NBA Finals Preview and season wrap up

NBA Finals Preview:
First off let me admit that I was wrong about the Miami Heat. I did not believe they would be in the NBA finals and they have clearly proven me wrong. They have found a way to absolutely control the ends of ball games, and they have dominated when they need to.  I still can't stand their need to pose, and strut, and flaunt after every big play, but I don't know that is necessarily an indictment on them uniquely, but more the modern athlete, especially in the NBA. Okay, apologies out of the way, here are the things I think need to be watched in these finals. Heat vs. Mavericks, starts Tuesday night.

• Dwayne Wade's injury(ies): D-Wade is clearly banged up, but wisely no one is letting on to how badly. His health will be the major factor in this series for the Heat. They are going need him to be either the #1, or #1A option in every single game, and they have a huge advantage at the shooting guard position against the Mavs. If his shoulder is really messed up and it affects his shooting I honestly don't think he'll be able to adjust and get to the rim more, and he can't dominate games outside of scoring like LeBron can.
• Can LeBron take the step to the next level. Scottie Pippen comments aside (we'll get to that later, and in-depth) LeBron really has been unbelievable in these playoffs. What has impressed me most is his defense. He absolutely physically intimidated and outplayed Derrick Rose in the last four games of that series, and honestly I didn't think that was an effort he had in him. He's not going to have to work nearly that hard on defense in the Finals, so will we see him be even more dominant on offense? 40 point, 50 point games? They are certainly possible.
• Who will guard my favorite player, Dirk Nowitzki? Udonis Haslem messed with Dirk in the 2006 finals, and he's back from injury and has sparked the Heat. This is a different Dirk though, he's got a different attitude now. He's got a F.U. mode he didn't have a couple of years ago. Haslem can't play more than probably 32-35 minutes a game, and Dirk will play 40+, so for 10+ minutes a game, somebody else is going to have step up. I expect Dirk to average 30/10 for the finals.
• Can Jason Kidd continue play like he's 25? To me, J-Kidd is the single biggest factor in the entire finals for both teams. If he can score 10+ points, dish 10+ assists, and pull down 5 rebounds a game, all while holding whoever he guards in relative check, the Mavs win this series easy. In the previous two series he's done a good job guarding both Kobe Bryant, and Russell Westbrook/James Harden/other Thunder guards. I think the Heat are going after him in this series though. He's going to match up against Mario Chalmers or Mike Miller when they are in the game, and really, both of those guys should be easy covers for Kidd. If he can save energy on defense, the Heat are in big trouble.
• The Mavs have a superior bench to the Heat, and it's not even close. J.J. Barrea, Jason Terry, Haywood, these are all guys who have played tremendous in the playoffs. I fully expect the Mavs' bench to win at least one game in the series, maybe two. If they can actually swing two games in their favor, the Heat don't stand a chance.
• The Heat will win the series if they can out rebound, and cover the perimeter at the same time against the Mavs. The Mavs shooters are playing with so much confidence right now and Miami is going to have to show aggressively on the perimeter, which will leave the lanes pretty open for Dallas to crash the boards. I think if the Heat stay within 7 rebounds every game of the Mavs, they'll win the series.
• The Mavs will win the series if they dictate the pace, and don't rely on those aforementioned shooters. The Mavs don't have a lot of guys outside of J.J. Barrea who are going to break down a defense and get to the rim, but in this series they have to do more of that for two reasons. Number one, the Heat's bigs are awful, especially on the bench. The Mavs are great free throw shooting team, so if they are attacking the basket and getting to the line that's free points every time. Continually attacking the rim, will open up those shooting lanes just that much more. Dallas can play up tempo or half court, and they can win the Finals doing either one, but they have to be the ones to decide how the game will be played. They can't try and match Miami, they have to dictate to Miami.
• I predict the Mavs will avenge 2006, and beat the Heat in seven games.

Season Wrap-Up: 
These are just a very few of my thoughts on what I think are the biggest story lines going into the next regular season.

