I’m Speechless: The UFC Reportedly Offering Anthony Joshua a $500 Million, Multi-Fight Contract

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The Telegraph – The Ultimate Fighting Championship is making an audacious bid to sign a promotional multi-fight deal with Anthony Joshua which could earn the Londoner $500 million (£353 million) and make him the richest British boxer of all time.

As the title suggests, I am absolutely fucking speechless. No idea how to react. Is this a negotiation tactic with Floyd? Is this Dana White letting his dick swing in capital-B Boxing’s face a little? I just don’t know. All I know is that if Anthony Joshua ever competes with a UFC emblem anywhere near his name, either in a cage or in a ring, it would be a massive coup and a combat sports changing moment.

What makes me think this is not just posturing is that Joshua himself has made it clear in the past that he could see himself competing in MMA. I always saw it as a mix of him being a real true, blue competitor and someone that wants all the glory in the world. He wants it all. And whether or not you are a Boxing fan or an MMA fan, can you really call the heavyweight champion of either the “baddest man on the planet” nowadays? Not really right? I don’t know how Joshua would do if he ran into Stipe Miocic in a dark alley or vice versa.

This, in the end, would be a hell of a culmination for this era of the post-Zuffa UFC. It would take MMA and it’s entities onto the next level. And it would only, apparently, cost them $500 million. Stay tuned.

Chris Sale Named Opening Day Starter for the Red Sox. Thank God.

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As he should be. The guy was the Red Sox best pitcher last year, is likely to be their best pitcher this year, is a great spokesman for the team, not to mention he is legitimately mentoring the team’s top prospect in Jason Groome. The Opening Day start is his, he’s earned it.

Some say it should go to David Price because its his team and he has the seniority. Except Price has been a malcontent for the better part of two seasons in Boston, got in an embarrassing pissing contest with team broadcaster Dennis Eckersley, and has not pitched well consistently. I want to like David Price and believe me I realize that we need him to be good if the Sox are going to make a World Series run. But to give him the Opening Day start is the definition of coddling. Just because he makes the most money on the team does not give him the start by default. To paraphrase my friend Alec Baldwin, to give you the Opening Day start is to throw it away. The Opening Day start is for closers.

In all seriousness though, this gives Sale the unofficial title of staff ace, but it also lines up Price to get the home opener start at Fenway, which could be a fresh start for him and the fans. Lets get off to a good start and stop bashing the media and beloved team broadcasters and then we can talk. In the meantime though, we will continue to sell our YUCK merch.

 

Celtics Grab a Huge Win Last Night, But I’m Still Panicking Over Kyrie’s Knee

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The Celtics pulled out a huge improbable win over the Thunder last night on the backs of guys like Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier, and Jayson Tatum. The Thunder were running at full speed too with Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony all suiting up. All of which was a huge boost for a suddenly ailing Celtics team, but sitting at my desk this morning I can’t help but still be massively concerned with Kyrie Irving’s knee.

Yesterday afternoon Tony Massarotti broke the news that Kyrie was seeking a second opinion on his sore knee and that he could potentially have to get the screws removed from his surgically repaired knee, which would end his season.

Absolute worst case scenario. I assumed Kyrie was just resting up for the playoffs as the Celtics are basically locked into the No. 2 seed. Nope, apparently the doomsday scenario has been brewing all along. At least he’s not going hungry though.

Then later in the day Adrian Wojnarowski came out and did his best to alleviate all our fears.

That makes me feel a little better and at least gets me away from the ledge. I’m still debating smashing that panic button though.

Either way this isn’t a great situation to be in for the Celtics, short term or long term. Say he needs to get the screws out and his season’s over. Welp, I’ll see you and Gordon Hayward in the fall. No reason to even finish the season boys. But if Kyrie just needs rest then who’s to say the knee is going to really get any better? Kyrie playing on stilted legs is still better than half the league, but isn’t exactly going to fill me with confidence.

If you remember, Kyrie had knee surgery in 2015 after fracturing his knee cap, but he was still being quoted as recently as last year dropping F bombs in post game pressers about his knee flaring up. So this has been going on for quite a while now.

