Letters to the Editor
Musashi
Published Letters: 9
-
America and Hockey
[Read the article: Stars, Sharks put the time in overtime]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]In response to the previous post about the excitement of hockey and why it hasn't caught on here in the States . . . I think many would agree a stronger, more expansive television/cable deal would benefit.
But I also feel there is a distance many feel to the exclusive skill sets of the sport. Not to take anything away from the other sports but the skill of skating alone turns a lot of people off because a lot of people can't skate. My experiences with other sports fans brushing off hockey, in my view, seemed to be grounded in an impotence of knowledge and background in the basic skills.
That being said, there was a time in the '90s when Sports Illustrated had a cover story stating "Why the NHL is Hot and the NBA is Not" and with the number of close games and OT series enders, it's a wonder why it isn't- maybe the key is exposure and a better marketing campaign, we'll see . . .
-
@ healthyskeptic
[Read the article: Is Title IX hurting women's wrestling?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]you wrote:
"Wrestling is a martial sport with little practical application since forever. The origins of wrestling of course stem from ancient Greece where it was a somewhat homo-erotic pastime for pederastic Greek warriors to oil up and blow off steam in an all male environment.
Wrestling has as best a tiny health value and often has a negative health value as the training is physically demanding, primarily on weight lifting, drastic weight reduction and dehydration, without benefit to cardio or real health improvement.
Wrestling has increasingly become a "collegiate macho-lite white sport" by which I mean a sport where almost exclusively white guys with no particular athletic capability, who are neither particularly strong, fast, agile, or enduring, can still compete in a pointless manner for no purpose beyond the varsity jacket and posterity."
That was one of the most ignorant things I have ever read in regards to sports. Wrestlers are probably the most conditioned athletes you will find - it requires an insane amount of technique, strength and cardio. "Real" martial arts? If you ever watched the early UFCs you would have seen how a majority of the wrestlers SMASHED the "real" martial artists. In todays mixed "martial arts" bouts, wrestling is continuously cited as the best base to start from in developong a skill set. By the way, wrestling (along with boxing) is a martial art, a western one but you probably think a "real" martial art has to come from the Far East.
"White guys with no particular athletic ability"? Are you serious? Dan Gable? Dennis Hall? Bobby Lashley? Kevin Jackson? The first two are white, the last two black. All of them Olympic medalists and or National/World Champions. These are just a few off the top of my head . . .
"Little practical application" - It is one of the best forms of self-defense you can train in, most fights/physical confrontations go to the ground - the Greeks practiced and competed to optimize their hand-to-hand fighting skills and condition their bodies which leads me to one of your other blanket conclusions . . .
"A tiny health value"? Seriously, I'm really starting to think this is an elaborate troll and you are just trying to bait someone like me but you got me so what can I say . . .
-
a follow up
[Read the article: Is Title IX hurting women's wrestling?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Nobody wrestles past college and it doesn't transition to other lifestyle sports"
False - jiu-jitsu, judo, and Russian Sombo are grappling martial arts that many wrestlers take up and excel in along with MMA.
-
healthyskeptic you're awesome
[Read the article: Is Title IX hurting women's wrestling?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Your typical "MMA" guy is a lot like your typical wrestler. A short guy compensating by lifting weights and sparring a bit to imagine he's "bad ass" in between hanging out at the bar and watching televised sports. Poseurs."
This may be for some but not all. Sure there are guys who imagine they are "bad asses" but the whole point of my response was to show that wrestling does translate to other sports. The examples I gave may not be "popular" but they are lifestyle sports.
Am I a "MMA Dork"? Probably, but I am too poor to own a TV as I budget my expenses to train martial arts every month, so I don't get to see a whole lot of it -
I still think you are a troll who wrestled and probably watches MMA - you gave yourself away with the Tai Chi comment
-
EliteXC Already Becoming K-1
[Read the article: Mixed martial arts on CBS: Truth gets KO'd ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The funny thing about EliteXC proclaiming they have the top guys in the sport is that they are already going the freak show route a la K-1 in its post-'90s decline and the worse side of Pride before it was bought by the UFC.
Now I am all for up-and-coming fighters getting their shot but I agree with the article - they are doing a disservice (not only to potential fans but themselves) of trying to position themselves on the same level as the UFC. ProElite (umbrella corp. that owns EliteXC) bought a bunch of small to mid-level organizations in the hopes of having a stable roster of fighters and a wide global network. They do have this in some sense with the Cage Rage org. in England and the Icon shows in Hawaii, but they don't have enough good showcase fighters to run the same circuit as the UFC or even DREAMS in Japan along with the new Affliction sponsored organization.-
And when your poster-boy is a street-fighter compared to past faces of organizations like Randy Couture, well . . . it isn't exactly moving the sport forward
-
"Video is Unavailable"
[Read the article: Congress votes to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, legalize warrantless eavesdropping]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What gives?