UFC 73: Stacked Arco Arena July 7th 2007

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Lightweights                                                
                    Frank “The Answer” Edgar 6-0-0 (-300)     vs      Mark Bocek 4-0-0 (+220)

Fight Analysis:  Frank Edgar is young guy and relatively new to MMA, hes one of the few lightweights that likes to standup and strike instead of trying to take it to the ground.  The fact that Edgar beat Tyson Griffin at UFC 67 is reason enough to have him favored as heavy as he is.  Mark Bocek is a canadian Jiu Jitsu artist with a perfect record but he really hasn’t fought anyone and would definantly need this win to validate himself in the UFC.  Odds have Edgar -300 (risk $300 to win $100) because he actually fought someone worth talking about, Bocek +220 (risk $100 to win $220) will need to be aggresive if he wants a shot at winning.

My Pick:  Frank Edgar is going to knock this canuck out!

Welterweights                              -
   Chris “Lights Out” Lytle 22-14-5 (-420) vs Jason “The Gizzard” Gilliam 11-1-0 (+300)

Fight Analysis:  This fight was put together at the last minute when Drew Fickett blew out his knee while training and Jason Gilliam was called in at the last minute.  Chris Lytle has been around MMA for a long time as is obvious when you see that hes had over 40 fights!  Lytle prefers to take it to the ground which has lead to 15 wins by submission.  He’s taking on an obscure fighter in Jason Gilliam who seems to prefer to standup and strike.  Current odds have Lytle favored heavy at -420 (risk $420 to win $100) while Gilliam presents a valuable comeback at +300 (risk $100 to win $300).  If Gilliam can defend against the shoot and take down he might be able to crack Lytle in the head, but if experience is any factor that Lytle should make short work of “The Gizzard”

My Pick:  Lytle by submission.  

Lightweights                                    
       Jorge Gurgel 10-2-0 (-290)      vs      Diego “The Octopus” Saraiva 9-4-1 (+210)

Fight Analysis:  Jorge Gurgel is a classic example of a lightweight wrestler who doesn’t want to beat you with fists, but rather make you say uncle.  9 of his 10 wins have come by way of submission and he is particularly partial to arm bars and guillotine chokes.  Diego Saraiva has much the same style as Gurgel and I expect him to take it to the ground as well.  With both fighters using similar styles it would seem odd that the bookmakers have it so lopsided.  Gurgel is an astounding -290 (risk $290 to win $100) while Saraiva offers a comeback of +210(risk $100 to win $210).  This is as even a matchup as you could hope for, that +210 is waaay too juicy to to pass up on a fight that will go immediatly to the ground and then its just wrestling between lightweights.

My Pick:  I am taking Saraiva simply because of the value on him.  Saraiva by submission!

Light Heavyweights                                               
          Stephan “American Psycho” Bonnar 9-4-0 (-450)   vs     Mike Nickels 5-1-0 (+325)

Fight Analysis: Bonnar is coming off a 12 month suspension after testing positive for steroids and needs a win to vindicate himself.  Bonnar can go the distance with the sports toughest fighters as proven in his decision losses against Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans.  His record is a little shabby and out of those 9 wins, Keith Jardine is the only guy that I recognize.  Mike Nickels is another realtively unknown fighter that has alot to prove, a win here will get him on his way up the ladder.  Both fighters can standup and strike as well as take it to the ground, I don’t expect to many fireworks and it will most likely go to the cards. Early lines have Bonnar the favorite -450 (risk $450 to win $100) simply because he has more fights under his belt, Nickels has a comeback of +325 (risk $100 to win $325).  This is another fight where I feel like there is no value on the fight and it could go either way.  For that reason alone I will probably throw some money down on Nickels, but I don’t expect to win.

My Pick:  This will probably be the most boring fight of the night, Bonnar by decision. 

Heavyweights                                                                       Heath “The Texas Crazy Horse” Herring 27-12-1 (+500)    vs Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira 29-4-1 (-700)

Fight Analysis:  The lone heavyweight fight of the night may turn out to be the slowest fight of the night.  Its a fight between a wrestler in Herring and a Brazilian Jiu – Jitsu master in Nogueira, both fighters love to fight on the ground.  Minotauro will most likely go for one of his signature armbars that were so successful against Mirko Cro Cop and Dan Henderson.  Herring will most likely go to the ground with Nogueira, but don’t be surprised to see Herring try to stand up and strike instead of grinding it out on the ground. Both fighters have a ton of experience and can go the distance, but this fight will end by the 3rd.  The early lines out have Minotauro as a huge favorite at -700 (risk $700 to win $100) with Herring at a whopping +500 (risk $100 to win $500)  obviously all the value is on Herring and the line will most likely come way down.  There is no value in taking -700 so stay away from it, Nogueira is favored that high because hes beaten Cro Cop and Henderson, but that was a long time ago and Herring is looking tough, this is another huge opportunity to make money on the UFC upsets.

