So, the other day The Frankie was rollin’ through the Las Vegas MGM hotel with a gangsta lean and was gobsmacked and mortified by the scene before him… a man carrying his woman’s purse!
Full disclosure: The Frankie has been known on occasion to “protect” his wife’s purse for her while she’s, ahem, powdering her nose at a public restroom. It’s a matter of simple courtesy! (And besides, like learning to squeeze your butt cheeks together before every sneeze, being kind to your woman is an essential survival skill when it comes to navigating the treacherous waters of relationships.) However, this homie was holding her purse and walking with it while she strode aside him simultaneously empty handed and yet with both hands holding a death grip on his boiled eggs. I instantly poured a little liquor on the ground from the 40 oz. I was carrying in honor of yet another ninja lost to the curse of the Murse a.k.a. the Male Purse.
Editor’s note: the current use of the term Murse in this post is not to be confused with the term murse, which can be applied to male nurses, male curses (such as David Hasselhoff) and male purses (large bags designed for men), because this Murse is not a purse for men, but rather a Male Purse accessory for women.
Note the distinction, my friends and frenemies, because trust me when I tell you that it is better to be an asset rather than an accessory. While there is never a relationship that is truly equal, you would rather have the balance be 51% vs. 49% instead of 90% vs. 10% because in order to love her, you must also be able to love yourself first. And you can’t love yourself if you cease to exist. So, my ninjas, are you a Murse? Here’s a little quiz! You get one point for every “yes” answer to the following questions:
Instead of painting her nails, does she paint yours?
Have you ever changed the TV station from a college football or basketball game without her asking you to when she sits down on the couch next to you?
Do her girlfriends ask you for dating advice?
Have you ever participated in a Bikram Yoga or Pilates session?
Have you had a slice of vegetarian pizza in the past month?
Did you ever do the fast clapping part in the “Friends” TV show theme song?
Results!
0-1 points – See you at the next BJ Penn fight. IMUA!
2-3 points – Sorry, friend, but the store is called Ann Taylor, not Mann Taylor
4-5 points – OMG! When is the Sex and the City sequel coming out?!
6 points – Nice Hello Kitty tattoo there, son!
But all kidding aside, homies, you do not want your life to be relegated to that of an accessory. One of the purposes of a relationship is to push your wife or girlfriend to be a better person and you cannot do that if you are spending all of your time under her feet instead of by her side. You also do not want to wake up one day and find yourself unfulfilled with the life of a Murse.
So be strong, my ninjas. Beware the curse of the Murse! The next time a girl tries to make you into a Murse, pretend like she’s a girl who shops at Hot Topic and run for your life!
—
The Guest Blog Schedule:
THU 03/11 – Chicken Grease – “TheGrease and TheBus”
FRI 03/12 – kuya.d – “I’m So Over It”
MON 03/15 – JMAW – “Something like a Phenomenon”
TUE 03/16 – frankie – “The Curse of the Murse”
WED 03/17 – kako mochi – “Where in Oregon is kako mochi?”
Since my friends were in from outta town recently, I decided to take a vacation day the other day and tag along with them as they took care of some errands. We did some local kine stuffs (ate at Shige’s Saimin Stand in Wahiawa, and went to the swap meet), and we also did some touristy kine stuffs (checked out Dole Plantation, and went to the swap meet ), and actually had quite a good time playing tourist.
Amusing Graphic Tees at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet
Even though many of us have lived in the islands our entire lives, ain’t it still fun to hit up the north shore for some shave ice or stay at a hotel in “waiks” from time to time, just because? Why let the tourists have all the fun in this beautiful state we call home? Let’s list our fave things to do in the islands to “play tourist”. Who knows? Maybe some of you will even do a few of these this weekend. Hurr’s mine:
1) Travel to a neighbor island – OK, so technically, I actually AM a tourist when I travel outside of Oahu, but still, it’s fun, and yet, I still feel “local”, naw mean?
2) Show “real” tourists around – I get many visitors from the mainland as well as the muthaland, and there’s no greater joy I get from seeing their faces light up when I show them those great places to eat, drink and be merry!
3) North shore ack-shon – Growing up in town and east Oahu, the north shore was always so far for me that I rarely got to get out there (it was like going to another planet!). Whenever I hit up Haleiwa town or check out the shrimp trucks or get out to Laie side, it’s always new and fun.
4) Stay in Waiks – It’s always fun to feel how the tourists feel when they visit us.
5) Cruise Waiks – Just park anywhere in Waikiki (probably at the Zoo or along the Ala Wai) and walk up and down Kalakaua Ave (and/or Kuhio). Fun times!
So how do you guys play tourist? Post your thoughts in the comment area below!
Happy VHO7V Friday, and have a great weekend y’all! Shoots!
Weekend Events!
* Local boy BJ Penn is taking on Diego Sanchez tomorrow night at UFC 107 (5PM HST on Oceanic Time Warner Cable Pay-Per-View). Be sure to support our Hawaiian brutha and root him on k? Watch the UFC 107 streaming events throughout the weekend here.
* Our UH Rainbow Warriors are taking on Chicago State at the Stan Sheriff Center. Support the Bows as well! If you can’t make it to the game, you can always order it on TV!
* The 2009 Honolulu Marathon is this Sunday. Unless you’re a fan of traffic, try to avoid the path that the marathon takes at all costs. (no sales pitch here! )
OK, folks. Mixin’ it up again and trying something new here. With one of the most entertaining/hilarious shows on TV (at least for me) back for its second season, I thought it’d be fun to do a little Manswers Monday trivia, in honor of Manswers on Spike TV (Oceanic Channel 76 or Digital Channel 559 ).
As I’m not really sure how open y’all are to risque topics (e.g. 58008 LOL!), I’ll start with a rather tame one.
How many non-alcoholic beers would it take to get drunk?
Here are some tidbits from the show to help:
WARNING: Excessive alcohol consumption is dangerous and could kill you. Don’t do it, dude!
Non-alcoholic beer is made just like regular beer. After the beer has been brewed, the alcohol is removed by heating it up to alcohol’s boiling point, where the alcohol then evaporates. However, this will not remove all the alcohol. It leaves about 1/2 of 1% (.5%), which is about 1/8th the strength of near beer. According to the University of Oklahoma, 15 “non-alcoholic” beers will give an average guy a blood alcohol level of .02% (.08% is considered legally drunk).
Don’t you just love how they make it all scientific? So funny, yet so ridiculous! Ahahahaha!
Talk to me!
* How many non-alcoholic beers do YOU think it takes to get drunk? Don’t cheat and watch the online video!
* Are you open to chatting about some of the more “racier” topics from this show?
* What other shows do you want me to watch and dish about. Please don’t say Top Chef.
* Do you drink or have you ever drank non-alcoholic beer? Why?
* What is your favorite regular kine beer?
* Anyone catch the Ultimate Fighter Finale fights? Thoughts on Kimbo Slice’s performance? Thoughts on other fights?
* Y’all ready and excited for BJ Penn’s fight this Saturday at UFC 107?
* How’s your Monday and week looking so far?
It’s been a bit since we did a decent food review eh? I guess we can say that a recent trip to the newly opened Buffalo Wild Wings on Ala Moana Boulevard inspired a brutha.
