Recent Comments by rodgerd

Boxer Orlando Cruz: I'm a 'Proud Gay Man'

I assume when he weighs in as a featherweight, someone's holding his balls so they don't tip the scales. Because there's no way those babys are anything other than huge brass tonnage.

posted by rodgerd at 06:08 PM on October 06, 2012

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

After recovering some sense of public equilibrium this season, Lewis Hamilton once again makes like a complete twit, while Alonso is lucky to still have a head.

posted by rodgerd at 12:28 AM on September 03, 2012

SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle

and looking like a man

Failing a drug test doesn't make that comment OK.

As a Kiwi I was pleased Val Adams didn't try to excuse not winning on the with accusations of doped opponents, and delighted it turns out she got the gold she's worked her arse off to get.

posted by rodgerd at 07:22 PM on August 13, 2012

Honey Badger gets cut

Certainly not an adult at 20,

Bullshit. Old enough to vote, join the army, join the police, marry, and do a bunch of other things. 20 year olds are not children.

posted by rodgerd at 05:39 AM on August 11, 2012

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

Bit rich coming from a guy who slags off all of China and complains about immigrants in the UK. Someone sounds like a Nazi, but I don't think it's Olympics fans.

Also, I cringed at this accident in the weightlifting.

posted by rodgerd at 08:41 PM on August 07, 2012

Olympic Boxing Scandal

Next time we have to endure some snotty nonsense from boxing writers about how rubbish MMA is, we can point them right here.

posted by rodgerd at 07:51 PM on August 02, 2012

Trying their best to win at losing

Completely disgusted that they seem to be set to progress in the tournament anyway. Between that and the fencing i'm pretty unimpressed.

posted by rodgerd at 05:51 AM on August 01, 2012

Chinese Swimmer's Amazing Time Raises Questions

Out-of-competition testing takes place in China, but bureaucratic delays and the state apparatus could conceivably lead to tip-offs that testers are on their way.

Well, it's not like the US athletics authorities ever covered up questionable test results for Carl Lewis, so we're totally in the clear only raising questions when Chinese athletes win, right?

posted by rodgerd at 05:50 AM on August 01, 2012

Chinese Swimmer's Amazing Time Raises Questions

It's kind of hard to know if that's the case, Weedy. It's not like saying you disagree gets you a bright and happy future in China. Certainly there's a lot of anger in Hong Kong about steady encroachment of the Party on their rights and freedoms.

posted by rodgerd at 06:30 PM on July 31, 2012

Chinese Swimmer's Amazing Time Raises Questions

From the British coach now working with the Chinese team: Chinese athletes train harder.

posted by rodgerd at 06:10 PM on July 31, 2012

2 Balotelli Goals Send Italy Into Finals

described him as the reincarnation of Gazza,

One hopes not. That ends in drunkeness, madness, and your 12 year old sun going on TV and hoping you just die instead of fucking up your own life any more.

It'd be far better if he was another Cantona, and ends up being involved in odd films.

posted by rodgerd at 04:57 AM on June 29, 2012

Italy Punts England on Penalties

Germany 3 Italy 2

You are aware Germany have never beaten Italy in the semi-finals of a knock-out tournament, right?

posted by rodgerd at 03:34 AM on June 26, 2012

Steve Williams explains why Adam Scott's victory at Bridgestone Invitational was best of his career

New Zealand is a benighted shithole

Yes, but at least it's not England, home of the most racist people in the world. Pot, kettle, much pom-boy?

Call Tiger an arsehole all you like, Stevie - I'll go a long way down that road with you; he is an absolute arsehole of the highest order - but the inclusion of the word "black" turns the whole thing around and reminds everyone that so are you.

Williams does seem to have lost his sense of... everything, really.

posted by rodgerd at 09:24 PM on November 05, 2011

Could Rugby Take Off in the US?

The US team play their first game of the tournament on September 11th.

posted by rodgerd at 06:17 PM on September 10, 2011

Japan Wins World Cup Over U.S.

Sorry. I am still salty about Pearl Habor. Call me a douch, But i have no sympathy for Japan. Screw the Axis Powers.

Yeah, fuck Yanks. Genocide in the Philipines, genocide of the First Nations, mass murder in Cambodia and Vietnam.

