Iceman thaws; Suns cool

SINCE IT'S CHUCK LIDDELL'S PICTURE here that you have seen for the longest time, in fact, the only picture you have seen in this untended blog, it's only fair I write a few things about him first. For those who don't know yet, Liddell's fight with Rashad Evans in UFC 85 has been canceled due to the injury Liddell suffered on his hamstring.

It should really be serious, for Liddell to back out of a scheduled fight for the first time in 10 years as a professional mixed-martial-arts fighter. The Iceman never backed out of a fight before even when he got hurt in training. He fought Tito Ortiz and Quinton Jackson before while being not 100 percent.

Put some ice on it, Iceman. Oh, that's terrible.

Now, secondly, the next thing is proof that MMA is not all that I write. Hey, that's what this blog title is all about: Free-For-All. No, it's not that I write this for everyone for free, it's because I damn write what I like. Although I have a separate blog for my musical musings and plan to have one on my poetry.

This is what I want to discuss next.

The Phoenix Suns.

I was devastated after former Suns forward Shawn Marion along with Marcus Banks was traded to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O'Neal. After nine or so years of dedicated service to the Suns, Marion was unceremoniously dumped to get more meat from the veteran center, O'Neal. You can call O'Neal a journeyman for the way he has journeyed from East to West in 16 years. Although, technically he isn't.

The Suns wanted O'Neal to match up with Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs. The Suns would have made it to last year's NBA Finals if only Amare Stoudemire wasn't suspended for leaving the bench after Robert Horry intentionally fouled Steve Nash hard in the playoffs. Last year's Suns line-up may lack a legitimate center against Duncan but it had everything it needed to beat the Spurs and anybody else in the NBA.

They also let go of Kurt Thomas because they were so confident of having O'Neal in their line-up. The Spurs picked up Thomas and he is now giving O'Neal a tough time defensively.

O'Neal to match up against Duncan? The Suns are currently down 0-2 against the Spurs. Go figure.

If the Suns are eliminated in the first round, they deserve it. Karma of the negative kind floats in the air. Cebuanos have an exact word for it -- gaba. Now you have learned two Visayan words in two successive posts.