- 07:42 AM
- 04/26/24
I've heard that there were several of those indirect free kicks near the goal soon after they changed the rule that allowed the goalie to pick up the ball on a pass back from a defender.
posted by mbd1 at 03:01 PM on November 12, 2014
Woohoo! I'm back in after a few years away.
posted by mbd1 at 11:47 AM on August 15, 2013
As a Duke alum I think this is stupid on Maryland's part, but doing stupid things is their strong suit.
rcade - the ACC is currently at 12 teams. Pitt and Syracuse and (part of )ND will join and Maryland will leave, giving them 14.5. SEC is at 14, Big XII is at 10(?), Pac-12 is 12, and Big Ten will be 14 once MD and Rutgers join. I guess the ACC will be smaller in football prowess, but definitely not in raw numbers of member institutions.
edit - forgot about rutgers.
posted by mbd1 at 02:26 PM on November 19, 2012
Good riddance, as far as I'm concerned, but I don't think they are going to make the leap. If they think that the North Carolina schools have too much power in the ACC, it's nothing compared to the sway that Texas holds over the Big XII.
edit - I don't think that's true about the 2 home games per 1 road game.
posted by mbd1 at 12:54 PM on May 15, 2012
I'm trying to be happy, but it's really hard.
posted by mbd1 at 01:04 PM on February 29, 2012
I'm more upset that he won't be a lifelong Cardinal than I am about losing his production. This sucks.
posted by mbd1 at 10:37 AM on December 08, 2011
Not that I've seen yet, but I've been tuning in halfway through the games. I have noticed that the Brewers have an unusually high team UAR (Ugly Above Replacement).
posted by mbd1 at 11:47 AM on October 13, 2011
Argentina nearly didn't qualify and they get a seed. Yargh. I'd like to look at the seeds from the last few WC's to see exactly how self-perpetuating the top 7 teams are.
I'd guess the best case scenario for the USA would be something like South Africa, Algeria, Slovenia?
Worst case is Brazil, Cameroon, France/Portugal?
posted by mbd1 at 12:15 PM on December 02, 2009
How was Spain completely gassed for the semis? They rolled through the group stage 8-0 on aggregate.
I don't mind the US sending the B squad to the Gold Cup. You've got to keep developing and don't want to run down your guys while you're only halfway through WC2010 qualifying. Plus it got my guy Jay Heaps a callup and a chance to get his first cap.
posted by mbd1 at 01:59 PM on June 29, 2009
I was thinking about posting this article yesterday. I'm a big fan of Lewis and also Battier. I think Lewis is working on a book about basketball, and it looks like this could be a chapter. Although I think he's supposed to write a "sequel" to Moneyball as well, but that's being held up by a book on the latest economic situation. Ah, who knows.
IIRC, Battier negotiated his own contract with the Grizzlies - at least his first one, where he was locked into a pay band based on his draft position.
posted by mbd1 at 12:25 PM on February 15, 2009
We were driving the PA and NJ turnpikes yesterday, listening to the game. Made the ride a lot more fun. We turned on the radio as it was 3-0, and didn't yet know that the winner would get the last NFC playoff spot. What a nice surprise after a long day of driving.
I agree that the NFC is wide open, and that the divisional/wild card situation needs to be tweaked. One day a 7-9 team will end up with a 4 seed (has it happened already?).
E!A!G!L!E!S! EAGLES!
posted by mbd1 at 02:49 PM on December 29, 2008
I see Maddux as a lifer - he really enjoys being around the game, and I bet he takes a job with the Cubs or Braves as a roving minor league instructor. Everybody talks about how they like to sit with him in the dugout on the days he doesn't pitch, just to hear him talk about how the game is going and how he would approach each at bat.
He's got a ton of knowledge to pass along to the kids - how to approach a batter's strengths and weaknesses, how to get the most out of a so-so fastball, how to field the position, how to chop off the hands to delay identification of the body, etc.
posted by mbd1 at 11:25 PM on December 05, 2008
I've got the Flying Elbows.
posted by mbd1 at 02:09 PM on November 03, 2008
In on time this round:
Dodgers in 6 Rays in 6
Chad Billingsley, Jon Lester
NL +5
posted by mbd1 at 01:24 PM on October 07, 2008
crap, missed it. But for entertainment purposes only, I totally would have gone with:
Phils 5 Cubs 5 White Sox 5 Angels 4
ManRam
AL +5
posted by mbd1 at 04:35 PM on October 02, 2008
I got the Twins by 3, Morneau with the winning run.
