Travis MacKenzie - Contributor

February 16, 2009 by Travis MacKenzie

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has one clear advantage over its main competition in the world of combat sports: Promotion. UFC President Dana White has the vast majority of the top talent in the sport of mixed martial arts, knows how to properly match...

January 15, 2009 by Travis MacKenzie

We all know the story of Kurt Warner. He started at quarterback for only a single year in college, playing for an unheralded Northern Iowa Panthers program. Unsurprisingly, the NFL failed to come calling in 1994. After missing a year of competitive play, Warner never gave up his efforts at getting a shot...

January 7, 2009 by Travis MacKenzie

A long-standing annual NFL tradition continued on Monday, December 29th, 2008. On the day following the conclusion of the latest season, unsuccessful coaches found themselves among the ranks of the unemployed. Cleveland Browns coach Romeo Crennel, Detroit Lions bench boss Rod Marinelli, and, surprisingly, the New York...

January 4, 2009 by Travis MacKenzie

Sports haven’t been truly appreciated recently on television. Live games are slowly but surely all migrating to cable, with both Monday Night Football and the Bowl Championship Series, undoubtedly marquee sports properties, calling ESPN their new home in recent years. In fact, even Stanley Cup games...

December 24, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

I’m not one to switch favourite teams in sports, so it can’t be said that I’ve had much success as a fan. What I’ve gotten out of the four major team sports are the 1992 and 1993 Toronto Blue Jays World Series wins, and, more or less, nothing else...

December 20, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

Boxing certainly is not a perfect sport. Mismatches often happen, thanks to promoters looking to build up their fighters’ records. The results of matches being left in the hands of opinionated, inconsistent judges is also a much-too-frequent occurrence. What might be the sport’s...

December 10, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

The Buffalo Bills have six more chances to get this Toronto thing right. After more than nine months of heavy fanfare, the Bills completed the first of five regular season games (in addition to three exhibitions) to be played at the Rogers Centre over a five-year...

December 3, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

If the sport of boxing is on the comeback trail, this Saturday evening will certainly be a part of the hike. Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao will be the two combatants to enter the ring in the latest effort to rejuvenate the sport, and it will likely...

November 26, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

With baseball’s silly season officially underway, we’re getting very close to the point of players putting their pens to outrageous contracts. It will undoubtedly be interesting to see where this year’s big-name free agents end up, specifically CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Francisco Rodriguez. Even the trade market heats...

November 19, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

It’s a given that, every once in a while, a referee will make a mistake during a sporting event. As much as leagues attempt to prevent it, it will happen. We’re all human, and corrections will often be made. A week 11 NFL football game, however, certainly raised the question......

November 12, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

I’m fully willing to admit that boxing has not been the world’s most prosperous sport of late. In fact, if I pressed you to name ten boxers off the top of your head, I would honestly be surprised if you could actually do it. There are many reasons for this...

November 5, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

With another World Series in the books, baseball has a new set of controversies. Though the situation could have been handled in a better way, all in all, the right thing was done in making sure that the Series’ fifth and ultimately final game was played out in its entirety...

October 29, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

Who cares about Tom Brady? You shouldn’t. Save for those whose fantasy seasons were ruined by taking Tom Terrific with their opening selections and watching in pain as he walked off the field for good in the season’s first week, the loss of Brady should not be too distressing for...

October 22, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

It’s likely impossible to locate a person who predicted a Tampa Bay-Philadelphia World Series matchup. Coming into the year, Tampa Bay was an improving club with some intriguing potential, but anybody who tells you that they were an actual threat is undoubtedly joking. As for Philadelphia, they were known to...

October 15, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

The present era of boxing, more than any other, is one that lacks any semblance of personality in its fighters. The present big draw of the sport is still Oscar De La Hoya, who has devolved from an exciting fighter who would take on anybody, to a promoter now appearing...

October 3, 2008 by Travis MacKenzie

There’s a reason that the NFL is America’s most popular league: All you need to watch is one game a week. You can do whatever you want during the week, and then on Sunday, traditionally the day of rest, you sit back and watch a beautiful mesh of athletic grace...