• The coaching carousel: All pro sports drive me up a damn wall with how they recycle coaches, even coaches who suck, over and over. The NBA by far is the absolute worst offender though. I've already covered in a previous post my thoughts on Mike Brown being hired as the Lakers head coach, and now the Houston Rockets have hired Kevin McHale. The Rockets are in my opinion one of the few teams that generally make very good personnel moves, but this one is idiotic. When McHale was the T-Wolves coach, he DIDN'T EVEN WANT TO BE THE COACH! He moved to the bench because he had screwed up the team so bad as general manager, he felt obligated to become the coach. He had a decent amount of success in a very short amount of time, but I guarantee he will fail miserably in Houston. That team has no proven floor leader or strong personalities to help keep a locker room in check, and McHale sure as hell can't do it. I believe he would make an outstanding assistant coach because he can teach fundamentals well, but he cannot run a team. Why can't guys like Brian Shaw, Mark Jackson, or Patrick Ewing get a chance? Mark Jackson in particular confounds me why he can't get a job. The guy is on the record for wanting to be a coach, he knows the game, and he understands players. There will be at least two more coaches probably lose their jobs between now and the beginning of the season, and look for two more retread coaches get jobs.
• The Lockout next year is almost a stone cold, lead pipe lock. I look for it to be very similar to '98, and for at least half the season to be lost. It's a shame, because this past year has been probably one of the best regular seasons in a long time. If  a lockout happens though, it will severely hurt the NBA. The NFL can sustain a lockout because they the nation is crazed for the sport, and because fans only get to see their hometown team in person 8-9 times a year, on the weekend. The NBA has 41 homes games, most during the week, and ticket prices are outrageous. Fans won't come back to watch half a season, it will kill teams like Memphis who had built so much momentum this year. From a player perspective, think of what it does for guys like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan. Some will argue that it helps those guys because they won't have the grind of a full season, but those guys at their advanced age need to get into rhythm, and they won't be able to establish that in 50 games.
• If the OKC Thunder can get the Russell Westbrook puzzle figured out, they will be the team to beat next year, hands down. They are still so young, at every single position, and now they have two years of solid playoff experience under their belt. The thing with Westbrook is, he's a tremendous talent, but I'm not sure he's every really been coached on what the team needs from him. I don't think he's a true point guard, but I do think he would be willing to average 16 points a game, instead of 23 if that was clearly stated to him.
• The Bulls were really, really close this year...but I think it might be a closing window already. Derrick Rose couldn't do it all in the playoffs, and he made some mistakes against the Heat, but I look for him to be even better next year. Having said that, they've got some areas of concern, mostly power forward and shooting guard. I was a huge fan of the Carlos Boozer signing at the time, but he certainly proved unreliable this year, and injury prone. At shooting guard, the pieces they have are okay, but they need a proven second scorer to be able to lead the team in scoring 20-25 games a year. I'm not sure what the plan is for them in the off season, but I have a feeling they'll try and flip a guy like Luol Deng for a bigger name scorer. It's a risky move, because that team is built largely on defense and chemistry, and you don't want to mess with that.
• Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, will not be on their respective teams to start the 2012-2013 season, and I think at least one of them moves in season next year. The Hornets, despite pushing the Lakers in the playoffs are a sinking ship, and Paul absolutely wants out whether he says it publicly or not. Howard needs to look inward at what is causing some of his teams' problems, but I don't think he can win a championship in Orlando. I predict Paul becomes a Knick, and Howard, following Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq, becomes a Laker.

