http://www.yardbarker.com/users/btomasette Recent Yardbarker Articles: btomasette en-us Saturday night and Sunday afternoon I was in Baltimore on the eve of their regular season opener. Each bar or restaurant or fried lake trout shop I walked by has the usual pre-game buzz. Typically Baltimore is an optimistic town. People love having a football team in Baltimore and rarely take it for granted. The typical talk is how great Ray Lewis and the defense are and pregame plans. This year, however, the natives are getting restless. People did not have high hopes for the team and little to no hope for Joe Flacco or as the bawlmerese say, Joew Flaaaaakew. I ended up missing the game as I was en-route to New York City for work but as I got into the elevator to my girlfriend's apartment a guy walked in with a Ravens jersey. I said, Well, what's the damage. And he said we WON! I thought this must be misinformation...that's impossible. But apparenlty Flacco carried the Ravens to a 17-10 victory. Not only did we win but Flacco ran in a 38 yard TD. I mean who is this guy? I look forward to whether this was a one game fluke or if Flacco grows into the position and sures up the much needed offensive help that the Ravens have needed for years. Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:26:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/330477 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/330477 I am not an MMA fan by any far stretch. To prove this I admit to covering my eyes like a 7 year old boy during a romantic make-out scene whenever someone's arm or leg is bent in even a slightly unnatural position. That said the Kimbo Slice fight Saturday night was pure crash-on-the-side-of-the-road-rubbernecking entertainment. It had circus side-show appeal with a moron from Manchester, England who is straight up dumb as rocks for daring to challenge a human killing machine like Kimbo slice with a swollen troll-style ear boil. I'm talking Rocky IV appeal here with the crowd cheering for Kimbo only to be let down by his lack of on-the-mat skills. Also, by mid first round Kimbo just ran out of steam. At the end of the match he could barely talk as he gave his "this one was for God" speech as if he was an underdog with a spectacular comeback in an all important symbolic fight to end communism. Sorry Kimbo you barely won your third fight ever, you ain't no Rocky. That said it was an incredibly entertaining fight. The fight began with a montage of the Youtube videos that made Kimbo famous and the announcer remarked that he lived in a Pathfinder and went to the bathroom "wherever he could." Kimbo came out with his massive wingspan expecting to land a few stunning punches on Thompson that would lock up the easy victory but to his dismay, the british bone head had other plans. Thompson easily took Kimbo to the ground several times but failed to have the brute strength to keep him there. At one point he had Kimbo in a submission hold that looked like lights out for our Youtube hero. Kimbo assured the ref with a wave that he was merely resting his big leathery head while Thompson tried to strangle him with all his might. Again, Kimbo was down for the count--or maybe just taking a quick nap--after Thompson all too easily toppled the tyrannosaurus Rex-like beast who lacked the stamina it takes for an MMA fight but after about fifty or so pats on the head and skull grinds into the cage Kimbo, to the crowds surprise, easily muscled his way back to his feet. By round three Thompson finally tired to Kimbo's level and botched a take down. Kimbo took this opportunity and landed several massive right hooks swelling the dim witted Brit's face to a well ripened puss filled balloon. After each debilitating blow Thompson's eyes became more misaligned and his gross ear flapped from each shock wave. The fight ended when Kimbo landed a final massive blow to Thompson's left ear that burst into a climactic spray of blood and zit-puss. Kimbo got two more punches in to the bloody bologna sandwich hanging from the left side of Thompson's head before the ref had called the fight and awarded the TKO. Though Thompson protested the stopping of the match the ref was clearly in the right as Thompson's ear was water-falling blood and puss onto his left shoulder and his eyes were criss crossed in opposite directions above his busted Rudolph-nose. Kimbo pulled this one off but now exposed is the chink in his armor. He's out of shape and can't do anything but punch people really hard. To his credit he did remark that he had a lot to learn and that Thompson was a worthy opponent. From this fight, two things are for sure. Kimbo Slice can be beaten and Elite XC has a gold mine on their hands. Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:42:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/273362 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/273362 I think this is kind of bullshit....but also count how many times Andy Reid calls him a cat in this article.... Wed, 20 Dec 2006 17:58:48 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/7164 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/7164 If you have comcast on demand, go to the soccer highlights section. (I'm too cheap to get Gol TV but this clip is giving me second thoughts) I have a philosophy that soccer goal highlights are probably the most incredible sports to watch on TV. Most crazy goal highlights are either ridiculously long shots where the goalie is too far out and or it grazes a post on the way in and it's kind of more of a lucky shot. Others are diving headers...always a crowd pleaser. I think this clip is so increadible because with Ronaldinho he really makes it look like he knows what he's doing and has total ball control when he scores this. If you look at one of the closer replays as he spins around you can see while he's falling he still has his eye on the ball and watches it go in the goal. Absolutely Amazing.... Mon, 04 Dec 2006 22:35:32 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6173 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6173 A month or so ago I posted an article asking about a recent trade I made. Deuce Macallistar and Muhammed for Reggie Bush and Plaxico Buress. Now this is my first season doing fantasy football so I don't really know what I'm doing. People commented that all in all it was a borderline good trade because Plaxico made it worth it. However, Deuce then followed up with 3 weeks of solid performance. Reggie Bush wasn't terrible but he wasn't getting the touchdowns to make him worth his while. Well, it looks like the Saints offense is finally giving him the ball when it counts. Lets hope this trend continues as I'm banking on him carrying me through the playoffs. I also recently dumped Plaxico to pick up Brian Westbrook (another trade I got a lot of criticism for), though I don't think he'll be worth his bounty in touchdowns I'm hoping they run him and his rushing yardage will make up for it. Mon, 04 Dec 2006 13:30:34 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6135 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/6135 I recently was put in a trade scenario where myself and another manager in my league were going back and forth with possible trades. I guess we both knew we wanted something that the other had but the question is....what is fair....what gets me ahead? Or how do I make sure I stick this guy with a loser down the road. I have had Deuce Macallistar this season so far and he's probably been the strongest player I never knew I had on my team. Now this is my first year at Fantasy Football and I don't really know what I'm doing so it's always a numbers game and trying to read up on the articles while filtering out the hype. I've been trying to pick up a better WR recently and was willing to trade one of my mediocre recievers Muhammed or Randy Moss. I had a feeling I should hold onto him but since the deadline for him to go to New England passed today, It looks like I should have tried to pimp him out earlier today. Anyway, I got Plaxico Buress for Muhammed who is slightly better in the numbers so I don't really care about that one. My dilema is I traded Muhammed and Deuce for Buress and Reggie Bush and I can't decide for sure whether that was a good trade...... My thoughts are Reggie's numbers are slightly better, also, he's younger and Deuce just hurt his hamstring and is old so maybe he will get hurt soon.....but Bush is struggling on getting touchdowns so it's kind of a toss up. What do you think? Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:17:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/3657 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/3657