Watching UFC the past few years I get the feeling the sport wants to go mainstream. Maybe I'm wrong that the UFC wants to be a top sport accepted socially and also be a viably, profitable sport. Personally, I love UFC. Our TV is, for real, on Directv channel 618 at least 2-3 hours every night. Even when re-runs are playing. Much of the time because I want it there.
The one thing that bothers me is the seemingly lack of "control" over some of the "stars". To be a mainstream sport you need to be family friendly. Having a fighter like Nick Diaz acting like a backstreet fighter using foul language and flipping off opponents inside and outside the ring ain't going to cut it. It's crude.
I don't have children. If I did I'd have them playing hockey and probably wrestling. I seriously would not want my kids to see Diaz fight, purely from the lack of emotional discipline he has. Sure, he has great physical discipline to be a athlete. However, to be an idol for kids? Well, he is extremely lacking. If I had kids I would worry they would want to be imitate Diaz--if he was there favorite winner in UFC.
Acting as he does without changing (if he is receiving verbal warnings or whatever) is also concerning to me about polluting the sport. One fighter acts like that and becomes successful and popular, and well, a precedence is set for others who follow. Trash talking is one thing. Boxing has that. WWE has it as well. Being uncouth is in an entirely different category than soap opera'y trash talk. And when mainstream comes a calling nobody wants uncouth potty mouths on the TV in the living room while little Susie plays dolls.
Maybe Diaz doesn't care about what one may call legacy. But management should.
(Side note: I don't put Chael Sonnen in the category of needing change in order to go mainstream. He is a hilariously funny narcissistic personality. Well, I don't believe he is narcissistic, not at least totally. I believe he is smart and has used his genius quick wit to set himself for a life after fighting in a very intelligent way.)
Ice hockey is unlike other sports in one way: managing discipline. Sure, there are the players with drug, alcohol and attitude problems. But teams seem to get a handle on their players quickly and swiftly. Enforcers who take their jobs past the purpose generally change style and penalty minutes in a few years. Chicago Blackhawk, Patrick Kane seemed to be on a bit of a downward spiral last year. Wow, this year his team made a historic run. Perhaps it's because his club said "get it together or we're sending you on"??? I don't know if they did that or not. From the outside looking in that looks like what happens in the barn in the pond sport.
Maybe other sports should take a look at the natural order of things in the sport of hockey.
...............Go GSP................Some may not like everything about you, the way you win, etc. Every area in your life might not be perfect but everything about you seems pretty dad-gummed disciplined and for me, that says a lot about being a hero. (Insert Hall of Fame song here.)
(This is just a lowly, sports loving person's rant that is all over the place, not based on research, so don't hate on me. This is just my opinion. I'll probably come back later to change, add, alter contents as I think of new ideas. Much like poor ole Justin Bieber last night on Instagram. Not that I read Justin Bieber's Instagram at night.)
