- 08:58 AM
- 11/05/24
Yep, I grew up in the late 50's and 60's. In the off-season, we always played baseball at the end of our cul-de-sac. If we couldn't get four or more, we played pickle. When baseball season came around, we all played Little League starting at 8 (Wally Moon's summer baseball camp) through 12, then on to Pony League. High School was next, but then we discovered football, and baseball was moved to the back seat. I can't remember seeing any sandlot/street games in a VERY long time.
posted by Toad8572 at 05:23 PM on July 26, 2008
I'm not a big fan of the MMA, even though I earned a black belt in my younger years, but it's much more tolerable than hockey. At least in MMA, there is no pretense of any other aim, and they aren't trying to fight on ice. Hockey makes far less sense than MMA! Canadians, rethink your revulsion in light of your own senseless national sport. At least MMA is a fringe sport.
posted by Toad8572 at 04:57 PM on April 19, 2008
who knows how you can record 4 outs in a half-inning (and why it's important) Score is 0 to 0; 1 out, runners on 2nd and 3rd Batter hits a fly ball The runners both run home (2 to 0) The ball is caught (2nd out) The defender tags 2nd base (3rd out, score is now 1 to 0) At this point, the inning is over. The defense may run off the field and the score will remain 1 to 0, or they can tag 3rd base to record the 4th out and the score will be back to 0 to 0.
posted by Toad8572 at 04:22 PM on March 05, 2008
but at least give the team some sort of impression you want them to win... He was voted the team's offensive MVP. The vote took place after their season was over. If you think that he didn't fully support his team, I believe that the statement that the team made with their vote fully eclipses yours or anyone's suppositions. I've also heard (read) from several of his teammates who feel any animosity directed at LT is just flat wrong. LT said that the doctors did not want him back on the field. He said when he couldn't turn the corner on an aging LB he knew his knee was toast; he couldn't explode. He knew that Turner could do a better job than he could. HE'S A TEAM PLAYER! Again, LT is a warrior who was hearbroken he couldn't play in the biggest game of his life. His teammates fully support him both then and now. The only opinions that matter are those of his fellow Chargers. If they didn't believe in him, or think he didn't have their back, they wouldn't have voted him the MVP. Lastly, don't compare Rivers to LT. Rivers said that he really didn't have to move around much, and that the demands on his knee were very different than the demands placed on the knee of a running back. LT needs no "pass" from anyone.
posted by Toad8572 at 05:24 PM on February 29, 2008
No i wouldnt cut him for lack of enthusiasm but I would be concerned about where he stands as a team player. I feel he took himself out of that game to make a statement to the team about his value. You are aware that his teammates elected him the year's MVP Offense after that game, right? Also bear in mind that you only saw what the TV producers wanted you to see. You didn't see the times that LT was encouraging his teammates, because that didn't fit with the storyline. People at the game saw a totally different LT than the TVland audience saw. LT has played hurt without complaints. He was devastated that he couldn't play during the biggest game of his entire career. However, he didn't sulk or quit on his buddies. He's a current team captain and a quiet but forceful leader on this team. He's a class act all the way. As for Rivers' smack talking...well, we was a linebacker in High School. He's like a LB playing QB. However, if he wasn't a QB, nobody would say a thing about his smack. He should however quit jawing with the opposing team's drunken fans! Norv pointed that out to him; problem fixed.
posted by Toad8572 at 05:20 PM on February 28, 2008
Wow! College "thugletes" at their best. I hope the good folks in Westwood are ready for the new "Nieuheisel Era"! In the NFL, the rediculous amounts of money given to players has required the GM's to pay closer attention to the character of their draftees. It's probably not a coincidence that the most successful NFL teams have the lowest number of off-field incidents and thugletes. See: http://www.profootballtalk.com/turdwatch.htm
posted by Toad8572 at 05:13 PM on January 30, 2008
What's more amazing is that even with 6 picks, Manning had a higher Passer rating than Rivers. Norv! WTF have you done to Rivers?!?
