When we need a fresh landing place for links, I step up. You see something, say something. It’s what I do.
What this idiot does is make outrageously idiotic statements. Though maybe he meant the classical Egyptian goddess not the modern jihadist thugs.
What these teams do is try desperately to fool their hometowns into thinking that some other town would pay handsomely to obtain them. Though the rendering sure is, um, something:
Also, “One early concept for Carson is clear seats that reflect the color of the lights shining on them — the seats could be silver and black for Raiders games, and powder blue for Chargers games.”
What this guy does is play basketball for the Warriors for the rest of 2015! Now help get yourself a ring, young man!
"Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
The final season of Mad Men will be set in 1975, seven years after the last season ended (insert “it only feels like seven years since Season 6 ended” joke). Cool outfits, natch.
Where are you getting the 1975 stuff? I haven’t read anything about the new season but I am curious about that kind of time jump.
That stadium rendering is hilarious. And you have to respect the hustle of two teams collaborating on a grift.
Not to mention this: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25075217/look-carson-councilman-wears-bad-chargers-raiders-combo-jersey
Also, bright TV lights are bright: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-ThtGRCMAAys0Q.jpg
(That’s Scott McKibben, who chose a great day to become executive director of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority.
are we getting a coliseum swap meet soon?
heh
Oh dear.
I don’t care about either team but holy shit that’s ugly.
NO
If the Raiders do this move, and end up in the NFC West, it will break my heart. The four games we play against the Chiefs and the Broncos each year are some of the things I really look forward to. It just doesn’t sit right the Raiders not being in the AFC.
I feel like the Seahawks would switch with the Rams.
I read something about the Rams relocation to StL having a clause that the NFL can move them at will to fix divisions, etc.
Seahawks are a former AFC team so it makes sense.
Thanks, and go As.
If I could wave a magic wand the Rams would go back to LA where they belong and the Chargers would join them while the Raiders stayed in Oakland. We’ll just see how it all plays out.
As an A’s fan, I have a pretty strong interest in the raiders leaving. Would seem to make a new stadium in Oakland more likely.
Yeah, when I have to choose between the Raiders and the A’s fortunes it’s not really a tough choice. Besides I think the A’s would be better off playing somewhere where they’re the big team in town. The Raiders already tried LA and it didn’t really work. They have a strong base of support in Oakland. If the A’s build a new stadium in Oakland I have a hard time believing they’ll suddenly become this huge draw. Maybe for the first couple of seasons but after that I think we’re back to friends and family only type crowds.
if the raiders have a strong base of support in Oakland why have they struggled with blackouts for their entire tenure?
If the raiders struggle with black outs now, what makes you think that their fanbase will support a stadium with higher per ticket prices?
Since the NFLBloosened the blackout rules the Raiders have a 2 year steak going of all TV games. Gross attendance is not so relevant to profits anyway, hence the plan that a new Oakland football stadium would be around 50K capacity. Also, indications ate the NFL will abandon all blackout restrictions in next few years.
You can have a profitable nfl team on pretty much just the tv deal and merch.
The point is that the Raiders had some of the worst attendance in the league last year and even if they haven’t had a black out recently there have still been threats of them this year, and they eliminated 10k seats.
If you have to build the smallest venue in the sport and if you have problems with black outs in the current ticket costs, I just don’t see how you can suggest that there is a strong base of support in the community.
There isn’t a strong base of support in the community for either team.
As much as last year sucked, the Niners/Hawks rivalry has developed into something quite cool.
This would not be a good idea:
I wish people would adopt Isl. Because archer and wonderwoman are fantastic, those dickeheads in syria are not
FSU makes Grills…Jennifer and I make lounges…the rest of you talk about bicycle helmet laws. Free Kraut 2015
Free the Kraut 2015!
Oh, and Ed talks cricket…Free Kraut 2015: An Oakland A’s Blog
not as bad as it could be, but the surprise is the managers must challenge from the dugou. I had not heard of that before, nor do i know how it will speed things up?
It feels like people have been talking about speeding up the game of baseball since they started playing the game of baseball.
