Punch Drunk Love

This article just reinforces what is McCain's singular defining characteristic: expressing outrage at what he instinctively perceives to be an injustice. View most everything he says through this lens (likely formed in his POW years) and you'll find it's practically a Pavlovian response. Over the years, the MSM has very generously and inaccurately described this as "character", "taking a stand", "maverick", "patriotism", "principled", "bi-partisan" etc. In reality, these impulses betray a man who is intemperate, impetuous, ill-informed, unable to learn or listen, undisciplined and above all *stupid*.

Don't expect McCain to show honor in this campaign. Why? Because he's probably rationalized (with help from Salter & Co.) that Obama is a "fraud" and that as a true patriot McCain is obliged to tear him down to save this country. Given the pass the MSM gives him for gaffe after gaffe and the hidden racist vote lurking in rural America, simply attacking Obama could easily win McCain the election. And if he wins, I'll be longing for 4 more years of W.

Nice article, but it raised a question for me: how familiar is the author with "ultimate fighting" and does he in fact know what it is, or is his knowledge of it completely second-hand, or based solely on the movie Fight Club (which wasn't about Ultimate Fighting at all)?

I wonder only because either he's deliberately referring to something that was around briefly in the early nineties - the original Ultimate Fighting Championship - which was indeed an almost "no-holds-barred" fight, or he has no idea what he's talking about.

There is no such thing as "ultimate fighting." Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the brand name of an organization that puts on and promotes fights featuring a type of fighting called "mixed martial arts" or MMA. And as the name implies, MMA is indeed a hybrid of boxing, wrestling as well as other martial arts (both wrestling and boxing being martial arts themselves), but it is not necessarily "no-holds-barred."

When the UFC first launched in the early nineties, it did promote itself as an almost no-holds-barred fight between different fighting styles, but those days are long gone. At some point in the last decade, the UFC cleaned up its act and enacted a series of rules that have more or less spread throughout the world of organized mixed martial arts. These rules have served to make organized MMA safer and more humane than boxing is or ever was. Although people still get hurt - it is fighting after all - the rules allow fast stops to fights and prevent the continued carnage that causes serious and permanent damage to boxers.

I'm not connected in any way with the sport (though I watch it occasionally), but it's disappointing to see such shoddy work in this publication, particularly when a wealth of information on the sport and the UFC organization is available on Wikipedia and other websites.

This embarrassment aside, the author's point may hold up: when the UFC first came on the scene, it did promote itself as a no-holds-barred all out fight and in comparison boxing was civilized and gentlemanly. John McCain may think it's still like that, and may rage against it, and in addition to indicating some credo of manliness, it also serves to demonstrate how out of touch he is with current reality.

"Now, with Barack Obama outmatching him as a presidential candidate, however, McCain's credo will be put to the test: Can he adhere to the ethos of honor and fair play that he so fanatically defends?"

If the last few days have taught us anything, the answer to Michael's question is a resounding NO.

I think the moral distinction between Boxing and Ultimate fighting exists, but only for a certain generation.

For John McCain's generation, boxing was part of a normal boyhood education. They didn't just watch it on television but actively practiced and studied it. So, if they saw a fight on TV or live, they understood what they were watching. They understood the discipline of the training and the science of the sport. I would wager that these people weren't just there to watch a violent spectacle. They weren't there just to satisfy some voyeuristic bloodlust. Because they understood what the sport demanded, they watched with a certain respect for the competitors.

This isn't the case with Ultimate Fighting. Despite this sports popularity, its no where near as popular as boxing was a generation ago, either in viewership or, more importantly, participation. Therefore, when people tune in to watch, they have no understanding of the training or skill necessary to compete. They aren't admiring atheletes. They are watching specifically for the violence. They are watching what to them is a freak show.

That is the moral distinction. The difference is between admiring skill and staring at a freakshow.

another worried liberal scred that mccain might fight "dirty" or "mean" and actuallyhurt their golden candidate-translation in boxing metphor- mccain should be an "opponent" {i.e. loser) to their golden candidate's accession to the "title" -paraphrasing Apollo Creed's worried trainer in Rocky I- " he doesn't think it's a damn show , he thinks it's a damn fight..."

