QUEBEC -- Theres been more than a little Australian-Canadian diplomacy since filming ended on The Ultimate Fighter Nations. Air Force 1 Grey Fake . Once on different sides of the reality TV show, Australian welterweight (Filthy) Richard Walsh trained with Canadian coach Patrick (The Predator) Cote. Heck, the Aussie spent the last week staying chez Cote. "Ive got a lot of time for him. Hes such a good guy," Walsh said of Cote. "Super super nice guy," said Cote. The two, along with fellow Canadian cast member Elias (The Spartan) Theodorou, also went to Thailand to train. "Hes my bestie, man," said the affable Theodorou. After spending six weeks with the 15 other fighters during filming in a lodge in the woods about an hour outside of Montreal late last year, Walsh is happy to be back in Canada. "I love this place," he said. "People are so friendly. And I like to see snow now and then. We dont get that in Australia." He saw plenty of snow during filming of the TV show, which wrapped in December. And he got a little more this weekend as winter refused to leave the Quebec capital. Fans who tune in to Wednesdays TUF Nations finale card will see Walsh sporting his impressive fight beard. The Aussie shaved it off on the TV show after losing his semifinal bout to Canadian Olivier Aubin-Mercier. He has no regrets about his time on the show. "For me, losing wasnt such a bad thing," he said. "Im back here. Im in the finale. This is the best thing thats happened to me in my life." The winners of the shows welterweight and middleweight divisions will be decided Wednesday in all-Canadian finals at the Colisee Pepsi. Aubin-Mercier faces Chad (The Disciple) Laprise at 170 pounds while Theodorou takes on Sheldon Westcott. The winners will be the first Canadians to be crowned The Ultimate Fighter. Cote was a finalist on Season 4 back in 2006, when he lost to Travis Lutter. The 25-year-old Walsh, meanwhile, takes on Australian teammate Chris (The Savage) Indich (6-1). After filming finished on the show, Walsh (7-1) went back to Australia and chilled. "I took a month off, had a few beers," he explained. "Kind of took it easy around Christmas and New Years." Thinking he might get a slot on the finale card, he returned to the gym and started training. Finding out that he was fighting a fellow Aussie hasnt fazed him. "I love the guy, hes great guy, hes done a lot for Australian MMA," Walsh said. "But I dont have any problem punching him in the face. Because on the night, were not really going to be mates. Were fighting for our future." Walsh watched the show, saying he had no issues with how he was portrayed other than he has a better sense of humour than the show suggested. "Ill take it," he said. "They didnt make me look bad." And while he had no problem seeing himself on TV, he said he didnt like hearing himself. "Watching yourself, you see yourself in the mirror every day," he said. "Unless you dont like looking at yourself and then maybe youve got a few problems. But listening to yourself, thats something you dont get a chance to do often, so that was a bit of a wig-out." Walsh, who lives in Sydney, said life has not changed much for him since taking part in the show. He attributes that to MMA still facing an uphill battle in Australia. "Im hoping guys like myself, Chris can kind of grow that sport because in the last five years its kind of taken a spiral downwards from what it was when I first started." Australia, he says, needs top-flight fighters like Canada has had in Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald. Walsh has other options than fighting for a living. He studied construction property at the University of New South Wales, finishing his degree at Georgia Tech and started studying law in Australia before quitting a semester later to pursue fighting. A year later, the former rugby player was on the UFC TV show. "For me its not about the money," he said. "Its like the furthest thing from the money and the glory and stuff. Its just something I like doing and I set a goal long ago that this was something and Ive kind of followed through on that. "Ive had to kind of buck a lot of trends, parents telling me I should get a job and all that kind of stuff. Because I come from a good family, good parenting, good education. So this was harder for me I think in a lot of ways than it was if I didnt have the choice. I had so many other things I could have been doing: making money, using my degree, travelling ... but I chose this path. "It was a little bit harder I think, but its a lot more fulfilling." Having made it onto a UFC card has proved to family and friends that his dream was worth chasing, he said. Air Force 1 Blue Store . - Defensive end-linebacker Mike Neal apparently is returning to the Packers. Air Force 1 Red Store . The moves were the first punitive steps taken by the Dolphins since a report on the NFLs investigation of the case was released last week. Investigators found that guard Richie Incognito and two teammates engaged in persistent harassment directed at tackle Jonathan Martin, another offensive lineman and an assistant trainer.(SportsNetwork.com) - Its no Perry Mason moment, but its becoming pretty clear that those dastardly New England Patriots got their hands caught in the cookie jar again. Deflate-gate, though, is a less-than-inspiring sequel to the blockbuster that was Spygate. Nonetheless 11 of the 12 footballs the Patriots provided for this past Sundays AFC Championship Game rout over Indianapolis were underinflated, according to the preliminary findings of an NFL investigation. ESPN, citing league sources close to the inquiry, reported the balls were each two pounds below the league-mandated 12 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds per square inch (PSI). We are not commenting on the matter at this time, NFL spokesman Michael Signora told SportsNetwork.com in an email late Tuesday evening. Those comments are coming, though, and heres what we know: The Patriots defeated the Colts, 45-7, in rainy weather to earn their eighth Super Bowl berth in franchise history. Indianapolis was tipped off to the Pats shenanigans with the footballs in the second quarter when veteran linebacker DQwell Jackson picked off Tom Brady. Jackson noticed an abnormality and gave the ball to a member of the Colts equipment staff, who brought it to the attention of coach Chuck Pagano. Pagano then relayed the