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| Name: | Ed Thompson |
|---|---|
| Member since: | January 03, 2007 |
| Last visit: | November 06, 2007 |
Cameron Frye has posted 1 link and 34 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 0 comments to the Locker Room.
Elijah Dukes, future MVP of the Florida Correctional League: Dukes falls short of Rae Carruth in the Stupid Athletes Hall of Fame, but he's well on his way to earning a spot before his career is over - which could be any day now.
posted by Cameron Frye to baseball at 03:12 PM on May 23, 2007 - 28 comments
dviking (and everyone else) - The closer existed long before Tony LaRussa. But Tony was the first manager to employ a 1-inning guy (Eckersley). Before that, guys like Suter and Lee Smith and Dan Quisenberry used to go 2 or 3 innings on a regular basis. The set-up man, by association, was also a LaRussa "invention" because he was also the first one to primarily use the same guy in the 8th inning on a consistent basis.
posted by Cameron Frye at 01:12 PM on November 06, 2007
It's somewhat mystifying that the author would point out all the disadvantages that Ruth faced, yet he chose to ignore the one advantage that, in my mind, sets the curve: Prior to 1931, Major League Baseball rules stated that any ball that bounced untouched THROUGH or over a wall was considered a home run. http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/rules_chronology2.stm Looking at Babe's career statistics, I see that he played only four seasons past that magical 1931 year. How many of the Babe's bombs would have been considered ground rule doubles in today's game? I don't want to make it seem as if I am downplaying Babe's career. He is still the gold standard by which ALL home run hitters are measured. And that includes Bonds, Aaron, McGwire or ARod. But let's not go ahead and exaggerate the truth. This guy's column is laughable at best.
posted by Cameron Frye at 04:46 PM on July 23, 2007
As a graduate of NMSU, I can only wish Theus the best of luck in his first NBA coaching experience. That being said, I am incredibly bitter that Theus is leaving NMSU to coach the Kings. I am a life-long Warrior fan, so hating the Kings is just something I do. As the Maloof family has plucked away the coach who has made my alma mater matter again on the national stage, my contempt for them is that much more pronounced. I think it was a good hire for them, but I still hate them for doing it.
posted by Cameron Frye at 05:55 PM on June 21, 2007
lil brown bat - Maybe my word choice was wrong. I do not expect officials from all the major and minor sports to get together in a single room and try to discuss a single policy that will work for everyone. It would never work. What I am saying is that everyone needs to have SOME KIND of discussion and either evaluate or re-evaluate their policy on PEDs. And not just once, but at least once per year. The testing procedure in any sport is never as current as the drugs being distributed to the athletes in that sport. As an example, steroids are rarely linked to players in the NFL. But something tells me that the guys coming into and remaining in the NFL are not all clean. Shawn Merriman was one of the very few people who failed a test last season. The result? A four-game suspension and a slap on the wrist. After that suspension, he came back and still ended up winning defensive player awards. Somehow, I am not naive enough to believe that Merriman's positive test was a 1-time deal or some accident caused by tainted "legal" supplements". He got sloppy and got caught. Most of the other NFL players just don't get caught. Doesn't mean they aren't using. My opinion - and one with which I am assuming you disagree - is that the NFL is happy to only have the occasional failure and uses the lack of positive results to show a lack of abuse from their players. Well, a lack of evidence does not necessarily mean a lack of guilt. I know the flip side is true also, but in my view, the NFL chooses to continue to use out-dated testing methods and bury their heads in the sand about the results. THAT is the problem. And until the sport-watching public stands up and makes the respective sport take notice, very little will change. Baseball continues to have its proverbial head in the sand and even the threat of Congressional involvement is not enough to change the thought process. As for me "coming late to the party too" with my comment about minor sports, you cannot label me a xenophobe. That much is true. I am American and I like my sports in fairly easy-to-use categories, but I do not base my "major" and "minor" descriptions on where the sport is popular. I base my designations on simple economics. When a sport like cycling can organize itself enough to bring in 200 billion US or 150 billion EU in a single season, call me. Until then, it's been relegated to the minors. Sure the Tour de France is huge, but one event does not an entire sport make. I consider golf a "major" sport because the combined revenue of the events brings the "sport" into a realm of big money maker. When swimming can find the money to report billions of dollars in profit from certain events, I will raise its profile. I am not a huge fan of European football at all, but it is the most major of all major sports. Its worldwide base and revenue stream are things of legend. It may be a minor sport in the US, but that does not stop the machine from rolling along. Again, I ramble. My point was originally ans still is that any and every sport out there today is only willing to go so far as to appear to be doing the job. Meanwhile, the cheater is willing to go so much farther than the enforcer - and almost always does go farther, usually with minimal risk of detection. Finally, were it up to me, I would drastically revamp all rules on PED consumption, but as I stated earlier, that is another debate for another thread.
