Reviews

Bellator Fighting Championships was the idea of Bjorn Rebney, who envisioned a MMA promotion whose champions and contenders would not be determined by the biases of the promoter.

Rebney had worked in the boxing business, but was not excited about that sport. After a falling out with Sugar Ray Leonard, Rebney turned his focus to Mixed Martial Arts. According to one account, Rebney had taken numerous mortgages on his home to fund at least sixty business trips to start a MMA promotion.

Rebney found an ally in Tim Danaher, who was the Vice President of Plainfield Asset Management. With Danaher's support, Bellator Fighting Championships was founded in 2008 as the "toughest tournament in sport". Bjorn Rebney became the company's Chairman and CEO. Tim Danaher joined as it's President and COO.

The company had it's first events in 2009.

In late 2011, Viacom brought a majority share in Bellator Fighting Championships. With this purchase, came a media higher visibility on stations such as EPIX, MTV2 and Spike TV.

Several fighters became well-known in the promotion: Fighters like Eddie Alvarez, Hector Lombard; Joe Warren, Zoila Frausto; Pat Curran, Michael Chandler; Alexander Shlemenko, Ben Askren; Daniel Straus, Alexander Volkov and Cole Konrad.

The "Pitbull" brothers Patricio Freire and Patricky Freire, are still with the promotion.

One of the early criticisms of Bellator was the inactivity of its champions while new challengers were being determined in the tournaments. To alleviate the inactivity, a number of champions would compete in "super-fights" where the titles were not defended.

The popularity of the first Eddie Alvarez/Michael Chandler fight compelled Rebney to make an exception. A rematch would happen between the Alvarez and Chandler outside of the regular tournament structure. With a few other exceptions, Rebney was adamant that Bellator remained a place where "title shots are earned, and not given".

Bjorn Rebney's boss Kevin Kay would disagree.

The then President of the Spike television network felt that Rebney's vision put Bellator at a disadvantage. Kay felt that Bellator could not attract free agents if they felt competing in the tournaments were the only ways to compete in championship fights.

As a result of their differing opinions, in June 2014 Kevin Kay removed Bjorn Rebney as Chairman/CEO, and replaced him with Scott Coker. Tim Danaher also lost his titles of President and COO. Bellator would continue on, but not as tournament-focused as Bjorn Rebney envisioned.

YAMMA Pit Fighting was Robert Meyrowitz's return to the combat sports business seven years after he sold UFC. The political climate became accepting of Mixed Martial Arts, and the sport grew to global popularity. "Yamma" was the name of surface inside of a circular, cornerless cage with slanted internal edges. It was touted as an "evolution" in MMA designed to prevent inactivity at the sides and encourage constant fighting.

The card featured four heavyweight quarter-final tournament bouts to crown a champion at the end. Participants included Ricco Rodriguez, Travis Wiuff, Sherman Pendergast, Chris Tuscherer, Tony Sylvester, Marcelo Pereira, Alexy Oleynik and George Bush III. Some non-tournament "Masters Superfight" bouts included Patrick Smith vs. Eric "Butterbean" Esch, Mark Kerr vs. Oleg Taktarov. (Esch was to originally have fought Gary Goodridge, and Taktarov against Don Frye.) Mark Coleman made an appearance as part of Bush's corner team. All bouts were officiated by Kevin Mulhall and Dan Miragliotta. Longtime sportscaster Bruce Beck introduced this event, and joined in commentary by MMA notables Jeff Blatnick and John Perretti. Meanwhile, radio personality Scott Ferrall became a punchline with his harsh voice, witty attempts and mispronounciations. Three years later he was hired to do promotional work for Strikeforce's heavyweight tournament.

Most of the fights at YAMMA Pit Fighting went to a decision, which may not have been the intent of the "Yamma". Robert Meyrowitz, later commented that fighters would stall against the edges to use up time. YAMMA Pit Fighting 2, scheduled for two months after the first one, never happened. It was to have had a middleweight championship tournament, a women's bout and a masters superfight.

This YAMMA Pit Fighting event had some names from MMA's past and future. It's worth watching for fans who appreciate the history of the sports.

