the pinjockey

I assume that is you on the WO feedback page RRR? If so, kudos. With Karo kicking ass and Serra being impressive what does that give us at 170 now? Hughes, St. Pierre, Trigg, Karo, Serra, Sanchez, Diaz, Charuto (if they bring him back), Penn (If they bring him back)? That is pretty kick ass.

Arlovski was over pretty good. I would put him behind Griffin and Quarry, but he was still over like Grover (based on noise per person Diaz may have been ahead of him too, but with the place only half full at the time it would be hard to judge).

Well, the last wrestling event I went to was RR04 which was boring until the RR match. So the crowd was much more excited here. I think the crowds are into it more here because they know anything can happen. At wrestling events you pretty much know if a finish is coming soon or not so people tend to tune out (at least events I've been too). I also like the crowds more because it is older guys (so you get the 1 in 10 drunken idiot) instead of younger kids holding up their "Y2Jerk" signs trying to get on TV (can you tell I don't like kids much). They don't try to be a part of the show (chants, signs, get me on the titan tron) as much as you just react at this due to what you see in the cage. In general there is just more anticipation and excitement in the air here, because it is like a sporting event as opposed to the theater like wrestling is. It is a little similar to a wrestling crowd in that there are fan favorites, but all you have to do is perform to win over the crowd (see Loiseau) so it isn't like the crowd has favorites and if they get beat it makes them hate the other person even more like a heel.

Forgot to add. The smirk that Arlovski gave at the end of the hype package was freaking awesome. You just knew he was thinking how long he wanted to drag Eilers along before putting him down.

You definitely get caught up in it more, as the close calls that you can tell on TV missed look damaging live. It adds a lot to it creating a lot of ooh and ahh moments when on TV you know nothing is there. It creates false drama, but it makes the fights that much more fun so I'll take it. The rounds also seem to go much quicker. Watching on TV, sometimes 5 minute rounds feel like an eternity but during the Franklin and Karo fights whenever I peeked and saw the time there was never more than 2 minutes left in a round which was surprising. It is very very loud. They blare rock and hard rap music the whole time there isn't a fight going on. Splitting headache by the Karo/Serra fight. I probably had to watch the big screens about 20% of the time (whenever they got behind the camera or referee, when they would be on the ground I would sneak peeks to see what the positions were like, and to see damage like Tanner's face). You don't have to watch the screens enough to really take away from the experience though. Again, I think I got lucky here with the lack of dead air, since usually I think they only have the four fights on the main show with the swing bout happening before the PPV. The seats I had were the first row in the upper deck which kicked some serious ass. It is high enough that you see over the corner pads and only get blocked when the cameraman gets in the way. It is also interesting watching Goldy and Rogan in between segments as they seem to scramble around a lot and the director is going insane about half the time. Also, it was funny to see the direct correlation between how good your seat is and how late you arrive. People with upper deck seats, a majority were there in time for the first fight (Diaz/Oishi). The closer to the cage you get the fewer and fewer people you see. Another note: Ring card girls are fucking HAWT~! I think Chuck is tapping the one based on their greeting. She was much more excited with him than anyone else. Also nice piece of ace photographer right in view bending over the whole time (I know I am a perv, sue me).

