Saturday, January 31, 2009

St. Pierre dominates Penn

BJ Penn's two-belt dream disappeared beneath four rounds of non-stop pressure from welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

St-Pierre, of Montreal, thoroughly dominated Penn with a grinding, unrelenting ground-and-pound barrage over the last three rounds of their fight on Saturday at UFC 94, in Las Vegas. Although scheduled for five rounds, the fight was stopped after the fourth round on the advice of the ringside doctor.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Helio Gracie

Helio Gracie, the Gracie family patriarch and instrumental figure in the rise of early mixed martial arts, has passed away at the age of 95.

With his older brother Carlos, Helio, who died early Thursday is Rio de Janiero, helped create what we know today as Brazilian jiu jitsu.

With a slight build and weighing no more than 150 pounds, Gracie adapted traditional Japanese jiu-jitsu principles so that leverage and position could make up size differences between opponents.

Called Gracie jiu jitsu, which son Rorion used to help launch the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993, the fighting style would soon prove dominant. Another one of Helio's nine sons, UFC hall-of-famer Royce, successfully implemented the strategies in early UFC events despite facing significantly larger opponents.

Royce's and the fighting style's success sparked the explosion of modern jiu jitsu among the martial-arts world.

The discipline, now better known as Brazilian jiu jitsu, remains a key foundation in any MMA education.

B.J. Penn and Hawaii athletics

The past year or so has been a hallmark time for Hawaii athletics. Just over a year ago, the University of Hawaii’s football team completed an undefeated regular season, making it to a BCS bowl, where although they did not fare well, still made Hawaii proud given their recruiting budget is literally a small fraction of even below average NCAA Division 1 teams. The isolated state with only 1.2 million residents produced six Olympic medalists who were born and/or raised in Hawaii – Bryan Clay (gold in the decathlon), Natasha Kanani Kai (gold in soccer), Clay Iona Stanley (gold in indoor volleyball), Robyn Mokihana Ah Mow and Lindsey Napela Berg (silver in indoor volleyball), and Brandon Scott Brooks (silver in water polo). And this coming Sunday, two former high school teammates will face off in the Super Bowl, as Steelers left guard Chris Kemoeatu and Cardinals safety Aaron Francisco, strap it up for one of the world’s most grand sporting events.

But what concerns us is the mega-match, three nights from now, when “The Prodigy” Baby Jay (B.J.) Penn will square off with the man who many consider to be the best pure athlete in MMA – Georges “Rush” St-Pierre. What differentiates Penn from the previously mentioned athletes is that they had to leave Hawaii to further their athletic greatness. In all fairness, they didn’t have a choice. The best training facilities, their teams, and potential training partners simply are not in Hawaii. But B.J. Penn and his family made a distinct effort to root their athletic foundation in Hawaii and cement Penn’s iconic status across the modern Hawaiian archipelago.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Henderson and Rice voted into Hall of Fame

NEW YORK (AP) -- Rickey Henderson sped his way into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot Monday, and Jim Rice made it in on his 15th and final try. Henderson, baseball's career leader in runs scored and stolen bases, received 94.8 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, well above the 75 percent needed.

Rice, among baseball's most feared hitters in the late 1970s and early 1980s, got 76.4 percent of the vote after falling just shy with 72.2 percent last year.

Henderson became the 44th player elected in his first year of eligibility. Rice was only the third elected by the BBWAA in his final year, joining Red Ruffing (1967) and Ralph Kiner (1975).

The pair will be inducted into the Hall during ceremonies on July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y. They will be joined by former Yankees and Indians second baseman Joe Gordon, elected posthumously last month by the Veterans Committee.

Henderson was picked on 511 of 539 ballots and Rice was selected on 412, just more than the 405 needed.

Andre Dawson fell 44 votes short with 67 percent. He was followed by Bert Blyleven (62.7 percent), Lee Smith (44.5), Jack Morris (44.0), Tommy John (31.7) and Tim Raines (22.6). John appeared on the ballot for the final time.

Mark McGwire, stigmatized by accusations he used performance-enhancing drugs, received 118 votes (21.9 percent) in his third year of eligibility, down from the 128 votes he got in each of his first two tries.