- 09:43 AM
- 11/22/09
They aren't going to get rid of the monuments, the cemeteries, and all the rest.
ehhhh, I can see them having a cemetery or a monument without them necessarily being racist, as long as they're treated as part of the past. I went to UVa, coming from a state not in the South. UVa has a large monument in their cemetery to students who were in the confederate army mixed in with the graves of early professors and their families. I found it more intriguing that a university had a cemetery at all than I was concerned about there being a confederate monument - I actually kind of expected some sort of monument (what that says about my prejudices towards the South is another matter). But it wasn't any big deal. It's not like they changed the robes on it like some statue of Buddha or something - it just sat there and no one paid any attention to it.
posted by LionIndex at 12:43 AM on October 29
Maybe the big TV is Jerry's way of compensating for a "deficiency".
I would think that a theory of this nature would already have numerous intances of evidence lined up, quite possibly enough to make a definitive case, even before the new stadium existed as a fired synapse in Jerry's brain.
posted by LionIndex at 12:04 AM on September 22
San Diego may have never won "The Big One" in any sport but at least it's sunny and warm year round
BZZT - 1963 AFL championship.
With the length of the drought that SD's had since its last championship in a major sport, I was kind of surprised it didn't score higher. But, one thing the list seems to take heavily into account is the amount of times a team has reached the championship round only to lose. That's only happened to SD three times, as opposed to Buffalo and Atlanta, with many more losses.
posted by LionIndex at 12:02 AM on May 10
I heard a snippet of an interview with Roy Williams of UNC and his take on the selection process. He was concerned that there were only 4 teams selected for at large bids that did not belong to the so-called "power conferences". I too question such a process. Is the 6th best team in the Big East or the ACC truly better than the San Diego State from the Mountain West or Creighton from the Missouri Valley? To me it smacks of having a representative from ESPN and ABC TV on the selection committee.
Being in San Diego, our paper had a similar take, as did Steve Fisher (SDSU's coach) when interviewed for a reaction. It seems the number of at-large bids has been continually declining for the past few years while the six power conferences keep getting more and more teams in. In '04, twelve mid-major conference teams got at-large bids, then nine in '05, then six for the next two years, now down to four. In a time when, ostensibly, parity is only on the rise in college basketball, does this really make sense? Obviously my local paper and Steve Fisher have some biases, but shouldn't the conference that was ranked 7th in RPI for most of the year get more than two bids (personally, I went to an ACC school and have no ties to SDSU, so I don't share that bias)?
My paper makes an argument about the BCS mentality infecting the basketball system, but I don't know about that.
posted by LionIndex at 01:02 PM on March 17
I know I will receive alot of flack but I question Tomlinson's
greatness. He refuses to play in the preseason, which makes him a slow starter
and he always seems to be hurt for the playoffs. Greatness is a player who is always there and will play hurt in the big games!!
I kind of agree with your last point, but I'm going to give you some flack anyway. Tomlinson holds the record for touchdowns in a season, and that record doesn't even include his two passing TDs; plus he was a leading rusher for however many seasons blah blah blah.
I can understand him sitting out the preseason, and I think it might be the coaches call as much as Tomlinson's - there's really been no doubt the last few years that he was the starter - but I do think he could have gotten in there to warm up a bit.
As far as being injured for the postseason, I think he's just getting old, and by the time the rest of the Chargers got good enough to get the team into the playoffs consistently he was at a point where he was getting beat up by the end of the season. I think the Chargers probably had their best opportunity talent-wise a couple years ago, but lacked the maturity and professionalism to beat the Pats in the playoffs and advance. Since then, I think LT might just have lost it. No one can know for certain, but given the quality of their backups, the Chargers might have been better off with him sitting out rather than trying to play injured.
posted by LionIndex at 12:25 AM on January 23
I'm sure you will miss seeing him against your team because he hasn't been very good in the last 5-7 years. I guess it just shows you how hard it is to find a decent major league pitcher. Maddux could still find a roster spot if he wanted to pitch for the next 5 seasons, even if he had a losing record each year.
