- 08:10 PM
- 11/07/09
| Member since: | July 06, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Last visit: | September 16, 2008 |
zddoodah has posted 0 links and 21 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 0 comments to the Locker Room.
"I think the US women's ping-pong player is from China."
Not just A player. The four members of the U.S. women's ping pong team are Wang Chen (born in Beijing and who "who was a mainstay of the Chinese team in the 1990s"), Crystal Xi Huang (born in Changsha, Hunan, China), Gao Jun (born in Dalian, China), and Jackie Lee (who was, shockingly, born in the U.S.).
According to Gao Jun's bio at www.nbcolympics.com, "The International Table Tennis Federation recently approved a rule stating that anyone over the age of 21 may not emigrate to another country to further their [sic] playing career. Even those under the age of 21, while allowed to switch country allegiances, would have to wait certain amounts of time before they could actually compete for that nation. That means after the Beijing Games, anyone hoping to emulate the careers of Gao and fellow-U.S. Olympian Wang Chen would not be able to do so. [P] Needless to say it's been met with criticism on both sides of the argument. As Gao told the Associated Press, 'If you cut out all (foreign players) and tell the Americans to play by themselves, you'll see what's going to happen to the level of talent. The situation will be that there won't be any team that can compete against China.'"
In other words, all you Americans can't hold my Chinese jock strap! Of course, who really cares about ping pong besides Forrest Gump?!
posted by zddoodah at 03:52 PM on August 18
"It seems there's always a 'oops, I dropped the Cub and put a crack/dent in it' story." I think 1908 was the last time there was a celebration that involved dropping a Cub! ;-)
posted by zddoodah at 04:36 PM on June 20
The responses so far illustrate the difference between the questions of "would you?" and "should you?" Logically and morally, whether a person does or does not have other medals is of no relevance to the decision to return or not to return the medal (that said, I agree that it is an easier decision because he has other medals). Nor is it relevant how hard anyone trains. Had the violations been discovered ahead of time (or before the medals were awarded), the entire team would have been disqualified. Johnson could not have one the medal on his own. I do not, however, agree with disqualifying everyone on the national team. The cheating by one guy who ran a leg on the 4x400 team had no relevance on the guy who ran the 10k or threw the hammer. Why not take away the basketball team's gold medal too (oh wait...nevermind)?
posted by zddoodah at 11:31 AM on June 04
I'll never understand why folks who put these sorts of lists together feel they must eschew things that your average, everyday sports fan would actually want to attend. And, frankly, it's beyond me why anyone feels competent to tell me what I "must see" before I die. I'd like to visit Sydney, but the blurb says it all -- you don't really need a reason, so if you're going to go, why not go on this day (assuming you don't mind spending thousands of dollars and 30+ hours round trip flight time to be packed like a sardine)? I'd also do the Iditarod, but that's only because I think Alaska is way cool. The rest of those I couldn't care less about (two of them aren't even sports). Where's the World Series, the Superbowl, the Indy 500, the Stanley Cup finals, etc., etc.? Even the World Cup (which is a lot coming from someone who can't stand soccer)?! Or are those just so obvious that there's no point in including them (and, if that's the case, why not say so)?
posted by zddoodah at 03:46 PM on April 29
"Is there anything musically redeeming about it?" If it's rap, then the answer, obviously, is "no."
posted by zddoodah at 02:31 PM on February 27
"I have the right to bear arms" That's debatable. First of all, no court has ever held that the Second Amendment prevents STATE governments (as opposed to the federal government) from enacting laws that prohibit or restrict gun ownership/possession. Second, 10 of the 12 federal circuit courts of appeals (not to mention the prevailing opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court) have held that the Second Amendment only grants a right to bear arms in the context of a "well regulated Militia" and does not confer an individualized right to gun ownership/possession. "what right do you have to infringe upon my rights?" I don't have any right (unless you consider the fact that the Constitution only constrains governmental conduct). However, the government does have that right. Even if you live in DC or one of the states covered by the Fifth Circuit, no constitutional right is absolute. "For every case of some psycho threatening to kill a bunch of people there are hundreds of cases of people who protected themselves with firearms that the media do not report because it doesn't suit their political bias." Hundreds, eh? And you know this how? It's a convenient argument to assert baldly that you can't back up your premise because of some perceived media bias. Surely at least one of the thousands of media outlets in this diverse country doesn't have an anti-gun bias. Come on.
posted by zddoodah at 09:49 AM on February 08
"Havelock is charged with mailing threatening communications in the mailing of eight copies of a “manifesto” explaining the planned massacre." Nice grammar/sentence structure. Perhaps the paper's editor took the day off.
posted by zddoodah at 09:39 AM on February 08
"Thoughts on . . . Tippett?" I don't argue with dudes who are 6'3", 240#, and who are 5th/7th degree blackbelts in multiple martial arts. Aside from that, his election by players and coaches to the NFL all time 3-4 defensive team is a pretty high endorsement by those who know the true impact of a person who plays a position that isn't always measured by stats.
