Styles

What I mean is, if Hamas attacked us, they would become an enemy in the War on Terror, so would we send troops into Israel? Give them the ok to bomb the West Bank/Gaza? It's all just hypothetical of course...or is it?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,129919,00.html One Russian Jet Crashes; Another Breaks Apart in Air Wednesday, August 25, 2004 BUCHALKI, Russia — A Russian airliner crashed and another apparently broke up in the air almost simultaneously after they took off from the same Moscow airport Tuesday night, officials said, raising fears of terrorism and leaving little hope that any of at least 89 people on board could have survived. Authorities said rescuers found wreckage from a Tu-154 jet (search), which was carrying at least 46 people, about nine hours after it issued a distress signal indicating an attack and disappeared from radar screens over the Rostov region (search) some 600 miles south of Moscow. At about the same time that plane disappeared, a Tu-134 airliner carrying 43 people crashed in the Tula region (search), about 125 miles south of Moscow, officials said. The Emergency Situations Ministry later said that everybody on board the Tu-134 was killed. The planes had left Moscow's Domodedovo airport (search) within 40 minutes of each other Tuesday night and disappeared from radar screens about 11:00 p.m, officials said. President Vladimir Putin (search) ordered an investigation by the nation's main intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, and security was tightened at airports across the country. Authorities have expressed concern that separatists in war-ravaged Chechnya could carry out attacks linked to this Sunday's election to replace the region's pro-Moscow president, who was killed by a bombing in May. Rebels have been blamed for a series of terror strikes that have claimed hundreds of lives in Russia in recent years. Witnesses reported seeing an explosion before the first plane crashed about 125 miles south of Moscow, and suspicions of terrorist involvement were compounded by the reports that the Tu-154 airliner that went missing in southern Russia's Rostov region issued a signal indicating the plane was being seized. Citing an unidentified source in Russia's government, Interfax said the signal came at 11:04 p.m., shortly before the plane disappeared from radar. Emergency and Interior Ministry sources in southern Russia, speaking on condition of anonymity, also told The Associated Press a distress signal had been activated. The Interfax news agency said emergency workers spotted a fire in the Rostov region, some 600 miles south of Moscow, where the Tu-154 went missing. But rainy weather hampered the search efforts and it took hours before any wreckage was found. The regional Emergency Situations Ministry chief Viktor Shkareda told AP the plane apparently broke up in the air and that wreckage was spread over an area of some 25-30 miles. Body parts have also been found along with fragments of the plane, Interfax quoted federal Emergency Situations Ministry as saying. It said the parts were found near Gluboky, a village north of the regional capital Rostov-on-Don. Shkareda said there were 52 people aboard the plane, while emergency officials in Moscow put the number of passengers and crew at 46. In the Tula region, rescuers found fragments of the Tu-134 jet's tail near the village of Buchalki. Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Marina Ryklina said later there were no survivors. At about the same time that the Tu-134 crashed, the Tu-154 lost contact with flight controllers, Ryklina said. Interfax, citing Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee, said there were 44 passengers and an unknown number of crew abroad. The Tu-154 took off from Moscow's Domodedovo airport at 9:35 p.m. Tuesday and the other plane left 40 minutes later, state-run Rossiya television reported. The Tu-154 belonged to the Russian airline Sibir, which said that the plane had been in service since 1982. Quoting an unnamed air traffic official in Moscow, ITAR-Tass said that authorities were not ruling out terrorism. Interfax quoted an unnamed Russian aviation security expert as saying the fact that the two planes disappeared around the same time raised suspicions of terrorism. ITAR-Tass reported that the authorities believe the Tu-134 fell from an altitude of 32,800 feet. It said the plane belonged to small regional airline Volga-Aviaexpress and was being piloted by the company's director, and quoted dispatchers as saying there were 34 passengers and seven crew aboard. Ryklina put the numbers at 35 and eight — a total of 43. Interfax quoted a Domodedovo airport spokesman as saying there were no foreigners on the passenger lists for either plane. Authorities said the Tu-134 was headed to the southern city of Volgograd, where Volga-Aviaexpress is based, while the plane that crashed in the Rostov region was flying to the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, where Putin is vacationing. When Russia's U.N. Ambassador Andrey Denisov was told of the initial report of two near-simultaneous crashes, he said, "Now we have to see if there's terrorism." In Washington, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity Tuesday evening, said it was the understanding of American officials that the two Russian planes disappeared within four minutes of each other, which "in and of itself is suspicious."

