Recent Comments by Bonkers

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

Oh yeah, that's a quality witness for MLB.

Good thing for MLB this isn't a court of law.

Which is to say, this is a witch hunt that isn't going to be fair or impartial at all.

posted by Bonkers at 10:56 AM on June 06

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

Mayweather agrees to fight Canelo on September 14th.

posted by Bonkers at 11:16 PM on May 29

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

Congratulations, Grum!

posted by Bonkers at 06:07 PM on May 21

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

So, at the theaters this weekend seeing The Great Gatsby, and saw this trailer for Rush. Can't wait for the movie itself.

posted by Bonkers at 09:08 AM on May 21

Goodell wants your team to sign Tim Tebow

The guy does sell tickets, get headlines, and generally make money for the NFL, which is why Roger Goodell would mostly care.

posted by Bonkers at 09:59 PM on May 12

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

Having been around the TB area when the Bucs won the Super Bowl, I can say that there were only four guys you associated more with that team: Mike Alstott, John Lynch, Warren Sapp, and Mr. Derrick Brooks (and I always thought Alstott was overrated). Ronde was always the most quiet of any of those-or, perhaps better expressed, he was the one who you noticed the least. He wasn't the fastest guy in the world, but he had great instincts and was a sure tackler. He was a perfect guy for the Tampa-2 defense.

While I'm not sure he's going to make into the HOF (largely because he wasn't as visible or vocal as what CBs are expected to be in the post-Deion league), I'm quite confident that the Bucs will retire his number.

Godspeed, Ronde, and thanks for all the great plays.

posted by Bonkers at 09:49 AM on May 09

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

Former Lions receiver Titus Young had a rough Sunday.

posted by Bonkers at 03:58 PM on May 08

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

Yeah, pretty solid on Ikea

I think the translator gives up halfway through.

posted by Bonkers at 12:21 PM on May 03

Tim Tebow Forsaken by Jets

My "so crazy it just might work" move for TimTebow would be he goes to SF to be the backup to Colin Kaepernick. That might be too much Jesus-lovin', meme-makin' quarterbacks for one team and cause the universe to implode.

posted by Bonkers at 10:15 PM on April 29

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

The Redskins get a real Phillip Thomas this year.

posted by Bonkers at 08:04 PM on April 27

NFL Players Knew Teammate Was Gay, Didn't Care

"Many of us knew and we didn't care at all. We saw him as a player, not as a gay player."

Which is why I'm convinced a player coming out is going to be a huge distraction-the team won't care, but the media very much will, and will make a frenzy out of it not normally seen apart from the destructive harmonics created by Rex Ryan and Tim Tebow.

posted by Bonkers at 03:34 PM on April 18

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

Man who punched horse found. Mongo unimpressed by horse punching.

posted by Bonkers at 08:55 PM on April 17

Tiger Woods Assessed 2-Stroke Penalty for Illegal Drop

The discussion of this episode and the various elements of faux outrage on Sportscenter that I saw for about 10 minutes made my head hurt, so I gave up.

posted by Bonkers at 01:36 PM on April 13

$2.8 Million Honus Wagner Card Was Doctored

Either Lyn Bonner or Abel Green applaud you, sir.

posted by Bonkers at 09:33 PM on April 12

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

Sports Balls replaced with Cats.

posted by Bonkers at 09:27 AM on April 12

Goat Head Sent to Chicago Cubs Owner

I thought you were supposed to put the head into their bed?

posted by Bonkers at 06:32 PM on April 11

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

And of course, there is an appropriately snarky review.

posted by Bonkers at 03:40 PM on April 10

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

XKCD's What If answers more important sports-related questions.

posted by Bonkers at 10:38 AM on April 09

Rutgers' coach Mike Rice Berates Players at Practice

Re: why the students didn't retaliate. I'm guessing that adherence to an authority figure (especially a coach) despite everything is just too strongly drilled into an athlete at that age to overcome.

posted by Bonkers at 08:01 PM on April 03

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

South African cricketer Bob Crisp, as profiled by the website BadAssoftheWeek.

posted by Bonkers at 11:30 AM on April 03

Money & March Madness

That's the NBA's doing, not the NCAA.

And to be fair, the Pro Leagues in the money sports are just as much a reason why this isn't happening as the colleges themselves, since the pros enjoy having a minor league system they don't have to pay for.

posted by Bonkers at 11:48 PM on April 02

Cyclist Gropes Woman's Butt on Race Podium

Subtlety, thy name is most certainly not Peter Sagan.

posted by Bonkers at 08:41 PM on April 01

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

HBO Sports and Golden Boy Promotions are divorcing.

posted by Bonkers at 08:52 PM on March 18

ESPN Suspends Bill Simmons from Twitter for Criticizing 'First Take'

Part of me thinks that ESPN is just touchy about First Take, due to the controversy it's caused in the past.