#3 is hilarious.
but “the amount of times” and “that’s a large time savings” wiped the smile off my face. it’s like we came back from a commercial break and there’s vince talking for 15
orto 30 seconds.Right? Not having etched tv games I don’t know how that impacts time. I thought they did voice over ads for game tickets in that time
Why? That’s my favorite one. If you can shave off a minute or two without affecting game play at all, or even losing an ad slot, why not do it?
I find it funny that it doesn’t happen already and two, the aforementioned I thought the squeeze in ads there
i don’t know. priorities i guess. creating an artificial breakspace and then pretending it’s the players’ fault the game is slow. or that they’re not ready immediately when it’s artificially over.
i guess it’s not as bad as hockey.
The bigger problem is that this makes it even harder to grab a Saag’s and get back to my seat for the action.
fart. and you’re there. toot toot.
This isn’t blaming the players. This is more acknowledging that they’re all at fault from the TV broadcast, the stadium team, the umps, and the players. Prior to TV, between inning breaks were very short, less than even the 2.5 minutes they’re subscribing to now. TV pushed it with the help of everyone else despite contractually not having that right. Now they’re taking a concerted action to fix it.
I’m happy about the challenge rule change, if it works. I hated the dynamic last year of managers milling around making small talk for the 30-60 seconds until the bench got word from the video guys whether to challenge. Getting rid of that awkward delay would be a great improvement to keeping replay from interrupting the flow of the game. I fear, though, that teams will just find other ways to kill time before making a challenge decision. They may need a rule that says if you leave the dugout, or if a catcher goes to the mound, they cannot challenge.
I don’t see hoe it saves time. The video guy still needs to look at it.
It should force the manager to make the decision sooner. Without the manager on the field the ump can just tell the pitcher to throw the next pitch.
But that doesn’t. Change the analysis for a challenge. The batter can rub up his bat and the pitcher can talk to a fielder
my first impression is that the mgr can still go out on the field, argue with the ump, talk to his player to get his opinion, argue some more… and now has to spend the extra time walking back to the dugout before being able to challenge.
I suspect we’re being misled by the reporting. That they now *CAN* challenge from the dugout. Like notify the umps that they’re looking from the dugout, then a yay or nay, again, from the dugout, so that if they choose not to or get word immediately they can help shorten the time to get it going or resume play.
That’s what i meant by this rule likely necessitating follow up enforcement about other pre-challenge time wasting methods. But i take MLB’s willingness to confront the biggest one, the aimless manager chit chat, as a positive, much needed step.
More (Specific) info.
those make sense
Yep.
1) who’s the brainiac who cut the police blotter and left off what was happening to the kitten’s rectum??
Barely knew him!
but did you know the rest of ‘um?
Nope, not my scissor work. Blame scottkessel.com.
Supposedly Mayweather and Pacquiao are finally gonna fight. Would have been so much more awesome four years ago, but I’ll take it. I might even buy the PPV.
I think the last fight I paid to watch was Holyfield vs Tyson II…boxing is something I’ve totally lost touch with.
Holyfield-Tyson I is the only one I ever paid for. Had a big PPV party for that one and had to drive across town to the cable place that day to get the box you needed in order to buy the damn fight.
I found out what happened in T-H II while sitting on the London Underground, rubbing my eyes in disbelief at the pictures in the seedy tabloid the guy across from me was reading.
I had a big party for HvT II and it was one of the more surreal sports moments I can remember. I was a huge Evander fan while everyone else there still bought into the myth of Tyson and then…well, strange things started happening.
I wasn’t at all in to boxing — it was just an excuse for a party — but I still remember the vibe in the room during the first fight when Holyfield started to gain the upper hand. Just total disbelief that Tyson could get bullied.
Evander could stare down an oncoming freight train and not be scared. He wasn’t the biggest, or the best, but the he was one tough SOB. There was a time when I loved boxing, but like the NBA, I just lost touch with it.
Funnily, I just read this
He seems like an awful person.
Yes, I will be rooting for Pacquiao to beat him, and beat him up. Unfortunately it seems more likely to go the other way. It is hard as hell to hit Mayweather, certainly harder than any other boxer fighting today.
