208 thoughts on “June 16, 2011: B’s”

    1. Good thing you didn't suggest that after last weekend when the Snappers did the same.

  1. There are babies born in Boston after midnight who had never seen a Boston championship....

    1. "He's going to struggle as an offensive player...he's going to struggle with athleticism...."

      Oy. Good thing he's a "champion".

      1. Where did you see those quotes? Did they switch up the article? All I see is Coach K saying that he's going to be good defensively and look to past first, making him popular with his teammates. Now, that doesn't preclude offensive struggles (which means just shooting or passing as well?), but the Wolves had a pretty terrible defense last year, so some help on that front would probably be welcome.

    2. Now that he's signed, you know he won't be any good. This is the way of the Wolves.

  2. I apologize if this has been posted somewhere else already but this photo from the riots last night is awesome.

      1. Are you suggesting one is a Bruins fan and the other a Canucks supporter?

        1. It’s your typical boy-meets-girl, boy-and-girl-get-it-on-in-the-middle-of-the-street, boy-and-girl-are-interrupted-by-drunken-mob, boy-and-girl-continue-to-get-it-on story.

          I've seen it a thousand times.

          1. there's nothing more gangsta than middle-class, drunk white kids looting stores, then mugging for the cameras with their loot. I'm sure their parents are very proud.

            1. I was in Mankato during the riots on campus. They took place in Campusview just months after I'd moved from there. A pregnant co-worker of mine heard about the riots and just had to be there. A low point for a low-class girl.

              1. I've always wanted to attend a riot, because that'd make for great photography. I wouldn't be a participant, at least not willingly.

                1. Yeah, but as a body present at a riot you'll be considered a participant by the authorities.

                  1. Bingo. Being there is the crime. Stay away.

                    I wonder if you were staying a decent distance away with a professional-looking camera, though, if you could present yourself as a journalist.

                    1. Even freelance journalists have badges identifying themselves as such. What struck me most about the footage from Vancouver was the sheer number of people taking photos of themselves on their smartphones, I assume to update their facebook status.

                    2. Ugh. My sister is that type right now (she's 19, but still). When I suggest she might not want all that stuff up there (Edit: not riot-related, but bragging about drinking related), ten dumbass teenagers jump on my back because I'm "old."

                    3. In the future, all activities will be replaced by taking a picture of yourself. Attending a graduation ceremony? Nope, taking a picture of yourself at a graduation ceremony. Walking in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics? Nope, taking a picture of yourself at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. Going to see a band? Nope, going near a band to take a picture of yourself.

                    4. I might be straying here, but I've never understood photo opportunities...long lines of people waiting to get a photo with a celebrity. What does it prove? What is it for? It's not a candid photo so it doesn't fool anyone into believing you know the person. If anyone can explain the draw of photo ops with celebrities, I'm truly interested in hearing it, although I assume this is just another thing I can chalk up to "Celebrities are just people, but a lot of non-celebs don't seem to know that."

      1. i saw that guy on standing on the roof in the third picture down on the CTV live feed last night. the newscastesr in the studios were asking about the gentlemen standing on the roof, and the reporter on the said, "they're just a couple more of the idiots here tonight. that one has his bowl out. smoking his weed."

      2. I just don't get it. Buffalo is as starved for a sports championship as any city in the world. Buffalo is as drunk as any city I know of. However I would be blown away if something like this were to happen in Buffalo.

        Now one could argue there is no downtown to destroy in Buffalo and I couldn't really fight them. Hey, you want to damage some abandoned grain mills, go ahead. An empty mall downtown? Go ahead, run through the halls. Yet I digress. In a city like Vancouver, one that is internationally respected for its class and progressiveness, you see this? I don't get it. Boston, on the other hand, is filled with the biggest sports fan turds on this side of the Mississippi and they handle WINNING the championship with class?

        I expected better Vancouver. When Scott Norwood missed his kick after Super Bowl XXV do you know what happened in downtown Buffalo? 10,000 people met them at the airport to welcome them home. Afterwards 20,000 people met the Bills at City Hall and chanted "We Want Scott! We Want Scott!" until he came up to the front of the stage and the fans cheered until Norwood cried.

