- 04:37 PM
- 11/21/09
Better proposal: ban hard-shell pads and helmets, stop the pads from contributing to the problem. Rugby League went through this in Australia in the 80's, some teams/players were starting to use rigid shoulder pads as a way to hurt the other team (Warren Ryan's Canterbury teams started the trend from memory). Restrictions were brought in on the composition of protective gear, injuries went down.
Like others have said, pads are now a weapon.
posted by deflated at 07:15 PM on November 11
I hate when people try to compare Aussie Rules anf NFL for any reason. The rules and patterns for contact are completely different. Aussie Rules forbids tackling in the back and below the waist. Aussie Rules players are scattered all over a 180 yd. long field; NFL lines up 10-15 players in a 5 yd by 20 yd strip and lets them run straight at each other. A QB will run maybe 80 yds in a normal game, lugging around all those pads isn't a great chore; Aussie Rules midfielders will cover over 10 miles in a normal game and you would have more chance getting a marathoner to carry a Camelbak and a packed lunch than to get them to wear a hard-shell helmet.
Aussie Rules players do not get hit anything like NFL players. The biggest player on the Sydney Swans roster is 6'4", 230 lbs; average is around 6' and 190 lb, smallish WR/CB size. Decent but they ain't going to hurt like Jared Allen coming past a blown block. You can't even really compare rugby and NFL, it is so much more important to trap in the ball and allow time for your teammates to get to the tackle in rugby and a 1 yard difference where the ball eventually stops rarely matters.
Compare NFL to hockey if you want similar levels of impact.
posted by deflated at 04:19 PM on November 11
Don't know if I agree with the result but I'll take a survey like this over any list of penalties as an indicator of dirty players. You think the officials can see or call everything at the bottom of the pile after a fumble? Some of the worst cheap shots I've seen never resulted in flags (Warren Sapp on Chad Clifton for a dirty hit that was with the rules).
Ward got the top spot because he stands out from the rest of the WR/RB crowd. He's the only "skill" player that regularly leads with the helmet, etc., while half the guards and centers in the NFL are poking eyes very chance they get. He is comparatively dirtier than his contemporaries, probably not dirtiest overall.
posted by deflated at 01:00 PM on November 06
Earlier this year Quinn (against the Vikings) took a sack over 8 seconds after the snap. Yeah, you have crap receivers but that is ridiculous - it isn't possible to cover pro WRs for that long, you just aren't seeing the open man. His throws look nice in practice but he has average accuracy on the deep ball and poor field vision, I just don't see a great starting QB in Brady Quinn - Trent Dilfer as a ceiling. The trade market won't be great.
posted by deflated at 05:06 PM on October 14
Rumple, interesting but I don't think I like the deal as much as you. Yes, Kessel may be equivalent to a first round pick, I didn't see that as the exchange that was made. Part of the deal was the immediate 5 year extension at $5M or so per year, to me they traded those draft picks for the right to sign a free agent a bit below market price. I don't think that package of picks is worth the exclusive rights to negotiate for Kessel's next contract.
posted by deflated at 11:48 PM on September 19
Atheist, nice work removing the context for your straw man. Palmer was discussing the possibility of a death directly caused by tackling/blocking in a pro game, specifically mentioning rules changes for special teams play this season, and that the NFL is now more dangerous. As far as I can tell no NFL player has died due to injuries from contact in the modern era; the article behind the WikiAnswer you cut/pasted doesn't mention any.
I don't think he's right - there has been a decline in the last 20 years in spinal injuries, rules and equipment are changing - but I doubt he is clueless to the dangers.
posted by deflated at 03:29 PM on September 08
Adding insult to injury: he was charged an error on the play.
Have to admit he's a tough bastard, though. Playing 5 more innings after that? I don't think I could walk for 5 innings after that.
posted by deflated at 06:52 PM on August 14
hincandenza, what did I ever say about Bonds character? My points on the Mariners were not about image (Bonds couldn't be more abrasive than Bedard and Silva), they were:
1) that no-one is replacing Griffey in the lineup in his return to Seattle, Griffey's presence is a tremendous marketing and PR boost to the team that Bonds could not hope to match as a DH. Griffey = pure profits to the Mariners this year (and after last season you can bet the ownership wants some of their losses back). We're talking tens of thousands of tickets for people wanting to relive 1995. 2) if you stick Bonds in the outfield you gut the teams biggest strength - outfield defence in a spacious home park - for the sake of getting his bat into the lineup. The Mariners continue to run out some pretty extreme flyball pitchers (Washburn, Rowland-Smith, Olsen, Vargas) with great success because that outfield gets to everything. Washburn is not having a career year because he eats right, its having three CFs behind him. He's got the lowest BABIP of all pitchers with 90 IP, its a great defence. You add Bonds to it, your defence is much, much worse.
