- 06:45 AM
- 11/05/24
A Teas cowboy of some repute was vacationing in Seville and couldn't resist taking in a bullfight. Afterwards, he dined at the restaurant across the street from the corrida de toros. While sipping on his pre-dinner wine, he noticed that the diner at the neighboring table was feasting on a delicious looking plate of rice and vegetables, topped off with two large medallions of tender meat. It smelled divine, an the diner was clearly enjoying it.
The Texan asked the waiter what the dish was, and whether he could order it as well. The waiter was apologetic: "Senor, you have excellent taste. Those are bull's testicles from the bullfight this morning. A delicacy! Unfortunately, there is only one serving per day because there is only one bullfight each morning. But if you place your order now, we will be sure to save you this delicacy for tomorrow." The cowboy readily agreed.
The next day he again went to the bullfight, and with great anticipation visited the restaurant for lunch afterwards. But he was disappointed when his dish arrived. It featured the same plateful of rice and vegetables, but this time it was topped off not with two juicy medallions, but rather a pair of small, firm nuggets.
He called the waiter over to inquire why his dish was so different from that enjoyed by the previous day's diner. The waiter shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Lo siento, Senor ... sometimes the bull wins."
posted by googly at 09:54 PM on July 23, 2011
Cool link, but URL is borked.
posted by googly at 12:23 PM on January 21, 2011
From the "Get the Facts" section here:
Myth: Women's ski jumping is not developed enough. There is not enough "universality"
Fact: 16 Nations (AUT, CAN, CZE, FIN, FRA, GER, ITA, JAP, NED, NOR, POL, RUS, SLO, SWE, SUI, & USA) have women registered as international competitors with the FIS. This season's Continental Cup tour will include 25 events hosted by 8 countries in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Myth: Only a few women athletes can jump respectably.
Fact: 35 different athletes from 9 nations have placed within the top 10 in FIS Continental Cup competition during the past two seasons. The depth of field parallels the men's tour.
posted by googly at 09:28 AM on December 17, 2010
A Klima? How about a Kerr?
posted by googly at 08:14 PM on November 24, 2010
For anybody who's ever hung out clothes, they know what I mean
Shaq is stiffer than if he were tumble dried?
posted by googly at 07:31 PM on November 24, 2010
Ok, so one small joke leads to 40 comments discussing whether or not we should joke about or acknowledge that Vick has killed dogs in the past. I vote joke and/or acknowledge.
I see your point, but it was more than one small joke. I think the problem here is that some people hold some sports figures to high standards of behavior while giving others a free pass.
There is broad agreement that what Vick did was heinous, and some people want to continue to remind us of this fact. The problem is that many, many sports figures have done things that are heinous, or at least morally questionable, in the past. Some have been charged, some have been found guilty, some have been given a free pass. Imagine if the constant reminders of bad behavior were consistently applied. Every thread about Ben Roethlisberger would refer to the fact that he is a serial rapist. Every thread about Tiger Woods would refer to the fact that he is an adulterer. Every thread about Sean Payton would refer to the fact that he is an accused thief. Every thread about Brett Favre would refer to the fact that he was a Vicodin addict and is a serial sexual harasser. And so on and son on, ad nauseum .
I'm no fan of what Vick did, but I also recognize that in forums such as this there is a tacit agreement that, in general, we don't derail threads to talk about the perceived lack of repentance of famous sports figures who have done bad things. You may think that Vick's past behavior should always be on our minds, but not care so much about Roethlisberger; I may think that Roethlisberger's past behavior should always be on our minds, but think that Vick has served his sentence and paid his debt to society. The way we get along is to agree to refrain from shoving our opinions down each others' throats every time the subject of Vick or Roethlisberger comes up. It may not be a perfect system, but its the only way to prevent almost every thread from being derailed by the moralizing of a few commenters.
posted by googly at 11:12 AM on November 17, 2010
Those numbers reflect total hits witnessed/noted by the judges, right?
No, they reflect the 10-point must system that boxing and some other combat sports use. I personally have never liked the system, but the basic gist of it is that even a dominant round in terms of punches landed is often scored 10-9 for the better fighter.
posted by googly at 07:26 PM on November 14, 2010
Well, I guess its only fair. I mean, the players for these hopelessly outmatched teams are putting their health and safety on the line when they play far superior teams like 'Bama, so it stands to reason that they should be compensated quite handsomely, and
Wait, what's that? The players don't see a penny of it? But that would mean that the universities are colluding to offer up sacrificial lambs, without giving them any share of the profits. Ridiculous.
posted by googly at 06:26 PM on November 12, 2010
Tedy Bruschi calls Childress "inept" for the way he handled this situation.
posted by googly at 04:49 PM on November 01, 2010
Just came in here to (re)post this myself, but you beat me to the punch!
posted by googly at 08:48 PM on October 22, 2010
The "BIGGEST" dumb ass of all time, and the richest.