posted by Cameron Frye at 06:20 PM on May 24, 2007
lil brown bat - I still speak in broad generalizations and I truly believe that PEDs must be honestly and meaningfully discussed in ALL sports. I only brought up specific baseball references because the story was about a baseball player failing a test for greenies. I could have continued my rant for a few thousand more words and brought up specific examples in each and every major sporting league, but chose not to for the sake of everyone reading. I would like to take a quick survey of everyone here: Anyone in this discussion who thinks that PEDs are not a problem in the NFL, raise your hand. (Looks around for hands, but sees none). The NHL? (Still no hands) The NBA (One guy raises his hand and asks, "Is marijuana a PED?" Answer: No, but it is an illegal drug and is quite a problem in the league). Then there are the countless "minor" sports where PEDs are a problem as well, including track and field, swimming, cycling, etc, etc, etc. Hell, even horses are getting doped up these days. The only place PEDs are not a factor is in auto racing, and that's just because all the cheating is being done with the fuel and the engine - as close to PEDs as you're ever gonna get in auto racing. The actual discussion about PEDs in sports is an entirely different issue. I - and I belive that I am not alone - believe that rather than demonizing roids and other PEDs, sports should take a healthy look at proper uses of the drugs and discuss ways to use them to the athletes' advantage. But, as I said, that's another discussion in another thread. So, to summarize, PEDs are a problem in all major sports. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not being honest with himself or herself.
posted by Cameron Frye at 11:10 AM on May 24, 2007
Count me in as one of those people unimpressed with the way the entire sports community is handling recent drug allegations. Amphetamines have been commonplace in clubhouses for more than 40 years, so the fact that Barry Bonds or Jason Giambi has failed a test for greenies is as shocking as the sun coming up. Throw out a list of any player that has played the game since the 1950s and what you have is a list of players who have, at one time or another, popped a greenie to get up for a game. No exceptions. Turning to steroids, the demonizing of Barry Bonds as the uber villain of drug-using athletes is as absurd as any running storyline i have ever seen. The entire country is focused on Barry, his over-sized head, giant arms and surly attitude. And almost to a man, people seem to think that as soon as he goes away, so will the problems with drugs in sports. Well, guess what? Barry Bonds may be the poster child for cheaters anonymous, but the night Hank Aaron his his 715th home run, the ball was caught by a journeyman pitcher named Tom House, who was sitting in the bullpen. The interesting part about that is that House has ADMITTED to using steroids as far back as the late 1960s. Now if House was popping horse steroids and HgH and amphetamines as far back as the 1960s, why is it that the "steroid age" only started in the early 1990s, according to most experts? Until sports fans, sports "journalists" and members of the sporting community stop trying to play politics with PEDs and actually face up to the issues in an honest, open manner, stories like this will have as much relevance as Paris Hilton going to jail for 45 days for whatever it is she did to go to jail for 45 days. Thank you for reading my rant. Have a great rest of your day.
posted by Cameron Frye at 06:22 PM on May 23, 2007
A small piece of friendly advice to Mr. Dukes: Buy your wife an umpire's outfit for Halloween and then send Delmon over to your house for a little trick-or-treating fun. Problem solved.
posted by Cameron Frye at 04:16 PM on May 23, 2007
SO I shoulda oughta posted the original link: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/23/Tampabay/Ballplayer_s_wife__He.shtml My apologies.
posted by Cameron Frye at 03:58 PM on May 23, 2007
Rickey's only 48 years old. Giants general manager Brian Sabean should be on the phone with Rickey's agent right now trying to work out a deal. He'd fit in perfectly with Barry Bonds, Rich Aurilia, Ryan Klesko, and Dave Roberts. Nothing quite like adding one more over-the-hill baseball player to a roster that is full of 'em already.
