- 10:01 AM
- 11/22/09
Yerfatma, that's why if Bonds wasn't an asshole I'd give him a pass. Actually I already do give him a pass on the steroid use.
I started to feel myself losing strength and speed and recovery ability, plus started getting hurt more, at age 28. If I was a pro athlete I'm sure I would have started feeling the temptations around then. A trainer at my gym and I had a conversation a while back agreeing that there are ways to use steroids safely and responsibly, but he was opposed to anyone ever using them before age 30, especially in the teens and early 20s. Kids have enough testosterone already. With hard work and the right programs and diets they can make amazing progress. Pro athletes can too, since they have nothing to do other than sleep, eat, and train. But when you hit 30, your body starts slipping. And you're used to a higher standard that all of a sudden you can't meet. Judging from my own experiences at 28-29, I can only imagine how bad it gets five years from now. I'm no pro athlete but I could see that depressing me and driving me to the needle.
Another reason I find it hard to fault them, even ARod, as summed up nicely by Bill James to Joe Posnanski:
In 36 words: 1) Baseball allowed a situation to develop in which it was in the self-interest of players to use steroids. 2) Now we are very angry with people because they did what the system rewarded them for doing.
posted by Bernreuther at 04:34 AM on February 22
Another article about Presinal from ESPN in Feb 2007. I'll be the first to say that ESPN piles on or sensationalizes a story to drum up a controversy, but I don't think there's anything irresponsible here. There's one paragraph (right before he describes the actual contents of Gonzalez's bag) I don't like, but in general it's a pretty balanced article that seems to imply that if not for Gonzalez's issues with that flight, this guy would have a fine reputation as a trainer to Dominican athletes. It's not as if MLB was picking on him when they banned individual trainers. Several players, including the Balco guys, Clemens (which at the time was no big deal), hell even Kevin Brown (I think) had his own guy. Giambi is the one I remember most, I think he had a post-Balco trainer/good friend who was no longer allowed to come around due to that rule. Point is, plenty of guys had personal trainers who were banned from locker rooms, which I think is fair and no big deal.
Surely more info will be revealed about this guy now that they're on to his 2007 association with ARod, but so far, I'm not convinced it's the issue some people seem to think it is. To me he just sounds like a better than average physical therapist who was in the right place at the right time to attract a really famous client... Do good things for one famous player and it's easy to attract many more. This is how Tim Grover got famous among NBA players despite not having any real clue at first...
posted by Bernreuther at 03:37 AM on February 21
I mean, everyone loves big papi, amirite?
Well, I'm a Yankee fan and I like the guy (except when he comes up to the plate against us in big spots of course).
I'm not sure what that article tells us. It's just a bunch of quotes and an insinuation that we can't believe anything, whether it's talk or even current testing. I don't necessarily believe Ortiz is and has been 100% clean either but that's not exactly what I'd call quality journalism.
RCade, my guess is that evidence of USE will come out for years. And reporters will toss about the term ABuse and imply that any use at all is abusive and evil and irresponsible and everyone will make it out to be worse than it seems. It's not. Guys like Canseco and early Giambi used irresponsibly, abused the drugs, and likely did permanent damage to their bodies. But probably 80% of the users did so safely. I guess that's just a pet peeve of mine as a semi steroid advocate, but I think people are way too eager to use the word abuse.
That said, I think you're right - this will drag on for years - no matter how solid the MLB testing plan is, there will always be a drug that stays ahead of the curve, just like the stuff that is used in every other sport, and surely those who aren't careful or who are unlucky will get exposed - not for failing tests, but due to their purchasing habits or trainers or something else linking them. And it's quite likely that MLB athletes will take more shit for it than NFL, olympic, cycling, or otherwise, regardless of what MLB has done with their testing program. To me, that's not fair. At this point, regardless of one's opinion on the legality, usefulness, and legitimacy of steroids, it's fair to say that a large portion of athletes in all sports have tried, if not habitually used, the stuff, and it's only fair to punish whoever was caught after testing standards and enforcement were put in place. MLB just happened to be very late to the party. And while I think that the testing plans are relatively solid and anyone who tests positive for a banned substance is pretty much retarded, I don't expect the amount of players willing to try the next maskable or non-testable substance to go down in any sport. When millions of dollars are at stake, even the noblest among us will be tempted to experiment and/or regularly use things that might give them an edge. I'm apparently in the minority on this, but I don't really see that as a bad thing; I see it as a fact of life.
posted by Bernreuther at 03:15 AM on February 21
Papi is savvy enough that he could say something to the effect of "sure, I did in the past, but that doesn't mean I can't support stiffer penalties now, as they'll put us all on a level playing field and end all the questions" and it'd be forgotten in a day. I know I'd buy that.
(Plus he's on the Sox so ESPN would just bury the headline anyway.)
posted by Bernreuther at 09:59 PM on February 20
Yeah, you're definitely the first person I've heard say that. I think that album sounds almost like 80s radio music. I still listen to it of course. Might go put it in now, actually.
posted by Bernreuther at 01:37 PM on February 20
Every one of us in this discussion could be a meth-addicted wifebeater who cheats at golf and strongarms grannies for pocket change
Wait, that stuff is bad?
"Dream Theater's best album"
There have been discussions about this stuff here? Damn, I'm sorry I disappeared for a few years.
(For the record, I'm partial to Images and Words, but that's largely because it's the first CD I ever owned after years of being way behind technology.)
And now it is only going to get worse.
I don't know. I guess some people will pounce on his use of the words "over the counter" as having implied that it's legal, but it's pretty well known that to get steroids, you go to a foreign country like Mexico or the DR, walk into a store, and they hand it to you, legal or not. It's all "underground market" there. Getting it over the border, not acquiring it, is the hard part. I don't think the written law in the DR is going to make people think of this as any worse.
