Hat Tip To UFC

Martin Kampmann apparently fanooguled his whizbang, so he’s being replaced at UFC 111 with Jake Ellenberger, which is if anything a better fight. Ellenberger is not ready yet for the top, but he’s a very good athlete with wrestling credentials who hits fucking HARD. He’s got the potential to be a real contender in a few years as he develops. He may give Saunders trouble stylistically that Kampmann never could, and will at least likely make this a more competitive fight- Kampmann was pretty much always doomed in the original matchup.

This card is going to be fantastic.

And On And On And On

A thousand more Arsene Wenger quotes have hit the press today in advance of tomorrow’s Liverpool showdown, and honestly, there’s nothing worth addressing for substance; I have no idea if Wenger even believes what he’s saying anymore, and if he does it’s been responded to many times over.

I will say this though: we are watching a man lose his mind and his reputation in public at a frightening pace, selling them for his club salary and the right to do as he pleases with Arsenal FC. He’s gone from being one of the most well-respected and admired figures in the incredibly slimy world of football to one of the most utterly loathsome in the space of a bare five years; from the man who revolutionized the English game with dignity and flair to a man who deserves to be bracketed next to the likes of John Terry and Ashley Cole. I have no idea what Wenger is like in private life, and I do not wish to know as it is profoundly not any part of my business or concern; but his public persona is, and the deterioration of it is unmistakable.

His principles are imaginary, ungrounded in fact or any recognizable theory of morality and more a manifestation of his individual twitchiness and personal obsessions than anything explicable to others. His respectful demeanor has collapsed into grumpy bitterness, complaining about referees, complaining about other teams, complaining about legitimate tactics, complaining about the internal financial dealings of other clubs, complaining about fixture schedules, complaining about national teams’ medical staffs, complaining about the media which quotes him accurately, petulantly refusing to speak to them in a manner which once would have been associated purely with Alex Ferguson, and generally acting like a bitter old man angry that his genius is going unappreciated. His explanations, when he deigns to offer them, contradict each other from week to week and make it clear that he’s completely comfortable with telling any lie he feels he needs to. His reaction to being sent off at Old Trafford earlier this season, while hilarious, was also clownish and not something the dignified Wenger of a decade ago would have done to himself. His claims that the Arsenal performance against Chelsea was better because of the possession times, despite Chelsea having stated in advance their intention to allow Arsenal to have the ball in order to play counter-attacking football, was the sort of deliberate hermetic obtuseness which would have been unimaginable from the man, once. Almunia is still in goal, and the way that man’s career has been handled and shattered in the last few years is just unbelievable. Amidst all the railing about Barca and their disgusting approaches to Cesc Fabregas, Wenger has semi-quietly engaged in a year-long attempt to unsettle and disrupt Marouane Chamakh at Bordeaux to either force a sale at a lower price or avoid paying a transfer fee altogether. That’s every bit as underhanded a piece of work, and it is not something he once would have resorted to.

Among world football managers arguably only Alex Ferguson has greater respect and cachet at his club than Wenger has at Arsenal, and while there’s much negative which can be said about Lord Fergie for all that the man retains his reputation inside and outside the club. It’s all but inconceivable that he would lose his the way Wenger is now doing, declining into a self-parody who garners attacks from everyone not because of his success, but because of his inability to stop criticizing everyone else despite his own failures. In that sense, Ferguson has already won his long duel with Wenger. Perhaps worse, while Ferguson will always be remembered for the legacy of titles and the great nights at the Theater of Dreams, the longer Wenger’s decomposition is allowed to continue without intervention from fate or his superiors the greater the risk is that his legacy and reputation are permanently damaged. There have always been whispers about the way Wenger comported himself at his previous positions, whispers easily dismissed in the past by present-day success; that is less easily done now, especially given the connections many are eager to draw- rightly or wrongly- between the way his time at Monaco ended and his current policies at Arsenal. No matter what happens from here, Wenger’s legacy will always have marks on it from the years he allowed to slip away as his behavior became more and more erratic, and he became less a respected football manager and more an international punchline. Even the people who want him to stay at Arsenal are using words for him which I will not repeat here, these days. It’s becoming football’s answer to all the years Floyd Mayweather and Roy Jones wasted refusing to fight top-level opponents.

