- 09:40 PM
- 05/24/13
"Who will rid me of this meddlesome quarterback?"
Heh - makes the history geek in me laugh. After this I can totally see Elway stamping out revolts among the Broncos faithful for the rest of his reign.
posted by deflated at 10:51 PM on March 20
As a Broncos fan I'm not that happy to get Peyton on the team - I'd still like to see that his arm strength has come back and he can still feel his fingers after the first sack. As a Broncos fan I'm overjoyed that I no longer have to watch Timmy lob passes into the stands and be just good enough to keep him in Denver. Bleh.
posted by deflated at 08:00 PM on March 19
Absolutely. And add one for batters flouncing around adjusting gloves and helmets in baseball. Get up there and make your play.
posted by deflated at 06:02 PM on March 09
If you're going to call Eli the "default choice," you should identify the player more deserving of the award.
Eli had a solid game against a middling pass defence in a SB with no standout player. Lots of completions, had trouble converting them into scores. As the most visible player on the winning team he was the easy choice. If through some miracle Bradshaw fumbles at the 1 instead of scoring then Brady gets the MVP and we're having the same conversation - he didn't do much wrong but its not exactly Desmond Howard ripping the game open.
posted by deflated at 11:31 PM on February 08
Eli needs at least 5 seasons as good as this year or he shouldn't be in. He's done less than Philip Rivers except for those two SBs and nobody is pumping him up for the HOF yet.
Here's another view: Eli has done far, far less in his career than Terrell Davis. Davis had a much more impressive regular season career, has two rings, got a SB MVP by dominating rather than being the default choice. Davis probably isn't getting in the HOF as many consider his career too short. Eli is not a HOFer today.
posted by deflated at 07:30 PM on February 08
The evolution of competitors and their training (legal or otherwise) leaves me to believe that the super-elite in the 21st century would dominate anyone from more than 20 years ago.
Then I'll take Eddy Merckx raised and trained in a modern environment. There hasn't been some sudden evolution of genetically superior sportsmen, we just know more about how to prepare them for competion. When these sort of questions come up (and who hasn't worked through this with friends over a beer or three?) I'll always argue for the guy who just crushed his competition, who was so much better than those around him that you know they were the one-in-a-century type who could do it in any era.
Babe Ruth, Merckx, Heather McKay, Edwin Moses, Abebe Bikila - any of them would excel if they were born again in 1990 and competing today.
(and getting back to the JLD challenge - I think I could live with losing if I got to see that modern Merckx riding the TdF against one of Armstrong's Blue Train USPS squads. Immovable force/irresistable object, etc.)
posted by deflated at 04:45 PM on February 08
Hang your head in shame if you suggested any cyclist but Eddie Merckx from the 1969 TdF. He took all three jerseys (overall, mountain and points) and the combativity award. Record winning margin at 17+ minutes. Untouchable.
That said I'm taking Walter Lindrum and billiards. Only lost his world title when he retired.
posted by deflated at 11:43 AM on February 08
I just heard from a friend that they had 17 undrafted players starting this Superbowl.
I think that has more to do with their passion for drafting crappy DBs and needing to cover the gaps than great talent recognition. If it wasn't for Mayo the '07, '08 and '09 drafts would be grim indeed. I don't know if I'd really use players like Welker or Woodhead - signed as UDFAs by other teams then signed as regular FAs by the Pats - for that either.
posted by deflated at 08:29 PM on February 06
The amazing thing about this case wasn't the outcome, but how long it took.
Crank your cynicism up a little higher and it will all make sense.
By prolonging the case for a year they kept the biggest drawcard in pro cycling on his bike and in races for as long as possible. Sponsors and broadcasters are very happy that Contador spent last summer trying for the Giro/Tour double in vain, far more interesting to the sometime fans than the alternatives (e.g. while Cadel Evans is a hero in Australia, in the big Euro markets he isn't particularly popular or marketable).