Orioles: Curt Schilling Mike Mussina Kevin Brown David Wells Jaimie Moyer Armando Benitez Steve Finley Wizards: No...I can't....ha ha ha....no, really....

University of Delaware has produced a true all star team of... Cliff Brumbaugh Lee Elia Keith Garagozzo Dallas Green Mike Koplove Brian Lesher Kevin Mench Al Neiger Vic Willis Koplove and Mench is pretty cool though...

In rate stats maybe, but Tejada has played in 22 more games than Mora. That's a significant difference. That can go the other way, as Mora's home runs and doubles (and probably runs scored) are all comprable to a guy who played 22 more games than him. I see Mora 6, Tejada 7 in the final vote. If Ramirez, Ortiz, Guerrero and Sheffield make up the top 4, and Mora and Tejada are 6 and 7, who is #5?

Newhan is a playa'. Hell we could have had 3 O's fringe MVP candidates if he had played a full season with us! G: 60 AB: 238 AVG: .353 OBP: .402 SLG: .508 OPS: .910 HR: 6 (1 inside the parker!) RBI: 39 H: 84 R: 37 I'm sure some stat geek could sim that out to a full season!

Tejada is seriously too good for us. We need pitching, that's the problem. I'd put our offense up against anybody's, but without any dependable starters, it means nothing. Hopefully this offseason that will be addressed. Anyway I agree, they have no shot, but if Mora didn't get hurt, he'd likely bump his totals up more to top 5 levels and would be seriously hard to ignore. Then again they snubbed him on the all star team, so what do I know...

Manny probably wins it, since his stats are overall most impreesive. I can't bring myself to give it to Vlad since he snubbed the O's. Actually, before the O's started sucking terribly the last 2 weeks, I would say Miguel Tejada and Melvin Mora had a really good shot. Hell, their stats are still impressive enough (obsviously these ranks can and will change, but admittingly they're probably ranked 4th and 5th on the depth chart, but I still think their numbers deserve consideration): Tejada AVG: .314 (10th) HR: 24 (11th) RBI: 113 (1ST) Hits: 156 (3rd) 2B: 35 (5th) I think Mora has an even better case (keep in mind he missed almost a month with injury), check this out: Runs: 88 (5th) AVG: .348 (2nd) OBP: .431 (1ST) SLG: .594 (3rd) OPS: 1.026 (1ST) 2B: 32 (8th) HR: 22 (17th) RBI: 78 (17th)

Vince probably has it in his will to make his funeral a $34.95 PPV event, that will be hyped for at least 4 weeks on RAW, and released no more than a month after on a special 3 disk DVD set featuring Vince's favorite moments with his own pre recorded "beyond the grave" commentary.... ...I'd buy it.

Isn't that the exact same explanation given for the Trish/Christian swerve?

Thanks for the update, updated the thread...

I'm going to be the first to bust through Trish's hymen...

But...but...but...I thought we were all idiots...all of us!

Damn, that's would be a damn good card to get people to order it on one day's build...I know I would.