Oh Scottie:
On Friday, my man, one of my all-time favorites, Scottie Pippen said in an interview that LeBron James may be better than Michael Jordan. I will say, I think Pippen misspoke, actually using the wrong words for what he wanted to convey. The fact the matter is, skill wise, in terms of actual physical skills, LeBron James SHOULD be better than Michael Jordan. Michael was 6'6", LeBron is 6'8". Michael, at his heaviest clocked in about 215, some reports say LeBron weighs close to 275, but he's 260 no doubt. Baseline to baseline, LeBron is absolutely faster than Michael. Strength advantage = LeBron, passing = LeBron; rebounding = LeBron. So, if Scottie was trying to say that LeBron could be better because of his physical gifts, then I can't really fault him for that. However, that's not how the statement came across, he just said better. Here's why LeBron will not ever be better than Michael...he doesn't want to be. I have no doubt that LeBron wants to win championships, Michael was consumed by it. I think LeBron wants to be known as the best player in the league, Michael was obsessed with it. LeBron has improved slightly since entering the league, Michael improved nearly every single year until the time he retired the second time with the Bulls. Michael would kick your ass on the court, telling you all about it while he did it, but he rarely ever pounded his chest, or winked at his bench, or anything in the "hey look at me" vein of LeBron. LeBron will do that crap in the first quarter of a meaningless game in December to get people to notice him. Michael never did that crap because he already KNEW you were watching him.

I'm not sure what Pip's motivation was. I'm not sure if he actually believes what he said, or if he was trying to get his name out there and stir controversy. At the end of the day I can't condemn him too much because what he said is just so patently ridiculous. I can tell you, for a guy who played 10+ seasons with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen must'a forgot. I don't even think it should be a question of loyalty, I don't think Pippen owes Jordan anything, but for a guy who witnessed every single day the competitive fire that burned with MJ, I have absolutely no idea what he must be thinking to utter something so absurd. As a former Pip lover, I'm going to choose to believe he was talking about pure physical gifts, and the potential that exists within LeBron. This much I can promise you though, if tomorrow both Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen showed up at some random YMCA in Chicago for a game of pick-up hoops, Jordan would make sure that he and Pip got put on different teams. Then, he would proceed to crucify Pip and his team in a way that would make bystanders beg for mercy for Pippen. I'm not one of those guys that says there will never be anyone as good as or better than Michael, I mean Jordan happened, so why can't someone better happen at some point in history? However, I can tell you, there is nobody currently in college or pro basketball that is even close to ascending to those heights, and personally I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime. Hopefully my kids will though.

Summer Movie Preview and Movie of the Year Review

You can go to any number of a thousand sources for a Summer Movie Preview, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet. What follows are the five movies I'm most looking forward to seeing and the reasons why, and the couple of movies I'll be skipping. After the list, my review of Fast Five can be found, and I won't bury the lead, I LOVED the movie.

5. Green Lantern- I really dug the comic book as a kid, and I think Ryan Reynolds is great. Outside of the Batman franchise DC comic movies have not lived up to their Marvel counterparts, but I'm hopeful this one will deliver.

4. Friends with Benefits- As the title suggests a movie about friends who decide to explore a little more in their relationship, but not too much. Stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, two stars who I really like, and the previews make it look pretty funny. I did just see 'No Strings Attached' with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, and that movie has the exact same theme. I enjoyed that film, but I anticipate this one will be better.

3. Captain America- Similar to 'Green Lantern', but I'm anticipating it to be much better. I think Chris Evans is very good, and from what I've seen with footage and previews, it appears the filmmakers have decided to approach the material fairly seriously, and not too campy.

2. Kung Fu Panda 2- I really like the first one, my 4 year old loves it, and this one looks as good. Good characters, good cast, and a proven franchise...I'm in. Ironically, this is the only movie on the entire list that it is a virtual lock that I'll probably see, because of my son. The others, I may or may not get to, but this one is almost guaranteed.

1. The Hangover Part II- I hold no illusions that there is any way that this thing will be nearly as good as the first one, but I still think it will be entertaining. For me the Thailand angle is intriguing, because other than that the entire movie looks rehashed.

Honorable Mentions:
*Bridesmaids- Already in release, and frankly I'm sure I'll see it in my living room. For the record I think Kristen Wiig is the funniest thing in film or television right now.

*X-Men; Transformers; Thor- All intriguing action films, but in all honesty none of them make me want to buy an overpriced ticket to the movies. Hopefully I'll catch up with each one of them, just not on the big screen.