My Pick:  Herring is going to knock this fool out!

*World Lightweight Championship Bout                   Sean “Muscle Shark” Sherk 35-2-1 (-230)    vs      Hermes Franca 18-5-0 (+180)

Fight Analysis:  Well, Franca asked for it and now hes got it, a lightweight championship bout with none other than Sean Sherk who holds an unheardof record of 35-2-1.  Both fighters have a wealth of experience and both are wrestlers by trade however Franca loves to standup and strike as well as throw flying knees around.  Sherk will most likely try to take it to the ground and overpower Franca by submission which accounts for 42% of Sean’s total wins.  I don’t think he likes getting hit which was evident in his loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 56 which means that is exactly what Franca should be doing, standing up and letting the knees go flying.  Should Sherk take it to the ground I think hes got the win, however Franca is riding an 8 fight win streak and has proven that he can go the distance, but when you fight the champ you gotta go for the knockout, when going to decision the champ always has an edge simply because he is the defending champ, Franca will have to stay on his feet!  Right now Sherk is a heavy favorite for obvious reasons at -230 (risk $230 to win $100) while Franca presents a nice payday at +180 (risk $100 to win $180).

My Pick:  Sherk is the favorite for a good reason.  As much as I like Franca’s fighting style, I have to take Sherk by decision.  

Light Heavyweights                                                                  Tito “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Ortiz 16-5-0 (-120)   vs Rashad “Sugar” Evans 15-0-0 (-110)

Fight Analysis:  Tito is the veteran but Evans is on an undefeated win streak.  Both fighters have the same style, they like to standup and strike and then look for the open shoot to try and take them down to the mount and pound the living hell out of their opponents.  In this fight I have to give the advantage to Evans simply because hes younger and looks faster on his feet than Tito.  I think Evans should try to stay on his feet and defend against the shoot much like Chuck Liddell did when he knocked out Tito back in December.  Tito will most likely try to take it to the ground as fast as he can and if he can get Evans on his back it could be over quick.  Both are very accomplished wrestlers, but the striking should take the spotlight in this light heavyweight bout.  Tito is a slight favorite at -120 (risk $120 to win $100), and Evans is right behind him at -110 (risk $110 to win $100).  You might be looking for the + money on this fight, but it doesn’t apply to these fighters as they are very evenly matched. Tito needs this win to reestablish himself, but Evans has been on a mean win streak and doesn’t intend to let it end on July 7th.  

My Pick:  Evans is younger and quicker, I like Rashad Evans by knockout.

Lightweights                                                     
                       Kenny “KenFlo” Florian 8-3-0 (-320)  vs  Alvin “Kid” Robinson 8-1-0(+240)

Fight Analysis:  Kenny Florian has been getting alot of attention lately and I’m not sure why.  I mean he did just beat Dokonjonosuke Mishima at Fight Night 9 a couple months ago, but other than that he hasn’t really beaten anyone yet.  KenFlo is a wrestler whos majority of wins came by way of submission.  He has to lose some weight to get down to the Lightweight status, where he looks to be more comfortable.  His opponent, Alvin “The Kid” Robinson has been in MMA for only 2 years, but has been chalking up the victories all by way of submission, hes a tough lightweight that is steadily climbing the Lightweight ladder.  Both fighters will try to take it to the ground and there will most likely be a submission or it could go to the cards, all in all I don’t expect this to be an exciting fight.  Currently the odds makers have KenFlo a heavy favorite at -320 (risk $320 to win $100) while Robinson presents a valuable comeback at +240 (risk $100 to win $240).  This fight will be slow and on the ground most of the time, Florian is fresh off a win at Fight Night 9 back in April while Robinson has been resting since February, KenFlo is the hype but for the bettor Robinson has all the value.

My Pick:  KenFlo is favored because of winning recent fights, but that doesn’t necessarily mean hes a better fighter, regardless I’ll take KenFlo by decision.

