Check out these five reasons UFC is better than boxing.

1. Violence Sells
Boxing is a violent sport but compared to mixed martial arts, it looks like walking in the park on a clear spring day. While in boxing the fighters wear plush gloves and are only allowed a certain number of moves, the UFC gives fighters virtually free reign to beat their opponent any way they see fit.

2. More Good Fights
In boxing, how many boxers are actually fun to watch? You can probably name fighters you would pay to see on one hand. During a UFC event, you get nearly a dozen fights – each with their own sub plot. If one or two fights disappoint, there are plenty others to make up for it.

3. No Attention Span Needed
We like things fast. Fast food. Fast cars. Fast girls. The UFC fights are very fast. Three rounds instead of the usual 12 rounds in boxing makes a big difference. You can watch a whole fight without having to get up to get a replacement beer.

4. Getting Better and Better
Boxing is an old sport. It’s been around forever. The same powerful people behind the scenes have controlled the sport for decades. The UFC, on the other hand, is new. Everyone likes to be a part of the up and coming. Being a UFC fan now is like getting in on the ground floor of a successful corporation.

5. UFC Ring Girls

The New York Yankees reportedly have a deal on the table that would make CC Sabathia the highest paid pitcher in all of baseball. The deal, which is reportedly for six years and a total of $140 million, would surpass the contract the New York Mets gave Johan Santana last season.

While Sabathia is a good pitcher who can oftentimes be great, signing Sabathia to a mega contract would be a colossal mistake for the Yankees. It’d go down alongside the signing of Barry Zito by the San Francisco Giants as the biggest wastes of money in baseball history.

The first problem is that Sabathia doesn’t pitch well under pressure. Examples can be found in many places. To start off the 2008 campaign, Sabathia struggled mightily due to the pressure of his pending free agency. In his career, he has also been horrid in the postseason.

Not being able to handle pressure will not go over well in New York. Everything he does will be under the microscope and each and every game will feel like a playoff game. Sabathia might have good stretches but he’ll get worn down by the pressure and eventually crack.

Secondly, Sabathia obviously doesn’t take the best care of his body. The 28-year-old 300 pounder will balloon up even more once he reaches his 30’s. His metabolism will slow and he will suddenly begin to tilt the scales at 350 instead of 300.

Last but not least is the fact that Sabathia has a ton of mileage on his arm already. In his eight years in the majors, he has pitched more than 1,650 innings. In the last two years ago, Sabathia has pitched more than 500 innings.

If the Yankees were smart, they’d be bargain hunting this winter. However, it appears that instead the Yankees will once again waste millions of dollars.

5. New York Giants
The defending Super Bowl champions are once again a very good defensive team. While they don’t have the amazing pass rush they had last year, they are a solid all-around defense. They give up only 177.1 yards per game in the air, which is second best in the NFL. The Giants are a serious threat to win another Super Bowl this year — in large part due to their defense.

4. Baltimore Ravens
In the Ray Lewis Era, the Baltimore Ravens have been a very good defensive unit. Coming into this season, the Ravens were thought to be over the hill on the defensive side of the ball. It turns out that the supposed NFL experts were wrong. In 2008, Baltimore has been almost impossible to run against, as they give up only 65.4 yards per game on the ground. No team in the league looks forward to facing this veteran yet effective defensive bunch.

3. Carolina Panthers
The odd part of the Carolina Panthers’ defense is they aren’t especially good in any one category. However, the bottomline is it’s difficult to score on this team. The Panthers give up only 14.8 points per game, which is second best in the NFL. While it’s possible to get yards against the Panthers, getting into the endzone has proven to be quite difficult.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers have long been a very good defensive team — and this year is no different. They lead the league in pass defense, allowing only 171.1 yards per game. Overall, no team gives up less yardage per game. Pittsburgh mark of 240.3 yards given up per game is more than 18 yards better than second place Baltimore.

1. Tennessee Titans
The main reason why the Tennessee Titans are currently undefeated is their league-best defense. The Titans give up only 13 points per game, which is easily the best mark in the league. Tennessee can pressure the quarterback, stop the run and shut down passing games. All in all, no team in the NFL can claim to have a better defense than the one in Tennessee.

Part of the reason why it’s hard to score against the Titans is their distracting cheerleading squad:

The highlight of Wednesday night’s NBA games was definitely the scuffle in the game between the Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns.

When Suns forward Matt Barnes set a hard (cheap shot) pick on Rafer Alston, that’s when it all got started. Alston took offense and got in Barnes’ face. Phoenix point guard Steve Nash decided to get in the mix and pushed (elbowed?) Alston. Then Shaq decided to intervene.