As it is Contador will be back riding in the 2012 Vuelta. He gets a two year ban but it is backdated to the point where he'll be winning again in 6 months. Everyone (except Contador and his team) is happy, revenue streams are preserved, life goes on.
posted by deflated at 01:54 PM on February 06
Ah well, there goes most of the interest in this year's TdF. Surely not even the Schlecks could screw up a gilt-edged opportunity like this; with no big bad Contador to worry about RadioShack will just grind up Evans and the last week will be a procession.
posted by deflated at 12:46 PM on February 06
Yeah, he got him in the face. Piss-poor judgement on Lowe's part.
posted by deflated at 03:15 PM on February 05
Please, please make this happen to Jeffery Loria.
posted by deflated at 01:49 PM on January 26
Joey Michaels, aren't the majority of NFL punts torpedos? I thought that was one of the reasons the Aussie punters did so well, their drop punts traveled in the air differently and messed up PRs.
(Unless you're referring to Aussie Rules football, where there is a desperate shortage of booming torpedo punts. More drop kicks is what we need in the NFL with less Bayless in any form)
posted by deflated at 03:35 PM on January 25
Why is there so much problem with the definition of clipping? Marchand's hit on Salo was classic clipping, drops his righ shoulder into Salo's knees and he was punished for this by Shanahan as illustrated in his explanation video.
Both Hamhuis and Raymond in the videos in the Boston.com link hit above the knees and so were not assessed clipping penallties. If you want a Canucks example look at Ballard, who I believe was called for clipping on a hip check in the San Jose series last year. His penalty, unlike Marchand, was only a 2 min minor - any clipping penalty that results in an injury is an automatic 5 min major and is subject to post-game review.
I'm not sure if I agree with the policy (too much of the punishment is decided by how badly the victim got hurt - punish the action, not the outcome) but everything here is exactly in line with the NHL rulebook and Shanahan's attitude to repeat offenders.
(personal bias: Marchand's head-fake towards the puck before diving into Salo absolutely makes my blood boil. Faking a player into a position where they can't defend themselves from a marginal-at-best hit is the sort of crap that needs to be stamped out of the game yesterday. Marchand is down in the gutter with Matt Cooke and Ulf Samuelsson for me now)
posted by deflated at 08:38 PM on January 09
I wish you hadn't gone there, owlhouse. Last I saw Cambodia had set the poverty line as people living on less than $1.25 a day; in contrast the subsidised meals in the story are $3 per dinner. I love this story and its a great initiative but no-one looks good comparing poverty in the US to Cambodia.
(Sorry, pet peeve. Rant off, good for the kids)
posted by deflated at 11:39 AM on December 23
Its Norv and the Chargers; you can't expect them to do it the easy way.
posted by deflated at 01:44 PM on September 26
50 pts on 24 shots with 11 rebounds? He did more to win that game than the rest of the Nuggets combined. When you're scoring that efficiently (and the rest are shooting well south of 50%) the team would be insane not to feed him the ball every possession. Assists aren't an issue on this one.
posted by deflated at 11:27 AM on February 09
Is there really no love for Bobby Orr around here? 99 was special but Orr's 70-71 season was out of this world; 129 points and +124 from a d-man just shouldn't be possible, that was true dominance in hockey. If only they had arthroscopes back then.
We really should have celebrated Gretzky's 50th when he turned 39 or something.
posted by deflated at 11:42 AM on January 26
former Tour de France winner
In the same way that Ben Johnson is a former 100m gold medalist. (and yes, it is very likely that both of them were just the ones unfortunate enouogh to get caught)
posted by deflated at 06:21 PM on January 18
The average NFL career lasts three and a half years. The average player has that window to earn enough money to justify the long-term damage that years of football will leave them with on retirement - the bad knees, operations, dementia, etc. A primer on player health
You better believe they should fight for every cent they can grab in the next CBA.
posted by deflated at 06:46 PM on January 12
Anyone else appalled by the state of the field?
Purely anecdotal, but it looks like some journalists certainly found the field to be a crappy surface. Torn ACL, ouch.
posted by deflated at 06:36 PM on January 12
And then on the fourth day, she got to bat.
Dunno about that but you can bet if the selectors had spotted Waugh in the crowd they'd have been trying to find some pads for him.
posted by deflated at 12:01 PM on January 06
JohnSoCal, the team that needs to answer questions is the USA squad. Pre-tournament favorites, home ice, reigning champs, out before the final. As a neutral cheering for one of the smaller countries to win their semi-final loss was the biggest flop of the tournament, a soft effort.
