Sports media vs. mainstream media – it’s a draw!
I’ve been taking it easy for a little while trying to take a short break from Politics, Obama, Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, Socialists, Communists, and Marxists, along with all the other Idiots, Dummies, Fools, Dimwits, Ignoramuses, and Nincompoops that threaten the existence of the America that most of us have come to know and love.
This past weekend I took the time to watch some MMA fights (Mixed Martial Arts) from UFC 115 from Vancouver Canada. One thing that I’ve learned over the years is that sports journalists and announcers are just as stupid and just as biased as those from the mainstream media that we’ve all come to know and despise.
Saturday’s fight card featured a light-heavyweight bout between Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and Rich “Ace” Franklin. Another feature fight was between heavyweights Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Pat Barry.
Much like the jerks in the MSM, the people covering the above mentioned bouts came into the event with their own preconceived notions as to how the bouts should go, who should win, who was too old, who was too slow, and who shouldn’t fight anymore. Like the MSM, they were also ready to spin the outcomes if they didn’t match up to their pre-fight templates.
Let’s start with Cro Cop vs. Pat Barry. From the get-go, Pat Barry was the sentimental favorite of the announcer and commentator. They played on the same ole stereotypes that only liberals and sports journalists seem to be able to get away with.
Pat Barry is younger than Cro Cop (by four years, 35-31 – Oh my God!) so he was said to be more energetic and have more stamina than Cro Cop.
Pat Barry (Like the Barry in the White House) is half black so that automatically meant that he was more athletic than Cro Cop.
If you listened to the commentators, (whose names I won’t mention) you would have believed that Pat Barry would wipe the floor with Cro Cop and send him back to Croatia in a pine box.
When the first round began, Pat Barry got off to a good start thus feeding the already inflated egos of the commentators. They observed how much “faster” Pat Barry was. As if speed really means all that much when fighting in a cage. Barry then proceeded to knock Cro Cop on his butt twice within a short period of time. The first time was more from loss of balance rather than the actual blow. The second time Barry caught Cro Cop with a solid blow to the side of the face. The commentator even speculated that Cro Cop had sustained a broken jaw or broken cheekbone because of the rapid swelling of his face. He’s not a real doctor, he just plays one when commentating on MMA fights. Both times Cro Cop jumped backed to his feet quickly although Pat Barry made no effort to rush him while he was on the mat. The commentators immediately pounced to the conclusion that Barry had given Cro Cop a break by not attacking him while he was down. Pat Barry clearly won the first round and the commentators were in awe of their own wisdom. It was only a matter of time before Barry put Cro Cop down for good.
I won’t bore you with the details, but Cro Cop tore Pat Barry to shreds over the next two rounds finally winning by submission (Choke) with 30 seconds left in the third and final round.
Cro Cop bashes Pat Barry
After the fight was over, the commentators droned on about the first round insinuating that Barry could have finished off Cro Cop if he hadn’t given him a “break.” They completely overlooked the fact that Barry may not have wanted to go to the ground with Cro Cop because he (Barry) lacks a ground game. Cro Cop wasn’t just laying there flat on his back, he was already getting up anticipating Barry’s rush. I believe that Barry was correct in not wanting to go to the ground as proved by the ease with which Cro Cop handled him on the floor in rounds 2 and 3. Instead of crediting Cro Cop with a great comeback victory after losing the first round, they spun it as Cro Cop being lucky. They created the template for a Barry victory and couldn’t let it go when the results proved them dead wrong. Sound familiar?
In the Chuck Liddell – Rich Franklin fight, the template stated that Liddell was too old (40) and that he should not have come back into the ring after a 14 month layoff and two straight loses by knockout. It seems that whenever an athlete reaches a certain age the morons in the media begin their endless blabbering about retirement. I believe it’s a jealousy thing. Maybe there should be a mandatory retirement age for members of the media – how great would that be?
When the fight finally began, Liddell was his usual aggressive self stalking Franklin all over the ring. Liddell was the clear aggressor with Franklin in constant retreat. At one point Liddell broke Franklin’s left forearm with a brutal kick. Near the end of the round Liddell rushed Franklin and threw him down against the cage wailing on him. Franklin managed to get back up and was in retreat once again with Liddell in hot pursuit. Then out of nowhere, Liddell walked into a short right hand by Franklin and fell to the ground unconscious – winner Rich Franklin by knockout! The punch that Franklin threw was a defensive punch while almost falling backwards under the attack of Liddell. It was much more of a lucky punch than a hard punch.
Now there may very well be something wrong with Chuck Liddell; he should not have been knocked out by that awkward punch! Perhaps it’s because he’s been knocked over the noggin one too many times over his career – one too many concussions. However, if Liddell would have backed off the final 5 seconds of the round instead of aggressively pursuing Franklin, he would most likely have won the fight. The chances are that the doctors would not have allowed Franklin to come out for the second round with a broken arm. Hiding the arm injury was the only way Franklin would have been able to answer the bell for round 2. I don’t think Franklin would have done that. God forbid that any reporter ask him that question!
Liddell and Franklin face off
Rich Franklin won the fight, but he was losing the round right up to the last five seconds. It wasn’t a great fight for Franklin! It was much more a case of Liddell losing the match in spectacular fashion rather than Franklin winning it in spectacular fashion. If Liddell would have survived those final five seconds the commentators and media covering the event would have been forced to sing his praises as a warrior who came back and beat a good fighter proving everyone who thought he was washed up wrong. Instead, Liddell has now basically been branded a bum who didn’t have any business stepping back into the ring. Is the media fickle or what? They didn’t care about the details of the fight, they only cared that Liddell lost and that they were supposedly proven right.
Watching these fights, I once again proved to myself that sports media can often be as irritating as the MSM. In fact, there really isn’t much difference. Both media entities create their own reality, and then use spin to defend that reality at all costs. That’s what made it so simple for that pathetic joke by the name of Keith Olbermann to transition from ESPN to MSNBC. Different topics – same BS!