You strike me as a knowledgeable fight fan so I’m sure you analysis is spot on.
Why hasn’t this fight happened before, while both were in/closer-to their primes?
Because boxing is in a perpetual state of suicide-by-fan-alienation. It is often more lucrative to dodge a top opponent than to fight him, and structures are such that a Top Rank (Bob Arum) promoted fighter will rarely fight a Golden Boy (Oscar De La Hoya) fighter. And an HBO fighter rarely engages a Showtime fighter. There’s just a bunch of ways a good potential fight gets thwarted, and few incintives to make it happen. Totally sucks.
It’s kind of what got me off the sport. I wish there was an NFL or MLB type organizational structure for boxing. There are so many different weight classes and titles that it’s hard to keep up. Add in the fact that all the big fights are on PPV and it’s an expensive and frustrating sport to follow. There’s still nothing like a big fight though.
Oh, meant to add that this is one reason I love Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin, who takes on all comers and has a wildly entertaining aggressive style. He fights Martin Murray tomorrow night on HBO, could be a good one. Then down the road if a compromise fight weight can be found a GGG vs Oakland’s Andre Ward fight would be awesome (so it will probably never happen).
Another reason to like Golovkin (unless you’re ptbnl or batgirl):
(unless you’re ptbnl or batgirl)…or an animal or the environment ;)
I have occasionally wondered if Deadspin super-commenter and A’s fan Iron Mike Gallego even crossed our paths in the old country.
I was in Oakland today. The enrollment event was lame… the dregs of the unenrolled… unwitting victims of identity fraud and/or blatant liars… People who came mostly to argue with us… Lots of bullshit. Of course, the local union people wanted us to stay to enroll EVERYBODY, but I drew the line and said my crew’s done at 8:30 and anyone un-helped is the local crew’s responsibility, not ours. Then we went to Rudy’s Can’t Fail and it was yummy and I drove home in stupid fog.
“The physics, it made me a worse player.”
That dude sounds like a client.
I was going to say that his snippet was the most depressing part, but then I remembered Blanton’s disgusting beard thing.
Also, too, anyone remember a story behind this image? I vaguely remember Payton being pissed off, but I’m blanking on him arguing with Swisher.
EDIT: That link is screwy. Image is at the bottom of this page.
Was he the one with the drunk girlfriend/wife, who he is now divorced from so he can live in his van down by the river?
I’m waiting for someone to post the picture of her putting her feet up.
I’m going to be pretty bummed if this guy doesn’t make it to Oakland.
Me too. And it seems the A’s are the best team to give an odd ball like this a chance.
Is he the same kind of pitcher from both sides?
i’m an ambidextrous pitcher
short and stout
here is my throwing arm
here is my other throwing arm
uh-oh. i’m not a pitcher… i’m a vase!
Enough with the fucking Sabermetrics, AV…(yes, I never get tired of this one)
it’s one of my favorite bits.
You always do a great job of setting me up for it…you’re a good point guard.
I just hope they change the stupid rule and make the batter pick the side first.
Great SI primer on how the Warriors got this good, with bonus Bruce Jenkins slam for good measure.
This, however, is not cool:
ouch
Indeed.
Make the girl 35 and sexy.
HEY-O
no? guys? this thing on?
shit.
Thanks, and go As.
Say it Ain’t So!
I hadn’t realized the Diamondbacks had picked him up, but of course they did
HE”S GRITTY!
If only he could have decided that before we paid him $2.75 M to go away.
Suspect the decisions were linked…
Well, of course. But I never saw the logic of the 2-year deal in the first place.
is he weargin road pants?
I’m wondering if he is wearing a mullet?
Required to play in Nashville, no?
I don’t know if I’ll be able to find time but I’d really love to make it to a game in Nashville this year. It’s a great city and AAA ball can be fun to watch.
A game in Nashville sounds like a great idea. Get it? Sounds? Oh dear god is it the weekend yet…
I too am happy to be done with the work week. I feel like I could sleep for a month.