Added to the unknown (at the start of the season) impact of the federal trial and I don't see why the Mariners would want to take the risk, particularly coming off a 100 loss season. Now that they are surprisingly close to the Angels and Rangers saying that they should have signed Bonds instead of Griffey/Sweeney is pretty damn revisionist. Who plans for the post-season when you're the first $100M payroll to lose 100 games and you've still got 3 more years of Carlos Silva on the books?
You make it sound like fantasy baseball, all that matters is adding that slash line. Mariners made a decent business decision there.
posted by deflated at 03:07 AM on July 31
And Bonds to the Mariners? Taking Griffey's DH role after all the hoopla over Junior's farewell season, #24 bobblehead nights every two weeks? Or maybe he could be the designated pylon in LF in the AL's best defensive outfield, offsetting a big chunk of the hitting he brings with the extra doubles that are no longer outs for that flyball staff pitching at Safeco. Makes no sense for the Mariners.
posted by deflated at 10:22 PM on July 30
All these complaints about no team picking up Bonds but no mention of the perjury and obstruction of justice charges? Allegedly lying to a federal grand jury?
No team was/is going to touch a player facing at best a season of house arrest (worst case was 5 to 30, it'll never happen) either from a roster or public relations standpoint. They are going through another round of tedious appeals right now but the trial was scheduled to start in the middle of spring training. No sane team would touch Bonds with a pole given that he might be spending months tied up in a court case at short notice.
Bonds is about as employable as Jayson Blair.
posted by deflated at 10:09 PM on July 30
Hoddle, meh. Beckham brings me out in a rash but he was considered to be very professional in training, team-related activities, etc. during his times at Man U and Real. On the pitch he always had a card problem, it wasn't the biggest gaffe the World Cup has seen but England fans can be a bit precious. For an unprofessional footballer I think Paul Gascoigne, Beckham was just a bit dim with no personality.
posted by deflated at 07:37 PM on July 13
Owlhouse: Gotta keep throwing it out there or it get lost in the noise of all the oddball baseball facts.
Eddie Merckx, 1969 Tour de France: won all three jerseys - Green/sprinter, Polkadot/mountains and Yellow/overall - and beat the field by 18 minutes. No-one will ever dominate the Tdf like that. The Cannibal's 24 career Classics wins is pretty unobtainable, far tougher than Armstrong's 7 Yellow jerseys. Someone will find the next Indurain or Hinault and build a team around them to rack up wins; its too easy in a Grand Tour today to manage the race with a strong team to support the leader.
posted by deflated at 05:25 PM on March 05
Pick one of the old school pitching records - complete games in a season, Cy Young's wins - and you've got a tougher mark than 56 or .400. Pitching is so fundamentally different in the modern game with closers/setup men/LOOGYs to take over and 5-man rotations that the opportunities just aren't there.
On hitting in 56 straight games: years ago I read an article (no idea where) breaking down how much help DiMaggio got from the scorers in the streak. The idea was that on 2-3 occasions friendly NY officials were very reluctant to hand out errors, keeping the streak alive, giving assistance that no player from today could every get when every game is broadcast and scrutinized. Hard to beat that.
Other contenders that get less attention: - Agostini's 15 motorcycle GP world championships (7 in a car? Ha!) - Bradman's 99.96 average (next highest credible challenger is only 60.97 and averaging over 50 for a career is HOF-equivalent) - Bobby Orr's +124 season (just like Gretkzy's points, the game has changed) - Emmitt Smith's 4,409 career rushing attempts (next best is Payton with 3,800) - Birgit Fischer, gold medals (in kayaking) in 6 different Olympics. - Margaret Court's 62 total Grand Slam titles (someone might catch her 24 singles titles but not the 62) - Julio Cesar Chavez with 88 straight wins, undefeated in 93 bouts
Damn there are some great champions out there.
posted by deflated at 08:28 PM on March 04
Messier in Vancouver? Worst captain the Canucks have seen bar none. I've never understood how a player so respected by the rest of the League could be so divisive and piss off so many people in this town. Came across as a complete front-runner, only able to lead a winning team.
posted by deflated at 12:02 PM on February 11
"Enough over emotional hyperbole please. Eduardo is fully expected to be playing again by Christmas." So orthopedic medicine has improved enough so he'll only be out a year; good to hear and a vast improvement. I would still like to know why I should feel any significant amount of sympathy for someone who put another player through a whole heap of pain and surgery and cost him a season out of his prime through being too clumsy/lazy/reckless to keep his studs down in a tackle. Seriously if a driver is careless and hits a pedestrian, breaking their leg in two places, I do not start wondering how traumatized the driver feels for causing such suffering. Taylor's problems are self-inflicted. Just as Da Silva should've known that serious injuries are part of the game anyone making a tackle like that should know what happens to the other guy when they stuff it up.