Now, Gary's link... if that shady guy ever gets linked to the new steroid alternatives... Look out.
posted by Bernreuther at 01:05 PM on February 20
Gene Wojciechowski's garbage article (which is of course the ESPN cover story right now) is a good example of the stuff I was talking about. Wrapping "cousin" and "boli" in quotes and pretending not to know what he was admitting to (recycling the Giambi taunts of 05) are about par for the course for him. The logic that he obviously can't be believed about the cousin or the timeline, even in the face of his passed blood test for the last WBC and passing MLB's testing is poor.
But you know what?
His stupid 2008-2017 proposal actually isn't bad.
It's dumb to just throw all of his stats to this point out, but he does give the 2022 BBWAA voters a decent template: Even if you're the biggest anti-steroid crusader there is, just use his last ten years, the ones we can reasonably conclude are clean. If he puts up ten HOF-worthy years, plays to the level of his contract, well damn. There wouldn't be a single good argument against him.
I can't believe I just said something nice about that moron.
BoKnows, there will always be kids who make dumb decisions just like there will always be people who find ways to cheat at the pro level. That'd happen regardless of what has been going on in baseball. One good thing to come out of the steroid era is that it coincides with an era of players simply hitting the weights and working out more. Even without steroids, someone who works hard, especially at that age, is going to have a HUGE advantage. I have seen teenagers do some freakish things in the past few years. The few schools with legitimate strength coaches end up producing kids with incredible strength and a big leg up on their competition. They're arguably better off than a pro who used steroids is, relative to the competition. The key teaching point is that with hard work and 1200ng/dL natural testosterone coursing through their 16 year old bodies, incredible things are possible without chemical assistance. If there's testing and punishment in place and kids are working hard, they'll turn out just fine. Seeing an athlete get caught and embarassed isn't going to make them more likely to use. Seeing an unregulated and unpoliced sport with obvious use and no consequences likely would, though. In that regard, MLB has done a great job. They were late to the party, but they're doing fine now.
posted by Bernreuther at 11:44 PM on February 18
BoKnows, I for one would love it if everyone just came clean. Part of this is because I'm intensely curious about how and what people used and how it helped, but part of it is because I would hope it'd give us all more information so that we'd stop unfairly crucifying a few guys while turning a blind eye to dozens of others just because they were fortunate enough not to get caught. Maybe that's me just being a fan of Mark McGwire talking now though.
But people won't come clean unless they're caught, and I don't think that we should hold that against anyone. While there are many flaws with the argument that "everyone else would do it/is doing it/did it so what's the difference" in general, I do think it can be legitimately applied to the suggestion that ARod is a fraud for only coming clean once he got caught. That's one of the biggest criticisms in all these articles: that it's not genuine, he's not really sorry he used, he's only sorry he got caught." Well no shit. That's the way we all work. I'm all for admitting a bias against ARod based on his extreme social awkwardness, but let's lay off him on that count, because truly, we'd all be the same. Nobody is going to just walk up and start publicly confessing to their many sins in the past for no reason. I agree - you don't have to like it; but it's still unreasonable to expect more. Especially from such a known phony.
By the way, I apologize for my long bullet point hypothetical interview coming out garbled. It looked OK in the live preview but I never looked at it once published to notice that the line breaks were lost so that I could've edited. Now it's even tougher to get through my post. Sorry.
posted by Bernreuther at 08:43 PM on February 18
That's true. You can go back in the archives here to when I used to post a lot more to learn that I believe that steroids can be used responsibly and safely and that they're not the evil things most people would have us believe... but the fact is, they are dangerous when you don't know what you're doing. And a lot of people don't. I have no problem with a person who works hard all the time, does research, and decides that a cycle might push them through a plateau to the next level, but most people who use steroids do so out of laziness. They look for the easy way out. To me, that IS cheating. And I suppose that, combined with the fact that like most substances they are dangerous when used incorrectly, is a very strong argument in favor of outlawing them from sports and life. It's kind of sad, really, that someone whose body and talents are their sole source of income would use the stuff without doing any actual research, but most of these guys aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. (If they were, they'd know better than to hire morons like Brian McNamee, judging from what I've seen and heard of his training regimens. Seems he's no more effective than a random chump a a Globo Gym.)
That's another discussion though. I buy that excuse from Jeremy Giambi and a lot of impressionable young rookies, but I'm actually with you guys in that I don't really buy it from ARod. He is known to meticulously plan and chart his diet, from what I've read, so it makes very little sense that he'd just try something on a hunch.
posted by Bernreuther at 05:16 PM on February 18
Gary, there are plenty of legit criticisms. I hate him too. But I'm finding that a lot of the inconsistencies people are harping on are insignificant. No story is going to be perfect, and no athlete (except Canseco) to this point has been 100% forthcoming. They'll admit to only what they have to without worry of getting caught.
I think the biggest problem I have with the criticisms is that even people like Posnanski have said things to the effect of "Why should we believe that he stopped in 2003?" as if that's some outrageous hole in his story. I think that's the most believable part! Of course he stopped then. So did most everyone else - they were finally going to test and punish people.
I also don't like that people seem to think he should've given up his cousin. That's an unreasonable expectation.
Finally, I tend to believe, based on the experiences of gym acquaintances, that something acquired in the Dominican could be a random mishmash of more than one substance and/or improperly labeled. It's easy to say he's lying because a few reporters asked a few experts if they've heard of it by name and they hadn't, but there are thousands of shady curiously-named steroids on the markets down there and in Mexico. Hell, I know people that have smuggled unlabeled gear in from Mexico after having guessed at the content based on the animal shape that was on the sticker on the bottle. It's very unscientific.
