Let's get one thing out of the way: I'm not a big fan of mixed martial arts. I don't watch much of the UFC, nor The Ultimate Fighter. I don't have anything against the sport. It's just not my thing.
(I thought about adding a list of other sports that aren't my thing, but as I'll get to shortly, I've already made enough enemies in the last week.) Still, I enjoyed the School of Hard Knocks 16 card staged at Spectra Place on Saturday night.
You never really know what to expect from these smaller, regional groups, whether the sport is MMA, wrestling or something else. But as local fighter Derek Daku said, the show was professional and, although I wouldn't know, I'd bet it probably felt a little like being at a UFC event.
Staging the card at Spectra Place had something to do with that, but the fights were entertaining and Hard Knocks organizers created a setup that made it feel like a big-time event, from the lights to the music to the ring itself. The thunderous roar from the crowd when Daku dropped Justin Schmit was the exclamation point on the evening.
Despite a small group of volunteers, the event went off without many issues, although some minor hockey games had to be moved around on Sunday because the glass was still being re-installed.
There was also the long line for beer, but that's a matter for another column. (Hey, didn't we say that after the Tom Cochrane concert?)
Last week's story about the SJHL possibly joining a new western championship resulted in a couple of interesting days at the office.
The backlash exceeded anything I had expected, with the story creating a buzz across Western Canada and making it all the way up to Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson.
Hockey Canada and the presidents of the western leagues were not pleased because they felt the story indicated that the leagues were going to pull out of the RBC Cup.
To clarify, the only information in the story pertaining to the national championship was quoted directly from the strategic plan obtained by the Mercury. My opinion? The powers that be are miffed that they can no longer control the release of the information.
Here are my goalie stats from one of my fantasy hockey match-ups last week: five wins, four shutouts, 0.50 goals-against average, .982 save percentage. One of my goalies was Ryan Miller. Three guesses who the other one was.
Josh Lewis can be reached by phone at 634-2654, by e-mail at sports@estevanmercury.ca, on Twitter at twitter.com/joshlewis306 or on his Bruins blog at bruinbanter.blogspot.com. He still thinks the Colts could have staged a comeback on Sunday night if they were playing NFL Blitz.