Good on the Russians tho'. 3 great comebacks and once they got rolling they were fun to watch.
posted by deflated at 11:57 AM on January 06
He claims that "writers" will weigh the steroids more heavily than the stats
hincandenza, I'm not sure why you're so worked up about Kurkjian - based on the McGwire example the writers are weighing the steroids more heavily than the stats. Kurkjian seems pretty accurate with that assessment, and I think he's correct that the voters won't do Palmiero any favors compared to McGwire. Personally I think its nuts to imagine that the BBWAA is anything like a monolithical cabal when it comes to the HOF; Dan Shaunessey is not Ray Ratto is not Joe Posnanski is not Keith Law (once he gets his 10 years membership and can vote).
The article nicely sums up Palmeiro's dominant career and explains why he will certainly get fewer votes than he deserves/is expected based on raw numbers.
posted by deflated at 02:38 AM on December 31
Whether or not Charles cares about people liking what he says or not, he needs to still be able to stand up sometimes and admit the biggest dick is himself.
Actually I think Barkley has no problem admitting when he's a dick. Haven't seen to much weaseling from him when he gets called on something stupid.
That said I have no problem with him making fun of this. Satirizing the idiot on the wrong end of a potential sexual harassment case sounds like a fine suggestion, make the whole affair as embarrassing as possible. He isn't making light of the act, he's laughing at the actor.
posted by deflated at 02:21 PM on December 21
"A ground ball up the middle and just past Jeter's glove. That's a tough base hit for Lee to give up, as it scores another run this inning."
I LOL'ed. Well played, sir.
posted by deflated at 12:57 PM on December 14
1) There is no way on earth Haynesworth ends up in Denver. You think he wants to play on the worst 3-4 defense in the NFL? (and there aren't the players on the roster to switch back to 4-3 ATM). The Broncos aren't exactly one guy away from winning, either.
2) There is no sane reason from either side for Meyer to coach in Denver. He leaves one of the best college coaching jobs due to health reasons to rebuild a bottom 5 NFL team? Denver is going to take a flyer on a high-profile college coach who has never coached in the pros after a spectacular failure with trying a high-profile OC who had minimal experience in his position? No to both.
posted by deflated at 11:14 AM on December 09
Gah. Where on earth did this idea that McDaniels was the only coach who would want to play Tebow come from? Any sane coach taking over a demolition job like Denver is going to do a pretty careful assessment of potential assets they can build on. If Tebow has the talent and motivation, he'll have a job. If he's the second coming of Ryan Leaf he'll be playing Arena ball.
He was projected as a 2nd-3rd round pick and got taken at the end of the 1st round. Tebow was a reach but the consensus was he had a decent shot at being a productive NFL player. He'll get his chance, up to him to do something with it.
That being said he is just an asset and Denver really needs to get draft picks back for one of Orton or Tebow - having both on the roster next year doesn't make any sense. Maybe the Jags 4th rounder would be enough for a team desperate for picks.
posted by deflated at 12:04 PM on December 08
If Rogers can find away to take the Leafs and Raptors to an in-house channel and far away from my regular sports programming I am all for it. Less Leafs on HNIC? I'm good with that.
posted by deflated at 01:19 PM on December 01
Yep, Steelers got some bad calls. Guess what? They have so much history now that they will get bad calls the rest of the season.
The refs have now seen in their weekly post-mortems so much video of incidents from earlier in the year - helmet hits, late hits, etc - that it is inevitable that they will pay far more attention to some Steelers players. More scrutiny, more calls both good and bad. For a similar scenario in another sport see the Colin Campbell emails or the Burrows incident in the NHL - players get a rep for certain things.
If you want to live close to the edge, have a rep, eventually the officials catch on to your act. Deal with it. Maybe in another half season of toeing the official's line the Steelers can go back to league-average penalties. Doubt it, that isn't how they play.
posted by deflated at 03:51 PM on November 23
One of the few times 'Nuke it from orbit - its the only way to be sure' really does seem appropriate.
posted by deflated at 12:10 PM on November 21
Popcorn time, this one is going to be good.
I don't think I've got problems with any inconsistencies from Campbell (it pretty hard to find any, from what I've read) but I hate seeing someone with such poor judgement in a position of responsibility. For someone in charge of discipline to document in detail their biases against both officials and players is spectacularly stupid.
posted by deflated at 12:07 PM on November 16
I'd like to echo the request for a cite on Nash bashing the US. That's news to me.
