Chael Sonnen channels Jay Mariotti

Chael Sonnen: Channeling his inner Jay Mariotti



It is no stranger to anyone who follows The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that Chael Sonnen likes to talk a lot of trash. In addition to calling out Anderson Silva before his August 7th title fight, he recently took verbal assault on UFC Middleweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. However, it is his verbal assault on Lance Armstrong that will now have Sonnen linked to Jay Mariotti forever.



Now, for those not familiar with Jay Mariotti, he is a former columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and currently is suspended from his current employer, AOL Fanhouse. Mariotti was a frequent panelist on the ESPN popular TV show “Around the Horn.” Mariotti had a history of bad mouthing everybody, rubbing people the wrong way, and especially calling out athletes who commit domestic violence. Mariotti got caught in his own war of words on August 18th, as he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend. Since then, we have not heard from Mariotti and a trial is pending.

So, that leads me to Sonnen. What did he do to link himself to Mariotti? Sonnen appeared on The Jim Rome Radio Show on August 4th and had some choice words for the former Tour De France winner. “Lance Armstrong did a number of things and he gave himself cancer. He cheated, he did drugs, and he gave himself cancer.” He further added, “Look here’s what I did, I screwed up, and I hope people learn from my mistakes.” Well, maybe Sonnen can use that quote to quote himself here in the coming days.

I had hope that perhaps Sonnen’s test would be false or perhaps caused by taking Nyquil or some over-the-counter cold medicine. Those hopes were dashed according to SI.com. According to an article published today, Sonnen was apparently concerned about the chance of testing positive that he told California State Athletic Commission chair (CSAC) George Dodd he used an illegal performance enhancing drug leading up to the fight. “He only indicated that he was taking it but he never indicated why”, Dodd said of a conversation he had with Sonnen during drug testing a day before the fight.

Chael Sonnen will likely lose an appeal should he request one, as he basically admitted to steroid use to the CSAC. He will likely be suspended for one year by the CSAC (which other states will honor) and a small $2,500 fine. While Sonnen will likely fight again, the bigger thing he loses is his credibility and respect from a lot of his fans and many of his fellow peer fighters. But who is the bigger loser in all of this? Well, the fans of course, who so wanted to see if Sonnen could knock off Silva in his immediate rematch, which will likely never happen.

It is my understanding Chael Sonnen does not have a nickname. Perhaps we should start calling him Chael “Mariotti” Sonnen. I’d love to hear Bruce Buffer say that name the next time he enters The Octagon.

BCS-A look back at 2000

I failed to mention it in my first blog post regarding this topic, but I absolutely hate how pre-season rankings can have an effect on who plays for the “National Championship.” Nobody should judge teams until the middle of October if you want to make this process more fair. The year 2000 was a perfect example of how pathetic pre-season rankings can be. The Alabama Crimson Tide began the year #3 in The Associated Press Poll. The Crimson Tide won the SEC Title in 1999 and rode that momentum into the 2000 season. In the end, The Crimson Tide finished 3-8 and made many, if not all voters, looking foolish in the process.

At the end of the 2000 season, the BCS formula spitted out two teams to play for the National Championship in the Federal Express Orange Bowl (ah, don’t you love corporate sponsors). #1 Oklahoma (12-0), Champions of the Big 12, would take on #2 Florida State (11-1), Champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Looking back, Oklahoma was a clear cut #1 team heading into The Orange Bowl. Ranked #18 in the preseason, Oklahoma won their first four games to climb up in the rankings. It had been over a decade since Oklahoma was a National Power, so it was nice to see them doing well. Out of nowhere, Oklahoma, went from a nice 4-0 team, to the #1 team in the country by demolishing 3 top ten teams (Texas, Kansas State, and Nebraska) in the span of four weeks. After a comeback victory on the road against Texas A&M, the Sooners held off rival Oklahoma State in the annual “bedlam” game before appearing in their first Big 12 Title game. In a rematch, Oklahoma held off Kansas State 27-24 to head off to The Orange Bowl.

The battle for #2 was much more controversial and much criticism was raised into the final BCS results. After it was all said and done, this is how #2, #3, and #4 in the BCS shook out:

#2 Florida State 5.37 (ACC)
#3 Miami 5.69 (Big East)
#4 Washington 10.67 (Pac 10)

http://espn.go.com/abcsports/bcs/rankings_full/2000-2001.html

So, did “every game count” in this situation? Well, hardly. During the regular season, where like I have mentioned, supposedly every game counts, Miami defeated Florida State 27-24 during October in what is widely known as the “Wide Right III” game. To make matters even more complicated, Washington defeated Miami 34-29 during a September contest. So, in the end, #3 beat #2, and #4 beat #3.

How did these results make the regular season important? Wouldn’t putting all these teams (and others) in a playoff made more sense? I think so, but in the end, numbers were crunched and through the power of soul-less computers, Florida State came out on top.

In the end, Oklahoma defeated Florida State 13-2 in the worst Orange Bowl since 1992 (Miami 22 Nebraska 0). Miami wrapped up the State of Florida championship by demolishing Florida in The Sugar Bowl. Washington went off to the Rose Bowl and defeated Drew Brees and Purdue to finish the year with one loss. Miami and Washington were left wondering what could have been, while Oklahoma celebrated their school claiming another “National Championship.”

What could have been….if only we had a playoff that year…..then Every Game Would Have Counted!

The BCS: Does it Work?

For the last twelve years, College Football fans have had to endure to the philosophy of The Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Some like it some do not. If you read my blog or my twitter, it is no secret that I do not hold the BCS in high-regard. Pure hate probably best describes how I feel about the BCS. I have not really understood how some people support the BCS in lieu of a playoff system. I do not feel it does its job. According to the BCS Web site (http://www.bcsfootball.org), “It is designed to ensure that the two top-rated teams in the country meet in the national championship game, and to create exciting and competitive matchups among eight other highly regarded teams in four other bowl games.”

Now, the BCS wants you to believe that is its goal, but in reality, The BCS, in my mind, is designed to set up a game in which a “National Championship” game pit teams ranked #1 and #2 in order to generate the most money for the member schools. The winner of the game is awarded a trophy, which is sponsored by a Corporation, in order to generate the revenue.

In addition to that Mission Statement, if you want to call it that, the official Twitter account (@EveryGameCounts) of the BCS describes the BCS as “The home for the BCS, the passion and the emotion of college football and its fans. In the run for the National Title, Every Game Counts.” In a related matter, I have had many friends of mine say that a playoff system would render College Football’s regular season meaningless.

Over the next few weeks and months leading up to what the BCS wants to believe is a National Championship game, I will be examining several case studies that will detail the flaws of the BCS and why a playoff system is the only way to go when deciding College Football’s National Champion. It is clear to me that the best two teams have not played for the “National Championship” because the BCS has not made it clear for the majority of the 12 years who is #1 and #2 at the end of the season. The first case study will examine what happened back in the 2000 College Football season.