The Best/Worst Moments of last night's show

[Eric Fishlegs]

shame on Tom for continuing to dump on MMA
I thought this show was supposed to be punk-rock

I'm glad you mentioned this. While I am not a super huge MMA fan I have attended a couple of live events and while MMA does have some weird appeal to the kinds of guys who wear Ed Hardy clothes w/o irony it is a perfectly legitimate sport and as safe as any combat sport out there. Goof on the fans if you like, but the sport itself is no better/worse than any other.

[Eric Fishlegs]

By the way, while it may not make up for being snubbed by every "Best Comedy Podcast" list I do think Tom should know that I used this line right here-

“Is everyone’s natural protection mechanism in an emergency to make French toast? Why do people constantly buy milk, eggs, and bread?”

as my Facebook status update (giving full credit to Tom and the Best Show) and it got 6 "likes." So that's something. Not much, but something.

[Ike]

Hall of Fame show, easily. Just absolutely entertaining, hilarious, ON throughout the whole thing.  I loved it! 

With non-regular callers, some of the creeps seem to come out of the woodwork (the dark arts thing brought this out), and dammit that makes for incredible radio.  Honestly, this is one of the GREAT episodes, for my money. 

RE:  ZEP.  If you subscribe to audible, and you've got an extra credit, WHEN GIANTS WALKED THE EARTH is a TREMENDOUS listen.  A British dude reads it, and there seems to be extra emphasis given to all the curses (WATCH OUT!  A BLUE BOOK!).  He reads with great aplomb, and it's wonderful. 

Totally smokes that stupid GET CAPONE book. 

[fonpr]

I heard, for the first time, the word "rails" used to mean cocaine outside of the Best Show universe.  Ha!

Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

Jump to the 1:25 mark, Buff.

[llcultjam]

Don DeLillo talk. ("Don Deleo")...I love that hating trees bit.

Also the impromptu songs: Tom as Lou Reed sings over Pet Sounds.

[paul from sacramento]

I'm glad you mentioned this. While I am not a super huge MMA fan I have attended a couple of live events and while MMA does have some weird appeal to the kinds of guys who wear Ed Hardy clothes w/o irony it is a perfectly legitimate sport and as safe as any combat sport out there. Goof on the fans if you like, but the sport itself is no better/worse than any other.

First off, I created a Spikeism while reading this post. "Ed Hardly" Spike, if you see this I would love for you to give it a grade.

Secondly, yeah maybe the reason it appeals to the type of guys who where Ed Hardly is because the  people that participate in the sport also wear that stuff. The type of people you went out of your way to disparage are the people you are cheering for in the ring. You can go ahead and say that it's a legitimate sport but it certainly is "better/ worse than other sports. Mainly worse.

[Eric Fishlegs]

I'm glad you mentioned this. While I am not a super huge MMA fan I have attended a couple of live events and while MMA does have some weird appeal to the kinds of guys who wear Ed Hardy clothes w/o irony it is a perfectly legitimate sport and as safe as any combat sport out there. Goof on the fans if you like, but the sport itself is no better/worse than any other.

First off, I created a Spikeism while reading this post. "Ed Hardly" Spike, if you see this I would love for you to give it a grade.

Secondly, yeah maybe the reason it appeals to the type of guys who where Ed Hardly is because the  people that participate in the sport also wear that stuff. The type of people you went out of your way to disparage are the people you are cheering for in the ring. You can go ahead and say that it's a legitimate sport but it certainly is "better/ worse than other sports. Mainly worse.

Most athletes seem like assholes to me. If they can put on exciting fights I'm not too concerned with how they dress when they're not fighting.

[oilcantim]

Other differences between MMA and most sports: punching, kicking, face mashing, choke holds, inevitable blood.

I like sports where dudes pass balls to other dudes and then maybe throw them at a basket or kick them through goal posts.  Watching something where the point is to disable your opponent with violence, on the other hand, makes me feel bad.  Weird, I know!

