Month: April 2012

mma

A modest proposal on The Ultimate Fighter’s format

Posted on by Beau Dure

Still working on my book, and I’m to the point of comparing different tournament formats that have been used over the years in The Ultimate Fighter. The show has a few issues:

1. Overkill. With one weight class and the fights to get in the house, fighters can have five fights — more, if they use the “wild card” format of the past.

2. Good fighters out in first episode. The “fights to get in the house” are exciting TV, but they sometimes lose good fighters like Che Mills and Ryan Jimmo before they set foot in the house.

3. Bad fighters advance ahead of good. Depending on the way the coaches draw up the matchups, two top draft picks can face off in the first episode of the show while two so-so fighters fight for a space in the semifinals.

The solutions:

1. Two weight classes. Never go back to having just one. With seven weight classes in play (eight, if they ever do flyweight), they can keep a steady rotation. Problem solved: Fighters won’t have as many elimination rounds.

2. Wild card after elimination fights, not first round. The “wild card” concept was introduced to give a first-round loser another shot. But by that time, we had really seen enough of the fighters to see whether they were UFC caliber. We really weren’t losing good fighters in the first round (Court McGee was an exception, but he should’ve already earned a shot in the UFC).

Instead, bring in 12 fighters per weight class. Six fighters will win their way into the house. Then use two wild cards so you’re not tossing out good fighters after a quick one-round audition, particularly if the matchmakers underestimated their opponents. Problem solved: Fewer good fighters knocked out before the show really starts, and you’re still weeding out the posers. (Really, you’re only likely to have a couple of posers make it that far in the audition process in the first place. Why bring in 32 fighters and then assume exactly half of them are unworthy of the show?)

3. NCAA-style brackets. The draft will have eight fighters per weight class. Instead of letting the coaches figure out the best matchups for their team, seed the brackets. If you’re picked first, congratulations — you’re the top seed, and you’ll face the guy picked eighth. Problem solved: Greater likelihood of seeing top guys in the final. The viewer’s needs are placed ahead of the coach’s.

We’ll need to change the coin flip, too. The winner gets a choice between first pick and first matchup. Instead, give the winner a choice between the two weight classes. Let’s say you have welterweights and heavyweights. Coach A wins the flip and opts to pick first among the welterweights. Then Coach B gets first pick among the heavyweights.

So that’s one geeky guy’s take on the format. Surely some people will tell me they’ve trained in jiu-jitsu and taekwondo; therefore, I’m full of it and should shut up. But I’d be curious to hear other thoughts.

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter Live (TUF 15), halfway: Somebody needs a tickle!

Posted on by Beau Dure

Yes, I’m a little late with last week’s recap. And yes, the headline is a shoutout to The Mr. Men Show.

But I’ve also decided that recaps aren’t really getting it done in this new live era. The Ultimate Fighter is no longer a soap opera that evolves through the weeks, with storylines carefully laid out by the editors and producers. It’s more like an ant farm. We check in once a week to see what’s changed.

And so far, the answer is “not much.”

The only fighters getting consistent screen time are Mike Chiesa, for his good sense of humor and tearful evocations of his late father, and Chris Tickle, who alternately annoys and amuses everyone. Mike Rio sometimes gets a moment on screen so we can see how his knee is progressing or how he has decided to teach young whippersnapper Justin Lawrence a lesson in humility.

The rest of the prefight time each episode is devoted to introducing the fighters who will be squaring off live. But we don’t learn much. They’re dialing up the tragic pasts — absent parents, street fights and so forth. That sort of thing loses its impact when you’ve also been watching The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, where one guy took his mattress outside because he couldn’t get comfortable in such a fancy house.

Most of the fighters seem like good guys. Last week, Joe Proctor laughed heartily when he walked into a Tickle prank, the classic water-bucket-over-the-door trick (give Tickle a 9.8 on the execution). Then he beat Tickle handily while never lapsing into a moment of bad sportsmanship. The other thing to know about Proctor: He trains with and sounds like Bostonian Joe Lauzon.

One twist of the live format — the house and gym are no longer quite as isolated as they’ve been in the past. Most fighters are on Twitter …

http://storify.com/duresport/tuf-live-tweets.js[View the story “TUF Live Tweets” on Storify]

And John Cofer, who’s fighting this week, is active on Facebook. The fighters do seem aware of what’s been said in the outside world, which explains why Proctor urged Tickle’s haters to back off a bit after their fight last week.

Tickle’s haters may not like it, but he has emerged as the most compelling personality in the house. He learned a lot of MMA the way Evan Tanner did — through video. (Imagine Evan Tanner in the YouTube era.) He took it upon himself to roast a turkey for housemates to celebrate Easter.

And we’re not getting compelling stuff from Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber. These guys should hire Bisping and Mayhem to do their talking for them. Or at least define “shark contest.” (Yes, I Googled it. Nothing.)

Faber leads 3-2, but he’s running out of top fighters. This week, he’s sending John Cofer against fellow sixth-round pick Vinc Pichel. The only Faber fighters remaining are his last two picks. Cruz still has second-rounder Sam Sicilia and fourth-rounder Mike Rio to go.

