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- 12/21/24
| Member since: | February 17, 2006 |
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| Last visit: | July 14, 2008 |
Bulgaroktonos has posted 1 link and 9 comments to SportsFilter and 0 links and 0 comments to the Locker Room.
Hope for North American rugby?: As part of a three year commitment to expand the sport in North America, the International Rugby Board has begun sponsoring an annual tournament between two Canadian and two American represenative teams. The tournament is underway with the Canadians out in front. Will this be enough to boost the status of two of rugby's minnows?
posted by Bulgaroktonos to other at 11:21 PM on July 13, 2006 - 19 comments
The dump offs aren't really Rex's fault, they're a part of the gameplan. Designed to get him completing passes and avoid some of his really boneheaded moves. Check out this for a good run down on what the Bears do with short passes to protect Grossman. What he can be blamed for is his inability to hit a wideopen fullback in the flat.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:27 AM on January 15, 2007
Personally, I think the Knight should be fired and never allowed to coach a college basketball team again. Of course, I'm a Carolina fan who doesn't want to see him pass Dean on the all time win list. Is it a big deal, honestly? No, of course, not. There are better ways for him to get a players attention, but it wasn't that bad. On the other hand, though, Knight has a problem with being physically violent towards players and maybe we should be stricter with him than with other coaches.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:28 PM on November 14, 2006
Newell's clearly an idiot because he hinges his criticism on the idea that women are going to be inferior officials, which is probably untrue. That said, let me play Devil's Advocate for a minute. You could make an argument that, having by definition never played the game they are calling (Assuming the men's game is substantively different from the women's, which seems fair), they are not as qualified. On the other hand, there are enough bad officials out there that this seems a minor concern. Also, if they are there as tokens, then he's right, and they aren't qualified, but that seems not to be the case. As to the larger issue of women in men's sports, I think that is much more complicated. There's nothing wrong with having certain domains of life set aside for one sex or the other, and if they players and managers generally didn't want female officials, then I would have no problem with it. If this is not the case, as it seems not to be, then Newell should keep his mouth shut.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 03:00 PM on November 12, 2006
I'm not sure that the calls in rugby are fewer, or clearer. For a soccer ref there's not that much to call beyond illegal tackles, it's just that those are frequently very tricky calls. Rugby has a lot more rules to enforce, and a lot of the time they're very hard to judge. Hands in the ruck? Hard to say when there's a mass of bodies piled on top. Knock-on? It's easy to miss. Forward pass? That's incredibly subjective. This is not eve mentioning the problems associated with running a safe scrum or with play advantage. I think the difference is, soccer has one tough call to make, and it's almost always subjective. Rugby has a lot more rules to enforce, and the increased contact with the players just leads to a bette relationship.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 08:19 PM on October 19, 2006
This list isn't complete without the Lubbock Cotton Kings. That's just great.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 02:58 PM on September 19, 2006
A few interesting responses to the Haka have been tried. Wales have had the All Blacks do the Haka immediately after the NZ national anthem and respond to the Haka with the Welsh anthem and other patriotic songs. And of course, a few years ago, an Irish player, Brian O'Driscoll consulted with Maoris and who informed him that the proper response was to pick up a blade of grass and through it away, as a mark of respectful acceptance of the challenge. I'm not sure if he was informed properly, since some reports described it as dismissive, and he was the victim of a nasty tackle later in the game which dislocated his shoulder. Still, it was trying a response. So, I don't think there's any rule that you have to "sit and take it", but you can also take it and respond in an way that matches the spirit of the challenge. Also, if you're looking for comedy, find an old tape of the All Blacks from the 70s. The sight of a bunch of white guys with long hair and sideburns doing the Haka is great.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 07:45 AM on July 29, 2006
I'm always amused that these internet soccer debates always gravitate toward the US attitude towards the game. There are other countries where soccer has a similar status to the status is has in the US. It's not especially popular in India, Australia, or New Zealand where it has domestic competition from other sports. This is also what will probably keep it from ever being a big deal spectator sport in America. Even if it could rise to the level of the other big sports, it would still trying to share the pie with American Football, Baseball, basketball, and hockey. There's just not that sports money and coverage to go around. That being said, I can appreciate a good soccer match and wish the game well. Now if only we could drum up some interest in Rugby Union, that would be good.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:19 PM on June 06, 2006
Athiest, I'm sorry but I find it really hard to side with the owners in these things. Sure, the players are all rich, but the owners are richer. I'd much rather see more of my dime go to to 50 players on a team, rather than one guy. Add to that the fact the owners do practically nothing to entertain me and the players do, I have trouble understanding why anyone would begrudge seeing the players earn a little more.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 07:20 PM on February 28, 2006
Hancock's father files suit against restaurant
It's certainly not unprecedented to sue the person who's car stalled on the road in this sort of situation. If the tow truck didn't put out flares to warn oncoming traffic that they were there, it's certainly possible that they were negligent. If their negligence contributed to the accident, then they should be held legally responsible for that. It's possible that this was an accident that would have occurred whether Hancock was sober or not, and our legal system rightly allows him the possibility to recover if that was the case. That said, Missouri is (I'm pretty sure) a comparative negligence state, so any reward would be reduced by the amount the jury thought the plaintiff(Hancock) was negligent, in this case, probably a lot.