bUGLYbLOG

Three UFC Fights I would like to see:

Hermes Franca vs Sean Sherk - Well, this one is going to happen. I saw the replay of the Franca Fisher fight that went off (tip to TJ De Santis) last Thursday and sure, Hermes was a little reckless, but his strikes look heavy. When he finally connected with Fishers jaw, it was lights out. With that said, Sherk’s probably going to win this fight, but I would like to see Hermes land a couple strikes to see what kind of chin Sean has.

Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans - Rashad flat out cleaned Salmons clock on Thursday (he’s okay by the way), but before that kick found pay dirt Evans didn’t look like a real contender for Liddells belt. I’m not sold. I honestly only want to see this fight because this division is a little crowded right now. If Forrest loses, well that would be two in a row and although he’s a fan favorite, the big pay day will fall farther from his grasp. He may be relegated to Chris Leban status (interpret that anyway you want). If Rashad loses, I wouldn’t even expect to see him headlining a T.V. event, much less a pay per view. The reason I am talking money is because that is what the UFC appears to be about (which is fine). If you aren’t a marketable personality, your road to the top will be a difficult and probably unsuccessful one.

Heath Herring vs. Nobody - I listened to Heath on an episode of Beatdown and I was excited about seeing this guy fight. After Thursday nights fight, I am wondering if this guy should be in the WWF or something. This was probably the most underwhelming fight I have seen the UFC promote. Aside from his intro and crazy hair (both of which would translate well to the fake wrestling leagues), it was a bore fest. Josh Gross mentioned that someone from Herrings camp said he had a real bad knee injury 3 weeks before the fight (he was sporting a knee brace), so maybe that’s why he sucked so bad. Regardless, I have no interest in seeing this guy fight again.

bUGLY recommended music for this week:

“World Apart” by “And You Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead“ - I found these guys through LastFm by searching for groups similar to “At the Drive In”. Anyway, very good stuff here. My favorite cuts from this album include “Will you smile again for me”, “Worlds apart”, and “Let it drive”. Weird, but they sound like a mixture of Hum and Social Distortion to me. For instance, the vocals from “Will you…” and “Worlds Apart” sound similar to Social Distortions “Ball and Chain” hit, but “Let it drive” sounds just like the dude from Hum (Pick any song from “You’d prefer an Astronaut”).

This week in sports:

No joke, the NHL all-star game was this past week. Sidney Crosby may very well be the second coming of the “Great One”, and nobody is watching.

How many head coaches in the SEC have won a national championship as a head coach? 5 Fulmer - Tennessee, Spurrier - South Carolina (won at Florida), Tuberville - Auburn (I know I know, but he got ripped, so I’m giving him credit), Saban - Alabama (won at LSU), Urban Meyer - Florida.

Now, compare that to the Big Ten: 3 The Vest - Ohio State, Lloyd Carr - Michigan, Joe Paterno - Penn State
ACC: 2 Bowden - FSU, Davis - North Carolina (Won at Miami)
PAC Ten: 1 Pete Carroll - USC

Big 12: 2 Mac Brown - Texas, Bob Stoopes - Oklahoma

Is there any question that the SEC is the premier college football conference? I think not.

Kevin Garnett drops 44 on the Suns and ends their win streak. Wow! By the way, what ever happened to Troy Hudson. Did he go the way of Mike Bibby? (One good great playoff series and then never heard from again).

Bob Sanders - Terrible first name for a elite NFL difference maker.

RIP Barbaro.

bUGLY top three recommended podcasts

This Week in Tech - I’m not breaking any new ground here. This is one of the more popular podcasts on iTunes and I listen to it every single week. The lineup of Leo, Dvorak, Norton, and Rose is my favorite, but its generally pretty good no matter who shows up.

The BeatDown - Lately this is the one I look forward to the most. I’ll admit it, I am all caught up in the mixed martial arts sport right now (I watch, I do not participate). The BeatDown is a weekly podcast hosted by Josh Gross and TJ De Santis. Each episode usually has a couple of interviews and a listener mail segment. Well produced and very informative. If you watch the UFC or Pride, its a can’t miss.