*World Middleweight Championship Bout               Anderson “The Spider” Silva 18-4-0 (-165)   vs Nate “The Great” Marquardt 28-6-1 (+130)

Fight Analysis: This could be the fight of the night or it could be over 1 minute into the 1st round.  Both fighters are extremely dangerous and seasoned MMA fighters with lots of experience.  Silva is a muay thai expert and is known for his standup striking that has earned him 10 wins by KO/TKO, he will undoubtly try and stay on his feet and use his quickness to outbox Marquardt and go for the knockout.  Marquardt on the other hand is a submission specialist and 7 time Pancrase middleweight champion.  Out of his 28 wins 14 have come by way of submission and he will most likely try to shoot on Silva early and take the fight to the ground where he holds the advantage.  This is another classic example of a terrific standup striker fighting a relentless submission specialist, the winner will be whoever can control where the fight takes place, on the ground or standing up.  Currently Silva is favored  -165 (risk $165 to win $100), this is mainly because he is the defending champ, however with Marquardt at +130 (risk $100 to win $130) Nate “The Great” provides for some solid value.  Both fighters can go the distance, but this championship bout has the makings for a ruthless knockout or submission early in the rounds.  I think Marquardt has the edge in strength and experience, but Silva is so explosive that one punch from either fighter and the fight could be over.

My Pick:  With the belt on the line I like Marquardt by submission in the 2nd round. 

Recap of my Picks:
Frank Edgar by KO
Chris Lytle by Submission
Diego Saraiva by Submission
Stephan Bonnar by Decision
Heath Herring by KO
Sean Sherk by Decision
Rashard Evans by KO
Kenny Florian by Decision
Nate Marquardt by Submission 

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So since I always give a preview and odds and picks for every UFC event and I have been picking well, just ask my bookie, I thought I would challenge the public to a little handicapping contest.  I will be making my picks early next week after all the lines have come out. Heres a link to my preview of the main card fights

 Heres how it works:

-Next week around Tuesday or Wednesday I will post a long review of each fight as well as the live odds.  After which I will list my picks.  Anyone wishing to participate should sign up an account with GP and then leave me a comment with your account number and desire to participate. Click here for a FREE account to enter

-All entries will be due Saturday 12:oo noon est. After which I will post a list of everyones account number and picks.  Whoever picks better than me will receive a free $25 cash in their account on Sunday morning. *Note free cash is treated as a BONUS that will require a 7X rollover in sports or a 30X rollover in the casino before anything can be withdrawn

-In the event of a tie between myself and a player it will be a push.  You gotta beat me to win!

-This contest is all in the spirit of fun and should any player found to be signing up multiple accounts in order to submit multiple picks will be disqualified!

So look for my picks next week and see if your UFC intelect is up to par and pick up some free cash.  

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The Shaq is back and taking on a new lead, in helping kids get fit. While the season is over for him, he is taking on a new challenge in his own Reality Show like the “Biggest Looser”, but with his he is doing it all with KIDS!!! Yo go Shaq! It’s nice to see high profile people giving back and sharing some of that wealth and he can share to others. He will take 6 kids and take them from fat to thin and help these kids better there life and to live a long one at that. Children’s obesity is the fastest growing epidemic in the US. These kids have a shorter lifespan, and in time have heart problems and diabetes, due to there heavy weight. Each year young kids are becoming more and more huge, and the numbers are climbing each year and its just getting way out of control. Along with Shaq O’Neil he has his experts with him in helping these kids achieve there goals. First we have Joy Bauers, founder of Joy Bauer Nutrition – One of the largest nutritionist centers in the country. She helps people on weight management, eating disorders, sports nutrition, diabetes and food allergies. Dale Brown – The Winn ingest coach in Louisiana state university basketball history and is now a motivational speaker. He is the author of Tiger in a lion’s den, Tiger in a Lion’s Den: Adventures in LSU Basketball and Dale Brown’s Memoirs from LSU Basketball “a whole chapter was devoted to Shaq himself. Carlon Colker, MD – He just not Shaq’s personnel physician and trainer, Dr. Colker is the CEO and Medical Director of Peaks Wellness, Inc. of Greenwich, CT, where his practice includes Internal Medicine, Sports Medicine, and Sports Nutrition. He also has several published books “Men’s health and Men’s fitness to name a few. Here is one of my favorites Tyler Florence, a celebrity chef a huge food network star who has several of his own shows, like “how to boil water”, Food 911 and Tyler’s Ultimate. He was also named the “sexiest chef alive” “hum don’t know about that one, but he is about an 8. Down to the last 2 pep’s in the shaq’s crew William I. Muinosis, MD A certified doctor in pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology “wow that’s a long word” and is the assistant director of pediatric gastroenterology at Miami, children’s hospital. Last we have Tarik Tyler “Mr.T” a professional trainer who has helped many get the bodies they needs like Kate Hudson, to Maybelline spokes-model Tomiko Fraser. With a balance diet, discipline and determination is everything to stay focused and fit. Now there you have it the whole team that will turn these kid’s lives around and put them on the right track and to live a longer life. Here is something about those 6 wonderful lucky kids that got selected to be on the show: Ariel 14, and weight in at 211 lbs at the start of the show and turns to food for comfort when she is stressed out and sad. Chris – 11 years of age and weighted in at 206 lbs He currently plays in a basketball team and dreams of becoming a professional ball player. James, age 11 and weighted in at 182 lbs James, doesn’t think he is over weight, but likes fries and burgers. What kid doesn’t love burgers, but is up to the parent in the amount of fast foods they let them eat. Kevin who is 13 years old and weighed in at 230 lbs o my 230 that is to much for a 13 year old kid it’s almost heart breaking to see this. Kevin is very close to his father and looks up to him. He is also a very competitive kid and thrives in a team environment. Kit who is 14 years of age and weighed in at 263 lbs. and is very talented and has been sheltered by her parents. Last we have Walter, age 14 and weighted in at 285 pounds and spends 5 hours a day playing video games and loves to eat pizza burritos. He dreams of making his own video game one day.