Something is weird here. On one hand Nash just made what looks like a hugely insensitive announcement. On the other hand a lot of his charity work is child-focused and he has proven in the past to be both articulate and reasoning; I find it hard to believe he didn't understand how crappy this would look. Even if he's a complete amoral bastard that puts up a good front I'd expect him to pick a more politic time to announce this unless there is something else driving the timing.
posted by deflated at 11:57 AM on November 16
Crap idea. Tilts the playing field that much more in the Yankees (and Red Sox, etc.) favor. The AL playoffs with 2 wild cards this season (and many recent seasons) is an AL East benefit, funneling more money to the big payroll teams.
posted by deflated at 11:54 AM on November 02
Heh. Owlhouse, I too was dragged along to the Sydney test in 1976 as a young'un. Andy Roberts was the Windies bowler that stuck in my mind, to a little kid he just looked menacing coming in to bowl. What a spectacular team they turned into, it seemed like they would keep producing dominant fast bowlers forever.
Pretty amazing array of bowling talent in that 75/76 series. Roberts, Holding Gibbs, Thommo, Lillee - 1300+ test wickets between them. The Perth test was pretty much the blueprint for the Windies dominance for the next 20 years. Good times.
posted by deflated at 01:21 PM on October 27
If Cutler was still in Denver it wouldn't be worse. If Cutler was still around maybe they wouldn't have frittered away all those high draft picks they got for him on reaches like Tebow, Ayers, Smith, Quinn and Moreno.
McDaniels has been horrible at anything that doesn't involve a forward pass. He inherits a top 10 offense with a historically bad defense and proceeds to retool the offense - yup, that must have been the problem. He alienated a number of his coaching staff, notably Nolan and Dennison. Player management isn't exactly his strong suit.
Bleh.
posted by deflated at 08:22 PM on October 25
In Indiana public intoxication is a misdemeanour punishable by up to $180 days in jail &/or a $1000 fine. There probably is some sort of 'legal limit' above which they can realistically charge the suspect, etc. As always Google is your friend if you're interested in the details.
Kind of like his style, myself. No property damage, emergency room visits, move on.
posted by deflated at 04:33 PM on October 20
If we're going solely by your blog link, then not only my eyes but also TBS's pitch monitoring graphic need seriously re-evaluated
Well, that graph (originally from Brooks Baseball, great site) is the Pitch f/x data and to be honest I'd trust that far more than TBS' in-house tool. Pitch f/x is being used to evaluate the umps so I would hope his calls and the data are pretty close.
Wow.
posted by deflated at 01:38 PM on October 07
Not a jersey-buying kind of guy but as a Canucks fan the Flying V is the ONLY thing I'd ever consider wearing. You don't get that kind of quality from focus groups and design collectives. Time stands still for that classic.
posted by deflated at 12:36 PM on October 07
Holden - Mariners fans aren't blaming Nintendo for the mess at Safeco as they have the convenient figureheads Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong as the targets of their ire. That said there was certainly some talk about meddling Japanese owners as the final years of Jojhima's backended contract played out a few years back. The public perception is that Ichiro wouldn't be in Seattle if it wasn't for the Japanese ownership and that has been the biggest bright spot in the last 5 years.
I got the impression that a lot of the dissatisfaction with Hicks/Gillett at Liverpool was the ridiculous levels of debt they ran up. I'd think anyone who gutted the club that way would be pretty unpopular in the local pubs
posted by deflated at 12:56 PM on October 06
That second Vancouver Millionaires link is great.
Ottawa admitted after the game that the Western rules confused them, particularly the use of the forward pass at center ice.
I'm just trying to imagine a modern NHL team playing with no blue lines or forward passes. The mind boggles.
posted by deflated at 03:23 PM on October 05
I don't think the U.S. permits that kind of discrimination.
