06/05/20
Recent Comments
SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle
I have no idea who is playing for who in this video game, but Wes Unseld absolutely dominated the game. A game played in 2017. OK.
posted by NoMich at 01:47 PM on June 02
SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle
RIP Wes Unseld.
A beast in the paint. At 6' 9"
In an era when every team had a big man at center. Or more accurately, a bigger man at center.
Magic Johnson is 6' 9". What Magic did defensively playing center in relief of the injured Kareem in Game Six of the 1980 NBA Finals against the duo of Dawkins and Jones (both 6' 11") is reminiscent of what Unseld had to do every game.
Rest easy great man.
posted by beaverboard at 12:15 PM on June 02
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
No mention of why a Brazilian has never won a gold medal in women's Olympic figure skating.
posted by beaverboard at 11:37 PM on June 01
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle
Guess we'll see how many pitchers want to put their elbows on the line for nine starts during a pandemic.
posted by Mookieproof at 08:44 PM on June 01
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle
MLB: "We will pay you for 50 games pro rated; if you want to play more, you can do it for free."
Nationals: "Wow, sorry our plan to cut minor leaguers' pay by $100 a week went over so poorly; guess we can cut out some space from our owners' $5 billion."
posted by Mookieproof at 08:41 PM on June 01
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle
Blake Wheeler also chimed in with his opinion regarding recent news in the U.S.A.
posted by NoMich at 07:53 PM on June 01
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle
Chicago captain Johnathan Toews writes regarding recent news in the U.S.A.
posted by tommytrump at 05:50 PM on June 01
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
Nobody say "Carpe Peloris!" around the President. He might get ideas.
posted by bender at 03:05 PM on June 01
Baseball Struggles to Reach a Deal to Return
That proposal was obviously designed to drive a wedge between the players, but it seems unlikely to work given the money already paid out under the March agreement.
It's interesting seeing which franchises appear to care somewhat about the game and their employees and which would rather burn it all down than see year-over-year profits decline. The Nationals, whose owning family is worth roughly $5 billion, just cut 30 minor leaguers and reduced June weekly pay to the rest from $400 to $300. That extra $100 was just a step too far, which is maybe even more amazing than the A's stopping pay altogether.
posted by Mookieproof at 10:14 PM on May 31
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
Man there are a lot of usernames in that LR thread that I haven't seen in a long time.
posted by Ufez Jones at 08:29 PM on May 31
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle
49ers' Jed York donates $1M to local, national organizations for change and Goodell: NFL is greatly saddened by the tragic events across our country but This is why Colin Kaepernick took a knee. :facepalm:
posted by billsaysthis at 11:36 AM on May 31
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle
The two sides to the coin of the current moment:
1) Man, sports just don't seem to matter that much right now
2) Man, we could sure use a dose of sports right now
posted by beaverboard at 08:33 AM on May 31
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
How did I miss the jollity concerning the hirsute MS Arakawa? Oh, I know, I didn't join this happy band until April of 2006, and the fun had happened in February of that year. Maybe it's a good thing; with my perverse sense of humor rcade would likely have wielded the lifetime banhammer upon me. OK, I'll clam up for now.
posted by Howard_T at 11:32 AM on May 30
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
Thank you for bringing back that link, Holden. I had blocked it from memory, apparently, so I got to enjoy it all over again.
posted by rcade at 11:17 AM on May 30
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
I am one of those survivors. The brave souls who agreed to try a free 30 day trial of Amazon Prime and then cancelled it on Day 29. And who then placed future orders as a non-Prime customer and chose the free shipping option.
When you do that, they move you into a new, special customer category and proceed to make your life a living, parcel-starved hell. The secret internal code name for this is UPS Gitmo.
They triage your future orders, and service you accordingly. If you clicked on a ring bound book of large print crossword puzzles for a family elder, they'll send that right along. That's a discretionary item. But the specialty pet supplements for your ailing dog? Those will take days, even weeks to ship, while your beloved companion suffers in their absence. The more urgent and necessary the items you order, the longer it will take to get them.
So carry on, fellow SpoFites. Go ahead and order a year's supply of aspirin and a defibrillator and see what happens. You'll start getting pop up Coumadin ads on your phone and the order delivery will be signed for by your neighbors while you're at the urgent care walk in facility.
posted by beaverboard at 10:21 AM on May 30
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
From that "fun talk in the locker room", I complained about my copy of Baseball Prospectus taking too long to arrive (often after my spring fantasy baseball draft).
