- 09:09 AM
- 11/22/09
Clippers broadcasters suspended for remarks about the first Iranian NBA player, Hamed Haddadi.
I assume they'll spend their suspension in the owner's box, cracking racist jokes. How about we concentrate on suspending him?
posted by yerfatma at 10:00 AM on November 21
I wouldn't want to tell someone who'd been hit by lightning there's little risk of being hit by lightning.
posted by yerfatma at 05:22 PM on November 20
doesn't mean that the others are believing pseudo-science.
No, no, I definitely don't want to suggest that. More my reaction to the people suggesting any change in approach is a bad idea.
posted by yerfatma at 04:10 PM on November 20
The same week the "experts" said women should get less mammograms you get a perfect example of why women should do any and all preventative measures. Ironic.
she said the experts that developed the new guidelines were not even doctors. This is a very real reminder of why those should not be adopted.
This is a very good reminder why the Internet should be destroyed. Because it's an incubator for blanket statements. The fact that someone is not a doctor doesn't mean they can't assess the value of a test. In fact, if they actually understand statistics and probability, it would be a benefit. Not all doctors do. Most people don't. The subject is often counter-intuitive and leaves people thinking it's nonsense ("90% of statistics are made up"). Look at the trouble people had in the Bill Belichick thread about probability. Regardless of whether they're a doctor or not, I wouldn't want them predicting outcomes for me.
I know he can be a controversial figure, but if you're seriously interested in the subject and not just looking to acquire a new canvas for your finely wrought set of broad brushes, Malcolm Gladwell's article on mammography and the perception of what is "obvious" is a look.
You would think they would wait until their was some solid evidence one way or the other before they adjusted recommendations.
But what if there all solid evidence against mammography is shouted down as controversial or pseudo-science? We think we're at the forefront of technology, but often we use these things to reinforce our existing beliefs and prejudices. This is a particularly delicate subject because it's health and womens' health to boot. But no one's saying, "Fuck it, smoke a carton a day and don't worry about getting screened." What people are saying is you can't rely on a magic machine to take care of you, you also have to examine yourself and get regular exams from a doctor. But the debate gets turned into a False Dilemma between mammograms and no exams.
From that article:
"In a major study of mammography's effectiveness . . . women who were given regular, thorough breast exams but no mammograms were compared with those who had thorough breast exams and regular mammograms, and no difference was found in the death rates from breast cancer between the two groups. "
"There is nothing in science or technology that has even come close to the sensitivity of the human finger with respect to the range of stimuli it can pick up. It's a brilliant instrument. But we simply don't trust our tactile sense as much as our visual sense."
posted by yerfatma at 02:23 PM on November 20
Wow, thanks. I'd meant to run that down after it was mentioned on Football Weekly. Just makes the whole thing sadder; seems like he was a good person.
posted by yerfatma at 08:44 PM on November 19
Females don't respond in the same manner and this wacko took advantage of that fact.
Among any number of problems with this assertion is the fact, if the timeline from ESPN's replays can be believed, she was responding to being punched in the back.
posted by yerfatma at 05:53 PM on November 19
I'm calling B.S. on the argument that this incident garnered more publicity because it was a woman who did it.
Do you honestly think what she did doesn't happen in men's athletics? Even if it's fairly rare, how many men's sport programs are there in the NCAA? They have to be generating a dozen incidents of equal "quality" annually, but they don't make it onto ESPN. I'll give you that she was repeatedly nasty and she made the mistake of doing it in front of a TV camera, but that's not enough to get you wrap-around coverage on ESPN.
posted by yerfatma at 03:44 PM on November 19
I don't particularly give a tinker's damn
Hey!
posted by yerfatma at 08:40 AM on November 19
Or, put another way- has Sabremetrics finally infiltrated the mainstream?
