We have had a good summer. The NBA finals (granted they ended just before the summer started) were riveting. There was badassitude aplenty. We watched two very good teams, with very determined players who each wanted a piece of that championship trophy, go hard at the each other and leave it all on the court. We were satisfied, as should everyone else have been, that Kobe, Rondo and all the Lakers and Celtics were badass.

Then came the world cup. We started off thinking the usual suspects, the stars of the big European teams and leagues would dominate the competition. Were we ever so wrong? For many of them, if you did not know who they were before the opening game, you even knew less about them by the end. Rooney and the entire England squad, Ronaldo and the entire Portugal squad, the entire Italy squad, the entire France squad were notably forgettable. Unknown kids from Germany, Uruguay, Ghana, shone the brightest. Totally badass. The vuvuzelas were, love them or hate them, unforgettable. Yes we have had a great summer.

But now, we are starting to think about the next NFL season, the next NBA season, the premier league, La Liga et al. We are considering some ideas for all of you to show your badassitude in the next season. More to come. Watch this space for more.

For now, join our page on Facebook and lets put our heads together to do great things. Here is how:
How to join our BadaSSitude page on Facebook:
1) Go to our Badassitude Fan Page on Facebook
2) Click “Add to My Page’s Favorites”
3) Click “Suggest to Friends” to the left
4) Invite all your friends
5) Click the “Share” button to the lower left
4) Select to share with “Everyone” and Click “Share” to complete the process.

We were looking around today, and talking to some badass friends of ours. We were talking about organizations that give assists to the community. One of the guys started getting passionate about the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization. We had heard about the organization before. In fact, at the time we decided to start the BadaSSitude assist campaign, it was one of the causes we felt we would need to highlight at some point.

The Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization has a rather simple mission. In their own words, they “… help children realize their potential and build their futures. We nurture children and strengthen communities. And we couldn’t do any of it without you.” Such concise clarity is one of the greater marks of badassitude you will find anywhere. It’s a great call, an awesome call for an assist. You can find out more about the organization by visiting the Big Brothers and Big Sisters website. And you can help build a large community of volunteers by visiting our Badassitude page on Facebook.

How to join our BadaSSitude page on Facebook:
1) Click here to Go to our Badassitude Fan Page on Facebook
2) Click “Add to My Page’s Favorites”
3) Click “Suggest to Friends” to the left
4) Invite all your friends
5) Click the “Share” button to the lower left
4) Select to share with “Everyone” and Click “Share” to complete the process.

A guy we know, a smart guy, himself a real badass, saw our post from last night and he dropped us a note. His point was a rather simple one – he asked that we must encourage people to provide an assist for a cause in a very specific way. We agree. So today, we want to encourage all you badasses out there to get involved at some level in youth mentoring. There is something about youth mentoring that is truly badass. Truly rewarding. A very satisfying assist for kids that we know could use as many assists as they can get.

A mentor is defined in the dictionary as a “trusted counselor or guide”. A mentor is usually order, always more experienced and he or she helps and guides another individual’s development. We particularly want to urge youth mentoring. There are a very large number of young men and women who need support and guidance in their lives whose lives could benefit tremendously and change if they received a solid assist, guidance and counseling from an older more experienced, committed person – a badass willing to share the wisdom that informs their badassitude.

Good mentoring demands more than just good intentions. It is serious business. It involves the challenging task of creating new trusting relationships in a very short period of time and it could require training. It calls for a self assessment that looks deep inside to see what and how much you have to give. It could require a back ground check and probing questions. The mentoring relationship created with the mentee will almost always have to end or change very dramatically. It will require that you adapt and adapt. But all these challenges are things that make a badass. All this that is needed to be a good mentor is what badassitude really truly is.

So we are making a call for mentors. We are urging youth mentoring. Join our Facebook page and lets share how and where we can all help. And bring a friend. Bring all your friends.

How to join our BadaSSitude page on Facebook:
1) Click here to Go to our Badassitude Fan Page on Facebook
2) Click “Add to My Page’s Favorites”
3) Click “Suggest to Friends” to the left
4) Invite all your friends
5) Click the “Share” button to the lower left
4) Select to share with “Everyone” and Click “Share” to complete the process.

Today we take a moment to ponder a side of badassitude that we have not often spoken about. Among many things, we believe that badassitude describes the desire and commitment to do better, to shine as an individual. We also believe that badassitude describes the desire and commitment to do better, to excel and shine as part of a team. Badasses live in communities, are employed in workplaces, have families, go to schools etc., etc.

