By MARCUS JONES
Hello TBO.com,
It was finally my time. It took eight weeks but I am finally featured in the octagon. Episode 8 opens by touching on a few of the highlights from last week’s questionable decision for Matt. In a very memorable moment, Rampage takes his displeasure out on the door and this week the cameras gave him the opportunity to apologize to the door. Classy move by Rampage.
But in all seriousness, Rampage is a good guy, just very intense and competitive. He just wants to win. He took a loss for us as a strike on his record and it pissed him off. After seven fights and seven losses, it was up to me to get the team it’s one and only win. I felt ready for the challenge.
Back to the house, I swear each week the cameras catch something to embarrass me. This time it was the situation with the sun spider. I have never seen one of those things before and after my first encounter I never want to again. Those things are nothing but fangs and legs. Justin was my hero that day and took care of the problem. I don’t care that I yelled… that thing scared the hell out of me.
For obvious reasons, the episode focused on Mike and myself. I did not get to know Mike that well in the house because he liked to stay with his team. Before the fight, I had no idea about his situation at home. After I fought I learned of it and have nothing but respect for the fact that he was able to stay focused on his goal while away from his sick wife for six weeks.
With that being said, I still am pissed over what he wrote on that picture. I am a 35-year-old man with kids. To write “sucks balls” on a note is a childish prank. It involves very little intelligence and isn’t even funny! I can take a good prank, but those types of things should be left back in grade school. He is lucky I never found out that he wrote that until I watched the episode. It was degrading.
Back to the reason why I was in the house. I love the sport of mixed martial arts. I consider myself a student of the sport, because I gain such enjoyment over learning new moves and techniques. Even though Rampage gave me some ribbing over it, I do get a little giddy when I learn. It is a high for me.
It is something that I never really felt from football. I know it sounds funny, but my years in the NFL were not nearly as rewarding. I was able to succeed in football because I was born with certain athletic gifts. MMA is a whole new beast. I honestly just can’t get enough of it, I spend my spare time studying and watching tapes of old fights. The last two years in the sport have been the best of my life.
At the time it seemed like years had passed since I last fought, but the day finally arrived for me to enter the octagon and show my abilities.
In hindsight, I trained perfectly for Mike. I knew he was going to look to keep the fight standing and would come on the attack in an attempt to get into my guard. Mike delivers wide, looping punches, so I had to make sure I kept my hands up to the side to avoid getting caught, since he rarely looked to throw a straight punch. I, on the other hand, wanted to bring the fight to the ground where I could overwhelm him with my strong jiu-jitsu.
The fight worked out exactly as I planned. The bell rings and Mike comes straight at me on the attack. He lands a few blows, but nothing too damaging. I was reaching too much in an effort to get him in the clinch, but I finally was able to get a hold of him and bring him down.
I then focused on getting him into a submission. I failed in my first attempt with the Americana, but then he made the mistake of resting his arms on my stomach. I jumped it and sunk him into a deep arm bar. It was a very quick transition that even caught me a bit by surprise. He had no choice but to tap out.
I defeated a very tough competitor, a guy that actually fought in the UFC against Antoni Hardonk. I was elated.
Rashad and Dana’s comments after the fight were icing on the cake. Back in the beginning, I was chosen 14th overall and I felt disrespected. I had a lot to prove to everyone.
It felt great to hear them say that I was no joke. But I had no time to really enjoy it. One week later I was going to have to fight Darrill Schoonover. After watching the episode, it is quite apparent that Rampage’s ongoing issues with Darrill led to that decision. That is fine by me. I just wanted to fight. Some other great matchups also were decided – Roy vs. Justin, Schaub vs. Madsen and McSweeney vs. Mitrione.
Hope you guys enjoyed my (kind of) UFC debut. Until next week.
————-
Have a question or comment for Marcus Jones about TUF: Heavyweights? Complete the form at this link and hit the “Submit” button. Please include your full name.
Tampa Catholic’s Jason Getreu has verbally committed to Coker College in South Carolina, becoming the second member of the Crusaders’ squad who will continue his career in college. Crusaders standout forward Andrew Buckley, who led Hillsborough County in scoring last season with 29 goals, has already committed to the University of Tampa
Getreu said the decision to commit to Coker wasn’t easy, with other schools remaining in the picture until recently.
“There were a bunch of other schools I was looking at, so it was kind of tough,” Getreu said. “But I like the coach there a lot, and I like the school so that made it a little easier.
Coker said he is hoping he can help continue the turnaround Cobras first-year coach Paul Leese has begun. The Cobras have their first winning record in recent years, and Getreu thinks big things are on the way for the side.
When it comes to dealing with adversity, Alonso may very well be the top seed in Hillsborough County.
