Parapsychologie Info & Talk » d closers (Pleasant Colony and Alysheba).

TORONTO -- Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre says he has been obsessed by challenger Johny (Bigg Rigg) Hendricks ahead of their UFC 167 showdown. Hendricks not so much. "I dont go that route, because heres the thing: I cant do nothing about it today," Hendricks told The Canadian Press. "I cant do nothing about it tomorrow. The only time I have to do something about it is Nov. 16." Thats when the No. 1 challenger takes on St. Pierre at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. For Hendricks, theres nothing personal against the Canadian. Its business and his stock is on the rise. "Im not going to say nothing bad about him," said Hendricks. "I just think its time for my turn to be the new champ." St-Pierre (24-2) is listed as slightly more than a 2-1 favourite, more competitive odds than in most of the 32-year-old Montrealers title defences. GSP is currently riding an 11-fight win streak. But Hendricks (15-1) has one-punch knockout power backed up by NCAA championship-calibre wrestling. Hendricks divides his fight training into three parts: the actual fight camp, weight-cutting and then "the enjoyment, the fight." "The fight is the fun part," he said. The enjoyment has been short-lived for his opponents. Jon Fitch lasted 12 seconds. Amir Saollah exited after 29 seconds. Charlie Brenneman survived for 40 seconds. Martin (The Hitman) Kampmann lasted 46. T.J. Waldburger was stopped in 1:35. While the 30-year-old Hendricks has made his marks in the cage with his fists, he entered the sport as a stud wrestler. He was a four-time all-American and two-time NCAA champion at Oklahoma State where he went 103-12. "Thats what my father bred me for," he said of his wrestling success. "Thats what he prepared me for." After his collegiate wrestling career finished in 2006, Hendricks turned to MMA. About three months into his training, he discovered he was good at hitting people. But the technique wasnt there. "My striking was good, my power was good. I just didnt know the accuracy. Accuracy is everything." Hitting with maximum power is just a matter of connecting. But he soon learned that you can knock someone out with less power, providing the accuracy is there. And that effectively extends the threat of his fists. "If I can knock you out at 80 per cent (power), then all of a sudden the skys the limit," he explained. "If I can do it at 80 per cent and be very active with it, it just means less power to use and the longer I can maintain my output." The success of Hendricks striking -- and the often short fights that ensue -- has meant he has not had to use his wrestling skills much. But he landed 12-of-15 takedown attempts against Carlos Condit last time out at UFC 158, blunting Condits kickboxing arsenal. Condit connected on just 42-of-145 significant strikes while Hendricks was good on 30 of 71. Hendricks expects St-Pierre to try to do what he did against Josh Koscheck, another acclaimed collegiate wrestler with power, at UFC 124 -- hurt him with a jab and then take him down. "Hes going to jab. And then hes going to jab. Then hes going to do some more jabbing," said Hendricks, an Oklahoma native who now makes his home in the Dallas area. "And then hes going to try to get me off balance, for sure. I think thats his main game plan. And to try to take me down as much as possible. Thats what Im preparing for." St-Pierre leads the UFC in significant strikes landed (1,153), takedowns (84), takedown accuracy (75 per cent) and ranks fourth in significant strike defence (75.1 per cent) and seventh in takedown defence (88.0 per cent), according to FightMetric. In comparison, Hendricks converts 50 per cent of his takedown attempts, stops 63 per cent of his opponents takedowns and has a significant strike defence rate of 58 per cent. St-Pierre is thought by many to possess the best MMA wrestling in the sport and Hendricks acknowledges the champion has adapted his wrestling skills to the fight world. "Watch how he hits his jab," Hendricks said. "Hell actually lean into it, four to five inches when he throws his jabs. He leans in hard, boom, boom. And whenever he does that, hell take half a step back and whenever he takes that half-step back, people miss. And whenever they miss, they start lunging in. When they start lunging in, hes got the eyes and the timing to take them off of it. "Thats what GSP has done very well." Hendricks has never been taken down more than twice in a UFC fight. St-Pierre has only been taken down twice in his last 10 UFC fights, by Koscheck. Rickey