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The Yankees did what they do best
Oct. 23rd, 2010 12:04 amWhich is, they lost a postseason series, this time to the Texas Rangers.
This isn't anything unusual for the Yankees -- after all, they lead Major League Baseball in having lost the World Series 13 times. But their postseason record in the 21st Century is one of unmatched futility:
So that's a record of 1-8-1 so far this century.
The commissioner should put them out of their misery, and break them up. "For the good of the game." Who can stand seeing any team fail so badly year after year after year after...
*^*^*^*
This originally appeared at my other journal, http://www.halobrien.com/
This isn't anything unusual for the Yankees -- after all, they lead Major League Baseball in having lost the World Series 13 times. But their postseason record in the 21st Century is one of unmatched futility:
2010 -- Lost to Texas Rangers, 4-2 in the ALCS
2009 -- Beat Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 in the World Series
2008 -- no post season
2007 -- Lost to Cleveland Indians, 3-1 in the divisional series
2006 -- Lost to Detroit Tigers, 3-1 in the divisional series
2005 -- Lost to Los Angeles Angels, 3-2 in the divisional series
2004 -- Lost to Boston Red Sox, 4-3 in the ALCS
2003 -- Lost to Florida Marlins, 4-2 in the World Series (their record-setting 13th such loss)
2002 -- Lost to Anaheim Angels, 3-1 in the divisional series
2001 -- Lost to Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-3 in the World Series
So that's a record of 1-8-1 so far this century.
The commissioner should put them out of their misery, and break them up. "For the good of the game." Who can stand seeing any team fail so badly year after year after year after...
*^*^*^*
This originally appeared at my other journal, http://www.halobrien.com/
A tale of two coaches
Apr. 20th, 2009 01:33 amBoth coached basketball for NCAA Division III colleges.
One was at their college for 23 years (1969-90, plus '92), and had a record of 336 wins to 143 losses, for a winning percentage of .701. They made it to the Division III Final Four at least twice.
The other was coach from 1979 to 1988 (9 years), and had a record of 76-124 (.385).
Since leaving their respective colleges, one has gone on to coach in the NBA, has won four titles, and is in the playoffs this year.
The other retired, and was never able to get a coaching job again.
*^*^*
Here's the kicker (you can probably see it coming, but hey):
The losing DivIII coach -- was the one who went to the NBA, and has won four titles. His name is Gregg Popovich. The college he coached at was Pomona-Pitzer; his NBA team is the San Antonio Spurs.
However, he was never better than the second best basketball coach at Pomona. Because the winning coach, the one who dominated the SCIAC conference for years, and made multiple trips to the DivIII final four -- was Nancy Breitenstein, who also coached basketball at Pomona-Pitzer, for the women's team. Partly because of when she retired, the only hits on the web for her are at the NCAA's site for winningest women's coaches ever in DivIII. Where, despite her success at Pomona-Pitzer, she only ranks 38th.
One can only wonder: If Breitenstein had been born with the right plumbing, would it really be the second string Pomona-Pitzer coach in the hunt for their fifth NBA title this year? And what about the 37 DivIII women's coaches with better records than hers?
*^*^*
The team Breitenstein coached in the years I was there was one of the best basketball teams I've ever seen. Nora Seager. Jill Apperson. Shontel Sherwood. Libby Gates. Melissa Barlow.
(It wasn't until Libby made the board of Pomona College, where she's described as, "com(ing) from a family of civic-minded leaders," that I figured out who Libby's older brother is. I knew her only as hellfire on wheels on a basketball court.)
One was at their college for 23 years (1969-90, plus '92), and had a record of 336 wins to 143 losses, for a winning percentage of .701. They made it to the Division III Final Four at least twice.
The other was coach from 1979 to 1988 (9 years), and had a record of 76-124 (.385).
Since leaving their respective colleges, one has gone on to coach in the NBA, has won four titles, and is in the playoffs this year.
The other retired, and was never able to get a coaching job again.
*^*^*
Here's the kicker (you can probably see it coming, but hey):
The losing DivIII coach -- was the one who went to the NBA, and has won four titles. His name is Gregg Popovich. The college he coached at was Pomona-Pitzer; his NBA team is the San Antonio Spurs.
