KarateKen

I will be spending a few days in Los Angles this weekend and was curious if you have any suggestions of things to do and places to avoid.  I'm probably going to check out Sunset Strip and Manhattan Beach.  Also, will be going to the KIA Forum for a concert. Not sure what else yet.  I've never been there and don't know what to expect other than a lot of traffic.  Any feedback is appreciated! 

I'm not a MLB fan but I hope it is the Brewers and the Mariners, neither franchise has ever won the World Series. 

Dexter Resurrection has officially been renewed for a second season.  

Watched The Crazies, both the original and the remake.  I prefer the remake.  Also went back and watched Halloween 4 and 5.  Four is eh, but five is a terrible movie. 

ALCS and NLCS are set:  Mariners will play Blue Jays and Brewers will play Dodgers. 

The Jets still suck.  They drop to 0-6 after losing at home to the Broncos.  The Jets had a total of -10 passing yards for the games.  Sheesh. 

Florida beat Chicago 3-2, so the Panthers won the final game (Stanley Cup) last season and were the first team to win a game this season. 

 Pittsburgh and Colorado also won.  

Games on Wednesday are Montreal at Toronto, Boston at Washington, Edmonton at Calgary, and LA Kings at Vegas.

If your team did not have a game Tuesday or Wednesday, the season will start for them on Thursday. 

Went back and watched The Purge last night/. 

Three games tonight as the NHL drops the puck on opening day.  Chicago at Florida, Pittsburgh at NY Rangers and Colorado at LA Kings 

Four games on Wednesday and 14 on Thursday.

Time to Hit the Ice! 

8 hours ago, sensei8 said:

It’ll be a very interesting NHL season!! 

There were 65 penalties and 16 ejections, the Panthers had 17 power plays.  Good chance there are some fines and suspensions handed out after this one. 

Some other notes: there was a player for Tampa who was ejected but somehow stayed in the game and later picked up another penalty.  There was also an 8-0 lead for the Panthers then seven minutes after the goal the play was reviewed and the goal removed, making it 7-0.  I doubt there has ever been a crazier preseason game in the history of the NHL. 

The Cardinals just pulled off one of the most epic failures and meltdowns I've ever seen in the NFL.  At home against a winless team who has a rookie QB and they get outscored 16-0 in the 4th quarter and lose by one point.  Sickening.  They had a play where the Arizona RB ran 72 yards untouched then carelessly dropped the ball before going across the goal line turning a touchdown into a touchback. That would have given Arizona a 27-6 lead, but noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo the knucklehead had to screw it up.  Then later in the game the Cardinals defense got an interception, but then fumbled, and it was recovered in the endzone by the Titans.  How do you force an INT and give up a TD on the same play??  I've never seen that.  What a disgraceful performance by the Cardinals today.  Strike two in survivor league.  Sheesh.  

Other losers on Sunday were the Browns, Seahawks, Eagles.....ya know what I don't care.  We lost.  We all lost today.  To heck with it.

1 hour ago, sensei8 said:

Here I sit watching the Raiders VS Colts with my wife. Games in the 2nd quarter at the 2 minute warning with the score Raiders 3 and Colts 14.

Colts defense is doing their job unlike the Raiders and the Colts offense is doing their job unlike the Raiders.

Raiders punter was roughed by the Colts but no flag…Colts place kicker roughed by the Raiders but they go a flag. 

Raiders get one of the best head coaches in Carroll, a RB in Jentry, a new GM, and whatever else and the Raiders are not any better so far than last year when they ended 4-13!!

My wife says she’ll be happy if her Raiders end up one game better, 5-12, than last year. I tried my best to stifle my laughter the best I could at my wife’s prediction.

Ouch!!! With :20 seconds remaining in the 2nd quarter, Colts score another TD…Colts 20 and Raiders 3. Raiders new plan…never find the end zone…just field goals.

My Cowboys VS Jets with :57 seconds in the 2nd quarter with the score Cowboys 17 and Jets 3.

PS: Raiders just missed their 57 yard field goal with :02 seconds left…so much for my Raiders field goal prediction!!

 

Is she open to changing teams?  A game like that would test even the most loyal of fans.  Colts win it 40-6. 

7 hours ago, KarateKen said:

The Panthers and Lighting racks up 186 penalty minutes in their preseason game the other night.  Not sure if that is a record or not, but that is more than I know I have ever heard of for preseason.  State rivals going at it early.  Lightning won the game 5-2. 

If the 186 penalty minutes from Thursday's preseason game was a record, it isn't anymore.  It's not even close to the record.  Tampa and Florida met again on Saturday and rolled up 312 penalty minutes.  By the time the game got to the last five minutes Tampa had three players left on the bench, everyone else had been thrown out.  Florida won this game 7-0 but I don't think either team cared much about the score, they seemed more interested in fighting.  Maybe the most heated sports rivalry right now is between two hockey teams in Florida. 

Some calling for Bill Belichick to be FIRED from North Carolina after the Tar Heels got blown out on their home field by Clemson, 38-10 on Saturday afternoon.  Many fans were seen leaving the game after the first quarter when Clemson took a 28-3 lead.  The loss drops UNC to 2-3 on the season.  Could Bill be on the hot seat after only one season? 

Yep

Watched a low budge horror movie last night called 13 Cameras.   It's about a young married couple who moves into a new home and the repair man is a total creep.  Not gory or scary, but creepy and suspenseful. 

The Panthers and Lighting racks up 186 penalty minutes in their preseason game the other night.  Not sure if that is a record or not, but that is more than I know I have ever heard of for preseason.  State rivals going at it early.  Lightning won the game 5-2. 