Buffalo Wild Wings first opened in Ohio back in 1982. Well, don’t take my word for it. Here’s the story straight from their menu:
“It started with two guys driven by hunger. The year was 1982. Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery had recently transplanted to Kent, Ohio from Buffalo, New York. All was fine until one day they started craving wings. Not just any wings, but authentic Buffalo, New York-style Chicken wings. Problem was, there was nowhere to go. Hence the beginning of Buffalo Wild Wings (formerly known as bw-3) – the grill and bar that serves up a healthy dose of fun along with wings spun in signature Buffalo Wild Wing sauces. Over 25 years and millions of wings later, Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar continues to grow.”
My first experience with B Dubbs was on a snowboarding trip to Colorado. My boy Bari swears by them after getting hooked in Pennsylvania. Our first attempt to check out the new one in Hawaii fell short. They weren’t open yet (good job Bari!). This was our second go. Enjoy the pics y’all!
Outside Buffalo Wild Wings Hawaii
The waiting area
We tried to go early so the wait wouldn’t be too bad, but even in the 4-5PM range, we had to wait a good 25 minutes. Expect to wait a while during these early days.
Inside Buffalo Wild Wings (faces blurred to protect the innocent )
Caribbean Jerk and Honey BBQ Boneless Buffalo Wings with Potato Wedges
The sauces go from mild to wild in this order:
* Sweet BBQ
* Teriyaki
* Mild
* Parmesan Garlic
* Medium
* Honey BBQ
* Spicy Garlic
* Pepper Infusion (coming soon)
* Desert Heat (coming soon)
* Asian Zing
* Caribbean Jerk
* Hot BBQ
* Hot
* Mango Habanero
* Wild
* Blazin’
And the prices go like this: Traditional Wings
6 Wings – $7.49
12 Wings – $11.99
18 Wings – $16.49
24 Wings – $21.99
50 Wings – $37.99
Here are the descriptions of the ones we tried: Caribbean Jerk: Red peppers you love, island spices you crave: An exotic, delicious sauce. Honey BBQ: A sweet, sassy sauce: Savor the flavor.
Asian Zing and Mango Habanero Boneless Buffalo Wings with Potato Wedges and Celery Stalks
Asian Zing: Sweet meets heat: A chili pepper, soy and ginger sauce. Mango Habanero: Feel the burn, savor the sweet: Two sensations, one sauce.
Close-up of the Caribbean Jerk Boneless Buffalo Wings
BWW is also known for their Flatbreads. We got their most popular one: the Buffalo Chicken Flatbread: The taste of Buffalo wings, in for a landing! Crispy flatbread covered with a blend of our signature Spicy Garlic sauce and Bleu cheese dressing, chicken, fresh celery bits and mozzarella cheese.
As with any new opening, they’re still working out the kinks. Our waitress warned us that the order may take an hour due to the kitchen back up, but that’s to be expected and we knew this going in. (Our order arrived in like 10 minutes BTW). If you’re in the mood for something a little different, check it.
Buffalo Wild Wings
1778 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, HI 96815-1605
Phone: 808-983-3933
In other news… BJ Penn is making viral waves with his latest video (jumping out of a 3 foot pool). It even made the front page of Yahoo! Simply amazing!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade or so, the name B.J. Penn is one you’re probably very familiar with. It’s the same name that is revered in Mixed-Martial Arts circles and synonymous with that word “respect”.
Best of all, bruddah is ours; a son of the `aina, born and raised in our backyard of Hawaii.
Hawaii’s own… BJ Penn (Photo Courtesy: UFC)
When the opportunity presented itself to meet and interview this legend of the sport, you can bet your candypants that I was going to be there.
Penn was first introduced to the art of jiu jitsu by his neighbor Tom Callos. Callos had just moved to Hilo with his girlfriend and was looking for training partners to roll with. B.J. excelled and eventually went on to become the first American born competitor to win the (Mundial) World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black belt featherweight division.
Since then, he’s fought some of the biggest names in (and out of) his weight class including Georges St. Pierre, Lyoto Machida, Matt Hughes, Renzo Gracie and Takanori Gomi, and has made a case for himself as one of the greatest pound for pound fighters in the world.
Penn puts a rear naked choke on then Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes to take the title at UFC 46: Super Natural (Photo Courtesy: UFC)
On August 8th, Penn will be putting his Lightweight Championship belt on the line against a game Kenny Florian at UFC 101 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Florian is one of the top lightweight contenders in the UFC who possesses a dangerous muay thai striking game, wicked elbows and a sick jiu jitsu ground game, and, is, oh-by-the-way, riding a 6 fight winning streak over the likes of Roger Huerta, Joe Stevenson, Joe Lauzon and Din Thomas.
UFC 101 Poster (Photo Courtesy: UFC)
Penn, now 30, talks about fighting Florian, his family and what’s to come in his not-so-distant future… Check it!
Video Interview with B.J. Penn – Part I – Personal Life (Click to Play!)
PERSONAL LIFE:
Edward Sugimoto) (It’s very evident that) you’re very close to your family. Describe the importance of that strong bond.
B.J. Penn) It’s always good to have a good family bond. You know you always got people to back you up and always got someone to hang out with… Someone to have fun with… have a good time so, yup family’s very important.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) You just started a family of your own with your daughter (Aeva Lili’u , born on October 16 2008). How has she changed your life?
B.J. Penn) (*laughs*) Yeah I just had a daughter Aeva, 7 months old right now and, you know, she’s awesome! She gives me a reason to come home. There’s no reason to stay out late a lot of the nights. You know, just come home. It’s just awesome, awesome having a daughter.
Edward Sugimoto) What is your favorite part of being a dad?
B.J. Penn) I guess my favorite part about being a dad I guess is just seeing your baby after not seeing them after a couple hours or waking up in the morning. It’s just a real good time.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) Growing up with brothers, you have a tendency to be very competitive. You have 3 brothers. How much of a role do you think that played in your life competing in sports?
B.J. Penn) I definitely think that having a lot of brothers made me competitive. I mean, just with me being in between Reagan and JD you know I can you know, I can get into it with him and get into it with Reagan so being a middle child I think that helped me a lot.
Edward Sugimoto) You seem to go out of your way to represent the state of Hawaii with great pride. From your King Kamehameha pose during the weigh-ins, to your Brudda Iz entrance song, to your shakas… Even staying true to your Big Island roots. Why is that so important to you?
B.J. Penn) I just uh, I like to go out there and spread Hawaii all around the world and let people know what we’re about. It’s really good to spread the Aloha Spirit and all these different things around and you know, sometimes you feel like “if I don’t do it, who will?” (*laughs*) you know.
B.J. Penn and the author
Edward Sugimoto) Unlike other celebrities, you’re pretty down to earth, you’re welcoming with your fans. What makes you so grounded and humble?
B.J. Penn) I guess when I’m in Las Vegas and the big UFC and everything, and all the action going on you know, I really don’t get to see none of that stuff over here at home in Hilo so it’s just a total different world you know. You go up there and it’s real busy and all these things. Down here in Hilo it’s just real relaxed. I think can owe a lot of being grounded to just being where I grew up.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) Do you have any heroes?