So losing one of their top offensive players is just another bump in the road the team will have to navigate. When the Ravens host Gaither on Friday night with a chance to clinch a Class 5A playoff spot, they will be without running back/wide receiver Jesse Anaya.
Anaya, the team’s second-leading receiver with 403 yards and seven touchdowns and one of the most versatile players on offense, was not on the practice field Wednesday as the Ravens prepared for the Cowboys.
“He’s no longer a part of the football team,” said Alonso coach Mike Heldt, who would not give specifics about Anaya’s departure. “Other guys will step up. Dashon Leggette is going to be stepping in running back-wise, and we’ve got a bunch of other people who will step up. It’s just another little thing of adversity we have to deal with, but we’ll deal with it.”
Magic and Larry. Or, Larry and Magic.
Take your pick. Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird. A pair of NBA legends, joined at the hip. Their personal rivalry, and the battles that the Lakers and Celtics waged during the 1980s, elevated pro basketball from reruns (the 1980 NBA Finals were on shown tape delay) to a billion-dollar industry.
There’s no Michael Jordan mania without Magic and Larry. Same with LeBron James. Go ahead and disagree. It wouldn’t have happened. The NBA was regional and not a national sport, until Johnson and Bird appeared on the scene.
The NBA truly belonged to Magic and Larry.
And how appropriate that Jackie MacMullan, whose insights about pro basketball as a print and television journalist are top notch, should work on a book with Johnson and Bird.
MacMullan interviewed nearly 100 different people and collaborated with Johnson and Bird to produce “When the Game Was Ours,” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26).
I found it interesting that this book was born out of a failed project. Originally, this was supposed to done several years ago as a coffee table book, with pictures and 20,000 to 30,000 words of text, MacMullan said in a radio interview last month in Boston.
When it didn’t happen, MacMullan kept her notes and began to dig deeper. What she has achieved with Johnson and Bird in this book is a very absorbing, intense look at two men whose initial animosity eventually led to a grudging respect — and finally, a deepening friendship.
MacMullan said what surprised her about the rivalry was “how obsessed they were with each other individually.”
Johnson’s Michigan State team had beaten Bird’s Indiana State squad for the 1979 NCAA championship, and Magic was already hoisting an NBA title by 1980. The prospect drove Bird crazy — but Johnson was equally out of sorts when he heard about the overwhelming margin of Bird’s victory over him in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting.
The most interesting passages in the book concern Johnson dealing with testing HIV-positive. Always an outgoing, ebullient player, Johnson had to face players, coaches, fans and media who were still new to the AIDS scare. Many believed that testing HIV-positive was similar to receiving a death sentence and wanted to avoid Magic.
That those people were avoiding him was startling to Johnson.
“It took me a while to realize they didn’t want my sweat on their body,” Johnson said.
Johnson created a stir when he discussed his broken relationship with Detroit’s Isiah Thomas, who had called NBA friends, “asking curious questions,” about Johnson’s sexuality, according to the book.
That led to Johnson lobbying to keep Thomas off the 1992 Olympics “Dream Team” for personal reasons.
The two men haven’t spoken since excerpts of the book were released. Monday in a conference call with reporters, Johnson was not optimistic about a sit-down.
“If that day comes, then we’ll sit down and talk,” he said. “If that day doesn’t come, then it doesn’t come.”
The underlying theme in the book is the animosity and competitiveness between Johnson and Bird. Their relationship took a warmer turn when the two of them appeared in a commercial for Converse in 1985. Johnson traveled to Bird’s hometown to film it, and they discovered they had a lot more in common, particularly in their upbringing, than they realized.
MacMullan has done a wonderful job giving both players their say, and sketches an intimate portrait of the growth of the NBA during the 1980s. Both players are candid in their opinions and their recollections, and that honesty is the biggest strength of “When the Game Was Ours.”
University of South Florida junior WR Carlton Mitchell, who suffered an ankle injury against West Virginia, was off crutches Wednesday but still wearing a protective boot.
The Gaither graduate has the luxury of the bye week to give his ankle more time to heal, but if he can’t play in the Nov. 12 ESPN Thursday night game at Rutgers, the Bulls will be without their top receiver and deep threat.
“I have no idea what’s going on with him. I do know he is hurt. I do know he’s getting treatment every day since the game,” QB B.J. Daniels said. “Hopefully he’ll be back because he’s a big part of our offense.”
TAKING IT PERSONALLY: Going into last week’s game against West Virginia, DE George Selvie was tired of hearing about USF’s midseason nosedives of the past two years.
“I don’t know about everybody else, but I took it personally,” he said. “I’ve been here so long with this football team, and to hear people talking about us that bad, I always take it personally. So we all had something to prove with that.”
Selvie used the negative talk as motivation in USF’s 30-19 win.
