gmf journal

UFC 137 Las Vegas

Posted on October 30, 2011October 30, 2011 by georgefattell

Unfortunately, the quality of the card diminished somewhat when the main event, Georges St. Pierre vs Carlos Condit, had to be cancelled due to a knee injury sustained by St. Pierre a few weeks ago. Too bad, that fight had the potential to be a very good one. I would have picked GSP to win, as would most other UFC fans, because he is just so well rounded as a fighter. Like most of the really top notch fighters in the UFC GSP is multi-dimensional. He can fight well standing up, with strikes and kicks or he can take the fight to the ground and use his superior wrestling and jiu-jitsu.

However, I think Condit would have had a decent outside shot to pull an upset because he has serious KO power in his fists and he would have posed a real threat to GSP in my opinion.

I think the UFC plans to reschedule this bout in few months. Some think the the winner of Penn vs Diaz deserves the next crack at GSP, but think that would unfair to Condit, who is on a 4 fight streak, with an overall record of 27-5. Condit has earned his shot at GSP.

The remaining fights on the card for 137 are still in place and there are some good ones, but none as interesting as GSP vs Condit. The top three fights on the main card are as follows:

Welterweight BJ Penn vs Nick Diaz

I
Heavyweight Cheick Kongo vs Matt Mitrione

Heavyweight Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic vs Roy Nelson

I think Penn, Mitrione and Nelson all win, but I won’t be shocked if all three fights go the other way because these fights are all toss ups in my opinion. I wouldn’t want to bet real money on any of them, especially the HW bouts.

The Penn vs Diaz is the most interesting fight, by far, because Penn is an All-Time UFC great and Diaz, a former UFC fighter, left the UFC back in 06 and won a championship in the rival Strikeforce organization, which the UFC acquired earlier this year. Both these guys hit hard and they really seem to dislike each other so that should make for a good bout.

POST 137

I went 1-2 in my picks, but I think I should gone 1-1-1, if not 2-1. Why? because the Kongo- Mitrione fight should have been a draw, if not a win for Mitrione. It was a really sloppy fight. I think Mitrione won the first two rounds and Kongo won the third.

BJ Penn and CroCop also announced that they will retire after losing their respective bouts. I agree with both of them. I think it is time for both of these MMA warriors to end their days inside the cage.

Back to Blogging

Posted on October 28, 2011October 29, 2011 by georgefattell

Gee, it has been two weeks since my last post on this blog. Well, that did not happen by design. Sometimes I just get sidetracked with other activities and all of a sudden a week or two flies by. There have certainly been quite a few topics that I would like to put my two cents in on via this blog. Those topics would include, but are not limited to, the following: Steve Jobs, Occupy Wall Street, Iraq/Afghanistan, the films of 2011, UFC HW’s Cain & Dos Santos, the Chevy Sonic, Coldplay, the NFL and the future of the Euro. I plan to get back to posting soon. See ya later.

Our Fantasy Football League is finished for 2011

Posted on October 13, 2011October 15, 2011 by georgefattell

I received an e-mail from Facebook today informing me that the Fantasy Football game that I was playing in via FB was cancelled for the rest of the season, which was a HUGE disappointment. The e-mail did not provide an explanation as to why the game was shut down. If some sort of reasonable explanation is not provided in the near future, by Facebook or Fastpoint, the company that actually runs the game, I will probably never play a game connected to either company again.

I am going to see if there are any other leagues I can join at this point, but I will be surprised if I find any at this late date.

UPDATE

There maybe hope. A website called Fireleague.com is putting together a Fantasy Football competition for the second half of the season. I received the link for their site in an e-mail from Fastpoint, which explained that Fastpoint was “winding down” all of their fantasy sports games. Thats’s great, they picked a hell of a time to make that decision.

Product Review: NEW Trent external battery for iPad/iPhone

Posted on October 5, 2011December 31, 2011 by georgefattell

In my earlier post about the blackout here in San Diego I mentioned that I realized after that event that I could really use an external battery for my iPhone and iPad. Well, I found one and I have been using it for about two weeks now. The model I bought is made by a company called New Trent, which is based in Fremont, CA.