(Now, on the flip side: Much like with Pettitte, I don't believe he's being truthful about his regimen - one shot every 2 weeks does nothing, and a continuous 3 year cycle is irresponsible; I don't believe he didn't deliberately plan to take testosterone and primobolan; I don't believe that he was being that naive or felt any more pressure due to the contract than he did when breaking in as a #1 pick.)
It's not that I think he's a saint, or even that he's being unfairly attacked - I just think many of the attacks focus on unrealistic expectations and some are there just because it's the fun thing to do. Being the best player in the game, a social dunce, and getting caught juicing means you're going to get attacked more than anyone else. It goes with the territory. But even while still being evasive and abrasive, he has given us more than anyone else so far, and most of the complaints people have about it are about details that don't really make that much of a difference, in my opinion.
That said, I'd still have handled it differently. One of these days I really hope someone personable gets caught and simply rolls up his sleeves and takes questions til there aren't any more. I really thought Giambi would've been a great guy to do this (and maybe after he retires he will) but his lawyers muzzled him in 05. I want someone to stand up and say the following:
- I took testosterone, primobolan, _____, _____, and other substances in 12 week periods for a span of 3 years early in my career - I recovered from these cycles using women's fertility drugs - Sorry, but I will not give up my source. This is about me. - I did one cycle in the offseason during a strength building phase when I worked mostly with weights - I did another cycle late in the season as I started to wear down from the volume of games, the travel, and the heat - While on cycle, I felt more confident, got better sleep, and hit better - After a cycle, I felt terrible for a few weeks, but I tried to time it so that this wouldn't cause a slump in my play - I would say it was worth it because I played better, helped my team, and helped myself, but I would not have done the same, and did not since 2004, if there was testing in place. - No, I do not believe I was cheating, as it was implicitly encouraged and had no consequences - Yes, I believe that anyone caught after 2004 is cheating and should be punished - Yes, of course I am only talking about this because I got caught! Do you really think anyone would just stand up and say "oh, hey, I used a bunch of steroids" while they're still playing without being exposed? - I do believe it's unfair that baseball players take so much more heat from this than other sports, but then again, I understand it because of how late the game was to the testing party. - No, I don't resent the reporter that exposed me, as he was just doing his job, but yeah, I really wish he hadn't. - In my estimation, the steroid cycles added X number of home runs, X number of extra hits/bases, but mostly confidence, comfort, and a feeling of physical well-being - The side effects for me were ___, ____, and ____ . - Would I do it again? YES, if they weren't testing. Now? No. Not worth the risks. - I think testing is a good thing. It eliminates temptation and means we have obvious penalties if we're caught. It can help to keep kids safe, because kids are not educated or mature enough to use steroids safely, nor do they need them at that age with all that natural testosterone floating around. They're not necessary for anyone, as I myself have seen in my training and play since stopping - hard work trumps everything - but if there is no punishment or discouragement people will still use anything to get an edge. It's human nature. Baseball has done the right thing by implementing the testing measures they have now, and going forward there shouldn't be any problems. What happened happened, it was part of the game, and while it sucks that I got caught, I guess it's good to have a chance to provide some information about it in the hopes that maybe others who used will not be judged so negatively. - (stays until there are no more questions to be asked)
Obviously that's an unrealistic expectation. But I'll continue to hope for it. How refreshing would that kind of honesty be? It'd be awesome. Maybe it'd even change the minds of a few of the voters who are selectively blackballing users from the Hall. I know I for one would love to get those kinds of details and a legitimate account of what kind of benefits were seen from it.
I just don't think it is realistic to think anyone would give that kind of info up. If Giambi didn't, and players under oath didn't, it's hard for me to believe that ARod should have. But that's what everyone wanted, and I think even then we'd still be getting columns today about how it wasn't good enough.
posted by Bernreuther at 03:52 PM on February 18
Stark, Heyman, Keown, and all the other guys getting front page billing with their criticisms all make me laugh. Nothing is ever good enough for these guys. I won't pretend to say that I believe ARod is being 100% truthful, but it seems like all the articles so far are just reaching for ways to go after him.
I guess he brings it on himself. He and Jeter are about as scripted as they come, but are a great example of the right and wrong ways to do it. Jeter gives canned answers and is often evasive, but he's good at it, acts appropriately, and says the right thing. ARod reads from an actual typed script (and poorly), hires consultants, tries twice as hard, but still looks like an idiot. So it's natural that people are going to continue to mock and attack him even though he really has gone and given us more information about steroids than anyone other than Canseco.
What's funny to me is that people are comparing him unfavorably to Pettitte even though I believe that ARod has been far more truthful than Andy ever was in his lame admission of guilt. It's just that he has worked so hard to craft this image that he feels the need to save, yet that image is what is working against him. He ought to have just used this as an excuse to make a clean break, act natural, and be himself, even if it meant becoming a WWF-style heel. He'd be better off. People hate him either way. I'd rather be hated for being an asshole than hated for being pathetic. Something tells me he'd screw that up too though.
posted by Bernreuther at 12:01 AM on February 18
Funny you should mention Lucas Oil Stadium, IDK. While it is, for the moment, the nicest facility, it also highlights a lot of things about new stadiums that aren't as nice for the long-time season ticket holders. You get a bit more leg and shoulder room, yes, but you end up paying a lot more and are farther from the field, even in the best seats. Also, even with the roof closed that place is as quiet as a tomb. No more RCA dome home field advantage on third down and 12th Man induced false starts. They'd have to actually pipe in the noise (as they were falsely accused of doing) to get it anywhere near as loud as it was before.
