Lincoln Freed the Slaves

Tolkiens Connection with ‘60s Counter Culture.

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Wed, 11 May 2011 02:01:00 +0000

To understand Tolkiens connection to the 60’s we must look at the times themselves. When people talk about the 60’s they are generally speaking about a time between 1963 and the early part of the 1970s, David Carridine in the film Ringers: Lord of the Fans says the 60’s started when Kennedy was assassinated. At the time of Kennedy’s assassination the nation is embroiled in the Vietnam conflict. Three months earlier Dr. Martin Luther King had given his I have a dream speech. Protests over civil rights and the war come to define the 60’s as a decade of unrest. Much of America felt as if the world was not as it should be and tried to change it in their own way. This much dislike of the status quo led to the rise of a counter-culture who often used psychologist and LSD advocate Dr. Timothy Leary’s phrase of “turn on, tune in, drop out.” as a guide to life.

This contrasts nicely with Tolkien himself who was a stout catholic conservative. Born in 1892, he would have been 71 in 1963 and very much part of the old guard. he was classically educated and graduating oxford in 1915, he immediately headed off to war to fight World War I feeling it was his patriotic duty.

First published in the summer of 1954 The Fellowship of the Rings first printing had only 3500 copies, It opened to mixed reviews but enough of the reviews were positive that the publishers “ began to not think of losing a thousand pounds, but perhaps of making a thousand pounds, but all on this kind of scale.” These sales remained steady until the early 1960’s when in 1965 Ace books published the first paperback editions of the book in the United States. While Ace Books was the first to publish the books, they didn’t actually own the rights to do so. They claimed that the British copyright law that the original hardback publisher Houghton Mifflin used did not apply to the publications in the United States. Ace Books published and sold these books without permission or paying anything to Tolkien for his work. The unauthorized versions featured trippy, psychedelic images on the covers that were completely unrelated to the contents of the books. While Tolkien may not have approved, The covers of the unauthorized versions certainly spoke to the youth of the time. On college campuses across the country students were flocking to the now 12 year old Lord of the Rings. These new fans were rabid, They sent many fan letters to Tolkien. Tolkien had always responded to fan mail personally and with much joy and thanks. With the new found popularity of the books came a flood of new fan mail, however since these paperbacks were unauthorized no additional flow of revenue came. Tolkien was somewhat uncomfortable with his popularity in the United States, saying “I observe in general that North America has been much more easily kindled” than Britain or other European countries. When Ballantine Books finally released the authorized version later in the year; Tolkien took to responding to these fan letters by telling the reader the story of the unauthorized versions and asking the readers to spread the word and tell their friends to buy the authorized versions. Surprisingly enough this worked, with sales exploding in the later part of the 60’s. While the authorized paperbacks did at least provide Tolkien with income, the printing itself was still not something Tolkien was entirely satisfied with. The covers again featured art unrelated to the plot of the book, but current to the times. The Hobbit in particular featured a cover that included a lion and emus. In a letter to Rayner Unwin in Sept. of1965 Tolkein says this of The Hobbit cover “ what has it got to do with the story? Where is this place? Why a lion and emus?”

In an article from Time magazine published July of 1966 “The hobbit habit seems to be almost as catching as LSD. On many U.S. campuses, buttons declaring FRODO LIVES and GO GO GANDALF—frequently written in Elvish script—are almost as common as football letters.” By the end of 1968 more than 3 million copies of the authorized Ballantine Books version of The Lord of the Rings had been sold and Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings were ingrained in the counter culture which began the pop culture that turned The Lord of the Rings into one of the best selling books of all time.

What sparked this hunger for The Lord of the Rings? I think that there are several key themes that must be examined to see why Tolkiens work became so popular with the counter culture of the 60’s.

The first I will look at is the idea of Fellowship. Fellowship for this purpose is defined as a group of people meeting to pursue a shared interest or aim. We see fellowship in Tolkien when the free people are all united against the forces of Mordor. In the Fellowship of the rings at the Council of Elrond It is no coincidence that representatives from many races are chosen to try and destroy the ring. I think this really spoke to the youth of the 60’s. The Idea that together we are stronger, that our differences can actually be a strength when working together to try and accomplish something is a very central theme to both the counter culture revolution and the Lord of the Rings. I think you see fellowship reflected in the civil rights and anti-war movements in that people are starting to see that in order to get any change to occur in our world, they must band together towards a common goal. Together we can save the world was a driving idea behind a lot of the movements in the 60’s. The thought that ordinary people when placed in hard situations can do something extraordinary and cause change is seen throughout the 60’s. Another thing that would have attracted the hippie generation to the Lord of the Rings would have been The Hobbits themselves. The Hobbits while small in stature and not physically powerful, but they managed to save the world. With protests of all kinds coming to define the era, we see “little” people with no political power joining together with peoples of all races, to change and perhaps even save the world.

Another of the ideas that the counter culture of the 1960’s really identified with in Tolkiens works were his environmentalist ideas and even some of the anti-technology messages in The Lord of the Rings. With the Cuban missile crisis and China's development of atomic weaponry, nuclear war was a real possibility. Protests on college campus across the nation against the threat of nuclear arms coincided with Tolkiens rise in popularity. Tolkien’s introduction of the ents foreshadows the concerns for the environment that resonated with the hippies by pitting the technologically inclined goblins and orcs led by Sarumon and their destruction of the forests against the forest itself, He shows the conflict between advancement of society through technology and the whether that is truly progress. An allegory is seen between The Lord of the Rings and the nuclear arms race; with the ring being the ultimate in destructive technology, ala the atomic bomb. The youth of the era saw themselves as a simple people caught up in a great conflict, much like the hobbits. The ring and the atomic bomb can be seems as advancements of technology that are abominations of the natural order, and exist only to destroy. The fellowship of the ring are people of all races banding together to destroy the ring. In the 60’s people of all races were banding together to try and stop the threat of nuclear war. The advancement of technology was being questioned by the counterculture, was it a good thing? It seemed to be causing nothing but tensions in the world. Some sought the return to simpler times, represented by the shire and a simpler way of life. Others choose to escape, Some did both.

