Why I don’t hate the Olympics

July 8th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

I have not been combing the sports blogosphere anywhere near the frequency I usually do as of late, something I hope corrects itself in the coming weeks. (I’m really getting sick of the shakes.) But from what I’ve seen, the general sentiment on the Olympics — and please correct me if I’m wrong on this — has been it sucks balls. It sucks balls because as Will Leitch wrote in God Save the Fan:

“I’m not sure any real sports fan like the Olympics anymore … Why is it that we have to pretend to care about the discus throw every four years? Never mind the fact that no team sport has anything  resembling the motivation Olympians bring to injecting his/her body with every undetectable performance enhancer. Olympic sports appeal only to those single-minded enough to devote their entire lives to them. Have you ever attended a track meet in person? There are thirty events going on at any time.”

Now, I think there is a ton of validity to Leitch’s overall thesis on the Olympics: there’s a lot that isn’t very appealing or exciting or jaw dropping about fencing, and Americans just latch on to whatever athlete is on their screen and start putting every ounce of energy into cheering for that athlete without having any real good reason. (Other than that is what we are supposed to do. I suppose these are the people that are not “real fans.”)

This is a theory Chuck Klosterman largely backed up in a 2004 Esquire article:

“… the Olympics are designed for people who want to care about something without considering why. In order to enjoy the Olympics, you can’t think critically about anything; you have to root for America (of whatever country you’re from) and assume that your feelings are inherently correct.)

Again, these are not outlandish claims: they make a considerable amount of sense and I agree with them … to a point. Because they are generalizations and observations; they obviously have exceptions and people that don’t quite tie in with the overall argument. I am one of these exceptions.

Get this, I happen to follow competetive running. And I’m excited to see it on its grandest stage in Beijing. I know Bernard Lagat is America’s best hope to medal in the 1500 and 5000 — though I’m not sure how legit I’ll equate a victory, considering he was a Kenyan citizen till 2004  — and I’ve enjoyed the human interest pieces the New York Times has been rolling out on a consistent basis leading up to the games. I’m by no means a hardcore follower of the sport, but the Olympics give me a reason to get swept up in it all for a few months.

For me, the Olympics — particularly the running — reminds me of my past, of the miles upon miles spent on the track and out on the path during my high school years. Following names I remember from five years ago — Alan Webb, for instance — is fun for me. Sure, I may be rooting blindly with some events I watch — actually, I doubt I’ll watch too much other than the running events, maybe the figure skating, that’s always fun –but setting aside that and focusing on the nostalgia that competitve running brings out in me: I don’t think it makes me single-minded or a faux sports fan. I don’t think it makes me someone devoid of critical thinking skills.

It just makes me human. And I am more than comfortable with that.

Reasons lefties in baseball rule

July 8th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

Being left-handed has held many advantages in my life. For instance: when I am involved in icebreaker conversations — I imagine hell to be one long icebreaker conversation complete with ice cream that has nuts in it as our treats — one of my three interesting facts is: “I’m left-handed.”

And sometimes people treat you like you are really special or different: “Look at how all the ink is all over the side of his pinky after taking notes!”

It’s a cherished life I’ve led.

But I will say this: playing baseball left-handed had many advantages growing up. And thankfully, an aircraft engineer decided to compile all these reasons succinctly on the Internet. Below is a copy and paste job on some of them.

Getting going: After a right-hander connects with a ball, his momentum spins him toward the third-base side. He must regroup to take even his first step toward first base. A left-hander’s momentum carries him directly toward first. “The left-handed batter has a 5-foot advantage over the right-handed batter,” Peters calculates. “And that means the lefty travels the 90 feet to first roughly one-sixth of a second faster than the righty. That translates to more base hits for the left-hander, whether singles or extra base hits because lefties are getting to the bases more quickly.”

And if you drag bunt, you can get there even faster!

Pitching: The left-handed pitcher generally is much more difficult to steal off. From his stretch, he peers directly at the runner; the right-hander must look over his shoulder and wheel to first base, giving the runner more of a warning of the pitcher’s intent.

One time I picked the same dude off twice in one game.

Fielding: First base and right field favor lefties. The favorable angles lefties allow them to throw the ball more quickly across the diamond to second, third and home.

I always thought I played right field because I was the worst fielder.

Sadly, I have yet to find an advantage to left-handed blogging.

{HT: BBTF.}

Brett Favre just won’t die

July 2nd, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

Seriously: he’s up to his old tricks again. Please read:

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is reporting that Favre has told Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy that he has thought about playing this year. Although Favre’s comeback talk is apparently in its preliminary stages, Mortensen also reports that Favre’s family is encouraging him to play.

Packers cornerback Al Harris appeared with Mortensen on ESPN’s NFL Live this afternoon and said that Favre has told him that he “has the itch” to keep playing.

