12/03/24
April 26, 2010
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Time flies when you're beating the Mavericks in the playoffs.
posted by rcade at 08:27 AM on April 26, 2010
Somehow this story slipped through the cracks, but a Wings fan was arrested in Glendale for throwing octopi onto the ice during game 2 of the Wings/Yotes series...
posted by MeatSaber at 10:30 AM on April 26, 2010
Somehow this story slipped through the cracks
It's a bit of a throwback to a time before SpoFi had the Huddle.
posted by Spitztengle at 12:23 PM on April 26, 2010
Mmmm octopodes...
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 01:17 PM on April 26, 2010
Ryan Howard agrees to 5 year-$125,000,000 extension.
posted by tommybiden at 04:37 PM on April 26, 2010
Time flies when you're beating the Mavericks in the playoffs.
Year in, year out, I just can't figure the Mavs out. Are they just a poor playoff team, not able to compete come crunch time with the other top, playoff-tested teams in the west, or does Mark Cuban's antics, comments, and big mouth put a giant target on their jerseys when this time of year rolls around?
Yesterday was Tim Duncan's 34th birthday. Wow, where did the time go?
Time is slipping away for Duncan, just like his game if yesterday is any indication.
posted by dyams at 05:09 PM on April 26, 2010
New Jersey Devils coach Jacques Lemaire announces retirement
posted by tommybiden at 05:10 PM on April 26, 2010
Ryan Howard agrees to 5 year-$125,000,000 extension.
*spit take*
Really?!
Wow. That's...that's just a TERRIBLE contract.
$75million for the age 34, 35 and 36 seasons of an overweight 1B that has broken 1.000 OPS only once in his career? And gets worked over like a WWE jobber by left-handed pitchers? (.207/.298/.356 in 2009)
Explain to me again why they had to trade Cliff Lee, if they could afford this contract?
posted by grum@work at 07:07 PM on April 26, 2010
Cuz chicks dig the long ball? Other than that, it does seem silly.
posted by tahoemoj at 08:37 PM on April 26, 2010
age 34, 35 and 36 seasons of an overweight 1B
Come on, not all overweight 1B lose it early. Look at at Mo Vaughn.
Woops.
posted by justgary at 09:44 PM on April 26, 2010
This contract means that, over the first 10 seasons of his career, Howard will earn approximately $190.5 million. No player -- not A-Rod, not Mauer, not Derek Jeter, not Albert Pujols -- has equaled that number, in this or any other era.
posted by justgary at 09:56 PM on April 26, 2010
You have to wonder, as this contract moves a couple years in, how much motivation will Howard continue to have to keep working as hard as he does currently? He may think he still wants to play as hard, compete, and get better, but when your reach your mid-30s and have as much money as Howard will have (provided he doesn't turn totally stupid and blow it all), why wouldn't he start having thoughts of how he could just coast, live off all that cash, and walk away if things aren't going good? And in a talent-rich position around major league baseball like first base, the idea the Phillies believed they needed to make this huge a financial move is nothing short of mind-boggling.
posted by dyams at 07:25 AM on April 27, 2010
"[To justify the contract], Howard will need six seasons that were better than his 2009 season, except over his 32-37 years."
posted by yerfatma at 09:31 AM on April 27, 2010
but when your reach your mid-30s and have as much money as Howard will have (provided he doesn't turn totally stupid and blow it all), why wouldn't he start having thoughts of how he could just coast, live off all that cash, and walk away if things aren't going good?
Couldn't you say the same thing about Arod? The only difference I can see is that the Yankees are much more capable of swallowing a contract than the Phils.
posted by justgary at 09:42 AM on April 27, 2010
Couldn't you say the same thing about Arod?
Absolutely. I always worry about the motivation factor when it comes to athletes getting into their thirties who are millionaires many, many times over. A-Rod, though, appears to be in much better physical condition than a player like Howard, and I doubt he (Howard) is all of a sudden going to turn into a lean, finely-tuned specimen as he reaches his mid-thirties and above. Plus, A-Rod may be able to move far up the all-time home run list (if not all the way to the top), and that could be a huge motivator. And A-Rod will always be a near-.300 hitter with a complete, all-around game, not a round, heavy first baseman who will probably become less and less agile as the years progress. Howard strikes out way, way to much, doesn't hit for average, doesn't hit lefties real well, and those things, in combination, make it more likely (in my opinion) he may be ready to hang 'em up by 35 or so.
posted by dyams at 07:12 PM on April 27, 2010
A-Rod, though, appears to be in much better physical condition...
Yeah, I'm aware of and agree with those differences. But the fact is that Arod will be 42 at the end of his contract (if I remember correctly) and I'll be shocked if he's worth that kind of money at that age. I'll be shocked if he's worth that money at 38.
But the yankees can handle the lost money then in exchange for taking his performance now. The phils are less capable of doing so.
posted by justgary at 06:26 PM on April 28, 2010
Explain to me again why they had to trade Cliff Lee, if they could afford this contract?
That's the real question I have. Why not give Howard a 3-year extension and keep Lee around for a couple more years? The rush to lock up Howard was ridiculous. So many first basemen in the league, so much talent at that position. They could have knocked a few years off the offer and been much smarter with their cash.
posted by dyams at 07:45 PM on April 28, 2010
Yesterday was Tim Duncan's 34th birthday. Wow, where did the time go?
If there were truly a god in heaven, I suppose Duncan and Rick Pitino would have added 4 or 5 more Celtics banners to the rafters by now...
(At least that's how Pitino probably sees it).