As dfleming notes, Maddux has been doing just fine, by any standard the last few years. If he wasn't, why would a team trying to obtain a playoff spot, like the Dodgers, try to pick him up? If there are any problems with his record, it's more a factor of playing on the Padres than anything else. Although the Pads were doing halfway decently before this year, Maddux didn't get much run support. Not that any Padres pitcher did, but even in the good days a typical Padres score would be 2-1.
posted by LionIndex at 11:26 PM on December 06
Not that their record really shows it, but the Raiders were actually showing some signs of turning it around a bit this year. Sure, they blew 4th quarter leads in two consecutive weeks, but those losses were to a team that's currently 4-0 and a team that's a consensus pick to go to the Super Bowl. Heck, they *owned* the Chargers for most of the game, and the Chargers only were able to pull it out because of the turnovers towards the end, and possibly because they shifted their offense into a "wear them down" mode. Given the performance of the Raiders over the last couple years, this year could easily be seen as an improvement -- they weren't complete pushovers this time around. Obviously, they need to be able to "finish", but just being in a position where they had something to finish in the first place is miles ahead of where they were. Even as a Charger fan, with Raider-hatred mixed into the local water supply here, I wish Al Davis would just go away so Oakland could actually have a football team.
posted by LionIndex at 10:34 AM on October 01
If they name the team the Wind, every sportswriter in the country will fancy him or herself an insufferably clever little punk when the get to write the headline "[insert team here] Breaks Wind".
posted by LionIndex at 12:12 PM on July 28
I guess I know of at least one guy who wasn't ripping on Ladanian Tomlinson for sitting on the bench while injured last year.
posted by LionIndex at 03:28 PM on July 09
Agreed. They could have at least plugged the teams into Madden 08 and simulated a game. Yeah, or even a best-of-seven series or a hundred simulated games, just to iron out all the oddities. But then you'd lose the narrative of one game (however ridiculous and detached from reality it might be), as well as the intangibles like the possible synergy between Schottenheimer, Cameron and Drew Brees. It would have tremendously improved the article if they did do the Madden simulations in addition to Dr. Z's narrative, and then provided the stats for the players over the course of a "season".
posted by LionIndex at 10:16 AM on July 09
I remember watching the Seoul olympics 20 years ago and being disappointed that NBC had the coverage of it, mostly just because Jim McKay didn't work for them. Also, they only played their stupid John Tesh olympic music instead of the awesome trumpet stuff.
posted by LionIndex at 03:47 PM on June 09
If he goes in, I certainly see it being as a Dodger, mostly for the reasons Chargdres mentions. That's the team I've seen him play with the most, but that's also because I'm a Padre fan.
posted by LionIndex at 09:21 AM on May 21
But going for sushi in Johnson County Kansas sounds a lot like going to San Diego for barbecue. [insert obilgatory Kansas City Barbecue/Top Gun mention here]
posted by LionIndex at 03:00 PM on April 24
Maddux reminds be of high school biology and disecting a frog. Only difference is opposing batters. That's more of a literal connection than you think. I'm a San Diego resident, and my morning commutes are occasionally punctuated by the unpleasant sight of disemboweled corpses littered along the roadside, and torrents of blood flowing into the gutters as if all 9" of our yearly rain fell in one night, brought by a cold front from hell. The exteriors of some buildings downtown look like Jackson Pollock took up graffiti, if only Pollock's favored media were entrails and crushed bone. Occasionally the smears of blood form words, but they're not utterable by any human tongue. And those are the days after Maddux wins.
posted by LionIndex at 06:46 PM on April 15
That's all true TheQatarian, but the other side of the coin is that China has a tremendous amount of resources committed to the Olympics, and for them it's not just about sports. China sees this Olympic event as their entrance onto the world stage as a major player in all kinds of international things. There have been numerous stories of the government cracking down on areas it wouldn't care about earlier (i.e. toy manufacturing and environmental regulations), along with financing major construction projects by famous architects even beyond what's required for the Olympics (i.e. the new CCTV headquarters by OMA (AKA Rem Koolhaas)). I think China sees these Olympics as a referendum on their status as a nation, and I can't really blame a lot of people outside of the country for treating it that way as well. It's certainly not a good thing for the athletes or for sports in general, but that's how I've seen it described in a number of places.
