Recent Comments by offsides

U.S. Wins Women's World Cup

The shadows were unfortunate, but which goal looked like it was caused by the keeper's visibility?

The first defender subbed out for Japan had the misfortune to figure in the first three goals.

On the first goal, she didn't pick Lloyd up early/closely enough and gave Lloyd an easy path to the ball. In the replay she can be seen to raise her hand before the kick as if to shield her eyes from the sun. And I believe that Lloyd's run started from the shade. So I can believe that the sun was a factor there.

On the second goal, she got delayed by the scrum and let Lloyd get to the ball first. I don't see the sun as a factor at all there.

On the third goal, her attempted clearance went up not out. That mistake could have easily been caused by the sun.

posted by offsides at 12:58 PM on July 06, 2015

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

If the NFL wants blows to the head stop, then they need to take each blow to the head personally. As Michael Corleone would say:

Tom, don't let anybody kid you. It's all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of shit every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it's personal as hell. You know where I learned that from? The Don. My old man. The Godfather. If a bolt of lightning hit a friend of his the old man would take it personal. He took my going into the Marines personal. That's what makes him great. The Great Don. He takes everything personal Like God. He knows every feather that falls from the tail of a sparrow or however the hell it goes? Right? And you know something? Accidents don't happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult.

posted by offsides at 12:36 PM on December 18, 2013

Reds Fire Manager Dusty Baker

Joe Posnanski's take in Getting Dusty in here is that he is the guy to make your bad team a contender. You just want somebody else to take you to the finish line once Dusty has done that.

posted by offsides at 04:08 PM on October 07, 2013

Danica Patrick wins the pole position at Daytona 500.

I do give her credit for that, but I also believe that she's on the level of Anna Kournikova.

You also need to account for Patrick competing in the Open division against all comers. Even the greatest Women tennis players of all time would have been very hard pressed to squeeze out a single win on the men's tour. Patrick is competitive against the very best and that's a major accomplishment in itself.

posted by offsides at 05:47 PM on February 19, 2013

SpoFi Holiday Giving Project: One World Futbal

Count me in as well.

posted by offsides at 01:07 PM on November 14, 2012

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

You can see the head of the fifth official looking directly along the line and he still screwed it up.

Shouldn't the official line up with the outside boundary of the line rather than the inside? It appears that the ball would need to be about 1/2 the width of the line inside before the official would see separation between the goal post and the ball (depending upon whether he's right or left eye dominant).

posted by offsides at 12:37 PM on June 20, 2012

Not your business

The garment is said to have passed the permeability restriction (supposedly insures that the skier's skin can breathe properly). I believe that this fabric is rejected for being too plasticky.

posted by offsides at 01:58 PM on January 19, 2012

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

I think Chara should have been suspended.

I don't think that he foresaw the actual results. But I believe that he knew (or should have known) where he was on the ice. And I believe that he knew (or should have known) there was a very good likelyhood of Pacioretty running into the glass wall. We expect players to know when they're too close to the boards. We should expect them to also know when they're too close to the glass wall between the benches.

I'd like to believe that no one wants to seriously injure the opposition. But hit them hard enough to lower their game - absolutely. Blown ACL bad, ankle sprain good. That's a pretty fine line. We should make it clear that some things are automatically over the line.

posted by offsides at 01:01 PM on March 11, 2011

Mangini wonders if Lions faked injuries

Has Belichick made the playoffs with[out] Brady?

As a Denver fan, I have to say that the perception of Shanahan changed dramatically when Elway retired and Davis went down with injury. He went from the "Mastermind" to the guy who couldn't get it done in the post-season.

If Belichick continues to win post-Brady, then he solidifies his credentials as a legend. If he fails, then we'll always wonder how big a role Brady played.

posted by offsides at 01:15 PM on November 25, 2009

NFL Changes Rules for Player Safety

The problem with that is nothing is stopping the O-lineman from going full speed. You have a D player having to let up and he can still get hit full speed while he is on the ground.

I partially agree with scottypup. I'm not so worried about the D player being hammered on the ground as much as I'm worried about someone "blocking" him in the knees as he's getting up. If the D player has to get up before he can continue to play Football, then maybe he should get the equivalent of chop block protection while he's doing it

posted by offsides at 01:24 PM on March 27, 2009

Eight.

Here's what .01 seconds at the wall looks like.

In the previous photo from this sequence you can see how Phelps' fingers are pushed back from contact with the wall and in this blowup you can see that Cavic isn't quite there yet.

posted by offsides at 11:31 AM on August 18, 2008

Son of the Great One Kid just looking to have fun playing hockey

Try this link from the RSS feed. I think that it doesn't require registration.

posted by offsides at 04:22 PM on December 15, 2006

Almost 49 years since the Munich air crash, Manchester United and England icon Sir Bobby Charlton is still haunted

But has anything like this happened in another sport? There was also Sabena Flight 548. All 72 people on board died, including the entire 1961 US Figure Skating team. The 1961 World Championships were cancelled as a result.

posted by offsides at 08:52 AM on December 13, 2006

Bertuzzi argues for reinstatement.

