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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
There's something greater in sports than winning a game, or even a championship. There's winning history.
Boise State proved it on the football field Monday night, with its spectacular hook-and-ladder and Statue of Liberty plays to take the Fiesta Bowl from Oklahoma. The Broncos won't win the national title (save your BCS catcalls for the college football page), but barring any greater excitement in this week's BCS title game between Ohio State and Florida, it is the Boise State moments, more than any others from this season, that people will relive again and again, in highlight packages on television, on the Internet and in our memories.
As for baseball, with its long, perhaps unrivaled history in sport, the challenge of carving something indelible into the history books couldn't be truer than for any other sport. We think we're rooting for our team to win a championship, but deep down, the most rewarding thing is to have a game – or even a play – that we're still talking about years later. It just happens that in a championship setting, where the importance of everything is magnified, the chances for great and permanent memories grow exponentially.
When a St. Louis Cardinals team that struggles during the season wins the World Series, that's a good story. But in doing so without much drama, the excitement ends with Cardinal fans. Many are still reveling in their euphoria, but everyone else is moving on.
As it came time to review highlights of the 2006 season, most passed over the Cardinals in favor of such memories as the game - cited by SI's Tom Verducci as baseball's game of the year and by others as the game of the young century - in which the Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie San Diego and a fifth homer in the 10th inning to defeat the Padres. Though it might be heretical to suggest it, I'm not sure how many fans would trade partisan interest in the 4+1 game for a World Series that generated much less excitement, that everyone else will have forgotten by May, that will never be replayed as a classic moment. (Dodger fans might be quicker to give up Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew being thrown out at the plate on the same play, though that has a certain glorious mystique all its own.)
This is not to belittle the Cardinals' accomplishment. They proved a lot of naysayers wrong in the 2006 postseason, including me, and even though they were not baseball's best team in the regular season, they played great when it counted. There is no reason that an American sports culture that celebrates March Madness runs by basketball teams from North Carolina State to George Mason should turn around and slam an October mad dash by St. Louis.
That being said, a huge part of the fun of sports is having others tip their cap to you -- and keep tipping it. And that can come with or without a title.
Ideally, a team wins it all while taking your breath away. Bill Mazeroski, Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris, Joe Carter: Those names, among others, evoke everlasting memories for anyone who witnessed their roles in history, regardless of whether they were rooting for them at the time or agnostic.
Short of hitting that winning-with-style exacta, there's a valid debate over what's more important – the moment or the title. Take your pick, folks, between the Cincinnati Reds' 1975 World Series title or Carlton Fisk waving his Game 6 home run fair before his Boston Red Sox team lost Game 7. Or between having Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" or the 1951 World Series title to cherish. It's Fisk and Thomson, hands down. How many, outside of New York, even care who won the '51 Series?
Kelly Leak got thrown out at the plate, and still the Bad News Bears are our favorite misfits.
In this beboppin'-and-scatin'-all-over-the-place offseason, with team after team spending money fast as they can in pursuit of a 2007 championship, an amazing fact remains. In the past 30 years, the Florida Marlins, a top-five team for apathy or derision, have won as many World Series as any other major-league team except the New York Yankees. By the conventional standards of measuring success, Florida is among the best National League franchise since 1976.
The Marlins boast as many memories of ultimate triumph than any other NL team during that period. On top of that, one of Florida's World Series titles ended in a fashion so memorable one hardly needs to be reminded: Edgar Renteria's bottom-of-the-11th RBI single to win Game 7 of the 1997 Series. As recently as this past season, the Marlins provided baseball with an exciting group of young players, highlighted by 22-year-old Anibal Sanchez, who leapt into the spotlight with a no-hitter.
But again, though no slight is intended to any Florida fans - their diehards have all my respect - the Marlins' life story proves that World Series titles alone don't define success. Amid a run of losing seasons and general misery punctuated by fire sales, the idea of Florida as the NL's bellwether does not settle in easily. Certainly, you can argue that it's better to win the big one and lose the rest of the time than never win the big one at all, but at a minimum, it doesn't seem like a fun way to live.
