The Contender

I spent the whole long weekend at home, didn't even get an ounce of daylight. It doesn't sound much, but between the tuna carbonara I cooked, the March Madness and Phoenix Suns games on TV, staying off the Internet the whole time, and actually getting sleep, it was one of the greatest weekends ever. Pathetic, I know.

I usually have trouble getting sleep the night before going back to school/work after a long break, and this break was no exception. Then I got suckered into watching an episode of "The Contender" on AXN at around 3am. I try to catch the show whenever I can, but it's been hard because of my work schedule.

Anyway, between the show's over-the-top drama, the well-edited boxing action, and the performance of the two hosts (Sugar Ray Leonard and Sly Stallone) breaking the record for unintentional comedy, it's certainly my favorite reality show EVER.

The episode earlier was particularly compelling because it featured the fight of Najai Turpin, the fighter who committed suicide five weeks before the show premiered. By the end of the show, it got really, really dusty in my room as Najai was talking about his two-year old daughter after the loss.

Anyway, after the show, I decided to just head over to the office (where I am right now) to just get a headstart on the week's work. And whaddya know, ESPN's Bill Simmons talks about "The Contender" in his latest column:

But it's impossible not to feel something for the loser of the big match every week, as he walks back to the darkened locker room, faces his disappointed family, questions his career and dreams, then limps out of the building with a gonging noise in the background, like the 10-count of a bell.

...

You already know how I feel about Sly Stallone – remember, I'm the same guy who owns "Tango and Cash" and "Daylight" on DVD. Sly could host a Grilled Cheese Sandwich Contest on the Food Network and I would watch every week. No celebrity has been as alternately cheesy, hysterical, likable, ludicrous, inspiring, laughable and endearing ... sometimes even all at once.

...

Could this be the show that gets casual fans into boxing again? Between sleazy promoters, shaky judging decisions, pricey pay-per-views, all the different championship belts, the lack of personable fighters and everything else, Americans don't have a connection with boxing the way they once did. Most sports fans wouldn't recognize Bernard Hopkins if he were sitting on their laps, and he was probably the defining fighter of the past decade.

- posted by jaemark @ 3/28/2005 05:56:00 AM