information his general manager, Ryan Grigson, in the press box and Grigson alerted NFL director of football operations Mike Kensil, who in turn told the on-field officials at halftime. On the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, the officials held things up and eventually switched out the game ball. Of course, the Patriots led, 17-7, at halftime with the advantage and blitzed the Colts, 28-0, after the officials became aware of the issue. So whats the problem? In theory, a softer football is easier to throw and catch, especially in poor weather conditions, although everything really relates to the quarterback in question. Aaron Rodgers, for instance, prefers an overinflated football, something CBS broadcaster Phil Simms said during a Packers-Patriots game in November, and A- Rod himself confirmed at his season-ending press conference on Tuesday. (Rodgers) said something (that) was unique, Simms said. (Rodgers said) I like to push the limit to how much air we can put in the football, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the officials take air out of it. Because he thinks its easier for him to grip. He likes them tight. Rodgers, who has very big hands, is the exception to the rule, however. There is no advantage in a maximum amount of air in the football, Rodgers claimed. There is with a minimum. A soft football is an advantage if you have smaller hands to throw the football. Simms agreed with that take. Everybody wants it smaller and soft so they can dig their fingers into it, the ex-Giants QB surmised. Including Brady, who tried to laugh off the controversy on Monday. I think Ive heard it all at this point, Brady said. Its ridiculous. I dont even respond to stuff like this. Unfortunately for Tom Terrific, there is a gotcha moment when he discussed his love of a deflated ball when talking about a Ron Gronkowski touchdown on WEEI Radio in Boston back in 2011. When Gronk scores, he spikes the ball and he deflates the ball. I love that, because I like the deflated ball, Brady said at the time. The real question is how did the underhanded, evil genius that is Bill Belichick actually pull off his latest caper. Well, its not all that hard to do. Heres the mechanics of game day when it comes to the actual footballs being used: The NFL rule book states that each team must provide game officials with 12 footballs before every game, and the balls are required to be inflated between the 12 1/2 and 13 1/2 PSI. Its the referees responsibility to inspect the game balls just over two hours before kickoff and he pplaces a special marking on each ball which passes inspection before giving the approved balls to attendants on each team, who are supposed to maintain custody of the balls on each sideline. Air Force 1 Yellow On Sale. Each team uses its own footballs on offense and clubs are permitted to slightly doctor them to their QBs preference. Things like rubbing up the football with dirt to make it less slippery are commonplace as is adjusting the inflation levels. Former quarterback Brad Johnson even admitted to bribing attendants to have the footballs doctored to his specifications before the 2003 Super Bowl. Johnsons Buccaneers beat the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII and the Florida State product claimed he paid $7,500 to have 100 different balls scuffed. I paid some guys off to get the balls right, Johnson told the Tampa Bay Times. I went and got all 100 footballs, and they took care of all of them. Before you kill Walt Anderson, the AFC Championship Game referee, understand the difference between say 10 1/2 PSI and 12 1/2 isnt all that noticeable unless youre tipped off. And for those questioning how the Pats could possibly underinflate that many footballs under those strict guidelines, understand its as simple as sticking an inflation needle in the football for a few seconds. The reality here is this is much ado about nothing and a convenient excuse for those jealous of the Patriots success to pounce. And green is never the most flattering color for the envious. Cheating in the NFL didnt start with a disgruntled Eric Mangini skirting omerta to reveal Spygate and it certainly didnt end there as well. Johnson was pretty up-front with his bribery technique on the games biggest stage and to this day Bill Parcells claims the Bill Walsh 49ers used to play games with the communication system in the playoffs. This kind of stuff has been going on in the NFL for quite some time, but it takes different forms, Parcells said on ESPN back in 2011. I know from past history in two playoff games, one of these teams that was famous for using a script, which they rehearsed with their team prior to the game -- they knew exactly what they wanted to do -- mysteriously, two years in a row, when the game started, their phones went down, which mandates that the other side put their phones down. Now, let me get this straight. Youve got your script rehearsed, you know what youre going to do, the defense doesnt know whats coming, but they have to take their phones off? Parcells, himself, was known to play games at the old Giants Stadium and open or close the end-zone gate on windy days in an effort to help his own kicker or hinder the oppositions. There arent many people in this league who believe the Saints side of the things when Mickey Loomis was accused of bugging the oppositions coaching box at the Superdome, and both the Cowboys and Redskins were heavily punished for blatantly skirting salary-cap rules a few years ago. Remember Norv Turners Chargers and Stickum? Or how about Bill Romanowskis revelation that he spent an hour before games using a Q-tip to apply silicone to his gloves for added grip, and Vaseline to his uniform so blockers would hit him and slide off. And dont even get me started on PEDs. Despite all of that, Belichick is the only guilty party when it comes to public opinion and Roger Goodells lack of credibility from all the leagues previous peccadilloes this season almost forces the commish to be heavy-handed in doling out a punishment for this crime. And that just plays into the narrative of the uneducated who believe Beli- cheat is the only scourge among his noble peers, an aberrant who has stained the Patriots legacy. The truth is far less sexy. NASCAR rules have always applied in the NFL -- if you aint cheatin, you aint tryin. And the Patriots? Well, they are always trying. ' ' '
