Well anyway get ready for some serious fights and a preview here on GrippinGrain.com. It’s the Ultimate Fighting Championship Texas style! Click inside to see the fight card and post your comments on who you like and don’t like. I know that boy GSP is going to be on the card and beating up a kid from the Ultimate Fighter TV show, so at least that’s worth watching.

Here’s the UFC 69 fight card as of right now.

Main card
Welterweight championship bout: Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra
Lightweight bout: Roger Huerta vs. Leonard Garcia
Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. Josh Koscheck
Middleweight bout: Mike Swick vs. Yushin Okami
Middleweight bout: Alan Belcher vs. Kendall Grove

Preliminary card
Heavyweight bout: Brad Imes vs. Heath Herring
Middleweight bout: Thales Leites vs. Pete Sell
Welterweight bout: Marcus Davis vs. Pete Spratt
Welterweight bout: Luke Cummo vs. Josh Haynes

You just might catch me there checking it out, maybe even taking some pics to share with all the people. For those of you that don’t know Durant, OK is just about one hour north of Dallas on the I-75 and here’s some info and the fight card, as well as a link to come soon. Check it out if you like to see some kick ass fighting, I know I do. Supposedly the former UFC heavyweight champ Andre Arlovski is supposed to be making a guest appearance as well.

Either way the Steelers are winners and they did it with a lot of luck and some talent. They didn’t play hard nose old school football the way they did in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs but then honestly this Seahawks team was pretty lucky just to be there. They plan in a horribly weak division and didn’t beat many notable teams in the regular season when it counted. Either way the commercials were probably better than the game and that seems to be a trend the past few years. I was really looking forward to sitting down and watching a good old school football brawl yesterday and what I got was sloppy and boring most of the time.

Master P. Ballin’ With The Sacramento Kings
By Nolan Strong

Hip-Hop mogul Percy “Master P.” Miller was one of 17 players selected by the Sacramento Kings to participate in the 2005 Reebok Vegas Summer League (VSL) at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is the first time the Kings have sent a team to the VSL, where Miller and the team will play five games in 10 days. 13 other NBA teams have teams in the VSL as well.

“The NBA is the highest level of basketball you can play on,” Master P. explained to AllHipHop.com. “A lot of guys make a lot of money playing, but I do it for the love. They are also starting to see that I work hard like any other player.”

Miller, who stands 6’4, has been tapped to play shooting guard for the Kings during the summer league.

“[Sacramento King guards] Cuttino Mobley, Mike Bibby, we have been playing together for years, every summer,” Miller said. “I learned a lot of the system from these guys.”

As a professional NBA athlete, Miller has played for the Charlotte Hornets, the Toronto Raptors, and a host of ABA, CBA and minor league basketball teams.

Before starting his venture into the music industry, Miller was a standout high school basketball student, who earned a full scholarship to the University of Houston.

An injury sidelined Miller, who then turned his attention to music, starting his No Limit empire.

“I’m from the hood and basketball saved my life and took me out of the hood,” Miller said. “To the kids, follow your dreams. You can be what you want to be. To come from the music industry to be able to compete on the professional level is amazing.”

Miller’s love for basketball has intertwined with his businesses as well. Miller and his son rapper/basketball player Lil’ Romeo were the focus of a four part-mini series called “The Team” on TV network Nickelodeon.

The rapper coached the P. Miller Ballers attempt to snag the 14 & under AAU basketball championship.

Miller’s latest album Ghetto Bill: The Best Hustler in the Game recently hit stores and debuted at #1 on Billboard’s independent albums chart.

Source: AllHipHop.com

Oh and you won’t see me celebrating if the fucking Cowboys win, cause I bleed Silver and Black for the Raiders!

I think it’s hard for Mike to accept that point and I can understand that. He’s been a great fighter, as a kid he was one of the best ever, could have been maybe the best ever, but things happen. I think mentally he sees himself as that guy who’s identity is as the Mike Tyson of old, the guy people feared. He won fights before he even got in the ring, guys didn’t want to get hit by him. Now he’s still got it mentally, and he’s probably in better shape mentally than ever, but I don’t think his body does what he wants it to do and that frustrates him more than we all know.