B.J. Penn) I for sure have a lot of heroes. Hulk Hogan, “Rocky Balboa”, and Mike Tyson. You know, I mean everybody growing up. I’m a fan of a lot of people.
Edward Sugimoto) Do you follow other local athletes like Shane Victorino, Tadd Fujikawa, etc.?
B.J. Penn) I’m not a big baseball fan, but I know of Shane you know, I wish him the best and all his successes. And I remember Bryan Clay… just won the Olympics. That’s just amazing. Greatest athlete on earth right there. So it’s just amazing the kind of athletes that have been coming out of Hawaii lately.
Edward Sugimoto) What is a typical day in the life of B.J. Penn?
B.J. Penn) Typical day in the life? Training day: I guess wake up, drink a protein shake with some oatmeal, and go work out. Come home, relax, eat a bunch more times, and go back and work out again. Come home and relax. And on a rest day: don’t do nothin’. Stay home all day or down at the beach or river or whatever.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) You make a lot of excellent use of web and social networking: Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, whatnot. How has these helped to get your message out to your fans?
B.J. Penn) Yeah, it’s a great way to get what you want to say out to the fans. And that’s the best thing about having your own web site or doing stuff because people always try to edit you down and people always try to not let you say what you want to say and that’s the most important thing about having BJPenn.com is I can say whatever I want to say and I can get that message out.
Edward Sugimoto) Speaking of BJPENN.com. It looks like you guys put a lot of work into it. Daily video blogs, forums, and that kinda thing for the fans. What’s the ultimate goal with the site?
B.J. Penn) I just want to let BJPenn.com keep growing and you know, ah, I guess it’s at it’s ultimate goal right now, and now we just keep letting it grow and multiply and multiply until it’s something to be reckoned with I guess. (*laughs*)
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) You work pretty tirelessly with the keiki as well, at your gym and you have a B.J. Penn Foundation. What motivates you to educate and shape the future of Hawaii?
B.J. Penn) You know, just kinda watching the kids around. I don’t want to be a role model. I don’t want to be you know the guy, like I’m a perfect person cause I’m not that’s for sure, but you know, you put me in front of a bunch of kids and you tell me to start talking to them and it just seems like it comes out natural. And I just talk to them and I see them and I know you know, everybody’s different, everybody has their hardships and goes through their different things, so it’s good, you know, if I can just brighten up their day for a little bit or maybe they can take any advice that I might’ve learned over my years of experience I guess, it all makes it worth it.
Edward Sugimoto) You’ve been seen wearing “B.J. Penn for Governor” T-shirts. Is this something you’d like to one day shoot for?
B.J. Penn) (*laughs*) Um, I don’t know. I don’t know if we’re gonna run for office. Anybody who ever asks me about that shirt, I just have to tell um, “we’re weighing our options.” (*laughs*)
Video Interview with B.J. Penn – Part II – MMA Life (Click to Play!)
MMA LIFE:
Edward Sugimoto) When did you first realize you could scrap?
B.J. Penn) I still don’t know if I can scrap. I gotta find out some more. I don’t know I just realized one day when we were playing around boxing and somebody punched me and I realized ah, it doesn’t even hurt. And that’s when I realized that, well I didn’t realize, but then I just knew that punches don’t hurt.
Edward Sugimoto) Speaking of that, what is your head made out of? I hardly ever see you bruise or bleed or anything!
B.J. Penn) (*laughs modestly*) Oh no, no! I don’t know. Just gotta knock on wood (*knocks on wood*) for that one.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) The story of how you got introduced to BJJ is legendary (introduced by your neighbor Tom Callos)…
B.J. Penn) Yup, my neighbor Tom Callos lived right on this road. And he did a couple of jiu-jitsu lessons and he seen us kids wrestling around, boxing and hanging out, and he wanted a bunch of kids to just work out with. Cause he wasn’t teaching, just to have fun and roll around with. And then we, we uh, we started… So I didn’t wanna really do it, and my dad was like c’mon go do it, go do it, so I went down and then Tom choked me out tapped me out and I was like man, there’s something to this, and my brain just started going.
Edward Sugimoto) So we can thank Tom for B.J. Penn!?
B.J. Penn) Yeah, I really gotta thank Tom Callos. I tell him that all the time. (*looks into camera*) And thank you Tom.
BJ Penn, unknown, Kennan Cornelius, Reagan Penn, Tony DeSouza and Tom Callos. (Photo Courtesy: Tom Callos)
Edward Sugimoto) You still work with him right?
B.J. Penn) Yeah yeah, he lives right here, down the road.
Edward Sugimoto) I mean on the web site, you have his web site linked.
B.J. Penn) Yup, Tom the Master. Martial Arts gym owner, business man.
Edward Sugimoto) You earned the nickname “The Prodigy” early on. In a recent interview I saw that you were thinking about changing it. If you could change it today, what would you change it to?
B.J. Penn) (*laughs*) Um, Jay Penn, Jr. Nah. I dunno. Umm…
Edward Sugimoto) We’ll just stick with that one.
B.J. Penn) Yeah, we’ll stick with “The Prodigy” for now (*laughs*)
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) Talk about your flexibility and how that helps you.
B.J. Penn) Yeah, I didn’t know I was flexible my whole life. You know everybody always asked me, “How’d you get so flexible?” “Do you stretch so much?” and after I started doing jiu jitsu, everybody started telling me I was flexible, and THEN I started stretching, like, to make it even more… to get more flexible. So that’s the whole story on my flexibility.
Penn displaying his flexibility against Matt Hughes at UFC 63 (Photo Courtesy: UFC)
Edward Sugimoto) A lot of people try to use the statement “oh he’s spoiled because he comes from a rich family” and that pisses ME off hearing that. Be honest, how fired up do you get (when you hear people say that)?
B.J. Penn) You know, a lot of people say I’m spoiled and stuff and I really would like to respond, but I gotta go jump inside the limousine, it’s waiting for me right here and we’re gonna go ahead and jump in my private jet and head outta here so… (*laughs*) You know, but um. Ah, people can say whatever they want. They don’t know how you live, you know. But I guess at least they’re that interested that they want to know. So if people are talking good or bad, you know, just as long as they’re talking, it’s worse if they’re not saying anything.
Edward Sugimoto) A lot was made also about your partying days and your cardio back in the day, Until one day, you just flipped the switch. Was their one specific thing, that made you do that?
B.J. Penn) I didn’t like partying after a while. I mean, I still don’t mind it, but, I mean, now with a daughter, and just the whole training and everything, I wanted to take it more serious. I wanted to see you know how far can I get, how good can I get? You know it’s constantly evolving, it still isn’t finished yet, and I don’t think it ever will be. Every time you get into a new training camp, you try new methods and you try to improve and that’s just how it goes. I don’t think there’s ever an end-all say-all this is it, this is how you train for a fight.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) What’s the deal with licking blood?
B.J. Penn) I dunno, you gotta ask that guy in the ring because the guy right here would never lick blood I tell you that right now. (*laughs*) So it’s just a different man
Edward Sugimoto) Your cauliflower ears are often referred to as one of the nastiest in the business. Do you take that as a diss or a compliment?
B.J. Penn) (*laughs*) What do you mean? (*shows his right ear*) Look at that aerodynamic! (*laughs*)
Edward Sugimoto) The other side!
