Might Be Time For The MLB To Do Something About Players Intentionally Getting Hit By Pitches5/26/2016
Here is the God's honest truth, I don't mind players doing whatever they can to get on base. The way I see it, it's nothing more than gamesmanship. Just stretching the boundaries of the rules to their furthest extent - without flat out breaking them - to help your team win. Might not be the most morally superior act, but it's also doesn't make a complete mockery of the game. Unless, of course, you wrap your elbow in the athletic equivalent of titanium and take your base without even remotely putting your body in harm's way. In my eyes, that's the trade off. You are given a free bag as reimbursement for the pain resulting from getting hit with a Major League pitch. That's why - in the short term - Yadier Molina should take one right between the eyes, and - in the long term - players that wear padding at the plate should not to given the benefit of a free base. You want to protect yourself from errant pitches then either work on your reflexes like a real athlete, or be ready to get clunked in the thigh and have it count as no more than a ball in the dirt. We can't have people out there just throwing random reinforced body parts in front of the ball to increase their on base percentage without increasing their likelihood of injury. I don't want to be the "back in my day" guy because I think protecting professional athletes is very important, but it's only just as important as protecting the sanctity of the sport. Especially a sport that's founded on rules unwritten. P.S. BURN.
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I don't know if there is anything that can simultaneously sum up Drew Brees as a player and as a person quite like this moonshot that he rocked in the Saints charity softball game. From an athletic perspective that hit mirrors everything that you never expect, but always manage to get from Drew Brees. An assuming sub-6 foot quarterback that somehow makes every throw on the field, and despite not being overly fast always finds a way to avoid would be tacklers in the pocket? Of course he was going to step up to the plate and hit a floater pitch into the next county. That might even be an understatement because I have no visual proof that this ball ever landed. I feel like it's a couple hours away from crashing through an elder gentleman's window prior to him cursing out a bunch of innocent neighborhood children through shattered glass. Anyway, this is just what Drew Brees does. He exceeds every expectation that you would about him simply by looking at him. He may have the stature of a contact hitter, but he's got the potential to put the ball anywhere he wants - inside or outside the yard. From a personal standpoint, there was no other choice but for this to happen during a charity event. I don't think more than a 12 hour period goes by during the offseason where Drew Brees doesn't do something extremely selfless for someone else. Whether it be sick children, injured war veterans, or really anyone that is less fortunate than the starting quarterback of the New Orleans Saints - Drew Brees never fails in putting a smile on the face of those in need. There are even stories about Drew Breast community work that I have refrained from blogging simply because I don't want the site to just become an offseason ode to Jesus' right hand man. So yeah, this was just a softball game with the boys, but of course the proceeds are going to benefit others and of course Drew Brees' blasted a souvenir to some random kid halfway around the globe.
Jeff Van Gundy: “Don’t talk about what you need to do to win. Do what you need to do to win. Richard Jefferson, great loose ball play and has always been a terrific finisher on the break.”
Mark Jackson: “Guy’s a pro. Stays ready. Played for me in Golden State. Cost us a series in San Antonio, missing two free throws, but I’m not holding onto that. Still has plenty in the tank and playing at a high level for this Cavaliers team.” When I first heard Mark Jackson say this I was left scratching my head. The years in which he was coach of the Golden State Warriors were years in which Richard Jefferson was well past his prime. I just couldn't imagine a scenario where the outcome of a game - never mind a playoff series - would be specifically decided by RJ missing late game free throws when he was nothing more than a utility player off the end of the bench at that point in his career. That's when I started to do a little digging (AKA piggy backed off someone else's research and am now treating it as my own).... The "series" that Mark Jackson is referring to? Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals in 2013. The free throws that cost his team said "series"? A couple of misses that occurred with the Warriors up 8 with under two minutes to play. Essentially Mark Jackson just blamed an entire playoff series - that only went 6 games anyway - on a couple of missed foul shots that would have put his team up 10 in a game they ended up blowing in double overtime. That's a certifiably crazy allegation, but somehow it's totally explicable coming from the mouth of Mark Jackson. Just imagine being put in position to watch your former teammate completely dominate the league after you were let go following a 51 win season. Sure, there were legitimate reasons for Mark Jackson's termination, but you can bet your ass they are legitimate reasons that Mark Jackson has yet to accept. That's why this absurd proclamation that Richard Jefferson cost him a playoff series with plenty of time remaining in Game 1 makes all too much sense. It doesn't matter that RJ isn't even on the Warriors anymore, because Mark Jackson will hold every single negative play that he thinks could have contributed to his firing against the person who committed it forever. We might just be a few years and another Warriors championship away from Mark Jackson convincing himself that a lost tip-off actually cost him his coaching career. Wouldn't even be a little surprised if he goes home and hits a punching bag thinking of some random midseason, 1st quarter hand checking foul. Anything that can be used as a scapegoat will be used as scapegoat. The man whose job it is to call basketball games in an unbiased fashion is completely partial to every single person that WASN'T employed by the Golden State Warriors franchise in 2013, and I hope no amount of logic or common sense ever changes that because I want Mark Jackson's crazy ass to be able to sleep at night. YardBarker- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke with Bloomberg Television earlier this week and said the league could lose as much as $200 million in revenue when its fiscal year ends on June 30. However, Bettman still expects the NHL to set record-breaking revenue figures at the end of next month.