[Trembling Eagle]

Other differences between MMA and most sports: punching, kicking, face mashing, choke holds, inevitable blood.

I like sports where dudes pass balls to other dudes and then maybe throw them at a basket or kick them through goal posts.  Watching something where the point is to disable your opponent with violence, on the other hand, makes me feel bad.  Weird, I know!

yeah that sport were the roided up guys dress up in armor and run into each other at full speed is so much less violent mainly because there is an egg shaped "ball" tangentially involved.

What animals those ancient Greeks were with their wrestling or the Japanese with their damnable "budo" what do these people know about culture and refinement?

dur..........ballz in holez is the BEST!

[crumbum]

I'm a guy who couldn't care less about sports in general, but it does seem to me that MMA gets ragged on unfairly because it bubbled up from below and therefore lacks the cultural pedigree of the more 'acceptable' violent sports like boxing and football. But I may be way off base since I'm speaking from a near total lack of knowledge.

[oilcantim]

Other differences between MMA and most sports: punching, kicking, face mashing, choke holds, inevitable blood.

I like sports where dudes pass balls to other dudes and then maybe throw them at a basket or kick them through goal posts.  Watching something where the point is to disable your opponent with violence, on the other hand, makes me feel bad.  Weird, I know!

yeah that sport were the roided up guys dress up in armor and run into each other at full speed is so much less violent mainly because there is an egg shaped "ball" tangentially involved.

What animals those ancient Greeks were with their wrestling or the Japanese with their damnable "budo" what do these people know about culture and refinement?

dur..........ballz in holez is the BEST!

I'm not sure "tangentially" means what you think it means.

That said, do either wrestling or budo involve someone punching someone else in the face?  That's the bit that makes me queasy.  (Also, I never said I like American football.  Soccer has goal posts too, dummy.)

You're free to like whatever you like, guy.  But my point stands: disabling your opponent is the end goal of MMA.  That's what makes a lot of people uncomfortable.  Why is this confusing?

[Hugman 3.0]

Don't really have a dog in this fight, but I don't like logical flaws in arguments. The only advantage the football fan has is that, if one chooses to, it's easier to not see just how brutal football is.  The argument could easily be made that, because the money in the NFL is so great, it's even more evil. Because these guys knowingly destroy their bodies because the payday is so huge.

That said, I like football.  I'm not an MMA fan because the douchebaggery of the participants is so in your face, but I'll bet if I actually sat down and watched it, I'd enjoy it, much like I enjoy boxing.

[cavorting with nudists]

I like sports where dudes pass balls to other dudes and then maybe throw them at a basket or kick them through goal posts.  Watching something where the point is to disable your opponent with violence, on the other hand, makes me feel bad.  Weird, I know!

Best of all are sports where you disable your opponent with violence and then throw or kick his severed head into a basket or through goal posts.

[Kormod]

I'm sure Nickelodeon's upcoming UFC Kids will bring legitimacy to the sport. (Michael Vick Babies sadly didn't get picked up.)

[oilcantim]

Don't really have a dog in this fight, but I don't like logical flaws in arguments. The only advantage the football fan has is that, if one chooses to, it's easier to not see just how brutal football is.  The argument could easily be made that, because the money in the NFL is so great, it's even more evil. Because these guys knowingly destroy their bodies because the payday is so huge.

That said, I like football.  I'm not an MMA fan because the douchebaggery of the participants is so in your face, but I'll bet if I actually sat down and watched it, I'd enjoy it, much like I enjoy boxing.

I'm inclined to agree... except that brutal, concussion-inducing tackles aren't the point of football.  They're an incidental part of the game, not the goal of it.  A few smart reforms and bigger, more frequently enforced penalties could go a long way towards making the NFL ethically sound.

Plus, football players have unionized health insurance and pensions.  Do mixed martial artists?

If you're so big on logic, don't make a false equivalency.  (Also, I'm unclear... who said football is okay, and MMA isn't?  I can't find the post.)