I've listened to several good wrestling announcers over the years, but Frank Bonnemma was the best
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Calzaghe vs Kessler
I was a huuuge boxing fan growing up. I would go to Fleenors with my mother and while she grocery shopped I would read ring magazine. I memorized all the champions in each division and would day dream about what would happen if fighter A fought fighter B. The great thing about that time period was that great fights were shown on network T.V. So you new from experience that when Alexis Arguello fought Aaron Pryor or when Ray Leonard fought Thomas Hearns that you were likely to witness something special.
I was out of the loop when it came to boxing for about twelve years. In the early nineties boxing began to disappear from network T.V. and basic cable featured no names and has beens. To be knowledgeable about the sport you have to have premium cable(Showtime and HBO) and I never bothered to get either until about a year ago.
I decided to in invest in the movie tier on our cable package because Dawn Loves watching Movies and I Like watching good fights. This has turned out well as Dawn has indeed enjoyed the movie selection and I have seen some excellent boxing matches.
The story of boxing in 2007 is a double edged sword, the heavyweight division is horrible, but the lighter divisions are filled with fighters who are both talented and crowd pleasing. I have had the pleasure of watching gifted young stars like Chad Dawson, Paul William, Mikkel Kessler and Kelly Pavlik with my HBO and Showtime package.
The highlight of the year so far was last months Taylor vs Pavlik middleweight title fight. This bout really encompassed everything you watch sports for. Two competitors from different backgrounds and vastly different styles bring out the best in each other and providing the fans with a compelling fight that took fans on a roller coaster ride of action and emotion. Taylor dominated the first two round using his superior athleticism and quickness flooring Pavlik 90 second into the second round. The last 90 second of round two resembled a Rocky movie as Pavlik fought on instinctand heart while the champ got carried away and blew his chance to finish the fight. Over the next four rounds the tide turned with Pavlik gaining confidence and the Champion Taylor slowly fading. Finally in the seventh round it happened Pavlik landed a three punch combination that floored the champ making Pavlik the new middle weight champion of the world.
It might get even better this weekend!
The two best fighters I have seen in the last year in my opinion are Mikkel Kessler and Joe Calzaghe. Much to my delight they are going to square off this weekend in a Super middle weight title unification bout. As with Pavlik and Taylor as well as Hearns and Leonard 26 years ago I am expecting something really special. All the elements are in place to provide a memorable event, two great undefeated champions in their prime competing in a soccer stadium in Cardiff Wales in front of 50,000 fans. The icing on the cake is that this is not a pay per view it on regular HBO.
If you are interested in seeing what is right with boxing. Why it has endured through 100+ years of shenanigans and corruption, why in days gone buy everyone who was anyone was seen at the big fight and people would gather around the radio to hear the action, I would highly recommend you watch the Kessler vs Calzaghe bout this Saturday November 3rd at 6pm pacific on HBO.
I was out of the loop when it came to boxing for about twelve years. In the early nineties boxing began to disappear from network T.V. and basic cable featured no names and has beens. To be knowledgeable about the sport you have to have premium cable(Showtime and HBO) and I never bothered to get either until about a year ago.
I decided to in invest in the movie tier on our cable package because Dawn Loves watching Movies and I Like watching good fights. This has turned out well as Dawn has indeed enjoyed the movie selection and I have seen some excellent boxing matches.
The story of boxing in 2007 is a double edged sword, the heavyweight division is horrible, but the lighter divisions are filled with fighters who are both talented and crowd pleasing. I have had the pleasure of watching gifted young stars like Chad Dawson, Paul William, Mikkel Kessler and Kelly Pavlik with my HBO and Showtime package.
The highlight of the year so far was last months Taylor vs Pavlik middleweight title fight. This bout really encompassed everything you watch sports for. Two competitors from different backgrounds and vastly different styles bring out the best in each other and providing the fans with a compelling fight that took fans on a roller coaster ride of action and emotion. Taylor dominated the first two round using his superior athleticism and quickness flooring Pavlik 90 second into the second round. The last 90 second of round two resembled a Rocky movie as Pavlik fought on instinctand heart while the champ got carried away and blew his chance to finish the fight. Over the next four rounds the tide turned with Pavlik gaining confidence and the Champion Taylor slowly fading. Finally in the seventh round it happened Pavlik landed a three punch combination that floored the champ making Pavlik the new middle weight champion of the world.