The Bitterest Pill - This is Dan Klass’s personal podcast. Dan is a great story teller and I enjoy/relate to his type of humor. I highly recommend his podcast about the “SnickerDoodle”. Good Stuff.

bUGLY top three recommended CD’s for the week

Killers by Iron Maiden - I picked this up this week at Best Buy. I loved Iron Maiden in junior high school. I think I wore out their “Piece of Mind” album one summer just listening to it while walking my paper route. Lousteau introduced me to Maiden and I am forever indebted. Anyway, I had this album at one point but lost it several years ago. Its a definite repurchase. The song “Purgatory” makes me want to be a drummer. Please take me away, take me away, so far away….

Wincing the Night Away by The Shins - I just picked this up tonight so I can’t really comment on whether or not its any good. However, the last two were excellent so I feel pretty comfortable advising my fellow reader(s) to go pick this one up. I want to admit that I had no idea who these guys were until I saw the movie Garden State. So, yeah, I guess I am jumping on the band wagon but at least I am handsome enough to admit it. They changed my life (wink wink).

Jalamanta by Brant Bjork - Excellent excellent album. I have to give credit to the folks over at Lastfm for this find. I think I heard about Lastfm on Boing Boing or LifeHacker or maybe even Digg. Anyway, its a social music site where you can enter a band you like and it (the site) will return with a list of artists that you may want to check out. Anyway, I entered Clutch and it returned Brant Bjork. Definitely check it out. My favorite cuts on the album are “Let’s Get Chinese Eyes” and “Toot”.

bUGLY top three questions from the hit T.V. show Heroes.

When did schizophrenia become a super power? Nikki really got the shaft. One guy got the power of flight, another got invisibility, and she got multiple personalities.

The cheerleader (Claire) has the power of invincibility. So far we have seen her jump off a tower, take a stick to the back of the noggin, and put her hand in the garbage disposal; each time resulting in a quick heal with no side effects. Is she invulnerable to heart disease and high cholesterol too? It would be a bummer to survive a plane crash but stroke out after eating a cheeseburger. We’ll know for sure if we catch her downing a Crestor in a future episode.
What super power does the cheerleaders father have? I can’t seem to figure this one out yet, but from the looks of the guy my gut feeling is his super power is being a pervert. Don’t be surprised if this guy makes a cameo on NBC’s other hit, perverted justice. I’m starting to think he wants more than just the list of genetic misfits from ole Mohinder.

Bonus Question - What’s up with Nathan Petrelli’s dew? I just don’t understand what’s going on there. His character is supposed to be a rich guy but he looks like he gets his rug cut at Super Cuts.

Outtie Five Thoutie…..

Well, I built a Cigar Box Ukulele over the weekend (Base pic). I have no idea how to tune it, so it sounds pretty crappy. I like it anyway. I built some Cigar Box Guitars last year (1st, 2nd), but I think the Uke is a bit cooler since it has the same amount of strings as the store bought versions. I also measured the distances between the frets to resemble the real instrument.

I think the cost to build it was under $12. That includes the wood (a block of red oak from Home Depot), the strings (from elderly instruments), the cigar box, and the piezo transducer (from Radio Shack). Yeah, this one is going to be electric. The only reason it isn’t yet is because my buddy Doodle still has my soldering iron.

I wonder if the guys from Static-X need a Ukulele player….

Overrated does not do you justice. You play in a horse crap conference, you play a horse crap schedule, and you have a horse crap coach (the vest makes Hal Mumme look conservative). Not really much more to say here.

I would also like to thank ESPN for their horse crap coverage of college football. Believe it or not, there are other conferences than the Big Ten. Stop. Before you even think about it, Notre Dame sucks too. No joke, I watched the Sugar Bowl and I am almost certain Charlie Weiss ate his offensive coordinator half way through the first half. Watch the replay. It was either Michael Haywood or a line judge, I can’t be too sure. Also, late in the second half he appeared to be eyeing one of the ball boys.

