Archive Page 136

12
Nov
08

Wow the Economy is REALLY Bad

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Baseball and Boston
Tags: , , ,

The clearest sign that the current economic crisis is expected to continue for quite a while; the Boston Red Sox for the first time in 14 years have NOT raised their ticket prices for next season. “As stewards of this great franchise, John, Larry and I hold our positions as a kind of public trust, and from that perspective, a freeze in ticket prices for the 2009 season is both fair and appropriate for the times and economic conditions,” said Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said in a press release.

John Henry is a billionaire financial genius, if he doesn’t think that the market will support a ticket increase on a team that has set the record for consecutive sell-outs and where people will gladly sell their childen in order to get season tickets then I am very VERY concerned. Our country’s economy is going to completely collapse. Get out now!

11
Nov
08

Way to Go BBWAA

By slanch 2 Comments
Categories: Baseball and Douches
Tags: , , , , ,

I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed this, the Baseball Writers Association of America, the people who get to vote on awards like MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and the Hall of Fame, the people who are supposed to be the most knowledgeable and informed about the game are apparently retarded. That’s the only conclusion I can come to. While looking over the results for yesterday’s NL Rookie of the Year something struck my attention. The order of the final ballot went this way:

  1. Geovany Soto
  2. Joey Votto
  3. Jair Jurrgens
  4. Edinson Volquez

Now 1-3 I have zero compunctions with, it is that fourth place guy that bothers me. You see the rules for eligibility for the RoY award state that a player who has pitched 50 innings in the big leagues previously is no longer considered a rookie and thus, ineligible for the award. So let’s take a trip back in time courtesy of Baseball Reference shall we.

The year was 2005 and Edinson Volquez was still a Texas Ranger, in a late season call-up he pitched in 12 2/3 innings, compiling an 0-4 record and an ERA of 14.21, so OK, he wasn’t ready for the big time yet. In 2006 he received another late season call-up, this time pitching 33 1/3 innings en route to a 1-6 record with an ERA of 7.29. Hey at least he was improving…2007 came and Volquez once more got his taste of the majors with yet another late season call-up. This time he pitched 34 innings with an ERA of 4.50 and a record of 2-1. So let’s do a little math here, stick with me, I know it’s early.

  • 12 2/3
  • 33 1/3
  • 34

Hmm…that equals 80 innings! What was that eligibility requirement? Oh yeah, 50 innings. So again, let me get the ol’ calculator out…Oh, wow, that’s a 30 inning difference! In fact, before he ever threw a pitch for the Cincinnati Reds, Volquez was NOT a rookie. He pitched the entire season as NOT a rookie. He went to the All-Star game, NOT AS A ROOKIE.

Clearly though, the people who are supposed to be responsible to the history of the game, the group of people who don’t think Cal Ripken is a unanimous Hall of Famer, the people who thought Luis Apricio WAS a Hall of Famer, they definitely know what’s going on.

What an embarrassment. Even MLB.com was ashamed, in their writeup of the awards they made sure to mention, “Volquez’s presence on that list is definitely unique: No longer a rookie, the pitcher was mistakenly placed on the ballot and received three votes for second, thus there was an obligation to include him in the final results.” Continue reading ‘Way to Go BBWAA’

11
Nov
08

Mets Finally Destroy Bullpen

By slanch 4 Comments
Categories: Baseball
Tags: , ,

In some of the best possible news for Mets fans, the organization yesterday completely demolished their bullpen. The weak point of the team this past season; the likely reason why Johan Santana won’t win a Cy Young award later today, the prime reason why for the second year in a row the team collapsed at the end of the season is thankfully no more. Unfortunately the destruction will not last, and the changes will not be too significant, but at least the benches and mounds’ll be new… Look for next year’s bullpen to be full of Latin players.

10
Nov
08

Ow Ow Ow Ow Ow

By slanch 1 Comment
Categories: Football
Tags: , , ,

Here is Minnesota Vikings return man Charles Gordon during yesterday’s game getting munched after receiving a punt. Pay close attention to the ankles. Yeowch!

07
Nov
08

What is Offsides?

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Pop Culture and Soccer
Tags: ,

This video of John Cleese explaining offsides isn’t hilarious, but it’s amusing and frankly, I like John Cleese a LOT and so I’m putting it up. Hey, it’s my blog.

