60-Second Stretch

“Christians have often mistakenly thought of Halloween as the High Holy Day of Satanism and the occult, but it’s not. You’ll be surprised at what is…”

So went the teaser this morning (not an exact quote, but the best I could do) by WAYfm Nashville’s morning show just before the last break of the 8:00 a.m. hour.

After the break, the team shared their revelation: “The most important calendar day, the High Holy Day of Satanism and the occult, is YOUR birthday!” Bom, bom, bommmm… The only thing missing was creepy music, as the team tried to make the case that your birthday is the most important day of the year to a Satanist….(presumably because they are after you)! One member of the team went on to say how this revelation had changed his life. It reminded me of the backwards-masking craze of the 80s. Seems Christians are always looking for some way to sensationalize evil.

Well, from someone who grew up studying the occult (yes, I read the Satanic bible back in the day), I can tell you that this is misleading at best. I called WAYfm and tried to point out two things:

1. Satanism and the occult are NOT the same thing philosophically, ideologically or practically. Satanism (as founded by LaVey in 1966) is in many ways just a re-make of Hedonism. The occult is a broad term used to define any number non-Christian system of beliefs and/or practices that profess to have access to “hidden” or secret truth.
2. As such, Satanism the religion does not have a “High Holy Day” of any kind. Satanist celebrate many holidays. For a Satanist, the most important day to celebrate is his/her birthday because it represents the day his/her “god” was born. Yeah.

Of course, the jock who answered the phone wasn’t interested in my analysis because he had read it himself right on the web site for the Church of Satan . Mmm, huh.

Listen, if you really care about what they believe, Wikipedia actually has an excellent entry that gives you all you need to intelligently understand their history and beliefs. No need to do as I did (before Christ, of course) or even as the WAYfm team did. It certainly didn’t pay off for them, as they came away with misconceptions anyway.

So, is Halloween a ”High Holy Day” for any group? Certainly. Not for actual Satanists, but surely for many others, even if it is the wanna-be group of teens who like to meet at the local “haunted house” and read Harry Potter books. Halloween is traditionally a celebration of the dark and mysterious, of ghosts, witches, goblins and death. Nothing more, nothing less. Personally, I see no need to sensationalize the holiday, as it carries its own weight through commercial imagery alone.

I’m just calling it like I see it.

It seems Google is making us all stupid. Or so says Nicholas Carr in the July/August issue of the Atlantic.

For all you “power browsers,” Carr’s point seems to be that the internet is “chipping away [his] capacity for concentration and contemplation” because he now “expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it” as opposed to long, complicated prose as is often found in books.

Shortly after this article was published, James Bowman published an article in the Summer 2008 edition of the New Atlantis Journal of Technology and Society, in which he echoed some of Carr’s sentiments while moving to what he deemed to be an even bigger issue: We have come to despise our history as ignorant and archaic, thus the reason we are no longer interested reading in the traditional sense—especially the classics.

“[Carr’s article] show[s] that it is our children and grandchildren who are preceding us in stupidity. But once that process is complete, presumably we won’t care any more that culture and tradition are not being transmitted to the next generation.”

I thought Bowman’s point was well made and it does a lot to explain our current political climate. Of course, this also points out our western view of time as linear: We despise the past because we feel so far advanced away from it. I also agree (with Carr) that there are many who seem unable to think deeply about some issues. This has always been a problem (just read the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13).

However, the assumption made in both articles (although admittedly more from Bowman than Carr) seems to be that learning is primarily a matter of linear, sequential, conclusive pathfinding through printed materials. Of course, this method of discovery only accounts for about 400 or so years of history. Before print, learning was primarily oral and dialectic. Since then, learning has shifted to a focus on journey and perspective conclusion and now seems to be moving more towards collaborative, systemic conclusions. In that regard, I would say that Google is probably not making us stupid, but it is making us different, just as print made the oral culture different. I also tend to believe that it is our hunger and thirst for information that drives our love of Google (a desire which, by the way, has been around since the Garden of Eden). Suddenly, we can do a lot more than read Huck Finn, we can Google it and find a kazillion sites that analyze, dissect and reconstruct Huck in a plethora of ways—possibly even making the classics more interesting than ever before.

Honestly, I read more books now than I ever did before I had heard of the internet. I do read “differently” online, but it’s partially because I don’t LIKE reading online…it hurts my aging eyes.

Took a while, but I am officially caught up on MMA news and blogs. There are a number of items I'd like to comment on, so I decided I'd hit each of them with some short jabs after I take a few random strikes at the EliteXC issue.

EliteXC

The "death" of EliteXC is really disappointing. Now, I'm a huge UFC fan. I watch all UFC's offerings, have purchased PPVs and VODs, and even have a UFC sticker on the back of my SUV. But I think competition is a good thing. I don't want to see UFC in total control of the A-level fight world.

