Sunday, August 31, 2008

What Was McCain Thinking...

When he announced Palin as his running mate?

Friday, August 29, 2008

A Tale of Two Courses

I have been playing a lot of golf lately, mostly for my own enjoyment, but some to find a place around Omaha that I can bring my Father In Law to should he want to play when he comes next year.

I played several courses, and it has come down to two: Tiberon and Indian Creek.

Course Layout
Both courses have a 27 hole lay out, broken out in to three 9 hole courses. This allows them to take up to 180 golfers at a time all playing at a relatively good pace. If one course is too full they can switch players over to another more empty course. It is really nice, too because if you never know what rotation they will choose for you. You may start off on one course one day and another the next. You very rarely play the same game twice.
No advantage here.

Houses
Tiberon is built with houses around the holes, but the houses are set far enough back from the rough so that you are very rarely in danger of hitting a house.
Indian Creek has most of their holes being on the golf course proper, and houses bordering the course. You rarely see a house, and when you do they are in little danger of being hit... It did not stop me from drilling one though...
Advantage: Indian Creek

Course Maintenance
This is a nit picky thing... Maintenance is awesome on both courses. The grass is perfectly kept. HOWEVER:
Tiberon has lots of geese. They crap EVERYWHERE. That sucks. Tiberon also likes to keep their rough grass long, more like a PGA course. This kind of sucks because you can hit a great shot just off of the fairway and loose your ball. The long grass just looks spectacular, though.
Indian Creek's rough is kept just slightly longer than the fairway. It is actually quite easy to find your ball nearly where ever it goes, unless you put it in to the water.
Advantage: Indian Creek

Trees
Trees are the soul of a golf course in my opinion. They add challenge and character to the golf course. The issue with many "new" Omaha golf courses is that they were built in what used to be corn fields. Trees in corn fields are understandably sparse, so all trees on the golf course need to be planted. Trees take a long time to grow so, many newer Omaha courses are rather treeless.
Indian Creek has this problem. It has a lot of trees, but very few of them are mature. The course comes off as kind of bald, and like it was just plopped down in the middle of nowhere.
Tiberon has many mature trees, especially around its parameter. They gives shade and makes you hit straighter.
Advantage: Tiberon

Greens
The greens at Tiberon look like they take a roller to them every night. When I played, it looked like the members and the players there took excellent care to repair ball marks and make the course the best it can be.
The greens at Indian Creek looked pretty beat up. Several of the par 3 greens looked like the surface of the moon. Don't get me wrong they were better than any city golf course I have played, but they just looked like they could have used some work.
Advantage: Tiberon

Other
The carts and hole signs before the holes at Indian Creek are really nice. The signs are all wood, and have the yardages carved in to them. It looks really sharp. Indian Creek also uses a GPS system in their carts so that you always know exact yardage to the hole and pin placement. You can even order food and call for the beer cart to find you. Very cool.
Tiberon just has normal carts to play from, there is no GPS system or any of that. Their hole signs are cardboard inside a fiberglass sign. They look really crappy, and really look bad on a humid day, or right after it has rained.
Advantage: Indian Creek

Now to the most influential things.

Course Play
This is a very tough call, because I had a great time on both courses.
Indian Creek had some very nice long holes to play. Their par threes incorporated water and were quite challenging. The sixth hole on the grey course was especially fun. It was a 500 yard straight hole. If you it a good drive, I did, you can get 200, to 250 yards out of it. Your second shot however is the tough one. There is a "river" that cuts about 50 yards in front of the hole, and empties in to a little pond just to the left of the green. Two large trees guard the entrance to the green, just on the other side of the "river."

