I've heard it's great, unfortunately it starts at 10pm (at least the one episode I saw that was coming on). So sorry but I get up at 5:15 so too late for me.
After all these great comments I've read about the show I happenned across it last night and decided to watch. I was really drawn in by the show. I was surprised. I learned to really really really hate Ahmed. Good God I couldn't stand him. Then, when it came to the fight, I cared about who was going to win or lose. My adrenaline was totally pumping. I wanted Ahmed to lose so bad, I was yelling at the TV. It's rare that a program (other than a Rockets game) will do that. Thank god that b**** ass punk got spanked. I pray he doesn't come back, but if he does, I hope he gets put down again, hard.
But wouldn't it be great if they did bring him back ~ he's the guy you love to hate... __________ From the Sportsguy: "I'll be honest: From a comedy standpoint, nothing in this mailbag will remotely approach Sly Stallone's sparring session in "The Contender." That was like a gift from the Comedy Gods. What a man, what a moment, what a show. I haven't been delighted by a TV show like this in eons. More on this at another time." .. I mean, did you SEE Sly Stallone sparring last night? Why not go the whole nine yards and have Burt Young and the bald guy from "Rocky IV" in his corner? Is there going to be a training sequence next week where he climbs a 45,000-foot mountain in Russia? Seriously, he knows he's not a real boxer, right? Can we get a definitive answer on this?
On a sad note the guy who took his own life lost last night. Very sad to see him there with his family after the match knowing that.
The dude left behind several siblings and a 2 year-old daughter. He's talking about a sign from God describing his chance at boxing greatness. Then, he commits suicide committing one of the great sins. Granted, he had a hard life but did he consider the impact to his siblings? Did he actually think they would be better off without him? Sad...but pathetic...is how I would characterize what he did. He gave up...threw in the towel...ended it. I think he owed it to his daughter to keep going. He was only 23 years old.
I read that he shot himself in the car with his family in it, obviously he was suffering from severe psychiatric problems if that was the case. Just a terrible story eithter way.
I don't do the VCR/DVR thing. If it's important I watch it when it's on. If I miss it I miss it. It's just a TV show. But I did watch it last night, it was on at 8 or 9. Good show. i liked Najai, found myself really rooting for him and honestly didn't remember the suicide thing until after the fight when Sugar Ray did his little thing asking for donations for Najai's daughters trust fund.
That was really sad watching him play with his little girl after the fight knowing now that she no longer has a father. Other than that though it was another good episode with a quality fight at the end. I wonder if the show is getting good ratings ~ somehow it doesn't really seem like it is...
Why aren't people watching this show? _________ 'The Contender' deserves a shot Ever enjoy a TV show so much, you start glancing at your VCR clock and thinking, "Oh, no, 8:46, only 14 more minutes to go!" I call that the Sopranos Test. Over the past few years, only five shows passed that test for me – "The Sopranos," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Entourage", the first season of "Survivor" and "Oz" during the season when Adebici was wreaking havoc. Pretty short list. So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself glancing at the VCR clock during "The Contender" last week – Oh, no! It's almost over! – the ultimate seal of approval, at least from me. It's the perfect blend of over-the-top drama, heart-pounding competition and laugh-out-loud unintentional comedy, which is why "The Contender" has a chance to become the most entertaining reality show of all-time. Naturally, nobody is watching it. And I'm not going to be the guy who puts a gun to your head and screams, "You're not watching 'The Contender'? Whaaaaaaaat? What's the matter with you????" I hate that guy. You hate that guy. Everyone hates that guy. I just don't want NBC to overreact to disappointing ratings and cancel the show, if only because they're dumb enough to do it. Remember, this is the same network that once gave us "Inside Schwartz." You never know with them. Just hope they realize that viewers are burned out on reality shows, so there's a good chunk of people who probably haven't even given "The Contender" a chance yet. Again, I'm not telling you what to do. But here are five reasons why I enjoy "The Contender" so much: 1. Real people, real goals Here's the premise: They picked 16 world-class middleweights, with two of them battling in a five-round match every episode until one remains. These guys aren't trying to parlay the show into 15 minutes of fame, or a few Playboy Mansion appearances, or even an amateur p*rn video that gets "accidentally" leaked on the Internet. They're all trying to become the middleweight champ some day. So there's an aura of credibility here – unlike on "The Starlet," "The Bachelorette," "Survivor" or any other reality show, the motives of these contestants are relatively pure. They remind me of Brendan Fraser's character in "School Ties," when he tells the headmaster at the end of the movie, "You used me for football, I used you to get into Harvard." That's everyone on this show. They know it's a reality show, they're not crazy about it, but they're using it to advance their careers. And that's an important point. My biggest problem with reality shows has been the people who appear on them – wanna-be celebs, wanna-be actors, wanna-be TV hosts, wanna-be models and just plain wanna-bes – who end up being about as unrealistic as you can get. Since they're shameless and conniving, it's impossible to trust any of them – like Jerry, the L.A. art dealer who proposed to Jen on "The Bachelorette" and got shot down on live television. You would think this was the most humiliating experience possible, but not for Jerry, who had the Jeff George Face going for about 10 seconds, followed by the "Wait a second, I'm a celebrity now, I can get anyone!" face. You can almost imagine him sipping a martini at the rooftop bar of the Hotel Mondrian and waiting for some bimbo to recognize him. These are the people who end up on reality shows. So it's becoming harder and harder to like them, unless they're making asses out of themselves. continued...
