Archive for September 13th, 2006
Continue Reading September 13th, 2006
Something struck us as awfully sad today when we learned that Toni Kukoc is retiring from the NBA. It always makes sports fans feel old when someone who they remember coming in as a rookie ends up retiring, but somehow Kukoc hanging them up felt different, probably because he was the last guy left from those Bulls teams of the ’90s. (Barring a Dickey Simpkins comeback, that is.) It feels strange to have that book finally closed entirely.
Thankfully, some of your top NBA bloggers have their eyes on history this mildly upsetting September afternoon:
• The Association: “Given that most European players tend to fade or disappear in the clutch, Kukoc was willing to step in. Along with Dirk Nowitzki I’d say that Kukoc’s one of the best European players in the clutch to ever play in the NBA.”
• NBA Obsessed: “His combination of size and the ability to play all positions on the court made him a versatile player and his deadly shot from downtown only made him harder to guard. To me, that young clean looking Croatian in a Bulls jersey is his lasting image.”
Honestly? Any guy who was that successful in pissing off Scottie Pippen on a regular basis is OK in our book. Godspeed, Toni: May you find a place that encourages the full growth of non-Ulrich-esque facial hair.
Kukoc Set To Retire From NBA [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]
Continue Reading September 13th, 2006
Last night, Emmitt Smith continued his inevitable decline into post-athlete career depression by “shining” on “Dancing With The Stars,” impressing the judges with his … aw, jeez, we can’t even type this without feeling bad about ourselves and everything about sports.
We were asked the other day why we mocked people like Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith so much for their last sad grasps at fame and/or fortune once they can no longer succeed on their chosen fields of battle. They are, after all, celebrities, and this is the type of endeavor celebrities undertake: Dancing around on television and smiling and acting all together inoffensive and cute nice. But they are, in the spectrum of celebrity, D-list: This is why they are on a show with Mario Lopez and Tucker Carlson rather than, you know, Jack Nicholson and George Clooney. But these are legends: Emmitt owns just about every rushing record, and Rice might possibly be the best football player of all time. And they’re making idiots out of themselves on reality shows, just so people will remember who they are, which, of course, is all we want to do: Remember. Instead, they just won’t shut up.
Emmitt Smith Danced Like A Teddy Bear [The Sports Pulse]
Continue Reading September 13th, 2006
The HEAT 2nd card is complete.
The final HEAT 2nd card will feature the official retirement match for Tomomi “TAISHO” Iwama, as he competes against up-and-comer Yoshihiro “Barbaro44″ Tomioka. Also, Nicholas Pettas will main event the card, meeting Takenori Onda under kickboxing rules. Pettas was confirmed to participate from the initial announcement of the card, however it was unknown under what rule set he would compete. He is now officially set to face Takenori Onda.
SLENDERSTONE Presents HEAT 2nd
September 23, 2006
Aichi Bushido Hall
Aichi, Japan
Doors Open: 15:00
Fights Start: 16:00
Tentative Fight Card (Card Subject To Change):
2R 5M
Osami Takahashi (Shimura Dojo) vs. Masahiro Watanabe (U-FILE CAMP Gifu)
Kickboxing Rules
3R 3M
Muangfahlek Kiatwichkien (Chuwatana Gym) vs. Takashin Nishimura (Shimura Dojo)
2R 5M
Atsuhiro Tsuboi (GRAPPLING SHOOTO BOXAS) vs. Akihiko Mori (Mori Dojo)
2R 5M
Satoko Shinashi (Freelance) vs. Yuka Okumura (S-KEEP)
2R 5M
Yasuhito Namekawa (Team M.A.D.) vs. Na Mu Jin (CMA KPW)
Kickboxing Rules
3R 3M
Evan Morris (STRIKEFORCE Muay Thai Gym) vs. Jyotaro Usui (Yamato Gym)
3R 5M
Tomomi Iwama (Team Barbosa Japan) vs. Yoshihiro Tomioka (Club Barbarian)
Kickboxing Rules
Open, 3R 3M
Nicholas Pettas (The Spirit Gym) vs. Takenori Onda (CMA Kobushijitsukai)
Continue Reading September 13th, 2006
Something seems amiss today. We can’t quite put our finger on it … a great disturbance in The Force, like a million baseball fans crying out at once. So we did what we always do when world events confuse us; we headed over to Wikipedia. And sure enough:
On September 13, 2006 (the game actually started on September 12 but ended after midnight due to a rain delay), the New York Mets’ win over the Florida Marlins mathematically eliminated the Atlanta Braves from winning the NL East, finally ending the Braves’ record streak of consecutive division titles at 14.