View Larger Map
So right now you have about 190 yards to the "river" 240 to the hole. What do you do? You know you will have to make a chip shot, so where do you want to hit from? Take out a your trusty Adams Golf 4 iron hybrid and hit 190 and make the lay up shot, or take out your temperamental Adams Golf 3 iron hybrid and try to make it from the other side of the river? Very fun. I tried to hit the lay up shot with my 4 iron, but managed to make perfect contact with the ball and hit it 210 yards in to the river...
Tiberon has two holes that I think I could play every time and not get tired of them. The number two and the number 9 holes on the Mako course. Number two is a par 4 with a dog leg right around a pond.

View Larger Map
With a good tee shot, I hit a great one, you end up in the water, I did, if you take a little bit off of it you hit a great lay up for an interesting approach shot over the water on to the green. Lots of fun. The problem with this hole is that the geese have done their business all over the green.
Number 9 is a HUGE 500 yard par 5. This one dog legs left, but it is so long that it is more of a large arc than a dog leg. You start off on top of a hill, so even my medocer tee shots look like monster drives. The course designer did not want to make it easy on any one, so he build little hills on the right and planted trees to the left. Just for fun he put his pond right next to the start of this hole so that it would make you nervous about a short shot.

View Larger Map
Lots and lots of fun.
Advantage: Tiberon
The problem here is that you never know what courses you will be playing, you might not get to play these holes as they may want you to play the other two courses.

Clubhouses
Let's face it. I am trying to impress somebody here. That includes where we eat lunch or get a drink afterward. Both places have nice exteriors, but...
Indian Creek is more of a standard meeting hall type appearance, with the snack shop being kind of plain.
Tiberon has a full sports bar with granite counters, flat screen TVs everywhere, and very nice faculties.
Advantage: Tiberon wins this one very easily.

Costs
Here it comes... What is the damage. All costs will be for 18 holes. Nine is for sissies. I will compare weekend costs as that is when we are likely to play. I will also compare cart costs as we are likely to play with a cart. Personally, I hate the cart. I always walk.
Tiberon has a very strange multi tiered green fee system, it gets cheaper as the day wears on. I don't quite know what they are trying to accomplish... Encourage afternoon golf to drive business to their restaurant, or soak the players when they are most likely to be starting their games. Anyway it is $47 per player before 11am, $29 after 11am, and $21.50 after 3pm.
Indian Creek has one flat rate for golf, $56 for 18 on the weekend.
Advantage: Tiberon

So that tears it. If we have some time to play, I think I will try to get a tee time at Tiberon. It is a fun course, it looks great and it won't break the bank when I pay for the foursome.

The Speech

Obama... Yeah. I won't be voting for him. He likes to talk like me, but does not deliver on what he says.

I have a hard time figuring out what he means when he talks. He talks about freedom and personal responsibility, then talks about how government needs to provide things for people who have not been personally responsible. These things he promises will be provided by the people who have been personally responsible. Thus he is punishing personal responsibility.

Freedom and personal responsibility... Why then, must he look to remove guns from law abiding citizens? That is not personal responsibility. That is not freedom.

We disagree on the Bush Administration's economic policies.
He said "Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less." Just this week we learned that the average Americana's wages were higher. Does he not read the papers?

He said "More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet." A very small percentage of people have lost their homes. The primary reason they lost their homes was because lending institutions were forced to lend money to people they knew were high risk. About 97% of all mortgage owners are paying just fine.

Obama said that he would "for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class." This is a lie. He will not cut taxes for working families. He said that he would allow the Bush tax cuts to expire. That means that the Marriage penalty will be back. That means that all married families will immediately get a tax increase.
Who is not middle class to Obama? He has said earlier that he considers that any family making $150 to $200 thousand is not middle class. What group of people are the majority that make that kind of money? Small business owners. The major economic force in the country. Higher taxes on these people means that they can employ fewer people. That means fewer jobs. Most of these businesses will not "create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow." That means that they will not receive the capital gains tax exemption that Obama spoke of. Without the Bush tax cuts that means that they will be taxed at 30% for their capital gains. With the increase of cost to profit, it makes investment in stocks too risky, with very little reward. They will invest in safer bonds instead. That means that the stock market will suffer.