posted by Toad8572 at 03:28 PM on November 13, 2007
He already pleaded guilty to these charges in his federal indictment and can't be charged with the same crime twice. Wrong. He was charged by the Feds and pled guilty to Federal charges. He can also be charged by the State of Virginia. It's not double jepoardy. Each juristiction has the right to bring charges, even if they are identical. Sentences can be served consecutively or concurrently; that's up to the judge. The dog killing charges bring a maximum sentence of 5 years on EACH COUNT. Since he's already stipulated that he participated in the killing of 6-8 dogs, he could get up to 40 years. However, the indictment only listed the single killing charge, so unless they revise the indictment, he's only subject to 5 years on that charge. There are of course other charges. I think at this point, everyone including Vick knows he's seriously screwed. No more NFL, and probably no more football period! What a dumb-ass!
posted by Toad8572 at 10:19 AM on September 28, 2007
Debo, While agree that you're probably right about the past records, by letting the past wins stand, the NFL has defacto rewarded cheating. When everything is settled, BB and crowd can rightly say "it was worth it". I also am not in favor of reducing the cap; it hurts the players on the team who most likely knew nothing of the scheme. I doubt BB & Co. would trust them to keep this quite; players move around.
posted by Toad8572 at 09:40 AM on September 12, 2007
Removing draft picks isn't enough. They can still be active in free agency. More effective, if money is the weapon, is to require Kraft to reduce his next year's cap by $20M, and pay it to the league for distirbution to teams affected by the Patriot's cheating. The teams receiving the money should be able to increase their cap next year by the amount received. However, I'd prefer the following: Let's start with a multiple game suspension for Belichick, and any other involved coaches, for the defensive signals stealing. If it's true that they have modified the audio equipment to enable the stealing of offensive calls as well, suspend Belichik, and any other involved coaches, for the remainder of the season. Next, award the W to the Jets. And after that, the NFL needs to immediately remove all employees of the Patriots from Gillette stadium so that they may send in a team of inspectors to search for any other illegal equipment. Lastly, the NFL needs to review all of the past game films since the beginning of the Patriot's Superbowl runs to seach for evidence of illegal activities. If evidence is spotted, the subject game wins need to be reversed and tainted titles need to be removed. The Patriots are no longer entitled to a presumption of innocence. These actions should provide an effective deterrent to future illegal activities for everyone in the league.
posted by Toad8572 at 09:30 AM on September 12, 2007
What's interesting is the absence of Davon Boddie from the indictment. It's probably because he's one of the four "cooperating witnesses" mentioned in the indictment. He's probably singing his heart out for a reduced sentence or immunity. He'd better be in hiding or in the witness protection program. These aren't nice people.
posted by Toad8572 at 04:51 PM on July 18, 2007
Sorry, but number 60 must go to Tommy Nobis of the Atlanta Falcons via the University of Texas. There should be no debate. Otto Graham was great, but his impact doesn't match that of Tommy's.
posted by Toad8572 at 09:35 AM on July 06, 2007
This makes no sense. He's a free agent. He would like to be cut. If you don't think he can make more than the $8 million of his tender offer on the open market, then you haven't been paying attention to what defensive backs are earning these days. The Patriots know that they would have to pay a lot more than that to keep him, that's why they designated him as their franchise player. No doubt that he would make a lot more elsewhere. But, according to the CBA, which the players supported, the team has that right. There are lots of benefits for the players in the current CBA, and unfortunately, this one works against at most 32 of them. If AS was smart (a big IF) he'd negotiate an agreement that the team wouldn't do the same thing next year, and sign the offer and report on time to training camp. His next employer won't look kindly upon a proven disruptive influence in the locker room. However, I highly doubt that he'll not be present and playing in game one. This is just a bit of carping and whining on a legitimate tactic by the Pats. It might also be a harbinger of the "non-contract" to come next year for him. Brady, in his current contract form, is set to earn $14.5 million or a double digit percentage portion of the total allotted to the team for salaries. AS may be a luxury they won't be able to afford, so there's no reason to negotiate a new deal this year.
posted by Toad8572 at 05:50 PM on June 05, 2007
Well, for those of you who miss the stolen base and associated "small ball", there's good news. Just tune into the Angels (of Anaheim!). The team is built for speed and strong pitching. They've got the best games of small ball around. Stealing, bunting, squeezing and stretching the bags. It's really a lot of fun for real fans who understand the game's strategy. And, don't blame the catchers for lack of put-outs. Almost all of the stolen bases today come at the expense of the slow and deliberate pitcher. The bag is usually stolen before the catcher touches the ball.