Of course, it was a preseason game. We'll have to see how it is next sunday. Other than the seats being much farther away and some correctable traffic flow issues though, it's really nice. I especially like the village-like atmosphere in the northern corners of the concourse.
posted by Bernreuther at 03:31 PM on August 26
Does ESPN have something against Patrick, or maybe her new team? There is no mention of her win whatsoever on their front page, not in the list of headlines or even the Auto Racing feature in that rotating feature panel below the main headline. CNNSI had it in their list of links, but it's nowhere to be found on the Worldwide leader. Sort of odd, given that she's always seemed to be something of an ESPN favorite.
posted by Bernreuther at 01:47 AM on April 21
I think he just had to slow down a bit to ensure that he got lower and could control himself. He may have pulled the "hold me back" tough guy act afterwards but I don't think his shove was completely weak. It wasn't perfect, but I've seen a lot worse.
posted by Bernreuther at 01:41 AM on March 14
Interesting to see Baltimore and Billick ranked so highly, considering how painful it was to watch Baltimore games this year. Then again, this computer isn't really accounting for play-calling; it's more about aggressiveness vs. passiveness (punting, field goals). I have long agreed that just about every coach is too conservative in these 4th down situations, but I am still not totally sold on this method. I guess this is partly because I don't entirely believe in the simulations and the GWC numbers. I would like to also see numbers about the expected returns in yards and points in these situations, for both alternatives. (For example, it's hard to wrap my head around a -1.4 GWC if a guy kicks a field goal on 4th and 3 from the 10, but it's a lot easier for me to analyze and agree with it if I see figures like a 2.7 point expected return on a field goal vs a 4 point ER by going for it, plus the 10 yard field position (which is worth roughly a point) advantage gained even if they fail. (And yes, those numbers are made up.)) I guess to me, that kind of result just makes more sense. Especially since I don't fully trust the simulation of the rest of the game, which is obviously important to the GWC number. Still, very interesting, and the more people like this that can publicly call NFL coaches chickens, the better.
posted by Bernreuther at 12:58 AM on February 17
Wow, I opened that link and could immediately smell the cards. Every year and every brand had a unique scent, and for some reason stuff like that can take me back instantly, as far back as kindergarten. My card collecting heyday was 86 through 92. After that they started costing more and being all glossy and special, and I lost interest and outgrew it all. I still have all my cards though, in my closet at my mom's house. Not quite the treasure trove we hoped it'd be based on the previous generation's stories. I believe the 87 Topps set was the first one I collected on my own just from buying individual packs. I bought the 86 Fleer set for 45 dollars, which I paid in installments to a guy who kept the price at that for a ten dollar deposit. Took me a while to pay it off, and by the time I was done it was worth 85. I was very proud of that investment. Of course, it's probably not worth anything now, since Canseco flamed out (The Canseco/Plunk rookie card was my main target), and also because a kid whose name I forgot but face I remember stole several of the cards in the set, including Rickey Henderson and that ridiculous Mickey Hatcher card where he's got a gigantic fake glove. I can't remember now if I ended up with the entire 88 Topps set too, but I believe I did. I wonder what all of this stuff is worth now. I also have two 1956 cards that I was given as a gift around 88 from a family friend. Of course, they're sitting inside a simple binder, while my mom foolishly stole my two signed McGwire cards to put in the damn safe deposit box at the bank. Like those were worth protecting.
posted by Bernreuther at 08:24 PM on January 16
Oh, good, the smart fans have arrived. I love that throwing for 402 yards and having your defense get shredded is considered "choking."
posted by Bernreuther at 06:25 PM on January 16
You're assuming SHE chose the jersey. Each contestant was "representing" a team; was it the sponsors, or the teams themselves, or her that made the jersey choice? I wondered the same thing as I watched the actual PPK event (which they held before the gates even opened instead of at halftime, because they had to have some stupid wuss singer perform). I was sure I'd see at least one kid who bucked the pattern of rooting for the hometown team. The Hawaiian girl (who outthrew all the girls in the age group above her, btw) wore SD, I believe. Every single kid matched up to their local team, although of course a kid from LA was free to choose Oakland for himself and a kid from southern PA took the Ravens. But I can't imagine that they'd force a 12 year old from Cleveland to wear a Browns jersey if he for some reason grew up a Bengals or Steelers fan. Interesting though, that in that scenario if it was held in his home stadium he'd probably end up getting booed for that too. Anyway, as I mentioned in the other thread that brought this up (is it just me or are we getting a lot of duplicate conversations lately, usually Patriot-related), I believe it was all in good fun and that anyone who thinks that it wouldn't have happened in every other stadium, especially in Boston, is kidding themselves and just looking for a reason to complain about a team they don't like. If it the opposite happened, and it would, I would expect to see Colts fans saying the same things. But setting rivalries aside, I would understand that it's part of the game and the rivalry. And the girl handled it very well. And yeah, I think Kraft is hamming it up just a bit in the spirit of the rivalry. And I can't really blame him for it. That's just how it is with those two teams. Yeah, the halftime show is Tom Petty. They've been running a bunch of commercials about it, under the assumption that people care. There was a rumor that Abdul would be part of it, kind of like an uninteresting opening act.
posted by Bernreuther at 05:19 PM on January 16
Only a small percentage of people booed the girl, and those around me that were doing it were doing it with smiles on their faces, as a joke. Some were clapping at the same time. And please, tell me that Gilette wouldn't have a 90% boo rate if the situation was reversed. These are fans that start Yankees suck chants at FOOTBALL GAMES. If it was the baseball equivalent of that and a kid wore pinstripes in Fenway he'd probably get hit by a battery. Any of the major rivalries would have a reaction like that. To be honest, I was surprised the booing wasn't louder.