        I am not saying Buffalo is a better city than Vancouver, I just... don't get it. I hope Buffalo never has to show a city like Vancouver how to win with class again, heck, I hope we can one day show a city how to win with class-- though I doubt that will happen.

        I just fail to see how a city can take pride in itself and then do this to itself.

        /steps off high horse/

        1. A bunch of folk were sick of feeling like they had to live up to their city's classy reputation. They had all this anti-social destructive behavior repressed because that's not something that Vancouverians do. And once something came along, all that bottled-up stupidity, that desire to not be the nicest city in the world, came out in one ugly fashion.

          Also, some of the folk didn't look like hockey fans. Could there have been anarchist instigators?

        2. Okay, Norwood might not have cried but he was choked up, for sure.

          httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c21xzRcd2Uo

              1. The last time I went to a Taste of Buffalo it was held on the field at Bisons stadium where I witnessed a 90 pound grandmother dominate the chicken wing eating contest.

    1. OK, how do I plan a sitter for the next MN hockey riot?
      And how do I get my wife to go along with making out in the street during said riot?

      1. And how do I get my wife to go along with making out in the street during said riot?

        I think the answer is typically alcohol, but you might need to get creative.

        1. I'm going to go out on a limb and say no wives were involved here. Or at least, no wives of that man were involved here. Or at least, that is not that man's wife.

      1. After a few refreshes, I found it too. That is up there among my favs.

        PS - How hard would it be to create a gallery of the different headers so we can access them at will?

      2. paint is all I have to work with on my work laptop; needs better lettering. I'll adjust it later

        (and it has Tolbert in it. who else can you name?)

        1. very nice, rhu_ru (i explained my extremely convoluted manner of creating headers to scarydairy, and almost made his head asplode; paint was involved).

        2. who else can you name?

          I see:

          Lew, BRADke, the aforementioned Tolbert, Baby Jeebus, Neshek, Shannon Stewart x2, F-Bomb x2, Johan, Torii, Hrbek, and JI

          JIM THOME.

          1. I use a little freeware app called Paint.net. It's got a lot more functionality than Paint, and it's pretty intuitive and easy to use (not to mention free) compared to Photoshop or Paintshop Pro.

            1. That's what I used for my header today. It was quick and painless, other than realizing I'd forgotten to put Zack up there and then Rob getting all up in my area. (But, again, quick fixes)

    1. And another new header. An embarrassment of riches!

      I'm wondering about retiring some, though. Maybe I'll poll the Nation about it sometime.

          1. Heh. I considered that, but it's as easy as the occasional edit. I think most of the regulars are up there, but I only went back three or four days and pretty much filled the space I had.

              1. Again, easily edited if someone like Geoff or Milt notices they aren't up there.

                Wait...are you not up there? I thought I copied your avatar...

    1. To paraphrase George Carlin, it's okay to send a prick your picture, but don't send a picture of your prick...

      1. This looks like a lineup designed to make Ozzie Guillen start muttering to himself very early in the game.

        The bonus is that if this line up knocks Burly around, it will be that much sweeter.

    1. Ha! A STrib story mentioned the possibility of Gardy not wanting to mess with Revere and Casilla at the top of the lineup, so I figured that meant Nishi batting ninth to "ease" him back into the lineup. So much for that. Of course, this is just for today. We'll see what happens when Mauer returns (I can't wait!).

    1. I recently met an artist that I worshiped as a young painter, and it was a totally disheartening experience. Truly a self-absorbed jackass. I've had a few experiences like this over the years and have decided that it's best to keep my idols at an arms length.

    2. I have a decent number of friends (Facebook-variety, just barely in real life) who go on and on about how "Team (x) is full of losers" and whatnot, and praise the Twins because "They're the only team that plays the right way." One other girl says that they're the only team she can be "100% sure" has not taken steroids, which is funny since Rincon was nabbed for juicing while with the team.

