UFC 148: Silva vs Sonnen II

I know, I know.. it's been a while, hasn't it? To be completely honest, even I wasn't sure if whether or not I would continue this blog. But, recent events in my all-time favorite sport have reminded me of why I created this in the first place.. so, moving on to what's currently on my mind..

UFC 148.

You wanna talk about a HUGE fight.. it doesn't get much bigger than this. This event is a little more meaningful to me because the first pay-per-view UFC event I ever watched live was UFC 117(that's right.. the first fight between Anderson and Chael) and I've been absolutely hooked ever since(though I had been following MMA fairly closely for some time before). That was all the way back in August of 2010, and now here we are.. with a rematch on the horizon after both men have scored two consecutive victories since their first meeting. A friend and I opted out of ordering UFC 116 after much consideration and decided that 117 had the better looking card top to bottom.. and I'm so glad that we did because we witnessed an all-time classic that night. And atleast it seems like we're going to witness another tonight.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me personally that I'm betting the farm on Sonnen, because I know he has the best shot of dethroning Silva, and I largely dislike Silva in general. Don't get me wrong, I understand that he's the absolute best to ever compete in mixed martial arts(and both his record and path of destruction are proof of that) and I do realize that I'm fortunate to see the best there has ever been in the biggest fight of his career.. but I just simply find him distasteful. He's arrogant, hypocritical, and almost never shows any sportsmanship. He's in dire need of a reality check, and Sonnen is the man for the job. If anyone can humble Anderson Silva, Sonnen's your man.

Sonnen dominated Silva for over 4 and a half rounds.. a feat that is by far unmatched. He landed over 300 strikes during that time, along with multiple takedowns and gave Silva the biggest challenge of his career. The only downfall to Chael Sonnen is his submission defense.. something that has long been his poison. Silva exploited that weakness(and maybe the only one) and secured a triangle choke with just over a min to go before the final bell to retain the title. I seriously doubt history will repeat itself.. after all, lightning never strikes twice, right?

Nobody(and I mean nobody) gave Sonnen a chance to win that fight, let alone dominate the #1 P4P champion like he did.. which is also very similar to this fight in particular. Everyone seems to think that Anderson will come out stronger, and more focused than he's ever been and get a dominate, decisive victory. I'm not saying that can't happen(nor am I saying that it won't.. this is A. Silva) but the only reason he retained the title was Chael's weak submission defense. If you think that same Chael Sonnen with the same underdeveloped submission defense will be showing up tonight only to fall just short of championship gold again.. think twice.

I know I'll be on the edge of my seat from the opening bell til the end..

WAR SONNEN!

Service Without a Smile

Yesterday, on my lunch break, I decided to try out this little deli not far from work(seriously, 0.5 of a mile). One of my co-workers had eaten there a couple days before and was just absolutely raving about the place. Seeing as how I had once again forgotten to pack my lunch the night before, I was definitely in the market for something delicious and maybe even more importantly... quick. I only get a half hour for lunch(unpaid as well) and my options are limited to about a 1.5 mile radius if I want to have any time to actually enjoy my meal instead of just devouring it solely for its nutritional value. With that said, this place sounded perfect so whenever noon rolled around, I decided to give it a go.

I pulled up, exited my vehicle and made my way through the door.. and it felt uninviting instantly. There wasn't a "Hi, how are you? What can I get for you today?", it was more of a "Yeah? What do you want?" in the form of a simple hand gesture calling me over to the register. After I had placed my order(pastrami on rye) and it was being prepared, I then realized that I didn't order anything to drink. So, I ask to add a Diet Coke to the order and the guy behind the register nearly rolled his eyes and sighed as if I had inconvenienced him so much that it ruined his life. I immediately get slightly annoyed by this prick, but brush it off because after all, I'll be out the door in a matter of moments. Now, it's time to pay for what I've ordered, so I bring out my wallet and pull my Visa debit/credit card from the card holder. Again, he nearly drops(literally) from the devastating blow of such an overwhelming inconvenience and then proceeds to inform me that they only accept cash. In this day and age, if you own a business.. no matter the business.. you should accept plastic. Period. Anyways, no big deal, as he instructs me to use the ATM that's readily available on the wall. So, still trying to maintain my patience.. I walk over and withdraw a single $20 bill from the ATM(with a nice little $2.50 fee to boot).

After all that nonsense, and about a $10.50 investment.. I finally bite into my pastrami. Almost as if the entire trip was destined to be irritating and a total waste of time and money.. it was mediocre, at best. Needless to say, that one's crossed off the list.. and I'll go even farther and say that I hope it folds entirely. There's no need for a business to be in existence if they treat their customers, the people who are willfully handing over their money in exchange for a particular service, that way. If you have severely underdeveloped people skills, do yourself a favor and don't invest in building an establishment where you will provide a service directly to said, people. It's a recipe for failure.

Saying Goodbye to the Sunshine State

Just eight months ago, I packed up all of my belongings and started my overnight journey from Tennessee to the Tampa Bay area and now it's time to make my return.. alongside of a very special someone(and the whole reason I ever came to live in FL). If I've learned anything from this experience, it's that there truly is no place like home. It's where I was born, and lived exclusively until last October.. and I miss almost everything about the region. Its seemingly endless mountains and forest.. its rivers, creeks, and streams that seem to zig-zag between its gorgeous woodlands.. family.. friends.. the whole nine. It is truly exciting to know that I will reclaim all those things next month and hopefully forever afterwards. Such big plans.. dreams.. ideals.. all coming to fruition on the only soil that I've ever considered to be a true home.

With that said, it feels like every moment spent here is a moment wasted. Sure, there are still binds in place.. otherwise, I'm sure we would've already made the jump. I just can't help but to think about how much better everything will be once we've finally arrived after anticipating our big move for such a long time. And yes, the days are growing fewer but it doesn't seem to do so at any kind of reasonable pace.. and it's not like it's all happening in the morning. It's been a long, grinding, and even sometimes borderline miserable wait.. and still I count the days. Once my feet are firmly planted back on Tennessee soil, I'll know the rewards were well worth waiting for.. and that's something that's never far from my mind.

Introduction

Hello all and welcome to my blog. I decided to name it "Driftless" because it will ultimately be just that. Instead of sticking to just one thing in particular, I'll be bouncing around and making posts about various things. I'm a huge MMA fan, so you can expect a few posts about that, same goes for music, and I'm sure to write a few based on the latest happenings in my life. This will be a blog about any and everything all depending on what's on my mind at that very moment. So again, welcome and hope you enjoy taking every turn with me.