Escapism is the desire to retreat from reality, while not one of the real elements from the Lord of the Rings story, It is certainly seen in a lot of the actions and ideas of people of the 1960’s. What better place to escape from reality than the massively detailed world that Tolkien has created. All the ideas of fellowship and environmentalism seen in the book drew people to leave their world and enter Middle Earth. This escapism took many forms. LSD users would go on “trips” to alternate realities; there senses, exaggerated and distorted led their imagination to run wild. A potent combination when combined with the detailed world that Tolkein provided. In the movie J.R.R. Tolkien, Jenny Fabian Author of GROUPIE says “ A lot of us did use Tolkien as a guide almost through the journey of life and acid trips were very similar to the journey that’s told in the story of the Lord of the Rings, Its a journey into the inner psyche... The club middle earth actually had a similar feel to it with the black walls...a lot of people took their acid down there because they felt they were in another world, that it would take them to other places.”
In the United states where large tracts of land are still available we see the establishment of communes. These communes were essentially a community separated from society at large. People at these communes would go and try and return to a simpler form of life. People would work together for the common good, and try to create a Utopian society were the ideas of freedom and love could reign free. In Britain where creating your own community was out of the question due to land constraints, people escaped with music and drugs. A Popular rock club in London was called “Middle Earth”, that Pink Floyd played. there were underground magazines called Hobbit and Gandalf’s Garden that talked about drug lore and other counter culture topics. To help raise money to start Gandalf’s Garden, the founder had a benefit concert that featured many artists including David Bowie.

With drugs being a large part of the counter culture at the time, the fact that the hobbits smoke an undisclosed “pipe weed” and love mushrooms could not have been missed. “Many young Americans are involved in the stories in a way that I am not” Tolkien is quoted as saying. Undoubtedly Tolkien did not approve of the rampant drug use in conjunction with his book. Combined with rampant adoration from his fans which included late night calls from Americans unaware or unconcerned with the time difference, and people beating a path across his lawn and ruining his garden, you could see why Tolkien might declare that his fans were “deplorable cultists. Though Tolkien and his fans were not necessarily of the same mind, his fans in the counter culture propelled his work to fame.

In Ringers: Lord of the fans Dominic Monaghan says “ That counter culture was fueled by three main things, flower power, rock and roll and J. R. R. Tolkien. David Carradine says that the books were the “metaphysical statement of the times” As you can see the influence of Tolkien on the 60’s, and the influence of the fans from the 60’s on the popularity of Tolkiens work are intertwined. Without Tolkiens Lord of the Rings perhaps the 1960’s are defined by different ideas. Without the counter culture of the 1960’s Tolkiens great novels may have remained in obscurity.

Works Cited
Walmsley, Nigel. “Tolkien and the ‘60s.” J.R.R. Tolkien This Far Land. Ed. Robert Giddings. U.S.A: Vision Press Ltd, 1984. 73-85. Book.
Carpenter, Humphery. J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography. Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000. Book
McClusky, Joan “J.R.R. Tolkien: A Short Biography.” A Tolkien Treasury. Ed. Alida Becker. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1989. 9-44. Book
“Students: The Hobbit Habbit” Time.com Friday, July 15, 1966. accessed Wednesday April 20, 2011. Web
Ringers: Lord of the Fans. Carlene Cordova. Narrated by Dominic Monaghan. Planet BB Entertainment, 2005. DVD
J.R.R. Tolkien. Julian Birkett. BBC/NVC Arts. 1998. DVD

Happy Everbody Draw Mohammed Day!

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:17:00 +0000

My Contribution(enjoy the l33t paint skills)

Craigslist is a crazy place.

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:49:00 +0000

I heard that some people liked to be punched in the stomach, for sexual purposes...
I think that is something I can do. Apparently Craigslist didn't look to kindly upon me trying to whore out my belly punching services.

Notice the "semi-professionally" something we always strive for here at LFTS.

Your posting has been flagged for removal.

Approximately 98% of postings removed are in violation of craigslist posting guidelines.

Please make sure you are abiding by all posted site rules, including our terms of use:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use.html

If you need help figuring out why your posting was flagged, try asking in our flag help forum: http://forums.craigslist.org/?forumID=3. Include posting title, body, category, city, how often posted, any images, HTML markup, etc.

If your posting was wrongly flagged down (2% of flagged ads are) please accept our apologies and feel free to repost.

Sorry for the hassle, and thanks for your understanding.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 1260022278
PostID: 1495928158
Title: (casual encounters) Do you want to be punched in the belly? - m4mw
Do you like to be punched in the belly or know someone who does? Looking for a belly punching enthusiast? Then I am the man for you! I have been punching people on and off for a few years and the recent economic strugles have prompted me to try it semi-profesionally. For a minimal fee I will punch you in the belly. Face shots are extra. Punches to other locations are negiotiable. I am willing to punch both men and women. I am 6 foot tall 230 pounds so I can pack quite the punch if needed, Yet I can also take it easy for my more delicate clients. I have recently started offering a very popular new service I perfected. I have dubbed it "the afterslap" It involves a swift open hand slap to the face directly following the belly punch.

St. Louis Metro Area only. I have my own transportation and a location can be provided. We do offer after care featuring orange drink and cakes.

Group Rates available, Book today!

Serious offers only please.

Pictures available upon request.

* Location: St. Louis
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

ln (e^mreah) = mreah

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:29:00 +0000

This does not make sense.Chewbacca

In the weeks and months since I last spoke to you, things have been crazy.
Not crazy in a bald Britney kind of way, more like crazy like the end of Fight Club where he shoots himself in the face and the city blows up but it all seems to be a good thing in the end. (ok maybe not exactly like that)

It has been a crazy Fantasy Football season so far. My team is in 6th place but has the 3rd most points total. I must have angered the fickle fantasy gods. I feel as if it has to even out in the home stretch and hopefully I can make a playoff run. I am 3-6 and yet the outlook is sunny. I still have players I believe in and a few weeks left to make up ground.

