Monthly Archives: July 2010

There are few places I love more than mountain towns in the summer. They’re so quiet and peaceful; I often think if there is a heaven, it’s possibly located somewhere in the Grand Tetons or the Wasatch Valley. This summer, I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in three of my favorite winter spots—Mammoth, Jackson Hole and Aspen—under the cover of warm sunshine and surrounded by lush greenery.

This was one heck of a busy week. For starters, it was ESPYs week, which meant parties every night, tons of athletes, sports folks and co-workers in town from around the country, and little time for resting or sleeping between events. (Or actually getting any work done.) The show Wednesday night was my favorite yet. Seth Meyers put last year’s host, Samuel L. “I freeze when the teleprompter fritzes” Jackson to shame. And I loved that ESPN allowed Meyers and the show writers to have fun at the network’s expense, mocking The Decision throughout the night.

This weekend, besides celebrating the 4th of July in Vegas with two of my favorite people–Jenni and Lindsay–I saw my first UFC heavyweight fight at the MGM Grand. Like many folks, I’ve been fascinated by the makeover Dana White gave to this sport. Somehow, a brutal fighting league has become family entertainment. He turned a violent, unorganized sport with few to no rules into the high-brow hybrid sport of Mixed Martial Arts. And he did it by selling characters, story lines and drama. UFC hearkens back to the WWF days of Big John Studd, The Killer Bees and Hulk Hogan. Except this is very, very real. Which makes the fighting tougher (for me) to watch. And made me more than apprehensive about attending the fight. I’ve been to smaller MMA fights, which rarely last more than a three-minute round-and-a-half, and I am a huge boxing fan. But I was still wary of watching UFC brutality for three five-minute rounds.