SoxFanForever

Ok, well the save is blown. How about bringing someone in to clean up the mess before the game is out of hand?

He almost drilled that fan in the front row.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jul 21, 2009 -> 01:35 AM) This is utter crap having Henderson face Franklin. What more does Henderson need to do to get a rematch with Silva. For whatever reason Dana wants to shove Franklin down our throats and we all know how a Franklin/Silva 3 would turn out. Franklin loses to Hendo, goes the limit against a past his prime Wandy and gets a rematch against Hendo? Makes zero sense and I wont have any problem streaming this event online. If this is the main event then I might just watch football that night instead. Yeah, that is pretty weak. Hendo definitely deserves a rematch. I guess we will have to see him go through Rich before that happens though. If Franklin somehow wins what is next for him? A fight against another 205er or a rematch with Silva where he gets murdered again?

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jul 15, 2009 -> 11:39 AM) I agree with most of this, but a few things: I made the poor man's Rich Franklin comparison a lot more because of style than fighting ability. Bisping was KOing people before he got into the UFC and was at that point a guy with 1-punch KO power. If you watch his Cage Rage fights he was laying people out. Bisping then, over time, cut to 185 and changed his style from loading up and going for KO's to more of a point fighter. The change in style plus the much lighter frame (is there another 185'er in the UFC who looks as anorexic as Bisping? Bisping looks like Swick does at 170) is the reason for his loss of KO power IMO. Even as an anorexic, he still has power when he plants his feet and loads up like vs. Jason Day. The problem with Bisping's new style is that it will never work the way he tried to use it against Hendo. He needs to settle down, relax, pay attention to his gameplan - like don't circle into Hendo's power, improve his footwork, and then pick his spots to load up. Against Hendo it didn't look like Bisping was going for a KO anyway. Those punches didn't hurt because he wasn't picking spots to plant and deliver hard shots. He was just trying to keep moving around and out-score Hendo with the judges. That's a fine strategy on the surface but it's not going to work when you're so busy trying to get out of the way that you end up throwing weak shots that don't hurt your opponent but *do* leave you wide open for a counter. I mean, if you're going to be basically slapping your opponent with fists while trying to move, and your opponent is standing there taking all your slaps no problem, and he's got his feet planted just looking to counter, then it's not going to be long before you're wide open, off balance, and eating a heavy shot that you have no ability to block. Bisping is going to have to find a happy medium between the style he used against Leben and the style he had when he first got into MMA. What I think happened to Bisping is that he just kind of freaked out and went on instinct vs. brains. The pressure got to him. For as much trash as US fans talk, the guy has had Zuffa's expansion into Europe basically riding on his shoulders since he came in. Then they gave him the TUF show, and afterwards MMA fans in the UK were expecting him to beat Hendo to show the viability of the sport in the UK. IMO, no fighter in that company has had more pressure on him his whole career than Bisping. Some people fold under that pressure, and Bisping is one of those guys. You didn't just see it against Hendo, you also saw it against Hamill and Sinosic. I think Bisping might kind of act the way he does as a way of dealing with that pressure. IMO that KO loss to Hendo can really be great for his career if he takes the right approach. All the pressure is off him now; he's just another MW in the UFC. I think if he allows himself to be humble he'll be able to fix enough holes in his game to be a real threat to a lot of guys in his division. It wouldn't hurt him to put on some more muscle though. I definitely agree with what you said there. I'm not sure where he lost his KO power. However, he hasn't shown it as much in the UFC. Also, the Franklin comparison makes sense in that light. Hopefully now Bisping will focus less on yapping and more on training and being prepared to fight. I have a feeling that Sexyama is going to have similar pressure with the UFC trying to move into Asia.