As you've probably heard by now, UFC 151 has been canceled. This is the first time in the company's history that they've had to cancel an event after matches had been announced. Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones was set to defend his title against Dan Henderson. Hendo, as he's known, injured his knee during training and had to pull out of the fight which was supposed to take place on September 1st.
What makes this story even more interesting is that Jones declined to fight Chael Sonnen as a replacement. UFC president Dana White said they called several people but Sonnen was the only fighter willing to take on Jones on such short notice. However, Jones said that 8 days isn't enough to prepare for a fight against Sonnen and declined. White is rather upset about this, and of course Sonnen has now started running his mouth about he'll be "the monster in little JJ's closet" from now on.
What everyone in this situation seems to be forgetting, except for Jones, is that the champion had nothing to gain by fighting Sonnen. This would be Sonnen's first fight ever as a light heavyweight and it would be a title shot. Jones wouldn't gain anything but a paycheck by putting his title and "undefeated" (he does have 1 loss, a DQ for an illegal elbow, so technically he lost, but he's never been beaten) record on the line against Sonnen. Not only that, but Sonnen is a completely different fighter than Hendo is. Jones is right, 8 days is nowhere near enough time to prepare.
I'm surprised they canceled the whole event though. There have been situations in the past where the UFC had to cancel certain fights, but the rest of the card still took place. My guess is that without another big name fight on the card, they were worried that PPV numbers would suffer greatly.
Jones is now scheduled to fight Lyoto Machida on September 22 at UFC 152 (which should probably be named UFC 151 now, right?) in what will most likely be a snore-fest. Machida will probably dance just out of Jones' reach the entire fight, and considering how big that reach is, I fully expect the crowd to rain down boos during the entire fight. Granted this will be a rematch, Jones choked out Machida at UFC 140 in December last year, so maybe that will motivate Machida do something, but I doubt it. It's just not his style.
UPDATE-Jones will now be facing UFC legend Vitor Belfort at UFC 152. Machida turned the fight down saying that he didn't have enough time to train. Also, it has come out that Anderson Silva called Dana White and said he'd jump in and fight Jones in order to save UFC 151. However the call was made too late. Surprising to hear that Silva would offer his services though.
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Melky Cabrera Suspended For 50 Games
Giants slugger, and All-Star Game MVP Melky Cabrera was suspended for 50 games today for violating MLB's drug policy. Reports say he tested positive for testosterone. What makes this more interesting then your average drug-related suspension is he basically confessed/admitted to the whole thing.
His statement following the announcement of his suspension was, "My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used," Cabrera said in a statement. "I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down." It's not often you hear a guy just totally own up to something like this. Does he deserve credit for this? Maybe, but it doesn't make his violation acceptable.
My question about the whole thing, is anyone really surprised? I know it's unfair, but his stats this year had me questioning him. He's having by far a career year. He was hitting .346 with a .390 on base percentage and a slugging percentage of .516. These are all way above his career averages. It's one thing for a guy to raise his batting average, but for all 3 of those stats to make such significant jumps? We now know why that is.
Cabrera will miss the rest of the regular season, and if the Giants do make the playoffs, he'd be eligible to play in their 6th playoff game. But by then he probably won't be in baseball shape. Remember, he can't go down to the minors until then either, and by that time, their season will be over too. The Giants would have to keep a roster spot open for him, which would make almost no sense. Also, you have to wonder if the Giants knew something was coming. They acquired two outfielders before the deadline. Maybe they knew this was going to happen sooner or later? We'll probably never know.
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His statement following the announcement of his suspension was, "My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used," Cabrera said in a statement. "I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down." It's not often you hear a guy just totally own up to something like this. Does he deserve credit for this? Maybe, but it doesn't make his violation acceptable.
My question about the whole thing, is anyone really surprised? I know it's unfair, but his stats this year had me questioning him. He's having by far a career year. He was hitting .346 with a .390 on base percentage and a slugging percentage of .516. These are all way above his career averages. It's one thing for a guy to raise his batting average, but for all 3 of those stats to make such significant jumps? We now know why that is.
Cabrera will miss the rest of the regular season, and if the Giants do make the playoffs, he'd be eligible to play in their 6th playoff game. But by then he probably won't be in baseball shape. Remember, he can't go down to the minors until then either, and by that time, their season will be over too. The Giants would have to keep a roster spot open for him, which would make almost no sense. Also, you have to wonder if the Giants knew something was coming. They acquired two outfielders before the deadline. Maybe they knew this was going to happen sooner or later? We'll probably never know.
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Thursday, August 2, 2012
Fantasy Football Problems
It's August, so why not kick off the month with my first fantasy football related blog post? This might not go over so well, as it will seem like I'm bragging a bit (which it totally unintentional, I swear) but I truly do need some input from other people. So just bear with me.
