12/21/24
September 10, 2012
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.
That "slump" of McIlroy's keeps getting better and better. Three wins in four weeks, including a major, and all of them dished out with great authority against classy leaderboards. He continues to be able to play "relaxed" golf even under the severest pressure, and I continue to be amazed. When Woods took over the world, I remember feeling privileged to be watching golf in an era when someone was tearing up the rule book and redefining greatness in the sport, but I remember too having a tinge of regret that once he was done, every up and coming youngster for years was going to face the tag of being "the next Woods", when really we had no right to expect anyone to ever be that dominant ever again.
Obviously, it's early days, but McIlroy is definitely showing his intentions to at least try and compete with that level that Woods set.
posted by JJ at 07:41 AM on September 10, 2012
Andy Reid continues to baffle with his game planning. Does he confuse Vick with Rodgers, Brady, or Brees? Having the guy wing the ball 56 times yesterday, the Eagles are fortunate they came away with a win vs. Cleveland. Guess he knew one of the only QBs who would struggle more than Vick was under center for the Browns.
Agreed. Four picks and three fumbles (only one lost) and needing a strike in the last two-minute to beat a completely hapless team is a pretty embarrassing way to start the year.
In other news, Jeff Ireland in Miami is already on the hot seat. Apparently owner Stephen Ross thinks that a squad featuring a rookie QB and top receivers Brian Hartline and Devone Bess should be making the playoffs. I'm not sure if he realizes what division he plays in, but there are few people who probably think the Dolphins are the fourth best team in the division.
posted by dfleming at 09:10 AM on September 10, 2012
In other news, Jeff Ireland in Miami is already on the hot seat. Apparently owner Stephen Ross thinks that a squad featuring a rookie QB and top receivers Brian Hartline and Devone Bess should be making the playoffs. I'm not sure if he realizes what division he plays in, but there are few people who probably think the Dolphins are the fourth best team in the division.
That roster is pathetic. I don't know how Ireland has kept his job this long.
posted by bperk at 09:21 AM on September 10, 2012
Miami appears to me like they are adopting the Toronto Maple Leafs management approach - making loads of money, why even bother assembling a decent team.
posted by cixelsyd at 10:24 AM on September 10, 2012
See also: The Chicago Cubs and probably The Detroit Lions.
posted by NoMich at 10:34 AM on September 10, 2012
But Jeff Ireland has been groomed his whole life for the job!
posted by feloniousmonk at 01:49 PM on September 10, 2012
The Baltimore Ravens have confirmed that they will be standing behind Brendan Ayanbadejo after last week's incident with Maryland Delegate Emmett Burns and will be writing a response directly to Burns.
I suspect their language will not be as colourful as Chris Kluwe's.
Ayanbadejo says that he met team President Dick Cass outside the team dining room and Cass told him, "we're in support of you and it's good that you're able to voice your opinion and say how you feel" and "[The Ravens] are not an organization that discriminates."
posted by Mr Bismarck at 02:13 PM on September 10, 2012
On the David Akers record-tying 63-yard field goal, could the Packers player have legally blocked it at the goal post?
Also, what happens in overtime if the first team kicks a field goal after a 12-minute drive and the second team still has the ball after 15 minutes?
posted by rcade at 03:15 PM on September 10, 2012
On the David Akers record-tying 63-yard field goal, could the Packers player have legally blocked it at the goal post?
That's an interesting question. I don't see why not, provided he doesn't step across the end line before jumping up there.
posted by bender at 03:55 PM on September 10, 2012
On the David Akers record-tying 63-yard field goal, could the Packers player have legally blocked it at the goal post?
Sure. I don't think there's a limitation on when a kick can be blocked (I looked for it in the official rules but the scenario doesn't seem to be covered by any particular rule), but it would be a huge risk: if you are blocking it and it stays inbounds, it's a live ball (similar to if the kick was short and you fumbled it.) The opposing team could then recover it deep in opposing territory and put more points on the board.
posted by dfleming at 04:21 PM on September 10, 2012
rcade: On the David Akers record-tying 63-yard field goal, could the Packers player have legally blocked it at the goal post?Huh, interesting question. As far as I know, football has no concept of a goaltend, because the ball is either short enough to be outright caught while in the end zone, or 20-30 feet in the air as it goes through/wide. But I guess if it was a really long attempt in circumstances like these, there's no rule to say the defensive player couldn't try to jump and catch/block the ball before it hit the cross bar.
However, I can't imagine he would have even tried. First, the odds of it hitting the goal post like that were pretty miniscule- even on an attempt at that distance, the player in the end zone was hoping to see the ball coming up well short, catch it, and then run it back for a possible TD. Once he saw it was not going to be short, the assumption is it would be untouchable. The height of the cross bar is 10 feet, plus the width of the cross bar, so let's say just shy of 11 feet is the height when it hit that cross bar. That's crazy high; a fast, tall athlete can dunk a ball with ease, but getting even one hand (not just a fingertip) far enough over 11 feet to do more than have the football dislocate your finger is very, very hard.
