Quote of the Day: Chuck Klosterman Has Never Heard of Lyoto Machida
by Chris Nelson on Mar 12, 2009 8:40 PM EDT
in MMA News
Email
Print
"I feel like the difference between ultimate fighting and boxing is greater than most people-- like, we're having it in part of the same conversation. Usually, when you talk about these things, you talk about them together. But I do feel like they're probably more different than we think. You know... I think maybe it was Tony Kornheiser who said this once, and it was kind of true... it's very true... you know, in boxing, you can win by not getting hit. You know, you can win a fight basically by avoiding the contact. That does not seem to be an aspect of ultimate fighting. There's nobody who's sort of like the sly guy in ultimate fighting."
-- writer Chuck Klosterman on today's BS Report with Bill Simmons. Klosterman also calls MMA "a sponge for all the people who are only interested in the most violent aspects of boxing, or even hockey or whatever... the kind of people who watch NASCAR for accidents, they've all migrated to ultimate fighting," before admitting that he's never attended an event or even watched very much of the sport on television.
53 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Luckily...
Lyoto Machida probably doesn’t know who the fuck Chuck Klosterman is.
by Cannon Jacques on Mar 12, 2009 8:48 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Between him and I, I’m glad he gets paid to opine on MMA.
The world is fucked up.
by Derek Suboticki on Mar 12, 2009 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t know who he is but I know he is a tool. I don’t understand people who try to explain things they admit they know nothing about. Why not just say you don’t know anything about it and move on?
Because then he’d actually have to admit he didn’t know anything about it.
by BilboMcFonzie on Mar 12, 2009 8:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Never heard of Machida
Chuck Klosterman has never heard of Lyoto Machida, you say? Fancy that. I, and everyone else in the world, have never heard of Chuck Klosterman. I guess that makes everyone square.
"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard
The problem is, a lot of people have heard of Chuck Klosterman, and a lot of people listen to Bill Simmons.
But Fagan’s right, this isn’t anything out of the ordinary for an ESPN show/podcast. I just thought it bore(?) mention.
Contributor Emeritus - BloodyElbow.com
by Chris Nelson on Mar 12, 2009 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah.
I like the post, but I’m sort of glad that I’m not the only one who didn’t know who Chuck Klosterman is. In my attempts to be somewhat humorous, I don’t want it to sound like I’m being critical. But unlike Fagan, I’m not incensed by ESPN or Mike Goldberg. In fact, Chris Berman and Stuart Scott are two of my heroes. Tony Kornheiser…not so much.
by Cannon Jacques on Mar 12, 2009 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Berman and Scott? I’m going to look at you differently from now on, sir.
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
Ha ha. I figured that would get your attention. I wouldn’t call them heroes, but I admit that they’ve always amused me.
by Cannon Jacques on Mar 12, 2009 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions
You’re not missing much. He’s your typical indie-hipster stereotype. Amusing read, but not very insightful or revelatory. What the hell is he doing on ESPN anyway? His field of “expertise” is music.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Mar 12, 2009 10:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Simmons has him on pretty regularly, I guess they’re pals. I listened to the first part of the podcast wondering if it was the right Chuck Klosterman because he was dropping some serious knowledge on the Big East tourney.
Contributor Emeritus - BloodyElbow.com
by Chris Nelson on Mar 12, 2009 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions
He used to write for Page2, which was more of a non-serious look at sports. His funny little analysis in some instances was likely a draw to those articles, hence why he has hung around. That and he can’t find a job.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 13, 2009 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions
I bet
I bet this guy bitches about how bad blogs are because “its juts garbage thrown out there with no research”
No casual fan knows who Machida, Leites, or Okamire are.
Its true. They are elusive to the public eye.
Oh the casuals know who Machida is. He is the guy who knocked the other guy out right before GSP whomped on BJ Penn.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
Actually...
A lot of casual fans still don’t know who Machida is…
I had a conversation with two guys in line at my local Meijer three days ago talking about UFC 94, and I mentioned Machida. They thought Machida was Shogun Rua. They had no recollection of Machida knocking out Silva.
I thought this was just a random thing. A few days pass, I was talking to one of my best buddies who WATCHED UFC 94 with me at my place. Amazingly, he thought Machida was Shogun when trying to refresh his memory of the knockout.
I was dumbfounded. Of course, that’s 4 casual fans. That’s a bit of a small sample size.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 13, 2009 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions
I just love how these boxing guys try and sound so eloquent
when all they are really doing is trying to insult the sport that is on the rise and will eventually, if not already in many ways, eclipse boxing.
As much as I hate Don King, he actually had some very astute and complementary things to say about MMA.
Chuck Klosterman
Has a very large audience. I have read one of his books; he is somewhat of a pop-culture savant. This makes the fact that he is completely ignorant in this case disappointing.
by Farthammer on Mar 12, 2009 10:17 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
He’s mildly interesting, but mostly a poster boy for the indie-hipster scene. I’ve never found him terribly astute. High INT, low WIS.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Mar 12, 2009 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions 8 recs
There’s no way I can avoid rec’ing that.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Mar 12, 2009 10:39 PM EDT up reply actions
This must be rec’d, and re-rec’d.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Mar 12, 2009 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions
sounds like my D&D Character from highschool.
sad i know…………
Why?
