Sunset Riders

     The sporting world has always been a constantly changing one, with its athletes moving in and out.  Recently, though, three figures, often misunderstood, often maligned, in no means great,  but worthy of true respect in my eyes, have left.  It's time to say good bye.

Keith Jardine - Less than a week ago, the Ultimate FIghting Championship (UFC) decided to  terminate the contract of the Ultimate Fighter alum. Jardine's most recent loss to Matt Hamill was actually his fourth consecutive loss, which prompted the issuance of his pink slip.  Jardine has always been a favorite of mine, as he possesses one of the truly great monickers of all time (It actually was my pick for "Top Monicker").  More than that, though, "The Dean of Mean," got my respect because he was always ready to fight, evidenced by the fact that he often stepped up when the UFC needed a competent light heavyweight to fill a card.  Very few fighters are willing to fight on short notice as back ups or substitutes, but Jardine made no bones about it.  While his termination is not a permanent banishment from the UFC, fans will certainly miss the "Dean," and his unorthodox fighting style. 

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Top 10 "Top 10s": Best Monickers

     I love monickers.  In fact, I wrote about my favorites before in a previous article.  I think they give sports a lot more color and they give athletes a chance at better name recognition, which is always helpful in making a certain sport more popular.  


Parameters: As usual, only athletes playing in the sports that From the Fifty Peso Seats covers will be counted.  Also, given my preference for MMA monickers, I decided to control myself by limiting it to three per sport at the most.  Also, as tribute to my brod Tibibord, I would like to give special mention to "El Aparador" Joel Dualan.  Great monicker, but it did little to extend his PBA career.  I heard he's coaching though.


10.  Marcus Davis (UFC)

     One of the better fighters in the UFC's middleweight division, I have to admit that I barely knew of Davis a few years ago.  That all changed when I witnessed one of his fights.  It wasn't his fighting style that really got me.  It was his monicker.  "The Irish Hand Grenade," is just freakin' awesome, isn't it?  Of course, he would've ranked higher had his monicker not have been too controversial to use in Ireland.  he ended up being called, "The Celtic Warrior," there, since Ireland continues to experience unrest.

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