After Shaq meets all the kids at there home and talks to them about the challenge, the kids talked back to him about there experiences being over-weight and some tears dropped and throats chuckled. He lets them know it’s going to be okay and makes a vow to them that he will help them and they all got excited. They were all excited when he walked through there doors. He takes the kids to the Miami Children’s Hospital for an extensive physical exam, which reveals frightening results for all of them. He gives Chris his check-up and measures his body fat and is shocked. These kids are not just over-weight they are also developing real risks to their health and need to do something about it fast. After each kid and there parents see the results they are motivates to do something, but will they stick to the program and follow through? The kids are all set up with there gym equipment and hooked them up all with there own personnel eating plan to follow. Shaq has even put his foot down on the Walter and his five hour day video game playing, which will stop. On the first day of these kids training they had to run around the track and pretty much get down to exercising there butts off and some were starting to get discouraged. Shaq stops and to give Chris some encouragement before he works out and letting him know he can do it. Shaq and Dr. Carlon “personnel Trainer” stop to show off some mussels Dammm – those are huge mussels”, and lets everyone know “there will be a lot of spinach eating and working out”!! Walter and Kevin take a time out for some Shaq talk and motivation for them, but Kevin was running good and said he thought he could never do this and he is doing it. O he was so happy!!! At gym time, Kevin was getting his kick boxing on and that I mean you lose a lot of weight doing it to. Kit is looking like she loves the treadmill “I do” and is huffing and puffing but is doing it. You go girl!!! They are trying to get everyone to hit that mile walk/run down and make it to the finish line and Shaq is right there with them giving them encouragement and they make it to the 1 mile mark. Yaaaaaaaaaaa!!! While Shaq and his team sit down and strategies on what’s to come for these kids!! Until next week – take care.

This week Shaq was a bit upset as some of the kids were not doing good in there exercise and not eating right. Basically they are not keeping up there end of the deal and he lets the kids know he is not happy at all. He actually got pissed off and hit the side of the radio and the speaker feel down, but some are saying he is pushing the kids to far and one of the children is actually having breathing problems. Shaq holds a meeting and brings all the kids and there parents together to have a talk in letting them know they need to get back on track. He also introduced a new trainer Tarik Tyler, AKA Mr. T who really doesn’t care for kids. He says “The work-outs are about to get tougher and the kids will now have mandatory 2 hour work-outs five days a week with Mr. T supervising everything. O shit – it’s on now. After all that has been said and done, Kit feels the tension and is so scared she starts to breath heavy and gets taken away in an ambulance. Kit’s father is so pissed off at Shaq in having to put fear in his daughter; the father decides to pull his daughter out of the program. Big mistake there, his child is extremely over weight and she didn’t get there by herself, it’s with help in how you feed your kids and now she is not going to get the advantage and the help see needs to lose the weight and live a healthy life. BIG MISTAKE on father side, because Kit doesn’t want to leave she wants to say, but NOP. Right now some of the kids are feeling good about it and hanging in there, but there are some that are frustrated and depressed, which is not good. Shaq decides to bring in an old friend of his “Coach Dale Brown” and gives the kids advice on Team-work and getting the inspired in the program and to keep them going. Shaq and Dale go visit the Miami middle school and demands the school to allow these kids to have a physical education class for all the kids, and they both got shut down. What kid of school is that!!! At least in the food part of things they are doing well in that department, but the work-out part Chris ditched his work-out and MR. T tracked him down and he was pissed. Is Mr. T’s constant pushing doing more harm then good, will see on Episode three next week.

