04/24/24
October 10, 2012
SportsFilter: The Wednesday 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.
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posted by Etrigan at 11:42 AM on October 10, 2012
Hey Bud, why is the Nationals' first home playoff game (or any playoff game, really) being carried only on MLB Network, a channel not even carried by the cable provider serving most of DC? Also, is it really necessary to schedule the games back-to back-to back-to back on a Wednesday? I'm sure we could have doubled up one of the time slots to keep all of the games in the afternoon/evening.
posted by bender at 12:37 PM on October 10, 2012
Ah, the glory of Canada. All of the games on just two channels, and if there is overlap, they'll open up a third/fourth channel to keep simultaneous games showing without worry.
It's pretty much the only reason I watch SportsNet any more.
posted by grum@work at 12:53 PM on October 10, 2012
Hincapie admits to doping. Cycling world generally unshocked.
posted by etagloh at 01:44 PM on October 10, 2012
Hey Bud, why is the Nationals' first home playoff game (or any playoff game, really) being carried only on MLB Network, a channel not even carried by the cable provider serving most of DC?
The game is on the local channel here. It is just the MLB TV feed, which seems pro-Cards to me.
posted by bperk at 01:49 PM on October 10, 2012
Oh good. I'm at work and have to listen on the radio anyway, but my understanding was that it was MLB TV or bust. I'm still not a fan of playing weekday playoff games at 1:00 pm, though.
posted by bender at 02:29 PM on October 10, 2012
CFL returning to Ottawa after city approves stadium plan
posted by tommybiden at 02:46 PM on October 10, 2012
CFL returning to Ottawa after city approves stadium plan
How many kicks at that can are needed before people realize it's not a football town anymore?
posted by dfleming at 03:38 PM on October 10, 2012
CFL returning to Ottawa after city approves stadium plan
The CFL's insistence on bashing its head against the Ottawa wall repeatedly is...odd.
posted by grum@work at 03:46 PM on October 10, 2012
Looks like we know why Lance lived so strong. Why would they all lie.?
posted by Debo270 at 03:55 PM on October 10, 2012
The CFL's insistence on bashing its head against the Ottawa wall repeatedly is...odd
How many kicks at that can are needed before people realize it's not a football town anymore?
Looking at the CFL attendance figures it's apparent there are no football towns in Canada east of Winnipeg.
Montreal and Toronto have much larger population bases to draw from but attendance is poor even when the product on the field is good. Hamilton supports their team; if they were not consistantly amongst the league's bottom dwellers the past decade the numbers there would look better.
posted by cixelsyd at 04:04 PM on October 10, 2012
Hey Bud, why is the Nationals' first home playoff game (or any playoff game, really) being carried only on MLB Network, a channel not even carried by the cable provider serving most of DC?
The Tigers' second game was on the MLB Network. The MLB made a big deal of noting that every major cable carrier (with the exception of one) carried the MLB network. It is not, however, included in the basic cable. There were many people who were unable to watch the game because of it, which I think is ridiculous.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:15 PM on October 10, 2012
Yeah, I heard that, too. MLB TV is great for the regular season, but there is no reason playoff games should be there.
posted by bender at 04:36 PM on October 10, 2012
Two of my favorite films were Blazing Saddles and Victor Victoria, both of which had Alex Karras in featured supporting roles. He was a force on the football field when the middle linebacker was the heart and soul of your defense, and a really good performer in films and on TV. He will be missed.
"Mongo only pawn in game of life." Alex Karras as Mongo in Blazing Saddles.
posted by Howard_T at 05:51 PM on October 10, 2012
Ross Detwiler will be taking the mound for the Nationals tomorrow in a win or die game after Edwin Jackson took the loss in game three.
I can't imagine Stephen Strasburg being too happy right now. Or many Nats fans for that matter.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:09 PM on October 10, 2012
The important part, Ying Yang, is they are saving his arm for, uh... reasons.
I mean, you can't just waste a pitcher like Strasburg, you gotta make sure he's healthy when it really counts. Which, I'm assuming, is November.
But as any retired baseball player will tell you, you can always bank on making it back to the playoffs, year after year. Don't worry about any one trip- you'll be back again and again, and you can count on that!
posted by hincandenza at 08:32 PM on October 10, 2012
Good god, A-Rod can't...hit...a baseball!
posted by dyams at 08:57 PM on October 10, 2012
Good god, A-Rod can't...hit...a baseball!
Ah, nothing to get too worried about, he's only got 5 years, and $119,000,000 left on his deal.
posted by tommybiden at 09:07 PM on October 10, 2012
he's only got 5 years, and $119,000,000 left on his deal
So I guess the old movie line: "Kid, you've got talent, and you're gonna end up owning this town" actually refers to Bonilla and Rodriguez.
Not if Donald Trump has anything to say about it.
posted by beaverboard at 09:30 PM on October 10, 2012
Drop his ass down the damn lineup Girardi! He'd probably be decent in the 9 spot.
posted by dyams at 09:36 PM on October 10, 2012
Just an unsolicited pitch: if you have an iPhone/iPad, the MLB App is a fantastic purchase to keep in mind for 2013 (probably not worth buying the discounted ~$4 cost just for the playoffs). The yearly app is a flat cost of $15, and gets you a really slick UI with the Gameday interface, news, scores, video highlights in-game as well as compressed game video (these are edited versions of the game that come out an hour or so later, which will typically show just the in-play pitches and run about 15 minutes to watch the entire game in hurry-up mode). Most interestingly, you get live game radio for every single game (home/away/spanish), which for those of us who grew up listening to games on the radio, really makes the app worthwhile.
If you pay for the separate (and expensive) MLB.tv package, you get live game video for all games all year, both in-app and at the MLB.tv website. However, I found that the radio-only mode included in the app was perfectly fine, where I'd prop up my iPad while working with the GameDay interface displayed, and listen to the radio for the Red Sox. Plus, you still get 1-2 free video games a day anyway (although as a Red Sox fan, this was rarely a Sox game).
And when you get to the playoffs, you get all game video free- and you can choose your camera angle, or the rather nice "QuadCam" view which is a 2x2 video feed of centerfield, home, and a couple of other views.
Also, Raul Ibanez can go f*** himself right up the *ss.
posted by hincandenza at 11:16 PM on October 10, 2012
RIP Alex "The Mad Duck" Karras. You should read George Plimpton's most excellent "Mad Ducks & Bears" in Karras' honor.