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 15, 2009 -> 01:50 PM) Not tomorrow, I got bible study. Yeah, I'm dropping off BearSox in my giant SUV then going to pick up my ugly white girlfriend.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 11:27 PM) I would disagree about Bisping beating cans. I wouldn't call Leben, Red Schafer, Matt Hamill, etc. cans. Hendo is by far the toughest competition he's ever fought, and Hendo is the first top-level MW he's ever fought, but I don't think he lost that fight as much because he can't hang with higher-ranked fighters, I think he lost that fight because he approached it the same way he'd approach fighting Elvis Sinosic again or something. I think his ceiling is basically a poor man's Rich Franklin, which is a style Hendo is vulnerable to, and he'll reach that ceiling as long as he stops coming into fights with ridiculously bad gameplans. He seemed waaay overconfident pre-fight, and then rushed, uncoordinated, and totally mentally lost during the fight. And BTW I know Hendo is awesome, and I'm not trying to say he isn't, or that he isn't a better fighter than Bisping. Hendo is a much better fighter and Bisping will never have the type of career Hendo has had. I also feel that Hendo has a much better style for MMA. And I like Hendo too and was happy to see him KTFO Bisping. I just think people are underrating Bisping, and I think eventually Bisping - as long as he becomes humble enough to listen to his trainers - will beat more names that people have heard of and prove himself as one of those 2nd-tier guys. The Franklin comparison is kind of funny to me. Rich has legitimate knock out power against proven opponents and was pretty much a one man wrecking crew at 185 until Silva came along. Franklin also went 3 rounds with Henderson and did survived. Bisping pretty much has big pillows for punches. Henderson had absolutely no respect whatsoever for Bisping's punching power. Between rounds of their fight you could even hear him say to his corner man "he hits like a p**sy". Bisping has been fed cans the majority of his fights. This was the first time he faced a legit MW contender and you could tell he knew he was in trouble when he felt Hendo's power and wrestling strength. I don't really see Bisping beating someone like Hendo, Franklin, Silva or the other cream of the crop at 185. That's exactly what a gatekeper is. Someone who can beat the cans and lower level fighers but isn't good enough to get past the top flight competition. Now, he may prove me wrong in the future. However, if he goes into fights the way he did against Henderson and not listening to his corner, using no strategy and getting pushed around....he will be in trouble in a lot fights in the future. Also, the Kit Cope stuff cracks me up. the guy is such a weasel. I loved the comment about asking a janitor for his opinion over Cope. The janitor probably has better ground game too.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 05:39 PM) I think the Hawks should really reign in McD... he has way too much say in player personal and for a guy who admitted when he got the job he knew nothing about Hockey.. that's a bit scary to think he is making some of these choices... How do we know for sure he is making all of these choices? I don't think anyone posting online or on message boards really has any clue as to the inner workings of the Hawks.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 10:41 PM) What's funny is that Kit Cope is a horrifically bad mixed martial artist. Kenny Florian made him look f***ing stupid. He had some show on Spike that I saw once where they were jumping on chairs trying to hurt themselves for some reason, basically a Jackass rip-off. There's his 15 minutes, some dumbass show on cable and getting embarrassed by Kenny Florian. Now he wants another 15 because hot girls are stupidly attracted to muscley dickwads. Good for him. Personally I don't care much for Gina Carano. Yes she's very hot, but you can see women just as hot or hotter pretty much anywhere. A couple girls at the bank I go to are hotter. It's only because she's a fighter that she gets so much attention, and actually, I kind of wish she and those like her would just go away so I don't have to get force-fed women's MMA, which to me is just as bad as women's basketball or women's book club or really anything that could at some point end up on the Ellen Degeneres show. What's especially funny is how their careers diverged after that fight. Kenny became a top lightweight and Cope had 2 more fights, one of which he got wrecked by Rod McCullough.