It was my understanding that this was exactly what MLS is doing with its international player rule (ref). They even had to make special rules for Toronto FC to work out a compromise between US vs Canadian players to keep everyone happy.
posted by deflated at 07:51 PM on October 04
Somebody mentioned for Bathurst? Any excuse for the Glenn Seton getting caught out on slicks in a rainstorm video. That track is enough of a handful in the dry. No idea how he kept it away from the walls.
posted by deflated at 07:32 PM on October 01
Heh. Baseball is always stranger than I imagine.
posted by deflated at 12:47 PM on September 30
You could imagine a 5-15 pitcher winning a Cy Young but being realistic it ain't going to happen. Felix is the most extreme case of CY-quality pitching/low wins we will see in our lifetime and he's currently 13-12. There are good arguments to be made that the Mariners offense is the worst in modern MLB history (last 80 years? 100 years?).
That's part of what makes this discussion so interesting - this is such an extreme case for deciding who's the better pitcher. I don't think anyone could convincingly argue that CC would have better results than Felix this year if they both pitched for the White Sox; unfortunately one gets runs support from a scoring juggernaut while the other gets the AA rejects.
posted by deflated at 12:02 PM on September 30
bperk, I'm betting there is no mention of a specific position in Haynesworth's contract with the 'Skins.
He wasn't signed to play DT or 3-technique or whatever else you want to call it, he was signed to play football. Just like many players before him a change in personnel/strategy means that his greatest value to the team is now in a different role. He didn't have to take the $20M cheque if he didn't want to play NT - it was made abundantly clear to all before that date the 'Skins in 2010 it would be playing 3-4 and Haynesworth's best fit was as NT. From my point of view he is holding the Redskins to their end of the deal without fulfilling his.
He has the size to play NT, he's bigger than Casey Hampton who has done just fine for the Steelers over the years. It's not like the previous 4-3 defensive scheme where he got to play 3-tech made him happy - he complained loudly to the media about how he was being misused, how he couldn't stand another season of this coaching, etc. (and at the time it was a pretty decent D). Basically if he isn't allowed to freelance and do what he wants he pouts and I have no problem with the Redskins calling him on it. If you want the money then suck it up and play.
And Fletcher is the Redskins best defensive player.
posted by deflated at 02:24 PM on September 27
have the AL get rid of the DH and maybe you'll see Guthrie chill out a bit
In 5 of the last 10 years the MLB leader in plunking batters has come from an NL team. Two of the other seasons had ties between the leagues. To take one example David Bush, last year's leader from the Brewers with 15 HBP, has not been hit by a pitch while batting in the last 3 seasons.
I don't think the DH matters if a pitcher wants to make a point (and it looks like Guthrie wants to make a point with the Yankees).
posted by deflated at 12:57 PM on September 23
bdaddy, give FO another try. You might be surprised how the varied pieces of their puzzle fit into a surprisingly good summary of a game, my go-to site for game breakdowns. They look at good teams and try to identify what characteristics did those successful teams share. If there is a strong correlation between a good passing offence and winning but a poor correlation between rushing and success you'd probably want to rethink your "run to win the game" theory, no? And a lot of "individual" stats in football really are team stats - no RB can be considered separate from his O-line, interceptions are affected by QB pressure, etc.
Football is a couple of decades behind baseball in statistical analysis, its interesting to see how it develops. Can't say I agree with all their conclusions, oh well. Check out what they are doing with game charting and play-by-play analysis.
(gah - sounds like I'm shilling, not my intent, just tired for reading Peter King)
posted by deflated at 02:09 PM on September 03
I'm really can't think of any circumstances where this is a good thing. Either the offense has gone completely in the tank, or both Orton and Quinn are hurt, or McDaniels is throwing Tebow to the wolves as a desperation move.
I'm imagining something like rookie Vince Young-lite playing for last year's Chiefs. Ugly.
posted by deflated at 04:44 PM on August 15
...and a counterpoint to the Joe Posnanski article.
Some day Wakamatsu is going to be a great manager for a stable, contending team with experienced players. He's great with the media, presents a friendly face to the public and doesn't screw up too badly with his lineups and pitching. What he didn't do well was deal with a dysfunctional clubhouse, and the Mariners this year lead all teams in headcases having career-worst years.
posted by deflated at 12:02 PM on August 12
Spitzengle, nice pickup, interesting article. The conclusion was a little disappointing tho' - you are more likely to suffer ACL damage playing 'cutting' sports (soccer, basketball, etc) but they would still recommend reconstruction if you intend to keep playing those sports. No magic bullet yet.
posted by deflated at 01:49 PM on August 05
Very sour article, have to wonder what the backstory is with Galloway and Cuban.