Man, that was fast.
So we couldn’t let the day go by without noting this changing of the guard; the burying of the hatchet, as it were. We feel like we’re witnessing history, like we are present for the invention of the motorcar, or the addition of another Spice Girl. Fittingly, it rained the day that Atlanta was eliminated, their scheduled game with the Phillies postponed, perhaps forever.
Do you realize there are 15-year-olds who have never seen a Mets NL East title? Party on, New York (thou Magic Number is “3″. Meanwhile, over at Braves Tomahawk, there is still a degree of denial:
The Braves will now host the Phillies, and Kyle Davies will pitch against Randy Wolf. The Braves elimination number from the division race is one.
No, my friends. The dance, she is over. The king is dead.
It Was Just A feeling In the Spring [Atlanta Journal Constitution]
Mets 6, Marlins 4 [MetsBlog]
(UPDATE: Look at all that has happened since the Braves last didn’t win the division.)
Continue Reading September 13th, 2006
Shooto’s misfortune has been Atsushi Matsuki’s luck so far.
Shooto promoters have announced that the September 17th GIG CENTRAL Vol. 10 card in Nagoya will now be a fight shorter, as the Shooto light heavyweight rookie contest between Takashi Goto and Astushi Matsuki has been cancelled, due to Goto being injured during training. Now, Matsuki will now advance to the finals to face Mitsuhiro Takeda, who was took a submission victory in his semifinal bout over Seiji Furukawa on September 8th.
Strangely, this is the second time Matsuki has advanced in the tournament after his opponent has pulled out. In the quarterfinals, he was originally slated to face R-BLOOD’s Kintaro, before Kintaro pulled out of the tournament. As a result, Matsuki has strangely advanced to the rookie tournament finals without yet having made his professional debut.
Koubudo MACS And ALIVE Present Professional Shooto: SHOOTO GIG CENTRAL Vol. 10
September 17th, 2006
Zepp Nagoya
Nagoya, Japan
Doors Open: 14:00
Fights Start: 15:00
Tentative Fight Card (Card Subject To Change)
2006 Shooto Bantamweight Rookie Tournament Quarterfinal
Class B, 56 KG, 2R 5M
Hiroshi Sakamoto (NASCER DO SOL) vs. Takuya Mori (Paraestra Sapporo)
Class B, 52 KG, 2R 5M
Kenichi Sawada (Paraestra Tokyo) vs. Tomohiko Yoshida (G-FREE)
Class B, 70 KG, 2R 5M
Kenichi Hattori (ALIVE Komaki) vs. Hisaki Hiraishi (Akimoto Dojo JUNGLE JUNCTION)
Class B, 70 KG, 2R 5M
Takahiro Kajita (Grappling Shootboxers Nagoya) vs. Yosuke Mikami (Mimura Dojo)
Class B, 56 KG, 2R 5M
Yasuhiro Akagi (ALIVE) vs. Takeyasu Hirono
Class B, 60 KG, 2R 5M
Hiroshi Umemura (ALIVE Komaki) vs. Alex Shevtsov (Extreme Academy)
Continue Reading September 13th, 2006
We are accustomed, in sports, to one moment changing everything; it’s probably the main reason we watch. But it’s forever fascinating to see how one moment can affect a human being, morphing them from a dominant force of nature to a scared boy in big pants, alone out there. These moments can’t make a player more talented, but they can sure make them seem a lot less. It’s 80 percent all mental.
