El Terrible

Please don't construe this as ridiculously racist, I mean this in the absolute most benign of ways. But it's still Cinco de Mayo for another couple of minutes and I want to take this time to highlight my all-time favorite Mexican athlete: Erik Morales. Ended his boxing career in 2007 as a lightweight, but started it punching like a middleweight at 123-pounds. I don't know where he got his ridiculous power from, but it didn't take away from his speed or his ability to absorb, and push ably through punishment. 

He looked old in his last four fights, all ending in a loss. But even at 30, a time when he should have been in his prime, he was all but washed up. That's what happens when a guy starts fighting professionally at 16! Zahir Raheem turned out to be faster and Manny Pacquiao was just getting into his prime when 'El Terrible' was leaving his. But to me the most indicative moment of Morales's career was in 2005 when he first fought Pacquiao. On short notice he went in with a younger, faster opponent and made him look just silly.  He smacked him around for 12 rounds, firing away with combinations at that 'underdog' status he had going into the bout. 

I had no idea at the time that that would be it for Morales. It was a competitive fight, but one that Morales completely overperformed in because he was that much a professional. He ended his career looking overmatched and under motivated. But on that night for my money, he was as good as he ever was.

E-Readers and Newsprint

Interesting article on NYTimes.com recently, more specifically the one linked below. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/technology/companies/04reader.html?_r=1

The piece deals with e-readers like the Kindle, where people (commuters especially) can access books on a larger digital device. I don't own one, but I'm skeptical about what they mean for newspapers. I can see the benefit of getting a digital copy of a magazine, laid out with large "print," and being able to archive it all on one device. But reading a newspaper on a digital platform seems like as much a hassle as, well, newspapers. 

In terms of commuting I like to toss my quarters into a change cup next to the register at a train station and be on my way. The paper has a shelf life of an hour and when I no longer want to carry it, I don't have to. The e-reader is portable, but bigger. It offers a better quality 'print' than say, a smaller device like an iPhone. But isn't the rub with the iPhone that, in addition to being multipurpose, it's smaller? 

Smaller used to be a good thing as a matter of convenience, but now bigger is better for reading. Is bigger THAT much better for print that we need an  electronic device for internet/phone/music/video and a separate one for reading? at that point we're carrying as much as we did when we had a brick Motorola cell and a Wall Street Journal. 

Thoughts?

Brett Favre! Oh no not Favre! Let's Not Stop Talking About it!

ESPN.com is the go-to site for sports news and it absolutely should be. They update constantly, they have a slew of experienced reporters and columnists on staff, they recently started a large blog network and the video that came with their recent redesign  is some of the best quality on the internet. 

My complaint is unrelated to any of this -- it's that I saw a headline today about Brett Favre possibly coming back, this time with the Vikings. ESPN, like the other outlets that report this, are just doing their jobs. 

I however, will be ignoring any and every Brett Favre story until he's back on the field and doing something that is newsworthy. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time, I'm done paying attention to you, Brett Favre. He proved last year that, while generally adequate, he's not a playmaking game changer anymore who can turn a team right around. He was a Band-Aid for a Jets team that needed one and little else. Favre to Minnesota? Woohoo what's next? Brad Johnson to Carolina? I'll care when there's a reason to. 

BSOTD: Turn! Turn! Turn! (live w/ Roger McGuinn of The Birds...Not the movie. Or actual birds)

James is King

Dwyane Wade -- 30 PPG, 7.5 AST, 5  REB, 49% FG, 2 STL, 1 BLK

LeBron James -- 28 PPG, 7.2 AST, 7.6 REB, 49% FG, 1.7 STL, 1 BLK

It's more than just a numbers game, but these cats are remarkably similar. Arguments can be made for both guys - the Cavs are worse w/o LeBron than the Heat would be w/o Wade, etc. Bottom line is this is my kind of decision to have to make for MVP, albeit not a very exciting one: either pick is a winner. 

