Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everybody! Hope this finds you spending some downtime with your loved ones, or at least getting some good gifts.
It's always a pleasure having you guys here, and we hope you've enjoyed the year so far. Much more good news coming in 2011!
[Image via Charlotte Motor Speedway]
UFC welterweight Jake Ellenberger wants a piece of Jake Shields, and he's using his mouth to try to make it happen. Never mind that Shields has already cemented his title shot with a win over Martin Kampmann, and that Ellenberger is in line behind Jon Fitch and Carlos Condit, a fighter who has beaten Ellenberger. He wants Shields, and he is using the power of Twitter to try to sway the powers-that-be in the UFC.
Ellenberger -- who has recent TKO wins over John Howard and Mike Pyle -- has called out Shields several times on Twitter in the last few days, questioning Shields' title shot immediately after the fight, then going on to say:
Ellenberger isn't the first fighter to use a strategy of asking for fights to move up for a bout. Dan Hardy, "King Mo" Lawal and Ben Saunders have all gotten a shot at top fights by simply asking for them. Ellenberger would have to clear a lot of hurdles to get a shot at Shields before Shields fights either Georges St. Pierre or Josh Koscheck for the UFC welterweight title, but stranger things have happened in MMA.
UPDATE: Cagewriter spoke with Ellenberger via text, and he said that both Jake Shields and the UFC have not responded to his tweets. "But it's only a matter of time. Fake Shields is a fraud. Excuse me, Miss Piggy is a fraud," Ellenberger said. Why Miss Piggy?
"When he fights, he reminds me of Miss Piggy, with hs softness and feminine charm."
Ellenberger's beef with Shields comes from before both fighters were with the UFC. He says that he had a signed contract to fight Shields, but Shields' father (and manager) pulled him out of the bout because it was a bad match-up. Ellenberger admits that Condit and Fitch also have a claim on a bout with Shields, but, "I hate him more."
In addition to being tops in the nation in scoring, Jimmer Fredette also is among college basketball's leaders in one other category: cheesy tribute videos.
The latest effort comes from a star-studded foursome calling themselves the "Jimmer Jammers" and featuring Arrow 103.5 morning DJ Jon Carter, former BYU football coach LaVell Edwards, ex-Cougars tight end Chad Lewis and former NBA center Shawn Bradley. They've released a song called "You've been Jimmer'd" sung to the tune of Bon Jovi's 1986 anthem, "Wanted Dead or Alive."
Most music videos celebrating an athlete or team are hopelessly awful, but this one has some surprisingly fun moments.
There's an off-key Lavell Edwards belting the chorus clad in a black cowboy hat and shades. There's Bradley and Lewis both strumming guitars while wearing ridiculous rockstar wigs. Plus the song's somewhat catchy, even if some of the lyrics would make the Black Eyed Peas cringe.
Case in point, the chorus, which goes: "He's a Cougar. And he's always a threat. He's Jimmer. Jimmer Fredette."
Nonetheless, the song is easily the best of the Jimmer genre besides the two heartfelt tributes created by the BYU star's older brother, rapper T.J. Fredette. With Selection Sunday still more than a month away, we'll see if any other creative BYU fans can top it.
(Thanks, College Basketball Nation)
The see-through dress royal bride-to-be Kate Middleton wore as part of a university fashion show in 2002 is to be sold at auction.
Her catwalk debut reportedly marked the first time her husband-to-be Prince William first saw the attractive brunette.
Middleton wore the Charlotte Todd knitted slip at a St. Andrews University charity fashion show, and Todd has kept the outfit ever since it was returned to her.
The dress will go under the hammer at a Kerry Taylor Auctions sale next month.
Todd, who now works in an aquarium, tells The Associated Press, "It's definitely a showstopping dress. I'd like to think I played my part in history and in fashion history."
The first time, the final score was 108-3, getting national attention here and elsewhere around the web. The rematch was a lot closer thanks to recognizable school pride and a helping assist from one of the tallest men to ever play in the NBA.
According to the Deseret News, just weeks after Christian Heritage (Utah) Academy routed West Ridge (Utah) Academy by more than 100 points, West Ridge responded with a full gym of screaming fans, much tougher defense and a more reasonable, if similar result. The final score of the two teams' final matchup of the season Thursday night was 62-7, a lopsided loss but one which was still a full 50 points in the right direction for an Eagles team whose spirit has been described as "inspiring."
In fact, that spirit has been described as inspiring by a pretty qualified pair of basketball eyes, too. After the first blowout, former NBA tree, Philadelphia hype machine, center Shawn Bradley worked out with the West Ridge girls team at a few practices, helping guide it through drills and fine tune its defense. Bradley, who previously served as West Ridge Academy's athletic director and vice president, was also in attendance at the rematch, smiling at the teams' effort even as another insurmountable deficit piled up.
Yet, even though West Ridge entered knowing that it was headed toward another lopsided loss, the Eagles made monumental strides forward from the earlier notable loss. Christian Heritage led just 12-3 at the end of the first quarter, much better than the 25-0 deficit West Ridge faced after a quarter in January.
"We had a different game plan," West Ridge coach Jamie Keefer told the News. "The girls fought hard. I'm just glad it's over."
After being inundated with complaints and claims of a lack of sportsmanship in the first game, Christian Heritage also approached the teams' final 2010-11 matchup with other goals than simply racking up points.
Heritage coach Rob McGill, whose comments after the blowout were criticized by many, admitted that he instructed his players to put a special emphasis on 3-pointers in the easy victory. The result was both a win and a way to get in additional needed practice with some of the team's less traditional offensive sets.
"It's hard when you can't play your normal game," McGill told the News. "But we had fun."
In fact, that seemed to be the most significant development of the rematch: Unlike the first game, where both teams and fans seemed pained by developments, everyone in attendance Thursday genuinely seemed to leave West Ridge's gym feeling good about the way the game unfolded.
"These girls have never played with this type of crowd and cheering before," West Ridge Academy's executive director Ken Allen told the News of the school's bleachers, which were completely filled before the game tipped off. "There are usually about 10 people at their games."
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Say this for ESPN: at least some of its employees are interested in knowing what the hell it's talking about.
Days after Tony Kornheiser shot his mouth off about NASCAR being "fixed," two other ESPN employees, fellas by the name of Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett, took a few spins around Daytona International Speedway to, you know, understand what the track is actually like when they're commenting on it. Imagine that.
Yes, yes, it's a promotional gimmick more than anything else, but it underscores the fact that it's a good idea to know whereof you speak before getting too mouthy. Wallace and Jarrett drove for about 25 minutes together
"We've been talking to the drivers about how the new pavement feels, but there's nothing like experiencing it for yourself," said Jarrett, a three-time Daytona 500 winner. "They really did an incredible job. It's like you were used to driving on a bumpy dirt road and then they pave it and it's like a different road."
As the laps wound down, Wallace hammered Jarrett in the rear bumper, leading Jarrett to claim that Wallace cheated and had his rev limiter set higher. (No!)
"I know it's the same length around and the same width, but it seems wider because it's so smooth," Wallace said. "We used to run low, the middle, or the top and they would all be different, but they're the same now."
The video the pair shot will run during NASCAR Countdown this weekend prior to the Nationwide telecast at 1:15.
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