Since there hadn't really been a thread on it for fear of spoilers, I'll start one... One thought: FUCK. Reminicent of that empty feeling when Randy/Vitor had a similar fluke ending, but worse since there wasn't even a winner. I never would have thought the UFC show I was moments away from not ordering would blow away what looked to be a surefire Pride show. Nothing really stood out tonight. The first match between Bustamante and Nakamura I found somewhat boring. Probably too cerebral. Nogeira/Khaotonov (I know Im spelling names wrong) was pretty good, but it would have been nice to see another round. Fedor/Ogawa was about what was expected with Fedor finishing him off in short order. Cro Crop's knockout of Alex was the shot of the night. Simply awesome. Dangerous man still is Cro Crop. Randleman vs. Waterman was a good power match up, but I would have loved to seen a knockout rather than a submission in this one. Silva/Kondo is fight of the night as both came out swinging. Silva's knockout shot and hard stomps were brutal. Another dangerous man (I still think Couture would ground him). Fedor/Nog was looking good and just as I was getting into it, shit happens. That gash was gastly though. Very Eastman like. Why didn't they just superglue it as suggested? Fedor looked like he could have continued. Oh well, everyone comes away pissed. Bring on the rematch I guess. Still some good fights but overall a big disappointment, especially compared to a blowaway UFC show...

-I don't know, I enjoyed most of the matches but nothing really made me feel into the show. Like UFC last night, I was literally jumping out of my chair and cheering several times. This show was more of a slowburn that lacked a satisfying ending. -I agree on the wrong choice for an opener. The Japanese fans might like it but especially after having to sit through 20 minutes of the same preshow package and people playing drums (I don't care what anyone says about UFC's stalling, at least they talk about the fights, profile the fighters, make odds, etc. not trying to do a broadway production), but anyway after all that stalling, I wanted action, and instead we got what I'm sure was a very cerebral ground war, but it wasn't exactly a "hot opener" to get me into things. -I too liked Nog/Khar but I would habe liked to have seen another round and an ending. As such, it felt like a fight cut short before it was ready. -You might be right about the no contest ending building the feud well, but this isn't pro wrestling where we have matches every week to build up to rematches. This would be akin to a WWF title match ending in a DQ, it just feels like you were ripped off as a customer for paying 30 bucks to see it (now obviously, this is different since no one is in control of such things), but I really don't see how anyone can feel satisfied that the big main event was a no contest, and there will likely be a 6 month wait on a rematch. But, yeah, if I was booking a feud it would be a logical step, but no one got thrown through a limo, ya know? And, why are we the only 2 discussing the show? I thought this one was highly anticipated. Is it that everyone already read the spoilers and didn't order it, or is everyone too busy crying over the ending to post?

Thank you sir, you won't be let down by this decision and I hope to move up the ranks with my continued dedication to having little to no regard for the poor, minorites, the elderly or the French. And to KKK: Come on man, be a UNITER not a DIVIDER.