“It’s a fact of life, it’s something we deal with,” Bettman said of the loonie. “If the Canadian dollar were still at par, we’d be $100 million or $200 million higher, perhaps, than we may find ourselves, but I do believe there will be a revenue increase over 2015.” Luckily for the NHL’s bottom line, no Canadian hockey team made the playoffs for the first time in 46 years. This means all playoff revenue is in the stronger U.S. dollar because the games were all played within the American border. However, no Canadian teams has also meant less interest in the games. ESPN reported that for first-round games, ratings on Canada’s Sportsnet channels and CBC were down 60 percent over last year when five of the seven Canadian teams made the post-season. This is your warning Canada. It's time you shape up or ship out. It's one thing to offer nothing of significance on the ice. It's actually kind of entertaining to poke fun at the lack of success of the teams that reside in the country responsible for the great sport of hockey. However, when you start messing with the bottom line then cutting bait becomes a real possibility. It's like a corporation buying up a mom and pop shop. If mom and pop don't bring shit to the table after their work gets inherited then it's only so long before they are getting taken out with the garbage. Something's gotta give when the NHL is financially forced into rooting against the massive media markets to the far North. Right now the NHL is basically the company from 'Office Space', and the Canadian teams are Milton. It's fiscally responsible to keep them jettisoned to the basement, but you risk them - knowingly or unknowingly - burning the entire operation to the ground. I know you guys created this game we all love so dearly, but if you are going to keep getting invites to the party then it's time to start showing up with something other than an inferior product, ever decreasing ratings, and a shit ton of debt. I don't know what you have to do to make it so your dollar is actually worth something, but now would be a hell of a time to get proactive before the NHL Zuckerberg's your ass. An idea can only be so good if you can't implement it, and Canada is unintentionally doing everything they can to sabotage the growth of their own creation. Their downright loonie if they think a league that is constantly in desperate of growth can continue to hemorrhage hundreds of millions just because the person that came up with the original blueprint can't manage their money properly. BSO- Despite reports of Lacy dropping 15-18 lbs. this offseason, Coach Mike McCarthy still wasn’t very complimentary when discussing the shape of his RB:
“Eddie’s like a lot of our team right now,” McCarthy said when asked of Lacy’s conditioning. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.” He later said: “Eddie will be fine. I believe he’ll hit the target that we’re all looking for when the lights come on.” I sincerely hope that Eddie Lacy is not be basing his self worth on the praise of his peers this year, because if Mike McCarthy has a brain in that fat head of his then these backhanded compliments are as good as it's going to get. That's not to say that the Green Bay Packers Head Coach is a bad guy that is too hard on his players. It is to say that he understand the ramifications of enabling a professional athlete with an overeating disorder. The way I see it, Mike McCarthy almost has no choice but to treat Eddie Lacy like a cheerleader at an NFL tryout. He needs to pick apart every single imperfection in his body to make sure he is constantly working on improving himself physically. He basically has to shame him into his own version of anorexia - which is essentially just an average, well rounded diet for the rest of his teammates. The second that people start patting Eddie Lacy on the ass and telling him good job is the second he starts padding that ass with complacency cupcakes. I am sure Mike McCarthy was plenty happy to see his starting running back walk through the doors of the facility having dropped his pregnancy weight, but telling him as much would be the quickest way to get him to conceive another food baby. It's like negging a girl at the bar. Mike McCarthy needs to keep peppering Eddie Lady with subtle insults that leave his self esteem just vulnerable enough to adhere to the meal plan the team has put in place. You lead off OTA's by telling him how good he looks and it's going to his head faster than the container of Lo-Mein he's eating out of. When Eddie Lacy has the upper hand he - without fail - uses it to take a massive