*30 Seconds or Less- This is a comedy that stars, Danny McBride, Nick Swardson, and Jesse Eisenberg. The plot sounds funny, and I like all three of those guys, but like Bridesmaids, I'm sure I won't see it in the theater.

*Warrior- A MMA themed movie that looks WAY better than all the other crap that's been released about the sport. Would have definitely been in my top five, but it comes out September 9th, so I don't consider it a 'summer' movie.

Skipping for sure:
If you have Harry Potter, or Pirate in your title, I'll pass. I've seen multiple movies from both franchises, and neither one really entertained me. Nothing against those people who do like them, I get the appeal, they just aren't the films for me.

Movie Review: FAST FIVE

Look, I love the 'Fast' franchise, and I'm not afraid to admit it. In my opinion all five of the movies have delivered on everything they promise. (the second one is a little shaky, but still redeemable) These movies, unlike a lot of action movies these days, doesn't try and be anything but tremendously fun summer action. The acting is bad, the writing is a little thin, and you won't learn a damn thing, but if you want to melt into your seat and have a great time for two hours, this is your film.
Pros:
*Vin Diesel- This man is tremendous. His character's last name is Toretta, and I'm assuming that's Italian, but I dare anyway to identify his accent, especially in this movie. It literally changes from scene to scene. Having said all of that, he plays the role of Dom perfectly.

*The Rock- I love the Rock. I loved him WWE, I loved him in 'The Scorpion King' and pretty much anything. Outside of the tons of kids movies he's done, he's always fun to watch. In this movie he plays a federal agent with vigor and grit, and at one point even drops a 'F' bomb. Take that Tooth Fairy.

*The Fight Scenes- The 'Fast' franchise is all about the cars, but this one has some pretty damn good fight scenes. Paul Walker is a big MMA fan, and the fight scenes in this one are heavily MMA inspired.

*The writing- This thing is so full of cliches, bad jokes, and re-treaded action film standards, I would have to see it a dozen times just to catch them all. That seems like a bad thing, but I think it's awesome. It's like the writers just threw up two middle fingers and said, "Hey, we're ripping everything off, deal with it". I appreciate that extreme laziness, and at the same time, extreme awesomeness.

*The Setting- Brazil = Beautiful. Brazil = Dirty. This movies captures both very well, great setting that I would not have expected for a film of this ilk.

The Cons: there are very few, but a couple that bugged me.
*Jordana Brewster- Look up her IMDB sometime, with the list of absolute gigantic bad actors in these films (I'm looking at you Paul Walker) she takes the cake. She added absolutely nothing to this movie, and the scenes in where she tries to be dramatic, she's actually funny. They could have put any actress in the film, called her Mia Toretto and I would have been fine with it.

*Tyrese Gibson- Who in the blue hell does Tyrese have pictures of to get as featured as he did in this thing? I know he was Vin's replacement in the second film so they had to bring him back, but come on, he didn't need this many scenes.

*The ending- The one before the credits (hint, hint). It wasn't awful, but was a little blah. Normally that would ruin a movie for me, but the previous 108 minutes of this film were so damn good, I didn't mind that much.

I honestly love this movie so much, and it's been in release for a month now, so when making you're Memorial Day movie choices, don't fight the lines at Hangover II, or Kung Fu Panda II. Go see the best movie of the year, and still on the big screen.

Weekly Short Hops and Air Balls

Yet another sporadic Short Hops and Air Balls segment, and expect some bonus content in the next day or two.

