Monstah’s Ball: Jon Jones vs Brock Lesnar? Naah …..

Naah, not another freak show, and one that wouldn’t break any new ground. Remember Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez? Well, most MMA fans do. So for Jones to carry on like  a potential Lesnar/Jones fight was the shizzle is just self-serving prattle. Yes indeed, Velasquez vs Lesnar was the culmination of a man-versus-beast saga which began with Couture taming the beast and ended up with a victorious Cain Velasquez slaying it. Hate to pop Jones’ c̶h̶e̶r̶r̶y̶ bubble.

Monstah 1: In Jon Jones menagerie, Anthony Rumble Johnson, should be Monstah Number One, even though Cormier thoroughly humanized him ….. the same way Velasquez humanized Lesnar. Reason? STYLEZ MAKE FIGHTS, and so do vulnerabilities and monstrous, man-sized egos. Care-dare to “stand & bang”? OK, ya get the idea. BNSG here.

If Jones was really serious about showing the size of his manhood, Cialis or no Cialis, he would be calling out regular-sized monsters like current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Stipe Miocic, but Jones won’t volunteer for such predictable beat-downs. He conveniently side-stepped the question after a reporter asked him by besmirching Miocic’s celebrity & dollar earnings chops. Same slippery slope. Calling out another black n’ green monstah like Rumble Johnson would have raised Jones’ sportin’ creds a bit more than in the Lesnar case. And the reasoning has to do with the fact that Johnson, more than Cormier, had a greater chance of beating Jones regardless of the two times he lost to Cormier. Styles make fights, and so do vulnerabilities and monstrous, man-sized egos.

BNSG on the MMA tip.

Monstah 2 in Jon Jones Little Shop of Horrors – if he wants to step it up a notch, weight-size – is fireman, turned meat-tenderizer, Stipe Miocic. Downside for Jones: This Monstah can bang, besides having a monstrous sprawl and takedown defence. EXTRA Cajones Points: he has never(until Cormier knockout) been turned out. Pic: ZUFFA

Filed under: Uncategorized, Anthony Rumble Johnson, Jon Jones vs Brock Lesnar, MMA, Stipe Miocic, UFC

The Problem with Daniel Cormier

The problem with Daniel Cormier is that, unlike what he let on when he first broke onto the MMA/UFC  scene, he doesn’t speak GRUNT  (the native language of  “made” cavemen)  as a native/reflexive form expression.  And right up there with this blemish, is Daniel’s penchant for moralizing which – on short order – turned him into the moralistic Joan of Arc following his loss to Jones at  UFC 182 – a decision which,  more than any other, turned The  Sweaty Lodge of The MMA Brotherhood against him.  We warned Cormier about this  in “Wisdom of the Third Monkey” here, but  he did not  listen and The Brotherhood took notice and sent Cormier straight to personal and PR hell. With the negligible exception of Jones nut-munchers, Daniel Cormier’s booing problem started right here.

The problem with Daniel Cormier is basically the talk  trap  that he fell into on his way to UFC 214, soon after he had convinced some people that he was  perfectly conversant with the testosterone-inflected language of GRUNT. Read associated post for details. Pic: Getty Images.

Yes, the booing of Daniel Cormier started when The Brotherhood caught the whiff of something other than pure, unadulterated manhood at a time he was giving off all kinds of tells that he really didn’t belong to the higher order of  The Lodge.

To re-state the matter, Daniel Cormier was done in by a double albatross of:

1. Failure to demonstrate sustained articulacy in the rudiments of  GRUNT – the testosterone-inflected language of latter day cavemen  and
2. His compensatory loquacity about all things moral, which in Jones case was seen as “bitchin'” or carrying on about the foibles of another man – a veritable no-no, even among lowly members of The Order. Initiates have been sent to “hen houses” for less.

