holden’s profile

I agree that the right guys won. Looking at the ballots, though, there still is something to be desired (from my perspective) from the voters. I don't think Howard should have finished second in the NL (I don't think he was even the most valuable player on his team), and Morneau finishing over Mauer in the AL is disappointing.

The voters are still obsessed with HR and RBI totals. It's just that Pujols had such an incredible all around year (including being second in the batting race and first in slugging) that it was almost impossible to pick against him, even though Howard outdistanced him by a considerable margin in each category. Had Ryan Howard put up those numbers (47 HR, 146 RBI) in the AL, I think he would have won the AL MVP without a doubt, which would have been a travesty.

posted at 01:10 PM on November 20

I suspect that there's more to this story than meets the eye. It appears that Cuban actually disclosed his sale at the time he made it on his blog. From the relevant entry:

4. Finally, and this has nothing to do with Naked Shorting, I wanted to reference Mamma.com. I had purchased stock in Mamma.com in hope that it could be an up and coming search engine. I thought I had done some level of due diligence. Talked to the company management. Talked to some employees who worked in sales. Read the SEC Filings. I knew that they had a checkered past and had been linked to stock promoter Irving Kott, and that their law firm still handled some of Kotts business, but the CEO, Chairman, lawyers all said that things were reformed and the company was focused on its business.

Then the company did a PIPE financing. Im not going to discuss the good or bad of PIPE financing other than to say that to me its a huge red flag and I dont want to own stock in companies that use this method of financing. Why? Because I dont like the idea of selling in a private placement, stock for less than the market price, and then to make matters worse, pushing the price lower with the issuance of warrants. So I sold the stock.

Now maybe this post was a smokescreen to throw the feds off his trail. But one might also question why Cuban would voluntarily bring attention to a sale that was shady as opposed to just trying to keep it under the radar.

posted at 11:55 PM on November 17

Wow, I hope his cell gets cable so he can watch SportsCenter.

Cuban has been charged with a civil offense. It does not appear that the SEC is seeking criminal penalties. According to the article, it looks like he will likely have to pay penalties of 2x the amount of losses he avoided by selling -- so $1.5MM ($750,000 * 2). Perhaps that is in addition to giving up the $750,000 he saved, so maybe the total outlay will be in the area of $2.25MM. Considering he has paid nearly $1.7MM in fines to the NBA + a matching amount for each fine to charity, I think he'll be okay.

posted at 02:03 PM on November 17

So if I were an NHL goalie, I'd go for a simple basic helmet design rather than Godzilla's tonsils.

Like Chris Osgood?

posted at 01:04 PM on November 13

Garth Brooks? Carey Price, I expected more from you.

posted at 11:24 PM on November 12

At the other end, holden ended up with the fewest points of all players who picked in all rounds, so he takes home a much-deserved Costanza.

Wow, to think that I could have avoided this simply by forgetting to make picks one round. But this is something I'll wear with pride. As the talking heads said when Mike Maroth was on his way to losing 20+ games a few years ago, you have to actually be a pretty decent pitcher to lose 20 games.

posted at 11:22 PM on November 02

I keep seeing these write-ups as if Philadelphia is the most vexed sporting city in the U.S. -- the longest championship drought (25 years) of any city with 4 major sports, a combined 98 seasons of futility across those four sports, etc.

I think that Cleveland has it worse off (even before the Phillies won) -- the Browns have not won an NFL title since 1964 (pre-Superbowl) - for 41 seasons of futility (with a three-year gap when the former Browns moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens), the Indians have not won the World Series since 1948 - for 51 seasons of futility, and the Cavs have never won an NBA title since coming into the league in 1970 - for 38 seasons of futility, for a grand total of 130 championless seasons that puts Philadelphia to shame.

Congrats to the Phillies, though. Well deserved. And congrats to the Rays, as well -- the turnaround there has been pretty amazing.

posted at 02:38 PM on October 30

I am happy that Brad Lidge's postseason experience will not be defined by Albert Pujols hitting a ball to Upper Volta off of him.

posted at 11:25 PM on October 29

Howard, it's a shame what has happened to the Red Sox in terms of access to tickets. When I was in graduate school across the river in Cambridge in the late 1990s/early 2000s, not only could you get tickets for most games throughout the season, you could also get discount tickets for games against teams like the Twins, Rays, and A's. I used to pay about $15 for tickets (usually in the right field corner -- the seats for which, distressingly, seemed oriented towards straightaway center) on the day of game for those less popular games. That said, if you're lucky enough to have gotten on the bandwagon early on or if you somehow making through the hell that is the virtual waiting room on the day tickets go on sale, there are still some affordable options out there -- a good friend of mine has a partial season ticket for the Red Sox that gets him about 20 games per year at about $25 a ticket (but that package is grandfathered in and is not offered to new subscribers any more).