A lot has happened in the weeks of this showing airing. Some of the kids are getting discourages and some wanting to quit but Shaq is sticking it out with them and finding different ways to motivate them to stay in the competition. Some of the kids are talking together in how much weight is being lost. Kevin is actually gaining weight and needs to step up and be a man and lose the weight. He is telling the other kids he has lost weight and he is actually lying about it, but Kevin is being a little tough and is talking a little smack after the talk it didn’t go in one ear out the other. It went in one ear and stuck he said so he is ready to move up in the weight loss. Shaq and the doctor go visit the parents of Kit to talk about letting her back in the program to lose her weight. Shaq talks to her father but wants no Doctor – No Camera’s in the house. The father gets a little hostile and starts to say get the F out of my house, I don’t want you guys here. You don’t like my rules get the F out. Shaq understands that the father is old school and loves his daughter very much and Shaq made a comment there should be more fathers out there like him. Kit really wants to go back to the program but her father is really not moving on the situation and Shaq broke it down to the father that she got scared and over reacted on some things and when she got in the ambulance there was nothing wrong with her and assured the father that they will not let nothing happened to her. Hopefully her father will let her go back. Kevin is the biggest talker in the group and says he is the honcho in the group the leader but Kevin is also very very cocky and needs to lose that and be a better leader to the kids if they are following him. All the kids are riding each-other about there weight loss and some should have lost more weight with the amount of exercises they are doing. Shaq decides to bring in some cheerleaders to motivate them and boy does the kids get motivated, especially Bill. At the home front of some of the kids eating habits have changed and Walter has been eating the veggies and food his mother has been cooking and says its boring, boring, boring, but he has to do it. It took him 30 minutes to eat his veggies, and had eaten them all. Good for you Walter!!!! Mr. T has been giving all the kids so much different exercises and different programs that it would be impossible to not lose the weight in Shaq’s program, shoot I started doing some of Mr. T’s exercises and I have lost some weight myself. Kit does return back to the show and the trainer continues to move the kids and getting them going on there programs. ON the last episode (4) Tyler Florence and Shaq go visit a middle school cafeteria and scoops out there lunch and they were so shocked, shoot I was to the food they feed these kids, but schools look at what $ brings in and that is the problem. Since the US always taking from the school district’s funds and paying teachers so little there budgets seem to get less and less. Tyler had helped the school cafeteria to prepare more then 1000 thousand healthy lunches with the schools budges that kids will love and it worked. Everyone was eating the food and hopefully they will stay on that track and continue to cook what was prepared there. The finally is coming up and the kids are shocked when weigh in time comes and so is Shaq. Let’s see how many of these kids are on there way to a thin healthy life. Until then – take care!!

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What is Brett Favre still doing in Green Bay?

After all the media frenzy last December about whether or not it would be Brett Favre’s last game you would think that it was a sure thing, hes done, hes going to retire, get in the hall of fame, and be hired by the Packers front office, right…….?  I guess not because not only is he at the Packer minicamps and OTA’s, but hes listed as the starting QB for Green Bay on the depth chart!

Now I know its only June and its not a gaureentee that Favre is starting, but after seeing some press comferences on his progress as he gets ready for the 2007 season, I can tell you that he certainly believes that hes the starter.  Favre’s competition at QB are 1 rookie and 2 guys that have seen less playing time than a one legged punter.  At present it looks like 2nd year sophmore out of Furman, Ingle Martin is being groomed for the backup position while 3rd year junior out of Cal, Aaron Rodgers is holding up the 3rd string position and lastly there is the rookie free agent out of Oklahoma, Paul Thompson.  First of all, let me say that I respect the Martin/Rodgers picks, they are good players and probably underrated and were definantly cheap to pick up.  Now, I’m the Green Bay front office and Brett Favre has come back for yet another season and although he is nearing 40 years old, he is a hall of fame quarterback, but his numbers have dipped and the bottom line is that its time to groom the next generation in Green Bay, what do I do?……OK lets face it, Favre’s numbres have been declining steadily for a while now, hes a hall of famer and usually when you call someone that it means that they are retired or need to retire, unfortunatly Favre is the latter.  I just got done watching a press clip on ESPN of Favre talking about having a sore shoulder and opting out of practices to let it heal and that this has been a problem before and hes working through it and will be ready for the start of the season.  I mean I’m sure that when he decided to come back for another season that he expected to start and give it one last shot to take the Pack all the way and the pride and guts and glory and all that sentimental crap, but the bottom line is that the longer Favre is the starting quarterback the farther in the hole Green Bay will find itself.  Green Bay is latching on to a storied past with a storied quarterback, Favre needs to be there for moral support and help groom the next era of quarterback, not going out there and trying to act like hes starting every game this season.  What is the possibility that Favre will start every game this year, if he is not injured?  

