The Goat Pen

Owlman wrote:Except that a mutation put into the system can change every prediction.

Via Deadspin, here’s an anecdote about Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan from Rich Strafella, Vegas lifer and current Vice President of operations for the Hard Rock Hotel:

UD: What’s your best celebrity story?
RS: I remember a night when Wayne Gretzky insulted Michael Jordan at the table. It was a private salon game. Michael had ordered a drink from the cocktail waitress, and he gave her a five-dollar chip. Wayne took it off the cocktail waitress’s tray, gave it back to Michael, grabbed a hundred-dollar chip from Michael’s stack and put it on the cocktail waitress’s tray. Then he said, “That’s how we tip in Las Vegas, Michael.”

Unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr has preserved his untainted boxing record by defeating Victor Ortiz via KO in their highly-hyped duel at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saturday night.
Mayweather's win came via a fourth round knockout after he surprised Ortiz with a right-left combinations while he was waiting for referee's signal to resume the fight.
Before the end of the fourth round, Ortiz apologized to Mayweather for a foul (ruled by referee Joe Cortez as intentional) committed by Ortiz.
A few minutes before the end of the fourth round, Ortiz approached Mayweather to offer his apology for which the undefeated boxer seemed to have accepted, but while waiting for a signal from the referee, Mayweather first threw a powerful left hook that shook Ortiz and he followed it up with a power punch that sent Ortiz to the canvas where he was counted out by referee Cortes.
Mayweather has been criticized for unsportsmanlike behavior but he said in an intrview after the fight that what he did was legal quoting a established boxing rule that say in part— “to protect yourself at all times"
"We touched gloves and we were back to fighting and then I threw the left and right hand after the break," Mayweather said. "In the ring you have to protect yourself at all times."
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said Mayweather was “a big disgrace while Joe Cortez shouldn’t be refereeing any more.” Cortez said afterward, "Time was in. The fighter needed to keep his guard up. Mayweather did nothing illegal.", Philboxing's Ronnie Nathanielsz wrote.
Future Mayweather foe Manny Pacquiao, who watched the fight on TV said, “what Mayweather did was legal but it's not the action of a sportsman. He just took advantage of that moment. I think Ortiz was trying to be nice to Mayweather.”
It appeared to happen in the heat of the battle and most important was Ortiz genuinely apologetic" He should have acceptd the apology and fought a clean fight, he added.
With the win, Mayweather was successful in preserving his untainted boxing record of 42 fights without a single loss.
The new WBC welterweight champion has mentioned Manny Pacquiao as possible opponent provided he takes the Olympic random drug test, a condition that caused at least two fight negotiations to fall apart in the last two years.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/3 ... z1YJQoti1p

It's me Karen wrote:Ultimately, what's the sense of having a ref if the outcome is this? Almost every boxing match I've watched, the boxers wait for the ref's call. Seems like a cheap shot to me. Chickenshit.