Comments on: Wilbon Expands on MMA/Kimbo Slice Comments

By: DryHeave1

DryHeave1 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:52:34 +0000

Who the bleep cares about Kimbo Slice?

By: Wilmoth

Wilmoth — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:40:44 +0000

I can see where someone who doesn’t watch EliteXC could have watched that fight and thought something was fishy. But if you knew the full story, that Kimbo was EliteXC’s meal ticket, that the company has already posted over $50 milllion in loses and because of his loss and the fiasco that insued that they are now in danger of being dropped by CBS. No one in their right mind knowing those facts would propose that the fight was fixed, it would make absolutely zero business sense. Can someone please explain this to Willy buns? ( a term of endearment to Wilbon, whom I am a big fan of!).

Someone put it into terms Wilbon can understand. Tell him this is like the Lakers making it to the NBA finals for the West and then the Knicks make it to the East Coast finals agasint the Washington Wizards and lose controversially and someone who knows nothing about the NBA proclaims that the NBA fixed the game for the Knicks to lose and setup a dream (sarcasm) matchup of the Lakers vs the Wizards in the finals. As ridiculous as that is, it still doesn’t compare to making the assertion that the Kimbo fight was fixed.

By: Rudy

Rudy — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:54:25 +0000

Steve:

Please check in regularly. You will be missed greatly! I suspect you are too humble to realize the appetite we have for the very valid criticisms you have of no-talent ass clowns like DeOssie, Sterns, Shepturd and Buckley. We actually have an appetite also for praise of below-the-radar talents. Come back soon!

By: BDT

BDT — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:07:25 +0000

As a sportswriter and someone with a mutual friend of Wilbon’s, I definitely understand where he’s coming from. Do I know anything about professional foosball (yes, it exists)? No, but I’ve had to write stories about it. My point is that he’s been forced to talk about something he doesn’t know much about, so he has to trust whatever instincts he’s developed from his experiences with other sports. I’d call his experience with boxing better than you’ll find with most sportswriters. That said, I don’t think I’d have used the words “fix” and “fraud” without some more concrete evidence. But, columnists get to do that and if he’s comfortable with it, I won’t criticize him.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:44:22 +0000

“You absolutely should be well-versed on something before you pop off about it on national television, especially when when those observations make it clear you don’t have a clue what you are watching.”

I think you have to remember that they don’t necessarily get to pick everything they talk about. When ESPN first started airing NASCAR, all of a sudden they started talking alot more about the sport, presumably because there was pressure from above to do so. They’d usually say in a tongue in cheek manner that they really had little idea what they were talking about and just kinda shooting from the hip with surface observations. They’ve generally said the same sort of thing when they talk about most sports they don’t have a very deep background with like soccer, hockey, Arena football, MMA, whatever. I don’t have a problem with them coming in off the cuff like that as long as they make it fairly clear that they don’t necessarily have encyclopedic knowledge about the sport, regardless of whether they’ve got a national show or not.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:14:35 +0000

“I don’t need to be well versed in MMA to watch and listen and make an observation.”

Yes, you do, Mike. You have a national platform to air your views. You absolutely should be well-versed on something before you pop off about it on national television, especially when when those observations make it clear you don’t have a clue what you are watching.

And if Elite XC aired on ESPN, no way in hell do you dare cry “fix” on their airwaves, Mike. And you know it.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:48:30 +0000

Wilbon says “Millions watch professional wrestling but that doesn’t mean we don’t question the outcome.” Pro wrestling hasn’t been a legitimate athletic competition for a loooooong time Mike, probably close to a century. You can’t make the comparison between the two as fraud on the consumer because wrestling has been a fraud that the consumer willingly went along with and paid money to see.

He also says “I don’t need to be well versed in MMA to watch and listen and make an observation.” True, but that will also mean that those folks who are knowledgeable about the sport will have no problem dismissing a lot of what he says because he seems unwilling to take the time to really learn about the sport. A large part of PTI’s appeal can come from its shoot-from-the-hip opinions and quick pithy comments, but when you put yourself out there with an opinion, say you don’t know the sport, and then get called on it, well, I think you’ve either got to endeavor to learn the subject or leave it alone.

By: Asinistra

Asinistra — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:45:38 +0000

David
Since you’ve successfully opened a dialog with Wilbon–who I generally like by the way, the following notwithstanding–perhaps you can get him to either elaborate on or better yet apologize for his on-air comment prior to the KG signing that blacks did not want to play in Boston. As I say, I like the guy, but I really think he’s stuck in a pre-Pumpsie Green view of Boston.