Former Boxing Fans Rejoicing In MMA Glow

Once upon a time it was known as the "Sweet Science". It along with Horse Racing were the lifeblood of American sports. That day has long since past for Horse Racing and it has recently passed for Boxing. Thanks to crooked promoters, greedy executives and non-descript fighters, boxing has lost it's crown to the new king of fighting, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

The hoopla that went along with any Mike Tyson fight is occurring this weekend in the usual place, Vegas. However, this excitement is about a 45 year old balding man, two years removed from a fight and a young giant of a man who is best known as an "Entertainer" for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fighting in an octagonal cage for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). When this is put on paper it looks silly that this would be a draw, but this fight is expected to garner more than 1.2 million pay-per-view buys. Only the Mayweather vs De La Hoya fight has come close to this in the last decade in the boxing world. Several MMA events have come close to the million buy rate and one (Lidell vs Ortiz) surpassed it.

MMA, of which UFC is one of many organizations, has become the golden goose for cable systems. This is both thanks to their smart marketing, but also boxing's mistakes over the past 25 years. A few reasons:

1. Crooked promoters (such as Don King) have caused people to question the legitimacy of fights. Boxing fans don't usually like professional wrestling for a reason. These promoters have made their sport no better than that.
2. Greedy executives wanting their own agenda's have created so many organizations that anyone that wants to become a boxer can now get a title belt when they sign up.
3. Lack of promotion of the undercards of broadcasts made the fighters not in the main event seem second rate. The creation of new stars is one of the staples of UFC pay-per-views. Fighters only have a short career and you must always be introducing customers to new up and coming people that can then be main event level in their minds.
4. Excitement. Boxing is a one dimensional sport that can have great fights, if the participants workrate is high, but can be very boring if both sides decide to slow it down. In MMA there are a few dull fights but if one side doesn't want to work then they will probably be finished quickly.
5. Safety. MMA used to be referred to as "Human Cockfighting" by politicians, such as John McCain. Thanks to changes made to bring it more mainstream MMA is now safer than boxing. In boxing the entire objective is to pound the opponent, usually focusing on the head area. Once this is accomplished enough to knock them down, they can possibly get up and continue the punishment. In MMA there are many different ways to win a fight. Boxing is part, but submissions are just as important. These do not cause the physical damage that constant pounding does in boxing. Also, once a fighter is down and cannot intelligently defend themselves the fight is stopped. They are not allowed a minute to regroup and continue getting hurt.

If boxing does not address the promoters, multiple companies and lack of new stars there is no way they can regain their crown. Long live the new "Sweet Science", Mixed Martial Arts.

The Twang Has Twung

Here at JMW we are not the biggest fans of country music. So it was with much trepidation that we were made to watch last nights CMA Awards Show. What we saw both surprised and saddened us.

First, someone took the awards show and turned it into a concert. Several times there were four performances between awards presentations. While this may be a positive for country music fans, this is at heart an awards show. To compound this problem all of the performances seemed to be either lip-synced or assisted by an underlying song. So therefore there was no real difference between watching these and listening to the CD's or radio. This became evident for poor 18 year old, recent high school graduate, Taylor Swift. The technical folks seem to have left her out to dry and did not turn on her underlying song that she was to sing with. It seems she didn't know this as she sort of half sung/half mumbled a song that was cringe worthy.

This brings us to our second and main complaint after watching last night. The current crop of Country Music singers can't sing. They are all bleached blond, chiseled body, sculpted hair recording studio acts that can't sing any better than your average bum off the street. The only time more than one octave was used was if it was a mistake or if one of the old guard of country was performing. They should think about separating the two sections of country because it is embarrassing to the new singers when a 75 year old George Strait can belt out a tune that gets everyone's toes tapping and the next performance Rascal Flatts has cured the insomnia of most of the audience.

While we are not fans of country music, even we can tell the difference and ask to have more Martina McBride, George Strait, Brooks & Dunn and even more Kid Rock (somehow he became country) and less of the cookie cutters that are just pretty on the eyes. And an award every now and then on an award show would be a novel concept.