Filed under: MMA, Uncategorized, BNSG, Daniel Cormier, Daniel Cormier Sounding off like Deacon Dan, GRUNT, incrucible.net, Joey Diaz, Jon Jones, MMA, testosterone, The  Sweaty Lodge of The MMA Brotherhood, UFC 214

Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather: A Non-event of Monumental Proportions

“Picture this in ya mind’s eye if ya will. It’s Sunday mornin’ ….. August 27th, and ya roll outa bed after a late night of hoopin’ ‘n hollerin’ at the Tee-Vee.  It’s the mornin’ after Mcgregor ‘n Mayweather down in Vegas. I’ll tell ya how y’all be  feelin’ on that mornin’.

A deep funk. Yep, a deep funk is what y’all be feelin’. A deep funk an’ a headache from a hangover of a fight that was hooped ‘n hyped to high heaven  without ever provin’ a darn thang”

If this feels like ‘de-ja-view’ all over again, it’s because we bin here before chillun. Down this road with the same ol’ same ol’ slick fellas with them hands in y’alls pockets.  Where ya wallet at? ….. Son.

‘Member Floyd an’ Paquiao ….. or Conor an’ Nate Hit Me-Mo Diaz?”

‘Course y’alls do.

But is it gonna change a thang?

‘Course not. ‘Coz that’s not how ya wittle mindz work ….. an’ besides, none o’ yalls gotta a damn life.

Good ol’ Barnum an’ Ed Mark’em McMahon figgered y’all out money, money years ago; figgered you’ll spend money on fellas whose records are more curated than the goo’ ol’ Smithsonian.” [Shakin’ head] (Uncle G holdin’ forth likan O.G., Dateline: Camp Granada, 2017)

Shim meet Sham ….. Or is it Flim meet Flam?: McGregor vs Mayweather is what happens when a side-cum-freak show is elevated to top billing status. In craft keg-ology, they call it the problem of too much head and no body.  BNSG, Incrucible.Net

LONG & SHORT OF IT: Conor Mcgregor vs Floy Mayweather is what happens when a sideshow is elevated to top billing status. And the trend that this represents (in the era William Morris Endeavor(WME), International Management Group(IMG) and OPM (Other People’s Money), is proof positive that the UFC, has unarguably fallen off the deep end. And it more than portends that what fans (and by this I mean MMA true believers) can expect from now own is gonna be patently indistinguishable from the frothy fare Ed McMahon has been serving pubescent WWE fandom for years.

Filed under: MMA, Uncategorized, anti-gay slur, August 26 2017, Boxing, Conor McGregor, Conor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather, Floyd Mayweather, Mcgregor vs Mayweather promotional tour, MMA, racism

Odds for Cormier vs Johnson 2 Comin’ In Tighter Than a Virgin’s “Ya-Know-What”!

That’s the real story behind the story: the fact that Daniel Ryan Cormier, the undisputed winner of Johnson vs Cormier I, is hardly catching a break in terms of Las Vegas odds. Long story short: The public was not deceived by the outcome of the first fight twixt Cormier & Johnson. Explication: Daniel Cormier dodged a major, major bullet the first time around. This time (meaning the forthcoming UFC 206) he won’t be so lucky. That, damas y caballeros, is the story behind the story; and the “pick’em numbers”, -115 for both fighters by some odds maker reckonings, have been unflinching.

So this, in some sense, makes the fight an uninteresting contest – an overdue and almost tedious confirmation of what everyone (including  quilt-knitting grandmas) knew.  Which makes the way  Cormier has been carrying on like, a  nervous-joker, all the more understandable.

