I'm a writer, a father, a lifetime martial artist, and a youth football coach with the Niagara Storm. I also bartend at the Irish Harp Pub in N-O-T-L Canada. Cheers!
“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”—Wilma Rudolph It’s been nearly two weeks since the Niagara Storm football organization, based out of Grimsby, played against the Niagara Spears at a local charity [...]
The talent-rich Niagara Region is officially busting at the seams with many outstanding young athletes. So many in fact, that the Niagara Spears, who as members of the OVFL, and have always been considered to be the elite youth football program in the entire Niagara area, are now sharing this overabundance of talent with another [...]
How many adults out there have ever looked back on the best sporting moments of their childhood and have wished that they could relive some of those memories for one last glorious time? One more shot at victory. One final game changing play. One more chance to go to war with the best friends and [...]
“We’re not just gonna do the physical aspect of it. We’re also gonna teach them things that will help them in their life.” Many of you reading this may or may not be familiar with the name, Coach D Jo Jones, but I can just about guarantee that you’re already very familiar with her body [...]
“Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love.”—Morihei Ueshiba Recently, I had the pleasure of watching a video on ESPN’s ‘Outside the Lines’ special, which specifically highlighted the life and challenges of an aspiring MMA fighter from Utah by [...]
Written by James Ryan “I tried to commit suicide last night—I won’t be doing that again. I nearly f*cking died.”—Justin Faux In case you haven’t already heard, the UFC’s plan to hold an upcoming event in Melbourne, Australia, was cancelled this week due to one small, very significant factor—the Octagon. According to the Sydney Morning [...]
“Progress always involves risk. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.”—Frederick B. Wilcox When I was first approached by my good friend, Pat “the Beard” Barba, with the idea of hosting my very own video show (“What??!! Are you crazy??!!!), I have to admit that I had very mixed feelings about [...]
It’s been a very upsetting past 24-hours for Will Ribeiro supporters, as news filtered out yesterday into multiple social media networks, that Will was apparently being barred from attending the UFC 134 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this upcoming weekend. The reason? Apparently, my new book, Desolate Warrior was to blame. Despite the many [...]
The way I see it, the problem with MMA’s popularity (or “lack of” popularity from a mainstream sporting perspective) has absolutely nothing to do with accessibility. In other words, between Spike TV, Sportsnet, Facebook, and of course, UFC Pay-per-views (or illegal Internet streams of PPV’s—whichever suits your financial needs), I haven’t had to miss a [...]
As many MMA fans are already well aware, this past week was a massive step forward towards the UFC’s ultimate goal of mainstream acceptance and popularity, as they signed an exclusive network television deal with Fox Television worth approximately $100 million per year over the next several years. That’s a lot of cheese. “Familiarity with [...]