Jackson Youth Jersey . Burkes Flames are one of several teams involved in heavy trade speculation going into next Wednesdays 3pm et deadline, with the most prominent name in play being forward Michael Cammalleri. Ryan Ramczyk Saints Jersey . The team announced the moves before Sundays game against Houston. Shaw was 1-4 with a 4.26 ERA in 43 games for the Diamondbacks. Bergesen was claimed off waivers from Baltimore on Friday. http://www.shoptheofficialsaints.com/Elite-Rickey-Jackson-Saints-Jersey/ .J. -- All those records, all for naught. Morten Andersen Youth Jersey . Pretty good hitting, too. Dan Haren pitched six innings and sparked the go-ahead rally with a single, leading Los Angeles to another win over the skidding Atlanta Braves, 4-2 on Tuesday night. Taysom Hill Womens Jersey . The game marks the rare occasion when two homegrown running backs, Jon Cornish of the Calgary Stampeders and Andrew Harris of the B.C. Lions, will start in the West Divisions battle for a Grey Cup berth.California Chrome is the 3-5 morning line favorite to become the 12th Triple Crown winner in racing history. However, the last seven odds-on Belmont Stakes favorites have failed to win and complete the magnificent feat. You can watch the Belmont Stakes on TSN this Saturday, with coverage beginning at 2:30pm et/11:30am pt. One has to go all the way back to 1978 when Affirmed held off Alydar at 3-5 to find the last odds-on betting choice to grab hold of the final leg of horse racings Triple Crown. In fact, Affirmed was the fourth straight odds-on winner following the footsteps of Seattle Slew (2-5), Bold Forbes (4-5) and Secretariat (1-9). Between the years 1958 and 1971, only one of eight odds-on betting favorites in the Belmont came home on top - Damascus (4-5) in 1967. Finally, half of the first 14 odds-on choices crossed the wire first. Overall, this type of favorite holds just 12 victories in 33 overall starts. It must be mentioned that there were two odds-on choices in 1957. Gallant Man (19-20) crossed the wire first while Bold Ruler (17-20) finished third. The bottom line is there have been only 12 winners out of 32 races since mutuels began in New York in 1940. Thats a 37.5 percent winning percentage. Moreover, of the 19 horses in line for the Triple Crown sweep, just six came home victorious. That amounts to a 33 percent winning percentage. Five of the Kentucky Derby-Preakness winners ran second in the Belmont Stakes with Real Quiet (4-5 in 1998) coming the closest, losing by a nose to Victory Gallop. The four others were Pensive (1-2 in 1944), Tim Tam (3-20 in 1958), Sunday Silence (4-5 in 1989) and Smarty Jones (2-5 in 2004). Three more finished third - Northern Dancer (4-5 in 1964), Spectacular Bid (1-5 in 1979) and Pleasant Colony (4-5 in 1981). Five finished off the board, including Big Brown (2008) - the last horse vying for the Triple Crown that ran in the Belmont (Ill Have Another in 2012 was injured and did not race in the final leg). There also is another key factor that plays against California Chrome and that is field size. The six Triple Crown winners between 1941 and 1978 won the Belmont Stakes against a combined 27 other horses, which amounts to an average of 3.5 horses per race. The 13 horses that failed to win the Triple Crown had 110 challengers, which means those colts ran against an average of 8.5 horses per race. This year, the Belmont Stakes has a field of 11, which ties for the second- most entrants behind the 1971 edition when Canonero II finished fourth at 3-5. The 1966, 1981 and 1998 renewals also had 10 other horses competing against odds-on Derby-Preakness winners Kauai King, Pleasant Colony and Real Quiet, respectively. All three of those horses lost the Belmont Stakes. California Chrome is by far the most talented member of this 3-year-old crop. He owns tremendous tactical speed, which should place him on or just off the early lead. Only Samraat and Tonalist, and to a less extent, General a Rod, have decent gate speed, so jockey Victor Espinoza will not have much of a crowd in front of him. We will see if the colt is good enough to overcome what so many have failed to accomplish over the last 36 years. THE PRETENDERS There are two horses that have no business being in the race - Matterhorn and Matuszak. The former has not won since last November while the latter hasnt won since September. Three other colts have better bodies of work than that pair but should still finish off the board. They are General a Rod, Commissioner and Samraat. General a Rod has the pedigree to be successful at the 1 1/2-mile distance, but he sure does not