04/24/24
April 15, 2015
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.
Nolan Arenado gives us an early contender for play of the year by making a ridiculous catch and then having the immediate wherewithal to almost turn it into a double play.
posted by dfleming at 10:11 AM on April 15, 2015
Superb play by Arenado.
SF fans clustered around him look like they're auditioning for a Woody Allen winter movie.
posted by beaverboard at 10:58 AM on April 15, 2015
That's a great catch by Arenado but it also seems like a dumb one. He was taking a pretty big injury risk spinning across the tarp and into the stands.
posted by rcade at 11:19 AM on April 15, 2015
Boston Bruins fire G.M. Peter Chiarelli
posted by tommybiden at 12:29 PM on April 15, 2015
Perhaps the Leafs will go out and get Chiarelli just to avoid any future hoodwinks.
posted by dfleming at 01:06 PM on April 15, 2015
Perhaps the Leafs will go out and get Chiarelli
Their current roster would be all in favor of same. Chiarelli would give many of them high-priced, long-term deals that could keep the Leafs irrelevant forever. He might even trade Phil Kessel back to Boston for a couple of bags of pucks.
posted by Howard_T at 01:34 PM on April 15, 2015
They literally made the Chiarelli announcement 15 minutes after the verdict in the Hernandez case. Coincidence?
Chiarelli did a good job overall. Two finals, one cup. In the cap era it is really tough to keep good teams together. The trick is, like the Blackhawks, to have the right people in place when you have to get rid of the high priced guys. Losing Boychuk fits that model, without the replacement part. and the Hawks are going to be finding it tough with Toews and Kane's new contracts.
Losing Seguin, right now looks terrible. If he excels for a few more years it will look almost as bad the Neely trade in reverse. Maybe Brian Burke would be interested in a Lucic for Gaidreau deal?!
I mean, I hate the Bruins almost as much as the Leafs and Flyers, and I sure hope this is a start of a nice long period of mediocrity, but it's hard to objectively say Chiarelli did a poor job.
posted by rumple at 01:51 PM on April 15, 2015
it's hard to objectively say Chiarelli did a poor job.
That's how I felt and one of the more even-headed Boston writers agreed but when you look at tommy's link, that is a pretty damning list of mis-steps. Admittedly it's not counter-weighted by the things he did right but it feels like Chiarelli's ability was to get 4 quarters for a dollar some times. There's a cryptic comment in my link that suggests the Bruins got rid of Seguin because he slept with Nathan Horton's wife, which would (Occam's Razor be damned) explain why Horton was so insistent on leaving town right after a Cup win: "this wasn't a monetary decision".
If that all is true, the Bruins upper management knows it and Chiarelli's a sacrificial lamb.
posted by yerfatma at 02:21 PM on April 15, 2015
The thing is - I don't think Chiarelli lacked the knowledge that Seguin could have been the guy he has been the last two years, but in Boston he just wasn't that guy when he was dealt. His work ethic and off-ice partying were the kind of thing that could go either way for a young player.
Perhaps he matured immediately or he just needed a different fit of friends/coaches, but Seguin looks a lot more like the guy everyone expected him to be when he was drafted #2 than the guy he was when he was dealt. There's a scenario like this for a lot of other young guys which doesn't end this way.
It's worth considering as well what the Bruins might've been the last 3-4 years if Marc Savard had've been healthy - to extract a clear #1 center from any roster in his prime and still building a very good team is worth noting.
posted by dfleming at 02:32 PM on April 15, 2015
If that all is true, the Bruins upper management knows it and Chiarelli's a sacrificial lamb.
I'm a degree of separation from it (hometown and all), but in addition to Horton, it was pretty clear to a bunch of people on the team that the combination of Marchand and Seguin off-ice at clubs had the potential to totally derail his career. Bad influences and all.
posted by dfleming at 02:35 PM on April 15, 2015
if Marc Savard had've been healthy
Really good point. I know Don Sweeney has the makings of a good GM but this seems like an overreaction, which is doubly frustrating given the Jacobs' used to have a habit of doing the opposite.
posted by yerfatma at 02:41 PM on April 15, 2015
Jurgen Klopp leaving Dortmund at the end of the season.
posted by yerfatma at 03:06 PM on April 15, 2015
Seguin was often misused as well. He shone in skill roles but he got stuck on the 3rd and 4th lines a lot it seems to me.
These "slept with team-mates wife" are almost like a meme now. I wouldn't put a lot of weight on it.
I wonder how Jim Benning feels? He's doing a great job in Vancouver but he probably didn't know the Boston opening would happen so soon.
posted by rumple at 03:08 PM on April 15, 2015
There's a cryptic comment in my link that suggests the Bruins got rid of Seguin because he slept with Nathan Horton's wife,
/Google: who is Nathan Horton's wife?
Goodness, gracious!
These "slept with team-mates wife" are almost like a meme now. I wouldn't put a lot of weight on it.
That's the feeling I get when I hear these things.
It's been around for as long as I've been a hockey fan.
Just on the Maple Leafs alone...
Gary Leeman supposedly slept with Al Iafrate's wife.
Shane Corson supposedly slept with Alex Mogilny's wife.
Joffrey Lupul supposedly slept with Dion Phaneuf's wife.
posted by grum@work at 04:10 PM on April 15, 2015
My favorite romantic sports feud was the allegation that Jimmy Jackson poached Toni Braxton from Jason Kidd when the two men were Dallas Mavericks. Braxton showed up to see Kidd and Jackson executed a screen and took her out instead.
The best wag for generating funny news stories was Anna Benson. Though the last few headlines were not funny any more.
posted by rcade at 05:04 PM on April 15, 2015
He might even trade Phil Kessel back to Boston for a couple of bags of pucks
Nonis already made that offer to the Bruins in an attempt to get rid of the associated contract but the Bruins passed.
posted by cixelsyd at 06:14 PM on April 15, 2015
Just checked with Cristal Taylor, and she is pissed that a Mavs fan of all people would reference Anna Benson as a top level response. Really pissed.
She just ordered a carton of astronaut diapers through the dispensary in Titusville. She should have them soon. Watch your back, man.
posted by beaverboard at 08:11 PM on April 15, 2015
Mexico v USA on one of the Spanish language channels right now. The only soccer match that I really, really want to watch.
posted by NoMich at 10:11 PM on April 15, 2015
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
posted by NoMich at 10:13 PM on April 15, 2015
My favorite romantic sports feud
This was no feud, rather it was friendliness to excess. Back in 1973, Yankee teammates pitchers Floyd Peterson and Mike Kekich engaged in occasional wife swapping. Look at item 6 in the link. It grew to the point where the two actually traded wives. I always wondered if there was a player to be named later in that trade.
posted by Howard_T at 11:17 PM on April 15, 2015
I don't know how astronaut diapers got into this discussion, but I am in awe, sir.
posted by rcade at 10:04 AM on April 16, 2015
How do you make long drives, Fancy Pants? Big Bertha?
posted by yerfatma at 11:11 AM on April 16, 2015
Fans: don't be like this guy.
1) Doesn't do anything to help Shane Victorino but waves his arms anyhow
2) Arm-waving leads to knocking phone out of woman's hands, breaking it on the field
3) And then manages to land the rare solo triple-play of Nope.