I used to be a huge boxing fan. I knew the champions in the major weight classes for all of the sanctioning bodies; watched plenty of boxing on television and bought pay-per-view fights occasionally. Then came the Indignant Wife, who hates boxing (but loves Asian martial arts films, alas), and guess what? Now I no longer watch boxing at all and have very little knowledge of the sport.
One thing that never did appeal to me was mixed martial arts. To me, there was little “skill” in it unlike boxing; certainly at the beginning. The fighters were brawlers who flailed their arms and feet until the whole thing degenerated into a wrestling match. Now, today’s fighters are more skilled, but it still doesn’t appeal to me.
That said, even before I stopped watching boxing I argued that the sport had to change. The long list of destitute, punch drunk fighters was becoming too long to merit the brutality of the sport. I wrote this in the 1990s for The Sportswriters, long before the discovery of CTE, the brain disease that has brought dementia, memory loss and suicide to the forefront in every contact sport including boxing, football and hockey.
I asked back then if it would take a death, or several deaths before boxing would change. Unfortunately, we now have to ask that question of MMA. Professional MMA fighter Booto Guylain died this week after suffering a severe head injury in a Feb. 27 bout in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was 29. Apparently, Guylain was a middleweight with an 0-2 record who was knocked out in the third round of a bout against Keron Davies at an event hosted by Extreme Fighting Championship Africa.. Both of this man’s losses were by TKO.
Unfortunately, Guylain isn’t the only recent death. In September, Brazilian MMA fighter Leandro Souza died before a fight due to organ stress from aggressively dieting to make the weight limit.
I know that these deaths occurred outside of the United States (not that this makes a difference – life has the same value no matter what country, race, sex the people are), and perhaps the safeguards are stronger here, but this is a very brutal sport, and there will be people who cut corners, let people fight who shouldn’t, just for money.
I don’t know if these incidents are being investigated, and if any investigation will render an honest judgment of MMA, especially in South Africa, but something needs to done.

So, I watched the Oscars last night, and there’s enough coverage on the very long, boring show, Ellen DeGeneris’ bits and the like. I just wanted to formalize here my thoughts on the awards and the films.
First, “Gravity” deserved all of the technical awards. It put the audience into space right next to Sandra Bullock’s character. After I saw it however, I thought of it as film cotton candy, great while you’re watching it, but it doesn’t stick with you afterwards. Putting two likeable stars in the 21st Century equivalent of a disaster movie, means that your don’t need any character development or even much script. All you need is back story, which is thrown off like a check list in the middle of the film. Don’t get me wrong, it was visually stunning, but I’m glad that “12 Years A Slave” won Best Picture.
Some people have asked what I thought of “Slave” and other readers have asked why I didn’t watch it when I was at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. The reason is simple: just before the picks were due, I tried to watch the Jackie Robinson bio-pic “42” which was well acted and engrossing, but as I sat watching (I was out of town for work and I brought it along) I started getting angry at the white people in the film. I got so angry that I stopped watching it. I dont believe that I have a great deal of hatred in me period, and with lots of Caucasian friends, I think I have put away a lot of scorn. But I was getting madder and madder, and while I know the story very well, I couldn’t make it to the end.
However, I have to say that Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” did not have the same effect on me because, like so many of QT’s films, the characters and situations are so over the top that it is not real. I love Tarantino’s films and “Django,” especially the use of Christoph Waltz as the bounty hunter, but the most evil person in that film was black: Samuel L. Jackson’s character. And, like his previous film “Inglorious Basterds,” “Django” is a revenge fantasy, not far removed from the black exploitation films of the 1970s that Tarantino loves (and films that I was raised on).
No, I had a feeling that “Slave” was much more than that and from all accounts, this is true. A woman I met between films at TIFF last year is friends with the number two man and chief programmer Cameron Bailey who had told her that the film to see was “12 Years” but I passed on it. I know I will see it (the video is on its way to my house even now) and with work trips upcoming, it will get watched, but I may have to have plenty of drinks to keep me from wanting to throw something.
So, those are my comments on last night’s proceedings; I’m curious to know what you think.