Not the policy we need.

I intensely dislike George W. Bush. He grew government at a pace that no President before him could match. Not even uber liberals like Roosevelt, Hoover, and, LBJ. He absolutely screwed up the Iraq war. What should have a total victory in 6 months, took us 5 years. We did not go in with enough men, and we kept it that way until, finally, a real fighting man came to save the day.
However, you have to give him props. His administration has been through:
  • The worst natural disaster in the Nation's history, in which a major American city was virtually wiped out.
  • The worst corporate scandal in American history.
  • The worst terrorist attack in American history.
    Two major armed conflicts.
    Any one of those events would have caused a major recession. To this date, we have no recession. Unemployment is at 5.7%. This is what it was at the height of the Clinton economic boom.
    Bush was handed what could have been a major recession in 2000, and that was a real recession with the full two quarters of negative growth, and turned it in to the greatest economic boom of the last 50 years. The Dow sits at 11,715. Unprecedented.

    The greatest mistake of the Bush administration was over spending. Had we not enacted the ridiculous Medicare prescription drug benefit, had we cut spending, like Bush promised in his campaigns, the dollar would have not dropped, and the price of oil would not have skyrocketed.

    America does not need more benefits. We need more freedom. We need less government. We DO NOT need Barack Obama.

    Transcript
    Labor Stats
  • Wednesday, August 27, 2008

    Frampton



    Maybe you are cuddling up to the woman, or whatever, we don't judge here, you sick freak. You need some help to get the mood going. You turn on the Ninja to give you some inspiration. I am here for choo my fren. Get that loving on.

    Sparta needs sons.

    Tuesday, August 26, 2008

    The Blues Is My Business...

    And Business is Good!!!

    Blues Is My Business - Larry McCray

    If trouble were money, I would have more money than any one man should.

    Truer words were never uttered.

    Monday, August 25, 2008

    USA Looses Olympics...

    If we score the medals as we would any other track meet, first place 3 points second 2 points and third one point, we come up short to China.
    The final Medal Count was
    USA:
    Gold: 36 Silver: 38 Bronze: 36 Total 220 Points

    China:
    Gold: 51 Silver: 21 Bronze: 28 Total 223 Points

    This comes after one of the worst Olympics ever for the US in Track and Field, Boxing, Wrestling, and Diving. We just could not get it together in these sports, and we were dominated all around.

    Very poor showing for the US, especially in an Olympics that we should have cleaned up in.

    Saturday, August 23, 2008

    Courtesy, Integrity, and Kicking Refs In The Face

    In a time where Tae Kwon Do is on the chopping block as an Olympic sport, Cuban participant Angel Valodia Matos kicked his referee after the ref disqualified Matos for taking too much time during a medical time out.

    The WTF responded by banning Matos and his coach for life.



    Awesome. I love it when fatty gets smacked.

    Friday, August 22, 2008

    Old School Pankration...



    Holy crap these guys played dirty. I mean really dirty. Seriously... That is NOT cool.

    Did this happen so often that the sculptor decided to put his favorite move in to stone?

    Or was is so unusual that the sculptor did not want to forget such an effective finishing move?

    Ouch.

    You Know Who You Are...

    Bush Ass Smack = Good Luck

    The American Volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh proved that when George W. Bush smacks your ass, you have good luck. They smashed the Chinese in straight sets to win gold.


    Bryan Clay is World's Greatest Athlete

    For the first time since Dan O'Brien won the gold in 1996, an American won the Decathlon. USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

    Silva Tests Hot

    Antonio Silva tested hot for steroids after his second round KO victory over Justin Eilers. This is kind of a deep blow to EliteXC, as they are $55 Million in the red, and just lost their champion. What is even stranger is that Silva has hormone problems, suffering from the pituitary problem acromegaly. This is the reason he looks... well, interesting.



    Edwin Dewees also tested hot.

