12/21/24
January 07, 2014
SportsFilter: The Tuesday 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.
KEN GURNICK, Dodgers beat reporter
Morris has flaws -- a 3.90 ERA, for example. But he gets my vote for more than a decade of ace performance that included three 20-win seasons, Cy Young Award votes in seven seasons and Most Valuable Players votes in five. As for those who played during the period of PED use, I won't vote for any of them.
Morris
Jack Morris pitched against Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in the 1992 ALCS.
The "period of PED use" didn't start in 2000, it was during the 1980s and 1990s as well. Jack Morris' career was during the period of PED use.
It's rare that you find a published writer that is ignorant, idiotic, and hypocritical, all in just three sentences.
posted by grum@work at 11:51 AM on January 07, 2014
The problem is every year's Hall of Fame vote leads to some clown deciding to make a name for himself. There's always a chance to turn it into a chance to yell stupid stuff on a regular basis on ESPN or the MLB Network.
Sally Jenkins kills RGIII. Piling on, a DC-area restaurant renames their RGIII burger.
posted by yerfatma at 12:03 PM on January 07, 2014
MARTY NOBLE, national reporter
Glavine, Maddux, Morris
I don't want 28 people entering the Hall at once, so I limited my checks on the ballot to three.
What is this...I don't even...
posted by grum@work at 12:07 PM on January 07, 2014
Apparently AJ McCarron is not going to be playing in the Senior Bowl. Does it really matter?
And apparently this happened.
posted by NoMich at 02:34 PM on January 07, 2014
Twitter may be the greatest social invention ever for having the truly dull-witted people self-identify themselves as such.
posted by grum@work at 02:56 PM on January 07, 2014
Good for Gurnick. We all know the only reason that most HOF voters are making Maddux a first ballot pick is because they know what will happen to them if they don't.
posted by Joey Michaels at 03:02 PM on January 07, 2014
Twitter may be the greatest social invention ever for having the truly dull-witted people self-identify themselves as such.
Complete agreement. Twitter was apparently invented because we couldn't force Klan members to wear their robes and nutjobs to wear tin foil hats full time.
posted by tahoemoj at 03:06 PM on January 07, 2014
Canada announces their roster for the Men's Olympic Ice Hockey Team:
Goalies: Carey Price, Roberto Luongo, Mike Smith
Defence: Shea Weber, Duncan Keith, Dan Hamhuis, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, PK Subban, Drew Doughty
Forwards: Jamie Benn, Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Patrick Sharp, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares and Jonathan Toews.
My quick assessment:
Goalies: Obvious selections, and not really sure they were in doubt.
Defence: I thought Seabrook might have made it as an obvious pairing with Keith, and I'm not sure that Hamhuis or Mr. Pickle are better selections over him or Boyle. I really don't understand the surprise that Subban made it. His energy and offence more than make up for his occasional lapse in judgement.
Forwards: Ah, the best part of the second-guessing game, simply because there are so many strong choices.
Did you know that Martin St. Louis has the most points of ANY Canadian player since the start of the 2010 season? Did you know that Claude Giroux is 3rd on that list? That Joe Thornton is 6th? Eric Staal 7th? That's how crazy deep Canada is at the forward position. So, Yzerman and his team of coaches had a lot of room to work with. The obvious focal points for second-guessers would be Kunitz ("Crosby's buddy!"), Benn ("Who?" says 50% of the Canadian fans.), and Nash ("You're still playing?").
Given the substitution rules for the Olympics (you can replace a player on the roster due to injury as late as 2 hours before the puck drops for the first game of the tournament), and the nature of injuries in the NHL, I would be very surprised if this is the final roster for Team Canada.