I guess I suffered through for 3 more seasons because the last one I ever bought was the 2009 copy. I'm still getting Baseball Forecaster (2000-2020), and it's been rock solid for my fantasy team results. Not just for their projections, but for providing different ways to look at the numbers to see trends.
By the way, does anyone want copies of the 1998-2009 Baseball Prospectus? They take up a LOT of room on my book shelves and I need to clear some space. I don't want to recycle them, but I know my local library won't take them (as out of date reference items).
As for Amazon.ca, I must live near a distribution point because I've ordered something at 10pm on a Monday night and received it by 4pm on Tuesday...and that's with normal, free shipping.
I always laugh at the Amazon Prime or "pay more for faster shipping" options when I order from there.
posted by grum@work at 09:44 AM on May 30
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
Thanks for reminding me that I once ordered something from Amazon.ca and had no problems receiving the item. Good times, friends, good times.
posted by NoMich at 09:04 PM on May 29
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
As a one who is notorious for abandoning well-intentioned projects, this likely ends here, but I bring you installment two of From the Archives.
It was February 2006, and the Winter Olympics were in full swing. And on SportsFilter, we were about to be treated to a level of creative crassness rarely seen on the front page.
While rcade would like to pretend this did not happen and quickly excised the offending post (thus limiting it to four comments), a Google cache of it remains (for now).
Some fun talk in the locker room on this as well.
posted by holden at 06:03 PM on May 29
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
Love that you remembered "paradigm shift," tahoe.
posted by holden at 05:55 PM on May 29
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
Holden--without clicking on your hyperlink (which I'm about to do), I vividly recall boasts of a "paradigm shift" coming from those revolutionary training techniques.
Now to check my answers...
[on edit] Hot damn, that's the good shit! Send that madness straight into my veins!
posted by tahoemoj at 01:29 PM on May 29
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
I cut the cord 5 or 6 years ago, maybe more. So during big tournaments, I subscribe to some online service, watch my games, then cancel. I did YouTube TV (or is it YouTube Live?) last summer for Women's World Cup in France. Did a VPN service one winter for the Olympics as NBC had no online option and Canada and England had free options. Sometimes I get lucky as I get a week or two free trial, though I may have already used my CBS All Access trial on a March Madness one year.
posted by prof at 01:08 PM on May 29
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
holden, thanks for a trip down memory lane.
Why didn't we think of this earlier? With multiple days of zero posts, bringing back Huddles or articles From the Archives, would be amusing.
posted by prof at 01:02 PM on May 29
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
This probably goes in the bucket of navel-gazing, but I was thinking the other day "Was there some guy on SportsFilter who always used to go on about his proprietary training techniques that would surely revolutionize soccer or am I just imagining that?"
I present to you a very special edition of From the Archives (f/k/a Down the Rabbit Hole).
posted by holden at 02:56 PM on May 28
Baseball Struggles to Reach a Deal to Return
If I was a player I'd raise hell about any scheme pitting players against each other, which is what the sliding scale does. Let the owners pull that now to their benefit and they'll keep playing that card in the future.
posted by rcade at 12:10 PM on May 28
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
Better sign up for CBS All Access, prof, since all but two of the matches will be shown live on it.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:29 AM on May 28
Baseball Struggles to Reach a Deal to Return
Found the link to the John Tomase article previously mentioned.
posted by Howard_T at 08:23 PM on May 27
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
NWSL to return on June 27 with month-long tournament haven't had time to read this, but one concern was how to handle players with young children.
I will be happy to watch as many games as I can of this as I can. Will be a bit odd though not being able to drive the 5 hours to SLC to see the games live. Some fellow soccer coaches/analysts on twitter have been offering their services for free to be able to attend these games live :)
posted by prof at 06:45 PM on May 27
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
NWSL to return on June 27 with month-long tournament haven't had time to read this, but one concern was how to handle players with young children.
I will be happy to watch as many games as I can of this as I can. Will be a bit odd though not being able to drive the 5 hours to SLC to see the games live. Some fellow soccer coaches/analysts on twitter have been offering their services for free to be able to attend these games live :)
posted by prof at 06:45 PM on May 27
Baseball Struggles to Reach a Deal to Return
unless pro athletes are also coming up with cures for cancer, they're all overpaid.
