Do yourself a favor. If you watch nothing else on this list, bring yourself down to a Buffalo Wild Wings or anywhere that shows the UFC events, or get a bunch of your friends and do a fight night … but you need to watch Jon “Bones” Jones fight Ryan Bader at UFC 126 this Saturday night.

You just have to trust me. This is the guy you want to see.

There are a lot of UFC fights that, unless you have a true appreciation of the sport, can be pretty boring affairs to watch. Grappling, mat work, positioning, “Octagon Control” … yeah, anyway, this is not that guy.

It’s THIS guy.

In short: this dude will fuck you up.

This is a hype train worthy of its tracks.

His move set, in part, was (legitimately) inspired by YouTube videos. He’s the create-a-fighter that you gave all of your game’s most badass moves to. Spinning back elbows. Back suplexes straight off of Monday Night RAW. Once he gets his hooks into you, HE WILL MAUL YOU.

In his only loss, he DEVOURED THE VERY SOUL of a deaf man (see above video). Matt Hamill, in fact, who isn’t a poor fighter at all. But Jones essentially beat him up so badly, the referee disqualified him for using an illegal manuever … again, it’s like one of those funky reversed decisions they make on RAW to whip the crowd into a frenzy. So impressive was Jones that it may be the only instance where a guy lost a fight and moved UP the card.

He’s flashy. He’s mesmerizing. He’s creative. He’s devastating. In short, he’s everything the sport needs.

Jon Jones isn’t a wet blanket like Rashad Evans, nor is he the technician that Georges St. Pierre is. He’s not about brutal efficiency. He’s about brutality. Period.

Ryan Bader’s a good prospect. He’s also just another victim. And you need a front row seat.

The post Let Jon “Bones” Jones make your Saturday Super, too appeared first on The Faster Times.

Lets take the Boston Celtics match-up first. Defensively Boston has players to stop all of Miami’s major weapons. It’s been proven time and time again that PF Paul Pierce can play tight effective defense on Lebron James, though it means sacrificing some offensive production. When Pierce doesn’t score, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo, amongst others, compensate. Both Allen and Rondo are also able to play solid defense on Wade while Bosh would be overwhelmed by Garnett, Big Baby, Perkins, and both Shaq and Jermaine O’Neil.

In many ways, the Boston Celtics are the perfect team offensively and defensively. Miami will not win the Eastern Conference until after Pierce, Allen, and Garnett retire. Just think about it. Last season Boston’s “Big 3” played below expectations during the regular season and playoffs but managed to nearly steal the NBA Championship. This season their productivity is through the roof despite not one Celtic making the starting 5 for the NBA All Star Game.

Now take the Lakers. Miami faces a huge coaching disadvantage. Zen Master Phil Jackson is easily one of the top 5 coaches of all-time. When you couple his devastating triangle offense with Kobe Bryant and an incredibly finesse and equally strategic line-up and you have big trouble for Lebron and co. If you match Chad Bosh up with Pau Gasol and Lebron James on Lamar Odom, the question still remains, who will stop number 24? Other problems lie in the fight for rebounds against an LA Lakers team with much more size and chemistry. In the same situation as the Celtics match-up, the Heat fin themselves in a slight mismatch against a team with more experience and defensive prowess. The Miami Heat will not win the NBA Championship this year. They will inevitably win more than one but, unfortunately for them, it won’t be in 2011.

The post The Heat Just Not Good Enough Yet appeared first on The Faster Times.

You might ask: what about the Nets? For starters, they’re destined to abandon Jersey for Brooklyn. Rapper Jay-Z sees’s this move to be pivotal to his native burrow, but what about New Jersey? The other basketball Mecca needs a professional basketball team much more than New York needs another franchise. Forbes can attest to this with the NY Knicks topping the Forbes most valuable NBA Franchise list, beating out the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. Yet, the Empire State will receive another pro basketball team to add onto their already staggering list of Pro clubs. Smart business? Yeah. Fair? No.

Next we have the complex situation that is the NY Giants and Jets. Both teams practice and play in East Rutherford, New Jersey but both carry the name New York. Logically would it hurt if the Jets were the “New Jersey Jets”? I don’t think so.

The game of football has always played second fiddle to basketball and baseball in New York. Most high schools don’t even carry the sport due to limits on space to build stadiums in the industrialized city. Is it at all fair that the home state of football doesn’t have an Official home team? Is it fair that one of the strongest basketball states will soon have no team to cheer for? I think the answer is obvious and so is the solution. New Jersey needs its own pro football team and a basketball team to fill the void that the Nets will leave after they depart. It’s time we started seeing some love for Jersey.

The post New Jersey Overlooked appeared first on The Faster Times.