B.J. Penn) OK, ok, this one’s pretty bad, but… um, yup, it got bad. I really, you know, tell all the kids out there, you know, if you start grappling and your ear starts getting messed up, take care of it. I really wish I didn’t let it get too bad.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) You have an intensity on your face before you walk out or in your interviews that is unmatched. Are you like pissed off or focused? What is that?
B.J. Penn) I think I get focused when I’m doing interviews or in a match, but, I think it’s just that I’m emotionally involved, and I’m there, and I really wanna do my best, and I… I really wanna do my best whether it’s fighting, entertaining the fans, or whatever it is, you know, and I really feel I have a genuine like or love for the sport of mixed martial arts, and I take this stuff very serious, you know. This isn’t just a game for me.
Penn’s game face (Photo Courtesy: UFC)
Edward Sugimoto) Did you catch Machida’s performance (at UFC 98)?
B.J. Penn) Oh I got to see Lyoto Machida knock out Rashad Evans and that was just amazing how he did that. He did an awesome job. And Rashad went down.
Edward Sugimoto) Don’t think Dana White would allow it (different weight classes), but is that a rematch you’d like to have one day?
B.J. Penn) Um, you know, we’ll see what happens in the future with Lyoto and stuff. I mean first thing’s first. I gotta beat Kenny Florian coming up on August 8. And then I’m gonna move forward slowly and see who we fight next, and I wanna make sure I got a couple rematches in mind you know that I wanna have.
Edward Sugimoto) Speaking of UFC 101 against Florian. How’s the training going so far?
B.J. Penn) The training’s going great for UFC 101. I’m making sure not to overtrain. And, you know we started a couple months ago, and I’m training with Marv Marinovich, and we’ll be spending our last 8 weeks in California with a bunch of good training partners, with Marv Marinovich there, Jason Parillo will be there, Rudy Valentino’s gonna fly up, so I feel VERY good about this training camp.
B.J. Penn and the author
Edward Sugimoto) Just a while ago, you also just came back from training with Marv (famed ex-NFL trainer Marv Marinovich). How did that go?
B.J. Penn) Marv is just amazing. You know, I don’t want to get into everything that he does but it’s just his fundamentals for making somebody get to a much better athletic performance, it’s just amazing how he tackles athletic problems. He really is, that guy’s a genius.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) Kenny Florian is no joke. Without giving away too much, what’s your kind of plan of attack (for taking him out)?
B.J. Penn) Well I never really make a game plan when I go into a fight. I’m just gonna try to run at him, try to hit him. And he’s gonna try to I dunno, get away from me, or come in, but I’m gonna try to submit him or knock him out the whole time. And that’s it. I’m not really a good game plan guy, I just go and try and do my best.
Edward Sugimoto) Are you concerned at all about his notorious elbows (opening up a cut)?
B.J. Penn) You know, I’m sure he’s gonna be coming out with his elbows and stuff but actually, it’s better that I know that his elbows exist, and he’s good at um, so I think already that’s an advantage. Knowing is half the battle.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) There’s also our Hawaii boys Kendall Grove and Shane Nelson on the same card (UFC 101). How does that make you feel?
B.J. Penn) I’m really excited to have Kendall and Shane on the card with me. I’m gonna be a lot more comfortable. So I’m not gonna be the only one with pressure on my back that night. They gotta share the load.
Edward Sugimoto) Years ago, probably something like this would have never happened: 3 out of the 11 fights (of a major UFC card) involve fighters from Hawaii.
B.J. Penn) That’s right! Three out of the 11 fights are people from Hawaii. That’s amazing.
The author and B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) You’re also in a movie (“Never Surrender”) and you’re also in a video game (UFC 2009: Undisputed). Must be good to be B.J. Penn right now huh?
B.J. Penn) (*modest laugh*) Uh, I dunno, uh, ah, things… I dunno I haven’t gotten to play Undisputed yet, but I heard it’s a great game. And, I don’t know about my acting in the movie. Wasn’t too good, so… It’s alright, it’s alright. Just same ol’ getting back in the gym and getting ready to fight.
Edward Sugimoto) What does the future hold for B.J. Penn?
B.J. Penn) After we beat Kenny Florian on August 8th, come back, relax, and then, I don’t know, we’ll see how it all goes you know, I wanna get another title defense quick, right away, right after it so, we’ll see how it goes.
B.J. Penn
Edward Sugimoto) Anything else to add for your fans out there?
B.J. Penn) I just want to thank all the fans. Fans of MMA in general and all my fans. And thank you guys very much for the support and thanks for sticking with me. It’s been a long ride and it’s been fun thank you guys.
B.J. Penn
Even though this was probably one of the most challenging interviews to line up, it was definitely the most gratifying. Not only am I a huge jiu-jitsu/MMA/martial arts enthusiast, I’m a big fan of B.J. Penn. He’s come from his humble beginnings in Hawaii and made a name for himself in his sport like no other. He’s as real as they get and for that I applaud him.
UFC Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn (Photo Courtesy: UFC)
Following this experience, in which he showed true class and humility and never once made me feel like just another appointment on his calendar, I can truly say that I am an even bigger fan of Hawaii’s own, B.J. Penn. All the best to B.J., his family, his fight, and his future.
Respect Bruddah B.J…. Respect!
B.J. Penn and your boy. Yeah, I need a haircut… I know!
A special mahaloz to Maribel Quemado and JD Penn for making this interview a reality, Dave Oi for being my videographer and photographer for the day, and to Elizabeth Loucheur and Edward Muncey from the UFC for all of their assistance with media requests.
***
BONUS!
Prior to this interview with the champ, I asked my World Wide Ed blog community if they had any questions they’d like me to take up. The following link goes to the blog that I wrote today, that includes the questions they posed, and B.J.’s video response to them. Enjoy!
UFC 101 Live Streaming Content: Thanks to the good people at the UFC, you can now view post UFC 100 video highlights and LIVE streaming events taking place leading up to UFC 101 on Oceanic.com! Check it out!
As promised, I took the questions you posted on my “Ask a BJ (Penn)” blog with me to Hilo and had BJ answer them for y’all. I’ve finally had the chance to encode it, uploaded it (to YouTube), annotate it, and publish the puppy for you folks so hurr it is. Enjoy!
BJ Penn answers questions from the World Wide Ed Community
[kuya.d]: Try asking BJ how helpful Gary Ohashi has been in his training and recovery?
[B.J. Penn] Ohhh, Gary Ohashi. Gary Ohashi has been very good for me. I see him once or twice a week. Just adjusts me, put everything in the right areas, so my body’s not aching and everything. Thank you Gary. Thanks for helping me out.
[Coconut Willy]: Originally being from Hilo, the feeling is super laid back. I know when I go to visit, I get really lazy. Ask BJ how he keeps up his intensity and motivation.
[B.J. Penn] I get really lazy too actually Coconut Willy. (*laughs*) And it’s pretty tough. Nah, you know, when you got something on your head, or you’re focused or you wanna do something, you going get out there. Plus too, you don’t want to let down all the fans, so that’s motivation. Cause you want the fans to say, you know you want the fans to go out there and after you win, you want them to tell their friends, “You see! I told you so! When I talk you listen! You listen to me when I speak to you!” (*laughs*)
[skycastles]: Boxers or briefs?