It might get even better this weekend!
The two best fighters I have seen in the last year in my opinion are Mikkel Kessler and Joe Calzaghe. Much to my delight they are going to square off this weekend in a Super middle weight title unification bout. As with Pavlik and Taylor as well as Hearns and Leonard 26 years ago I am expecting something really special. All the elements are in place to provide a memorable event, two great undefeated champions in their prime competing in a soccer stadium in Cardiff Wales in front of 50,000 fans. The icing on the cake is that this is not a pay per view it on regular HBO.
If you are interested in seeing what is right with boxing. Why it has endured through 100+ years of shenanigans and corruption, why in days gone buy everyone who was anyone was seen at the big fight and people would gather around the radio to hear the action, I would highly recommend you watch the Kessler vs Calzaghe bout this Saturday November 3rd at 6pm pacific on HBO.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
UFC 74
Before I get to UFC 74.
I never did do a blog entry about my UFC 73 party back in July. I have been purchasing occasional UFC PPV's for the last four years, but I had never had A PPV party until UFC 73 . We put out a great food spread and were joined by four of our neighbors as well as two of Dawn's brothers. It turned out to be enjoyable evening.
For UFC 74 I went back to my normal PPV habit of just enjoying the show with Dawn.
This show was a good example of why I enjoy the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as the fights provided a good combination of athleticism, technique and fast paced action.
The highlight of the night was Randy Couture. He will be 45 in a couple of months and continues to perform at a ridiculously high level.
The story of Randy Couture in the sport of MMA has been two steps forward and one step back. Couture started in the UFC 10 years ago in his mid thirties as a one dimensional Greco Roman wrestler. For every step couture has lost to father time he has added two steps forword by continually improving his technique and fight IQ.
Couture has continually refined his greco roman skills so that they are effective in the octagon while at the same time adding boxing, kickboxing, judo, and jujitsu skills to his arsenal.
Couture's continued improvement is an example of a true martial artist. Continually refining your old technique while you gradually adding new skills.
I never did do a blog entry about my UFC 73 party back in July. I have been purchasing occasional UFC PPV's for the last four years, but I had never had A PPV party until UFC 73 . We put out a great food spread and were joined by four of our neighbors as well as two of Dawn's brothers. It turned out to be enjoyable evening.
For UFC 74 I went back to my normal PPV habit of just enjoying the show with Dawn.
This show was a good example of why I enjoy the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as the fights provided a good combination of athleticism, technique and fast paced action.
The highlight of the night was Randy Couture. He will be 45 in a couple of months and continues to perform at a ridiculously high level.
The story of Randy Couture in the sport of MMA has been two steps forward and one step back. Couture started in the UFC 10 years ago in his mid thirties as a one dimensional Greco Roman wrestler. For every step couture has lost to father time he has added two steps forword by continually improving his technique and fight IQ.
Couture has continually refined his greco roman skills so that they are effective in the octagon while at the same time adding boxing, kickboxing, judo, and jujitsu skills to his arsenal.
Couture's continued improvement is an example of a true martial artist. Continually refining your old technique while you gradually adding new skills.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Portland Wresling 1970's PBS Documentary
I have found a lot of cool old wrestling stuff on you tube, but these clips may win the prize. These are from a PBS documentary in the 1970's featuring Jimmy Snuka, Dutch Savage, Jesse Ventura, Iron Sheik, and Apachee Bull Ramos.
The Dutch savage promos are terrific, The Jesse Ventura interview is interesting.
and the interviews with the crowd members are priceless.
Part 1
part 2
part 3
here's an article that talks about the glory days of Portland wrestling
here
The Dutch savage promos are terrific, The Jesse Ventura interview is interesting.
and the interviews with the crowd members are priceless.