Holy Fuck that was awesome! I suggest if a UFC remotely gets to your area go to it. Pre-show gambling note: If you ever go to the Tropicana and get a blackjack dealer named Francisco, run for your fucking life. Everytime I doubled down on an 11 son of a bitch flipped an ace on me. Diaz/Oishi: First surprise happened early as Diaz is over like fucking gangbusters in NJ. And it wasn't just because he was fighting a foreigner, as they gave two shits about McCarthy and he was fighting an evil Canadian. Even some 9 year old kid behind me was going apeshit for him (you think maybe he can get back on the main card now?) With his reach, Diaz just teed off on Oishi. Loiseau/McCarthy: Loiseau was immediately a heel being Canadian and all. The crowd was begging for McCarthy to sink the choke, but Loiseau escaped he won over the crowd. Of course if that wasn't enough, a spinning back kick/flying knee combo will win over the stragglers. Quarry/Carter: Carter never stood a chance with the crowd going against Quarry. Of course a small contigent liked him because he looked stoned out of his mind. Carter flashing the ring side photographers was worth a laugh. Excellent job by Quarry, nothing much to say about it. Won via ass kicking. Buentello/Jordan: Christ, Jordan's music was irritating. Good back and forth. The one shot from Buentello echoed throughout the whole building. Lackluster finish. Seriously, submitting from a one armed guillotine when the arm choking you is 1/3 fat?!? Griffin/Heidenreich: Griffin is at least the third biggest star in the UFC now (possibly ahead of Couture with the right crowd). Kind of was hoping to see a slugfest here, but I wanted to see him win so I'll take it. Franklin/Tanner: Tanner got F'd in the A by Ace. Kind of surprised that Ace was the overwhelming favorite. Tanner's got a good story and all, but I guess a lot of people just find him kind of blah. Bunch of assholes in the crowd apparently spoiled by 5 straight quickies boo at the first site of slow pacing. Save for the one shot Tanner just got completely outclassed. Hell, Tanner was bleeding from about 6 different places on his face afterward. Karo/Serra: Forrest wins by submission and this turns into the slugfest. Ahem.....WTF?!? Serra was the crowd favorite being from NY, but Karo won people over just by kicking so much ass (the bitchslaps were a real favorite). If he has real GnP ability (didn't really show the ability to finish with it here) he could be a real force. As is he is only awesome as opposed to godlike. Arlovski/Eilers: Eilers appeared to be getting finished as the injury occured anyway, so I don't look too much into that. Arlovski seemed to be able to tee off at will. Hopefully Mir gets finished with rehab so there can be a real HW title fight before Buentello gets his shot. Celebs: Saw Chuck Zito leaving a restroom, but I like my spine where it is so I said nothing. Kenny Florian was walking around, but no one really seemed to care. Foley got the biggest non-fighter reaction, second to Lidell among people not on this card. Not much dead time as 5 fights were put on the main time slot and with one fight going 3 and another going 4, it sucked up a lot of the time.

I don't understand the disappointment in this card. People are complaining about the lack of stars? Guess what, the UFC has almost no stars. At this point in time Forrest Griffin is likely the 3rd biggest name in the promotion behind Couture/Lidell (who obviously won't be on this card). I am pumped, as it will be my first trip to a show. I eagerly await three hours of strip joint music blaring between the fights. Picks: Arlovski - Whenever, whatever he wants (let's go 1st round submission) Tanner - TKO 3rd (I am weary of picking Franklin with having to drop down the weight class) Buentello - KO, 1st Griffin - TKO, 2nd (Know nothing about Mahood, I just want Forrest to win) Diaz - Sub, 1st Parysian - Decision No idea aboud the Carter/Quarry and McCarthy/Loiseau fights so I won't force a guess.

Yes and Caroline Dhavernas and Jewel Staite catfighting is sooooo money. The spoiler is just in case anyone wasn't aware of who shows up later in the season (seriously doubtful looking at who asked the question, but just in case) . Edit: Shit, I tried to use a spoiler tag, but can't get it to work

Question: Has anyone seen a single commercial for this weekend's UFC event? I am trying to think and I can't recall seeing a single ad other than the couple previews they ran on UFC 52.

I am wondering if someone goes insane looking for a big and throws a big contract to Dalembert. We have seen a precedent set with Blount and Foyle last year that teams panic. With the market for big men and the terrific performance he had in the playoffs (I believe he was pulling down 12-13 boards a game) it would surprise, but not shock me to see someone throw 50-60 million at him.

From Sportsbook.com: Nathan Quarry -220 vs. Shonie Carter +180 Um, am I missing something here. Is Quarry supposed to be some unstoppable force that I am underrating or what? Andrei Arlovski -325 vs. Justin Eilers +250 Evan Tanner +105 vs. Rich Franklin -135 Matt Serra +145 vs. Karo Parisyan -175 Nick Diaz -325 vs. Koji Oishi +250 David Loiseau -225 vs. Charles McCarthy +185 Nathan Quarry -220 vs. Shonie Carter +180 Forrest Griffin -135 vs. Bill Mahood +105 Paul Buentello -450 vs. Kevin Jordan +300 This seems like one of those cards where you throw a hundred on each of the dogs against Arlovski, Diaz, and Buentello as there is a decent chance you will get at least one upset out of the three to break even and can really strike big if two upsets happen.