I’m still a Tyson fan, I want to see him remain close to the sport that he knows so much about. I want to see interviews with him, I want to see him ringside maybe even doing analysis. I’ll always be a Tyson fan, and I hope that he can do something that finally brings him some peace and we can remember him as he was. One of the greatest fighters we’ve ever seen, the most exciting fighter we’ve ever seen!

Tyson: ‘My whole life has been a waste’

By Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY

PHOENIX — Mike Tyson swings open a small, wooden door, carefully prodding his feathered friends into a gentle spring breeze. Within minutes, hundreds of pigeons flutter skyward, circling in tightknit loops. The younger birds soar higher; the older ones, particularly those locked up too long, struggle to heights they once conquered.

Mike Tyson prepares to release his roller pigeons, his greatest joy next to his six children, for a morning flight.
By Rob Schumacher for USA TODAY
“This is my next love, after my kids. They’re very soothing,” the former heavyweight champion says to an old acquaintance after a workout for his June 11 fight against Kevin McBride, a tiny step in what Tyson hopes is a title march.

Almost 39, he is anything but at peace. Confused and humiliated after a decadent lifestyle left him with broken relationships, shattered finances and a reputation in ruin, the fighter cannot hide his insecurities, stacked as high as his legendary knockouts. He frets about his place in the world — where he comes from, where he’s headed and how the life and turbulent times of Michael Gerard Tyson will play out. (Related item: Mike Tyson’s career record)

“I’ll never be happy,” he says. “I believe I’ll die alone. I would want it that way. I’ve been a loner all my life with my secrets and my pain. I’m really lost, but I’m trying to find myself.

“I’m really a sad, pathetic case.”

The divorced father of six is blunt, gregarious, funny, vulgar, outrageous, sad, angry, bitter and, at times, introspective about the opportunities he squandered over the last two decades. He discusses his drug use (”The weed got me”), lack of self-esteem and sexual addiction.

“My whole life has been a waste — I’ve been a failure,” he says.

“I just want to escape. I’m really embarrassed with myself and my life. I want to be a missionary. I think I could do that while keeping my dignity without letting people know they chased me out of the country. I want to get this part of my life over as soon as possible. In this country, nothing good is going to come of me. I’m so stigmatized, there is no way I can elevate myself.

“They would give (the late) Jeffrey Dahmer a second chance before they gave me another one. If you saw a (police) lineup and saw Tyson and Dahmer and they asked, ‘Who killed and ate those people?’ you would pick me and not Jeffrey.”

The complex heavyweight tries to take small steps toward greater self-awareness, at times exhibiting a different side of his outlandish public persona that turned the primordial puncher into a national punch line. When Tyson, often viewed as a social misfit, plastered the left side of his face with a tribal tattoo two years ago, it seemed to signal he had reached bottom as the major freak attraction under boxing’s circus tent.

“People put me so high. I wanted to tear that image down,” he says.

MIKE ON MIKE

There are quotable sports stars — then there is Mike Tyson, who has redefined bizarreness in and out of the ring. Here, a Tysonesque sampler from the former heavyweight champion during a recent training camp visit by USA TODAY’s Jon Saraceno in Phoenix:

Hazy aftermath: ”I was depressed (after being upset by journeyman Danny Williams last July). I was hanging out with a lot of prostitutes and stuff. I felt like scum so I hung out with scum. I was getting high all the time. But you realize you’ve got to put all the drugs away and deal with reality.”

The old man: ”Listen, if it weren’t for that old, Italian white guy, I would’ve been a bum. Cus D’Amato was a physical person like I am. He was impulsive and impetuous like me. If somebody upset him, he would just go after them — even at 75. God, the psychologists would’ve had a field day with him.”

Words as weapons: ”’I've realized, at this stage in my life, there’s nothing wrong with backing down. You can set a good example that you don’t have to throw blows or be belligerent to get your point across. You can disarm (people) with words. I probably have a 20,000-word vocabulary. I’ll match my wits with anyone on literature, science and the arts.”

