Posts tagged sports

I whispered into his ear, “What’s your name?” Deaner said. Muamba gave his name. I said, “I understand you’re a very good footballer.” And he said, “I try.

Dr. Andrew Deaner, a cardiologist who was at the Bolton-Tottenham match, who leapt from his seat in the crowd and rushed onto the field to help Fabrice Muamba. Muamaba suffered a cardiac arrest during the match and needed 15 shocks to get his heart beating again. Muamba started breathing independently again Monday and remains in serious condition in the intensive care unit, but is communicating.

via ESPN

I have never been able to answer the question, “Why does this matter to me so much?” That’s just the way it’s always been. Ever since I can remember. You get older, your life changes, your friends change, your house changes, family members start dying, your kids start morphing into miniature people … and yet, one thing never changes for anyone who truly cares about sports. See, there’s no feeling quite like watching your team blowing a big game. It’s devastating. It’s paralyzing. It’s the only feeling that a 6-year-old, a 42-year-old and a 64-year-old can share exactly. You never get over it. You never stop thinking about the three or four plays that could have swung the game. It becomes something of a sports tattoo. You live with it forever, and then you die.

Bill Simmons, Searching for Silver Linings in Indianapolis

I’ve always hated Bill Simmons. But I also which there were many, many more sports writers like him. You see, he actually cares. He’s a real fan, a real person. He’s a diehard that happens to be a writer. I think he’s full of bullshit and he cheers for the most despicable team to ever walk the planet. But it’s what he was born into, he sticks to his guns, and he cares. He bleeds like we all bleed for our teams. And I love him for that. And I do feel for him at the moment. There are few things I am happier to see than the Patriots losing, but he is one of a few that I feel for when this happens. I’d say “It’s ok, he’ll get over it.” But we all know he won’t. I wouldn’t. I’ll never get over losing to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. There is more than the actual game that cuts me when I think about that game, but the game still very much hurts. So, as much as I hate Mr. Simmons, I feel for him. And I thank him for these fantastic words. It’s impossible to explain why you love a team like you do; to explain why you put yourself through the misery. To me, it’s the exact same reason why you continually put yourself through misery with that person you can’t imagine being without - maybe, one day, you’ll win. And as a sports fan, as a Hopeless Fanatic, I can promise you, as much as you’ll never get over losing the big one, you’ll never stop smiling when you think about winning the big one. It’s worth it. It is so, so worth it. Until next year…

This is awesome. Basketball referee symbols explained.

via witsandtits

pleatedjeans

Evan Longoria saves a reporter’s life

Evan Longoria: bad ass.

My rant on sports, and how to more deeply appreciate them

To follow up my last post, about a conversation that I wanted to start (or rather continue) but didn’t - It’s also why I hate facebook. And the casual sports fan.

People who care little for sports, or only use it as pure entertainment, just want to trash talk. They care little how you feel or what you think or what context things are said in or happen. Because, when it comes to sports, they don’t think. They watch, they consume, and they are told what to think by ESPN and others. They don’t think for themselves at all. Soundbites and buzz words replace original thought and deep logic. Sports are a mental game, both for athletes and fans. As a fan, when you make it out to be something simple, something easy, something black and white, you are missing out on what is truly great about sports.

Sports, games, seasons: they are all living, breathing, constantly changing developing things. One event does effect another. There is a cliche that “every point counts” whether it is at the end or 5 minutes into the game. Why then do we so often talk about the play and situations right at the end? If one team is getting open shots, why? Is it because the other team is off, or is it because they are compensating for an event that happened earlier? And does this matter? I say yes. If you ignore why an event happened, how it was set up, you cannot fully learn from it. You treat the source of the problem, or all of the sources, not the immediate cause. Well, you treat that too. But don’t stop there. Yes, you can find some statistic that will say that you played poorly because you didn’t rebound well on defense, or that you didn’t stop the run on 3rd down, or that you didn’t get enough shots on goal. But why? Isn’t that more important? Fans, think like a coach. Think strategically. Don’t settle for bullet points on ESPN’s highlights or what the bottom line says or the post game press conference quotes of the coach even. Listen to the coach at his weekly coach’s show. If you can, watch practice. Really analyze what is going on, how a team reacts from one time out to the next, from one game to the next, and so on. It’s not simple. You make it simple to consume it easier. But it’s not, and you know it. The world is a complex place, full of variables. So, too, are sports. Eat up those variables, those uncertainties, and watch how real life humans, just like yourself, execute and react and compete. Sports are beautiful, and you are selling them short and missing out on so much when you take the easy way out, just to be entertained by a few highlight real dunks.

