- 06:59 PM
- 07/26/25
| Member since: | April 27, 2007 |
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| Last visit: | July 20, 2025 |
beaverboard has posted 22 links and 7,156 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 3 comments to the Locker Room.
Hartford Whalers: From Heartbeat to Heartbreak: Whalers and Canes fans on here may want to check this out. Almost an hour run length so maybe not for casual quickie viewing.
As a former Hartford resident, I remember what the downtown area was like during hockey season when the Civic Center was rocking.
In the early 80's the UConn men's basketball team played some of its games there, but they hadn't hired Jim Calhoun and become nationally prominent yet, so the Whalers were absolutely the main game in town.
posted by beaverboard to hockey at 11:20 PM on December 20, 2024 - 4 comments
RIP Franco Harris: An icon and hero of my adolescence. Heading into the 1972 Draft, Franco was seen as a workhorse and his Penn State backfield mate Lydell Mitchell was seen as the skill stud. It was stunning when the Steelers drafted Franco well ahead of Mitchell, but they knew what they were doing. Lydell did OK for the Colts, but Franco ascended to the pantheon of immortals. He was a major tone setter for the great 1970's Steeler rosters, which caused great pain to Cowboys fans and others. I was somewhat ambivalent about the team until they handled the Fran Tarkenton Vikings in the Super Bowl. Then I got on board. Anyone who took care of Tark was deserving of a thumbs up in my book. With several teammates and coaches already deceased, I'm glad that Terry Bradshaw is still around and able to clearly articulate his thoughts and feelings in great detail as people reminisce about Franco and those Pittsburgh teams.
posted by beaverboard to football at 11:41 AM on December 22, 2022 - 2 comments
I Don't Want Cooperstown, I want Shaughnessy: Curt Schilling's thoughts on baseball immortality and settling scores.
posted by beaverboard to baseball at 01:58 AM on January 27, 2021 - 5 comments
Chargers Team Doctor Punctured Tyrod Taylor's Lung: Broadcasters during the Chargers/Chiefs game on Sunday were mystified by the last-minute absence of quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who wasn't on the injury list but did not make the start. Coach Anthony Lynn revealed that Taylor missed the game because the team doctor accidentally punctured his lung while administering a painkiller injection for Taylor's cracked ribs. He's out indefinitely.
posted by beaverboard to football at 04:26 PM on September 23, 2020 - 2 comments
I Was the Fastest Girl in America, Until I Joined Nike: Elite runner Mary Cain's harrowing tale of breakdown in the grips of the Nike training program.
posted by beaverboard to general at 07:34 PM on November 08, 2019 - 3 comments
This got my attention because this type of thing seems to happen so much.
The death of people who have done remarkable things in rather routine circumstances.
For instance, Steve Fossett circling the world in a balloon and then dying while taking a small plane out for a spin.
Legendary rock climber Ammon McNeely sitting down to watch a sunset and falling off a cliff.
Someone once said (can't remember who, maybe Chuck Yeager) that it's the ordinary stuff that'll kill you, not the heroic stuff.
posted by beaverboard at 10:49 PM on July 17, 2025
Alberta Tourism Council may have missed an opportunity by not dubbing in the sound effect "Banff! Banff! Banff!"
posted by beaverboard at 09:31 AM on July 17, 2025
RIP Dave Parker. Loved that guy, loved those 70's Pirates teams. And the unis. A perfect combo of elements.
Dave wasn't the first player to have his own walkup music, but he was definitely one of the first to make it a thing.
When walkup music got to the point where pesky .250 bat choking contact hitter Craig Counsell was tracking Jimi Hendrix's "All Along The Watchtower" as a walkup, I said OK, this shit has gotten way out of hand. Commissioner's office should have said "No. You can use Barry Manilow or The Bee Gees. Not Jimi."
posted by beaverboard at 04:41 PM on June 30, 2025
The Ballad of Ace Bailey
Wanted to play for the Wizards (?)
Wanted to play for the Nets (?)
Wanted to play for the Pelicans (?)
