YET, NO MENTION OF ENDING BEER SALES AT THE 7th INNING: A surprisingly thoughtful list of the
50 worst ideas in sport (I especially like the rationale for No. 1: The Color Barrier, No. 17: Leaving Travis Henry Alone at the Team Hotel, and for including my favorite photograph in all of sports history). A slideshow, I'm afraid.
I reject and denounce any list that suggests that Boise State's blue turf is a *bad* thing.
ReplyDeleteI assume your favorite photo concerns a school where you spent 4 (or perhaps 5) years?
ReplyDelete#50 should be higher just to shame the National League as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteI actually think that #9, the Wildcat, is a good idea -- just that too many commentators don't know what it actually is. Ending beer sales early is a good idea -- cuts down on drunk driving, no?
ReplyDelete#51: relief pitcher specialization.
#52: no effective replay in baseball
#53: the NFL concussion issues.
Also, we need a 23 (a), "Letting celebrities sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame at Wrigley," with a special clause for Jim Belushi.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the job on Joe Morgan, I like how if you keep clicking "next," it rolls from a thoughtful blurb on the stupidity of the racial barrier to "if you liked this, you may also like 'The 50 hottest women to watch on sports tv.'"
ReplyDelete#12 should read "Blaming Bartman for Alex Gonzalez's inability to turn a simply double play."
ReplyDeleteThat said, even as a White Sox fan #6 amused me terribly.
#39 made this Pats fan wince, turn away from the computer, and discreetly dab at the tears welling up in her eyes.
ReplyDeleteSpent four, ought to have spent a fifth. Yes, of course.
ReplyDeleteI had the exact same reaction.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that. I was at that game, and no one at the game was talking about Bartman. We were talking about AGonz. And it wasn't just that he couldn't turn a simple double play. It was the inability to even get a single out on the play, and then to sit there, dumbfounded, after he booted the ball. And the Cubs' complete inability to do ANYTHING else after that. Bartman was a completely after-the-fact factor, and had nothing to do with the Cubs loss.
ReplyDelete"Hate racism? You must love boobs!"
ReplyDeleteWait. . .you think not having a DH is shameful? Is this the general view? I'd always thought that the DH was a bad idea (increases value of one-dimensional players at the expense of those with more all around skills and reduces the value of managerial strategy) and that the rest of the world agreed with me, but it never occurred to me to check. Huh. Next thing you'll tell me is that not everyone thinks Megan Fox is our next great actress.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't the shame fall on the league that isn't playing baseball?
ReplyDeleteExactly.
ReplyDelete"<span>Wait. . .you think not having a DH is shameful?"</span>
ReplyDeleteYes. Wasting at-bats on a pitcher in this age of specialization instead of using a DH is my one beef with the NL.
I for one hate racism and love boobs. But it was not the transition I expected.
ReplyDeleteReally, it's worth looking at the aftermath section on the Wiki page for the Incident. Even almost 7 years later, I can't quite believe just how badly the game unraveled.
ReplyDeleteCorrelation is not causation.
ReplyDelete#54 no replay in World Cup
ReplyDeleteI'm with Finn -- if you were inventing this game from scratch, you wouldn't design it so that once every three or fewer innings you sent up an automatic out. The DH makes baseball more interesting as long as your DH isn't anybody Seattle has used as a DH in the last five or six years.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, when I think about it, I realize that #6 may still be my favorite moment in professional sports.
ReplyDeleteStrongly disagree with the DH rule. There's so much more strategy involved with NL games, plus if you mandate DHing, the phrase "helping their own cause" will disappear from sports airwaves forever.
ReplyDeleteShame the National League? What for? They play baseball, not some bastardized sport where pitchers don't have to man up and bat after plunking someone on the opposing team.
ReplyDeleteBut pitchers aren't an automatic out. Are they aften the worst hitter on the team? Sure, but they aren't automatic outs.
ReplyDelete55) Reducing/eliminating fighting in the NHL. Bring back the Broad Street Bullies.
ReplyDeleteAnd ending beer sales does not cut down on drunk driving--at least not in Philadelphia. You should know that.
Yep, mine too. I can watch that clip over and over and it never gets old.
ReplyDeleteI thought 50 was kind of lame. Sure, it's annoying listening to the same DH/anti-DH argument year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year, but it's not like that wouldn't last another 40 years if the NL got with the program tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI'd replace it with interleague play, which I would then move into the top 5 somewhere.
I just found out that my husband is anti-DH. We discussed kids, finances, religion, and other pertinent issues before marriage but did not discuss the DH rule. I feel weird.
ReplyDeleteY'all have to know that I would be won over by a list that includes Joe Morgan as an announcer as one of the 50 worst things in sport. I might have put him higher, though. [Insert rant #243 re: Joe Morgan and Tim McCarver.]
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the explanation on the inclusion of the BCS.
Anti-DH and proud of it.
Is that grounds for annulment?
ReplyDeleteNo, just a moment's pause. If I can overlook his fair-weather Yankee fandom, I can handle a difference of DH opinion.
ReplyDeleteWait, he's both a fair-weather Yankees fan AND anti-DH? That's...worrisome. ;)
ReplyDeleteHell, I'm a White Sox fan and I love that moment.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, in my old neighborhood, number 36 is considered more legendary than infamous. My older brothers and my freinds older bros all ran amok like the rest of the crowd. I bet the trib, suntimes (and I think the Daily News) all made a mint selling photos. The most Iconic one clearly identifies my oldest brother and maybe a half dozen other guys from the hood.
ReplyDelete"Man, you had me at 'incredibly cruel.'"
ReplyDeleteCoffee through the nose funny.
Nolan Ryan still is F***ing godzilla.
Doesn't where one stands on the DH come down to which team you were a fan of as a kid? I grew up with the Dodgers and think it's stupid. I see the advantage to the pitcher's career to not have to bat, but having a guy on the team that only bats seems like not really playing baseball. It's a short cut.
ReplyDeleteBeing a Yankees fan at all is worrisome. It's mitigated by his fair-weatheredness. He's a Pirates fan, first and foremost.
ReplyDeleteI'm originally from Louisville and a Univ of Louisville alum, so a list that shows a University of Kentucky football team getting humiliated is all kinds of awesome to me. That said, #6 ROCKS.
ReplyDelete