St-Pierre VS. Penn II

Here we go, BJ Penn/Georges St-Pierre part II, champ vs champ. The hype is that this is the UFC’s biggest fight to date, and I don’t think you’ll find too many people who’ll argue. I’m obviously pulling for BJ, but this should be one hell of a battle. Both guys are a cut above everyone else in their respective divisions, but the fact is that BJ is clearly at his best as a lightweight. Ditto for GSP at welterweight, and given that Penn is the one moving up a weight class for this fight, you probably have to give St-Pierre the slight edge here. It’s definitely hard to pick against GSP given the current roll that he’s on, but the same could be said about Penn. Can’t wait for this one.

Obligatory Sneaker Talk

Oh man, these Huarache Bursts are just insanely sleek. I like how the shoe seems to be simply “inspired” by the XI rather than literally concocted from different parts of preexisting sneakers.



I’m still in the midst of cutting back on shoes so I likely won’t buy them (a mere 4 pairs purchased since September), but they’re looking real, real sexy. I’ve been closer to picking up the Purple Foam 1. I refuse to call them the “Eggplants,” because it just sounds dumb and kind of gross. It took me a little while to really warm up to them, but they’re clearly the best colorway of the Foamposite One since the original.



If I can find someplace that has them in stock, I just might end up passing on the Penny III. Last but certainly not least, further detailed shots of the ½ Cent have surfaced, and it looks like there will be a hologram of LP’s face on the bottom of the heel.



The thing about holograms and visible air units is that they tend to get cloudy over time, and I’m fairly certain that this is the first sneaker to feature both so prominently. In effect, they’re shoes that may not look quite so great 10 years from now, but I’m still all about them.



I mean, damn, those things are almost too good to be true.

Fedor Still Apparently Invincible

A few days late, but I managed to catch Affliction’s Fedor Emelianenko/Andrei Arlovski title fight. Arlovski was looking really good for about 3 minutes and was actually handily winning the fight until he tried to land a flying knee in the corner. Fedor saw it coming and took Adrei out of the sky with a perfectly timed right hook. Arlovski’s biggest weakness is his questionable chin anyway, but that punch likely would have taken anyone out. Despite Dana White’s refusal to acknowledge Fedor as the world’s top heavyweight, Fedor has now disposed of Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, two former UFC champs, in a combined 4 minutes or so. Josh Barnett looks to be next on Fedor’s plate, and if Brock Lesnar can get past Frank Mir, a potential Fedor/Lesnar bout would likely draw more money than any other fight in MMA history.

We Are All Witness. Unfortunately.

Playing:
Shin Megami Tensei
Persona 4
(PS2)

I was in the midst of a fairly rigorous Persona session on Saturday morning when my doorbell rang. Now, I usually don’t get a whole lot of unexpected visitors, but the optimist in me assumed that it was the delivery guy with a package. I made the mistake of opening the door without looking through the peephole, and was greeted by a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a reward for my stupidity. They proceeded to hook me up with the latest issue of “Awake!” and ask me if I had ever wondered why I was here (on Earth), but the only question running through my mind was why they were here (in Japan). I thought that moving to Japan would mean getting away from telemarketers and Jehovah’s Witnesses, but to my disappointment, it turns out that they’ve got both of those here. The two men were actually quite pleasant and spoke English really well, but I simply wasn’t in the mood to be entertaining visitors, regardless of whether or not they were spreading JC’s word. What’s funny is that I have this sign on my door:



"Earrings off, asshole!!!" The sign is essentially the last thing I see before leaving for work in the morning, and it’s so far served as an effective reminder for me to take off my earrings (asshole). My new friends and I had our conversation with the door wide open, which resulted in several awkward glances - from all three of us - at my little notice. I was hoping that my somewhat peculiar sign might scare them off, but they instead expressed interest in coming to chat about life with me at the same time on a future date. Ah well, I guess I just have another reason to sleep in on Saturday mornings.

As far as Persona 4 goes, I’m about 20 hours into the game and thoroughly enjoying it. It still feels very much like the third installment of the series, although the storyline, at least so far, is somewhat scaled back and not the epic, apocalyptic ride that Persona 3 was. Building social links and fusing personas, the bread and butter of P3, remains the preeminent part of P4, and as a result, the game feels almost like Persona 3.5 rather than Persona 4. That being said, the gameplay of P3 was bordering on perfect, so a new backdrop is really all that fans of the third installment were likely asking for. Gamers who played P3 will likely find the battles somewhat easy and, dare I say, boring, but the real draw of P4 is still the whole social networking and calendar management aspect of the game. Throw in an engaging murder mystery storyline and a cast of likable, albeit familiar characters, and you've got a first-rate package that rivals Persona 3.

Boris Diaw Humiliates Suns

Just days after losing to former coach Mike D'Antoni's New York Knicks, the Phoenix Suns were served a humbling defeat at the hands of Boris Diaw and the Charlotte Bobcats. Often maligned for his inconsistent play during his stay in Phoenix, Diaw reaffirmed what he is capable of when given starter's minutes (26 pts, 11 boards, 10-16 FG, 3-4 from long range), severely outplaying Amare Stoudemire (12 points, 9 boards, 5-14 FG) at both ends of the floor. The other former Sun, Raja Bell, did his thing and held Jason Richardson to 8 points on 3-9 shooting. I'm still fans of both Diaw and Bell, so I'm happy that they're playing well on a suddenly decent Bobcats team, but it's becoming increasingly clear that Suns' GM Steve Kerr has no idea what he's doing.

Not to knock J-Rich, because he's played really well since he's joined the team, but Porter and Kerr seem hell bent on playing a methodical, San Antonio Spurs style of ball. While there's technically nothing wrong with that, why would you trade one of your best post-up players and your best perimeter defender if the intent is to construct a more deliberate, half court squad? To top it off, rumor is that Kerr is now shopping Leandro Barbosa and is open to the idea of trading Stoudemire. If those two are moved, Steve Nash will be the only holdover from the run & gun days. Wow.

Pittsburgh Steelers Back In The Super Bowl

Oh, it’s on. As luck would have it, my team makes the Super Bowl during my first year living thousands of miles away from American television. I really can’t think of a justifiable reason to sweat the Cardinals, but then again, it’s not like I’ve had the opportunity to watch them play at all this season. On paper, it looks like Arizona has the type of personnel to be effective against the Steeler defense, but I wouldn't put money on it. Hopefully Hines Ward's injury isn't too serious, but I imagine that he'll be playing regardless of what the doctors say. Having to track down the game online kind of sucks the excitement out of things, but there’s nothing quite like having your team playing on Super Bowl Sunday.

I had probably the wildest night of my life this past Saturday. I’d detail it for you, but as of right now, I’m not legitimately sure how much of it actually happened. I can’t decide whether or not that’s a good thing.

Dreams Of MJ, The Reality Of The Stormin' Mormon

While playing ball the other night, I accidentally creamed this guy in the face with an elbow. It was totally inadvertent, but I couldn’t help but feel really bad about it anyway. My elbow still hurts like hell, so I can only imagine what that guy’s face feels like right now. You know, I never thought the day would come that I would turn into Shawn Bradley, but here I am, stumbling around the court and taking out people with errant limb shots.