- 03:02 AM
- 11/08/09
| Name: | Rogers Cadenhead |
|---|---|
| Homepage URL: | http://workbench.cadenhead.org/ |
| Member since: | January 23, 2002 |
| Last visit: | November 07, 2009 |
| Status: | editor |
rcade has posted 1129 links and 4673 comments to SportsFilter and 88 links and 590 comments to the Locker Room and 8 columns.
17 Congressmen Vote Against Yankees Resolution: In the good-natured spirit of recent debate here on SportsFilter, in which our members are sharply divided over whether the New York Yankees won because of their massive payroll or the other teams lost because of their tiny payroll, we bring you Congressman William Delahunt (D.-Mass.). When a resolution was proposed in the House to congratulate the Yankees on their 27th World Series win, he joined 16 others in voting no. "He told me that as a lifelong member of Red Sox Nation, he couldn't bring himself to vote for it," his spokesman explained.
posted by rcade to baseball at 08:58 PM on November 07 - 11 comments
Will a Woman Ever Coach an NBA Team?: Nancy Lieberman has become the first woman to coach an NBA D-League team, taking the reins for the new team the Dallas Mavericks are starting in Frisco, Texas. "How many current D-League coaches are enshrined in Springfield, Mass., which is interestingly where Lieberman broke down barriers 23 years ago?" asks Chris Tomasson on AOL FanHouse. "That would be zero."
posted by rcade to basketball at 10:55 AM on November 07 - 3 comments
Women's Soccer Playoff Turns Ugly: The women's soccer semifinals of the Mountain West Conference between the Brigham Young Cougars and New Mexico Lobos featured such bad sportsmanship that it made ESPN SportsCenter. One dirty shot by Lobos defender Elizabeth Lambert may singlehandedly revive interest in the Dorothy Hamill haircut among female athletes.
posted by rcade to soccer at 12:32 PM on November 06 - 24 comments
Florida State Gets Funky New Nike Uniforms: When the Florida State Seminoles take the field Nov. 21 against Maryland, they will for the first time be wearing the Nike Pro Combat uniform design. The uniforms feature sublimated twill jerseys, combat deflex underwear, titanium belt buckles, jazz hand gloves that form an authentic Native American who is not insulted by being reduced to a mascot and shoulders covered with "high-tenacity yarn," which is stitching so dangerous it should require a seven-day waiting period.
posted by rcade to football at 06:11 PM on November 05 - 9 comments
NFL's Dirtiest Player: Hines Ward: A survey of 296 NFL players conducted by Sports Illustrated finds that the NFL's dirtiest player is Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward. "That's what he's known for," Cincinnati Bengals safety Chinedum Ndukwe said. "He's a blind-side guy." The rest of the top 5 are Washington defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, Miami linebacker Joey Porter, Cincinatti safety Roy Williams and Tennessee center Kevin Mawae.
posted by rcade to football at 02:13 PM on November 05 - 27 comments
But I don't think that much analysis is necessary.
I thought this Series had a lot of great storylines that provoked discussion. If we had gotten a game 7, the decision to start Cole Hamels over Cliff Lee was huge. I was looking forward to Charlie Manuel caving in and proving why Lee wasn't meant to start on so little rest.
Another thing I've been meaning to bring up was Manuel's decision to let Pedro Martinez face Hideki Matsui in the third inning. At that point, Matsui had homered in the second inning and was 8-for-18 with four doubles, two homers and four RBIs against Martinez in postseason play. I think he had gotten a hit in every at-bat versus Martinez in this series.
I think this was a close series, but Manuel's managing blew the Phillies' chance and will hang around his neck like an albatross.
posted by rcade at 11:01 PM on November 06
You're right. I don't care.
Then buzz off. SportsFilter is for people who care about the discussions, not for people who just want to ensure that their "fan contingent" is properly represented.
posted by rcade at 10:54 PM on November 06
This thread has no game analysis, no series analysis, really nothing much except for protracted attempts to diminish the accomplishments of the victors. ... There are probably 10 sports (not Yankees-specific) sites that were able to discuss the outcome of the series without turning it into a forum on baseball economics.
That's a pretty amazing thing to say coming from someone who hasn't posted any game analysis yourself. There was plenty of specific game commentary in the links about the last five games. You ignored all of that, yet had the time to scour 10 other sites whose standards SportsFilter did not meet.