    Both fighters were fined $2,500 and suspended for one year.

    Thursday, August 21, 2008

    John Williams At His Best

    My absolute favorite on the Classical Guitar. This piece is especially difficult because it requires the four fingers of the right hand to continually pluck the main melody on the higher pitch strings, while simultaneously the thumb plucks out the counter melody on the lower pitch strings. Williams plays it so incredibly well that you would swear that two guitars are being used. Genius.

    Recuerdos de la Alhambra - John Williams

    Monday, August 18, 2008

    First "Debate"

    Obama and McCain met on Saturday in a Town Hall/Debate. It was very interesting. I have said that when McCain and Obama went head to head, it would be a one sided ass kicking with the articulate Obama wiping the floor with the older McCain. I was right about a one sided ass kicking, but wrong about the victor.

    McCain was funny, decisive, and presidential. Obama was elusive, vague, and said nothing. I expected Obama to say nothing, but be very fancy about it. He was not.

    The most telling question was about when a baby has human rights. I am a huge States Rights guy, and believe that abortion is absolutely the right of the individual state to say yes or no to the procedure. McCain, a big Pro-Life guy, said that human rights for the baby begins at conception. The correct answer for his base. Obama, the most Pro-Choice guy in the Senate said that the answer to that question was "above his pay grade." (verbatim: "I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade") What?? Above your pay grade?? What?? I know you don't like to answer questions but... What??? You are running for President of the United States of America, and you say that the answer to when a baby has human rights is above your pay grade??? If that is true than the only people above your pay grade are the collective people of the United States of America, from whom you draw your power. And if it is up to the People, then the best way for them to decide is LOCALLY!! Shoot it back to the states, BUT Obama would never do that, so why did he not give the answer his base wanted to hear? That the baby has human rights at birth, not at conception. I don't get it.

    Slightly less interesting was when Obama insulted Clarence Thomas by saying Thomas wasn't a "strong enough jurist or legal thinker." Right...

    McCain said in answer to the question of which Justices he would not have nominated he picked the four liberal justices, Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Souter, Stevens... Wait. Hold on. McCain voted to confirm Ginsburg, Breyer and Souter. He was in the Senate when they were nominated. If he was so agisnt them, why did he not vote against their confirmation??? Inconsistent? I think so.

    The most telling thing about this debate was what the campaign camps did afterwards. Both, of course, claimed victory, but then the Obama campaign did something that winners never do. They started making excuses. They said that McCain heard the questions or was tipped off before hand so he had time to think about his answers... Interesting. Obama campaign, if you think your guy won, why are you making excuses for him??

    Transcript

    Friday, August 15, 2008

    Wednesday, August 13, 2008

    So True

    The Only True Batman

    I am going to see Batman: The Dark Knight tomorrow. I don't think it can even come close to the only REAL Batman. Adam West.







    Batman Theme - The Ventures

    The Best Photo Ever Taken

    Tuesday, August 12, 2008

    Obama's Mideast Advisor...

    Is actor George Clooney...

    Look, I am not one to bring up education or previous jobs and such as qualifications, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs both do not have degrees, BUT for Pete's sake could the man listen to somebody who does not play make believe for advice on the Mideast??

    The media went nuts when they heard that Nancy Regan occasionally listen to an astrologer, but they give Obama a pass with listening to a... wait forget I said that. Of course the media will give Obama a pass. He would have to do something really off the wall in order to get the media to pay attention to some of his doings. I mean if he had ties to or said he was friends with a terrorist perhaps that would get some attention in the media. Not just any terrorist, I mean a bad one who did something really awful, like bomb the Pentagon or some other... Government... ummm... yeah.

    I guess I can live with Clooney as the NSA... At least he is prettier than the last one...