posted by Bernreuther at 02:06 AM on January 15
LT is awesome but the O Line does well and Turner would start for 20 other teams, so his loss really isn't as big a deal as losing someone of his talent would ordinarily be. And if they keep blocking their screens the way they did in the 2nd half, they could put a backup lineman back there and still do well. Man, that Sproles TD was impressive. (I hated it, of course, but credit where credit is due.)
posted by Bernreuther at 06:25 PM on January 13
Fatty, I believe we've discussed this before, but in Peyton's record-setting season he was throwing late in games often because the game was not decided. Their D wasn't stopping anyone. One of his two five TD games was actually a loss to Kansas City. The worst blowout was the Detroit game, and he was out with 11 minutes to go in the third quarter. It's not the same. The only time he threw a questionable late TD was in that Tennessee game where the Titans were onsides kicking every time and scored a bunch of points quickly in the first (but then went to sleep after that). I believe the final in that one was 51-24.
posted by Bernreuther at 10:12 PM on December 12
Jim Caple spends as much time openly (and uncreatively) making fun of the Yankees as he does writing legitimate articles about baseball. That he could get in while Neyer and Law are left out is an absolute joke.
posted by Bernreuther at 09:06 PM on December 08
Tampa has changed their uniforms a whole bunch of times. They finally hit on one that worked, the dark green, which looked great, and now they change it to this boring crap. Dropping the Devil is fine, but they should've just kept the rest how it was.
posted by Bernreuther at 08:05 PM on November 08
I think they'll have to try to sign him because it's so obvious what a difference he makes. I should've been clearer above and said that they'll have to open the wallet for Sanders. The tough one to swallow this year is going to be Clark, because he's making himself a lot of money and they probably won't be able to afford both. I don't really care if it is or isn't a departure from the philosophy... if they can fit it under the cap it really just means they'll have to stick to that philosophy even more for the rest of the positions. The decisions they've made and the kids they've taken in the past 5 drafts tells me that they are planning many years in advance and have a plan in place. Their track record makes me trust that it's the right plan. (The past several drafts does make me more optimistic about keeping Clark though, now that I mention it.) They seem to know what they're doing and their knowledge of the payroll expenses for the next several years is far greater than ours so only they know what is and isn't possible under the cap.
posted by Bernreuther at 10:38 PM on November 02
Love the Football Outsiders stuff. It's nice to see Polian's drafting get a bit of recognition. Noone ever talks about anything other than their #1 picks during and after the draft, and then 2-3 years later a bunch of 2nd day picks or UFAs are starting and doing a better job than the big names they replaced. They did draft a safety this year, though. Brannon Condren. While he looks like a bit of a punk, he's a big, strong ballhawking hitter like the others, though I don't think he's expected to be a replacement for Sanders. I think that he's enough of a difference maker that they're going to have to break tradition and open up the wallet for him. Unlike last year, which was plagued by injuries, they have excellent depth in the defensive backfield. I do wonder if they've got guys that can make the same impact (double entendre fully intended) as Hayden and Jackson after their contracts expire. It sucks that they had to sit around for two years instead of one before getting their starting nods. If they stay true to form they won't get as many years of use out of them now.
posted by Bernreuther at 05:29 PM on November 01
And where were all these "running-up-the-score" complainers when Peyton Manning was going on his record-breaking score-running-up single-season touchdown run back in the day? Most of those games weren't blowouts. Their defense gave up a ton of points, which made for more opportunity for TD passes. One 5 TD game was a 45-31 game against the Pack, the other a 45-35 loss. The 6td game against Detroit was a bit bad, but he was out in the 3rd. Sorgi also saw action in the Houston, Chicago, and Tennessee blowouts. There were some questionable ones that year, but nothing downright nasty like throwing for the end zone on 4th down in a blowout with under a minute remaining (which the Pats have done this year). People are entitled to their opinion regarding how big a deal it is to run up the score, but it's pretty obvious that the Pats are doing it. Hell, even the biggest Pats homer you'll ever see acknowledges it. That said, Easterbrook's piece was ridiculous. I've always looked forward to his columns but he has really been a disappointment this year. You can call Colts-Pats good vs. evil and make a bit of sense, but his arguments were so outrageous that it even made Colts fans cringe.
posted by Bernreuther at 12:23 AM on October 24
I have no strong feelings about Kimmel one way or the other but I can't be the only person who thinks that it's in MNF's best interest to ban him, along with everybody else, from the booth. How about we just have announcers who talk about football and the game going on in front of us? I like Jaworski but he's turning into Theisman, getting sucked in by that blithering idiot Kornheiser, and while Tirico occasionally tries to refocus their attention on the game, he's rarely effective. Last year, Jaws was excellent in limited duty as a color guy, but now in this team, he's just as useless as Theisman was. They waste entire quarters talking to hollywood stars and other games (plenty of talk about the Patriots... during the Falcons-Giants game). It's ridiculous.
posted by Bernreuther at 06:12 PM on October 18
Ozzie was the right man for that team in 2005 given how the team was put together, but he's not the right man now, and it's painfully obvious. Kenny Williams has gotten a lot of credit for his decisions in the past 5 years but lately he's been making some odd ones. (Publicly courting Eckstein comes to mind.) I was actually at the game tonight, without having seen this news, and was having a conversation with my friend about how he was a lame duck manager. I sure was wrong about that.
posted by Bernreuther at 01:06 AM on September 12
I think it looks nice. Simple and classy. The only thing I don't like is that it says N.Y.C. instead of New York. That would've fit just fine. Why abbreviate?
posted by Bernreuther at 12:05 AM on September 07
Ah, didn't know it was a DH. Thanks guys. TCS, I'm with you. What the hell? Cabrera dominates the Yankees... then shows up with this?
posted by Bernreuther at 11:42 PM on August 22
Good to see Texas still pouring it on with 8 of their 9 starters playing in the 9th inning. That's classy and sure to be rewarded by the baseball gods.