I don't know if it's that or if the sheer volume of Sabermetrics-oriented bloggers saying Greinke was sure to get jobbed embarrassed the old-school writers into voting for him. If things were less clear-cut, I doubt the writers would pick anyone but the guy with the most wins, as long as his ERA was close to respectable.
posted by yerfatma at 08:39 AM on November 19
Not sure, but you can start looking here.
posted by yerfatma at 01:45 PM on November 18
Why does every post turn into you trying to define the meaning of a word? It's an award for the best pitcher in the league that year, not every pitcher that had a good year. Also, there'd been about a hundred blog posts in the run up to this award from people who were sure Greinke would be "robbed" of the award.
posted by yerfatma at 01:43 PM on November 18
Whoa, I thought he was joking when I saw "That's pretty much how I pitch, to try to keep my FIP as low as possible" attributed to Greinke out of context. But he means it:
"David DeJesus had our best zone rating," Bannister said, referring to the Royals' left fielder. "So a lot of times, Zack would pitch for a fly ball at our park instead of a ground ball, just because the zone rating was better in our outfield and it was a big park."
posted by yerfatma at 12:08 PM on November 18
Yet another reason to drink during the week.
posted by yerfatma at 12:04 PM on November 18
I call New Hampshire bias.
Mixed with a virulent hate of semiotic derailments.
posted by yerfatma at 12:04 PM on November 18
I wouldn't go as far as to say that he "deserved" it since there are a few other pitchers that "deserved" to win as well, IMO.
I think we'd all love to hear who those pitchers were that had better seasons than Greinke. Otherwise that's just another of your "Could mean anything" statements. That was the 31st best pitching season of all-time. The next best season on that list from 2009 belongs to Chris Carpenter at #82.
posted by yerfatma at 10:57 AM on November 18
Steve Spagnuolo is 1-8 with no relief in sight. Is he on the block?
I can't imagine that. He's starting from scratch.
posted by yerfatma at 08:55 AM on November 18
You'll have to pardon some members if they're a bit tired of having the same argument with a new cast of knuckleheads. Some previous threads if you like repeats.
posted by yerfatma at 01:27 PM on November 17
posted by yerfatma at 01:25 PM on November 17
This is now the United States of the Affended.
Can someone explain to me why you PC Bullshit trolls all appear to be sixth grade dropouts? If I ever get a pro sports franchise, I'm naming it the Flyover State Okie Peckerwoods to see if you all whistle a different tune through your knocked out teeth when the one family shoe you've got is on the other foot.
posted by yerfatma at 10:18 AM on November 17
Ribry - Vichy
If they could get him to show up.
posted by yerfatma at 09:12 AM on November 17
Oops ... I got my number from the preseason game.
Are you sure you didn't look at the wrong figure in the box score?
Attendance: 69,143
Attendees kind of sober enough to drive home that day: 22,153
posted by yerfatma at 09:11 AM on November 17
Whoa, that's crazy. Is that based in fact or invented?
posted by yerfatma at 08:08 PM on November 16
Isn't Adams' display of juvenile behavior -- which was in sight of hundreds, including kids -- worse?
Arguably so. It will be interesting to see if the fine is in line with player fines. If they fined the Atlanta coach more because he's a coach, shouldn't an owner get hit with a 6-figure fine?
posted by yerfatma at 08:08 PM on November 16
A site called Advanced NFL Stats offers this breakdown of why Belichick was right
You credit-stealin' sumbitch
posted by yerfatma at 04:02 PM on November 16
Way to nip that shit in the bud.
What, actual communication with the fans who pay his salary?
posted by yerfatma at 02:58 PM on November 16
If they'd run a four- or five-yard pattern instead of a 2-1/2 yard pattern, they would've won even if the receiver had bobbled the ball before catching it
it looked like Randy Moss was going to be 1 on 1 with a rookie corner.
in hind sight it's obvious that a route a yard deeper would have been a better choice.
This all assumes a couple of things:
1. The route wasn't designed in light of the coverage they saw. How can you be so sure that route would be open if it were 2 yards deeper? What coverage was Indy in that you know that?
2. Faulk was the primary receiver. I don't know what the play was, but based on watching the Pats, I'd assume Faulk was a checkdown.
is to give way too much emphasis on how the Pttsburgh Steelers did against the Chiefs last year. You have to look at how effective teams similar to the Pats have been against teams similar to the Colts on 4th and two . . . I realize that diminishes the pool of comparable plays, but it does make it more realistic
How does it make it more "realistic" if your sample size is 1? Or 2? Or 3? The idea of taking a large data set is that it dampens the effect of random chance. Your group of "truly similar" plays could consist entirely of games played in the snow, plays where a cornerback slipped, a time when someone's shoe was untied, etc. There's a reason the Law of Large Numbers is part of probability theory and This One Really Similar Play is not.