scoop off the top of the chip bowl. Xian, China huh? We can cross that one off the bucket list. I honestly can't even tell what's happening here. The linked article wants me to believe that this is a traffic circle, but to me it looks like a circular parking lot for a garden with a shitty statue in the middle. I say that because there's about a million cars entering into it and about 6.5 (pretty sure I see a Chinese version of a Mini Cooper) exiting it. Is this like the round equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle? Or maybe a big vehicular toilet in which all the cars are being flushed into the middle? I have no better explanation than this just being a black hole where sanity goes to die. There has got to be some sort of gravitational pull keeping these cars from going about their day because the only other alternative is that this is the never ending path to nowhere. I swear that there is not a single place I could possibly want to go badly enough to go even 180 degrees around this thing. Not just because the combination of traffic and traffic circles is enough to make me blow my brains out, but because this is a place where time seizes to exist and the temporary becomes forever. If only there were a way to communicate with these people I would tell them to drive straight into the statue and bring an end to whatever sorcery is responsible for this nightmarish display of centrifugal force. h/t Metro SportingNews- It's simple enough, Sullivan seemed to say on Wednesday, after his team tied the series 3-3 and forced a Game 7 at Consol Energy Center. Murray needed a rest, and they felt like that outweighed the risk of starting Fleury for the first time since March 31.
"Matt played a lot of hockey," Sullivan said. "He played a lot of games. This is a battle you're playing every other night. If it was the regular season, we probably wouldn't play our starting goalie that many games in a row. As a young goaltender, sometimes that's a tough load to carry." "(We) felt as though it was the right time for Marc, to give him an opportunity to get back in the game and try to win us a hockey game, and we were going to take it game by game," Sullivan said. "And we explained that to Matt, and we explained that to Marc. So our communication lines are very open with these guys. They understand where they're at. They also understand that they're both critically important to helping us win, and we value what they bring to this team." You know what's worse than a Head Coach overthinking things and inevitably creating an unnecessary goaltender controversy when his team's season hangs in the balance? Lying about it. Mike Sullivan can tell me until he's blue in the face that he thought Matt Murray needed a breather, but I'll be damned if I'm going to believe that the "rain" running down my back isn't his very own piss. Not when the game in question is a Game 5 at home with the series knotted at two apiece. That's undoubtedly not the time to potentially risk the outcome of a conference final for no other reason than to give a professional - that played all of THIRTEEN regular season games - a recuperation day. The goaltender switch was clearly made in hopes of inspiring his team to perform better. That's the only reason to start a goalie that was bound to bring an inferior level of play while making his initial return to the lineup after a two month absence. As dumb of a reason as I happen to think that is, it's infinitely better than putting your team at odds because you think a 21 year old kid is too tired to play 14 straight games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I am almost insulted by his implication that someone as young and spry as Matt Murray would need a night off when his lifelong dream hangs in the balance. Want to impress me Mike Sullivan? Come out and tell me that you simply made the incorrect decision, and your team - led by Matt Murray - saved your ass in Tampa Bay by giving you another opportunity to win an all too important game at home. A coach's job is to make an insane amount of tough decisions so I can admire when they admit that they made the wrong one. What I can't do is stand by while they ask me to ignore what I saw with my own two eyes in an attempt to tell me they were actually right all along. A Little Glimpse Into How Concerned Rougned Odor Is About His Potential Impending Suspension...5/25/2016
On Tuesday, Rougned Odor appealed his eight-game suspension for lighting up Jose Bautista with a monster right hand. Basically, this week would be the best time for the guy to try to be on his best behavior.
