Bernreuther’s profile

Funny you should mention Lucas Oil Stadium, IDK. While it is, for the moment, the nicest facility, it also highlights a lot of things about new stadiums that aren't as nice for the long-time season ticket holders. You get a bit more leg and shoulder room, yes, but you end up paying a lot more and are farther from the field, even in the best seats. Also, even with the roof closed that place is as quiet as a tomb. No more RCA dome home field advantage on third down and 12th Man induced false starts. They'd have to actually pipe in the noise (as they were falsely accused of doing) to get it anywhere near as loud as it was before.

Of course, it was a preseason game. We'll have to see how it is next sunday. Other than the seats being much farther away and some correctable traffic flow issues though, it's really nice. I especially like the village-like atmosphere in the northern corners of the concourse.

posted at 03:31 PM on August 26

Does ESPN have something against Patrick, or maybe her new team? There is no mention of her win whatsoever on their front page, not in the list of headlines or even the Auto Racing feature in that rotating feature panel below the main headline. CNNSI had it in their list of links, but it's nowhere to be found on the Worldwide leader. Sort of odd, given that she's always seemed to be something of an ESPN favorite.

posted at 01:47 AM on April 21

I think he just had to slow down a bit to ensure that he got lower and could control himself. He may have pulled the "hold me back" tough guy act afterwards but I don't think his shove was completely weak. It wasn't perfect, but I've seen a lot worse.

posted at 01:41 AM on March 14

Interesting to see Baltimore and Billick ranked so highly, considering how painful it was to watch Baltimore games this year. Then again, this computer isn't really accounting for play-calling; it's more about aggressiveness vs. passiveness (punting, field goals). I have long agreed that just about every coach is too conservative in these 4th down situations, but I am still not totally sold on this method. I guess this is partly because I don't entirely believe in the simulations and the GWC numbers. I would like to also see numbers about the expected returns in yards and points in these situations, for both alternatives. (For example, it's hard to wrap my head around a -1.4 GWC if a guy kicks a field goal on 4th and 3 from the 10, but it's a lot easier for me to analyze and agree with it if I see figures like a 2.7 point expected return on a field goal vs a 4 point ER by going for it, plus the 10 yard field position (which is worth roughly a point) advantage gained even if they fail. (And yes, those numbers are made up.)) I guess to me, that kind of result just makes more sense. Especially since I don't fully trust the simulation of the rest of the game, which is obviously important to the GWC number. Still, very interesting, and the more people like this that can publicly call NFL coaches chickens, the better.

posted at 12:58 AM on February 17

Wow, I opened that link and could immediately smell the cards. Every year and every brand had a unique scent, and for some reason stuff like that can take me back instantly, as far back as kindergarten. My card collecting heyday was 86 through 92. After that they started costing more and being all glossy and special, and I lost interest and outgrew it all. I still have all my cards though, in my closet at my mom's house. Not quite the treasure trove we hoped it'd be based on the previous generation's stories. I believe the 87 Topps set was the first one I collected on my own just from buying individual packs. I bought the 86 Fleer set for 45 dollars, which I paid in installments to a guy who kept the price at that for a ten dollar deposit. Took me a while to pay it off, and by the time I was done it was worth 85. I was very proud of that investment. Of course, it's probably not worth anything now, since Canseco flamed out (The Canseco/Plunk rookie card was my main target), and also because a kid whose name I forgot but face I remember stole several of the cards in the set, including Rickey Henderson and that ridiculous Mickey Hatcher card where he's got a gigantic fake glove. I can't remember now if I ended up with the entire 88 Topps set too, but I believe I did. I wonder what all of this stuff is worth now. I also have two 1956 cards that I was given as a gift around 88 from a family friend. Of course, they're sitting inside a simple binder, while my mom foolishly stole my two signed McGwire cards to put in the damn safe deposit box at the bank. Like those were worth protecting.

posted at 08:24 PM on January 16

Oh, good, the smart fans have arrived. I love that throwing for 402 yards and having your defense get shredded is considered "choking."

posted at 06:25 PM on January 16

You're assuming SHE chose the jersey. Each contestant was "representing" a team; was it the sponsors, or the teams themselves, or her that made the jersey choice? I wondered the same thing as I watched the actual PPK event (which they held before the gates even opened instead of at halftime, because they had to have some stupid wuss singer perform). I was sure I'd see at least one kid who bucked the pattern of rooting for the hometown team. The Hawaiian girl (who outthrew all the girls in the age group above her, btw) wore SD, I believe. Every single kid matched up to their local team, although of course a kid from LA was free to choose Oakland for himself and a kid from southern PA took the Ravens. But I can't imagine that they'd force a 12 year old from Cleveland to wear a Browns jersey if he for some reason grew up a Bengals or Steelers fan. Interesting though, that in that scenario if it was held in his home stadium he'd probably end up getting booed for that too. Anyway, as I mentioned in the other thread that brought this up (is it just me or are we getting a lot of duplicate conversations lately, usually Patriot-related), I believe it was all in good fun and that anyone who thinks that it wouldn't have happened in every other stadium, especially in Boston, is kidding themselves and just looking for a reason to complain about a team they don't like. If it the opposite happened, and it would, I would expect to see Colts fans saying the same things. But setting rivalries aside, I would understand that it's part of the game and the rivalry. And the girl handled it very well. And yeah, I think Kraft is hamming it up just a bit in the spirit of the rivalry. And I can't really blame him for it. That's just how it is with those two teams. Yeah, the halftime show is Tom Petty. They've been running a bunch of commercials about it, under the assumption that people care. There was a rumor that Abdul would be part of it, kind of like an uninteresting opening act.

