Recent Locker Room Comments by jeffmshaw

If the direct link to the private league doesn't work, try searching from the front page.

posted by jeffmshaw at 04:15 PM on April 16, 2004

It's "giv Jon Keree some turkee" day at Eschaton. Maybe jbou is Atrios. Though I don't picture Atrios as a Yankee fan.

posted by jeffmshaw at 03:13 PM on April 15, 2004

LionIndex: now that's funny.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:16 AM on April 15, 2004

Wooderson: Let me tell you what Melba Toast is packin' right here, alright. We got 411 Positrac outback, 750 double pumper Edelbrock intakes, bored over 30, 11 to 1 pop-up pistons, turbo-jet 390 horsepower. We're talkin' some fuckin' muscle.

posted by jeffmshaw at 01:08 AM on April 14, 2004

I (finally) got in. Yay.

posted by jeffmshaw at 02:33 PM on April 02, 2004

Free the nerds! We don't deserve slapping. We deserve ... well ... wedgies. Or something.

posted by jeffmshaw at 02:15 AM on March 25, 2004

On the plus side, there's more lasagna around.

posted by jeffmshaw at 02:08 PM on March 24, 2004

If they touch fists, does one turn into a purple bucket of tofu water? [/Wondertwins]

posted by jeffmshaw at 12:22 PM on March 24, 2004

I never saw the first round of interviews, and the search function doesn't reveal much. Anybody got a link?

posted by jeffmshaw at 06:10 PM on March 23, 2004

I had Stanford and Gonzaga in the final game ... ... and, amazingly, I too still have a shot, says scenario generator. Weird. *Tries in vain to get bar tab erased from credit card bill*

posted by jeffmshaw at 09:24 AM on March 23, 2004

Lost both my national championship game picks in the same day. *Buys mr_crash_davis a shot and two for himself*

posted by jeffmshaw at 09:10 AM on March 21, 2004

Since it's my first year in the league, I hope y'all won't think I'm impolite when I win. [Thanks for the notes on your team names, grum and pivo. Weird coincidence about the broken arrow happening near the baseball season. Shudder.]

posted by jeffmshaw at 09:11 PM on March 17, 2004

After saying I wouldn't look through all 18 rosters, I kind of did. Not to find the team to beat, but to do a brief and hopefully humorous set of team summaries. Standard disclaimers: I don't know anything about the NL, I have no idea how the league is going to turn out, and I whipped this out quickly while waiting for some work stuff to come through.

posted by jeffmshaw at 04:22 PM on March 16, 2004

There is no way I am looking through 18 fantasy rosters to find the team to beat. I thought about doing a draft recap on my 'blog for about five seconds, and then realized how many players were drafted. Play ball, indeed!

posted by jeffmshaw at 02:37 PM on March 16, 2004

My pitching is suspect, too, but I don't have Schill or Santana. D'oh!

posted by jeffmshaw at 03:32 PM on March 15, 2004

I wrote my selections on Cletus' Bar Napkin.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:43 AM on March 15, 2004

1. Two reasons: First, SS is considered a more critical defensive position because most fielding chances go to the shortstop. Second, third base is traditionally considered a power position, while shortstop isn't. Hence, a power-hitting shortstop (which is thought to be rare) is considered more valuable than a power-hitting third baseman (which is not). I personally think this last is outdated, since good third basemen are arguably more rare these days, but that's what people say. 2. I don't except a significant drop-off in A-Rod's power. His splits weren't dramatically better at home anyway.

posted by jeffmshaw at 06:20 PM on March 12, 2004

... except me. None of you have three catchers, right? That must count for something.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:14 PM on March 11, 2004

Test system didn't work (it didn't come up), but I'm in the draft room OK in IE. I downloaded both Firefox and Mozilla, just to have a backup. Thanks all! Now, on to prove I know nothing about the NL.

posted by jeffmshaw at 07:35 PM on March 11, 2004

Thanks, all. Can't use Safari, 'cause I'm on OS X.1.5; I have IE 5.1, and it still isn't working. I'll pre-rank quickly and hope for the best.

posted by jeffmshaw at 07:24 PM on March 11, 2004

Help! My draft tester worked at work (PC), but I'm at home now and my Mac (OS X.1.5) won't successfully test with either Internet Explorer or Netscape. Any ideas? Yahoo "help" has been of none.

posted by jeffmshaw at 06:46 PM on March 11, 2004

Errors determine whether the runs pitchers surrender are earned or unearned, an important metric of pitching success and defensive performance. If a pitcher gives up a run that wouldn't have scored without an error, it's not counted into his ERA ("earned" run average.) Sure, it's arbitrary to have them next to runs and hits -- but in the final analysis, only runs really matter. Both hits and errors are interesting FYIs, I think, with hits measuring offensive performance and errors measuring defensive performance. All sports have quirky conventions about scoring, I think.