The biggest splash in the Major League Baseball Hot Stove League this winter was the ponying up of $240 million by the Seattle Mariners to former Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano. Now, one would think that a player might be interested in the lineup that he might be playing with to make sure he would be successful instead of just the big money grab, wouldn’t you?
But I guess maybe Cano didn’t look that deeply. Even though he is now the big money face of the franchise (and I guess with his payday he does deserve some say in how the team is run), maybe he should have thought harder about coming to the Pacific Northwest, or maybe the total amount of money he is getting.
Cano thinks that the team needs to acquire another hitter, preferably a right-handed one. In an interview with CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman over the weekend (quoted on SI.com), Cano said “I’m not going to lie. We need an extra bat, especially a right-handed bat. We have many left-handed hitters. We need at least one more righty. You don’t want to face a lefty pitcher with a lineup of seven left-handed hitters.”
Cano suggested re-signing switch hitter Kendrys Morales, who hit 23 homers for the Mariners last season. “He’s a switch hitter who’s got power,” said Cano, who also advocated the signing of starter Ervin Santana.
There’s one big problem to that: two sources suggested to Heyman that the Mariners “have little or no loot left to spend,” which general manager Jack Zduriencik wouldn’t confirm. It is what I have called “the Patrick Ewing syndrome.” Back in the early 1990s, Ewing, who was center for the New York Knicks, signed the biggest contract in the game up to then, and I wrote that, under the salary cap, Ewing’s contract eat up so much money that they wouldn’t have money to spend on other positions. Ewing’s supporting cast was never good enough to get him an NBA title.
Of course, there is no salary cap in baseball, just a luxury tax, which means, if you’ve got it (like the Red Sox and Yankees), you can spend it. Seattle has never been known as a “big market” franchise, so it would not surprise me that the Mariners front office “shot their wad” by signing Cano. Even the huge market teams have a budget, and it would not surprise me much that Cano busted the bank. The question now is: would Cano defer some of his nearly ¼ of a billion dollar contract so that the Mariner can get some help? Notice, I did not say give back any money; I said defer some of it. Also, does Cano want another bat to win games, or to protect Robinson Cano, assuring that Cano will get good pitches to hit?
That may be the difference. In the past, star players have differed their salaries to allow breathing room for their employers for the good of the team. Somehow, I don’t see Robinson Cano as being that kind of guy.

The San Francisco 49ers, while not winning a Super Bowl championship, has been the model franchise for NFL success since Jim Harbaugh was hired as head coach. The ‘Niners are tied for the most overall wins (41) in the league over the past three seasons, three consecutive NFC Championship Game appearances and one Super Bowl loss. Unlike so many teams, the 49ers are set at head coach, right?
Maybe not.
Earlier this week, it was disclosed that the 49ers almost traded Harbaugh to the Cleveland Browns. Trading coaches has happened before although most of the time, a team gets compensation for letting their coach sign elsewhere. This obviously shows how fractured the relationship is between the team’s outspoken head coach and the front office, particularly GM Trent Baalke. Admittedly, there is a fair amount of dispute as to how serious the talks were between Cleveland and San Francisco, but Harbaugh, already a very emotional person, was probably throwing furniture.
First, he has obviously taken the team to the top of the NFL heap and only a great effort by Baltimore in 2012 kept them from the championship and a superb Seattle team kept them from a repeat Super Bowl appearance this season. Plus, Harbaugh was coaching at Stanford which is, of course, right up the road from San Francisco, and to suddenly be the head coach of a team whose front office has been in turmoil with poor to occasional mediocre performance on the field, probably has Harbaugh livid.
Harbaugh is in his next-to-last season on his five year contract, and while Harbaugh is not number one on the coaching hot seat, there will be a number of teams who would be happy to have the former quarterback on their sidelines. The relationship may have irrepably soured,
even if the team awarded him the lucrative long-term contract extension that Harbaugh has sought.
As I wrote above, there have been reports and rumors of friction between Harbaugh and Baalke, who has final say on personnel matters in San Francisco. Harbaugh is known to trust his own opinion and judgment above all else when it comes to personnel decisions, and he may have grown frustrated with some of Baalke’s calls in the past two, mostly mediocre drafts and regarding veteran acquisitions.
I’m sure that Harbaugh would like not just more money, but also more power, or at least final personnel decisions, and that ambition could force a showdown that would inevitably lead to 49ers CEO Jed York having to make a very difficult choice.
The final point is, if Baalke does win the political battle and Harbaugh leaves, would any top level head coaching prospect want to coach in San Francisco? Yes, someone would get hired, but with the talent there and the fan expectations high, can the 49ers afford to let this strife go on?

I am not much of a basketball fan, but I admit that I appreciate Bulls’ center Joakim Noah. In a league so dominated by prolific scorers, Noah has been a two-time All Star with defense, rebounding, assists and occasional scoring. And yes, he is one of the more eccentric players in the league, but what would you expect if you were the son of former pro tennis star Yannick Noah, who was known as eccentric when he was on the tour.
But Noah admitted that he was nervous for a photo shoot. Noah is quoted in the March issue of GQ magazine, which features the Miami Heat’s LeBron James on the cover, that he needed help to calm his nerves before his photo shoot for that issue. Noah is shown wearing a tuxedo and bowtie and dribbling a basketball in his photo.
“I was a little nervous,” Noah told GQ. “So I actually had a couple of tequila shots, and it helped me out so much” (quoted on the Chicago Tribune website).
Hey, who hasn’t needed some “liquid courage” from time to time. Vodka usually works best for me, but tequila works too….