“Anthony knows what’s gonna happen. I know what’s gonna happen. The fans know what’s gonna happen. I’m gonna stand right in front of him. I’m gonna knock him out right in the middle of the Octagon. I’m proving a point. Anthony, you’re going down once again. Boom! Right hand, down goes Rumble.” Daniel Cormier

File the above under “Famous Last Words”. And while we are at this, go back to the video of Cormier announcing the forthcoming fight with Rumble. Pause. Now doesn’t he just sound like Weidman before he got his noggin knocked off by  Rockhold last Christmas? (UFC 194). He does. Same frothy hoo-hah masquerading as courage. Don’t buy it unless you wanna live in the poor house. And whatever you do, don’t bet the family farm against Rumble on  this one. Otherwise we are looking at another a snoozer which will not obscure the fact that Rumble is clearly the one who is in ascendance here.

The more interesting fight would have been Jon Jones vs Rumble, but Jonny Boney, as Eugene Robinson likes to call him,  is clearly not in any hurry to face Rumble even though Daniel Cormier did him a big big favor by taking the fear factor off of him and thoroughly Buster Douglarizing him at UFC 187. The latter sounds almost obscene doesn’t  it? But the stubbornly ascendant truth is that Cormier would not have had a snowball’s chance against Rumble had Rumble’s brass knuckles found its mark.

Cormier says he will stand with Rumble? Hah! Fat chance. And I doubt that Cormier’s Olympic grade thigh humpin’ will save him this time. And with the failure of Cormier’s magic wand, the curse of the heavweight division will come to light heavyweight.  But even with Cormier’s loss, Jones debt to Cormier will remain because Jones was clearly unnerved by Rumble in the same way that he was unneverd by Cormier at the beginning of their rivalry. Yes, Jones was unnerved by Cormier until Cormier started yapping too much in the aftermath of their promo stage scrap.

Rumble Johnson vs Cormier II at UFC 206. Yawn.

Rumble vs Jones, if it happens in 2017, will be the real deal. The real barn burner even after all these months. Reason? Rumble speaks a language Jon Jones only aspires to in his dreams of churlish intimidation. (The fake scrap with Rumble in front of Dana was Jon’s idea …. and as much a way of minimizing his mis-step with Cormier as a way to manage his dis-ease with Rumble.)

Watch the odds of Cormier vs Rumble Johnson II come in tighter than a virgin’s ya-know-what. My name is BNSG and you have been treated to a free  MMA tip.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Anthony Rumble Johnson, Daniel Cormier, Johnson vs Cormier II, Jon Jones, UFC 206

McGregor vs Nate Diaz @ UFC 202: Wrong Prediction + Post Mortem Update After McGregor Mauls Diaz

Friday, August 19, 2016: Short of irregularities, seen and unseen, Conor McGregor is about to get murked, no, make that Mau Mau-ed by Nate Diaz. Again. Very few ifs, ands or buts. The set up is complete and almost solid as a rock. Yes, money talks but there seems to be something larger at work here, and the Diaz brothers have never been known to be shady shysters or company pets. And Conor on the other side of this nebulous equation, has alienated almost everyone save the febrile nuthuggers that constitute the majority of his fanbase. (Irish fans are exempt on account of green.)

Nate Diaz Ahead of UFC 202: This time it’s personal.

LI’L TELL-TALE: Nate will not default to Jiu-jitsu as a master choice of weaponry in this fight: no, this thing, like a crime of passion, is gonna be an  up-close-and-personal-cum-good ol’ fashioned street beat-down.

Reason? – The younger of the Diaz roost has a thing or two to prove to the mouthy Irishman.

PREDICTION: When not b*tch-slapping Conor around the ring, Nate will be standing in front of him and daring him to “come to Poppa”.

Then after the sweat, the blood,
And after the blood, the man-beast
Once called “The Incredible Hulk”
Sporting flashes of red, white & blue
Sez the king

Y’all don’t believe me. Watch. Then after the slaughterhouse, “come to poppa” …….. and, yes, kiss the ring.

BNSG channeling Michel De like a mother.

G’night y’all.

G’night.

