Ufez Jones's profile

Ufez Jones
149
Name: S.
Location: StL
Gender: disgruntled goat, MFFL
Member since: February 04, 2002
Last visit: June 08, 2023

Ufez Jones has posted 361 links and 2,882 comments to SportsFilter and 27 links and 725 comments to the Locker Room and 1 column.

Sports Bio

In StL, but a fan of most Dallas teams. Jerry Jones as a general manager is the best reality show around.

Recent Links

The San Antonio Spurs win the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery: The Spurs have landed the #1 slot and will presumably draft potentially generational big man Victor Wembanyama. They will be followed by Charlotte (2), Portland (3), and Houston (4). In a lottery that saw little movement, the Detroit Pistons are the lone losers, dropping from a three-way tie for the top odds to fifth.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 08:39 PM on May 16, 2023 - 3 comments

Leafs-trolling father-daughter duo has been at it for years.: Twitterer rufus_mcdaniel noticed the same pair of fans sitting in the lower bowl of ScotiaBank Arena during both rounds of the Playoffs (so far) first wearing Lightning jerseys and then Panthers. Turns out they're Toronto-area father-daughter season-ticket holders and diehard Canadiens fans who bond over cheering for their biggest rival's opponents.

posted by Ufez Jones to hockey at 08:14 PM on May 03, 2023 - 2 comments

Timberwolves Center Rudy Gobert suspended for play-in game versus Lakers.: The Minnesota Timberwolves have suspended Center Rudy Gobert after he threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson in Sunday's game vs. the Pelicans and was sent home during the game. The Wolves traded five first round picks to Utah this Summer for Gobert, including 2022 breakout rookie Center Walker Kessler.

posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 02:07 PM on April 10, 2023 - 6 comments

Grambling State set to hire Art Briles as offensive coordinator: Briles was fired as head coach of Baylor University in 2016 after an external investigation found that he and other University officials had suppressed information and failed to take action regarding a years-long string of alleged sexual assaults committed by football players. In the time since he was fired from Baylor, Briles has coached at the High School level and served stints in the CFL and an Italian Football league, but up to this point he had been considered untouchable by NCAA programs.

posted by Ufez Jones to football at 01:29 PM on February 24, 2022 - 6 comments

Chicago White Sox Hire Tony La Russa as Manager: Tony La Russa has been hired at age 76 to manage the Chicago White Sox, his first time as skipper since leaving the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, ESPN's Jeff Passon tweeted Thursday afternoon. This makes him the third oldest manager ever behind Jack McKeon at age 80 in 2011 and Connie Mack at age 87 in 1950. Only three others managed teams in their 70s.

posted by Ufez Jones to baseball at 02:14 PM on October 29, 2020 - 18 comments

Recent Comments

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

If we can walk together,
Why can't we hack up a lung together?

posted by Ufez Jones at 05:52 PM on June 08, 2023

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

St. Louis has somehow been lucky enough to get the Southeast nadir of the Alberta fires and the Southwest edge of the current ones in Ont/Que, so we've been dealing with this at a moderate level off and on for a few weeks. Nothing bad enough to cancel events, but plenty of low-grade headaches and throat/eye irritation. The pics I've seen from friends up East recently have been on a whole different apocalyptic level. Agreed that a double-header tomorrow seems optimistic and I wonder if MLB execs aren't scrambling to form a medium-term contingency plan.

posted by Ufez Jones at 10:04 PM on June 07, 2023

Jacob deGrom Needs Tommy John Surgery

Oh yeah, I'll be impressed if he's able to string two starts in a row together at the major league level. In an ideal world (lmao) Texas will have hit on enough of those young arms and have a studded out rotation (can't forget about the prospect of Kershaw returning home) in place and Grommer can work in a hybrid occasional-starter/long-reliever/specialist role. If anyone can navigate that kind of situation successfully, I'd think it'd be Bochy.

posted by Ufez Jones at 06:41 PM on June 07, 2023

Jacob deGrom Needs Tommy John Surgery

It's a bummer for sure, but nobody can be surprised. Seems like DeGrom is taking is hardest of anyone, which is understandable given the stage of his career.