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No, Michael Bloomberg is not running for President in 08′ and I will give you 10 reasons why. 

1.  He just quit the Republican Party and has been indentifying himself as an Independent.  As much as the country claims to be Independent (about 40%) we are not ready to elect one yet.  The 2 major parties are just still too strong.

2.  Hes the current mayor of New York City.  Bloomberg has made it quite clear that he intends to finish his term in 2009 and will become a philanthropist after his term is over.

3.  He is from New York.  He has no chance running as an Independent in a state where both Hilary Clinton and Rudy Guiliani have chosen sides and are actually leading their opponents.  Stretching a states votes 3 ways will only help your opponents and your opponents opponents.

4.  Hes a billionaire.  The American people want to elect someone they can relate to, not a billionaire hot shot who influences wallstreet.  Or do they?….

5.  Hes Jewish.  Not to be antisemetic, but being jewish in politics can have a negative effect.  Look at Joe Liberman, he ran once saw that it couldn’t be done and was happy with being chairman of some powerful committees instead.  America is not ready for a Jewish president yet.  Just like they aren’t ready for a woman president yet.

6.  Hes an Independent.  I know I know I already said this, but when your anti gun control and pro abortion your just going to cancel out your votes with the ones you gain and the ones you lose. Very hard to find middle ground in politics today, even though thats what everyone claims to want.

7.  Wall Street absolutely loves this guy!!!  many Democrats will crucify him for being so pro buisness.

8.  Ross Perot.  Billionaire Independents are some of the most finance savvy candidates, but that is a skill that when harnessed happens behind the scenes, the public wants to see your actions not just hear about them or look at charts and graphs.  They are usually torn apart by conservatives and damned by liberals.  Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

9.  Hes got powerful friends in both of the popular parties.  In a race that is already soo jammed packed, whats the point of running against your allies and losing all that support and capacity to be a moderator between the 2 parties.  If hes really serious about running he would have done it by now.  All hes doing is testing the water and seeing what the reaction would be to him running.  Its all just for practice.

10.  And the final reason that Michael Bloomberg will not be running in 08′…….. If he wanted to be president that bad he could probably BUY his own country and tie their economy directly to the performance of the NYSE.

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Well I thought that maybe Kobe would have read my blog yesturday and was rethinking his whole approach…..Good Luck!

Now there is a video of him bad mouthing the whole organization that he claimed he wanted to be a part of his entire career.  Plus he had to throw out that they should have traded Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd, and Kwame Brown for Ron Artest.  I mean if that doesn’t make a team uncomfortable, I’m not sure what will.  Maybe if Kobe was more of a leader than a whiner he would have sucked it up and used what he had to advance farther in th payoffs, but thats not how he sees it.  Boo Hoo poor Kobe, does he really think that he should be winning the championship every year or what, it takes time to build a winning team, look at the Suns for example, you don’t see Steve Nash or any of those guys bitching about not winning because of the front office.  They took responsibility for their own losses.  Plus the disrespect the Kobe is showing to guys that have been building teams before he was born it just too much, although I said yesturday that Kobe most likely will not be going anywhere, now it seems that he has given Dr. Buss no choice but to get rid of him which is a shame, because it seems like Dr. Buss is a nice guy and one of the winningest owners in the league.  To bad Kobe is forcing his hand like this.  Anyways back to the 24 second video, it was up on youtube and then taken down and is now available for purchase at thekobevideo.com, however a private party has offered to purchase the video for $100,000 so the owners of the video have stated that they will hold the video until they reach an order threshold of 50,000 to then distribute it to purchasers, if the order is not met then they will simply sell it to the private party.  What a way to spend $100,000 and its for a video that is 24 seconds long which breaks down to $4167 a second.  I mean dammmmmmmmmmn!!! Now maybe if it was a video of Paris Hilton in the middle of a womens prison love fest with Lindsey Lohan and Brittny Spears I could understand the expense.  Kobe please shut your trap and just earn your paycheck by playing up to your ability.  This is turning into a media circus and this will stigmatize him where ever he goes, his head is just too big to realize it.

