DuWayne Steurer

The Astros that made the WS in 2005?

This seems like making a move just to make a move. I'm not on the "let's go get someone" bandwagon, I think we're more than one guy short of being a playoff caliber team, but R.J. Swindle isn't a solution to any problem.

How do you guys who advocate babying pitchers think guys got to the Hall of Fame? Chances are, someone who's in the Hall of Fame is an extraordinarily exceptional talent. When we start using Hall of Famers for measuring sticks, you're grossly tilting the argument in your favor artificially, when there's less than 100 or so pitchers in the hall of fame, and something like 6,000-ish who've ever played the game. And some of those hall of famers also flamed out early, due to overuse and abuse.

This is just another point in the case that these promotions simply can't compete with the UFC. Without Fedor, Affliction proved they have nothing. They're talking that Affliction may fold completely (per Sherdog). These start-ups just can't afford to have *anything* go wrong. Look what happened to EliteXC when Slice got knocked out by a nobody.

Gerut's the type of guy who should be playing 3-5 days a week. Braun is never going to sit, Cam should sit once a week, and Hart has been just mediocre enough that Macha hasn't completely lost confidence in him. One could certainly argue that a straight platoon between Hart and Gerut (Hart getting roughly 70% of the starts) with Gerut also spelling Cam once a week would get Gerut enough at bats, but it's obvious Macha doesn't see it that way.

I don't disagree that Fedor has valid reasons for not wanting to lock himself down to the UFC. I'm just saying if he wants to fight the best competition, the UFC is 99% likely to be the place to do it. (Barnett not withstanding of course).

Oh, I know what's out there. I've been in attendance in places showing *pro* fights that weren't much bigger than a lunch room. I've been in shows for quite a ways around, and have a very good friend who's fought professionally in about a dozen different promotions, and venues from Canada, to Wisco, Florida, and even Russia. I'm not going to sit and post credentials, that doesn't mean jack, and I understand that. What I'm getting at, and what I hope comes through, is that I *do* understand the way the game is played. Right now, Affliction, Strike Force, and others HAVE TO pay way more than UFC just to get talent. If you think that anything less than 95% the good, young fighters that are working their asses off in thousands of gyms across America want to be somewhere other than UFC, I'll respectfully disagree. I've been in the gyms, I've rolled with the guys, I've talked with some of pros, and what they ALL aspire for is to get that call from Joe friggin' Silva. My buddy text messages Joe after every one of his fights, and says "JOE! GET ME IN! I JUST WON BY HEAD KICK KO!" or something to that effect. My friend did get one fight in the UFC, which ended in an unfortunate no-contest. Another friend of mine had 2 fights in the UFC (back 3-4 years ago), went on to Bodog, and had much success. But that didn't come close to just getting to *be* in the UFC, in his own words. (He trains with Lesnar up in Minny now, hoping to get into the UFC again) UFC gets thousandsd of audtion tapes for each season of TUF, and thousands more who are sending fight tapes to them, just in the hope that they'll even get on the undercard of an event somewhere. The UFC is where almost everyone wants to be. Affliction will fade, Strike Force will fade, just like Bodog, Pride, and all who came before. Love them or hate them, Dana White and the Zuffas are the rulers of the roost right now, and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

Yeah, they absolutely can survive without Fedor. Who else does Affliction have besides Fedor? They have a handful of good fighters, and one marquee star. The UFC has Lesnar, Couture, Rampage, Machida, Griffin, Silva, Henderson, GSP, BJ Penn etc, etc, etc. They have multiple headlining fighters. Obviously guys like Randy and Henderson are a little long in the tooth, but they still have mega-popularity, and people will pay to see them fight. When Affliction goes under (and Strike Force, and every other promotion trying to compete with UFC), the question will be "can Fedor survive without the UFC?" Obviously he doesn't need the dough, but who will be otu there for him to fight?

I think people have taken to calling the UFC heavyweight division weak because they're all beating up on each other. I'm hearing "Nog's washed up", which is simply not true. He's 32 years old and lost a fight to a Frank Mir, who's one of the best fighters in the world, while Mir was in the best shape of his life. They have 2 of the best young prospects in Cain Velazquez and Shane Carwin. They have a former Pride superstar (Cro-Cop) who claims he's back in shape, and hopefully he can prove it next time out. They have an outstanding striker in Cheik Kongo who's had a good run in the UFC. The only guys outside the UFC that I'd say would make the division better would be (obviously) Fedor, Overeem, and Barnett. Fedor's been mopping up lately on former UFC fighters who are nothing close to what they used to be (Sylvia, Arlovski, Lindland) and a couple of guys with 7 pro fights (Hunt) and 3 pro fights (Choi) who was nothing but a freak show. UFC's heavy division might be lacking slightly in quality right now, but by and large it's safe to say that as things currently stand, the best young fighters are probably going to funnel towards that division. How long will aflliction or Strike Force be able to compete with Zuffa pricewise for the best talent? Obviously for some of these guys, it's not just about money, but getting paid the way the UFC can pay guys, they can afford to make a living fighting, and not have to work and train and work and fight. The only way to truly become an elite fighter is to be completely dedicated to fighting, and the UFC is one of the few organizations that has the track record to be able to pay fighters to do so. If Fedor truly wants to go down in history as the greatest heavyweight (and maybe overall) fighter in the young history of MMA, he owes it to himself and the fans to get into the UFC and face the best challenges there are.