posted by mbd1 at 02:30 PM on September 30, 2008
So I've moved to Long Island and gotten Verizon's FIOS cable, with 5 flavors of ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel. This has been a great time to be unemployed, between the Champions League and Euro 2008 coming up.
posted by mbd1 at 10:59 PM on June 05, 2008
I think Win Shares could really help guide this discussion. As a Cardinals fan, I immediately thought of them for the first basemen.
posted by mbd1 at 05:05 PM on June 04, 2008
I hated the way he (and others) let himself get hit by pitches constantly. That stupid elbow armor. But I did admire that he hung around forever and seemed to enjoy playing the game.
posted by mbd1 at 11:23 AM on February 26, 2008
In. And the password is actually 'sportsfilter' (not 'SportsFilter' or 'Sportsfilter') - case matters!
posted by mbd1 at 03:12 PM on February 22, 2008
Will's book tour hits Philly tomorrow, and I'll be there. I'm looking forward to it.
posted by mbd1 at 02:53 PM on February 19, 2008
Kieran Darcy wrote a good article about his time on the JV team at Penn.
posted by mbd1 at 01:49 PM on February 12, 2008
Patriots by 14 Patriots, on offense, after 9:45 of play
posted by mbd1 at 01:09 PM on January 29, 2008
My first set was 86 Topps. And yes, I loved the gum, and the wax packs for 35 cents. Fleer and Donruss had their first sets in 1981.
posted by mbd1 at 01:28 PM on January 17, 2008
Patriots by 15 Giants by 4 Packers punter for 240 yards.
posted by mbd1 at 04:46 PM on January 15, 2008
Green Bay by 7 New England by 17 Indianapolis by 7 Dallas by 7 17 turnovers Dallas +3
posted by mbd1 at 05:07 PM on January 10, 2008
NFC: Seahawks by 6 Bucs by 3 AFC: Jaguars by 3 Chargers by 7 Bobby Engram, 105
posted by mbd1 at 11:21 AM on January 03, 2008
Nutt wasn't gotten rid of for not being good enough but for various off the field controversies. Arkansas didn't get rid of Nutt; Nutt got rid of Arkansas. But the reasoning is the same. I guess he was just sick of the whole situation. At Ole Miss he'll get a chance to stick it to the Hogs every year. And vice versa. That should be an interesting matchup for the next few years.
posted by mbd1 at 11:25 AM on November 27, 2007
posted by mbd1 at 03:48 PM on November 26, 2007
Ha. And let's not forget about my second favorite college football team, Duke. Ted Roof may be out after winning like 4 games in 4 years. What will AD Joe Alleva do? A nation waits.
posted by mbd1 at 10:17 AM on November 26, 2007
No way LSU would hire Nutt. If Arkansas is going to let him go for not being good enough (which I think is ridiculous, I want him to stay), he's definitely not good enough for LSU. The unknown here is that Frank Broyles is finally stepping down from the AD position, and the new guy, Jeff Long from Pitt, will make the decision on Nutt's future. He might want to start off with a new hire, or he may want to keep Nutt on for continuity. Who knows. And McFadden is not going to stay for his senior year, no way no how. He's a top 5 draft pick easy.
posted by mbd1 at 10:13 AM on November 26, 2007
Oh man. I'll be in a cabin in the woods all weekend. Usually I schedule around a much-awaited, epic clash of the titans like this one. NBC is actually televising it, right?
posted by mbd1 at 12:58 PM on November 16, 2007
Rockies in 5 Holliday for MVP .410 53 K's
posted by mbd1 at 04:53 PM on October 22, 2007
Boston in 6 Arizona in 6 Papelbon Webb
posted by mbd1 at 10:57 AM on October 10, 2007
Phillies in 5 Cubs in 5 Angels in 5 Indians in 4 Jeter AL +6
posted by mbd1 at 10:28 AM on October 02, 2007
Can I claim the Costanza or what? Nuh uh! I won it fair and square! (my secret: autodraft!!!) The Costanza is for the worst team that actually tried. The last league activity for the Steeplebats was June 15th; I was active as late as August 22nd. Moving up one more slot, KendallzSluggerz played until Sept 19th. Minny Trax is the lowest ranked team that actually made moves up to the last day of the season. We need a ruling over here!
posted by mbd1 at 10:21 AM on October 02, 2007
Can I claim the Costanza or what?
posted by mbd1 at 03:53 PM on October 01, 2007
San Diego by 2 Khalil Greene
posted by mbd1 at 01:09 PM on October 01, 2007
w00t! And now I have to go away for about 2 weeks...
posted by mbd1 at 09:51 AM on August 27, 2007
Does it rhyme with leading or with bedding?