The Dynamic Duo of Gotham City. And from my vantage point, it looks like it’s gonna happen.

Miami and Boston: Take heed. Two’s a party … the Knicks are about to make the East a crowd.

With Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s proclamation that his team is D-O-N-E with its pursuit of Anthony, it doesn’t take a genius to figure this out: if it isn’t a bluff, Anthony is going to be a Knick; either by the trading deadline, or after next summer’s free agency binge. It’s where he wants to go. And if he’s not willing to go to his ‘other’ hometown team to play for a billionaire, then his cards are plainly on the table.

He wants to be there. His wife wants to be there. He says his wife isn’t a factor. I say LULZ.

Make no mistake: A team boasting Amar’e Stoudamire, Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton is going to be a threat to lead the world in scoring and efficiency. Felton isn’t a fluke in my eyes: while Mike D’Antoni’s coaching inflates the statistics of point guards, take one look at how D.J. Augustin is ballin’ in Charlotte since Larry Brown was axed.

The other two guys are arguably the best pure scorers at their positions in the NBA. As ONLY A SCORER, Stoudamire has no real peer at power forward or center. Anthony has a bit more competition with Kevin Durant and LeBron James living in Small Forward-ville. He’s in the discussion.

Both demand double teams and in Anthony’s case, he’d give New York a true crunch time scorer. Stoudamire is a go-to guy, but as a big man I think you can only do so much when asked to create for yourself in the final minutes. Anthony and Amar’e together would give the Knicks a clear edge in end-game situations. Not only for their ability to make shots and open things up for each other, but everyone else on the floor too. This article by Basketball Prospectus (http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1412 ) does a nice job breaking down exactly how a scorer like Carmelo Anthony can make everything easier for his teammates.

As for the Knicks defense … it’s abysmal now and wouldn’t get any better.

But in sports, my belief is this: if you’re really bad at something and pretty darned good at something else, sometimes its better just to max out what you do well. That’s how D’Antoni won so much in Phoenix: the defense wasn’t very good. The offense was A+++++++. We’re not great at defending but guess what? You CAN’T stop us. We’re both gonna score, but we’re just better at it than you are. The pressure of having to score 110 a night never got to them since they did it so often and so effortlessly. Most teams wilted under the pressure of having to execute flawlessly against Steve Nash’s offense for four quarters.

Adding a big man to improve the defense could help … or it could just negate the team’s considerable matchup advantage when it plays Stoudamire at center and can run four other highly-skilled players with him. Spread the floor and let Amare pick on a big stiff. It’s easy money more often than not, even if, as Bart Scott might say, that lineup “can’t stop a nosebleed.”

New York has hit a bit of a slump, possibly because players hear the trade chatter and they are letting it affect their play. This Knicks team is pretty good, not great, and likely is capped out in round two.

But Anthony gives them a chance to make a series with Miami or Boston a crapshoot. Can they stop those teams? No. Can they stop the souped-up Knicks? Not likely, either.

And in an NBA where that Miami team is going to be a gorilla for perhaps the next decade, a crapshoot is perhaps the best you can hope for. This year, before the Heat have another offseason to mesh together; truly commit to winning; and each of the big three are battling injuries; well, it might be the best chance you’ve got for awhile.

If you’re Donnie Walsh, you hold out for the best deal you can, then you pull the trigger.

You pass on the safe second round berth. You go for the pin. You gamble on greatness.

You bring Carmelo Anthony to New York.

The post Nets out means Knicks are in for Carmelo Anthony appeared first on The Faster Times.

Nevertheless, for the next two weeks tune in for my daily round up of the day’s match-ups at the Australian Open. Get yourself in the mood with a can of Fosters and after reading this, why not have a quick game of knify-spoony with your neighbour.

Australian Open Review: Day 1

Men’s

No doubt the biggest news of the day was king of the court, king of Gillette and king of our hearts Roger Federer making it into the second round of the open – Shit, you don’t say? Playing with that perfect blend of grace pompousness, the number-two seed defeated Slovak Lukas Lacko in straight sets, 6-1 6-1 6-2, and made it back to the hotel in time to catch the end of the Golden Globes.

Funny-man Novak Djokovic also progressed after beating the tennis playing Spaniard who isn’t Rafael Nadal, Marcel Granollers. 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Here’s to Novak keeping up the good tennis so he can entertain us with his wacko press conferences and TV interviews.

American Mardy Fish had his work cut out for him, as he needed to recover from two sets down to beat Victor Hanescu of Romania, 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. Fish, has shot up the rankings board from 108th to 16th and looks like he might just keep to the good form and to impress the drunken Aussie crowd.

Speaking of Americans, anyone remember Andy Roddick? Well, A-Rod II also made it to the second round after defeating Czech Jan Hajek, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, meaning we are all going to have to wait a little longer before we see Roddick rage into one his signature hissy fits.