“We had a lot of people talking about, ‘They’re going to lose three in a row,’ ” Selvie said. “So it was just time to shut up all the people that were talking about us. This isn’t the same team as years before. We actually got through this and stopped the slump before it happened.”
ODDS AND ENDS: USF will not practice Thursday or Friday. The Bulls coaching staff will use the down time to recruit. … USF will resume workouts on Saturday in preparation for Rutgers.
Don’t forget to check out Tampa resident and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Marcus Jones on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights tonight at 10.
He will face Mike Wessel and if you’ve been watching the show, you know Jones is Team Rampage’s last remaining hope of not getting swept in the preliminary matches.
Thus far Team Rashad, coached by Rashad Evans, has beat up on Team Rampage, coached by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, collecting seven consecutive victories.
Also, take a look at Jones’ regular blog posts from his experience on the show on TBO.com.
Tampa native and former boxing corner man Dr. Ferdie Pacheco will have his art work displayed at Paintings of the World at Channelside Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Pacheco, known to many around the world as The Fight Doctor, spent 17 years as Muhammad Ali’s personal physician and ringside doctor. In all, he’s worked the corner of a dozen champions.
The works of Pacheco captures the ability of a man with numerous talents. He’s had 14 books published, worked as a ringside analyst for NBC and Showtime, has written screenplays, earned the Gold Medal and First Prize in Tonneins, France and the First Prize, Best Colorist at Musee Du Luxembourg.
His painting of Mahatma Gandhi was chosen by the United Nations for International Nonviolence Day and was released as a U.S. Postage stamp in October. That will be on display at the gallery, located at 615 Channelside Drive, Suite 101A in Tampa.
Pacheco’s paintings are famous for bold his use of colors. According to his Web site: “his imaginative use of color and design along with his aggressive use of vivid, slashing, colorful patterns exude a sense of strength expressing the bold, gutsy, personal statements of a man who has immersed himself fully in life. Pacheco has the rare ability to transfer these experiences onto canvas through intense color and brushstrokes.”
Tampa Bay Tech’s Johnathan Williams may not have numbers comparable to a lot of quarterbacks in the area, but the recent production by the Titans signal caller is having a big effect.
Williams has thrown for a combined 377 yards and five touchdowns in his last two games, including a 220-yard, three-touchdown effort in a district win over Brandon on Oct. 23. Titans coach C.C. Culpepper says the numbers don’t tell the whole story, though.
Culpepper believes Williams’ recent production will force opposing defenses to play honest against the Titans, rather than stacking the line of scrimmage in an effort to slow down standout senior fullback Maurice Hagens.
“Johnathan has really opened up our offense,” Culpepper said of Williams, who has thrown for 719 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions this season. “Teams now can’t stack nine in the box to try and stop Maurice. It really gets them thinking now.”
Tampa Bay Tech hosts Wharton on Friday in a pivotal Class 5A-District 7 matchup, a game in which there is a lot at stake for the Titans. A win not only would give the program its second consecutive playoff berth, but it also would give the Titans just their second district title in program history (Tampa Bay Tech was a district champ in 2000).
“I definitely feel good about being at home. And I definitely feel good about us being in the driver’s seat,” said Culpepper, who added he believes his team is peaking at the right time. “We’re not waiting on someone to lose for us to get in (the playoffs). if we win, we’re in.”
By FRED EVERSON
The winds of November are here, making things difficult for deep-water anglers. Water temperature is still in the high 70s, and clarity is still poor for this time of year.
I have seen a couple of cobia on the flats south of Apollo Beach, but sight-fishing there has been complicated by sea grass. Where there was once only bare sand in 3 feet of water there is a resurgent growth of sea grass. I suppose that’s a good thing as far as the water quality is concerned, but it makes spotting fish more challenging.
Earlier this week we got into some big schools of ladyfish on the surface on the flats in front of Mag’s Hole. I always throw a few of those in the cooler for use as cut bait. All the major predators like a chunk of ladyfish. Fresh is better than frozen, but frozen bait will still catch fish. It just doesn’t stay on the hook as well. Fresh or frozen, you have to keep it on ice.
We also got into Spanish mackerel and bluefish off Mangrove Point, just north of the Simmons Park boat ramp. We caught fish on practically every cast for more than an hour using chrome spoons. They were tearing through schools of glass minnows, which attracted lots of sea gulls and terns to make the fish easy to find.
Tuesday’s trip yielded some big jacks around the mouth of the Little Manatee River. We caught them on the same chrome spoons, rigged on 50-pound monofilament leaders. Most of the fish were in the 2-pound class, but we caught some bigger fish in the mangrove back country of Little Cockroach Bay. Joe Capo of Riverview had the best fish, a 7-pounder caught on a chunk of ladyfish.