posted by LionIndex at 04:30 PM on April 07
Without L.T. in the mix, the Chargers are mediocre at best. Well, no--LT was out of the mix, along with Rivers and Gates, and they were still good enough to beat the Colts at home and give the Patriots a run for their money in the AFC championship. So based on the actual games played, if they lose LT, they're only the second best team in the AFC.
posted by LionIndex at 01:53 PM on March 03
A team captain and MVP who cries for his team to succeed when he's on the field, but throws a tarp over himself on the bench when he can't play? You (and others) are OK with that, I'm not. Just my opinion. Yeah, I'm perfectly okay with one of the best players in the league with absolutely no other character flaws; not a showboater in the least; who leaves everything on the field; a guy who comes from a gulf coast state and now lives in San Diego, covering himself up on the sideline of a game in 10 degree weather when he won't be able to warm himself up by playing. I don't think you're necessarily wrong--it would have been *nice* for him to be cheering everybody on--but given the circumstances, I think you're blowing it way, way, way out of proportion.
posted by LionIndex at 12:18 PM on February 29
I feel he took himself out of that game to make a statement to the team about his value. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. Because the Chargers are ignorant about the value of the guy who holds the league record for most touchdowns by a RB in a season, a number that doesn't include the two touchdowns he passed for. And LT took himself out of a playoff game, not because he was injured, but because he wanted to make a statement about that, and thought that denying his team the superbowl would somehow (please explain how!) make things better for himself. You have got to be kidding.
posted by LionIndex at 01:30 PM on February 28
I agree completely, not so much regarding whether or not he could have continued with his injury, but how he covered up and never moved from the bench, hiding behind his helmet and dark shield while the rest of his team was trying to win a playoff game. He appeared to be sulking I pretty much figured he was heartbroken. And he's just not the rah-rah excitable type of guy that Rivers is, so I would frankly have been surprised if he was running around (while injured) rooting on his teammates; and let's not be silly and pretend that they actually would have won had he done that. He's typically just very reserved and supports his team by playing on the field. He's just all business. But personally, I find the behavior of other people on the team, like Rivers jabbering with hecklers in Indy and Merriman's ridiculous sack dance, to be pretty embarrassing.
posted by LionIndex at 10:11 AM on February 28
I would cut LT and keep Turner. LT quit on his team and people know it. He could have come back in that playoff game and chose to stay out. He is a cry baby and does not have the attitude you need to build a team around. That's just total radio-talk show BS. You have *no* idea how he felt at the start of that game, not to mention how he felt after getting in for a couple plays. Was he at 80%? Maybe, but I think I'd rather have Turner in there at 100% than LT at 80, and why waste a guy on the field just using him as a decoy, especially when your opponent already knows he's hurt? I'd think he would have been hurting the team more by trying to stay in at that point, so better to sit than try to appease the mentality of people who call in to talk shows. LT's been in San Diego for a while now, and has never shown any reason whatsoever to doubt him. Sitting for one game when injured does not negate any of that. The dude never phones it in, doesn't do the big victory celebrations in the end zone and generally just doesn't go in for any of the drama that many other players do. If the only Chargers games you've ever watched are the playoff games from the last couple seasons, I can sort of understand being misled by all the hype surrounding them, but LT is someone any GM worth his salt would want on their team.
posted by LionIndex at 10:03 AM on February 28
I'd really like to see him stay with the Chargers, but it's highly unlikely he will. he and LT were a great combo, and for Turner's sake, I hope he does as well in the starting position as he did in the backup role. It's largely thanks to him that the Chargers were able to go as far as they did in the playoffs this year, especially once LT went out. I know I didn't really have any serious worries about the running game at that point.
posted by LionIndex at 05:12 PM on February 27
But with an aging linebacking corps whose ability to stop the run is constantly questioned. It'll be interesting to see if SD takes a page from Jacksonville and comes out throwing given the Pats will probably put 8 men in the box again to stop the running attack. Especially so with a team that has decent receivers as running backs (even if Tomlinson is sidelined); I bet the Chargers start dumping it off underneath to running backs (or Gates if he's healthy) and get Bruschi and Seau tired of chasing them. Wouldn't be too risky of a strategy, especially if Volek ends up being the quarterback, although they probably won't be able to keep pace with Pats offense doing that. But, a play like that is what sprung Sproles against the Colts.
