Recent Comments by trox

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

The Silverdome has been sold for a song.

posted by trox at 06:11 PM on November 17

Extra Time

owlhouse, they could treat that like they do a last second shot in basketball.

posted by trox at 09:58 AM on September 22

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

Multipost is most likely a sponsor of the team. I believe some teams in the Dutch league place a second sponsor where we'd expect to see a name.

posted by trox at 02:36 PM on September 17

Adebayor Taunts Arsenal Fans, Nearly Sparks Riot

Oh, I do think Eduardo make a meal of that, but why should he be the first diver banned.

posted by trox at 07:31 PM on September 15

Adebayor Taunts Arsenal Fans, Nearly Sparks Riot

The FA, unlike UEFA in the Eduardo case, actually have a history of dishing out bans for violent conduct and the like. The Eduardo ban (thankfully overturned) had no real precedent, and UEFA had indicated that there was no intention of really following through on future dives.

posted by trox at 07:31 PM on September 15

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

Q: How did your club fare?

I feel Arsenal are stronger than they were at the beginning of last season. They added Arshavin in January and Vermaelen in the summer. That sounds like relatively few transfers, but with the readdition of Senderos to push Silvestre further down the depth chart, the emergence of Song in the d-mid role toward the end of last season, and the return of Rosicky and Eduardo from injuries, I have to saw I'm a lot more confident than I was at this time last year (but of course, Fulham had already defeated Arsenal by then too).

posted by trox at 04:32 PM on September 03

Chelsea banned from making new signings

From what I understand, it means they cannot register new players, which would rule out signings and transfers. But I could be wrong.

posted by trox at 04:27 PM on September 03

Chelsea banned from making new signings

Here's something else that just occurred to me. Will they have enough first team players to cover for Essien, Drogba, and Mikel when they leave for the African Cup of Nations in January. If they have any injuries, they could start to struggle.

posted by trox at 01:53 PM on September 03

Chelsea banned from making new signings

I think Chelsea's youth system and reserves have been a bit depleted over the last few years (the signing that got them in trouble aside). So I'm also interested in how they will manage to cope with injuries, even though their squad is arguably the deepest of the "big 4".

posted by trox at 11:46 AM on September 03

Chris Brown: How Blogs Killed (and Saved) Sports Writing

Exhibit A in support: Rob Neyer. I'd link to him, but the worldwide leader has put him behind the paywall (curse you ESPN!). Even his articles, per se, seem like blog posts, and he's certainly expanded the usual ground covered by baseball writers (among others).

posted by trox at 12:27 AM on August 25

SEC Thinks It Can Ban Fans from Posting to Twitter, YouTube

The way they get around that bperk is the terms that are printed on every ticket. Once you purchase the ticket, you agree to those terms.

posted by trox at 01:22 PM on August 18

52 - 26 = £10,000

Good on Nick. 52 seems an odd number for a striker though.

posted by trox at 10:54 AM on August 14

The Changing Face of English Football

rcade: Jozy Altidore just joined Hull City. Eddie Johnson plays for Fulham. Marcus Hahnemann is the keeper for Wolves. Jonathan Spector plays for West Ham.

Jay Demerit also plays in England, but for Watford in the Championship.

posted by trox at 10:53 AM on August 14

Bill Simmons on Ramirez, Ortiz and the List That Shouldn't Exist

BornIcon hit it right on the head. Legal Issues aside, why these players. Obviously ARod and Ortiz are superstars, but some of the other names that have been leaked, not so much (Jason Grimsley and David Segui come to mind). Very odd.

posted by trox at 03:43 PM on August 12

Bill Simmons on Ramirez, Ortiz and the List That Shouldn't Exist

Aside from that of course.

posted by trox at 01:40 PM on August 12

Bill Simmons on Ramirez, Ortiz and the List That Shouldn't Exist

I think the point he was getting at was ascribing any special meaning to the tense shift, but bemoaning that the circumstances such as they are cause him to over parse it. What I don't get is what does the person(s) leaking the information from this list (which was supposed to be completely confidential as part of getting the players to take part in 2003) stand to gain from dribbling out these names one by one?

posted by trox at 01:10 PM on August 12

Want to Get Away from Baseball?

2.1 Miles from Turner Field.

posted by trox at 10:19 AM on August 11

Jozy Altidore heading to Hull City

I agree with StarFucker (where you been?!). He should have no problem getting a work permit since he played in Spain and is a fixture on the US team.

posted by trox at 12:03 PM on August 07

Aquilani Leaves Roma to Replace Alonso at Liverpool....

And as an Arsenal fan, I can tell you that Toure is not the player he was a couple of years ago. His main attribute was always his recovery speed, not his defensive positioning, and now he's lost a step or too. I hated to see him go, but of the current crop of gunner defenders, he was the weakest link (save Silvestre, who should be banished).

