soccer10k

Laz Diaz everybody. [tweet] [/tweet] Oh and he missed at least two more after that (Passan tweeted an update that he was up to 23 missed calls. Also relevant, only three umpires were worse this year at calling balls and strikes than Laz Diaz. If they're not going to give us robot umps, at least give us the best umps at calling balls and strikes. If an ump sucks at calling plays in the field, at least those can be reviewed and corrected. Balls and strikes can't.

I’m not sure if I’m more tired of Ben Simmons or Kyrie Irving. I can’t stand either one of them.

So what's going on with Clemson this year? They've been held under 20 points four times in six games. Before the opener this year, they'd scored 20+ in 42 straight. Last time they didn't was the 2018 CFP semi's against Alabama. In their previous 90 games they'd been held under 20 only 4 times total. It's got to be more than just Lawrence leaving, right?

650000 emails reviewed in an inquiry into the Washington Football Team and the only person to face consequences is a coach who has no ties to the Washington Football Team. Totally legit investigation, NFL.

This would have given the Giants 1st and 2nd no outs also.

Cards either got lazy or they really didn’t like Shildt. No mention of the playoff appearances and no positive statements from anyone about Shildt’s tenure there. [tweet] [/tweet]

I'm usually going for what's required for 3rd place. In the Hex, it took an average of 15.2 points for third and 13.2 for 4th, which is 21.2 and 18.4 for the 14 game round. I was kind of figuring it might be on the higher end of those since we're bringing in two worse teams into the qualifying that the better teams would theoretically be able to pick up more points against. UMFan also posted the chart, don't know how legitimate it is, a couple days back that showed our chances for auto qualification based on point totals. 23 points was a 95.6% chance, 22 points was 82.2%, 21 points was 61.4% and 20 was 53.5%. So I've kind of stuck with the 22-23 point range as where we need to get to so we're probably good for 3rd. Sorry if I wasn't clear, but I was talking about aiming for 3rd place too. Yes, extrapolating the hex will get you to 21 and there was that table that said 23 was needed for absolute confidence, but thus far it looks like that was underselling the lack of stratification in the central american teams that are keeping any of them from pushing that high. Panama is the only central american team above a point per game and they've had The US, Mexico, and Costa Rica all at home, while getting smacked @Canada and being the only team to lose @El Salvador. This can go the other way, for example if Jamaica can get their full team in future windows they've already gone to Mexico, US, and Costa Rica, but the US also has a 6 point head start there. All that said, another caveat would be that the US hasn't played any of their 3 most difficult games(home/away v. Mexico and @Canada) and if you like Costa Rica you can extend that to 4 with that away game too. However, two of those 4 are in the last window and if they take care of business in the next couple windows those are likely to be low stakes. Got it. 4 years ago has me a little skittish which is why I’m aiming a bit higher with the point total.

I'm usually going for what's required for 3rd place. In the Hex, it took an average of 15.2 points for third and 13.2 for 4th, which is 21.2 and 18.4 for the 14 game round. I was kind of figuring it might be on the higher end of those since we're bringing in two worse teams into the qualifying that the better teams would theoretically be able to pick up more points against. UMFan also posted the chart, don't know how legitimate it is, a couple days back that showed our chances for auto qualification based on point totals. 23 points was a 95.6% chance, 22 points was 82.2%, 21 points was 61.4% and 20 was 53.5%. So I've kind of stuck with the 22-23 point range as where we need to get to so we're probably good for 3rd.

I think we would be happy with 4 points from the next window right? (Mexico and at Jamaica) 4 would be just fine with me. But if we beat Mexico, we should get 6. Even 3 wouldn’t be the end of the world. The window in Jan/Feb is the big one. Home to El Salvador, at Canada, home to Honduras. That’s another where 6 is the bare minimum and 7 or 9 is the goal. 3 the next window, 6 the second one and 3 in the final one puts us at 23. If we get 4 or 6 in the next one and 7 or 9 in the Jan/Feb, we’re basically in.

I thought it was pretty damn good - need to be better in the final third - so many poor crosses / runs. Maybe all the giveaways are coloring my view of it. It wasn’t bad by any means. Way way better than Panama. Just thought we could have played better. Like you said, need to be better in the final third. Too many attacks halted by poor passing.

Glad we got the 3 points but not the best of performances. We give the ball away way too much. So many bad passes. Just keep winning the home matches and we’ll get enough points to qualify. Get another win and a draw on the road and we qualify easily. Our last round of qualifying in March goes at Mexico, home Panama and at Costa Rica. Would be nice to not need more than 3 points out of that run.

Well that’s not an ideal start.

Took a risk not starting Burnes on short rest and it didn't pay off. Craig Counsell, always the smartest guy at the stadium. You could convince me either way on whether or not it was a good decision. Lauer had a 3.19 ERA this year so he wasn’t bad, though he wasn’t Burnes either. And we don’t know how Burnes would do on short rest, especially since the Brewers were pretty conservative with their pitchers this year. Ultimately, I say you go with your best. This was definitely the higher risk but higher reward choice. Brewers would be looking good right now had they won today and had a rested Burnes waiting for Game 5.

Took a risk not starting Burnes on short rest and it didn't pay off.

What a whiny horsefeathers. I’d love to see all the instances of LaRussa admitting pitch was intentional.

https://isgrudengoneyet.com/ Finally got updated.

As long as he didn’t say he supported Kaepernick they didn’t care what else he might have said.

And the reliever comes in and goes single, single, homer.

He missed the perfect chance to use this GIF.

Braves have 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Flyball to relatively deep left. Both runners tag up, throw goes to second and that runner is tagged out before the runner crosses the plate and it costs the Braves a run

Can someone explain to me how exactly this isn't runner interference? Grandal knows exactly what he's doing from the moment he sees where the ball is going. I've seen stuff about "establishing a baseline" but unless 1st base is 5 feet closer to 2nd than it actually is, his "baseline" isn't taking him to the base he's supposed to be running to. [tweet] [/tweet]

The no shots on goal is inexcusable. I know we rested dudes but still. That's pathetic.

First loss to an unranked team since 2007 against Louisiana Monroe in Sagan’s first season there. Second longest streak is Florida at 73 games from 1990-2000.

Hell of an effort by aTm. Thought they were done for at 38-31. Even when they tied it, they hadn’t stopped Bama all half and I figured Bama would March down for a FG to win.

All the former Cubs hitting dongs in the playoffs. Rizzo, Schwarber, KB and even Joc. Kimbrel felt left out that he couldn't hit one so he gave one up instead.