      I love the games, and always keep the players separate from that. The good guys, like Cuddyer, are just gravy.

        1. Of course. I really liked this article, even amongst his other articles, because it does a great job of boiling down the sports experience and why I enjoy it down to its basic elements.

    3. This is why I was loving every minute of the 16-0 Patriots running up the score on their opponents. I'm not much of an NFL guy, but when you introduce a villain into the story, there's some intrigue. Otherwise it's one set of laundry against another. Hell, even something as cold and unfeeling as chess can capture people's attention when the subtext is the free world versus the evils of communism.

      1. Not to mention it was the only way the New York effing Giants could be made into the good guys.

  3. Twins are averaging 4.9 runs per game in their last 26 games. Only the Yankees and Red Sox are averaging more runs on the season. The AL average is 4.3. On the season, the Twins have now moved up to 11th in runs scored, moving ahead of the Mariners, A's and Angels. Don't believe any stories about improved Rangers pitchers at the end of the year.

      1. Barely more than 10 percent (18 of 162) of each of those team's games are against the Rangers. Meanwhile, one-third of the Rangers' games are against the bottom three teams in the AL in offense.

    1. AJ may want to take a closer look at the number of base runners he's thrown out during his career...

      1. When he was with the Twins his CS% was at least 30% every year he was the primary catcher. He hasn't been above 26% since.

    2. Replace "Gavin" with "Carl Pavano" in that quote and I doubt anyone hear would be making much of a big deal of the catcher saying anything. Of course, it would probably be Gardy saying it and not the catcher.

  4. Yorvit Torrealba is the latest to accuse the Yankees of stealing signs. I still cannot, for the life of me, figure out why stealing signs is filed under "cheating" instead of "strategy." If you don't want something to be "stolen," don't put it where everyone can see it.

    1. Teams need to mic up the catcher and pitcher. The batter might be able to hear the catcher muttering though.

    2. I agree. If you're using binoculars or a camera or something, that's different, but if you're just good enough to pick up the other team's signs, well, good for you and tough on them.

    3. Maybe not cheating, but I'd say firmly unethical. If someone leaves a cookie on their desk and I eat it, I could assert that it's their fault, they should always lock up their cookies so that no one steals them. But that would be an inconvenience and I'd argue we're all worse off as a company if we have to spend a bunch of time locking things up in what is otherwise supposed to be a secure area.

      With baseball, it's mainly a dick move to steal signs. In my view, the thrust of the game is in the batter-pitcher confrontation--can the hitter figure out what the pitcher is throwing him and get a hit. Sure, we can require pitchers and catchers to mask their signs, and they do generally change their signs with runners on base, but it slows the game down. Cheating might be too strong a term, but I don't think it's consistent with the intent of the game and if it slows the game down, it's not such a good thing, either. People complain enough about mound visits from the catcher as it is.

  5. I posted this in the game log, but didn't want it to be missed. Just simply outstanding writing.

    in full:

    Will to win is what makes players great

    If they get the chance, the Kings should draft Connecticut's Kemba Walker, because he has what the greatest winners of all time had or have: the will to win.

    Think J.J. Barea and Jason Terry in the NBA Finals.

    Walker is only 6-foot-1 and might have trouble defending bigger NBA guards, but in big-game situations, he has done what it takes to win. Witness his leadership during UConn's 11-game winning streak to the NCAA title.

    Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant … the greatest players play the whole floor and do whatever it takes to win – pass, block shots, apply pressure, make big steals and, most critically, knock down money shots or put their teammates in position to do so.

    The Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki showed a tremendous will to win in the playoffs, culminating with clutch shooting in the fourth quarter of Game 6. Terry oozed will to win, with pressure shots and defense. So did Jason Kidd, with relentless defense on Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. Even Barea had the will to win, when his team desperately needed points and leadership.

    Wade – who played brilliantly, blocking shots, making steals, delivering key assists and scoring – has the will to win, but he and James apparently didn't want it badly enough.