Be like Mike?: ”I hate to sound egotistical, but other guys like (Evander) Holyfield would be nothing without me. Lots of guys want to be me. They don’t want to lead my life and go to prison and everything, but they want my platform. When I fight, the whole world watches. That’s crazy as hell, right? I’m the best thing that ever happened to boxing. They don’t want to believe it — and it sounds so ignorant and egotistical saying it — but it’s true. But nobody wants to give me credit. When I die, (posterity) will probably save me and claim my name.”

Troubles with the opposite sex: ”My father was a pimp before he became a deacon or something. These people know how to handle women. I’m the worst guy in the world with women. They run circles around me.”

Spirituality: ”I want to develop my life into missionary (work). I’m not going to be a Jesus freak. But that’s what I’m going to give my life to. I love Jesus and I believe in Jesus, too — and I’m a Muslim. Listen, I got a imam, I got a rabbi, I got a priest, I got a reverend — I got ‘em all. But I don’t want to be holier-than-thou. I want to help everybody and still get some (sex).””

Misperception, Part I: ”People don’t understand my life. I’ve been a prima-dona. I was taken care of since I was 13. That’s why I am the way I am today. I was spoiled, like a brat. I had anything I wanted. That’s crazy to be that way all your life. Everybody’s taking care of you, but manipulating you at the same time. Very few people have a life like that. Most people have to work like slaves their whole lives. I’ve never had a job in my life. What I know how to do is hurt big, tough men — in the street and off. That’s why I’m not afraid of anybody.”

Misperception, Part II: ”You know what people don’t understand? Before I met (trainers) Bobby Stewart and Cus D’Amato, my life was tragic. But I haven’t led a tragic life. My life’s not tragic at all. How many guys do you know who are bankrupt and just bought a $3 million house and are getting ready to get $6 million more?”

Team Turmoil: ”Sometimes I like rubbing people the wrong way, putting a fire under them. I need to have that. I can’t live in the perfect world. I can’t live in Pleasantville. I have to have some friction going on. I used to be addicted to chaos.”

The ‘hood: ”I didn’t want to go that route. All those guys who’ve been doing the shooting and killing, the Tupac stuff, those street guys. I grew up with them. But I went my way. I didn’t turn out to be the low-life scumbag, kidnap you, cut your throat, rape your girl while I was taking your drug money. I became the guy who worked hard, got my ass beat in the gym and transcended all to become heavyweight champion and one of the most recognized people on planet Earth. But I still know those guys — and I never disrespect them.”

The pen: ”When I got in trouble in that New York hotel (in a 2003 scuffle), I just prayed, ‘Let me get locked up with the Arian brothers in the Midwest or the gang-bangers in the West.’ I don’t want to get locked up in New York.”

Identity crisis: ”Sometimes, I don’t know who the hell I am. My mother said it was Jimmy Kirkpatrick, but my birth certificate says Purcell Tyson. How embarrassing it was, at 38, to try and get a passport only to find out I don’t know who my father is.”

He settles for small pleasures these days, often his birds or his children. Tyson, single after two divorces, says his relationship is limited with three older offspring, Gena, 16; Mikey, 14; and Rayna, 9. He is trying to be a better father to Amir, 7; Miguel, 3; and Exodus, 3 months. When it comes to parenting, the fighter appears equally as comfortable with his birds.

Each day, he carefully rousts his adopted “family” members from their coops by waving a pink flag. He knows their names, lineage and health status. He has been enamored of pigeons since growing up in New York City when hoodlums bullied him into cleaning their bird cages. These days, he willingly feeds and tends his precious flock. This week he asked the City Council in Phoenix to not impose a limit on the number of pigeons kept on residential premises that would reduce his flock to 40 from 350.

On this day, he gingerly moves an adult bird from a nest to reveal fuzzy chicks. “I raised these. They are my babies,” he says proudly. “This one here was just born.”

As a breeder, Tyson prizes his “deep rollers,” the kamikaze-style pigeons who tumble with slight drops, then execute breathtaking dives. Those birds fly miles overhead, then nose-dive into a death-defying deep roll, hurtling their bodies downward before safely pulling out at the last moment — or slamming to the ground.

Huge highs and lows

Tyson understands their thrill-seeking and self-destructive tendencies. So does the 69-year-old woman who wants to help the rambunctious fighter.

