- 02:51 PM
- 07/04/09
| Name: | Holden O. |
|---|---|
| Location: | Chicago |
| Member since: | February 11, 2002 |
| Last visit: | July 04, 2009 |
holden has posted 36 links and 1222 comments to SportsFilter and 8 links and 217 comments to the Locker Room.
Steven Wells: a few memories of a unique and acerbic voice: Steven Wells, the Guardian columnist whose biting British-observer-of-U.S.-sports-culture pieces provided fodder for some lively SportsFilter threads (see, for example, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) and has to be the most-linked author in SportsFilter history, passed away on Tuesday after a battle with cancer (the treatment of which is chronicled here).
posted by holden to other at 03:21 PM on June 25 - 9 comments
Baseball Tickets Too Much? Check Back Tomorrow: The San Francisco Giants experiment with dynamic, demand-based pricing.
posted by holden to baseball at 01:25 PM on May 18 - 4 comments
The end of the line for America's most hated soccer commentator?: No more Champions League color commentary or "analysis" from the man referred to affectionately by some as "the biggest tit on the air."
posted by holden to soccer at 02:02 PM on April 15 - 8 comments
Working for Lenny Dykstra: An inside look at working for Nails -- Wild and wacky antics! Racism and homophobia! Shady business practices! Borderline lunacy!
Most meetings are simply extended hang-out sessions, with Lenny cracking up at his own jokes or asking us to watch the Real Sports segment over and over, especially the moment where Lenny points to his seat on his private plane and says, “This is where the Big Man sits.” He also seems to relish letting go a long, leisurely fart for the amusement of his employees or showing off his silk tie and saying, “You see this tie? I paid $500 for it” as he rubs it on his crotch and laughs at our embarrassed expressions.
posted by holden to baseball at 05:53 PM on March 18 - 7 comments
Topps Baseball Cards Go 3-D: Apparently the bubblegum tastes even more chalky and cardboardy in 3-D.
posted by holden to baseball at 02:33 PM on March 09 - 3 comments
I guess the down side is if he leaves school and is injured before ever getting the big payday. Hope that doesn't happen.
That is a potential downside, but why couldn't he just go back to college (or start at a 4-year school for the first time)? He will have a GED and some community college credits, so he would presumably be eligible. If he truly is as advertised, he will probably get in the range of an $6-10MM deal, which is the going rate for high first-round draft picks (non-Strasburg division), so he just needs to stay healthy until he is draft eligible -- and I don't see his injury risk profile changing all that much playing JuCo ball instead of high school.
posted by holden at 05:41 PM on July 01
Here's a write-up on the Zetterberg deal when it happened, by someone who seems knowledgeable about the cap rules. I do not believe the NHL has closed the loophole.
posted by holden at 05:30 PM on July 01
This is the Ken Holland trick (used in the Zetterberg and Franzen contracts) of gaming the cap by signing a player well into his likely retirement and paying a million or so dollars per year in the last few years. So while the average annual value and cap hit is $5MM per year, my guess is that in the first several years of the contract, the contract is going to be for significantly more than $5MM per year.
posted by holden at 04:29 PM on July 01
In the second round of this year's amateur draft, the Cardinals drafted USC catcher Robert Stock. Stock, a pitcher and catcher (many scouts believe his future lies on the mound), was drafted as a 19 year-old junior. He left high school a year early to attend USC and get his college career/draft clock started early. So basically Bryce Harper before Bryce Harper (although not as hyped).
posted by holden at 10:38 AM on July 01
Maybe Beckham came to the realization of just how much of a drop off in talent there is between European club soccer and MLS and decided to mail it in. Not that that would be excusable, but it could explain it.
posted by holden at 11:02 PM on June 30
While watching the game yesterday, my wife made me mute the TV because of the incessant buzzing in the background. She said that even after it was muted, she could still hear the buzzing.
posted by holden at 02:58 PM on June 29
Thanks for the link, tommytrump. At first, I thought, hey, where's the Canadian angle? But then I remembered Francis is from BC. (Kidding, of course -- love the north-of-the-border coverage from you.)
Here's another article about a smarter-than-average pitcher that I enjoyed recently.
posted by holden at 11:57 AM on June 29
Shaq would not be above dunking to beat a challenger. He did it to Bill Simmons when Simmons (who hung a letter on Shaq with a free throw) had him on the ropes.
posted by holden at 11:44 AM on June 29
Their first goal against Brazil yesterday was a complete fluke and Brazil was robbed of a goal.
I disagree with this. While Dempsey's touch may have been fluky, it was an excellent ball into the box from Spector and Dempsey was well-positioned to get a touch. Complete fluke is a massive redirection of a shot off of a defender or the goalie kicking the ball off the back of a retreating forward and having the ball rebound into his own net, among others.
posted by holden at 11:13 AM on June 29
The East is shaping up to be pretty interesting in the coming year.
posted by holden at 02:23 PM on June 26
Just teasing. I felt like the thread was orphaned and lonely with no comments, and thought knee-jerk was the way to go. (By the way, even the "political" stuff at the end is pretty innocuous.) My non-political political view is that if people engage in risky behavior, they should pay back the government when it (park service, emergency rescue teams, etc.) bails them out. Half Dome is a harder proposition though, because it is the government that has put up (and maintains) the means of getting up there.
posted by holden at 01:50 PM on June 26
Typical liberal claptrap.
posted by holden at 07:58 AM on June 26
Pretty impressive that 3 of the inductees all won a Cup together. I wonder whether that's happened before.
posted by holden at 09:19 PM on June 23
Wonder if he'll sponsor a woman-led suit for all the upcoming Father's Day promotions.
posted by holden at 12:12 PM on June 16
Phil Mickelson hits backwards better than you hit forwards
Greatest short game player ever, that one.