John Ness Posts

Cian from 'fuh-baw sent us a report from his visit to the draft.

The draft is famously the NFL's only major event that is free, which means it never lacks for attendance. High demand and limited seating created a free-for-all minutes before the NFL was to begin handing out the wristbands required for entry.

15 minutes before 10 a.m., when the NFL was scheduled to hand out wristbands, a mad dash for Radio City began. The exact reason is unknown. A group of people were running back to their place in line to grab their supplies, yelling that the doors were open. In a matter of seconds, all the others waiting, myself included, were grabbing their own supplies and breaking into a run. The dash turned into a stampede as bodies pressed against bodies and barricades near Radio City's side entrance.

Dustin Parkes of Drunk Jays Fans attended UFC 83 in Montreal and reported to us.

Hours after Georges St. Pierre devastated Matt Serra with a series of thrashing knees to his side, my ears were still ringing from the enormous decibel levels reached by the screaming crowds that attend these events. The sheer volume and energy of the frenetic crowd at the Bell Centre had a physical effect on me.

While it seemed that every one in La Belle Province over this past weekend was a fan of the UFC "since the beginning," not all of Canada welcomed UFC 83 to town. Last week, our nation's largest sports radio talk show ignored -- and then questioned the legitimacy of -- the event and mixed martial arts in general.

And even though I'm a fan, I have to admit that walking down Rue De La Gauchetiere on my way into the Bell Centre, I was expecting keg stands and the word party being used as a verb.

Instead I was shocked to find myself surrounded by a knowledgeable and animated audience that cheered with equal enthusiasm for striking and grappling.

I am the producer for FanHouse, not one of its writers. But I'm posting now because FanHouse owes its readers an apology.

Last week, we ran a blog post in this space (on the NCAA Basketball side of FanHouse) which was not up to our standards. In a poor attempt at humor, one of our writers made a disparaging remark about UCLA center Lorenzo Mata (pictured at right). Despite numerous comments on the post which complained about the author's poor choice of words, the post stayed live for three days.

After three days, the post was deleted by the author. Yesterday, I asked the author to stop writing for us.

At FanHouse, we stay true to the spirit of the blogosphere by allowing dozens of writers to post their work unedited, so long as that work stays within the bounds of good taste. The benefit of this is that we've been able to bring on dozens of writers from the 'net, pay them for their work, and build the web's most-trafficked sports blog.

But things can slip through the cracks. After corresponding with the writer of the Mata post, I have no reason to believe he intended to be hateful. But I no longer trust his judgment posting unedited work. And that means he's a bad match for FanHouse.

Gabe Silva, morose human being, reflects on the world of sports talks to himself in his room.

As someone who's trying to train for a marathon by running in northern Manhattan, I can attest to the ways smog can mess with your lungs. Horrible ways.



Previously on FanHouse:
2008 Update: The Air in Beijing Is Kung Pao Spicy

If you're an over-40 wrestler, you should really stay away from the city.



Previously on FanHouse:
'No Visible Signs of Injuries' in Death of Wrestler Brian Adams, Crush of Demolition
Elijah Dukes' Mom Wants All These Women to Quit Trying to Get Pregnant
George Steinbrenner Is Not Aging Well

The onetime master of man-on-man dialogue takes on Ultimate Fighting. And he's decided to cast Tim Allen. Not at all sure how this is going to work, if at all.



Previously on FanHouse:
UFC 73: Tito Ortiz Calls Rashad Evans a 'Nappy-Headed Ho'

Marco, a regular contributor to the Just Call Me Juice sports blog, was in Spain this weekend and filed a report from the final day of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.

5:00 AM: While on a trip to Barcelona to visit my sister, I noticed that the Running of the Bulls was going on in (sorta) nearby Pamplona. Following a six-hour bus ride form Barcelona, we arrived in Pamplona around 5 AM.

The first reaction after walking off the bus was that this town had clearly been partying for days. The entire town smelled like a port-o-potty, and trash covered the ground as far as the eye could see. (The only event I could compare it to is the Preakness, except that the smell there was confined to the racetrack.)

Random people could be seen stumbling around the streets in the traditional red and white bull running outfits. You could not walk 10 feet without running into someone who decided to spend the night on the sidewalk.