However, he was never better than the second best basketball coach at Pomona. Because the winning coach, the one who dominated the SCIAC conference for years, and made multiple trips to the DivIII final four -- was Nancy Breitenstein, who also coached basketball at Pomona-Pitzer, for the women's team. Partly because of when she retired, the only hits on the web for her are at the NCAA's site for winningest women's coaches ever in DivIII. Where, despite her success at Pomona-Pitzer, she only ranks 38th.
One can only wonder: If Breitenstein had been born with the right plumbing, would it really be the second string Pomona-Pitzer coach in the hunt for their fifth NBA title this year? And what about the 37 DivIII women's coaches with better records than hers?
*^*^*
The team Breitenstein coached in the years I was there was one of the best basketball teams I've ever seen. Nora Seager. Jill Apperson. Shontel Sherwood. Libby Gates. Melissa Barlow.
(It wasn't until Libby made the board of Pomona College, where she's described as, "com(ing) from a family of civic-minded leaders," that I figured out who Libby's older brother is. I knew her only as hellfire on wheels on a basketball court.)
Deeds over words
Feb. 9th, 2009 02:46 pmDave Cameron, USS Mariner:
You can tell me all day that you believe that there's a giant, pink, flying dragon chained up in your back yard, but if you never go in your back yard and put food and water out, I'm going to assume that you don't actually believe that.
http://tr.im/fhvw
You can tell me all day that you believe that there's a giant, pink, flying dragon chained up in your back yard, but if you never go in your back yard and put food and water out, I'm going to assume that you don't actually believe that.
http://tr.im/fhvw
As I mentioned to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
akirlu last night:
This is the "Steelmark" logo, from the American Iron and Steel Institute, aka the steel lobby.
This is the Pittsburgh Steelers' logo.
This is "History & Origin of the Pittsburgh Steelers Logo."
And, um, like that.
akirlu last night:This is the "Steelmark" logo, from the American Iron and Steel Institute, aka the steel lobby.
This is the Pittsburgh Steelers' logo.
This is "History & Origin of the Pittsburgh Steelers Logo."
And, um, like that.
cluefairy_j has been staying with us, and was kind enough to take us to a Seahawks game. This was the first time any of us had been to Seahawks Stadium.akirlu was smart enough to bring our Panasonic Lumix along (I didn't want to be weighted down by the Nikon). I'm glad she did. I think this is my best picture of the day, but you can also see the full set. It includes a great picture by Ulrika of a vendor in the stands, and also a giant stitched panorama, showing the view from our unexpectedly awesome Charter Level seats (section 112, row Y, about the 10 yard line).UPDATED TO ADD: Here's a view of the field from the Wikimedia Commons, originally by user Cacophony. I've added a blue ellipse in just about the center of the image, showing roughly where our seats were.
A Maroon Cartoon
May. 8th, 2008 05:54 amIn the otherwise inspiring story of sportsmanship pecunium pointed to recently, there's an unfortunate comment:
"There's NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!"
I replied:
That's a very Hollywood attitude. One usually spouted by people who have never played the game.
Here's what Vin Scully says, who's forgotten more about baseball than you'll ever know:
*^*^*
(Scully) has seen ball players cry and he knows all the signs of sadness - the haunted looks, the dark circles under the eyes, the slumped figures at the lockers.
``I remember in 1982, Terry Forster giving up the home run to Joe Morgan on the last game of the season,'' Scully says of a game that cost the Dodgers the division title. ``And that hit just ruined him. It broke his heart. Terry was a big, emotional, warm-hearted guy and it just crushed him.''
Three years later, another victim (Tom Niedenfuer, who gave up a series-ending homer to St. Louis Cardinal slugger Jack Clark), another Dodger season ending in tears.
``(Dodger manager) Tommy (Lasorda) was devastated by that,'' Scully says. ``So don't let anyone tell you there's no crying in baseball, especially this time of year.''
pecunium pointed to recently, there's an unfortunate comment:"There's NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!"
I replied:
That's a very Hollywood attitude. One usually spouted by people who have never played the game.
Here's what Vin Scully says, who's forgotten more about baseball than you'll ever know:
*^*^*
(Scully) has seen ball players cry and he knows all the signs of sadness - the haunted looks, the dark circles under the eyes, the slumped figures at the lockers.
``I remember in 1982, Terry Forster giving up the home run to Joe Morgan on the last game of the season,'' Scully says of a game that cost the Dodgers the division title. ``And that hit just ruined him. It broke his heart. Terry was a big, emotional, warm-hearted guy and it just crushed him.''
