Graduation, Grandparents, World Cup, and UFC 115

It has been a whirlwind around here, but a very fun one... And yes, I did get some writing done in between eating a ton of good food and drinking too much.

Isabelle's graduation was very neat, and the children beautiful. Everyone enjoyed it. My mother is getting around extremely well after her total knee replacement last October.

The England-USA game was a glorious grind. Fun to listen to the UK pundits make excuses left and right. Shots on goal score goals. A goalie failure to stop the goal is not a gift. It is a possible outcome of any shot on goal. No shot, no goal.

I had two friends over to watch UFC 115, and we had a good time, drinking more than a few beers.

The fights were quite good, especially for a card without a title challenge. The Liddell vs Franklin match was an awesome display of power that I hadn't been sure Franklin had.

Barry, I'm sure, is regretting not following up on his first round knockdowns of Cro Cop. He'd have won with a ground and pound had he done so. Cro Cop was the best I've seen him in a long time, but still not the man he was before. Barry did impress with his fight-loving good humor, but didn't show the killer instinct he'll need to develop if he wants to have a lengthy career fighting professionally.

Rory Macdonald was robbed of a decision by TKO with only nine seconds remaining. Amazing, tightly focused fighting by both fighters. Rory is young and I hope last night's ref-robbery does not sour him. He was mounting an active defense, and had won the first two rounds quite handily, making an excellent fight of it. The robbery was quite evident when compared to other fights of the night, where the ref let the fights go on and on.

Tonight, the True Blood Premiere.