- 05:20 PM
- 11/21/09
Another thing should probably be pointed out here: the Patriots' completely mis-managed their timeouts, which prevented them from being able to challenge the play. I'm not certain that the spot might not have been changed in their favor had it been reviewed. So that would be a rare double-bungle on Belichick's part.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:06 AM on November 16
In this case, I agree that player's shouldn't be getting money from sponsors for their endzone celebrations. On the other hand, I'm totally opposed to what he did being a 15-yard penalty. Not dangerous + not cheating = not a penalty.
posted by TheQatarian at 04:18 PM on November 12
In the Iverson/Jordan comparison above, I'd put it this way: Jordan made his teammates better. I don't think Iverson did that to any great degree.
posted by TheQatarian at 11:24 PM on November 10
He can retire for all I care. I'm not a fan of selfish players in any sport, and if he can't accept being a sixth man, then he'll have to accept going home and counting his money, since he doesn't have any rings to count.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:35 PM on November 10
I've noted in enough threads how sick I am of celebration penalties. It doesn't hurt anyone, and it doesn't give either team an advantage, so it shouldn't be a penalty. That said, I'm fine with penalizing "taunting" or clearly pre-meditated showboating at this level, but I'm completely against penalites for "being happy", which it sounds like is what is happening here.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:25 AM on November 04
Cheap move by Spikes, and a pretty spineless punishment by Meyer. At the very least he should be suspended for an entire game, and I'd say more. They're playing Vanderbilt, so it's not like they desperately need him. (No offense to any Commodore fans.)
Something tells me the SEC will add to the punishment.
posted by TheQatarian at 08:13 PM on November 02
Maybe this is just because I'm a Minnesotan, but given the hotbed of political correctness that most college campuses are these days, you'd think the student body would demand correcting that already. (This is one of the rare cases where I actually agree with the PC crowd.)
posted by TheQatarian at 04:24 PM on October 28
On one hand, one cannot blackball Acta from managing ever again just because he had to try to get something out of the hellhole that is the Washington Nationals franchise. On the other, how he can possibly be the best the Indians could do, I have no idea.
posted by TheQatarian at 07:37 PM on October 25
To answer the question, it's probably because the season is a loss by now, and putting in what would clearly just be an interim coach would be pointless. If it were an interim coach who might be auditioning for the job (e.g. Mike Singletary last season), that would be one thing, but Snyder clearly wants a big-name guy, and none of them are going to be willing to take over mid-season. So you can lose with Zorn or lose with someone else...might as well just stick with the loser you already have.
posted by TheQatarian at 08:48 PM on October 19
As a Twins fan, I'm not cursing out Phil Cuzzi like many others. Aside from Nathan's blown save and failing to get a run across with the bases loaded and no one out in the 11th, I can also totally understand how Cuzzi missed that call. The left fielder was coming right in toward the line, and he was probably closer to the play than was beneficial. Had it been a regular season game and had Cuzzi been the third base umpire, I'd bet he gets that call right.
Which leads to another reason I favor replay in the postseason: Umpires are going to make mistakes, but such a system would likely save them a lot of grief. Cuzzi wouldn't have to spend a minute fretting over his mistake as he did on Friday night. Then we don't have to listen to calls for umpires' heads and they can mostly go about just being anonymous arbiters of the game.
However, C.B. Bucknor is a whole category unto himself as far as being an awful umpire. Replay isn't going to save that idiot from my wrath or anyone else's.
posted by TheQatarian at 05:30 PM on October 11
I'm all for replay in the playoffs, but I can live without it in the regular season. The playoff games are too critical, and you've got to get the calls right if at all possible. And I really don't buy this "human element is part of the game" crap. If you can get it right, then get it right. Give the manager a red flag just like the NFL has for head coaches, and review the critical calls. Would it really take any longer than it takes when the manager comes out and yells at the umpires for blowing a call? I'm pretty sure the only reason Gardy didn't come out and blow a gasket is that he couldn't see it from his angle.
posted by TheQatarian at 12:34 PM on October 11
If it's in the rules, you have to enforce it, but I think there is a perfectly valid call to change the rules for future races. That rule is about as out-of-date as the golf scorecard.