Part 1
part 2
part 3
here's an article that talks about the glory days of Portland wrestling
here
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The Benoit Tragedy
Pro Wrestler Chris Benoit murdered his wife and seven year old son and then killed himself. This horrfic tragedy is hard for anyone to wrap their brain around. It's almost impossible if you're a wrestling fan.
I have been a pro wrestling fan since I was a preschooler spending weekends at my grandparents house(I will be 36 this month). I have watched a genre that I love to follow evolve (or devolve) into a T.V. product that I find virtually unwatchable.
Dawn Marie enjoys watching a show call Top Chef. I often see challenges where they ask the competitors to take a traditional dish, reinterpret it, put a modern spin on it and make it even better. This is how I viewed Chris Benoit. Benoit captured the essence of the pro wrestling I watched as a kid while at the same time performing the
"nifty" modern high flying, high impact moves that are prevalent today. Benoit could do it all in a ring and he did it with an intensity and authenticity that no one else could match. Benoit was the best in ring performer I have seen in all my years of watching pro wrestling.
What caused one of the most respected men in the industry to snap?
I believe The drive that led Benoit to be a pro wrestling virtuoso also led to his downfall. Years of taking prescription drugs to enhance his physique and to reduce pain along with multiple head injuries, deaths to many of his close friends a deteriorating marriage and numerous other factors caused Benoit to drift into insanity. I am not absolving Chris Benoit, because ultimately he is responsible for what happened. I do think that the pro wrestling lifestyle helped create the perfect storm that led Chris Benoit to commit these heinous acts.
Can anything good come of this?
I do believe that the WWE cares. I just don't think they get it. They have done some good things adding drug testing and a wellness program as well as reduced the number of days on the road. Yet, in the last week I have tuned into their programming and I've seen that the most hyped performer is a body builder that has virtually no ability in the ring or behind a microphone. This send a dangerous message and shows to me they truly don't get it.
A couple of days after the tragedy Vince McMahon was on the today show. Meridith Vierra asked him about the high mortality rate (she mentioned 40 deaths If I remember correctly) of pro wrestlers before the age of 45 in the last 25 years. McMahon said he could only talk about those that died while under contract to him (which was 5) and that Vierra's numbers might have been excessive (in reality her numbers were low). McMahon went on to say that these events were so far remove from what the WWE was about which was "putting smiles on peoples faces".
My reaction?
Over the years I have acquired over 50 hours of classic Portland Wrestling 1977-85 If I am sad or mad I put in those DVD's and they instantly put a smile on my face. If I need something to put a smile on my face in the future I will reach for my Portland collection and I will stay away from WWE programming. From this point forward I will not spend another minute or dollar on the WWE. As far as my blogs Walla Walla Barer and TV Time Limit I will no longer have WWE content.
Vincent K. McMahon as far as I am concerned,,,,You're Fired!
I have been a pro wrestling fan since I was a preschooler spending weekends at my grandparents house(I will be 36 this month). I have watched a genre that I love to follow evolve (or devolve) into a T.V. product that I find virtually unwatchable.
Dawn Marie enjoys watching a show call Top Chef. I often see challenges where they ask the competitors to take a traditional dish, reinterpret it, put a modern spin on it and make it even better. This is how I viewed Chris Benoit. Benoit captured the essence of the pro wrestling I watched as a kid while at the same time performing the
"nifty" modern high flying, high impact moves that are prevalent today. Benoit could do it all in a ring and he did it with an intensity and authenticity that no one else could match. Benoit was the best in ring performer I have seen in all my years of watching pro wrestling.
What caused one of the most respected men in the industry to snap?
I believe The drive that led Benoit to be a pro wrestling virtuoso also led to his downfall. Years of taking prescription drugs to enhance his physique and to reduce pain along with multiple head injuries, deaths to many of his close friends a deteriorating marriage and numerous other factors caused Benoit to drift into insanity. I am not absolving Chris Benoit, because ultimately he is responsible for what happened. I do think that the pro wrestling lifestyle helped create the perfect storm that led Chris Benoit to commit these heinous acts.