Let me start by saying this, my name is David and I love and am addicted to fantasy football. I first played fantasy football back in the 02/03 season and I've only not had a team once since then. Recently I've been pretty successful with my teams. I've won a league 4 years in a row, and 2 years ago I not only won my league but I also won the Survival league I was in. Again, I'm not trying to brag. I do a lot of research before the draft and during the season. Free agents and trades are where seasons are won and lost. Yes the draft is important, but it's incredibly rare for the team you draft to be your team at even the halfway point of the season. See, I told you I was addicted.
So last year I ended up with a pretty good team. By pretty good, I mean it was rather ridiculous. A quick rundown. QBs-Brees, Vick, and Romo. RBs-Lynch, Spiller, Foster, Murray. WRs-Cruz, Welker, Colston, Wallace. TEs-Graham, Gonzalez. D/ST-Ravens, Bengals. K-Bailey. I had Janikowski at one point but used him in a trade, which was him and 2 other players that I don't recall for Brees. As you can see, my team had very few, if any holes. I had a great draft, even being in the last slot, and I picked up some good free agents and that trade I mentioned.
Here's my problem. This is a keeper league. I don't normally play in keeper leagues. I can only choose one player to keep on my roster. I'm torn between Brees, Foster, and Graham. I can pretty easily talk myself out of Graham, but he's worth mentioning. He was the number 2 TE last year and I'm a big believer in having a worthwhile TE, they'll win you games. I'm worried that Brees, and his MASSIVE contract, are going to have an off year. The Saints have so much drama around them, I just don't know if I trust the guy and their interim coach. With Foster, there have been reports that he has become of vegan. Now, nothing against anyone who chooses to be a vegan, but it doesn't seem like the greatest idea for a football player let alone a running back. I know it sounds dumb, but he's already been injured a few times, and this makes me think he could miss some significant time this year
So what would you do? I've already looked over all the rankings from different sites, and ESPN actually has Foster as the number 1 overall keeper and Brees as 13th on their list. But I'm still not convinced. I should point out that our league is not a PPR league, but all touchdowns are worth 6 points, even passing touchdowns. Other than that the rules are pretty standard. So leave a comment or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook and let me know what you think, who should be my keeper this year?
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports and Like the blog on Facebook- A Bloop and a Blast
Let me start by saying this, my name is David and I love and am addicted to fantasy football. I first played fantasy football back in the 02/03 season and I've only not had a team once since then. Recently I've been pretty successful with my teams. I've won a league 4 years in a row, and 2 years ago I not only won my league but I also won the Survival league I was in. Again, I'm not trying to brag. I do a lot of research before the draft and during the season. Free agents and trades are where seasons are won and lost. Yes the draft is important, but it's incredibly rare for the team you draft to be your team at even the halfway point of the season. See, I told you I was addicted.
So last year I ended up with a pretty good team. By pretty good, I mean it was rather ridiculous. A quick rundown. QBs-Brees, Vick, and Romo. RBs-Lynch, Spiller, Foster, Murray. WRs-Cruz, Welker, Colston, Wallace. TEs-Graham, Gonzalez. D/ST-Ravens, Bengals. K-Bailey. I had Janikowski at one point but used him in a trade, which was him and 2 other players that I don't recall for Brees. As you can see, my team had very few, if any holes. I had a great draft, even being in the last slot, and I picked up some good free agents and that trade I mentioned.
Here's my problem. This is a keeper league. I don't normally play in keeper leagues. I can only choose one player to keep on my roster. I'm torn between Brees, Foster, and Graham. I can pretty easily talk myself out of Graham, but he's worth mentioning. He was the number 2 TE last year and I'm a big believer in having a worthwhile TE, they'll win you games. I'm worried that Brees, and his MASSIVE contract, are going to have an off year. The Saints have so much drama around them, I just don't know if I trust the guy and their interim coach. With Foster, there have been reports that he has become of vegan. Now, nothing against anyone who chooses to be a vegan, but it doesn't seem like the greatest idea for a football player let alone a running back. I know it sounds dumb, but he's already been injured a few times, and this makes me think he could miss some significant time this year
So what would you do? I've already looked over all the rankings from different sites, and ESPN actually has Foster as the number 1 overall keeper and Brees as 13th on their list. But I'm still not convinced. I should point out that our league is not a PPR league, but all touchdowns are worth 6 points, even passing touchdowns. Other than that the rules are pretty standard. So leave a comment or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook and let me know what you think, who should be my keeper this year?
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports and Like the blog on Facebook- A Bloop and a Blast
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