February 9th, 2025 - Philadelphia 76ers @ Milwaukee Bucks

On this day, February 9th, 1934 - Both Michigan and New York City experienced their coldest days in recorded history on the exact same day! In Michigan it reached −51°F, and in New York City it reached -15 °F.

Funny enough, speaking of cold, the Sixers traveled to a city that's typically very cold in February — Milwaukee, Wisconsin! They took on the Bucks and won easily!

While they play two very different positions in largely different styles, The Machine is a big fan of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Additionally, The Machine has Greek ancestry/heritage as well so, that's a pretty cool similarity too.

The Machine's statline:

• 17 points, 2 rebounds, 12 assists
• Teammate Grade: A+

🌎My Thoughts on the Sports World Today🌎

In the real world, some pretty epic sports events went down, and I'm pretty positive that they're both going to be seen as super historical and fun as the years go by. Truly wonderful stuff.

The Knicks defeated the Spurs in the NBA Finals recently and that was AWESOME. The whole Knicks team plays an excellent brand of basketball, the players are likeable and seem pretty relatable. They've been grinding at it for years in the playoffs and really deserved it. Jalen Brunson is a beast and completely took over Game 5. He really does remind me of a smaller Kobe Bryant. The Spurs should be fine I imagine. They were young and feisty, but Victor Wembanyama needs to sharpen his game a bit. Maybe study Dirk Nowitzki a little bit. Also Victor needs to be humbled in my opinion, and I imagine he was. The guy is pretty cringe.

In another sport, another American came out on top of another European as well when Justin Gaethje TKO'D Ilia Topuria at the WHITE HOUSE BABY!

I won't even say that I expected it as Ilia was the favorite and I did lean towards him for the most part. But my mind did change slightly prior to the fight when I saw that Josh Hokit of all people got into Ilia AND maybe even Alex Pereira's head! It feels like Hokit helped get THREE wins, including his own over Derrick Lewis, at UFC Freedom 250!

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZAoeVg_kXq0?is=HvubUotj5XwWu_0J
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https://youtube.com/shorts/T6-rjaI9KPQ?is=rf3ZcOaMhADJF2B8
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But anyway, back to Justin Gaethje! This man's career has got to be on the big screen one day. He is literally Rocky Balboa! His mental resilience and self belief is actually amazing. I also feel as if he's improved a lot as a fighter in general throughout his career. I think it's very lazy to just think he's a brawler only. In many fights since his first couple of fights in the UFC, he's not just been in pure back and forth wars. He actually has solid defense. Don't get me wrong he CAN go to war and has done so since his first couple of fights, but he seems to go to war selectively, on his terms, he can switch it off and on. Justin's face looked completely untouched after this fight.

Ilia had his moments for sure, it takes TWO to make such a legendary moment and I'm still a a fan of Ilia. He nearly stopped the fight, I almost thought it was over in the second round. But as Ilia and Victor will learn, close usually isn't good enough.

Justin not only got this title after YEARS of grinding for it, he got it as a huge underdog on perhaps one of the biggest stages in modern times. It's rare for sports to make actual history books but, I think this event may reach some history books. This will age beautifully.

Legit inspirational stuff. Justin was one of the biggest UFC stars, but now he's only gotten bigger. I wish he'd retire but I suppose if he does manage to defend the championship once, and enjoy the moment of his new level of fame once, that would be cool to see. He's getting older, but I don't think I should doubt him at this point. Anyone who actually doubts him now, can't be taken seriously.

Also, the USA themed championship belt is FRESH!

Now we're less than a month away from Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway 2. Should be great. I guess Max will win but I don't know anymore, this sport is crazy. Also, Max's grappling has been shown to be a bit overrated. Sure Charles Oliveira is an elite grappler, but Max could do NOTHING. It was a total shutout. Conor also proved he could grapple Max all those years ago. We'll see!