Magic matters. Of course, you can't guarantee magic, any more you can guarantee finding a bottle with a genie in it. Instead, you make the moves, long-term and short-term, that give you the best chance of generating magic - often in the form of a championship, but not always.
Some moments that you would think would resonate more would be Francisco Cabrera's game winning hit in the 1992 NLCS, but outside of Atlanta and Pittsburgh, it's largely forgotten.
Football gets more of these moments because of the way the game is structured. Although a game-winning TD to end a game is better than a game-winning FG.
I don't know if it's better. It's just rarer.
In all honestly, do you think thoughts in the same poetic manner, or does this take work on your part?
What is the process for writing a post like that? How many drafts? Does it start kind of choppy and get massaged into something that is fluid, or do you sit down and this is what comes out?
Thanks,
GJS
http://tinyurl.com/yfgkxx
Bob Is J.D. Drew going to play for the Sox? What is going on, it's been a month!
Peter_Gammons First, Scott Boras was otherwise occupied and then Theo was away. The disagreement is simply over language, and the Red Sox need to be protected, but I would be shocked if he were not there on Opening Day.
Its also kinda remarkable to see the kind of lineups that will be trotted out in the AL East next season. Its just too bad we wont get to see any of them in person because of the absolutely ridiculous interleague schedule we inherited. I was looking forward to seeing the Yankees or Sox roll through Chavez Ravine, but instead I will be treated to Jays and Rays. Oh my.
The last team to make a trip into Dodger Stadium will be Washington in late August. The Dodgers won't go to Wrigley until September.
But since the divisions in each league don't have equal numbers some teams get dropped off of the rotation. The Rangers and Astros really mess things up.
Teams will ask for certain games if they feel they will get better crowds. The Reds like to play Cleveland, but they aren't guaranteed to play them every year.
The Devil Rays have not played in L.A., St. Louis, or Milwaukee.
The Dodgers have not played a regular season game at Yankee Stadium.
http://tinyurl.com/yfwo75
Oh yeah. Lima time!
2007-01-07 10:25by Jon Weisman
In the latter years of the 19th century, Joseph Pulitzer stood out as the very embodiment of American journalism. Hungarian-born, a visionary who richly endowed his profession.
In 1997, the 150th anniversary of Pulitzer's birth, the Pulitzer Board recognized the growing importance of work being done by newspapers in online journalism. Beginning with the 1999 competition, the board sanctioned the submission by newspapers of online presentations as supplements to print exhibits in the Public Service category. The board left open the distinct possibility of further inclusions in the Pulitzer process of online journalism as the electronic medium developed. Thus, with the 2006 competition, the Board allowed online content in all 14 of its journalism categories and said it will continue to monitor the field.
I stopped short of learning what the 14 categories are to make sure I didn't find a reason to not make this post.
There is always some or alot of cleaning up to do after something is automatically written and the writer will sometimes be surprized as to where it all came from as it was not consciously pre-thought.
I am waiting for Jon's answer to your question with you. But I am going to guess that the words just flowed into his pen/keyboard.
Does anybody remember the name Chuck Essigian or do you need the name to be spelled correctly if I messed it up?
Dick Ninn?
Mickey Owens?
Bill Buckner?
Don Larsen?
Nen
Owen
Sorry...
7/22 - Thanks for the compliments. For a long time, I've been thinking about the Marlins vs. the Dodgers - the fact that they have very different resumes yet the same number of titles. Also, I had been thinking about the different reactions St. Louis and George Mason got. Then, when the Boise State thing happened, I just sort of connected them all.
As for the actual writing, I don't write the same way on every piece, but on this one I revised both as I went along and then again after I reached the end. On pretty much anything I write of 100 words or more, revision is involved. But on the blog, sometimes time constraints prevent me from revising as much as I'd like.
The first actual words I wrote on the first draft of this piece was something I ripped off from Seinfeld, and those ended up staying in, though they were moved down. People who have seen every episode 100 times might be able to pick it out.