[B.J. Penn] Boxers, boxers. Boxers or nothing under surf shorts. Surf shorts: nothing. Everything else, boxers.
[skycastles]: What advice would he give to kids coming up who want to get into MMA?
[B.J. Penn] To the kids, I would just say, you know, just go and have fun. If you like to box, go box. If you like wrestling, go wrestle in school. If you like jiu jitsu, go do it and then just keep just doing the one that you think is fun and get as far as that one first. Whether it’s wrestling, boxing or kickboxing or jiu jitsu or judo or whatever it is, and then after you’re kinda done competing in that, maybe start adding all the other ones in.
[bB]: does he have any aspirations of being a promoter after he retires? maybe something on the lines of a oscar de la hoya.
[B.J. Penn] Maybe I’d want to get involved with the promoter business. But we’ll see how things unfold, and, you know, if the UFC is the only company in the future or… We’ll see, but for sure I could see myself putting on little fights around Hawaii, around the islands, the different islands, just for the locals.
[frankie]: I’d like to know if he’d like to face GSP again (sans the greasing).
[B.J. Penn] Yup, yup. For sure we want to fight GSP again and we want our opportunity for a rematch.
[uncle jimmy]: since his grandma was the original “little lei lady of waikiki” and wound up owning some chunks of waikiki in the process, and his Mom is a serious entrepreneurial player of note on her own.. does he have a similar entrepreneurial gene and how does it reveal itself?
[B.J. Penn] I don’t think my grandma ended up owning any chunks of Waikiki. In fact, I don’t think there’s many Hawaiians who own a bunch of hotels down (in) Waikiki. (*laughs*)
I would love to keep pushing BJPenn.com and training people and I guess, yeah, just push the web site, push the shop on the web site, and see where we can take it and maybe even get into the promoting stuff.
[Center Of Thought]: What does his diet consist of? What does he eat when training?
[B.J. Penn] OK, my diet, if I’m not training, I’ll eat anything, and then if I’m training, I pretty much cut out like breads and pastas. I just eat like the most natural carbohydrates like rice, potatoes, like brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats, you know, poi, like just kinda more natural stuff. And then if I want a cheat meal, then maybe I’ll eat a sandwich or something you know, but I try to just cut all that stuff out. And then lean meat and lots of fruits and vegetables.
[Center Of Thought]: What kine music does tha champ listen to?
[B.J. Penn] Listen to… Growing up I listen to everything, but nowadays I listen to more just local music, Hawaiian music, kinda keeps me relaxed. Not gonna go burn rubber down the road and get in trouble. (*laughs*)
[miLL-viLLe]: I want to know how many more fights BJ has left in him.
[B.J. Penn] Every time somebody asks me how many more fights I have left in me, I can’t really answer that question cause we always just gotta see how my next fight goes. I’m sure after I beat Kenny Florian, I’ll be happy and I’ll say we got 50 fights left, you know what I mean, so we just gotta take it fight by fight.
[mcat]: i’m curious what he does when he’s not training… any other hobbies?
[B.J. Penn] I’m just hanging out. Maybe go surfing a little bit, maybe, you know, just go swimming, have fun, watch TV, work on BJPenn.com, that’s all I do. (*laughs*)
Thank you!
There ya have it! Hope you enjoyed it! Don’t forget to read my full interview with BJ below!
As some of you may know, dis buggah was lucky enough to have the unbelievable opportunity to fly to Hilo this past weekend to interview Hawaii’s own, BJ Penn. Using Twitter as our base, here’s a recap of the weekend’s activities. What a BLAST!
2:19 PM May 29th – Hilo here I am! LOL!
Just landed and was picked up at the airport by my buddy Dave. Was enthused to see what was to come.
4:23 PM May 29th – just enjoyed boneless chicken at Blanes with @dave_OI
My co-worker Evan (Hilo native) said we should try the boneless chicken from Blane’s, so when we were looking for a snack to nibble on, that’s what we nibbled on.
7:00 PM May 29th – is waiting for his Mike Piazza from Kilauea Pizza Hut
With all the pizza talk from our Friday blog, Dave and I were itchin’ for a slice (or two). We hit up the local Pizza Hut for a custom pie. Props to bruddah kuya.d for giving me a ring-a-ling and asking if we wanted to come check out an imu (for kulolo) him and his students were building! Next time fo sho!
9:36 PM May 29th – don’t these coqui frogs know that I have an important interview tomorrow morning? *grin*
Didn’t realize how noisy those buggahs were until I heard them for myself. Trying to study/prepare for an important interview with them “coqui-ing” away in the background was quite the challenge.
8:36 AM May 30th – enjoying taro corned beef hash at Kuhio Grill. Mmmmm!
Sorry Ynkau. I nevah try the 1 pound lau lau, but I wasn’t that hungry that morning. Plus, if BJ wanted to roll with me, I wanted to be ready. Ha!
And then…
It was time…
Here are some shots from my camera during the interview.
BJ Penn chillin’
BJ Penn getting into it
Side view of the Champ and I
10:59 AM May 30th – Interview with Time Warner at JD’s house http://sml.vg/z40gzp
This one (and the next one) is actually from @Officialbjpenn’s Twitter (now @UFCBJPenn @bjpenndotcom). And yep, for those of you who were wondering, that really IS him on Twitter. I saw it with my very own eyes!
11:32 AM May 30th – @Officialbjpenn Mahaloz for the time! That was awesome!
My mahaloz to BJ through Twitsville.
12:34 PM May 30th – respects and admires BJ Penn even more now. What a kool kat!
So true. He’s such a mellow, cool, likeable guy. It’s no surprise that the entire state of Hawaii is so supportive of our MMA hero.
3:18 PM May 30th – just picked up 18 strawberry mochis from Two Ladies Kitchen. Wonder how dese buggahs taste…
Even though it was just an over-nighter, you know you gotsta pick up omiyage. We picked up 18 of these popular strawberry mochis from Two Ladies Kitchen. Holy Toledo. They were HEAVY!
All in all it was an awesome trip! Much love to BJ for the time! Mad props to JD Penn for the hook-ups and the hospitality. Mahaloz to Dave Oi for being my personal chauffeur and cameraman for the weekend!
OK, so I think I did it! After months of persistence, I think I’ve finally secured that interview with BJ Penn! Much love JD! Gonna be flying up to Hilo this weekend, but before I do, I wanted to check in with all y’all MMA fans (or fans in general) to see if you had any questions for the UFC Lightweight Champion of the Woooooorrrrrllllllld!
Post um below and I’ll take the best ones up with me! Wish me luck!
On a side note, if you have any suggestions for places to grind in Hilo, please post those as well. Shooots!
A year ago to the day, the world was fortunately unfortunately exposed to the mind of me, and I hereby apologize.
You see, the peeps at the ’tiser opened thangs up for me in the backend *snicker* and shortly thereafter, the first ever World Wide Ed blog (to the Advertiser community) – simply entitled “Aloooooha!” – was born (in the USA)!