    Our next National Security Advisor

    Story
    Obama's Terrorist Buddy Bill Ayres

    Monday, August 11, 2008

    Russia Calls Cease Fire

    Russian troops have been ordered to stop moving forward in Georgia.
    Reports out of Georgia say that the Russians captured Gori in central Georgia:


    View Larger Map

    and effectively cut the country in half. Russian "President" Dmitry Medvedev ordered all resistance pockets in Russian occupied Georgia destroyed.

    What does this all mean? Well, Georgia was feeling that the U.S. would back its move in to South Ossetia. After all Georgia backed the U.S. move in to Iraq. The Georgians were wrong. The 600 lb gorilla in that region is still Russia, despite whatever ties to the U.S. countries may have.

    This move by Russia was basically to say: "The U.S. will not help you. You are on your own, and you exist only because we allow you to. Our allies are safe. We will protect you. Where is your ally the U.S. now?" And they are right.
    The U.S. will not stick its neck out for these small Baltic states. Sure we want to be "allies" with them because we get to put CIA bases on their land to spy on Russia. But we are only allies in name only. When the fit hits the shan, the U.S. will do little to aid them. UNLESS Russia decides not to stop. It is reasonable to allow an invasion and a pull back as long as Russia gets out of the country it invaded. I expect that the Russians will pull back to the borders of Georgia and hang out there, content with destroying much of the Georgian military, and sending its message.
    If Russia does not pull back, if they continue forward, then the U.S. has to do something. The UN can't help here, Russia has veto power in the Security Council, and the UN is a gutless entity anyway. The U.S. does not want this, neither do the Russians.

    It is a good thing that the Russians have stopped. The situation remains dangerous. The reputation of the U.S. is severely damaged. We look like fair weather friends, and who needs that kind of friend? These countries want a friend who will throw in with them when their worst nightmare occurs. That worst nightmare happened to Georgia when the Russian tanks rolled in. "Hannibal ad portas" Is what the Romans used to say to scare their children, and to justify military expansion and spending. In the Baltics and in the former Soviet countries, Hannibal is Russia. And we just stood by and Hannibal run wild.

    What angers me about this whole situation is that we can do absolutely nothing about it. We are weak in the region, and a confrontation with Russia is unthinkable. The Russians know this and thumb their nose at us. The cold hard fact is that some allies are worth more than others. We would have never allowed Russia to penetrate deep in to Poland, Turkey, or France. Imagine if Russia cut Germany in half. Never mind for the moment that they would have to march through all of the central European countries to do it, say the just air lifted their armies to France and started to march across it. It would be instantaneous world war. But Georgia? Acceptable loss.

    Geopolitics sucks.

    The State of the Union

    I Love The Olympics

    They are just awesome. I was watching the swimming last night. The US posted the fastest time ever in the 4X100 relay, with the 32 year old anchor Jason Lezak posting the fastest split in history.

    They beat the French team that said they would "Smash" the American team. I guess smash means something different in French.

    Good work guys!


    Cullen Jones, Super Stud Jason Lezak, Michael Phelps, and Garrett Weber-Gale


    USA! USA! Suck it Frenchie!!!!

    Sunday, August 10, 2008

    2008 Cauldron Lighting



    Retire the trophy Bob Costas??? How soon we forget. The 2008 lighting was cheesy. Nothing compared to Barcelona 1992.

    UFC 87 Seek and Destroy Recap

    Ben Saunders def Ryan Thomas Submission (Armbar) 2:28 rnd 2
    My Pick: Saunders by KO first round.
    Very slick armbar by Sanders


    Chris Wilson def Steve Bruno Decision
    My Pick: Wilson by G&P KO third round


    Jon Jones def Andre Gusmao Decision
    My Pick: Andre by KO


    Cheick Kongo def Dan Evensen TKO (Strikes) 4:55 rnd 1
    My Pick: Kongo by KO first round


    Tamdan McCrory def Luke Cummo Decision
    My Pick: Cummo wins the decision.
    Luke was reportedly coming off a six day fast before this fight... Somebody should tell this nut case that food = energy and energy is needed for fights. If you fast before a fight you will most likely not have the gas to win.