I wondered where the heck that came from
I guess I'm rooting for New York. Philadelphia sports fans are slightly worse than New Yorkers.
BROTHERS....
And their father was an NFL quarterback too!
Did you know that?
Waaahhh...? How come no one ever told me that before?
See, that's what's wrong with the mainstream media these days. They never cover the interesting stories...
Stan from Tacoma
If a #6 seed, 8-8 team makes it to the Super Bowl, there will be some explaining to do.
I just think it would be the most exciting game.
Except the Patriots wouldn't have Tony Eason as their QB this time. Instead they would have The Smartest Coach in the NFL™ and The Clutchest QB in the NFL™ while the Bears would be led by the Tony Eason of the 21st Century in Rex Grossman.
Do da' Bears have any appliance-theme-nicknamed players this year...?
They have a whole bunch of guys who could be called "The Juicer."
None of whom are getting my Hall of Fame Vote
Virginia beat Arizona
Stanford beat Virginia
Stanford is better than Arizona!
Man, the quality on these new DVD's of the 59 and 63 is awesome. That 59 team was no great shakes compared to the 63 team that swept the series. Things I loved so far about the DVD.
1959
1. Seeing the coliseum converted to baseball and 93,000 fans watching a world series game.
2. Everyone still wearing hats, men and women but no baseball hats.
3. Duke Sniker playing CF
4. The Chuck Essigian pinch hit home runs.
5. Why didn't Charlie Neal win the MVP
6. The big Klu and his blasts into RF
1963
1. Reiser coaching 3rd base was my 1st glimpse ever of what could have been the greatest Dodger ever.
2. Talk about Magic and you have to discuss game 1 in the 63 series when Koufax broke the K record at Yankee Stadium setting the tone for the rest of the series.
3. Gilliam, Wills, Tommy and Willie Davis were great to see again but my highlight was seeing Frank Howard who was my 1st baseball hero living in DC in 69.
4. Podres still showing mastery over the Yankee's 8 years after the biggest victory in Brooklyn Dodger history.
5. Gentleman Al Downing as a hard throwing lefty and Jim Ball Four Bouton as a hard throwing righty.
Anyone who is a Dodger fan should pick up this DVD from Amazon.
Thanks,,
BC (Tim)
http://tinyurl.com/ycnuzx
BC
http://tinyurl.com/yl92wj
ps. no problem, bc!
Only problem would be you would be inheriting a team in complete ruin.
He threw for 300+ yards in a loosing effort against Palos Verdes Peninsula HS in the 91 season, primarily throwing out passes and WR screens, which racked up yards, but not first downs. His 300+ yard effort was a record against PVPHS until at least the 1994 season.
He went on to play QB with a good deal of success at El Camino JC after transferring there from USC where he played baseball before transferring to BYU (USC > ECJC > BYU) where he played under Norm Chow. He put up a bunch of yards at BYU (who doesn't) but could only turn it in to a professional gig in the Canadian Football League. Not sure what team, but Calgary or Saskachewan (some team out west) come to mind. He came to SC after coaching at ELJC. Left to coach QBs for the Raiders, then came back to SC before the '05 season to share Offensive Coordinator roles with Lane Kiffin and to coach the QBs again.
He is a HUGE fan of the WR screen and out pass. SC ran it all season, and he made a modest career of it as a player.
This is all from memory, but you can get the real scoop here. I'm sure there is a factual error up above. http://tinyurl.com/yfp6y4
"He can talk! He can talk! He can talk!" "I can sing!"
"Hey! My taxes paid for that horn!"
"I just got over my Chester A. Arthuritis." "haha... you had arthritis?"
Marge had a memorable line tonight. Though, come to think of it, I've forgotten exactly how it went...But I remember the gist...
Sigh. No chance of getting rid of Karl Dorrell now.
Well, I don't want to spoil it for the West Coasters...
The problem is, I can't remember exactly what she said, and I wouldn't do it justice if I couldn't get it exactly right. Maybe someone else can do us a favor and post it later.
What did Marge call the merry-go-round horse when she was a young girl...?