Dissed the Sixers (?)
Told top 5 lottery teams not to draft him.
He'll be welcomed by Jazz fans with the same open arms as Kobe, Nowitzki and Rodman were. Someone will send him a house special from the Michael Jordan Pizzeria.
When the Jazz go on the road, he'll be playing for one of the most hated teams in the league.
When he eventually leaves the team to go elsewhere, he'll be hollered at mercilessly on his return to SLC.
The fun never stops.
posted by beaverboard at 10:45 AM on June 27, 2025
Mary Poppins coverage of the NBA Draft:
Cooperdallasflaggballisticdukeapotheosis
posted by beaverboard at 12:19 PM on June 26, 2025
White Sox fans have an extra gear.
So do White Sox owners.
First of all, the asshole Sox fan who taunted Marte should be identified, the same way that shirtless Sox fans William Ligue and his 15 year old son were identified when they came out of the stands at Comiskey and attacked Royals 1B coach Tom Gamboa in 2002, causing permanent hearing loss.
The taunter of Marte deserves the same team scrum that enveloped the Ligues. Send the players up into the stands. No problem. Frontier park, frontier justice.
The thing that got me about the Ligues was that when they were shown being hauled off by the cops, they didn't show any signs of real extreme damage. Yet I'm sure that at least some of the Royals players were wearing spikes that day.
Not to be outdone by the unruly stooges in the stands, Sox owner Bill Veeck and his son staged the infamous Disc Destruction Night at Comiskey in 1979. They just wanted to bring in a few extra fans with a simple gimmick to plump the paid gate a bit. And what would the Veecks be known for if not their zany promotional gimmicks?
Instead, over 50,000 people showed up to watch a pile of disco records get blown up on the field in between games of a double header. The Sox lost the first game to the Tigers and had to forfeit the second game when the fans stormed and wrecked the field and had to be dispersed by riot police. The Sox finished a few games below .500 that year. Those were two of games in the loss column.
That was also the era of the Sox trotting out the ugliest MLB uniforms on record, which anyone can look up. I'm not going to link to them. Fisk and Zisk and all the other guys had to endure the ignominy of trying to compete in those togs. For that, they should have gotten paid at least what the average bat choking pinch hitting utility infielder gets paid today.
posted by beaverboard at 04:23 PM on June 25, 2025
Steve Ballmer paid a record 2 billion to Donald Sterling for the Clippers even though Donald was being forced to sell the team and had little leverage to speak of.
You don't bring a Brinks truck to a fire sale. Ballmer way overpaid.
Then the Clips put together a Herschel Walker trade with OKC to get Paul George. Where OKC is now is the result of that trade. Besides SGA, OKC GM Sam Presti has a trove of draft picks that would make Danny Ainge want to burst into tears and chew on a wet towel.
Presti's first wave of mega talent (Harden, KD, Westbrook) have all turned into high priced wanderers with baggage that for the most part have not delivered their NBA teams to the promised land.
And if OKC hadn't tanked in the 3rd quarter of Game 7 of the 2016 WCF with the Warriors and lost their chance to go to The Finals, KD might well have stayed put in OKC instead of signing with Golden State.
The Lakers just got sold and have roster issues. Not top contending anytime soon.
Against this backdrop and remembering that Rick Carlisle brought Dallas a title via the toughest playoff road in NBA history and this year almost pulled off what would have been the most momentous Finals upset in history with the Pacers, any complaints on the part of Mavs fans are strictly junior varsity. Be glad for what you had when you had it, and for what you're about to get later today.
posted by beaverboard at 12:54 PM on June 25, 2025
In prior games, Tyrese was clever about holding the bulk of his scoring till later in the game.
Last night, he came out firing and nailed three threes in quick succession. He looked like he was feeling it and ready to will his team to a historic win.
That will only add to the sense of "what if" and "asterisk win" if there are some folks who are so inclined to peg that on the Thunder.
Siakam wasn't having any of that talk post game. He was all "shit happens; next man up".
