It’s Faaaantastic
DID YOU KNOW that the WNBA Finals just happened? Yeah, I’m serious! Like a few days ago! Who won it? I think it was the Utah Starzz. What? They moved in 2002? Shit. OK, how about the Miami Sol? Shit, they folded in 2002 also? Goddamnit. OK, I give up.
Oh yeah, it was the Detroit Shock, their third title in six years. Coached by Bill Laimbeer, the Shock are (apparently) a WNBA powerhouse, bringing the packed Palace house down with all of their games. Of course, for these particular finals, the Shock weren’t able to bring the Palace down because the Palace was already booked. That’s right: the Detroit Shock, a professional, nationally televised basketball team, could not play a championship series on its own home court. Instead, they got booted to the Eastern Michigan University basketball court. What was booked at the Palace instead, you may ask? That’s right: Disney on Ice.
The Palace doesn’t even keep an ice surface anymore.
But hey, not all is bad for the Detroit Shock; after all, several hundred people came out to see their victory rally. Several hundred! Can you imagine??
The WNBA is a sad, sad league. It’s rather baffling to imagine how it stays afloat. Watching any game is depressing; not just for the absurd lack of attendence, but for the putrid quality of the games themselves. I guess that their summer advertising campaign in which (”)stars(”) of the league stood before the camera saying such things as “you could post on me all day” and “you couldn’t pay me to watch women’s basketball” didn’t quite work. How much longer are they going to hope that people care? Probably until they realize that no one’s watching.
But hey, look on the bright side, WNBA: at least you’re not the NHL.
A Few Scattered Notes
First of all, there are three teams in the NFL that remain undefeated: the New York Giants, the Buffalo Bills, and the Tennessee Titans. If that was your Week 4 bet in Vegas, feel free to collect your ten trillion dollars any time tomorrow. For comparison, after Week 4 last year, the list was the New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts, the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. Seems that this season, just like every other season, is drastically different. Parity!
The White Sox also won today, thanks to a strong pitching performance from Gavin Floyd and a grand slam from unlikely hero Alexi Ramirez. This is the second year in a row that 162 games weren’t enough to decide a division winner; last year the Rockies and Padres battled for the NL Wild Card [thanks Andrew for finding my little gaff], with that exciting rally by the Rockies against Trevor Hoffman after being down 8-6 in the bottom of the ninth (the famous “Matt Holliday never touched the plate” game). The match up tomorrow is John Danks for Chicago and Nick Blackburn for Minnesota. It’s a 7:30 ET game. Here’s to a good one… though, either way, we’re all rooting for the Rays in that ALDS match up.
Incidentally, the basketball and hockey preseasons are just underway, for those not quite in tune with sports seasons. Hockey starts in about two weeks while basketball starts at the end of October. Here’s a completely useless story about the start of basketball season: generally, the schedules year to year don’t change all that much for each team. The season also used always to start on October 31, Halloween, and on that first night, the New York Knicks would always play the Charlotte Hornets (yeah, Hornets… y’know, pre-New Orleans, and pre-Bobcats). This would always result in me feeling conflicted; on the one hand, I had to go trick or treating, but on the other, I had to watch the Knicks start the season right by kicking the Hornets’ butts. Luckily the sun set at like 5:00 and the game started at 7:30, so I could always do both.
And there’s your sports wrap-up. Anyone got any ideas for me? MLB playoff predictions? Week 5 Power Rankings? Name what y’all want and I’ll see if anything tickles my fancy.
The NFC East is Really Really Good
Hello friends. I know it’s been a while. I also know I haven’t updated my Sabermetric post. Be patient… it will come. Or, if you don’t wanna wait, then just read Baseball Between the Numbers.
But this post is not about baseball–in spite of the craziness of today, in which the Mets blew their playoff hopes in an eerily similar fashion to last year, and the Brewers find themselves in the postseason for the first time since the invention of the light bulb. No, instead, this post is about the NFC East; the clear cut best division in football.