I would be up for a keeper league if someone wants to run it. There could be a live draft (in person) or one done via Instant Messanger (which I've done and it's not too bad).
This could be a good way to get together and have a draft.
Keep me in mind.
BC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Sarkisian
One in a line of great BYU QBs.
vr, Xei
vr, Xei
Yea, it was amazing how slapped Terry's hand and it was called a block.
Home court advantage, I guess.
Stan from Tacoma
Stan from Tacoma
vr, Xei
Maybe we just shouldn't play the next five years if Juan Pierre is going to be in CF?
Sam, just so you don't think I am ignoring you, re: 46 in the last thread...CBP is nice but I definitely see where you are coming from. Reading the criticisms of Dodger Stadium the other day and then thinking about our shiny new ballpark really made me appreciate what I once saw someone say about HOK Sports: that "they are the company that designed Camden Yards and then made every other ballpark in the majors look exactly like it except slightly misshaped."
And Bob gets an evil glare for 135 in that thread, since I will be at that game...as does Brock for 34 above. Hmph.
Back to all thoughts Dodgers, 103 - wasn't that what they said about the '88 team too?
In answer to your first question, I guess there were a lot of other things I could have considered, but I don't know what that would have added to my overall point.
vr, Xei
I'm tired of you people and your quantifiable statistics. Shame on you. Shame on all of you.
Should ESPN just show Kansas City vs. Tampa Bay on Sunday Night Baseball all the time?
107 I actually meant to get in to that a little bit, I love all the stats and analysis and Ned is an interesting study because he occasionally talks the talk but his signings tend to fall into the old school category of going with proven vets (albeit those with some success) and only letting the young kids play out of sheer necessity. But he also tends leave Grady alone so when Grady decides to not play guys like Seo, Odalis, or Carter, Ned moved them out.
It will be interesting to see who does not play in 2007 and what Ned does as a result.
She was visiting "Barnacle Bay", a former idyllic island get away that she used to visit as a kid. It is now in shambles. She finds the merry-go-round, and walks up to the sea horse she used to ride as a young girl.
"This was my favorite sea horse. I called him 'Mr. Funny Good Feeling'"
Marge, with a smile of relief: "Three years is a loooonngg ways away..."
"Nothing really knew there," Epstein said on Sunday during the "Hot Stove, Cool Music" event. "See what happens this week."
I don't ever recall a free agent contract that took so long to work out. Very odd.
I know I'd tune in to watch Gordon, Butler, Hochevar, Dejesus, Teahen, D Young, BJ Upton, Longoria, Crawford, Baldelli, and Kazmir but then those are my two favorite AL teams at the moment.
Player Team W L E(W) E(L) LUCK
Jae Seo TBA 1 8 5.3 5.8 -6.55
Jarrod Washburn SEA 8 14 11.1 10.7 -6.37
Jamie Moyer SEA 6 12 9.5 9.1 -6.37
Tim Corcoran TBA 5 9 5.6 5.3 -5.31
Mark Hendrickson TBA 4 8 5.3 4.5 -4.85
Seo was the unluckiest pitcher in the AL last year and the guy he was traded for was the 5th unluckiest. So Hendrickson was the 8th best southpaw in the AL while also being the 5th unluckiest. Anyone notice that TB had 3 of the 5 unluckiest pitchers?
I figured as much. Don't get me wrong: Bob's a funny guy and all, but 11 didn't exactly showcase his comedy stylings...
Manny (L.A.): Andruw Jones to the Dodgers?????
Keith Law: (1:24 PM ET ) Jones is a 10-and-5 guy who has said repeatedly that he doesn't want to be traded. I don't see it happening. I wouldn't be surprised to see Colletti make a late move for a right field bat; he seems to have a pretty strong pro-veteran bias.
Paging Darin Erstad...
Andrew (Toronto): Help me Kieth - I'm in English class right now and need to quickly decide on a book to do an analysis on. Which do you suggest: 1984 or Brave New World?? Thanks!