However, it looks like Odor doesn’t have a care in the world, because after the Rangers’ victory over the Angels on Tuesday, he threw a mock punch at Elvis Andrus after some playful slapping during their celebration. Has anyone ever felt less guilt for doing something illegal that would more than likely cost them money and playing time? Seriously, with the amount of fun that Roughned Odor is having in the aftermath of this incident he makes Ndamukong Suh look apologetic. Even Greg Hardy is complaining about this guy's lack of remorse. Aaron Hernandez is sitting in a prison cell somewhere wondering if he would be living a life of freedom if he had just taken his frustrations out on any and all bat flippers in Major League Baseball. Meanwhile, Rougned Odor has his own drink named after him, his BBQ tabs picked up for the foreseeable future, and he has a classic staple to work into his handshakes for the rest of time? They should double or triple his suspension upon appeal because 8 measly games for catching Jose Bautista clean across the jaw with a right is most definitely not going to make Rougned Odor regret his actions. Hell, he might enjoy taking the week off of work to promote his new found celebrity. The guy is basically his own brand at this point. There are professional boxers that are jealous of how much he has capitalized off one punch. I thought striking your opponent in the face was a part of the unwritten rules, but Odor has turned one day of violence into a lifetime of notoriety faster than O.J. Simpson. As of a little over a week ago I didn't even know who he was and now he's going to go down in Texas Rangers lore with nothing more than one all important "hit" on his resume. h/t BustedCoverage A Couple In Tampa Bay Followed Through On Their Agreement To Name Their Child After Nikita Kucherov5/25/2016 PuckDaddy- At 8:48 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Nikita Annette Franklin was born, named after forward Nikita Kucherov.
How did Laine and Eric Franklin land on Nikita as a name for their daughter? While attending a game last season, Laine informed Eric that she was pregnant. Jokingly, Eric told her that they should name the child after the Lightning player who scored the first goal in that game. Sure enough, it was Kucherov. "I didn't think she (Laine) was actually going to do it," said Eric Franklin, a 28-year-old Web developer. "But she ended up wanting the name more than I did.” The couple went back and forth over whether they were really going to name their first child after a hockey player. ”We weren't sure about the name at first," said Laine Franklin, 26, a teacher at Hunters Green Elementary School. "But it worked out, and we love it for her." That's just fate right there. Almost had no choice but to name their child after Nikita Kucherov. Would have been a slap in the face to the higher power that made sure the person on the team that scored the all important goal that eventually resulted in the naming of a little baby girl had a perfectly feminine first name. Something tells me this deal would have been long forgotten if Vladislav Namestnikov lit the lamp. Might have done a little extra scouring through baby names on the internet if Ondrej Palat had the hot hand that fateful night. Have to consider themselves pretty lucky that Slater Koekkoek didn't randomly find the back of the net for the first time all season or they would have had to do that thing where they look each other in the eyes and silently agree never to speak of their "agreement" ever again. I guess the odds of giving their child a gender appropriate name were considerably higher given that the Lightning have two rostered Nikita's, but you have to imagine that the Dad agreed to this hoping it would inspire the birth of a son. Pretty cool consolation prize to be able to name your daughter after a hockey player with a bright future within the organization though. Especially when her birth certificate should leave her predisposed to thinking of a night out at Amalie Arena to see her namesake as quality Daddy/Daughter bonding time. As much as I love what Joe Mikulik brings to the table as a Minor League Baseball Manager, I don't - in any way - envy the position he has put himself in. It's one thing to be A manager that goes above and beyond in arguing against a bad call, but it's a whole different animal to be THE manager that notoriously goes above and beyond argues against bad calls. I don't know if he even meant to do it, but somewhere along the line he was forced into accepting the responsibility to entertain the hundreds of men, women, children, and drunks in the crowd every single time he felt his team was wronged. He's basically a semi-professional manager that is simultaneously on-call as a performance artist and unfortunately for him, the audience is always left wanting more. He can't just go out there, lob a couple derogatory insults the way of the umpires, kick some dirt of the plate, and be done with it. Not unless he's okay with disappointing his loyal fanbase. It's gotten to the point where Joe Mikulik isn't even in it for the love of the tantrum anymore. He's simply trying to live up to the highest of expectations. The deadly accurate helmet toss? Two slides into second? Untucking his shirt in such an aggressive manner that he actually managed to flash his unsightly torso? The base punt that undoubtedly is going to leave him with a sore right foot by the time his adrenaline wears off? The kicking of the rosin bag and the scuffing of the base path? Dance monkey, DANCE! What could this guy possibly have on the docket the next time the boys in blue inevitably botch a decision that puts the Frisco Roughriders at odds? You can bet your ass that Joe Mikulik hopes his next appearance happens on the road, because he looked like he was about to pass out about halfway through an outburst that was accentuated strictly on behalf of the home crowd. That kind of pressure either bursts pipes or it makes diamonds. Joe Mikulik is currently a gem, but managing a Minor League Baseball is a "what have you done for me lately" position, and I don't know how many rants he has left in those lungs. Best of... Considering The Buildup, I Was Left Very Underwhelmed By This Talent Show Water Bottle Toss5/25/2016