    Demian Maia def Jason MacDonald Submission (Rear-naked Choke) 2:44 rnd 3
    My Pick: Maia by triangle choke second round.
    Mia got a triangle right at the begging, but MacDonald was able to escape and take Mia's back. Back and forth they went with Mia sub hunting and Jason doing his best to stay alive. Eventually Maia caught the RNC and an exhausted Jason had to tap. Very good fight.


    Kenny Florian def Roger Huerta Decision
    My Pick: Kenny by decision
    Kenny had a great game plan and kept to it. He landed good shots and beat the hell out of Roger.


    Robert Emerson def Manvel Gamburyan KO (Punches) 0:12 rnd 1
    My Pick: Manny by G&P KO second round.
    Manny ran forward with his chin out and got a punch stain and a short nap as a reward.


    Brock Lesnar def Heath Herring Decision
    My Pick: Herring by KO first round.
    It was almost Brock by first round KO! Brock came right out and landed a HUGE right hand that knocked Heath to the ground. Brock promptly took Heath's back, and did nothing. End of first. In the second, Brock took Heath down and took his back, and did nothing. End of second. In the second, Brock took Heath down and took his back, and did nothing. End of third. My write up is actually more exciting than the fight was. Controlling works in wrestling and somewhat in MMA, BUT you have to advance the position and work in MMA. Brock just doesn't do that yet. Sure he won, but he put most of us asleep doing it.

    The only punch of the night.

    Georges St. Pierre def Jon Fitch Decision
    My Pick: GSP by KO late third, early fourth.
    Jon was game, but it just was not enough. GSP beat him, and beat him, and beat him. On the ground, in the clinch, standing up. Jon had no answer, no hope. I would have been less kind than the judges with their unanimous 50 - 44 scores. I would have judged it 50 - 34. GSP took the second and fourth rounds off, so Jon gets the 9 points there. But the rest were all GSP so dominating that they were all 10-8 rounds.

    I go 6 for 10 this time out.

    Saturday, August 9, 2008

    UFC 87 Fighters Make Weight

    Georges St. Pierre (170) vs. Jon Fitch (170)
    Brock Lesnar (265) vs. Heath Herring (250)
    Kenny Florian (155) vs. Roger Huerta (155)
    Demian Maia (185) vs. Jason MacDonald (185)
    Manvel Gamburyan (155) vs. Robert Emerson (155)
    Luke Cummo (167) vs. Tamden McCrory (170)
    Cheick Kongo (235) vs. Dan Evensen (244)
    Andre Gusmao (205) vs. Jon Jones (205)
    Steve Bruno (170) vs. Chris Wilson (170)
    Ben Saunders (170) vs. Ryan Thomas (170)

    George W. Bush

    Guy knows how to party...







    Apparently Misty May-Treanor (in the red above) turned and offered to let the President slap her butt in the traditional sand volleyball way...



    Somebody tell me again why my hobby is rolling around on the ground with sweaty men, when sand volleyballers get to slap hot asses??? Something wrong there...

    Full Story

    Friday, August 8, 2008

    UFC 87 Seek and Destroy

    Ben Saunders Vs. Ryan Thomas
    Here we have the up and coming TUF vet Ben Saunders vs the new kid on the block Ryan Thomas... I think Thomas has his work cut out for him. Saunders by KO first round.

    Chris Wilson Vs. Steve Bruno
    Both guys train at top facilities, Bruno at ATT Wilson at Team Quest. Wilson took Fitch to a decision, so I think that he can solve whatever riddles Bruno can throw at him. Wilson by G&P KO third round.

    Andre Gusmao Vs. Jon Jones
    Two new guys to the UFC. Andre is an IFL stand out winning all of his fights there. Jon also has an undefeated record, but no big shows on his resume. I think that experience will pay dividends here. Andre by KO.