Instead of pulling people apart, Shaq put an end to most of the ruckus by pushing people down, including Rockets star Tracy McGrady.

Did you miss it? That’s okay, we have the video right here including some good angles on the replay. I’m not sure anyone deserves to be suspended, but I’m sure commissioner David Stern will hand down some fines. Barnes started it, but it was kind of funny to see Shaq pushing people down near the end.

If you’ve glanced at the Portland Trail Blazers’ roster recently, you’ll know why a lot of NBA fanatics believe that the Blazers may be the next dynasty in basketball. Sure, their championships aren’t going to start pouring in this year, but all the pieces seem to be in place for multiple titles over the next decade.

Here are five reasons why the Blazers may become the NBA’s next dynasty:

1. Bigmen in the Middle - Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge
To date, Oden’s career has been a disappointment. He missed his entire rookie season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee. This season, in his second attempt at a rookie season, he got injured in the first quarter of the first game. The sprained foot is to keep him out at least another couple of weeks. All that said, Oden has the body and the talent to become a dominant center in the NBA who could be a dominant defensive force. Next to him will be LaMarcus Aldridge, who has a chance to become one of the best power forwards in the NBA.

2. Superstar Wing – Brandon Roy
Roy is one of the most talented players in the league – and hardly anyone knows his name. Capable of playing point guard, shooting guard or small forward, Roy’s all-around game is breathtaking and he’s already proven to be a clutch performer. Whether he’s scoring in an isolation play or setting up his teammates, he is a player who continually makes an impact when he’s on the court.

3. International Greatness
The Blazers scouts have searched Europe in the last few years and they’ve now landed two very good players in Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum. Fernandez is a player in the mold of Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs, while Batum is the second coming of Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons. Although they are both rookies this season, expect Fernandez and Batum to blossom in short order.

4. Athletic Role Players
The NBA continues to draw more and more athleticism to its game. The Blazers are ahead of the curve when it comes to stockpiling a roster full of athletes. Small forward Travis Outlaw is an athletic freak who has an expanded repertoire of skills. Martell Webster mixes athleticism and three-point accuracy.

5. Sideline Sensations
Coach Nate McMillan is one of the best basketball minds on the planet. Even though he’s only 44, McMillan has a lot of head coaching experience and is regarded as one of the premier coaches in the NBA. Not only does McMillan rule the sidelines, but the Blazers also have quite a bit of other Steamy Sports approved talent on the sidelines, as you can see in the picture below.

As part of the trade that sent Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets and Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons, power forward Antonio McDyess was also sent from Detroit to Denver. Although McDyess’ inclusion in the trade didn’t make too many headlines, he’ll be a much wanted man over the next couple of weeks.

McDyess was released from his contract after being traded to Denver and will soon become a free agent. Although the 34-year-old is no longer a star, he’s a very serviceable bigman who can hit the perimeter jumper, defend and rebound. NBA teams will be lining up around the block to try to woo him.

Many league experts expect McDyess to end up back in Detroit. Previously, he had said that he’d rather retire than to play for another team than the Pistons. While McDyess definitely has ties to Detroit, he needs to take a closer look at the situation.

Prior to the season he lost his starting job to Amir Johnson, a young, athletic power forward prospect with an enormous upside. Soon after, the Pistons gave undersized yet energetic power forward Jason Maxiell a sizeable contract extension. Additionally, Kwame Brown was brought in during the offseason to supply bulk to the frontline of the Pistons. McDyess needs to read the writing on the wall and recognize that he no longer fits in Detroit.

While a number of teams will undoubtedly go after him including the defending champion Boston Celtics, the team that McDyess would fit best on is the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs are a team that desperately needs what McDyess can bring to the table. Outside of Tim Duncan, the Spurs lack a quality bigman. And with both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili out with injury, the Spurs could also use McDyess’ outside touch.

Once the Spurs get healthy, McDyess will have a starting role next to Duncan. He’ll have both Parker and Ginobili to feed him the ball and he’ll get as many open jumpers as he wants. If everything comes together for San Antonio, McDyess will even be able to have a shot at the 2008-09 NBA championship.

Almost everyone plays fantasy football these days. You can turn on an NFL broadcast without repeated discussion about fantasy football. Chances are that you are in a fantasy football league right now.

So which fantasy players have been the best during the 2008 NFL season? Let’s take a look at each position.

