Morales vs. Borgomeo Summary

Lorenzo Borgomeo, a lightweight based out of American Top Team, is cornered by WEC featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown. Daniel Morales, his opponent, began the fight with a two solid low kicks in an effort to chop down his taller opponent. Morales went for a takedown but Borgomeo sprawled nicely. Borgomeo landed a sharp left hook that put Morales on his back. Borgomeo flurries in search of a finish, but Morales regained his composure. The rest of the first round Borgomeo displayed crisp boxing technique as he tagged Morales from a distance. The round ends with Borgomeo getting a Muay Thai plumb clinch and blasting Morales with some huge knees. The second round opened with a heroic salvo by Morales. He rushed out at the bell and threw some bombs at Borgomeo. Borgomeo weathered the storm and began to really work the Thai clinch. One of Borgomeo's knees hit Morales below the belt, and the referee separated the fighters briefly. Lorenzo took the round based on decisive clinch work, despite the early flurrying by Morales. The third round began with Morales seeking a knockout. He threw big looping shots, but none landed. Both fighters were visibly winded, but Morales got a much-needed takedown. Morales was unable to get any offense going other than a haphazard ankle lock attempt, and Lorenzo reversed to top position. He dropped some big hammer fists before locking in a rear naked choke. Morales tapped out at 3:46 of round number three after a gutsy battle.

Morales vs. Borgomeo play-by-play

Round 1

Morales lands a few good low kicks to start the fight and attempts to close the distance, but Lorenzo pushes him away. Lorenzo lands a short left and drops Morales. Lorenzo follows up with strikes but can’t capitalize for a finish. Morales goes for a takedown and the fighters clinch against the cage. Lorenzo shows great takedown defense. Lorenzo backs up Morales with strikes, his reach advantage really becoming clear. Morales can’t seem to find his effective striking range. The fighters exchange, but no big shots are landed by either man. Lorenzo is getting the better of the exchanges. Lorenzo is showing better technique throwing straight punches, while Morales is throwing wide looping shots. Lorenzo gets a Muay Thai clinch and hurts Morales with a big knee and some follow up punches to end the round.

10-9 Borgomeo

Round 2

Morales comes out aggressive and lands a good right hand. He is backing up Lorenzo and then clinches briefly. Superman punch by Morales. Front push kick by Lorenzo. Lorenzo grabs the Thai plumb clinch and blasts Morales to the body, but then lands an inadvertent low blow. The referee separates the fighters. Morales rests for a moment. Lorenzo continues to pepper Morales with jabs and straights. He grabs the Thai plumb against the cage and knees the body again. He is really going to town with the knees to the body and head. Morales is in trouble and is clinching out of desperation. Lorenzo absolutely tees off with knees. Morales puts Lorenzo against the cage. Both fighters look tired. Lorenzo grabs the clinch and continues to pile on the knees. Borgomeo is cut as he walks back to his corner.

10-9 Borgomeo

Round 3

The round begins with Morales throwing big looping shots. Lorenzo once again returns the knee assault to the body. Morales needs to finish his opponent in order to win. Lorenzo uses a front push kick to back Morales into the cage. Brutal low kick by Lorenzo. Both fighters are exhausted. Morales catches a kick and takes Lorenzo down, but doesn’t inflict all that much damage. Lorenzo uses a really high guard, but Morales drops back for an ankle lock, which fails. Lorenzo reverses position and gets Morales’ back. He quickly locks in the rear naked choke and induces a fight-ending tapout.

Perfunctory Extra Credit Post

Friday, April 10th, the University of Oklahoma was the site of the 40th annual John Jacobs Invitational.  This high school track and field meet featured athletes from all over the state running, jumping, throwing, and vaulting against one another in search glory and locker room immortality.  

For some, the thrill of victory led to great celebration:

(picture NOT taken at the John Jacobs track meet)

For others, the agony of defeat was the cause of great sorrow:

(again, picture NOT from the John Jacobs invitational)

I went to the John Jacobs track around 11 on Friday morning to meet up with some of my high school friends.  I ran track all four years in high school, so being back on the high school track meet scene brought back a flood of memories.  While I was searching for people from my high school I snapped this action shot of the beginning of one of the girls' 100 meter dash races:

All of the girls seem to be coming out of their blocks at close to the same speed.  However, I would have to say the two girls on the far right seem to be a little quicker.  I wish I would have paid attention to who ended up winning.

I eventually tracked down one of my old teammates.  He was a freshman while I was a senior, so we ran together for one season.

This photo was taken minutes before he competed in the two mile.  I watched the race and cheered enthusiastically.  He ended up with a time of  about 11:39, which he was pleased with.

I also got to catch up with my old coach.  

