  You know it.  They’re not worth it. But what if you’ve never been told, “you suck”?  What if you were a child prodigy who made the state finals in his first year?  What if you won three state championships in high school?  (Think about that.)  What if you won two national championships in junior college, and were a Division I (the highest level of amateur wrestling in the United States) All-American your senior year? What if you were an Olympian? What if you competed for World Championships? What if you won were an MMA rookie as you neared your thirt

Critics of UFC's decision to sign CM Punk are in an unassailable position.  They are right.  Signing CM Punk would be similar to a Major League Baseball team signing Nelly.  Punk's signing does alienate fighters; especially those on the border of UFC and the lessor fight promotions.  The move is -- at least in part -- a publicity stunt.  There is no way to counter these arguments.  Calling Punk's ESPN "car wash" a PR win is pointless to someone who wants to watch great fights.  Supposing that Punk's first pay-per-view will draw a great buyrate matters not to someone who's had to argue whether MMA is a real sport.  UFC decision makers have hurt the public's ability to accept MMA as a sport.  The detractors have that argument won. All is not lost, however.  UFC and CM Punk can still make the best of things.  They can still make a lot of money in the short term (the short-term money argument, of course, is the argument that proponents of Punk's signin

There are so many interesting things about the story of David Schultz and John du Pont.  du Pont came from a colorful family of unimaginable wealth.  He was cut from Central Casting as a black sheep; awkward, a dreamer and almost certainly born with a mental illness.  Schultz was a habitual overachiever.  He was also a gregarious, giving fellow whose life was cut short in tragic fashion.  Pick any one of those things, and there is the potential for a good movie.  Foxcatcher didn't and it isn't. Foxcatcher is Mark Schultz's story.  Mark, played by Channing Tatum, is the younger brother of David, and is also a champion wrestler.  Mark and David both won gold medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles (a great accomplishment, but one sullied by the fact that the Soviet Union led a boycott of Eastern Bloc nations in retaliation for the United States' boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow) and Mark won gold at the 1987 FILA world championships in 1987. It is Mark's

UFC must be dreaming.  In a year so wrought with drug failures and sinking buyrates and miniscule ratings, they get Daniel Cormier.  They get the perfect fighter with the perfect personality at the perfect time. It's the silly season of sports.  At no other point in the calendar year would a press conference brawl have found this much of ESPN's oxygen. Cormier is a natural babyface.  He is humble.  Self-efacing.  Aware of his tics and flaws and, importantly, still supremely confident in his abilities. And there's Jon Jones.  For whatever flaws one wants to affix to him, this much is true: He was chosen by God to fight.

It is time for another edition of Coors Light Cold Hard Facts (because Bud Light doesn't pay me).  Whenst last we separated Fact (not actual facts) from Fiction (more predictions, really), it was to discuss cable and satellite providers' distaste for WWE Network .  Your humble essayist is back, this time to discuss the business issue of the moment: UFC's declining pay-per-view and television numbers. Fact or Fiction: UFC's pay-per-view decline will reverse itself this year Fact. Yes, there are fewer MMA fans than ever (at least since the boom).  Yes, GSP is gone.  Yes, Cain and Ronda are hurt.  Yes, (about) 500k for Weidman/Ronda is unimpressive.  But it's got to get better. The first half of 2014 was about as ugly as it can get.  UFC has had exactly one PPV main event in the marquee weight classes (Light Heavy and Heavy) this year, and it went head to head with LeBron and Kevin Durant in the playoffs.  Ronda fought twice, which helped.  Otherwise, it's

Dana White wishes that there were no performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in UFC.  It is a scandal he doesn't want.  They cost him money that could be used for other things.  Fights cancel that fans want to see. The problem is that performance enhancing drugs aren't going away.  Professional athletes are as paranoid as they are competitive.  Many fighters use.  Most fighters believe that other fighters are using.  Some fighters just want an edge and don't care.  Whatever the case, they're here to stay. History has taught us that anti-doping measures are an endless cat-and-mouse game.  The 1988 Olympic 100 meter final was called the dirtiest sporting event of all time in an ESPN documentary.  When analyzed years after the race, every sprinter's urine sample was found to contain some type of PED.  The 2012 Olympic 100 meter final saw nobody test positive, but would anyone be surprised if a test done ten years from now found those samples dirty? The status quo is

UFC 173 tickets went on sale today and they are still available.  Very available.  The only sold out sections are the cheapest ones; though you can still get those $75 tickets on StubHub if you're willing to pay $125. It's odd to look at the MGM Grand Garden Arena seating map and see so many tickets available.   Floor seats at $750 are there, though the celebrity section perpendicular to press row is almost sold out.  Many of the straight-on escalated seats that sell for $750, $400 or $200 are gone, too.  And of course the cheapest lower level tickets ($200 per seat for the last few rows on the corners and ends) are mostly sold because those, the nosebleeds and cageside are where the ticket brokers make their money.  The rest of the seating chart is a sea of little blue dots waiting to be purchased. On paper, UFC 173 is a solid card.  It has a championship match.  It has a semi-main event featuring fighters ranked numbers one and five.  It has Daniel Cormier on his march t