And this will be Episode 7. The timetable gets rather compressed from here. We have to eliminate 14 fighters in 12 weeks before the June 1 finale. Will the finalists have anything left?

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soccer

Paul Riley’s WPS supergroup

Posted on by Beau Dure

I don’t have anything profound to add — just wanted to share the list of players that I received via press release, and it’s a little too long for Twitter.

This group is training with Riley this week and will participate in Headers for Hope, a charity tournament.

Player (Current team/previous team)
Michelle Betos NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/Boston Breakers (WPS)
Estelle Johnson NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Nikki Krzysik NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Brittany Taylor NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/Sky Blue FC (WPS)
Jen Buczkowski Chicago Red Stars (WPSL Elite)/Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Allie Long NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/Paris Saint-Germain (France)/ Sky Blue FC (WPS)
Tina DiMartino NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/ Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Merritt Mattias NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/ Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Kelsey Hood New England Mutiny (WPSL Elite)
Sinead Farrelly Ottawa Fury (WPSL Elite)/ Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Meghan Lencyk Ottawa Fury (W League)/Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Jasmine Spencer NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Jazmyne Avant NY Fury (WPSL Elite)/ Philadelphia Independence (WPS)
Ashley Grove Rochester Ravens (W-League)
Kaitlyn Ryan, Villanova/Ottawa Fury (W-League)
Amanda Forrester, UNLV
Claire Zimmick, Boston Breakers (WPS)
Jess Hopton, LaSalle
Michele Dalton, U of Wisconsin

3
mma

The Ultimate Fighter Live, Episode 5: Tickle me emo

Posted on by Beau Dure

Which ’80s comedy movie villain is Dominick Cruz? It’s driving me crazy because he really dials it up this week. He tries to get Sam Sicilia to narc on his good friend and training partner Michael Chiesa, figuring that a good betrayal on top of a guy’s dad passing away would be a good thing. Then he plays doctor, diagnosing Chris Tickle’s foot.

It’s really amazing how TUF coaches fancy themselves as doctors. More than once, a coach has said a guy is faking, only to find out later that something really serious has happened.

Chiesa apparently will be fighting one of his roommates. But he’s easygoing about it, as he is with nearly everything. “As long as you don’t reach out in your sleep and strangle me,” Chiesa tells Jeremy Larsen.

After Cruz gets on Tickle’s case again, possibly with some justification this time, he tells us he knew Larsen growing up. They drifted apart later, but they seem to have good rapport now.

Continue reading →

2
soccer

Single-Digit Soccer: The parity problem

Posted on by Beau Dure

Sports are inherently meritocracies. At some point, you simply can’t make every player equal.

When I scan the U8 league for the season ahead, I see quite a mixture. A lot of kids have been playing indoor soccer together in the winter. Then you have the kids with everything ranging from a general indifference about soccer to actual developmental challenges.

So are these players evenly scattered across the league? Well, not exactly.

I don’t think there’s anything nefarious going on. Sure, I’ve heard a few stories in various clubs in which crafty parents and coaches gamed the system to put together their eventual U9 travel killers as early as U7 or U6. Even in those cases, I can’t really complain. Some parents and children are simply more serious about soccer, and they’re going to be more comfortable playing with other families who feel the same way. In other cases, the basic geographical spread still kicks up an uneven talent pool — for some reason, a couple of local elementary schools have families that are really into the game and others do not. Some neighborhoods have affinities for hockey or baseball that take the kids play one season a year rather than three (fall outdoor, winter indoor, spring outdoor).

That poses two challenges:

1. Keeping the games fun. The slaughter rule helps — if a team is getting crushed, we’ll run an extra player onto the field. Then there’s the other question: If you have a big enough league where the teams don’t all play each other, do you keep the loaded teams away from the inexperienced teams?

I’m torn, frankly. The good players on the inexperienced teams would surely enjoy the opportunity. But I think it has to be an occasional thing. Week-in, week-out, you’d have to have some variety.

2. Making sure all kids have an equal shot at travel opportunities. This is trickier. Once a club’s staff realizes that Coach X’s team is really good, it’s easy to think of that team as the future travel pool.

I have to remind myself that U9 travel doesn’t set anything in stone. Some players blossom late. Some coaches may suddenly notice that a U11 player in the house league has been overlooked. Right now, we’re still playing “mobball” to some extent, and a skilled but smallish player who shies away from the mob isn’t going to shine in games until teams get the hang of spreading the field.

And I think our club is doing a lot of things right in opening up other opportunities. We have all sorts of “academy” programs for kids who might want more coaching than I can offer while I’m herding cats. That’s also a great opportunity to be sure the club staff has seen them in action. All I can do is keep reminding the parents that these programs exist.

Aside from that, I’m just getting some practice plans ready with the help of the U.S. Soccer youth curriculum. So at age 8, we’re supposed to be playing 7×7, but we’re not supposed to teach tactics. Um …

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