    Cheick Kongo Vs. Dan Evensen
    The UFC must really like Cheick after he beat Cro-Cop to feed him a can like Evensen. Kongo by KO first round.

    Luke Cummo Vs. Tamdan McCrory
    Both guys are coming off of losses in the UFC, but I don't think either one of them is in any danger of going home. Tough call here, but I think that Cummo wins the decision.

    Jason MacDonald Vs. Demian Maia
    Jason has recovered from his loss to Yushin Okami by knocking out Joe Doerksen. Demian Maia is riding high off of two impressive wins in the UFC.
    This fight is very interesting because MacDonald is known as a ground guy, and Maia is nothing else but a ground guy. I think MacDonald would not be very smart to deal with Maia on the ground, but that is definitely where this fight will go eventually. Mia by triangle choke second round.

    Manny Gamburyan Vs. Rob Emerson
    Manvil the Anvil steps in with fellow TUF alum Rob Emmerson. This fight will follow the template that every other fight that Manny has been in. Takedown pound pound pound. I don't think that Rob has the stuff to keep with Manny, and Manny for sure won't get caught by Rob's unimpressive ground attack. Manny by G&P KO second round.

    Kenny Florian Vs. Roger Huerta
    Fight of the night! Kenny has been very impressive both on the feet and on the ground. Roger continues to win in impressive fashion. The difference here is that Roger really has not fought the caliber of opponent that Kenny has. If Roger can pull this off, it really boosts his career. Kenny has been training, but he also has been doing his gig for ESPN, teaching seminars, and being overall very busy. Roger has been training. If the schedule has not gotten to Kenny, he should win this one, but if he has neglected his training even just a little bit, Roger will wear him down and win the fight. I think Kenny is good at time management... Kenny by decision.

    Brock Lesnar Vs. Heath Herring
    Herring by KO first round.

    Georges St-Pierre Vs. Jon Fitch
    Fitch is the real deal, he has not lost since 2002 and has been very active beating 15 guys in that time frame. GSP looked awesome beating Matt Hughes and then destroying Matt Serra. It could be that he just has something against guys named Matt... Maybe it is because they are so smart, strong, and good looking.
    Anyway this fight is against two guys who really have the whole package. They both can stand up, fight on the ground, are good in the clinch, and have very solid wrestling games. I think that GSP is a bit more talented, though. GSP by KO late third, early fourth.

    Best Bumper Sticker Ever!!

    Ohhhhhh Crap...

    We have an ally in Easter Euorpe... Georgia. Georgia has a breakaway Provence called South Ossetia. South Ossentia is an ally of Russia. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has said time and time again that he would take back South Ossentia. Russian "Prime Minister" Vladimir Putin said that if Georgia tries they will be sorry.

    Apparently Georgia has tried. Russia has responded with air strikes and sending in tanks.

    Not good. If this escalates you could see Russia invading Georgia and the U.S. obligated to help its ally.

    Keep a close eye on this one. It could get ugly.


    Georgian troops ride in to South Ossetia in APCs

    Thursday, August 7, 2008

    Long Time No Spar

    I have been busy lately, and I have not had the chance to get in to the ring in almost two months. Though I have been steadily working on my hand speed and techniques through bag work and shadow boxing, I have not been able to get in to the ring and do some kickboxing. I got the chance yesterday... My head still hurts.

    It was a lesson in ring rust. My timing was way off. I could not find a rhythm. My defence was non existent, because, let's face facts here, the bag and your shadow does not hit back. One of my best moves is to catch a jab with my right hand step to an outside angle and drill the leg or the body with a right kick. No freaking dice. Their jabs did a great job of smashing my face.

    The jabs were not as bad as the right hands, though. It seemed like my noggin was a chick with a back tattoo and their right hands were drunken idiots at a bar. No matter how many times I said stop, they just kept coming.

