- 01:42 PM
- 11/21/24
I don't think it is outright corruption within the officiating ranks. I think it more is based on the "styles" and personalities of the crews that are chosen for the game. Basketball officials have individual tendencies just as much as home plate umpires have different strike zones. The league can dictate which crews officiate the games that matter in order to skew the results towards their desired outcome. It is not a science but it can strech a sweep into a 5-6-7 game series. Being a Detroit fan I feel this is how they won their last championship in 04. They were completely overmatched by the Lakers but the league wanted to strech the series. It just happened that in the end the Pistons showed up big and the Lakers faultered.
posted by Hannibal at 02:52 PM on June 11, 2008
I always liked his attitude. That being said I can't beleive Drew Sharp wrote a well thought out and nicely written article and not some venom spewing garbage......good for him.
posted by Hannibal at 08:02 AM on June 06, 2008
This is silly. If something is not against the rules of the game(like taking a dive in hockey is), players should not be fined for it. As much as I hate watching it, unless the league creates an in-game penalty for it, they should not fine the players. I think instead of fines they should make floppers wear a pink wrist band on their shooting arm for every flop from the previous game. In addition every compilation of 15 flops would result in a pink tear drop tatto on the offenders cheek below their eye. Laimbeer would have run out of space.....he may not have been the first flopper, but very few have ever done it better. That and they need to get rid of the "Shaq no charge zone" under the basket.
posted by Hannibal at 02:01 PM on May 29, 2008
too bad.....in a society where everything becomes held as sacred, nothing is really sacred anymore.
posted by Hannibal at 09:56 AM on May 28, 2008
I hate "professional" wrestling but what about Hulk Hogan vs. Rick Flair? As far as team rivalries, the most intense ever would almost have to be the Red Wings vs. Avalanche in the late 90's. It may not have been a long rivalry but I have never seen or even heard of more "hate" between two teams before or since. And I still don't see how anyone could see sitting at a table or desk as active.
posted by Hannibal at 11:32 AM on February 25, 2008
Chess is a sport. Please tell me how chess fits into the definition: Sport n. 1. a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. b. A particular form of this activity. 2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively. 3. An active pastime; recreation. Chess is a wonderful board game. It requires no physical aptitude. I would argue that Red Light/ Green Light is a sport before chess.
posted by Hannibal at 08:35 AM on February 25, 2008
Bo, I guess that is what kind of threw me off, the article didn't seem to paint too much of a negative light on the guy. It is great that you are taking the initiative to try to ensure your childs success. I am lucky enough to live in a pretty decent rural school district that has not been too corrupted yet. (accepts)
posted by Hannibal at 10:58 AM on February 20, 2008
The chance at succeeding in life with a full body of education is much better than the chance of making it as a professional athlete. Bo, I agree with the fundamental points that you are making about education, its importance, and the priority of academia over extra-curricular activies. The statement you made above is a fact. These student atheletes should be shown the statistical improbability of "going Pro". I guess it would be best to take my point out of the current context involving this coach, school, and students. I find no problem with coaches, schools, alumni, etc... acting as mentors, even if it requires financial support to the students, and in fact believe that it could be a valuable tool for everyone involved. The main problem I see is that the current rules force the issue into the "back room" and this is where the majority of the problems arise.
posted by Hannibal at 08:08 AM on February 20, 2008
A "math prodigy" would be a welcome addition to that district. Thanks for making my point on this one. So, after high school, they would end up with what? A 1% chance of going pro? They didn't get a quality education. That's what high school is about, not basketball. Well duh, but as far as the kids sake goes, they got to live in a nice place for a few years, they got a chance to shine in athletics at a high profile school, and whos to say they would have gotten a better education in their home district. I will not argue that the sad state of the schools academic record isn't pathetic. I was mere commenting on the sports aspect of the article. The public school system is a wreck, and it will only get worse until it falls apart completely. The main point I guess is that as long as sports make public schools (including universities) money, the emphasis on those sports will almost always supercede educational concerns for the students, especially the student-athelete. But, I don't see any harm from helping an athelete as a mentor. The only way I can see to truly help these kids would be a "trade" school in every district for students focusing on athletics. Much like a "construction trades curriculum". They could expose students to all of the aspecsts of athletics from physical training, recovery, sports broadcasting and reporting, and so on. This could give an opportunity for these kids to find a career to love outside of playing. And maybe even encourage them to expand their focus beyond sports.