Short Hops:

• Derrick Rose was the MVP of the regular season, but without question the big German, Dirk Nowitzki is the best player in the NBA right now. His skill set is as unique as potentially anyone ever in the NBA. He gets a lot of comparisons to Larry Bird, but Bird did not have Dirk's post skills. Obviously Dirk doesn't pass anywhere near as good as Bird ever did, but in terms of pure scoring ability Dirk might be better. He's got that absolutely unblockable fadeaway jumper that nobody can defend.
• The LA Lakers hiring Mike Brown is....curious. Brown was let go from the Cleveland Cavaliers a year ago because it was virtually guaranteed that if he came back, LeBron James would bolt no questions asked. As it turns out, it didn't matter anyway because LeBron left, but it can't be a good sign when your superstar wants the coach gone. Guess what, Kobe Bryant is about 1000 times more demanding than LeBron James ever has, or ever will be. Not too mention, Kobe is much more involved in the basketball aspect of his team, he literally is a coach on the floor. Most reports have Kobe wanting assistant coach Brian Shaw to be hired, and in my opinion that would have been the right move. Why wouldn't you hire the guy who knows the entire offensive/defensive scheme, has the trust of the players, used to PLAY for the organization, and is the superstar's choice? What would have been the downside? Instead they hire a guy who has a reputation for being somewhat incompetent, a ball buster, and boring. Should be a great fit.
• If you get a chance, check out the NCAA College Lacrosse Championships on ESPN this weekend. Lacrosse is a sport that is growing in popularity all across the nation, and I love it. I love and appreciate soccer, but there are a lot of aspects of that game I don't really like (lack of scoring, the flopping, etc) but lacrosse has all the best elements of soccer without some of the drawbacks. It's a supremely physical sport with tons of action, and these college kids play HARD. It's extremely entertaining to watch and overall a lot of fun. I believe the semis are on Saturday, and the championship is Monday, but please, check your local listings.

Air Balls:

• Seriously, does anybody still care about Lance Armstrong? Yet again this week it comes out that a former teammate, and also a known doper, Tyler Hamilton is accusing Armstrong of being a cheater. How is this news? How many people have accused him at this point, and better yet, does it even matter? The entire sport is corrupt, proven by the fact that a majority of the former champions have been popped for being dirty. I think, absolutely, positively, Lance Armstrong took PEDs, I just think he was better than everyone else at it. Honestly, I don't even care. I mean in reality almost every single rider in that sport was doping, so at the end of the day that makes the playing field even again right? If everybody is on the juice, then the guy who does it best becomes the best guy, and I think that guy is Armstrong.
• Congratulations Scotty McCreery you just become the latest American Irrelevant, oops, I mean American Idol. There's no doubt the kids has chops, but he won't make a dent in music. He's the definition of one trick pony, in the country genre. Let me be clear it's not his fault, the kid is 17 for goodness sake, but what does he bring to music? He's not an engaging performer, he doesn't offer any variety, and he's a niche artist. He just won the show on the strength of the teeny bopper teenage girl, and middle aged cougar mom vote, two demographics that absolutely will not follow him into the mainstream. The teenage girls will gravitate towards and spend their money on the Biebers of the world, who actually perform, and the cougar moms aren't going to go out and spend their money on CD's and posters of a teenage boy. I wish him the best of luck, but he would have been better off developing his talent a little further and making it in the industry in a few years.
• On a more somber, serious note, I'm done with severe weather. I've never been in, and I hope I'm never in a tornado, but my heart goes out to all of those affected in Alabama, Missouri, and here in Minneapolis. The amount of devastation that these storms cause is epic, but generally because they affect smaller areas than say earthquakes or tsunamis, the people affected don't usually get the same amount of help. It's tragic, and I hope it's over for this year.

Stay tuned for my take on the summer movie season, and on the fact that I've already seen the best movie of the year.

My Kobe Bryant Conumdrum

One week ago today the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the 2011 playoffs after being swept by the Dallas Mavericks. Swept. Out in four. Demolished and humiliated in game four, losing by 30+ points. I purposely waited a week to write this blog so I could properly reflect and assess my thought and feelings on the Lakers star player, Kobe Bryant.

Kobe is no doubt uber-talented, driven, focused and a tremendous competitor. But, what is his legacy? When it's all said and done, what will be his legacy, how will he be portrayed in the conversations of the all time greats? Will he really be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan, who he is so often compared to? My answer is no, and here's why.