Keith Law: (1:43 PM ET ) I wrote a paper in high school comparing those two books, actually - specifically on the use of color and light to depict the dystopias differently (in 1984 everything is dark and bleak, while in BNW it's bright, sunny, etc.). 1984 is a bit richer for literary analysis, but BNW is a quicker, easier read.
Well, Theo, if you don't knew it we surely don't new it either.
(One of the barflies: "Yeah, James Naismith, Springfield University")
Cliff: I can see it's a good thing I showed up tonight. Basketball was invented thousands of years ago by the Mayans. They played it for centuries.
(Coach walks toward them.)
Cliff: Watch me stump the Coach on this one. Hey Coach, who invented basketball?
Coach: That's easy, the Mayans.
(someone asks, how did you know that?)
Coach: I don't know. A Mayan must have told me.
I thought it was the Aztecs?
http://tinyurl.com/yc7amw
Or maybe it was the Olmecs?
"Olmec, Maggie, Olmec!"
Your choice of the word "earn" is interesting. It makes me wonder if there is a difference between "earn" and "receive"...
I would assume a college graduate would know the difference between "earn" and "receive".
I would assume so too.
Do you think it accurate to say, for example, that "Eric Gagne earned $10 million in 2006"...?
I can't say this enough, but Gagne's injuries were on-the-job injuries. The idea that his being on the sidelines implies that he didn't earn his money is really unfair, I feel.
139- Do you hate rich people more than the Walmart going proles, or both about the same?
Craig (PA): Does Milledge for a Dodger starter work?
Keith Law: I think Colletti wants a proven veteran bat, and a bigger power guy than Milledge. Billingsley can be had, though.
I know everyone "can be had" for the right price, I'm just curious as to why he mentioned that.
Maybe Ned doesn't like his attitude.
Yeah, no big deal. The word just set-off an alarm in my mind. "Earn" seems to contain an additional evaluative, judgmental component that goes beyond "make" or "receive."
It's interesting to consider Ned's apparent preference for veterans in light of his stated desire to trade surplus pitching for a "bat", and all the rumors about Penny being available.
Maybe Ned would prefer to keep the veteran (Penny) and trade the kids (e.g. Billingsley)...
That being said, I watched Little Children last night and I think it leap-frogged Little Miss Sunshine for my favorite movie of 2006. The acting is incredible, the characters expertly drawn, and the emotional drain substantial. Highly recommended to anyone who can stomach some fairly disturbing content.
http://tinyurl.com/yjkkuq
He breaks down pitchers into four categories (or quadrants in his graph) based on GB% and K/BF rates. His groupings show that high GB% and K/BF rates are what pitchers should strive for. Lowe was in the high GB% and low K/BF quadrant, while Schmidt and Penny were in the low GB% and high K/BF quadrant. Tomko was in the worst quadrant. I didn't see any Dodger pitchers in the high GB% and high K/BF quadrant, but there was a 100 IP limit. Interesting read and will hopefully keep us off of a movie tangent. vr, Xei
89 - I was at the Laker game last night. If you only saw the last couple minutes, then you didn't see how many calls the Mavs got through most of the game. If the Lakers so much breathed in Nowitski's direction, the zebras were calling a foul while the Lakers for three periods got 1 chance at a basket made and a foul. Kobe was driving to the hole just as agressively as a Mav player but if Kobe had his head taken off, the Zebras were clapping for the Mavs great defensive play!! I thought Cuban must been courtside to pay off the refs, the way the game was being called. So, if the Lakers finally got a couple calls in the last 2 minutes, then it was about time.
Exciting game by the way, another Laker game nail-biter.
vr, Xei
I would be angry for sure, but I would still have to watch and root for the Dodgers. I mean I keep following UCLA football and the Raiders and no one can shoot themselves better than the Raiders.
earn, v.
1. trans. To render an equivalent in labour or service for (wages); hence, to obtain or deserve (money, praise, any advantage) as the reward of labour. In early use in wider sense: To deserve; to obtain as a recompense.
As for Eric Gagne the last two years, he earned his money in the same way that you get paid when you're sick from work. It's a negotiated benefit.
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