This is hilarious. As a former mixed martial arts man myself, I’ve always been mystified by the idea that tai chi can even be described as a martial art. It’s about as “martial” as yoga or haiku.
For weeks, the mixed martial arts fighter Xu Xiaodong had been taunting masters of the traditional Chinese martial arts, dismissing them as overly commercialized frauds, and challenging them to put up or shut up. After one of them — Wei Lei, a practitioner of the “thunder style” of tai chi — accepted the challenge, Mr. Xu flattened him in about 10 seconds. Mr. Xu may have proved his point, but he was unprepared for the ensuing outrage.
When video of the drubbing went viral, many Chinese were deeply offended by what they saw as an insult to a cornerstone of traditional Chinese culture. The state-run Chinese Wushu Association posted a statement on its website saying the fight “violates the morals of martial arts.” The Chinese Boxing Association issued similar criticism.
The video is both short and informative. Tai chi simply doesn’t have anything to do with fighting. The tai chi master had quite clearly never sparred at speed before. And that guard… ye cats! I’m only surprised the MMA guy didn’t open with a sidekick given such an invitation.
These coverage statistics are truly shameful, especially from ESPN, which loves to devote its commentary to the sexist and racist injustices of others:
Women’s sports have never been more popular — everywhere except on television, that is. Both the quality and quantity of women’s sports coverage is far eclipsed by that of men’s sports and in some respects has actually worsened over time, according to the latest iteration of a 25-year longitudinal study of gender in televised sports news and highlights shows. SportsCenter, ESPN’s flagship program, dedicated just 2 percent of its airtime to women’s sports in 2014, according to the report — a figure that has remained flat since 1999.
The only answer is for ESPN to devote 50 percent of its coverage and commentary to women’s sports. Anything less would be sexist and absolutely unacceptable. It’s 2017! How can ESPN possibly justify such massive inequality in its coverage?
Ratings are irrelevant. What is important is for ESPN to live up to its own, loudly-trumpeted social justice ideals. And until it does, its representatives should shut the hell up about any perceived social justice failures by the various sports leagues.
I was looking up some of the 40 times from the NFL combine and was interested to see where mine fit in the mix. Turns out my 40 was in between Danny Amendola’s and Wes Welker’s. That’s not a bad comparable. Of course, if I’d actually been able to play at the pro level, I’d probably have post-concussion syndrome or whatever now, so it’s probably just as well that I stuck with soccer. And given that Gordie Lockbaum couldn’t make it – I saw him play against Bucknell once – it’s highly unlikely that I ever could have even with an NFL-caliber 40.
Especially since my vertical was a pathetic 28 inches.
This season started great but got a little shaky when I somehow strained that ligament in my leg that nearly ended my playing career about eight years ago. The cold seems to make it more susceptible, but I’ve learned to take myself out immediately when I feel anything, which seems to help, and I managed to play 12 minutes the next game and about 45 the next. I’m still starting, which is something of a surprise since I’m probably the #3 wing in terms of skill when everyone is there, but I do get back better and play considerably more defense than the other two guys, which I suspect is why I usually get the nod over the other two.
On the one hand, it’s nice to be valued and to see your efforts rewarded with playing time. On the other, it’s incredibly frustrating when the team loses and it’s mostly because your substitute simply can’t run with the opposing wing or do much with the ball when he gets it.
Also, as an ex-sprinter, I’m quite happy to come out after 20-30 minutes, then return in the second half all nice and rested, whereas the guys who grew up on 3-substitution games never want to come out and are reluctant to go back in once they’ve come off.
NASCAR has seen crowds shrink at virtually every track, many of which have removed seats, and its television ratings have plummeted. At Richmond, which once routinely seated more than 100,000 fans for races in the premier Cup series, only 60,000 seats remain and they were not close to full for Sunday’s 400-lap race.
“We’re not isolated here,” France said. “Every sport is trying to unlock the new consumption levels and fan interest by a younger demographic. Of course we love our core fan and everyone does, but every sport is thinking carefully about how to reach the millennial fan to get them excited about their sport.”
He said NASCAR will convene a summit next month in Charlotte, North Carolina, bringing in experts from various fields, to discuss the issue.
France also downplayed the difficulty that some teams are having securing sponsorship for next season.
Many NASCAR fans warned of this when NASCAR decided to stop focusing on its core audience in order to reach out to the new fans who, as many predicted, proved to be almost entirely imaginary. And if you think NASCAR’s management is going to learn from their catastrophic failure, then you really don’t understand how SJW convergence works.
The NFL is about to go the same way, I strongly suspect. Notice how, whether it is a sport or a church, the desire for growth combined with a disdain for traditional supporters always results in the same consequence, a rapid and unexpected decline.
That’s something that I was discussing yesterday with Markku. Is it better to restrict the comments and only permit the old school Dread Ilk to participate? That could be done through requiring registration, but doing so might be of limited value since others could still read them, unlike the current separate system. Or is it better to go to the other extreme and permit the sort of free-for-all we witnessed yesterday?
Feel free to express your opinion. I’m not currently planning to change anything, but it would be foolish to assume that VP and Castalia House are immune from the same pattern we observe everywhere from the Episcopalian Church to NASCAR.
Of course, it’s also possible that we are several orders of magnitude away from it being even a potential problem.