I told my brother in law that Holmgren had to score at least 12 and grab 7 boards for a Thunder win. He had been invisible in Game 6. Actually a liability at some moments.
Holmgren did well and him showing up helped create the margin of victory.
I still wouldn't pay him, but I would defer to Presti if I was an OKC fan.
The edgiest folks weighing in were Seattle fans. "NO, THIS IS NOT THE SONICS SECOND TITLE. IT'S OKC'S FIRST TITLE."
posted by beaverboard at 05:39 PM on June 23, 2025
Last night, I was sure that the Thunder would do to the Pacers what the Panthers did to the Oilers.
Close it out, leave no doubt. Well damn. What a job by the Pacers.
The prospect of Sunday's Game 7 feels like a NCAA tournament title game. Maybe Oklahoma-Kansas in 1988.
I can't watch Holmgren any more. He doesn't want to be there. He was strictly an onlooker last night. If he doesn't show up on Sunday, OKC is going to have to figure something out.
posted by beaverboard at 10:18 AM on June 20, 2025
For Boston sports fans staring into their beer:
Yesterday, Brad Marchand won the Stanley Cup and Rafael Devers went 2 for 5 and told the Giants he'd play wherever they wanted him to.
But all is not lost. Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts both went hitless, and a couple of days ago, Roman Anthony hit his first major league home run.
Wait till Anthony becomes a star and gets famous. Comedian Jimmy O. Yang will weigh in to let everyone know that naming a kid Roman Anthony is like if his mom had named him Cantonese Jimmy.
posted by beaverboard at 10:18 PM on June 18, 2025
In Taylor's 1st MLB game, he threw 11 scoreless innings, gave up a grand slam in the 12th.
Didn't that make him eminently qualified to provide care to Dave Stieb?
posted by beaverboard at 12:48 AM on June 17, 2025
Just keep sending them all to California.
I don't even care what the Red Sox do at this point.
I'm just waiting for the sunroof of a car parked on Landsdowne St. to open up and a Ukranian drone flies out, heading for the owner's box at Fenway.
posted by beaverboard at 04:20 PM on June 16, 2025
Speaking as a longtime resident of Bruins country, if that rascal Brad Marchand wins the Conn Smythe, I will throw up in a TD Garden popcorn bucket.
posted by beaverboard at 10:23 PM on June 10, 2025
Game One of the NBA Finals won just before the buzzer by the Pacers, who had trailed all game and staged a stunning comeback.
Game One of the NHL Finals won by the Oilers deep into overtime after they came back and tied the game in the third period of regulation.
Game Two of the NHL Finals won by the Panthers in two overtimes after the Oilers tied the game with seconds left in regulation.
The Oilers and Panthers have played the equivalent of three regulation games to decide two outcomes.
Carlos Alcaraz beats Janek Sinner in five sets after dropping the first two sets to win the longest (and some say best) French Open Men's Final ever played.
Sovereignty duels with Journalism down the stretch in an intense rematch of the Kentucky Derby and pulls away to win the Belmont Stakes.
We're in the middle of an anointed sports moment with something heroic happening almost every day. No telling what will happen next.
The US Open tournament is coming up. Ordinary golf is not going to cut it in the present context.
posted by beaverboard at 04:36 PM on June 08, 2025
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle
In the runup to the Open, I became captivated by the golf course at Royal Portrush.
I watched hole by hole previews filmed by drone cam in muted golden light and the place seemed utterly magical.
I could not conceive of how a long hitter would be able to keep a ball anywhere near in play.
I would just want to walk the course, to heck with hitting a wee ball about.
Fast forward to yesterday and today, watching the tournament on TV: the magic is not there, displaced by a dreary monotone of seacoast weather and players garbed in drab tones. They don't show much of the dramatic features of the golf course. Plus the scoring seems almost unreal against that topography. In some cases, boringly efficient. I've lost interest in it.
I'll give it another go after the cut is made, hopefully, my interest will be rekindled. It is indeed fun tuning in the tournament just as the first real rays of daylight are coming through our windows.