posted by Bernreuther at 08:18 PM on August 22
The nicest part about this is that now after tomorrow's lovefest we can actually start seeing highlights of Giants games on Sportscenter again. I don't think they've shown anything other than Barry's at-bats for 3 weeks.
posted by Bernreuther at 11:36 PM on August 07
Holden, that is correct. Obviously they don't make as much as the Cowboys, but even the worst run teams and those in the smallest cities do quite well for themselves. The NFL is the most powerful league, business-wise, of all the major sports. Coach, you do realize that June was HORRIBLE last year, one of the worst every down defensive players in football, right? The only reason he had so many tackles is because when they run it directly at you you're bound to make a few here and there in between all the misses. David and Harper were capable CBs but not worth the money they were sure to get elsewhere, as the Tampa 2 makes that position fairly easy to fill. Jackson and Hayden were drafted 2 years ago exactly for this purpose. Doss lost his job to Bethea and while he performed admirably when given the chance before the injury, he wasn't going to stick around to be a backup. So really, whether Freeney signed for a dollar or 30 million, the rest of the D would look the same. In the very same post you say that they have the best GM. If you believe that, then you should give him some credit for his decisions, his track record of repeatedly drafting solid starters in the 2nd day of the draft, and trust his actions this past winter. I am happy with the signing but it does seem a little bit spendy, given that I doubt that he could have fetched the same amount on the open market. But I don't know that. It also seems like the cap hit could be prohibitive, but as I advised Coach, I trust that the GM and the staff are thinking years ahead and know what they're doing. They usually do.
posted by Bernreuther at 10:53 PM on July 16
He hasn't been the right man for this Yankee team for several years now, but he's still a class act, great guy, and special talent for being able to reach both of these milestones. Congrats to him. And how bout those Yankees? Five wins in a row. About time they got on a roll.
posted by Bernreuther at 05:48 PM on June 09
Dwight Freeney is gruntled. He even showed up at mini camp, even though he wasn't practicing (which is something that the teams seem to understand and are OK with).
posted by Bernreuther at 05:58 PM on June 05
And yerfatma gave you more than just "I think they're full of shit." The rest of what you said wasn't relevant to what I was saying. I was mostly conceding the point anyway.
posted by Bernreuther at 11:19 AM on May 31
We're not allowed to be skeptical of Blue Jays and talking heads now? Neither one of us is trying to claim anything as a fact. You could be wrong, and we could be wrong too. It's likely the latter. I'm just not going to automatically take the word of the guy who was duped or his teammates.
posted by Bernreuther at 11:09 AM on May 31
I'm kind of amazed that Jim Caple doesn't have an anti-ARod/Yankee "article" up on ESPN yet. Very unlike him.
posted by Bernreuther at 10:39 AM on May 31
I'd take what Bowa says with a grain of salt, but from the Times: Rodriguez singled in the ninth to make it 7-5, and his verbal interference with Clark allowed the Yankees to pile on. The third base coach, Larry Bowa, said that Rodriguez did not cross a line of good sportsmanship. “If you say, ‘I got it,’ I think that’s very unacceptable,” Bowa said. “He didn’t say, ‘I got it.’ He said, ‘Hey, hey.’ They parted like the Red Sea.” Gibbons said he told Rodriguez he thought it was a bush league play, which Bowa also heard. But Rodriguez claimed not to hear anything that Gibbons or McDonald said, and not to care, either." It's not that hard to find someone who can read lips to refute that. It looked an awful lot like "mine" to me. Still, the Jays shouldn't have been parting like the red sea.
posted by Bernreuther at 10:34 AM on May 31
Gary, I for one don't really believe the opposing manager or an announcer with an axe to grind when he says he has never seen anything like this. And as a former athlete, I did see stuff like that. This is not noteworthy because it was the first time someone has yelled something, it's noteworthy because it's the first time anyone can remember someone yelling something and actually having it work. And because it's ARod. While we're on the subject, what would Jackie Chiles say? "That's deplorable, unfathomable, improbable!" "It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous!"
posted by Bernreuther at 10:25 AM on May 31
ARod is who he is? It is what it is? Oh come on people, we're supposed to be able to converse without resorting to the cliches so popular with the athletes.
posted by Bernreuther at 09:49 AM on May 31
I think it's acceptable gamesmanship but that one quote about him seeming uncomfortable seems right on. I said this back when the slap happened too - any player who says he doesn't make an attempt to dislodge the ball there is a liar, but most do it in a way that isn't so obvious (and wuss-like). You shoulder him, or just make it seem like a part of the motion of running. When you slide hard into second, you shade your whole body to the side of the bag to take the guy out, you don't just wave an elbow. Do it properly and it's good hard-nosed baseball that gets you praise. Do it like an idiot and you get called out on it. Lie about it later and you get attacked even more. I swear, sometimes I think that parts of his mental development stalled in 3rd grade. edit: grum, you could probably include just about everyone in the media in your list too. They're going to take a side because they want to make a story of it and pretend to take the high road and criticize him.
posted by Bernreuther at 09:04 AM on May 31
People pull moves like this in every sport all the time. I played hockey, and players will always tap their stick or call for passes from the opposing team if the guy isn't looking or if they're trailing the play into the zone. It works once in a blue moon, which is why people still do it. In baseball, something like this is a lot less likely to work for many reasons, which is why we don't really see it that often. But in this case, a rookie who doesn't know his teammate's voice well, a shortstop not doing his job properly, and a baserunner who has played both positions in a 10+ year career all came together to make a really silly play. I'd be willing to bet that if someone spent time reviewing tape of baserunners (a fun task to be sure) they'd find several instances of runners doing the same thing. It just doesn't work because the infielders don't usually fall for it. Sure, it's a little bit on the side of bush league, but it was also a pretty heads-up play to process the situation and time it right like that. He'll get drilled in July, and he'll deserve it, and that'll be the end of it. Just like when Phelps bowled over Johjima earlier this month. What I thought was BS wasn't the actual play, but his lame ass explanation afterwards about saying "ha!" Look, it's obvious what he did, why not just own up to it? Most people already hate him, he might as well just be honest and embrace it.