In this TV series, Michael Easton played dual roles of Gus McClain and Booth Hubbard. McClain was a respected college professor until he was accused of murdering his wife. Unknown to most, McClain's twin brother, Hubbard, is the murderer. McClain becomes a fugitive and evade authorities, such as FBI Agents Carter and Forbes , while attempting to prove his innocence. Hubbard compounds this goal by committing more crimes in McLain's name.

The premise of the show is somewhat like "The Fugitive" and "The Incredible Hulk" combined. Like Dr. Richard Kimball in "The Fugitive", McClain was wrongly believed to have murdered his wife. In "The Incredible Hulk," Dr. David Banner, like McClain, is alone at the end of most episodes and at a disadvantage. Throughout the few episodes of "Two", there is a tragic theme. Had this been a successful series, it's easy to imagine a final episode where Hubbard gets the better of McClain.

This was the first video game I played whose characters were computerized version of actual people, bringing an unusually realistic look. Furthering the realism is that game at most doesn't ascribe superhuman traits to its subjects. The only version of reference for me is the one released to video arcades. Players could chose between Buzz, the body builder, Ty, the kick-boxer, and Kato, whose specialty is unclear. The 'points' used in the game are money, with the premise being that each fighter is competing for cash in a no-holds-barred gladiatorial forum. Players must be aware of hostile characters from the crowd who can harm them, and themselves be harmed. Power pills are available in certain rounds to maximize offense. Knives, chairs, and drums are sometimes available. In between fatal competition is a bonus round where the player competes against a mirror of their fighter to win extra money. Damage in the bonus round doesn't affect the life values. The goal of the game is to unseat the Masked Warrior at the end to earn the title of Champion.

"Digital Duo" was produced for public TV stations in the United States. The program paired up Stephen (Steve) Manes and Susan Gregory Thomas. Manes covers technology for PC World and Forbes magazine, while Thomas, at the time of these episodes, was with US News and World Report and have since left to become an author and freelance writer. They reviewed the newest consumer electronic products and gave their recommendations if something was worth the cost, which they didn't always agree on. Some episodes would feature commentary from Walt Mossberg, a technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal. An okay program for those interested in the latest technology geared toward the public.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) program, PBS NewsHour, is arguably one of America's leading television news programs. Circumstances dictate, though, that few are aware of this. NewsHour does not warrant the intense spotlight as would a counterpart on a commercial station with greater resources.

It was named the "Robert MacNeil Report" upon its inception with founding co-anchors, Robert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil and James Charles Lehrer. Months later it became the "MacNeil/Lehrer Report". It would adopt its enduring moniker, "NewsHour", in 1983 when it became the "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour", and extended from 30 minutes to a full hour. After Robert MacNeil's retirement in 1995, it was titled the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" for fourteen subsequent years. Its current name was established in late 2009, as it underwent a considerable format alteration.

The "PBS NewsHour" encourages greater attention than conventional abrupt news reports. It is outstanding for its in-depth coverage of issues, including its presentation of opinions. The program encourages greater attention to stories beyond the rapidness of conventional TV journalism. The greater allotted time enables "NewsHour" correspondents room to give greater context to an issue or a news-maker. This approach of the "NewsHour" has earned complements by the political likes of John McCain, Al Gore, Richard Lugar and Tom Daschle. It is one of the reasons Jim Lehrer has been selected to moderate many Presidential Debates.

If the popular conclusion holds true, the harbinger of some of the early pressures on American public television—and the conception of the "NewsHour"—may have originated in the lead up to the 1960 Presidential Election. That conclusion being that it was the television debate which resulted in Richard Nixon's loss to John Kennedy; a setback which motivated Dwight Eisenhower's former Vice President to develop an interest in the still emerging television medium, and its role in politics. This interest was nurtured later when Nixon returned to public life on his way to winning the American Presidency in 1968.

There is another somewhat similar area of contention: contrary to the Carnegie Commission's intent that public television was to be independent of political influence, President Lyndon Johnson had other ideas that the system would serve as a limited political tool for his agendas. Whatever his plans might have been, however, Johnson's time as president was near its end after the system was established.