As I recall there were a couple good matches (Overeem/Igor, Takayama/Schilt), Goes/Steibling was solid. I haven't watched it for a while though. If it is 10 bucks like I picked it up for go ahead, if not I would probably not worry about picking it up. FYI, apparently Best Buy is going to be carrying the newer Pride DVDs as they have Total Elimination 2004 and Championship Chaos 2 on their website as in stock and have three more releases on July 12th. I am going to be hitting the store Friday, I'll see if they are in stores or just online.

Christ, I didn't even get Konerko into my Monday lineup and there was already an offer for him. And thank god I finally have a shortstop.

I need to point out here how awesome Steve Lyons was today during the Phils/Braves game. He is the first announcer I can ever recall hearing talk about how men left on base was an overrated stat (Phils are no.1 in the league IIRC) and how he would take it anyday of the week since it means you are getting men on base.

We could always go back to an assassination attempt storyline, which if it is still Logan will be the first time the audience will root for the villian. That could be interesting taking it from the angle of rooting for the bad guy and see CTU fail. This lets him go after a specific target and anyone who gets in his way (opening him up to go after any Secret Service/etc.), plus he can always bluff with mass threats (think Die Hard with a Vengeance) which brings CTU into it. I also want to see this just because a Jack/Mandy team would kick so much ass.

Would anyone else be interested in seeing Jack turn into Saunders. I could buy it as Jack would be the most sympathetic villian yet as we have seen four seasons of build up and understand why he would turn. And he would obviously be the biggest challenge yet for CTU, since no one knows them like him. Plus this way he could still carry the show while transitioning over to another hero figure, instead of making some implausible reason for his return and/or just dropping the show off into Curtis/Chase/whoever's lap.

I am going with Michael. His relationship issues with Walt have been resolved and I think his death starts a character arc for Walt next season with his special abilities going nuts with Michael dying sending him out of control.

Maybe we find Logan in a ditch (via a swoop and squat) after Palmer sold him out to the Chinese, "Hey, he was the President on that watch and he ordered the kidnapping." After that the Chinese don't give a shit so Bauer gets clean slate and he can wage war with Mandy all season (just because I want her on screen as much as possible).

Next year has to be the season Tony takes over with Jack filling a role similar to Tony's role this season. As much as I love Jack, I can't buy him carrying the whole season without thinking "shouldn't someone realize, 'Wait, isn't he dead'". Either that or next season is 24 Mexican style with Jack as a federale.

I disagree. I felt this season was much more believable in the sense that there was one main bad guy the whole time. In the previous seasons it starts with a small problem and within 24 hours three different layers of the evil hierarchy have been brought down. Here you have a terrorist cell with a multilayered plan which is what you would expect, distraction and diversion, before getting to the main point.

Did you hear Ed Wade during the game al? The worst part is, he was saying they were actively pursuing Chavez last year. So this isn't just some crappy deal, they think enough of him that they've been trying to get him for a year.

Whoohoo, Phillies trade Marlon Byrd to the Nats for Endy Chavez. Nothing like getting a .311 OBP back in a deal for someone with at least a little potential. I can see it now though, with the 32 steals last year they will stick him at the top of the lineup to be the speed they lost when Lofton got hurt.

Ed Wade needs to put a gag on his players From Jimmy Rollins: From Kenny Lofton: From Brett Myers: Guys, people aren't big fans of the team now as it is. If you want to talk about patience then you better yell at Wade about it. For three years now the fans have been sold the idea that "Well, if everyone plays to their potential then we will succeed". I certainly won't say the Philly fans are the most easy going crowd, but preaching patience to a fan base that has been told they have a winner for three years (with no playoff appearances to show for it), a fan base of the losingest franchise of the previous century, and a city that has not seen a title in a 1/4 century you are setting yourself up to be crucified. Another problem is that people have complained that this is not a very likeable bunch, thank you Brett for irritating those people further. You pitched like shit last year and turned it around, congrats. But you certainly were not due a free pass last year so suck it up. This summer might get really ugly if they don't turn it around in a hurry (read: win about 8 of the next 10).

Giambi: .198/.381/.321/.702 (18BBs, 31Ks) Williams: .245/.311/.309/.621 (11BBs, 15Ks) Looking at those numbers, it appears that Williams gets credit for not striking out despite the fact he makes many more outs than Giambi. Williams numbers make him a black hole, at least Giambi can still get on base while hitting under the mendoza line.

Note for the new fans who may not typically follow future cards or venture into the MMA threads Forrest Griffin, as well as Nate Quarry will debut at UFC 53 on 6/4.