What. The. Eff. Look: I like Brett Favre the player. And he seems like a great dude. But this mamby pamby retirement drama is a bit ridiculous. Yeah, we are free to change our minds. And yeah, he probably could still have a pretty good year next year. But when comments start dropping like this, I shudder at the thought of No. 4 coming back for another year:

2. PLEASE MAY MY YEAR BRETT AND COME BACK YOU ARE THE BOMB AND ILL ALWAYS BE YOUR NUMBER 1 FAN FOREVER AND A DAY

Posted at 4:27PM on Jul 2nd 2008 by debbie

Sigh.

Baron Davis inspires a song; song is pretty deese

July 2nd, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

So Baron Davis opted out of his contract Monday with the Warriors and yesterday he agreed to a deal with the Clippers. (That was quick.) And somewhere between that, this dude wrote this song, preformed it and put in on YouTube. It’s better than anything Creed has ever put out. And it kind of sounds like Shwayze, which means it’s palatable enough.Am I saying this guy is the next Bob Dylan? No. Am I saying he’s on par with the Teixeria song? Why yes. Yes I am.

{HT: ClipperBlog.}

White Sox 80s prototype jerseys = boss

July 2nd, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

I caught these late last night over at Uni Watch — which is an excellent column, btw — and I can’t get enough of them. Apparently the Sox drew up a bunch of prototype jerseys before they went with the beach towel look and decided to display these ones that never graced the field.

My favsie is the one three from the right with the stripe extending from the chest down the sleeve with the big Sox logo on the front. FRESH TO DEATH.

Big Mac making his way back to baseball, one swing at a time

July 1st, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

If you parse out all the nonsense that has been performance-enhancing drugs and baseball the last few years and we look squarely at reputation dings the revelations have brought about, Mark McGwire arguably turns out looking the worst. His non-committal answers and his Batman-likes stealthiness since everything went down — the dude is constantly in hiding — haven’t helped his image.

But at the same turn: he didn’t do anything worse than any other player. He just happened to be a high-profile name that broke a long-standing baseball record in the Summer That Put Baseball Back On The Map. He is a victim of circumstance, if nothing else. So it is in that spirit that I’m glad McGwire is slowing creeping back into the game.

“The perception of Mark is so completely different than the reality,” says Craig Daedelow, a friend of McGwire who often sees and talks to him. “People think he’s out of the game, but they have no idea just how much he’s still in the game.”

Although McGwire declined to comment for this story, friends, colleagues and those in the game say he is slowly returning to baseball. They point to the secret hitting lessons he gives to a small group of major leaguers, minor leaguers and college players, and the time two years ago he nearly became the hitting coach of the Colorado Rockies.

[ … ]

“The game of baseball means so much to him,” Gallego says, “that he’s embarrassed what he did. He feels like he let a lot of kids down. They looked up to him. He was their hero. And he disappointed them.

“Mac was always a people pleaser.

“And he feels like he hurt them.”

[ …]

There is no routine, and he doesn’t show up every day, but McGwire can be seen in the early mornings or late afternoons at Daedelow’s batting cage, Total Baseball, in Huntington Beach, Calif.

[ … ]

McGwire has hitting disciples throughout baseball, including defending National League batting champion Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies; Skip Schumaker and Chris Duncan, Shelley’s brother, of the Cardinals; Howie Clark of the Class AAA Rochester (N.Y.) Red Wings; and Jack Rye, who recently completed his senior year at Florida State.

There is some speculation in the article that McGwire might return to MLB in the very near future, which, given his out-of-the-spotlight nature of late, seems a bit out of the ordinary. But hey: maybe he is finally ready to step back out again — in a small sense — and teach the art of hitting. Something he is apparently very good at. Who knows.

As long as he doesn’t bring Sammy Sosa along with him, I’m all for it.

{HT: SbB.}

Yankee Stadium trying to steal Winter Classic from Chicago?

July 1st, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

At the end of May, the Sun-Times reported the Winter Classic was all signed, sealed and delivered for the Red Wings to play the Blackhawks at Wrigley Field. Outdoor hockey. In the winter. At Wrigley. Pretty. Freaking. Cool. But alas, a wrench — why is it always a wrench? could we not through a screwdriver into the situation? let’s to that — has been thrown into the plans. According to Random Reality Thoughts, New York doesn’t seem completely out the door yet.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Billy Daly was a guest on XM Radio’s “Hockey This Morning” and stated that “it’s safe to assume” that a Winter Classic will be held at Yankee Stadium or Wrigley Field during the upcoming season.

Like Eric McErlain over at FanHouse, I’m a bit confused by this, but would think it’s safe to assume both cities are now bidding for a shot at hosting the game. Which is bogus. Yeah, it’s Yankee Stadium’s last year. And yeah: it makes sense to have it there. But does Yankee Stadium have the ability for someone to throw an octopus on the ice from a rooftop?

I think not.