- 12:06 AM
- 03/21/10
How was Spain completely gassed for the semis? They rolled through the group stage 8-0 on aggregate.
I don't mind the US sending the B squad to the Gold Cup. You've got to keep developing and don't want to run down your guys while you're only halfway through WC2010 qualifying. Plus it got my guy Jay Heaps a callup and a chance to get his first cap.
posted by mbd1 at 01:59 PM on June 29
I was thinking about posting this article yesterday. I'm a big fan of Lewis and also Battier. I think Lewis is working on a book about basketball, and it looks like this could be a chapter. Although I think he's supposed to write a "sequel" to Moneyball as well, but that's being held up by a book on the latest economic situation. Ah, who knows.
IIRC, Battier negotiated his own contract with the Grizzlies - at least his first one, where he was locked into a pay band based on his draft position.
posted by mbd1 at 12:25 PM on February 15
We were driving the PA and NJ turnpikes yesterday, listening to the game. Made the ride a lot more fun. We turned on the radio as it was 3-0, and didn't yet know that the winner would get the last NFC playoff spot. What a nice surprise after a long day of driving.
I agree that the NFC is wide open, and that the divisional/wild card situation needs to be tweaked. One day a 7-9 team will end up with a 4 seed (has it happened already?).
E!A!G!L!E!S! EAGLES!
posted by mbd1 at 02:49 PM on December 29
I see Maddux as a lifer - he really enjoys being around the game, and I bet he takes a job with the Cubs or Braves as a roving minor league instructor. Everybody talks about how they like to sit with him in the dugout on the days he doesn't pitch, just to hear him talk about how the game is going and how he would approach each at bat.
He's got a ton of knowledge to pass along to the kids - how to approach a batter's strengths and weaknesses, how to get the most out of a so-so fastball, how to field the position, how to chop off the hands to delay identification of the body, etc.
posted by mbd1 at 11:25 PM on December 05
So I've moved to Long Island and gotten Verizon's FIOS cable, with 5 flavors of ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel. This has been a great time to be unemployed, between the Champions League and Euro 2008 coming up.
posted by mbd1 at 10:59 PM on June 05
I think Win Shares could really help guide this discussion. As a Cardinals fan, I immediately thought of them for the first basemen.
posted by mbd1 at 05:05 PM on June 04
I hated the way he (and others) let himself get hit by pitches constantly. That stupid elbow armor. But I did admire that he hung around forever and seemed to enjoy playing the game.
posted by mbd1 at 11:23 AM on February 26
Will's book tour hits Philly tomorrow, and I'll be there. I'm looking forward to it.
posted by mbd1 at 02:53 PM on February 19
Kieran Darcy wrote a good article about his time on the JV team at Penn.
posted by mbd1 at 01:49 PM on February 12
My first set was 86 Topps. And yes, I loved the gum, and the wax packs for 35 cents. Fleer and Donruss had their first sets in 1981.
posted by mbd1 at 01:28 PM on January 17
Nutt wasn't gotten rid of for not being good enough but for various off the field controversies. Arkansas didn't get rid of Nutt; Nutt got rid of Arkansas. But the reasoning is the same. I guess he was just sick of the whole situation. At Ole Miss he'll get a chance to stick it to the Hogs every year. And vice versa. That should be an interesting matchup for the next few years.
posted by mbd1 at 11:25 AM on November 27
posted by mbd1 at 03:48 PM on November 26
Ha. And let's not forget about my second favorite college football team, Duke. Ted Roof may be out after winning like 4 games in 4 years. What will AD Joe Alleva do? A nation waits.
posted by mbd1 at 10:17 AM on November 26
No way LSU would hire Nutt. If Arkansas is going to let him go for not being good enough (which I think is ridiculous, I want him to stay), he's definitely not good enough for LSU. The unknown here is that Frank Broyles is finally stepping down from the AD position, and the new guy, Jeff Long from Pitt, will make the decision on Nutt's future. He might want to start off with a new hire, or he may want to keep Nutt on for continuity. Who knows. And McFadden is not going to stay for his senior year, no way no how. He's a top 5 draft pick easy.
posted by mbd1 at 10:13 AM on November 26
Oh man. I'll be in a cabin in the woods all weekend. Usually I schedule around a much-awaited, epic clash of the titans like this one. NBC is actually televising it, right?
posted by mbd1 at 12:58 PM on November 16
Does it rhyme with leading or with bedding?
posted by mbd1 at 12:18 PM on August 12
He's a blowhard who churns out repetitive mad-lib style "columns." I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he's been dead for three years and his kids are making sure the TMQ Column Generating Machine gets an oil change every 30000 words.