“The deep roller is what Mike Tyson has been,” says therapist Marilyn Murray, who first met him while he was in intensive sex therapy in 1999. His friend and mentor is a peppy, positive, self-described “emotional heart surgeon.”

For years she worked inside the Arizona prison system, specializing in childhood abuse and repeat sexual offenders. She points out that Tyson’s low self-esteem manifests itself in cross-addictions, i.e., drugs, sex and spending sprees. The ex-champ grossed an estimated $400 million in his career but declared bankruptcy two years ago (though he still owns at least one Rolls-Royce and is building a multimillion-dollar home in suburban Paradise Valley). Tyson once owed $50 million to creditors, a sum he has reduced to $10 million.

“Addicts use those things to cover up pain,” Murray says. “They also use it to get a high and bring them out of their boredom, depression and miserable existence.”

Flying … and then falling.

“He’s a guy who just doesn’t take the normal tumbles like the average person,” Murray explains. “He gets real high, then crashes. The difference is that the bird has been bred and can’t do anything differently. I’ve told Mike, ‘You’re a human being — you have choices. You can continue to do this and literally die. Or you can lock yourself up, become a hermit somewhere and never let yourself fly. Or you can learn to fly high and enjoy life.’ That has really connected for him.”

At 20, Tyson soared to uncommon heights as the youngest heavyweight champion in history. He won his first 37 fights before Buster Douglas shocked him with a 10th-round knockout in 1990.

Over time, Tyson spiraled downward with a devastating one-two punch of indifference and self-indulgence. While the stocky slugger tries to shoo away the demons that have dogged him since his childhood in a Brooklyn slum, he has reunited with Murray. It is an important relationship for Tyson, who, after a lifetime of betrayal, genuinely trusts only a few people, including ex-wife Monica Turner.

“Part of it is that Mike finally has decided it’s time to grow up,” Murray says. “One of the most powerful influences in his life are his children. I’m always challenging him with, ‘What kind of legacy are you going to leave them?’ ”

Harwood Hamilton, who operates the Central Boxing Gym where Tyson trains in Phoenix, finds the fighter to be “an inspiring story — if you want him to be.” Tyson’s former wife describes her ex as being in a “better personal space than he’s been in a long time.”

“I am so proud of the way he has decided to refocus and reprioritize his life,” says Turner, a pediatrician in Washington, D.C. “He sees now what’s really important.”

While Tyson values his relationships with Turner and Murray, he exhibits some ambivalence regarding their sphere of influence.

“People are trying to force me to redeem (myself) — certain women, certain mentors,” he says. “Nobody’s going to change me. I’m going to fight that. You can’t change me; you can’t tame me. When you say that, I’m going to bite you even harder. I’m more ferocious, more complicated. I’m not going to let anybody win a popularity contest off my conduct.

“You have to understand. It is a pervasive (belief) that I’m an animal — undomesticated as well. But regardless of the bizarre (stuff) I’ve done, I’m a very rational individual. But everybody still thinks I’m crazy and stupid because that’s what they want to believe.”

Murray explains Tyson’s conflict: “With a guy like Mike, as soon as he feels somebody’s pressuring him, there’s a part of him that says, ‘Screw you.’ That’s the old Mike talking — ‘I can never change.’

“I’m not God, and he’s not God. I can’t wave this magic wellness wand. He’s going to have to do a whole lot of work.”

In his quest for self-improvement — “I need some discipline over myself; I need some emotional intelligence” — Tyson has doubts and questions beyond legacy. He is angry that he still doesn’t know the identity of his real father and perplexed about the diminution of his sexual desire.

“Sex is not a great issue with me anymore,” he says. “I’m just guilty about my sexual conquests when I was younger. I’m no longer a threat to white society, black society.”

But his biggest dread is this scenario: “My biggest fear now is to go to a New York state penitentiary — then I’ll see all my demons,” he says. “My family, people I know, put me in that den of iniquity. I could easily be right there with them because, really, I am one of them.”

He has settled in the desert, where Murray is trying to build a support system for him. Tyson exhibits a pattern typical of people who were traumatized at an early age by circumstance and environment, she says: “You can’t point to one thing and say, ‘OK, this is what made Mike Tyson who he is today.’ It is many, many, many things.”