I was ready to be wowed. Shit, I was basically at the edge of my seat as the music built and this kid stood 10, even 15 feet away from a table with water bottle in hand. Its when he crept within spitting distance of said table that the anxiousness I felt for the impending stunt really started to dwindle. Maybe I have become jaded by the likes of the internet, but that doesn't really explain why high school kids - that have been watching viral videos since diapers - were so enthused by something I could probably successfully complete 10% of the time. I personally hope that this isn't the direction we are heading in as a society. A two foot water bottle flip gets the 'And 1 Mixtape Tour' reaction? The youth of America better plan on bringing more to the online experience than this, because I was all set for him to get me out of my seat by launching that thing up in the air from the top of the bleachers. Instead I received an underwhelming feat that I have completed on accident multiple times. Maybe I am just not seeing the irony in this, but if this all it takes to get a cheer in high school these days then I don't regret the glory years where we really had to work for our applause.
Live look at Klay Thompson... Simple mistake. 15 assists, 40 assists. Other than 25, what's the real difference there? Yeah, I know the Warriors only scored 33 baskets in last night's game. I know that even during their 73-9 season they only averaged just over 26 assists. I know a player thinking that his team was rewriting the record books in a game in which his two best teammates couldn't buy a timely basket seems absolutely preposterous, but if you were Klay Thompson you would be frantically looking for positives too. He's basically just grasping at imaginary straws and I don't blame him. I don't even think Klay Thompson knew where he was during that postgame presser. His team hasn't lost back-to-back games in such awful fashion for as long as I - or anyone else - can remember. He's basically living in the twilight zone. Up is down, left is right, and the Oklahoma City Thunder have morphed into the Golden State Warriors. He's not used to talking to the media after a brutal loss. Especially not when he put up 19 points in a quarter. This is unfamiliar territory, and it's created a level of confusion that has turned Klay Thompson into Lloyd Christmas.
Forget about becoming the first ever unanimous MVP in NBA history. Put aside the absurdly impressive shooting splits. 400 3-pointers in a season is nothing compared to what Steph Curry accomplished last night. Steph Curry has somehow - in just two incredible seasons - managed to make people believe that he's incapable of playing poor basketball unless he has a physical ailment. He stepped out on the floor showing no signs of injury, shot an underwhelming 2-10 from behind the arc, and the immediate reaction of some was that he needs to get better on the trainer's table instead of getting better on the hardwood? Having the most efficient season of any perimeter player of all time pales in comparison to convincing a growing percentage of the public that you can't possibly fail when healthy. Now, do I think that his knee is 100% healthy? No. Do I think the knot on his elbow vanished into thin air without having any discernible effect on his shooting stroke? Again, no. That being said, he's not injured. He might be banged up - like almost every oft-used player is during this time of year - but he's not hurt. The possibility that people seem to lend no credence to is that he might just be demoralized. I know we have come to think of Steph Curry as some unflappable human being, but tell me the last time he has been challenged to this extent in this big of a spot? Can you recall a time he was staring in the face of a Russell Westbrook with his season on the line? It certainly wasn't when he faced off against Jason Terry is last year's Western Conference Finals. In fact, it's easy to forget since the Warriors won the title, but Steph Curry - at times - struggled mightily against the likes of Matthew Dellavadova in last year's NBA finals. That doesn't mean I think he's not a championship level player. It just means that I think he can become overwhelmed, and nothing will overwhelm you quite like having your primary defender go off for 30 points and a triple double. Steph Curry has the ability to turn it all around, and - as unlikely as it seems - it's not out of the question that the Warriors win three straight. However, let's to act like Westbrook's dominance isn't effecting the person that is not only expected to match it, but surpass it. I Owe An Apology To The NBA Because They Clearly Did The Right Thing By Letting Draymond Green Play5/25/2016 Who knew? I'll tell you who knew. The NBA knew, and they used that knowledge to risk looking like hypocritical assholes that refuse to uphold the integrity of the game. They willing accepted a full day of criticism banking on Draymond Green's non-suspension not only lighting a fire under a Thunder team that felt trivialized, but putting enough pressure on him to make him crack in a game he