Midnight Mania! Disney To Offer ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+ Streaming Bundle

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight! Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Per a report from The Verge, Disney CEO Bob Siger announced today that Disney will be offering a bundle…

NBA: All-Star Celebrity Game

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Per a report from The Verge, Disney CEO Bob Siger announced today that Disney will be offering a bundle of streaming services: ESPN+, Hulu, and the incoming Disney+ for a reported $12.99 per month. Currently, ESPN+ is 4.99 per month, Hulu (with ads) is $5.99, and Disney+ on its own is planned to charge subscribers $6.99 per month for their combination of animated films, Marvel movies, and 21st Century Fox television shows like The Simpsons.

The bundle offered is cheaper total than individual Netflix or Amazon Prime Video subscriptions.

At this point, if one is a fan of UFC, it’s a must to subscribe to ESPN+. A majority of the fights and events are on the platform, and even pay-per-views can only be purchased by subscribers. For fight fans, I have to imagine this is a pretty appealing offer — an extra $8 a month for more television and cinema than one can ever hope to consume.

Personally, I already have taken advantage of my girlfriend’s status as a college student to take advantage of a cheap Hulu/Spotify bundle, but that’s hardly permanent. When the time comes to switch to full price, I’ll be hoping this bundle remains an option (even if the price does inevitably climb a few bucks higher).

On the other hand, I will also admit my curmudgeonly feeling of hatred on being unable to own anything. I — and I believe, a fair number of other people — do not love the idea of only being able to subscribe to content, rather than purchase it once and keep it forever, a concept that seems to be disappearing. If you like Disney/Hulu/ESPN content, you’re pretty much stuck for life like a fish on a reel… but at it’s still better than cable.

Insomnia

Coach Kirian Fitzgibbons of CSA gym with some real interesting thoughts on what it means to be a coach.

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“The Anatomy of Coaching” • The Coach / Athlete relationship is a VERY unique and sacred dynamic; you are Coach, Friend, Therapist, Priest, Advisor, Parent, Manager, Taskmaster, etc, etc, etc. • You need to be the voice of reason when they are down and as equally the voice of reality when they are too high. • Teaching someone the physical approach to fighting is fairly easy; punch kick, elbow, knee, wrestle, grapple, rinse, lather repeat. • In the early stages of a fighters development these physical attributes and “tool” development are the pillars of success. • Then when just the physical skill isn’t enough “targets” and “tactics” must be identified for those “tools” to be utilized successfully against a resisting opponent with similar attributes and skills. • While challenging, these are actually the “easy” parts of coaching. • Teaching someone to overcome losses, to push on through crippling doubt, through times of overwhelming adversity. This is hallmark of a true coach. Being there during the hard times, with no finger pointing, no excuses, and a willingness to accept culpability along with the athlete is key. • What I say next will not be popular, But incredibly true. Athletes, like actors, are attracted to the limelight, the ring/cage or playing field for many reasons, but the reality is that the need to compete or to excel is driven by a mind that is riddled with land mines ready to explode at every turn. The need for acceptance, for attention, for self and opponent dominance is driven by ego and/or a need to prove something for reasons buried deep in the psyche. • If you believe other wise you are sadly mistaken, this is where most coaches fall down. • It has been a stark reminder that fighting is 90% mental and the truly great coaches are the ones who can help the athlete navigate the “mine field” of their own mind. • This is where the fight is won and lost when all things are equal between opponents. • Read this carefully, We lead these fighters into battle walking behind them to the ring or cage, but we must lead from the front! “The adaptation happens between the ears” and coaches this is our responsibility.

A post shared by Kirian Fitzgibbons (@csagym) on

Alex Volkanovski is launching his own beer:

Michael Chandler training clips are always a lot of fun to watch:

“El Cucuy” brings the funk to bag work.

It was already going to be an interesting situation seeing how Woodley responds to his title loss, but this is defintely a fun development!

Another reason why checking kicks can be difficult: it’s easy to counter if the opponent reads the check!

Dan Hardy goofing around a bit in the gym.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

Dong Hyun Kim has been a wild man for over a decade now. Oddly enough, he was the No. 7-ranked Welterweight before losing to Covington over two years ago, but he’s been largely forgotten since that bout and subsequent absence.

Gilbert Burns’ brother with the W!

Anything you can do, I can do better!

Random Land

Bears are possibly the most intimidating land animal.

I let Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist roll for most of my work tonight, and it opened with a Talking Heads’ track. Those damn algorithms have me figured out!

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.