The NBC Sports Boston app "My Teams" has an article by John Tomase in which he says that "he hates all of them". I don't know how to link to the article, but the app is available in the usual places. You could also try NBC Sports Boston's web site.
Life, as we all know, is never about "fair"
One of my former supervisors once told me during our annual salary negotiations that you are not paid what you deserve, not paid what you earn, nor paid what you are worth. You are paid what you negotiate. It rings true. By the way, I received a mid-level increase that year despite the fact that I had not had a terribly productive year. Anything is possible, I now live across the street from him, and we are still on speaking terms.
posted by Howard_T at 06:37 PM on May 27
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
NWSL to return on June 27 with month-long tournament although the USWNT players have not yet agreed to participate -- their salaries are paid by US Soccer and have not been impacted by the league's shutdown.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:10 AM on May 27
Baseball Struggles to Reach a Deal to Return
Life, as we all know, is never about "fair" especially in our dollar-driven capitalist society. The owners will end up having to pay enough that the players agree to show up but surely this is just an opening for negotiation and not what the owners ever expected to pay.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:06 AM on May 27
Baseball Struggles to Reach a Deal to Return
As sports agent Bob Woolf once said, unless pro athletes are also coming up with cures for cancer, they're all overpaid.
(He could afford to be candid. He had already played a big role in setting and developing the salary market at that point.)
So my version of what constitutes fair pay for 2020 is no doubt different from the players' version.
posted by beaverboard at 10:09 AM on May 27
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
thanks for the laugh beaverboard
posted by kokaku at 08:17 PM on May 26
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
"Hey honey, Steven A Smith is on next. Wanna watch a cooking reality show with me?"
No ESPN talker makes me switch channels faster than this guy and his overreaching ego.
posted by billsaysthis at 01:02 PM on May 26
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
The article does not state how locked down those involved will be. Some concerns and stories about isolating everyone.
- German coach missed first game after going out to get some toothpaste a few days before a game
- Player's want to be present for the birth of a child or present for some other life event
- After testing everyone mental health for 7 weeks of being stuck at home, we are asking those involved to do it longer
posted by prof at 10:57 AM on May 26
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
why on earth would they want us?
In the absence of the PGA golf tour, here's the global confirmed cases COVID leaderboard:
Countries:
1) USA
2) Brazil
3) Russia
4) United Kingdom
Leadership:
1) Trump
2) Bolsonaro
3) Putin
4) Boris Johnson
USA is the runaway leader as they head to the back nine.
posted by beaverboard at 10:33 AM on May 26
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
I've been wondering why leagues don't move the games to a country that has the pandemic under control
why on earth would they want us? at this point, i'm surprised the USA isn't treated like a pariah and cutoff by the world
posted by kokaku at 07:59 AM on May 26
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
Truth doesn't matter, excellence of performance is ignored, all that matters is that the writer achieves some measure of superiority over his subject.
I think more accurately the writer receives some media face time which for a writer is the ultimate goal.
Watching the Jordan documentary and there are numerous clips of bad writers and reporters trying to make a name for themselves by baking up gambling conspiracy theories and whatever else. Was there ever an NBA player who did more for his team, his league, and everyone around him than Jordan? Was there ever a player who dominated his sport like MJ? Universally respected by everyone he came in contact with. I suppose it gave fans of opposing teams something to add to their signage but otherwise find it hard to believe there is an audience for the "sports" writers who present nothing relevant on the game and make a living on shtick.
"Hey honey, Steven A Smith is on next. Wanna watch a cooking reality show with me?"
posted by cixelsyd at 10:20 PM on May 25
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
it's just that I'm so sick and tired of Shaughnessy's shtick.
Shaughnessy is representative of a breed of writers, sports writers political commentators, theater critics, and the like, who know that they have none of the skills of those whom they cover, and seem to resent that they are inferior. They take out their resentment by writing extensively about perceived flaws in those whom they dislike. Truth doesn't matter, excellence of performance is ignored, all that matters is that the writer achieves some measure of superiority over his subject. It's not uncommon, but it's no less annoying for its prevalence. Perhaps the best example of this in sports is the constant effort by the Boston press to run Ted Williams out of town in the 1950s. Notice also that negative reporting about Tom Brady in the Boston media began to increase a few years ago, and with his move to Tampa has become much more frequent. Must all idols have feet of clay?
posted by Howard_T at 06:59 PM on May 25
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
I've been wondering why leagues don't move the games to a country that has the pandemic under control
Makes sense from pretty much every angle. Only reason not to would be political and unfortunately that appears to be more important than safety with those that are calling the shots.
posted by cixelsyd at 04:09 PM on May 25
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
Seems like there should be two venues, one east and one west if such is possible.
