04/24/24
March 21, 2006
WBC winner: Who walked away from the World Baseball Classic a winner? Well, MLB, for one. Fans of the game all over the world, for another. Japan, too, I guess. But they were all namby-pamby-pretend winners. The real winner was SpoFi's very own NoMich. Hearty congratulations for finishing eight full points ahead of that blasted Baseball Prospectus.
posted by DrJohnEvans to fantasy at 08:38 AM - 36 comments
Oh come now! Everyone enjoys the idea of taking on the "pros" and seeing how they'd do. I figure we should do more of this (add "professionals" to our contests) and see how we fare.
posted by grum@work at 10:12 AM on March 21, 2006
Congrats to NoMich. Surprisingly tight leaderboard at the top, and at the bottom skydivemom somewhow managed to just beat out wingnut4life for the Costanza. It's probably also worth noting that the Baseball Prospectus entry was based on a computerized simulation of the games and not the individual experts' picks (although I am sure many of those "experts" would have gone with the computerized picks -- that's what they do, right?). A special thanks to the esteemed DJE once again for putting this together and running the leaderboard. I'm excited about the NHL playoffs pick 'em.
posted by holden at 11:30 AM on March 21, 2006
Cool, I won another pool here. Do I get a nifty plaque too? And a huge thanks to the good DrJohn for rigging the games in my favor. I will now hold up my end of the bargain by returning your lovable old mitt back to you.
posted by NoMich at 11:50 AM on March 21, 2006
2 points behind Baseball Prospectus, despite the fact that I don't like baseball nor do I follow it nor do I know most of the players in this tournament. Not bad, I guess.
posted by mkn at 11:53 AM on March 21, 2006
Either way I consider myself a winner. I placed 25th improving from 30th on the olympicks. Or, 5th from last improving from 3rd from last on the olympicks. At this rate it will take at least 5 for more confidence pools till I finally win one. So what's the next tournament coming up?
posted by njsk8r20 at 12:16 PM on March 21, 2006
Stanyley Cup Playoffs baby!
posted by NoMich at 12:19 PM on March 21, 2006
Congrats, NoMich. Great game, DrJ.
posted by danostuporstar at 12:21 PM on March 21, 2006
Ahhhh...I find myself all aglow in utter mediocrity. Congrats NoMich and Skydivemom.
posted by willthrill72 at 12:43 PM on March 21, 2006
Thanks Dr J. Another top class performance. I, on the other hand, am comfortable with mid table mediocrity. But I did tie with Grum, baseball stats man extraordinaire, which only goes to prove that a little knowledge...
posted by owlhouse at 01:29 PM on March 21, 2006
YYM, God bless you for beating Baseball Prospectus. DrJ. I demand a recount -- that friggin' costanza is mine! I got beat by a girl, no fair! *WEEPING UNCONTROLLABLY, TUCKING INTO FETAL POSITION AND SUCKING THUMB*
posted by wingnut4life at 02:46 PM on March 21, 2006
Congrats to NoMich and the ever lovely skydivemom ..................Thanks DrJE another outstanding job! This was surprisingly alot of fun. Grum you rock..... Baseball ....been very, very good to me.............
posted by skydivedad at 03:34 PM on March 21, 2006
goddam, dano, fraze, wingnut, and sdm... Looks like we need to go back to the minor league. The points gradually decline till chris2sy, then there's a big 9 point drop. A wise man once told me, "If you are going to play with the big dogs, first you need to learn how to pee in the tall grass." and the ever lovely skydivemom .................. jeez, sdd, are you still sleeping on the couch?
posted by njsk8r20 at 04:06 PM on March 21, 2006
I'll put together a baseball Costanza tout de suite. You see, I had made basketball and hockey Costanzas to follow up on the football (NFL playoffs pool) Costanza but did not foresee an immediate need (well, no sooner than a basketball version) for a baseball version. And as far as awards at the top, I dunno. I thought mkn's ribbon looked pretty sweet. Dunno if it has that "first place achievement" je ne sais quoi though.
posted by gspm at 04:18 PM on March 21, 2006
Nice job NoMich and skydivemom. Stanley Cup Playoffs baby The World Cup will be next won't it? Don't the NHL/NBA playoffs last until August? (kidding) Thanks, for putting this together, Doctor.
posted by tselson at 04:20 PM on March 21, 2006
Grum@work, you did give me some satisfaction though since I beat it, however, I speak for SpoFites that did not. Not for this marginal SpoFite you're not. I liked the challenge of the "other" BP, for what it's worth. Although... it's funny that I lost to Prospectus largely because of the performance of... the... Canadian... team... hmmm. Rigged. 2 points behind Baseball Prospectus, despite the fact that I don't like baseball nor do I follow it nor do I know most of the players in this tournament. Not bad, I guess. Well done, mkn. (I think it was Jon Lovitz -- as Michael Dukakis -- who said, on SNL, "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy." Now I'M weeping... and fetal... and thumb sucking... and stuff.) My first Spo-Fi competition, and I thought it was almost as exciting as the WBC itself. Thanks again, DrJ. (Side note: when I submitted my picks, all those weeks ago, I listed "Players To Look For" next to each team. Just for the record, the name I put next to Japan: Matsuzaka. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.)