No one, apparently, can touch the top of the backboard at 13', while the best in the NBA apparently can tap the backboard around 12'6", and all claim they've never actually seen anyone do that (13 feet). At best, our defensive player will reach a little over 12', and have his whole hand available to block the ball- but even granting him world-class jumping ability, he'd still have to time the standing jump such that his hand is at the exact spot it will hit the crossbar, at the very apex of his jump, at the exact moment the ball is there.
I'd say it's not against the rules, but no one could ever actually block a FG that was on its way to hitting the uprights without the most amazing lucky timing imaginable.
But that would have been some sight if he had, especially on a 64-yard attempt!!! Play of the year, right there.
rcade: Also, what happens in overtime if the first team kicks a field goal after a 12-minute drive and the second team still has the ball after 15 minutes?For that, from the rules on Wikipedia:
If an NFL game is tied after four quarters, the teams play an additional period lasting up to 15 minutes. As of the 2012 season, if the first team with possession does not score a touchdown on the initial possession, the other team is given a possession. If the score is still tied after both teams have had a possession, then the old sudden death rules go into effect. In a regular-season NFL game, if neither team scores in overtime, the game is a tie.So it sounds pretty cut and dried, even under the new 2012 rules. If the first team scores a TD, the game is over; otherwise, the other team gets a possession to match/exceed their result If both teams fail to score on their possessions, the game goes into sudden death for the remainder of the overtime period. If the score is still tied after that, the game is ruled a tie.
So in your hypothetical, the first team kicks their FG, is up 3, and the other team fails to even score a FG in 3 minutes, and has lost the game when the clock runs out.
posted by hincandenza at 05:46 PM on September 10, 2012
I think it would be difficult but not impossible. Alvin Harper could've blocked that kick.
posted by rcade at 06:02 PM on September 10, 2012
Huh, I stand corrected- I thought the crossbar was thicker, but it looks like it's only 6-7". It would still be exceedingly difficult, as his hand would have to be there at the exact right moment, but I guess you could block it. But as dfleming describes, it might be a bad move anyway- if you just block it, the ball could be grabbed by an offensive player and run in for a proper TD, so you'd only want to do it when no one else was near you, which only occurs on really long attempts (which are rare), which only occur when it's extremely late in the half, etc.
And as it turns out... it's actually illegal in the NCAA/NFL anyway- or more accurately, the penalty in most cases is a safety at minimum, TD if team A actually recovers the block, unless the player manages to catch it cleanly- which would be insanely hard and not worth the risk.
Interestingly, that link above? Has the exact same picture of Alvin Harper you just posted.
posted by hincandenza at 06:26 PM on September 10, 2012
Hey, the Lions are at least trying of late...
posted by MeatSaber at 06:46 PM on September 10, 2012
I think the 49ers tried to use RC Owens (he of the Alley-Oop) to try to block long field goals in the 1950s. I think he did manage to tip one away, and the league may have amended the rule after that, but I'd have to look it up.
posted by ajaffe at 07:00 PM on September 10, 2012
Here's a New York Times article:
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/r-c-owens-and-blocking-that-kick/
posted by ajaffe at 07:03 PM on September 10, 2012
The odds of a kick actually being blocked at the goalpost are so ludicrously remote that not only is is absurd to consider outlawing it, but someone who mananges to pull it off should score some amount of points.
posted by bender at 07:49 PM on September 10, 2012
Well, Andy Murray got the Grand Slam that Federer promised him at Wimbledon. Had to work for it, though.
posted by etagloh at 09:13 PM on September 10, 2012
The odds of a kick actually being blocked at the goalpost are so ludicrously remote ..
About the same odds of grabbing a home run 2 feet over the wall
posted by cixelsyd at 11:03 PM on September 10, 2012
nice work, ajaffe; I didn't realize someone had actually done it.
It still seems a pointless play to attempt; there are very few field goals that hit the cross bar, since attempts are not usually made if the kicker couldnt reliably reach the FG distance.
Compared to a HR, where there are hundreds of fly balls every day, a fair number of which are around the wall- and very few walls are 10' high- and a few that are catchably close, just over the wall. That Trout catch, while nice, was less impressive to me because, well, that's a relatively low wall.
posted by hincandenza at 12:21 AM on September 11, 2012
posted by grum@work at 12:43 AM on September 11, 2012
Now that is an amazing catch- I remember that when it was on the highlight reels recently.
posted by hincandenza at 03:37 AM on September 11, 2012
Andy Reid continues to baffle with his game planning. Does he confuse Vick with Rodgers, Brady, or Brees? Having the guy wing the ball 56 times yesterday, the Eagles are fortunate they came away with a win vs. Cleveland. Guess he knew one of the only QBs who would struggle more than Vick was under center for the Browns.