I could sleep for a month. But I am still happy for the weekend. I think by the time we hit middle age it just becomes engrained.
I took off this weekend! Someone come cuddle me.
yes. it has been the weekend for a while now
My wife and I are thinking about a road trip this summer to visit friends and family in New York, then down to DC to visit another friend and try to catch both the Orioles and Nationals, then continue all the way to Nashville. Might be too ambitious…
That’s a lot of driving. It could be fun as long as you aren’t in a rush. We’re doing a Hawaii trip in May. Me for a week and the wife and kids for a month. While they’re out there might be the time for me to go to Nashville.
I think it all depends on whether I decide that I can take a week plus off from work. I think we’re also going to try to get out to Washington state at the end of summer to see family.
Yeah, having the time has always been key for me. Anytime I do a rush job on a vacation due to lack of time I end up not enjoying it.
Greasy ponytail maybe? I’m excited to find out.
MITZ
The more I think about the Zito thing the more I’m rooting for it. It will be nice knowing one of the pitchers names before the announcers say it.
I always really liked him. I’d love it if he could put it back together for a few minutes.
I would love it too. How great would it feel for him to kick ass this year for cheap while the Giants paid him a boatload for nothing. /Fosse
Of The Big Three I was a Huddy guy but Zito was usually entertaining and the curve was fun to watch.
Pirlooooooooooooo
I don’t understand how he makes the ball do what it does here, or ever for that matter.
nice.
that ball has very little spin. volleyball floater serve theory.
I love that man.
NoOK probably a little homo.he is one of the few guys I would be 100% OK with coming to MLS to “retire” for a few years and get a few extra bucks.
that list is approxmiately 2 right now. Ronaldinho and Pirlo. Also the real Ronaldo, but he is apparently going to TRY and play with the Ft Lauderdale(sp?) team he bought part of.
Thanks, and go As.
I grew up differently than Rudy “Boom Boom” Giuliani because my dad didn’t break people’s legs for loan sharks, or serve time in prison, so clearly I don’t love America. The only thing Rudy loves is Rudy.
Here’s Pat “Double Dragon” Venditte pitching from both sides…well, if I got it right. It’s on CSN Bay Area.
Was this supposed to be a video embed?
Yeah, it showed him pitching from both sides. It looks like he has similar stuff from both sides.
what’s a “video em”?
Without the bed part it seems rather pointless to me.
I don’t think anyone ever posted here about the big prospect lists that Fangraphs put out this week: Kiley McDaniel’s top 200 and KATOH top 200. McDaniel’s list is the work of a (very well informed) person, while KATOH is some sort of projection system that tries to focus on particular minor league stats that seem to predict major league success (i.e. for hitters in rookie ball, the only things it cares about are age, K%, and ISO).
For the A’s, McDaniel has Barreto at #79, but more generally has him in a “55 FV Prospects” tier that spans from 29 to 79 on his list (so he ranks Barreto last in that tier, fwiw). Olson, Nunez, and Chapman all make it as “45+ FV Honorable Mentions”… and that’s it for the A’s. He has Addison Russell as his #3 overall prospect, behind only Kris Bryant and Byron Buxton.
KATOH also has four A’s prospects in the top 200, but they are Olson at 28, then Barreto at 38, Ravelo at 51, and Nunez at 108. So that looks more optimistic, I think.
Both systems have Barreto ahead of Robertson
And I think we can all agree now that Russell was indeed an “elite” prospect
Is he going to make the Cubs big league roster this season?
Nah. Perhaps a cup of coffee when the rosters expand. But 2016 he could be ready
I’m curious to see how his career plays out. Do you like what Theo has done with the Cubs so far?
I do. I like the emphasis he put on the analytic side of the game, notably signing Tango and structuring a whole R&D department. Going big on the international market was smart. Paying for Maddon was. Ditto trading for Rizzo. Ditto Russell. Not going all-in on the pitcher’s market this year was, too, as well as keeping the batting core and not trading for a pitcher. I like Cubs and what they are doing, I think they are a very exciting and watchable team.