Without weighing in on Bertuzzi's penalty or lack there of, I'd just like to point out this is yet another area where the NHL needs to learn from the NFL. You may disagree with the NFL's definition of dangerous play (chop block anyone), but the NFL does a much better job of policing the act rather than the consequences. Hockey's problem is that they police the consequences rather than the act. If Moore had just bounced back up, I suspect that the NHL would have just slapped Bertuzzi on the wrist and let things go. Compare this to the NFL's practice of escalating fines leading up to suspension.

posted by offsides at 10:56 AM on April 28, 2005

Not this infernal debate, again.

For what it's worth, I sent an email to a friend who played shortstop for a NCAA Division III team the next day. He concluded that given the situation Jeter should have been there.

posted by offsides at 09:50 AM on August 29, 2004

As much as I'd like to see the goalies get hit, I think that this is OK. You roll 4 lines and 3 sets of D, but the goalie plays the entire game. There's too much money invested on the position and not enough depth for the NHL to take a chance on unnecessary injuries.

posted by offsides at 03:07 PM on February 14, 2004

Pro Football Overtime

I like the proposal that keeps the current OT format, but requires that the winner score at least 6 points. It eliminates the win the flip, drive for a FG and win abomination. And it's still Football.

posted by offsides at 05:29 PM on November 10, 2003

Way to go Wild!

The Kings did allow a fan (and money manager) to take a look at their books. The report can be viewed on LetsGoKings.com. What I found most interesting was the author's conclusion that the main driver of higher player salaries has been the poorly planned and badly executed expansion of the NHL outside of its traditional markets.

posted by offsides at 05:13 PM on October 28, 2003

<disclaimer>Av's Fan</disclaimer> Brodeur might be the greatest, but he'll never get that recognition unless he leaves New Jersey and puts up similar numbers elsewhere. We'll always wonder whether it was him or the system as long as he's a Devil. I have to go with Roy for the greatest of the modern era.

posted by offsides at 10:56 AM on May 30, 2003

Who is the greatest pitcher of all time?

Found a source for Stewart 8-0 lifetime against Clemens (NY Times, registration required, link expires around 31 May). Worth a read if you're interested in Clemens (the link points to page 3 of 5).

posted by offsides at 02:57 PM on May 26, 2003

Who is the greatest pitcher of all time?

Stewart and the A's were something like 8-0 against Clemens and the Red Sox. Stewart was in Clemens' head. In 1990, Clemens got tossed from a LCS game pitching against Stewart. That was a big part of the "not a big game pitcher" rap that the Rocket lived with for so long.

posted by offsides at 11:15 AM on May 26, 2003

Who is the greatest pitcher of all time?

I remember Dave Stewart and the A's just owning him for a few years. It may not be fair, but I just can't pick Clemens as the best because of that.

posted by offsides at 07:05 AM on May 26, 2003

I think that it would quickly become a sideshow. Sorenstam proved that she could compete, but she has a way to go before she becomes a threat to win. If it's just her, then it's Sorenstam against the field and that's a big long shot. IF another top LPGA pro wants to play and a sponsor wants to extend an exemption, then I'm all for it. But it needs to be a mutual decision for the time being and I think that an automatic invitation carries too much implicit coercion.

posted by offsides at 07:00 AM on May 26, 2003

I'm fifth on the waiting list at my local library for "Moneyball: The Art of winning an Unfair Game." It looks pretty interesting (based on excerpts in the Sunday NYT magazine and Sports Illustrated). One of the themes in the SI excerpt is that Beane would rather pick a player based upon past performance over a player with potential. Consequently he favors college players who have played more games against better competition over high school players playing against questionable competition. One thing that isn't properly addressed is that Beane knows his big three of Hudson, Mulder and Zito are gone as soon as they're eligible for free market salaries. Picking high school players does him no good because they won't make it to the show soon enough (the book covers the 2002 year and draft). I'll provide a longer analysis once I get my hands on Moneyball.

posted by offsides at 01:05 PM on May 24, 2003

Sorenstam may force rewrite of PGA policy

I agree with wfrazerjr, she's playing about as well as she can. While it's true that she hasn't had a great day with the putter, she's also had some pretty good bounces. To me the really impressive thing is how she's held up under the bright lights. I don't think anyone has been under this much pressure on a golf course in years. I've got some comments on what weenies the PGA are on my blog.

posted by offsides at 02:52 PM on May 22, 2003

COUNTERPOINT

There are two separate issues going on here. 1) Is Singh wrong to make a fuss about Sorenstam? 2) Is Singh sexist, racist, other? Singh is wrong because he doesn't recognize the accepted rules of competitive balance - you are are allowed to play up to a more competitive level, but you are not allowed to play down. We don't complain about boxers or wrestlers going to a heavier class in search of competition, but if they want to go down to a lighter class, then they have to make the weight. Singh is sexist because he complained about Sorenstam accepting an exemption, not about the practice of sponsor exemptions. Sponsors give exemptions to schmo's all the time and the only people who complain are the lower tier players who get bumped out.

posted by offsides at 07:49 AM on May 20, 2003