QB Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers
Who would have thought that Rivers would be the top fantasy quarterback in the NFL? You would have won a lot of money on that bet. But with Tom Brady out for the sesaon and most of the other stars underperforming, Rivers is the head of the class this season.

RB Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins
The Redskins love to run the ball, which has been great news for Portis and his fantasy owners. He has consistently gotten a great amount of touches each week and has produced very well. While he may break down due to injury, he has held up so far in 2008.

WR Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons
Who? While hardcore fantasy football owners and Falcons fans knew he was, White is just now getting national recognition. With rookie quarterback Matt Ryan tossing him the rock, White has looked like the combination of Randy Moss and Terrell Owens at times this season.

TE Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City Chiefs
Now this one isn’t much of a surprise. Gonzalez is one of the best tight ends in NFL history — if not the very best. He started off the fantasy football season slowly but has really picked it up over the past month. He’s now once again the best tight end in the game.

Cheerleader, Washington Redskins

No wonder Clinton Portis is running so hard this season.

It seems as if everyone on earth, outside of a few high ranking NCAA officials, is in favor of a playoff system in college football. Even Barack Obama a few days before being elected as the president of the United States said he was an ardent supporter of a playoff system.

Eventually, the current BCS system is going to fall and a playoff system will be instituted. However, that won’t fix everything. In fact, all the whining we hear now will still be alive and well – it’ll just be redirected.

Right now, the whining is usually centered on how the third and fourth ranked teams deserve a shot at the National Championship. If a playoff system is used that uses eight teams, that same whining will be centered on how the ninth and tenth ranked teams deserve to be in the playoffs.

College basketball only has limited whining because just about every quality basketball team on the continent gets into the field. With 65 spots, a team has to be very mediocre to not get into the field.

College football, on the other hand, simply can’t do a playoff with 65 teams. At the very most 16 teams may be able to be in the playoff mix, although that is unlikely. The two most likely numbers are four and eight. And truthfully, those aren’t enough teams to stop the whining.

So yes, we all support playoffs in college football. But we should also realize it won’t be the ultimate fix.

President-Elect Obama talking about college football playoffs..

Allen Iverson could very well be a Hall of Fame player. He made it to the Finals on a Philadelphia 76ers squad that simply wasn’t that great. He’s been to the All-Star game countless times and is one of the most popular players in the game. That said, the Detroit Pistons made a mistake by trading for him.

The main problem concerning Iverson in Detroit is that he’ll need to play point guard. Although Iverson looks like a point guard and sometimes can even have the stats of a point guard, he’s always been more effective as a shooting guard. Trying to replace the steady hand of Chauncey Billups with the erratic decision making of Iverson is going to be a disaster.

Another problem is the backlash of the supporting cast. Players like Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace won’t like it when they turn into spectators of the Allen Iverson Show. They are going to go from being involved in almost every play to playing a secondary role. If you don’t think this issue can boil over, you don’t know much about Rasheed.

Finally, Iverson simply isn’t as good as he used to be. He’s a player who has depended on speed and quickness in his career but now that he’s over 30, he’s been slowing down each season. This year, he could very well hit the wall and be forced to rely on his shaky jumper rather than his ability to get to the basket.

Pistons general manager Joe Dumars has made great trades in the past but this one will be ugly as Iverson will turn into a bust for Detroit.

Iverson Mix …

Buck Burnette, a backup offensively lineman on the Texas Longhorns, obviously did something stupid. Apparently he was a John McCain supporter leading up to the recent United States presidential election. After Barack Obama became won the election, Burnette decided to send out a Facebook comment. What did the Burnette’s Facebook comment say?

“all the hunters gather up, we have a #$%&er in the whitehouse”

That remark is definitely indefensible. Not only is it stupid, it’s potentially dangerous. People have gone to jail for less than saying something as stupid as that comment. It reeks of racism. As a result, Burnette was kicked off the Longhorns football team.

All that said, even though that was a horrible decision on Burnette’s part, kicking him off the UT football team wasn’t necessarily the right move. Burnette is in college, where the main focus is to learn. What better way to learn how racism is wrong than in an environment dominated by African-Americans? I’m sure a teammate or two would like to speak with him regarding his comments.

Additionally, by kicking him off the team, you are just building up more hatred and resentment in the kid’s mind. Discipline him, sure. Suspend him for a couple games. Make him run a few marathons before and after practice. Send him for counseling or race relation classes. But don’t simply kick Burnette off the team.

As Barack Obama would say, that solution would be like using a hatchet when a scalpel was needed.

And in case you missed it, here’s President-elect Barack Obama’s acceptance speech: