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boxing, braves and bucs by A Guest Author
Boxing never ceases to amaze me, maybe that is why I watch with such rapt attention. Saturday night I watched James Toney out hustle, out work, and out smart the limited skills of Samuel Peter, only to lose on a split decision (116-111 twice for Peter 115-112 for Toney). To the casual fight fan this name may not be familiar. Sam Peter is a hard punching African import from the nation of Nigeria, the same country that brought us Ike "The President" Ibeabuchi , the man who could have and should have dominated the heavyweight division for many years. Unfortunately Ike is doing time in the Nevada State Correctional Facility, so we were stuck with Lennox Lewis for the last decade or so, but that’s another story. Saturday night proved why in boxing the old adage, "You never leave it to the judges" rings true. Though thirty-eight years old, James Toney showed why he is the most skilled boxer in the heavyweight division, he moved and jabbed and frustrated the big Nigerian, causing Peter to be penalized a point in the 9th round. Apparently two of the three judges were watching something other than the fight that was going on above them, because neither of them bothered to penalize Peter on their scorecards, making what should have been a 10-8 round for Toney into a 10-9 round for Toney on both of their scorecards Hey, it happens, but every time it happens boxing looks like what people think it is, crooked and fixed. That is why boxing is losing the casual fans, those people that will spend the $49 for a Pay-Per-View event, the casual fans who would take a weekend trip to Atlantic City or Vegas to see a fight and maybe drop a few hundred in the casinos. Boxing has done it to itself. Without a national commission to police it, boxing is left to police itself, which is not a good thing. The Toney camp has the option to protest the outcome, but getting the outcome of a boxing match reversed is like protesting for your virginity back. It's a nice thought, but it ain't going to happen. What about the kid from Philly, Ryan Howard? He's a monster; on Sunday he hit HR's numbers 51, 52, & 53 off of Tim Hudson of my Atlanta Braves. I hear echoes of MVP in the background.
Back to my move from NY to LA. When I was a small child I was made to swear a blood oath by my grandfather, a life long Brooklynite and Dodger fan, that I would never root for the LA Dodgers, for the Dodgers had abandoned him when they moved to LA; he held a grudge till the day he died, even though he couldn't remember why - the Alzheimer's had done a job on him - but he always remembered he hated the Dodgers. Anyway, when I moved to LA we had cable for the first time. Before that, cable was an urban myth. I heard, "it's kinda like TV, but with more channels." And thank god for that. Now my choices were the Chicago Cubs on WGN or the Atlanta Braves on TBS. Truly it was no contest; by the third inning Cubs announcer Harry Carey was so fuckin' drunk I couldn't understand a word he was saying. Plus, it was the Cubs. No one I ever knew in my life was a Cubs fan, so by default, the Braves became my team. A New York Jew, living in Los Angeles (the most culturally devoid place on earth), rooting for the Atlanta Braves. I didn't even know if they had Jews in Atlanta, but by god there was one in LA who was rooting for them. Thus began an almost 30 year love affair between me and the Braves. More on that later. I am a monster Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, and a true lover of the NFL, so a few quick words on the NFL and then I am outta-here… 1. NE will not win the AFC East, Miami will - Sorry; Brady is a system QB, nothing more, he played in a good system at Michigan and plays in a good system in NE, take him out of that system and he is an average QB at best. 2. The Eagles are done, Donavan McNabb, sucks, always did and always will, he's almost as big a cry baby as… 3. Dante Culpepper, yeah I know I picked Miami to win the East, doesn't mean I have to like their QB. 4. Drew Brees is going to be sorry he ever signed with New Orleans, he nor Reggie Bush can save that team 5. Michael Vick should be moved to the slot, he is a horrible QB, he has a career completion rate of 54%, that would get most guys cut from their high school JV team. These are my opinions and I'm stickin' to em'.
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What has happened to my Braves this year? I have been a huge Braves fan since 1979, when I was forcibly relocated from NY to LA. Growing up, I was a Mets fan. Back then when you lived on the Island, you were a Mets fan. Only people from the City (who in actuality couldn't care less about baseball), or, if you were from the Bronx, you cared about the Yankees. God, I hated the Yankees and still do but that, again, is another story.
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Comments
Good job Michael, especially on the boxing segment.
Posted by: Dan | September 15, 2006 12:30 PM
Back then when you lived on the Island, you were a Mets fan. .
Hell NO.
God, I hated the Yankees and still do but that, again, is another story.
We need to talk.
Posted by: michele | September 15, 2006 12:32 PM
Eagles for the Conference win, baby.... Yeah, Donovan's a crybaby... But he's a crybaby that's gonna take the Championship this year....