posted at 05:19 PM on January 16

Only a small percentage of people booed the girl, and those around me that were doing it were doing it with smiles on their faces, as a joke. Some were clapping at the same time. And please, tell me that Gilette wouldn't have a 90% boo rate if the situation was reversed. These are fans that start Yankees suck chants at FOOTBALL GAMES. If it was the baseball equivalent of that and a kid wore pinstripes in Fenway he'd probably get hit by a battery. Any of the major rivalries would have a reaction like that. To be honest, I was surprised the booing wasn't louder.

posted at 02:06 AM on January 15

LT is awesome but the O Line does well and Turner would start for 20 other teams, so his loss really isn't as big a deal as losing someone of his talent would ordinarily be. And if they keep blocking their screens the way they did in the 2nd half, they could put a backup lineman back there and still do well. Man, that Sproles TD was impressive. (I hated it, of course, but credit where credit is due.)

posted at 06:25 PM on January 13

Fatty, I believe we've discussed this before, but in Peyton's record-setting season he was throwing late in games often because the game was not decided. Their D wasn't stopping anyone. One of his two five TD games was actually a loss to Kansas City. The worst blowout was the Detroit game, and he was out with 11 minutes to go in the third quarter. It's not the same. The only time he threw a questionable late TD was in that Tennessee game where the Titans were onsides kicking every time and scored a bunch of points quickly in the first (but then went to sleep after that). I believe the final in that one was 51-24.

posted at 10:12 PM on December 12

Jim Caple spends as much time openly (and uncreatively) making fun of the Yankees as he does writing legitimate articles about baseball. That he could get in while Neyer and Law are left out is an absolute joke.

posted at 09:06 PM on December 08

Tampa has changed their uniforms a whole bunch of times. They finally hit on one that worked, the dark green, which looked great, and now they change it to this boring crap. Dropping the Devil is fine, but they should've just kept the rest how it was.

posted at 08:05 PM on November 08

I think they'll have to try to sign him because it's so obvious what a difference he makes. I should've been clearer above and said that they'll have to open the wallet for Sanders. The tough one to swallow this year is going to be Clark, because he's making himself a lot of money and they probably won't be able to afford both. I don't really care if it is or isn't a departure from the philosophy... if they can fit it under the cap it really just means they'll have to stick to that philosophy even more for the rest of the positions. The decisions they've made and the kids they've taken in the past 5 drafts tells me that they are planning many years in advance and have a plan in place. Their track record makes me trust that it's the right plan. (The past several drafts does make me more optimistic about keeping Clark though, now that I mention it.) They seem to know what they're doing and their knowledge of the payroll expenses for the next several years is far greater than ours so only they know what is and isn't possible under the cap.

posted at 10:38 PM on November 02

Love the Football Outsiders stuff. It's nice to see Polian's drafting get a bit of recognition. Noone ever talks about anything other than their #1 picks during and after the draft, and then 2-3 years later a bunch of 2nd day picks or UFAs are starting and doing a better job than the big names they replaced. They did draft a safety this year, though. Brannon Condren. While he looks like a bit of a punk, he's a big, strong ballhawking hitter like the others, though I don't think he's expected to be a replacement for Sanders. I think that he's enough of a difference maker that they're going to have to break tradition and open up the wallet for him. Unlike last year, which was plagued by injuries, they have excellent depth in the defensive backfield. I do wonder if they've got guys that can make the same impact (double entendre fully intended) as Hayden and Jackson after their contracts expire. It sucks that they had to sit around for two years instead of one before getting their starting nods. If they stay true to form they won't get as many years of use out of them now.

posted at 05:29 PM on November 01

And where were all these "running-up-the-score" complainers when Peyton Manning was going on his record-breaking score-running-up single-season touchdown run back in the day? Most of those games weren't blowouts. Their defense gave up a ton of points, which made for more opportunity for TD passes. One 5 TD game was a 45-31 game against the Pack, the other a 45-35 loss. The 6td game against Detroit was a bit bad, but he was out in the 3rd. Sorgi also saw action in the Houston, Chicago, and Tennessee blowouts. There were some questionable ones that year, but nothing downright nasty like throwing for the end zone on 4th down in a blowout with under a minute remaining (which the Pats have done this year). People are entitled to their opinion regarding how big a deal it is to run up the score, but it's pretty obvious that the Pats are doing it. Hell, even the biggest Pats homer you'll ever see acknowledges it. That said, Easterbrook's piece was ridiculous. I've always looked forward to his columns but he has really been a disappointment this year. You can call Colts-Pats good vs. evil and make a bit of sense, but his arguments were so outrageous that it even made Colts fans cringe.

posted at 12:23 AM on October 24