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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 5, 2007 17:15:17 GMT -5
Simmons is a rare collumist in that I like reading his stuff and I often look forward to his articles. I actually think his observations and his (often rediculous) theories, corollaries, etc are kind of interesting.
BUT, in no way do I think of him as a serious sports reporter guy in the way I think of Bilas as an analyst. Bilas uses facts and figures (often to the chagrin of his ESPN colleagues) instead of hyperbole and "I think..." statements. To me, Simmons' columns are kind of like lots of stuff I read on this board. I come here to be entertained, find out some interesting facts I probably wouldn't otherwise hear about, and to hear (often) knowledgable opinions about sports.
He should stick to his mailbag schtick because it is the perfect combination of humor and a nice factoid or two, all wrapped together for someone with a 5 second attention span to be able to digest as he or she toggles back and forth between work and wasting time on the internets.
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 7, 2007 13:22:11 GMT -5
I agree that the Twin Cities has some pretty fair weathered fans. Some of this has to do with the fact that it's simply not a large metropolitan area relative to how many sports options there are in the cities alone (not to mention non-sports options). It might also have to do with the type of person who lives in Minnesota. For example, if the Twins are having a bad year, why waste a summer day driving to the Metrodome to sit and watch a horrid team in a horrid stadium with a roof over your head? Pretty reasonable question, I'd say.
Also, the nature of fan support is, with the exception of certain programs, very cyclical. I was most games during the '03-'04 debacle that was Georgetown basketball. Trust me, our fans weren't exactly pouring in then. Now, we draw 10,000+ easily and when we play Duke, Pitt, or WVU, the stadium is ONLY 1/3 filled with visiting fans, which is a vast improvement. What's more, St. John's, for example, drew only 7,000 fans per game this year. That is simply awful. Are New Yorkers thus also bad fans?
My point is that other than large state schools with die hard alumni bases, and the top handful of premier clubs in each sport, it is normal for fans to ebb and blow based on recent success. Fans that do this might very well be termed bandwaggoners by people who devote themselves to one team, but people across the country are guilty of this and it's not necessarily just a Minnesota thing. (See Cleveland Indians, Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Cardinals, & Philadelphia 76ers)
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 7, 2007 12:12:46 GMT -5
The Twins draw pretty well considering how crappy of a stadium they have and that goign to a game requires being indoors during the few months the weather's actually nice. RFK is a better stadium for baseball than the Dome. Despite that, the Twins were the first baseball team to draw 3 million fans in 1992. No one went in the mid 1990s, because no one wanted to see a team put together by an owner who was threatening to move and admitting to fielding the cheapest team he could. I guess they should have just supported them loyally, instead of complaining. You know, just like I'm sure you supported Joe Lang and Esh when they were saying making the NCAAs every year was unreasonable.  And who knows how the Vikings have sold out every home game since 1998, what with all their fans trying to hop on the Packers/Bears bandwagons. The Wild have sold out every game in their history. The T-Wolves have a GM that is an absolute joke that is roughly on par with Billy King and Isiah Thomas. Oddly enough, people aren't exactly excited about watching McHale waste KG's career. But then again, you're right about one thing--McHale/Taylor giving KG a huge contract completely invalidates any points about the financial disparity faced by the Twins. So why don't you go back to bitching about how much you miss Scott Brosius and lay off Minnesota fans? Yes as all "Sell-outs" are filled with "Fans" of the hometeam. What a joke--the Viking "Fans" not only don't show once their team loses--they GIVE their tickets away--how do I know? I usually get about 100 tickets for any game I want after they lose their 4th game of the year and I use them to give to my co-workers. But what would I know about Vikings fans being "bandwagon"? Twin fans are clowns--the entire city doesn't give a rip--and I'm not saying they should fill the place, but they didn't give a crap if they lost the team or not and that does matter--unless you want to make your city 2nd rate--losing Pro franchises doesn't help things--and they lost their hockey team and then whined/cried and spent more then what was being asked prior. T-Wolves fans NEVER exist--they were there 1 year--and that is a joke. Wild fans--those people go because of the Excel Center--not the team--they care more about Gopher Hockey around here. I might complain about my teams--but I don't abandon them like the losers up here. Actually, the Twins average attendance last year was about 2,000 fans per game less than the national average. So what you're saying is that because the Twins lack 2,000 additional fans than the average American baseball city, they are all clowns? And despite perenially "giving up on the Vikings after 4 losses" every single seat is still purchased for every single Vikings home game every single year? What kind of people buy season tickets and give away at half their tickets in disgust every year. If anything, that it shows loyalty to continue purchasing tickets despite being fed up with a team to that extent. As for Wild "fans", maybe you're absolutely right. Maybe 100% of the people who go to Wild games go there solely to see the Excel center. But that would also mean that the place is sold out for everything that goes on there. The lacrosse team that also plays there that struggles to draw 10,000 per game. Minnesotans like hockey enough to bitch (rightly) about losing a team to TEXAS because, surprise surprise, midwesterners were reluctant to publicly fund a stadium in the early 1990's. Now that a team has returned, people support it despite its lacking star players and a storied history and this is somehow bad?? The argument that Minnesotans somehow aren't good hockey fans is just flat out wrong. They sell out arenas for two separate teams (pro & college) and 125,000 fans come to watch HIGH SCHOOL hockey every March. |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 6, 2007 9:14:31 GMT -5
McHale is light years away from being the best GM in his own town! The Twins' Terry Ryan is by far the best thing going for Minnesota franchises right now. In fact, I might choose him straight up over McHale as the new Wolves' GM.