Please, please let this happen. I hated Jeff Fisher when he was with the Titans. I always told myself this was because I truly disliked him, and not because he was good and annoyed me. Maybe I was right in that feeling, but what he did as a coach is what I want now. My #1 and #2 picks (Jim Harbaugh and the return of Tony Dungy) aren’t happening. This really could. And he could don a Manning jersey for the press conference. I would love that. I like and truly believe in Bill Polian and what he has done. I don’t think it’s his responsibility to be nice or even civil to the media. I’ve never cared for the belief that not working with the media merits a bad reputation. It’s their job to report, it’s a teams job to win. There’s a PR department for working with the media. Outside of that, I really don’t care. So when people (and it seems like almost all of them) suggest that his smug attitude and rudeness to the media, combined with finally losing, as reasons for the separation, well I just don’t buy it. I think that’s petty, selfish (since it always comes from the media first), and just too easy. Jim Irsay, both Polians, and possibly others, met last night to talk things over. Jim Caldwell spoke to the media today, and he and Chris Polian spoke to the team shortly after. None of that sounds like an owner firing his GM and his son because he is bowing to media pressure or is running them out of town. Not to me at least. Anyways, time for a fresh start. Hopefully we see a more aggressive approach on the field and a more open approach to the community and media. Just because I don’t believe it’s the GM’s job to be open to the media, public, and social media, doesn’t mean don’t want all of those things. I do - it just wasn’t going to happen with this group. Maybe it will now. Side note: My original intent was for this blog to be about sports. I’ve tried to do that more lately, subtly. I’m much more than sports, so this blog has been too. Well, anyways, here’s more sports.

Please, please let this happen. I hated Jeff Fisher when he was with the Titans. I always told myself this was because I truly disliked him, and not because he was good and annoyed me. Maybe I was right in that feeling, but what he did as a coach is what I want now. My #1 and #2 picks (Jim Harbaugh and the return of Tony Dungy) aren’t happening. This really could. And he could don a Manning jersey for the press conference. I would love that.

I like and truly believe in Bill Polian and what he has done. I don’t think it’s his responsibility to be nice or even civil to the media. I’ve never cared for the belief that not working with the media merits a bad reputation. It’s their job to report, it’s a teams job to win. There’s a PR department for working with the media. Outside of that, I really don’t care. So when people (and it seems like almost all of them) suggest that his smug attitude and rudeness to the media, combined with finally losing, as reasons for the separation, well I just don’t buy it. I think that’s petty, selfish (since it always comes from the media first), and just too easy. Jim Irsay, both Polians, and possibly others, met last night to talk things over. Jim Caldwell spoke to the media today, and he and Chris Polian spoke to the team shortly after. None of that sounds like an owner firing his GM and his son because he is bowing to media pressure or is running them out of town. Not to me at least.

Anyways, time for a fresh start. Hopefully we see a more aggressive approach on the field and a more open approach to the community and media. Just because I don’t believe it’s the GM’s job to be open to the media, public, and social media, doesn’t mean don’t want all of those things. I do - it just wasn’t going to happen with this group. Maybe it will now.

Side note: My original intent was for this blog to be about sports. I’ve tried to do that more lately, subtly. I’m much more than sports, so this blog has been too. Well, anyways, here’s more sports.

Water Polo stadium? Maybe? Who cares, it looks awesome. Update: It’s Aqua Stadium Shinagawa in (or near) Tokyo, Japan. And it is indeed awesome. via stadium-love-

Water Polo stadium? Maybe? Who cares, it looks awesome.