Here's reader reactions from wrestlingobserver.com on the show (I think I recognize our very own John "RRR" MacKinnon UFC PPV feedback best fight: Chuck Liddell vs. Vernon White. White just would not quit. Really could have gone either way as Liddell just always seems beatable. worst fight: Vitor Belfort vs. Randy Couture. It just didn't live up to the hype. Couture fought his fight which can be boring but then again it works. I think Silva vs. Couture is going to be a war. smackdown of the night: Yves Edwards with the Fighter Hayabusa back brain kick outta nowhere. lastly some great chain wrestling in Karo Parisyan vs. Nick Diaz. If they weren't prelims it could have been a contender for match of the night. Andrew Scherbarth BIG thumbs up for the show tonight. I was drained after the Liddell/White fight, from all the KO's and crazy action. Physically drained. That's satisfaction. Overall, a top 10 UFC show (that phrase is becoming more and more common since UFC 40 - great work by Joe Silva and Zuffa -along with the fighters- for making such exciting shows... even if they goof on occasion) and certainly one to watch again. Best Fight: Diaz/Parisyan. It was like watching Sakuraba in his prime, but this time it was Sakuraba/Sakuraba. Great mat work, active standing, constant action. I wanted to see the last round, but they cut out up here in Canada at 12:50 so I can see why they did it. Liddell/White was almost a surefire bet, because that was non-stop, balls out, this-is-why-I-watch-MMA action. They need to have White on more. White vs. Ortiz. Continue the Lions Den tradition Zuffa. Liddell looked like a huge star tonight. From the crowd response, to the announcers' pimping, to the way he fought. It's amazing to see that happen in MMA with a more casual audience. Worst Fight: Belfort/Couture. Couture was fighting smart, but it ultimately made for a boring fight. He is the smartest fighter in the UFC right now and is playing on a different level in terms of strategy - for fighters out there, they need to think 3 steps ahead of him, because he's thinking 2 steps ahead of them. The blood made this fight - which wasn't bad at all - and the small things like blood on the camera, or Goldie talking about blood on his notes, gave it a more epic feel than it really had. Couture having blood on his shorts and body was a particularly great image. It's amazing what credibility can do for announcers. Rogan/Goldberg have evolved into a really good team who I -at one time- didn't see as very good. But then something happened around UFC 42 when Rogan came into his own as an announcer (having to take the PBP position and stepped it up) and it blew up from there. When he and Goldberg were talking about Kyle and Eiler being friends and such, they actually got me interested in it. I didn't care about the match at all before they started talking about it, and by the time it began I was like "I can't wait!". Ditto with White/Liddell. Good job. John MacKinnon This show made up for the last snooze fest back in June. I thought Chuck was going to be exhausted from pounding on Vernon and would wind up getting knocked out. I was exhausted seeing Chuck swinging and Vernon constantly getting back up to his feet. It was a headbutt that busted Belfort open, if I was Belfort and wanted another rematch, id call for a rematch due to the severe cut from the BUTT, but I dont think Vitor wants anymore of Randy. This was a great show for the UFC and abit dissapointed they didnt show highlights of Silva so those who have no idea would know that this is huge. Best Fight: Liddell vs White Worst Fight: none, every fight was better then the last show I wish they could get a huge HBO/Showtime network deal so they could put money in graphics and presentation. Chuck Richmond- Cincinnati Ohio Dave, Awesome show. I haven't seen too many MMA shows, but this, without a doubt, has to be from top to bottom, the most exciting as far as spectacular k.o.'s. Best Match- Chuck Liddell v Vernon White Worst Match- Joe Riggs v Joe Doerksen(not that it was the worst, but if I am forced to pick one this was the least exciting of the bunch, but still a great contest). Incredible show. I wanted to see more and was bummed when it was over. From Justin Eilers lightning fast k.o. of Mike Kyle, David Terrell's brutal left hand and ground and pound sending Matt Lindland to La-La land (even more brutal watching the slo-mo on it), to Edwards enzuigiri kick on Josh Thompson, to Chuck Liddell's awesome right hand on Vernon White, Joe Riggs destroying Doerksen with that forearm shot busting him open big time. Couture and Vitor would have been best match were it not for The Iceman. I was praying for Randy when he had him down and up against the fence that Vitor wouldn't sneak away with a win (which he almost did 2 or 3 times with an armbar). Couture was the easy face and Belfort the heel as they were introduced. Nice promo for UFC 50 in October with Guy Metzger and Tito Ortiz. As good as any WWE-produced stuff. I'll be watching Pride tomorrow. I know my cable bill will be a bit more than usual, but since I'll be skipping the next 2 WWE PPV's, it will even out. Kurt Nicolai I'll give UFC 49 a thumbs up. Best match was Diaz-Parisyan (why the hell did they not show rd. 3?!?!), but Couture-Belfort and Liddell-White were amazing as well. Worst fight was Eilers-Kyle. Vernon White and Vitor Belfort both displayed amazing stamina and courage to keep fighting despite the beatings they both took. I can't believe all that blood coming from Vitor's eye, and he was in such a bad position most of the fight, but he kept working for that armbar. I'm glad they showed all the fights, I just wish they had shown the Diaz-Parisyan fight in it's entirity. Production is horrible and the promos and videos are so horrible compared to Pride, but for a UFC show, it was very good. - Chase Frye

coughgimmickpostercough

Are you still a Registered Democrat? If so, they you have hit the glass ceiling... I thought I clarified this! I was NEVER a registered Democrat. NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. I'm a registered independent. From the thread where I explained it: http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...political+party So, yeah I'll be accepting my promotion now.