By the time President Nixon arrived in the White House, Robert MacNeil, previously a correspondent for NBC, had already soured on the American press because of the way he felt it covered the Vietnam War. It was a reportage he determined was too accepting of the optimistic assessments from officials within President Lyndon Johnson's administration. The war in Vietnam he came to oppose, and conveyed as such in an upstart subjective radio journalism format, which allowed analysis and editorials.

In the early 1970s, MacNeil temporarily left the British Broadcasting Corporation to work with American public television, hired by NPACT—National Public Affairs Center for Television. MacNeil was placed on-air with former NBC colleague, Sander Vanocur, to cover politics. When Vanocur left amidst political pressure fueled by the perception that he was a Kennedy supporter in a public television system viewed by some as anti-Nixon. Jim Lehrer was tasked to replace him. Choosing Lehrer was perceived as less contentious, due to his past with a top Republican and PBS executive that supported President Nixon.

Lehrer had begun work at PBS as an off-air program coordinator before joining MacNeil on air. After leaving newspaper reporting behind, his first forays into television was being in charge of public affairs at a local Dallas member supported station. His on-air work with MacNeil continued throughout the Watergate Hearings. It was their award-winning coverage of the hearings, accompanied by expert analysis, which brought MacNeil and Lehrer to prominence as a journalistic team. The manner in which they covered those proceedings would inspire the latter implementation of the NewsHour.

Possessing only a fraction of the budget as programs on the commercial station, MacNeil and Lehrer found ways around the financial limitations by heavily using interviews in studio and by remote. In their initial half-hour format, they had focused each program on one issue. Furthermore, they aimed for an audience who wanted further exploration of a news story without the usual high-pace which the public were accustomed. They had in mind that viewers longed for detailed back-stories. It was an approach similar to BBC's "Panaroma", on which MacNeil was an anchor, and the American series "Public Broadcasting Laboratory" (PBL), which MacNeil admired. Through the Ford Foundation, "PBL" was founded by Fred Friendly, whom had left his position as leader of CBS News.

It was more than happenstance that the "NewsHour" was scheduled after the network evening broadcasts at a time when CBS, NBC, and ABC had commanded most of the viewing audience. Appreciating the "NewsHour" results in an inevitable comparison with the offerings on the Big Three: the "Evening News", "Nightly News" and "World News Tonight". If these programs, at minimum, were a hour, the pressures to compress stories and obfuscate information would be decreased.

In an era of the Internet, multiple channels through cable and satellite technologies, wireless communication, the "NewsHour" is a television anachronism. It is distinctive in a media landscape of instantaneous information and all-news channels. It functions like a slow-moving entity in an attention deficit world, with an emphasis on depth. The entire program is segmented between the underwriters mentioned at the start and finish. No commercial breaks.

MacNeil and Lehrer would note their shared original goal to work as a complement to their network counterparts in 1975. Since the program's one hour expansion in 1983, they have conveyed the "NewsHour" as an alternate. Accurately referred to as low-key and even-handed, the program is without flamboyance and fanfare. In terms of news, the results of the "NewsHour" means more information triumphs over less. An outcome resulting in the public interest being served.

It was a boxing gym, but trainer, Angelo Dundee, called it "The Theater" for his then young protégé, Cassius Clay. On his way to becoming a champion and transcending the sport while becoming Muhammad Ali, Clay honed his craft at Miami's 5th Street Gym. Fresh off winning an Olympic gold medal in Rome, the Louisville-born pugilist moved to Miami to train for his professional career.

In what could be a documentary by itself, Ali's relationship with Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam, and its founder, Elijah Muhammad, is included as a testament to his growing social consciousness. It was Muhammad who bestowed the name the new champion would reveal soon after his February 1964 victory over Sonny Liston. Liston, a background actor on the stage that is the life of Muhammad Ali, is given some mention, including a back-story. This presentation ends soon after Ali lost the title because of his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War.

This is a highly critical program that aired on a local public television station, and, much to my dismay, I never saw it again. Narrated by then magazine editor and media critic, Lewis Lapham, this program uses the renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh as a springboard to address a hypothetical question, "When did it start?"

After Charles Augustus Lindbergh broke ground by successfully traversing the Atlantic Ocean by air from Long Island's Roosevelt Field to Paris in May of 1927, it gained him worldwide fame, and in likely retrospect, made the shy pilot one among the first of modern celebrities. It was this prominence which factored into news of his kidnapped son in 1932. That kidnapping, Lapham argues, is the framework for contemporary press sensationalism.