posted by mbd1 at 12:18 PM on August 12, 2007
He's a blowhard who churns out repetitive mad-lib style "columns." I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he's been dead for three years and his kids are making sure the TMQ Column Generating Machine gets an oil change every 30000 words.
posted by mbd1 at 11:36 AM on August 08, 2007
Cutters V. Back to do better than mid table yet again. Yes, this is the 5th season of FEPL for us.
posted by mbd1 at 05:11 PM on July 11, 2007
Illadelphonics II are in the H2H league!
posted by mbd1 at 04:27 PM on July 05, 2007
Why are the USA and Mexico invited to play in Copa America? I thought it was a CONMEBOL tournament. And their group is Argentina (FIFA #5), Paraguay (FIFA #37), and Colombia (FIFA #31). The US is currently FIFA #16, and I know there are lots of problems with the FIFA rankings, but I would expect them to be competitive in that group, even with the all the games in unfriendly stadiums. Maybe there's just not much to play for, in that the US has their berth in the Confederations Cup. And maybe it's too early to be thinking about seeding for WC2010. And maybe we need to find out what the kids can do.
posted by mbd1 at 11:11 AM on June 25, 2007
I'm the Deadballers, and we are on an IV drip. Hopefully someone will come by and put some morphine in the bag.
posted by mbd1 at 02:06 PM on May 02, 2007
OK - I just now checked this thread after I checked NHL.com to see if the first round was finished or what. I totally guessed on all my picks. And I'm in 2nd place. I think that Calgary pick is not going to work out so great in the long run, though.
posted by mbd1 at 03:07 PM on April 18, 2007
Any news on the A-Rod as a choker front?
posted by mbd1 at 09:03 AM on April 09, 2007
Yep, I'll be keeping an eye on it too...all 4 matchups are 5-4 going into the final day of games.
posted by mbd1 at 07:48 AM on April 01, 2007
There's a reason Greg had his condo redone by the set director from Scarface. Say hello to his little friend!
posted by mbd1 at 07:37 AM on April 01, 2007
Dang, I kinda actually like my team, considering it was autodrafted in an 18 team league.
posted by mbd1 at 09:12 AM on March 12, 2007
I'm going to have to autodraft. Should I rank Albert Pujols or Cristian Guzman first?
posted by mbd1 at 09:30 AM on March 08, 2007
As best I can tell from the video linked, there was one walkon (Johnson), one bench player (Pocius), one occasional starter (Henderson) and two starters (Scheyer and Nelson) on the court. If any player plans to go up for a layup when his team is up 12 with 14 seconds left, he should expect to have that shot challenged. It's unfortunate that Johnson fouled Hansbrough before Henderson had a chance to block the hell out of the ball.
posted by mbd1 at 08:55 AM on March 05, 2007
This reminds me of the sumo wrestling chapter in Freakonomics. In the sumo tournaments there, they have something like a 16 man round robin. But wrestlers only get paid (or get points, whatever) if they finish with a winning record. The number of 7-7 guys who won their last match was higher than would be expected when controlling for difficulty of opponent.
posted by mbd1 at 09:36 PM on March 03, 2007
Where's the Web 2.0 checklist? I think this site used it as a template.
posted by mbd1 at 01:44 PM on March 03, 2007
FBI profilers say that urinating on rookies in the shower doesn't quite fit the MO of your typical whore killer, but Maddux is Hall of Fame caliber.
posted by mbd1 at 01:35 PM on March 02, 2007
So I found out on Saturday about the greatest invention in my lifetime...St. Practice Day. That's right, every February 17th you get to practice for St. Patrick's day. It was also the night of the Great Guinness Toast and pints were only $4. Brilliant.
posted by mbd1 at 04:16 PM on February 20, 2007
One, Two, Three Molinas Rolen with my Homies Hungry Like Randy Wolf
posted by mbd1 at 03:40 PM on February 20, 2007
I'm distantly related to Mark (my first name is Martin, which is my grandmother's maiden name). I really, really, really wanted him to win the race. That's all I have to add - I can't argue NASCAR technicalities.
posted by mbd1 at 01:51 PM on February 19, 2007
U.S. Defeats Germany, Advances to Women's World Cup Final
Anyone mention the German defender who had Alex Morgan wrapped up with both arms near the end of the first half? Also could have been a penalty. The refereeing had been really questionable all around.
And yes, it is wonderful to not see all the diving, embellishment, and general childishness that is in the men's game. I think part of it is the different standards int he women's game, and part of it is that they are playing on turf and no one wants to go to the ground unless absolutely necessary.