I have 2 bits of advice for those seeking some semi-professional fantasy advice.

1.) Do not. I repeat. DO NOT sleep on Calvin Johnson. He has underperformed much of this season (some of that is due to his missing some games). All I ask is that you remember that when healthy, Megatron is a transforming super robot playing among mere humans. It doesn't matter who is throwing him the ball, It doesn't matter the double and triple coverage. This robot in disguise has more talent and physical tools than any receiver in the league. Think of it this way. Some mad scientist went into a lab, mixed the genetics of Randy Moss and T.O with the most advanced nano-technology never created and 20 something years later we have Calvin Johnson.

I categorize Calvin Johnson under the Paul Kariya theory. You see back in the day, I was sure that Paul Kariya was actually a hockey playing cyborg built by Disney to draw attention to the under appreciated Mighty Ducks franchise. He never sweat, he played with pin-point precision. He never slept, just powered down at night.

The NFL needed something for the Detroit Lions, hence Megatron was created. Needless to say, with the trade deadline looming he is a great buy low candidate.

2.) Steven Jackson, while not a super human robot, is the 20 year old highschool senior dominating pre-pubcent boys with his pure power. In our sole win this season. Steven Jackson went back to his childhood and started dragging grown men around like they were rugrats. At the beginning of the season, If I were to ask you "How many touchdowns will SJ39 have at the end of the season?" you would have said 6 at least. I still think he finishes with those touchdowns, so be on the look out for a multiple game touchdown streak in the near future. I doubt you will be able to get him, but if you can snoozle Steven Jackson before the deadline you will not regret it

Check back for end of the season draft grades for our Point per reception point per completion league as the season closes.

Lack of updates

I suck, I know this.

In my defense my wedding is getting closer and things are starting to get a bit hectic. My math class is a little harder than I thought it would be and we are beginning the house hunt thanks to an extended tax credit for first time home buyers. I sure am going to need that honeymoon.

Till next time as Bas Rutten would say "God speed and party on!"

Tom Brady: The Anti-Christ OR Bellicheat

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:48:00 +0000

If you are anything like me, you despise the patriots. If the anti-christ were to come to earth, I am sure he would look like this:

I admit to bias. Tom Brady beat my St.Louis Rams on the night Ricky Proehl accurately predicted "Tonight, a dynasty is born". To bad good ole Ricky got the team wrong.

So with this hatred of the Patriots in mind you need to read this article.

It's old for sure, but there is nothing like stirring that pot of hatred of the Patriots from time to time.

The link is basically a statistical break down of the patriots seasons and how they consistently performed higher than would have been predicted by their efficiency stats. Higher even than other teams that out performed their expected production. It's really an interesting read and It is very apparent from the blog "Advanced NFL Stats" that Brian Burke does his homework.

Podcast Episode 5 - Week 3 In Review

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:12:00 +0000

Week 3 in review plus Monday Night predictions with Dr. Wang and Tom Potts.

Topics include:

Tony Romo over under 39 points on Monday?

Stepdads vs T-baggn Whiteys
129 147
DeAngelo Williams
Jason Witten Roy Williams

18 point difference

Top fantasy producers:

Peyton 24 for 379 for 4 td's and 1 pick 60 points
MJD 35 points on 119 rushing yards 3 tds 4 recp 28 yards 35 points
Santana Moss 10 for 178 1 td 43points Bonus points
Vernon Davis 7 for 96 2 td's 28 points

Are Santana Moss and Vernon Davis for real?

Lock of the week: Giants only 7% picked them

Is Tampa Bay the worst team in the league?
Redskins

Rams, Browns, Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Winless Titans

Notice we aren't mentioning the Lions

Undefeated teams

3-0 Denver Broncos
Jets
Saints

Vikings
Ravens
Giants
Colts

Podcast Episode 4 - Week 3 Breakdown

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:10:00 +0000

Dr. Wang and myself break down week 3 Fantasy Football action.

We had a lot of fun this week. Tried to let a little more personality come through. We ramble on about non-football related stuff for a while and ask what people would like to hear about on the podcast.

Some topics include:
Pick 'em Debates
New England at Atlanta
Tennessee vs Jets
Buffalo vs NO

which Backup RB that is starting this week would you rather have?

Felix Jones
LeSean McCoy

Fantasy teams of the week
Chicago Bears

Baltimore Ravens

Houston Texans

Lock of the week
Giants at home vs Tampa Bay

Which Chicago WR would you rather have?
Devin Hester
Johnny Knox
Earl Bennett

Which Giants WR would you rather have?
Steve Smith
Mario Manningham

Which Ravens RB would you rather have?
Willis McGahee
Ray Rice

Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 3 - Week 2 Predictions

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:38:00 +0000

Episode 3 in the books!
Did some work in the studio for an intro, I hope Goldfinger doesn't mind the sample =)

Week 2 Fantasy Football Predictions, Pick'em, Survival choices! Week 2 players to sit and start, Join The Doctor and I as we lay out our guide to week 2 NFL action.

Good luck in your games this week!

Kanye is a D-Bag

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:06:00 +0000

If you haven't seen or heard about this check it out here

Basically Kanye comes up, takes the mic from Taylor Swift and proceeds to say Beyonce should have won. It's actually pretty funny. Beyonce is like WTF?!?!

Now this isn't the first time Kanye has stuck his foot in his mouth.

Case in point. Best part of the above video: Chris Tucker speechless when they cut to him after Kanye drops his "Bush doesn't care about Black People" bomb. (George W. Bush did not in fact care about black people, but that is beside the point.)

Back to the 2009 Video Music Awards...
The President thinks Kanye is a jackass. Even better than that, is what 50 Cent had to say about the situation.

"I wish he would come take one of my awards, so I could black his eye in front of everyone... He pick and choose who you feel safe doing that with... shit Pink was gonna get to him"

In the end though you have to feel sorry for Kanye. Must be hard to be a gay fish.

Requisite link to full gay fish episode.

Fight Night 19, TUF 10

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:08:00 +0000

There are basically only two fights on this card that interest me.