posted by Bernreuther at 07:42 AM on May 31
That article is not really all that full of evidence, so I wouldn't say it's worth much. I'm a Yankee fan and I wouldn't put Mussina in the Hall. And it calls him sure-fire.
posted by Bernreuther at 04:04 PM on April 26
I agree with that assessment. And he seems to as well, which I think is a large part of the reason he wanted an extension. It's entirely possible that he could toss up another 20+ win season and title this year the way things are going... that'd certainly help his case.
posted by Bernreuther at 03:42 PM on April 26
2 of 10. I phrased that poorly, I meant that being similar to those very good pitchers does not make you hall-worthy.
posted by Bernreuther at 02:58 PM on April 26
Sousepaw, good link. I was just at that page checking my facts. I'm actually kind of impressed that I guessed Schill's wins dead on. The "similar pitchers" column a ways down the page is pretty telling. Very good pitchers, but not Hall-worthy. Yet.
posted by Bernreuther at 02:17 PM on April 26
That's kind of like starting your comment with "nothing I'm about to say can be trusted". Well, I'm not asking anyone to trust it, it's just my opinion. Just wanted to make it clear that it's both an opinion and biased. Icon, Given that Schilling was on the hook for the L in Game 7 till Rivera blew it, it's not a stretch to say that Johnson, with 3 Ws, deserved that MVP in 2001 outright. (Through the 3 playoff series though they were both kind of ridiculous.) In 2004 it was Lowe, not Schilling, who pitched out of his mind and dominated. (Man, it feels weird to say that.) But your opinion about this mirrors that of a lot of people that have hall votes, which is why he could retire today and get in despite not really having the overall stats to support it. A few more years? Sure. Now? It's a stretch, but the publicity he's gotten from 2004 is going to give him a hell of a boost.
posted by Bernreuther at 02:12 PM on April 26
BornIcon, by his own admission, Schilling needs a couple more very good to dominant years to merit Hall consideration. He's at what... 210 wins now? How many Cy Youngs does he have? He also wasn't the most valuable pitcher on either of those championship teams. (Well, not in the playoffs anyway.)
posted by Bernreuther at 01:18 PM on April 26
Even though I wouldn't put it past Schilling to pull a fake blood stunt to get more air time, I don't doubt that the blood was real. Maybe he exaggerated it a little bit, but the guy did have stitches in his ankle. What I didn't like was how everyone was so amazed during and after the games he pitched, as if it was some heroic act and he was a special amazing case for playing hurt. I know I've said this on here before, but show me one major league pitcher who doesn't take the mound in that condition. It's the playoffs! People can handle a little pain. The other thing I didn't like, and yes, this is because I just plain don't like the Sox or Schilling, is that the injury meant that there was going to be a pro-Schilling story either way. If he got shelled, as he did in Game 2, it's a built-in excuse. It's not Curt's fault, it's the injury! If he wins, as he did in Game 6 (when I'm pretty confident any of us would've had a good shot of beating the Yankees, the way they had completely shut down and given up at that point. A theme in the last several years... Great leadership, Torre!), he's a hero for pitching through an injury. Honestly, I respect the guy for going out and pitching well, but come on. He was just going out and doing his job. This is probably going to end up putting him in the hall of fame though. As with everything else these days, it got blown way out of proportion and ended up annoying the shit out of me. So even though it's now being called into question, I'm not a big fan of the fact that it's in the news again. And don't you guys even watch CSI? They don't need an expensive DNA test, all they need is a swab and that liquid you drip on it. If it's blood, it turns bright pink! Magic!
posted by Bernreuther at 12:42 PM on April 26
Well, I won't be rooting for that, 86, since I'm an Isles fan, but there would be some poetic justice if the Rangers beat them out for 8th by that one point. I'm just astounded by the stupidity of this. Legal check or not (I could've seen a boarding call and not argued it), there are so many ways to retaliate that would get you at most 10 minutes in the box. For someone who has been in the league for so long to decide "hey, I'll get up and immediately blast some dude in the neck with my stick out of the play"... wow. One of the dumbest things I've ever seen. Embarassing. What an idiot. Grum, I like your definitions there, but I disagree with your 6 game prediction. Given the severity of past penalties (Bertuzzi, the Turgeon hit, etc) I've got to think it's a certainty he's done for the year. Anyone have a link to the Janssen hit?
posted by Bernreuther at 12:07 PM on March 09
I don't get how he could possibly have gotten the pants down far enough to expose his bare ass while still wearing the goalie leg pads. I guess I can see it happening, but the bunched up pants would leave no way for him to ride the stick like a horse. He's some kind of damn contortionist! This is awesome, by the way. Except the part where they're charging him with a crime. That's ridiculous.
posted by Bernreuther at 04:27 AM on February 23
The parallels between the Colts this year and the 06 Cardinals are pretty striking. Aside from Peyton's presence of mind, I don't think any element of their game was better this year than in years past, but of course, this is the year they did it. Good for them. What a sloppy, awful first half though. In the end, the better team won, but man was that a frustrating game to watch... both for Bears fans and for Colts fans (who, like me, were furious that they couldn't ever seem to put it away despite dominating the game after the opening kick). Way to go, Peyton, and boy was that one hell of a game by Dominic Rhodes and Charlie Johnson (one HELL of a run blocker for a rookie!).
