Let's take a break from praising the World Champion New York Giants to go over some more happenings in the world of sports. I will have a review of Super Bowl 46 up later in the week.
- UFC 143 was held the night before the Super Bowl and featured some entertaining fights. One of the undercard fights featured Alex Caceres vs Edwin Figuero and was noteworthy because Caceres was deducted 2 points in a fight he was winning for kicks to the groin. Figuero ended up winning a split decision 28-27, 27-28, 28-27. I saw this fight and both kicks to the grapes were brutal, Figuero needed the 5 minute injury allotment both times to recover, but I have never seen a fighter deducted 2 points before for fouls. He was warned for the first kick and the 2 points came off the second kick. Caceres is appealing the decision but that probably won't change anything. On the main card, Josh Koscheck narrowly beat Mike Pierce in an uneventful fight, Roy "Big Country" Nelson got crushed in a heroic effort against Fabricio Werdum and Carlos Condit captured the interim Welterweight title against Nick Diaz. The 5 round fight went to the judges scorecards who gave it to Condit unanimously. Diaz was so pissed he threatened to retire but after watching the contest a couple of time since, he really did lose the fight. Now rumor has it that Diaz and Condit will have a rematch for the interim title while champion Georges St. Pierre recovers from knee surgery.
- NHL trade deadline is approaching and the 3 teams I follow should all be active. The Detroit Red Wings are again one of the top teams in the West and are looking at bolstering their roster for the playoffs, maybe a top 6 forward. I have also heard that they are looking at a better backup goalie option other that Ty Conklin...maybe they trade for the goalie they tried signing last year, Nabokov? The Edmonton Oilers have some assets that they can move on deadline day, the most noteable being Ales Hemsky. Lots of teams were inquiring about Sam Gagner but after his 11 points in 2 games stretch I think the Oil will hang on to him. Ryan Smyth's name has been brought up as well but he wants to stay in Edmonton and I think the Oilers will hang on to him. The Tampa Bay Lightning aren't sure if they are going to be buyers or sellers at this point. Obviously they need goaltending but the price may be too high, forcing Stevie Y to wait until the offseason to address this. If they become sellers look for guys like Steve Downey to potentially get moved.
- CFL free agency starts next week and by all accounts, beloved Riders receiver Andy Fantuz will be with another team next season. I say kudos to Brendan Taman for making a more that generous offer and not backing down from it. Fantuz is a premiere receiver but the Riders have too many holes to fill and can't afford to break the bank on one player. Let Andy flounder in Edmonton with Jyles as his QB and let's focus on more pressing needs...like convincing Brendan LaBatte to come back home!
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