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Post by The Captain on Sept 8, 2019 6:05:44 GMT -5
Whomever is giving him career advice (oh, look, it's noted asshat Drew Rosenhaus) is failing miserably, with Rosenhaus issuing a statement this afternoon reading that with Brown now a free agent, they are "focused on the future" and that Rosenhaus "will immediately work on signing him to a new team." Good freaking luck with that, Drew. What team in their right mind, after witnessing this monumental fudge-up of the situation with the Raiders, is going to throw millions of guaranteed dollars at a ticking time bomb like Antonio Brown? Oh, sure, some desperate team with delusions that they will be the one to keep him under control might give him a one-year, veteran minimum deal loaded with incentives, but is that going to be good enough for the lunatic man-child, who obviously has zero sense of self-awareness? That would be Bill Belichick and the the New England Patriots. 1 year, $9 million signing bonus, $10 million guaranteed, and another $5 million possible in incentives. Personally I think there was a method to Brown's madness. He wanted out of Pittsburgh, but wanted to go to a contender. There was no way on God's Earth The Steelers would trade Brown to a team like the Patriots. The Raiders were a joke and were maybe a 6 win team with Brown. So once he was traded and Brown realized, the team he went to was out of it before the first snap of the regular season, he sabotaged his place there to get out and get the chance to go where he wanted to go, a team with a premiere quarterback that had a better than average chance of winning the Superbowl and almost no chance of missing the playoffs where he could be a star. His antics didn't really start there until he had a chance to see how bad the Raiders would be, and escalated quickly before the guarantee in his contract kicked in and he was stuck there. He's getting about $15 million for one year and can rehabilitate his image enough to get a big contract next offseason with a team he wants to play for rather than one his traded to without any say in the matter. It's still an incredibly selfish act, and I doubt he will ever be a good teammate, but I don't think it was a lunatic meltdown I think it was coldly calculated, which may make it even worse. As for Rosenhaus, this will only increase his standing with other players an in the league. -M My sister, who actually is a Steelers fan, said this exact same thing last night. She thinks the entire thing was calculated from the beginning by Rosenhaus to get AB onto the Patriots, using a patsy third-party to acquire him and then have AB go full psycho to force a release. AB wasn't on the street more than six hours and already had a deal worked out to go to New England? Nothing fishy about that at all.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2019 6:24:31 GMT -5
The Captain ... AB is the most disgraceful player in the NFL and what your wife said makes perfect sense to me. I'm sold on that.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2019 9:59:43 GMT -5
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Post by The Captain on Sept 18, 2019 11:02:22 GMT -5
Goose Gossage is an a$$hole. Pete Rose is a cheater and was banned for life for betting on games that he was managing in. Lou Piniella was a mediocre player and manager. Joe Maddon is a hipster douchbag. Oh, you meant on this article? Baseball's attendance is declining for many reasons, only one of which is because kids don't grow up playing and loving the game as in the past. It's an expensive sport to play, not only just the equipment but also the summer travel teams and the fall ball schedule and the offseason coaching and training sessions. Kids don't play "sandlot" ball anymore, because that requires turning off Fortnite and going outside; there are two ball fields within walking distance of my house, and I never see any kids on either of them playing ball, either as a group or just a couple of kids throwing a ball around. One piece of this is that the population is declining in many areas, and baseball requires a certain number of people to play, whether organized (at least 18) or just a pick-up game (hard to do without at least 10-12), whereas we used to play street football with just five kids (two-on-two, with one kid serving as "automatic" quarterback) or street hockey with just six (three-on-three). Without kids getting involved, they aren't as likely to follow the teams and players like I did when I was growing up. As for the style of play, it was stated in a commercial a while back that "chicks dig the long ball", but it doesn't stop just at "chicks", as "dudes" love them too. In the same way that the NFL has neutered defenses for years in an attempt to increase the scoring, because few people want to watch a 14-10 game (especially not in the era of "fantasy" sports, where piling up offensive stats is what drives the scoring in the fantasy game) and the NBA has changed rules to eliminate the 90s-style game where scoring was down league-wide and 92-84 games were commonplace, MLB is doing what it can to juice the offenses to draw eyeballs and butts in seats. They allow the building of bandbox ballparks (like the ones in Cincinnati or Philadelphia) or piss-poor designs (the new Yankee Stadium was designed and built so that a jetstream of air consistently blows out to right field, with the pole at 314' and the right-center gap at 385', and they load up their lineup with left-handed power hitters to take advantage of it), because home runs are exciting and pitcher duels are not. Player philosophies have changed as well. You don't get the big bucks hitting .320 with 10 HR per year, but a team will give huge contracts to guys who hit .240 (or lower) but can take walks to drive up their on-base percentages and hit 35 HR. Fundamentals have been abandoned for the "grip it and rip it" style of hitting, with batters selling out on every pitch in an effort to smack the ball over the fence. Where once there were guys who were craftsmen with the bat, many young players learn that the fastest way to the majors (and big paychecks) is by hitting homers, and the teams are OK with that, now arguing that strikeouts are just another out, even though they are completely unproductive. Case in point. The Pittsburgh Pirates this season, in the midst of a horrible year with a 65-86 record, are actually tied for the National League lead in team batting average at .267, are second in doubles, third in triples, and have struck out the fewest times of any team (nearly 75 less than the next closest team). Even with all that going for them, they are only 9th in runs scored, because they are next to last in both walks and home