Now all of this begs the question of how does this affect the C’s long term? I still love the trade and would do it 100 times out of 100 to get a player of Kyrie’s caliber in Boston. You don’t just pick those guys up off the streets. The best free agent signing the Celtics have EVER landed was Al Horford, who the media around here have fetishized calling Average. My point being, even though Danny knew Kyrie’s knee would be a problem before making the trade, if you’re the Celtics you have to take the risk.

However, if we start looking at his contract, Kyrie has one year left on his deal after this season and then a player option after that. Usually players tend to opt out of those options and look for a big money long term contract. If Kyrie does in fact opt out and you’re the Celtics how comfortable do you feel giving a max deal to a guy with a bum knee?

In my opinion I don’t think it really matters all that much how you *feel* because unless Kyrie’s knee gets significantly worse or requires an additional surgery then you don’t have a choice. Pay. The. Man. The Celtics are in a win now mode so if Kyrie walks then that 2020 squad would theoretically be built around Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, and a 33-year-old Al Horford. Not good enough. The Celtics need Kyrie and to be honest he might need them.

Kyrie has never played a full 82 game season and has only played in 70+ games 3 times in 7 seasons. So while he is an elite talent in the NBA, he comes with his baggage, which again I am fully willing to sign off on. However after a broken foot at Duke, a broken knee cap in 2015, and then still not being totally healthy 3 years later, Kyrie may be more willing to sign an extension earlier (and possibly cheaper) than he originally intended. I know the Celtics didn’t offer him a giant extension, but just look at Isaiah Thomas as a cautionary tale. The guy played out of his mind, got hurt, then got traded into a couple of bad situations and now he’s staring down free agency much more likely to make 6th man money than the max extension he expected less than 12 months ago.

So I guess I’ll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs until Woj or Mazz or someone breaks some news that I can actually do something with. Until then I’ll just sit here doomsday prepping for what the Celtics will look like in 2020 without Kyrie Irving.

The Son of Dick Ebersol is Launching a Pro Football League to Rival the XFL

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ESPN – “While Vince McMahon promises to bring back a revamped XFL in 2020, a son of McMahon’s partner in the original short-lived XFL venture said his football league will come first. And some big NFL names will be involved. Charlie Ebersol, who directed a documentary on the XFL that aired last year as part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, announced Tuesday that his league, the Alliance of American Football, plans to debut Feb. 9, 2019, the week after Super Bowl LIII. The season will run 10 weeks and will have 50-man teams.”

Look at Charlie Ebersol go! Dude just got the jump on Vince McMahon and the WWE commish must be furious. Vince made the mistake of announcing a brand new football league and then buried the lede that it wouldn’t begin play until 2020. Ebersol on the other hand just came out and announced his new league, the Alliance of American Football, will begin play in February 2019.

AND he’s already got games lined up to be aired on CBS with legitimate NFL names like Bill Polian, Troy Polamalu, Jared Allen, and Hines Ward behind it. Ebersol also has Barstool Sports parent company, The Chernin Group, already on board. You know Portnoy is just salivating at the potential for content with a brand new football league that won’t shun him like the NFL has done for years. That my friends sounds like a goddamn plan.

If you didn’t watch the XFL announcement press conference, Vince basically did a one man conference call to announce the league and then refused to really answer any actual questions about how the league would operate, how it would be different from the NFL, where players would come from, or where we could watch games. Not exactly ideal for building excitement. I think its safe to say Charlie Ebersol one upped Mr. McMahon here.

To be totally honest, what I’m about to say, I say a lot so take this with a grain of salt. I am a junkie for football and will watch just about any football game you put on TV. I’ve watched DII college football, Arena Football, the United Football League, the CFL, NFL Europe, the FXFL. Hell I even texted my buddy last night saying that we have to go check out a Massachusetts Pirates game out of the world famous National Arena League.

BUT, I can’t recall really watching more than a handful of these games. It was awesome watching an out of the NFL Daunte Culpepper run around in the UFL in cities like HARTFORD.

After realizing he was playing against guys that couldn’t start on my high school team though the novelty wore off. So as usual this sounds like a great idea, but it will come down to the quality of play. The NFL has been a monopoly for a long time and its not because there haven’t been challengers. Remember the USFL? The goddamn President of the United States owned a team.

