11/21/24
February 17, 2014
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.
More coolness: an amazing Kansas City Royals billboard.
posted by rcade at 09:09 AM on February 17, 2014
Seems that my friends and I weren't the only ones put off by NBC's interview with Bode Miller just after he won the bronze medal in the Super G.
posted by NoMich at 09:11 AM on February 17, 2014
Seriously. You have to know when to just pat the guy on the shoulder and end the interview.
posted by bender at 09:27 AM on February 17, 2014
Both very cool pictures. Thanks for sharing those rcade.
posted by dyams at 09:59 AM on February 17, 2014
Seems that my friends and I weren't the only ones put off by NBC's interview with Bode Miller
Definitely not.
posted by yerfatma at 12:02 PM on February 17, 2014
My wife and I kept looking at each other saying "ok, enough, let the guy go" It was overkill.
posted by Debo270 at 02:01 PM on February 17, 2014
Today's sports news includes the opening of spring training for the Red Sox. Meanwhile, those of us who favor the team are asking "why bother?". If they are training for spring, it appears to have been canceled this year. We are sitting here under about 5 feet of snow, with more in the forecast. Now 'summer training' might be a more appropriate name for the activity, since there will be no spring here.
The real news out of the Boston camp is that their starting pitching log jam has been partly relieved. Ryan Dempster has decided to take a year off. He says he wants to take more time with his kids, and a disc problem in his neck is bothering him and may limit his pitching. It's nice to see a guy with enough integrity to walk away and leave money on the table. He could easily have gone through the motions, made it through spring training, gone on the disabled list, and collected his millions in salary. Instead, he chose to walk away, giving the team a break from the salary and allowing other pitchers more opportunity to get innings. Dempster's lifetime earnings are pretty close to the 9-figure mark, so it's not like he's taking much of a financial hit. Still, the honesty is refreshing.
posted by Howard_T at 03:42 PM on February 17, 2014
Watching the Lenny Cooke documentary on Showtime right now. Any documentary that starts off with Shook Ones Part II is doing it right in my opinion. And the movie isn't bad either.
posted by Bonkers at 08:23 PM on February 17, 2014
Queensbridge represent!
posted by Hugh Janus at 09:13 PM on February 17, 2014
Still, the honesty is refreshing.
I suspect the fact that Dempster was probably bullpen-bound anyways had something to do with it. After a lot of money's been made and the prestige is largely gone, there's not a whole lot left to play for if you miss your family. I suspect a lot of guys who retire could pitch middle relief for another year, but don't for similar reasons.
posted by dfleming at 10:46 AM on February 18, 2014
I'm assuming it's family-related as his daughter has a rare medical condition.
posted by yerfatma at 11:10 AM on February 18, 2014
A cool photo of the Nationals in spring training in Viera, taken from a GoPro on a drone.