Which is why, as joyous as we found last night’s latest psychological pillaging of Brad Lidge by Albert Pujols, we almost felt bad. Before Pujols’ homer in the National League Championship Series last year, Lidge was as automatic a reliever as Mariano Rivera; he was terrifying to even watch. This year? ERA nearing 5.00, sad lost look on his face, general emotional breakdown. It’s not like he doesn’t still throw hard or anything; something just seems to be gone.
It’s scary, because you see it happen to someone like Lidge, and you wonder if it can happen to anyone. It almost makes you want to turn away, because it’s so gruesome. Though, of course, we didn’t.
If Albert Were A Regular Citizen … [Get Up, Baby!]
Continue Reading September 13th, 2006
Notes from a day in baseball:
• 1. At Least There Was No Head-Butting. We tend to enjoy it when teammates engage in fisticuffs. What makes it better is when they later deny the incident, even though the entire fight had been shown on television. It happened most recently to the Royals, who must by now be thinking that this has been the longest season in the history of baseball. Starting pitcher Runelvys Hernandez and catcher John Buck engaged in their own special celebration for the 1,000th game played at Cleveland’s Jacobs Field, duking it out in the dugout at the conclusion of the third inning on Tuesday. Said manager Buddy Bell: “It’s September and there was some sort of misunderstanding.” (We can’t count the number of times we’ve said that very thing in court). But then, inexplicably, Hernandez said: “Nothing happened.” Oh, then that must have been a very fat bat boy we saw trading punches with your catcher on TV. Anyway, amidst all the confusion, Kansas City won 5-3.
• 2. Isn’t He Gorgeous? Still apparently mad over “The Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin’s demise, Bobby Abreu punished the Devil Rays with a homer, double and seven RBI to lead the Yankees to a 12-4 win, which featured a nine-run first inning.
• 3. Stripes. Carlos Guillen helped keep the Twins at bay, as his solo homer in the ninth won it for the Tigers over Texas, 3-2. First-place Detroit is 1 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota in the AL Central race.
• 4. Honk If You’re Within Three Games Of The NL Wild-Card Lead. Let’s face it, the NL wild-card race looks a lot like this right now. Leave it to Jason LaRue to make it even more confusing, as his 11th-inning homer won it for Cincinnati, 5-4 over San Diego. The Reds are 2 1/2 games behind the Padres for the wild-card lead, with four teams all with 2 1/2 games of each other.
• 5. The Island Of Justin Morneau. Justin Morneau doubled home a pair in the eighth as the Twins beat the A’s 7-5, further complicating the AL Central.
Continue Reading September 13th, 2006
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Sports
Speaking to IGN, Madden NFL 07 for Wii Producer Jason Armenise revealed the football title’s two-on-two multiplayer mode. Schoolyard rules apply, including the five-Mississippi rush (also known as bananas or steamboats, apparently). Drumming the controller up and down causes the defensive end on screen to count “one Mississippi, two Mississippi, …” — drum faster and the count speeds up.
The most intriguing addition, however, is the buzz communication system. While on the offense, players can tap the A button on their Wii remote and cause their partner’s controller to vibrate accordingly — it’s up to the partners to decide ahead of time what each rumbled message means. Devious usages aside, why hasn’t anyone every thought of this before? We like the idea, but fear the ramifications of confusing Morse code transmissions:
“You buzzed once!”
“I know, dude. One buzz means go left!”
“No, it means I’m going run so you gotta cover me!”
“No, dude, that’s two short buzzes, a long buzz, and another short buzz!”
“Aww, [buzz] off!”
See Also:
Wii impressions: Madden NFL 07
Video walkthrough of Madden Wii
[Thanks, Sam]
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/
Previous Posts
