Justin Slotman's profile

Justin Slotman
251
Name: Justin Slotman
Member since: February 19, 2002
Last visit: August 06, 2005

Justin Slotman has posted 8 links and 85 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 0 comments to the Locker Room.

Recent Links

Cubs fan outs self.: So we're all doing the Bartman now.

posted by Justin Slotman to baseball at 07:47 PM on October 15, 2003 - 5 comments

World Cup sites finalized.: Your stadiums are: Lincoln Financial field in Philly, RFK in DC, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Columbus Crew Stadium, PGE Park in women's soccer hotbed Portland, and--yes--the Home Depot Center is still hosting the finale. Portland is such a great choice, and Philly gets some games because East Rutherford does whatever the Giants say. Which means I am ten minutes from the World Cup. Coooool.

posted by Justin Slotman to soccer at 02:21 PM on June 12, 2003 - 4 comments

Women's World Cup finale moved to Home Depot Center.: Man, I don't know about this. On the one hand, it's great to have these brand-new soccer-only stadiums, it's a good showcase for the game as it becomes the--what?--sixth or seventh most popular American pro sport. On the other hand, it's the freaking World Cup; there's no reason in the world why you should limit yourself to 27,000 people when 90,000 could show up. Except for the craven business reasons mentioned in the article above.

posted by Justin Slotman to soccer at 09:04 AM on June 11, 2003 - 13 comments

Michelle Kwan wins fifth world title.: Y'all laughed at me when I said she's the Michael Jordan of figure skating, but she's one title away from six, a Jordanesque number. True, she fails at the Olympics, but what other skater is as driven by the love of competition as she is? Maybe she's more like the Ric Flair of figure skating--getting jobbed out at big moments, but consistently awesome.

posted by Justin Slotman to other at 11:36 AM on March 31, 2003 - 9 comments

Michelle Kwan wins her seventh national championship, : getting closer to "Michael Jordan of her sport" status. Sara Hughes looks like she's in it for the long haul too, so we'll see what their battles will produce and what kind of rivalry we're talking about here. But seven titles is really impressive. And fudge the motherfreaking Olympics.

posted by Justin Slotman to other at 08:39 AM on January 21, 2003 - 2 comments

Recent Comments

NCAA bans Indian mascots for postseason

I personally would love to be represented by Colonel Sanders in a dress.

posted by Justin Slotman at 05:52 PM on August 06, 2005

NCAA bans Indian mascots for postseason

grum said: "Sorry to do this, but you walked right into the trap. I deliberately chose "Gambino" and Italian sterotypes because I knew someone would bring up the Sopranos." Trap? Sports are art. They're not science. ;) And the public funding thing--I mean, again, why does the NCAA think they can tell Florida State and Central Michigan that the relationships they have with the Seminole and Chippewa tribes--both of whom support the nicknames--that they have derogatory nicknames? Are the Florida Seminoles and Saginaw Chippewas not acting in their own interests, and it's up the the great white NCAA to set them straight about what their interests should be? Because that's certainly what it looks like.

posted by Justin Slotman at 04:51 PM on August 06, 2005

NCAA bans Indian mascots for postseason

That "Gambino" thing--I mean, there's a show called The Sopranos that contains every vile Italian stereotype you'd care to name. And many, many Italian-Americans love it. The same thing with the Fighting Irish. Many, many Irish people embrace an ethnic caricature on par with Chief Wahoo for loathsomeness. So--at least in the case of the Chippewas and Seminoles (possibly the Utes and Fighting Sioux as well)--we have these schools that have nicknames that are endorsed and supported by the native people in question. Why is it all right for the NCAA to be more offended than the Seminole and Chippewa tribes? I can't see any way to support what the NCAA's doing here; they're basically saying 1. we know better than you what offends you, Native tribes, and 2. it's okay to caricature Irish people, though. It's a mindbogglingly crappy decision.

posted by Justin Slotman at 02:29 PM on August 06, 2005

Terry, will you marry me? Chris.