Sunday, August 21, 2016: SOBER (Or Sobered Up) POST MORTEM OF UFC 202. A.K.A. The Bitter Morning After Pill:

The long and the short of UFC 202: Nate Diaz strategically under-performed last night ….. if that is what it was. We will break it down starting with the strategic aspect: There appeared to be none. Nate was free-styling on the remix. McGregor’s  kicking of the lead right leg (a well known counter to a heavy lead foot, which in this case was the right one): Had this been discussed in camp, and if so, what was the counter to McGregor’s counter? We ask because there was zero evidence of this in anticipation and or counter-execution on the part of Nate Dias. And yes, in terms of performance, Nate never really got out of the gate so to speak. His fight plan, in execution, hewed to the hackneyed slow starter model with some signs of life towards the end of round 2 and in round 3. But hanging all over this like an ominous cloud, was the failure to adjust to a clearly manifest unfolding of McGregor’s fight plan. Zero, zilch, nada. While you are at it, put that one down to a failure  of either coaching, cornering and or listening.

Filed under: MMA, Uncategorized, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Post Mortem Update, UFC 202 Predictions, UFC 202 Results

Conor McGregor Pulls a “Ronda Rousey” at Pre-UFC 202 Presser: Anatomy of a Loud Mouth Under Terminal Stress

The UFC 2002 presser at the MGM Grand wasn’t supposed to end like this, but it did, with Conor McGregor pulling a Ronda Rousey of an over-reaction. Pic: Youtube/UFC

The UFC 202 presser at the MGM was supposed to go according script on Wednesday, August 18, 2016: Conor McGregor’s script that is, but the Irishman made a few mistakes that came back to bite him in be-jeaned derriere:

1. First, the biggest and most obvious f*ck-up; Conor picked the wrong opponent: a Stockton mofo badboy, who with truculent big brother Nick, eat challengers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The mean streets of Dublin may be mean, but Stockton’s are probably meaner, with a gnarly grit that is sui generically American …. and unapologetically urban. Diaz’s streets brook no space for  pony-tailed “movement gurus” who seem more at home with dance, gymnastics and touchy-feely world Oprah Winfrey than boxing gyms and BJJ mats. So when Nate went after Ido Portal as  a “pony-tailed weirdo”, he was cutting to the chase of what separated him from Conor, and it cut to the bone. Watch how Conor squirms, stutters and stammers reflexive interjections  everytime Nate brings up Portal’s name. The “weirdo” tag (as shorthand) a signature cudgel, a bat with all the nicks and dings of the streets that gave form to Nate and his brother Nick.
2.  Second, McGregor tried to double down on the same frothy trash talking which got him nowhere the first time with a mugger who, beyond nervy fists, had proved himself superlatively fluent in GRUNT – the testestorone-inflected language of latter day cavemen. Where McGregor reeled off lines that sounded shrill and rehearsed, Nate emitted a grunts which ridiculed McGregor’s frothy prattle and essentially questioned the size of his balls when it came to the thing that mattered most: winning. And where McGregor’s quips sounded like they were emanating from his throat, Diaz’s sounded like they were reverberating from below the vestibular membrane. The Diaz tack ripped out McGregor’s scaffolding and exposed the sham behind the scam that has been “The Conor McGregor Show” from day one: “You have been fighting midgets all along”, was Diaz’s damning refrain. FACT 1 : McGregor is a big  dude who cuts weight to within inches of his life to fight at the 145 lb Featherweight Division. FACT 2: McGregor looks like death warmed over when he shows up for the featherweight  weigh-ins, which is probably  one of the reason why he is trying to abscond to the 155 or 170 lb divisions.
   

   Skeletor of the Octagon: Haggard face of one Conor Anthony McGregor at 145lbs, like death warmed over …..  Lens don’t lie. QED

3. Third, McGregor picked an unoriginal stunt, trying to hold the party up, to get at both the UFC and Nate Diaz but the rough-necks from Stockton wouldn’t  have none of it. The  faux-pas which showed just how much out of his element McGregor was with the  Diaz brothers.

