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NBA

Blake Griffin Out Six Weeks, The Curse Of The Clippers Continues

With the season underway tonight, the Clippers will be without their brightest star in Blake Griffin against the Lakers and for the following six weeks. This from Rotoworld:

“Blake Griffin has a stress fracture in his left patella (kneecap) and is expected to miss up to six weeks of action. He is also suffering from tendinitis in the same knee.”

Wow. What a major blow to a very promising Clippers team. Marcus Camby is already hurting and a ton of stock is now being placed onto the shoulders of Chris Kaman, a guy who has missed a combined 77 games the past two years. Knee injuries can always be troubling and the Clippers know all about them. See Shaun Livingston, Danny Manning, and Co.

While the Clippers still have talent and even without Griffin are an improved squad from last year, these six weeks are the difference in making and missing the playoffs, especially in the Western Conference. With Griffin, out until the second week of December (most likely), I have him missing 21 games. L.A. in my mind has to go 11-10 to stay afloat because teams like Oklahoma City and Phoenix could easily past them by in contention for that 8th spot.

NBA

Save Our Sonics!

As you probably know Seattle once had a proud basketball tradition. Being born in ‘85 the era of Sonic basketball with Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton is definitely a part of my childhood. Of course now there is no basketball team in Seattle the Sonics have become the Oklahoma City Thunder or as Bill Simmons likes to call them “the Zombie Sonics.”

The people at Sonicsgate.org have come out with a remarkable two hour documentary explaining the political and personal motives behind the Sonics move.  It’s a must watch for any NBA fan or even a fan of sports in general.

For a taste of the documentary here’s the trailer:

YouTube Preview Image

Now go watch the full movie.

MMA

Fight Night 19 Beginning To Shape Up…

We are beginning to see some fights that are being signed for the free card in Oklahoma City take shape. We’ve already talked about Gray Maynard and Roger Huerta squaring off, but here are three more fights that you’ll see for free on Spike TV.

First, we go to Yahoo! MMA:

While you never get a second chance to make a first impression, welterweight Mike Pyle (17-6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will certainly try his best.

The Xtreme Couture fighter, who was a last-second replacement opponent for Brock Larson at UFC 98 in May, will now meet the man he replaced, Chris Wilson (14-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC), at UFC Fight Night 19 in Oklahoma City.

This will be one of those UFC elimination fights in which one fighter will never be heard from ever again. Pyle is a decent fighter, but neither of these fighters will ever find themselves in a crowded welterweight title picture.

Now, we move on to MMA Weekly:

The event at the Cox Convention Center features a bout pitting Nate Diaz against Melvin Guillard and the return of Roger Huerta as he squares off with Gray Maynard.

Diaz is coming off of a loss to Joe Stevenson at the recent Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale in June. Though he dropped a unanimous decision – his second straight defeat in the Octagon – Diaz’ bout with Stevenson was one of an unprecedented three Fights of the Night.

After back-to-back losses in 2007, Guillard has rebounded to win his last three fights, including a controversial split decision over Gleison Tibau at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale. A win over Diaz would put him well on his way to top tier fights in the UFC’s lightweight division.

My how the mighty have fallen. We were talking about Nate Diaz getting back on track and contending in the lightweight division. Now, if he loses to Guillard, he’ll have lost three in a row, and be in Mac Danzig territory. Guillard tested positive for coccaine awhile ago, but has won his last two fights. A huge 155er with great wrestling, Guillard will be a test for the stand up challenged Diaz.

And finally,

Nate Quarry and Tim Credeur have verbally agreed to fight at UFC Fight Night 19 on Sept. 16 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Though pen to paper has yet to take place, sources tell MMAWeekly.com that should happen in the coming days.

Credeur is famous for two things from his stint on The Ultimate Fighter. He kept talking about the warrior way as if he were a samurai, and he bought Matthew Riddle an Xbox 360 with his bonus money after beating him. Since his TUF stint, Credeur is 3-0 in the UFC and quickly rising up the ladder in a weak middleweight division. Quarry is 7-2 in the UFC, and undefeated since returning from back surgery. Both of these guys are middling fighters, but it should make for an interesting fight.

MMA

Ultimate Fight Night 19: Maynard v. Huerta Likely…

It comes from Sherdog’s Blog:

Roger Huerta and Gray Maynard are being eyed for a lightweight bout at UFC Fight Night 19 on Sept. 16 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Sherdog.com has learned from a source familiar with the plans. UFC Fight Night 19 will serves as a lead-in for season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter” on Spike TV.

Huerta (20-2-1, 1 NC) turned down a new five-fight contract with the UFC in January to pursue a career in acting. The popular bilingual fighter — who was the first mixed martial artist to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated — has been missing in action ever since. Huerta won five bouts in 2007, but fought only once in 2008 — a unanimous decision loss to No. 1 contender Kenny Florian at UFC 87 last August. Huerta turned down two UFC fights in 2008, citing family and scheduling issues.

If signed, the September bout would complete the last fight on Huerta’s contract with the UFC. A three-month non-compete renegotiation period is then expected, then a matching period in which the fighter can court offers from outside promotions that the UFC can counter.

I added the part about him acting just to prove that Roger Huerta is out of his mind. Once considered a top prospect, Huerta has proved that he is one of the more overrated fighters in the UFC. He loves to stand and bang, which makes for exciting fights, but was outclassed by Florian and beat down by an emerging Clay Guida before sinking in a choke in the 3rd. It’s hard to call a guy who is 20-2 overrated, but I am.

On the other hand, Maynard is really an intriguing prospect. Known for his stint on The Ultimate Fighter season that Nate Diaz won, Maynard has amassed an impressive 5-0 record since including a couple of nice wins over Jim Miller and Rich Clementi. I love the bulldogish wrestling skills that he uses and with a win over a guy like Huerta, we could be talking about him in the lightweight title picture.

If this matchup works out right for the UFC, Graynard will beat Huerta. The Spaniard will disappear and Maynard will emerge as a contender.

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