Even more disappointing is the fact that Pro Elite had previously acquired King of the Cage, Icon Sport, Rumble on the Rock, and Cage Rage over the last two years. Now, since CBS chose not to buy EliteXC, EXC had to file for bankruptcy.

Honestly, my biggest question is why everyone seems to be blaming the demise on the supposed Slice/Petruzelli scandal.I'm thinking, "OK. What is the scandal?"

Alexis Antonacci, Press Secretary for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, responded to a request by FiveOuncesOfPain.com with a statement from the Florida commission that the investigation did not find any wrongdoing on the part of ProElite and EliteXC on the night of the promotion’s “Heat” event on Oct. 4.

I think that's the right decision and can't believe it was even investigated in the first place. I mean, how is the Petruzelli incident (assuming it happened as originally rumored) any different than the UFC routinely paying fighters a $40k bonus for achieving fight of the night, sub of the night or KO of the night? It's all semantics.

So, what is to become of the fighters? JT Steele, Senior Manager of Fight Operations for EXC, says he does not know the fate of the fighter contracts, but believes they will likely end up as assets in bankruptcy court. Meanwhile,Showtime officials said, “In view of Showtime’s leadership role in sports programming, including boxing and MMA, we intend to explore other opportunities.”

Obviously it would be too early to tell if they intend to use another promotion or start up their own.

So the upside is that someone else may step in—Showtime, Affliction, M-1, who knows—meaning that it would be a powerful asset in the hands of the right manager. I'd like to see that happen.

Strikeforce

Apparently, last Saturday’s episode of “Strikeforce on NBC” generated over 1.1 million viewers, a new high for the first-ever 52 week mixed martial arts (MMA) series in network television history, according to Nielsen Ratings.

How have I NOT even heard of this? Where are these people spending their ad dollars?

Anderson Silva

First off, the news of Silva's "eminent" retirement is both insane and brilliant. I'm thinking Seinfeld...leave on a high note.

Of course, as a very family-oriented guy, Silva's desires to retire so that he can "spend more time with his family" is nothing but admirable. And I love his take on what he'll do after retirement:

“You will not see myself pinching a fly anymore…I’m going to be fat, with a big belly by the side of the Octagon, eating popcorn behind the scenes, making my imitations and screaming for the fighters: ‘Go there! Kick his face! Put him down!’ It’s going to be really funny!”

But for now it seems fairly safe to assume that Silva will fight smart and make Cote look like a white belt.

Tito Ortiz

Can't remember which site I saw this on, but the story was on Jenna "Adult Star" Jameson and Tito "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz and their coming twins. The caption beneath the photo read, “We’re thinking about home-schooling them.” Really?! Not even sure how to respond on that one. I can only assume it is a joke by the writer.

Kurt Angle

“I’ve always wanted to do it. I’m the only Olympic gold medalist that will enter the Octagon and it feels right for me. I can almost guarantee you’re going to see me in the Octagon. Obviously I’m going to have to take a few months away from pro wrestling to get ready for that.”

Please say it ain't so.

Gina Carano

Recently spotted on late night TV, Carano explained why she has chosen such a painful profession: “I’d rather have a job where I travel and fight people and train than be married with children who hate me and a horrible husband.” Yikes. They say humor always has a hint of reality underneath, so who is she talking about? Her own family? A good friend? Either way, it's a pretty sad commentary on the state of families today. Makes Anderson Silva's decision even more admirable. And hopefully Gina will come in contact with enough positive examples that she eventually starts to think differently about her future after fighting.

In other news, MMA Live suggested that Carano was already a free agent (despite the statement above by JT Steele) and that Affliction has shown a lot of interest in acquiring her. It was also suggested that the WEC should consider developing a women's division (which would be awesome!).

Houston Alexander

OK, Alexander blazes onto the scene and suddenly he's the next champion. Then when he is exposed as an upstart (which seemed obvious to me even in the first fight), he's suddenly a laughing stock, deserving of quotes such as this: "Somehow, even in these bleak economic times, this man still has a job." The inconsistency of thought is mind-boggling.

Fedor vs Arlovski

Fedor Emelianenko will defend his WAMMA heavyweight title against Andrei Arlovski during the promotion’s “Day of Reckoning” event on Jan. 24. I have tons of respect for Fedor, but am a long-time fan of Arlovski and hope that, win-lose-or draw, Arlovski proves himself to be one of the greatest HWs in the biz.

As for Fedor possibly working out a deal with the UFC, I think Fedor's agent-dude said it best:
"Why would Fedor need to prove anything to anybody? He’s already defeated 4 ex-UFC champions and twice UFC Interim champion in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. According to White there are guys better than Tim Sylvia. Well, who are they? Looking at the world rankings one can conclude it is Fedor himself, Couture whose situation I discussed above, then it’s Nogueira, Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski. To face off with Josh or Andrei there is no need for Fedor to come to UFC. He’ll fight them at Affliction."