I am/was a fan of BJ Penn, I just am really disappointed in the way he handled himself after that. It really seems like he was trying to de-legitimize GSP's victory, which was horribly one sided. Penn needs to realize he's a 155 pounder. He can't hang at 170, no matter what he thinks. If he loves to fight, he needs to fight in the division that he can and should dominate, and be happy with that.

Why do they need to be talking to PUjols while prince is hitting?

Nice show by Cruz there. 4th deck? That's nuts.

Lesnar could certainly give him trouble, as his size will pose a problem for all heavyweights. Not sure if his striking is refined enough to bully Fedor, at the very least, Fedor would test his chin. Lesnar's striking and stand up are pretty sloppy. His size and strength make up for it, but against a guy like Fedor, he can't afford to be sloppy. Brock's first and foremost a wrestler, and he's always going to be best served taking his opponent down, getting in the mount, and just bludgeoning them into submission where technique isn't nearly as important as it is in the standup game. Fedor would certainly test Lesnar's chin, as would someone like Cain Velazquez. The question is, can either of them keep him from taking them to the ground and just wearing them out with his massive body?

They had to bump the Fitch fight til last to make sure the Main Event ran in the alloted time. The last thing they wanted was to see the main event get cut short due to time restraint. Undercard fights aren't going to get shown if there's not enough time. I'll take 5 great main card fights over 5 crappy fights and 2-3 undercard fights any day. phx, just to address your "greasegate" comments about St. Pierre/Penn fight. I might have been tempted to see Penn's side of it, had he not whined like a $$@*% for weeks and weeks after the fight. And then his mom saying "I was worried my baby was going to die". GSP is hands down one of the classiest, respectful, and respected guys in the sport. I truly believe if he was greased, it was coincidental/accidental. Penn is nothing but a crybaby, and proved it with the way he handled himself after getting completely destroyed the 2nd time they fought. For what it's worth, I've had the chance to meet GSP, so my opinion may be a little biased. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Shane Carwin or Cain Velazquez. They're probably the best young "up and comers" in the UFC right now, but I don't think either of them can stop Lesnar's takedowns.

Wow. That main event wasn't even a contest.

Fedor's tough to figure. He hasn't faced top notch competition for a long time. Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski don't count. At the height of Pride, one would have had absolutely no problem calling him the best heavyweight in the world, but at this point, it's hard to say, because he's darn near playing in the minor leagues.

I don't care if the guy calls himself a "ballhawk" or not, when a 20-something is at the park, wearing a glove, and carrying 4 balls around, and knocking my kid over to get at even more, there's a problem. And yes, I'll lump him in with all the rest.

I think Bisping out-boxes Hendo and wins a decision. I think GSP annihilates Alves. Lesnar/Mir...........it's gonna be like this.......either Lesnar KO/TKO's Mir in the first 3 minutes, or Mir wins by submission in the 2nd or 3rd.

Yeah, I'm sorry, everyone has hobbies, but the 2 times I've "encountered" ball hawks were both pretty terrible encounters. My son was being thrown a ball by a Nat's bullpen catcher, when a 20-something with a glove hip checked him out of the way (and missed the ball). The guy then proceeded to dive over the bleachers and into my wife, but not before my non-glove wearing adult grabbed the ball, gave it to my kid, and admonished the jerk for his behavior. After knocking down my kid and running into my wife diving after a 9 dollar ball, that's as close as I've ever come to throwing punches in public. 2nd time was seeing a ballhog with a glove push an older guy in his 50's right in the back to get him out of the way of a thrown ball from a BP catcher against the Pads. I know, I know, there's those out there that supposedly don't, but my experience with the hobbyists has left a sour taste in my mouth. Catching a ball at a game is cool, but there's nothing cool about the way a lot of these guys go about it.

That's pretty silly. Why? To say that assumes that DM thought his comments were what, off the record? Is that what you are implying? There is no way DM didn't know his commenst were going to end up in the paper. If he didn't want them printed, he shouldn't have said anything. He did want them printed and that's why he said what he said. Tom Hardiricourt didn't do anything but his job. Sorry, I'm not much one for putting my comments in blue to indicate sarcasm. I should have done a better job with indicating the meaning of that lest sentence.

Amidst all the comments of "he was just telling the truth" and "saying what all the fans already know" and "he's saying what everyone in the clubhouse was feeling", I have a question. Does Brauns' comment serve a purpose? Did Doug Melvin NOT know before Braun cracked open his piehole that the rotation is a mess right now? I imagine if "every fan knows we need a starter" then Doug Melvin, Gord Ash, or at least *someone* in the front office has been keeping tabs on the box scores to see how the starters are faring. Just because something is true doesn't mean it needs to be said. Melvin shouldn't have responded the way he did, that's a given, but we must look at cause and effect here. If Braun doesn't start this crap storm with a quote that didn't need to be put out there in the first place, there's nothing for Melvin to respond to. And as a side note, if I'm Doug Melvin, I'd immediately cease conversation with Tom H.

I don't have a problem with Braun saying specific areas of the team need to step it up. I do have a problem with Braun publicly saying "I want some of my teammates replaced" There's ways you can say things without coming off as a dick. Brauny didn't reach that level here.

When this happens to me, I ask my supervisor at work if I can log the hours. I don't think she appreciates my sense of humor.

..........which is exactly why it just reeks of complete bogus-ness.