posted by Toad8572 at 01:38 PM on May 18, 2007
Gee. I guess that this will provide an opportunity for the NFL and the Ravans to show everyone that their intolerance for misbehavior extends to prize QB's as well as expendable players. I'm sure that the league and the Ravens will suspend McNair for a few games...YEAH RIGHT! Actually, since he wasn't driving, he's probably in the clear by NFL/Raven's standards.
posted by Toad8572 at 01:45 PM on May 10, 2007
The Chargers are playing for home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and the NFL has moved the Ravens game to play at the same time as the Chargers. There won't be any opportunity for either team to let up due to results of the other's game. Expect the Chargers to stomp AZ, and never look back.
posted by Toad8572 at 10:57 AM on December 29, 2006
That said, Enarson presided over some great days in Buckeye history. Indeed he did, but unfortunately his firing was a requirement; personally, I was a McKay fan, although there's no denying Woody's greatness and impact. It's not unlike the necessity of firing Bobby Knight. There comes a time when firey coaches get too involved in the sport in which they are supposed to be coaching rather than competing.
posted by Toad8572 at 10:25 AM on August 01, 2006
Right idea; wrong procedure. http://www.slate.com/id/2107096/ Hamilton is suspected of using a different method of blood doping, one that requires no hormones; instead, concentrated red blood cells are transfused directly into the bloodstream a week or less before competition. For reasons of convenience and safety, autologous transfusions, in which the cells are the athlete's own, are reportedly far more common than homologous transfusions, in which the cells belong to someone else with compatible blood. Typically, an athlete has up to four units of blood removed a month or more before competition. Technicians then use a centrifuge to separate the red blood cells from this sample; the RBCs are placed in cold storage, only to be reinfused shortly before the big race. (The athlete may even use EPO months before an event to boost the number of RBCs in the units of blood that get removed; the EPO will be undetectable by race day.) More RBC means a higher oxygen carrying capacity for the blood. This means the muscles get more oxygen with which to perform their tasks.
posted by Toad8572 at 02:34 PM on July 28, 2006
Three keys: fractured sinus cavity, broken jawbone and SEVERE knee injuries. Don't look for big Ben on opening day; hopefully he'll be back some time this season. This could cost Ben a fortune literally. $20M contract extension and up to $10M/year in endorsements. On the bright side, maybe there's a Bell Helmets deal out there...
posted by Toad8572 at 05:02 PM on June 12, 2006
I seriously have no idea if the Chargers were improved at all I hope so but from the sounds of things they really didn't. Well, that all depends on whether or not Cromartie can play at the level that is expected, same for McNeill. Both have issues, Cromartie had 3 knee tendons repaired and McNeill has spinal stenosis. Both were medically cleared by SD docs. All the other choices are irrelevant to 2006. The only Charger holes are LT and CB (forget the Rivers thingy). Drafting these guys is a gamble that could payoff big...or not.
posted by Toad8572 at 06:21 PM on May 01, 2006
Maybe not, Toad. Even though Booty is number 1 on the depth chart, most at SC realize that Sanchez is probably better, even without taking a snap yet. Yeah, I watched him take quite a few snaps at MV High. He's definitely gifted. I heard the same from Ed Ogeron when he was the asst. head coach at SC. However, I've not seen JDB play; he also has quite a storied background. There's no doubt that this could be a huge blow to the SC program. As fas as growing up in So. OC, that doesn't condem him to a massive ego. Matt Leinart grew up there too; he seems to have turned out OK, same with Palmer. I think we have to give the benefit of the doubt to Mark until all of the facts are in. If he's really committed a crime, he's screwed up a multi-million dollar future.
