Eri Yoshida is a remarkably unusual professional baseball player — she’s female, 18-years old, 5’1″, and a sidearm knuckleballer! She was drafted by Kobe 9 Cruise of the Kansai Independent Baseball League and is currently in America pitching for the Yuma Scorpions in the Arizona Independent League. The wacky part of it all is that she learned the knuckleball by watching video footage of Major League Baseball player Tim Wakefield.
Yoshida recently participated in a workout session with Wakefield, who said:
I’m impressed. She spun a couple, but for the most part it was very good. She was able to take the spin out of a lot of them and they had quite a lot of movement on them.
Yoshida is totally cool. She’s crossed so many barriers in a sport I love and I hope she becomes tremendously successful. Young girls need role models like Yoshida. She’s definitely the frontrunner for my crush of 2010.
Gatorade is the latest company to sever its ties with golfer/videogame icon/sex addict Tiger Woods. According to ESPN, a Gatorade spokesperson said:
We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship. We wish him all the best.
AT&T and Accenture have already ended their respective relationships with Woods. Electronic Arts and Nike have indicated that they’re supporting the troubled sex addict.
Any guesses on the next sponsor that will bail on Woods? Could you picture any other athlete on EA’s golf game?
Last week, Tiger Woods issued a highly…polished statement regarding his adultery. At DICE 2010, Activision’s Bobby Kotick delivered a somewhat apologetic and explanatory speech that some people say was similarly manufactured. Who do you think makes a better sympathetic figure?
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is arguably the most skilled boxer in the world today, but the idiotic things that come out of his mouth often overshadow his brilliant skills. Questioning — rightfully so — why Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao would pass on a $25-million payday over drug testing, Mayweather compared his efforts to bring stringent blood testing to boxing to the civil rights struggles of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Mayweather recently said:
It’s sort of the same stance Martin Luther King and Malcolm X made, so we could have freedoms, so everybody could tell the world that we’re equal. The only thing I’m saying is that we are equal. So if you’re not on nothing and I’m not on nothing, then let’s go take the test. That’s all I’m saying.
Today is the 20th anniversary of James “Buster” Douglas victory over “Iron” Mike Tyson. This was one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. At the time, Tyson was viewed as an unstoppable force that mauled most of his opponents with dynamic power and fierce determination. Douglas, on the other hand, was seen as an extremely talented pugilist that was too lazy to get his sh*t together. So many things changed leading up to the fight in Tokyo on February 11, 1990.
Today is the 20th anniversary of James “Buster” Douglas victory over “Iron” Mike Tyson. This was one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport. At the time, Tyson was viewed as an unstoppable force that mauled most of his opponents with dynamic power and fierce determination. Douglas, on the other hand, was seen as an extremely talented pugilist that was too lazy to get his sh*t together. So many things changed leading up to the fight in Tokyo on February 11, 1990.
On Douglas’ side, he finally found the motivation he needed when his mother past away weeks before the fight. He used the tragedy to get in the best shape of his career (and the best shape he’d ever be in). Douglas had all the physical tools and the right punches to beat Tyson. He was much taller and had a greater reach than his foe, which he used to establish a rocking jab. Tyson was also susceptible to uppercuts, which Douglas used to nail Tyson. None of that would have happened if Douglas hadn’t gotten into shape. It all culminated in a beautiful moment in sports television when Douglas broke down crying, overcome with emotion from winning the championship for his late mother.
On Tyson’s side, arrogance played a part in his defeat. He started believing his own hype and barely trained for the fight. He forgot all those lessons taught to him by the great trainers Cus D’Amato and Teddy Atlas (and the not quite great Kevin Rooney). It was even amateur hour in Tyson’s corner; his “cutman” used what looked like a condom filled with ice water to control Tyson’s facial swelling. Any cutman worth a damn uses an enswell. Perhaps Tyson completely dismissed the notion of his face getting busted up by Douglas. Perhaps his cornermen were lackeys pretending to be professional boxing trainers. It was probably both.
Legendary promoter Don King added some controversy after the fight…or should I say bullsh*t controversy. King claimed that the fight should be a no-contest because the referee took too long to count to ten when Douglas was knocked down. It’s true that the count was slow, but if you’ve seen the fight then you know that Douglas wasn’t in any danger of being knocked out. He was complete aware and followed the referee’s instructions (like a fighter is supposed to). Seconds after he hit the canvas, he even pounded his fist to the ground, angry at the mistake he just made. King tried to hold up the title change and had the fighters’ money frozen in a lame attempt to keep the title around Tyson.