In the next few weeks and months, we will try our absolute best to push, cajole and convince all to focus on giving the community an assist – a badassitude assist. We will focus on giving a assists to the larger society, a commitment to bring out the badassitude a.k.a. the best in others in their daily lives. Helping, getting involved is as true a measure of badassitude as there is. We want our badass friends to join us on Facebook and create the biggest group of badasses that ever got together anywhere, to spread our wings and share causes that we want to help with and are assisting with. Bring a friend. Bring many friends.

Here is how to join our BadaSSitude page on Facebook:
1. Click here to Go to our Badassitude Page on Facebook
2. Click the “Like” button
3. Click “Add to My Page’s Favorites”
4. Click “Suggest to Friends” to the left
5. Invite all your friends
6. Click the “Share” button to the lower left
7. Select to share with “Everyone” and Click “Share” to complete the process.

So Spain finally won the world cup. Definitely badass. With all the talent they had on the field, one would have been forgiven for thinking that it should have been easier. Their badassitude took a little bit to show but show it did. Netherlands gave it a good solid try. They worked hard, they were tough and rough (the high kick by de Jong to Alonso’s solar plexus comes to mind). Very badass. You could not miss their badassitude. Hey, it was the world cup final. You bring it all and leave it all on the field. In fact to this fan, the Spaniards cried and protested one too many times for my taste.

Both teams had great chances, Robben had the 2 most open chances in the game and failed to put the game away both times. Iniesta got a clean one and he put it away for Spain. His quality is beyond belief. On a side note, hopefully Fabregas came to his senses from spending a month with a bunch of Barcelona midfielders, each of whom was clearly preferred and started ahead of him. His choice is a simple one – warm the bench at Barca or become great at Arsenal. Looks like an easy choice to me.

Earlier, we shared our thoughts on the Lesnar v Carwin fight. For many unsophisticated viewers, and even sophisticated viewers with a very strict standard for ending a fight, Carwin should have been handed that fight with a referee stoppage. As it happened, the referee allowed the fight to continue and Brock, having played possum for the entire first round, knowing that Carwin had never gone past the first round, came back in the second round, still fresh and submitted Carwin.

Brock Lesnar is 6’3”, 265 pounds of pure unadulterated badassitude. Carwin is one of the very, very few fighters who match up reasonably with Lesnar physically and with regard to talent. The difference is in the natural conditioning capacity, fitness and endurance. Lesnar is a freak of nature who is incredibly big, incredibly strong, fast, tough, very well conditioned. And that is before we start talking about his fighting chops. He really is a badass. But we know badassitude. If you have more of it, and you are smarter, you will win.

So how do you beat Brock Lesnar? Here are a few ideas:
1. Like we pointed out, Lesnar is a freak. That means that in a fight with this guy, bring your lunch. You cannot go in thinking that you can end the fight quickly. Your conditioning must be exceptional. Be ready to work.
2. Your stand up defense must be impeccable. Lesnar is so strong that a clean or even semi clean shot at your chin or any area in that neighborhood is game over. You cannot allow him a clean shot at anything above your neck.
3. Give him something to think about. We have noticed that this guy does not think anyone else can hurt him. He comes at his opponents with little concern for their power. We think if an opponent gave him something to think about, he might come out with more caution. We like spinning moves. A well executed spinning back kick in the bread basket might tame his advances. Heck, well timed and higher, it might even end the fight.
4. Good, solid martial arts techniques win every time! Keep your eyes on every single possible move of your opponent. Keep an eye out for your opponents’ weaknesses, think about how to exploit those weakness and move very, very fast to exploit the weakness.
5. If you have Lesnar on the ground, and you have a dominant position, THINK SUBMISSION HOLD. Don’t waste your time trying to pound him into submission.
6. Be efficient. Go back into your martial arts arsenal. Think through all the years you have been taught near lethal techniques. Find a few that fit his style of attack and use them to put him to sleep. The only hits that will affect this guy are the surprise, clean martial arts hits that are effective for their effectiveness and efficiency, not brute force because he owns that arena.
7. When on the ground, whatever you do must be part of a bigger plan to submit him via a hold. You must not expect to pound him into submission. You must think submission hold.
We like our ideas. What do you thihk?

We watched the Lesnar v Carwin and we were so surprised at what we saw from Lesnar, we decided to take a moment to think about it. Lesnar played possum for the entire first round so effectively, everyone with half a fighting IQ thought that the fight was over. In fact, one could argue that the referee should have stopped that fight in the first round. And we think it is a legitimate argument. Having said that, these guys are so big, so strong, so wound up and determined to fight, that the only fair way to stop that fight had to be when someone either submitted or was fully knocked out. But we still don’t like how Lesnar lay down for an entire round even though the amount of punishment he took deserves a couple of points on his man-card.