AND THEN THE BIG, BIG REVEAL, which was just how taut and frazzled Conor McGregor was when he walked into that press conference. In poker they call it the tell. Here were the observable signs of it, not in any particular order:

• Talking too fast: Check. When McGregor came into that press conference almost 30 minutes late, he wasn’t relaxed and or grounded at all. The old quips about the event being “The (old) Mcgregor Show”, given Nate’s win and growing presence, just did not resonate.
• Nervously chewing on a bubble-gum stick like it was his last before a firing squad: Check
• Blinking a tad too fast: Check. Seemed like McGregor had a pesky Nate in his eye.
• Losin’ it and lapsing into a fevered Irish patois when the Diaz brothers started flipping him: Check. See the video.
• And pulling a Ronda Rousey when she pushed Holly Holm’s hand down at the UFC 193  weigh-in stare-down: Big fat check. See vid below. McGregor’s whole water bottle thing, as was the case with Ronda, was the outcome of a high-strung sensibility. With minimal provocation, Ronda went off like a powder keg. Ditto McGregor,  from the initial verbal taunting by the Diaz brothers to the first water bottle that seemed to have been thrown by Nate Diaz. What the Diaz brothers did was to trigger Conor in a game they play better than Conor ever will. The look was not good for Conor,  besides showing  him up for how frazzled he was ahead of the do-or-die UFC 202.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGA_hYE9fpI

Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm at the UFC 193 weigh-in stare down: The mind frame parallels are striking with what happened with Conor McGregor & Nate Diaz at the pre-UFC 202 presser. Pic: EPA

BNSG on the MMA tip.

 

Filed under: MMA, Uncategorized, Conor McGregor, Conor McGregor Nate Diaz water fight, Holly Holm, Nate Diaz, Ronda Rousey, Skeletor of the Octagon, UFC, UFC 202

The Rise & Fall of Conor McGregor: UFC 200 and the Cautionary Tale of How the Mouthy Irishman Stumbled

If you had been paying attention, Conor McGregor’s  pre-UFC 200 stumble shouldn’t have surprised you. The man, with the enabling cahoots of the UFC, had been running a self-promotional con inside a scam all wrapped up inside a sham since day one; the sham of a two-bit slugger who one day woke up thinking he was Mohammad Ali and then faked his way (tin-can fight after tin-can fight) till he started believin’ his own hype to the point of challenging muggers & sluggers divisions above his own; the same muggers and sluggers who finally proved his undoing. (Junior journos, don’t try this at home).

Max Holloway showed McGregor up and Chad Mendez set him up for what turned out to be ground version of the Stockton Slap.

Could this be the proverbial case of a moonshiner getting sozzled on ‘im own moonshine ?…. or the sequela of all that tatoo ink findin’ its way to Conor’s brain? Hold the thought, hold the thought ….. along with the one about that ballyhooed  “McGregor Belt”. ‘Member that one? “Shore” you do, shore you do.

Conor McGregor out of UFC 200 – The monumental fumble before the tumble. Is all that ink getting to his head?

I am loathe to waste “ink” on undeserving posers like Conor McGregor. The pithy take on why the Irish blowhard has been grossly over-rated from day one, and why his brand of hoopla is unsustainable, can be found here:

1. “The Conor McGregor Hype Train Exposed at UFC 198” and here
2. “The Unbearable Lightness of Conor McGregor (Or His Act, If That Sounds More Charitable)“

The wrestler who, until the Diaz drubbing, called Conor McGregor the luckiest fighter in the world wasn’t far from the truth. Some of us had already hazarded predictions which are resonating  with eerie prescience.

“And I’ll show you fear in a handful of dust.” T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland

LYSIS: At the heart of Conor’s resignation drama was a persona which had just been knocked off kilter by hard times that were not supposed to be part of the script …. the self-written script. Losing to a stoner who flies in from a Cabo  will do that to ya. And realizing that the illusion one had scrupulously cultivated was about to come crumbling down, can unhinge a fella, especially one who was already looking unhinged.