Three years later, another victim (Tom Niedenfuer, who gave up a series-ending homer to St. Louis Cardinal slugger Jack Clark), another Dodger season ending in tears.
``(Dodger manager) Tommy (Lasorda) was devastated by that,'' Scully says. ``So don't let anyone tell you there's no crying in baseball, especially this time of year.''
Amusing titling
Mar. 19th, 2006 10:22 am(Which is not to be confused with Titleist... But I digress.)
They just turned on the NCAA basketball tournament on the big screen TV in the room. Right now, the game is between Bradley and the Univ. of Pittsburgh. This means the little counter/scoring thingie at the corner of the screen says:
BRAD 36
PITT 35
{giggle}
They just turned on the NCAA basketball tournament on the big screen TV in the room. Right now, the game is between Bradley and the Univ. of Pittsburgh. This means the little counter/scoring thingie at the corner of the screen says:
BRAD 36
PITT 35
{giggle}
Just back from the break room, where I saw Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat Boston College, a #12 tournament seed upsetting a #4 seed in the NCAA collegiate basketball tournament.
I have to admit, the thing that completely befuddles me, game theory-wise, is why basketball has become so foul-happy.
These two teams were each shooting just under 50% from the floor, but 90% and 70% from the free throw line, respectively. That's not too uncommon. But BC kept deliberately fouling UW-M in the final seconds -- most notably a foul with three seconds left, when they were 6 or so points behind.
I can kind of understand wanting to control the clock, but it seems to me sending players to the foul line is an almost guaranteed basket against you, while letting them shoot from the floor is much less likely. So it seems to me all you do by fouling your opponent is dig a deeper hole for yourself, while if you let them shoot from the floor they're more likely to miss.
I'll tell you... If I was a refereee, and someone did that three second foul with that big a margin in front of me, I'd eject both the player and the coach from the game. There's nothing there but maliciousness. It's the worst sportsmanship in the world. Take your lumps, and stop prolonging the agony.
(Unless you're a masochist, at which point your kink is not my kink. :)
I always like seeing the underdog win, though.
I have to admit, the thing that completely befuddles me, game theory-wise, is why basketball has become so foul-happy.
These two teams were each shooting just under 50% from the floor, but 90% and 70% from the free throw line, respectively. That's not too uncommon. But BC kept deliberately fouling UW-M in the final seconds -- most notably a foul with three seconds left, when they were 6 or so points behind.
I can kind of understand wanting to control the clock, but it seems to me sending players to the foul line is an almost guaranteed basket against you, while letting them shoot from the floor is much less likely. So it seems to me all you do by fouling your opponent is dig a deeper hole for yourself, while if you let them shoot from the floor they're more likely to miss.
I'll tell you... If I was a refereee, and someone did that three second foul with that big a margin in front of me, I'd eject both the player and the coach from the game. There's nothing there but maliciousness. It's the worst sportsmanship in the world. Take your lumps, and stop prolonging the agony.
(Unless you're a masochist, at which point your kink is not my kink. :)
I always like seeing the underdog win, though.
Way to go!
Mar. 3rd, 2005 02:58 pmIt's not often I'll tear up a bit regarding sports. Especially sports I know nothing about. But sometimes sheer joy is just contagious...
First, go to this page at NPR for an audio story about Jennifer Jones, whose team won the Canadian women's curling championship on 27 Feb. It's important to hear this first if you know nothing about curling, so you'll get a fairly good layman's explanation as to what happened.
Then, once you have the background, watch this video from the CBC of the shot. (note: clip uses Real Player)
Amazing.
From the redoubtable Raymond Chen.
(UPDATE: At the very end of the video clip, when she's hugging someone I assume is her father, you can hear Jennifer's muffled voice say, "We gotta go shake hands." Is that Canadian or what? :)
First, go to this page at NPR for an audio story about Jennifer Jones, whose team won the Canadian women's curling championship on 27 Feb. It's important to hear this first if you know nothing about curling, so you'll get a fairly good layman's explanation as to what happened.
Then, once you have the background, watch this video from the CBC of the shot. (note: clip uses Real Player)
Amazing.
From the redoubtable Raymond Chen.
(UPDATE: At the very end of the video clip, when she's hugging someone I assume is her father, you can hear Jennifer's muffled voice say, "We gotta go shake hands." Is that Canadian or what? :)
Unseemly... But hey, it's the Yankees.