Things were slow at first, as I tried to find my place amongst the big dogs *woof WOOF* like Stephen Tsai’s “The Warrior Beat,” and Catherine Toth’s “The Daily Dish,” but eventually, I found my virtual footing and carved a cozy little niche out for myself and you fun, faithful readers.
Hoooo! I can’t believe it’s already been a year! *wipes away Visine induced tears* As some of you mentioned in yesterday’s blog, time really does fly when you’re having fun eh? It still amazes me that there were THAT many topics to write about on the daily. Sure, I did miss a few days here and thurr due to travel, holidays, and a little thing called a wedding, but for the most part, I was pretty on top of it wouldn’t ya say?
In fact, if my math is correct (and don’t truss’ me ’cause I suck at math), I probably wrote about 261 posts, give or take a few.
365 (days in the year)
- 104 (weekend days)
—————————————–
= 261 actual week days of possible WWE blogs
OK, I checked out our backend *snicker* and saw that I actually posted 200 fitty blogs! (I tol’ you my math sucks!) Either way, I think that’s quite a feat if I do say so myself. *bends over and waits for a pat on the back* (*snicker*) In theory, if I continue this blog on that torrid pace for the next 30 years of my life, I would’ve bored you to tears with 7,500 posts! Seventy five HUNNY!
Scurred?
Don’t be.
It’ll be all good in the ‘hood going forward. Trust.
I think I’m finally getting the hang of this. No more posts about nails, my broken mandible or MMA. I heard you (or rather, I didn’t hear you at all in the comments) loud and clear. Jeez, and it only took me a year to finally get it! Ha!
Mahalos to each and errry one of you for reading. E Komo Mai to those coming by way of seeing my spooky face in today’s paper. Whether you’re new and this is your first hit of WWE, or you need to be sent to WWEA pretty soon, I send mad love to you! Please continue to read and post your feedback in the comment area. That’s really what keeps me going. I love reading and interacting with the `ohana we got goin’ on here. You guys are the ones who make this blog fun for me! Keep it up yo!
Talk to me (Help a brutha improve WWE)!
* What was your favorite post?
* What was your least favorite post?
* What do you want to see more of? Less of? (Be honest, I can takeum!)
* What’s missing?
* How can I improve?
* What prompts you to want to comment/participate?
* Hints for future posts?
* Some of your favorite WWE memories/highlights of the last year?
* What’s the biggest thing that happened to you in the last year?
* What was your least favorite post? – The MMA Television Programming posts because it took like FOREVER to put together and nobody ever commented on it.
* What do you want to see more of? Less of? – More comments, less low comment counts.
* What’s missing? – Guest posts. Will try to get more of y’all involved with posts of your own for us to dish on.
* How can I improve? – I’m all ears!
* What prompts you to want to comment/participate? – ditto the above
* Hints for future posts? – Yes please.
* Some of your favorite WWE memories/highlights of the last year? – the appearance and disappearance and reappearance of Chicken Grease (he was actually my first ever commenter, and it was a positive one at that. In fact, it was so good that it jump started my drive to make this place good), giving away free movie passes to readers like JMAW, Miss Priss, and liane, talking high school supremacy shmack with frankie, celebrating the Phillies’ World Series victory with uncle jimmy, starting and growing the Where in Hawaii series (and being flattered by a few copycats ), scratching my head at Helen’s ridiculous comments, the funny wedding jokes and videos like the Best Man Blunder Video, making up nicknames for all of you, the thank yous for my periodic PSA posts, the turning point from single digit daily comment counts to double digit daily comment counts (woo hoo!), assigning roles (hunter, chef, law enforcement, etc.) on our desert island, the birth of Scott’s boy, standing up to tita leerz (and getting pwned! in the process), brightening the start of your work week with Fun Day Mondays, getting my blogs hijacked for totally unrelated topics , the moderation bot’s strange rules/flags, kuya.d’s successful “Prom Songs” guest post, the “Good Morning”’s from M, the lowdown from the female perspective from snow, NeedaHobby, skycastles,kako_mochi, kate, YN and mcat, the sage lecturing advice from hemajang, MakiSushi, Coconut Willy, Kage and Kel Sr. (and jr.), the humor of Ynaku, bB, and rayboyjr, the periodic appearances of Dave, Syxx, BananaFysh, S Ticket, che, zzzzzz, Lose Money, soogs, miLL-viLLe, EMM386, HNL2LAS, Paco, Takeshi, MoOgooGuypAN, L, and Bre, being the first ’tiser blogger to break the Susan Boyle story, collecting names for our future WWE Fantasy Football league, seeing new faces come out of lurk mode, learning what VHO7V meant, and much more! Keep the memories a-comin’!
* What’s the biggest thing that happened to you in the last year? – Hands down, da big dance, fo shizzle.
* What do you hope to do in the next year? – Plan and take an RV trip, interview more Hawaii celebs (BJ Penn, Shane Victorino, Colbie Caillat, holla atcho boy!), etc.
Thanks again for sticking with me for the last year. Here’s to another 7,250 or so y’all (yeah, I used a calculator for that one… whut!?)! Hehe, Shooooots!
A-ight peeps. We be hea again to start your work week right. Here’s a lil’ sumthin’ sumthin’ I got in the mail that made me smile. I hope it helps brighten up your day too. [Side note: all y'all "arse" lovahs out dea (like *cough*kuya.d*cough*) should enjoy dis one]!
OK, take a good look at this photo and guess the nationality:
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Give up!?!?
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..
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It’s…
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…..
POLISH!
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…..
Check it!
Holy Kielbasa!
Get your mind out of the gutter you pervs!
Happy Monday y’all!
Talk to me!
* How’d you like da joke? Pretty tricky yeah?
* I had quite that eventful weekend (picked up taxes from accountant, went to Kanpai, may’ve sold the car, watched a movie, Lunch at Pietro’s). What’d you do?
* How does your work week look?
* Anybody catch the WEC last night?
* How ’bout dem Final 4s? Who you going for today: Michigan St. or North Carolina?
* Anybody else (besides uji and me) depressed that the Phillies dropped their season opener yesterday?
* The Brother-in-law’s gonna kill me, but The Hills (final season with Lauren) starts up again tonight. Ya gonna watch it?
* Fight fans, don’t forget that there is the (new) Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz event on Showtime (Digital Channel 0633 or HD Channel 1633), a re-airing of UFC 94 (St. Pierre vs. Penn) on Spike TV (Digital Cable 0559), and the Winky Wright vs. Paul Williams bout (which may have Andrei Arlovski on the undercard) on HBO (Digital Channel 0611 or HD Channel 1611) this Saturday; UFC 97 Redemption (Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites) on PPV (Digital Channel 0701 or HD PPV Channel 1700), and the local Kingdom MMA event (Mayhem Miller vs. Kala Kolohe Hose) next Saturday, the 18th; and finally, the Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton fight on May 2 on PPV (HD Channel 1700).