I was in high school when the fight happened and it was on pretty late. I remember running up to my parents’ room to tell them that Mike Tyson lost. I’m pretty sure they were mildly annoyed that I woke them up. I even remember the local television guide listing the fight as (I’m paraphrasing), “The latest Mike Tyson slaughter will be like all the rest, only this one will take place in Tokyo.” It was truly one of the most memorable sporting events I’ve ever seen and certainly the biggest boxing upset of my lifetime. It’s just fun to reminisce. It’s also crazy that it was 20 years ago. Whoa (like Joey from Blossom).
Do you remember the Douglas/Tyson fight? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
First off, congrats to the New Orleans Saints on winning Super Bowl 44! Now that we’ve been bombarded by 52 Budwesier commercials (that still won’t make it a good beer), let’s discuss your favorite tech commercials that aired during the game. I’m disqualifying all the GoDaddy.com spots because I’m tired of Danica Patrick. Dante’s Inferno was the only videogame commercial I recall (I could have missed some). The choices in this poll are Google, Vizio, Intel, and Motorola. Let’s check out the videos and get to the poll!
Google’s ad was the most romantic and a lot of people were raving about in the Twitterverse. I thought it was cute…but that’s about it.
My personal pick is this Vizio ad, simply because Tay Zonday rules. “Chocolate Rain” forever!!!
Motorola promoted its upcoming Devour phone (a mid-level Android phone coming to Verizon) and MotoBlur with Megan Fox (with her circus-freak thumbs) in a bath tub.
I thought Intel’s commercial was lame, but it made drool for a MacBook with an i5 or i7 processor.
EA Sports did its annual Madden NFL Super Bowl simulation and had the New Orleans Saints beating the Indianapolis Colts 35 to 31. Here’s a snippet from the official press release:
The first three quarters display the offensive fireworks that both teams have become known for, with the Colts leading 24-21. A nail biting fourth quarter begins with a big play, courtesy of the Saints’ special teams, when Reggie Bush returns a punt for a 42-yard touchdown. However, with minutes left in the game the duo of Joseph Addai and Peyton Manning put the Colts back on top with a go-ahead touchdown pass. With the game hanging in the balance, Drew Brees hits David Thomas for an 11-yard touchdown and the game winning score. Drew Brees takes home MVP honors as the Saints earn their first Super Bowl Championship title in the franchise’s 46 year history.
What do you think of Madden NFL 10’s prediction? While I’m at it, what’s your Super Bowl XLIV prediction? It’s poll time!
Not only is the Phoenix Sun’s Steve Nash one of the best NBA point guards of all time, he’s also skilled at the fine art of pop-culture parodies. In this movie, Nash spoofs Avatar during a flight on the team airplane. The short is called Bar’bo’sa, which pokes fun at the Na’vi race and Nash’s teammate Leandro Barbosa. It’s cute, goofy, and fun…and a lot more useful and creative than bringing a gun to the locker room. Check it out!
Former WWE Superstar and current UFC fighter Brock Lesnar had some choice words for Canada after dealing with a life-threatening illness. During an interview with ESPN, “The Next Big Thing” took a shot at Canadian health care and the health-care reform efforts in America:
I went to the hospital in Canada, realized quickly that I had to get out of Canadian health care and get back to Bismarck in the United States.
It was like I was in a third-world country, I just looked at my wife and she saved my life and I had to get out of there. The only reason I’m mentioning this, I’m mentioning it to the United States of America because President Obama is looking for health-care reform and I don’t want it. I’m speaking on behalf of Americans. I’m speaking on behalf of our doctors in the United States that don’t want this to happen and neither do I.
It should be noted that Lesnar was comparing a presumably tiny hospital in rural Canada to The Mayo Clinic. The comparison is a bit…silly, but if he wants to use that to form his opinion on health-care reform…well, he’s a big guy and I’m not going to him that he’s being stupid.
Forget about the potential March fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. I want to see their trainers go at it! Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach appears to have genuine heat with Floyd’s trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather. Most of it stems from when Roach trained Oscar De La Hoya for his fight against Floyd. At one of the press conferences, Roger Mayweather said some tasteless and classless things about Roach’s mentor, the late, legendary Eddie Futch. Uncle Roger said:
“Eddie Futch didn’t do s**t. He never made a fighter.”
That’s pretty amusing considering that Roger has trained one world champion and Futch trained more than a dozen. Among Futch’s charges are Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Ken Norton, Trevor Berbick, Bob Foster, Mike McCallum, Alexis Arguello, Michael Spinks, Marlon Starling, Montell Griffin, and Riddick Bowe.
While Roach suffers from Parkinson’s disease, I hope he has enough left to beat the crap out of Roger Mayweather. He deserves a trouncing for being a disrespectful idiot. Who the hell talks trash about a dead guy?!? Oh right, Roger Mayweather.