See how moronic you sound?

posted by rodgerd at 01:58 AM on July 18, 2011

Spectators Lucky to Survive Le Mans Crash

The spectators, just like the rally fans who hang out on the road to get a better view and then scramble off it as the cars come along.

posted by rodgerd at 02:55 PM on June 12, 2011

Don't Forget to Tip Your New York Yankees

Goldman Sachs

Ahh. The more I see that name, the more I gain glimmerings of understanding into how The Terror happened.

posted by rodgerd at 06:41 AM on May 20, 2011

Red Sox Owner Was Fined $500,000

I wonder if English football will give Henry a taste for promotion/relegation? Protecting perpetual losers seems so un-American from my perspective...

posted by rodgerd at 01:20 PM on March 03, 2011

Irish Cricket Team Defeats England in World Cup

Fucking stunning. Shows up the absoulte intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the ICC for dropping the minnows from the next World Cup.

posted by rodgerd at 12:49 AM on March 03, 2011

Barkley: 'You Can't Send Small Junk'

So, just to make sure I'm straight on this, dyams is implacably opposed to sexual harrasment, except when it's women whose relatives disagree with him/her.

posted by rodgerd at 02:45 AM on December 27, 2010

John McCain Wants to Ban Ultimate Fighting

The only thing MMA's got wrong is failing to throw enough bribes around Washington. If they were smart, a la NFL, UFC would have a government-mandated monopoly via antitrust exemptions, and no-one would be asking awkward questions about safety; perhaps McCain should be quizzing American Football owners why their line-of-scrimmage players average a lifespan in their 50s?

posted by rodgerd at 02:20 AM on December 27, 2010

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

But we still lag behind Australia on the "competitors arseholed out of the games for being unable to control themselves" stakes, alas.

Would like to know which country's ahead on the "clogging drains with used condoms" competition.

posted by rodgerd at 12:00 AM on October 13, 2010

Yankees' Bleacher Creatures Sing 'Why Are You Gay?'

Don't follow Arsenal, then?

Presuming you're talking about the "Yid" stuff, I am not really in a position to judge how offensive that gets. I can't tell what fans are chanting when I watch on TV.

No, more the "Arsene Wenger is a pedophile" song.

posted by rodgerd at 09:36 PM on October 12, 2010

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

Phenominal finish by Nikki Hamblin in the Commonwealth Games 800m, backing on from her silver in the 1500m.

posted by rodgerd at 09:35 PM on October 12, 2010

Yankees' Bleacher Creatures Sing 'Why Are You Gay?'

I've been to at least 100 pro sporting events. I've never heard an organized song that offensive which is apparently sung on a regular basis.

Don't follow Arsenal, then?

posted by rodgerd at 10:28 PM on October 11, 2010

Brent Musburger: Steroids Might Be OK

Dying to be Arnie. Half the liver consisted simply of a crumbly mass, similar to polystyrene for sixth place.

But hey, it's all a big beat-up by the evil WADA, right?

posted by rodgerd at 04:30 AM on October 10, 2010

Ron Artest Knocks American Player Limits

Unless you are good enough. This situation gives European players a better chance of playing professionally than American players.

If more American players need jobs, perhaps Artest should focus his bleating in the general direction of the closed-shop cartels of American team ownership.

If a whole bunch of Euros came over here to play in MLS, we would be thrilled.

No, in fact they aren't allowed to. And at least one prominent US player has seemed pretty whiny about English players coming in.

posted by rodgerd at 03:10 AM on October 05, 2010

Former NBA Player Swindled Mom Out of Home

This is another one of those cases when I surely wished that I could believe in an afterlife with suitable punishments for awful people.

posted by rodgerd at 03:53 PM on September 11, 2010

Usain Bolt Wants to Play Soccer

Not wanting to knock the big man - I'm a fan - but is there an example in any sport of someone from the upper echelons of one game taking up another with any degree of success?

Jeff "Goldie" Wilson played top level (one day) cricket and rugby for New Zealand (at the same time, no less - summer playing cricket, winter playing rugby), although he did that concurrently.

There a lot of crossovers from rugby league to rugby union and vice versa, although that's a much smaller move than from track and field to football.

I recall seeing a stat that the average top-flight midfielder can cover 12km during a match. I wonder how that dovetails with the abilities Bolt has.

posted by rodgerd at 08:27 PM on September 06, 2010

What happened to losing?

The article linked a few weeks or months ago on the Ajax Amsterdam youth academy speculated that the American focus on winning kids' games hampered the skill development of individual kids. This article did not say much about the effect of no score leagues on skill development.