posted by LionIndex at 12:47 PM on January 14
I think the other side of the coin (as opposed to "Pete Carroll should look for a better team so he doesn't totally stink it up in the pros for all time") is that maybe at this point only a truly desperate NFL team is looking to hire him as a head coach, and thus, enter the Falcons. But I'm not sure Pete's stock has fallen to that level yet.
posted by LionIndex at 07:53 PM on January 10
Yeah, four good years don't get you into the Hall. But isn't that basically how Koufax got in?
posted by LionIndex at 05:29 PM on January 09
Couldn't you just be 4' wide and 6' tall and lay down?
posted by LionIndex at 03:13 PM on December 13
If the Patriots didn't need to cheat then why did they? They evidently didn't think they could beat the Jets without cheating or they just cheat so much that it was a habit that they use all the time. Why did Nixon bug the Watergate Hotel when it was totally obvious that he would win the '72 election in a landslide?
posted by LionIndex at 03:02 PM on November 07
Personally, I don't get the concept of automatically rooting for another team in your division once they've gotten further than yours in the playoffs. In some cases, I would actively root against such teams just because there's some sort of rivalry (acknowledged by the other team or not). So, in baseball, as a Padre fan, I could never root for the Dodgers or Diamondbacks. The Giants would be iffy, but right now I'm totally pulling for the Rox. That has more to do with the way they finished out the season and their Cinderella status though. The feeling goes for other sports as well--I went to Virginia, but could never root for Va Tech, UNC or Duke, even though my school would actually benefit from their success in bowl games or the NCAA tournament. And I don't think I could ever root for an AFC West team other than the Chargers, although I'll generally root for the AFC team in the Super Bowl.
posted by LionIndex at 07:27 PM on October 25
You couldn't be more wrong about George Steinbrenner, this is a man that has built one of the finest, most valuable sports corporations in the world. Though the Yankees do create a great deal of revenue, tremendous dollars are reinvested every year back into the organization. Sure, but the general impression I have is that it's been done through brute monetary force rather than any kind of skill, in a manner that's similar to how sheer manpower was used by the Red Army in WWII to crush Germany.
posted by LionIndex at 05:05 PM on October 18
I was looking for Ed McCaffrey, and maybe a mention of the track & field judge who took a javelin in the chest, but still managed to plant the flag indicating where the javelin would have landed. I might have just missed that guy while skimming through, though.
posted by LionIndex at 03:49 PM on October 17
The World Series trophy is the ugliest "award" in sports. I think the BCS trophy gives it a run for its money, although I'm not really sure I'd call it ugly. Maybe just "really boring". It's a piece of cut crystal shaped like a football. Whoop-de-doo. Looks like something my grandma would have in her curio cabinet, possibly filled with Hershey's kisses.
posted by LionIndex at 12:12 PM on October 05
The playoff game hurt the Padres' chances of advancing a lot more than the Rockies. The Padres had to burn their ace for the game, while the Rockies went with their number... uh... well, it's hard to say, but not their ace anyway Exactly. After Hairston hit the home run, I was simultaneously jubilant and filled with dread at the prospect of having to play the Phillies with Peavy already burned.
posted by LionIndex at 01:52 PM on October 02
I'm a Padres fan, and with the way the Rockies have been playing, and with two of our key guys out, I'd much rather see the Rockies in the postseason than the Pads, who would most likely just limp to another drubbing in the division series.
posted by LionIndex at 12:27 PM on October 02
You are a cop in a bad area of town. It is late. A large man is approching you(white or black.) You say"stop right there or I will shoot and draw your gun. He keeps coming. After a few more warnings, you fire, hit him, and he keeps coming. That would scare the shit out of me. Bzzzzt. Foley was not shot in a bad area of town, he was shot in his own front yard (he plays football and has a decent salary, remember) after he'd been followed there by an off-duty cop. Poway is most definitely not a bad area; there are a number of local pro athletes living there, including Tony Gwynn.
