By Charles Jay - There is never a shortage of nubile, scantily-clad women around the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. But on this particular night the pulchritude was even more plentiful than usual.
The UFC had landed on the reservation.
My assignment, as I chose to accept it, was not to take in the T&A; well, let me correct that. It was, to some degree, since that is one of the major distinctions between the way boxing and MMA sell their respective "products." But mostly, it was to put a gauge on the differences between the MMA experience and the boxing experience, from the perspective of the presentation of the event and the energy in the audience.
Spike TV was covering some of the event live, but unlike boxing shows, the crowd did not just suddenly appear, or so it seemed, for the televised bouts. They were there, and in a festive mood, when the first fights went off at about 6 PM Eastern time.
What you notice right away about this crowd is that it's a far cry from the demographic you might find at a boxing event. It's much younger (not that I had to tell you that), seemingly more aggressive, with a scattering of Latinos but most predominantly Anglo. There's a possibility that the same group referred to by some as the "Angry White Male" was well-represented. So were, I suppose, the Angry White Females.
Angry about something, maybe, but not here. This crowd was not unruly in the least, with the possible exception of a "stripper mom," as she was described on some websites, who was putting on her best moves for the cameras in front of her two small children (yikes!). But I had positioned myself amongst the crowd, rather than press row, and as people were stepping over me on the way to the beer stand, at least they were polite about it. [details]
The UFC had landed on the reservation.
My assignment, as I chose to accept it, was not to take in the T&A; well, let me correct that. It was, to some degree, since that is one of the major distinctions between the way boxing and MMA sell their respective "products." But mostly, it was to put a gauge on the differences between the MMA experience and the boxing experience, from the perspective of the presentation of the event and the energy in the audience.
Spike TV was covering some of the event live, but unlike boxing shows, the crowd did not just suddenly appear, or so it seemed, for the televised bouts. They were there, and in a festive mood, when the first fights went off at about 6 PM Eastern time.
What you notice right away about this crowd is that it's a far cry from the demographic you might find at a boxing event. It's much younger (not that I had to tell you that), seemingly more aggressive, with a scattering of Latinos but most predominantly Anglo. There's a possibility that the same group referred to by some as the "Angry White Male" was well-represented. So were, I suppose, the Angry White Females.
Angry about something, maybe, but not here. This crowd was not unruly in the least, with the possible exception of a "stripper mom," as she was described on some websites, who was putting on her best moves for the cameras in front of her two small children (yikes!). But I had positioned myself amongst the crowd, rather than press row, and as people were stepping over me on the way to the beer stand, at least they were polite about it. [details]
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