If you saw Stephen A. Smith on Thursday trying to give his analysis and predictions for the ensuing Chiefs-Chargers game that night, you know that sports reporters, pundits, commentators and talk show hosts are very often full of hot air and shouldn’t really speak on things they don’t know much about. Smith predicted that a key matchup in that night’s game would be Chargers tight end Hunter Henry going up against Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson.
The two small problems with that are that Henry tore his ACL in the offseason and hasn’t played a snap all year and Johnson is a former Chief who played for the Raiders this year before his release in October. When he attempted to cover himself later on Twitter, Smith claimed he misspoke and meant Chargers tight end Virgil Green — who had 13 catches all season and only one pass thrown in his direction the three weeks prior. He gave no explanation regarding Johnson.
So his prediction — while, um, bold — proved to be simply idiotic and the ramblings of an unprepared reporter who still wanted his voice heard.
My point is to say that just because you can speak about something, doesn’t mean you must. So while I watched Dustin Barca’s split decision victory at Saturday’s Bellator 213 event on Oahu, my analysis is unnecessary because I’m admittedly just not familiar enough with MMA to have an informed opinion. I thought it was a close fight and it seemed like the third round would and should decide the winner. Though he appeared tired to start the final frame, Barca went on to control the majority of the round to earn the hard-fought win.
So congratulations to the Kilauea product on a really good fight after having been out of the ring for five years, as well as going the full 15 minutes after probably having his nose broken early in round one. That was a pretty epic final shot of Barca with his hands raised, blood completely veiling his face.
Timothy Teves of Kapahi was also scheduled to fight on Saturday but his fight was pushed back until later in the card and results were unavailable by press time.
The fighters got the state’s full attention because Saturday was another lay day at the Billabong Pipe Masters, as a new swell was still working its way into prime position. Second-round action could pick up again today with a lot on the line.
Joel Parkinson has moved back into the top spot for the Vans Triple Crown title after his opening heat victory to jump directly into round three. Parkinson outpointed both Kolohe Andino and Ace Buchan as he now gets a round off and awaits a head-to-head competitor to emerge. Parkinson slides ahead of Brazil’s Jesse Mendes, who was in the lead entering Pipeline.
Mendes will be taking on Ezekiel Lau in a key second-round heat. He’ll need to advance in order to jump back ahead of Parko and to have a chance at his first Triple Crown.
One person who probably won’t be cheering for Mendes in that matchup is Jack Freestone, who is currently the final qualifier for 2019. If Lau falls out of the top 22 — he’s currently 18th — then Freestone could drop out of that final position since Lau is a double qualifier and would then require his Qualifying Series ranking to get through.
Filipe Toledo was the only world title contender who failed to win his first-round heat and he’ll now need to beat Benji Brand if he is to keep his championship dream alive. Brand, despite competing in just his second career CT event, may actually be considered the favorite in their elimination heat. He has now qualified for the Pipe Masters in back-to-back years by making it through the Trials, showing a great comfort for the wave that Toledo just doesn’t quite have.
Points leader Gabriel Medina won his first heat in solid fashion and Julian Wilson snuck through, as well. Each gets to jump into round three and will take on a pair of lower seeds who emerge from round two.
Sebastian Zietz is scheduled for an elimination heat against Patrick Gudauskas. Zietz is currently 19th on the CT and would be much more comfortable in his position by moving into round three. It may not seal the deal, but it would help in avoiding some very precarious heats in which he’d have to watch helplessly from the beach.
The Surfline forecast still appeared difficult to predict late Saturday, but they may give it a go in what could be some big, yet unruly Pipeline conditions today.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
