I Guess Size Does Matter

When a hawk killed another bird in our backyard a couple of weeks ago, a lot of birds disappeared and haven't been seen since. The brave remaining few who come to our feeder have been eating with their heads on a collective swivel. The slightest breeze and they scatter like underage kids when the cops show up at a house party. So, when that same hawk was spotted around our house again on Monday night, I figured that would scare away the few birds that still risked coming around, leaving the seed to be finished off by the squirrels.

Well, we found one bird that will still show up and stand it's ground: a massive wild turkey. He's been roaming around the woods behind my house for a couple of months now, but the amount of free birdseed that is available to him has been bringing him around more frequently the last couple of days. And today he was hanging around the back of our house for almost an hour, much to the delight of Abigail. Guess he doesn't think a 5 pound hawk can kill a 15 pound turkey. Also, in case you were wondering, turkeys and squirrels to not get along.

-I want to take a second to talk about UFC 100, which was last weekend. Admittedly, it's not my thing. I haven't watched UFC in a long time, since the days of Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock in UFC 5. For me it was 3 minutes of action, followed by 15 minutes of clutching, grabbing and rolling on the ground trying to lock in submission holds. I keep hearing that MMA has come a long way and that it's got more action in it today. While that may be the case, I still think I'll pass. They don't need my money anyways. What I want to talk about is how everyone seems to think that UFC is now a big-time sport, on par with hockey in America.

How can I put this? Dudes, it July. The sports world is dead in July: schools are out so there are no college sports and football, basketball and hockey are in their offseasons. Baseball doesn't even get interesting for another month. Not to mention, this was the weekend before the All-Star break, which is the slowest weekend in a slow month. In one regard I applaud the UFC for having their biggest event during a time that would garnish the most attention. It's very smart marketing (the NHL putting the signature outdoor hockey game on as the same day as most of college football's major bowls would be an example of the exact opposite of this strategy). If they want to be considered a big-time sport then UFC needs to find a strategy that will have the sports world buzzing in October. If you can get people to care when you're up against the NFL, college football, MLB playoffs and the NBA and NHL starting off, then we'll talk about your sport as a major player.