posted by BullpenPro at 10:59 PM on March 21, 2006
Congratulations to NoMich and skydivemom! Mad props to DrJohnEvans for setting this up. BullpenPro, I like your Matsuzaka call, but I like wingnut4life's Fidel Castro call even better.
posted by qbert72 at 08:32 AM on March 22, 2006
catfish and YukonGold can fight over this 
Not sure who gets the tie breaker.
posted by mkn at 11:56 AM on March 22, 2006
catfish wins that tiebreaker, on account of giving Japan 15 points to YukonGold's 10. You know, for what it's worth.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 12:08 PM on March 22, 2006
Stupid Korea. I had it in my grasp...
posted by YukonGold at 02:00 PM on March 22, 2006
I'm still liking a little medal for those of us who beat the Baseball Prospectus.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:04 PM on March 22, 2006
Dude, you've got Sara Orlesky on your user info page. You need nothing more.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 04:46 PM on March 22, 2006
Did I win a Favre? Can the idiot here get a little help in finding a host & hoisting up my banners.
posted by catfish at 09:57 PM on March 22, 2006
You can link to the banner directly if you like, I don't mind. Just don't go putting it on the front page of Slashdot or something.
posted by mkn at 01:08 AM on March 23, 2006
Me, I find mediocrity looks good on me. Did I win a Favre? Yes, you've earned the right to waffle and leave your team hanging without being called out on how this is unbecoming of a leader.
posted by rocketman at 12:53 PM on March 23, 2006
Ack - middle of the pack feels worse. And I was beating BP right up until the semis. Now I founder back in into the realm of the not-so-great. Big ups to DJE - again, you don't fail to bring the pain. And remember, the Hockey playoffs were DESIGNED with this kind of confidence pool in mind.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:52 PM on March 23, 2006
I'm also looking forward to a basketball playoff pickem along with a hockey one.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:41 PM on March 23, 2006
By the way Wingnut, did you happen to see the Red Wings game on Tuesday night? I was lucky enough to be in attendence and it was the best hockey game I've ever seen. Even afterwords I'm still in a dazelike state after seeing that shootout. Plus, Pavel Datsyuk's goal was one of the best I've ever seen.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:39 PM on March 23, 2006
But of course, YYM. I TiVo every single game as I watch it (so I can put the highlights on tape). That was definately an awesome game. That's the longest shootout yet this year. It was very nice to see The Captain get that one shootout goal, and Datsyuk is just simply amazing. He's got that puck on a string, baby. I am very envious of you, because I have not been able to go to a single game this year. Friggin' economy! How 'bout that 4-0 win tonight against SJ?
posted by wingnut4life at 08:50 PM on March 23, 2006
Awesome wings!!!
posted by skydivemom at 09:43 PM on March 23, 2006
That's the longest shootout yet this year. Wasn't the Rangers shootout that Malik ended a longer one? 15 rounds. The Wings one went 14 skaters (or 7 rounds according the recap I read). And just so I don't seem like a total pedantic loser, here's the Datsyuk goal.
posted by gspm at 10:34 AM on March 24, 2006
No, it may have been the longest one the Wings have been involved in. (Out of what, two? They've had fewer shootouts than any other team in the league, haven't they?) Shame, too, because you knew you could pencil in Datsyuk for a couple of highlight-reel shootout goals all by himself. But if you only think about one team, the rest of the league doesn't really matter. I see that a lot, especially with Wings fans (and, to be fair, Bruins and Leafs fans too.) Also, it didn't occur to me until I started typing this comment out what "wingnut4life" actually meant. I just figured you were some crazy life-of-the-party type. I think I need some coffee.
posted by chicobangs at 10:45 AM on March 24, 2006
Thanks for the clarification, chico. I did mean the longest shootout for the Wings. And yes, that's what my name is for. I do try to keep up with other NHL teams, but it's hard when you can only catch a few on OLN. My wife's too cheap to let me get Center Ice. And as for the crazy
life-of-the-party type, that's me, too. I just don't get to party too much any more (damn kids).
posted by wingnut4life at 11:56 AM on March 24, 2006
I figured that was what you must have meant without me saying as much. I mean, you're not a nut and can actually write real sentences unlike some folk that pass through these parts. Ummm, baseball classic. yeah.
posted by gspm at 03:43 PM on March 24, 2006
This should happen more often. Baseball threads turning into discussions about Red Wing shootouts and Leaf fans. I'd like this place more if it did.
posted by mkn at 12:38 PM on March 26, 2006
This should happen more often. Baseball threads turning into discussions about Red Wing shootouts and Leaf fans. I'd like this place more if it did. Now if I could more ppl into badminton discussions I'd be in heaven.
posted by Folkways at 03:58 PM on March 26, 2006
I think there should be trophies for all nine people that beat the Baseball Prospectus and we should disown the person who introduced it. Grum@work, you did give me some satisfaction though since I beat it, however, I speak for SpoFites that did not.