Dave Meltzer's report: UFC round-by-round coverage by Dave Meltzer [email protected] Welcome to our live coverage of tonight's UFC PPV show from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. We're looking for your thoughts on the show afterwards, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]. They announced another sellout. Mike Kyle vs. Justin Eilers is the opener. The over/under on when Kyle gasses is 3:00. Eilers and Kyle were best friends in high school and college. Couture is the favorite, obviously so is Liddell in the MGM Vegas odds. Lindland and Eilers are also favorites in their matches. Kyle vs. Eilers is up now. Eilers knocked him out with a left hook within a minute. Kyle did two low blows and was penalized a point. Eilers wasn't too happy about this. Matt Lindland vs. David Terrell is next. Terrell decked him with a left to the jaw, threw a few punches on the ground and it was over in 20 seconds. Josh Thompson vs. Yves Edwards is up now. Edwards won with the greatest enzuigiri I've ever seen late in the first round. Thompson was winning the round up until the kick. Chuck Liddell vs. Vernon White is up next. Liddell knocked White out late in the first round. If you didn't order this one, get the replay because this is match of the year caliber. White took tremendous punishment, made comebacks but Liddell finally put him away with a right to the jaw. They've pushed Guy Mezger vs. Tito Ortiz for 10/22 in Atlantic City really well all night. Both can talk. Mezger promised match of the year. Joe Riggs vs. Joe Doerkson is next. A lot of wrestling. Doerkson kept going for submissions while Riggs has good hands. Riggs won the first round. Second round saw Doerkson with a low kick causing a time out while Riggs recovered. Low blow was nasty. Riggs got the top position and opened up the top of his right eye with a nasty left elbow. That was a nasty cut. Doerkson tapped out. It would have been a blood stoppage within seconds anyway. Chris Lytle vs. Ronald Juhn is next. Lytle dropped him with a punch early. Most of the round was on the ground. Lytle won the round. Lytle used a guillotine to win early in the second round by submission. Lytle was going for the guillotine most of the fight. Vitor Belfort vs. Randy Couture for the UFC light heavyweight title is up next. Randy controlled the round, took him down, worked him over. Randy's game so far. Randy accidentally head-butted Belfort and cut him onthe side of the eye at the start of the second round. Couture dominated him the entire round. Belfort did almost get an armbar. Randy's fight easily at this point. Third round was similar to the second. Couture beat him up the entire round. Belfort was bleeding badly. You have to give Belfort credit because he hasn't mentally quit, as he again was trying submissions from the bottom. Belfort didn't come out for the fourth round. It's over. Officially ref John McCarthy stopped the fight. Couture challenged Wanderlei Silva. Silva came out with the Pride belt and accepted the challenge. Both shook hands. Karo Parisyan vs. Nick Diaz is up last. First round was very good. Parisyan looks to be tired. He's better on the ground, but Diaz looked good at the end of the round. They showed the first two rounds and it was really good. They just said Parisyan won the third round and the fight. They had 9 minutes left and the round was 5, so that was lame. It was a hell of a fight, particularly the early second round grappling exchanges.

Unless I am mistaken, I believe Silva vs. Kondo is/was NON TITLE. Therefore Silva with the belt doesn't really spoil it.