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Yes, Kobe Bryant being traded away from the Lakers is highly unlikely, but does give some insight on what is going on in L.A.

First he wants to be traded last month, then he says he wants to be a Laker for life.  He sounds like a spoiled brat, he needs to just shut his trap and collect his paycheck.  Of course he wants to win championships, but that doesn’t mean that a player tells the owner how to run his own team.  I mean do you really think Dr. Buss doesn’t want to win.  Kobe is creating this false sense of chaos and ineptness in the Lakers front office, embarrasing current management and creating a media feeding frenzy to garner even more attention to himself.  I will admit that Kobe is one of the most dominating figures in sports history, however he is creating turmoil within the current team, making them think that if you get on Kobe’s bad side he can get you traded away, as was the controversy when Shaq  was traded away.  He keeps talking about building the team around him which is different then building a team for him.  Bryant wrote Sunday on his website that the Lakers, owned by Jerry Buss, are not supporting him with players the team needs to win championships.  The truth is, is that the Lakers are thinking long term, and Kobe wants another ring RIGHT NOW. 

Undoubtedly, Dr. Buss finds himself in an uncomfortable situation, his all star box office franchise player is making demands to him and then going out and talking about being traded to other teams, I highly doubt they will trade him and the truth is, is he really doesn’t want to leave, he is just throwing a tantrum.  I think Michael Jordan should call him up and tell him to shut his trap and let Dr. Buss take care of everything, nothing happens fast in the world of professional sports and there are many angles that I think Kobe is overlooking in his haste to get back to the Finals.  Dr. Buss didn’t get to where he is now by making stupid decisions and hes not about to let his biggest earner walk away.  So for now Kobe needs to go on vacation and just let the dust settle and let Buss do his thing.

What do you think will happen to Kobe?

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UFC 72: Victory is to be held Saturday June, 16th in Belfast, Ireland. *Note all lines subject to continous change.

The Fight card will be headlined with a middleweight bout between former champ Rich “Ace” Franklin vs Yushin Okami.  This will definantly be an intresting fight since both fighters have very similar standup fighting styles and are both comfortable on the ground should the fight go in that direction.  Franklin 23-2-0 is favored at -210 (risk $210 to win $100) simply because he is the ex-champ and is probably a little bit better striker, which has been proven to be advantagous in a sport where one punch can end the fight.  Okami +160(risk $100 to win $160) is fairly new to the UFC and was imported in from the Pride Fighting League that UFC recently aquired.  With a record of 21-3-0 he is no stranger to MMA and is currently on a 6 fight win streak that includes most recently Mike Swick who Okami just destroyed.  Hes a standup fighter with excellent grappling skills and should give Franklin all he can handle.  I like Okami simply because of the value of the line and his ability to matchup well with Franklin.

Another featured fight will be light heavyweights Forrest Griffin vs Hector “Sick Dog” Ramirez.  (Lines on this bout are not available yet, but should be up within a day or so.)  Forrest Griffin 13-4-0 is a relative star in the UFC, but recent losses to Keith Jardine in UFC 66(TKO punches)  and  Tito Ortiz in UFC 59(split decision) have left him a fading star and another loss could be devastating for his career.  This along with the fact that hes Irish and fighting in Ireland makes him the fan favorite automatically and gives him a little boost in confidence.  Forrest is a grappler and is very comfortable on the ground as 6 of his wins have come by way of submission, this could be a key factor in the outcome because forrest is slightly bigger than his oppnent and has more experience.  As for Hector Ramirez 6-2-1, this will be only his second appearance in the UFC having lost his first bout to James Irvin in UFC 65(TKO).  Ramirez is a wrestler by trade, but has been known to throw devastating punches and has the power to deliver the “one hitter quitter” as 4 of his KO’s have come way of standup striking.  I think this one will be a toss up, Griffin has shown weakness in his previous losses and Ramirez really has nothing to lose, my pick will depend on the line, Griffin will be favored and this might present enough value on Ramirez to make it worth it.