posted by yerfatma at 02:56 PM on November 16
I think the best compliment I can give Walter Iooss (what happened to the "Jr."?) is he was so good I knew his name as a 13 year-old SI subscriber. It would have been impossible to miss.
posted by yerfatma at 01:12 PM on November 16
Also, hearing Dick Enberg call that game was a treat. He's been doing NFL games since 1975 and doesn't appear to have lost anything over that span
Assumes that either:
A. His dementia pre-dates 1975 or B. You like hearing players mis-identified as retired players and hearing any incomplete pass within 10 feet of a defender described as "almost picked off!"
I kid. Somewhat. I still like Enberg on tennis and he has a fantastic set of pipes, but I think CBS assigns spotters they want to fire to Enberg just to make them quit.
posted by yerfatma at 01:08 PM on November 16
Maybe I'm explaining it poorly, but I don't think so.
No, I follow you, but I think you're making the same logical error that makes the Monty Hall Problem so much fun. Here's a better response to just what you're asking:
When you go against NFL SOP and you fail, you are going to hear some major criticism.
That's what I'm trying to remind myself. TMQ talks about that all the time, the Gentleman's Failure of kicking a field goal when down by 20 late in the game, the sort of logic that keeps bad baseball teams bad year after year as they sign up people who used to be good. I'm telling myself this is just the price you pay for having a coach bright enough to buck Common Wisdom.
It's not helping. </thread_managing>
posted by yerfatma at 12:27 PM on November 16
That's only true if Peyton Manning fails to lead his team to a touchdown more than 30 percent of the time inside the opponents 30 with around two minutes left.
You've got that turned around, I think. The two options are to go for it (which has a certain success rate; the failure is implied) or to punt.
"Historically, in a situation with 2:00 left and needing a TD to either win or tie, teams get the TD 53 percent of the time from that field position. The total win probability for the 4th-down conversion attempt would therefore be:
(0.60 * 1) + (0.40 * (1-0.53)) = 0.79 WP (WP stands for win probability)"
If nothing else, BB kept the spotlight off Laurence Maroney and his fumble in the end zone.
posted by yerfatma at 11:28 AM on November 16
I didn't watch the end of the game . . . but it seems like an extremely dumb decision to me.
Watching the end of the game, the one thing that was clear was the Pats defense was shot.
the Patriots' completely mis-managed their timeouts, which prevented them from being able to challenge the play
Yes. That was the real killer as a Pats fan. It wasn't even so much the Patriots were out-coached as they beat themselves, when it's always been their hallmark that they don't do that. I don't think the refs would overturn that call, but it would have been nice to find out.
Joe Posnanski has more on the math behind the decision and the timeout thing:
posted by yerfatma at 10:38 AM on November 16
It's "embarrassing" to be afraid of a Hall of Fame quarterback who's come back on you before? The Colts no-huddle offense is designed to wear a defense down over the course of a game and it did. The second half of that game was a horror show for a Pats fan, having seen this all a number of times before. I'm a card-carrying member of the Belichick Kool-Aid Drinkers Society and a big believer in going for it on 4th down and even I was left shaking my head, but it's not like the play was a complete bust. Also:
"However, if you look at the math, the Pats' head coach appears to have made the correct decision." ([via])
I'm still not sure I buy it, because 70 yards is a lot hard than 30, but to suggest Belichick's decision is indefensible is silly.
posted by yerfatma at 09:56 AM on November 16
Instead of defending your slack-jawed, dull-minded, self-centered, low-attention-span-having youngsters, maybe you should be trying to get some sense into them.
"Grey hair does not confer wisdom." - Thoreau
That said, I think LeBron James is a great player and seems to be a decent person, but he has a gift for striking the wrong note at times. His declaration of how #23 should be handled by NBA players reminds me of George Carlin's frustration with airline stewardesses welcoming passengers to a city: "We just landed five minutes ago and she's coming on like the ... mayor's wife." Defer to your elders on this one. Let such an idea come from someone else.
posted by yerfatma at 11:43 AM on November 15
Can you imagine the fallout from this type of thing were it to happen and be exposed in 2009?