runs. If a team can't wear out the other teams' pitchers by working walks or can't put the ball over the fence, it doesn't matter how well they hit the ball around the field, because instant offense is the name of the game and the three-run home run reigns supreme. There is also growing talk about bringing the designated hitter to the National League. Part of this is a gift to the union by the league, as it ensures there is one more high-paid non-pitching position needed on the roster, and in many cases, the designated hitter slot is filled by a usually older player who either could never or can no longer play a position in the field. The other part is that this will increase scoring by keeping the pitcher from hitting, but it also reduces the strategy of double-switches, pinch-hitting, and the like, which is one thing that baseball traditionalists like about the NL. Other "basebally" things have changed as well. Stolen base numbers have dropped (in large part due to analytics, that show if a base stealer isn't successful at least 78% of the time, they shouldn't be attempting to steal as they are wasting too many outs on the basepaths, so bad base stealers aren't being sent as often in the past), and teams are doing dumb things like sacrifice bunting less often (analytics argue against wasting outs, which are the only finite thing in a game of baseball; each team is given 27 at the start of the game, and willingly making one to gain a one-base advantage is looked on as stupid in almost every situation), so the analytics that someone like Goose Gossage rails against has made some positive impact on the game. So, is baseball "unwatchable"? For folks who grew up before this era, it is not the same game, but I don't think it's completely unwatchable. The basics are there, that being pitch-hit-field, but in the current game, there is a lot less fielding and a lot more pitch-hit, with batters either striking out or hitting the ball over the fence. I don't believe the changes that are occurring are going to help the game increase attendance or interest, for the reasons I listed in the first serious paragraph above, but they're trying to remain relevant and should be given credit for recognizing they have a problem instead of ignoring it and doing the same thing over and over again.
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 18, 2019 12:41:10 GMT -5
Wow. Just wow, The Captain. You nailed so much of what is ruining baseball in so few words. As a baseball lover since 1961, I agree, but do have to say that there are games that are unwatchable, last night's Giants-Sox game being one. It had less to do with the length in innings (15) than the 354-minutes it took to play them;the MLB-record-tying 24 pitchers used (that's 22 pitching changes, almost all at a batter-by-batter pace); the interminable pauses between pitches (of which there were 536) by both pitchers and batters; and the now years-long failure by the umps to call a strike zone much larger than a postage stamp. The slowdown by the pitchers (especially with guys on base) also affects the defense, as they are reduced to standing around like tenpins. I wonder how many fielders are screaming inwardly, "Let him hit the damn ball!" And now we have everyone checking their caps to see which set of signs we'll be using, as the paranoia about sign-stealing is reaching epic proportion.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2019 15:20:01 GMT -5
The Captain ... You nailed it and my brother who follows Baseball said exactly word for word of what you said two posts above.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2019 18:12:45 GMT -5
Great stuff.
I am that rare species, a Brit who likes baseball. The Captain, I salute you for that post, sir. And Prince Hal's contribution, too.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2019 7:47:43 GMT -5
Then there's George Best, also considered one of the best footballers ever!
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 3, 2019 13:11:35 GMT -5
NBA training camp is underway! My Portland Trail Blazers look really good this year. Anybody else looking forward to some NBA basketball?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2019 22:51:09 GMT -5
NBA training camp is underway! My Portland Trail Blazers look really good this year. Anybody else looking forward to some NBA basketball? I'm ... I'm thinking the Houston Rockets will win the Championship this year because of the addition of Westbrook will change everything. Backcourt of Harden and Westbrook is hard to beat.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2019 15:14:14 GMT -5
Love this poster:
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2019 15:48:54 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2019 16:03:40 GMT -5
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Post by The Captain on Nov 29, 2019 11:24:33 GMT -5
Yesterday, Ole Miss wide receiver Elijah Moore scored a touchdown with four seconds remaining in regulation to bring his team within one point of hated rivals Mississippi State in the annual Egg Bowl, putting the Rebels within a successful extra point kick conversion of tying the game and going to overtime. Does he spike the ball and jump around with his teammates, giving out high fives on his way to the bench? Of course not.
In yet another instance of an athlete doing the dumbest, most-selfish thing possible, affecting his team and teammates detrimentally, Moore got down on all fours in the end zone, then raised his leg like a peeing dog, earning him a well-deserved unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which pushed a near-gimme extra point kick back 15 yards. The kicker, of course, pushed the ball wide right, allowing Mississippi State to escape with the victory and bragging rights over their main in-state rival for another year.
Seriously? You're a college-age individual, and after scoring what will likely be the biggest touchdown of your career, your first instinct is to act like a three-year old? The team should throw him off and the school should throw him out, because he obviously has zero business being at an institution of higher education, his mere existence there taking scholarship money away from someone who might be academically inclined, let alone someone with a little more sense than to turn a potential awesome comeback for his team into a "look at how dumb I can be" moment for him or herself.
As I get older, I find myself liking sports less and less, mostly because of stuff like this.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2019 7:08:13 GMT -5
The Evil Empire strikes. Yankees sign Gerritt Cole to a 9 year $324 million dollar contract. That's insane money.
-M
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