I love people who can go into a detailed analysis of why we suck but can't seem to find that Post link atop the page. SportsFilter is what people make of it. You're making it a place to sit on your hands and bitch about what other people are doing, which makes it less likely for them to go to the bother of contributing in the future. Thanks.
posted by rcade at 10:41 PM on November 06
Maybe good team chemistry did have something to do with it. And why should Yankee fans be banished to another site to discuss it?
Nobody is banishing Yankees fans. Anyone could have posted a link about the time Joe Girardi took them cow tipping and bought them all TCBY afterwards and Joba Chamberlain laughed so hard that white chocolate mousse came out his nose, and if people think that's worth more than a $66 million payroll advantage they're free to make that case.
posted by rcade at 10:29 PM on November 06
Last year you opened the thread with how much more exciting the Series was than you thought it would be at the end. This year, you opened with the bleak wait for next year. Then in your next comment, your first editorial on this Series, you said you hate it when the Yankees spend their money well. I don't even know if this is qualified praise -- it seems to be lacking an essential element.
If I had known you were going to climb so far up my ass I would've drunk some barium. Let me know if you find polyps.
First, my comment last year about the Phillies was because the game was resumed after being suspended for two days, and for that reason I expected the end to be anticlimactic. That's what I meant by it being more exciting than anticipated.
Second, there's nothing bleak about the Rogers Hornsby quote. It's a beautiful testament to the greatness of baseball.
Third, I've posted front-page links after every game in this World Series. In each one, I linked to the winning team's local media, linked to the MLB game story and dug up additional links to provide more context on the game. You, on the other hand, cared so much about how SportsFilter covers the series that you didn't post a single link or make a single comment about games until this discussion, when your main point seems to be that we're talking about the wrong things and making Yankees fans feel unwelcome.
Fourth, it's pretty amazing to be criticized for insufficient Yankees praise in a discussion where I said, "The Yankees are a terrific team and a worthy champion." What do I gotta do to make you people happy -- kiss Derek Jeter's intangibles?
Finally, you and any other Yankees fans feeling sorry for yourselves in triumph can buzz off. Yankees fans are as welcome on SportsFilter as any other fans when they talk about quantifiable subjects in an intelligent manner. But when they wallow in self-pity and expect the rest of the world to buy into their mythology like we're all a bunch of homers from the Bronx, they're going to catch some well-deserved hell.
If you don't like that, then all I can say is Yankee go home.
posted by rcade at 10:17 PM on November 06
This protest seems bogus to me. The only reason Chiefs fans are willing to sacrifice Larry Johnson is because his recent performance makes him expendable. If he was still gaining 1,700 yards a year, you'd be all too happy for him to be the team's all-time rushing leader. Newsflash: He was probably a jerk during his all-pro seasons too.
posted by rcade at 06:06 PM on November 06
Please recall for me where I used the word liar.
Here ya go: "I'm tired of your lying to yourselves about why the Yankees win and why their fans like them."
I'd love it if every thread announcing a championship was met with this kind of response. I'd really love it. It would put SportsFilter in the toilet in a month, and serve you right for being an apologist for this kind of thing.
Sheesh. If you want to defend the Yankees on the merits, I'm eager to have that discussion. But if you're just going to slam people for not being unqualified enough in their praise, what's the point? You don't seem to be making any effort at all to see how this looks to fans of the other 29 teams.
Getting back to the facts, an argument has been made that the Yankees win because their owner spends more to win, and if other teams weren't run by cheapskates the payroll disparity wouldn't be so huge.
To see whether that might be true, I put together an Excel spreadsheet with the net worth of each team according to Forbes (in millions), the team payrolls (in millions), and the percentage of net worth devoted to payrolls, by team.
