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Weekend Tube Review: MMA > NHL Finals

Jun 2, 2008, 2:35 PM UTC

Even with no basketball this weekend after the Celtics took care of business late Friday night, there was still plenty to watch and talk about over the two-day period. Let’s get into it.â†µ

â†µMMA on CBS:
â†µWhether you're a hardcore fan of Mixed Martial Arts or not there's one thing you can't argue with: the numbers. CBS' airing of the Elite XC bouts on Saturday night bested the Stanley Cup Finals in most major markets and killed in the advertising demo of males ages 18-49. Gus Johnson teamed with Mauro Ranallo and former UFC middleweight champion Frank Shamrock for the call, and while the trio got mixed reviews around the Internet, I thought they did a pretty stellar job.â†µ

â†µâ†µGus Johnson never got behind during matches he was calling for a sport he’s never done and the veteran Ranallo added what Johnson couldn’t. Shamrock wasn’t the greatest talker for on-air work, but his fight expertise also contributed to a good broadcast. As a casual fan of the MMA, I enjoyed them and the matches a good bit, whether they were fixed or not.â†µ

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â†µâ†µNBA Playoffs:
â†µGame Six of the Eastern Conference Finals was a great battle, but in the end the Celtics were just too much for the Pistons. Both TNT and ESPN put on great broadcasts of the Conference Finals, but ESPN definitely had the much better set of games. The trio of Breen, Jackson, and Van Gundy settled in nicely for the Playoffs after a slow (and in Van Gundy's case, annoying) start to the Finals.â†µ

â†µâ†µHowever, they didn’t provide the best highlight of Game Six though. That award goes to Rasheed’s hatred of ESPN’s cameras (NSFW language):â†µ

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â†µQuotes of the Weekend:
â†µ-- "I would think that this is the kind of ballpark where if you're a hitter like (Ryan) Howard you don't need to be (foul) pole conscious in this place."- Chip Caray on Citizen's Bank Field in Philadelphia
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â†µ"If you're a hitter like Buck Martinez you don't need to be foul pole conscious in this place. This is a very hitter-friendly ballpark. You don't have to pull the ball to hit it out, anybody can hit it out anywhere."- Buck Martinezâ†µ

â†µ-- "The Braves continue with their roes on the woad."- Joe Buckâ†µ

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â†µ-- "Terrible stoppage! Terrible! Terrible! ... James Thompson was not ready to go down! Horrendous!"- Gus Johnson on the Slice-Thompson MMA Fightâ†µ

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â†µ-- "It's hard to get any leg drive when you wear four-inch heels."- Joe Buck while watching video of a Carey first pitch last week in Japanâ†µ

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â†µ-- "He's the Tampa Bay Rays of this competition. He's come out of nowhere."- Paul Loeffler talking about Spelling Bee winner Sameer Mishraâ†µ

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â†µâ†µVideo of the Weekend:
â†µSameer Mishra from Lafayette, Indiana spells the word Guerdon to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee:â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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