But without the talent people won’t care enough to watch. So I know there are tons of D1 players that don’t make the NFL; what happens to them? I guess if you cut all the fat from the NFL like Ebersol plans to do (no TV timeouts, shorter broadcasts, no kickoffs etc.) then you could create a supplementary product that I will likely watch with a 6 pack of beer on a cold March night. Because I’ll tell you, I am dying for some football right now and Madden can only satiate that appetite for so long. Give me all the football leagues.

Ryan Donato Leaves Harvard Early to Go Pro and Shine for the Bruins

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For the second year in a row the Bruins are leaning on a rookie just days removed from his final college game as the team enters its home stretch.

Last year it was Charlie McAvoy. This year its Ryan Donato AKA the kid who carried the USA Olympic team with 5 goals in Pyeongchang. Donato made his debut last night and despite playing his final game at Harvard less than a week ago, the 21-year-old looked right at home and notched 3 points in his NHL debut. Not to mention his first career goal came on an absolute ROCKET.

The kid can play. The Youth Movement is in full swing! Nobody is loving this influx of young talent more than David Krejci.

It would seem like the Bruins are doing their best to reconstruct the 2018 Olympic team that ironically featured 0 NHL players at the time with Donato and recently signed Brian Gionta.

I’ll admit it, I did not expect the Bruins to be nearly this good this year, but goddamn is this a fun team to watch.

Patriots Acquire Cordarrelle Patterson from the Raiders

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NFL – “Tom Brady is getting a new toy to enjoy in his offense. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the New England Patriots acquired speedy wideout Cordarrelle Patterson from the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, pending a physical. Per NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, the Patriots will swap their fifth-round pick for a Raiders sixth-round pick in order to make the move.”

Not an earth shattering move nor is it as sexy as the last time the Patriots traded for a Raiders receiver…

but Cordarrelle Patterson can be an exciting player with the ball in his hands. Patterson has always been a player that has never been able to necessarily put it all together, but if he could be put in the right positions he could take any play to the house. Putting players in a position to succeed is what Bill Belichick does better than anyone else in the NFL. Whether its returning kicks or a package of screens and slants, I’m confident Bill has a very specific role in mind for this guy. This is a player that the Patriots can line up in the slot, go deep, run screens, reverses or take handoffs. He has a career average yards per reception and yards per rushing attempt of 10+ yards. That type of versatility has me drooling to see what Bill and Josh McDaniels have in store for Patterson.

Although, I would be lying if I didn’t say I am a bit concerned with the recent stockpiling of wide receivers that have made a habit of disappointing coaches and fantasy owners alike in Phillip Dorsett, Kenny Britt, and now Patterson.

If nothing else Patterson can FLY and while I don’t think relying on deep ball go routes from our 41-year-old QB is a great option, he should make an immediate impact in the return game. Belichick may be looking to replace some of the sheer athleticism his team has lost with the recent departures of guys like Dion Lewis. But hey, the guy was on Sports Science so how can this be viewed as anything other than a raging success?

Does Any Industry Think Less of Its Customers Than the Airline Industry?

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There’s nothing funny about this story and I don’t have too much to add, other than to say that this stuff needs to stop.

I generally agree with what Mike Rowe had to say about air travel last year, after another United Airlines fiasco, because I also don’t want to fly with people who get to pick and choose which rules they follow. But that assumes the people enforcing the rules, namely flight attendants, are competent employees. Far too often, though, many flight attendants have demonstrated staggering incompetence.

There are far too many jobs in America that require a master’s degree that shouldn’t, or even a bachelor’s degree that shouldn’t. I don’t know what the preferred qualifications are to be a flight attendant, but I wouldn’t want to make an admittedly thankless job even tougher to get. But is it too much to ask that flight attendants understand that living animals on planes require air to breathe and not die? If you’re too God damn stupid to understand that, maybe you should be working at the Burger King in the terminal and not on the plane as a flight attendant.

Again, I don’t want to fly with people who get to choose which rules to follow, but the lack of critical thinking here is mind blowing. This attendant is like George Costanza playing Trivial Pursuit [“the card says moops”]. They did not care about the animal’s safety or well being, they only cared that a carry-on bag larger than 9 inches x 10 inches x 17 inches be placed in the overhead bin because that’s what the rules say. To ask any questions would require critical thinking and decision making, which is clearly not in the job description of a flight attendant.

