that could become a thing. | Forum
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Oct 25 '17
TORRANCE, Calif. Lawrence Guy Jersey . - Gabriel Silva is a promising young boxer, and that doesnt please his famous father one bit.Even while sitting amid speed bags, wrestling mats and mixed martial arts cages in his impressive gym in the Los Angeles suburbs, Anderson Silva cant stomach the thought of his son getting hit.This is bad for my heart, Silva said with a laugh. I talked to Gabriel: Why do you go fight boxing? He said to me, Why do you go fight MMA? My heart, oh my God. I say, Go play soccer. Its easier, more money. But this is his dream.Silva had every right and reason to take his own advice 13 months ago. The Brazilian fighter who made 10 straight title defences during seven years as the UFCs dominant middleweight champion ended 2013 on his back in the MGM Grand Garden octagon, his lower left leg grotesquely shattered from his kick to new champion Chris Weidmans knee.Yet after roughly nine months of recovery and three more months of training, the 39-year-old Silva will step back into that same octagon in Las Vegas to keep fighting Saturday against Nick Diaz in the pay-per-view main event at UFC 183.The fighter known as the Spider is already widely considered the greatest competitor in his sports history, yet he wants and needs more.Although Silva says the belt no longer motivates him, UFC President Dana White has said a win over the always-entertaining Diaz would likely land Silva another title shot against Weidman or Vitor Belfort, who meet next month in Los Angeles.When I broke my leg, the first thing I said is, I need to go back, Silva said.Indeed, Silva began asking his medical team how quickly he could return to training while he was still in the hospital waiting for surgery on his broken leg. When he was finally cleared to work on his punishing sport, he worried his leg wouldnt have the strength to kick with the brutality necessary to win in the UFC.But he did it anyway, gradually rebuilding his form in his own gym. His video-game athleticism and topflight boxing skill gradually re-emerged, persuading the UFC to keep Silva in contention.When I start three months ago, my focus is my leg, to get strong, more powerful, Silva said. Now when I train for the fight, its normal. Its the same kick, the same training. Its all normal.Silvas camp says he looks dangerous in training, and he moves with his usual grace whenever the public can see him.He said his challenge has been mostly mental, because when I start the training for balance, my leg (did) not have power, he added. When I not have power, Im scared. But now, everything is good.Silva readily acknowledges the hypocrisy in his determination to fight and his distaste for his sons growing interest in physical sports. After all, the discrepancy has already been pointed out to him by another son, Kalyl.When I go to fight, Kalyl says, Dad, stop, Silva said. You dont need more of this. You fight for a long time. Why? I say, Because this is me. This is my life. I love fighting. I dont fight for money. I fight for the UFC for a long time. I have money for my family. But I fight because I love it.Although he has a comfortable life with his wife and five children in their homes in Brazil and Los Angeles South Bay suburbs, Silva sees his meeting with Diaz as my first fight in the UFC. No matter the result, he intends to keep training and fighting into his 40s, focused on goals that only he can see.And if he gets another shot at the middleweight title, hell take it.The last time I got the belt, I (kept) it for seven years, Silva said. Now, Im working for the UFC. The UFC is my family. After Nick, Ill go and train for my next fight. I dont know if Ill have another chance for the belt, but Dana gives me the chance for the belt, I go fight. I dont know. Joe Thuney Jersey . The 28-year-old from Rochester, Alta., was selected by the Redblacks from the Saskatchewan Roughriders roster in the 2013 CFL Expansion Draft. John Hannah Jersey . "Weve given ourselves now a tougher task," said Carlyle after the Friday practice, the Toronto head coach notably chipper and upbeat throughout. "But the bottom line is we just have to win our share of games [and] not worry about what anybody else is doing.The Toronto Maple Leafs made quite a splash with the hiring of an Assistant General Manager Tuesday. That might sound ludicrous, considering hes an Assistant General Manager, but it really is a pretty big deal. By hiring Kyle Dubas, a 28-year-old who has been the GM of the Ontario Hockey Leagues Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for the past three seasons, the Leafs are bringing in a new voice. I dont know Dubas. I met him at this years Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, enjoyed talking hockey with him for a little while and we were both wowed by the advances in baseball tracking technology. I came away impressed and sure that he would be in the NHL before long. That he landed an NHL job this summer comes as no surprise. Landing with the Toronto Maple Leafs, however -- a franchise that has eschewed the use of analytics -- was a legitimate shock. When the Maple Leafs hired Brendan Shanahan to be the clubs new president this spring, there was a lot of talk of a culture change but, as the offseason progressed, it didnt appear that any grand change was taking place. They had fired three assistant coaches, but had the same GM, head coach and front office. If assistant coaches were dictating the culture of the franchise, that would be a first, so it didnt look like the culture change was forthcoming. Enter Dubas, and exit veteran hockey execs Claude Loiselle and Dave Poulin, who were let go. That is the start of a culture change and one of the best parts of it is that Dubas isnt one to get caught up in a buzz phrase like "culture change." He recognizes that winning does a lot to change a teams culture but, for fans and media, having a new voice in the board room -- one that has different ideas than those that have been in place for a while -- does mark a change in the Leafs culture. While teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings have found value in using advanced statistics, the Maple Leafs have been resistant. If those teams, likely the two best teams in the league over the past five seasons, were using analytics, why would any team not at least ensure that they were up to speed on the latest concepts? Never mind any team, why would the most valuable franchise in the sport, not spend