So rabbit punches and ear-biting bothers McCain, eh?However McCain campaigns I hope he is shot down just as he was when he was happily shooting up a civilian neighborhood in the middle of a major city. I hope he is as "sporting" as his captors who didn't kill him when he was captured in the act of killing many of them.

Action talks, Bull Sh-t walks! Barrack sit at the feet of his friend and Mentor for 20 years, supported him with his money, his family, subjected his children to his hate filled rants and listened to hate whites, hate Jews, hate American, hate everyone with the exception of Blacks and Muslims!

All the pundits, talking heads, Liberal arguments and warm tingling feeling running down their legs or Speeches wrote by speech writers and read by Obama cannot change the facts. Barrack Obama & his wife are American hating, Black Power Racist!

Now he says it was repugnant to him and he does not endorse it or agree! It is 20 years too late for anyone with an brain to accept. Either Barrack is lying or he has an serious mental problem! No one in their right mind would sit in an church like that for 20 years unless they agreed or they were crazy!

Just imagine, if an White Republican politician had sit at the feet of his Friend and Mentor in an Baptist Church for 20 years and listened to him preach, rant and spew out racist hate rants against everyone and everything except Whites and Baptists.

Oh the Outrage, the Moral Condemnation, The Media, Blacks leaders & Rev`s of every cracker jack box, Liberal and Democrats, Republican politicians, in fact every one in the known and unknown universe would be calling for his head, anyone that spoke in his defense would immediately be tarred with the same brush, no punishment would be to enough, just resigning from office would not be enough, the poor follow would have to flee the country with his family and the church and its members, disbanded and scattered to the four winds.

What does Barrack have to do why just make an nice little speech blaming it all on his little old white grandmother just throw her under the bus of his ambition and if that is not enough, just whites in general!

But Wait, that is for the Rev. Wright and his hate rants, Not why Obama the Great one, the Second coming of the Ego, sit in the church for 20 years and listened to his Friend and Mentor spew out hate Rants that He, The Great One, The Supreme Ego found repugnant and all is right in the Obama world!

If nothing else this campaign has Exposed the racism of Blacks and the total Blinding, Unbelievable Hypocrisy, the like of any Balance or Morals the Liberals, Media and Politicians in general have! They have been exposed as Lying, Deceitful Hypocrites!

Never again, will most Americans credit them with intelligence or compassion that is deeper and purer that us poor lesser ones, because with our limited intelligences we just cannot comprehend & have to listen to the wise compassion Media and intelligence Liberals point out the errors of ways and thinking!

Interesting article overall, however as a long time fan of mixed martial arts (MMA), it is really frustrating to continually see people refer to this sport as "ultimate fighting.” Ultimate Fighting Championships is a brand, or league if you will, so from a fans perspective, this would be like the media constantly referring to the sport of basketball as NBA, or football as playing NFL. May seem petty and somewhat off point, but as an author, you should at least have a basic understanding of the sport you partly base your article on.

Ps – I don’t think I have ever seen someone peform a “neck chop” in all my years watching MMA.

Well, I guess you have to write about something to fill the pages.

"Honor". "Fairplay" Yadayadayada.

McCain comes across as a grumpy old man yelling at kids to get off of his lawn and play in front of their own house.

He is still fighting Vietnam.

I recently heard Senator McCain state that Senator Obama would rather lose a war and win an election.

I reminded myself that my bedroom set was "Made in Vietnam." That fact brought to mind the 58,000+ names on the black wall in Washington where of course we "honor" them. How much richer would our lives and those of their families have been if they were still with us? Alas we will never know. Nixon was going to make sure we "came home with honor"

When politicians start spouting "coming home with honor" it means someone else's kid will have to die for an empty slogan.

My bedroom set marked "Made in Vietnam" tells me those Vietnam kids died for nothing.

When McCain admits the Vietnam war was a mistake and stops running on his "hero"war record (like he was the only POW during the war) he will indicate to me that he has learned something in 70 years. Today I think of those kids drafted off the streets, trained for 3 or 4 months and sent off to a jungle to "fight communism" They were just like me.

Too many of them died too far away from home for too little. There is no honor in that.

P.S. I served - SSG E-6 - US Army Security Agency
Nov. 18, 1963 - Nov 17. 1967. My brother was a draftee and served during the same period. I'm old enough to know better now.