Update: It’s Aqua Stadium Shinagawa in (or near) Tokyo, Japan. And it is indeed awesome.

via stadium-love-

t4mag0tchi

Blackout by Buck

Carlos Alberto Torres arrived in New York on July 13 1977, in the midst of the blackout. In this video, Carlos recollects his time in New York City.

via LikeCOOL

Futsal Guinness World Record - Bethel College

The Bethel College men’s soccer team broke the Guinness™ World Record for the longest futsal game in the world Monday night, April 11 in Gates Gymnasium located on Bethel’s campus.

The team started playing at noon on Sunday, April 10. On Monday, April 11 at 8:21 p.m. the team surpassed the record of 32 hours and 20 minutes. They continued playing until 11 p.m., setting the new record at 35 hours for the longest futsal match ever played.

via Racing Indy FC for MLS on Facebook

Would that free market planning also work with other leagues like the NHL? We could have moved the oilers to an NHL developing league, rather than praise them for their failures as of last year. They would have been developing this year, rather than their owner demanding money for a new arena. Just my thought. — Asked by chrisharold-deactivated20120210

Yes, I think it could work in many NA leagues. Maybe not all, but many. I think the NHL and MLB could be great examples of a system that’s already partially setup. Both ice hockey and baseball already have multiple tiers of leagues in existence. The strength of the connections between the leagues isn’t really important - their existence and the structure is all that is needed. If there were to be an agreement between the NHL and the American Hockey League, the Central Hockey League, and the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, for instance, you could easily open up the market of teams to cities of various sizes.

The use of leagues as a farm system (the AHL, for instance) is a complication that would prove to be a major obstacle. However, the ties to NFL teams is loose - your affiliate team is certainly not your boss. I can’t speak for ice hockey, but I do know my local minor league baseball team, the Indianapolis Indians, will change their affiliation agreement to whatever MLB team will use them the most and create the best product for the Indian’s owners. So it’s certainly not a system so cemented that it can’t be changed - teams change affiliations and even leagues all the time, depending on the market. It’s just going that extra step (and it is a huge step) of allowing movement between leagues according to success that would need to be allowed.

Personally, I think it would benefit more people, more cities, more fans, and more players. The farm system wouldn’t have to go away - in European soccer you see players owned by one team playing for another all the time. Loaning out a player to a lower level team happens. A team would not have the ability to send down or bring up a player, but they do have the ability to draft someone, decide they aren’t ready, and loan them out for a season. And there’s always the option of fielding a reserve team - who could in turn play against other reserve teams. Rather than have some loose affiliation with a team in another city who you can send players down to or bring players up from, why not just have the team under your direct control for the players you are actively developing?

It’s an idea, and it’s kind of out there. Very out there, in fact. No team would agree to it in any league, that I can think of. Something huge would have to happen for this to happen in MLB, the NBA, NFL, or the NFL. In fact, this is completely out of the question for the NFL. But I’d still love it if it were to happen.

A Free Market Solution (from Europe) to the Labor Problems in North American Sports

I love reading things written by smart people. Especially when such things are about sports. I have always been given the distinct impression that sports are not important. That they were just games after all, and no self-respecting, intelligent person would waste serious thought, effort, or time on a “game.” I have always hated that attitude. I always felt like I was being told that I was wasting my time because I did care. That’s why I love reading Michael Lewis’s Moneyball and The Blind Side so much - other smart people feel the same way I do. Here’s another great example, from the Freakonomics blog. I very much wish this scenario/suggestion would happen.

Soon after presents are opened on Christmas morning, the NBA – after a lengthy lockout – will finally open its 2011-12 season with a slate of five games. Although NBA fans are pleased the lockout has ended, they’d probably prefer that it had never happened. Unfortunately for fans of pro sports in North America, such disputes frequently cause games to be missed. But maybe there is a free market solution to this problem to be found in, of all places, Europe.

Baseball Is a Numbers Game by Rickumali Inside the Green Monster at Fenway Park.  via stadium-love-

Baseball Is a Numbers Game by Rickumali

Inside the Green Monster at Fenway Park. 

via stadium-love-

stadium-love-