posted by mbd1 at 11:36 AM on August 08
Why are the USA and Mexico invited to play in Copa America? I thought it was a CONMEBOL tournament. And their group is Argentina (FIFA #5), Paraguay (FIFA #37), and Colombia (FIFA #31). The US is currently FIFA #16, and I know there are lots of problems with the FIFA rankings, but I would expect them to be competitive in that group, even with the all the games in unfriendly stadiums. Maybe there's just not much to play for, in that the US has their berth in the Confederations Cup. And maybe it's too early to be thinking about seeding for WC2010. And maybe we need to find out what the kids can do.
posted by mbd1 at 11:11 AM on June 25
Any news on the A-Rod as a choker front?
posted by mbd1 at 09:03 AM on April 09
There's a reason Greg had his condo redone by the set director from Scarface. Say hello to his little friend!
posted by mbd1 at 07:37 AM on April 01
As best I can tell from the video linked, there was one walkon (Johnson), one bench player (Pocius), one occasional starter (Henderson) and two starters (Scheyer and Nelson) on the court. If any player plans to go up for a layup when his team is up 12 with 14 seconds left, he should expect to have that shot challenged. It's unfortunate that Johnson fouled Hansbrough before Henderson had a chance to block the hell out of the ball.
posted by mbd1 at 08:55 AM on March 05
This reminds me of the sumo wrestling chapter in Freakonomics. In the sumo tournaments there, they have something like a 16 man round robin. But wrestlers only get paid (or get points, whatever) if they finish with a winning record. The number of 7-7 guys who won their last match was higher than would be expected when controlling for difficulty of opponent.
posted by mbd1 at 09:36 PM on March 03
Where's the Web 2.0 checklist? I think this site used it as a template.
posted by mbd1 at 01:44 PM on March 03
FBI profilers say that urinating on rookies in the shower doesn't quite fit the MO of your typical whore killer, but Maddux is Hall of Fame caliber.
posted by mbd1 at 01:35 PM on March 02
I'm distantly related to Mark (my first name is Martin, which is my grandmother's maiden name). I really, really, really wanted him to win the race. That's all I have to add - I can't argue NASCAR technicalities.
posted by mbd1 at 01:51 PM on February 19
Isn't this what posses are for? Guy Egypt
posted by mbd1 at 02:12 PM on January 18
grum, you got a typo there. SLG% is total bases/at bats. Dunn is probably the active Three True Outcomes leader. Jim Edmonds is up there, too, at least a couple of years ago. I wonder what the metric should be? (HR+BB+K)/PA with a minimum number of PA, maybe.
posted by mbd1 at 02:29 PM on December 07
tieguy, UNC has found their man (former Miami guy Butch Davis) already. The State job search should be interesting, though.
posted by mbd1 at 01:18 PM on November 27
Yeah, McCarver questioned that move.
posted by mbd1 at 01:08 PM on October 28
WOOT! I am mostly happy for Hollywood and Rolen and Albert. Funny how a team wins 105 and 100 games and craps out...only to win 83 games the next year and take the Series. I wasn't aware of the 82 series, but 85 and 87 and 04 broke my heart. Finally my team are the Champs!
posted by mbd1 at 09:45 AM on October 28
I'm not quite ready to throw Alleva under the bus, but I'm getting close. I just don't know how you get out of this 10+ year rut. And I'd love to go back to the 1980's version of the ACC: Duke, UNC, Wake, State, UVa, MD, Tech, Clemson. Bring back the Dixie Classic to get a couple extra big games for the Big Four. I don't care if it drops the ACC into 1-AA football.
posted by mbd1 at 03:05 PM on October 04
I chose Tottenham as my EPL team in 2003 based on this thread here in SpoFi. Then there's this thread where I almost ditched them. Beat you by three years, Simmons!
posted by mbd1 at 09:49 PM on July 19
We made the switch to Univision last weekend and aren't looking back. Balboa sucks. Plus you get things like the spanish broadcasts occasionally dropping an English phrase...during the Portugal/Netherlands fightmatch we got "Welcome to the Jungle" and "A time to make friends."
posted by mbd1 at 07:58 PM on June 27
Wait, wouldn't it be not gay for Favre to go down on carpet?
posted by mbd1 at 08:09 PM on June 21
NHL guys seem to play until an older age to me. I'd guess it would go NHL>MLB>NBA>NFL in terms of average career spans. But MLB might be weird because the player base is so deep and lots of guys get a cup of coffee before bouncing out. I'd bet the MLB distribution is skewed towards the low end.
posted by mbd1 at 11:12 AM on May 08
Somebody is playing a practical joke on us. Is there a Punk'd for websites? This is about to be the 5th post in a row to be deleted.
posted by mbd1 at 03:50 PM on April 27
I am the most casual of hockey fans and I am fired up for game 3. I don't know how the real Philly fans can hold themselves together.
posted by mbd1 at 07:57 PM on April 25
Loria is a world class jackass. MLB should just contract the Marlins and pay him to go away.