So we got to thinking: How do you beat Brock Lesnar?

We have some thoughts….

On the eve of the world cup quarterfinals it is worth taking a moment to look back and reflect on the things we found striking. There is plenty of badassitude to be found in the remaining teams.

Germany – Awesome, Definitely Badass!
Very well coached, very precise, fluid and fit. The game planning of their coaching staff was impeccable. England were lucky it was not 7-2 (I give them back the disallowed goal).

Ghana – Abundantly Spirited, Pure Badassitude!
When it counted, the Black Stars out-ran, out-muscled and outplayed the US. This team only gets better as they advance. Watch out world, the trophy is likely staying on the continent.

Argentina – Fleet Footed Genius, Badassitude Aplenty!
The front 3 or 4 depending on when and how you are counting, can be frightening. Many teams would be happy with just one. Argentina has 4, and a crazy coach, a legendary forward himself, to round up the threat. Their defense though has looked shaky at times but there is no arguing with their chances.

Spain – Solid But A Tad Underachieving, Much Badassitude!
The Spanish side leaves us scratching our heads. They have a very formidable squad. Amazing talent all over, but for some reason they have seemed to struggle. They need to show us more.

Uruguay – Determined and Lethal, With Badassitude!
What looked apparent to us as we watched Uruguay was their unyielding determination and the wickedly lethal opportunism with which the pounced on their chances. I would look over my shoulders at them if I was Ghana.

Netherlands – Ready and Steady, Pure Badassitude!
No team has looked better prepared and steadier than the Dutch. Of all the teams still in the tournament, we would be least surprised if the Dutch became the world champions.

Brazil – Samba On the Pitch, Unadulterated Badassitude!
If Ray Hudson were describing Brazil, he might use phrases like “their feet dance the football samba like angels dancing to the heavenly sounds of the football gods…” No other team has the badassitude aura like Brazil.

Paraguay – Solid, Badass!
We were very impressed with how they held Japan and with their penalty takers. If it was up all up to us, we would want to see them attack with more conviction. Still solid though.

Parting Shorts
England was overrated!! Way Overrated!!
The United States did great. They played just about as well as they were capable of playing. They have to figure out how to not spot the other team goals early.
Portugal disappointed. Really disappointed!
Japan should have made the quarters. We liked Japan.
South Korea played well. We liked how much better they looked this time around.
Chile was a good team – they ran into the Brazil buzz saw.
We liked Mexico. They have good young talent but they need better finishing and to take care of those silly mistakes in the back.
Ivory Coast disappointed too. We expected much much more from them.
South Africa – We like Bafana Bafana. How could we not with such a nickname and the opening goal of the world cup?
North Korea gave it the old college try. What more can we say?
Nigeria stunk.
France stunk and were embarrassing.
Italy were old and embarrassing.
Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia must all have gone home with heads held high. They gave it a solid try and played above expectations.
Greece was indifferent.
Slovakia was average to disappointing. Losing a 2 goal lead and for all intents and purposes losing the game is nothing to be proud of.
Serbia were not good enough.
Honduras were just not good enough.
Slovenia did not show us anything distinguishing.
Norway just did not have enough quality.
Algeria was unimpressive.
Cameroon woke up too late and showed good quality but could not finish. Disappointing.

So we watched the first few games of the world cup and we have some thoughts. For opening games of the tournament, the games were okay, with occasional flashes of excellence and excitement. With first round games, coaches on both sides generally prepare their teams pretty well because they know who they are going to play. Coaches also do not want their teams to look bad. Opening games are used a lot as confidence builders.

Having said all that, what did we see and what did we think?

South Africa v Mexico
What a story!! The first game in the first World Cup tournament held in Africa, and the first goal was scored by an African, Shabalala, a forward for the hosting country. The game, exciting as it was, ended in a draw. Bafana Bafana had to feel good about the result nevertheless and for the pressure situation they were in, they did their country, their continent and the tournament proud. Bafana Bafana are badass without a doubt.

Uruguay v France
Les Blues entered the tournament amid a lot of skepticism. They needed a handball assist from Henry to get past the Irish in the play-off qualifier. But they have a team with big name stars and there is no saying what can happen whenever you put enough talent together. But the French football fandom long ago soured on coach Domenech’s ability to do anything with talent. The draw in this game did little to disabuse them of the notion. We hear that Patrice Evra was blaming the noise from the vuvuzelas for their performance. Tough shit we say. This is the world cup. Every world cup has a unique flavor. This one has vuvuzelas. Deal with it.