On a personal level I’d like to say I’m sad about this, because when I became a fan of this sport and this club the respect and admiration due to Wenger were part of what drew me to Arsenal. But to be honest, I’m not; supporting this club increasingly feels like being sold a bill of goods and the utter contempt with which Wenger has begun treating everyone else in the sport, whether they deserve it or not, makes it difficult to feel much but contempt in turn for the way he comports himself these days. The man gets what he deserves. For my part I’m now down to probably 5 or fewer people involved with the club on any level who I can say I respect: a few bloggers, a few players, not much more. With every insane and ridiculous thing which comes out of Wenger’s mouth I question more and more why I follow this team. Losing doesn’t bother me; I have a game on the DVR from a 4-46 basketball team to watch tonight, a game I’m sure they’ve just finished losing by several hundred. Failing to compete bothers me. Pretending that that failure is a virtue bothers me. Never learning from results bothers me. Odious self-righteousness, unfounded in anything real, bothers me. Frankly, at this point, Arsene Wenger- or at least as much of the man as he shows in public- bothers me. For the first time in my life as a sports fan, l I have no idea why I’m paying attention to one of my teams, and am considering disowning them.

Believe it or not, there’s a limit to the amount of disrespectful fuckery I’m willing to support. Those are my principles.

On The George Hill Nudity Scandal

Damn, Joe Buddens last album sold so poor the dude can’t even afford pants anymore.

Hilarity

“[Nets president] Rod [Thorn] is compassionate to Bobby’s situation,” Simmons’ agent Mark Bartelstein said.

“He feels bad. He feels very strongly that he can help a lot of teams and we’re trying to work together to get something done.”

Bobby Analog has an 8.1 PER and is credited with 1/10th of a win share so far this year according to b-r.com. He’s below his own career averages in every stat you can think of this year except for steal % and defensive rebound %. He’s a negligible part of one of the worst teams of all time. Trade him where for what, precisely? Which contender is helped by adding him? I wish him best of luck in finding a home, but I can’t imagine there’s a particularly robust market out there for 30 year old replacement-level players on veteran money.

Super Bowl

What a magnificent game that was- momentum shifts, lead changes, very few blown plays in any phase of the game, incredible play calls, drama… everything the neutral or Saints fan could ask for. It’s always nice to see a team win its first in franchise history, especially for such a devoted and downtrodden fanbase as New Orleans’. Hat tip to Sean, BTW, who called this one a long way back.

Super Bowl Commercials

Yes, I get it, boobs. MOVE ON. This “yo, men are like from Mars an’ shit, and women are from…the Venus” crap is demeaning to us all.

Chael Sonnen: Professional Asshole

“I would prefer Anderson won, cause I would prefer to fight him over Vitor. I think Vitor is the better fighter…Anderson Silva will be on tears before it’s all over. The guy is no more real than the Lochness Monster. The guys in the back know who’s the tough guy… As far as him being the bully on the playground, his 15 minutes are up.”

- Sonnen, via bloodyelbow

I have rarely been happier to be wrong about a fight than I am with Marquardt/Sonnen. Sonnen vs. Silva is a new fight, an interesting style matchup, and the sudden growth of Sonnen’s character has been one of the most unexpectedly hilarious and fun things in the sport this year. Long may these promos continue.

Obligatory Arsenal Comment, Again

Be honest, can anyone really say they were surprised by that result? It’s the same players executing (or not) the same tactics and losing in the same way to the same player, again. Nothing ever, ever changes with this team, to the point where there’s no real need to even write an analysis post since everything which could be said has been said a hundred times in the last few years. There’s several 1000+ word versions in the archives, change a few names and they’re just as relevant now. Nothing is learned from success, nothing is learned from failure, the same mistakes recur perpetually and there is no willingness on the part of the manager or his fans to even acknowledge them as mistakes in many cases. Almunia is still in goal. Still. Drogba is still left unmarked despite scoring 12 goals in his last 10 games against Arsenal. Still.