If it isn’t enough that former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is facing murder charges, he is apparently beating up people in prison. Hernandez, who is currently in jail awaiting trial on first-degree murder and weapons charges, attacked an inmate at the Bristol County Jail in Massachusetts.
Apparently, despite being in segregated housing away from the general population, Hernandez recognized another inmate and began attacking him after the two argued during the day.
Hernandez, 24, has been in jail since June 26th for his alleged role in the murder of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd. Hernandez pleaded not guilty to the charges. Hernandez was allowed to take a walk in an isolated hallway but somehow came into contact with another inmate. Once Hernandez recognized the other inmate, he reportedly attacked, beating the other man up pretty badly.
Perhaps this isn’t the type of image a man facing a murder charge wants to project to show that he didn’t commit the crime.

I don’t usually bring my regular job here to evilopinion – it keeps me from getting into trouble, but if you haven’t discerned by now, I work for a bank as a credit trainer. I do enjoy my work – I get to be creative in a generally non-creative industry and I get to help people improve in life and hopefully make better loans, which is good for my bank.
I got started in this sportswriting thing as a sideline 24 years ago with The Sportswriters on TV and later, The Back Table with Chet Coppock. So, I feel a part of the sportswriting world, and I do enjoy reading other good writers, and it does make me cringe when I read someone who isn’t very good.
That said, The Chicago Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer is very good. He has been on the baseball beat for a long time, and recently, he has done a very good job in describing the financial situation of the Chicago Cubs and why, even though they are a big market franchise, they are now spending like a small market one. The articles have been very interesting to me as my two worlds collide: sports and finance. However, I felt Mr. Wittenmyer was a little off when it came to covenants that the banks have in their loan agreements to finance the purchase of the team. I had been meaning to write him about this and I just got around to it and I wanted to share it with you.

Dear Mr. Wittenmyer,
I have long enjoyed your baseball coverage, and I think you have done a very good job explaining the financial straits that the Ricketts family is in concerning their purchase of the Cubs, especially to the lay fan. For some time however, I wanted to write you concerning one point that you make about the financial covenants that the clubs operates under that isn’t as cut and dried as you portray in your articles.
When I train young bankers, I tell them that covenants are, by definition: conditions with which a borrower must comply to prevent a loan from being in default. They are established to safeguard the sources of repayment and provide an early warning sign to potential problems. Of course, the covenants give a bank remedies to protect itself including:
? Demanding payment in full immediately;
? Ceasing to advance on lines of credit (cutting off working capital);
? Repossess collateral;
? Take legal action against the borrower;
? Attempt to collect from Guarantor(s).
However, these are the worst case scenarios. Most of the time when a covenant is violated it is considered an opportunity to “bring all of the parties together” to discuss the problem/negotiate a solution. It is often not in the bank’s best interest to “call” the loan. Perhaps the covenant was too tight and needs to be amended. It is often in the bank’s best interest to “waive” the violation, meaning take no action against the borrower for perhaps a temporary situation.
In the case of the Cubs, being the bank on this deal would be a huge PR coup. If I were involved (my bank is not, to my knowledge), I would want to have the Cubs plastered all over my annual reports, branch signage, and advertizing. It would be a PR disaster to “foreclose” on the Cubs. If the team did violate a covenant, I am fairly certain that the bank would bring in the team, discuss what caused the violation and work on the next steps. While covenants are designed to “influence” management behavior, a deal of this size, and the ramifications would definitely allow for considerable leeway if the team needed it. Bankers are the current bad guys in the eyes of most people, I don’t believe that any bank would want to be the financial version of Dracula, draining the life blood of the team at the expense of the fans (although it must be said that just as I think bankers may have learned to be quiet or at least more judicious with their comments, someone opens their mouth and makes us look bad again).
In addition, the team has access to Major League Baseball’s multimillion dollar line of credit, that the team could access if necessary. Plus, I am sure that the League would step in LONG before the Cubs came anywhere close to a default situation. Also, the city could pump in funds either directly or in the form of addition tax breaks.
So, while I am sure that the covenants are in place, the whole idea of covenants are to give businesses room to operate. However, as a former fan of both teams who now hate the Cubs, them losing for another few decades wouldn’t hurt my feelings.

Warmest regards,
Tony Fernandez