If he gets a World Series title for the Cubs after getting some for the Sox the guy will be a legend.
i agree with everything that is said above… I think they could surprise and make the playoffs this year.
was there disagreement on that point?
:)
Some neat Orioles logo analysis comin’ at yah:
http://i.imgur.com/w8JP43y.png
Would be neat to see post 2011 stuff incorporated as well.
Would also be nice to see more reasonable scaling of the lines (like winning percentage)
I like the cartoon bird more…it’s more fun.
Fantasy Baseball question: who are the SP eligible players who you think might have a chance to close or setup this year?
Jenrry Mejia, Tanner Roark.. anybody else?
I’ll just assume this was addressed to me and my answer is…Storm Davis.
Jarrod Parker
Dave Parker
The Dave Parker Five.
You think so?
Justin Masterson is probably another
No, not really. If the A’s run that short on bullpen arms it’ll mean there was a plane crash.
I blame Lew…he probably made them fly Southwest.
My connection in Phoenix on Thursday was scheduled for 1 hr 5 min. The incoming flight was late, so it was 35 min from pull-up to the gate to push-back on the departing flight. I made it between concourses in Phoenix by shoving old ladies over but I thought, no way my suitcase makes this. I hung out at baggage claim in Reno and what do you know, here comes the suitcase. Seriously, Southwest has its shit together and I’m doubtful any other airline would have succeeded there.
Is Masterson enough of a strike out pitcher to be a good setup man? It seems like the later inning bullpen guys are all becoming power arms. I think of Masterson as more of a ground ball pitcher.
It’s also possible I’m thinking of Bat Masterson…who couldn’t throw worth a damn.
Sky Masterson could set up a hell of a crap game.
Yeah. Over last two years he averaged just under a strikeout per inning and that was as a starter. Normally this number would go up when switching to a reliever.
Yeah, I went on baseball reference and looked it up…shocking that it turns out I was wrong about something.
is the idea that the sox would acquire an ace type and bump him to the back of the pen?
I don’t know if you can call Masterson an ace. In his best year, he was a fringe Top 20 starter in baseball, yes. But if you look at the last five years, he was just slightly better than average. He is 30 years old, and is coming off a year in which he not only played on a replacement level, but also lost almost three miles of his fastball.
I don’t think it is necessarily a plan to have him pitch from a bullpen, but I think it is a viable Plan B option.
Sorry, I don’t think that was clear. I was asking if you thought the Sox would acquire someone like Hammels and move Masterson to the pen so that he could get saves?
Oh, I get you now.
I think the Red Sox are looking to bolster their starting pitching, as the only projected above average starter they have right now is Porcello, and they still have Kelly in the rotation. I don’t know perhaps Owens pans out quickly and takes over for Kelly some time this season, but still, that’s not really a rotation you want to contend with.
I think they should aim for Cliff Lee instead of Hamels and if so, perhaps Masterson does indeed end up in the back of their bullpen (probably not the closer, though, as I think Uehara keeps that. A conversion to a kind of Wade Davis light, would be still a profitable return for Boston)
Zito says throwing fewer cutters will mean a return to “Zito Prime.” Over time the pitch came to consume him.
Does Zito Prime mean the pitch will be delivered to home within 2 days?
And (essentially) for free!
asvd
winner winner chicken dinner.
could have been a tighter joke:
Does Zito Prime mean that when the catcher calls a pitch, it will come to him in 2 days?
that’s screaming for an echo and the bunnymen filk.
This interview is so incredible I almost doubt it is true. Palm Beach Deputy on planting evidence and framing suspects.
At the Sri lanka Afghanistan match they played ring of fire between overs
Johnny Cash or Wall of Voodoo?
cash. wall of voodoo would have been funny.
Haven’t heard midnight oil yet
you won’t believe who painted his turtle like a 49er.
And with only nine fingers.
Wolff tried, raiders lied
Poor little San Antonio, always the stalking patsy, never the actual patsy.
I’m shocked, shocked to find sports team owners engaging in such ploys.
I’m shocked that a politician is shocked about something. San Antonio is a shit hole and I don’t hate Texas for the most part.
can i have 1 euro? (then €197.4m more?)
oh, it’s too late. they’ve already been dissolved.