Right now, the standings are: (1) New York Giants, 3-0 (2) Washington Redskins, 3-1 (3) Dallas Cowboys, 3-1 (4) Philadelphia Eagles, 2-1. The Eagles are currently hanging tough with the Bears and will most likely win. It is the only division in which all of the teams are above .500. In fact, of the three losses distributed among the division, every one came at the hands of a division rival (Giants beat the Redskins, Redskins beat the Cowboys, Cowboys beat the Eagles). Against teams in the rest of the league, the combined division is 8-0, outscoring teams 228-112, or 28.5-14 each game. That means they basically doubled up every opponent.
Now, granted, two of those victories came against the lowly Rams. But it’s astonishing to consider how strong this division is, even before this year. For two straight years, three out of four teams from the division have made the playoffs (one division winner and the other two taking the Wild Card), the most teams that any single division can send to the playoffs. Before those two years, that only ever happened once. And if the first four weeks are any indication, the division will send three times for a third year in a row. I mean, who else is going to make it? The invariably 8-8 Buccaneers?
Taking a look at the schedule, it becomes even clearer. Each team plays a division rival six times total in a year and ten games out of division. Of course, divisions rotate playing out-of-conference divisions, and this year, the NFC East plays the lowly AFC North. After this week, everyone but the Giants will have played two division games (the Giants only one). Let’s assume that they all split among each other, going 3-3. Looking purely at the first four weeks plus all division games (and assuming the Eagles beat the Bears), that makes each team 5-3. Here are the remaining schedules for each team (excluding division games):
Giants: vs. Seattle, @ Cleveland, vs. San Fransisco, @ Pittsburgh, vs. Baltimore, @ Arizona, vs. Carolina, @ Minnesota
Eagles: @ San Fransisco, vs. Atlanta, @ Seattle, @ Cincinnati, @ Baltimore, vs. Arizona, vs. Cleveland
Cowboys: vs. Cincinnati, @ Arizona, @ St. Louis, vs. Tampa Bay, vs. San Fransisco, vs. Seattle, @ Pittsburgh, vs. Baltimore
Redskins: vs. St. Louis, vs. Cleveland, @ Detroit, vs. Pittsburgh, @ Seattle, @ Baltimore, @ Cincinnati, @ San Fransisco
Clearly not the toughest of schedules. I would not be surprised if every team finishes above 9-7. People have talked for a few years about how the NFC East is the best, but this year it seems to especially be true. Can we just agree to allow all four teams to make the playoffs and just ignore the NFC West?
When you consider power rankings across the league, there’s no doubt that all four of these teams are top 10. And in my opinion, after the Cowboys were dethroned this week, the Giants sit atop the rankings, with the Cowboys somewhere around spot #3, the Redskins around #6 or #7, and the Eagles in the other slot. As an aside: funny how quickly the changing of the guard has come in terms of king of the conference hill. Just two years ago, the NFC was a joke with maybe two powerhouse teams. Now, the AFC is faltering, and it seems like the NFC top to bottom matches up quite well against the AFC top to bottom. Obviously it will take a few more weeks to get a complete understanding of where teams stack against each other, but it’s quite clear now that the NFC East is the cream of the crop.
edit: It seems that I’ve eaten a few words and the Eagles lost to the Bears — though I will maintain that the Eagles looked like the better team; the Eagles were without their best plyaer, and I am completely convinced that Buckhalter got in at the end there. Still, can’t say that I’m complaining about breathing room in the division. The Giants could always use some.
The Wild World of Sabermetrics
It occurred to me that in my post about Albert Pujols, I threw out a ridiculous amount of numbers, formatting and unusual stats. Forgive me if I seemed like I was trying to overwhelm; in fact, all I was doing was using basic statistics derived from the Sabermetric system. Sabermetrics, from the root SABR (Society for American Baseball Research), is a fundamentally objective way to measure baseball players’ worth and general performance, as well as a fairly accurate way to estimate production. It was first advocated by Bill James, who is now a Senior Advisor on the Red Sox.
Of course, many fans of baseball–even the really hardcore ones–probably haven’t heard much, if anything at all, about Sabermetrics. After all, most major outlets like ESPN don’t pay it much attention; instead, they pay most attention to batting average, HRs and RBI, which are actually statistics that Sabermetricians generally frown upon. But why? And if those three stats–the holy trinity of baseball stats, if you watch ESPN exclusively–are frowned upon, then what stats are worth looking at?
