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11/02/2005: "Excuses, excuses"
The fates were conspiring against a post last night; not only was November 1 the start of National Novel Writing Month, but it was also opening day for the NBA. And if there's one thing I've ever been more obsessed with than baseball, it's dinosaurs.
But if there's another, it's pro basketball. Back when I was an elementary schooler who idolized the Bird-era Celtics despite being five when he retired, I would watch every game I could, collect thousands of commons from the card sets of the late 80's just to compare the stats (Skybox 89-90 and NBA HOOPS 88-89 were personal favorites), and worship at the alter of Zander Hollander's annuals. As a result, even though baseball has taken over top spot, I couldn't resist watching the Suns/Mavericks game. (Presently Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitski have been taking apart the Suns piece by piece in a fast-paced, 80's-style affair. Good stuff.)
But that's no excuse. Well, it is; I mean, current income on this site is $0.82 a day. But if there's one thing I have in spades, it's free time.
Not that there's a lot happening; the big baseball news today was Derek Jeter winning yet another Gold Glove thanks to his fine hitting. Somewhere, Tim McCarver is giggling like a schoolgirl. It's not a Palmeiro-winning-the-Gold-Glove-at-DH situation, since he's clawed his way up to average defensively over the last few years, and it was good to see Orlando Hudson finally wrest the Gold Glove away from Bret Boone, but it just proves that it wouldn't be baseball without something for all of us to complain about. Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez is at third base. (Just in case you hadn't heard.)
You like Mike Shannon, I like Mike Shannon, we all like Mike Shannon. So get up get up get up get up and vote for him (and Al Hrabosky, if you're so inclined) for the 2006 Ford C. Frick award--the equivalent of a Hall of Fame nod for broadcasters. We've all heard the complaints leveled against him; he's prone to getting too wrapped up in anecdotes, he sometimes doesn't mention unimportant pitches... but would listening to a game on the radio be the same if we had two broadcasters as sterile and--no offense, honestly--plain as Wayne Hagin? I'm willing to trade the occasional missed 1-0 pitch for that experience. And until they forfeit Marty Brennaman's 2000 win for the sins visited upon us in the NLCS by his son, voting's the only way.
Well, I was all about to wrap this up, but Jason Terry just drilled a runner in the lane to force a second overtime; it's funny, after a year of rooting hard for one team, to just be rooting for more time.
What, then, to talk about? Well, how about the unbridled glee displayed by the media as Paul DePodesta and Theo Epstein make their exits? A representative passage from Flak Magazine, a self-styled "guide to everything" that has an unquenchable thirst for "high-quality content":
{{customtwo}}Williams' White Sox won the World Series this year with a strategy that included use of the sacrifice bunt and the stolen base, two plays that statheads will tell you, with convincing evidence, result in fewer runs than if a team just let its players swing away and wait for the next batter to move them over.
Meanwhile, DePodesta, in "Moneyball," appeared prominently as Spock to Beane's Captain Kirk, the No. 2 to his Austin Powers, the Rove to his Bush. He was the young, Harvard-educated stat hound whose computer, like HAL with the astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey, wiped out a squadron of scouts who would interfere with its mission. The scouts relied on what they saw with their eyes, radar guns and stopwatches, and dreamed of what players could be. DePodesta's computer looked at the numbers to show what actually was.
Replies: 28 Comments
on Friday, November 4th, salvomania said
Someone needs to point out to the flak man that the Sox hit 200 home runs. Which is a lot. Fifth out of 30 MLB clubs. I think that had a lot more to do with any offensive success the Sox had in 2005, no matter what quotes of Ozzie's are regurgitated by a clueless media too stupid to look at facts.
on Friday, November 4th, Fisk said
Wayne Hagin gets my vote. I just can't vote for Mike S. I know he is from St. Louis and all but his gifts are not in broadcasting. Sorry.
on Friday, November 4th, Rob said
Darnit, for the second straight year I'm going to a Heat game where Shaq won't play.
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