Sunday, April 20, 2008
UFC 83
I had a fantastic time. The UFC put on a good show, and the fans delivered as most Montreal crowds do. Even the weigh-in, which happened the day before, was attended by 5,000 people and they were enthusiastic throughout the whole thing. I mean, think about it: we're spending our afternoon watching guys step on a scale. When Matt Serra, hated opponent of local hero Georges St Pierre, tried to answer questions asked by a UFC interviewer, the crowd wanted no part of it and the chorus of boos drowned out his words. We could only imagine how fun the crowd would be at the actual event the next day.
I went to a very big Future Shop Saturday afternoon wearing my red Sens Army t-shirt, and two people asked me for assistance as they shopped. "Je suis desole, je ne travaille pas ici." Good times! But what was pretty bad, was this "young punk" (I pegged him at maybe 21 years old) started giving me the gears about the Sens t-shirt, which is okay if it's for fun but he was just being a real dick about it, with remarks including "your shirt is ugly, better burn it" ending with "you f*cking loser." I believe in karma, so when the Habs came out short last night, Montreal can point the finger at THAT loser if they're looking for a reason (outside of being outplayed) for why they lost.
Anyway, there were 2,000 people lined up before the doors opened 2 hours before the card started, which is interesting when you consider it's reserved seating. To pass the time (and since I was hungry), I went to that Stuby's castle right beside the Bell Centre. As we (we being my sidekicks Cindy and Neil who without them, this trip would not have been possible) were outside waiting to get into the Bell Centre, I saw Senator Mike Commodore making his way to an undisclosed area. Didn't try to get an autograph or anything...but hey, he was there!
The people I sat down beside were actually from Ottawa and liked my t-shirt to boot. I managed to score a free beer off of a drunk that sitting a few seats away from us...he had a tray of four beers and was stumbling trying to reach his seat, and when he got in front of me he almost fell over. I managed to hold him up and kept him from falling, so as a thanks in a glazed look only the intoxicated can give, he handed me a beer before getting to his seat. Sweet, because there was no way I was paying $12 for one beer!
The crowd was into it from the opening bell, cheering loudly for the first match featuring Quebecois Jonathan Goulet winning the opening contest, and the fans clearly siding with every Canadian that fought that night. Funniest though was when the crowd turned on B.C. native Kalib Starnes, who kept backing off and wouldn't tangle with Nate "Rock" Quarry for three boring rounds. Every time the camera turned to Starnes, the crowd started to boo and would cheer Quarry, who started to make fun of Starnes by pretending to punch himself and mocking his running away. At the end of the fight, Quarry was interviewed and said something along the lines of, "Before the fight, you booed me, but at the end, you started to cheer. So if I can change, and you can change, maybe we all can change!" The humour made me forget about the bad 15 minutes we just witnessed.
Anyway, the Georges St Pierre (GSP! GSP! GSP!) - Matt Serra fight lived up to the hype, the crowd remaining on its feet for the entire duration, and more importantly we got the result we wanted: Everyone in the building wanted GSP to just annihilate Serra and he did. I don't think Matt got any offense in, with the referee having to stop the fight near the end of round 2 when he could no longer defend himself from a flurry of GSP knees to the side and mid-section. Before the fight, the deafening roar of the crowd as GSP made his way to the octagon was perhaps the loudest ovation I have ever heard. The sight of GSP doing his trademark 360 backflip and his hoisting of the UFC welterweight championship belt after being declared the winner is something I'll remember for a long time. Aside from being a terrific competitor, he's just a down-to-earth good guy: In the post-fight interview, he asked the crowd, "Please don't hurt Serra, he's a good guy and I have lots of respect for him!" At that point though, the crowd already "forgave" Serra after he lost and acknowledged GSP as the better man, giving him polite applause before he left the cage.
Thanks again to Cindy and Neil for organizing and letting me tag along to Montreal for a really good time. GSP! GSP! GSP!
I went to a very big Future Shop Saturday afternoon wearing my red Sens Army t-shirt, and two people asked me for assistance as they shopped. "Je suis desole, je ne travaille pas ici." Good times! But what was pretty bad, was this "young punk" (I pegged him at maybe 21 years old) started giving me the gears about the Sens t-shirt, which is okay if it's for fun but he was just being a real dick about it, with remarks including "your shirt is ugly, better burn it" ending with "you f*cking loser." I believe in karma, so when the Habs came out short last night, Montreal can point the finger at THAT loser if they're looking for a reason (outside of being outplayed) for why they lost.
Anyway, there were 2,000 people lined up before the doors opened 2 hours before the card started, which is interesting when you consider it's reserved seating. To pass the time (and since I was hungry), I went to that Stuby's castle right beside the Bell Centre. As we (we being my sidekicks Cindy and Neil who without them, this trip would not have been possible) were outside waiting to get into the Bell Centre, I saw Senator Mike Commodore making his way to an undisclosed area. Didn't try to get an autograph or anything...but hey, he was there!
The people I sat down beside were actually from Ottawa and liked my t-shirt to boot. I managed to score a free beer off of a drunk that sitting a few seats away from us...he had a tray of four beers and was stumbling trying to reach his seat, and when he got in front of me he almost fell over. I managed to hold him up and kept him from falling, so as a thanks in a glazed look only the intoxicated can give, he handed me a beer before getting to his seat. Sweet, because there was no way I was paying $12 for one beer!
The crowd was into it from the opening bell, cheering loudly for the first match featuring Quebecois Jonathan Goulet winning the opening contest, and the fans clearly siding with every Canadian that fought that night. Funniest though was when the crowd turned on B.C. native Kalib Starnes, who kept backing off and wouldn't tangle with Nate "Rock" Quarry for three boring rounds. Every time the camera turned to Starnes, the crowd started to boo and would cheer Quarry, who started to make fun of Starnes by pretending to punch himself and mocking his running away. At the end of the fight, Quarry was interviewed and said something along the lines of, "Before the fight, you booed me, but at the end, you started to cheer. So if I can change, and you can change, maybe we all can change!" The humour made me forget about the bad 15 minutes we just witnessed.
Anyway, the Georges St Pierre (GSP! GSP! GSP!) - Matt Serra fight lived up to the hype, the crowd remaining on its feet for the entire duration, and more importantly we got the result we wanted: Everyone in the building wanted GSP to just annihilate Serra and he did. I don't think Matt got any offense in, with the referee having to stop the fight near the end of round 2 when he could no longer defend himself from a flurry of GSP knees to the side and mid-section. Before the fight, the deafening roar of the crowd as GSP made his way to the octagon was perhaps the loudest ovation I have ever heard. The sight of GSP doing his trademark 360 backflip and his hoisting of the UFC welterweight championship belt after being declared the winner is something I'll remember for a long time. Aside from being a terrific competitor, he's just a down-to-earth good guy: In the post-fight interview, he asked the crowd, "Please don't hurt Serra, he's a good guy and I have lots of respect for him!" At that point though, the crowd already "forgave" Serra after he lost and acknowledged GSP as the better man, giving him polite applause before he left the cage.
Thanks again to Cindy and Neil for organizing and letting me tag along to Montreal for a really good time. GSP! GSP! GSP!
# posted by SBP : 2:35 PM
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