PETA has released a statement calling for this flight attendant to be fired and prosecuted, and I completely agree. I’m tired of flying with idiots.

Airlines should keep stories like this in mind the next time they try to limit the number of service animals that fly with passengers. Maybe Americans wouldn’t need to fly with so many service animals if the airlines would just stop murdering their pets.

Believe It Or Not Jose Aldo Still Doesn’t Get It

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MMAmania – You won’t find former featherweight champion Jose Aldo sticking his neck out for the UFC these days…..”I just thought it was a mistake on Edgar’s end to fight Brian, who’s a very tough guy,”… “He would have fought for the title, but he risked that and lost. Now he’s all the way back there again. I think that was his biggest mistake.”

Timing timing timing timing timing. Timing timing timing. That’s really, in the end, all that matters in a burgeoning, or sustaining, MMA career. Are you available to fight and have you put yourself in a spot where it even matters that you are? Conor McGregor obviously knew that from the jump, and did what was necessary both inside and outside of the cage. The Diaz brothers knew it, so did Brock Lesnar, Michael Bisping, and most recently Brian Ortega.

But apparently Jose fucking Aldo still doesn’t. The guy who has turned down or has pulled out of more fights than I can even fucking count had the gall to criticize Frankie Edgar, who has built a career and gigantic fan base, the latter of which Aldo has never and will never have, for taking a fight, which by the way is all these men’s job, and for some, like Edgar, their greatest passion.

Maybe not so coincidentally, the MMA audience outside of Brazil has never quite taken to Aldo, at least not to the extent they should have. Now, there is no denying that he was during his reign as featherweight king an elite talent inside the cage, and remains so to an extent today. He not only could impose his game on his opponents but force them to play the same one. But in terms of carrying the UFC banner high, he never wanted to be “the guy”. With that said that prospect is a hard burden to carry, and I get it.  MMA is one big catch-22. You risk it all only to potentially lose and have to start over again like Edgar or risk being despised for playing it safe like Aldo. But the guys above risked it all, to one extent or another, and they all became rich and famous (or will, like Ortega) for it. Aldo too became a legend. But he risks possibly someday being relegated to being name dropped in a bar, in a wispy MMA hipster sentiment, while the Answer, the Irishman, The brothers from the 209, and the Count will be their own category on trivia night.

The Pats Haven’t Done Shit In Free Agency Which Makes Me Scared And Sad

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In case you have been living under a rock NFL-wise free agency got off to an absolutely chaotic start yesterday. I’m sure if they tried to show a visual of players changing teams it would look like the daily FAA domestic flight tracker – that wild. the Patriots have done a whole lot of nothing however, save trading for Danny Shelton which isn’t a FA move as much as it is also just happens to coincide with the beginning of the league year. Now don’t gt me wrong, I really like the Shelton move. We gave up very little for a guy who was seen as a Pats target a few years ago before he was taken #13 overall. He is GIGANTIC (~340lbs) and if he can play up to even 75% of his potential, he’ll team with Malcolm Brown to form of the most formidable interior d-lines around.

That’s where it ends for the Pats though, in free agency, for now. And it’s stressful to watch. Trumaine Johnson, a great CB I thought for sure the Pats would look into went to the in-division rival Jets. Swiss Army Knife LB Anthony Hitchens, who may have been created in a dream Coach Belichick had in 2nd Grade, signed with the Chiefs. to add salt in the wound, Danny Amendola left town to make a guaranteed $8.5 million over 2 years with the (again, in-division) Dolphins. I know he’s getting up there and injury prone, but that’s not a bad price for Danny Playoffs and we could have at least hedged our bets of losing him and keeping another aging, oft-inured WR in Julian Edelman with making a play for the Dolphins own Jarvis Landry, but nope.

Look, I know goes more into this than the headlines, The Fins got two picks for Landy. The last do-it-all LB Belichick made a splash with ended up being the worst deal in Pats history (rhymes with Spragalius Domus). Still, It’d be nice to see us at least doing some more visible due diligence, maybe getting in a bidding war or two. Anything to make it seem we’re trying to make it worth Brady and Gronk’s while, among other things. In the end it will always be in Belichick we trust, and we all know that. I guess I just wish he didn’t make us live in constant fear.