Filed under: MMA, Uncategorized, Ariel Helwani, BNSG, Conor McGregor, Dana White, incrucible.net, McGregor out of UFC 200, MMA, Nate Diaz, The rise and fall of Conor McGregor, UFC

Dominick Cruz as El Vez: An underwhelming win at Fight Night Boston

Folks who are oohing-and-aahwing over Dominick Cruz’s win over  T.J. Dillashaw at Fight Night Boston last night, need to ask themselves why. To wit, when did the ability to play dodge ball in the octagon define superiority in MMA? I mean seriously.

What I saw almost from start to finish was a glorified Ginger Rodgers routine, or  Floyd Mayweather writ octagon. Seriously, when did that begin to define the pinnacle of MMA warrior-hood? Machida had 15 minutes of fame with that, but at least he had serious counter-punching chops that built up to some finishes. Which brings me to my other gripe about last night’s fight: Cruz should have finished that fight for his comeback romance story to have resonance. HE DID NOT. He was the returning legend. He did not live up to it. Weaving and bobbing and keeping one’s face free of blems doth not a warrior make.

With an underwhelming decision win over T.J. Dillashaw at Fight Night Boston on 01/18/16, did Dominick Cruz (known at Incrucible.Net as El Vez of the UFC) oversell himself? Compare Cruz’s cocksure spiel with Luke Rockhold’s ahead of his UFC 194  emphatic  win over Weidman. Case closed. Pic: Hedges, Zuffa/LLC

 

Yes, he took T.J. down a few times, but as T.J. countered, he could not keep him down.

Yes, he caught T.J. with a few combinations and kicks, but at the end of the night, T.J. had more significant strikes and octagon control than Cruz ever had in that fight. Which brings up the other issue of what the muppett judges were scoring.

I called this in “Dominick Cruz win over T.J. Dillashaw: A romantic story dying to be told”: a decision win by either of the fighters  would be deplorable – AND IT WAS. When the hoopla dies down and fans dump the adrenaline that clouded their faculties, they will realize that Dominick Cruz’s so-called-win is much less than the sum of its parts and his reign will either be short or inglorious. Think GSP when it comes to the latter.

This could have been a great comeback story if Dominick Cruz had put an exclamation point on it. It would have been great for the sport and great for the division.

Oh well …..

BNSG here.

Key Links:

Flash Gordon vs El Vez a.k.a. Dominick Cruz Win vs T.J. Dillashaw: A romantic (comeback) story line dying to be told (Incrucible.Net)

 

 

 

Filed under: MMA, Uncategorized, Dominick Cruz, Dominick Cruz as El Vez of the UFC, MMA, T.J. Dillashaw, UFC

Flash Gordon vs El Vez a.k.a. Dominick Cruz vs T.J. Dillashaw: A romantic (comeback) story line dying to be told

A Dominick Cruz win over T.J. Dillashaw  is a romantic comeback story line dying to be written, but I’m not feelin’ it.  If I did, I would write it in a New York minute.  A Cruz win would be great for the sport but I don’t think it’s gonna happen. Reason? T.J. is not gonna let it happen …… not that easy at the very least. Despite Dominick’s discounting of T.J.’s  skill set and gains, time has moved on and T.J. has added to Dominick’s patented style serious, grit and stamina if not power, despite his relative Mini-me size . The Grind of minituarized Flash Gordon, as opposed to The Flash of El Vez of the UFC, will carry the day inspite of Dominick betting the family farm on the impregnability of his STYLE. Did I say STYLE,

Dominick Cruz (as El Vez) vs T.J. Dillashaw (as Machine Hero masquerading as Flash Gordon):  Will Cruz’ confidence do him in or are we gonna be treated to a Holly-vs-Ronda surprise? A win by Cruz would be tremendous for the sport in the way romantic comeback stories are! (Caption Text: Incrucible.Net)

It ain’t gonna be purty because  T.J. is a bit of  a stick in the mud, but that stick is gonna whack the storied challenger enough times over the head to sway the judges or, as T.J. says, knock him out.  Sorry again: Nothing against T.J. by the way. He appears to be enough of a good guy even though his personal sheen took a bit of a beating after that kerfuffle with Uriah Faber.  He is (by all appearances) still a decent guy and a hell of a fighter: one who took a patented style and souped it up with Olympic grade grit & stamina. But “Flash Gordon”  he ain’t – in or out of the octagon.