posted by TheQatarian at 02:26 PM on October 08
I questioned the Hoser's pick of Green Bay as his lock when the Bengals seemed like a much better sure thing to kill the Browns. Shows what I know. Greanted, I was right that Green Bay was a questionable lock, but I chose no better.
posted by TheQatarian at 04:04 PM on October 07
My apologies if I'm breaking any rules by posting a column I just wrote. The last column I wrote never got posted, and it kinda lost relevance. This one is sort of a redo of one I wrote in 2006, but with more details and stuff.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:25 PM on October 06
We've got about 4 weeks until Favre comes back to Lambeau and this whole thing starts over again. And if the Vikings beat the Rams next week (and they really ought to), we'll hear about how it is Favre's first 5-0 start in his career. It won't end. The fact that he is now on my favorite team doesn't make me any less sick of the media's worship of him. When I watch, I turn the TV sound down and listen to the radio broadcast, partly because Paul Allen is awesome, but also because the TV guys just can't help but join in the Favre worship. Last week, for example, the final play was the TV guys going on and on about Favre, and glossing over what an awesome catch it was by Greg Lewis.
To be fair, I do like that he helps the Vikings win games, though I hope he doesn't repeat his usual playoff performance.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:10 PM on October 06
Amazingly, Gardy has never won Manager of the Year. And Scioscia will probably get it this year because of the Adenhart tragedy, even though his team has way more talent than the Twins do.
I thought 2006 was the year Gardy should have won it, but some people in the media got horribly confused. Leyland won MotY, and Terry Ryan of the Twins won Executive of the Year. Why Ryan got that award given that the two big acquisitions of the offseason were Rondell White (who stunk) and Tony Batista (who was even worse to the point that he got cut midseason), I'll never know. Likewise, Leyland managed the Tigers to a 10.5-game lead over the Twins at the All-Star Break (the White Sox were between them at the time), but Gardenhire's team surged while Leyland's team choked away the division on the last weekend of the season, although they did make the playoffs (and eventually the World Series). It should have been Dave Dombrowski of the Tigers who got the executive award (he had several big free agent signings that led them to the World Series that year) and Gardenhire who won MotY, not the other way around.
But I digress. Cabrera may be sober, but he has to stop fighting his wife. Twins win this one, because Minny always beats Detroit.
posted by TheQatarian at 03:42 PM on October 05
I thought of that, too, but if the Tigers had lost yesterday, they wouldn't be playing tomorrow. You have to treat every game as sudden-death at that point, and worry about the next game when you get to it.
posted by TheQatarian at 02:00 PM on October 05
I would like to be the first to wish the Detroit Tigers the best of luck...in finding a hotel that isn't full of media people covering tonight's football game.
Right now, nothing seems to be working in Detroit's favor. Aside from the logistics, the Twins have the home-field advantage, the winning momentum, and a favorable pitching matchup.
Not to mention this bit of history. (The proper formatting got lost among server changeovers, but the Minnesota-Detroit history is in there.)
posted by TheQatarian at 10:38 AM on October 05
Not to toot my own horn -- well, OK, perhaps I am -- but I may very well have predicted the Tigers' collapse against the Twins given this column I wrote back in 2006. Minny owns Detroit, I tell you.
posted by TheQatarian at 08:57 AM on October 04
I don't think the Packers are better than the 49ers. But they play later in the season, so we'll find out. I have to concur with dviking, though...the Vikings are the best D-line the Packers have faced so far, and they haven't fared very well against the others they've played. On top of that, their secondary is suspect, and Favre will find some open receivers. I also think the Vikings will be 4-0, though in a rivalry game, anything can happen.