posted by jeffmshaw at 12:16 PM on March 11, 2004

Three strikes (in Japanese), I'm in.

posted by jeffmshaw at 09:56 AM on February 28, 2004

Sounds beautiful. Thanks for the organizational work.

posted by jeffmshaw at 02:59 PM on February 23, 2004

I'm very flexible, so whatever works best for others is fine.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:15 AM on February 20, 2004

1. No prefs on commish, whoever wants it. 2. Default settings 2a. Stick with Yahoo cut lists

posted by jeffmshaw at 04:01 PM on February 19, 2004

How about we draft using AIM, MSN Instant Messenger or a chat program? Theoretically, we could even do a draft thread here in the Locker Room if we set a time. Then we could input the teams manually. That's a pain, but not exactly rocket science. And I volunteer to do some inputting.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:53 AM on February 18, 2004

I think an emerging consensus is Yahoo, no prize money, 20 teams, MLB league. Draft time? I'm open to any time of day or night, so others with constraints should pipe up.

posted by jeffmshaw at 10:33 AM on February 18, 2004

I assume that it'll be a straight draft league, with no salaries -- hence no cap. However, I'd play either way. I've used and like Sportsline, have not used Yahoo before. Again, though, I'd play either way.

posted by jeffmshaw at 08:32 PM on February 17, 2004

trox, I don't think the divisions would be split into leagues. Various parties have opposed AL-only and NL-only. I think it would be a draft where everybody gets their teams together, and then we're split into divisions somehow.

posted by jeffmshaw at 04:11 PM on February 17, 2004

It is $120 per league, not per person. My AL-only league runs on Sportsline, and it works great. I'd pony up the $6, for sure. I like the idea of a 20-team league. It shouldn't be all-stars teams, IMHO. But I'm cool with two ten-team divisions, too.

posted by jeffmshaw at 12:50 PM on February 17, 2004

13) "This is a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball. You got it?" [wav file]

posted by jeffmshaw at 10:03 PM on February 16, 2004

I'm in for the league. Whoever wants to volunteer for the commissioner role is fine by me.

posted by jeffmshaw at 04:47 PM on February 16, 2004

Jericho can and should hang there. It'd be much more interesting. I'd love to hear him refer to some Washingtonian like myself as the "Ayatollah of Granola."

posted by jeffmshaw at 07:17 PM on February 11, 2004

I've never had a MeFi ID, but I love reading the snarky flamewars on MetaTalk. It's the best part of the site -- watching carefully crafted personas bleat at each other. Like pro wrestling, but with better writing.

posted by jeffmshaw at 04:58 PM on February 11, 2004

I agree, one league. Cap it at 18 or 20 or don't cap it, whatever's easiest.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:03 PM on February 10, 2004

I don't either. I'm just saying that, from my perspective, more teams = more fun. I like it when you have to take chances on non-stars. Hence, the more owners for an ML league, the better. Just my two newbie cents, do whatever y'all like.

posted by jeffmshaw at 02:19 PM on February 08, 2004

I agree, FWIW. That's why I like playing in AL-only leagues.

posted by jeffmshaw at 12:35 PM on February 08, 2004

The Bellingham Bells, short-season semi-pro baseball. Can't wait for it to start again.

posted by jeffmshaw at 02:05 PM on February 05, 2004

Sounds good to me. BTW, does anyone have an informal head count on how many people want to play? My quick count turns up 13 in this thread, but I wasn't in the league last year, so I dunno.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:44 AM on February 05, 2004

I would like to play this year. I can't commish, but I'm trustworthy, loyal, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent*. I can draft any time. *except clean and reverent.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:17 AM on February 04, 2004

I think it woulda been me that woulda been the bread in that triple-decker sandwich if not for taking the under. [Stupid scoring binge.] Great game, though.

posted by jeffmshaw at 10:48 PM on February 01, 2004

Wow, this is some anemic offense here. Or is it great defense? Or both?

posted by jeffmshaw at 06:20 PM on February 01, 2004

I'm glad Hal changed his pick. Now, for better or for worse, no one has the same set of picks as me.

posted by jeffmshaw at 03:42 PM on February 01, 2004

Patriots. I'd like the Panthers to win, and will be rooting for them (I'm a sucker for the underdog) -- but the two games I've missed so far have been "bet with your heart, not your head" games. MVP: Tom Brady. He may not be the most important factor in the Pats' win, but he's telegenic and a QB. Like corpse says, I'm taking the under unless the under turns out to be "seven."