If people are still out of work and hanging at home, absolutely, have day games, hell yeah. Outdoor games too, why not, as long as things have gotten so run off the rails.
Dan Shaughnessy should not be allowed to cover any of the games, as he has a keystroke command on his keyboard that automatically lets him refer to Orlando as "a yahoo town". Not that I'm a huge fan of Orlando, it's just that I'm so sick and tired of Shaughnessy's shtick.
This was recently aped by Boston area sports radio yakkers who couldn't stop mentioning that Tampa Bay was "beneath Tom Brady's brand". Stick some scrod up yer behinds, boys.
posted by beaverboard at 11:35 AM on May 25
NBA May Play Rest of Season at Disney World
I've been wondering why leagues don't move the games to a country that has the pandemic under control. South Korea is down to just 16 cases yesterday and its peak ended in March. They have aggressive contact tracing. You're much less likely to be catching it there than here.
posted by rcade at 11:12 AM on May 25
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle
Sutton entered the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 having led Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and his alma mater, Oklahoma State, to a combined 26 NCAA Tournament appearances. In 37 seasons of Division I coaching, Sutton won 17 conference regular season and tournament championships.
Helluva legacy
posted by NoMich at 12:39 PM on May 24
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle
Rest in Peace Eddie Sutton. I took my dad to a Thunder/Heat pre-season game in Tulsa about ten years ago and espied Eddie hobbling into the BOK Center by himself. I'm half surprised he made it this long.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:19 AM on May 24
The same people who put Trump in office run the NFL. No wonder it's not diverse
The headline may be ladling on a bit too much dressing at the salad bar, but that's another topic. It was designed to grab eyeballs and that it did.
They didn't need that headline to nail down the premise of the story. And the same thing happens in college basketball to a certain degree. Kentucky was never comfortable with Tubby Smith and Indiana was never comfortable with Mike Davis. Both went to title games; Tubby won his. It'll be interesting to see what Duke and UNC do when Coach K and Roy retire.
When the question is asked: "Why aren't more people of color working in top jobs for NFL owners?", I want to know how often the answer goes both ways. Do assistants take a HC job regardless of the situation if it's offered to them, or do they remain patient and wait for a good situation?
Because a lot of the folks that own football teams are characters that a lot of people would not want to work for. If ownership is the Pegula family, is there such a thing as a good situation? When Brian Flores took the Miami gig, how much thought did he give to the notion of working for Stephen Ross? Especially coming from the payroll of Bob Kraft, who is one of the better owners in the league regardless of his fondness for Mar A Lago and massage parlors. The same question applies to Anthony Lynn, working for the Spanos family.
Eric Bieniemy sure as hell can coach and Lord knows deserves a shot. He's currently in a good situation. He could do a lot worse in the ownership department working for Hunt. Is that part of the equation? If you're black and already busting your butt to overcome that professional obstacle, and you know you have to deal with the media and all the other stuff that goes with the HC job, then you look at prospective ownership and realize how much that factor matters if you're going to be able to succeed, do you size up the whole picture and realize that certain job offers are just never going to work, or do you take the opportunity and the money no matter what?
To boil it all down: Ron Rivera, WTF?
posted by beaverboard at 08:47 AM on May 23
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
And Patrick Ewing has been diagnosed with covid 19. Come on sweaty big man! Everyone likes Patrick, right? I remember loving watching him play the game, no matter what uniform he was wearing.
posted by NoMich at 11:16 PM on May 22
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
RIP Coach. I had hoped he would win one of the Finals against the Bulls. But not to be. I hope the franchise pays him a fitting tribute.
posted by beaverboard at 10:13 PM on May 22
Hockey Is Not for Everyone
Man, that's a hell of a story. I wish I could dismiss it as one person's shitty experience, but I'm aware enough to know that it is not. As a freshman playing varsity hockey, I took a lot of shit from the older guys--not invited to team parties, expected to provide tape--but nothing approaching genuine "hazing." At that fragile stage of my life, that kind of relentless abuse would have been devastating.
