Hello everyone in goodtimes land! after a very,very,very long hiatus, I’ve decided to start writing again. although not much has been happening in the world of professional skateboarding lately, there is some new news. The major shoe company DC is planning a new video with new additions to the team.These include, Mikey Taylor, Steve Berra, Grant Taylor, Chris Cole, Evan Smith, Matt Miller, Mike Mo Capaldi, and Nyjah Houston. Now, with that being said, Nyjah Houston has been killing it in the skateboard industry lately! After winning 3 of the 4 Street League contests( the new compitition being held by DC’s Rob Dyrdek), he has won over $300,00 in less then a summer……And, he just dropped one of the biggest, baddest pro video parts skateboarding has ever seen. I’d love to post the video for you, but it’s only available through itunes at the moment. so, I will leave you with one of my favorite video parts since my last post. This is Brandon Westgate’s B-side part from the new Emerica video, Stay Gold. This video just goes to show the amout of abuse and determination that goes into filming a video part. Enjoy!

I know I’ve brought up a lot of hockey here recently, so this will be my last mention again until the season starts.

Local blogger Ryan Fancey, also known for his Leaf’s blog Maple Stir-Up and contributor to the famous Maple Leafs Hotstove blog, has recently started up a new blog dedicated to the newest AHL team, St. John’s IceCaps (www.sjicecaps.com)

So, if you’re interested in following along with IceCaps stories, you should add the site to your RSS reader, it is definitely one to follow.

You can also follow Ryan on Twitter @sj_icecaps and @maplestirup.

While i’m contractually only allowed one hockey post per year, I thought I would make an exception due to it affecting Newfoundland.

It appears that a tentative deal is now in place to bring the AHL franchise Manitoba Moose to St. John’s for the 2011-12 season.  The story has been in the news a lot recently since word came out that the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers were moving to Winnipeg, thus leaving the Moose without a home.

While I’m sure most visitors to this blog aren’t exactly the biggest hockey fans, I am certainly excited about this news, and look forward to puck drop in October.

The story was broken by The Telegram

“St. John’s Moose” logo is not official whatsoever.  There is currently no name/logo.  The image was created by John Riche and found on Facebook

As far as mma highlights go, I generally enjoy the violent ones with the best fighters, knockouts and submissions. This one is very different.

This video is something I think everyone can relate to. This is a fan made highlight of Ikuhisa Minowa’s career in mma. I know most of you don’t like mma, or violence, or whatever, and that’s fine. That’s not what this is about. The video is 10 mins long and in my opinion extremely epic. This is my serious face >.<

Superman Punch biatch!!!(courtesy of Cagepotato.com)

This past Saturday presented us with one of the most epic matchups of all time between two of my favorite fighters.  Unfortunately, the actual match didn’t live up to the ideal version in my mind.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida(16-0) and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua(18-4-1NC) battled from bell to bell for 5 rounds in one of the most technical fights I’ve ever seen for “the cursed belt”.  For the newbs, this particular belt is the property of the boss of the light-heavyweight division (187lbs-206lbs).  The reason its cursed is because since Chuck Lidell, this title has exchanged hands 4 times with a total of 2 title defenses. Machida, the current boss, is the least hit fighter in MMA history (as Joe Rogan says: “Not by small margin, but by a giant stretch).   I’m pretty sure after watching this fight that Shogun hit Machida more times than his whole career combined, badly bruising his body and cutting him 3 times on the face.  I scored the fight 3 rounds to 2 for Shogun, but much to everyone’s chagrin Machida got the nod at the end and retained the championship.

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Well, I’m not too sure how many people reading this are going to remember the “pop” war of the late 90′s. Mabye some people remember Shorty’s skateboards slogan “this shit’s got pop”. Apparently, the “pop” war has begun again.This time it’s between Flip skateboards and Alien Workshop. Flip claims to have “Spring loaded pop” and alien workshop’s new line of decks come fully equipped with “moon Pop”. I guess maybe I’ve just out-grown all the gimmicks in skateboarding. All boards are of the same basic construction. Are they really fooling anyone with the promise of “spring loaded pop”?

I don’t even think kids these days fall for that. The only way to get the attention of young skaters now is to sell the boards with “a free pair of your sister’s jeans and pink shoes”!!! Anyways, the point I’m trying to make is that skating shouldn’t be about the gimmicks it should be about the skateboarding. What ever happened to blank decks??? They’re the same shape and construction for half the price! that saves you about $40 you could spend on something better, like a pair of jeans that fit you!

"When I grow these dreds, I will be the Predator!!" (Courtesy of www.cagepotato.com)

If someone told me that my first post would be sports related, I would’ve had that person executed for their insolence.  I guess I would also be feeling guilty about that right about now, considering they would have been right.

But enough about moot points, lets talk about something far more interesting.  MMA (mixed martial arts), for those of you living under a rock that is under a rock, is the world’s fastest growing sport.  It is also one of my favorite things in existence.  So, in the interest of diversity, I will be posting MMA related stuff post UFCs, DREAMs, and other top organization results.  This also gives me the opportunity to rant chaotically about something that I’m very well versed in.  Hopefully at least one of you can relate to the awesomeness of MMA.

You may have (or may not have) heard people saying they do not like MMA because it “looks gay”.  I don’t really know what to say about that that Freud has not.  Being educated about all of the martial arts involved, at least to some degree, helps one discover that there is very little correlation between sexuality and what a world jiu jutsu champion can do to your limbs, or what a muay thai expert can do to your face.  Those who disagree, well, can just fuck right off.

Another point I’d like to address is the violence factor.  Hell yeah its violent, and people get hurt, and its pretty awesome to watch.  These are only surface features however.  When one delves deep into the world of mma, one realizes that among the meatheads involved, there are some extremely hard working competitors, and some legendary warrior spirits.  These are what bring out my emotions (the positive ones, not the negative ones).  It is difficult to explain, as it is something similar to a religious experience.  If you feel that you want to relate, watch the movie “Fearless” with Jet Li.  If the climax of that movie doesn’t evoke emotional response, then this is not for you.

So, now that the technicalities are out of the way, I’m gonna call em how I see em, much like a whale biologist.  Tune in October 24 on PPV for Machida vs Shogun.  If you don’t like paying for stuff, just about every bar will have it on for free, though you will be expected to buy something.  I will be having the spectacle at my house, cause that’s how I roll.