Tyson, she says, “is a classic case of a child who grew up in a destructive, dysfunctional environment.” He watched as multiple boyfriends beat up his alcoholic mother, Lorna, who died when Tyson was 16. Three years earlier, he was sent to reform school in Upstate New York, where he met trainer Cus D’Amato, who died before Tyson became champ.

“He talked to me about my (eventual) downfalls,” Tyson says. “He told me, ‘You’re the type of guy who has to be hurt to learn.’ I’m pissed off today because he was right about everything.”

His 1988 marriage to actress Robin Givens was scuttled after a year (she later accused him of domestic violence; Tyson denies it). His overpowering ring style was matched by an equally reckless personal life, one exacerbated after he lost confidant and co-manager Jimmy Jacobs, who died in 1988. The fighter’s complicated, contentious 10-year business relationship with Don King ended when Tyson sued the promoter for fraud and settled for $14 million last year.

“If you lay down with dogs, you get fleas,” he says of King. “I associated with a lot of dogs. That’s why I carry the weight of a fool alone.”

A life of depression

Tyson’s career disintegrated in the 1990s after Douglas upset him; suddenly, he became better known for his notoriety. At one time uncommonly fast and powerful in the ring, he exchanged the Spartan gym for the high life — buying mansions, including one with 38 bathrooms. He collected white Bengal tigers, expensive jewelry and dozens of exotic automobiles — when he wasn’t getting drunk or high or carousing with strippers.

By 1992 he was convicted of rape. Tyson served three years in prison, regained the heavyweight title in 1996 (and lost it the same year), got married to Turner (and divorced again). He quickly gained a reputation as a serial biter — first Evander Holyfield’s left ear, then Lennox Lewis’ right leg.

After Tyson’s shocking double-bite of Holyfield in their 1997 rematch, he underwent psychological and neurological exams. Tyson told psychiatrists he had felt depressed his entire life, that he was uncomfortable with celebrity.

Doctors reported that his emotional swings were triggered by his belief that he is “being used, victimized and treated unfairly.” Murray says every prisoner is victim and victimizer but that you “don’t pop out of the womb a victimizer.”

“Children are like white sponges. If you pour a lot of darkness into that sponge and squeeze it, darkness comes out. Mike had a lot of darkness poured into him.”

Doctors said Tyson was not what he believes the public views him — “psycho.” No major mental illness or personality disorder was reported, but he was found to be chronically depressed. He manages to retain a humorous, healthy sense of the absurd about his sordid past.

“One of my friends once saw another guy’s (criminal) record and said, ‘Look, this guy is a born troublemaker, just a loser.’ I had to tell him, ‘No, that’s my record — and it doesn’t include my juvenile history.’ I’m supposed to be a quote-unquote ’superstar.’ But look at my record. Oh, damn. I’m a super jailbird in super-max.”

Now free to fly, Tyson must decide where the wind will take him.