posted by tahoemoj at 01:52 PM on May 22
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
Showing up in the The Last Dance on Sunday marks part of his last dance, Jerry Sloan has passed away
posted by prof at 12:09 PM on May 22
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
the winner loses all
Looks like the F-series truck is the big loser. It's going to take some work to get the white paint off.
posted by Howard_T at 08:31 PM on May 21
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
Florida Man x 4, rofl!
posted by billsaysthis at 11:55 AM on May 21
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
Interesting thought about the injury plagued Seattle Mariners of 2017 in this MeFi thread about a desert fungus that can make people very sick:
The Seattle Mariners have a Spring Training facility in Peoria Arizona, and a few years back (2017, maybe? but I think it was earlier), so many players got 'severe headcolds' that it actually disrupted the roster significantly " I seem to recall that James Paxton had to leave the team for a week or so (he was hospitalized with pneumonia later, but that was in the Fall of 2018).
That Spring the biggest 'superbloom' of desert wild flowers in many years took place because of very unusually high rainfall, and if the wild flowers are blooming, so are the fungi which cause Valley Fever.
So I thought " and still think " that the team probably had an outbreak of Valley Fever, and during the regular season that year, the Mariners were decimated by injuries which mainly seemed to involve muscle and joint inflammation, which are common in the aftermath of Valley Fever.
posted by jamjam at 4:54 AM on May 21
posted by NoMich at 10:13 AM on May 21
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
Hopefully the "handshake line" isn't gone forever after every NHL playoff round. Even if it's stick tapping or fist bumping, I want the opponents to greet each other individually in that lineup.
posted by grum@work at 09:58 AM on May 21
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
So...is the old man covered in paint the winner? Or the big slapper guy the winner? As ol' Possum put it, the winner loses all
posted by NoMich at 09:45 AM on May 21
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle
As a former Floridian struggling with the absence of sports, it's heartening to see that in the interim, some new forms of competition have emerged.
"Ladies and gentleman, our next bout will be Tampa Death Style, two out of three gallons, no tools barred."
posted by beaverboard at 09:27 AM on May 21
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
Coronavirus is retiring the handshake. Here's why that could change sports forever
posted by tommytrump at 06:38 PM on May 20
Hockey Is Not for Everyone
I just don't understand the hazing shit that is so prevalent in sports. People tried to do shit like that in my high school. I told them all to go fuck themselves, but I was able to get away with it in a tiny dirtbag village in northern Michigan, so I can't even fathom how bad the pressure must be to conform to do that in high level sports.
posted by NoMich at 12:41 PM on May 20
Hockey Is Not for Everyone
I hate this shit, that some people have to go through this. Sport is supposed to be about sport, there are so many platitudes about sport elevating people, bringing out the best in people, and so on, but then we get posts like this and I'm reminded that there is no part of life immune to such idiocy.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:09 PM on May 20
Excuse Me, Aren't You Johnny Bench?
Johnny Bench once held 25 cheeseburger platter meals with half sour pickle spears in two hands for around 3 minutes before he eventually tired and dropped them. This feat has been commemorated in Qatar.
posted by beaverboard at 09:04 AM on May 18
Excuse Me, Aren't You Johnny Bench?
Holding a bunch of burgers is one thing.
Eating them is a different story.
posted by beaverboard at 09:02 PM on May 17
Excuse Me, Aren't You Johnny Bench?
What the hell did I just watch? Did he have seven hamburgers in his hand?
posted by NoMich at 01:52 PM on May 17
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle
Trailblazing sports personality, Phyllis George, died yesterday. Phyllis George was part of CBS's NFL pregame show and the Preakness Stakes.
There goes yet another piece of my childhood.
posted by NoMich at 10:22 AM on May 17
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle
Former Washington great Dexter Manley has been hospitalized with Covid-19 complications. Hope he is able to pull through. He was one of the District athletes who formed a strong connection with legendary sportscaster George Michael.
posted by beaverboard at 09:53 AM on May 17
SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle
Rather freaky watching Bundesliga action in an empty stadium yesterday.
But good to be able to hear the guys voices out on the pitch, which normally are drowned out by the crowd.
The sound reminded me of local international pickup games on the weekends in my area.
posted by beaverboard at 09:50 AM on May 17
SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle
RIP VMI baseball star Fred Willard. Here is a deleted scene from the incredible Waiting for Guffman where Willard improvs some baseball scenes with Catherine O'Hara.
posted by NoMich at 04:53 PM on May 16
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle
Memories ...