Toronto Marlies

There may be no Dion Phaneuf but Marlies games are still fun to watch. Unfortunately we ran into a Ryan Miller like goalie on the Manitoba Moose team tonight. But at least we didn't get shutout! This game reminds me when I was on the varsity baseball team. The other team would be owning us and they would have a no-hitter against us but somehow every game we score at least one run in the bottom of the last inning.
A hockey game just isn't the same without a bit of fighting. The videos a bit short because the fight came out of no where and it took a while to get the camera out.We had the lounge seats at the top which was a great view and the food was super yummy (yes thats right, it was so good I used the term 'yummy').One thing that was not great was the beer. Hockey and beer go hand-in-hand but this was the most nasty beer I've ever drank. It tasted like heineken but a whole lot worse after taste. Jonathan and I couldn't even finish our cans because of the horrible kick it had.We may have lost 3-1 tonight but I thought the night went pretty well. I needed a night like this for a while. Overall, great game.

P.s. Thanks Jonathan for the awesome pictures and videos.

UFC 107: Penn vs Sanchez

With 2009 coming to a close I'm hoping for a strong finish by the UFC. I remember 'UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008' was one of the strongest fight cards of the year and UFC 107 sure looks a lot better than its previous 5 shows. "The Prodigy" BJ Penn, the only non-injured champion, will face Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez. As the Ultimate fighter season 1 winner, will Sanchez become champion just as the other winner Forrest Griffin did?

Right: Diego Sanchez

I'm going to say no, not while Penn is still holding the belt. Diego definitely has a chance with his speed and incredible cardio in his favour but how effective is a strong cardio if the fight doesn't go all 5 rounds? BJ's world class boxing, takedown defense, and top jiu-jitsu is what will lead him to his victory this Saturday in Memphis.

Left: BJ Penn

A fight I'm excited about is Florian vs Guida. With 10 of his 11 wins coming from either KOs or submissions, Kenflo is a finisher. I'm not going to lie, when I first watched Clay Guida, I didn't like him. Maybe it was because he was fighting Roger Huerta, but for some reason I just didn't like him as a fighter. I can now say Guida is one of my favourite fighters to watch because he has proved he is one of the most intense fighters in the business with tremendous heart. His last 3 fights all went to decisions but don't let that fool you, he won the fight of the night award 3 times. Hence the reason I've given him the new nickname of Clay "Mr. Fight of the Night" Guida (I think that is a better nickname than "The Carpenter"). I can definitely see this as another fight of the night if it goes the distance but we'll see if Kenflo can finish the madman Clay Guida. I say yes.

Left: Clay Guida - Right: Kenny Florian (blue trunks)

The co-main event is featuring Frank Mir vs Cheick Kongo. Both are big names in the heavyweight division and a big win will push the winner in the circle of Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin. Which will win? Kongo's extreme ground and pound or Mir's downright killer jiu-jitsu? Maybe its the "Jew-fro" but I'm going to say Mir has a slight advantage even though he talks too much trash when he can't always back it up. I'm not exactly a Mir hater but a part of my wants to see him get his face punched.
With regards to the Jon Fitch vs Mike Pierce I'm not going into details with this fight because I think Jon Fitch is a monster and in my opinion this is the most mismatched fight in the card. I say Jon Fitch will be the one with his hand in the air at the end of the fight. Even though Fitch's fights aren't boring, I want to see him finish the fight this time because his last 5 matches went to the judges.

Jon Fitch

The last fight of the main card is a veteran vs a young, highly skilled, fighter. Paul Buentello vs Stefan Struve is a pretty decent way to start the PPV. Buentello is extremely experienced with fights against Andrei Arlovski and Tank Abbott. Stefan Struve is one crazy fighter, hes only 21 and already has 18 wins under him, with 14 of them coming from submissions. This kid is almost a 7-footer. I'm going to go against the majority of the fans by saying Struve will win the fight. This time I'll pick youth over experience.

Stefan Struve

I have high expectations for UFC 107 simply because the next few cards don't look high quality. Randy Couture vs Mark Coleman? Thats like watching retired WWF superstars returning for a fight at Wrestle Mania!


Question of the day:
Who has the more intense face? Jon Fitch or Stefan Struve?

China Pride

David vs Goliath

Family Feud

The Jays are actually putting together some decent wins together. Of course its too little too late in the season but its still nice to see the Jays finish off strong. The Doc's 3 hitter shutout game was simply amazing against the Boston RedSox. The Jays seem to be doing just fine on the field but off the field its a completely different story.

There have been players (unnamed) who are not happy with Cito Gaston's managing style but Cito assures the players who are unhappy is a small minority. There will always be players who aren't happy because there are 25 people on the bench but only 9 get to play. I'm sure Aaron Hill and Adam Lind have nothing bad to say because when they arrive at the game they know they are in the starting line up. The way Cito is treating Randy Ruiz is what a typical "oldschool" coach would do. Hes letting the veterans play and the youngsters only get to watch even if their performances at the plate are spectacular. Come on, how much more cause you ask of Randy Ruiz since coming from AAA?

So what was Cito's reaction to all this? "I've treated everybody with respect, so I'm not sure what their bitch is." - Cito Gaston. He obviously thinks hes doing a mighty fine job but the Jay's full season tells a different story. I'm not saying a championship team needs to love each other but they at least need respect for the managing.

I don't think we will be saying our goodbyes to Cito just yet. If anything we will see J.P. take his leave and then maybe we shall see a reborn of the entire team. What ever the actions are this off-season I sure hope to see #32 still play for the great white north.