posted by Cameron Frye at 02:04 PM on May 09, 2007
The Blackhawks have Golden State Warrior-esque luck when it comes to the draft. This year's NHL draft could easily be conducted by random drawing of the top 5 or 6 names and any of them could end up being the best player in that draft. Joe Smith anyone?
posted by Cameron Frye at 12:10 PM on April 11, 2007
That was a solid story, and it really tuggesd at the heartstrings. But, to be fair, there was one little piece of info that was not entirely accurate. Kirtland Central High School in Kirtland, New Mexico has 17 girls' basketball state titles as well, so Nazareth is only tied for the most titles. http://www.nmact.org/files/Girls_Basketball_Records.pdf I worked as a reporter at the local newspaper during one of the team's runs of consecutive state titles. Those girls are dominant and, just like in Nazareth, basketball is a way of life for a lot of the girls. When the Kirtland Lady Broncos win, they win a lot. During some of their title runs, the girls have won eight straight, four straight and three straight state titles during different spans. That's 15 of the 17 titles in spurts. BTW, the last two did also come back-to-back. When Kirtland plays rivals Shiprock, you can expect a sold-out gym. It was so crazy back when I was there that the gym would be packed to the rafters 3 and 4 hours before game time. People had to get there early just to get a seat. After a quick Google search, I see the Lady Broncos are 18-4 this season and angling for #18 just as the Swiftettes are doing. Good luck to both teams.
posted by Cameron Frye at 03:54 PM on February 09, 2007
As far as Kiffin, he's got a clean slate right now. Let's see what he can do before we say he's not the answer. But doesn't Kiffin, for the most part, have the same offense that Shell had? SUre that #1 overall pick will be nice and it can easily be assumed that the Raiders will pick offense with the top spot, but that one player will not be able to play all 11 offensive spots. I fail to see how Lane Kiffin will be able to assert his will on a team that has no will to begin with.
posted by Cameron Frye at 05:36 PM on January 23, 2007
I still don't understand how this man went from being possibly the best owner in the NFL, to being possibly the worst. Well, let's use analogy to set the scene. I am almost 40 years old. When I was in high school, I loved heavy metal. One of my favorite bands was Queensryche. I thought their album, "Rage for Order" was a masterpiece of the genre and could listen to it over and over and over again. Now, 20 years later, I pick up that album and try to listen to it. I am able to get through it because I have some fond memories of my life 20 years ago. But the older, wiser, more musically knowledgeable me listens to that album now and I cringe. It is so dated that I am almost embarrassed to listen to it in public. The Oakland Raiders are that Queensryche album and Al Davis is that guy that we all know who still listens to it. Not only does Al listen to it, he cranks it up in his Trans Am and flips his mullet whenever he sees chicks, thinking they still dig him. (I was never "fortunate" enough to be able to grow long hair, so I never sported a mullet. Good things can be said for male pattern baldness) Al still thinks that the style of football that got his team to three Super Bowl victories in the 1960s and 1970s is going to get his current teams back to the big game. Unfortunately, we all know that his "vertical passing game" no longer works for many reasons, the most obvious is that NFL players are bigger, stronger, and most importantly, faster than they were 30 years ago. There are more reasons, but you get the idea. Al has never let go of "the greatness of da Raidahs" and still honestly believes that his beloved style of football will one day work again. Until he dies, gives up control of the Raiders, or allows another Jon Gruden-like coach to assume the reigns (and no, Lane Kiffin is not that coach) the Raiders will not be a Super Bowl team.
posted by Cameron Frye at 11:44 AM on January 23, 2007
I won't be able take any change WADA makes seriously until Pound steps down. Damn, holden. That is EXACTLY what I came here to say. That guy is a raving lunatic and his mere presence discredits anything WADA has to say.
posted by Cameron Frye at 12:15 PM on January 18, 2007
New Hockeytown USA
I understand the point of the article was not to try to stop Detroit from using the term Hockeytown USA, but the Red Wings own that title and it's theirs to keep. Let's do a quick associtaion: I say Showtime, you say: ..... Los Angeles Lakers. I say "America's Team" and you say: ..... The Dallas Cowboys I say Hockeytown USA, you say: ... Detroit Red Wings None of those will ever change. Move on. Nothing to see here.