a relative pittance to make sure that they knew and could comprehend the data? Upon hiring Dubas, Shanahan said that he perceived some problems in the Toronto front office. "I believe we have people in our organization who have maybe been afraid of certain words and certain information," said Shanahan. "Once you speak with Kyle, I think he makes it seem much more logical and easy to apply." This, I agree with. Dubas helps crack through old-school hockey minds because he can speak their language. Hes a bright guy with a hockey history and that allows him to communicate on the level of people who arent necessarily inclined to look at some of the more modern statistical advances, whether that means Corsi, zone starts, zone entries, whatever. And, ultimately, its not about the statistics, its about using them to help make better organizational decisions. "Im not going to rush in tomorrow and try to tell everybody how it is," Dubas told the Globe and Mails James Mirtle. "Thats not really the way I am." From my brief conversation with Dubas at the Sloan Conference, he noted that the Greyhounds possession numbers skyrocketed under head coach Sheldon Keefe, going from 47% to 57%, using their own manually-calculated metrics (because, unlike the NHL, the OHL doesnt have a stats feed of every event that happens in every game). Getting the information, and applying it to how a team should play, is a textbook example of how to use statistics as part of a teams overall strategy. The Greyhounds valued puck possession, coached their players to value puck possession and became a much better team as a result. On other topics, we talked about employing four forwards on the ice at times. He said the Greyhounds were experimenting with it, adding a top-line forward when the other team put their fourth line on the ice, figuring that there was a potential mismatch available, with minimal downside because other teams fourth lines werent necessarily a big threat. Merely thinking that little bit outside the box qualifies as creative in hockey circles and its the open-minded approach to try it that makes Dubas such an intriguing hire. Hes not stuck on the same old, same old because thats the wway it has always been done. Cyrus Jones Jersey. While Dubas has been painted as a stats guy in some corners, there were soldiers at the ready to make sure the world knew he was not just some nerd (as if they could help a hockey team). Player agent Todd Reynolds, whose firm, Uptown Sports Management, hired Dubas as a player agent when he was 21, told TSNs Jonas Siegel, "I dont think its all about analytics like people have wanted to make it out to be today. Hes not a computer nerd. Hes not sitting there crunching numbers and bringing sheets of paper into the GMs office with recommendations. Hes much more complete than that." Some people are really concerned that you dont think too highly of Dubas use of analytics. These are deeply-held notions in the hockey world, that stats guys must sit in front of a computer and print out sheets of recommendations without watching the games and applying that analysis. Keep in mind, there may not be anyone doing more watching of the games than guys involved in analytics, who are constantly finding new ways to look at the sport. This isnt a bad thing, particularly in a sport that, relatively, has been in the statistical stone age. So, why is Dubas considered a stats guy? Because that is a point of differentiation. He has scouted players, been an agent and a junior hockey GM, so he has made his hockey bones, but hes 28-years-old, so he hasnt necessarily seen as much hockey as veteran NHL executives. But, if you are looking for a difference -- beyond merely age -- that helps Dubas stand out, it is that he understands modern analytic concepts and there wasnt a lot of evidence, through many radio interviews last season, that Loiselle, Poulin or Nonis had a firm grasp on those matters. Shanahan, describing the interview process with Dubas, said, "I was learning things I didnt know and just wanted to learn more." This is a three-time Stanley Cup winner, a Hall of Famer who scored 656 career goals (ranking 13th all-time), who was not only learning about hockey from a 28-year-old who never played in the league but, much more importantly for the Maple Leafs, he was actually open to the idea! That the Maple Leafs havent seriously applied analytics to their management is one thing. Its another matter entirely to have effectively taken this approach without a real understanding of how analytics apply to the modern NHL game. Even Dubas acknowledged that this was an area in which Nonis was learning. What does it mean for the future of the Maple Leafs? Dubas is a 28-year-old Assistant GM, coming into a team that, barring trades, largely has its roster set for the 2014-2015 season, so its not like immediate results can or should be pinned on his hiring, but this is about changing the long-term direction of the franchise and doing so in a progressive way. Dubas presents a voice that should be different and, for a team that has reached the playoffs once in the past nine seasons, new voices need to be heard. Dubas has Shanahans ear and that should have some influence in the decisions that the Maple Leafs make going forward. While that could make for some uncomfortable times for GM Dave Nonis, considering this franchises track record, no one in the Leafs organization ought to feel too comfortable. Getting better is the goal, right? "I havent run the team in Sault St. Marie based solely on statistics," said Dubas. "Its been a good size part of what weve integrated in, but the rest of it is just hockey. Its evaluating players, scouting reports, dealing with the personalities on the team, trying to hire the best scouts and people. And certainly the analytics, Ive found it to be a major help to me personally in the way that I view the game and just create a better level of certainty to decisions." Thats what any team should be striving to achieve in their use of statistics and analytics. Stats arent everything. No one is suggesting to use statistics on their own, without anything else. You can still watch the games. Use the stats as a tool for evaluation and make better decisions. There probably arent a lot of analytics about hiring a 28-year-old Assistant GM, small samples and all that, but this decision by the Maple Leafs was smart. If theyre not careful, that could become a thing. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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