I was mostly just expressing shock that Hoser would pick Green Bay as his "Lock of the Week" given the above and the fact that Cleveland is still technically considered an NFL team.
posted by TheQatarian at 11:27 AM on October 03
I think Cincy (or anyone, including some college teams) is probably a much bigger lock to wallop Cleveland than the Packers covering and beating the Vikings. Favre is usually at his best on Monday nights. But the Hoser did give his disclaimer for a reason.
posted by TheQatarian at 06:47 PM on October 02
Let's give some props to Greg Lewis here: the guy has barely seen the field in the first two games (and only joined the team just before week 1), and he had to make a spectacular catch and get both feet in to win the game. Not that Favre doesn't deserve praise for buying time to make the throw (and the throw itself), but the guy making the catch deserves his due.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:03 PM on September 27
PETA did actually try to get the Green Bay Packers to change their name back in 2000, since "Packers" has a correlation to meat-packing. Their alternate suggestions included "Green Bay Six-Packers" (which while somewhat accurate would have gone over about as well as a fart in church with Mothers Against Drunk Driving) or the "Green Bay Pickers" (which would have had me in a mad dash to be the first person to copyright the foam "We're #1" finger with a nose on the end of it).
I have nothing more to say about the "Redskins" issue, so I'll leave that to those out there who think they know best. But I note the PETA story since they actually have done something like this, though not in the direction most people's examples would indicate.
posted by TheQatarian at 08:18 PM on September 16
I'm generally OK with team names like "Chiefs", "Braves", and the like, but I can totally understand the problem with "Redskins". If this goes through, I wonder what they will end up changing it to?
posted by TheQatarian at 01:43 PM on September 16
I agree with the first commenter that the guts of the column was actually fairly amusing, but the theme used to tie it together was at the very least inappropriate.
It does remind me of a great Gene Wilder quote, though: "It's hard to explain bad taste to someone who has it."
posted by TheQatarian at 05:49 PM on September 09
I think Palmer meant that guys are getting so big and fast that one wrong hit (such as a full speed helmet-to-helmet hit) is going to cause someone to die, which is why so many steps are being taken to protect QBs. I'd almost worry more about receivers doing crossing routes than QBs, since the force is doubled with each player (receiver and defensive back) running at each other. The sorts of deaths noted by Atheist aren't what Palmer was talking about, though we should be concerned about those as well.
posted by TheQatarian at 02:39 PM on September 08
I'll cheerfully root for any American woman that isn't one of the Williams sisters. Go Melanie!
posted by TheQatarian at 12:03 AM on September 08
It would definitely make the game more watchable if they allowed it. Not so much because of the physicality, but because of the fact that they are doing it anyway, and all the penalties badly disrupt the flow of the game.
posted by TheQatarian at 09:15 AM on September 07
Since they played last season, the Texans and Vikings won't play again until 2012, unless divisions get reshuffled for some unforeseen reason, or they play again in the preseason or Super Bowl.
posted by TheQatarian at 09:34 PM on September 01
Weedy, the reason they drafted the second point guard is precisely because they understood the reality of Rubio's contract. Having him would be a bonus, but now they can get by without him and bide their time...either waiting for his arrival or eventually trading him for the right price.
posted by TheQatarian at 07:36 PM on September 01
My own question would be: Why were the Vikings running a play to that side to begin with, especially in the preseason?
But I agree with the general consensus that this is more from Favre not knowing what he was doing than any malicious intent. Glad to hear the injury isn't serious.
posted by TheQatarian at 07:33 PM on September 01
I don't know that I'd say the Wolves are "out of a high draft pick" just yet. They drafted Jonny Flynn as insurance for just this sort of thing, and barring injury, Rubio will only increase his trade value over the next couple of years. The Wolves are probably going to suck this year with or without Rubio...if he fits in during the next year or two, then great, and if not, then they trade him. In two years, he'll still be only 20.
What this boils down to is that Minnesota simply doesn't have the endorsement opportunities available to offset the massive buyout, so Rubio would have been playing for free, which didn't make sense for him. I believe that's the reason he wanted to be in a bigger market more than for basketball or climate reasons. But it doesn't necessarily mean that it was a bad move for the Wolves to draft him, because even if he's not playing for them, he is an asset that will likely grow in value.
posted by TheQatarian at 03:18 PM on September 01
Well, Monica Seles was stabbed by a fan (albeit a crazed Steffi Graf fan) back in 1993, though that was in Germany, I believe.