Which is somewhat funny, since the only point of the show seems to be to create artificial controversy, but I don't work at Bristol...

posted by Bonkers at 07:28 PM on March 15

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

Now he can murder our electronic profiles in addition to our real bodies. It's been nice knowing you all!

(in as much as I really "know" other profiles that post things onto a message board on the internet...)

posted by Bonkers at 03:40 PM on March 15

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

Bernard Hopkins is the oldest fighter to win a belt. Again.

posted by Bonkers at 11:21 AM on March 10

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

I think the economics of the modern quarterback market are really fascinating

There's a longer post about this in my head than I can effectively articulate, but I'd argue over the last five years or so, teams have greatly overvalued the QB position and have gone after paying QBs a lot, even if they aren't all that great. I compare this to the proliferation of "Don't Lose the Game QBs" (think guys like Trent Dilfer), who were unexceptional QBs who were reliable role-players that could manage the game well, and enable defenses to win for the most part. They were paid like role-players, as well (well, better than role-players, but still not exceptionally for QBs).

Which, is in the end, what I view guys like Flacco and even Roethlisberger as: not necessarily incredible, difference making guys (I'd reserve that for people like Brady, Rogers, P. Manning, etc), but guys who can make enough plays (or avoid making enough bad plays to allow a defense to win the game). And even guys like Matt Cassel, Kevin Kolb, etc, get great contracts with little historical production. Are they all-time great or even really Pro Bowlers? No, but their teams don't ask them to be for the most part, either.

Part of me wonders whether it's more about marketing: having someone who can be a face of the program for selling stability and the future. After all, if you dump a bunch of money into a QB, he has to be able to at least imbue some confidence in the organization right?

Anyway, sorry for the somewhat incoherent ramble, it was fueled by a long day at work and lots of coffee. I just wanted to get i t out there for the other SpoFites to kick around.

posted by Bonkers at 05:42 PM on March 05

NFL Teams Asking Prospects: Do You Like Girls?

If they ask about having a girlfriend, make sure they specify they've met them before (which is part of what I think this originates from).

posted by Bonkers at 05:28 PM on March 01

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

The Justice Department is getting in on the hot Lance Lawsuit action.

posted by Bonkers at 06:03 PM on February 22

Jay Williams, 10 Years After the Motorcycle Accident

You might not have noticed this in the article, but this does explain some of the Bulls' performance that year.

posted by Bonkers at 08:26 PM on February 11

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

Maybe it's time for a "Ditch Dick" campaign.

They still kept Chris Berman around, so the odds are low...

posted by Bonkers at 12:38 PM on February 10

Flacco Wanted to Cheat on Super Bowl's Final Play

Joe Flacco, working hard to annihilate any goodwill he may have ever built up (which probably isn't much anyway, but still...).

posted by Bonkers at 11:08 PM on February 07

Our Xmas OneWorldFutbol Campaign

Kudos, Bill.

posted by Bonkers at 09:13 AM on February 07

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

In other news, they don't wear cups in hockey either.

Bet he does now.

posted by Bonkers at 09:10 AM on February 07

Clydesdale Wins Super Bowl Ad Meter

The Budweiser Clydesdale commercial was the first time I've ever seen a large group of women approve of Budweiser.

posted by Bonkers at 07:17 PM on February 06

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

I've decided I want the 49ers to win the Super Bowl, primarily because I don't think the media will try and turn Colin Kaepernick into a elite quarterback if they win.

posted by Bonkers at 11:35 AM on February 03

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

Judge says NCAA athletes can pursue television money.

The story notes that this means the lawyers have real reasons to pursue this now...

posted by Bonkers at 04:37 PM on February 01

Randy Moss: 'I'm the Greatest Receiver Ever'

Moss isn't even the best receiver on his own team now.

And you could argue that he only was for a very short period of time on the Vikings after Cris Carter retired.

posted by Bonkers at 08:31 PM on January 29

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

I can second the "Bossman Junior" origin for BJ Upton. I went to HS with both the Upton brothers (Justin was on the Varsity Football team with me when he was a Freshman and I was a senior. He was one of only two freshmen on the team).

posted by Bonkers at 10:36 AM on January 25

Ravens Will Meet 49ers in Super Bowl 0x2F

So how far will E!SPN and the rest of the sports media beat the "brothers coaching against each other in the Super Bowl" thing into the ground? I predict they will reach the Earth's molten core by Thursday.

Over/under on number of times that the fact they sprang from the same set of loins (though possibly not exactly in the same phrasing) is mentioned on the telecast: 283. WHO YA GOT?

posted by Bonkers at 01:30 AM on January 21

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

And I instantly noticed that fencer response that the Pat guy exhibited once he hits the ground, thanks to the video posted here on SpoFi.

posted by Bonkers at 10:08 PM on January 20

Jaguars Hire Gus Bradley as Head Coach

Who's the other dude in the picture? And will he consider loaning me his mustache and hair?

posted by Bonkers at 01:29 PM on January 18

Lance Armstrong Admits Using PEDs, Destroying People

The line for civil lawsuits against him starts on the right....

posted by Bonkers at 01:28 PM on January 18

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

A thought that occured to me:

What do most of our recent huge off-the-field stories lately (the Baseball HOF, Lance, and Manti) have in common?