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:11 AM on January 20, 2004

As long as we're doing Simpsons quotes, and as long as I resisted the temptation to do this here, why the hell not:
McAllister: Arr, matey. Nary a warning light to be seen. 'Tis clear sailing ahead for our precious cargo. Sailor: Uh, would that be the hot pants, sir? McAllister: Aye, the hot pants.

posted by jeffmshaw at 05:05 PM on January 16, 2004

And witty. No one tell Jeremy Shockey.

posted by jeffmshaw at 09:41 PM on January 15, 2004

Horse Feathers.
cool reference, Hal, but I'm not changing my picks, no matter what Bill Simmons says!

posted by jeffmshaw at 05:58 PM on January 15, 2004

Now all we need is for Johnny Utah to sign up and start a thread about surfing, skydiving, or bank robbery.

posted by jeffmshaw at 10:55 AM on January 13, 2004

The first rule about the SpoFi pledge: don't talk about the SpoFi pledge.

posted by jeffmshaw at 08:55 PM on January 12, 2004

I knew if I kept at it long enough, I'd break this Intermanet thing.

posted by jeffmshaw at 05:23 PM on January 12, 2004

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posted by jeffmshaw at 05:08 PM on January 12, 2004

BTW: Patriots and Eagles.

posted by jeffmshaw at 04:26 PM on January 12, 2004

I don't like Peyton, either. Should I get a crush on Tom Brady to make up for it?

posted by jeffmshaw at 04:08 PM on January 12, 2004

I thought Martz' kookiest decision wasn't the choice to go for the last second field goal, but in the first OT -- when, at first-and-ten from the Panthers' 35, he called a pass play. I had a few thoughts come to me all at once as Bulger dropped back:
*Does Martz, like Marty Morninwheg, not understand that the first team to score in OT wins? Must be those "MM" initials.
*Does Martz not remember the two awful, awful picks Bulger threw earlier in the game?
*Has Martz forgotten the 51 yard boot Wilkins kicked earlier in the game?
*Has Martz forgotten, once again, that Marshall Faulk is on his team? and, finally,
*Sweet, this asinine decision will save my pick.

posted by jeffmshaw at 10:28 PM on January 10, 2004

Like I said, a criminally insane head coach plus an inability to stop the run is trouble in the playoffs. [puts away own horn, stops tooting]
Fantastic football game, though!

posted by jeffmshaw at 07:59 PM on January 10, 2004

It seems me people have been watching too much Channel Zero. Don't make me take your set and throw it out the window, gee.

posted by jeffmshaw at 03:23 PM on January 09, 2004

Ahem. Bellingham (Washington) is in the house. And I haven't met either of y'all.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:30 PM on January 07, 2004

New England over Tennessee. Steve McNair might play better while leaving a trail of body parts behind him, but Eddie George doesn't. And you need a balanced attack to beat the Pats.

Indianapolis over Kansas City. These teams are almost mirror images of each other -- powerful offenses, questionable defenses -- but Indy's on a roll and KC's been in a tailspin.

Philadelphia over Green Bay. Because the media will probably find a way to win for donovan McNabb. [/sarcasm]

And, the upset special: Carolina over St. Louis. For three reasons: 1. There's a big surprise almost every week in the NFL; 2. There's always a chance that Criminally Insane Mike Martz will show up, forget Marshall Faulk is on his team, and start calling plays out of Rube Goldberg's playbook; and 3. St. Louis really doesn't match up well with Carolina.

The Rams have had a hard time stopping the run, especially since the wretched Jamie Duncan has taken over at MLB, and Stephen Davis will get the ball 30+ times. If the Panthers can play ball-control, they can win this game. I'd feel better if they had better corners, but no guts, no glory.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:06 AM on January 05, 2004

Good lord, that was a painful Sea Chickens loss. Not because they deserved to win (they didn't); not just because of the sudden, gut-wrenching manner in which they lost; not even the Tilt-a-Whirl-esque emotional ride the game put fans through (rallying to tie, leaving Favre too much time, barely surviving an attempted Longwell field goal at the end of regulation.

What got me the most were the missed opportunities that were characteristic of the team this year. I will always point to Koren Robinson dropping a sure TD early in the game as the "it didn't have to get to overtime" moment. The 'Hawks were full of those moments this year; they got jobbed in the Baltimore game, sure, but it never had to get to that point if they didn't have the dropsies. That's what gets me the most.

That, and they RUINED my coulda-been 4-4 weekend. Grr.

posted by jeffmshaw at 06:42 PM on January 04, 2004