Last week, y’all went off on the “You Know You’re Local If…” topic. Much love for that! You guys are da bomb! It got me thinkin’ though. Thinkin’ that we may have something here with the interactive thang. This week, I’m gonna try a lil’ sumthin’ sumthin’ and, although it probably won’t get as much action as last week, it might just get us a-talkin’ again. (At the same time, it’ll help a brutha out with some ideas for future articles… )
So several months ago, I interviewed local songbird Anuhea Jenkins, and this month, I recently wrapped one up with MMA fighter Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Yesterday, I got an email from my boy Justin Young (RE: our interview) so we’ve gots that one in the queue as well. I still really want to hook it up with BJ Penn (so if anyone has any connections, holla!), but, after getting real close, have been unsuccessful thus far. And… I may have one lined up with Colbie Caillat (*cross your fingers*) in the coming months. EXCITING!
I promise I’m getting to a point here… Hehe!
The point is, or rather, the question for this week’s Fun Day Monday is…
What (local) celebrity do you want me to interview?
* Who’s hot? Who’s interesting to you? Who do you want to know more about?
* AND/OR… If you’re a celebrity reading this or you can hook it up with one, holla atcho boy!
Please do not post your losses if it will get you in trouble with the wife/husband/gf/bf/friend/loan shark/parents. *grin* And by no means does this mean I condone betting as a regular activity. Personally, I don’t really like to do big cash bets – especially if it’s between friends – because, like they say, money is the root of all evil. I’m more of a “for bragging rights,” plate lunch bet kinda guy, just to keep things interesting.
But since I was in the betting capital of the world for Super Bowl weekend just 4 short days ago, I put a cool 100 to the test for Arizona (with a spread of 7). Zona lost, but by just 4 (27-23) so I was in the money baby! I got $180 back, netting $80. Not bad, but it was a small consolation for the $100 (and a full week of plate lunches I owe my co-worker) I lost with my Penn pick the night before.
It’s gonna take me a little more time to organize my thoughts (my photos as well) on my UFC 94 weekend in Las Vegas, but here’s a lil’ sumthin’ sumthin’ for y’all in the meantime. It’s a video of BJ Penn’s entrance. The building was going bananas: B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
Every so often, there comes a time in a man’s life when the stars just align. The perfect storm of pleasure if you will. The weekend of January 30th was one such time.
You see, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) – the most popular Mixed Martial Arts promotion – was having their biggest, most highly anticipated fight card in history: UFC 94. The main event featured Hilo’s own BJ Penn against Canada’s Georges St. Pierre, arguably the two best pound for pound fighters in the sport. Superbowl XLIII (43) festivities, which featured the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Arizona Cardinals, was also going on that weekend. Did I mention that this was all going down in Vegas? ‘Nuff said!
It all started with a confirmation of UFC 94 fight tickets, just a couple weeks before the event (Mahalos to Bruddah DJ and the rest of the UFC posse). From there, it was pure pandemonium as I worked some flight, room and car reservation magic for less than $580 per. Not bad, given the current flight prices.
Wifey unfortunately couldn’t take off of work so my friend Dave “took one for the team” and forced himself to come with me on this once in a lifetime, sport-filled weekend.
We caught the red-eye on Thursday the 29th, and enjoyed breakfast at Ruby’s Dinette on our LAX layover.
Outside Ruby’s Dinette
I’ve been by this place numerous times before, but never had the chance or the time to eat there. With our hunger, and a couple of hours to spare, Dave and I checked it out. It’s a good thing we did because it was surprisingly good.
Ruby’s Breakfast Burrito: “A flour tortilla filled with fluffy scrambled eggs, salsa and shredded cheese. Topped with sour cream, black olives and chopped green onions. Served with black beans. It’s our “South of the Border” specialty!”
Skillet Potatoes
Ruby’s Dinette – LAX
201 World Way – Terminal 6
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(310) 646-2480
We arrived in Sin City at about 10AM on Friday, the 30th, but by the time we got our luggage, stood in line to pick up our rental car, and took my mobile phone in for service (it stopped working for some reason), it was almost time for the first two events of the trip: the exclusive Q&A session with (fighter) Rashad Evans and the official UFC 94 weigh-ins.
UFC 94 Schedule of Events poster
Thanks to Bruddah DJ, we were able to get early access into the event and sit decently close.
The much anticipated BJ Penn-Georges St Pierre stare down, as St.-Pierre’s head trainer Firas Zahabi, an unknown male, UFC President Dana White, ring announcer Bruce Buffer, Penn’s head trainer Rudy Valentino and fight matchmaker Joe Silva look on.
Following the weigh-ins, I decided to check my voicemail from my friend’s phone and was surprised to hear that my Las Vegas (Hawaii transplant) friend Jen left a couple of messages. She wanted us to meet up for dinner with her and her boyfriend Brandon at an all you can eat sushi spot called Sushi-Mon. Since Dave and I were practically starving, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect!
Sushi-Mon sign
For $26.95 ($21.95 for lunch), you can pick from a large array of sushi/nigiri, rolls, and side dishes, and go to town on them for one hour. And go to town I did!
2 orders of ikura (salmon roe) and 2 orders of masago (smelt egg) (one order already eaten… couldn’t wait! *grin*)
2 orders of hokkigai (surf clam) and 2 orders of hamachi (yellowtail tuna)
Dave’s Moon Roll order (Freshwater eel, yum yum scallop & avocado served on a bed of tempura crumbs topped with eel sauce).
Jen’s recommended Cajun Albacore sushi
Snow crab meat sushi (you’re only allowed one order)
Baked Scallop Shell side dish
Ika (squid) sushi
Sushi-Mon (on Sahara)
8320 W Sahara Ave #180,
Las Vegas, NV 89117
(702) 304-0044
Open 7 Days a week, 11:30AM-2:00AM
And den, it was fight day! After fueling up on the $7.99 Garden Court Buffet Lunch at the Main Street Station Hotel in downtown…
My $7.99 buffet lunch (breakfast actually) at the Main Street Station Hotel in downtown (heart don’t fail me now!)
… we headed towards the Mirage to place some fight bets, as, according to my friend Kippy who messaged me on Facebook, they had Penn at +180, some of the best lines in town! By the time we got there though, the line had moved to +135, but that was still good enough for me to back our local hero. While there, I also dropped a bit on the Super Bowl for good measure (‘Zona with the 7 point spread). What the heck right?
Following that, we went back to our hotel to get a quick R&R before the big day ahead. Then it was time! We started by roaming the MGM casino area an hour before the gates were to open. We saw a cool photo opp set up for fight fans, and, after asking a girl to take our photo there, her friends thought it was a good idea to tell her to jump in the photo with us! Um, yeah, thanks!
Dave and I posing with some random girl.
At 4:15PM we started to slowly make our way to the gates. The heart started a racin’ and the adrenaline started a pumpin’! I couldn’t believe we were actually there son!
Shuffling in before showtime
Here are the results with some personal observations sprinkled in between.
Dan Cramer defeats Matt Arroyo by Split Decision
- I thought Matt Arroyo, The Ultimate Fighter 7 alum, would take this one, but was surprised with Cramer’s perseverance.
Jake O’Brien defeats Christian Wellisch by Split Decision
- Another surprise as I picked Wellisch to come out on top for this one. As you can tell by now, my fantasy UFC picking is pretty horrible. Good to see O’Brien back from his injury and looking strong though.
John Howard defeats Chris Wilson by Split Decision
- This was too close to call, but both men gave it their all.