Mike Tyson’s Career Record
Professional record: 50-5, two no-contests, 44 knockouts.
1985 (15-0)
Mar. 6 — Hector Mercedes, Albany, N.Y., TKO 1
Apr. 10 — Trent Singleton, Albany, N.Y., TKO 1
May 23 — Don Halpern, Albany, N.Y., KO 4
June 20 — Rick Spain, Atlantic City, KO 1
July 11 — John Alderson, Atlantic City, TKO 2
July 19 — Larry Sims, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., KO 3
Aug. 15 — Lorenzo Canady, Atlantic City, TKO 1
Sept. 5 — Michael Johnson, Atlantic City, KO 1
Oct. 9 — Donnie Long, Atlantic City, KO 1
Oct. 25 — Robert Colay, Atlantic City, KO 1
Nov. 1 — Sterling Benjamin, Latham, N.Y., TKO 1
Nov. 13 — Eddie Richardson, Houston, KO 1
Nov. 22 — Conroy Nelson, Latham, N.Y., KO 2
Dec. 6 — Sammy Scaff, New York, KO 1
Dec. 27 — Mark Young, Latham, N.Y., KO 1
1986 (13-0)
Jan. 10 — Dave Jaco, Albany, N.Y., TKO 1
Jan. 24 — Mike Jamison, Atlantic City, TKO 5
Feb. 16 — Jesse Ferguson, Troy, N.Y., W DSQ 6
Mar. 10 — Steve Zouski, Uniondale, N.Y., KO 3
May 3 — James Tillis, Glen Falls, N.Y., W 10
May 20 — Mitch Green, New York, W 10
June 13 — Reggie Gross, New York, TKO 1
June 28 — William Hosea, Troy, N.Y., KO 1
July 11 — Lorenzo Boyd, Swan Lake, N.Y., KO 2
July 26 — Marvis Frazier, Glen Falls, N.Y., KO 1
Aug. 17 — Jose Ribalta, Atlantic City, TKO 10
Sept. 6 — Alfonzo Ratliff, Las Vegas, KO 2
Nov. 22 — Trevor Berbick, Las Vegas, TKO 2
(Won WBC Heavyweight Title)
1987 (4-0)
Mar.7 — James Smith, Las Vegas, W 12
(Won WBA Heavyweight Title/Retained WBC Heavyweight Title)
May 30 — Pinklon Thomas, Las Vegas, TKO 6
(Retained WBA/WBC Heavyweight Titles)
Aug. 1 — Tony Tucker, Las Vegas, W 12
(Won IBF Heavyweight Title/Retained WBA/WBC Heavyweight Titles/Became Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion)
Oct. 16 — Tyrell Biggs, Atlantic City, TKO 7
(Retained Undisputed World Heavyweight Title)
1988 (3-0)
Jan. 22 — Larry Holmes, Atlantic City, TKO 4
(Retained Undisputed World Heavyweight Title)
Mar. 21 — Tony Tubbs, Tokyo, Japan, TKO 2
(Retained Undisputed World Heavyweight Title)
June 27 — Michael Spinks, Atlantic City, KO 1
(Retained Undisputed World Heavyweight Title)
1989 (2-0)
Feb. 25 — Frank Bruno, Las Vegas, TKO 5
(Retained Undisputed World Heavyweight Title)
July 21 — Carl Williams, Atlantic City, TKO 1
(Retained Undisputed World Heavyweight Title)
1990 (2-1)
Feb. 11 — James Douglas, Tokyo, Japan, KO by 10 (loss)
(Lost World Heavyweight Title)
June 16 — Henry Tillman, Las Vegas, KO 1
Dec. 8 — Alex Stewart, Atlantic City, KO 1
1991 (2-0)
Mar. 18 — Donovan Ruddock, Las Vegas, TKO 7
June 28 — Donovan Ruddock, Las Vegas, W 12
1995 (2-0)
Aug. 19 — Peter McNeeley, Las Vegas, W DSQ 1
Dec. 16 — Buster Mathis, Jr., Philadelphia, KO 3
1996 (2-1)
Mar. 16 — Frank Bruno, Las Vegas, TKO 3
(Won WBC Heavyweight Title)
Sept. 7 — Bruce Seldon, Las Vegas, TKO 1
(Won WBA Heavyweight Title)
Nov. 9 — Evander Holyfield, Las Vegas, TKO by 11 (loss)
(Lost WBA Heavyweight Title)
1997 (0-1)
June 28 — Evander Holyfield, Las Vegas, L DQ 3 (loss)
(For WBA Heavyweight Title)
1999 (1-0-1)
Jan. 16 — Francois Botha, Las Vegas, KO 5
Oct. 23 — Orlin Norris, Las Vegas, (no contest) 1
2000 (2-0-1)
Jan. 29 — Julius Francis, Manchester, England, TKO 2
June 24 — Lou Savarese, Glasgow, Scotland, TKO 1
Oct. 20 — Andrew Golota, Detroit, (no contest) 3
2001 (1-0)
Oct. 13 — Brian Nielsen, Copenhagen, Denmark, TKO 7
2002 (0-1)
Oct. 13 — Lennox Lewis, Memphis, KO by 8 (loss)
(For WBC and IBF heavyweight title)
2003 (1-0)
Feb. 22 — Clifford Etienne, Memphis, Tennessee, KO 1
2004 (0-1)
July 30 — Danny Williams, Louisville, KO by 4 (loss)
Source: www.michaeltyson.com

Source: USA Today