That Terry 'n' Chris thing was about ten trillion times too cute. It should've been "Fred, will you marry me? Barney." Or any other unambiguously gender-restricted names. I mean, he writes: "Fans may be forgiven for confusion tonight, if during the Blue Jays 7:05 p.m. game against the Expos at the SkyDome there is a Jumbotron scoreboard proposal reading, "Terry, Will you marry me? Chris."" Which isn't going to confuse anybody because they're androgynous names. He destroyed whatever point he thought he could make with Terry and Chris, blissful gay couple.

posted by Justin Slotman at 11:05 AM on June 25, 2004

Wiley saw this one coming

Oh, this is definitely on the Patriots-Rams level. Every NBA columnist I read had Lakers in six, from Bill Simmons to David Aldridge to David Dupree.

posted by Justin Slotman at 08:15 AM on June 17, 2004

Do you believe now?

The only thing making me doubt the Pistons are historical things: 1. The thing about no team ever winning the middle three. That's not insurmountable, and they are a good road team, but any return trip to LA makes me nervous. 2. The thing about no team that lacked a superstar has ever won the championship, save the 77 Blazers, who had Walton but he was more famous from his college days than an actual NBA superstar--right? I'm all for the Pistons rewriting the rules about what it takes to win in the NBA, but if they don't win it's just NBA business-as-usual. And the odds tend to favor business-as-usual; it's hard to overcome a way of winning that has persisted for years.

posted by Justin Slotman at 09:35 AM on June 11, 2004

"Old White Guy Makes Racially Insensitive Remark"

Yeah, don't forget that white Americans don't relate to Europeans as white players--they're as foreign as Yao Ming. And as Bill Simmons pointed out yesterday, there weren't any white guys who could defend Bird at the time, so his feeling insulted was justified.

posted by Justin Slotman at 09:59 AM on June 10, 2004

Smithers said: The so-called "Big 4" seems to be a leftover from the days of the Original Six. Am I wrong here? No, you're completely right. There's a ton of hockey fans online for whatever reason, but it's really dropped off the map in terms of major media interest.

posted by Justin Slotman at 03:42 PM on April 21, 2004

It's March Madness time (pdf).

Let's clarify, the above should read, "For the other half of the human race and the state of Connecticut." HA!

posted by Justin Slotman at 08:10 AM on March 15, 2004

Blame Canada?

Slightly related question for the hockey heads out there: Is there a significant difference in terms of style between American college hockey and Canadian junior hockey? I'm assuming they're at about the same level as far as athletics goes.

posted by Justin Slotman at 03:51 PM on March 12, 2004

Fox Sports

Leaving aside the factual inaccuracy about Fox Sports World being the Canadian wing of a mythical "Fox Sports" channel, of course. I mean--I loathe Fox Sports when they do football and baseball, and you could probably find better soccer commentators than the guys they have calling the games. But I'm glad somebody's bringing me four to eight complete games on the weekends, with usually one live Bundesliga game and one live Premiership game.

posted by Justin Slotman at 07:42 AM on March 04, 2004

Fox Sports

This guy does realize that Fox Sports World is a fifth-tier network for a niche American audience, right?

posted by Justin Slotman at 07:38 AM on March 04, 2004

Chelsea gazump United

What I don't get about soccer is why teams can sign players from other teams while the season is still on. I mean, how can Schalke sign Ailton (to pick an example I know about) but have Ailton be playing for Bremen, against Schalke, for the rest of the season? Don't euroleagues want to avoid the appearance of tampering? I mean--it would be a huge scandal if Kobe said not that he was opting out of his contract after the season, but that he was definitely signing with the Grizzlies. And yet this seems to be business as usual in Europe.

posted by Justin Slotman at 09:36 AM on March 03, 2004

I got my copy yesterday.

It exists for the same reason another anemic pornographic magazine (Playboy) exists: sheer institutional inertia.

posted by Justin Slotman at 07:54 AM on February 19, 2004

US out of Olympics.

Remind me again: Why does FIFA restrict the Olympics to 23 and under teams? And only on the men's teams, for that matter. Are they just protecting their turf, making sure the World Cup is the preeminent tournament?

posted by Justin Slotman at 06:26 AM on February 11, 2004