Feb. 16th, 2004 11:45 amFrom an article in the New York Times:
"In the end, the Yankees' trade for Alex Rodriguez is just another instance in which the Yankees beat the Red Sox. They beat them by finishing first in their division last season; they beat them in the postseason and went to the World Series; and now, in the game of winter hardball, it's Yankees 1, Red Sox 0."
Wellllll... as long as you leave out that Curt Schilling guy, in which case it's a 1-1 tie. And if you ignore the Yankees choking in said World Series, the same way they have in every single post-season of this century.
Looked at that way, the trade for A-Rod is a desperate attempt to forestall becoming irrelevant.
It'll be fun to see how the Yankees fuck it up this year, all the while proclaiming the inevitability of their victory.
No wonder Dubya used to own a ball club.
"In the end, the Yankees' trade for Alex Rodriguez is just another instance in which the Yankees beat the Red Sox. They beat them by finishing first in their division last season; they beat them in the postseason and went to the World Series; and now, in the game of winter hardball, it's Yankees 1, Red Sox 0."
Wellllll... as long as you leave out that Curt Schilling guy, in which case it's a 1-1 tie. And if you ignore the Yankees choking in said World Series, the same way they have in every single post-season of this century.
Looked at that way, the trade for A-Rod is a desperate attempt to forestall becoming irrelevant.
It'll be fun to see how the Yankees fuck it up this year, all the while proclaiming the inevitability of their victory.
No wonder Dubya used to own a ball club.
First, the baseball news...
Oct. 5th, 2002 07:48 pmAh, it's a grand time to be a Yankee hater.
Last year, of course, we saw the Yankees choke... against an NL expansion team.
This year, the Yankees have just been eliminated in the first playoff round by one of the unluckiest, most woebegone franchises in the history of sport.
Here's the new slogan. Feel free to use it:
"The Yankees: The Cubs of the 21st Century."
Last year, of course, we saw the Yankees choke... against an NL expansion team.
This year, the Yankees have just been eliminated in the first playoff round by one of the unluckiest, most woebegone franchises in the history of sport.
Here's the new slogan. Feel free to use it:
"The Yankees: The Cubs of the 21st Century."
From a board I just posted to:
Jun. 23rd, 2002 05:45 pmWhich would be Atrios' journal:
*^*^*
I only saw the extra time segments of the ESP-KOR game, myself, but I was appalled at Spain's play in general.
Yes, I'm an American, but I went to a high school where soccer/futbol was the fall sport, not US football. And it seemed to me the Spanish players were violating one of the Prime Unwritten Rules: The ref is always right, and nothing you do will make them change a call after the fact.
So there were the Spanish, yelling in the faces of the ref at every call. I was surprised he didn't start handing out red cards -- certainly that would've happened in any game I ever played in, long before extra time.
Then there was what seemed to be the basic strategy of the Spanish: Hey, we think our goal keeper is hot stuff. So we'll just run out the clock with no attempt to make a golden goal, and let the keeper pick up the slack during the shootout. Dumb, dumb, and furthermore, dumb.
Compare this to the Koreans, who every time they got their foot on the ball were going for blood. They wanted to win, damnit. The Spanish appeared to be playing as if the game itself was a formality, pending their coronation.
Again, I will concede I did not see regulation time. But in the part of the game I saw, the officiating was well within standards, and the Spanish were soundly out-played. The result was wholly deserved, on both sides.
*^*^*
I only saw the extra time segments of the ESP-KOR game, myself, but I was appalled at Spain's play in general.
Yes, I'm an American, but I went to a high school where soccer/futbol was the fall sport, not US football. And it seemed to me the Spanish players were violating one of the Prime Unwritten Rules: The ref is always right, and nothing you do will make them change a call after the fact.
So there were the Spanish, yelling in the faces of the ref at every call. I was surprised he didn't start handing out red cards -- certainly that would've happened in any game I ever played in, long before extra time.
Then there was what seemed to be the basic strategy of the Spanish: Hey, we think our goal keeper is hot stuff. So we'll just run out the clock with no attempt to make a golden goal, and let the keeper pick up the slack during the shootout. Dumb, dumb, and furthermore, dumb.
Compare this to the Koreans, who every time they got their foot on the ball were going for blood. They wanted to win, damnit. The Spanish appeared to be playing as if the game itself was a formality, pending their coronation.
Again, I will concede I did not see regulation time. But in the part of the game I saw, the officiating was well within standards, and the Spanish were soundly out-played. The result was wholly deserved, on both sides.