This article just reinforces McCain's singular defining characteristic: his chin and heart have been tested often and he passed. If McCain is a boxer Obama is some guy working in a small group telling women how weak he is because he is trying to get a pity fuck while they talk about the patriarchy. McCain is solid and dependable and Obama is po-mo and appeals to people who feel instead of think. TNR should hire me and I will write the sister article for this: How Fraggle Rock Explains Obama Supporters.

As other commenters have pointed out, quite a few problems here with the discussion of mixed martial arts (MMA). Also:

"A civilized way, dating to Ancient Greece, for one man to prove his strength over another"

MMA dates back the ancient Greece, too. Read about "pankration."

Mr. Crowley, I am a Democrat and Obama supporter, but when you are using McCain's feelings re: boxing vs MMA to make a point about McCain, you can't misportray MMA so badly and expect everyone to believe that you have presented the political aspects of the column accurately.

toritto;
I also served in the USASA in those same years. Vigiles Salutis bro and f*ck McCain.

I loved this article. I'm a bit younger than McCain but I remember when boxing was a huge sport and there were a lot of fans around like him, including my father. When I was in school the sports fans kids actually could tell you the top contenders in at least five divisions (out of eight). And you talked about upcoming big fights and then argued about them after for days. Those days are long gone, but I can appreciate how McCain never lost his love for the sport. And there are still a lot of good fighters around, but we just don't know about them.

The other thing, without knowing this, I've felt from the beginning that this contest with Obama is exactly like a boxing match. You have the young lighting fast non-stop puncher, bobbing, weaving, dancing rings around his opponent, versus a slow-moving plodding veteran, barely able to cover himself, a sitting duck, throwing only occasional punches, looking awkward and even pathetic, and meanwhile the crowd is cheering the young fighter at every turn. At first glace it looked like a hopeless mismatch, but if you know boxing, you know what counts is not how many punches you throw, but how many you land. As I watch this Obama started off landing hard with "four more of years of Bush" but he's not connecting much since and there is no sting on his punches. On the other hand McCain when he does connect hits like a horse. Obama has to win on points, he's got no power in his punches, but the very very tough McCain could knock him out.

Andrew,

Unfortunately, the false impression that mixed martial arts = ultimate fighting did largely stem from those early pay-per-view gladiatorial contests that were often sold as "ultimate fighting" championship. It was a pretty free-swinging brutal street fight kind of event, 'cause in those days it was almost impossible to sell real mma to theater and ppv outlets. Also, "mma" itself has had quite an evolution over a relatively short time compared to boxing and wrestling. In ancient Greece the pankration was often maiming and deadly - that was the point of it in the increasingly bloodlust spectacles. However, it was the more scientific combination of boxing and wrestling that pankration afficionados, then and now, appreciated. You undoubtedly know all this, and more, than myself, a fan of mma, as well as boxing and wrestling (not the "professional" variety of mass entertainment).

what, no wildcat??

I finally found time to read this article and for a lad who looks like he has studiously avoided the squared circle reserved for us knuckleheads - a rather sketchy club that includes me, wildcat, and just about every uncle, cousin, and boyhood friend I had - I commend Crowley's take on McCain's obsession with the sweet science and how it is so different, stylistically and culturally than this mixed boxing/karate/three stooges amalgam that we now have. I liked Crowley's take and think that it has a lot of relevance to why McCain - and all us old time boxing lovers - are so out of step with these dreary sporting times.

If I had to face McCain in the ring, this would be my plan: McCain strikes me as a straight up, somewhat plodding banger. No nuance, just forward motion and lots of leather. My plan would be to spend the initial round keeping my left right on his forehead and nose, with lots of lateral motion. Then, in the second, I would go to the center of the ring and give McCain the chance to come to me. I would go into a crouch, cover my face a la Patterson and Norton and see what he had, take a few to see how he followed up with his attack. I would be especially looking to see how he kept - or did not keep - his balance when he threw his punches at my stationary target. I'd look for any hint of imbalance or opening. My guess is that McCain is the type of guy who doesn't put a lot of effort in making sure that he keeps his hands or his arms up after he throws his shots. Then, playing off his forward motion, I would start to counter, looking for the opening after he threw the right. I would pivot to my left and his right and dig in with counter lefts to his midsection and head. Instinctively, most guys come over with wild lefts to counter my left and it is then that I make that quick right pivot, under and over with my counter right, this time, right on the chin.