Korea v Greece
We have always thought Korea might be the sleeper team in this tournament. We like their style of play and their speed. Greece was not helped much by what seemed to us like a very soft effort. Nevertheless, Korea comes out smelling very good and in the pole position for the race to win group B.

Argentina v Nigeria
At the end of the game, Nigerian fans must have been scratching their heads trying figure out whether their national team came to South Africa to play or to watch the World Cup. It looked like they did not want to engage the Argentineans perhaps for fear that they might not then be able to watch the Argentineans play! Or was it Maradonna’s animated presence on the side line and the ball tricks he pulled off while in his sleek suit. And that is not to say that the star studded Argentineans were impressive either. It was pathetic. And how about the coaching decision to start Obafemi Martins on the bench for Nigeria and Millito on the bench for Argentina? Come on!

England v USA
This was the big game of the opening week of this 2010 World Cup. For some reason, up till this point England fans were persuaded that their team was a legitimate, even favorite candidate for the championship. At the end of the game, they had to be thinking differently. The US, decided underdogs, played a steady, solid game. Their game relied largely on solid defense, good midfield play, and efficient counter attacks. Onyewu was an animal in central defense. The rest of the team was solid. Altidore was very good. He should have exploited Carragher’s lack of pace a lot more. Watching the game, we were more and more perplexed that Capello had not included Walcott in his squad. This game needed Theo Walcott. We also wondered why he had never considered Ashley Young for the team. We came away with an interesting note – if you did not know who Wayne Rooney was at the beginning of the game, you still did not know who he was at the end of the game. You wouldnot know who Frank Lampard was either. But you surely would know who Glen Johnson was and who Emile Heskey was. And Robert Greene, the goalie who gifted the US with the goal.

Algeria v Slovenia
On the heels of the Robert Green disaster, one would be forgiven if one did not expect to see another crucial goalie mistake. But surprises are the staple of the world cup. Fighting to hold on after being reduced to ten men courtesy of a red shown to Abdelkader Ghezzal for a rather silly handball, the Algerians could not have been too concerned when the Slovanian captain attempted what looked to most of us like a rather ordinary shot with average power and a non challenging trajectory. But the shot bounced off the grass just a tad and that was enough to cause Faouzi Chaouchi, the Algerian goalie to gift the Slovanian with a goal and a win.

Serbia v Ghana
Awesome game. Serbia are a good physical team with some world beaters on their squad. Ghana is a good athletic team with some world beaters on their squad, most of whom were injured and not in the game. But the Ghana Black Stars, after a hesitant start to the first half seemed to find their footing. Prince Boateng was excellent as was Assamoah Gyan who scored the winning penalty shot. The Serbians were solid. Chelsea’s Ivanovich and Man U’s Vidich showed their quality but the Ghanians seemed to get better as the game went along. We thought it would be just a matter of time before the Black Stars claimed a goal even though the Serbians looked pretty good after they were reduced to ten following the red card for Lukovich. It came via a penalty, the Ghanian goal, but it was well deserved. We like Ghana to progress. We think the Ghanians are badass.

Germany v Australia
Whatever diet the Germans are on, I want in. They looked good, confident, efficient, awesome. If I was a betting man, as of today, I know who I would pick to win this tournament. They abused the Australians, did the Germans. It did not help the Soccerroos that they lost Cahill to a very suspect red card. If that was a genuine red, I have a lot of plays I want to show you from the preceding games. The Germans looked dominant and they were. June 23 will be very interesting – The Germans play the Ghanians. We think the Germans are also badass.

Do these two guys really dislike each other as much as we have been led to believe? I guess we will find out. Rashad is a tough cat. He is an awesome wrestler but he has won most of his fights standing up. On the other hand, He really throws great hands and elbows with a lot of very clean technique. On the other hand, Rampage is a crazy cat. When he is on, it is like a freaking hurricane is blowing in the ring.

Round 1. For all the prefight huffing and puffing, rampage didn’t do shit. Rashad almost took him with a clean right to the jaw. He was also taken down a couple of time by Rashad.

Round 2 is beginning to look like round 1. For 2 guys who took every opportunity to tell us how their badassitude was off the charts, Rashad and Rampage have been disappointing so far in this fight. We thought we would see fireworks but so far we have not.

Round 3 was going the same way for a while, then Rampage caught Rashad and it looked like he had a chance to finish the fight but he was undisciplined, was Rampage and he did not have the composure that he needed to finish the fight. On the other hand, Rashad kept his composure, gathered himself and took down Rampage a couple of more times to seal the win. It was an easy unanimous call for the judges who correctly called the fight for Rashad.