Looking Back

If you told me 1 year ago today that I would be arguing the finish of a fight in UFC with a friend on this day in 2006 I would've:


Laughed uncontrollably. The reason for this is that I was very new to the sport. I wouldn't watch my first UFC Pay Per View for another 3 months. I did so alone that night.

In April I had Scott and our friend Josh Haeder at my apartment for the show. Marcus came along in May. Then Wade watched his first in August.

The point of this is to say that a year ago this would not have happened and it would've shown no signs of happening.
I think that in a lot of ways myself and my group of friends are the posterchilds for the MMA boom in 2006 which in actuallity is a UFC boom.

Marcus and I argued the finish of the fight tonight, and there was some loud voices and good natured trash-talking thrown in. From the outside it might've looked like a real serious argument and while that was true for the topic itself it was a good natured one. There are things in MMA that you can argue about that you can't with pro wrestling. You can argue over the merits of the type of finish to a match you see on PPV or Raw or something but you can not argue it and say that if Nick Patrick were the ref he wouldn't have stopped it the way Charles Robinson did.

Here is what people need to understand about me. I am an argumentative person, I love to argue and I am very good at it. I love being with other people that can argue and it helps to raise my game.
The point is that tonight Marcus and I argued while Scott and Wade watched the show. I don't know what those 2 thought when the show was over and they decided to leave but I'm guessing they'll remember this one for quite some time. The thing that they don't see is that Marcus and I don't have these kinds of arguments all of the time and will spend hours on the phone breaking down strategies of wrestling and MMA companies. The kind of argument we had tonight is rare, we maybe have one a year.

I love arguing with him. I respect him and I think we learn from each other. That whole story though is really a sidetrack.


I don't know what I'll look back on 2006 and think in 5 years. The fact is that I feel that I have gotten smarter this year in terms of my knowledge of wrestling and MMA and other topics. The thing about it is though that it wouldn't have happened if not for my friends.

Breaking down raw with Marcus. Conversations with Ric about everything under the sun, listening and talking with Art and Euan. Reading those sites and posts on this blog. I owe a lot to everyone. I would be no where without a lot of people.

So at the end of this year I want to say thank you to all of my friends if you've been my friend forever or are 1 I picked up along the way this year. I have learned a lot from all of you and am a better person for the influences you have on my life. You all have taught me and entertained me.
I'm not going to lie 2006 was a bad year for me. I had difficulties at not 1 but 2 jobs. I found out this year to 1 person just how valuable our friendship was when he was willing to throw it away by being dishonest when we would still be friends had he told me the truth. I was mired in a deep depression for an overwhelming majority of this year.

But, just when things were bleak and didn't look so good

• I had a chat with Euan on MSN that brought a smile to my face when I had only hours earlier wondered if that would even be possible.
  
• Scott showed up and drug me out some place and bought me something to eat. He told me that he was worried about me because he hadn't heard from me in a few days.
  
• I could feel the stress building up and have it vanish away because I heard something on the Ric and Steve...er...Karl Show that made me laugh. Plus it made me feel good to know that these people were genuinely entertained by something that I had written.
  
• At the peaks of lonely nights when I was left alone to be torchured by my thoughts of my trials and difficulties I'd get that phone call and Marcus and I would talk about what stupid thing that TNA or the WWE had done. What we thought of the last shows we saw or what we hoped to see in the future. Those calls could last a couple of hours and when they were over they had been successful in that my thoughts no longer tortured me.
  
• Thinking that when I really needed to talk about what was on my mind that Duane was always there for the wisdom and advice that I have come to depend on him for. No disrespect to anyone else but Duane knows what is going on in my head more than anyone else and that can be a scary thought.
  
• There's Art's site and his support of mine and his willingness to help out whenever I asked.
  
• Wade who has been a presence in my life since I can litterally remember. I guess the best thing I can say about Wade may be the best thing I could say about anyone in my life in that he is old reliable.

So the true meaning of this is that I'd like to thank all of you. I may have written in words some of how you have impacted me for the better this year but my regret is that none of you will ever truly understand how much of a difference you have made and how much of a pick-me-up you have all been.

So, I say once again, thank you for everything. I hope everyone has a good 2007 and I know that with a family and friends like those that I am fortunate enough to possess mine will be just wonderful as well.