Jerry Quarry was a master at counter punching...utube any of his fights and you can see exactly what I am talking about.

If McCain was able to take that without much damage, then for the third and last (I tangled in amateurs) round, I would again go to the center, continue to attempt counters, and slowly work my way backwards to the ropes. McCain would of course follow me, banging all the time, and when I had him with me at the ropes, I would tie him up, moving slowly to my left and pushing him counter clockwise until I had him against the ropes, then it would be any man's game. You always use those last 90 seconds to let the hands go and see what happens.

Of course, this is all predicated upon the assumption that the old fart would catch me early and plant me on my ass. If that happened, I would stay on my bicycle and try to tire him out and land my shots from afar and try to win on points.

wildcat, how would you fight a guy like McCain?

I notice that the article is trying to disect McCain based on his opinion of a sport 10 years ago which is different from the sport of today. Where is the mention that Dana White said he would be voting for McCain?

Amen and amen and amen. About time someone with some sense posted on this site.

Not sure if my first post was deleted due to submitting a link to comments by current UFC President Dana White who commended John McCain on his push to have MMA follow sanctioning bodies to make it a legitimate sport as opposed to it's original human cockfighting rules. John McCain again showed leadership in this endeavour. How does that saying go: dont let the truth get in the way of your bias!

Not too difficult to search for John McCain + UFC + Dana White

Please, stop referring to the sport as "Ultimate Fighting". It simply shows your ignorance and thus, spreads ignorance. The sport is called Mixed Martial Arts(MMA). Though, I know I'm probably speaking to deaf ears that would rather remain ignorant.

idov,
The boxing analogy is interesting yet I wonder what ‘punches’ by McCain you are expecting: are you thinking that he is developing a positive economic plan for all America, his current ‘punch’ calls for more tax breaks for the wealthy, (Supply-side Economics that has yet to work?) a new war with Iran, even more war in Afghanistan with no other middle eastern policy initiatives or world policy initiatives just a rehash of Bush policies for the past eight years. So far Obama has slowly begun to show America the he is both capable and strong enough to do the job. He is also under unprecedented scrutiny with every word he speaks parsed, every gesture examined and every decision questioned.
This has not been the case for the other candidate he insists that he is the candidate of change & judgment but the list of John McCain's judgment errors is prodigious, his lack of support for the military, for citizens in difficulty and his distain for minorities including women is legion but, never discussed or questioned by any in the media, the MSM ‘free pass’ given McCain remains the greatest asset of his campaign. Were McCain’s words parsed as Obama’s are each day he would now be characterized as that doddering, hateful old has-been, attempting to live in the shadow of his long past glories. It is truly sad to some times to see him, except that there are millions of people that will vote for him, not recognizing that he has become a manipulated pathetic old man rushing after a faded dream of power.
Jack

This article is a good example of the generational and ideological differences between Obama and McCain. In boxing and MMA there are style differences that make the fight interesting. However as this article notes, McCain would prefer a gentlemanly brawl where the two contenders stand across from each other and slug it out. In MMA, a fighter uses his strengths to attack an opponents weaknesses. They must be well versed in all aspects, striking, wrestling, submission grappling in order to compete as the opponents strengths will change from fighter to fighter. To compare these sports to military situations such as Iraq and Afghanistan would be as follows.
McCain would prefer to 'slug it out' with the enemy. They're over there, we're here, lets meet in the middle and finish this thing. There's one weapon to use, keep punching until they don't get up.

Obama wields a more complete arsenal. Much like an MMA fighter, Obama would use a military option as one of a multi-pronged approach that would also include diplomatic, economic and political weapons. Sensing an enemies weakness the correct weapon or combination thereof would be deployed, yielding a knockout, submission, or ref stoppage.

McCain's approach worked fine for centuries, as long as both sides agreed to the rules. Since this is not the case now, I see no reason to stick with the same approach. Joe Louis, Muhammed Ali, and Oscar De LaHoya may have worked great for years, but I would feel much better if my military was styled after Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, and Georges St. Pierre.

A.L., do you pay any attention at all to what the military actually does? Or boxing? You don't just stand in front of the other person and punch.