posted by LionIndex at 02:12 PM on April 10
And why is SDU's gym called the "Jenny Craig Center"? THAT is an outrage! Or maybe not. 1) It's USD. University of San Diego. 2) Jenny Craig is (or at least used to be) local to San Diego. 3) Announcers on TV sometimes call it the "Slim Gym". I'll admit I laughed the first time I heard it.
posted by LionIndex at 07:51 PM on March 07
It's also amazing that Hoffman's held out as long as he has -- he's lost quite a bit off his fastball, which drastically reduces the effectiveness of his change-up, but he still goes out and befuddles hitters when he gets the call. As a Padre fan, it's been quite a privilege to be have been able to watch him so many times over the last decade or so.
posted by LionIndex at 02:39 PM on March 04
Since I'm from San Diego, Ryan Leaf would have topped my list. Eli Manning would have made it too, but he's suffering enough as it is.
posted by LionIndex at 09:34 AM on February 27
Actually, synthetic fibers are notoriously stinky after extended wear, so I don't really know what the move away from wool is supposed to accomplish in that department. I used to get Backpacker magazine, and one of their primary concerns with evaluating polyester clothing (commonly worn by backpackers for its moisture-wicking abilities) was the clothing's anti-stinkitude. So unless they do a really good job of drying out the hats between uses, they're going to have a bunch of little microbe farms on their hands.
posted by LionIndex at 03:34 PM on February 22
If nothing else, Smith got Phillip Rivers, Shawne Merriman, and Nate Kaeding by trading away Eli Manning. That elevates him to sainthood in my book.
posted by LionIndex at 04:09 PM on February 13
The whole thing smacks of a lousy owner. I don't know much about Smith, but it sounds like he makes Jerry Jones look like The Desert Fox. No, Smith is just the GM. The Spanos family (Alex is the patriarch, Dean is the son) are the owners. Schottenheimer was originally allowed to stay/offered the contract extension in the hopes that his coaching staff would remain fairly stable. Once that got blown all to hell, there really wasn't much reason for the owners to keep Schott around, given his shaky relationship with Smith, so they let him go. Generally speaking, you're correct, the Spanoses are horrifically shitty owners, but in this case I think they made a decent decision assuming that having both Smith and Schott was an untenable situation. Smith is really the one who's built this team, along with his predecessor, John Butler, bringing it back from the aftermath of Ryan Leaf and the Bobby Beathard era when we were going 1-15. So I can't blame them for choosing Smith, but whether they really had to get rid of Schottenheimer right away is questionable. Supposedly, Dean Spanos has a list of candidates, but I expect to be disappointed in the end.
posted by LionIndex at 04:06 PM on February 13
As for Norv Turner: Been there, done that (with the same owners). But, you could have said the same thing about the Raiders and Art Shell.
posted by LionIndex at 03:15 PM on February 13
As a Charger fan, I'm sad to see him go, especially since we've already lost Cam Cameron to the Dolphins. Even with Marty around, that was a pretty good coaching staff; or at least the results on the field (playoff games notwithstanding) seemed to demonstrate that. Hopefully Wade does well in his new position, and hopefully we're able to get an adequate replacement for him.
posted by LionIndex at 01:24 PM on February 09
What, like we don't have our own (neglected) inside jokes? Deadspin: NOT A SPORT Deadspin writers: NOT ATHLETES
posted by LionIndex at 10:09 AM on February 06
Blah blah blah. Blah! Cheers, Kip Mongolia (spofi: Boy Palestine)
posted by LionIndex at 04:38 PM on January 18
but because it shuts out Chargers fans outside of SoCal Hahahahaha!!!! Both of them?
posted by LionIndex at 03:33 PM on January 10
What's really stupid about it is that there are so many transplants from New England here that the ban won't really mean much. We have entire bars in this town devoted to the concept of being from Boston. But, that's just how San Diego is -- lots of people move here from elsewhere, typically northern tier midwestern and northeastern states. When the Padres play the Cubs, it's often like being at a road game.