    They needed a dose of what Nowitzki and Terry got the last time they played the Heat in the NBA Finals, in 2006, when they blew a 2-0 series lead and lost in six games: the will to win fueled by humility.

    I am just speechless.

    1. If I had a nickle for every March Madness hero who willed his college team to victory - and then never amounted to much in the NBA...

      1. See what happens is that these heroes get corrupted by the evilness of the NBA. NBA stars are just evil, period.

      1. I hope you didn't punch yourself in the groin before bS posted this, or you'd end up both doing that and reading this article.

            1. Ah. So, there was no counterpoint against the idiocy contained here, no suggestion that "Maybe this assertion I'm making is the stupidest thing I've ever done."

              Wow.

              1. I kept reading it, waiting for the punchline. I thought for sure it was a jopke.

      1. What is going on?
        Why don't they want the Babe Ruth of baseball on the team?
        ERA: .00,
        BAA: .063,
        OBA: .176
        OPS: .243
        WHIP: .600
        bWAR/9: .4
        fWAR/9: .2
        WPA/9: .5

    1. Optioned, eh? I didn't know that was an, ahem, option. That has to be the only reason he'd go out instead of Dumatrait, right?

    2. Apparently, keeping the Dink and The Chuck James was considered unfair by other teams, so instead the Twins were forced to activate some losers named Mauer and Perkins. Oh well. It was good while it lasted. Fear the Dink!!!111!!!

    1. Comment on LENIII's blog post re: Mauer's return:

      Congresswoman Giffords has recovered from a gunshot wound to the brain faster than Joe Mauer recovered from "Bilateral leg weakness".

      Good. Lord.

    2. From Joe C.

      Asked point blank to address rumors that he was suffering from something such as Lyme disease, Mauer said, "I don’t have Lyme disease. That’s the thing. I think everybody’s kind of formed their own opinion on that -- why I’ve missed time is because of my knee and weakness in the legs, and compensating for my knee. Is my knee good to go now? Yeah. I still have to work at it.

      "I have no disease or anything like that, so I think that’s probably a good thing to clear that up a little bit."

      Seriously? Lyme disease? Next question: Do you just think you have Lyme Disease like Miss Hoover?

  6. For some reason I feel like mentioning here that I want to find a mint Pioneer SX-1080 for my office. Who's with me?!

      1. I just need stereo music in my office. These beasts are pretty much the best bang for the buck in terms of quality. Better than most affordable new stuff you could buy - similar performance to separates. Want!

    1. I love the updated abbreviation OPSBIs. How the hell does one bat in an on-base plus slugging?

      Also, that list is great: The guys with better OPS's drive in more runs. WHO KNEW?!?!?

      1. Bowden's we-need-12-not-10-teams-in-the-playoffs-because-byes-suck post was terrific as well. He's building quite an impressive library at the 4ltr.com.

        On Wednesday morning, Mike&Mike were discussing this idea and Golic made fun of an e-mailer who pointed out that 12 teams would lead to byes. It eventually dawned on the Mike's that 12/2 is 6 and 6/2 is 3. In an effort to explain what is needed, Greenberg posited that maybe the right number of playoff teams to avoid byes has to be divisible by both 2 AND 4. (12, of course, is divisible by 2 and 4.) Is it any wonder that sports writing and reporting is so terrible? These guys are all idiots.

        1. Guh?! A lifelong sports fan couldn't figure out the numbers that can be used for non-bye tournaments?

          It was pointed out, and still he couldn't understand this? Surely, dumb people have some idea that they are dumb? Does Golic realize that he played in a sport where 12 teams make the playoffs and byes are needed?

          My soul is crying here.

          1. Give them a break, its not like there are any examples of playoffs that extend the number of teams included without needing a bye to 64 or anything.

    2. Bowden on automobiles: "I've got it! If I hook a hitch to the front of my car, I can have it pulled by horses! Brilliant!"

          1. It kills me when people misspell his name. Never mind that he's a Hall of Famer..."Bert" is also by far the more common spelling. Poor guy...he changes his professional name from "Rik Aalbert" to simply "Bert" and people still can't manage to spell it.

