TruffleShuffle

we beat the hell out of the stars tonight... last 10 games we're 8-1-1 with 45 GF and just 25 GA. looks like we are finally getting the stevens out of the players.

man that is a huge kick in the balls for tennessee. they look like they were really building toward something and now they lose their coach and who knows, maybe some assistants too? ouch.

the penguins cheat i watched this game live, it was pretty funny... they kept showing two views that were inconclusive, and right after it was ruled no goal, they showed a "new" angle that showed it crossing the line. you can see that in the video in the link.

he refused to admit that steroids boosted his performance? that's embarrassing.

carrie muskat's tweet on this: teaching kids to be winners???? step one, get traded to another organization.

if ben sheets thinks he is getting 10-12 million per year for 2 years then i can only assume that he has been in a coma for the last year.

I'm settling on either McClain or Jason Pierre-Paul as my hopefuls for the Titans to draft (assuming no stunner happens like Berry or Haden). I really, really like McClain. I don't know if McClain will fall outside of the top 5. There's only so many picks in the top five. I've heard Suh, Berry, Okung, Gerald McCoy, Bradford, Clausen and McClain all will not fall out of the top 5. I don't know that McClain will be there for the 16th pick, but one of he or Brandon Spikes should be there and I like both of them quite a bit. I could see McClain falling outside the top 10, honestly. With Suh, Berry, Okung, Gerald McCoy, Bradford, Clausen, Dunlap, Tebow (Raiders), Dez Bryant, Spikes, Mays and Kindle all possibilities for the top 10, there's a real chance McClain may be available in picks 11-16. Not likely, but certainly possible. the only guy i'd say is an absolute no-brainer to stay in the top 5 is suh, and okung is probably about 95% to go in the top 5. i'd put mccoy's chances at about 80% and berry at 70%... berry is GOING to be a great player, it just depends on how highly teams drafting up there regard safety as a "need" position. a lot of those teams suck so badly that they're inclined to grab a DT, OT or QB. i expect that one of bradford and clausen will be picked in the top 5 and the other will not.

i think soccer10k should be required to draft as if he's al davis; i.e., pick a guy who runs fast and can bench press a house, but doesn't play football well.

my picks last year: #20: eben britton (went #39 overall; started at tackle for jacksonville, no idea whether he was good or bad) #28: beanie wells (went #31 overall; developing into a good player for arizona) #52: jarron gilbert (went #68 overall; apparently didn't do anything for the bears this year) #85: cornelius ingram (went #153 overall by the eagles; blew out his knee (again) in training camp) #121: jonathan casillas (undrafted; signed by saints) looks like i overdrafted everyone.

eagles

I also think it's important for the person to understand that some of the "advanced" metrics aren't any good either. The important thing is that the person has to understand statistics well and not just what the metrics are supposed to mean. That person must be able to understand the importance of standard deviations when comparing players to the norm or mythical average player. The biggest problem I have here and elsewhere is that people accept things like UZR, WAR, and the like (really any stat that uses normative data) without any understanding of the underling assumptions. I think the best use of advanced metrics is clearly with pitchers and on the offense, but a lot of what has been developed is really not very important in terms of understanding the game. It's mostly mental masturbation. i agree on that although i think even having someone who understands that UZR is a good tool when used over a multi-year stretch is better than someone who believes a guy is a good defender because a scout who saw him play three games saw him make two really nice plays. i think the general thought of the comment that BP made about hendry - and this is really depressing - was that he judges guys too much on batting average or ERA or [expletive] W-L record. remember steve trachsel? everything about the guy screamed HORRIBLE PITCHER except for his ERA, and they traded for him. i don't necessarily need a GM or someone with a big role in the org. who is at the cutting edge of every advanced metric - just someone who understand that a batting average is heavily dependent on luck, ERA can fluctuate a lot based on things like BABIP, LOB%, and you need to look deeper at a guy's K-rates and things like that. if you look at steve trachsel and say "this guy has an ERA in the mid 4's and we need a few starts, he could be useful", then you're clearly not doing your job properly.

well the ravens are looking like the trendy pick, which means they probably will lose.

if you've got a bama "13" hat you can have it on your plate as you eat at waffle house.

They might be favored too. they are not. Sat 1/16 Arizona Cardinals @ New Orleans Saints -7 (O/U 56.5) Sat 1/16 Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts -6.5 (O/U 45) Sun 1/17 Dallas Cowboys @ Minnesota Vikings -2.5 (O/U 46.5) Sun 1/17 New York Jets @ San Diego Chargers -9 (O/U 42.5)

The killjoys at the Hall are gonna love this. if six years of a .285/.327/.507/.834 line at corner outfield is enough to get your number retired by the cubs, then soriano is probably licking his chops. seriously, there is no reason that andre dawson's number should be retired.

mlbpa would never go for that either, since shorter season = less revenue = less pay for players. shortening by two weeks would be about 12 games, or about 7.5%. players aren't going to want to lose something like 5-7.5% off their salaries just so that a small handful of them can play in an unpaid exhibition after the season.

and some other guys throw lefthanded and in the mid 90s and are really good.

that is unfair. redflash owns a house and i have obtained a photo of it:

take the wind IMO

isn't working :x

yeah it probably doesn't matter but this game should be over if the clock is managed properly

i would just blitz 9 men every play. either you get a turnover or give up a touchdown really quickly and get to try to score again.

finally an entertaining game this weekend... and this one has been wildly fun.

those are both amusing, but not as amusing as the faces of everybody on the eagles' sideline as they realize all they needed to do is win one of the past 2 games to advance to the divisional round and they are getting outscored by a combined 58-14 yes all they had to do was to win 1 game, on the road, against a team that is more talented, better than any team they've beaten all year, and a horrible matchup for them. small potatoes. yeah you cant really blme them for getting outscored 58-14 in these past 2 games. that's about all you can realistically ask for... to stay within 7 touchdowns. kudos on a valiant effort like it matters. the cowboys are much better than the eagles and even if the eagles had somehow managed to get the bye, they're clearly not good enough to win a super bowl. so who really cares how much they're losing by or even whether they lost? the goal is to win the super bowl or at least a conference title and that's only something that happens for good teams.

andy reid's fat face is far more fun to look at hey your coach isn't exactly svelte... pretty sure he's got a bigger rack than andy anyway.