That was immediately what I thought of.

posted by rodgerd at 05:11 PM on August 23, 2010

Bull Leaps into Crowd in Spain, Injures 40

In all seriousness, I didn't realize that a bull could jump that high.

When I worked on my parents' dairy farm we would run a bull with the cows who weren't worth paying to breed with expensive AI sperm. In order to make milking time easier, you'd draught the bull off when you took the cows into the shed, and he could wait outside the yards.

One year I was doing this with a Murray Grey cross; huge bull, probably pushing a ton. He objected. He objected after I'd already got the cows in the yard, and he was standing on the other side of a gate. I'm 185 - say 6'1" in old money - and the gate would be shoulder height on me.

He jumped it.

From a standing start.

He didn't even brush it while he went over - one minute he was standing on the other side, mooing indignantly at me, the next he'd just bunched up a little, and clean jumped damn near six foot in the air.

I let him stay with the cows.

posted by rodgerd at 04:22 AM on August 20, 2010

Gay umpire's ordeal shows sad state of sports

Good column, and good on the other umpires for supporting him.

posted by rodgerd at 03:12 AM on August 14, 2010

Vikings Player Will Fast During Training Camp

Jesting aside, the lunar calendar can make it especially rough on observant fasters outside the sub-tropics

Hi, I'd like to talk to you about the Southern Hemisphere.

posted by rodgerd at 06:51 PM on August 11, 2010

Australian Cruiserweight Bout Sparks Fix Investigation

If he was going to throw the fight, at least he could have taken one good hit for it.

Honestly, most of the Aussie press on this I've read has been unravelling a different story: the fight was originally scheduled to happen in New South Wales, and their boxing administrators turned it down when Green has serious neurological problems from previous serious boxing injuries. The fight was then re-scheduled in Western Australia, where they managed to find a doctor and administrators to sign off on a guy with serious brain damage fighting.

posted by rodgerd at 10:13 PM on July 29, 2010

Spain win the World Cup

There were times during today's match where I wanted FIFA to retroactively award the cup to the Germans in reward for that playoff victory.

Quite. My daughter has decided, in the last week, that she wants to play football; Germany v Uruguay was a great match to watch with her. Spain v Netherlands? Not so much. About the only benefit was to talk up the excellent goalkeeping and explain what yellow cards were.

Wish the ref did a better job. It's harder to accept defeat when the frickin' ref plays such a hand in the outcome.

Come off it. The Dutch were lucky not to be going into the second half with 9 or 10 men on the pitch.

posted by rodgerd at 05:26 AM on July 12, 2010

France's Manager Won't Shake Counterpart's Hand

My understanding from that quote, which I've seen in a number of places, is that the South African coach had made some anti-French public comments around the time of the Ireland-France stoush. I think one might do better to rise above that, but, on the other hand, if you've bagged someone as a bad sport or whatever in the past, why should you be surprised if they don't want to play nice with you later?

Between the French and English squads there are obviously more than a few spoiled brats who are so used to their clubs bending over to whatever appalling behaviour they care to dish out that they've forgotten how to cope outside an environment of bootlickers. Not one of the ringleaders of the French squad's refusals to train and half-arsed efforts should play for their country again. I'm sure the next coach can assemble 11 players who actually give a shit about representing their nation.

He's French

Are you a unfunny xenophobic dipshit because all Americans are, or are you just a special case?

posted by rodgerd at 05:33 AM on June 23, 2010

France's Team Refuses to Practice at World Cup

And you thought the English had problems!

Given that the England camp now appears to have John Terry dictating which terms the players will deign to take the field under, I'm not sure they're much better off.

As someone who doesn't really follow football, I find this all quite baffling. If a bunch of All Blacks refused to take the field, well, there are plenty more rugby players who would be happy to step up for a shot at the national side.

posted by rodgerd at 06:05 PM on June 20, 2010

US Comes Back to Tie Slovenia 1-1

(Also, can the Poms please get off poor old Rob Green's case; yes, he fucked up a sitter. If any of the rest of his team's vastly better-paid players were capable of getting a ball into a net, well, it wouldn't matter.)

posted by rodgerd at 10:37 PM on June 18, 2010

US Comes Back to Tie Slovenia 1-1

And "awful" is too kind. I don't think you could adequately describe England's performance without swearing. A lot.

Depending on how badly the match against Italy goes, New Zealand could end up doing better than England in a football world cup.

This would be hysterically funny. For me, anyway.