The problem here is that Klosterman doesn’t know anything about MMA. He’s being put on this pedestal because he writes for ESPN. Page2 is more of the non-serious look at sports than actual mainstream reporting. He’s obviously an armchair sports watcher, and probably doesn’t follow anything other than baseball, football, and basketball. It’s not worth the time nor the effort.
This is a bit of a wasteful post on Klosterman. He’s nothing more than a small-timer since he was canned from Spin.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 13, 2009 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions
Klosterman is like a pop culture talking head. His first real book, Fargo Rock City, is actually a pretty funny read for anyone who grew up in the 80s listening to hair metal…but then I started reading Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, and he totally turned me off with his retarted take on video games (similar to this short diatribe on MMA…he was happy to talk out of his ass about video games and condemn them even though he knows next to nothing). So this doesn’t really suprise me I guess…not sure why he’s even on ESPN or talking about MMA…totally out of his area. But Fargo Rock City is pretty fucking funny…he basically defends hair metal as a legit art form…
I read this dudes biggest book
He is a snarky dork who over analyzes everything with minimal information. He thinks he is smarter than everyone else because he thinks he can break everything down, but it just sounds dumb a lot of the time.
This quote is a good example of his work
Ultimate Fighting?
Anyone using the term “Ultimate Fighting” as opposed to MMA must be a douchebag. So obviously his opinions are irrelevant.
by cauliflower_ears on Mar 13, 2009 8:00 AM EDT reply actions
Klosterman=just about every other “mainstream” sports “journalist” out there.
I find it absolutely hilarious that these guys can go on and on without a shred of research, knowledge, etc… I grew up around newspaper and radio announcers/reporters, and they would be shocked at how so many of today’s media do this. I think it is just a sign of how much the media has leaned towards the entertainment side of the business.
As TV and the internet have exploded, the need to be entertaining has also grown. We don’t just get the reports anymore, we have reporters making themselves part of the story. These people make their names by attaching themselves to controversial issues, like mma, without even having minimal knowledge about it.
What I would like to see, is someone like Chuckie, spend a month training and sparring, then come back and tell us about it. I can almost guarantee that his tone will have changed.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
He’s not even a mainstream journalist. He writes for Page2, which is mostly a non-serious look at sports. I don’t understand all the hoopla over this. The guy is basically an armchair sports writer just giving his thoughts. If he doesn’t know who Machida is, who gives a shit.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 13, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m sorry, Chris, but this Chuck Klosterman ordeal is irrelevant for a couple of reasons.
Klosterman isn’t exactly the most astute sports guy. He’s mostly an indie scene writer, wrote for Spin magazine, got fired, writes op-eds for tons of magazines, etc… and then was suddenly added to Page2 at ESPN to due observational pieces for sporting events for the most part. He isn’t exactly the analytical mind behind ESPN, hence why he writes for Page2, ESPN’s more comedic piece of the puzzle.
I wouldn’t expect Klosterman to know who Machida is in the first place as he likely doesn’t watch any MMA whatsoever, so how is this surprising? He isn’t an ESPN personality who should be engulfed in sports. that isn’t his draw at ESPN.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t expect anyone at ESPN to know who Machida is unless it’s the ESPN Live guys.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
“Chuck Klosterman ordeal?” The guy made an asinine comment and I pointed it out. Open, shut.
Contributor Emeritus - BloodyElbow.com
by Chris Nelson on Mar 13, 2009 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions
By the way...
I feel as though people are misreading the title as if I thought Klosterman should have known who Machida is specifically. I wouldn’t expect him to at all – I just found it funny that his chosen nitpick on the sport was actually a perfect description of a fighter who was announced for a title bout that same day.
Contributor Emeritus - BloodyElbow.com
by Chris Nelson on Mar 13, 2009 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe I did misread the title, but it comes off as if he should know these things. Point taken.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 13, 2009 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Maybe so, maybe I did take this title literally, but the fact is that Klosterman doesn’t really know anything about MMA in general, and he isn’t much of an in-depth sports writer, so I’m not going to hold it against him for making the claims that he did.
It goes hand in hand with the other fanpost regarding Kornheiser and Wilbon on PTI.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 13, 2009 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions
This tool spoke at my college last year, he against all things mainstream, and constantly bitched about how you have to escape from popular things in order to be original. Why open your mouth about something you know nothing about?
by despisedIcon856 on Mar 13, 2009 11:59 AM EDT reply actions
Whatever
He’s paid to do this, half of what he and Simmons say is intended to be more humorous and interesting than factual.
In any case, these posts are a whole lot of vitriol for someone who has done nothing more than state the layman’s view of MMA. Seems like that time could be better spent.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
MMA Rankings
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