The Undertaker's loss at WrestleMania XXX wasn't a screwjob.  It wasn't kept secret from the announcers and it wasn't a call in the ring.  It was planned.  It was his choice.  It was business. Brock Lesnar has been a financial disappointment to the company thus far, and this will give him a shot in the arm.  A deca-durabolin sized shot?  Time will tell.  It does put a shiny new coat on Lesnar and that could mean something. WWE needs a boost right now.  WrestleMania may have been an aesthetic success and a non-sports gate record for the Super Dome, but a soft belly lies beneath.  The weekly television audience is not growing.  Money-drawing stars are down to two.  The company becomes relevant in popular culture on increasingly rare occasions. Kudos to Undertaker, the McMahon-Helmsleys and anyone else who saw the lay of the land and made this brave decision.  There are a lot of WWE fans that wanted the Undertaker to keep that streak.  Some just liked having a gimmi

There are some things from the March 7, 1983 episode of World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) (now available on the WWE Network ) that cannot be duplicated.  A booker can hope for three local babyface brothers.  A promoter can want a mad villain like Michael Hayes.  But they are stars.  There is no way of knowing when they will appear or how bright they will shine. What bookers and promoters have control of is the storytelling.  Great storytelling will elevate present wrestlers and draw future wrestlers.  It will make dreamers want to work for you and make deciders want your show on their channel. The salient angle of the March 7, 1983 episode of WCCW begins at about the twelve minute mark.  The match is "Ice Man" King Parsons vs. Buddy Roberts of the Freebirds. The angle begins before the match with a shirtless Michael Hayes accompanying Roberts to the ring. The Lesson:  Two fundamental heel/antagonist move here.  Heels will try to bend or break rules.  Heels ar

The Nevada State Athletic Commission banned testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and the people celebrated.  The people who put on the fights, cover the fights and watch the fights all reacted in unison.  "Yay!  A win for fair play." It is a win for fair play.  As MMA fan/anti-drug advocate Lance Storm liked to say, TRT doesn't level the playing field, it levels the player.  The egalitarian ideal is that each sportsman trains and studies and uses his natural talent to compete under the agreed upon rules.  People born with a disability must compete with that disability.  Being born with low testosterone would be treated no differently than being born with a poor work ethic.  Some will succeed, but most will never join the elite. The Nevada Commission's ruling is also a win for the public perception of MMA.  The scolds have been held at bay.  The loudest online fans and the most muckraking journalists will have to wait another day to complain. Some complainers

Back when I wrote with a writing partner, we used procrastinate a lot in the afternoons.  (Maybe this is why one of the top comedy guys in Hollywood is named  Christopher  and not Benjamin.)  Our favorite procrastination activity was watching ESPN's afternoon lineup, and our favorite ESPN afternoon lineup gimmick was "Coors Light Cold Hard Facts".  The gimmick involved some ex-jock making predictions by saying "fact" or "fiction".  It was glorious and we began to integrate it into our daily lives (much to the chagrin of girlfriends, baristas and call center representatives).   Here, then, is the first of what might become a series (provided that I finally kick that procrastination bug):  Pro Wrestling Fact or Fiction.  Just as with ESPN's "Coors Light Cold Hard Facts", none of this is fact, much of it is fiction and all of it is speculation. Fact or Fiction: Dish Network will not offer Elimination Chamber this Sunday Fact.

With about a half an hour to go until tonight's Monday Night Raw, the author wanted to watch some basketball.   Milwaukee Bucks basketball , specifically.  And there are two ways to be in Los Angeles and watch Milwaukee Bucks basketball (legally, at least) in our modern age: NBA League Pass on cable/satellite or NBA Game Time over the Internet. And so, like Jamie Foxx in 1994, it seemed a good time to do a little Experiment .  How easy is it to watch on cable/satellite?  How easy is it to watch on the Internet? Dish Network Step 1: Power on the TV and satellite box.  This can be done with one remote control.  And the Dish guy sets the controller up so that it manages your TV's power and volume. Step 2: Go to channel 561 and hit "Guide".  Or go to the Guide and then hit "561".  Either way, a standard program guide shows the SD (in case I need to save DVR space) and HD channels that broadcast the games. Step 3:  I'm in luck!  Tonight there was

For a person who graduated in 1999, a recent stroll through the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts was dichotic.  On one hand film-based cameras and projectors that were used over the past one hundred and twenty years populate the basement of the decades-old Norris Theater.  (A basement that has now been re-branded as the Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive, believe it or not.)  On the other hand the towering Cinematic Arts Complex provides all the charm of listening to the DJ at a Clippers game play “Pump Up The Jam” from the 3rd deck of luxury boxes.  Every space is clean and every film is digital.   A Cinematic Arts student at USC can create anything they want.  The lighting, the camera movements and even the special effects that are seen in major film releases can be added to student films.  Gone are the days when Hershey’s syrup was used in lieu of blood.  Everything is possible at the students’ request.  But does it make for a better experience?