(And would be a delightful fuck-you to every "New Zealand don't deserve to be there, get rid of Oceana to make room for another fourth-tier European nation" type comment that's been made.)

posted by rodgerd at 10:33 PM on June 18, 2010

Vuvuzelas: Post-July 11

That's all fun

Tens of thousands of people screaming you're a pedophile is fun? Or commemorating the good old days of going to the footy for a stabbing? What about listening to the chants that taunt the Liverpool or Man U with their dead supporters and players, respectively?

If you think that's fun and less offensive than a bunch of guys with trumpets, well, I can only say that I'll agree someone seems, in your words, "retarded".

posted by rodgerd at 07:44 PM on June 16, 2010

Vuvuzelas: Post-July 11

No one would dare bring those things to a Premiership match.

Yes, indeedy. Heaven forbid we interrupt such Premiership magic as:

My old man said be a Arsenal fan,
I said "fuck off, bollocks you're a c*nt"
We took the North Bank in half a minute,
We took the the Shed with the Chelsea in it,
We Hammered the Hammers,
With carving knifes and spanners,
We taught the Millwall how to fight,
o I'll never be a Gunner,
Cos every c*nts a runner,
That's what I told my old man.

or

There's only one Arsene Wenger,
Only one Arsene Wenger,
With a packet of sweets and a cheeky smile,
Wenger is a f*cking peadophile.

posted by rodgerd at 05:07 AM on June 15, 2010

Arena League Purposely Avoided California

What's that? Your business cripples its employees so badly that if you're required to part-cover the costs of those injuries you'll lose money?

I'm not seeing that as a big loss, then.

posted by rodgerd at 04:22 AM on April 08, 2010

Torii Hunter: Latino Players are Black 'Imposters'

If they are of African descent and living in an area that is called 'America,' it is accurate to call them "African-Americans."
In one sense, sure. But the culture and experience of growing up as a black person in, say, the West Indies islands and in the United States is pretty radically different. There's not a lot of common culture there (which is why that KFC ad in Aussie was a non-event for West Indians, no matter how many Yanks screamed is was racist).

posted by rodgerd at 03:29 AM on March 12, 2010

College coaches, players, parents clash

they should have respect for their elders.

Why? Their elders have ruined the environment, run up massive national debt for their kids, grandkids, and great-great-ad-inifinitum to pay off. Western kids face a lifetime of crippling debt in a world that will be left with mass extinctions, exhausted fisheries, over logging, to name a few problems. I'm not seeing any reason for any 5 year old to "respect their elders".

legal adults who cannot cook a meal,

Maybe you want to take off those rose tinted glasses and look at how many men "went off to college" able to cook meals and do their laundry a hundred years ago.

Did something happen to human biology in the last hundred years that renders people in that age range incapable of making wise decisions and in need of nannying until the age of 30?

Well, let's see. My grandad left school at 12 to go to work and help support his family of 13. I'm sure that kids living in the slums of Bangalore reach worldly wisdom pretty quickly today. Perhaps you'd prefer to live in those societies?

posted by rodgerd at 07:14 PM on February 02, 2010

Greg Oden Apologizes for Nude Photos

What's that say about us?

Sometimes the best articles attract the fewest comments.

posted by rodgerd at 03:57 PM on January 28, 2010

Greg Oden Apologizes for Nude Photos

You know, that doesn't seem like something you'd have to apologise for unless you'd put out an eye with it.

Which could be a distinct possibility.

posted by rodgerd at 03:10 AM on January 28, 2010

Canucks Fan Points Laser at Opposing Goalie

Automatic liftetime bans from stadiums on identification.

posted by rodgerd at 01:13 AM on January 18, 2010

"How the Glazer family have milked debt-ridden United for millions"

I guess I am confused why the internal financial operation is such a big issue. Are they concerned that a some point the Manchester United are not going to be competitive because of the debt? Is there evidence that this debt load is preventing them doing something?

You could try, you know, reading the articles, wherein the answers are all spelled out.

posted by rodgerd at 03:51 AM on January 13, 2010

Stadium Boom Deepens Municipal Woes

Socialism, American style: soak ordinary folks for the benefit of a cartel of plutocrats.

posted by rodgerd at 12:58 AM on December 26, 2009

Tiger Woods to take 'indefinite' leave from golf

If she beats you, leave.

posted by rodgerd at 03:32 PM on December 13, 2009

Scott Boras Throws Some Heat at Whitey Herzog

If you've sextupled your income, why shouldn't the staff get a bigger chunk of change?

posted by rodgerd at 02:57 AM on December 09, 2009

Golfer Challenges PGA Ban on Testosterone, Beta Blockers

Well, that's fine that you need these treatments and all, but you wouldn't be the first person who can't work in a particular job (like, say, flying planes) because of medications you legitimately take.

posted by rodgerd at 12:38 PM on December 05, 2009

Tiger Woods Fined $164 for Careless Driving

The comment was not about spofi, rcade. It was about our culture in general.