The Czechs did have reason to celebrate, however, as number-six seed Tomas Berdych beat Marco Crugnola of Italy (Italy? Oh come on, name me one good tennis player. Exactly). 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

And Spain’s second most popular tennis figure Fernando Verdasco defeated Germany’s Rainer Schuettler 6-1, 6-3, 6-2. All German tennis fans have to watch now is Boris Becker play poker at PokerStars functions.

Women’s

Whoever’s responsible for organizing the scheduling is probably Maria Sharapova’s publicist. The 23-year-old Russian bombshell was the face the tournament’s opening day, playing the first match on the Rod Laver Arena against the distinctly older looking Tamarine Tanasugam of Thailand. Sports Illustrated prevailed over sports desecrated 6-1, 6-3.

Women’s number-one Caroline Wozniaki also impressed, defeating Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-3, 6-4. With previous two-time winner Serena Williams out injured, this could just be Wozniaki’s tournament. If you’re a betting person, I know a bookie that’ll let you use your mortgage. Tell ‘em Dave sent you.

She’ll have to make it passed Serena’s sister Venus, though, who screamed her way into round two after traumatising Italian Sara Errani off the court 6-2, 6-3.

And finally, number-eleven seed, 2004 winner and soon-to-be-ex-Belgian Justine Henin-Hardin beat Sania Mirza of India, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.

Image from: [dragonworlds2011.co.au]

The post Australian Open 2011: Review of Day One appeared first on The Faster Times.

And I’ve kind of accepted this villain role everyone has placed on me. I’m OK with it. I accept it.” – LeBron James, after Miami’s 13th straight road victory at Portland .

I think LeBron James gets it. Finally.

When Lebron made the decision to, well, have “The Decision” on ESPN to reveal that not only was he going to join a Guns-For-Hire operation in Miami, but also kill and violate the corpse of professional basketball in Cleveland … well, let’s say James threw away the chance to ever truly be the next Michael Jordan.

Jordan was about avoiding controversy. He was about endorsing his products, maintaining a squeaky clean image, becoming the most universally beloved athlete ever. Jordan sold himself to you, every game, every interview, every commercial. Some people didn’t like him, but they were in the minority … you cheered against Jordan simply because you liked the underdog or the opposing team, not because he presented himself as some kind of asshole.

LeBron James can no longer be that, even if he wins the next 10 championships. He won’t be the next Michael Jordan.

In fact, they’ll never be another Michael Jordan.

But LeBron will be even bigger if he plays this right.

James was never going to be favorably compared to Jordan because of the times we live in. Everything’s on the Internet immediately. There is no privacy. 24/7, anything you say or do is going to be devoured. All of a sudden, the haters have a voice via the Internet, via the voice of Skip Bayless, via Twitter or Facebook. A great professional athlete is in our face all day, every day, meaning the backlash comes much swifter when we get sick of you.

See also: Favre, Brett – he turned into a villain without even trying.

But lets look at the Favre case closer. Everyone loved Favre. He got his share of attention before.

But not until he became “Will he or won’t he” Brett did ESPN start devoting entire broadcasts to his every whim. Then the backlash began and he got even MORE coverage. Then came the sexting fiasco. Last month I saw NFL Total Access begin with its lead story: Brett Favre. At Vikings practice. Dancing.

He was doubtful for Sunday, by the way, the streak was over and the Vikings were eliminated.

The fact of the matter is, these days, as an athlete you want people to love you if you want your star to shine brightly. But hate is just as powerful an emotion – and people who feel either are going to watch, to see you succeed or fail.

In the past month, we’ve seen James pile on his former Cav teammates via Twitter (“Crazy. Karma is a b****. Gets you every time. It’s not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!” – LeBron James’ Twitter after the L.A. Lakers’ 112-57 demolition of James’ former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.), then deny any fault.

We’ve heard him say the NBA should contract teams, then say that’s absolutely not what he said and that he doesn’t know what contraction means.

He never said the league should contract your favorite team, no, no, no. He just said the league should make your team cease to exist and send its players elsewhere. Also, Stewie doesn’t want Lois to die. He just wants her not to live, anymore.

James isn’t stupid. At this point, he’s decided the people are going to boo him, criticize him, and he doesn’t care. He’s popping off and saying what he wants. And come playoff time, EVERYONE’s going to be watching … many praying for him to fail, and his backers twice as loud, emboldened by the haters.

You may never be as universally beloved as Michael Jordan, LeBron. But you might become some kind of Jordan/late-stages Brett Favre hybrid.

It’s a combination that could rule the media world. Love him. Hate him. You’re still watching his every move.

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