To put a positive spin on it, assuming he undergoes a full rehab, the Rangers will have a hell of a mentor for Brock Porter and Cole Winn and Jack Leiter and Owen White and Kumar Rocker (who just underwent his own Tommy Johns a couple of weeks ago) as he works his way back through the system.

posted by Ufez Jones at 05:03 PM on June 07, 2023

PGA Tour Merges with LIV Golf, DP World Tour

Gross.

Outside of a few dramatic Sunday afternoons over the years I've never much cared for golf, but this undoubtedly sucks for the players that took the high ground and (at least some percentage of) fans. Club soccer has never been a huge part of my sports fandom, but I was kind of surprisingly bummed the first time I said out loud "well, I used to call myself a Newcastle supporter until...". I hate to see another pin - any pin - fall in this direction.

I was curious about how this might affect the LPGA, but from what I can tell they're an entirely independent organization. I wonder if they might make that a little more clear to try to fend off any perception of guilt by association.

posted by Ufez Jones at 05:19 PM on June 06, 2023

NBA Playoff Pickem: NBA Finals

My picks:

Heat in 6
Top point scorer: Jimmy Butler
Top rebounder: Jokic
Game 1 winner: Heat
Most points in one game: Nuggets
Series MVP: Jimmy Butler
Top fouler: Bam!
Top three-point shooter: Gabe Vincent
Winning team points last game: 111

This is a weird Finals. I feel like I can talk myself into a Heat Sweep, a Nuggs Sweep, or it coming down to the final shot of Game 7.

That said, I've been picking against the Heat this entire playoffs and fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me --- you can't get fooled again.

posted by Ufez Jones at 05:36 PM on June 01, 2023

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

Oddly enough, I feel like not having to endure JvG's incoherent claptrap ramblings about whatever random topic crosses his mind during game play would significantly increase my enjoyment of the sport.

Give me Hubie every evening and twice on Sundays.

posted by Ufez Jones at 02:39 PM on May 31, 2023

SportsFilter: The Sunday Huddle

STL City's Eduard Lwen hit a free kick last night that was one of the prettiest shots I've seen a long time.

He also played a key part in the team's second goal but didn't get credited with an assist.

posted by Ufez Jones at 06:56 PM on May 28, 2023

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

Oh, in Kyrie's defense (that's a personal first), there's a whole lot that can happen before Free Agency opens. There may be a team or two that are going to try to move some things around to make room for him, or Joel Embiid may retire to co-host Sewing With Nancy on PBS Create, nobody knows. The NBA is wild.

Plus, I'm kind of resigned to the fact that however things shake out with him is gonna involve some form of Wince & Shrug, so I'm in no hurry either.

posted by Ufez Jones at 08:58 PM on May 25, 2023

SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle

The first eight or so minutes of that first period were an absolute shitshow, and it didn't get any better from there. Benn not having the guts to face the media and making his coach and players answer for him is an awful look. I'm assuming he'll be suspended for the rest of this series (so...tomorrow night) and I hope the franchise has a long, hard think this Summer about stripping the C off his sweater. That ain't any kind of Captain.

For Athletic subscribers that didn't watch the full game, Saad Yousuf has a quality rundown here.

posted by Ufez Jones at 10:28 AM on May 24, 2023

SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle

All I know is that I'm starting to worry that my "Celtics in 6/Lakers in 7" picks aren't going to work out.

posted by Ufez Jones at 10:51 AM on May 23, 2023

Tempe Voters Reject New Arena for Arizona Coyotes

shove them in a mall in Connecticut!

This sounds like the altered, late-nite cable version of a line from a hard-R action flick, a la Lebowski's "Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?"

posted by Ufez Jones at 04:44 PM on May 19, 2023

SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle

Not a major surprise, but MLS have officially announced that San Diego will be the 30th team in the league, beginning play in the 2025 season.

posted by Ufez Jones at 06:00 PM on May 18, 2023

Tempe Voters Reject New Arena for Arizona Coyotes

I've seen people toss Austin around (apparently it's the most populous city in the US without a major league edit: Big Four team), but who knows.

I was in Phoenix for a conference last November and was kind of hoping to have the opportunity to see a professional hockey game in a tiny ~5k arena, but the Coyotes were on a road trip that weekend.

posted by Ufez Jones at 12:20 PM on May 17, 2023

The San Antonio Spurs win the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery

This admittedly makes me bristle a bit as a Mavs fan, but it's a fantastic landing spot for Wemby.

posted by Ufez Jones at 08:41 PM on May 16, 2023