12/21/24
October 24, 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.
Apologies in advance for my weekly "Bitch about Sportscenter" post, but today's comparison of Andrew Luck and RG3 was ridiculous. I completely understand the desire to make a storyline out of the comparison of quarterbacks drafted #1 and #2. But they threw a bunch of numbers up on the screen to try to make the (I guess) counter-intuitive suggestion Luck is having the superior season. Of course the first stat was ESPN's proprietary QBR, but the third and fourth stats, which Chris McKendry described as "advanced statistics" were a complete joke:
1. % of runs that resulted in a first down. Luck has rushed 20 times, Griffin has rushed 64 times. Luck rushes mainly when flushed or when he knows he can pick up a first down whereas Griffin's rushing is part of his game. A QB who has rushed once for one first down would be better than each of them in this stat.
2. % of total yards through the air. If Luck never ran the ball at all, he'd murder RG3 in this stat. They are within 73 yards of each other in total passing yards and Griffin has 280 more total yards.
This insistence that ESPN is now the home of math and people who actually think is silly. Just stick to "Sports Science" where somebody hits a tackling dummy in slow motion.
posted by yerfatma at 01:45 PM on October 24, 2012
Just stick to "Sports Science" where somebody hits a tackling dummy in slow motion.
Which by the way is freakin awesome!
posted by BornIcon at 02:55 PM on October 24, 2012
I had no idea that the appearance of the name "Brooklyn" in a listing of major league professional sports teams after over 50 years of absence would provoke such a strong emotional reaction on my part.
beaverboard, having been around when the word "Brooklyn" in any context would produce a reaction, I understand why you might feel that way. I was never a fan of the Dodgers, but for so long they were the "anti-New Yorkers". Those who lived in the New York region (and elsewhere) could root for them without having the stigma(?) of New York fan attached. In the old days of quiz shows on radio or in the early days of TV, whenever a contestant announced he was from Brooklyn, the audience would applaud loudly. In the WW2 era war movies, it was a given that at least one of the hero group would be from Brooklyn, and would be rooting for his beloved Bums.
My great uncle, a VP in The American Can Company, lived for years on Farragut Road in Brooklyn. Even after he moved out to Garden City, he was still a "Brooklynite". I guess the whole thing was the idea of retaining the unique identity of a place that is part of a much larger whole.
Brooklyn's reputation as a place to live had seemingly slipped over the past several years, but the move of the Nets and the possible move of the Islanders shows a revitalization of the borough. I wish them all success, except when they are playing the Celtics or Bruins, respectively, of course.
posted by Howard_T at 03:58 PM on October 24, 2012
Apologies in advance for my weekly "Bitch about Sportscenter" post, but today's comparison of Andrew Luck and RG3 was ridiculous.
That segment is based off a NYT article that was published yesterday, which analyzed, among other statistics, the QBR rating to see why it rated Luck > RG3. Of course ESPN's going to say something about it.
posted by jmd82 at 07:20 PM on October 24, 2012
Looks like Verlander has reverted to his postseason form from last year. Impeccable timing.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 09:39 PM on October 24, 2012
That's my bad- I picked Detroit in 6 in the Pick 'Em; I seriously considered picking San Francisco, just so Detroit would have the Series in the bag...
posted by hincandenza at 10:04 PM on October 24, 2012
Sandoval is on tonight, that's for sure.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 10:07 PM on October 24, 2012
No kidding- 4 for 4 with 3 HR (and yet only 4 RBI). Some game!
posted by hincandenza at 11:35 PM on October 24, 2012
That is one rag tag gang of four Fox post-game analysts. Painful.
posted by beaverboard at 11:57 PM on October 24, 2012
Next: Fister vs Bumgarner, in San Francisco. Ahem.
posted by etagloh at 12:00 AM on October 25, 2012
That segment is based off a NYT article that was published yesterday
Well that's a much better piece and a much better defense of QBR. No idea why ESPN cherry-picked numbers that don't really cover what the article says. It would have also been nice to know Griffin has fumbled a few times and Luck has faced tougher defenses. Thanks for the link.
posted by yerfatma at 11:37 AM on October 25, 2012
As I looked over the NBA preseason standings yesterday, I had no idea that the appearance of the name "Brooklyn" in a listing of major league professional sports teams after over 50 years of absence would provoke such a strong emotional reaction on my part.
I just sat there staring at it in bittersweet wonder and delight. I totally understand if SpoFites who are younger than I am don't get (or care) what the big deal is with this.
I don't harbor any ill will toward LA. I had just figured that Brooklyn would never get back any remote semblance of what was so painfully lost when the Dodgers left in 1957.
As if that isn't enough, today I saw that the NY Islanders are also planning to relocate to Brooklyn. Soon enough, the novelty will be gone and it will be old hat, I suppose.