Large chunks of Parma Football Club in your luggage
or trickle down milkonomics?
It begins: “he’s still feeling a little tug”. Also, Bryan Anderson will get many starts (yeah sure he will) this spring, it’s Doolittle vs Posey in Face of MLB semis on Monday, and a bunch of pitchers I never heard of impressed Melvin with their stuff.
so billy got mediocre and hurt players for a MVP caliber cornerstone…. great.
Yeah, the Donaldson trade is the only trade I can’t wrap my head around at all this offseason.
I don’t really mind that trade.
I hate hate hate hate the Russell for Submargarine deal. That will be one of Billy’s worst ever.
Thanks, and go As.
Oh, absolutely. I still hate the JD trade more because that’s Russell’s upside but that one was a gross overpayment. And why on Earth couldn’t we have gotten Zobrist/Price for it?
It’s Russell’s upside, but he’ll be young enough to actually sign to a long term deal.
I completely understand dealing JD, even though the return doesn’t look that great. 30, year to year in arby, and I could see him getting pissy about not getting a long term contract but he’s the exact player you DON’T give one to
Thanks, and go As.
FK yeah, boca.
Upon hearing milo tore off his shirt and waived it about
he’ll probably get a yellow card for that. but it’s worth it.
hey, 303 for england. they just might win a match this WC. of course, they’re playing scotland, who i hear has never won a WC match.
your interovers DJ report:
let’s twist again (like we did last summer)
shine on you crazy
diamondovali’m a believer
a country song i can’t quite make out. tip of my tongue though. wagon wheel, maybe?
and now they’re showing drunk english gals and guys singing along to something out of tune, so there’s no way i can make this one out.
the guardian’s live blog says we missed an underrated dream academy song about 55 minutes ago.
what a feeling (?) (flashdance)
whip it!
crazy little thing called love
chubby checkers again, i think. close enough for me to feel closure. i’m going home.
There is one broadcast that is better for hearing that
yeah, i’m having trouble catching half of them. was that bruce springsteen just now? all i heard were some woo-hoos,
OK, seriously now. that barrier looks a little zig-zaggy from all the times the fielders bump into it. how do the scorers know, when the ball touches it or misses it, if it’s in the right spot in the first place?
Moncada to the Red Sox with a $31.5M signing bonus that incurs the 100% luxury tax.
Those assholes
It’s funny because the 100% tax guarantees that only a few teams can sign players like that.
Thanks, and go As.
But you only incur the 100% tax if you’ve exceeded your international bonus pool.
Which I think you actually go over if you eat at IHOP
Thanks, and go As.
That’s just the Red Sox fault for agreeing to negotiate with Sandoval there.
They’re regretting that unlimited pancakes promotion now.
Thanks, and go As.
And even after all that, they took him to Olive Garden for their endless pasta and bread sticks.
The luxury tax is stupid in it’s application. What I’d like to see is something that takes away draft picks based on being in the top 5 teams and bottom 5 teams based on overall payroll. Top 5 and make the playoffs, you start losing top picks, more for each continuous year. Bottom 5 and miss the playoffs, you do the same. Force teams to try. And give them a trade off for spending the cash. Either get premium access top tier FAs or draft picks, but not both. And no more sucking ass intentionally so you can save some cash and get good picks.
Damnit. As always, screw the Red Sox
FK the Red Sox
30 years ago today, Bobby Knight began offering great deals at his furniture store (You buy a sofa, he throws in a chair).
Madsen replied that would be impossible because swallowed pills do not end up in the vagina.
doctorK may think California politics is unbalanced, but 13-4 is a “party line vote” in Idaho.
As nevermoor would say, DFWAS.
I used to think there would come a point, somewhere, that the inherent conflict between small government and invasive intrusions into women’s health would become so glaring and obvious that even hardened conservatives themselves would realize they’d gone too far into hypocrisy, and finally, they’d retreat.
I don’t think that any more. They’re just frothing jihadists, granted a thin veneer of respectability by America. I wish there were really a hell, with a portal cam I could use to see their shock and dismay when they found themselves there.
