Photo by Getty Images.
It has not been the easiest couple of months for UFC President Dana White. Fighters are "retiring" over money and there is clearly a rift going on within the organization.
Those are other topics for another time.
This is about how White also faced significant criticism for putting on fights during the Rona epidemic. For all of that, the cards have gone off smoothly and his organization has provided a blue print for bringing back other sports.
They did a card on March 13 with no fans, then stepped back. Since then, there have been five fight cards and just two positive tests, both from the first event back where a fighter and his cornerman test positive and were quarantined. The event went off without a hitch beyond that. The four since then have gone smoothly. That is enough of a sample size to call what White has done a success.
For all the criticism that White was risking lives to make money, he was simply ahead of the curve. Other sports are trying to come back now, and they have an inspiration.
It might not work for everyone else, because fight camps keep contact with others low, and the actual fight involves just two people and a ref. Basketball, hockey and soccer bring a lot of people into contact and close proximity, so the risk will be higher.
But these sports should come back to give us distraction in a world that is falling apart around us. The economic impact they have will be helpful as well. White has shown them the way.
But it was not just the UFC. Horse racing has been going full bore without fans the entire time. Very few cases have been reported. The no fans policy has had zero impact on the televised product and in fact, record betting has taken place at many tracks due to online wagering. There are a lot more people to come into contact with at a racetrack, and so far, that has been a success as well. No one has really criticized the tracks. That burden fell on White.
As the other sports come back, they should thank White for being the first and absorbing all the criticism that came with it.
White was determined and had a vision, and he followed through with it. So far, it has to be called a complete success.
Now maybe the same will happen for the other sports.
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The menu includes dishes such as steak au poivre and deviled eggs topped with caviar. Photo by Becca Wright.
A growing Houston restaurant group is ready to unveil its latest creation. Maven at Sawyer Yards will open this Friday, October 18.
Located in a former commercial trucking station on the Sawyer Yards campus (1501 Silver St.), the new restaurant is an evolution of Maven Coffee + Cocktails, the beverage-focused concept created by Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his business partners, local entrepreneur Juan Carlos de Aldecoa and attorney Jimmy Doan as part of the Rex Hospitality Group.
Currently, Maven operates coffee shops and cocktail bars at Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, and the Thompson Hotel, but the new Sawyer Yards location is an all-day restaurant that opens at 7 am daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The 2,400-square-foot space has been divided into a main dining room, bar, and an outdoor patio.
“The opening of Maven at Sawyer Yards — the brand’s fourth outpost in less than 16 months — is a testament to the demand for quality-driven, handcrafted food and beverage experiences,” Nina Quincy, president of Rex Hospitality Group said in a statement. “We envision our Sawyer Yards location as a neighborhood destination that lends itself to both daytime and nighttime experiences. Maven at Sawyer Yards differs from our other concepts in that it offers a complete dining experience, rooted in quality, chef-driven cuisine.”
To deliver “chef-driven cuisine,” de Aldecoa recruited his cousin, chef Nicolás “Nico” Baizan de Aldecoa, to serve as the COO for Rex Hospitality Group. Baizan brings a range of experience to his role, including a lengthy stint working for superstar chef Jose Andres, as he discussed on an episode of CultureMap’s What’s Eric Eating podcast.
“I really strive for, like Lance said, it’s more than a coffee shop,” he said about the menu at Maven’s Thompson Hotel location. “It really is a place we want people to enjoy a good dinner and create memories that you’re not able to get otherwise. One of my favorite spots in Chicago is Kasama. It started off as a pastry shop with amazing breakfast, now it’s the first Filipino restaurant to have a Michelin star.”
Baizan’s Spanish-influenced menu includes smoked fish dip, beef tartare, octopus with fingerling potatoes, and deviled eggs topped with caviar. Entree choices include steak au poivre, roasted chicken, and a take on the trendy spicy rigatoni pasta. Morning options include breakfast tacos and avocado toast, while lunch features sandwiches such as a Cuban — a nod to McCullers’ Cuban heritage — a truffle grilled cheese, and a smoked grouper melt with American cheese, which sounds like a very adult version of a fast food fish sandwich.
For drinks, the partners turned to Chicago-based cocktail consultant Paul McGee, whose resume includes legendary Chicago tiki bars Lost Lake and Three Dots and a Dash. Of course, the restaurant will serve coffee-based cocktails such as the espresso martini and carajillo as well as takes on the Old Fashioned, margarita, daiquiri, and caipirinha. Non-alcoholic cocktails will also be available as well Maven’s full lineup of coffee drinks.
“We’re looking forward to Silver Street being an expanded Maven,” McCullers said during the podcast. “Very welcoming, approachable food. A place where people don’t really know why, but they feel like that’s their spot.”
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Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Find out more about it here.