Written by James Ryan “Peyton and I love each other. That goes without saying. I humbly serve and protect the Horseshoe. It is bigger than any individual, including me.”—Jim Irsay, Indianapolis Colts Owner Wow, how very “Joe Paterno” of him. That particular quote was willfully published via Twitter today, and was in response to Peyton’s recent reaction to his friends and trainers being dismissed from the Colts organization without having been given any apparent notice (or respect). “I guess it’s the reality of the football world,” said Manning. “Just not something I’ve...

Written by James Ryan “Certainly, it seems true enough that there’s a good deal of irony in the world… I mean, if you live in a world full of politicians and advertising, there’s obviously a lot of deception.”—Kenneth Koch There’s nothing I look forward to at the end of a long day more than a nice cold pint of Guinness, and I always try to make sure that I have a few extra cans stocked up in the fridge to get me through the week (usually one per day suits me just fine) in preparation for thirst-quenching emergencies such as the one that I’m currently...

Written by James Ryan “Success without honour is an unseasoned dish. It will satisfy your hunger, but it won’t taste good.”—Coach Joe Paterno Brazilian entertainer, MC Frank, seems like a truly great guy. It’s really refreshing to see the support that he and many others have been offering former WEC fighter, Will Ribeiro, especially when you consider that so many others have tucked-tail and run away from the controversy due to callousness or fear of retribution. As a side note, I would just like to say the following with regards to Will and the whole situation that went down with...

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 Herald, it would seem that the local government only allows MMA events to be held inside of a boxing ring, and not inside of a cage, with no exceptions, not even for the UFC. At first glance, this seems like a very odd and hypocritical rule,...

Written by James Ryan Knowing that not everyone has the time, interest or attention span to actually sit down and watch all of the videos or read all of the articles and comments related to the recent controversy surrounding the ESPN report that was done on ‘Outside the Lines’ which focused specifically on UFC fighter pay, I decided that I would invest a little time of my own and write out a quick summary to help UFC fans to better understand the main issues that are currently surrounding this particular topic. For starters, here is the ESPN video (9 minutes 13 seconds): Next, here is the...

Written by James Ryan “The minute you know when you’ll be tested, it’s very easy to make sure you don’t test positive.” Today, Keith Kizer, who is the Executive Director for the Nevada State Athletic Commission, confirmed that former Strikeforce (now owned by the UFC parent company, Zuffa LLC) Light Heavyweight Champion, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, tested positive for the anabolic steroid, Drostanolone (most commonly sold under the brand name, Masteron) following his first round TKO win over Lorenz Larkin on January 7th at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas,...

Written by James Ryan “You have to risk going too far to discover just how far you can really go.”—T.S. Eliot In that regard, I can certainly empathize with UFC fighter, Miguel Torres—to a point that is. On one hand, it’s a good thing that the UFC brought Torres back from his recent termination over a “rape van” joke that was made via Twitter (actually, it was less of a joke, and more of a quote from the unusually offensive TV show, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which currently airs on the new home network of the UFC—FOX Television). #ironic On the other hand, Torres never...

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” When I first set out to be a professional writer, I didn’t even know what I wanted to write about. All I really knew was that I wanted to help people, and I definitely wanted to somehow make a positive difference in this mixed-up, crazy world of ours. And that’s the God’s honest truth. Working at Niagara College, I still recall my manager at the time asking me that dreaded question that everyone hates, “James, what do you want to do with your life?” You see…working and teaching part-time...