Yamanose Sports Ledger 10/29/17 - Yuli Gurriel, Bob McNair & Some Guy I've Never Heard Of

I had some sports musings that I was going to include in my UFC 217 picks column but it got really long really fast just by itself so I decided to forego them. However, within a matter of days three very similar stories with varying degrees of severity popped up and I felt like throwing in my opinion for whatever it's worth. So I decided to create an entirely new feature, the Yamanose Sports Ledger, a general sports column. I'll probably never do a second edition of YSL but it's here if I need it!

When people are offended now, it can be difficult to judge whether or not the outrage is justified. Clay Travis often says that social media is a funhouse mirror that distorts reality. "Sides" such as they are become polarized and people becoming entirely incapable of debating issues rationally; Everything is either classified as a world ending indignation or the wailing of whimpering snowflakes with no in-between.

Of course, the truth is that everything should be judged on a case-by-case basis and all of reality exists on a scale - a concept those who are especially gender-conscious ought to already be intimately familiar with but often actually aren't. I feel like I'm a very reasonable, moderate person so I'm happy to serve as the arbiter and rank three offensive acts in order of least to most concerning.

Analysis after the jump

UFC 214 Picks and Herd/MayGregor rant

Liberal sports writers and opinion makers exploded in outrage after the Mayweather-McGregor press tour, decrying Conor McGregor's racially insensitive taunts with some branding him an outright racist and all bemoaning the existence of The Joint Business Venture™ to begin with. It becomes very difficult to tell when accusations of racism are for real with the frequency with which they are leveled nowadays. I don't know what is in Conor McGregor's heart or mind and I doubt any of these pundits do either. I will say this though - McGregor's pathetic excuse that he can't be racist because he loves black culture and listens to hip-hop all the time sounds an awful lot like the outlooks of many, many virtue signaing left-wing white milennial writers, for example almost everyone who works for the Ringer. Those people are all more prejudiced than they understand so who knows?

Of course the most glaring insult is that the people who willed this into existence are the very sports media hacks now decrying it. With 24 hours of content to fill, they all latch on to loudmouths like Conor hailing him as the greatest fighter ever to walk the Earth, mostly because he tells them he is so they don't have to do the resarch and watch the actual fights themselves. they elevated him and made his wishes reality and now that he has offended their sensibilities they're determined to debase and discredit him.

Nowhere is this more evident than with Colin Cowherd. I listen to Colin all the time and enjoy his NFL and college football takes but the guy should just stay away from opining on MMA as he reveals his own ignorance. He mocks MMA fans saying they refuse to see reason and think Conor not only has a chance but will win. No bud, the people saying that are Conor stans. People who are truly invested in MMA think the whole affair is a farce - I've not talked about it all without first being asked about it and have not actively sought out anything about it beyond what appears organically in my feeds. He should be defending his belt(s). Never forget - 4 belts, 0 defenses. Everything he does is in self-interest which is great for him but erodes the credibility of the organization that promotes him and pretty much only him.

Colin has no perspective on MMA and does not do his research. He claims that Conor is the best fighter in the UFC. No, he is the most famous. Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson are both head and shoulders above him in those sorts of accolades. Tony Ferguson is a nightmare matchup for him which is probably why he'd rather fight Khabib upon his return. Cowherd says Conor has lost three times in the UFC. He's lost once - the three are in his career overall. The nuance is important MMA records are toptally different from the type of boxing records to which he was equating with. He says Conor does not KO most of his opponents. In the UFC he has KO/TKO'd 7 of 10 opponents, in his career overall 18 of 24 a rate of 70% and 75% respectively. That sure sounds like most to me. If you cannot get basic facts right why should anyone listen to your presuppositions?

Colin also contends that Dana White is the face of the UFC and we should all bow down and be eternally thankful for that. Bro do you not realize that the non-competing promoter being the bulbous, red face of his fighting organization is a BAD thing? It means he is not doing his goddamn job which is literally to "promote" them. Wacky idea, I know. Finally, he equates Mayweather vs McGregor as Duke vs Coastal Carolina in NCAA Basketball, a #16 vs #1. My analogy would be it's more like Nike & Adidas vs Lavar Ball, another guy you grossly overexposed and with that in mind I'll repeat his catchphrase back to you: "Stay in your lane".

Picks after the jump.