From Kimbo Slice to Stefan Schumacher

I'll admit it. I don't get MMA.

I've tried. I've set the DVR and recorded some of the fights. I know who Kimbo Slice is. But as for the fascination in watching two men pummel each other into oblivion ... why?

If the fight ends in a couple of seconds, how was that worth it? If the fight drags on, how is it entertaining to see a human head swell up or blood gush in front of your eyes (or on your feet, if you're in attendance)?

And, no, I'm not much into boxing either.

My fringe-sport fascination is cycling. Yes, even with the doping -- about which we learned more this week. Two-time 2008 Tour de France stage winner Stefan Schumacher got busted this week. But I do think cycling is trying to figure out the doping thing, sometimes clumsily and not always successfully.

To that end, I am eager to watch the 2009 Amgen Tour of California in February. Rick Scott, a cycling enthusiast and public relations expert, posts a "weekly rap" updating results and news from around the cycling world, of which there seems to be more now that Lance Armstrong has returned.

And Velonews had an interview with disgraced American racer Tyler Hamilton who talks about his pending divorce from his wife Haven, who had battled hard (and publicly) to clear her husband's name when he fought the doping charges that cost him two years of riding. He also talks about his experience riding for controversial Rock Racing team owner Michael Ball.

-- Diane Pucin

Photo: Stefan Schumacher of Germany leaves antidoping control after the fourth stage of the Tour de France cycling race on July 8. Credit: Nicolas Bouvy / European Pressphoto Agency

Comments

[lillie langtry]

I loathe MMA. My husband watches it like an 8 yr. old watches cartoons, and he watches all those stupid shows about them living together, with every other word bleeped out. It's like wrestling or roller derby--so stupid I feel my brain shrinking in my head.

And then he has the nerve to criticize hockey as a goon sport!