P.S. I'm saddened that my dark horse choice (Jordan Eberle) didn't make the squad. I would have preferred him over Marleau (especially if his buddy Thornton didn't make the team).
posted by grum@work at 03:26 PM on January 07, 2014
Similarly the Fins announced theirs
Goalkeepers:
Kari Lehtonen, Dallas Stars (NHL)
Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks (NHL)
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins (NHL)
Defencemen:
Lasse Kukkonen, Krpt Oulu (FIN)
Juuso Hietanen, Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod (RUS)
Sami Lepist, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (RUS)
Olli Mtt, Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Sami Salo, Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers (NHL)
Ossi Vnnen, Jokerit Helsinki (FIN)
Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Forwards:
Juhamatti Aaltonen, Krpt Oulu (FIN)
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers (NHL)
Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)
Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Jussi Jokinen, Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Olli Jokinen, Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Leo Komarov, Dynamo Moscow (RUS)
Petri Kontiola, Traktor Chelyabinsk (RUS)
Lauri Korpikoski, Phoenix Coyotes (NHL)
Jori Lehter, Sibir Novosibirsk (RUS)
Antti Pihlstrm, Salavat Yulayev Ufa (RUS)
Tuomo Ruutu, Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Teemu Selnne, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
posted for love of Tuukka and double letters
posted by kokaku at 03:39 PM on January 07, 2014
posted for love of Tuukka and double letters
This page alone:
Juhamatti Aaltonen
PK Subban
cc
Greg Maddux
Teemu Selanne
Jeff Carter
gg
hh
Robert Griffin III
jj
Mikko Koivu
Olli Jokinen
Kimmo Timmonen
Ossi Vinnen
Brent Seabrook
Valtteri Filppula
qq
Jack Morris
Jussi Jokinen
Antti Pihlstrom
Tuuka Rask
vv
ww
xx
zz
posted by grum@work at 04:36 PM on January 07, 2014
grum...i am at a terriffically collossal loss for speech
i love your ocd
posted by kokaku at 04:41 PM on January 07, 2014
Whore Slaayer.
posted by holden at 04:45 PM on January 07, 2014
I miss the days of the Finnish team when you could have an exchange of Nieminen to Numminen to Niinimaa. Even Doc Emmerick would trip over that one.
posted by tahoemoj at 05:21 PM on January 07, 2014
Ah yes, Leonid Aleksandrovit Komarov, a fairly common Finnish name.
posted by cixelsyd at 05:41 PM on January 07, 2014
To the Finland Station!
posted by Hugh Janus at 07:27 PM on January 07, 2014
Double letters all good, except for one that got dropped along the way:
Similarly the Fins announced theirs
Anteeksi - the Finns find that the second n comes in handy now and then.
And one that got added in, along with an escort:
Even Doc Emmerick
Mr Emrick will think of something to do with his new found excess. He's trying to sell the extra vowel to Pat Sajak.
Sisu!
posted by beaverboard at 07:52 PM on January 07, 2014
Baseball HOF update:
Maddux, Glavine, and Thomas look to be shoo-ins for the hall this year, barring an unforeseen statistical anomaly.
Biggio looks like his vote results might come down to a literal three- or four-vote difference (out of >550 votes) between in/out. If I had to guess, he's going to fall just short of the hall this year.
Jack Morris looks like he'll fall short on his last try (and will have to wait until 2017 for the Veteran Committee to (probably) vote him in.
Piazza and Bagwell look to be the top remaining holdovers for next years vote (when Johnson, Martinez, and Smoltz join the fun).
posted by grum@work at 11:29 PM on January 07, 2014
Jack Morris looks like he'll fall short on his last try (and will have to wait until 2017 for the Veteran Committee to (probably) vote him in.
Thank goodness. I was worried that sentimentality/his last shot would cloud the judgment of enough writers to let him in. Morris is a favourite of the old school whose statistical analysis of the game ends in wins, losses and big moments.
The writer who's so disgusted by the steroid "era" that he won't vote for anyone from that timeframe is nuts. Maddux and Morris overlapped for 9 years of their career and there really isn't a good argument for Morris over Maddux statistically.
posted by dfleming at 07:05 AM on January 08, 2014
Still waiting on the Hall of Fame results, but we don't have to wait for the controversy: in need of Internet fame, Ken Gurnick declares he didn't vote for Maddux ashe was too busy only voting for Jack Morris.