The Melting Pot That Is America

America is wonderful because we welcome everyone regardless of race, religion, sexual preference, etc. For some it may be a bit harder than others, but as we progress as an American society those hardships are getting a bit easier.

In the past week it seemed we were progressing in great strides with the election of Barack Obama. We here at Joker's Modern World were proud to vote for this beacon of change even though he was not the same skin color as us. That is of little importance when he is clearly the best person for the job. It seemed that most white citizens were of the same mindset as us and made that clear in the history making events of Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

The good feeling was continuing in our minds throughout last week when harsh reality set in. During an outing by one of the Joker's staff the harsh reality of the utter ignorance of some Americans was brought forth. Overheard were several people talking about the future of America, while waiting on their children to finish a class. These people are raising the future of our society, so one would think they would want an inclusive society. Not these individuals. The following statements were overheard and prove just how far we still have to go as a society:

• "They need to rename that place The Black House because no black man should be allowed in The White House"
• "We need to go to Walmart and get as many guns as we can because those liberals are going to stop us from getting what we deserve soon"
• "We are starting a militia here for when the entire thing collapses. I hear lots of militia's are springing up now that a black man is in charge of us whites"

Re-read those and hang your head in shame at the ignorance of your fellow Americans. Then remember that our Veterans fought for the right of everyone to believe in their own way, even these racist bigots who are teaching the future generation no better.

If you have any ideas on ways to educate individuals of this mindset please let us know as we would be greatly interested in it. However, we didn't think it was the time or place to start a fight with all of the kids looking on. God Bless America!

Save Chuck!

Here at Joker's we like our television shows with a sense of humor. Add to that action, sci-fi and hot women and you have a winning formula. The only show right now that presents the perfect mix for us is "Chuck" on NBC at 8pm est.

Recently we have heard rumblings of cancellations due to low ratings in Chuck's future which have set us into a deep depression. We are not sure if the show is too smart for the average American or if it gets lost in the monday mix of great TV (our DVR is never idle on mondays with Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Samantha Who and History Detectives).

We implore all Joker's Clan and followers to give Chuck a chance. It is a geeks dream show and the wife/significant other will like it as well. And just to get you more interested here are a few links that the male readership may appreciate:

Yvonne Strahovski
Sarah Lancaster

Football News You Can Use

Two of the Joker's staff's loves are football and rumors. Thank goodness there is a site that combines both loves and is updated multiple times an hour. Profootballtalk is like online crack for sports addicts.

The site seems to be run by obsessive compulsive lawyers who have no real clients, based on the posting frequency. They must have sources in every area of the sport as they break many stories before the big boys like ESPN get ahold of it. Their analysis of salary cap and contract structure are as in-depth as you will find anywhere and should either impress you or put you to sleep, based upon how much you like the GM part of football.

We cannot endorse a site anymore than saying that we visit Profootballtalk on an almost hourly basis and are always impressed.

Battlefield 2142

During the Joker's free time (all 5 minutes of it recently), there are a few constants; DVR'd shows, football and Battlefield 2142. I want to talk about the latter for a few minutes.

Thanks to a loyal Joker follower we were introduced to a rare gem of the current first-person shooter genre. The overlooked Battlefield 2142. Other games in the Battlefield series seem to get all of the press, however they are all cookie cutter war simulations. 2142 breaks that mold and delves into the future of warfare. Instead of ground tanks and jeeps we are introduced to hover tanks, mechanical walkers and Titan airships.

Building on the winning Battlefield formula this entry gives a bit of variety that we have missed since Quake went downhill (i.e. Quake 3). The multiplayer section is full of unlocks that will keep you coming back for more kills and leadership points.

If you are interested in first-person shooters, but are feeling stuck in a rut of World War 2 games, try Battlefield 2142.

Welcome!

Welcome all to the Joker's Modern World blog!

Here we plan to address popular topics of the day. Most early entries will be based upon our bosses current interests, but recommendations are always welcome.

For now we will focus on TV, Movies, Video Games, MMA, Politics and Money.

Feel free to comment about any topics you wish, but we do ask that you respect your fellow readers.

Once again, Welcome to the Joker's Modern World!