1.) Nick Diaz v. Melvin Guillard. This should be an exciting fight. Melvin has always been a banger and Diaz has never backed down from a fight. Overall I think Nick Diaz is probably the more well rounded fighter but Guillard brings KO power to the table. Diaz should win this one easily if he doesn't let himself get drawn into a KO game. Seeing as how this would be Nick Diaz's third loss in a row, I see him staying within the game plan and doing away with Guillard by decision.

2.) "Hollywood" Roger Huerta v. Gray Maynard. Gone are the days of Gray Maynards lay and pray (hopefully) as he has developed a nice boxing game to go along with his wrestling background. Huerta after a long hiatus returns to the octagon for what could be the last time as he will try his hand in Hollywood. I do not see his head being in the game and I think if it comes down to losing his "Hollywood" good looks, and winning the fight, OR winning the fight and getting beat about the face. I think he chooses not to get beat about the face and gives up a "please stop hitting me in the face" rear naked choke.

TUF 10

I might be looking forward to this more than the fight night! Rampage has been a long time favorite of mine and I dislike Evans enough to tune in just for that. Add to that potent reality tv mix, Kimbo Slice. Kimbo is one of those guys that you either love or hate. I started out loving him on youtube, Hating him when I had to watch him almost get beat by cans. I think I am back to loving him now that he is trying to prove he is legit. If nothing else this guy garners viewers.

Another fighter I like to watch that is on the show is "Big Country" Roy Nelson. This guy has got to be the most experienced/technical fighter on the show, but looking at him you would not know he was supposed to be an athlete. In shape I doubt this guy is even a heavyweight (I have no facts to back that up) but hey, he kicks ass and takes names. I wonder if he got into top physical condition what kind of damage this guy can do.

Until next time, Enjoy the fights!

I Love Dana White...

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:47:00 +0000

"Guess what Rashad Evans is thinking about right now," White said he plans to tell Jackson. "He's thinking about beating your fucking ass. He's not sitting around thinking about how him and his mom used to watch the fucking 'Love Boat' together and (how) he wants to get the role of Isaac the bartender."

"'Get a fucking grip, dude. You're going to make a lot of money. You ain't going to make a lot of money playing B.A. Baracus on 'The A-Team.' Jesus Christ. This fucking drives me fucking nuts.' So yeah, I'm not a big fan of fighters doing movies. When your career is over, if you turn into a movie star, that's awesome."

Ahh Dana, Dana. I love this man. The above quote is a response from Dana White, the UFC president, about one of his fighters taking time off from fighting (and dodging a fight with Rashad Evans) to star in the role of Mr. T in the remake of the A-Team.

Why so mad?

Well, Dana is devoting a full season of his reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, to get as many viewers as he can to possibly purchase the upcoming PPV between the two coaches. Do you remember when Matt Serra and Matt Hughes were coaches of a previous TUF? Tentions were high and ALOT of people wanted to see them bang and fight it out. The fight didn't happen until damn near 2 years later due to injuries and what not and by then, no one gave a shit.

The UFC reality show, TUF, is THE MAIN reason why the UFC has gotten so big. It gets viewers to purchase PPV events and it definitely gets viewers to purchase the PPV of the two coaches fighting eachother.

With one of the coaches taking time off to play the role of Mr. T, who knows when fight is going to take place and the casual fans of the sport that would have bought the PPV will now forget all about it and that is why Dana White is so mad.

I feel for the guy really. UFC is getting so big that he is losing his fighters to entertainment business.

I wonder what he thinks of that???

"I hate it with a fucking passion," White said when asked about UFC fighters who take movie roles. "'You're a fighter; you're not a movie star.' It's so fucking funny because fighters want to be movie stars, and movie stars want to act like they're fighters. 'Get a fucking grip. You're a fighter, and you're a fucking movie star. Alright?'"

Dana White for US President 2012 in my opinion. Can you imagine capital hill with this sweet talker in there?

For the whole story, check it out here.

Brock Lesnar Defends and Tito Emerges

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:10:00 +0000

UFC 106 main event has been confirmed. It will be Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) versus the undefeated, top contender Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

I remember reading an article sometime right after UFC 100. It had to do with Shane Carwin "tweeting" saying that what Brock did after he won against Frank Mir was disrespectful, bad for MMA...blah, blah, blah. Shane did state that he wanted to beat Brock's ass during that same "tweet" so...now he will have his chance to put up or shut up.

Lets be real here too....Shane is going to get worked. I imagine the fight going just like the Heath Herring fight when he got worked by Brock. That was over a year ago and the present day Brock is MUCH better then he was in that fight. I want to see someone whoop Brock's ass too, but it isn't going to be Shane Carwin.

Of course I am going to watch though!

Talk about Old Heads....

I mean seriously....Tito versus Mark Coleman? Tito is only 34 years old, not old by MMA standards, but Mark Coleman is damn near 50.

You can argue that Mark Coleman is still a worthy opponent, but is he really? He gets no points for beating Stephan Bonnar...I seriously think that I have a shot against that scrub. Before UFC 100, the last time Mark Coleman fought in the UFC was in 1996.

Yes, 1996. If you are thinking WTF, then you and I are on the same wave length. Tito should put this senior into permanent retirement. I really don't see it any other way...I know at this level of competition anyone has a chance to win, but damn if Tito doesn't win....I am not sure what is next for either of these fighters.

TUF Heavyweights - Its almost time

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Good video I just watched, figured that I would share it with masses. The new season of TUF starts up next week, Wednesday Sept 16th.

Enjoy

Meet The Heavyweights

Draft Results - Grade and Overview

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:55:00 +0000

NFL season is less then 20 hours away. So if you still haven't done your fantasy draft....you're probably not going to make it.

However...

I want to post my leauge's draft, give each team a grade, and a brief overview of what I think of their team.

Before we get into the draft, I want to inform you that this is a PPC (points per completion) and PPR (points per reception) leauge. Also, this is a keeper leauge. That means that each team gets to keep a player from their team last year. The first person listed on each team is their keep from the previous year.