David Wells claimed to still be drunk during his perfect game. I realize that's more socially acceptable than LSD, but it's similarly celebrated. Maybe that's the key to pitching no hitters. Someone get Nolan Ryan into rehab.
posted by yerfatma at 12:45 PM on November 14
NFL versus soulless marketing executives. I'm confused: someone tell me who to hate on this one. Or can I root against both sides?
posted by yerfatma at 04:35 PM on November 12
He did send the Steelers a rule change.
posted by yerfatma at 11:02 AM on November 12
The NFL has an incredibly strong players union.
I think we can stop taking you seriously on this one.
If you've ever watch AR football, you have to respect those guys, no pads or helmet and hitting/getting hit just as hard.
That's what I mean, is it possible to quantify such a thing? I've watched very little AR, but are there 270lb guys who run a 4.7 40? Are there the equivalent of a NFL nose tackle, 330+ pounders?
On Preview: apparently not.
posted by yerfatma at 04:21 PM on November 11
does anyone ever get a gold glove if they do not also have the offensive numbers to get the attention?
Joe Posnanski asked the same question at the end of his Gold Glove blog post: "How likely is it that the best offensive players are ALL the best defensive players too?"
posted by yerfatma at 03:22 PM on November 11
I remembered that he had a fallout with the Sixers. Did I remember all the details? No. So what? If he wasn't a troublemaker, those examples wouldn't be there.
But you've also extrapolated a reputation for him based on a handful of incidents, most of them in the far past.
posted by yerfatma at 03:20 PM on November 11
I like football the way it is now.
How often are you getting hit on the average Sunday?
So they imply it's potentially more dangerous wearing a helmet, but don't give any supporting data of how many injuries the helmet prevents
How would they get such data? I think the hypothesis is a fair one, like the economist's idea of a car safety improvement: put a large steel spike on the steering wheel. People would drive much more carefully if the penalty for a mistake were more expensive.
posted by yerfatma at 03:19 PM on November 11
Jordan made his teammates better. I don't think Iverson did that to any great degree.
I don't think Jordan and AI are in the same category, but your comparison should include the caveat that Jordan had good teammates to start with. AI had Webber for a little while and not much else.
posted by yerfatma at 09:24 AM on November 11
Give me a break. Iverson has been an ASSHOLE since day 1.
1. As opposed to all other pro athletes.
2. He's certainly been portrayed as one. I think whether or not he is one of the interesting sports questions of the current era.
posted by yerfatma at 03:23 PM on November 10
Pretty sure that Patriots was designed by a freelance artist by the name of Steve Rogers back in the 70s and he wore it on a cross-country motorcycle ride.
posted by yerfatma at 03:21 PM on November 10
Yeah, I can't believe people are rending their garments over this. "Being from New York, I have always considered myself to be a winner," seemed clearly tongue in cheek to me, but I guess I hadn't considered how important this issue is. No more joking about this Serious Business.
posted by yerfatma at 10:31 AM on November 08
Thanks for posting this. I kept meaning to and forgetting. It will definitely be interesting to see if this works out. Hopefully being in the D-League will mean the players are more willing to work with any coach.
posted by yerfatma at 12:41 PM on November 07
so shouting down this observation as not worthy of discussion seems to me to be out of bounds.
I think the general sentiment here is that it's not worthy of discussion because it's a "Chicken or Egg" problem, regardless of single examples cited. You've provided one unhappy team that won*. Do you honestly think we can't find teams that are remembered as friendly that lost? Seems like that's the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers. And those lovable early Mets. The idea that a championship team was also a group of guys that liked each other is a pointless set of laurels bestowed by fans after the fact because it's pleasant to imagine a team that way. None of us are privy to the 2009 Yankees' locker room, so why argue about it?
* The 1986 Red Sox, while remembered as chokers, might be an even better example. They won 90+ games, got to the Series, all with a team where some of the players spent Spring Training breaking into teammates' motel rooms to take pictures of them cheating on their wives as blackmail ammunition.
posted by yerfatma at 08:04 PM on November 06
It's definitely a performance enhancer. As long as you're trying to sit and watch 12 straight hours of TV.
posted by yerfatma at 07:57 PM on November 06
No, it's not hard. Just because it's beyond you doesn't mean that it's hard.