I don’t quite have the time at this moment to begin delving into that. However, I do plan to slowly and consistently update this post, adding why the basic stats are overrated, what stats are useful, and other things along that vein. Hopefully I’ll open you guys up to an interesting, new way of looking at baseball.
Is Everybody Crazy?
Midway through September, the baseball season is drawing to close. With that comes the discussion of division leaders, wild card races… and awards. Ah, yes… awards. Where the MLB arbitrarily gives Derek Jeter a gold glove for leaping to his right and tossing to first, despite his top 5 error ranking or his sub-.980 fielding percentage. Awards, where Francisco Rodriguez might get a Cy Young because of total fortune (an article I’ll be sure to write later). Awards, where Albert Pujols suddenly becomes the star of a Twilight Zone episode. Albert is by far the best player in the NL, if not in the league… and for some godawful reason, he’s barely even being discussed in the MVP race.
What is the deal, people? Why has everyone forgotten Albert Pujols? IS EVERYBODY CRAZY?
First of all, let me spell out Pujols’ season to date. In 136 games, Albert has a .357/.461/.645 line. That’s an OPS of 1.106. He reached base safely in his first 42 games of the season. He’s second in average, on base, hits, doubles, total bases and walks. His OPS+ is 189, thirteen points higher than Chipper Jones who has only played 119 games.
Pujols is basically in the top 5 in every category–except for home runs and RBI. And those two stats, for some strange reason, are a part of the holy trinity of baseball statistics. This isn’t really the place to discuss the fallacies of HRs or RBI (especially RBI), but if you’re interested in why those stats are so fundamentally flawed, I strongly recommend heading over to Baseball Prospectus and checking out their articles section. Additionally, they explain it to an incredibly detailed degree in their book Baseball Between the Numbers.
But back to the MVP race. Pujols is clearly in the top 3, if not the clear-cut candidate for #1. But who are the writers–the voters, really–talking about? Chase Utley of the Phillies is a popular candidate. .289/.377/.533 and a 132 OPS+. Sure he’s having a fairly good year, but his numbers are nowhere near Pujols’; Albert’s OBP is nearly 100 points higher than Utley’s! He doesn’t even have as many HRs and RBI, posting a 31 and 95 spot compared to Albert’s 33 and 101. However, because Utley had a great start to the year, he’s still in the race. Another choice is Manny Ramirez, which would just be absurd (though not as bad as Utley). He has 34 HR and 112 RBI, so of course he’s a great choice, right? Well, let’s not forget his pathetic foot-dragging in his final days with Boston, and his sudden surge in a pathetic NL West.
The pattern is consistent. Braun, Howard, Jones… they all have pretty nice stats, but the fact of the matter remains: Pujols is having a career year, and is leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else.The statistics are there, readily available, and prove it. Sure, there are some murmurings of Pujols. The voters and the media are not crazy. And if they have sense, they’ll vote Pujols for NL MVP. And hopefully, they’ll vote Quentin over Pedroia, too… but that’s for another time.
My Thoughts on K-Rod Getting His 57th Save
The 506
Here’s a helpful little guide I’ve been using the past few years to determine which games I’ll be able to see on Sunday: http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/ . Every year they’ve been getting fancier and more precise, providing maps for FOX and CBS’ coverage at 1:00 and 4:00 ET. As you can see, this week in the DC area will feature nothing at 1 on CBS, Redskins/Saints at 1 on FOX, and Ravens/Texans at 4 on CBS.
Of course, as helpful as the guide is, it is often a painful reminder of how annoying it is to live outside your team’s home market. I’d rather watch two obese men washing themselves with rags than Ravens/Texans. Why on earth is DC constantly forced to watch Baltimore games, anyway? Is it really such a significant secondary market?
Then again, there are sites where you can stream games in other markets… but I’m not sure I should post them.
