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By Anthony De Franco  February 3, 2010, at 6:07 pm  A little bit of matchmaking news before we go into full UFC 109 preview mode tonight. It starts with Diego Sanchez returning to the cage against England’s John Hathaway at UFC 114. From SB Nation:
After coming up short against BJ Penn in his Dec. 12 bid for the 155-pound crown, Diego Sanchez (21-3) will make his return to the welterweight division opposite John Hathaway at the upcoming UFC 114 pay-per-view from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, May 29.
Of course, this is Diego’s return to the welterweight division after getting crushed by B.J. Penn at UFC 107. Knowing that he has no chance to win the title at lightweight, he is moving back up to a division where…he has no chance of winning a title. Right.
Hathaway is 3-0 in the UFC, including a win over another prospect that I really like in Ricky Story. However, this is a huge jump in competition for the Brit. While I hope he wins, I expect Diego to triumph.
Also on the card headlined by Rampage and Rashad will be heavyweight prospect Todd Duffee fighting for the first time since the powerjab put Tim Hague out in seven seconds. He’ll be taking on Mike Russow. SB Nation again:
Heavyweights Mike Russow and Todd Duffee will meet at UFC 114 in Las Vegas, Caged In learned on Tuesday.
The UFC newcomers, both 1-0 in the promotion after wins on the same UFC 102 card in Portland in August, have verbally agreed to the bout, though agreements have not yet been signed. The news comes from a source close to Russow’s camp.
- The Times of Northwest Indiana’s Caged In blog reports on this heavyweight fight.
First things first, shout out to the Northwest Indiana Times for doing something that doesn’t involve Sean Sherk. Duffee is a hot prospect not just for that knockout, but a lot of people in the southern part of the US have been talking about him for a while. Expect him to walk through Russow.
By Matt Soldano December 1, 2009, at 3:40 pm I love it when there are some really obvious moves in the world of sports that general managers should make and they flat out ignore it or make up some BS reason as to why they choose to no longer pursue a certain athlete. I might not be like Jason, who thrives at mixing and matching players’ contracts or figuring out team’s salary cap situation, but a move like this makes me believe that maybe becoming a General Manager is not as difficult as people make it out to be.
A day after Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Eddie Jordan and GM Ed Stefanski met with Free Agent Allen Iverson in Dallas, no deal is in place and both parties seem to be “non-committal” at the moment. Despite the fact that several sources are reporting “there is no doubt” he will be coming back, I remember hearing the same sort of reports when the Knicks were targeting AI. Yet, it never happened and to me the Knicks did a huge disservice to their fans, a fan base that has suffered nearly a decade through uneventful season after uneventful season.
The Sixers need the future Hall of Famer more so than New York and it makes even more sense! Look at the injuries that Philly is battling through:
- Lou Williams: Jaw Injury – Out 8 weeks
- Mareese Speights: Knee Injury – Out 6-8 weeks
- Elton Brand: Hamstring Injury – Came back last night, though admitted not 100%
With Speights and Williams out until after the new year, the Sixers are missing 30 points and are struggling to find a cast of characters to shoulder the load. Andre Iguodala (the other AI) has struggled shooting the ball (42%, compared to his career 47% FG) and Thaddeus Young has not become fully comfortable with Eddie Jodan’s offensive style. Iverson becomes the scorer of the team and most of all a closer, something the Sixers have desperately lacked. The team is 5-13 and falling fast in the Eastern Conference but 7 of those losses have come by six points or less. Iverson knows the big stage and can show up brightest in those spots.
Yes, the roster is young, and the question will always center around would Iverson stunt the growth of the team. A playoff birth is not out of the question with Iverson. He could keep them afloat just enough so when Lou Williams and Speights come back healthy, they could push for that 7th or 8th seed. Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Indiana (the current 6-8 seeds) are anything but locks for a playoff bid and it would not shock anyone if they fell off the map.
So Philadelphia, let’s look at the pro’s here. You generate local/national buzz, you are able to sell tickets and jerseys, and gain some sort of national relevance. The con’s you deal withanother AI fallout at the end of the year since he will be on a one-year deal. This does not even need to be thought about! I could have told you all of this in three words but I thought 509 would make my argument more convincing.
SIGN ALLEN IVERSON! Armsleeve night would be one hell of a promotion.
By Zach Schiff July 29, 2009, at 9:05 pm Yes, we are still alive. However, with temperatures in the mid 80s and rain escaping us (save for the lightning storms we are currently having), nothing has been going on in the hockey world, and we’ve been on mini-hiatus.
Two things of note though. With the money saved on Nik Zherdev, who is probably 90% not returning after the Rangers low-balled him (the arbitration process is simply going through the motions, I would think, to sever ties with him), the Rangers got Ales Kotalik. Wouldn’t it also be nice to sign Alex Tanguay to a 1- or 2-year deal in the $3M range? Don’t you think he’d rather play with Marian Gaborik in Manhattan than with Kyle Turris in the desert?
And about Phoenix: Why is the NHL so intent on making this mistake work? I wrote about it two months ago, and it still stands. This team has lost $60M over the past season. It won’t get better, no matter who is running the show. It’s hockey. It’s a desert. The only desert city I can see with hockey is Las Vegas. Not Phoenix (or Glendale, or Scottsdale, or Sedona). Time to move.
Yet the NHL doesn’t accept Jim Balsillie’s bid again, even though he offered over $200M, $40M more than the guy whose bid was accepted (Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns the Bulls and White Sox).
Something’s going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about. Think about it: Let’s say you have a broken car 2,000 miles away, and 2 people wanted to buy it. One person was going to keep it in the same crappy lot and pay you $1,600 for it; one person was going to move it to an area where he could fix the car AND he’d pay you $2,100 for it. No-brainer, no?
No.
Odd.
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