I hate Drew Pearson, of course, because he was a) out-of-bounds on 4th-and-17, and b) unquestionably pushed off, committed offensive pass interference, and murdered both Fran Tarkenton’s father as well as the Vikings’ Super Bowl chances in 1975, but his performance at the NFL draft in Philadelphia was downright epic:
How about them Cowboys?! I want to thank the Eagle fans for allowing me to have a career in the NFL. Thank you. I am honored as an undrafted free agent to be selected to make the Cowboys’ second-round draft pick, and on behalf of the five-time world champion Dallas Cowboys, Hall of Fame owner Jerry Jones! … Gene Jones and the Jones family, coach Jason Garrett and ALL THE COWBOYS PLAYERS WHO PLAYED BEFORE ME! … And played with me and played after me! … With the 60th pick in the second round the Dallas Cowboys select defensive back from Colorado Chidobe Awuzie!!!
No question about where his loyalties remain, anyhow.
For comparative purposes, I recently reviewed a few SportsCenter episodes from the past couple of decades, and it is indeed noticeable how little politics and culture intruded into the tsunami of highlights and witty banter that once marked that show. That was reflective of the overall newsier focus ESPN had in those days….
A scan of The Undefeated on most days shows a range of content that extends far beyond sports. When The Undefeated put together its list of the 44 most influential black Americans in history, only five — Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson and Serena Williams — made their mark as athletes. Scanning the list of Undefeated pieces commemorating Black History Month, less than half were about sports.
These observations are not criticisms; they just show how The Undefeated — and, by extension, ESPN — is willing to stray from sports…. There is no denying that culture, sports and politics are fused together more today than at any time in recent memory, and there’s an argument to be made that ESPN is rightfully taking advantage of that trend. But there’s also no denying the presence of a fervent fan base that prefers the ESPN of old, meaning these worlds will continue to collide.
One thing is clear: Those of you who have not held your tongue about ESPN’s move away from an all-sports-all-the-time mantra also should not hold your breath waiting for a change.
ESPN has made it clear: It’s not sticking to sports.
Apparently as many as 90 percent of the 100 on-air people let go this week were white men. Longtime NFL and NHL reporters are gone, while clueless, no-talent SJWs like Jemele Hill are not only safe, but are being increasingly promoted.
It’s a straightforward case of SJW convergence in action. ESPN is no longer capable of fulfilling its primary purpose, because the pushing the SJW Narrative is more important.
I quit watching ESPN a long, long time ago, although I had watched it from the early days of late night World’s Strongest Man competitions and Australian Rules Football. It is somewhat fascinating to observe such a large organization so resolutely commit suicide in this fashion.
Dear ESPN,
Roger that.
Adios, America
UPDATE: for those of you who, like me, neither read nor watch ESPN anymore, it’s worse than you imagine. A LOT worse. Believe it or not, this was featured on ESPN yesterday.
Four poets on the new feminism
Apr 27, 2017 espnW Poetry Month Feminism Women
In honor of National Poetry month, espnW asked four poets to reflect on their definitions of feminism, and the importance of movement.
What Leaps from a Storm’s Throat, by Patricia Smith
Postcard from Diana Prince on Themyscira, by Tracie Dawson
Start Here, by Carrie Ann Welsh
My Struggle with Feminism is Black, by DéLana R.A. Dameron
PUNCHLINE: (Editor’s note: An earlier version of “Five Poets on the New Feminism” featured Revolution by Dr. DaMaris Hill. We have decided it is not an appropriate selection for our site, and have removed it from the feature.)
Aaron Hernandez’s life sentence for murder has come to an end. The former Patriots tight end, who scored a legal victory last week, committed suicide in prison last night. The Massachusetts Department of Correction issued a statement saying Hernandez was discovered hanging in his cell at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley Massachusetts around 3:05 a.m. this morning.
I’m mostly surprised that he took as long to get around to it as he did. Few have fallen so far, or so completely unnecessarily. Unfortunately, one of the natural reactions to success, and to being given a lot, is to greedily pursue more, with little regard for the possible costs.
If nothing else, Hernandez’s fate serves as a warning for those tempted to be unsatisfied with a modicum of material success.
West regional Gonzaga moves into the Sweet 16 after beating Northwestern (which takes down Vanderbilt). Notre Dame beats Princeton, Bucknell beats West Virginia, Notre Dame moves into the Sweet 16 with a win over Bucknell.
That sounds about right. I have a bet going with a WVU guy. If the Mountaineers win, he donates $5 to Infogalactic. If the Bison win – and everyone knows they are dangerous come Tournament time – he gets the free Castalia ebook of his choice
The Vikings have decided to let former MVP Adrian Peterson go.
The team announced they were not picking up the option on his contract for next year, making the veteran running back an unrestricted free agent next week.
“Adrian is an important part of the Minnesota Vikings organization,” Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman said in a statement. “We will continue to have conversations with his representatives and leave our future options open while determining what is best for both parties moving forward.”
It’s the right call. That being said, I hope they’re able to work something out to bring him back less expensively so AD can retire as a Viking. Fortunately, All-Day is handling it well.
“It’s been a great 10 years with the Minnesota Vikings. They know what I bring to the organization as a player, with my work ethic and dedication. I spoke with Rick Spielman this past weekend. The door is still open to find some common ground.”