I think that the tone of the reporting and commentary on this is pretty messed up. Every story so far mentions the "street" names of codeine syrup, giving this whole thing the veneer of "ghetto black player on drugs - what a dumbass." But Russell would hardly be the first or five hundredth professional athlete to have a problem with prescription painkillers. After all, it wasn't too long ago that Sean Payton was accused of stealing prescription painkillers. When Brett Favre admitted he was addicted to painkillers, Peter King wrote a laudatory piece in which he noted that "NFL player after NFL player last week expressed sympathy for Favre, who was worried he would be cast as a druggie if he stepped forward and admitted his addiction."
Russell may or may not also be addicted to prescription painkillers, but the immediate slant of the reporting is far different from the reporting on Payton and Favre. Maybe its Russell's history of bad behavior and his status as one of the top three underperformers in the history of the NFL that is slanting the reporting in this way. But I can't help thinking that the color of his skin has something to do with it too.
posted by googly at 09:34 AM on July 06, 2010
Like Brazil (and Italy) before them, Argentina's cynical strategy of dribbling at someone, looking for contact, falling on the ground and looking for a penalty seems to have failed to pay off. The Netherlands and Germany just seem to have been more interested in putting together a coordinated attack than showing off individual dribbling skills and complaining to the referee.
posted by googly at 11:39 AM on July 03, 2010
This reminds me of the debate over who should bear the cost of expensive mountain rescues - seen recently in the (failed) search for three climbers on Mt. Hood (shameless self-link to a metafilter post of mine).
posted by googly at 07:40 PM on June 28, 2010
"This will be corrected," said FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot.
Maingot is an anagram of Maginot, the name of another famously outmoded strategy. Ah, the irony...
posted by googly at 11:57 AM on June 28, 2010
"You wonder about the dedication to football. These teams want the guy to be a 24-hour, 365-days-a-year football player."
The double-standard implied by this statement is mind-boggling. Taking a year to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunity is a sign not only of intelligence, but also perspective, foresight, and the ever-elusive "character." Maybe if Rolle spent more of his free time trolling bars for underage women, and less time reading, NFL teams would be interested.
posted by googly at 10:32 AM on April 21, 2010
Well, to be fair, the whole point of the article was to determine whether players are overvalued, not whether their actual performance is good or not. If you've paid $20M for a player who only plays 10 games during his contract, you don't care if he hit 10 HR during those 10 games - he still cost $2M per home run, which is a huge overpayment. So, in fact, injuries do matter a great deal.
posted by googly at 10:42 PM on February 22, 2008
While I'm not up on all the details of this case, I do find it interesting that a woman that used steroids, and then lied about it, may be going to jail. While a man that used steroids, and then lied about it, may be going to the Hall of Fame. According to this story, Jones "is expected to plead guilty to one count of making false statements to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and one count of making false statements to federal agents in connection with a separate check fraud case." So if she does indeed go to jail, it will be for lying to federal agents, rather than for using performance enhancing substances per se. AFAIK, Bonds has yet to be accused of lying to federal agents. Doesn't make what he did any better or worse, but does clarify the seeming discrepancy in consequences for similar actions.
posted by googly at 11:33 AM on October 05, 2007
WHO REALLY CARES. Comment icon posted by sportnut at 7:25 AM CDT on October 1 A few more than care about a retired ice hockey player being stalked by his neighbors.
posted by googly at 10:34 AM on October 01, 2007
If you want to find out the referee's name, I suggest that you read the link that Nerfball posted. Hint: its the name beginning with "D" in the title of the article.
posted by googly at 01:31 PM on July 20, 2007
Good list, JJ. My only quibble: Basketball - No (I know this is a big one for non-American players, but I still think the pinnacle is the NBA and the WNBA, no matter where you're from) This is a tough call. No doubt almost all players in the U.S. value high acheivement in the NBA over an Olympic gold medal. But this really reflects valuing financial remuneration higher than actual achievement, as well as continued American ignorance of the high level of basketball talent in the rest of the world. And I think it is outweighed by the thousands of players in other countries - including countries with professional leagues of their own - for whom Olympic gold is indeed the pinnacle. Also, since U.S. teams are no longer totally dominant in Olympic and World Championship competitions, its much harder to defend the idea that the NBA champion is the de facto best team in the world.
posted by googly at 11:21 AM on June 26, 2007
Excellent idea, woeful execution. The '88-90 Pistons = Nirvana? The '91-98 Bulls = The Eagles? the '80-91 Lakers = Led Zeppelin? And this after equating the '81-87 Celtics with the Beastie Boys because "they were the white guys dominating a black medium?" So a mostly white team is equated with a white hip-hop group, but three mostly black teams are equated with...tired old white 'classic' rock groups? Huh? How about this: The '88-90 Pistons = NWA (bad boys. original gangstas. etc.) The '91-98 Bulls = Public Enemy (a combination of dominant, serious mc; ultra-competent but relatively quiet dj; goofy sidekick; and behind-the scenes production team that gets it all done) the '80-91 Lakers = Bad Brains (could switch between blindingly fast tempos and dub-like half-court offense at the blink of a hat)
posted by googly at 09:45 AM on June 07, 2007
Jaguars Releasing David Garrard
Black quarterbacks: the Red Shirts of the NFL.