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 3, 2007 18:46:04 GMT -5
I would have no problem booing this person if he tried to pitch something like this at halftime of a Hoyas game.
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 1, 2007 12:59:54 GMT -5
Anyone know what Georgetown's figures are?
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 2, 2007 14:34:16 GMT -5
Outside Verizon it says it is illegal to buy or sell tickets at, above, or below the face value.
This has to be the most rediculous policy around. I understand no resale above face value and can I am willing to listen to arguments against no resale at face value. But below face value, too??!! Come on!!
The policy is so rediculous that even the multiple police officers standing on F Street pay no mind to the scalpers on either end of the block.
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 1, 2007 11:26:56 GMT -5
Texas A&M might be the best coached team I have seen. It certainly helps to have a senior leader like Law running the team, but it isn't just him. They are just all well coached. Obviously you don't watch many Hoyas games. We are the best coached team anyone has ever seen. |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 1, 2007 11:25:37 GMT -5
Sports Center did a blind comparison between Duke's resume ("Team #1") and the Terps' ("Team #2") on today's show (records prior to last night's game). They were almost identical except that one team #2 beat team #1, yet team #1 was ranked 14 while the other was unranked.
Ladies & gentlemen, I give you the media-darling Duke Blue Devils!
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 2, 2007 14:38:19 GMT -5
And, as those who dabble in gaming spheres would recall, Oddjob is about 2.5 feet tall in the video game Goldeneye.
The 'No Oddjob' rule comes from that game. In multiplayer mode, it was common to not allow players to play as Oddjob because he's so darn hard to kill.
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 1, 2007 11:37:55 GMT -5
Gottlieb. Magoo. OK Corral. High noon. 10 paces. Grenade launchers. Gottlieb, Magoo, Facility with Proximity Mines. No Oddjob. Ahh, the classic No Oddjob rule. He was always a crafty, sneaky little guy. Hard to hit, but when you did manage to connect with a shot, it was almost always to the head. Come to think of it, Oddjob's height would put him in great credit card snatching position. Gottlieb IS Oddjob. |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Mar 1, 2007 11:51:17 GMT -5
Sure there is more MONEY in the NBA, no doubt. But that doesn't equate or even translate into fan interest. Try going to a Wizards game, for example. Sure the place is mostly filled (2/3rds or 3/4ths) with people paying top dollar for their seats. But based on my admitedly small sample size, the overwhelmingly vast majority of the people who are paying more for the experience of going to a basketball game than for the exciting and passionate play from the multimillionaire freaks of nature on the court in front of them.
Noise was pumped in over loudspeakers instead of originating from student sections that fill 10-20% of the entire arena. Bars were easily accessible to the high-priced ticket sections. Fans rarely, if ever, got on their feet unless Gilbert did a tomahawk dunk with two flips or made a shot from the length of the court. (Except for the t-shirt toss, of course). If you think fans show up late and leave early for Hoyas games, look at how full Verizon is for most of the first quarter and much of the fourth quarter.
So yeah, based on money, the NBA is far, far more popular than college (as is every professional league). But based on actual interest in the sport, it would take some pretty serious data to convince me that the NBA is even close to college.
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Feb 21, 2007 13:31:28 GMT -5
I'm confused why you titled the thread like you did, hifi. Are you trying to incinuate that you are a flaming troll?
