12/21/24
April 19, 2016
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.
Conor McGregor: I have decided to retire young. Thanks for the cheese. Catch ya's later.
posted by Etrigan at 04:12 PM on April 19, 2016
I have no hope that Philly fans will ever improve their conduct.
But I have to say, when the Flyers first came into the league, I could not believe how fast the team took on a character and bonded with the character of the city and its fans. It was unreal.
They seemed to go from being an expansion team to a beloved badass team virtually overnight. I can't think of another new team in my lifetime that locked in such a deeply rooted and logical identity and generated such a massive amount of local pride so quickly after being created.
posted by beaverboard at 04:15 PM on April 19, 2016
Why is baseball so great?
Because even though the game has been played for over one hundred years, you'll still see something you've never seen before.
posted by grum@work at 11:53 PM on April 19, 2016
This is another one of McGregor's publicity stunts, and Dana White is in on it. Makes him look like a "bad boy" for refusing to play along with UFC's press conference SOP (one of the big complains about McGregor is that he's UFC's coddled cash cow), makes the purses larger for when he "comes out of retirement." Also buys him more time to recover/bulk up more weight classes, and avoids him tarnishing his reputation with another loss to Diaz, who'll be even more of a handful for McGregor when he's not stepping into the ring on just 10 days' notice.
posted by Goyoucolts at 01:41 AM on April 20, 2016
Why is baseball so great?
Balk called! Umpires reverse it! Manager complains! Umpires reverse the reversal! Other manager complains! Gets tossed!
...and Mark "Big Mac" McGwire, who is bench manager, takes over player card.
posted by prof at 09:37 AM on April 20, 2016
you'll still see something you've never seen before.
If any of you have ever umpired a game at the middle school level, Little League, Cal Ripken League, Babe Ruth, or any other youth baseball, you will see something new almost every game. It makes umpiring a whole new adventure with every trip to the field.
On the play in question: It is unmistakably a balk. Any motion a pitcher makes, once he has committed to delivering a pitch to the plate, that is not a part of his normal delivery is a balk. In this case the little hop is not a part of his normal delivery and it may be seen as an attempt to deceive the base runner. I really don't know why there was any problem with the call in the first place. The video gives the impression that the plate umpire made the call, and the 1st base umpire agreed. We don't know which of the other two disagreed, but the plate blue should have simply said that it is his call and it will stand.
The thing that saves us umpires at the middle school level is the agreement that we will grant one balk per pitcher as a learning experience, with no advance by the runners. It saves a lot of arguments, and the coaches appreciate the chance to teach the game.
posted by Howard_T at 12:09 PM on April 20, 2016
Sad but true. You stay Classy Philly!