Posted by: thefinn | September 15, 2006 1:25 PM
And Da Bears ARE taking the whole enchillada this year...yes they are.
Posted by: Timmer | September 15, 2006 1:34 PM
oh timmer... the birds from baltmore are gonna rule the roost and you sure as hell know i ain't talking about the orioles... (much love to the o birds, though -- i'll smack a body if they say anything against eddie murray's alma matter)
great job on the fight, michael! sorry about those braves, believe me i feel your pain. and for good measure:
I FUCKING HATE THE YANKEES...
Posted by: kali | September 15, 2006 2:04 PM
Ok, next time we hire on a new writer, I'm going to ask for their baseball allegiance first.
Posted by: michele | September 15, 2006 2:08 PM
Well, since Michele's gonna check baseball allegiances, that would knock me out of that (but that assumez I gotz ritin' skillz, which I ain't gotz anyhoo ;-)
now let's see, what can i say to get smacked by kali (esp. since Eddie played for da Indians too)
Posted by: UnkFrank | September 15, 2006 3:05 PM
i knew someone was gonna like that threat...
Posted by: kali | September 15, 2006 3:41 PM
//NE will not win the AFC East, Miami will //
Phhht. That is funny.
//take him out of that system and he is an average QB at best//
But that, that is hilarious.
Posted by: Ernie | September 15, 2006 5:41 PM
Thanks for the comments guys, I know my Bucs got waxed, but man at least it was to a team that looks like a contender this year, the Pats had to rely on a safety to beat the hapless Bills, sorry but without Branch the Pats will really not win the East. Lets see how Brady does without his deep safety blanket this season.
Posted by: Michael | September 15, 2006 8:18 PM
ah... a system QB, huh? how'd he do with the same crew that Drew had in 2001? That team was terrible with Drew and then what? Not comparing him to Montana - but how many teams are trying and failing at that system?
Posted by: ken | September 15, 2006 8:30 PM
Hmmm... Why do I suddenly feel like a bass looking at a sluggo going by in the lilly-pads?
That Pats and the Bills always play each other tough. Records don't count in the rock em sock em AFC East.
'The Pats will not win without... (insert player name X here)'. I love it when I hear this stuff.
Great post Michael!
Posted by: Ernie | September 15, 2006 8:35 PM
Ernie, it's not so much that without Branch, they can't win, it's been the talent leaching that has been going on for 3 years now, I also believe there is growing sentiment within the players in the league that the Pats are not free-agent friendly and that if you are on the verge of FA, you are not going to get paid, yeah, it worked for a while, but now I think the players are tiring of it and, and much like Bean-Ball with the Oakland A's what you are going to have on an annual basis is some young talented Pats teams that will not be able to get over the hump, because they will always be missing that one over the top great player because Pioli and "Somber" Bill (he always looks like someone just killed his cat)will not pay players what the market says they are worth.
Posted by: Michael | September 15, 2006 10:26 PM
Ken, (B)Ledsoe just outright sucks, he has since he left Washington. He makes the same dumb decisions he did in college, just in college they weren't as glaring.
Posted by: Michael | September 15, 2006 10:29 PM
True - Drew does suck but I can't get beyond the "system QB" remark. It's a great comparison between the two since it's easy to now see what makes Brady great.
They will win 13 games this year and the Dolphins will win 10 or 11.
Posted by: ken | September 16, 2006 7:13 AM
Those are some very insightful comments Michael. I can see your point about the FAs not wanting to come to play for the Pats, Keyshawn was a perfect example of that. He is a Belichick guy, but did not want to play for '5 bucks'.
Some of the Pats recent losses are concerning, especially when you consider how much money they have available under the salary cap, but their system is that they don't pay more than what they think a player's value is and they don't budge from that system.
Posted by: Ernie | September 16, 2006 9:17 AM
Ken, Brady was very fortunate to follow Bledsoe, anything that Brady did looked like gold compared to what Bledsoe was unable to do, the system is the system, pound the rock, dump passes, and strike downfield when you catch the defense cheating on the run, as long as you can read the progressions and can move in and out of the pocket you will succeed within the system, obviously, this takes not only a talented QB, which yes Brady is, but it takes talented skill players, what I an saying is Brady thrives within this system, but if you take him out of it, and his is forced to mae his own decisions, then he will just be an average QB, no matter what Madden says, Brady is not the second coming of Unitas.
Posted by: Michael | September 16, 2006 5:32 PM
did someone say "unitas?"
oh johnny how we miss you here in b-more...
Posted by: kali | September 17, 2006 10:35 AM