The closest thing I can think of in American sports (aside from the Malice in the Palace, which was started more by Ron Artest than the fan...the fan threw a beer, but Artest was the one who attacked first) in recent times was when Tom Gamboa (Royals' first base coach) got attacked by two drunken fans at US Cellular Field a few years back.
It used to be the worst crimes committed by fans running on the field were committed by "Morgana, The Kissing Bandit". Not so anymore.
posted by TheQatarian at 11:08 AM on August 26
I will agree with what you said about Vince McMahon, but McMahon isn't really part of Angle's current environment. McMahon did give Angle his release, but instead of getting his life in order, he instead bolted for TNA almost immediately. McMahon may have tried to help Angle, but Angle didn't do anything to help himself; he simply found a new enabler.
Angle's current employer (TNA Wrestling) is just giving him everything he wants, including forcing one of his backstage political enemies -- Jeff Jarrett, who had 30% ownership stake in the company (and might still technically at the moment) -- into giving up his stake in the company and getting his friends removed from the company, primarily because Jarrett (who lost his wife to cancer a year or two ago) is now dating Angle's ex-wife. Why TNA management thinks Angle has the moral high ground here, I have no idea, except that Angle's contract is almost up, and they fear losing their top draw back to WWE. Though why WWE would take him back given what a trainwreck he has become (and not needing any further bad publicity after the Benoit incident), I also cannot guess.
posted by TheQatarian at 03:48 PM on August 20
I agree that the Benoit and Angle situations are different with regards to how they got the drugs they are using and the apparent legitimacy of how Angle got them. But it doesn't mean that the drug use combined with the concussions isn't having a similar effect on Angle's mental state. The Benoit deal was isolated, albeit gruesome, and I'm not saying Angle is going to do anything like that. But since he got into pro wrestling, he has beaten his wife (who divorced him), then stalked her, then done the exact same thing to the girlfriend he had afterward. His behavior is irrational and dangerous, and he may be having a simliar mental breakdown to what Benoit had, though it is manifesting itself differently. The warning signs all seem to be there (unlike they were with Benoit), but nobody is doing anything but enabling him.
posted by TheQatarian at 02:06 PM on August 20
Angle has been going down the wrong path for quite some time now, and he is clearly headed for disaster. It's kinda sad in this case, because everyone seems to be able to see it coming, but nobody will do anything about it...in fact, his employer has been catering to his every demand and whim.
If something bad happens, people will look back and see all of the parallels to Chris Benoit (steroid/HGH use, concussions, neck injuries leading to pain pill abuse) and say, "We should have seen this coming." Odd that no one seems to be doing that right now.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:26 AM on August 20
Anyone willing to take bets on whether Favre retires again by Week 6?
All right, I'm kidding (I think). As a noted Favre-hater, I'm not thrilled about this, but I guess we'll just have to make the most of it. The key is to get a lead...if you fall behind or it's close late, Favre might as well be wearing the other team's jersey for all the good he'll do you. On the bright side, given the Vikings' running game and defense, they should be able to get early leads quite often, and perhaps Favre won't try to win the game by himself so much.
My condolences to Sage Rosenfels. I think he'd have been perfectly adequate, and perhaps so beyond this year. Maybe next year, if he's not too pissed off with Vikings management to return.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:16 PM on August 18
Good luck with that one, SEC.
posted by TheQatarian at 11:19 AM on August 18
It seemed that Tiger was like a baseball pitcher whose slider wasn't working, but he kept insisting on throwing it anyway. He kept trying to hit fades all weekend, but they'd stay straight. He kept putting expecting the ball to break, and it wouldn't. He wasn't making adjustments at all, which seemed rare for him.
That being said, Yang played a hell of a round and deserved the victory. He left a couple of putts short in crunch time, but he made all the shots, including a masterful approach at 18. Good for him.
posted by TheQatarian at 08:52 PM on August 16
If Boras has a point, I'd love to know what it is.