I'm an unabashed Michael Jordan fan, anybody who knows me knows that, but I don't hate Kobe Bryant. I really appreciate the fact that since he's been in the league Kobe has worked harder than anyone in the NBA to improve his skills every single year. Having said that, you can't ignore the fact that he still leaves a lot to be desired as a player, especially as a teammate.

To really deconstruct why Kobe never has been, nor never will be on the same level as Jordan, you first have to note the comparisons. Both played shooting guard, close to the same height, same weight, evolved their games throughout their careers, similar stats, and similar number of championships. On paper, the case can absolutely be made that they are very close to one another as players. However, for those who have actually really ever watched them play, the differences are glaring.

Kobe Bryant has won five NBA championships, Michael Jordan has won six. However, Jordan has never had the lapses that Kobe has throughout his career. In being swept by the Dallas Mavericks, Kobe scored 36 points in game 1, and then in games 2-4, he scored, 23, 17, and 17, all while being guarded mostly by an aging Jason Kidd. Does anyone on the planet think that with a season on the line and his team playing horribly that Michael Jordan would have not scored less than 40+ points in each of those games. It's absolute single most defining difference between Jordan and Bryant. Both are clearly fierce competitors, but Kobe will quit. Jordan never quit, ever. Kobe will accept losing and pout, and blame his teammates, all while hiding under the premise that his teammates let him down. Both are notorious assholes, Jordan had no problem literally punching teammates for not performing, but Jordan never quit on a basketball court. If his teammates weren't performing Jordan would get upset, but he would simply try and win a game by himself. His competitive spirit would not allow him to even consider doing anything but short of killing someone to win a game. I will never forget in 2007, in a game seven against the Phoenix Suns, Bryant literally pouted on the court in the second half. Down by fifteen at halftime, Kobe proceeded to take three shots in the second half, and was passing up wide open opportunities every time they came his way. In the deciding game of that season, he shoved it in the faces of his teammates that weren't good enough to win without him. In the same situation, Jordan would have come out and taken 30 shots, and if the Bulls lost he would have chewed every single teammates rear end in the locker room, but he would have never publicly quit.

There's still a chance that Kobe can equal, if not pass the number of championships that Jordan has won. I still say his five are not nearly as impressive as Jordan's six. Three of Kobe's championships were won when he was the second best player on the team behind Shaquille O' Neal. Jordan always had Scottie Pippen for his six, but there's one major difference. Jordan made Scottie better, he elevated his game. Bryant never made Shaq better, he's never made any teammate better. He finds ways to co-exist with them, all while expecting them to be able to adjust to however he's playing. There were absolutely times when Jordan was lifted by his teammates (the sixth game of the '92 Finals is a perfect example) but there was never time when Jordan just expected his teammates to win a game while he sulked. Jordan burned with desire to win championships, Kobe burns with the desire to win championships and being recognized as the reason why.

For me, Kobe is a fantastic player and when he retires I think he'll legitimately be considered one of the ten greatest players. The comparisons with Jordan have to stop though, Kobe is clearly not wired the same way as Jordan, and that's the major difference between the two of them. In any given situation Jordan would try and win a game one vs. five if he had to. In the same situation, Kobe would force his teammates to win a game four vs. five, because he would quit and let them take the blame. I honestly don't know what to make of Kobe Bryant, but I can't help but the shake the feeling that despite all of his achievements, and talent, and accolades, he may actually underachieved. We'll never actually know how many games Kobe may have decided to teach his teammates a lesson in, but I do know in at least a couple of the most high profile situations he has decided to not be as good as he could, and that's what keeps me from loving Kobe Bryant as a player.