Although documentaries are common in public TV, one summary of "Legacy of a Kidnapping" describes it as less so, and more like a "video essay" where Lapham excoriates aspects of today's entertainment-driven news media. As one review stated that Lapham exonerates the press,somewhat, by placing the burden on the public. Another, the aforementioned summary, attributes to publisher William Randolph Hearst, the idea that readers want to be entertained—above anything else.

A clue to the direction of this show is the fact that it airs on Spike TV, and not TLC or Discovery. The resident experts in "DW" uses computer simulations which pits warriors from different eras to see who would have the most victories. In doing so it informs, undoubtedly, but more importantly it entertains. The furtherance of this goal is demonstrated in the contrived verbal sparring between rival teams, who predictably heralds the greatness of their respective warriors. This is the worse part of "Deadliest Warrior," a stage where participants play their respective roles. As an avid watcher of mixed martial arts and "sports entertainment" known as pro wrestling, two profession where there's no shortage of real and staged trash talking between competitors, this show is a tedious over saturation.

As reflected in its subtitle, "Stoked" is not an original idea about a talented individual attaining success then losing it. A formula for a different time place that works: during the 1980s skateboarding scene. Long before Tony Hawk reached the pinnacle of skateboarding prominence to become synonymous with the sport, there was Mark "Gator" Rogowski. Hawk, who is an interviewee, rolled in similar circles with Gator. They, and others like them, were at work in an era before the Gravity and X-Games were established, eventually becoming permanent TV offerings.

With Gator as the focus, viewers get a back-story of when Extreme Sports was in its in infancy. Rogowski was among a capable few who took a hobby of countless teenagers to become a well paid performer. He earned money through merchandising and lucrative endorsement deals. Just as he reached the top, he slowly declined--personally and professionally--surpassed by an evolving skateboard landscape which beckoned higher skills.

Viewers need not be skateboarding aficionados to be engrossed inside this dramatic profile, with an all too tragic conclusion. Too bad for the uninitiated, Mark Anthony Rogowski couldn't have been introduced under better circumstances.

The Oklahoma City Bombing, according to American government officials, was inspired by an obscure controversial novel named "The Turner Diaries." The novel depicts a future race war initiated by White racial supremacists against non-Whites. A similar world exists in "Prayer of the Rollerboys," where an Adolf Hitler-like charismatic leader,Gary Lee (Christopher Collet), motivates his group of dominant young paramilitary skaters known as the Rollerboys. They envision an all-White world achieved through violence and the overthrow of governments. Depression-level economic turbulence have weakened local authorities. Gary Lee and his gang fills a void; a somewhat parallel to Hitler's ascension during the Weimar Republic.

There is a plausible case to be made that screenwriter W. Peter Lliff had a deep familiarity with "Turner Diaries." The novel and the film presents a "The Day of the Rope" for the unmerciful elimination of perceived enemies. They parts ways in its implementation. On that eventful day in the book, many "race traitors" end up in nooses. The "rope" of the Rollerboys is a chemical modification to the recreational drug Mist, an adjustment which sterilizes its non-White users. (Compare that to Walter Mosley's "Futureland," where an artificial plague bypasses anyone whose DNA is at least 12.5% African.)

By the time "Prayer Of The Rollerboys" was released, Corey Haim's career was in decline. Long gone were the theater-ready times of "Lost Boys." Because of personal issues, Corey became a true lost boy--with skates--eager to get by, having lost the power of selectiveness in his movie roles. True life wasn't better, as his character Griffin avoided addiction. My standards for movies are not high, maybe that's why I will watch a Corey Haim film post-super stardom.

The futuristic nature of the movie was promising, while the unconvincing unfolding of events and the frequently sub par performances went below my low requirements.Yet the movie got me hooked like a Mist addict. It retains a significant appeal in a "Lord of the Flies"-like environment with minimal parental authority. The Rollerboys feed the "what if" imaginations of those eager to escape the restrictions of society. Ideology aside, the Rollerboys are cool skaters swinging in reinforced rhythmic uniformity, well at home in a semi-dystopia.