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You are here: Home / Sports / Open Thread

Open Thread

by Tom in Texas|  May 4, 20085:09 pm| 34 Comments

This post is in: Sports, Blogospheric Navel-Gazing

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Take a break from the battlegrounds for 5 minutes and laugh, Mr. Cole:

And on a different topic, one that relates (however tangenitally) to polical bloggers, Buzz Bissinger (author of Friday Night Lights, a superb book) lost his mind on Costas Live last week in a panel with Will Leitch, founder of Deadspin.com. Bissinger reminds me most of Willie Loman, it’s sad and repulsive all at once.

Opinion columnists and investigative journalism will never die. Without them, there would be no blogosphere at all. The newspaper medium is wasting away. Bissinger’s maudlin musings do not change the simple truth.

My favorite sum up of the dustup comes vie Fire Joe Morgan, in an excellent evisceration, my favorite line is this:

Picking a random blog comment and wielding it as a club to bash “blogs” is like picking a random romance novel off an airport bookstore shelf and saying, “This book sucks. Fuck you, Tolstoy — your medium is worthless!”

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Reader Interactions

34Comments

  1. 1.

    John Cole

    May 4, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    Pens won. Life is good.

  2. 2.

    Adam

    May 4, 2008 at 5:20 pm

    Nerf digital media!

  3. 3.

    Tom in Texas

    May 4, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    I suspect the Pens are going to win this year, and many more after. I also know somewhat less than nothing about hockey. I’ve tried, but I can never remember what channel VS is (I still thought it was the outdoor life network till recently), and I don’t think it translates well to TV anyway. I’ve been to some minor league Aeros and Ice Bats games — drunken cheap fun to be sure, but I don’;t know that I’d want to pay top dollar for the NHL equivalent, or appreciate it once I got it.

  4. 4.

    RSA

    May 4, 2008 at 5:28 pm

    Bissinger reminds me most of Willie Lomax, it’s sad and repulsive all at once.

    Willy Loman? Or am I just out of touch?

  5. 5.

    Incertus

    May 4, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    Ready for the newest thing in real estate sales? It’s the poetry contest model.

  6. 6.

    Tom in Texas

    May 4, 2008 at 5:34 pm

    thanks RSA. fixed.

  7. 7.

    Incertus

    May 4, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    I saw the end of that piece on HBO yesterday, just by coincidence, and Buzz Bissinger really did come off as just about the most ill-informed idiot out there. To claim that the problem with bloggers is that they don’t want facts to get in the way is nonsense–baseball bloggers in particular are more interested in data than anyone I’ve ever experienced. If they have a fault, letting the facts get in the way isn’t it.

  8. 8.

    Tom in Texas

    May 4, 2008 at 5:42 pm

    I’m convinced

    baseball blogging:accountants::political blogging:lawyers

  9. 9.

    jrg

    May 4, 2008 at 5:58 pm

    Today was a good day for protest signs on the intertubes.

  10. 10.

    PeterJ

    May 4, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    I totally missed the Kentucky Derby.

    Clinton bet on a filly, Eight Belles, that ended up second after a stallion, Big Black. Eight Belles then had to be euthanized on the track, since she suffered compound fractures of both front ankles during the post race cool down.

    Here’s Big Brown’s jockey, Kent Desormeaux, on Big Brown

    When a horse sets fractions like that and still tells me he’s got more and that the other horses can’t get to him, that’s something special. He’s a major talent, possibly the best horse I’ve ridden.”

    The trainer, Bennie Stutts, had this to say:

    “He’s like a freak the way he ran from the 12 post… He’s obviously a super horse.

    Big Brown is Obama.

    As goes the Kentucky Derby, so goes the democratic nomination?

  11. 11.

    jrg

    May 4, 2008 at 6:29 pm

    This one’s a gem: Christian Conservative anti-video-game activist emails Take-Two Exec’s Mother over Grand Theft Auto IV.