I guess what it comes down to is that it ultimately depends on your particular circumstances as to how feasible getting to a game is and whether it's worth the sacrifice. I actually live in Chicago, but am about equidistant between Wrigley and U.S. Cellular (just about 3 miles from each), so I can easily take public transportation to each in about 20 minutes and for $1.75. When we go to post-season games in St. Louis (where my father-in-law has season tickets), my in-laws live close enough to the stadium that it's just not that much of a hassle, and they more or less always pay (but I've played a part in giving them two grandsons, so it's kind of a wash as far as I'm concerned). So I've never really had to deal with some of the costs (in terms of time and money) of getting to ball games that you have to. I will say that I sat through a two hour rain delay for Game 4 of the 2006 World Series (a game that was ultimately postponed) and have gladly braved temperatures in the high 30's/low 40's for postseason games and early regular season games, but that's worth it for me. I admit to being a bit of a baseball nut, tohugh.

I don't find your point about the Super Bowl compelling, however. That is one game, not a series of up to 7 games. It is also an event (both from a televised and on-the-ground/surrounding the actual game standpoint) and destination in every sense of the word, whereas World Series baseball games are just like regular games with a bit more fanfare. I like that the World Series is played at the respective leagues' champions' parks -- and not just for reasons of tradition; it is like a reward for the season ticket-holders and fans who have sat through the highs and lows of that team all year, and the streets of the city that is hosting it just have an energy about them that would not be there if the games were hosted at neutral venues. The Super Bowl has to be viewed separately in American sports -- there is no other significant league that plays a best-of format and does so at a neutral site. Considering someone upthread was put in the position of defending/siding with Bud Selig, perhaps it's worth point out that the neutral site idea has been floated by none other than Boston fans' number one favorite person, Scott Boras (albeit in a slightly different format).

I think the real solution to shortening the season would be to add 6-12 day/night double headers per team, per season to the mix, like in the olden days, which could lop 1-2 weeks off the season.

posted at 06:19 PM on October 29

So why not a neutral site? Claiming that the home fans will be cheated out of a chance to go to the games is not a valid argument. Those attending the ALCS in Boston were the well-heeled members of the pink hat society. In other words, the average fan was not able to afford the tickets, or did not have the connections to get seats. The "rest of the world" is left to watch on TV anyway, so what's the difference with a neutral site? If you want cheering crowds with you, go to a sports' bar.

I can't speak to Boston, but I've attended 5 World Series games over two different series (2004 and 2006) in St. Louis and the crowds were full of mostly die hard fans from all walks of life (although by Game 4 of the 2004 World Series, I would bet the crowd was nearly 30% Boston fans). Many playoff game attendees are season ticket holders (in St. Louis, as I'm sure is the case in Boston, all season ticket holders (at least full season ticket holders) get an option to purchase their seats for the playoffs), and at least in St. Louis there is a broad mix of corporate types, blue collar workers, middle class families, etc. in the season ticket base. I have to say that certain of these games are the most electrifying sporting events I have attended, and to rob true fans of that experience because there are too many pink hatters attending playoff games in Boston is not persuasive to me.

posted at 03:48 PM on October 29

Good. No more Hamels pitching!

Now that the resumption of Game 5 has been pushed back to Wednesday, Hamels may well pitch again in this series if the Rays win Game 5 -- either on short rest (Friday in Game 6 if there's a travel day added to the schedule or in Game 7 if there's no travel day) or on regular rest if there is a travel day and it goes 7. Hamels pitching on short rest does not seem out of the question considering he threw only 75 pitches yesterday.

posted at 01:32 PM on October 28

Dude, you were at a PLANNED PARENTHOOD! Worrying that the doctor giving you the old snip at Planned Parenthood does not share your left-leaning political views is like going into a kosher deli and being worried that they will put cheese on your pastrami sandwich or wading into a SportsFilter Barry Bonds thread and being concerned you might be blindsided by some well reasoned thoughts and cogent analysis.

posted at 12:57 PM on October 27

Well, after Citeh pick up Fabregas, Ronaldo, Torres, Messi, Villa, Kaka, Pope Benedict XVI, and that guy from Police Academy who makes funny noises with his mouth, I think they will not have room for the Defoes et al that may just help Spurs survive the drop.

posted at 12:47 PM on October 27

I think Spurs escape relegation. They are only three points from safety and still have a lot of talent, even with the summer sales. I'm sure they will also be big players in the January transfer window.

posted at 08:30 AM on October 27

"We'd also heard mention of it, but we decided that it would only be worse if we went out and told the fans they were absolutely not allowed to throw dildos on the ice," said AIK club head Mats Hedenstrm to the newspaper.

Best quote I've ever read in a sports story.

posted at 03:02 PM on October 23