RRR, thank you. Thank you very much for convincing me to give this show a shot. Money well spent and a really fun evening. Justin Eilers def. Mike Kyle, KO: Eilers looks like a beast. Glad to see Kyle lose. Ever since the bite mark incident with Wes Simms I've been negative on him, and he fights dirty here again with a couple of groin shots. What an interesting storyline dynamic with these guys growing up together and being former roomates. Sick knockout that had me jumping out of my chair. Exciting way to start things off. David Terrell def. Matt Lindland, KO: I thought this Terrell guy was supposed to be a submission expert! What the hell was that!? Super quick knockout before you could even blink. Another exciting finish, it's obvious at this point that this show won't be boring. Yves Edwards def. Josh Thompson, KO: YVES!!!! Oh my god, I think I love thug-jitsu! What an insane knockout with that spinning kick. Just awesome. These 2 were actually having a pretty competitive fight unlike the last 2 quick finishers. Definitely the knockout of the night, on a night of them. Chuck Liddell def. Vernon Tiger White, KO: This one gets my vote for most exciting match of the night. These 2 were just slugging it out, nonstop action. And White gained a lot of respect from me. He was like the terminator, taking hard knockout shots, falling in a heap and then materializing back up to his feet like nothing happened! Unbelievable! Chuck finally finished him, and it looked like White basically ran into his fist! Ouch. Close call for Chuck. Mike Goldberg was right, just call this Ultimate Knockouts 4. Chris Lytle def. Ronald Jhun, Submission: Wow, a non knockout finish! The most "technical" fight up to that point (I think Diaz/Parisian would outclass them there), and a really nice rollthrough to hang on to the Gullitine by Lytle. Jhun got in some good shots too, but overall Lytle was ahead. Joe Riggs def. Joe Doerksen, Tap Out: Probably the least interesting fight of the night, but it still wasn't a bad fight. I noticed a lot of lay and pray (did I saw that right?) from Doerksen, but that elbow shot by Riggs was sick that opened up the cut. He landed some sick shots to finish it and Doerksen had no choice but to tap. Randy Couture def. Vitor Belfort, TKO: Randy Couture is not human. He's like Fedor's UFC, lighter weight equivalent, only almost 20 years older. Just total domination by Randy as besides a couple of quick triangle tries, Vitor had nothing. Nothing fancy but Couture just complete conrolled him until he couldn't continue. Now, the cut was opened I think by an inadvertent headbutt, which I believe is illegal, but they didn't really make a big deal out of it, so I assume it's ok, but I was all ready for more controversy in this saga. Anyway, this was a BLOODBATH, reminicent in wrestling terms of Bulldog vs. Bret from IYH in Dec. 95. Couture's white trunks were completely stained with Vitor's blood, to the point that they were PINK by the time the match ended. There was blood on the mat, on the camera lenses, on Mike Goldberg's notes even. Just sick. Couture is the best in the world. Period. And that confrontation with Silva had me absolutely marking out at the end. What are the chances of the match actually happening anyway? I take it the relationship between Pride and UFC is far better than say, WWF and WCW since they allow their fighters to appear on each other's shows (I even think I saw Bas Rutten putting the belt on Randy). But if that one happens, watch out, and I truly think Couture would win in similar smothering fashion. Karo Parisyan def. Nick Diaz, split decision: This was probably the match of the night, but lacked my full attention by coming after the climax of the show. If it was on before I probably could have been more into it. I will watch it again but from what I saw, those reversals and ground submission attempts were wild! Very evenly matches and entertaining. If Karo's contact really did fall out and he won anyway, that is extremely impressive. It's too bad they couldn't show the last round to this one because of lack of time (although they did have a few minutes remaining before the top of the hour). Overall a very fun show that was non stop action and enjoyable. Bring on Pride!

I trust your opinion on MMA and notice that you tend to order the shows that will likely be good and skip the ones worth skipping...and you're not skipping this one....damnit you might have convinced me!

I demand to at least be recognized as a Lieutenant. Anyway, seriously where can I find this thing?!