posted by mbd1 at 11:15 AM on April 12
Tyrone Hill is unanimous All-Ugly HOF.
posted by mbd1 at 03:45 PM on April 05
So when's the riot? The "we get no respect" card is WAY overplayed. In all sports.
posted by mbd1 at 09:08 AM on April 05
Arguments over whose fanbase/players/coaches/alumni are more or less "classy," "classless," or containing various amounts of "classlessness" are punishable by wind sprints.
posted by mbd1 at 11:50 AM on March 27
rcade goes to the beach during the opening round of the NCAA tourney?
posted by mbd1 at 06:28 PM on March 17
I know Shane Battier negotiated his first contract on his own - I think he did have a lawyer read the fine print - but that was a case where the NBA had defined salary corridors for the first round draft picks. He probably didn't do that with his FA contract last year, though.
posted by mbd1 at 08:19 AM on March 09
Steven Levitt apparently provided "feedback" for the paper. My first instinct was that higher spread games are harder to handicap, but the paper pretty demonstrated a bias towards the favorites failing to cover by just a few points. Now I'm wondering if the betting public is overestimating the the favorites in these lopsided games. But I'm skeptical that such a market inefficiency would still exist. Basically, I just don't want to think that 5% of high spread games are being fixed. I wonder if Wolfers would advocate systematically betting the underdogs for big spread games. I think the juice is too high for this to work, though.
posted by mbd1 at 03:10 PM on March 08
There's a copy somewhere between Amazon and me as I type. As a Duke grad I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to finish it without throwing it across the room. Blythe apparently devotes some time to the online aspect of the rivalry - namely DBR and IC (can't link to that drivel). And I can hardly sit still thinking about tomorrow's game.
posted by mbd1 at 02:56 PM on March 03
Meh. Tirico is bland, Theismann is a blithering idiot, and Kornheiser is unproven in the booth (although I like him as a columnist and PTI guy). And for the record I liked Dennis Miller in the booth.
posted by mbd1 at 12:59 PM on February 09
Don't worry about Maddux - he'll always be #1 in our hearts. Is there anyone else who can consistently throw 200 above average innings, play gold glove defense, and knock off a hooker every other road trip? We all know the editors were afraid of including him anyways.
posted by mbd1 at 11:54 AM on January 25
There's also a 24 second shot clock in the NBA; college is 35 seconds.
posted by mbd1 at 03:34 PM on January 23
Duke will be fine. Georgetown didn't get lucky - they played a hell of a game and even then it wasn't over until the buzzer. I hate it when Duke loses, but it's not the end of the world. What do you mean, this year's team is egoloaded? JJ can talk a little trash every now and then (I haven't seen it as much as I did last year) but that's about as far as it goes. I kinda wish we had someone with a little more attitude at times. And I don't think anyone takes the GMATs anymore. GRE's, MCAT's, LSAT's, yeah.
posted by mbd1 at 01:42 PM on January 22
Thanks for the post, rcade. I was thinking about working something up myself, but you've covered it all. At least at Duke, a lot of the basketball energy is harnessed into community service. There are lots of projects during the campouts and Coach K regularly pushes for Duke Children's Hospital and the Emily K Center. It's too bad they don't get Carlyle Cup points for this.
posted by mbd1 at 09:01 AM on January 17
Looking ahead to 2006, I'd say that Ripken and Gwynn are mortal locks, and McGwire and Baines are 50-50. I can't see any of the holdovers squeezing in. Beyond that, I think Rickey is the only other mortal lock - there should be some room for a holdover or two through 2009. Garvey is a HOVGer.
posted by mbd1 at 03:17 PM on January 10
Gary DeSarcina played 12 years in the big leagues and only totalled 65 Win Shares? That's gotta be a low for a HOF eligible position player.
posted by mbd1 at 01:27 PM on January 06
Pretty mediocre class this year. My ballot: Bert Blyleven (I'm a small-Haller) Although I wouldn't object to votes for Dawson, Clark, Gooden, or Mattingly. edit: Here's what we said last year.
posted by mbd1 at 12:50 PM on January 05
Why did he wear a sweater during the fight?
posted by mbd1 at 12:18 PM on December 19
Yeah, the Royals are adding a couple of wins at low cost, but they were 62-100 last year. They're not a 90 win team trying to get over the hump, they're a 65 win team trying to stay in contention past May. Meh.
posted by mbd1 at 02:29 PM on December 16
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
Argentina nearly didn't qualify and they get a seed. Yargh. I'd like to look at the seeds from the last few WC's to see exactly how self-perpetuating the top 7 teams are.
I'd guess the best case scenario for the USA would be something like South Africa, Algeria, Slovenia?
Worst case is Brazil, Cameroon, France/Portugal?