I can’t vouch for the long-term reliability of this product yet, but so far, so good. I would give it high marks for design and functionality. With two ports it is capable of providing extra juice to an iPhone and an iPad simultaneously. I have not yet attempted to fully charge two devices with this battery, but I will at some point and I will report back with results.

I’m going to give this product a rating of 7 out of 10. I may change that rating in the future, based on how well it performs over the long-term.

UPDATE: I’ve used this battery for several months now and I’m not going to change the score of 7 out of 10 that I initially gave this device. However, I do have a better idea of the battery’s limitations. It can fully re-charge a totally drained iPhone, with plenty of juice left over. It might be able to re-charge the iPhone twice. The iPad is a different matter. This particular external battery only seems to be capable of re-charging a totally drained iPad to 55% to 60% of the iPad’s battery capacity. NEW Trent and other manufacturers do make a variety of different external batteries for the iPhone and iPad, including some that are larger and more powerful than the model I purchased. So, if you want an external battery that can fully re-charge an iPad you should consider another model.

Air Show at MCAS Miramar 2011

Posted on October 4, 2011October 5, 2011 by georgefattell

I went to the Air Show at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar this past Sunday. I have attended the Air Show at Miramar at least 5 times and I always enjoy it. The show takes place the first weekend in October and is a very cool event to attend if you have any interest in military aircraft. The Navy’s renowned Blue Angels are the stars of the show, but there are plenty of other interesting aircraft to see, both in the air and on the tarmac at the base.

Here are a few of the sights from the show.

I will add a few short videos later.

Fantasy Football Week 4

Posted on October 1, 2011October 2, 2011 by georgefattell

I had high hopes for my team last and it just had a so-so performance, in large part due to the fact that a couple of players did not any points on the board at all. I had TEN WR Kenny Britt, who blew out his knee early in the game against . Britt is gone for season and I had to replace him this week. I’m going with Wes Welker, who is not cheap, but still a fairly good value in our league imo.

I also had AZ RB Beanie Wells for week 3 and he did not play at all. He was coming off an injury and looked like he would ready to go last Sunday, but a game time decision was made not to play him. Wells is supposed to play this week, but I traded him anyway because I had make some major changes in order to get some players I truly coveted and that included adding a RB I consider much better than Wells.

I have high hopes, again, for my reconfigured team. I’m not going to reveal my whole team right now (because my league rivals might be reading this). However, I think this team could produce some big numbers. Here are a few of my players for week 4:

QB Tom Brady

RB Tim Hightower

WR Jordy Nelson

TE Rob Gronkowski

DEF Baltimore Ravens

I ended up trading Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson, which was difficult for me to do because A) They are both very good players and B) They play for my hometown Chargers. However, they were both fairly expensive and I needed money this week to pay for players who I think could be more productive this week. I will probably reacquire both Rivers and Jackson later in the season, but I had to put aside my hometown bias toward them and pick the players who I think will be the best fit for my overall team.

Going into Week 4 I am in 3rd place in my 9 team league and my Global Rank is 86th percentile for all Rotohog Salary Cap players.

UFC 135 Denver: Jones vs Jackson

Posted on September 25, 2011October 2, 2011 by georgefattell

I don’t make as many picks for UFC fights as I once did. I love watching the fights, but the sport has grown and there a lot more fighters around than there were several years ago and I don’t have to time to follow a lot these guys. I hate making picks when I’m unfamiliar with one or both fighters, which seems to happen more often to me these days. It is hard enough to predict a lot of these fights when you do know both fighters fairly well and reduces it to a pure guessing game when you don’t. However, unfamiliarity will not be a problem for me tonight, at least when it comes to the main event of UFC 135.

The main event pits newly crowned Light Heavy Weight (205 lbs) champ Jon “Bones” Jones vs. former LHW champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and it has the potential to be classic battle. The 24 year old Jones may not even be in his prime yet, but he seems to outclass every fighter in the LHW division. However, in MMA, just as boxing, there always seems to be a fighter out there someplace who knows how to beat a seemingly invincible opponent.

Rampage is a significant underdog in Vegas for this fight, and I would say that is justified because Jones has not revealed any true weaknesses against 14 previous opponents. The real question that remains about Jones is his chin. No one has really clocked him yet, because they haven’t been able to get inside on him or they quickly find themselves on the mat, eating
elbows on the way to a TKO. Rampage may finally be the guy that tests Jones’ chin because he is an exceptional striker who hits with a lot of power. Rampage has KO’d 14 of his previous 40 opponents. OTOH, Jones may have the most complete skill set in all of MMA. He wrestles and strikes extremely well, and he is a truly exceptional athlete with a 6’4″ frame that gives him an advantage against all other 205ers.