Filed under: MMA, Uncategorized, Dominick Cruz, Dominick Cruz as El Vez of the UFC, extreme fighting, Fight Night, MMA, T.J. Dillashaw, T.J. Dillashaw as Machine Hero or Mini Flash Gordon, UFC

24 HOUR FITNESS, THE SURREPTITIOUS SUPER SPORT, SUPER SIZE ME SOLUTION

So instead of cleaning up soggy-bottom monstrosities like the former  Magic Johnson Sport in Oakland, CA, 24 Hour Fitness has surreptitiously started building supposedly top-tier Ultra Sport clubs on top of already super-pricy Super-Sport Clubs that are springing up like mushrooms around the San Francisco Bay Area with scalp-a-head memberships of $69 a month with $50 annual fees.

Magically Vanishing Shingle: Original 24 Fitness Super-Sport Clubs signage which (if truth be told) represents the proverbial “camel’s nose under the tent” – and one that will eventually nudge regular clubs out of central space with the exclusive “Ultra Sport” taking the place once occupied by the super pricy “Super-Sport” . Watch, if not pray. Sighting this original super sport signage has become as rare as sighting Big Foot outside of Walmart. Incrucible.Net

If you think this is just a left coast phenomenon, think again because 24 Hour Fitness is most probably rolling out a master plan for the entire country which will eventually nudge the Regular/Basic Sport Clubs into virtual oblivion in the corporation’s long term growth plans. These transitions seem to be running into logistical, if not legal headwinds, so look to strategic accommodations and infinite price tweaking as 24 Hour Fitness looks to find a new center of gravity for its revenue streams against operating costs. In that sense look to every fee scheme as transitional gambits that will be tweaked ad nauseam as 24 Hour Fitness tries to nudge the majority of its memberships from Regular/Basic levels to the more lucrative Super-Sport and Ultra Sport Clubs  tiers. And the implementation of this strategy appears to involve the burying of  labyrinthine pricing schemes on busy company web pages with complicated navigation so customers can’t just click on a simple link and see membership prices in easy black and white.

Fair In Love and War?: Those who argue that this is just a for-profit corporation trying to figure out what the market can bear are just plain wrong, because this is bare-faced “scalping” predicated on debasing service in older regular clubs while reneging on implicit promises of quality to long-standing members. This stratagem smacks a little of the Las Vegas model of casino maintenance wherein it’s often cheaper to progressively neglect older casinos until they need imploding to make way for shiny new structures that command higher prices for everything from massages to maid services.

For Your Own Information: 24 Hour Fitness corporate was threatened with a lawsuit, if not actually sued, when they tried to convert a regular gym into a super pricy Super Sport at the expense of older members in the San Francisco Bay Area. And I believe in Southern CA, they had to “bus” regular members into an Ultra-Sport facility at regular prices when they closed down a nearby regular club in favor of the newer/contiguous Ultra-Sport. (The Ultra-Sport members paying nosebleed rates were not happy about this accommodation, but that is a dance 24 Hour Fitness has had to dance in pursuit of its apparent master plan.)

Filed under: Consumer Watch, Uncategorized, 24 Hour Fitness Class Settlement, 24 Hour Fitness Sued, 24 Hour Fitness Super-Sport, 24 Hour Fitness Ultra Sport, Corporate Greed, fitness clubs, health clubs, Scam