The BCS sucks as well. However, I can’t complain too much because I’m pretty sure the flunkies up in Bristol would have found a way to crown Wisconsin as the National Champs without it.

Enjoy the off season.

I have a suggestion/request for the fine folks over at EA sports. I would like you to re-release Madden 1993 for the Xbox (and the PS, PS2, PS3, and the Wii). I have no idea what goes into game design, but I don’t think I am asking for much. Just update the rosters and slightly sharpen the graphics, but leave the game play alone. I will buy this. I am certain that I will not be alone in this purchase. This is the game I cut my teeth on. There is no sports game, past or present, that in my opinion is more fun than Madden on an old Sega Genesis (nod to EA sports NHL Hockey on the same console). Do it. Please. Oh yeah, don’t forget to have Bo Jackson on one of the classic teams. Would there be anything more cool than having Bo Jackson’s Raiders play Michael Vick’s Falcons on the classic version of Madden’s? I submit that there is not.

Oh yeah, don’t even think about leaving out the ambulance that would drive on the field to pick up injured players. And if somehow you actually consider fulfilling my request, give us a stat mode. I can pretty much guarantee Bo will annihilate any and all rushing records that exist today.

If you do this I will pledge to also buy one of those horse crap games you currently push and no one buys (Streets Football, Streets Basketball, Streets Soccer). Hell, I’ve already supported that crap you call Arena football (you should be embarrassed for that piece of garbage - I would honestly rather rake leaves than play this game).

This Christmas I got a knife made by the Colonel Littleton company in Lynnville Tennessee (Population 327 - between Chattanooga and Nashville off of I-24 I think). The knife I received was a No. 2 Foxfire knife. Per the description listed on the Colonel Littleton website, the knife is three inches long, has a bone handle, stainless steel blade, and solid brass bolsters. Its well made and makes a great pocket knife. Each knife comes packaged in a brown cardboard box which includes a leather inlay and a small brochure that includes the Colonel Littleton story. I have carried small Case and Gerber pocket knives in the past, and this one isn’t much different from those. However, it does feel good to support a Tennessee company and the knives are pretty damn cool.

I don’t know anyone who’s gotten knifed before. Does that happen anymore? It seems like all I hear about is either people getting a gun pulled on ‘em or people getting the crap kicked out of ‘em. I wonder if criminals who are handy with a knife get pissed by the lack of exposure. They can still take comfort that they aren’t one of those the throwing star guys. Talk about a useless skill.

The Raiders have secured the number one pick (Thank you Detroit) and the Bronco’s missed the playoffs - Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to me. Now, the only thing that could make this any better would be a guarantee that Brady Quinn will be a great NFL quarterback.

How bout them Vols? Once again we were able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Another costly fumble coupled with four quarters of sloppy play on the offensive side of the ball sealed our fate. Does anyone think this years team is any better than last years? We finished 9-4, but if not for a sensational defensive stop on a two point conversion against Air Force and a nice stand against Kentucky late in the game, we could have finished 7-6. I have to say Eric has looked alot, and I mean alot better than last year, but without a running game, he can only do so much. No lead is safe when you can’t milk the clock. Before we open up the purse strings, and I say we because the fans are who ulitmately pays, lets see if Cutcliff can fix the running game.

I went to Atlanta to see the Hawks participate (in my opinion they didn’t play) in a game with the Cavs on the 27th. Pretty much this was a home game for Cleveland and Lebron - Ridiculous. The highlight of my trip was not watching a passionless Hawks squad (minus an injured Josh Smith - the only Hawk I care to see play) get mauled by what appeared to be a mediocre Cavs team, but was seeing the human highlight reel, Dominique Wilkins, in the Lennox mall the following day. Why this guy is not in the hall is borderline criminal. Great Arena though!

2 Hawks Tickets (section 109): $120

Pretzel and Coke: $8

Hawks t-shirt: $25

Clevelands Anderson Varejao being compared to Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons on the jumbotron while he unknowingly walked back on the court scratching his butt: Priceless.