07
Nov
08

Reebok Swoops in on Nike’s Miscue

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Awesome and Other Sports
Tags: , , ,

I bet you thought the story of Arien O’Connell, the school teacher who won but didn’t win, but then became “a” winner of the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco was over, but guess what, it ain’t! Seeing how their rival company kept botching the story, and seeing an opportunity to make a little publicity of their own, Reebok stepped in yesterday and surprised O’Connell at her school presenting her with a special trophy, free shoes every month for a year, t-shirts for all her students and a $2,500 donation to her school. And just to stick it in Nike’s ass a little more, the inscription on the trophy read: “Winner and Heroine of Non-Elite Runners Everywhere.” Nicely done Reebok, you do a good thing and you get to piss off Nike. Well played.

07
Nov
08

Rangers Show How Classless They Are

By slanch 1 Comment
Categories: Douches and Hockey
Tags: , , ,

Showing that they can be total capital “d” Douches, the New York Rangers are seeking the 17th pick in this year’s draft as compensation for not being able to sign their 2006 first round choice, also the 17th pick. The reason they were unable to sign Alexei Cherepanov? He’s the player who was tragically killed during an Russian hockey league game.

As Rangers assistant GM Cam Hope told the NY Post:

The question is with the one parenthetical phrase in Article 8.3 (b) that refers compensation for an unsigned first-round draft pick who is ‘… again eligible for the Entry Draft or becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent …’ That language was inserted to clarify that a team would be owed a compensatory pick even if they were to re-draft that player or sign him as a free agent.

It seems now as if that phrase is unintentionally precluding the deceased from being included as eligible for compensation. We understand that this is a sensitive issue, but with all due respect to Alexei’s family and his memory, he is technically eligible to be drafted again next year.

We are not attempting to capitalize on a tragedy, but there would be no question regarding the Rangers’ right to a compensatory pick if Cherepanov had been revived and survived the incident and were on life support.

If an unsigned player sustained a massive injury on or off the ice, the drafting team would get a compensatory pick,” Hope said. “We believe that the letter of the law applies in this case, but even if there is a disagreement on that, it’s clear that the spirit of the law applies.

Classy guys. SUPER Classy. This would be like the Celtics seeking a compensatory pick, in this year’s draft for Len Bias’ death. Sure, it’s only been 20 years, but c’mon, we’re owed the second pick in the draft!

I get that the Rangers are upset, sure, but c’mon this is just pathetic. Fuck you Glen Sather. Cherepanov’s death was unfortunate and sad, but don’t try and milk it to get something else, that’s just sick.

07
Nov
08

It’s All Academic

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Awesome and Football
Tags: , , , ,

Here’s something you never hear in college sports, an athlete choosing academics over sports. Myron Rolle, a safety on FSU’s defense won’t be playing in Saturday’s game against Maryland, which could decide the ACC’s Atlantic Division because he has an interview in Birmingham, Alabama to become a Rhodes Scholar. Rolle, who has a GPA of 3.75 and wants to be a medical anthropologist (someone likes watching Bones!) thought that this situation might come up, but for him, there was no hesitation, “this is a priority to me and my family. This is something really special.”

FSU officials are being especially supportive of Rolle, even trying to switch the game time to an evening game so that, with a private plane he might be able to leave Birmingham and possibly make the game’s second half and still play. The school received a waiver from the NCAA for the private plane, with Athletic Director Randy Spetman saying, “It’s not a competitive advantage or disadvantage for the player. This is what the NCAA is here for, to help the student-athlete excel in both the classroom and on the athletic field.”

For once, that’s actually true. I may hate college sports, but now I officially like Myron Rolle. Go get ’em!

06
Nov
08

AL Gold Glove Winners, EARLY!

By slanch 5 Comments
Categories: Baseball
Tags: , ,

Ooops! Looks like no one told the Sporting Goods Newswire that the AL Gold Glove winners weren’t being announced until 4pm, because they released the winners early.