    I guess Christian Conservatives, tired of being considered “useful idiots” have decided to become “useless idiots”, instead.

  12. 12.

    Some Guy Named Matt

    May 4, 2008 at 6:30 pm

    The Pens? yep they should could beat the flyers. But watch out for Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, and Pavel Datsyuk. Dare I say…. En Fuego

  13. 13.

    D-Chance.

    May 4, 2008 at 6:35 pm

    Watch out, Petey… cbear might not have fired up the ol’ DVR yet.

    BTW, Big Brown didn’t break from the 12 post. His trainer is a moron.

  14. 14.

    Perry Como

    May 4, 2008 at 6:41 pm

    I’m not a sports guy by any means, but I have to say the sports writer asshat’s comments sum up the MSM. They have a certain vantage point that the rest of us don’t, so we should just listen to them. Like the White House press corp.

  15. 15.

    demimondian

    May 4, 2008 at 6:49 pm

    The most important part of this year’s Derby didn’t happen on camera — Eight Belles’ collapse happened as she was being galloped out, about two hundred yards down track, out of view of the TV.

    In a way, that’s a mercy, in that we don’t have to watch her founder again and again and again on the evening news while know nothings bloviate about her collapse (while secretly drooling over the ad points.) In another way, it’s a tragedy — horses break down on tracks around America all the time, and nothing is done to change it. The Sport of Kings has been turned into the Sport of Freaks — modern race horses are the Prince Alexeis of horseflesh.

    I thought Big Brown did break from the 12 furlong post. It was an astounding run. My God, that colt can churn the dirt.

  16. 16.

    Dennis - SGMM

    May 4, 2008 at 7:00 pm

    This one’s a gem: Christian Conservative anti-video-game activist emails Take-Two Exec’s Mother over Grand Theft Auto IV.

    I’m sure that she took the time, in her villa on the Cote d’Zure to give the email the serious consideration that it deserved.

    First it was rock and roll, then it was dirty movies, then it was pot, now it’s video games. The Christian Conservatives just never tire of finding someone to blame for the fact that they’re shitty parents whose kids hate them.

  17. 17.

    KRK

    May 4, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    First it was rock and roll…

    Actually, I think jazz was first.

  18. 18.

    Mary

    May 4, 2008 at 7:06 pm

    The 12 furlong post is where Big Brown started his final run from the pack, I believe. But his post position in the starting gate was 20, which kept him clear of traffic at the break but also meant he had slightly more distance to cover. Apparently there hasn’t been a Derby winner from the 20th post position since 1929, but then again, although the Derby field can be huge some years, it doesn’t often get up to 20.

    But could we please drop all the Dem/Derby comparisons now, please? As annoying as Clinton’s GRRL POWER!! support for Eight Belles was on Friday, the filly’s sudden and horrible death is enough to make this whole topic feel icky. And I’ve seen comments elsewhere that reek of misogyny as people expound on Clinton’s ankles, shooting her to put her out of her misery, and other such crap. I’d hate to see that start here.

  19. 19.

    Dennis - SGMM

    May 4, 2008 at 7:07 pm

    Actually, I think jazz was first.

    You’re right: it was jazz and boogie-woogie. That Negro music, which was only played by the worst sort of drug addicts, started our slide to Sodom and Gomorrah.

  20. 20.

    Mary

    May 4, 2008 at 7:10 pm

    (PeterJ, I’m not accusing you of being insensitive or misogynist at all, and I think you’re voicing a very common reaction among many of us. It’s just that I’ve seen some real crap start elsewhere, that’s all.)

  21. 21.

    demimondian

    May 4, 2008 at 7:15 pm

    That’s Cote Azure (the o has a circumflex above it). Literally, it means the “blue coast”, because of the stunning blue color of the water.

    I’m actually no fan of violent video games; there’s quite a bit of solid evidence that they do tend to desensitize people — not just children — to violence. Children are particularly vulnerable to these effects, as they really do lack internal behavioral self-regulation that adults take for granted.

