OT: Cool blogs for MMA, Tour de France/cycling fans

by Dominik on Jul 13, 2009 1:19 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

Now for something completely different. Pardon the off-topic commercial, but it's summer and this might interest some of you...

Yesterday my friend became the 200th person to try to draw me into watching MMA (that's mixed martial arts, like UFC), while my brother asked me if I was watching the Tour de France. To both, I responded that I had to re-alphabetize my LP collection and would get back to them in 6-8 weeks.

But just because those sports aren't my cup of tea doesn't mean I pretend they don't exist (I reserve that attitude for basketball). In fact, I realize they're crazily popular. [Snark response: Yeah, so was Michael Jackson.] So for you MMA junkies, and for that cycling fan: Did you know SBN has some of the most popular blogs covering those sports?

Podium Cafe is a wildly popular cycling blog/community, and they're of course covering every angle of the sport -- including, obviously, the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong comeback happening right now.

Bloody Elbow is one of several MMA blogs on SBN. They're so on top of MMA that USA Today uses their rankings to rate the top, uh, fighter-combatant-elbow-people each month.

I bring this up because if you visit Lighthouse Hockey via Yahoo!, you might not realize there are a bunch of other sports blogs on SBN, all accessible through the "More SBN blogs" box on the left column of the home page. (Team-specific and college blogs are under their respective sport tabs; niche sports like the two I mention are under the GENERAL tab.)

And if you create a user ID (even if you don't use it to comment), clicking on your name at the top of any page takes you to a custom dashboard that easily gets you to the blogs you've joined, and shows you your latest activity (including if there are replies to any of your comments). "Joining" any blog also means that next time you visit, that site will show you what you haven't seen yet (e.g. new comments and new posts). So even if you lurk but don't comment, there's an advantage to "joining" a blog (and you still won't get spam or have to share your first-born with the SBN overlords).

Just thought I'd share that. I wouldn't mention it if these features hadn't drawn me to SBN myself. Sorry for the commercial. It won't happen ~~again~~ too terribly often.

P.S. Oh, and just to make this post Islanders-related: Auditions for the 2009-2010 Ice Girls will take place August 15th at Islanders Iceworks in Syosset. And they say there is "a special, non-mandatory, event for hopefuls" on August 1st. So there. I know all you aspiring Ice Girls are closet MMA fans; come on, you can admit it.

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I sooo want to be a judge in that competition!!! Pick three girls, the one that makes me drool the most wins. Pick the next three, repeat…

SHOOOOOOOT IT!!!! Anon

by burpchelischili on Jul 13, 2009 8:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I didn’t see anything about how to become a judge … hmmm, that must be top secret stuff ;)

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Jul 14, 2009 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m going to guess you have Versus. The WEC is much easier to watch cause they get played and replayed all the time on Versus so you get to know the guys a lot quicker. The UFC is all about the PPVs, and the only time Dana gives people something for free is The Ultimate Fighter which usually blows.

But I’m also a former boxing fan who got sick and tired with the ten million different titles, all the clinching, and now boxers who go out just to win on Points. MMA’s usually faster unless you get two former wrestlers, and since its only 3 rounds (except for Championships) you don’t see anyone playing the point game.

by WebBard on Jul 13, 2009 9:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I probably used “UFC” as a reference because it was the first one I heard about frequently (I think … it’s been a while). But it’s all the same to me simply because I can’t get into it.

But I’m also a former boxing fan who got sick and tired with the ten million different titles, all the clinching, and now boxers who go out just to win on Points.

That’s definitely why I’m at least glad MMA came around and why I tried to give it a shot. It’s a travesty what’s happened to boxing… I just can’t often get into MMA, or at least the thing I most often see is two guys on the ground, locked in near-coital embrace. That’s surely a totally unfair impression, but my interest — despite my friends’ best efforts — just isn’t high enough for me to delve deeper.

Lighthouse Hockey: Side effects may include Weight gain and frequent game loss.

by Dominik on Jul 14, 2009 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well if you get a chance watch some WEC, Versus tends to play Knockout specials most afternoons that someones not hunting something. Also the WEC has two weight classes, and each of them is below the UFC’s lightest class so a lot of the time the action is faster.

by WebBard on Jul 14, 2009 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

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