Galloway comes across as someone who was desperate to have Nolan Ryan as an owner and is bitter at Cuban for having the termerity to offer $580M for the team. How can you paint the Mavericks as a "...flat-line outfit, life and death in this era to simply survive the first round of the playoffs" is beyond me - what on earth does that make the Suns, Nuggets or Blazers?
I have to admit as Mariners fan I'm much happier with Ryan/Greenberg than Cuban. Once you get by the clown act Cuban has done some very shrewd things with the Mavs; I'd like to think the more 'traditional' owners in Ryan/Greenberg are more likely to continue to screw over the team.
posted by deflated at 01:35 PM on August 05
Very UScentric. Has to be some contenders from Serie A that would make the top 10, dunno enough to make a pick - was any Juventus squad particularly annoying?
My first thought was that one of the Old Firm would make it in but picking any one season wouldn't really work, unreasoning hatred for Rangers/Celtic has been bred into that population for generations. The Don Revie Leeds teams or 'One-nil to the Arsenal' could probably get a run.
However a little googling turned up this gem: the 1969 Estudiantes team who made the Broad Street Bullies seem amateurish in their intimidation. On an Intercontinental Cup tie with AC Milan:
Following a violent Intercontinental match against Milan, the entire team was arrested on orders from Argentine President Juan Carlos Ongana. In an unprecedented step, goalkeeper Poletti was suspended for life (he was later pardoned) and did time in jail, together with teammates Aguirre Surez and Madero.
I have a hard time imagining how disliked they must have been in Argentina at the time.
posted by deflated at 06:53 PM on July 28
Sigh. Came in excited at an Ultimate post, left disappointed. Nice grab but how did that get labeled as greatest catch you've seen? Pretty sure its not even the best I've seen from a Sockeye player this year; I like to see the D contest the catch, for example.
posted by deflated at 06:01 PM on July 28
I wish he'd gone out with a season that hadn't been so focused on the TdF.
Probably my biggest issue with LA is his obsession with the TdF at the expense of all other races. Cycling to the world became an annual highlights package of Lance in the maillot jaune, forget about P-R or the Giro or the Classics he rode so well at the start of his career. Tip his hat to the monuments? He doesn't get paid for that.
Great rider, not a fan, won't miss the Armstrong era. The leaders may now get their due with LA a non-factor. This has been a great year in cycling already.
posted by deflated at 09:21 PM on July 12
Meh on the tampering, Lee admitted that as soon as he heard the Yankees rumors he gave his old friend Sabathia a call to get a read on NY. If he had a friend on the Twins or Rangers they would have got a call as well.
Unless you prohibit contact between players on competing teams (good luck with that) there is no way to control this.
Have to admit Lee was very, very good for the Mariners. A third of a season of stellar pitching and they used him to turn Aumont + parts into Smoak + better parts. Great bit of opportunistic trading.
posted by deflated at 01:52 PM on July 10
Of course if this does happen there will need to be a significant sweetener to Buffalo to make up for lost revenue in ticket sales to Ontario residents who can't get Leafs tickets, etc. Not sure how MLB bought off Angelos and the Orioles when they decided to drop the Expos into DC but some similar arrangement would be needed.
posted by deflated at 03:07 PM on July 08
I'm completely behind this concept if only for the hope that the second team wins a Cup before the Leafs. The wailing and gnashing of teeth would be spectacular.
More seriously having only one hockey team in Toronto is one of the biggest gaps in the North American sport market. After no NFL in LA I'm struggling to think of another candidate for a franchise as ripe as Toronto/NHL. Vegas for the NBA, despite all the trouble?
posted by deflated at 02:57 PM on July 08
How about a spot in the home run derby? No way he should play in the game but watching that swing again in glorified batting practice would be pretty nice.
posted by deflated at 12:38 PM on June 07
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle
Okay, Leaf fans need to get a grip. This is Brian Burke we're talking about; if he was going to sign a FA today he would have nailed down the details long before today. Whether you like his talent evaluation or not he is skilled and experienced in the mechanics of being an NHL GM. These are probably the same fans who whined that he didn't nab the Sedins before they re-upped for the Canucks and complain that Rick Nash wants to be a Leaf so just get him, alright?