We chatted during the two mile race.  The day before the track team had competed at another meet in the town of Marlow.  He said that they treated that meet basically as junior varsity.  He wanted the team to be well rested for John Jacobs, which is a much more prestigious meet with a lot stiffer competition.  

Although I would have loved to spend the rest of the afternoon with the track team, I had to leave to go to work and then class.  I was glad to be able to go to the track meet though.  It served two valuable purposes.  First, I was able to talk to some old friends and catch up.  Second, it provided me an extra credit opportunity for JMC 2033.  It is safe to say that two birds were slain, while only one stone was spent.

Scanlan's Hotlists: if by "hot" they mean defunct...

I am supposed to include in this blog "an entry of my choice".  However, I have been instructed that this entry must pertain to the JMC 2033 class and must also include a link.  

I thought that the main text for the class, Reporting and Writing: Basics for the 21st Century by Christopher Scanlan would be a good source for my class-pertaining blog.  

Little did I know that utter frustrations awaited.

The book, which will be referred to as Scanlan for the rest of this post, was published in 2000.  Although nine years does not seem like a long time, for the subject matter of this particular text it is an eternity.  The technology-fueled field of modern journalism is changing at break-neck speed.  A text book nearly a decade old is guaranteed to be full of glaring holes, and Scanlan is no exception.

At the end of each chapter, Scanlan lists links under the heading "Hotlist".  These links are printed in their full HTML form.  For example:

 http://screen.com/mnet/eng/med/class/teammedia/cbc.htm

(Hint: It leads to nothing.)

Despite the onslaught of official-looking forward slashes, this link is, in fact, dead.

Unfortunately, "links" like the one above seem to be the norm rather than the exception in the many Hotlists of Scanlan.  

I tried in vain to visit around ten of these sites Scanlan insists are hot, only to be met with numerous variations of the "web site not found" message.  I even received a classic "HTTP 404 error" screen, which brought back memories of modems and dial-up internet from the mid 90's.  

The worst part is that the first site I was able to reach that actually worked

had not been updated in over six years.

Yes, on a website that Scanlan promised would offer me "information about the history and function of grand juries", under the heading "What's New on the site?" the most recent date was 2/26/03.  

So while my post began as a summary of one of the helpful links made available in my text, it ends in a brutal condemnation of the book and a long-overdue cry for it to be replaced.  This is simply unacceptable.  

What makes a blog "powerful"?

This article is titled the "The world's 50 most powerful blogs".  It lists 50 blogs, widely varied in content, and has a paragraph-long blurb explaining why each particular blog deserved a spot on the list.  

The blogs on the list are widely varied.  Blogs about politics, celebrity gossip, photographs, traditional diary-style confessional outlets, and even a blog dedicated to a computer game all make the list.  There are blogs geared for lesbians and blogs geared for the technology savvy.  I would venture to say that the list might just contain something for everyone.  

However, I did notice a few areas that seemed to be underrepresented.  There was one blog devoted to European football, but other than that sports blogs were noticeably absent from the list.  There was a blog dedicated to popular music, and several were solely focused on reporting on every insignificant detail of the lives of famous celebrities.  But blogs about other aspects of entertainment were missing from the list.  Where were the blogs about movies and television programs?

Also, the very name of the article bothers me.  "Powerful" is defined as "having or exerting great power or force".  Blogs do not exert force.  Sure, they may influence a few thousand readers on a regular basis.  So why not name the list the 50 most influential blogs?  Calling them powerful is ridiculous, especially when one examines some of the blogs on the list.  TMZ.com is the epitome of sensational journalism.  Legitimizing it by calling it "powerful"

 only cheapens the word.

Texas once again displays true class...

Last Saturday, the University of Texas Longhorns football team held their annual spring game.  Nothing out of the ordinary came out of the scrimmage, except Texas claiming a title that doesn't belong to them.

The reporters who were at the spring game noticed an 2008 Big 12 Conference championship display with an asterisk inside the Texas training facility.  

The University of Oklahoma beat Missouri for the Big 12 championship last December after using BCS standings to break the tie with UT.  

The Texas assistant athletic director for media relations, John Bianco, told the media that Texas head coach Mack Brown "wasn't aware of the Big 12 title listing and will have it fixed."  

University of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, ever the classy sportsman, said, "It doesn't matter to me at all.  I know there isn't one (as asterisk) on ours.  I know where the trophy is."

University of Texas really comes off looking foolish in this one.  Sure, they had a tough break last season.  They had a great team that won a lot of games, and they did not receive an invitation to play for the Big 12 championship despite having beaten both teams playing for it.  

However, this does not give UT the right to go around re-writing history to suit their own pragmatic tastes.  OU beat MU for the title.  End of story.  Cry me a river, Bevo.  

http://www.normantranscript.com/archivesearch/local_story_097020059.html