Hello, my friend, we meet again! It’s been a while. Where should I begin?
If you picked up that the first line of this week’s column was the first line of Creed’s ‘My Sacrifice,’ then you must be a very cultured individual.
Anyway, enough of that. You came here to read what your favourite (or least favourite) writer has on his mind on this Monday. Well, let’s dive into it!
You’re a wizard, Harry!
If you watched Thursday night’s NRL, you would have been treated to a hell of a game between two of the best teams of the last five years. However, you were also treated to one of the great acts that could win a Logie and maybe an Emmy award.
Now, before I get stuck into him, Harry Grant is a hell of a player. Easily the best number nine running around at the moment. And those players sometimes like to do everything they can to win, which is fair, but can also leave a bit of a bitter taste in your mouth.
The moment of the match I am talking about happened right here:
Don’t get me wrong, if Moses Leota puts a hit on you, you are hurt. But he barely touched Grant, let alone blocked him from getting to Nathan Cleary. This divided people, with some saying that it was obstruction, and others saying Grant’s acting was as good as Daniel Day-Lewis’s in ‘My Left Foot.’ We all know that even within the rules, it’s not really in the spirit of the game.
Unfortunately, players diving this season has become the norm. Let’s hope that next season the refs will see through the acting and not reward it.
And Newwww
Ladies and gentlemen, there is a new UFC Middleweight Champion of the world, and his name is Khamzat Chimaev.
Yesterday, Chimaev did what bookmakers and others thought he could do: beat Dricus Du Plessis. It turns out you have to take him down and stay on top of him. On a serious note, I’ve always been a believer that you do what you can to win; that’s what Chimaev did. He figured out how to beat the awkwardness that Du Plessis possessed.
Now I’m excited to see who’s next for the new champion, while also watching how Du Plessis make his way back to a title shot.
UFC heading to Paramount
While we’re on the subject of the UFC, and under the better late than never category, the organisation has found a new home on Paramount. The deal is for $7.7 billion over seven years, with the fight night events to be broadcast on Paramount+, and the numbered or pay-per-view events being on CBS.
Right before the deal came out (which was last Tuesday here in Australia), I was wondering where the UFC would land, given the ongoing negotiations. I actually thought that ESPN might come through with a big deal. Well, I was hoping that it would be anyone other than Netflix (sorry, Netflix, you’re still my fav), but not in my wildest dreams did I think it would be Paramount.
Paramount has been on a bit of a tear lately, with them paying the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker $1.5 billion, and of course, the cancellation of ‘Late Night with Stephen Colbert.’ This has all come about after the big Paramount/Skydance merger.
What I find interesting is that many podcasts I have listened to and articles I have read all have said that the pay-per-view model is dead. But this deal is only in the US. The UFC will stay on Foxtel/Kayo, and we Aussie fight fans still have to fork out the money to buy the numbered events. So here, the model isn’t really dead. What do you think, fight fans? Let me know in the comments.
America’s team get the Netflix treatment
It’s an exciting time if you’re a fan of the NFL, with the 2025/26 season just around the corner. But to wet your appetite, if you can’t watch any of the preseason games, a new documentary will be released tomorrow.
America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys takes a look back at the Cowboys’ glory days in the 1990s. I knew the documentary was coming, but after hearing Bill Simmons, Bryan Curtis and Cousin Sal talk about it, it made me want to build a time machine and try to get to Tuesday, the 20th of August, even though I’m a die-hard New York Giants fan.
I love these documentaries, and while I miss the good old days of regular TV, I am enjoying what I feel is the golden age of content.
We’ve come to the end of another column, dear reader. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any comments about the column, how I can make it better, or anything you would like to see, either post in the comments or hit me up at josh@gameonoz.com.
Until next time, take care!