run like it. It is true he had a terrible trip in the Preakness, but dont look for any improvement from a horse that might not have been entered in the Belmont if his stablemate, Intense Holiday, did not come down with an injury. Commissioner showed more speed in the Peter Pan than he ever had before, but that may have occurred due to the sloppy Belmont surface that day. An argument could be made that a horse not expected to vie for the early lead could jump up and do so and this colt might be the onee.dddddddddddd Either on the pace or off, dont expect the Todd Pletcher-trained 3-year-old to be around when the true running begins. Samraat ran a very good fifth in the Kentucky Derby - his second straight loss after opening with five wins in his first five outings. His breeding does not suggest he will appreciate the added distance, so it is best to side with others. INTRIGUING POSSIBILITIES Commanding Curve comes into the Belmont Stakes off a second-place finish to California Chrome in the Kentucky Derby. He is one of four horses in the field to have run in the Derby and pass the Preakness. Commanding Curve also had the easiest of trips in the first leg of the Triple Crown, unlike a few others entered in the Belmont. The son of Master Command has been training well and certainly is a horse to use in the exotics. However, he is doubtful to cross the wire first. Ride On Curlin represents the closest finisher to California Chrome considering the latter has strung together six consecutive victories. Nevertheless, the Belmont Stakes will be Ride On Curlins fourth race in the last eight weeks and that might be too much, especially on the heels of a 1 1/2-mile event. THE FINAL FOUR Filling out the final spot in the superfecta will be Tonalist. The Peter Pan winner has done nothing wrong as a 3-year-old, winning two of three starts with a second to Florida Derby winner Constitution in his only other race - an allowance event on a speed-favoring Gulfstream Park track. Three main reasons why he wont hit the board are: 1. his lack of experience (four career races), 2. he will be on the pace and will use too much energy trying to square off with California Chrome, and 3. breaking from the No. 11 post position will make for a longer trip into the first turn. Medal Count ran a very good eighth in the Kentucky Derby considering Danza cut him off approaching the eighth-pole. His momentum was completely stopped and he still finished less than two lengths from finishing fourth. The Dale Romans-trained son of Dynaformer not only should love the 12 furlongs, but he also has been working well at Churchill Downs. Finally, he has had five weeks off after racing three times in a month. That leaves California Chrome and Wicked Strong as the two most probable winners. Not surprisingly, they are the top two choices on the morning line. Wicked Strong has been working out on the Belmont training track, but he is one of only three horses in the field with a win over the main track (Samraat and Tonalist are the other two). The fourth-place Derby finisher broke poorly from the far outside post position on the first Saturday in May and was caught very wide going into the first turn. He eventually closed from 14th to a fourth-place finish at the wire. A better trip is expected on Saturday. Its been 36 years since Affirmed last won the last Triple Crown. Among the horses that have failed have been speed types (Smarty Jones, War Emblem and Sunday Silence), stalkers (Big Brown, Funny Cide, Silver Charm and Spectacular Bid), middle movers (Real Quiet and Charismatic) and closers (Pleasant Colony and Alysheba). California Chrome falls into the first category. If the pace is slow, he might be on the lead. If not, look for him to sit a couple lengths off, as he did in the first two Triple Crown races. A victory on Saturday will put to rest all the talk of having to alter either the distances or the span of time in between the three races. A loss and the discussions will ignite once again. Will he win? That is the million dollar question. Is he a good bet to cross the wire first at odds-on? History says no. THE BELMONT WAGER This will be a winning season regardless of what happens since the $50 wager on the California Chrome-Ride On Curlin exacta came through for a cool $455 return. With a mythical $100 Belmont Stakes wager, bet $35 on a Wicked Strong- California Chrome exacta and $30 the other way. In addition, bet $15 on a California Chrome-Medal Count exacta and $10 the other way. And just in case the favorite fails to fire, use Wicked Strong and Medal Count in a $5 exacta box. ' ' '