I must've heard mention of Chris Brown beating up then-girlfriend Rihanna a hundred times the past year.

Whereas it wouldn't be a huge stretch to suggest that Tiger's wife may have gotten away with spousal abuse.

I think she's a great role model for young women. The I-don't-care-if-you're-the-greatest-golfer-in-history-if-you-cheat-on-me-I-will-beat-the-shit-out-of-you type of role model. Girl Power!

Yeah, domestic violence is a great thing. We ought to encourage more of it.

posted by rodgerd at 07:50 PM on December 03, 2009

FIFA opens case against Thierry Henry for handball

Yes, because cheating is competitive. That's a great lesson for the kids as they move beyond sports into real life. Anything you can get away with is OK.

This.

posted by rodgerd at 05:55 PM on December 02, 2009

German MNT keeper Enke in apparent suicide

Blaming someone with depression for killing themselves is like blaming someone with cancer for dying.

Attitudes like Drood are a huge part of the reason depressives kill themselves. Your hate and contempt for the mentally aren't part of the solution, moron, they're part of the problem.

posted by rodgerd at 08:18 PM on November 11, 2009

And Another One Down...

And the FIA will sue...

Yeah, I can see that will work well. Attract other teams and everything.

Good riddance to the manufacturers.

All F1 racers are manufacturers to some degree or another. I see you make an exception for Ferrari (quelle surprise!). Do you hate people using Ford engines, too?

The more interesting story is Bridgestone. After signing up as the exclusive tyre supplier, they're leaving. Who will replace them? Michelin won't as they were pissed off and felt they were being punished for the Indy debacle.

Indeed. It's quite a surprising move to me, given how hard they must have worked to get the exclusive deal.

posted by rodgerd at 04:51 PM on November 05, 2009

SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle

Perhaps the New Zealand team should apologise for interrupting the old boys' club's divine right tto dominate. Maybe if we just removed everyone except Australia, England, and perhaps India from the tournament we could get the "right" final.

posted by rodgerd at 05:56 AM on October 04, 2009

Rio De Janeiro Awarded 2016 Olympics

It's like a perfect shitstorm of ugly American xenophobia and teabaggery in here.

posted by rodgerd at 08:42 PM on October 02, 2009

Alonso to Maranello

He can get Piquet and go start his own Cheaters F1 Team.

It does seem a little odd that Piquet junior isn't banned for life along with the others. Or picked up any punishment, really.

If you think Michael Schumacher is a cheater, I guarantee you have never been to a Formula One race or been in parc ferme or a garage- or a test rack at Fiorano (as I have on all counts). If he's a "cheater" then who's not a cheater? lol

Anyone who doesn't crash into other drivers to get the results they want?

posted by rodgerd at 09:38 PM on September 30, 2009

High School Player Dies After Hard Tackle

Seems to me that hard hits are part of normal play in football: they're not just incidental, they're what happens when everything goes right. I don't think you can really point to another youth sport, except maybe hockey and maybe boys' lacrosse, where that's the case.

Rugby (league and union) and Aussie Rules both spring to mind as high-contact sports, and Union especially can have players of quite disparate sizes coming into contact. Union scrums are also extremely technical, high-risk affairs; the substitution rules have provisions for replacing front-row forwards precisely because playing at prop or hooker without understinding what you're doing, and the muscle to protect your neck, is a great way to end up with a spinal injury.

One of the things I dislike in Union and League is the enthusiasm for off-the-ball violence. It's one thing to go out expecting to hit and get hit in the tackle, for example; the tolerance many fans and players have for throwing punches (for example) leaves me unimpressed. If I threw a punch when doing Judo... well, I don't actually know what happens because I've never seen it at a tournament. I'm sure it has, but those sort of rule breaches aren't even really discussed, since it's so rare. I'm pretty sure my club would tell me not to bother coming back if I cut loose in a fight and started punching people, though.

posted by rodgerd at 05:37 PM on September 30, 2009