    The only good part was that I was able to land some nice left leg "magic" kicks to the head, and with me away most of the guys have forgotten how to deal with a spin kick after a low kick misses.
    Hopefully I can shake off the rust quickly and get my timing back soon.

    Wednesday, August 6, 2008

    Classic Joe

    Joe Cocker - You Are So Beautiful.mp3 -

    I am a sap. Leave me alone...

    McCain Volunteers Wife For Topless Contest

    At The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally every year, drunken bikers get together and have themselves a beauty contest with the drunken ladies they bring with them. Doing what drunken ladies do in front of drunken men they remove items of their clothing for a better chance at victory, all to the cheering delight of the crowd. The winner is crowned Miss Cow Chip.

    I must admit that in my younger days I participated in such shows... No matter how much I took off I would never win.

    Anyway, not knowing what goes on in this event John McCain, who served in Vietnam, was a POW for many years, and is a long time member of the Senate, in a speech at the rally quipped:
    "I was looking at the Sturgis schedule, and noticed that you had a beauty pageant, so I encouraged Cindy to compete. I told her with a little luck, she could be the only woman to serve as both the First Lady and Miss Buffalo Chip."


    Finally, something in the McCain campaign that I can get behind!

    I very much doubt that John McCain, who served in Vietnam, was a POW for many years, and is a long time member of the Senate, meant that his wife should bear it all for the crowd, but I would have paid cash money to have been in the room when he learned what kind of beauty contest he wanted his wife to enter. I bet some bad words were said...


    Miss Buffalo Chip?

    Story

    Tuesday, August 5, 2008

    Loyalty...

    A group of fighters have decided to leave the gym and open their own gym. Their gripes about MAMA is that the gym owner wants them to pay monthly dues, the level of commitment, skill level, and training intensity.

    Their gripe about the paying of dues comes from the fact that when they fight, they give their school name. This brings in business for the gym, especially if they win. The fighter think that because they generate so much revenue for the gym they should get to train for free.
    I think that this is a bogus claim. They are still using the facilities, and the gym owner needs to keep the lights on. I can't really fault the gym owner for wanting the fighters to pay. At any rate, the fighters will have to shell out more money than if they stayed at the gym just to start up their new place. Rent, equipment, and utilities for a business costs more than a typical house, so I don't see these guys paying less for training.

    Level of commitment. This is a legitimate gripe. It is very difficult to find guys who are willing to consistently train the guy who has a fight coming up. Everybody has work and family obligations, and if you don't have a fight upcoming, it is difficult to go in and get your ass kicked everyday, twice a day.
    Even though I concede this is a legitimate gripe, I have to say that the fighters are primarily to blame for the level of commitment at the gym. At one time, these fighters were the ones who came in every day, who inspired the others in the gym, and who set the level of commitment. Then, when they achieved a level of fame, they left our gym to do training camps at other places. The level of commitment went down in the overall gym, because that motivating force was no longer there.

    Skill level. You must recruit new money for your business to survive. In the Martial Arts world that means new people at the gym. New people means that you have guys there who can't fight to save their lives. The more new people, the healthier the gym, but it also means that your skilled people are spending more time teaching and not training. Again, everybody has work and family obligations, most people have to choose between training and teaching.
    They will find this true at whatever gym they start. The gym will stagnate and die if they keep the same people, so they have to recruit new blood. Same dance, different floor.

    Training intensity. Training intensity is a tightrope that all gyms have to walk. The serious fighters will want the intensity to be as high as possible to match what they see in the cage/ring/mat. Unfortunately, to keep the doors open you cannot scare your new people away, and you have to keep your regulars healthy. If you beat the holy hell out of your new people every time, eventually even the toughest and stupidest new people will find a place where they can grow and learn.

    I understand why the guys are leaving, but I don't see how they can make their gym any different from MAMA. They will have to make the same compromises to keep the doors open as any other gym. Even if they structure their class schedule so that they can have intense competition team work outs, they still need a dedicated, paid, few to teach the classes that keep the doors open.