Here's a first-world problem for people who have found themselves over-refreshed at establishments of sort-of decent repute: deciding to take one in or let one out.
Some poor guy in China – Mr. Hu is what he's being called – reportedly fell asleep after going on a bender at some point this month, according to a report in the Zhuji Daily newspaper on June 23, and ended up in hospital with what was described as a burst bladder in three different places. Why? He held it in too long, 18 hours to be exact. Because he did so, he wasn't able to properly dispose of his fill. Mr. Hu gave himself a double shot of trouble when one of the holes in his bladder ruptured toward the abdomen and part of his intestines spilled into the bladder. That can kill you but doctors were able to save his life with emergency surgery.
If you have to go, you have to go because if not, urine trouble. Anyway:
Baseball is so copying softball
Softball has a wonderful rule that ensures extra innings don't drag on and on and on. We call it the international tiebreaker rule and here's how it works:
If a game is tied after seven innings, each team gets to play their half of the eighth inning with a runner starting on second base and the game plays like normal. If the game is still tied and goes to the ninth inning, same deal and so on. We don't screw around in softball because we want to get out of there as fast as possible.
Now that Major League Baseball got its crap together and will have some semblance of a season – 60 games worth – it, too, will institute that very same rule. It's all part of a new package of rules which will be employed for this season. Among the addendum package includes no spitting/brawling/arguing, a designated hitter in the National League (American League has had this rule for decades where pitchers don't hit) and any player can appear as a pitcher.
That last rule is also a softball rule; we don't tell players they can't pitch, though it's nice if you can toss a mean rise ball. I could never get the riser down but my drop ball? Forget it – 12-to-6 dip and you're getting fooled.
It's nice to see softball have so much influence on its bigger cousin and long may it continue. I don't hold out much hope when it comes to spitting or arguing, though. You know that's going to happen.
Yeah, that's impressive
So UFC is in Abu Dhabi this month with big fights and events planned and, judging from what I've seen, it's rather sexy.
It's called Fight Island with Yas Island in Abu Dhabi playing host to one of the most elaborate set-ups in sports to date. Dana White, UFC's president, told us about Fight Island earlier this year and we all wondered what it would look like. You can get a sneak peek on his Twitter feed and it's rather impressive. The best mixed-martial arts fighters on the planet in one place … what's not to like about that?
It all gets underway on July 11 and what these fighters will see is a spectacle. There is 640,000 sq. m. worth of space being used with an arena, exclusive hotel, training facilities and restaurants all within a 10 sq. mile area which is only for people associated with UFC. No one else can get in unless they've been tested or has prior clearance.
Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns will be the main event on July 11 for Usman's welterweight title and that should be a good one. I personally want to see how Deiveson Figueiredo fares against Joseph Benavidez on July 18. It's the second match between the two this year and let's hope it's an actual flyweight bout this time. Figueiredo was two pounds over the 125 lb. flyweight limit, meaning it ended up being a catchweight bout.
It's live MMA so it can't be bad.
And finally …
Good Idea: Drew Brees as the best quarterback in the NFC South.
Bad Idea: Matt Ryan thinking he's the best quarterback in the NFC South.
Honestly, Matt Ryan thinks he's the best quarterback in the NFC South division? A division which had Drew Brees before it and now joined by Tom Brady after he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
Sure, you keep thinking that, skipper. You may have good numbers but it's all about championships to me – and almost everyone else who judges greatness – and you have none. You could have had one but your team managed to blow a big fourth-quarter lead in Super Bowl 52 to … Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Ryan said this with a straight face while on ESPN's Pardon My Take last month. How hard do you think Brees was laughing? How hard do you think Brady was laughing? How hard do you think all of us were laughing? I almost peed myself when I heard that … and I wasn't holding it in, like some people.
Reminds me of that time when Josh Ho-Sang said in an interview with the Toronto Sun that he would draft himself first overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, a draft which included players such as Aaron Ekblad, William Nylander, Sam Reinhart and David Pastrnak. They've gone on to fine NHL careers. Ho-Sang can't even be bothered to set his alarm clock properly.
Until next time, folks …