    [And before anyone tries to establish a false equivlanece with erotica, don’t waste the electrons. The only sexual equivalent of the kinds of violent imagery we show our kids on a regular basis is the occasional real-thing amateur video of a couple making love in a one-hour marathon session. I don’t think it likely that we’ll see any longitudinal studies of the behavioral effects of the viewing of such porn on kids in a culture where young women can wonder if they can raise money by sitting around in their PJ’s talking about the superiority of Barack Obama’s policy positions over Hillary Clinton’s.]

  22. 22.

    Sarcastro

    May 4, 2008 at 7:19 pm

    The Sport of Kings has been turned into the Sport of Freaks

    Six of one, half-dozen of the other. Name me a king who wasn’t a freak.

  23. 23.

    Incertus

    May 4, 2008 at 7:31 pm

    Today was a good day for protest signs on the intertubes.

    Angry Immigrant Vagina would be a hell of a band name.

  24. 24.

    Dennis - SGMM

    May 4, 2008 at 8:00 pm

    I’m actually no fan of violent video games; there’s quite a bit of solid evidence that they do tend to desensitize people—not just children—to violence.

    There is something to that, desensitizing people to interpersonal violence is not the best idea, largely because actual violence is a whole ‘nother realm. The military is making more and more use of simulations (Govt. sponsored video games) as well as studying on how they might make vehicles/weapons/aircraft more gamer-friendly. I just wonder how well it will work out when the game-warriors find that real enemies are a lot less predictable than those in games and that they shoot back with real munitions.

  25. 25.

    demimondian

    May 4, 2008 at 8:15 pm

    desensitizing people to interpersonal violence is not the best idea, largely because actual violence is a whole ‘nother realm.

    Ayup. And desensitizing people to violence with guns tends to make them more likely to engage is “less lethal” violence, as with their fists.

    None of which should be taken to say that violence has no place in entertainment, or that it isn’t ultimately the role of parents to regulate children’s consumption, or anything like that — but rather than it’s the proper role of the state to investigate and research those effects, and to educate parents, so that they can make their own, free, informed choices. (I’m such an elitist, I know. Sowwy, Hiwawwy. Imagine trusting people to make their own decisions. How unamerican of me.)

  26. 26.

    Xenos

    May 4, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    Actually, I think jazz was first.

    The Roundheads went after theatres in general back in the seventeenth century. They were thought to debauch the apprentices, who would occasionally riot after really bloody revenge dramas.

    Ever since Kit Marlow, it has been all downhill, I suppose.

  27. 27.

    cbear

    May 4, 2008 at 9:41 pm

    Watch out, Petey… cbear might not have fired up the ol’ DVR yet.

    Hey D-fuck, try to stop strangling yourself with your own sphincter, jerky.

  28. 28.

    flyerhawk

    May 4, 2008 at 10:55 pm

    Sorry, John, but my Flyers are going to have to put a beat down on your Pens. Flyers are playing great hockey right and getting scoring from all over.

    Went to see the Chris Rock show tonight. What a great show.

    “George Bush has fucked up so bad he’s made it so that a white man can no longer get elected President!”

  29. 29.

    PeterJ

    May 5, 2008 at 2:25 am

    Mary, I’m in no way advocating beating Clinton bloody, if so then a boxing match would have been better used as an analogy. I do think she’s more than capable of beating herself bloody.

    Eight Belles injuries weren’t Big Brown’s fault, either they were self inflicted, caused by the filly’s team or just bad luck.

    And for the part about the filly being euthanized, I believe that would be a good analogy about Clinton after the election, not on how to get her to quit.

  30. 30.