posted by Hannibal at 02:02 PM on February 19, 2008
People need to get over the concept of paying atheletes to play. Our history is full of generous (albiet for sometimes self indulgent reasons) benefactors taking in and mentoring underpriviged youths for a large variety of reasons from academics to art and music. These children recieved opportunities based on the promise that they showed and the renown that the mentor recieved when they did well. That advent of commercial sports moved this into the realm of athletics. I can't imagine anyone would really be outraged at this if a teacher had brought a "math prodigy" into the district and had them participate in a district wide science fair. The problem arises with the underhandedness of it brought upon by the strict rules governing the athletics programs. Why not just call it what it is and let it be. This presumption that it isn't fair to the other kids is ridiculus. No two people are given the same abilities, opportunities, or circumstances in this life. The kids that aren't as good may as well get used to it, or try harder.
posted by Hannibal at 03:03 PM on February 18, 2008
Ah government, it gets better everyday... People are going to go off the deep end more often because of petty BS like this... (folks, we are screwed if the high and mighties don't wake up)... I went to my county Rep. Party meeting for the first time last niight....there was a guy talking about creating a county position for a "Code Enforcement Officer" so they could catch and fine people for obscure ordinance violations. He said it would be better than waiting for people to call the county and complain.....point is we need to change this thing from the bottom up. It will never happen from the top. We now return you to your regular programming, which will probably include a debate on the constitutional right to bear arms. There should be no debate....of the original 10 amendments, the first 8 address indivisual rights, the last two define the powers of the states vs. federal gov.(these have been largely ignored) There is no logical reason to argue that the 2nd amendment was the exception to the rule so to speak.
posted by Hannibal at 08:23 AM on February 08, 2008
Yeah, a few minutes worth of film on the Jets is really going to help the Patriots this weekend against the Giants. They NFL also took other tapes from the year before, and there have been accusations for a couple of years by various teams that this was going on, but they never caught them red handed.
posted by Hannibal at 01:16 PM on February 01, 2008
In reality, what harm has the NFL caused its fans by destroying the tapes? And, you don't think that all of the data that NE gave them wasn't already put onto a flash drive somewhere? We are foolish to believe that NE isn't still benefiting from the information they obtained. In other news approx 75 killed and 150 wounded in Baghdad today....enjoy our "bread and ciruses".
posted by Hannibal at 12:46 PM on February 01, 2008
Fly.. the term should actually be de-criminalizing steroids. Let me try to convince you why it should be ok with everyone. Pick any behavior(as long as it doesn't infringe upon another persons rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happines) that you do that has possible long term side effects for yourself. Make it illegal. The criminalization of drugs is by far one of the most racially and/or socioeconomically motivated games practiced by politicians followed by limiting gun ownership. "According to the federal Household Survey, "most current illicit drug users are white. There were an estimated 9.9 million whites (72 percent of all users), 2.0 million blacks (15 percent), and 1.4 million Hispanics (10 percent) who were current illicit drug users in 1998." And yet, blacks constitute 36.8% of those arrested for drug violations, over 42% of those in federal prisons for drug violations. African-Americans comprise almost 58% of those in state prisons for drug felonies; Hispanics account for 20.7%." from drugwarfacts.org
posted by Hannibal at 03:13 PM on January 28, 2008
what is wrong with letting the league take care of itself? I for one am disgusted that tax dollars are being wasted on congressional hearings and such. As long as the league doesn't care, the gov. shouldn't care. What surprises me is that the players association doesn't do more to police itself. Get the gov. out of it.
posted by Hannibal at 09:02 AM on January 28, 2008
Hmm...what about moderatly obese conjoined twins??
posted by Hannibal at 08:56 AM on December 14, 2007
Didn't that the Dolphins of the 70's have a 1st round pick taken away for cheating too?
posted by Hannibal at 02:06 PM on November 07, 2007
Anyone who knows Drew Sharps writing knows he hates the Lions and is generally just a negative nancy. I find it more than funny how many of you are slamming Kitna for this. Since when has Halloween ever had anything to do with "class"? Seriously, the people that have a problem with this are the same folks who think tag needs to be banned becuase it hurts the slow kids feelings, or that teachers shouldn't use red ink to correct papers.
posted by Hannibal at 02:46 PM on October 31, 2007
Ever wondered what happens when a switch pitcher meets a switch hitter?
A quick google led me to this for the pitcher "a pitcher must declare which arm he will use before throwing his first pitch and cannot change before the at-bat ends" and this for the batter(it also said that normally a batter can switch sides as many times as they want during an at bat with 1 exception) "The only prohibition (under normal circumstances) is that the batter cannot switch once the pitcher is in position ready to pitch. If he changes from one side of the plate to the other once the pitcher is in position, the batter is out. A batter is out for illegal action when he steps from one batter’s box to the other while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch..." seems like the umps could have found this out while preparing to umpire a game with a switch pitcher. I also read somewhere that there is a rule allowing both the pitcher and the hitter only 1 chance each to change during the at bat if they are both ambedextrious.