shouldn't have even been playing in. If I was as smart as Adam Silver then I never would have been clamoring for him to sit out Game 4. Why make him ride the bench in street clothes when it was so much more entertaining - and just as beneficial to his opposition - to watch him completely embarrass himself to the tune of 1 made field goal and 6 turnovers. This was like the epitome of 'much ado about nothing', because the Warriors - shockingly - would have been better off with their jack-of-all-trades agitator off the floor. I guess we should have seen his continued incompetence coming considering he was one game removed from being so flustered by a defensive player that he decided to try to take away his long term ability to father children, but I don't think anybody thought it would be this bad. Not to the point where one of the top 20 players in the league would look like he didn't belong on the floor. I don't think anyone could have imagined that Draymond Green - of all people - would actually suck himself speechless. I suppose that's just the evil genius of the NBA. Justice was served, and they didn't even have to jeopardize the entertainment value of the game by benching their talent. Fucking Adam Silver man, I don't think I would even be surprised if I found out his shit didn't actually stink. Managed to silence his critics, and clearly taught Draymond Green a lesson with his inaction... The San Diego Gay Men's Chorus Singing The National Anthem At The Padres Game Was A Massive Fail5/24/2016
Laist- What should have been a night of joy and celebration at Petco Park last night, instead turned into a nightmare raising serious questions about homophobia within the San Diego Padres organization and its relationship with the LGBT community.
Before the start of the last night’s San Diego Padres game, 100 volunteer singers of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus took to the field to proudly sing the National Anthem. Instead, in front of the large crowd gathered for the LA Dodgers game, the San Diego Padres played the recorded voice of a woman singing the anthem. No attempt was made to stop the recording and start over. No announcement of apology was made to the singers or their friends and families in the stands. No attempt to correct the situation occurred other than to force the 100 men to stand in the spotlight of center field for the song’s duration and then be escorted off the field to the heckles of baseball fans shouting homophobic taunts including “You sing like a girl.” With this as background, we call on the San Diego Padres and Major League Baseball to immediately launch a full and transparent investigation into the incident to determine if someone or some people intentionally engaged in anti-gay discrimination or a hate crime by playing a female’s voice to represent a group of gay men with the purpose of denigrating and/or ridiculing gay men. The historic significance of such an act is not lost on the LGBT community—especially in relation to professional sports—and added to the depth of embarrassment experienced by the singers and their families. We also call upon the City of San Diego City Attorney’s Office and the City of San Diego Human Relations Commission to independently investigate this incident to determine if members of the San Diego Padres organization engaged in activity in violation of the San Diego Human Rights Ordinance or engaged in any deliberate hate crimes based on sexual orientation. We applaud San Diego Padres President and Chief Executive Office Mike Dee for reaching out to our organization to apologize and to offer to meet with LGBT leaders to discuss the incident. We look forward to this meeting. We believe it is important to work together with the San Diego Padres organization to build bridges within the LGBT community rather than burn them down as happened last night.
Is the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus accusing the San Diego Padres of inviting all 100 of them onto the field just so they could intentionally blast a recording of a woman singing the National Anthem right in their face solely to embarrass them in front of all their friends and family? Is that what is happening here? Seems like a pretty elaborate ruse to play on a group of people that are paying to come to your stadium. A professional sports organization hates the homosexual community so much that they knowingly created negative publicity for themselves just to make an antiquated, bigoted statement and then lie about it? That doesn't seem all that logical to do from a business perspective. Is it possible that the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus is being a little too...uhhh...what's a socially acceptable synonym for gay...hmm...dramatic? Yeah, that's it! Pretty sure the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus is being a little dramatic if they think that his was a prejudice stunt instead of an actual technical difficulty. Granted, it's a rather unfortunate and untimely technical difficulty, but almost certainly a technical difficulty nonetheless. Sorry the sound wasn't working guys, but it's just one Star Spangled banner. Most of the fans are just there for a sporting event and they might get a little antsy waiting 15 more minutes to truly celebrate the LGBT community through song when there is a 3.5 hour baseball game they are trying to see the end of on a Sunday night. No need to assume intolerance when businesses realized that discrimination became very unprofitable at least several years ago. P.S. "You sing like a girl!" isn't homophobic, it's sexist. Not everything is about you gays, and even it was - I would consider that quite the compliment.