Here are are starting lineup positions

QB
QB
WR
WR
WR
RB
RB
WR/RB
TE
Kicker
DEF

So with that said...here we go...

Team 1

T. Brady
P. Manning
S. Slayton
R. White
D. Clark
D. Jackson (PHI)
V. Jackson
M. Lynch
K. Moreno
J. Addai
J. Lewis
J. Cotchey
C. Benson
M. Stafford
NY Giants DEF
E. Graham
N. Folk
L. McClain

Best Pick - Steve Slayton. He was the best FA pickup in our league last year and is a BEAST in our league due to the PPRs. Looking back at it, I wish I would have picked him instead of R. Wayne in the third round while I had the chance. Mr. Slayton will have multiple games of 30+ points in our format. Great pick in the 3rd round.

Worst Pick - This team is pretty solid and had a good draft. I do think that drafting Marshawn Lynch in the 8th round was a mistake. He isn't even going to play for the first three games and even when he does get in game, I don't see him doing much fantasy wise.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Dallas Clark in the 5th round is a pretty big reach for me. He doesn't have much upside to him besides the fact that he has Peyton on his team. There was still alot of players still on the board that would be a better pick...even better TEs at that.

Grade - C+. Pretty solid draft. Got some really good QBs and that will carry this team far this year in our format

Team 2 (Drunk's Team)

A. Johnson
M. Turner
G. Jennings
M. Scaub
D. McFadden
T.O.
R. Brown
C. Palmer
D. Ward
T. Edwards
A. Bryant
C. Cooley
L. Coles
D. Mason
R. Mendenhall
Bal DEF
J. Maclin
J. Brown

Best Pick - I think that T.O has alot of questions marks. However, to get him in the 6th round as your 3rd WR in a pretty heavy WR format is great in my opinion.

Worst Pick - Looking at his draft, no one jumps out as a bad pick in this format. If I had to pick one I would say its A. Bryant, the WR from Tampa Bay. Alot of "experts" rated him very high and at this point in the draft he was taken 40 spots higher then he was projected....So with that in mind, I guess its not a horrible pick. I still think it is, especially when players like Ochocinco, P. Harvin, and D. Hester are still on the board.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Darren McFadden is a reach in the 5th round for me. He has been tearing it up in the preseason, but its just that...the preseason. I don't see DMC doing anything fantasy wise this year.

Grade - B. He has a good solid team with alot of players that have the potential to blow up. I can't give him anything higher then a B when M. Scaub and C. Palmer are your starting QBs in this format though. I do not see this team having less then a .500 winning average.

Team 3 (Tom Potts Team)

D. Williams
S. Jackson
D. McNabb
J. Culter
J. Witten
TJ. Whourmama
A. Gongzalez
B. Edwards
L. Evans
L. McCoy
D. Avery
A. Bradshaw
E. Bennett
M. Jenkins
L. Johnson
J. Delhomme
R. Bironas
San Deigo DEF

Best Pick - Larry Johnson in the 15th round is quite possible the best pick in the whole entire draft. He drafted him as his 5th RB and can use him when the matchup is in his favor. I like it.

Worst Pick - Earl Bennett in the 13th round was a complete and utter shock to me. I understand that its the 13th round and the talent pool is getting short...but hell...there is still talent out there. Earl Bennett did not catch 1 pass last year and probably won't get too much playing time this year. I think this pick is horrible....but only time will tell.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Donnie Avery in the 11th round is a bit of a reach. This team picked up ALOT of unproven players, but Avery is not one of them. He shown us what he can do last year, but he does play for the Rams and he is still hurt.

Grade - C+. Way too many unproven players for me to give a higher grade. Don't get me wrong, I like the majority of his picks, but I like to draft players that have NFL stats and not just go off of a feeling. Then again, A.P was once a unproven back...so it might work out really good for him.

Team 4

D. Brees
K. Warner
R. Moss
B. Westbrook
B. Jacobs
A. Gates
B. Marshall
R. Grant
H. Ward
K. Smith
Ochocinco
W. Parker
C. Taylor
C. Pennington
K. Curtis
Chicago DEF
R. Gould
NE DEF

Best Pick - Kevin Smith in the 10th round is a steal! Not sure how he crept to the 10th round unoticed.

Worst Pick - Brandon Jacobs. He was on my do not draft list. He picked him in the 5th round, which isn't a terrible spot. However, he is too much of a risk to pick even that high in my opinion.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Don't see a reach pick on this draft. Kurt Warner was picked so high because of our format, so I can't argue with that. I think that you could have gotten R. Grant a tad bit later, but this team had a pretty solid draft.

Grade - A. Great QBs and WRs. I see this team making it to the playoffs.

Team 5 (My Team)

A. Rodgers
MJD
R. Wayne
M. Hasselbeck
C. Portis
T. Gonzalez
E. Royal
D. Driver
R. Bush
S. Holmes
L. Washington
D. Hester
L. White
Julius Jones
Hakeem Nicks
Kyle Orton
M. Crosby
Phi DEF

Best Pick - C. Portis in the 5th round is a great value. We all know that he has his issues, but he should be a productive back fantasy wise.

Worst Pick - Reggie Wayne. Randy Moss and Wes Welker were on the board and I picked Reggie Wayne. I don't know if I was in a state of temporary insanity or just hung over. Either way, I picked the wrong guy here.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Eddie Royal was picked a little too early for my liking. With the situation in Denver, there were better picks out there on the board.

Grade - C. I made some cruical mistakes in this draft, but ended up with a solid team. I am really going to have to be on my game coaching wise during the season to make the playoffs.

Team 6

P. Rivers
L. Fitzgerald
LT
S. Smith (Car)
D. Gerrad
P. Thomas
M. Barber
S. Moss
J. Stewart
L. Moore
G. Olston
D. Brown
J. Campbell
K. Walter
Pitts DEF
V. Shiancoe
R. Longwell
J. Norwood

Best Pick - LT in the 3rd round will prove to be a brilliant move. He was injuried last year and couldn't make his breaks. I don't think he is going to have a huge fantasy year, but he will be one of the top 5 RBs hands down.

