A career that might be ending, and another one that is over...
Well, this hasn't been a very good few days for people I'm fans of. First off, let's get the good news out of the way: Amir Sadollah, who I was pulling for, won The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rapmage vs. Team Forrest competiton, submitting C.B. Dollaway at 3:02 of Round 1 with an armbar. Coincidentally, that's exactly how he won a prior fight against Dollaway. Here's hoping Amir keeps his head straight and goes on to become a force to be reckoned with in the middleweight division.
Now the bad. Later that night, one of my favorite fighters, Evan Tanner, lost a match against Kendall 'Da Spyder' Grove. I thought Evan was doing, if not overly well, then at least decent, but apparently the judges disagreed. One scored the fight 29-28 Tanner, but the others scored it 30-26 Grove, meaning that two of them saw one round as a 10-8. Evan said in his postfight interview that he felt "flat" during the fight(ironically, that was how Amir said he felt in the early part of his match with C.B.) and that perhaps he's "getting too old"(he's 37); he also worried his heavy drinking over much of the last three years(he's been sober for about eight months) might have damaged his body past the point where he could get back in the shape he used to be in. I hope he gets another chance and can show people the old Evan Tanner, because this guy, who started out almost completely self-taught, was one of the most entertaining, unorthodox fighters in UFC history. In particular, his last match before his self-imposed hiatus three years ago, he stuffed a single-leg takedown, then pulled his opponent's hands apart, fell to his own back, and locked in a triangle choke. I've still never seen anyone even attempt that move again. Rest up, Ev, I've got faith in you.
And on Sunday, one of my heroes, stand-up comedian George Carlin died of a heart attack at the age of 71. He'd had heart problems for years, and apparently walked into a hosptial in Santa Monica complaining of chest pains, then died later that night. Damn it, that's two of three(the other being Johnny Cash) of people I'm fans of that died before I got to see them(Granted, Carlin was usually in NYC, LA, or Vegas, but still). Next time Willie Nelson comes to North Carolina, I'm going.
Now the bad. Later that night, one of my favorite fighters, Evan Tanner, lost a match against Kendall 'Da Spyder' Grove. I thought Evan was doing, if not overly well, then at least decent, but apparently the judges disagreed. One scored the fight 29-28 Tanner, but the others scored it 30-26 Grove, meaning that two of them saw one round as a 10-8. Evan said in his postfight interview that he felt "flat" during the fight(ironically, that was how Amir said he felt in the early part of his match with C.B.) and that perhaps he's "getting too old"(he's 37); he also worried his heavy drinking over much of the last three years(he's been sober for about eight months) might have damaged his body past the point where he could get back in the shape he used to be in. I hope he gets another chance and can show people the old Evan Tanner, because this guy, who started out almost completely self-taught, was one of the most entertaining, unorthodox fighters in UFC history. In particular, his last match before his self-imposed hiatus three years ago, he stuffed a single-leg takedown, then pulled his opponent's hands apart, fell to his own back, and locked in a triangle choke. I've still never seen anyone even attempt that move again. Rest up, Ev, I've got faith in you.
And on Sunday, one of my heroes, stand-up comedian George Carlin died of a heart attack at the age of 71. He'd had heart problems for years, and apparently walked into a hosptial in Santa Monica complaining of chest pains, then died later that night. Damn it, that's two of three(the other being Johnny Cash) of people I'm fans of that died before I got to see them(Granted, Carlin was usually in NYC, LA, or Vegas, but still). Next time Willie Nelson comes to North Carolina, I'm going.
posted by FirstOfTheFallen at 6:46 AM
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