Strange news story here.  Former NFL QB and current FOX commentator Mark Sanchez has been hospitalized for being stabbed, latest report is he is in stable condition.   A couple hours after being hospitalized, he was charged with multiple crimes including public intoxication, battery, and unlawfully entering an automobile.  Details are still unfolding. 

The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner 

What are some basic safety precautions that you share with your students, or your sensei has shared with you?  There are some things you can do to protect yourself that do not require any martial arts training.  These kinds of things are also taught in some women's self-defense.  Here are a few that I have come across.

Awareness.  Being aware of your surroundings is huge.  If you are looking at your phone or daydreaming while you are out walking around, and a bad guy sees you, then you become an easy target.  Most bad guys are looking for a vulnerable target, and a quick getaway so be aware of what is going on around you. Never give up your back, meaning if someone is a threat keep them in front of you.  Trust your instincts, if a situation doesn't feel safe, get out of there as quickly as you can. 

Safety in numbers.  Being out with a group, or even just one person, can make you much safer.  Say you are at an ATM machine...it can be tough to keep awareness while punching in the numbers on the machine, so having someone you trust standing there with you and looking out can reduce your chances of being mugged. 

Sometimes it is best to not get involved.  While it might be tempting to stand up to injustice, keep in mind that if you do that you are putting yourself both a physical risk, and legal risk.  Just because you are morally in the right doesn't mean you are legally in the right.  Believe me when I tell you how fed up I get when I see shoplifting at the supermarket, and the store employees ignore it.  I want to go up and knock that crook over and bring the bag of stolen goods back into the store, but if I do that, then it would be me spending the night in jail.  

And this final one is if you are approached while inside your car.  Some people have been at stop lights and had a dangerous person approach their vehicle.  Do not get out of the car.  The car helps protect you.  Be sure that your doors are locked and your windows are all the way up.  Drive out of there ASAP.  

There are probably others that you know of, I wanted to get the ball rolling on this.  You never know who might be reading the forum, a new member or a guest, who could benefit from basic tips.

It's October again so I am bringing this one back.  Watched The Fog tonight since it was cool, windy, and rainy with some fog in the sky.  It's a John Carpenter movie from 1980.  I liked it, and I am going back this year to watch a lot of those movies from the 80s.  

Happy Halloween

15 hours ago, DarthPenguin said:

Tbh as someone abroad i have always thought you guys get the short end of the stick with charges for sports. UFC and boxing are an easy example: if i decide to pay for a boxing PPV here (and it is normally only the biggest high profile fights that are a PPV) it is about £20/25 usually - i was shocked to see it is $99 in the USA and covers a lot of the fights. Similarly my subscription to TNT sports (formerly ESPN etc in the UK) includes almost all UFC events - i only pay for the biggest ones that are a PPV and sometimes i object on principle to paying when i already have a subscription!

You guys definitely get ripped off - I also saw the head of TKO openly saying that WWE prices needed to change as they were stupidly priced to allow families to attend and it was leaving potential profits on the table! Sheer greed - if families can't attend then they are costing themselves potential future customers!

I didn't realize it was so different where you are.  Here in the US to get a UFC PPV you also have to order a month of ESPN+ streaming, so you need to sign up for the streaming service to be eligible to order the PPV.  Crazy.  Sounds like you are getting a better deal. 

I don't know anything about the WWE or TKO but it seems to be more of a trend to push out the middle class and only cater to the wealthy for live sports.  The cost of tickets in many markets have gotten nuts.  Also there has been a cultural shift in sports in the USA, and that is one toward gambling.  The leagues are in business with the casino's now, players are doing ads for sports gambling that run during the game, broadcasters and pregame shows talk about betting odds, ESPN even owns a sports gambling website.  In 2018 the US Supreme Court ruled that sports gambling is legal according to federal law and while not all the states are on board yet, many are.  Gambling can now be done from your phone while you sit at the game.  As a result, online sports gambling has become one of the fastest growing addictions in America.  Major pro sports are becoming less about the father/son tradition of bonding at the games and more about gambling and corporate greed.  The salaries are higher than ever, and so are the ticket prices.  Then you add the taxes, fees, parking, and cost of concessions (20 dollars for a beer) and you can see why many people are getting priced out of the market. 

11 hours ago, sensei8 said:

I just checked WWE Wrestlemania, and a ticket at section 326, corner, $341 and a ticket at section 338, middle, $1,744. Nose bleed section 436 costs $953. 2-Day Pass in Section A4, on the floor that faces the main camera is $15,019!! Give me a break!!

Someone’s lost their mind!! 

Anything, except UNLV football games, at Allegiant Stadium will got you a small fortune!! The powers that be get away with charging high prices because some fans have more money than they’ll ever spend in a life time!!

 

 

 

 Who is paying that  I am stunned.  

On 9/11/2025 at 2:23 PM, KarateKen said:

Kirill Kaprizov has turned down a contract extension from Minnesota that would have made him the highest paid player in NHL history.  This does not bode well for the Wild, since he likely turned down the contract to seek offers with other teams. He is in the final year of his current contract with the team. 

 

The Wild finally have a young star player who they can build their team around for the next decade, offer him the biggest contract in history, and he still says no.  This is the life of a Minnesota fan. 

So much for that!  Kaprizov did sign an 8-year contract extension with the Wild today, Sept 30, for 138 million I think, making him the highest paid NHL player in history.  Maybe the Wild will be OK after all.  

14 minutes ago, sensei8 said:

I was amongst the unhappy fans about Goodell’s SB announcement. It’s their product and they’ve the right to market it any way they feel fit to.

Money speaks in volumes and is the root of evil. Putting SB on a PPV is as evil as it gets. I suppose only the rich are to enjoy PLE and not anyone else.

How rich do the rich need to be?!? There’s no affordable PLE sports and entertainment in Las Vegas, or any where else!!

The NFL worships money.  No amount will ever be enough for them.