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Feb 14, 2007 12:54:56 GMT -5
www.garymclain.com/NCAA CHAMPION TURNED MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER HAS A POWERFUL MESSAGE OF EXPERIENCE, STRENGTH AND HOPE FOR ALL!! IN 1985 VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY DEFEATED THE GEORGETOWN HOYAS 66 TO 64 TO CAPTURE THE DIVISION 1 MEN'S BASKETBALL TITLE. GARY WAS SELECTED THE GAME’S MVP IN ARGUABLY ONE OF THE GREATEST UPSETS IN SPORTS HISTORY. GARY WAS ALSO FEATURED ON THE COVER OF THE 1987 SPORT’S ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE ENTITLED, “ONE BAD TRIP” WHICH DETAILED HIS PROBLEM WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE DURING AND AFTER COLLEGE. AFTER ENTERING A SELF HELP PROGRAM GARY HAS TURNED HIS LIFE AROUND TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS IN THE COUNTRY. GARY HAS A GIFT OF COMBINING HIP HOP MUSIC, COMEDY AND THE ART OF STORYTELLING THAT ENGAGES HIS AUDIENCES TO LISTEN. IN ADDITION, HIS LIFE EXPERIENCE RELAYS A MESSAGE OF PERSEVERANCE AND RESPECT FOR SELF AND OTHERS. APRIL 1, 2005 MARKED THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WIN OVER GEORGETOWN. AS RESULT THE GAME ITSELF WAS DOCUMENTED IN AN HOUR LONG SPECIAL ON HBO SPORTS ENTITLED, “THE PERFECT UPSET” WHICH AIRED FOR ALMOST ONE MONTH. GARY WAS BORN IN TARRYTOWN, NY BEFORE MOVING TO HEMPSTEAD, NY. HE IS DIVORCED AND HAS A VERY TALENTED 13 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER , JADE ALEXIS MCLAIN. Does the narrator of this story suffer from voice immodulation, whereby he cannot control the volume of his voice? If not, please refrain from writing in all caps. Thank you. |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Feb 14, 2007 14:15:56 GMT -5
I can understand the lure of going to a race, but can any racing fan of any type explain to me the lure of watching on tv? You get to see what happens. It's like following your favorite basketball team - you watch all the away games on TV to see how your team does. With racing, pretty much every race is an away game. I follow Formula One racing, and that series only has one race a year in the US. So if I want to know what happens in the other 16 races I have to watch them on TV. It's not the same as going to the race in person, but it's better than not seeing the race at all. I just hope that people don't think that NASCAR is indicative of all car racing. NASCAR is Redneck Derby - real racing involves turning left AND right. NASCAR is the ultimate 'highlight' sport. They race for what 400-600 miles. Which takes the better part of an afternoon, right? And sprinkled in there among the hours and hours of coverage are a few crashes (which may or may not be shown live, so you might just end up watching replays of them anyway), maybe a few nice passes and a TON of left turns by cars all going really fast. Why not just catch the highlights of the race on sports center? You'll see all of the exciting stuff and don't have to spend an entire afternoon parked on the couch. At least Formula 1 drivers are ambi-turners. |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Feb 9, 2007 14:50:51 GMT -5
I really hope ND gives Brey a 10-year extension. Remember what happens to coaches running the fist/dobule fist offense who get lengthy extensions?? |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Jan 30, 2007 13:38:52 GMT -5
If someone on our team, i dunno, lets say Wallace, got caught with weed, would GU have handled this the same way? Blasphemy! Wallace has never broken any law or statute, even the obscure ones that most people don't even know about. Why would you compare Wallace to this heathen? |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Jan 9, 2007 15:19:04 GMT -5
Congrats to Ripkin & Gwynn. They were both clearly Hall-worthy and deserve the honor.
The only question I have is who on earth could be well-respected enough to vote people into baseball's hall of fame and not think that these two players deserved to be there. 98 & 97 % seems great but that still means a handful of people didn't deem these two hall-worthy!!
Were Cal's 2,600+ consecutive games not quite enough? Were Gwynn's 8 batting titles just shy of what's needed?
I would really really like to hear what kind of an excuse anyone could have for leaving these two off of their ballot.
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Jan 7, 2007 12:09:28 GMT -5
Is Trent Green the worst QB in Playoffs? This guy really SUCKS-I mean it's borderline Reggie Ball suckage out there. I watched the HS All American Bowl today and I'd take 2/3 of the kids I saw today over his performance in 1st Half--they couldn't do any worse. WOW--that is garbage. Trent Green is in a different league than the worst QB in the playoffs. Two words: Rex Grossman. Ever since the Bears' bye week, he has been like watching footage of a car careering out of control down an icy hill. You know there is no way that it is going to end up good for anyone except the camera man who will get paid for the footage (in Rex's case the DB that intercepts his passes). |
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Post by ExcitableBoy on Dec 16, 2006 10:45:39 GMT -5
The argument here is pretty rediculous. Limiting practice time? (We're talking about PRACTICE!)
Don't end of season tournaments also limit playing time for teams that don't win? What about the poor players who don't get to play as much as others simply because their teams aren't good enough? How can we just stand by while such an injustice occurs!? I say scrap them all, and just award everyone some nice Participation Certificates and give them a big hug.
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