Worst Pick - Just a ton of bad picks in my opinion. If I had to pick one, I would say that its David Gerrad in the 5th. Just a ton of better picks on the board, including QBs at this point.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Lance Moore in the 10th...really?

Grade - D. I just don't like this team at all. I would be suprised if he gets 6 wins, keyword being IF.

Team 7

A.P.
M. Ryan
Chris Johson
M. Coleston
R. Williams
E. Manning
T. Holt
R. McMicheal
Th. Jones
B. Berrian
M. Cassel
D. Sproles
H. Miller
Big Ben
I. Bruce
Minn DEF
NE's Kicker
F. Taylor

Best Pick - Chris Johnson in the 3rd round was a very good pick. Tenn is a running team in Johnson will put up some big numbers.

Worst Pick - WOW...so many horrible picks...Randy McMicheal in the 8th is the worst though in my opinion. Just terrible.

Reach (Too early) Pick - Did he really pick Matt Ryan in the second? Way too early and is by far the biggest reach in the whole draft.

Grade- F. From top to bottom, this team is horrible. I mean really....just horrible lol. This guy should really start reading some articles and listening to our podcast...

Team 8 (P's Team)

M. Forte
T. Romo
Cal. Johnson
A. Bolden
W. Welker
F. Gore
D. Bowe
J. Flacco
F. Jones
R. Rice
B. Favre
O. Daniels
Bennie Wells
C. Henry
Percy Harvin
S. Hill
Tenn DEF
N. Kedding

Best Pick - Wes Welker in the 5th was the best pick in his draft in my opinion. He is a BEAST in PPR leauges and he has to be happy to get him so late in the draft.

Worst Pick - Dwayne Bowe in the 7th round isn't a great pick. Mr. Bowe was on my do not draft list. I just don't think he is going to be a fantasy threat. He is this team's 3rd WR, which is not terrible...but if I had to pick a worst, it would be Dwayne.

Reach (Too early) Pick - I think Felix Jones was taken a tad bit early, but the rule of thumb is if you don't think he will be there in the next round, take him now. This is probably what he was thinking when he made this selection.

Grade - A minus. He has a good balance of proven and unproven players. He has one solid fantasy QB and his WRs and RBs have the potential to blow up and get bonus points every week. I really hate to say it, but I think this team is going to the playoffs.

______________________________

So there it is....Pretty crazy live draft. It was a good time though. There was a TON of QBs gone with in the first 2 rounds. This is because we play PPC and we have two starting QB slots in our starting roster. We went in a snake order, which means that draft order goes 1st-8th, then 8th - 1st, then back again.

Yes, that does mean that whoever is 1st and last gets two picks in a row. Pretty nice.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this and as always, we will be continuing to do weekly Fantasy Football podcasts. So bookmark us and stay in touch.

Podcast Episode 2 - Preseason Predictions

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:27:00 +0000

EPISODE 2: Round table discussion highlighting divisional champs and fantasy players to watch. Featuring myself, Drunk (a new contributor here at Lincoln Freed the Slaves) and the always opinionated Tom Potts.

Enjoy!

If you have any questions you would like answered on the podcast leave a comment and we will get to it next show.

What a Bitch...

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:55:00 +0000

What up people.

I was doing my usual browsing and I came across a fight video labeld "Sucker Punch = Fail".

I will embed the video after I say a few things about it.

First and foremost, this dude is a bitch. That was a complete sucker punch and in my opinon you can't really declare yourself the winner when you do something like that.
However, this is a fight. Even though it was a bitch way to win a fight, he still won and he still collected his check. You should always be prepared in a fight. This video proves it.
This is why I do NOT like touching gloves after the match has started. There is no reason for it and can only be a risky move...as you can see from the video

What are you thoughts on this?

Sportsman-Like Fail Sucker Punch from FailPost FailPost on Vimeo.

The "Hard Knocks" Phenomenon

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:38:00 +0000

One of the things I have noticed in the last few years since HBO started airing "Hard Knocks" is that inevitably the show makes you think that the team is on the brink of making the next step. As with everything produced by NFL films, this show makes you think the team is and/or was a whole lot better than they really are/were. This makes for great entertainment and a compelling show. It does not make for useful fantasy football advice.

I am guilty of this myself, every mock draft Ochocinco, Chris Henry, Cedric Benson, and Carson Palmer all seem to start creeping up my list. Don't get me wrong. Ochocinco is better than he was last year. Chris Henry is a touchdown machine but the one handed grabs they show on Hard Knocks makes you think he is the second coming of Randy Moss. He is not. His best year was 2006 and he only caught 36 balls for 605 yards ( he did have 9 td's though)

I am still feeling the effects of last years show on the Cowboys as I ended up with Martellus Bennett on one of my teams!

Keep this in mind on draft day. I'm off to see when "NFL Films presents the 2008 Lions" airs.

First Podcast! (this time it works =)

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:53:00 +0000

http://ia301539.us.archive.org/0/items/LincolnFreedTheSlavesPodcast/LFTSep001.mp3

Take 2! Fantasy Football Predraft breakdown from my self and Dr.Wang of wtfspaghetti

UFC 102

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:22:00 +0000

When I first saw this card announced I wasn't all that interested in it. It just didn't to seem to have the big fights to warrant me throwing down 50 bucks to watch it. I guess I have been caught up a bit in the UFC hype machine because I am contemplating buying the fight anyway.

Couture vs Nogueira was a compelling fight 4 or 5 years ago. Now it almost seems like the senior tour. I think that is what makes it work though. We know neither of these guys are in their primes but I think they are probably right about the same level.