So, here’s something different: if you support this current manager, and you are resigned to performances like today’s and results like this season’s, fair enough; I strongly disagree with you, but at least your eyes are open to what it is that you’re supporting. But if you support this current manager and are angry or upset about today’s performance and result, then to hell with you. You have no right to be angry about something which you support unreservedly and have had fair warning of- these performances are every bit as integral to the side Arsene Wenger has built and continues to maintain and defend as pretty passing triangles are. Wenger does not consider height or the use of the head in attack to be a legitimate tactic, he does not consider goaltenders to be real football players, he does not teach defense, he does not select players on the basis of their mental strength in big moments, he buys only as an absolute last resort, he does not consider the FA Cup and Carling Cup to be worth fighting for, and he does not adjust his tactics to the necessities of individual games. Whatever the Arsenal Way was in 1997, now it’s this. He has put together games and teams and seasons which are exactly like this for YEARS now, far more than enough time for anyone with their eyes open to know what it is he’s up to. If it makes you upset all of a sudden there’s no other way to describe that than willful blindness.

The reality is that as much as people love to slag off Myles Palmer and Le Grove- and I have issues with them myself- they have both been a lot more accurate in regards to analyzing the Arsenal team, the manager, the thought process at the club and the likely results of the season than any of the more cheer-leading sites have. If you read Arseblog these days, it’s like reading Le Grove two years ago. What so many fans love to write off as cynicism or “hating Arsenal” has been, for the most part, an accurate reflection of what the team and club are. At what point does it become a bigger issue for the cheerleaders that the men they despise have a more accurate view of the club they love than they do? At what point do they insist that the club they love stops acting the way people they consider cynical haters expect it to? These are not rhetorical questions at this point; I am legitimately unsure if the people who think cheering louder is the best response to everything can ever be convinced of the need to adapt, learn and improve.

Until Arsenal fans grow spines and demand change at the club, seasons will continue to go this way. You can blame weather or injuries or voodoo or a vast FA conspiracy or anything you desire, you’re still going to finish 3rd or 4th and potless 9 years in 10. Eventually if this goes on long enough Arsenal will fluke a win of some kind, the same way Liverpool fluked a Champions League win; and if Arsene’s cheerleaders think a fluke of that sort and 20+ years between league titles is good enough, so be it. But if you don’t, if this game today and last week’s against United still bother you, then it’s time to demand change and accountability at the club. Amidst all his lies and obfuscation in recent weeks, Wenger has finally nailed his colors to the mast for all to see: 3rd place and qualification is good enough for him. If it’s good enough for you, fine; but if you expect Arsenal football club to try for more than that, to sometimes fail and sometimes succeed but always give best effort, then it is incumbent on you to demand that Arsene Wenger either accepts the verdict of results and changes, or else leaves the club. It’s either/or, because after five years with the current plan we know what it produces.

I’ll be honest with you though: I don’t expect it to happen. Arsenal fans are going to accept this, because for most of them, as with the manager, as with the board, as with most of the players, 3rd and a hope for a fluke is good enough. This whole club is mentally beaten in a way which goes beyond anything which happens on the pitch, beaten by the idea that somehow they “deserve” more out of a performance like today’s because they had a lot of possession, beaten by the idea that the same problems recurring are just bad luck, beaten by a dismissal of any attempt to point out those problems as “negative”, beaten by the idea that no one in the world but Arsene can manage the club, beaten by having their hopes dashed over and over, beaten by a fear of change, beaten by the idea that anyone who’s unhappy with this state of affairs supports the terrorists, er, isn’t a real Arsenal supporter. I don’t know how a club comes back from that. I would like to be wrong in this, but it has been years since my more cynical expectations for this club and its supporters have gone unfulfilled. Last year someone asked Wenger a slightly rudely worded question and it triggered marches in the streets to beg the man to stay; that’s a servile mentality, and so far as I can tell it’s still that of the majority.

Chael Sonnen: Professional Asshole

Hilarious. WCW never should have gone out of business.

Hahaha

“Oh Dear God, it’s “Stranglehold,” Randy Von Erich hits the ring with 300 of his future wives in attendance”

- Dave Meltzer

99% of people won’t get that, but if you’re one of the 1%, God damn is that funny. USE THE IRON CLAW, RANDY!