posted by LionIndex at 03:31 PM on January 10
L.T. also broke a few records along the way and his team has had a magnificent season with 13 wins. *cough* 14 *cough*
posted by LionIndex at 12:59 PM on January 05
It's kind of weird seeing this news--Tiki and Ronde were in my graduating class at UVa, so I've been cheering them on for longer than most people. Like some others here, he was a reason for me to root for the Giants, especially since when he started they had Charles Way at FB for an all-Virginia backfield. But it's still odd that someone my age is "retiring". At least Ronde's got a ring.
posted by LionIndex at 07:57 PM on October 18
If you put more than 4 runs up against them then you win. Simple as that. Sure, but they generally don't give up many runs, having one of the best team ERAs and the best defensive efficiency in the league. If it weren't for that, the Padres wouldn't have gotten to where they did.
posted by LionIndex at 03:21 PM on October 09
What you're basically saying, tieguy, is just scrap football practically altogether in the ACC. Scrapping all those teams pretty much means getting booted from the BCS. Would dropping Duke (and maybe Wake) from ACC football actually make it a stronger conference BCS-wise?
posted by LionIndex at 02:13 PM on October 04
Sutcliffe was an occasional color guy for the Padres TV team, and it seemed like he was always drunk; at least he sounded like it.
posted by LionIndex at 11:54 AM on May 12
If he had all these run-ins with the law and alcohol problems, etc. but was still managing to win a lot of games and get guys out, we wouldn't be having this conversation. See: David Wells.
posted by LionIndex at 07:08 PM on September 01
Rivers was actually in a pretty good bargaining position when the Chargers signed him--up to then, Brees had been totally stinky-poo, so Rivers was looking to be brought up to the starting position fairly quickly. Like, this year, since Brees' contract ended last season. However, Brees somehow got his act together and started kicking ass last year, essentially forcing the Chargers hand in resigning him. So we're certainly paying too much at QB, but that's just the way it happened. At least we were able to unload Flutie.
posted by LionIndex at 06:45 PM on August 20
Confession - I never wore either in any sport: baseball, football, soccer or lacrosse. And I saw the most horrific groin injury I ever care to witness while on a lacrosse field. In lacrosse?! That's complete madness! If there was ever a sport designed to render men infertile, it's lacrosse. Luckily, I played defense and was typically dealing out the punishment instead of receiving it.
posted by LionIndex at 02:41 PM on July 22
MJ in a Wizards uni is nothing--how about a White Sox (farm) uniform? That's craziness.
posted by LionIndex at 08:23 PM on June 06
I wanted to call this column “Pay Rickey,” because that’s what people need to do. Pay Rickey. If Tony Gwynn was making a comeback, people would pay Tony. People love Tony Gwynn. People hate Rickey. They say, “Tony Gwynn gave 110%.” Rickey gave 140%! They say, “Tony Gwynn was a five-tool player.” Rickey is a six-tool player! Just to pierce Rickey's logic here (and yes I know it's a fake quote), but no one in their right mind would pay Tony Gwynn to do anything that requires him to be ambulatory. Half the reason the Padres had Rickey on the team in the late nineties was to function as Tony's legs.
posted by LionIndex at 03:53 PM on May 12
design a secret t-shirt and pin A secret t-shirt? Wouldn't that just be a plain white undershirt or something? I propose plain shirts with a big NOT A SPORT on the front. Green shirt, white print. Or, FUCK YOU, RAY LEWIS.
posted by LionIndex at 04:22 PM on May 02
Lots of jobs test for pot smoking. Whatever your opinion of the reasonability of that practice, what's the difference here?
posted by LionIndex at 07:51 PM on April 14
That Harvard grad sounds impressive, but I like how all of the cheerleader day jobs sound like inflated resume titles: "psychopharmacological researcher" ... "managing an asbestos-removal project" ... "project manager for a design firm." That last one is one step higher on the totem pole than I am in my current firm. I've put in five years hoping to get promoted to that position. Current job: "Technical Staff". Yay me.
posted by LionIndex at 06:39 PM on April 05
The Hoser's NFL Picks 2009, Week Nine -- Haiku Edition
You could always compare Snyder to some kind of inoperable cyst.
As a San Diegan, I really wish we weren't the lock of the week.