And Adebayor was a punk over the last 15 months. Good riddance.

posted by trox at 12:02 PM on August 07

About 2-to-1 against?

Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame, but he should never be a "Hall of Famer" if that makes any sense. Enshrine him with a huge asterisk after he shuffles off this mortal coil.

posted by trox at 11:16 AM on July 28

White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle throws perfect game

That was one heck of a catch!

posted by trox at 05:07 PM on July 23

Rick Reilly: Tiger Woods Should Calm the Bleep Down

Of course, Bobby Jones was never a pro, but that's beside the point.

posted by trox at 10:24 AM on July 23

American League Wins All-Star Game and World Series Home Field Advantage

I blame the blogs. And twitter. And Facebook. The National League hasn't been able to concentrate since then.

posted by trox at 09:45 AM on July 15

The journey of Delino DeShields

One thing I didn't gather from the article was how much money he had left from his playing days. It implied that he needed the paycheck, but never came right out and said it.

posted by trox at 01:19 PM on July 14

AC Milan Signs Oguchi Onyewu

More of a Thomas Hardy name, I would have thought.

Now that one made me laugh out loud.

posted by trox at 12:43 PM on July 08

AC Milan Signs Oguchi Onyewu

Oh! Forgot to say "good on ya Gooch!"

posted by trox at 11:44 PM on July 07

AC Milan Signs Oguchi Onyewu

Mr Bismarck and owlhouse:

You can't blame Gooch for the failure of Newcastle's defense. Of course he looked bad. Newcastle as a whole were stinking up the pitch. How do you single one loan player out?

Also, did you not see any of the Confederations Cup games. Sure, it's a competition that doesn't mean much if at all, but he looked quite at home clearing ball after ball from the likes of Italy, Spain, and Brazil. And don't even bring up the "b" teams theory--check out those rosters.

posted by trox at 11:42 PM on July 07

U.S. Stuns Spain in Confederations Cup

The defense came up huge today! Demerit, Onewyu, and Howard all played out of their heads. I'm still shaking my head at the result. That said, Bradley's red card was quite harsh. A yellow, maybe, but a straight red, insane.

posted by trox at 06:43 PM on June 24

Real bites again

Is Madrid printing it's own money?

That said, I can't say that I'm sad to see him off to Spain.

posted by trox at 10:09 AM on June 11

Someone's Getting a RAW Deal

As an Arsenal fan, I'm with Mr Bismarck. How's that for a defense?

posted by trox at 09:20 AM on May 19

Extra-Time Goal Puts Outmanned FC Barcelona into Champions League Final

Fletcher will be missing but not missed... is that what you were after?

posted by trox at 09:37 AM on May 07

Tony Gonzalez now a Falcon

All I know is that I've received a number of excited texts from my Falcon-following friend over the last few hours. I think he probably has another year or so in the tank yet, so he'll be a big improvement over what the Falcons had there.

posted by trox at 05:13 PM on April 23

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych Passes Away...

Thanks rcade, I'd been wondering what happened to Turk.

posted by trox at 03:39 PM on April 14

Diplomacy by sport?

I'd certainly attend any matches they play in my neck of the woods. Has nothing to do with the footy. World peace and all that.

posted by trox at 08:28 PM on March 24

Big East Gets Three No. 1 Seeds in NCAA Tournament

Since this seems to be moving towards becoming a predictions thread:

Early Predictions:

Final Four: North Carolina, Pitt, Memphis, Wake Forest. Biggest 1st round upset: Northern Iowa over Purdue Biggest 2nd round upset: Clemson over Oklahoma Champion, North Carolina is Lawson is healthy, Memphis otherwise

The Big East deserves the top seeds, but I can't see UConn getting past Memphis, who are bound to be feeling a little under-appreciated.

posted by trox at 10:58 AM on March 17

Q. and A.: The Special One, José Mourinho

Very interesting interview. I can profess my admiration for him much more easily now that he's not in English football.

posted by trox at 10:53 AM on March 12

Bye, bye, T.O.!

Attention Dan Snyder: Do NOT pick up the phone. (shamelessly stolen from owillis).

posted by trox at 10:13 AM on March 05

Michael Lewis and the NBA's No-Stats All-Star

Awesome article. Great post. 'Nuff said.

posted by trox at 04:18 PM on February 16

Sacking Day

After last night, Sven will probably on the market just in time to take over at Pompey.

posted by trox at 02:52 PM on February 12

Sacking Day

That's exactly what I was hoping to imply boredom. (And hoping in general as I'm an Arsenal supporter.)

posted by trox at 01:59 PM on February 11

Sacking Day

Am I the only one wondering how this will affect Chelsea's league form? I know that teams usually respond in the short term to a new manager, but that effect tends to fade in a lot of cases. If it is Hiddink, how much will him splitting his duties with Russia have an effect (that and the fact that, like Scolari, he's new to English football). Maybe it's rose colored glasses on my part, but I think Chelsea may drop out of the top 4.