Is it fair to judge nearly three rounds of playoff basketball off of a select 28 second clip that features the dumbest of the dumb moments that have have highlighted an extremely underwhelming postseason? Probably not. However, if there hasn't been a time where you were watching a full length, competitive game and felt like you were witnessing this video on loop then you haven't been paying much attention. The battle for NBA supremacy has been - in a word - disgraceful. The much anticipated match-ups in the Western Conference never came to fruition (though there are still high hopes for OKC/Golden State). The Eastern Conference was basically a high school tournament that is now dragging the only highly impressive team down it's hallowed hallways. Hell, the last couple months of basketball have been so bad that the league ignored a blatant kick to the scrotum just so they could keep every shred of talent on the floor to salvage every remaining ounce of entertainment. The way things have gone to this point I wouldn't be completely stunned to see the Raptors face off against the Thunder in the finals. If that happens then we all might as well switch from cable to 'On-Demand' and pay a few bucks to watch dudes shove foreign objects up their ass with pubic hair glued to their face, because only a jackass would be excited for that series. LBS- Le’Veon Bell was lost for the season last year in Week 8 when he suffered a torn MCL against the Cincinnati Bengals. If you remember, several Pittsburgh Steelers players took exception to the way Vontaze Burfict reacted when Bell went down. While Bell clearly feels there was some intent from Burfict, he says the Bengals linebacker is not the only one who plays that way.
“I don’t think it was just (Burfict); it was like the whole team was really out there trying to like twist my ankles and do little dirty stuff in between the piles,” the running back said, via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I feel like there’s a lot of teams that do that, try to take me out of the game.” When asked which teams aside from the Bengals do “dirty stuff,” as he said, Bell chose not to point any direct fingers. “Umm, a couple, but obviously a lot of teams in our division really play that same way, so obviously I know that,” he said. “I just was kind of ignorant to that at first because I didn’t think people played like that.” I am sorry. I have to plead ignorance here too. Teams were intentionally trying to hurt Le'Veon Bell? That's where I draw the line in the sand when it comes to football. I thought they were just out there attempting to put the crown of a reinforced helmet through his sternum, and launching themselves at his ankles at full speed when he wasn't looking in an attempt to stop him from getting into the end-zone. I didn't realize they were actually trying to sideline him by inflicting as much pain as humanly possible. This changes my whole view of the sport. I'm fine with bone rattling hits on defenseless players and de-cleating blindside blocks, but I refuse to accept hurting someone on purpose. Next thing you're going to tell me is that the everyone doesn't keep their hands to themselves when they are battling for a loose fumble or that players sometimes engage in disparaging, dehumanizing banter between whistles. I always knew football players were forced to be violent to succeed, but I didn't realize that sometimes they are downright not nice to each other. It's that the case then they should be throwing flags every single play, because the type of thing that Le'Veon Bell is talking about doesn't sound very sportsmanlike to me. Especially when I have never seen the alleged victim do anything that might put the health of a bigger, stronger oncoming defender at risk. Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley made quite the statement against the game of football as it relates to player safety.