Visit captain Fred Everson’s Web site at http://www.tampabayfishingguide.com for charter info or call (813) 830-8890.
Gaither High seniors and twin sisters Megan and Kristen McGrath will sign with the University of Alabama-Birmingham next Thursday at the high school, Gaither athletic director Henry Strapp announced.
Kristen batted .439 with 29 hits, 22 RBIS and three home runs and also went 11-9 on the mound with a 2.33 ERA, 115 Ks and 40 walks. Megan, an infielder, batted .377 with 29 hits, 15 RBIs and five doubles.
Both players were named to the All-Western Conference American Division first-team and Tribune All-Hillsborough County Softball team as juniors.
Gaither finished 14-11 last season.
Alonso High baseball coach Landy Faedo recently earned a pretty big coaching honor.
Faedo was named the American Baseball Coaches Association/Diamond High School Regional Coach of the Year. Faedo was one of eight high school coaches honored at the Division I level. He was the Region 3 selection.
Faedo’s Ravens became Hillsborough County’s first public school to win a state championship since 1998 when they captured the Class 6A crown last seaosn with a 4-3 win over Miami Columbus at Port St. Lucie’s Tradition Field. The win capped a 30-3 season for Alonso, which also won the annual Saladino Tournament and became the first county program to win a state title and Saladino title in the same year.
“I’m very happy,” Faedo said of the honor. “It’s just due to the success of my team and the success of my program.”
Faedo said he was invited to the ABCA’s national convention, which will be held in Dallas on Jan. 7-10, but that he wouldn’t be able to attend.
Tuesday afternoon, Mitchell running back Ricky Trinidad was beyond happy to rejoin is teammates after a visit to his doctor. He’s cleared to play in Friday night’s homecoming game against Land O’ Lakes.
Meanwhile, Land O’ Lakes defensive end Gary Myrick will be on the sidelines serving a one game suspension after being ejected last week against Sunlake.
When these two teams lineup inside Mitchell Stadium, it will be for the Class 3A-District 7 runner-up spot and a coveted place in the 2009 playoffs.
Land O’ Lakes coach Matt Kitchie was clear, regardless of what the Florida High School Athletic Association doled out, Myrick would not play Friday. During the third quarter of what would prove to be a 42-14 Gators victory against Sunlake, Myrick stepped on a Sunlake player who was on the ground.
“It was just a dumb move,” Kitchie said. “There’s no room for that in the game. We need to make sure that we’re good sports. If you get beat, you get beat. You don’t get all upset about it. You win the next play.”
As for the guy Myrick would have been trying to stop, Trinidad admitted he began to feel pain in his back right before halftime of Mitchell’s Oct. 23 victory against Sunlake.
“I was actually in a lot of pain,” admitted Trinidad, Pasco County’s leading rusher. “I wanted to go back in the game, but me trying to run was really difficult. Even to walk.”
Trinidad, a junior, has racked up 1,192 yards and 14 scores on 143 carries. He’s averaging 8.34 yards per carry. Myrick, a senior, has 46 tackles, leads the Gators with 8.5 sacks and has two fumble recoveries, one of which was forced.
Friday night, we’ll see which roster move has the biggest impact.
Rookie quarterback Josh Freeman is four days away from his first NFL start. He is comfortable with his knowledge of the Bucs offense, confident in play-caller Greg Olson and doing his best to balance the desire to make a big play with the need to calmly move the offense down the field. Oh, and he’s ready to “let it rip.”
Read the full story here.
Berkeley Prep standout T.J. Roehn has committed to South Florida to continue his soccer career, joining his Clearwater Chargers teammate and Palm Harbor University standout Ben Sweat in committing to the Bulls.
Roehn had narrowed his choices to USF, Villanova and Pittsburgh, but after visiting with the Bulls recently he decided that staying in Tampa was the right choice for him.
“USF has always been really good, and I wanted to play for a team that has good facilities and has had a good history,” Roehn said.
The Bulls are currently ranked No.13 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, and reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament last season. According to Roehn, the Bulls showed interest in him from the first day they were allowed to make contact with him, and he has appreciated the advice given to him by USF coach George Kiefer.
“He’s always been very honest with me,” Roehn said. “USF was one of the first teams to call me on the first day they could call their recruits. They’ve always been very interested, and I’ve only heard good things about them.
“I believe (USF) will get a national championship soon, so that’s what I’m looking to do.”
Roehn scored 26 goals and added 21 assists as the Buccaneers reached the Class 3A state championship game last season.
Pro Bowl returner Clifton Smith will play Sunday against the Packers for the first time since a vicious hit left him with a concussion. Oddly, Smith kept a memento of the blow he took from Carolina safety Dante Wesley on Oct. 18.
Read the full story here
Advertisement