    1. Absolutely loved this part:

      I hate that ball park and that they made it gorgeous.

      and this one too:

      I hate Carl Pavano, that he's not the raging dbag he was with the Yankees, his refusal to follow any standards of decency and shave his damn upper lip.

      1. It is nice that one some, buried, level he realizes that he's probably railing against a team he wouldn't feel anything about under other circumstances.

          1. I'm torn between laughing at and being depressed by it. It's hard, since I don't know the guy who posted it and therefore I have no idea when he's just exaggerating as part of the gimmick.

            I guess in the end, all I can be sure of is: thank the SBG above that there's a place like this.

            1. Read it in juxtaposition to Posnanski's bit on Clemensating. or whatever he called it.

                1. To me, it all seemed fun, cartoonish clemenating. It wasn't sexist or realistically violent.
                  I enjoyed it quite a bit.

                  I've read their logs before, and they've all been up on the hate and the self-hate.
                  If that was my team, I couldn't stay there for long periods.
                  Remember the former digs in the '09 and '10 postseasons? You know what Hawk Harrelson wants to say when he instead leaves the booth? That place all year round.

    2. I hope/know there's going to be a special place in Hell where Torii Hunter and Kurby spend time assaulting each other...

      Kurby?

    3. The comments, egads! They are applauding this young man! And the most Gladden-esque one:

      Tashaki Nintendo has landed on my shit list
      That back handed flip to the at the end the of an inning just really struck a nerve with me. If this was Jeter, Reyes, or someone who’s actually accomplished something in the USA, then I could accept it, but not some bum who just came back from the DL after Swisher broke his leg…

        1. My favorite part of this is reading TwinkieTown's administration continue to talk up SSS as a "great blog and great community" to maintain the promotion of the SBNation brand.

          1. Wow. It's a middling blog and a horrible community, or at least it was when I last visited.

            [comments on Twinkie Town redacted]

          2. That's funny, because the folks at Lookout Landing have no bones about specifically calling out Halos Heaven as the worst site in the history of the internet and actively discourage cross-pollination.

              1. When I have gone there, it has been rather awful. Perhaps they have changed in the last few years.

      1. Wait, Nishioka did a backhanded flip?!!?
        httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztz0NLY_MLI

        Edit: pretty good company! 🙂

    1. Well, part of Richards' problem was that he tried to install a completely different, attacking offensive system that he never had the personnel for, so I guess Yeo is a better fit from that perspective.

    2. Younger than Richards but with more coaching experience. I was thinking NHL head coaching experience would be a must for this hire...I guess not.

    1. I've heard that Gasol's name has been thrown out there. It might just be a rumor based on the Spanish connection.

  7. Good old Ken Tremendous.

    I have written movies. I have seen movies. There's nothing Billy Beane can write in his movie that can teach me anything about movies.

  8. thisisdspan: I felt good today after my conditioning on the treadmill and weight lifting. Right now I'm still day to day but my days are getting better!

          1. I had to make an overnight trip to Minneapolis last summer so my friend could change his airplane ticket for his flight to Brazil. We stayed with one of my friends who lives just a couple of miles from the Toby Keith's in St. Louis Park. A bunch of his friends were in there, and we had to go in for 10 minutes. It was 10 of the worst minutes of my life.

            It's like, it bothers me enough that this jackass is rich and famous, but then to see a bunch of suburbanites drinking $6 drinks from mason jars was just like a cherry on top. Sorry, Denard, even if you were tending bar I wouldn't want to buy a drink there.

            1. It's too bad he's a jackass, because the dude can write a country song (I don't count his racist material as songs). He's got a couple about divorce that are heart-breaking, and he's been pretty creative with drinkin', cheatin', and friends-with-benefits.

        1. It was a fundraiser. Cuddyer's Tweet:

          Looking forward to raising some money tonight for the Minnesota military family foundation tonight at Toby Keiths. Come by and I will pour you a
          Beer!!

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