posted by deflated at 05:48 PM on February 25
"Has anyone considered that Martin Taylor might be deserving of some sympathy and compassion?" I'll get back to you once I'm done sympathizing with Da Silva and his rehab over the next 2 years. Don't get your hopes up.
posted by deflated at 01:16 PM on February 25
I think you might be surprised how much resistance you'd get from the players on wearing neck guards. Some years ago I read a great first-hand account of the first training camp and season for a DE in the NFL (sorry, source forgotten). One of the themes was how quickly players tried whatever they could to get an advantage, including dumping every piece of protective gear they could get away with. WRs cutting down their shoulder pads to reduce weight, not wearing a cup unless you were on special teams, anything they could think up. Pro athletes are extremely competitive, they know they only have a small window to play and they have trouble accepting that anything could hurt them; unless they literally didn't even notice they were wearing a neck guard a lot of players would ditch it at the first opportunity.
posted by deflated at 12:15 PM on February 12
As a western NHL fan who couldn't give a rat's ass about the east as long as the Leafs lose - Downie can crawl back to his cave any time now. 4 NHL games, 10 PIM, 20 games suspended, 1 point. It's not tough, gritty play, its cheap, late, intent-to-injure play. At what point will Philly wake up and realize they'll be shorthanded twice every game he's on the ice? NHL refs do call based on reputation, for a team to dress a team with that many bad rep players is just asking for penalties. Four games into his career and he already has a worse image than Avery, Bertuzzi and Pronger . Stupid. (And being forced to watch the Leafs-Flyers game by HNIC, it did look like he poked Blake's eye in real-time. You don't get that immediate bruising deep in the socket unless something jams the eye. Faint possibility he just meant to punch not poke but Downie's been in too many hockey fights to punch with his thumb stuck out, he does not get any benefit of the doubt)
posted by deflated at 12:37 PM on January 07
After reading the article its a nice story but I'm less impressed. Matraville HS is a long way from a mug rugby school, they've produced some great Wallabies over the years with the Ella brothers and Russell Fairfax. Then you turn it into a selective sports high school and start collecting the cream of the junior RL crop from as far away as Auckland on scholarships from NRL teams. They turn into the dominant high school RL team with the core of their team being Kiwis and islanders, playing mostly rugby as kids. I'd be shocked if they weren't in the top 4 rugby schools just on athleticism alone.
posted by deflated at 01:13 PM on December 03
Anyone know what the rules are for qualifying for the NFLPA pension plan? Not sure of the details on how the ex-players are compensated in the NFL but it could be a thousand or up a month for a backup QB/#4 WR/special teamer who can stick around for a few years. That's gone now too...
posted by deflated at 04:06 PM on December 19
Ehhh, he ain't inspired because its been too long since he was the absolute best. 4 years since he set a world record...he isn't living up to his own high standards. When you're that much better than anyone else you are your only competition and he can't meet his own standards anymore.
posted by deflated at 12:01 PM on November 21
Three comparisons that paint an ugly picture for Bush. Barry Sander's rookie year: 1470 yds at 5.2 per, 14 tds. Deuce McAllister this year: 547 yds @ 4.2, 7 tds. Laurence Moroney this year: 495 yds @ 4.2, 3 tds. Bush was touted by several high-visibility college football writers as the greatest RB talent since Sanders. He splits carries with Deuce and Moroney was this next RB taken, 20 spots later. Sanders dominated from day 1 in the NFL and Deuce and Moroney are both bringing significantly more value to their teams right now. If you want to include the receptions compare Bush to Marshall Faulk's rookie year, another #2 pick. 4.1 yds per rush, 10 yds per catch for Faulk. I just can't see anything but the next Desmond Howard when I look at Bush, he has so far to go.
posted by deflated at 12:30 AM on November 14
SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle
On Quinn's bad passes: the long balls were pretty bad but they weren't the ones that really got me. Anyone notice that quick throw to the right sideline near the end of the first half (I think), trying to pick up about 8 yards for a first down?
Before the receiver had even finished his cut the ball was caught about 10 ft out of bounds and 3 yards behind the target. I can't remember a throw that inaccurate/bad from any game this season - high, far behind, way too early, gunned with no touch and only half the required distance for the first down. Seriously, Ryan Leaf on a tequila bender doesn't make that throw. I didn't like Quinn as a pro QB but what happened to make him so heroically bad?