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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2024 20:30:32 GMT -5
Last Sunday here in Ohio there was a public visitation for Pete Rose in Cincinnati at the Reds' Great American Ballpark (the old Riverfront Stadium from Pete's glory days long gone of course).
Cincy is only a little over an hour and a half from me but I don't always do so well in crowds so I did not attend, however I know it was very meaningful for a lot of folks and ran 14 hours. While I grew up in a Yankees household (being from NYC), 70's baseball as a whole was so meaningful to my childhood and Pete was an absolute favorite along with overall admiration for the Big Red Machine.
The news of the visitation inspired me to watch the 1975 World Series (Reds and Red Sox) which I have the full games on DVD. Seeing Luis Tiant take the mound for the Sox in Game 1 along with Don Gullett for the Reds (who would later appear as a Yankee in the 1977 World Series which I also have the complete games and watch on DVD often, Tiant was later a Yankee too of course) brings me back to a happy place. Gullett had to sadly retire after 1978 due to injuries, and in looking up his more recent history, I just learned he passed away at a hospital here in Columbus earlier this year. And while typing this and looking up Tiant, I had missed that he passed away just last month. I'm sad to hear of both their passings.
But it's wonderful to rewatch them in their playing glory, along with the likes of Rose, Morgan, Bench, etc. on one side, and Fisk, Yaz, Lynn, etc. on the other (I actually always loved that Boston team as well despite the obvious rivalry, even before we moved to New England when I was a kid and I was squarely "in their territory").
Random baseball musings triggered by the memorial activities for one of the titans of my youth.
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Post by berkley on Nov 14, 2024 23:00:44 GMT -5
All Blacks side to face France: All Blacks: 1. Tamaiti Williams (17 caps); 2. Codie Taylor (93); 3. Tyrel Lomax (42); 4. Scott Barrett (78) (captain); 5. Tupou Vaa’i (36); 6. Samipeni Finau (7); 7. Ardie Savea (92) (vice-captain); 8. Wallace Sititi (8); 9. Cam Roigard (8); 10. Beauden Barrett (132); 11. Caleb Clarke (27); 12. Jordie Barrett (67) (vice-captain); 13. Rieko Ioane (79); 14. Sevu Reece (31); 15. Will Jordan (39) Reserves: 16. Asafo Aumua (18); 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (66); 18. Pasilio Tosi (6); 19. Patrick Tuipulotu (49); 20. Peter Lakai (1); 21. Cortez Ratima (10); 22. Anton Lienert-Brown (82); 23. Damian McKenzie (60) Barrett and Taylor return from injury and take back their starting spots. It will be interesting to see whether Aumua has more spring in his step when he subs on. McKenzie played fairly well against Ireland, but Barret would have started if not for his concussion. Ratima hasn't done enough to hold onto his starting spot with Roigard being rewarded for his form. Sam Cane and Mark Tele'a have been ruled out with injury. In fact, Cane may have played his final test for the All Blacks. Not a bad way to go out. Beats being sent off in a World Cup final. Savea shifts to openside, which people have been calling for. I don't know what Ethan de Groot did to get in Scott Robertson's doghouse. It will be interesting to see whether he plays against Italy.
Ratima didn't have a great game against Ireland but I wonder how much of that was down to his forward pack not getting him good ball at the breakdown. Still, I think it's worth giving Roigard a look just to see where he is in his comeback. I continue to be surprised that Tuipulotu isn't getting a start over Vaa'i. I'd also like to see them try someone else on right wing - not that Reece has played badly but he hasn't been such a standout that it wouldn't be worth the risk to let someone from the AB XV have a go. Same with Ioane: he hasn't been bad but I think they should be trying a few different guys to see if they can't find someone who brings a little extra or maybe just a different style. As always, I hope the bench , and especially Aumua, Tosi, Tuipulotu, and Lakai get a good 20-25 minutes in.
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Post by commond on Nov 15, 2024 4:35:18 GMT -5
I can understand Robertson being reluctant to break up the incumbent pairing of Jordie Barrrett and Reiko Ioane, especially when making changes to so many other combinations. I would like to see Ioane work at his distribution skills the same way Nonu did. Ma'a wasn't a great passer at the ball when he started in the midfield, but he developed his passing game and became one of our finest players. Reiko comes from a winger background where the focus is on finishing rather than distributing and I think that's why his distribution skills aren't that great.
Reece is a Crusaders player so he'll probably get a few more chances, but it will be interesting to see whether he can hold down a spot in the squad going forward. I actually like Tuipulotu coming off the bench. Having a Super Rugby captain come on the field late in the game is a big plus. Vaa’i has dropped off a bit from his good form earlier in the year, though.
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Post by berkley on Nov 15, 2024 15:02:02 GMT -5
I can understand Robertson being reluctant to break up the incumbent pairing of Jordie Barrrett and Reiko Ioane, especially when making changes to so many other combinations. I would like to see Ioane work at his distribution skills the same way Nonu did. Ma'a wasn't a great passer at the ball when he started in the midfield, but he developed his passing game and became one of our finest players. Reiko comes from a winger background where the focus is on finishing rather than distributing and I think that's why his distribution skills aren't that great. Reece is a Crusaders player so he'll probably get a few more chances, but it will be interesting to see whether he can hold down a spot in the squad going forward. I actually like Tuipulotu coming off the bench. Having a Super Rugby captain come on the field late in the game is a big plus. Vaa’i has dropped off a bit from his good form earlier in the year, though. If they bring on Tuipulotu at 40-45 minutes, I'll agree. But at 60min or later it's a waste of his abilities, for me.
I'm watching the AB XV vs Georgia right now and I think any one of Stevenson, Naholo (though he'd have to switch sides), or Tupaea would be very interesting to see on the right wing against France and Italy. Not to mention Ruben Love (who hasn't come on yet).
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Post by berkley on Nov 20, 2024 1:12:55 GMT -5
I forgot I was watching the AB XV-Georgia match a week or more after it had been played so Ruben Love wasn't even in the squad, he'd been called up to the ABs - to sit on the bench, unfortunately.
NZ-France and England-SA were hugely entertaining games. Apart from its intrinsic merits (as I see it as a spectator), I think Rugby Union is also the most entertaining team sport to watch right now because unlike almost anything else I can think of, the top international sides are so close that anything can happen in any given game. Even SA, who are clearly the best right now, aren't so completely dominant that it's a given that they'll win every game - though that's partly due to their IMO intelligent policy of continually trying out new candidates at every position even in big matches, knowing it'll pay off in the long run even if they have a few wonky performances along the way and maybe even lose a few they should have won.
NZ I think shouldn't draw the wrong conclusions from their results on this tour, which at 2 wins out of 3 were probably better than many had feared going in. For me, their performance in the 1-point loss to France was better than their two victories over England - who are clearly struggling in a "high functioning" way to get to where they should be with their talent (which has made all their recent matches very entertaining) - and over Ireland, who seem to be strangely in the doldrums, just a little - could it be they're suffering a delayed reaction to their RUWC disappointment whereas France got theirs over with right away with their up-and-down showing in the 2024 Six Nations?
I wish NZ were playing Scotland rather than Italy for their last match, as I think right now the Scots would be more likely to give them the opposition needed to see where they are - the ABs that is.
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Post by commond on Nov 20, 2024 3:31:16 GMT -5
I thought the All Blacks played pretty well in the first half, but mistakes crept into their game in the second half. The decision to take the penalty at the end instead of kicking for touch has been criticized in some quarters, but we could have easily turned the ball over and people would have complained that we didn't take the points. It was a proper test match, though.
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