posted by zddoodah at 09:19 PM on February 04
"I guess when I think of HOF running backs I think of names such as Brown, Payton, Dickerson, Allen, Dorsett, Smith, Sanders, maybe Curtis Martin guys who played at the highest level for more than a few years in a row." But do you also think of Battles, Canadeo, Dudley, Guyon, Hinkle, and Leemans? They're in the HoF alongside all but one of the names you mentioned. The immortal Alponse Leemans? A whopping 3,132 yards in 8 seasons (12 game sesaons, I'm guessing). Now...I don't know much about any of those guys, but it seems to me that, when arguing something that has no parameters, and, while there's no question that Davis isn't in the same class as Brown, Dickerson, and Smith, there is something to the argument that, if X = HoF, and X=Y, then Y = HoF. Just don't get me started on Phil Rizzuto and the Baseball HoF! :-)
posted by zddoodah at 09:13 PM on February 04
"is Terrell Davis really deserving of the Hall of Fame" I'm a 30 year Bronco fan, so my gut instinct is to say "hell yeah." However... Davis has better overall numbers than a lot of RB/FB in the HoF, but most of those players are from the 20s-40s. Earl Campbell probably provides the best basis for comparison. Campbell played in 115 regular season games over 8 seasons. Davis played in 81 regular season games over 7 seasons (1 game more than 5 full seasons worth). Campbell had 9,407 career yards, or about 1,176 per year, or 81.8 per game. Davis had 7,607 career regular season yards, or about 1,087 per yar, or 93.9 per game. Davis had 4.6 yards per carry to 4.3 for Campbell. Davis had 60 TDs; Campbell had 74. Both were league MVP once. Davis was league offensive player of the year twice; Campbell won the award three times. Campbell went to the Pro Bowl 5 times (and was a 4x all pro -- not sure of the distinction); Davis was a 3x Pro Bowl selection. While their regular season numbers are pretty comparable, Davis is better in several "per game" and "per carry" categories. The glaring difference, of course, is that Davis has the 2 rings, a Superbowl MVP, and some exceptional post-season stats (5.5 ypc; 1,140 yds in 8 games; 1.5 TD/game). I couldn't find all of Campbell's post-season stats (6 games in 78, 79 and 80), but it appears that he was largely ineffective in the 78/79 and 79/80 AFC Championship games against the Steelers. Therefore, I think that Davis is a least as qualified as Campbell, but the question is whether 8 seasons and 115 games is enough to warrant inclusion, but 7 seasons and 81 games isn't. To me, if there's going to be a bright line imposed, then it should be done by the HoF making a rule (e.g., "In order to be considered, a player must have played in at least enough games to constitute five full seasons."). So, I'm back to "hell yeah!"
posted by zddoodah at 01:48 PM on February 04
On one side, we've got a sports reporter who hasn't explained the factual basis for his comments, and, on the other side, a self-interest player and his teammate who probably would prefer that the story go away (even if true). So who's telling the truth?
posted by zddoodah at 05:38 PM on November 13
"'Jeter is notorious for his off-field plays - he's been linked to the likes of Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jordana Brewster, Mariah Carey, Scarlett Johansson, Vanessa Minnillo and Gabrielle Union.'" I heard he's also been linked to Kim Possible and Erin Esurance!
posted by zddoodah at 10:26 AM on October 19
"There's a chicken-egg thing going on here. For every soccer snob singing the praises of the beautiful game to American philistines, there's an American buffoon who slams soccer by presuming that his own lack of interest and knowledge in the sport is shared by everybody else." And my point is made. Why must anyone who finds soccer boring must necessarily be a "philistine" or a "buffoon" who lacks "interest and knowledge"? I, myself, have given soccer a try several times, but its interminable actionless periods, its players who recoil in apparent agony any time an opposing player has the audacity to graze his/her jersey in an effort to draw a foul, and its backwards secret timing system (to say nothing of urine bombs and rioting -- however atypical that might be) never cease to leave me disinterested. Certainly, the more coverage any sport receives, the more interest there will be in it (I'd certainly have a LOT more interested in biathlon, luge, women's softball, and archery if anyone put them on TV with regularity), but that's only true to a certain point, and the reality is that there's more than enough soccer coverage in the media to keep the majority of American sports fans satisfied. "it would be nice if people who could care less about soccer could demonstrate this disinterest by shutting up and moving on" The appropriate terminology is "couldn't care less," and we "buffoons" would be happy to "shut[] up and mov[e] on" if soccer fans would stop trying to shove their sport in our faces.
posted by zddoodah at 06:26 PM on July 16
Soccer's failure to catch on in the US, it has little to do with the lack of coverage by mainstream media. Soccer fans have the high-minded tendency to look down at anyone who doesn't "appreciate" soccer (as opposed to many die hard NHL fans who don't care if the masses don't like/appreciate hockey as though it's their personal, secret treasure), but the reality is that the majority of American sports fans find it boring. The media has TRIED any number of times over the past ten years or so to force soccer down our throats. To be sure, if ESPN used the same blitzkrieg strategy that it uses with the NBA, apparent interest might increase somewhat, soccer is not, and never will be, an American game. As with all prior efforts to force-feed soccer to the masses, the hype over Mr. Beckham (and his desperately in need of a hot fudge sundae wife) will die out in short order -- particularly when wanna be fans and corporate types shell out hundreds of dollars for Galaxy tickets only to find that Mr. Beckham is off playing for his country in some international tournament. And, by the way, what sort of arrogance does it take for someone still to refer to the USA as "the colonies." The Brits lost the war over 2 1/4 CENTURIES ago. Time to move on.
posted by zddoodah at 06:03 PM on July 16
Questionable Call
Unfortunately, this is one of those situations where it takes something like this to fix a bad rule. I've been a Broncos fan since the Superbowl XII season, but even I have to admit that the call was correctly reversed to a fumble AND that, under the circumstances, Hochuli should have had the discretion to award the ball to San Diego.
As for the Broncos going for 2, it's been said more than once that Shanahan was playing with the house's money. He's no "genius" for having done it, and, if it hadn't worked, I think most folks would have recognized that they shouldn't have gotten the TD to begin with. AND, who knows...maybe they'd have recovered the ensuing onside kick.