I know it has been said before, but Randy Couture's age will have to catch up with him at some point. I think this could be the fight that does it. When is the last time you saw Randy beat up on a top notch grappler? Don't say Gabe Gonzaga. While he does have some decent jiu jitsu I have seen him tapped out by the much smaller Maia. I think Nog could give Randy fits on the ground. He also has show then will to withstand punishment while still working his ground game. Things could really turn in Nog's favor if he is able to sweep and get some sort of dominant position. Nog looked really bad against Mir but from what I understand he was not able to have much of a training camp for that fight due to a staph infection. I just think that at some point Randy's run has to come to an end and the beating he took from Lesner could be the end of Captain America's insane career

Nog by sub in Round 3

Maia vs Marquardt is the fight I am looking forward to the most. as Fish put it "The real main event"
Nothing more can be said of Maia's BJJ. So here are some highlights:

Marquardt is a well rounded fighter with a lot of experience, a good wrestling background, a black belt in jiu jitsu, and a solid striking game, I just think that Maia will be able to impose his game on Marquardt and turn this into submission grappling event.

Maia by triangle in round 2

Is anyone really interested in the Thiago Silva/ Keith Jardine fight?
I guess Jardine has fans. He seems to be the definition of a gatekeeper; if you beat him you get to move on to face the elite of the 205 division. All I am really hoping for is that at some point Jardine pretends to be the techno viking. Hopefully Silva will have learned from his last fight with Lyoto Machida and will remember that he is a jiu jitsu stylist and not a brawler.

I give this one to Silva via Sub in round 3.

The other fight I am looking forward to is the Krystof Soszynski v Brandon Vera fight. I always liked Vera for his vicious kicks but he never has seemed to live up to his hype. The polish experiment lacked the hype coming up that Vera did but worked through his season of the ultimate fighter with workman like precision. Having finished 3 of his last 4 fights via Kimura lock I look for him to do the same to Vera in Round 1.

I am 4-1 in fight picks so far (Damn you Forrest Griffen!) so lets keep it up!

Looking back at my predictions here I realize I picked all the fights to end by sub. That is extremely unlikely, but wouldn't it be sweet?

I have been trying to find out what the most number of submission victories ever in one UFC event, No luck so far but I think there is a chance that this event becomes the new submission standard in the UFC.

Podcast failings

I finally show my true technical abilities (none) by unsuccessfully posting a podcast. The free hosting I used cannot seem to locate the file (this is after they sent me an email with a link to said file) So hopefully sometime this weekend I can figure out where this all went wrong and get the podcast up and running. I know some of you are interested in some fantasy football draft advice!

Podcast Episode 1- Fantasy Football Draft 09

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:58:00 +0000

http://www.ourmedia.org/ia/details/LFTSep001

Not sure I got this right, I got a 45 minute podcast uploaded and I set a feed up, the question is are people able to listen to it? Is it even posted to the feed? Any insight would be wonderful

Reality

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:13:00 +0000

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to, step to, step-step to... ANYWAY

Been a pretty busy week in my world. My wedding creeps ever closer and planning is being stepped up a notch. I also started school yesterday and just in general have had much to do. Things are definitely getting REAL.

Reality TV

At this point it is pretty ballsy to even call it that. What is real about gathering 25 attractive people, putting them in a house together, and telling them they need to all compete for the affection of some other attractive person.
I have been on a few dates in my time, even a few arranged by other people. Not one of them featured 25 people competing for my attention.

You want to know what happens in real life? In real life people are crazy. Not spit in your mouth or call you a bitch on national tv crazy. We are talking murder you and mutilate your body to the point they have to use the serial numbers on your breast implants to ID you kind of crazy. Those people are out there in the world. In fact they blend in so well that they could be put on a reality tv show.

So what do you know? Crazy serial killer makes it on to dating show then gets caught and kills himself in shame. NOW THAT IS SOME REAL SHIT! People want reality tv, how bout that for a plot line. You cannot make that up. Yet when "reality" happens they cancel the show? How bout they show the reality that even in an artificial environment of suitors picked specifically to meet your criteria, there is a crazy fuck in the midst.

I realize the reason they do not continue with the shows is out of respect for the victim. I understand that. I just ask that the label these shows what they are, game shows. They didn't call "the dating game" reality, because people knew it wasn't.

In reality there are crazy sumbitches, and when they go do some crazy shit, No one has the power to cancel the show.

World of Warcraft

After a bit of a hiatus I am back in the world of Azeroth pushing hard to get my priest to the level cap. My DK sits idle with gear upgrades in bag, unenchanted and ungemmed, awaiting some sign of interest from me. The nerfs to deathknight tanking really took a lot of the fun out of playing him. We were overpowered for sure, I just wish they could have balanced us without killing the playstyle I so greatly enjoyed.

Ganja

I leave you with a link that you may have already read from my blogroll. This one in particular really makes you think. I don't care what your view on marijuana smoking is but couldn't we set any objections aside in order to cure cancer?

some highlights and sources:
Cannabinoids are chemicals found in marijuana. They were found to not only reduce the size of tumors, but also can prevent you from getting them in the first place.

Cannabinoids inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell-signaling pathways, thereby inducing direct growth arrest and death of tumor cells, as well as by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Cannabinoids are selective anti-tumor compounds, as they can kill tumor cells without affecting their non-transformed counterparts.

- Source

Have you heard that smoking it could give you lung cancer? Not true, as we see from above the opposite is true.

The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer. … “We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use,” he said. “What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect.”

- Source

Fantasy Football Draft Preparations

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Its almost football season and with that comes fantasy football. Everyone has rankings and draft strategies to try win you your league.

What I am going to try and help with is draft preparation.

The most important part of draft preparation is gathering information. I tend to use a sponge technique, I read and listen to every possible source of information on fantasy football and make mental notes on how the fantasy community feels a given player is going to do. I read websites, blogs, listen to pod casts to try and get a varied view on the upcoming fantasy season. It's important to have multiple sources otherwise you will live and die by the advice of a single website.

I love the Yahoo fantasy sports guys. Evans, Funston, they all crack me up. When I first started playing they were the only resource I drew upon for fantasy advice. I had a few good seasons and a few pathetic seasons. If those guys had good predictions My team did will. If those guys were way off, my team sucked.