Can anything good come of this?
I do believe that the WWE cares. I just don't think they get it. They have done some good things adding drug testing and a wellness program as well as reduced the number of days on the road. Yet, in the last week I have tuned into their programming and I've seen that the most hyped performer is a body builder that has virtually no ability in the ring or behind a microphone. This send a dangerous message and shows to me they truly don't get it.
A couple of days after the tragedy Vince McMahon was on the today show. Meridith Vierra asked him about the high mortality rate (she mentioned 40 deaths If I remember correctly) of pro wrestlers before the age of 45 in the last 25 years. McMahon said he could only talk about those that died while under contract to him (which was 5) and that Vierra's numbers might have been excessive (in reality her numbers were low). McMahon went on to say that these events were so far remove from what the WWE was about which was "putting smiles on peoples faces".
My reaction?
Over the years I have acquired over 50 hours of classic Portland Wrestling 1977-85 If I am sad or mad I put in those DVD's and they instantly put a smile on my face. If I need something to put a smile on my face in the future I will reach for my Portland collection and I will stay away from WWE programming. From this point forward I will not spend another minute or dollar on the WWE. As far as my blogs Walla Walla Barer and TV Time Limit I will no longer have WWE content.
Vincent K. McMahon as far as I am concerned,,,,You're Fired!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Four Hours of Fisticuffs
I watched the Hatton vs Castillo fight on HBO Saturday night. Then I watched the finals of the Ultimate Fighter 5 on Spike T.V. Here are some thoughts on the participants.
Ricky Hatton: Hatton is a charismatic fighter. I would love to see him fight Miguel Cotto. Which means it will probably never happen. Hatton would be a good for Floyd Mayweather style wise. So that match up is more likely.
Jose Luis Castillo: Catillo looked like a shot fighter. It was interesting he weighed
in at 140 the day before the fight and 153 the day of the fight.
Which means he weighed three pounds more than Floyd Mayweather did when he won the junior middle weight title which is two weight
divisions higher.
B.J. Penn: Penn is considered one of the most talented fighters in the sport of MMA,
The UFC would like him to fight for the title at 155 , but Penn wants to go back up to 170. If Penn does go back up to 170 I want to see
him against either Karo Parysian or Diego Sanchez.
Season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter: This season was good for the UFC in that it gave
exposure to several guys who will be around for a while. Lauzon, Miller, Diaz, Maynard, Wiman, and Emerson are all solid fighters who can add some excitement to a card. All of them are at a gate keeper status, good enough to be their but not ready to beat top contenders.It's a young group so they all have time to improve. Manvel Gamburyan is the most talented right now, but his shoulder injury might end his career. Corey Hill has the most potential of the group and could be a top contender in a couple years.
Ricky Hatton: Hatton is a charismatic fighter. I would love to see him fight Miguel Cotto. Which means it will probably never happen. Hatton would be a good for Floyd Mayweather style wise. So that match up is more likely.
Jose Luis Castillo: Catillo looked like a shot fighter. It was interesting he weighed
in at 140 the day before the fight and 153 the day of the fight.
Which means he weighed three pounds more than Floyd Mayweather did when he won the junior middle weight title which is two weight
divisions higher.
B.J. Penn: Penn is considered one of the most talented fighters in the sport of MMA,
The UFC would like him to fight for the title at 155 , but Penn wants to go back up to 170. If Penn does go back up to 170 I want to see
him against either Karo Parysian or Diego Sanchez.
Season 5 of the Ultimate Fighter: This season was good for the UFC in that it gave
exposure to several guys who will be around for a while. Lauzon, Miller, Diaz, Maynard, Wiman, and Emerson are all solid fighters who can add some excitement to a card. All of them are at a gate keeper status, good enough to be their but not ready to beat top contenders.It's a young group so they all have time to improve. Manvel Gamburyan is the most talented right now, but his shoulder injury might end his career. Corey Hill has the most potential of the group and could be a top contender in a couple years.
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