AND THE WINNERS ARE:

P – MIKE MUSSINA – YANKEES
C – JOE MAUER – TWINS
1ST – CARLOS PENA – RAYS
2ND – DUSTIN PEDROIA – RED SOX
3RD – ADRIAN BELTRE – MARINERS
SS – MICHAEL YOUNG – RANGERS
OF – TORII HUNTER – ANGELS
OF – GRADY SIZEMORE – INDIANS
OF – ICHIRO SUZUKI – MARINERS
No real bones of contention here for me, I’m obviously psyched to see Pedroia win his first of many Gold Gloves and it hopefully won’t be the only hardware he takes home this off-season… The choice of Pena over last year’s winner Youkilis is disappointing but not egregious, especially when considering how many games Youk played at third this year and that Pena can definitely pick it. The only player who stands out to me as somewhat iffy is Michael Young, but looking at the rest of the league there isn’t anyone else that really stands out besides maybe Orlando Cabrera as equally deserving. That Derek Jeter DIDN’T win is a sign that I may start to believe in this award as being almost legit once more. Torii Hunter continues to ride his reputation more than the reality that he isn’t as good as he once was but again not an egregious choice. I’d have preferred to see Carl Crawford win it, or perhaps Nick Markakis but then again, I have no vote so I guess I don’t matter.

06
Nov
08

You Know What I Like About High School Girls?

By slanch 1 Comment
Categories: Awesome, Football and Random
Tags: , , , , , ,

In a tradition that I can completely get behind, the senior cheerleaders at South Delta Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada every year at the final football game streak the field. With the Delta Sun Devils opposing the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers of Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School the senior girls streaked across the field, most wearing thongs and strategically placed duct tape and spraying silly string on their opponents. The Panthers were unable to regain their composure, ending up losing the game 20-14.

Ted Johnson, the school’s principal was less than enthused, having warned the girls not to do it beforehand, although that clearly didn’t work. As punishment for their disobedience, the principal has told the girls that if they do anything else bad they will be suspended, but otherwise are not in trouble. “Our position is one that we don’t celebrate this. We don’t find it funny,” he said. “We don’t take it lightly. This is a school. [In] schools, we hold higher ideals than we do in, say, the mall.” Let’s all take to the malls!

The students took obviously quite a different view of their prank. “It’s just kind of like a fun [graduation] prank for our year, and it’s been going on for a couple of years now,” said one of the girls, who wanted to be identified only as Rochelle. “It was pretty much out of fun.” I’ll say. Thanks Canadia!

3f03c57581ca409f1e99f5bc94abbb81

[CBC via Fan IQ]

05
Nov
08

Michael Irvin Says Something Intelligent?

By slanch Leave a Comment
Categories: Awesome, Football, Random and Television
Tags: , ,

Michael Irvin is a blowhard, his opinion is generally useless but I find myself sharing the same sentiments of the folk over at Awful Announcing that Irvin was strangely and surprisingly very eloquent in describing his reaction to last night’s election. Take it away Michael:

What a historical moment that was last night. … From an African-American standpoint, I watched my people — watched my people — celebrate the not guilty verdict of O.J. Simpson. They were so hungry for a victory of some kind that they celebrated — we celebrated — the verdict of O.J. And I was thinking to myself, ‘Two people are dead. Two people are dead’ Now, I’m not talking about my people, I’m explaining them here. They were just so hungry to say ‘We have a victory.’ And I cringe when I even think about that.

But last night I watched a celebration. A real celebration. A real celebration, and it was a celebration for everybody, and everybody celebrated, and they kept showing this shot, and I was watching, of this little black girl and this little white girl, just sitting there crying together, and I thought, wow. I thought about Martin Luther King and his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, and I thought about him saying, black kids and white kids playing together. …

Last night we removed all differences and became just one, and I thought that was a beautiful thing. It was just a beautiful thing. I stood here with my kids, we watched it and we cried and we prayed.

Well said sir. For one day I’ll heed your opinions.

05
Nov
08

By slanch 3 Comments
Categories: Awesome

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

Follow The Slanch Report

 Subscribe to RSS Feed

twitter / slanchreport

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 20 other subscribers

Sign Our Petition!

The Slanch Report has started an online petition asking the MLB Network to air the Dock Ellis no-hitter he threw on June 12, 1970 against the San Diego Padres. The moment was a seminal piece of baseball history and is certainly worthy of being rerun.

Please join us in this cause and sign the petition below so we can all share in this special and fantastic moment of baseball history. THANKS!
SIGN THE PETITION HERE! AND PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND PASS THIS ALONG!

April 2026
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930  

Categories