The third fight on the main card will be a middleweight fight between Rory “Outburst” Singer and Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald.  First of all, I would like to state that these 2 guys could possibly have the worst nicknames in MMA!!!  Personally if somebody called me “Outburst” I would probably punch them in the nose….anyways Rory Singer 12-7-0 has been in the UFC for about a year now, hes a wrestler with 7 wins coming by way of submission, which tells me that he like the ground, however 3 of his losses came by way of submission as well so he is not dominate in any specific style, he mainly relys on his strength to overpower opponents in whichever position he might find himself.  Jason MacDonald 19-8-0 is another wrestler/standup striker, he has 16 wins by way of submission, which tells me that he is very technical and probably prefers the ground since 3 of his losses have come from KO/TKO and 3 by way of decision, I think he prefers the ground where he can slow down the rythem of the fight and take more control.  If MacDonald can get Singer on the ground then I gotta think its over for Singer.  Whatever the outcome look for a slow and technical bout, with MacDonald winning.

The last bout on the main card will be lightweights Clay “The Carpenter” Guida and Tyson Griffin.  First of all lightweight fighter only weigh 155, these guys are small, as in stout and short with Guida coming in at 5′7″ and Griffin at 5′6″.  I think we will see a standup striking bout and someone will get knocked out!!! Now my previous statement might sound foolish when I tell you that Guida 21-4-0 is a wrestler with 11 wins coming by way of submission, but the truth is, is that he really hasn’t fought anyone and many of his fights have gone to decisions, which tell me that he doesn’t know how to finish a fighter off, he draws it out on the ground and looks to the judges to win it for him, this strategy will not work against an opponent like Griffin who is comfortable standing up as well as on the ground, but Griffin will not be looking to get into a tickle match with Guida on the ground, hes going to be standing up and striking while defending against Guida’s take down attempts, Griffin looks stronger as well and if he catches Guida with a hook, it will be over. Griffin by KO 1st round!!!

*NOTE UFC 72 is in Belfast, Ireland and will be shown at 3:00pm est. on PPV so get your bets in the night before if you plan on partying Friday night or you might miss it.

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Matchup Odds have just been released, click here to view all matchups and odds.

RED ALERT RED ALERT for the books, bet against Tiger Woods in any matchup, rumor is that he just got done breaking 100 in practice rounds!!! In particular I like Tiger Woods -290 vs Jim Furyk +220, at more than 2 -1 Furyk is just too good against a player like Woods who either misses the cut or wins the the whole thing.  This line will definantly move down on Furyk once the wise guys come in and see it.  Another matchup that seems to be a mismatch is Trevor Immelman -135 vs Aaron Oberholser +105 , Oberholser is a very underrated player and matched up against someone like Immelman and getting plus money is too hard to pass up. 

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CLOSE, thats exactly what the Clevleand Cavs were last night.  But close doesn’t cut it.  The Cavs lost last night to the Spurs in a real nail biter 75 – 72.  This turned out to be the second lowest scoring game in NBA Finals history since introducing the 24 second clock.  The total is a testament to the kind of defense that was going on last night.  I mean who knew that the Cavs could hold down the Spurs the way they did, or did they?  It kinda looked like the Spurs did what they are known to do, which is get over confident and lazy, thus they are forced to get into hurry up mode at near the end of the 4th quarter.  As I was watching LeBron stage a comeback they were down by 2 wih 48 seconds on the clock, LeBron has the ball and instead of setting up a play, he fakes the drive and dumps inside to the mop headed brazilian who should have gone in for the dunk and tried to draw the foul, but instead tried to lay it up and ultimatly missed it.  At this point San Antonio rebounded and I turned the TV off.  I knew it was over, this would force the Cavs to foul and the Spurs are all pretty good on the line so really doesn’t matter who it is.  This morning I saw the final score and read the post game report and it played out exactly like I thought, but then I hear the LeBron was fouled on the last play of the game as he was shooting a 3 pointer to tie the game.  I watched the replay, and whether he was fouled or not, the previous possesion with the pass to Anderson inside was what did them in.  It was just a mistake that alot of young players make  when they are down by 2 in a big game with less than a minute to go, they get excited and just lob anything up, this basically describes the Cavs shooting in the 4th quarter.  They are just too young of a team, they aren’t ready.  They got close…. but close only counts in horse shoes and hand granades.

Game 4 is on Thursday night at 9:00pm est in Cleveland, the opening line is San Antonio  - 3 with an over/under  total of 176.5.  I like Cleveland in the 1st quarter but this looks like a sweep coming so like Tony Parker would say,  “bring out Le Broom for Le Bron.”

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