Speaking on WGR Tuesday morning, Whaley said football is “a violent game that I personally don’t think humans are supposed to play,” per Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News. So I guess we really can't handle the truth, huh? I see a lot of people saying that Doug Whaley is an idiot for saying that humans weren't mean to play football, and you could certainly make the argument that he would have been better off leaving that fuse unlit. That said, you could also make the argument that it's better to be an honest hypocrite than an ignorant optimist. Give me the guy that understands how morally compromising it is to employ a bunch of football players knowing that they are putting themselves at risk by playing football. Give me the guy that might be a little too outspoken, but is smart enough to know that human bodies weren't built to withstand the physical toll of running at each other full speed and outright attempting to inflict as much pain as possible on one another. That's far more commendable than the alternative, which is basically turning a blind eye to all the long term injuries and potential deaths that have come at the hands of the sport. Doug Whaley just said what everyone with a brain - that hasn't been subjected to dozens upon dozens of open field hits - already knew. The world would be a safer, albeit much less entertaining, place without football. Saying so out loud was a PR team's worst nightmare, but it doesn't change anything. If anything, admitting that there is a problem is the first step in trying to solve it. What are they going to fire him for not being in complete denial? Is that going to make sport that's inherently predicated on violence any less dangerous? This is what the higher ups in the NFL should be doing. It's the exact opposite of what Roger Goodell and his merry band of minions did when they pulled millions upon millions of dollars of funding from concussion research when they realized they weren't going to like the findings. Doug Whaley just gave in to Will Smith's demands. He told the truth. Doesn't mean a business as profitable as the NFL is going anywhere. It just means that some of the people that hold the most power in the company - commissioner not included - aren't completely compassionless, corrupt buffoons with only their bottomline in mind. h/t YardBarker The Buffalo Bills Have Demanded That The Media Only Report The Positive Aspects Of Training Camp5/24/2016 Wait, you can do this? You can just tell the people whose job it is to criticize that they legally can no longer criticize you? Oh course the Buffalo media is up in arms. Their profession - which is now basically just reporting all the things that the Bills (of all teams) are doing well - just became exponentially harder. I am not saying it's right that the Buffalo Bills are essentially practicing in the Fort Knox of negativity, but it is pretty clever on their part. Successfully running a football team is hard enough without answering to people who are constantly trying to find each and every new way in which you are doing it wrong. If I was Rex Ryan I would make myself untouchable until the season started too. Hell, everyone should try to minimize the amount of scrutiny they are allowed to face at the workplace. Even these journalists - who I would imagine are frantically bitching to any open ear within a ten mile radius - would love to tell their editor to shut the fuck up and publish. Unfortunately, unlike the job of a football coach, the job of a media personality is largely dependent on someone whose responsibility is to make sure their efforts are fit for broadcasting. Again, I don't agree with it because Rex Ryan gets paid a shit ton of money to deal with second guessing. However, if it's second guessing that he's not contractually obligated to hear until September then I don't see why he wouldn't do all he can to silence the outside forces that make his job more infinitely more tedious. Metro- YouTube’s ‘biggest couple’, who have almost 9 million subscribers following their pranks and stories of daily life, have announced they are splitting up.
In a tearful video, Jesse Wellens and Jeana Smith – better known as BFvsGF – say they have decided to take a break from their relationship and from daily vlogging. ‘This is like telling a bunch of kids that their parents are getting divorced,’ Jesse said. The couple, both 33, were famous for their ‘prank war’ which saw both of them try to upstage each other with gradually more elaborate scams, such as when Jesse faked that that his girlfriend’s cat had died. Their prank when Jeana drew a penis on Jesse’s forehead on a flight as he slept, leaving him to carry on through the airport without realising, was viewed more than 23 million times. Their latest and possibly last video together seems deadly serious. Visibly upset, Jeana adds: ‘Everybody thinks we have a perfect life and it’s really not at all. Everybody has problems and issues. We choose not to put that in the videos usually.’ Huh. So pranking your significant other on the internet for all to see is - in fact - not the best way to maintain a healthy relationship? Who knew? I personally thought that getting tricked on a daily basis and being forced to laugh into a camera about it would be just about the easiest way possible to deal with hardships of sharing a life with someone. Being on your toes every single moment of every day out of fear of being made sport of is the perfect way to keep that shared heart beating as one. I can't believe this didn't work out. Everyone knows that disguising your true emotions and pretending you are always in a good mood is the most efficient way to achieve an adequate level of happiness. I thought constantly being judged by the wholesome, good natured members of the YouTube comment section would really help these two hone in the aspects of themselves that need work. There's only so many times you can be told to "eat a dick" before you realize that maybe you - and your significant other - could benefit from some changes that enhance the quality of your viral product and inevitably enhance the quality of your life. It's sad that they were too selfish to prioritize the temporary satisfaction of their viewers over their own life long well being, because I really thought they had what it took to last if they kept broadcasting each other's weakest moments to millions upon millions of people. |
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