The offenders were largely fawned over by the media, thus making the media look like fools when the truth came out.

And (predicting in the Te'o case) the media is going to crucify them for it.

posted by Bonkers at 09:00 AM on January 17

Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend was... fake?

Just wondering if someone could make up a story such as this due to an alternative lifestyle that may not necessarily mesh with the culture of big-time college football? A guy makes up a relationship with a female, who nobody sees, in order to keep attention off him as to why he's never "hooking up" with females? Don't want to piss anyone off with that notion, but it could make sense.

It does make sense, but I would think that if one is using a fake girlfriend to stay on the down-low, one wouldn't end up talking about that girlfriend's death to the press. It seems like asking for trouble and further investigation. That's just me, though.

I'll admit that it's a "nicer" option for what's really going on than "he was deliberately doing it to gin up a nice back story for a Heisman run".

posted by Bonkers at 08:53 AM on January 17

Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend was... fake?

I guess the most troubling thing about the current story is that Manti Te'o, a star football player at a one of the most prestigious and storied football programs in the nation, can only get women interested in him via Twitter. There's hope for me yet!

Also, some of the Twitter response Awful Announcing tracks are hilarious.

posted by Bonkers at 08:42 PM on January 16

Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend was... fake?

Wow. This will be huge.

posted by Bonkers at 07:10 PM on January 16

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

The Falcons could have avoided this whole mess by way of not having two possessions in the red zone in the 2nd quarter and getting zip out of it.

posted by Bonkers at 01:00 PM on January 14

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

Watching Colin Kaepernick play as well as he does must make Tim Tebow want to throw something at his TV (though he may not hit said TV).

posted by Bonkers at 12:30 AM on January 13

Jaguars Fire Coach Mike Mularkey

I'm actually convinced that the Jaguars are running the same strategy as the Indians did in Major League: be deliberately terrible so they can move (though in this case, not to Florida).

posted by Bonkers at 02:31 PM on January 10

Nobody Voted into Baseball Hall of Fame

"So why not Piazza, who, though consistently suspected of using steroids, never tested positive and wasn't named in the Mitchell Report?"

IIRC, the only people who were named in the Mitchell Report were those dumb enough to write checks in their own name to PED suppliers. Which is why it wasn't an overwhelmingly amazing list of people named in it.

posted by Bonkers at 12:34 PM on January 10

Nobody Voted into Baseball Hall of Fame

and some that will pick zero (or players not on this list).

Don't worry, Greg will punish those foolish enough to do so. Severely.

To me, one of the interesting problems this creates is a permanent backlog of guys, assuming that the voters continue to not vote in people from the Steroids Era (which I think they might). Not just in the case of Bonds/Clemens, but in a bunch of other guys who might be borderline/weak candidates who get stuck behind a bunch of great candidates who were earlier excluded.

posted by Bonkers at 10:26 AM on January 10

Alabama Crushes Notre Dame in BCS Championship

"At least Brent Musburger is keeping himself entertained, with slightly creepy comments about young ladies in the crowd."

Which brings to the fact that I believe we have Brent to thank for this woman's fame.

posted by Bonkers at 10:33 AM on January 09

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

Rob Parker won't be seen on ESPN anymore.

posted by Bonkers at 10:22 AM on January 09

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

Adding to the growing list of ways in which I'm not that much of a sports fan (but I'm okay with admitting it), I have no desire to watch the Mythical National Championship, mainly because I can't see it being a interesting or exciting game to watch.

The only way I can see Notre Dame winning is if Alabama decides to be really, really bad on offense (which they're not above doing, to be honest). And most of the scenarios in my mind for how this game turns out involve Alabama acting like a pillow to any form of enthusiasm this game might generate.

I just don't see this matchup and think to myself, "Self, this looks like a scintillating football game."

posted by Bonkers at 03:43 PM on January 07

Romo, Cowboys Toss Away Opportunity

To me, Romo needs to go somewhere else and start over. I still think he can be a good QB, but it's not going to happen in Dallas.

posted by Bonkers at 04:54 PM on December 31

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

Happy Black Monday, NFL!

posted by Bonkers at 12:07 PM on December 31

SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle

In light of the incompetence on display, they should have just declared the Rutgers-VT bowl game a draw at the end of regulation.

posted by Bonkers at 09:22 PM on December 28

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

Did Cobb know he was doing that , or he did luck in to excellence (though he would have had to make a play on it no matter what)?

Also, the ref is quite emphatic about throwing that flag, isn't he?

posted by Bonkers at 11:03 PM on December 23

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

'murica...

posted by Bonkers at 05:13 PM on December 17