Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Ex-Steeler Tommy Maddox Shoots 75

All I'm saying is, the headline caught me a little off guard. It actually seems more likely that Tommy Maddox would shoot 75 people than him actually being good at a sport, let alone a sport in which he was not a first-round draft pick. Or maybe I'm an idiot. But it's probably the first thing.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Update Update: MLB Draft Being Televised Is Still Not News, Even Nine Hours Later

ESPN.com still has this poll up about the MLB Draft nine hours later, obviously to continue to promote the fact that it's being televised on ESPN2 this year, regardless of the fact that 125,000+ people have declared they are not going to be watching it.

Maybe if they keep the poll up for another full day, the story will suddenly become newsworthy.


Monday, May 07, 2007

Update: MLB Draft Being Televised Is Not, In Fact, News

Important Sports News!

Breaking Sports News - According to ESPN, ESPN2 will be televising the MLB Draft this year!

I also have some breaking sports news that is news to report on:
Teapot Dome Scandal is awesome! You should totally read it! News!
How bad is an 'average' runner?

So I'm watching Friday's Pirates-Brewers game online on Fox Sports Wisconsin, and I come across this gem. Top of the second, no outs, Adam LaRoche on first, Xavier Nady strikes out on a hit-and-run attempt and Johnny Estrada easily throws out LaRoche on his way to second. The Brewers announcers take turns complimenting Estrada's defense, and the color commentator (Bill Schroeder, I believe) commentates:

As a catcher, what you really want to do is throw out the average baserunners. The Freddy Sanchezes and Jack Wilsons are gonna get their stolen bases, but you really need to get the average runners, and Estrada got LaRoche.

Here are some fun numbers I found on the internets:

Jack Wilson
2006: 142 G, 4 SB, 3 CS
Career: 889 G, 30 SB, 22 CS

Freddy Sanchez
2006: 157 G, 3 SB, 2 CS
Career: 350 G, 5 SB, 4 CS

Adam LaRoche
2006: 149 G, 0 SB, 2 CS
Career: 426 G, 0 SB, 4 CS (the play in question becomes career CS number 5!)

So, what you really aspire to do as a catcher defensively is to throw out guys who have attempted five stolen bases in their careers. The guys who steal one base successfully per thirty-five games, well, they're just gonna get their stolen bases.

If LaRoche is an 'average' baserunner, then who is a 'bad' baserunner? And if Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez are above-average baserunners, does there exist a word in the English language to convey how good of a baserunner Carl Crawford is? Maybe something Dr. Seussish? Fanshmablasticular?

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Just when you thought ESPN's NHL coverage couldn't get more embarrassing...

The worldwide leader fucking misspelled "Ottawa." I understand that this is a typo, but five hundred people have already seen this poll, and more than that, how many times have you ever seen a typo in a Sportsnation poll, particularly on a team's name? I can think of precisely zero offhand, although I'm sure the Edminton Oilers and Calgery Flames have each made a cameo appearance in that poll box before.

For more examples of ESPN's pathetic NHL coverage, check out this, this, this, this, this, or even this.