I was going to read this article until you said that the movie "Fight Club" immortalized Ultimate Fighting. You either a) missed the entire point of the movie or b) have never seen it and just wanted to demonstrate how hip you are. Please go rent the film before you reference it again, since I assume that the answer is "b."

Very good analogy, A.L. And thejauntyboulevardier, I know you didn't ask me, but I wouldn't fight McCain by boxing with him. I would fight him by shooting a double, taking him down, and armbarring him.

The level of ignorance in this article is rather overwhelming.

A.L. (#22) - that was a great analogy.

McCain ads are already fighting dirty - the german military hospital story is a cleaver lie, acknowledged by all involved.

Boxing explains John McCain? Didn't your editor write a book about how soccer explains everything?

He seems so dang hard-headed. Sound familiar? Actually, MMA is something i was agaisnt at first too, as a life-ling boxing fan. But, after the sports refinement and my further investigation, i have come to find out that teh fighters fair better in MMA than they are in boxing. Also, boxers are subject to sustained abuse over the course of 10-12 rounds. MMA usually ends quickly and without repeated blows to the head, like in boxing. Also, MMAers seem to know when to get out,cause young fighters wipe the mat with them, while boxers, becasue of the gloves they use, can fight well into old age and continue to absorb punishment.

McCain appears to be a know-it-all bully.

I think the reason the author mistakenly believes that the movie "Fight Club" is about MMA is because the original Slate article he refers to is called "Fight Clubbed" (google it). In this article David Plotz makes a reference to the movie, but doesn't actually say that it's about MMA. Crowley obviously misunderstood this part of the text, and never bothered to actually watch the movie. Sloppy.

A world in which a "singular defining characteristic...expressing outrage...at an injustice" becomes a liability is a very mixed up world indeed. Metaphors and analogies are metaphors and analogies. I agree that there are limits to the "honor of war" kind of approach, but if you're going to have a fight, you may as well try and stand for something other than just winning at any cost (or worse, ripping pieces of the opponent apart for the added entertainment value, having no bearing on winning or losing). Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst. Have some rules. I don't personally think MMA is much different from trad boxing on a moral scale. It is certainly crazier and more graphic, but I understand how McCain's sensibilities could be shocked by it, especially the original UFC version. The campaign is MMA, if you think about it. Neither McCain nor Obama can possibly keep the promises they (may even actually want to) in how the campaigns will be run. The American public as a marketplace has set the requirement for how an effective campaign needs to be managed, and that, for better or worse, pretty much needs to include "going negative." If everyone listened to NPR instead of Rush Limbaugh and Air America (for example) we could have principled campaigns about actual issues. We can't. The country that wants its MMA, its arguments about stuff like MMA, sex everywhere and offset by a nagging Puritan streak, DEMANDS a slightly dirty fight. In that respect Don King and Karl Rove (et al) are in the same business. It's not a GOP thing.

Does anybody know which fighter McCain was quoting that talked about going after the brain stem and eye sockets?

To answer my own question (in case anyone else is interested), it was Keith Hackney in UFC 3. He fought the gigantic sumo wrestler Emmanuel Yarborough, who outweighed him by 416 pounds. He was clearly concerned with Yarborough's size advantage but eventually managed to stun him with some punches. A Washington Post article by George Will, no doubt the the one McCain quoted, gave Hackney's description of how the fight ended: "I was hitting him to the brain stem, which is a killing blow, and when he covered up I'd swing back with upswings to the eye sockets with two knuckles and a thumb. There was no other place on his body you could hurt him."

Video of the fight is readily available, and it doesn't quite live up to the description. Yarborough somehow seems to make it through the fight with no evident damage to his eyes. Hackey did hit him with a barrage of punches, it's definitely a brutal ending to a fight, and the hits to the back of the head are dangerous, but the quote makes it sound even worse than it was. I half suspect Hackney was more intending to make the point of how tough his opponent was than to accurately describe what had happened.

I can understand how many people would want to ban such tactics, and I agree with them. The UFC, however, did exactly that. Jeff Blatnick, a highly respected Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, worked with the UFC to put together rules to protect the safety of the fighters. Even with those rules in place McCain still wanted to shut the sport down. When the tactics to which he objected were no longer present and he continued his vendetta, a lot of people started to suspect he had other motives, such as the protection of boxing.