Give it to James for being more consistently dominant over the past couple years and don't fret. Because health permitting we're going to be seeing these numbers from D-Wade for a long time coming. He's smack in the middle of his prime and LeBron has been in his since what, his second year in the league? Depending on where these two go (or stay) in 2010, maybe we can even see a little rivalry start to develop. 

Kobe is always noted as LeBron's west coast counterpart, but he's tucked away in LA. The Cavs and Heath play, and with Wade healthy again I'm looking forward to those games looking more competitive between the best two players in the conference. 

Who do you think should have won this year's MVP award?

Boxers vs. MMA Fighters

There's always the debate about boxers taking on MMA fighters and vice versa. To me it boils down to the fact that Roger Federer could beat Robert 'Tractor' Traylor in a tennis match but Tractor could beat him in say, speed eating: two totally different things. Manny Pacquiao would beat a lot of MMA fighters in an MMA match if he trained properly for it and learned what he had to learn. He wouldn't beat the best ones though, and the best MMA fighters would, could and shall not beat him in a boxing match. There have been great MMA fighters who have boxed, best example for me being Jens Pulver. This is especially good because he fought at welterweight (147) where Pacquiao has won before, and will presumably go if he beats Mayweather.

In 2004 Jens went 4-0 in boxing and it was clear he was no world-beater. He used a separate trainer from his MMA one for boxing, he focused solely on his hands for a time and he started by taking on equally inexperienced boxers. This is how boxing is done. I give him endless credit for doing it right. He got about 100-bucks a round and told me at the time that he loved every minute of it. 

There are many more ways to lose in MMA than there are in boxing, so a guy like Brock Lesnar can come in as a neophyte and have some success in MMA. However, boxing is only one aspect of MMA: thinking that an MMA fighter's hands would be good enough, based on his MMA record, to tangle with someone like Pacquiao is a mistake.

BSOTD: Working on a Dream

Bruce and Beer Music

Bruce's fatal flaw so far, to me, is that he doesn't have one particularly good drinking song. The man can valiantly pull off civil rights hymns but can't seem to really nail that brethren-driven drinking tune. He probably just doesn't want to yet. Closest to it? 'The Promised Land?' Maybe 'Land of Hope and Dreams?'Whatever it is I'm looking for it. The real best one though so far though, and today's...

BSOTD: My Oklahoma Home

Hatton vs. Pacquiao

As his fans like to yell during fights, there's only one Ricky Hatton. And he will get his ass kicked this weekend. I've loved watching Hatton fight since he made Kostya Tszyu look old overnight back in 2005. He took him down and Tszyu never fought again. He's a lunch pail kind of fighter who packs a helluva hard right hand and is always in good condition. He talks very little trash and when he does it's often of the charismatic, instead of malicious kind. That said, Manny Pacquiao is going to dismantle him the way Floyd Mayweather did. Hatton is always in a fight because as noted, he will be in very good condition and has now seen that type of speed in a fight. 

Still, Pacquiao will get the job done. He has been shockingly consistent since his last loss, to Erik Morales three months prior to Hatton's crowning bout with Tszyu. I will say this though: he's fought professionally since age 17. The careers of guys who do that can often just tailspin because the years of abuse catch up and hit a guy harder than any opponent can. Pacquiao enjoyed watching that happen to Morales, avenging that loss twice over. Eventually (almost) everyone falls and who will be the one to topple Pacquiao? I think Hatton will lose. But if I'm betting against Manny, he's the guy I want to be in the ring with him. 

For my money Sam Adam's Summer Ale is the best summer drink this side of lemonade. It's advertised as being brewed with 'Grains of Paradise.' I dunno what the hell that means, but the beer is good. I'm equally excited to try Blue Moon's summer ale 'Honey Moon.' At Wegman's, the greatest supermarket ever, they have Blue Moon's summer and winter ale sitting side by side on a shelf. If I were to judge what time of year it was based on beer selection, I guess I'd think it were spring.