Thiago Tavares defeats Manny Gamburyan by Unanimous Decision
- Tavares was too big and too strong (and too quick) for Gamburyan, as expected.
Jon Fitch defeats Akihiro Gono by Unanimous Decision
- Gono impressed me by taking Fitch the distance. His entrance performance (where he dressed up in drag with two of his cornermen) had me in stitches!
Akihiro Gono’s hilarious drag queen entrance
Clay Guida defeats Nate Diaz by Split Decision
- Not a huge fan of Diaz, but knew Guida couldn’t finish him. Picked Guida, just based on his energy and spirit. Gotta love someone who is passionate about what they do. Got hooked to his entrance song (Foo Fighter’s “My Hero“).
Karo Parisyan defeats Dong Hyun Kim by Split Decision
- From my vantage point, I thought Kim got robbed on this one. He impressed me. Looking forward to more from him.
Jon Jones defeats Stephan Bonnar by Unanimous Decision
- Woah! Where’d this guy come from? Jones was very unorthodox, but impressive at the same time. Bonnar must’ve been confused with the strikes coming from all ova tha place!
Lyoto Machida defeats Thiago Silva by Knock Out at 4:49 in the 1st round
Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva stare down each other as they get instructions from referee Yves Lavigne
- ALAS!!! A finish!!! Machida must’ve heard all of our groans from a card filled with decisions. And he made sure to bring it. Silva was completely out for a good minute or so. It was the first time I jumped out of my seat (other that to use the potty! *grin*). Mahalos Lyoto!
Silva still on the ground after a vicious Machida punch
Georges St-Pierre defeats BJ Penn by TKO Stoppage at 5:00 in the 4th round
BJ’s Entrance Video
Animation of opening sequence
- D’oh! What a disappointment. But soooo worth being there in person. I was there when they first met at UFC 58 in March of ‘06 so it was inevitable that I be there at this one. Unfortunately, the results didn’t reflect my (and probably most of Hawaii’s) wishes. That’s ok, BJ is still the man in my eyes! He showed great courage by not giving up.
On a side note, was it just me or did BJ not look all there from the very beginning? Even from where I was sitting, I could tell that something was just not right. He didn’t come out with the tenacity and that fire in his eye like he usually does. Something was just off. When I watched it back on my DVR at home, I noticed that his eyes were glassy and puffy and he had a look of stress/worry. Was it mental? Was it physical? Only BJ knows I guess, but the results from the fight seemed to confirm my spidey senses.
Following the fight, the rumors started to fly. My Google Reader started blowin’ up! I heard everything from BJ having a fever, to a stomach flu, to a nervous breakdown. I can’t imagine the pressure of having an entire state (and country) on your shoulders. And I know that BJ has that mental toughness a fighter needs to succeed, but something just wasn’t right.
For you Canadian/GSP fans/readers out there, I’m not making any excuses. GSP followed a perfect game plan and fought a flawless fight, and truly was the better man that night. However, if, indeed, the Vaseline and stomach flu rumors were true, and BJ was able to fight at full strength (mentally and physically) against a fair, Vaseline-less body, I’m absolutely positive that the fight would’ve been A LOT closer than it was. If it turns out that those rumors were false, GSP is undeniably the better man at Welterweight.
Leaving the arena took a ridiculously long time as there was just one exit for all 14,885 of us fans in the Grand Garden Arena (I really hope the folks at MGM do something about this potentially dangerous situation). It did give us some time however, to observe some interesting things like the proud/happy Canadians singing their national anthem aloud and the local mokes trying to call them out fo’ beef. I really wish that that fight broke out to give us some entertainment. Not that I was upset at the Canadians. Heck, they deserved to be proud. I think it was more that my thirst for excitement was not quite quenched, with just two stoppages the whole night.
I got some consolation when I saw Pride fighting legend Takanori Gomi waiting in line for his car outside, and took a picture with him. He seemed intense, but gave me a proper, Japanese bow as I bowed and thanked him with “Arigatou gozaimasu.”
Wifey also called me later to tell me that my goal of getting on the historic DVD with my cheesy fluorescent green shirt had been fulfilled, albeit the back of our heads. LOL! So it was not all a disappointing night yo.
Dave and I forever a part of UFC 94 history. LOL!
We thought about going to the Official UFC afterparty at LAX (http://www.laxthenightclub.com/ ) at the Luxor, but decided to grab a bite instead. We called my high school buddy Jeff (another Hawaii transplant) to see if he and his wife Yvonne wanted to join us, but he instead, invited us over to his house to eat leftovers from their UFC 94 party. ‘Twas nice to see them and just chill after a long night.
The next day was Superbowl Sunday, but with our bets already placed, we said “Superbowl Shmuperbowl” and hit the slopes at the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort for a lil’ boardin’.
Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort Sign
It was a gorgeous day with decent conditions (mostly smooth with some powder and icey patches), but the best part was that the Blackjack, High Roller, and Keno paths (blue square) and Jacks, Slot Alley and Grandma’s (black diamond) were relatively empty (see trail PDF here). I pretty much had half the mountain to myself! Awwwww yeah!
Empty path… Loves it!
Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort
End of Highway 1506 in Lee Canyon
(702) 385-2754
Lift Hours: 9am to 4pm
Lodge Hours: 8:30am to 4:30pm
After a mandatory Trader Joe’s omiyage run following our boarding sesh, and a quick bite to eat at Panda Express (yes, we had the urge!), we got back to our hotel just in time to catch the most exciting 4th quarter in Super Bowl history.
Kurt Warner’s look of disgust as his Cardinals allow Pittsburgh to move the ball closer and close to the end zone
All in all, it was a quickie, but exciting 3 days of 3 breathtaking sporting events: MMA, football and snowboarding. The perfect storm of pleasure.
* Who are you picking to win at UFC 94: BJ Penn or Georges St. Pierre?
These two bruthas are arguably the best pound for pound MMA fighters in history and they will be facing off this Saturday in Las Vegas for the UFC Welterweight Championship (again). Penn is a local boy from Hilo and has a HUGE following both in Hawaii as well as in the MMA community. St. Pierre is an athletic stud from Canada and is loved by the more mainstream/every day fan. Women especially swoon over him for his physique. Which side are you on for this one man?
Me? I gotta go with our local boy Penn. Not only is he from our aina, but he is unbelievably talented in the art of combat, and makes me crack up in every interview he does. I just love it that people outside of Hawaii are also huge fans of his. Represent baby!
Tie – You’re cool! We could’ve been classmates son!: 8 (DA WINNAH!)
Me, Adam & Eve were homies!: 1
Anyone born in the 70s or before is old brah!: 4
Shut up and lemme get back to the Disney Channel!: 2
You could be MY dad!: 0 (Whew!)
I’m flying out to Vegas tonight for a little UFC 94/Super Bowl 43/snowboarding action so I’ll see y’all next week a-ight? I’ll be checking the results of this Survey Thursday on my breaks throughout the day and on my phone when I leave though, so be sure to vote k? Shoots!
Happy Survey Thursday y’all! It’s almost Aloha Friday!!!
), and actually had quite a good time playing tourist.
Hurr’s mine:
![BJ Penn Answers Your Questions [Video]](http://www.world-wide-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/2009-07_bj-penn-offfatfuture025.jpg)