UFC 129 Review

I haven't covered Mixed Martial Arts yet in this blog, but I'm a huge fan. I grew up as a boxing fan, and have transitioned that love to MMA. Thanks to the generosity of my father ( I was in Iowa this weekend) I was able to watch UFC 129, and it was a great card. I know I'm a couple of days late, but sue me, I've been busy. Here are my highlights and lowlights:

Undercard:
Just a couple of things to hit on;

• Ivan Menjivar putting his elbow through Charlie Valencia's nose was sweet, and a perfect example of why more elbows need to be thrown at close distance. Doesn't seem like enough fighters utilize the technique.
• Pablo Garza and Yves Jabouin was an awesome fight! Jabouin is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport on his feet, and he was demonstrating that again Saturday night. Then, Garza pulls a flying triangle out of his rear end, and finishes the fight with probably the most exciting submission of the year so far.
• Nate Diaz losing to Rory MacDonald really surprised me. I've always thought that Diaz, because of his size and awkward, classic Diaz style would be a tough contender for the belt at either 155 or 170, but this loss sets him back quite a bit.

Main Card

• I thought Ben Henderson was the most impressive fighter of the night. His opponent Mark Bocek is an extremely tough dude, and with Henderson coming off a very tough loss in his last fight in the WEC, I thought he might be in trouble. However, his game looked more well rounded, and he was fighting HARD. My only criticism is, he still continues to find himself in serious trouble in almost every single fight, something he will have to avoid and he faces tougher UFC competition.
• Not much to say on Vladmir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz. It was a very impressive finish for Matyushenko, which is saying something because that dude never finishes fights. All in all though, doesn't mean much for the light heavyweight division.
• Lyoto Machida kicking Randy Couture's tooth down his throat was the highlight of the night. Ultimately though, it was a much needed win for Machida, against an opponent who I don't think had much interest in being in there. I think Randy had decided awhile ago to hang them up, and although he looked game, I'm not sure his heart was in it. What a fantastic ambassador for the sport and a great career, despite the odd record of 19-11. I've always felt Machida was maybe the most impressive fighter in the UFC when he plays his game. In two fights with Shogun, and then Rampage he decided not to dictate the fights. If he is able to harness that ability, I think he wins the belt again.
• Jose Aldo retained his belt, but Mark Hominick was more impressive. There's no doubt that Aldo won the fight, but how can you not come out of that fight loving Hominick. He's absolutely busted up, and just continued to stand and fire, take more punishment and just keep coming. Aldo is supremely skilled, but whether he was sick (as his camp says) or had too tough of a weight cut, his gas tank let him down. That is an area he'll have to correct against Chad Mendes, his next fight. I think he'll beat him, but Mendes has cardio for days, so Aldo better be ready.
• The Main Event, Georges St. Pierre vs. Jake Shields. What can I say, I've long been a big supporter of GSP even though he didn't finish fights, and a huge critic of Jake Shields because he's so one dimensional. Coming out of this fight, my opinion of Shields doesn't change much, although his standup looked better, but his gameplan was dumb. He had no chance on the feet, but after two stuffed takedowns, he decided to stop trying, which is ridiculous. St. Pierre however, I don't think I can really defend him anymore. Yes, he had an eye injury, but honestly I do question how serious it was. I feel his vision was compromised, but it wasn't gone. He was so much better than Shields on the feet, and Shields chose to stay there, and GSP showed absolutely no desire to try and finish. GSP threw jabs, looping telegraphed overhand rights, spinning back kicks, and superman jabs. None of which had any chance to finish the fight. No leg kicks, only one high kick, no three punch combinations, none of that. I feel he's mentally weak, I really do. He got hurt, and instead of getting mad, or getting urgent, he got scared and it showed. There's been a lot of speculation what his next fight is, if he moves to fight Anderson Silva, I think he loses badly. If he stays at 170, and Nick Diaz is the guy, I think he can win that fight, but Diaz will kick his ass a lot more than Shields did in the process. GSP has to bring his mental game to the level of his clearly superior physical ability.

One more combat sports note, Manny Pacquaio fight Shane Mosely this weekend, which is a good fight, but not a great fight. Pacquaio is so much better than Mosely at this point, that I think it will be a completely lopsided fight. If after this fight Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather Jr. can't get together, boxing is ruined for me.