Mr. Strasburg: You aren't worth what they are offering you yet. Sign the deal, prove yourself, then see if you can get more. And fire the idiot you call an agent.
posted by TheQatarian at 07:31 PM on August 16
I wouldn't eternally ban a guy who made a mistake and has been contrite and remorseful. Given that he didn't serve any jail time, a year's suspension sans pay seems fair.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:09 PM on August 13
I agree with bperk that this isn't all that similar to the Duke lacrosse case, and it may be to some degree because some people have learned a lesson from that episode. It may also be because the accused is a more famous athlete, and the "victim" doesn't seem to have much credibility due to a changing story and waiting so long to report it. The Duke case seemed much more credible at first than this one ever did.
posted by TheQatarian at 11:56 AM on August 12
Some college coaches have been fired for far less than this sort of thing, but it looks like UL is standing by him. (Not a judgment, just an observation.) You'd think these high-profile people would learn from the mistakes of others regarding having sex with relative strangers, but alas, they don't. It's a bit more troublesome in this case given that Pitino is a coach, and should in theory be a more of a role model for the kids he's coaching.
Not that I support the case of the woman trying to extort him, but Pitino has gotten himself in some trouble that might go beyond the courtroom. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
posted by TheQatarian at 09:44 AM on August 12
If you're gambling on preseason football, I think you deserve to lose.
posted by TheQatarian at 02:19 PM on August 11
Was the misspelling of "Goodell" intentional? Or are you suggesting that he is considered (by himself or by others) the NFL's version of the "Voice of God", hence God-ell?
Not intended to be either a criticism of your spelling or a reaction to such a viewpoint, just seeking clarification.
posted by TheQatarian at 08:16 PM on August 07
Since I won't be on the jury and I'm not a member of the media, I have no obligation to be neutral here. So I'll just come right out and say that I think she's lying. She waited a long time, and she is also accusing Harrah's of conspiring to cover it up, which seems like an even bigger leap of faith to believe, even if Roethlisberger is a friend of the owner. If she had another staff member to corroborate that part of the story, I might rethink my view, but for now, I can't buy into it. The Duke lacrosse team case seemed about 100 times more plausible at the time, and that one turned out to be bogus, so I tend to have a bias toward the accused, especially given that Big Ben doesn't have a bad reputation.
I'll also cast my vote that I thought the Cardinals joke was funny. But to each their own.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:54 PM on July 22
In defense of Deadspin, ABCNews also noted the name of the website in their story. They didn't link to the site, but there's hardly a difference.
There is some noteworthy stuff in the story that contradicts bdaddy's theory (which was what I thought at first, too). Apparently, there are clips from multiple locations, and the camera wasn't stationary; it followed her movement. This suggests that someone was operating the camera, and the multiple locations suggest that it was actually someone following her, not just a random occurrence. The current theory is that it may have been an ESPN employee (someone who would know her schedule and whereabouts), but there isn't much beyond that.
I would suspect that whoever posted these videos may have simply said it was someone who looked like Erin Andrews to provide a bit of a smokescreen.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:13 PM on July 22
On one hand, I see where the players certainly have a case. I've never defended the notion of paying the players while they are in school (they are paid...it's called a scholarship, plus you'd be opening up an awful can of worms with Title IX), but the after-the-fact stuff is a whole other matter. The NCAA is definitely making money off the player's likenesses, no question.
On the other, I somehow fear this might do more harm than good for the fans at home like myself. If the former players win some sort of massive settlement and this causes a change in the way this is handled down the line, what will that mean? Does the video game line die out completely? (What's the point of releasing a new version every year with completely generic players?) Or will the NCAA try to recoup the losses some other way (more advertising, increased ticket prices)?
I'm not saying the players shouldn't be compensated, but I don't want to see the NCAA get completely hammered on this, either.
posted by TheQatarian at 11:01 AM on July 22
It's getting a lot harder to believe Mayfield on this one.
posted by TheQatarian at 12:42 PM on July 16
Not only that, but the guy who scored the winning run (Nyjer Morgan) wasn't even on the Nationals when the game started. In fact, he was the guy traded for the winning pitcher.