So now that I’ve dissed the Ravens, here’s the picture of the week from week 1, summing up the Bengals/Ravens game nicely, and probably Cincinnati’s entire season:
The Jose Canseco of Poor Comparisons
As you may have already heard by now, the hot rumor is that Lance Armstrong, the man who overcame cancer, won seven Tours de France and is actually a half-centaur, is planning to come out of retirement and compete in the 2009 Tour de France. Exciting news for a sport where steroids are the only headline.
Of course, this led to some discussion on ESPNews, and no-name analyst CJ Knee came up with this gem: “Lance Armstrong is the Barry Bonds of cycling.” Who can come up with the most ways that comparison is wrong? Great job, CJ.
Welcome!
Welcome everyone to Sports!. My name is Jon Foox. I like sports. I also like The Colonialist. Therefore, it only seemed natural that we team up and develop a sub-blog (sublog?) dedicated to sports updates, thoughts and the occasional amusing picture. I hope you enjoy it.
That said, I’ve been waiting a few weeks to write this first entry. I had a few ideas for a starter column. I was going to write about how Francisco Rodriguez is overrated and why he shouldn’t earn a bajillion dollars next year. I was going to write about why having the rights to Patrick Ewing Jr. will lead the Knicks to the Larry O’Brien trophy. But, after waiting a few weeks to get my assignment, I find myself typing this up during the start ofthe Colts/Bears Sunday night game… which can only mean that the sweet, sweet football season has begun, and that that is, of course, what I must write about.
I want to keep this fairly short, so before getting to my main point, I’ll just throw out a few succinct notes from today. First of all, the Steelers offensive line does not look like an issue at all, as they steamrolled the formidable Houston defense and blew them out 38-17. Similarly, the Eagles, who, to my understanding, have Hank Baskett, Freddie Mitchell’s ghost and a sandbag on the wide receiver depth chart, somehow managed to explode offensively. Part of it was Brian Westbrook having his traditionally dominant game, but I gotta hand it to McNabb and co.: they looked great. Similarly, an even worse team on paper, the Falcons, exploded for 34 points today. Of course, this may speak more about how bad the Rams and Lions defenses are (respectively), but you have to hand it to those offenses. Except maybe for the Falcons… I still think they’re going to win 3 games this year.
The biggest news, of course, is Tom Brady’s busted knee. Although I plan to be fairly objective, I can’t help but feel a sense of football karma after years of Rodney Harrison cheap shots. Maybe there is some merit to that whole Super Bowl hangover curse? Nevertheless, an injury is an injury, and you never really wish that on anyone. Karmic or not, several sources have reported that Brady is expected to be out for the season. And while there’s still an MRI scheduled for tomorrow, and the Patriots haven’t officially announced anything yet, it’s looking pretty bad for Mr. Brady and his Pats.
So where do the Patriots go from here? Matt Cassel did manage fairly well, going 13/18 for 152 yards and a TD in Brady’s absence. Chances are quite high that he’ll be next week’s starter. Of course, assuming that New England doesn’t make any roster moves in the next week, Sunday’s game at the Jets will be Cassel’s first starting job since he was in high school.
Realistically, you’d expect the Pats to make some sort of move. That move, though, probably won’t be down the depth chart. Cassel won the job over Matt Gutierez before the regular season began, who was signed as an undrafted free agent in May 2007 and has even less experience than Cassel himself. Onecan only imagine Vinny Testaverde resting on the edge of his sarcophagus, anxiously anticipating his Graham Bell Phone to ring tonight. Then there’s the recently retired Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper, since developing shoulder problems and being traded from Minnesota, has struggled to maintain any sort of starting role, going from Miami to Oakland to, finally, retirement. Still, he showed signs of life in his last few starts, and might be a candidate. There are also rumors that Chris Simms, he of ruptured spleen fame two years ago, will participate in a work out with the Patriots on Monday. Whatever the Pats end up doing, two things are sure: first, that the AFC East title is certainly in the Bills’ sights this season, and second, Wes Welker is sweating.
There’s plenty more to talk about, like the Panthers eschewing clock management and still defeating the Chargers, the Jaguars seemingly forgetting that there was a game today, and an alarmingly high number of
injuries this week. For now, though, having seen Kyle Orton bobble the 1stand 10 snap ruled dead because of a false start, I know that the 2008 football season has begun. Let us all rejoice! Sports!