posted by trox at 10:21 AM on February 11

Arshavin, finally, joins the Gunners

The silver lining for the gunners is now Arshavin will have to play the next three matches. Freaking Eboue. Every Arsenal fan I know is fed up with his antics.

posted by trox at 12:01 PM on February 08

Arshavin, finally, joins the Gunners

Arshavin that is... Since Keane was given the armband, he's a shoe in to play.

posted by trox at 02:04 PM on February 05

Arshavin, finally, joins the Gunners

Does anyone think he plays in the North London Derby this weekend? With Arsenal's injury list, I'm betting he sees some action.

posted by trox at 02:03 PM on February 05

Arshavin, finally, joins the Gunners

I haven't seen anything on arsenal.com yet, so I'm not about to start counting chickens. This has been the most frustrating transfer process I've ever seen--not to mention, Arsenal could have used him over the last few games.

posted by trox at 10:25 AM on February 03

NFL Will Broadcast Raiders/Chargers in 3D

So the Raider's will stink in 3 dimensions now? I'm not sure I'd want to see that.

posted by trox at 05:23 PM on November 25

Pirates sign 2 Indian pitchers — and, no, not from Cleveland

I would imagine a lot of cities would take that trade Debo: a lovely ballpark housing a dreadful team.

posted by trox at 05:05 PM on November 25

Josh Childress spurns the Hawks & the NBA for the Greek League.

This says a lot about where the Hawks are going as a franchise--none of it good. A local look at this from Braves and Birds.

posted by trox at 12:02 PM on July 23

Brewers make trade for pitcher C.C. Sabathia Minor-league prospect Matt LaPorta is included in the deal

What a start to the trade season. I think making this move this early will definitely pay dividends for the Brewers. They may get up to 4 Sabathia starts more than if they had waited until the deadline to pull the trigger. Will it be enough for them to catch the Cubs? I'm guessing no, but it may be enough to win them the wildcard.

posted by trox at 02:25 PM on July 07

Nadal-Federer epic the most thrilling of all the Wimbledon finals

As a rule, I generally don't watch tennis. However, I stopped on the coverage near the end of the third set since it appeared that Federer was up against it, and I was absolutely riveted for the rest of the match. I thought sure that Federer was going to pull it out after forcing the fifth set. Nadal, however, definitely showed great spirit and perseverance to win it (not to mention great amounts of skill). How does Federer bounce back from this? He will, but it's my guess is that Federer and Nadal will alternate wins here and there for a few years.

posted by trox at 02:23 PM on July 07

The state of Cuban baseball.

Great read. Yunel Escobar had a good day today.

posted by trox at 09:00 PM on July 06

The Decline of Commentary

And I say this as someone who rooted against Mr. Leiter for much of his career for what it's worth.

posted by trox at 09:25 PM on June 18

The Decline of Commentary

I'd like to point out the exception that proves the rule: Al Leiter. A truly insightful baseball commentator. Too bad they only dust him off for the playoffs.

posted by trox at 09:24 PM on June 18

Mark Hughes is new Manchester City manager.

I can't say I understand what Hughes is thinking with this move. He was the favorite to take over ManU after Ferguson's retirement, which this move will effectively blunt.

posted by trox at 01:14 PM on June 05

16 nations vie for Euro 2008 title beginning June 7.

You think Reina will see any minutes at all with Casillas ahead of him? But seriously, with Cesc pulling the strings, I'd have to say Spain are my tip to win the tournament as well.

posted by trox at 01:13 PM on June 05

Mourinho to Inter Milan, targets Chelsea trio.

In all seriousness, I fully expect at least one (if not two) of those names to be going to Inter, and I'd even add Carvalho to the list of possibilities. Drogba probably is the most likely: he's been unhappy on and off all season, and his lack of judgment in the CL final won't endure him to many of their fans. Selfishly, I hope Essien stays, just so I'll get to see him play more often.

posted by trox at 01:30 PM on June 03

Mourinho to Inter Milan, targets Chelsea trio.

Or not.

posted by trox at 01:26 PM on June 03

Manchester City qualify for UEFA Cup based on good behavior.

And it's not like they'll progress very far anyway.

posted by trox at 09:20 PM on May 22

Manchester United Complete Double

Terry still gets his cheap shots in on the pitch as well, but unlike Drogba, he's smart enough to keep his hands below the chest.

posted by trox at 10:18 AM on May 22

Manchester United Complete Double

As a hater of both teams, I enjoyed this match, if only because of Drogba's sending off (how to you lose your head like that), Ronaldo's PK miss (it's about time that classless run, stop, kick thing bit him in the ass), and Terry's bottling it at the last (nothing witty to say, just never really liked the guy). Schadenfreud? Yes. Entertaining. Also yes. But seriously, I'm just glad both teams pretty much went for it rather than setting up their buses in front of the goal.

posted by trox at 10:48 PM on May 21