posted by Toad8572 at 10:48 AM on April 28, 2006
so seems like another arrogant kid,thinks he's special...that no women should refuse him..by the way, where does a college kid get 200,000 dollars??? His family lives in South Orange County in Mission Viejo. It wouldn't be hard to get $20K against MV real estate. Sanchez is a really gifted kid who I didn't hear of getting into any trouble in HS. Arrogant? No. Confident? Yes. There may be more to the story than we've heard. Who knows, maybe the alleged victim's dad is a Notre Dame alum. ;0) (If that were the case, it might have been better to involve JDB)
posted by Toad8572 at 05:03 PM on April 27, 2006
We used to take our Little Leaguers up to the Colliseum from north San Diego county and sit behind the screen in the cheap seats. What a weird view of baseball that was. Moon hit portsiders better than righties in any park if memory serves me correctly. He was a smart hard working son of a gun; my son idolized him posted by jazzdog at 12:34 PM CDT on April 21 Year, my dad had 4 seats off of third, but I don't remember all the space between us and the infield. I remember the White Sox World Series there too. Later we moved to Dodger Stadium which seemed like a palace after the coliseum. Every time I used to see Shawn Green on TV with the Dodgers he reminded me of Moon.
posted by Toad8572 at 06:32 PM on April 21, 2006
Holy Cow!!! DId they really play baseball in the Colliseum with the right field fence that far away??? Yep, they sure did! Duke Snyder and Frank Thomas had little difficulty in clearing the "Moon Screen". Drysdale and Kofax were a sight to watch as was Marichal when the Giants came to town.
posted by Toad8572 at 10:56 AM on April 21, 2006
Wow, I went to Wally Moon's summer camp too! It was the year before I could begin Little League; I was 8. I was there for 2 weeks. but I can't remember much about it. Cliff Crowder was Moon's BIL, and he ran the camp. Also, the camp wasn't in West Covina, it was in Covina. I was blessed with the same speed as the author, but I also was a "wild" pitcher and a catcher. My only playing memory was hitting a triple off of a dominant pitcher named Green in the playoffs. We lost, and Green was named MVP. I was the MIP. Thanks for the memory!
posted by Toad8572 at 10:23 AM on April 21, 2006
Raiders and Chargers on the first Monday Nighter of the year? Well, at least they're stuck at 10.15 where I can ignore them. Monday Night Football has taken a back seat to Sunday Night Football. Putting the Raiders on MNF is not much of a news item. They should suck as usual.
posted by Toad8572 at 10:36 AM on April 08, 2006
Football is a contractual employee,employer association!No contract,you don't work for me,simple as that!So stay off my property until you're hired!!! I believe that the article states that the Titans want to rework McNair's contract, it's not the other way around. Having the trainer tell him to go home is classless in the max! If they don't like his contract, unless there is a total stalemate, they should still let him work out with the team. If there is an unworkable problem, then send him to free agency. Pay him or cut him, but don't forget what he's done for you and treat him like a 7th round rookie!
posted by Toad8572 at 02:48 PM on April 04, 2006
Hey, at least I can spell CHIEFS correctly. Good point; the next time we have a spelling bee, I'll call ya. I wonder if TO can tackle; we already know that he can make passes fall harmlessly to the ground. The ChargeRs need a good safety, and TO couldn't complain about badly thrown passes;0)
posted by Toad8572 at 04:44 PM on January 31, 2006
...and get him a better quarterback than McNabb. No problem! I'm sure that Jake will be his "be all" QB! ;0) As a Charges fan I'd be happy to let Denver or Kansas City have him! I just wonder how many teams have to be destroyed before he's finally abandoned by the NFL. Toad
posted by Toad8572 at 04:01 PM on January 31, 2006
I don't think that an artificial limit is in anyone's best interest. If a limit is to be imposed (and I agree that it's necessary) it should be one of BMI or body fat percentage. Just being heavier is a shortcut to death. Some guys really are bigger (Charger's Shawn Merriman at +/-280# with minimal body fat). His BMI would make him undesirable, so a pure BMI isn't the answer. A body fat index still seems best. BTW, my 12 year old LB/FB is getting heavier now through supervised weight training mixed with cardio work. He's determined to stay a "stud". There's nothing wrong with that. Toad
posted by Toad8572 at 03:57 PM on January 31, 2006
The Hoser's NFL Picks, Week Three 2008
Chargers v Jets Monday night?
Before you decide, know that the defense called a players-only meeting this week to fix their nagging problems (secondary with more tackles than the front 7). The last time they had a players-only meeting was just before they ran a winning streak that landed them in the AFC Championship game.