Nice 1-2-3 inning for Mark.

NL playing more like the Bad News Bears than the all stars right now.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 07:33 PM) Ames is 30 miles north of Des Moines I think you mean Lames

Stop....... Billy Time!!

Maybe we traded Kane and Toews for the rights to Dominik Hasek!

GSP pulled a groin muscle in the third round. I don't blame the guy at all for doing the takedown and pound technique. He wasn't as mobile after the injury and did the right thing.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 12:15 PM) Completely agreed. I love hating him right now. I can't wait for someone to knock him out...if that is possible. Anyone can be beaten or knocked out. Brock's chin really hasn't been tested yet by a legitimate heavy hitter. I'm not really sure who they will throw at him next in the HW division but I'm looking forward to someone dropping him.

QUOTE (flippedoutpunk @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 12:21 AM) fight of the night had to be henderson vs. bisping for me. wont say who won but wow Definitely agree. I'll just say.....the end really put a smile on my face. Brutal

Nobody cared for the Neal Cotts start at Yankee Stadium?

QUOTE (That funky motion @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 02:48 PM) Correct, but if the recall the player from the AHL and a team grabs him, the Hawks pay for half. Like the Avery from Dallas to the Rangers. You don't to send players down to get rid of a contract because other player won't want to sign with you. Also a lot of players have no movement clauses so you can't send them down. It would be Brent Sopel, a third (mayyyybe second) pairing defenseman. It isn't like we are sending Campbell down to the AHL to bury him. I doubt any FA's would even blink when considering coming here if Sopel was sent to the minors.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 10:51 AM) I think for salary cap purposes anyone on a one way contract counts towards the cap no matter what. No, they don't. If necessary, they can bury a contract in the AHL and it won't count towards the cap. They will have to pay the salary but not count it towards the cap.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 04:09 PM) Unloading Sopel is just the FIRST salvo of many things that it will take to keep this franchise sustainable past next year. Counting Sopel's 2 million, we have roughly 16 million to spend next year on AT LEAST 7 players (and 3 are Keith, Toews, and Kane). This ASSUMEs the salary cap isn't going to be reduced (a long rumor). 16 million to sign 'the big 3' and at least 4 role players (players UFA or RFA next year include Ladd, Eager, Burish, Madden, Hjmarlson, Hendry). Much as I love Ladd and Eager, they may be replaced by cheaper players from the farm (Jacob Dowell and Akim Aliu for example). We have nothing on the farm at Defense that is ready behind Hammer and Hendry. Lalonde and Denis-Pepin are not ready yet. So you figure we have to resign Hammer and Hendry. Depending on if he plays in Chicago this year, Hendry could be had for cheap...Hammer's performance dictates his salary...he doesn't promise to be a big scorer from the blueline so initially we could likely get value for him and it's possible we could sign both Hendry and Hammer for somewhere around 2 mill combined. That's a best case situation. That leaves 14 million for the big 3 and the remaining two forwards. I argue 14 million won't even sniff at retaining Kane, Toews and Keith...2 at the best. Then you have to figure replacing the other two forwars will cost something. Basically the math does not add up...Tallon has much work to do...Campbell isn't tradeable, no one wants that boondoggle salary, Huet is a bit more tradeable, but how much so? No, we're stuck with them both so the next logical step is to move popular, skilled players who are pricey, but not priced so assininely...Patrick Sharp for example...Dustin Byfuglien for example. I don't want to be unloading these guys, but that is exactly what it's going to come to...either one (or more) of them go or one of the big 3 will get a RFA offer sheet and be gone. A few things... First, how much do you expect it to cost to re-sign Toews, Keith and Kane? If you don't think $14M is even close to what they will command, what is? I'm personally guessing that between the three of them they will command around $18M max. Toews will be re-signed no matter what. If someone offer sheets Kane and wants to give him big money he can take it. However, remember that an offer sheet signing hinges on the player signing it as well. If this offseason is any indication, the players here like whats going on and might take below market value to stay with the club. Also, I would prefer keeping Toews and Keith no matter what. Kane, I'm definitely more flexible on. He is a dynamic scorer, however I feel he is one dimensional and the cap relief + draft picks would definitely ease the loss of him. Also, anybody is tradeable in the NHL, including Brian Campbell. You say his contract is a boondoggle and he won't be traded. However the same thing was said about Brad Richards and his insane contract with Tampa....Scott Gomez, he will never get traded with his huge contract from the Rangers...but he was. The Hawks can always sweeten up a deal with draft picks or prospects/other players if they really need to move BC.

What are the cahnces we get the game in tonight? I'm planning to head down there with some co-workers tonight.

Wow, Milwood got lit up.

Mir by sub in round 2 GSP via round 1 KO Hendo by KO round 2 Fitch over Thiago Belcher via TKO Bonnar in a late round stoppage over Coleman. Just don't think Coleman has it anymore. Looked like a shell of his former self vs Shogun Miller over Danzig as well Jones should probably run away with his fight Rest I don't really care enough about

Saw Deception last night on HBO. What a weird movie. Ending was somewhat disappointing.

QUOTE (dbaho @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 05:35 AM) Here's mine back in 2003; http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8708 Back when you had that terrible Duffman avatar and posted in every thread!