Here they are, ranked from the biggest spender on down:
| Team | Net Worth (Millions) | Payroll (Million) | Pct. Spent |
| Detroit Tigers | $371 | $115 | 31.00% |
| Seattle Mariners | $426 | $98 | 23.00% |
| Houston Astros | $445 | $102 | 22.92% |
| Philadelphia Phillies | $496 | $113 | 22.78% |
| Milwaukee Brewers | $347 | $79 | 22.77% |
| Toronto Blue Jays | $353 | $80 | 22.66% |
| Kansas City Royals | $314 | $70 | 22.29% |
| Los Angeles Angels | $509 | $113 | 22.20% |
| Atlanta Braves | $446 | $96 | 21.52% |
| Chicago White Sox | $450 | $96 | 21.33% |
| Cincinnati Reds | $342 | $70 | 20.47% |
| Cleveland Indians | $399 | $81 | 20.30% |
| Colorado Rockies | $373 | $75 | 20.11% |
| Tampa Bay Rays | $320 | $63 | 19.69% |
| Oakland Athletics | $319 | $62 | 19.44% |
| Chicago Cubs | $700 | $135 | 19.29% |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | $390 | $73 | 18.72% |
| Minnesota Twins | $356 | $65 | 18.26% |
| St. Louis Cardinals | $486 | $88 | 18.11% |
| San Francisco Giants | $471 | $82 | 17.41% |
| Texas Rangers | $405 | $68 | 16.79% |
| Baltimore Orioles | $400 | $67 | 16.75% |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | $288 | $48 | 16.67% |
| New York Mets | $912 | $135 | 14.80% |
| Boston Red Sox | $833 | $122 | 14.65% |
| Washington Nationals | $406 | $59 | 14.53% |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | $722 | $100 | 13.85% |
| New York Yankees | $1,500 | $201 | 13.40% |
| Florida Marlins | $277 | $36 | 13.00% |
| San Diego Padres | $401 | $42 | 10.47% |
If every team's payroll was equal to 20% of its net worth, here's how the salaries would break down:
| Team | Net Worth (Millions) | Payroll (Millions) |
| New York Yankees | $1,500 | $300 |
| New York Mets | $912 | $182 |
| Boston Red Sox | $833 | $167 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | $722 | $144 |
| Chicago Cubs | $700 | $140 |
| Los Angeles Angels | $509 | $102 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | $496 | $99 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | $486 | $97 |
| San Francisco Giants | $471 | $94 |
| Chicago White Sox | $450 | $90 |
| Atlanta Braves | $446 | $89 |
| Houston Astros | $445 | $89 |
| Seattle Mariners | $426 | $85 |
| Washington Nationals | $406 | $81 |
| Texas Rangers | $405 | $81 |
| San Diego Padres | $401 | $80 |
| Baltimore Orioles | $400 | $80 |
| Cleveland Indians | $399 | $80 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | $390 | $78 |
| Colorado Rockies | $373 | $75 |
| Detroit Tigers | $371 | $74 |
| Minnesota Twins | $356 | $71 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | $353 | $71 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | $347 | $69 |
| Cincinnati Reds | $342 | $68 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | $320 | $64 |
| Oakland Athletics | $319 | $64 |
| Kansas City Royals | $314 | $63 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | $288 | $58 |
| Florida Marlins | $277 | $55 |
posted by rcade at 05:57 PM on November 06
I was thinking that Elizabeth Lambert and Brandon Spikes would make some beautifully unsportsmanlike babies. But those two probably mate like Klingons.
posted by rcade at 01:24 PM on November 06
Getting caught with a misdemeanor amount of weed shouldn't even be news, and it certainly shouldn't trigger any kind of testing or suspension for Lincecum.
posted by rcade at 01:05 PM on November 06
Debo: Your expectations for what constitutes a valid survey seem awfully high to me, given that political polls (a subject of vastly more importance) are extrapolated from much smaller percentages of the groups involved.
I think there's value in SI getting almost 300 current NFL athletes to name the dirtiest players in the league. That's a large response in my opinion.
The fact that Hines Ward won it is pretty remarkable, given his position. He's either angered a lot of players with cheap shots or developed a Snake Plissken-like rep that's taken on a life of its own. In either case, he has to be tough as hell to play in a game where the incentive to knock his block off must be huge. Hell, if I ran into him on the street I think I might clothesline him.
posted by rcade at 12:42 PM on November 06
That's fine, Demophon, but if you don't get all the way to Z Z we have to ban you.
posted by rcade at 11:19 AM on November 06
The survey was conducted by Sports Illustrated, which polled only 296 of the league's 1,693 players.
Only 296? That's more than enough of a sample to get a good idea of which players have the worst reputation for taking cheap shots.
posted by rcade at 11:15 AM on November 06
It sure sounds like he's calling them cheaters.
Maybe, maybe not. Cheat mode isn't really cheating in videogames -- it's exploiting a special advantage.
posted by rcade at 06:46 PM on November 05
But that being said, how are the Yankees cheating?
I don't think anyone is saying they are cheating as in breaking the rules, but they're saying that the present situation is unfair. Do you believe it is fair for one team in a professional sport to spend $80 to $130 million more than each of the other teams in the league?
posted by rcade at 06:23 PM on November 05
SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle
ESPN plagiarized a post on one of its blogs, taking the full text of a ProFootballTalk item.