12/21/24
May 14, 2014
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.
Seriously. The players need to be hounding the NHLPA to be putting pressure on the league. Cooke's setting a precedence that you can be as dirty as you want and still have a long and prosperous NHL career.
posted by dfleming at 09:24 AM on May 14, 2014
Raphael Honigstein on the differences between the Bundesliga and Premier League: Bayern Munich received £30m for winning the former while Cardiff received £62m for finishing last in the latter.
posted by yerfatma at 10:56 AM on May 14, 2014
The players need to be hounding the NHLPA to be putting pressure on the league. Cooke's setting a precedence that you can be as dirty as you want and still have a long and prosperous NHL career.
The precedence is set by the NHL's lack of disciplinary action, not by Cooke.
Singling out Cooke is incorrect, as many other players (Lucic, Thornton, Torres are a few notables) who are otherwise ineffective without playing over the line of the rules have received passes from the league.
I agree the NHLPA needs to take action to force the NHL to maintain the integrity of the game as the NHL has failed doing so.
posted by cixelsyd at 12:18 PM on May 14, 2014
Singling out Cooke is incorrect, as many other players (Lucic, Thornton, Torres are a few notables) who are otherwise ineffective without playing over the line of the rules have received passes from the league.
The "You can't do anything about Egregious Offender until all other transgressions, no matter how minor, have been addressed" is not a valid argument, even if we pretend the people you mention are comparable to Cooke. It's turtles all the way down. This is reminiscent of Leominster's argument in the Sterling thread that nothing done should be celebrated because nothing had been done in the past.
posted by yerfatma at 01:07 PM on May 14, 2014
Whenever I think I have my head wrapped around the amount of data sport generates now, I come across something like this: Andrew Miller gave up a game-winning home run last night and it looks like he's tipping his pitches with his release point.
posted by yerfatma at 01:16 PM on May 14, 2014
Josh Reddick of the A's has an incredibly intimidating walk-up song. It's effective, too. It got him a 6 for one at bat.
posted by NoMich at 03:32 PM on May 14, 2014
Stay away from the Shake Shack.
posted by Bonkers at 08:46 PM on May 14, 2014
the Shake Shack
Any intestinal ills at the Mets' park can be traced to ritualistic interventions being conducted at Bob Stanley's Flushing Meadows uncooked meat altar.
Stick a nail in it. It's not done.
posted by beaverboard at 10:25 PM on May 14, 2014
How about a warning before mentioning Bob Stanley? It turned out his cutsie routine of popping beachballs with the bullpen rake was probably born of meanness. And that he wasn't ashamed to try to get back into the game later on in life, at least if the claims of his daughter's friends are to be believed.
posted by yerfatma at 08:36 AM on May 15, 2014
The "You can't do anything about Egregious Offender until all other transgressions, no matter how minor, have been addressed" is not a valid argument
Not my argument at all.
The original inference was that Cooke is setting the precedence, when many players before Cooke and now during Cooke's tenure have been given the same slap on the wrist treatment for major infractions of the rules and deliberate intent to injure opponents. Cooke has nothing to do with precedence here.
posted by cixelsyd at 02:56 PM on May 15, 2014
Cooke has nothing to do with precedence here.
His precedence is the fact that he's been suspended by the league for his play a total of seven times. If you are a multiple repeat offender like Matt Cooke, you shouldn't be allowed back in the league.
If they do that to Cooke, it'll set the precedence that repeat offenders will not be tolerated.
posted by grum@work at 03:30 PM on May 15, 2014
Agree.
Cooke, Bertuzzi, Lucic, Thornton, Torres, etc. ... any one of these repeat offenders getting a lengthy suspension would send a message.
Cooke is not the precedent in his actions. If he BECOMES the precedent by receiving severe punishment which in turn prevents future goonery I'm all for that.
As I would be if it were any of the other players in the league who exist solely because goonery is not punished.
posted by cixelsyd at 09:01 PM on May 15, 2014
Please stop trying to put Cooke in a category with other players as a way of minimizing his offenses. He's in a class by himself and he's earned it.
posted by yerfatma at 08:29 AM on May 16, 2014
Not minimizing Cooke, he's a wart on the game. There are many others that also fit into the same category. Hockey would be much better without all of them.
Interesting how the NHL gives 20 game suspensions for 1st offenses of performance enhancing substances when 3 and 5 game suspensions are the norm for players like Cooke and others who repeatedly intentionally injure opponents.
posted by cixelsyd at 10:40 AM on May 16, 2014
Dear NHL disciplinary commission,
Please ask Matt Cooke to go away and never come back again.
Sincerely,
Everyone else in the league.