Oh come on. You've got a world-class pair of blinders. It's a chicken and egg thing: are the Yankees good because they're amazingly talented or are they amazingly talented because the Yankees can afford to pay the best wage? When the As or the Twins win, the reason's clear. When the Red Sox or Yankees do, it can either be inherent genius or it can be a bigger wallet. Same thing with kids at Harvard. Some are there because they're wicked smaht, some are there because they're wicked rich. Maybe the rich kids are smart as well, but you can't ever know they'd have made it without the dollars.
posted by yerfatma at 04:57 PM on November 06
Which proves my point about Australians just talking a tough game.
posted by yerfatma at 04:54 PM on November 06
Is anyone else surprised by how ESPN is covering this? It's strange to me they have an HD feed of a women's college soccer game when half the sports on TV still be struggling to get that together, then they single out one player and follow her around for a good minute or two, which is the amount of time Sportscenter devotes to big pro games. I realize she was nasty out there, but that kind of crap goes on in all sports at most every level. They make a point of showing she gets cracked first but then only show clips of her retaliating. Were there honestly no other incidents involving other players?
This wouldn't have made Sportscenter if it was a men's game and their treatment of it has a Rashomon-feel that suggests someone is a BYU grad. Steve Young probably paid for the cameras. Also, spare me the idea that what she did is worse than trying to gouge someone's eyes.
posted by yerfatma at 03:47 PM on November 06
Is there some point in using a POWER stat to compare a cleanup hitter to a leadoff hitter?
OPS isn't a power stat. It's a combination of on base percentage and slugging, so it measures both positive offensive contributions (and gives them equal weight, whereas some statheads like to give OBP more weight).
A salary floor is just going to lead to silliness where the Royals/Marlins/Pirates sign some aging/useless veteran outfielder for WAY over market value, just because they HAVE to.
That's fine, because at that point the marginal cost to them to sign a over-the-hill veteran or to take the time and spend wisely is close to 0, so they'd most likely improve. I don't see this as a valid argument against a salary floor. Why not have one?
posted by yerfatma at 10:52 AM on November 06
yours is clearly a popular point here
But not other places where smart people actually think about things?
a casual examination of the history of the Yankees should illustrate that "have fun doing it" is a meaningful distinction from other of their championship teams
So the run in the late 90s was all business? Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosius lobbied to change the team unis to bespoke Saville Row pinstripe suits? Also, throwing the word "casual" in there is a less-than-subtle "Fuck you" that would have been best left thought but unsaid.
posted by yerfatma at 07:36 AM on November 06
So will this be the last time that a player wearing #42 wins a World Series?
One less person that believes in my campaign to bring back Mo Vaughn.
posted by yerfatma at 05:08 PM on November 05
Girardi was "jumping up and down, trying to flag me down."
Was probably trying to bring in a relief driver.
posted by yerfatma at 04:12 PM on November 05
You seem to be making my argument for me regarding the revenue sharing.
Don't misunderstand, I agree with your larger point, I just would say it's the revenue sharing and not the salary cap that makes the league even. (Even without a cap, Daniel Snyder would make a mess in DC). As for your Steelers/ Bucs comparison, I think we can put that down as coincidence, unless your theory also encompasses why the Royals and Chiefs are equally inept.
posted by yerfatma at 01:01 PM on November 05
But let's keep the swearing here and on-topic.
posted by yerfatma at 11:48 AM on November 05
One of the reasons that the NFL is so popular is the salary cap and revenue sharing. Any team, regardless of market size, has a legitimate opportunity to win the super bowl.
The NFL would like you to believe that, but it's not true. The salary cap holds down player salaries. The bulk of team revenue comes from national TV contracts which they all split equally. Additionally, they NFL splits gate receipts pretty evenly. So that all means teams are closer to even footing, but try telling Bills fans they have just as much chance as the Giants.
posted by yerfatma at 11:46 AM on November 05
Hate to see Cashman get slapped for tampering, given Utley's signed through 2014. Congrats to the Yanks, who were a juggernaut from May onwards. I just wish things had gone better for Pedro last night, but it wasn't meant to be; too cold, too old.
posted by yerfatma at 10:27 AM on November 05
SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle
Except you're not counting all of the lottery tickets and cigarette taxes that pay for math geeks' public services. We're comfortably ahead in your competition.