I thought I read or heard yesterday that Hanrahan was taking a nap when the game ended. So he can claim that he can win games in his sleep now. Let's see Lincecum or Santana try that!
posted by TheQatarian at 08:23 PM on July 10
Rube Goldberg would be very proud of that trade.
posted by TheQatarian at 12:20 PM on July 09
I know Dennys Reyes had a similar sort of anomaly with the Twins a year or two ago, when he threw a complete inning while only throwing one pitch, i.e. first pitch resulted in a triple-play. I don't know if that had happened before or not.
posted by TheQatarian at 02:03 PM on July 08
Success in any realm, be it sports, the business world, or whatever else, does not come with any obligation to "change the world". It doesn't matter what your race or gender is, nor whether you are a top golfer or the CEO of an oil company. Tiger is free to do as he pleases.
Besides, Tiger has done more to "change the world" just by being who he is than any athlete since Jackie Robinson. Sure, Jordan was an iconic figure in basketball, but he didn't change any racial perceptions about the game of basketball like Tiger has with golf.
The best part (at least to me) is that Tiger *isn't* constantly harping on the fact that he is a racial minority. He's just a damn good golfer. That's how racial harmony comes about, by doing what you do and making people forget about your skin color.
*steps off soapbox*
posted by TheQatarian at 12:22 PM on July 06
According to the latest news conference, McNair was shot multiple times. So that pretty much rules out a murder-suicide with McNair as the murderer, though the evidence points to the other woman possibly being the shooter. (She was shot once and the gun was found near her.) She had also been arrested on a DUI charge on Thursday, and McNair was a passenger in the vehicle.
This is very sad, regardless of who did it. Good player, better man from everything I've heard.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:18 AM on July 05
.
posted by TheQatarian at 05:58 PM on June 24
I had thought about writing a column on ths topic, but Olshansky said it so well that I decided to let his article make the case for me. I'm rather surprised that no one in the NBA or NCAA has offered up this idea previously. It may take some of the glamour out of the NBA Draft, but it would be better for the league as a whole.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:27 AM on June 23
It depends, owlhouse. The automotive union leaders got so obsessed with "winning" their negotiations that they ended up practically putting their employers out of business. If I were in one of those unions, I'd want my share, but I wouldn't want to put my employer in financial danger.
Fehr didn't quite do that, but whether he helped the health of the game is questionable. And if I were a member of the MLBPA's rank-and-file, like some random Pirates bullpen guy for example, I'd be less concerned with the right to make zillions per year and more interested in a proposal which might give my team a shot at keeping guys like Jason Bay and Nate McLouth in town, even if it meant Manny Ramirez would have to settle for $15 million per year instead of $25 million.
Just my opinion, though.
posted by TheQatarian at 10:26 PM on June 22
I'm not going to go quite to the level of beaverboard, but I'm not sad to see Fehr gone, either. I do believe that as MLB revenues increase, player salaries should certainly increase accordingly, though I question whether Fehr's reign in the MLBPA is really about representing the players as a whole or just the superstar players. Therein lay the current problem with the MLBPA.
Perhaps the next leader will be different. Or perhaps not. But I have a column's worth of thoughts on this and I might just write it.
posted by TheQatarian at 06:50 PM on June 22
A Penguins' optimist could argue that the given stat means a road team is due.
The real irony if the Penguins were to win would be that they would have done so in large part because Hossa has done practically nothing in the series. No goals, 3 points. If the Wings lose, he'd be the biggest reason why.
posted by TheQatarian at 08:35 AM on June 11
Scioscia, Tracy Win Manager of the Year Awards
While Mike Scioscia is a great manager, I feel the need to ask: What exactly does Ron Gardenhire have to do to win this thing?
The Angels did get off to a slow start, in large part due to the Adenhart tragedy, but with or without him, they were still easily the most talented team in the AL West and accomplished exactly what they should have. The Twins, meanwhile, were without Joe Mauer for the first month of the season and without Justin Morneau for the last month of the season; their biggest offseason move was re-signing Nick Punto; their pitching staff was held together with chewing gum and duct tape, and they trailed a more talented Tigers team by 7 games on Labor Day...and they WON the division despite all of this. In eight years managing the Twins, Gardenhire has routinely done more with less than any manager in baseball, and somehow he's never won this award. (This is his fifth 2nd-place finish.)
At least we Twins fans can celebrate Mauer getting the MVP later this week. (If that doesn't happen, something is *seriously* messed up.)