posted by Bernreuther at 11:12 PM on February 04
Lost in all this discussion about Dallas Clark presenting a matchup problem as the TE who can play like a 3rd WR is the fact that Ricky Proehl is no longer on the injury list. He played sparingly in the time when he was healthy after signing, but if they think Clark presents matchup problems when 2 WRs are on the field, imagine the possibilities when there are 3 and the Bears are forced to use one of two remaining LBs to cover him. Not one talking head or so called "expert" has mentioned this, but if Proehl is really healthy, this seems like an excellent look to trot out to test Chicago's D. If the O Line establishes that it can handle the Bears front 4, there's no need for a 2 TE set, and the Colts can suddenly have 4 legitimate receiving threats. Maybe I'm missing something about Utecht that makes him super valuable, but I don't think so. I really hope we see this. Tim - hope you check this. There are two. Mullen's in Wrigleyville, and the Union on Halsted and George. I like the latter because the owner is cool, my dog is welcome, and they just upgraded to all HD receivers, including on the projector for the main screen.
posted by Bernreuther at 10:22 AM on February 04
In 1984 a dead guy and entirely different staff moved a team away from a city that couldn't even put 20,000 people in the seats for a game. Yeah, that's a good reason not to like them now. Anyway, what're everyone else's picks? What kind of interesting plans do you have for the game? I think 6.5 is too high, and it bothers me that none of the "experts" are picking the Bears. Indy needs to find a way to get touchdowns instead of field goals in the first half, and if they can, things look good for them. Otherwise, I see the Bears controlling the game. I don't see either team winning easily. My pick: Colts by 3, as they manage to protect the ball, only turning it over once, while taking it away twice. I'll be at the Colts bar in the middle of Chicago. Win or lose, I hope I can make it out alive.
posted by Bernreuther at 11:45 AM on February 03
Renting out your stomach is nothing. Sarah Spain actually had people willing to pay 1500 bucks in order to give her a super bowl ticket. She ended up getting 4 tickets from Axe body spray and turning the tables and offering to give one away. Tell me those she wouldn't make a better wife than someone who's already pregnant.
posted by Bernreuther at 09:54 AM on February 01
Understood. I actually do know the kind of schedule NFL coaches (one in particular) keep, and while some are certainly workaholics, that's one thing that often gets overblown in the media. Michael Smith's article here actually points out that Dungy spent the night before the Pats game at the mall with his family. So it's not all work. Pretty good article, by the way. Focuses not on the fact that they're black, but that they're good guys, and that's the reason we should look up to them. I definitely agree.
posted by Bernreuther at 05:29 PM on January 23
His son was college aged and off at school in another state, with his own apartment and all that independent jazz. It's not like he would've been seeing a whole lot of his dad even if he wasn't coaching. Anyway, that kind of speculation is both unfounded and untrue. He makes family a priority over football. That has always been a stated goal of his.
posted by Bernreuther at 03:33 PM on January 23
As a Colts fan I have no problem with Belichick's postgame comments. The guy just had his season ended because his team blew a big lead in a game they could have put away early. He's not going to be all happy. Given his baseline demeanor and personality I was actually impressed that he even bothered to give the Colts the compliments that they made more plays. Obviously he thought that they should have been stopped on some of those plays, but hey, he's right. The Pats should have. If they had played their best, they would have won that game. Viper, Irsay is a little spacey, but has done nothing to warrant that random negative commentary. He's one of the friendliest, most down to earth owners in sports, and he deserves to enjoy this win. Re: the temperature. It is always set to be freezing cold in that dome by default, because it obviously heats up quite a bit when 57000 people arrive. I brought my fleece in with me (after not doing so for the Chiefs game) because it is always freezing during warmups. It was no different 3 hours before game time, so the "it keeps the snow off the roof" thing is not true. I had the fleece off during the game, but by the trophy presentation I was all the way down to my tshirt, because I was downright HOT in a shirt and jersey. It didn't occur to me at the time that the heat might have been from sources other than a lot of excited people, but hey, if they jacked it up a few degrees, good. With the Pats tired and somewhat sick, it was a great strategy, and certainly within the realm of fair game, especially after the Pats pulled their turf games a few years ago. Bruschi may retire, according to SportsCenter. I think that'd be a wise and self-aware move. The Colts and others have been picking on him ever since the stroke, and it's clear that he has lost a step or two. His tackle totals are high because most teams run right at him. The Pats linebackers have definitely become the weak spot instead of the secondary (which played GREAT in the first half btw), and I wouldn't be shocked at all to see them use their first pick to take the Colts guy again this year (though in hindsight I'm not so upset with the Maroney/Addai result). Perhaps the fact that they play different schemes will mean they're after different LBs anyway. Or Polian might draft another tackle. Who knows. Finally, I still don't think that saying "we had some protection problems" is considered trashing your line, especially when it was obviously true. He's partly responsible for his own protection anyway, and admitted as much. If he was throwing them under the bus, they'd have been pissed about it, but to a man, that line agreed with him. Aside from that, he was perfectly graceful and willing to credit the Steelers last year.
posted by Bernreuther at 02:50 AM on January 23
Belichick Call Questioned in Pats' Loss to Colts
As a former coach, The slant pattern if run correctly is the hardest pass to defend and should almost always give you the needed yardage. The Colt defender made a hell of a stop
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but as a former coach wouldn't you know that Faulk gave a quick fake of a slant but ran a quick out?
To those suggesting deeper routes - in theory I love the idea of just floating one deeper to Moss, but the Colts blitzed 6 (which I hated at first but now appreciate) and Brady honestly didn't have any more time to throw. Another half yard on that route would've given them some margin for error in the catch/spot but there really wasn't time to get any deeper.