    PeterJ

    May 5, 2008 at 2:43 am

    Sure, you could argue that the Kentucky Derby was in cahoots with the Big Brown team and made the track fit him not Eight Belles. ;) But then I don’t think they have done any major changes to the track.
    Also, Unbridled, who grandsired Eight Belles, won the Derby 1990. (Would have been more fun if it was 1992… ;)

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    May 5, 2008 at 4:29 am

    demimondian Says:

    That’s Cote Azure (the o has a circumflex above it). Literally, it means the “blue coast”, because of the stunning blue color of the water.

    I’m actually no fan of violent video games; there’s quite a bit of solid evidence that they do tend to desensitize people—not just children—to violence. Children are particularly vulnerable to these effects, as they really do lack internal behavioral self-regulation that adults take for granted.

    Actually, these studies are junk science at its finest, since “desensitize” has no meaning whatsoever. And since the ultra-violent Grand Theft Auto IV is not only the best-reviewed and best-selling game in the UK as well as in the US, shouldn’t parents be locking their kids in their rooms, lest these “de-sensitized” zombies stumble out onto the streets and commit mayhem (GTA game smashes UK sales records)?

    Critically acclaimed video game Grand Theft Auto (GTA) IV is on course to beat the record for highest first week sales of any video game in the UK.

    The title sold a record 609,000 copies on its first day of release, generating an estimated £24.4m ($48.5m).

    The previous record holder was GTA: San Andreas, which sold 501,000 copies in 24 hours in October 2004.

    And yes, I know that GTA has all kinds of “mature audience” stickers attached to it. But if you believe that the stickers mean anything, I got a bridge I want to sell you.

    The Roundheads went after theatres in general back in the seventeenth century. They were thought to debauch the apprentices, who would occasionally riot after really bloody revenge dramas.

    The closing of the English Theaters after the Puritans gained power was particularly sanctimonious and brutal (CONDEMNATION OF THE ELIZABETHAN THEATER):

    In 1642 Parliament issued an ordinance suppressing all stage plays; and five years later even a stricter law was passed. Finally, in 1648 all playhouses were ordered to be pulled down, all players to be seized and whipped, and every one caught attending a play to be fined five shillings. Of course, no such ordinance, in such a city as London, could be completely enforced; but the playhouses, in effect, were practically closed from 1642 until the Restoration in 1660.

    The sad thing is that the culture wars never seem to end.

  32. 32.

    Edmund Dantes

    May 5, 2008 at 9:04 am

    The interesting thing is I wonder if Eight Belles is related to the horse that was profiled in the WSJ on Friday. It was an article on the fact that almost every thoroughbred can trace its heritage back one horse. A horse that while he had some amazing speed also happens to have a genetic propensity to foot injuries.

  33. 33.

    Tax Analyst

    May 5, 2008 at 12:41 pm

    demimondian Says:

    The most important part of this year’s Derby didn’t happen on camera—Eight Belles’ collapse happened as she was being galloped out, about two hundred yards down track, out of view of the TV.

    In a way, that’s a mercy, in that we don’t have to watch her founder again and again and again on the evening news while know nothings bloviate about her collapse (while secretly drooling over the ad points.) In another way, it’s a tragedy—horses break down on tracks around America all the time, and nothing is done to change it. The Sport of Kings has been turned into the Sport of Freaks—modern race horses are the Prince Alexeis of horseflesh.

    I thought Big Brown did break from the 12 furlong post. It was an astounding run. My God, that colt can churn the dirt.

    As someone who USED to be a close follower of horse-racing, but no longer is I can tell you the following:

    Big Brown broke from the 20 post. Most horse races only allow a maximum of 12 horses to start in any particular race for practical and safety reasons. 20 horses means about 20,000 pounds of thundering horseflesh running very close to each other at about 45mph with 100 pound jockeys on-board trying to direct these behemoths towards openings or into advantageous positioning. It’s a recipe for disaster, really…if the unfortunate filly had broken down from 2nd place during the race at one of many key tactical points you could have seen 5,6, 7 or more horses going down around and on top of her and jockeys flying around like pine cones in a hurricane. The Kentucky Derby allows up to 20 because so many folks want to enter their horse in “The Derby”…even those that really have no business racing at that level. They clutter up the field and often serve to deter real contenders from having a clear and clean “trip”. Normally breaking from an extreme outside post is a disadvantage because that horse must run a longer distance unless they can get clear of the field and over to the rail quickly (virtually impossible in a 20-horse field…you would likely cut off the entire field if you tried to do so and be properly disqualified). But if a horse has fairly good and legitimate “early speed” and can handle a mile-and-a-quarter then the 20 post is not necessarily a bad starting position. A horse that runs better from just behind the early leaders generally would lose a mountain of ground from post 20…consider being 6 or 7 horses wide on the first turn…perhaps most of the trip – or being rushed up too early to avoid that fate.

    I really hated seeing horses break down on the track (or hearing that they broke down in training). It’s one of the reason I stopped following them closely. But for the record, Horse Racing HAS made an effort to reduce these sad occurrences…most horse-racing facilities have gone away from traditional dirt surfaces and have installed synthetic racing surfaces, which have generally have fewer breakdowns. Some of these surfaces have had problems in other areas. For instance, the Santa Anita race track out here in Southern California installed a synthetic surface that has been plagued with draining problems when it rains and has been unusable on many occasions because of that.

    I believe Churchill Downs is one of the few remaining “big-time” tracks to still use a traditional dirt track surface. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s less safe for the horses – you’d have to look at the break-down statistics over the course of time to determine that.

    OH…yes, most race horses today, especially for American racing, are surely bred for speed rather than endurance, and I’m pretty sure that factor DOES contribute to their fragility.

    One more note – In my opinion the Triple Crown races are an invitation to tragedy. The Kentucky Derby is the first time any of these 3-year-olds are asked to run a mile-and-a-quarter. Most of them have not run more than 1 1/16 miles and perhaps have had only one or two races of a mile or better. And after the Debry those that come back to run in the Preakness (about 1 3/16 miles) are doing so in only two weeks…a very short turnaround time, and then in the Belmont those remaining run a full mile-and-a-half.

    But without the Triple Crown, Horse Racing has almost nothing in the way of “events” to entice the general public to look in.

  34. 34.

    dj spellchecka

    May 5, 2008 at 1:16 pm

    A soccer story with a great [unintended] punchline

    CBSSports.com wire reports

    SAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil striker Ronaldo says he’s
    sorry, embarrassed and ashamed about his highly
    publicized encounter a week ago with three
    cross-dressing prostitutes, calling it the biggest
    mistake of his life.

    In an interview on Brazil’s Globo TV, the AC Milan
    striker on Sunday denied claims by one of the
    prostitutes that he had sex with them and used drugs,
    but admitted that the incident will haunt the rest of
    his career.

    In a halting voice, Ronaldo said he wasn’t aware the
    prostitutes were cross-dressers until he got to a
    motel with them, discovered they were men and decided
    not to have sex with them because he is heterosexual.

    Ronaldo, who plays for Italian club AC Milan but is
    recovering from knee surgery in Brazil, also said he
    had been drinking earlier that night after watching
    Rio’s Flamengo win against rival Botafogo — but was
    not drunk.

    Police are investigating the case to determine whether
    an extortion attempt was made against Ronaldo, but
    have said he committed no crime. Prostitution is legal
    in Brazil.

    The comments by Ronaldo to Globo TV jibed with his
    statement last week to police and with interviews
    conducted with detectives.

    The motel manager — identified only as Luisa — said
    Ronaldo, who was dressed and appeared to be sober,
    tried to get rid of the prostitutes after realizing
    they were men.

    She told police Ronaldo offered the prostitutes $600
    to end the incident but they would not accept dollars.
    The manager then converted the money into Brazilian
    reals for Ronaldo.

    ——————-
    what can we say about america’s place in the world when even brazilian tranvestite hookers refuse to be paid in dollars????

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