April 09, 2011

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle:

A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.

posted by huddle to general at 06:00 AM - 15 comments

The Rangers used the tarp as a Slip 'n Slide during yesterday's rain delay in Baltimore.

posted by rcade at 11:13 AM on April 09, 2011

That's awesome. The kids in the crowd are thinking that it's even COOLER than they thought to be in the big leagues.

posted by dfleming at 11:58 AM on April 09, 2011

Memories of 2008. I'm thinking that there must have been other teams that have done this, but the Rangers are the first one I ever saw do it. And I wondered then, as I wonder now, why the home team did not join in the fun in either case. Perhaps the fear of injury.

posted by graymatters at 12:26 PM on April 09, 2011

Memories of Rick Dempsey here. Of course that was Memorial Stadium, different team, different crowd, different kids, but yeah, being there and seeing him do that to entertain us during long uncomfortable rain delays made me love the game. Back when the O's were the class of the league.

I can't imagine the Orioles doing that now. They probably had instructions from Peter Angelos, countersigned by a team of lawyers, saying they'd be docked pay if they joined in the fun. It's nice to see there's a team still classy enough to do that kind of thing. Also with a memory clear enough to do it in Charm City as a tribute to Dempsey.

Hats off to the Rangers, and the Orioles should be ashamed of themselves.

posted by Hugh Janus at 12:38 PM on April 09, 2011

I wonder now, why the home team did not join in the fun

The Rangers might have pooched the tarp doing that, and the Orioles have to co-exist with their grounds crew for 81 games.

Tarp must feel like Sox did a few days ago.

posted by beaverboard at 01:07 PM on April 09, 2011

I think a few Cubs slid on the tarp during the rainout of their first planned home night game on 8-8-88. Then a few drunks from the crowd did it too. I remember them being criticized because of risk of injury.

posted by Aardhart at 02:12 PM on April 09, 2011

posted by Mr Bismarck at 02:37 PM on April 09, 2011

Oh good god, I feel like I did before game 7 in the '06 Stanley Cup Finals.

posted by NoMich at 05:15 PM on April 09, 2011

Fans slip'n'slide all the time, but I've not seen another team do it. Phillies players did help the Denver crew as a storm blew in a few years ago.

posted by cl at 06:34 PM on April 09, 2011

rcade's link tried to play but came out borky for me. Here's an alternate shot on YouTube.

We can blame all of this frivolity for today's (soon to be) first loss of the year, right?

posted by Ufez Jones at 06:53 PM on April 09, 2011

Oh good god, I feel like I did before game 7 in the '06 Stanley Cup Finals.

Yikes. The Canes obviously didn't have that same intensity going in. Sorry the Devils didn't help you out earlier.

posted by tahoemoj at 07:37 PM on April 09, 2011

That first period was the worst hockey I've ever seen. ugh. What can you do? It's just sports. I guess it's officially baseball season now. Oh crap, my favorite teams are the Cubs and Tigers.

posted by NoMich at 11:06 PM on April 09, 2011

When the Penguins won the cup in 91 or 92, they had a big thing at 3 Rivers Stadium. It was pouring rain. Bryan Trottier grabber the cup, got a big running start and slid on his back on the tarp with the cup overhead. It was awesome. Still looking for the video.

posted by Debo270 at 01:40 AM on April 10, 2011

And I wondered then, as I wonder now, why the home team did not join in the fun in either case. Perhaps the fear of injury.

You can get some appalling rug burn if you fly off the end of one of those things.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:39 AM on April 11, 2011

The Rangers used the tarp as a Slip 'n Slide during yesterday's rain delay in Baltimore.

Years ago, when I was in Egypt, the (male) coach of the women's softball team my wife played on used a slip 'n slide to teach them how to slide on the base paths. Now Cairo, Egypt, is warm most of the time, so the ladies were dressed in shorts and t-shirts. The coach would not admit that there was a secret wet t-shirt contest being conducted, but those of us who were watching enjoyed the spectacle nonetheless.

posted by Howard_T at 05:12 PM on April 11, 2011

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