Rampage has a punchers chance of winning, but in the end I think Jon Jones will prove to be too much for Rampage to handle. I say Jones wins in the 3rd round, by submission.

POST FIGHT ANALYSIS

Jon Jones won by forcing Rampage Jackson to submit early in the 4th round (rear naked choke). So, this fight went pretty much as I expected. Jones dominated the fight, winning every round imo, by using his full arsenal of MMA weapons: strikes, kicks, elbows, and superior wrestling. Rampage tried to put himself in a position to deliver a KO blow, but just couldn’t do it, due to Jones elusive quickness.

Looks like Rashad Evans will be next up for Jones, and frankly I don’t think he will fair any better than Rampage. There doesn’t appear to be any UFC fighters in the LHW division that can deal with Bones Jones. I might be years before Jones loses a fight. That’s how good he is.

R.E.M. 1980-2011

Posted on September 22, 2011September 30, 2011 by georgefattell

I was surprised, but not at all shocked, when I read the news that the great R.E.M. had decided to call it quits after 30 years of making some of the best rock music of all time. I saw R.E.M. live twice, at roughly opposite ends of their prodigious career. I first saw them perform in the early 80’s at the legendary Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ. About 20 years later I was fortunate enough to see them perform again, when they were one of the bands that played at Street Scene, in downtown San Diego in 2003. I consider this band from Athens, GA the best American band of the last 30 years and one my 5 favorite rock bands of all time (the others being The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and U2).

I will be adding a lot more to this post later. I just wanted to get it up on the blog now because I think it is appropriate to post a few thoughts on the day of their formal end.

Since the news of R.E.M.’s breakup hit I have been reading a lot of the comments posted on You Tube threads related to R.E.M. video’s and I have been a little surprised at just how diverse the band’s fan is now. They truly have a large international following and a fan base that now spans multiple generations. I think it is pretty cool that they have so many fans who are teens right now.

On a side note, yes, I am well aware that the members of R.E.M. are big liberals, at least Stipe is, that’s for sure. I don’t care about their politics or their activism. I separate that from their music. Many of my favorite entertainers hold political views that I don’t necessarily agree with, but that doesn’t influence my appreciation of their work.

Update: Here are a few of my favorite R.E.M. videos, including a couple from the 1984 show at the aforementioned Capitol Theatre. I discovered the videos from the Capitol Theatre show just a few days ago and I was very surprised to find them on YT. That is so cool. The Capitol Theatre no longer exists, but it was a very popular venue for many bands back in the 70’s and 80’s.

This article from The Atlantic makes the case that R.E.M. is the best American band ever assembled….

R.E.M.: America’s Greatest Band

Fact check: The wealthy already pay more taxes – USATODAY.com

Posted on September 21, 2011September 21, 2011 by georgefattell

Fact check: The wealthy already pay more taxes – USATODAY.com.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Associated Press has disputed Obama’s claim that the “rich” are paying less in taxes than they should be.

Am I “rich”? No, far, far from it. But as the saying goes, I have never worked for a poor person. I want the rich pay to keep as much of their own money as possible

It really irks me when someone such Warren Buffett goes out of his way to insist that taxes should be raised and the debt ceiling should be raised, but does not call for reducing government spending, which is totally out of control imo. Mr. Buffett seems to think that the vast sum of money the federal government spends is all spent wisely and that we should all support whatever tax increases he advocates without much of an explanation as to why, other than the fact that he is a BILLIONAIRE.

Fleet Week in San Diego

Posted on September 19, 2011September 20, 2011 by georgefattell

It is Fleet Week in San Diego. The Navy docked a couple of Warships down at the new Broadway Pier and opened them up to the public. The ships were the USS Princeton, a guided missile cruiser and the USS Rushmore, a dock landing ship.

I took a walk down to the pier at lunch time today and took a tour of the Princeton.I was very impressed with ship and its crew. The tours were led were members of the Princeton’s crew and all conducted themselves in a very professional manner.