Ronda Rousey got knocked out!

[EppyGA]

I was watching some car race last night. I guess I watched roughly the last half of the race. Kyle Busch won. I'd never heard of Kyle Busch before, but apparently he's a really good driver. But I have no idea what makes him a good driver. To me, car racing looks like a bunch of guys (and gals) driving around in circles. I don't get the attraction. But put me in one of those cars for a while and I know I'd start to understand the sport and to respect the drivers as athletes.

Rich

In the case of Kyle Busch, he was in a very hard crash back in February in the Xfinity series race at Daytona suffering a broken foot and a compound fracture of the leg. He was out for 11 races before coming back. He started off slow and then won four races in a row. In the Cup series, a win qualifies you for a spot on their playoff series, if you will, which is the last 10 races of the year. In his case he had to also get into the top 32 in points to be able to qualify. While I'm not necessarily a fan of his, I can admire what he accomplished. It put him in unique territory as one of only a few brothers to have won the Cup title, as his brother Kurt did years ago.

I've always found it interesting that people feel these guys are not really athletes because all they do is go out and drive in circles. I figure if someone watches the first few laps of the Daytona 500 and they don't get it, they never will. Speeds of 200 mph running inches apart lap after lap inside a car where the temperatures are in 140 degree range is really easy For instance, watching Kyle Larson last night run around the top just inches from the wall at over 160 mph was quite something. One has to remember these cars are designed to turn left so going straight is no treat and requires a bit of a tug on the wheel when doing so.

And one last thing, a lot of those guys are pilots.

 

[RJM62]

In the case of Kyle Busch, he was in a very hard crash back in February in the Xfinity series race at Daytona suffering a broken foot and a compound fracture of the leg. He was out for 11 races before coming back. He started off slow and then won four races in a row. In the Cup series, a win qualifies you for a spot on their playoff series, if you will, which is the last 10 races of the year. In his case he had to also get into the top 32 in points to be able to qualify. While I'm not necessarily a fan of his, I can admire what he accomplished. It put him in unique territory as one of only a few brothers to have won the Cup title, as his brother Kurt did years ago.

I've always found it interesting that people feel these guys are not really athletes because all they do is go out and drive in circles. I figure if someone watches the first few laps of the Daytona 500 and they don't get it, they never will. Speeds of 200 mph running inches apart lap after lap inside a car where the temperatures are in 140 degree range is really easy For instance, watching Kyle Larson last night run around the top just inches from the wall at over 160 mph was quite something. One has to remember these cars are designed to turn left so going straight is no treat and requires a bit of a tug on the wheel when doing so.

And one last thing, a lot of those guys are pilots.

I feel the same way about Americans who believe that soccer is boring, despite it having a higher ratio of action to idle time than any other sport. But if you don't understand the intricacies of the game (especially the defense), I'm sure it just looks like a bunch of guys in shorts kicking a ball back and forth.

Rich

 

[LandSickness]

Professional fighters are athletes and artists, not barbarians.

As a youngster, I boxed at a local gym and wrestled in the PSAL. I wasn't especially good at either sport, but I did learn enough to understand and appreciate them. I was a little better at baseball until I messed up my shoulder trying to defy the laws of physics (short guy trying to be a fastball pitcher without the leverage), quite a bit better at soccer, and much better at cross-country.

The thing all of these sports have in common is that you have to understand them to appreciate them. Boxing and other fighting sports look like senseless brutality to those who don't understand their intricacies; just as baseball, soccer (and American football, for that matter), and track and field events in general are interminably boring to those who don't understand their finer points.

Rich

I totally agree, Rich.

In 1975, when I was a kid, this family moved to our neighborhood and started a 4H club charter. One of the activities they offered was an opportunity to train as a boxer. Everybody back then idolized Muhammad Ali, who used to box frequently on ABC's wide world of sports. He was the best in the golden age of heavyweights(though not my number one....Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest I've ever seen.) I thought as a kid, the idea of knocking someone out was the coolest thing a boxer could accomplish, so I joined and trained very hard to make the team.

Let's just say I wasn't a natural. I never considered the idea that my opponent would actually hit me back, so I focused on the fitness instead of actual competition. Our team would compete locally against the "12th & Park" boxing club that produced the Spinks brothers(Leon and Michael) and our team produced a future WBC Welterweight Champion of the world, Terron Millet.

I learned a lot about boxing in that 4H club and developed a real understanding and love for the science of pugilism. The fighters I'm most drawn to are the elusive ones like Rocky Marciano, Wilfred Benitez, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney. Not the runners like "Fraud" Mayweather, but the technicians that impose their will on their opponent while slipping punches. Boxing, if understood, is definitely "the sweet science."

 

[Anthony]

I don't find male or female MMA appealing at all. It doesn't seem sporting to me, just gross.

 

[Seanaldinho]

Did I read she already scheduled a rematch? Sometime in January if what I saw was correct. Thats very very soon.

 

[JCranford]

No, I don't think there is a rematch scheduled yet, especially not for as soon as January.

 

[172andyou]

Did I read she already scheduled a rematch? Sometime in January if what I saw was correct. Thats very very soon.

If she ever fights again, it will be a year. I'm voting with the people that think she's going to turn her career toward hollywood.

 

[hindsight2020]

If she ever fights again, it will be a year. I'm voting with the people that think she's going to turn her career toward hollywood.

For a female that is probably a more lucrative "merchandising" of her "brand" in the long term. Good bad or indifferent, the sexual objectification of female athletes is still a more lucrative avenue for women. Once they get paid, they can then exercise freedom from that objectification as they wish. We all have a price.

 

[Seanaldinho]

No, I don't think there is a rematch scheduled yet, especially not for as soon as January.

If she ever fights again, it will be a year. I'm voting with the people that think she's going to turn her career toward hollywood.

What I saw was a projection. I didn't believe January, that would've been ridiculous.

I think she will continue to fight, she's certainly good at it and I believe she has that sort of competitive spirit that won't let her quit when she's down.

 

[JoseCuervo]

I heard Holly Holm interview on Jim Rome last Friday. She did not know what her next fight would be, or when.

And she said she would not be surprised if Rousy never fought again.


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[SmashTime]

The ufc suspended ronda from fighting for at least 6 months.

The talk of most professionals regarding a rematch is ronda needs at least a year of training at a different gym. I tend to agree with that statement.

 

[LandSickness]

I heard Holly Holm interview on Jim Rome last Friday. She did not know what her next fight would be, or when.

And she said she would not be surprised if Rousy never fought again.


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I'm surprised at two things:
1. That Jim Rome is still on the air
2. That some believe that Rhonda Rousey can resurrect her career without fighting Holm again. This loss needs to be overcome by a rematch or all of her "tough gal" reputation is gone.

I'd like to see Holly Holm's star rise. Not that it matters that much(but it does) she's actually hotter than Rousey.

 

[mscard88]

I've always found it interesting that people feel these guys are not really athletes because all they do is go out and drive in circles. I figure if someone watches the first few laps of the Daytona 500 and they don't get it, they never will. Speeds of 200 mph running inches apart lap after lap inside a car where the temperatures are in 140 degree range is really easy For instance, watching Kyle Larson last night run around the top just inches from the wall at over 160 mph was quite something. One has to remember these cars are designed to turn left so going straight is no treat and requires a bit of a tug on the wheel when doing so.

And one last thing, a lot of those guys are pilots.

If a nonfan were to ever go see an actual race in person they'd see what it's all about. Especially a place like Talledega when they're 3-4 wide, inches apart, and going 200 mph+! And oh, that fuel smell, octane so high it's smells like avgas. I love the smell of racing fuel in the morning!