Since then I have expanded my roster to include Matthew Barry - The talented Mr. Roto. Writer of the Hollywood classic Crocodile Dundee II Crocodile Dundee in LA. Mr. Berry also provided the inspiration for Lincoln Freed the Slaves. I lifted the name from one of his articles about the most random text messages ever sent and received. He is also the co-host of a great daily fantasy focus podcast with Nate Ravitz. Always entertaining with good football insight I suggest you give these guys a listen.

Another podcast I have taken to listing to is The fantasy football guys. I like these guys because they don't pretend to have inside information but they have good discussion that get you thinking about players and draft situations that I find useful. These guys tend to ramble on (hour and a half pod casts, yeesh!), but they always have something to make you think.

During this time I am also reading peoples rankings and predictions to combine them all in my head to form some opinions of these players myself. I think through what has changed for them since last season and whether that should have a positive or a negative effect.

An example: Last season Jay Cutler was THE man. It was a no brainer he was going to be my keeper this year. Then he gets traded to Chicago. makes you re-evaluate what his numbers might be. Its probably a negative for his personal stats. HOWEVER, I think that overall this improves the Bears and Matt Forte gets a bump in my rankings.

That's a pretty simple one but the point is not to feed you information (it could be wrong!) it is to get you thinking about who YOU think is going to have a good season.

The next step for me has been Mock Drafts. I don't worry to much about the outcomes, but I like having the experience. I typically go through several of these trying out different draft strategies. I have already done one starting with drafting a running back, one with WR as my first pick, and one as QB at my first pick. It lets you see how the rest of the draft and your team changes depending on what you select first. These drafts also give you a decent idea of where different players may come off the board.

As far as the actual draft goes I tend to show up with more information than needed.

I have an overall ranking list. I usually steal this from espn. I usually don't alter this list at all as I use it more as a guideline than a strict map.

I then have page for QB, WR, RB, and K/TE/D share a sheet. These I do a bit more work on as far as arranging them according to my wants.

I also have a page that has some important stats from last year. Ours is a PPR league so I have a list of the top 25 in catches, along with their targets for last season. Another stat I keep is quarterback attempts and completions (We get points for a completion, crazy league, I know, but it makes it impossible to find a pre-made list to just print off and take to the draft)

I always feel like I am the most prepared person at the draft and even if I am not it gives me confidence. We all know confidence is key when it comes to shit talking, and we all know that when it comes down to it, Shit talking is the point of Fantasy football.

Miguel Torres vs Brian Bowles

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:50:00 +0000

In case you missed Miguel Torres get KTFO

UFC 101 Recap

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Griffen vs Silva

WOW. Did I underestimate Silva or what? It was an insane display of dominance. Anderson Silva is the like the goddamn Matrix. The whole fight reminded me of the scene in The Matrix where Neo (Forrest Griffen) is being tested by Morpheus (Silva) for the first time after learning "kung fu"

"stop trying to hit me, and HIT me"

Forrest had nothing for Silva. Everything Forrest threw just missed the mark. Silva moved JUST enough not to get hit. At one point he put his hands down and just stands there and uses head movement to dodge a flurry from Griffen. Reminded me of Neo dodging bullets.

"you move like they do"

I will have to be honest, my first thought was WTF?!?! Did Forrest throw the fight? Good thing I DVR'ed the card. So I decide to go back and watch it. I was even more appreciative of it the second time. Anderson Silva and GSP needs to happen to determine the pound for pound king. Who is Fedor?

Penn vs Florian

Penn vs Florian went down much the way I expected it to. Kenny tried to exchange on the feet, got rocked, and would then run or try to take BJ down. The first three rounds were basically Florian desperately trying to take BJ down and wear him out.

BJ Penn seemed like he really went out to shut the haters up. People knock his cardio, but when it came down to round four BJ really took control. His first take down attempt he lands it and turns it into the end of the fight. Those elbows from half guard were short but mean. Kenny had a HUGE welt on his face, I wouldn't be surprised if that were a broken orbital bone. The finish of this fight was impressive as well. After getting mount and dropping some ground and pound, Ken-Flo wilts visibly and gives BJ his back gift wrapped with a nice bow. A rear naked choke is not that easy to sink in if the other person is defending it. Kenny was defending it well, two hands on one. Until BJ starts dropping heel kicks into his liver, after four or five of those Kenny drops one hand to defend and immediately gets choked out.

Kenny Florian literally pissed his pants!

UFC 101

zshortbusz@gmail.com (Paul Koudelis) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:08:00 +0000

Tonight we have a top heavy card at ufc 101. If it weren't for the quality of the main events I would not be getting this card. I mean cmon I like Amir Sadollah but his first fight since winning the ultimate fighter should not be televised on the main event of a pay per view. I could deal with him on a ultimate fight night card, but it seems he is just there to fill up a spot. I would probably rather watch Thales Lietes fight. Instead, he is buried on the undercard due to his last fight with Silva.

The main events make it worth it though.

BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian

I will go ahead and admit that I am pretty big BJ fanboi. At the same time, if I look at this fight with an objective eye I get the same vision. That of Kenny Florian getting demolished.

BJ has fought a who's who list of MMA fighers.
Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Jens Pulver, Matt Serra, Takanori Gomi, Matt Hughes, Lyoto Machida, Renzo Gracie, GSP, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson.

Kenny has fought Diego Sanchez, Sam Stout, Sean Sherk, Din Thomas, Joe Lauzon, Roger Huerta, Joe Stevenson.

Which of those lists inspires fear in you?

I really think this is going to be a beat down of epic proportions. I don't think these guys are really in the same league. I'm going with BJ in round 3 or 4.

The other big fight is of course Griffen vs Silva.
I will probably get flack for this, but I think Forrest comes through in this one. I never seem to give Forrest the respect he deserves. I didn't give him a shot against Rampage or Shogun and he really came through. I just think Forrest has the size and mental fortitude to push Anderson in ways he has not been pushed before. I look for Forrest to push Anderson up against the fence and make him carry his weight. He will probably do best to try and get Silva on the mat and do a bit of the lay and pray/ground and pound to try and wear Silva down. I am giving this one to Griffen by decision.

Enjoy the fights and your weekend!