I feel for the women in these communities that are trapped by terrible terrible laws. I take solice in the fact that since these people exist, republicans will never get a hold of California.
Mind you, if the capital R Republicans weren’t as hell bent on social issues, they wouldn’t be bad. I would still have fiscal quibbles, but they would be virtually the same quibbles I have with capital D democrats
I’m not even sure that’s true anymore. They’re horribly fiscal irresponsible when given the keys to the economy.
Yeah, all the moralizing aside, the capital R’s of the last couple decades sold out the country for the benefit of their moneyed patrons to a degree previously considered unthinkable. I still believe the capital D’s aren’t quite that bad (if for no other reason than having less wealthy patronage to repay).
I mean, if the fight centers around union membership and environmental regulations, I can live with losing a battle or two.
The fight seems to center around allowing the wealthy to get huge tax cuts and putting the tax burden on the lower and middle classes. I look at some of the financial disasters in GOP controlled states and it’s just mind numbing that people would continue to vote for these idiots.
Let’s leave controversy behind us and universally praise Danny Espinosa:
Isn’t he someone that DFA wanted to target in a trade? I am 100% on board with that idea now.
I do, not sure where DFA falls. The problem with him is he was a potential 20/20 guy before some pretty ugly injuries, and has been useless since. So the issue is whether he can recover from those injuries and be productive (particularly as compared to our shit-tastic MI last year) or whether he is cooked.
I’m just saying that those injuries don’t seem to have affect his (facial hair) game.
I would like it a lot if the ugly beard fad would go away and be replaced by a cool mustache fad. Sorry Doolittle, but given a chance I’d vote that Fu Manchu as the face of MLB, hands down.
I’m a beard fan, just not an ugly beard fan. So I wholeheartedly choose the Fu Manchu over whatever the fuck is living on Doo’s face.
Speaking of beards
OMG what am I looking at?
except that’s not a fu manchu. that’s a horseshoe or trucker. a hulk hogan, if we have to put a fictional character’s name on it.
Exactly … this is a Fu Manchu
Despite the fact that this happened less than a quarter mile from my house, I didn’t hear a thing.
Thanks, and go As.
our second base problems are over!
(because of zobrist, naturally)
That’s how we roll
That’s really sweet.
That’s how she rolls.
I admire the amount of work that went into this meaningless ranking that nobody was asking for.
If you’re going to do something useless, might as well go all out
Basketball is really where it’s at right now in terms of analytics breakthroughs
Things have been getting steadily worse with the vacant commercial lot next door to us. The sleaze-bag who rents it first sublet the office to one tenant, and then parked an RV in the lot and sublet it to another (also requiring the office-renter to share its bathroom with the newcomer), and uses both tenants as his business’ casual labor pool.
The real problem is the visitors … a sad collection of addicts, pimps and prostitutes who show up at all hours and have screaming fights in the lot. After mrs ptbnl and I were separately threatened by the pimp we decided enough was enough and that the easiest resolution would be to call it in to the city as a zoning violation, since neither “residence” has a certificate of occupancy and the lot is zoned as commercial and so has no residential services like garbage collection.
The city inspector just came out and claimed that the is no evidence of residential use, but decided that the cooking/living space set out under the office awning was rather “open storage” and will be citing the lot owner for that!
It’s a good job I love Oakland.
Yikes. Glad you got some outcome, at least. There’s some chance that the lot owner now knowing that “the City is watching him” could result in more substantial corrections, I guess. Even small citations can add up to large fines fast if not fixed. Hopefully that and not angry neighbor feud. Ugh. Neighbor feuds are the worst.
right, he could be building a deck slightly encroaching on your property to get creek access
You love Oakland, but you no longer hella love it.
Needs moar secret sauce.
Sounds like fun. Hope it gets better quickly
Some good points, some bad points, but it all works out, you’re just a little freaked out.
Yeah, that sounds frustrating. I’d suggest accumulating some video evidence but am not too sure that will give the inspector much more of a kick in the butt.
The way to kick the inspector in the butt is yes, to build evidence, but also to broaden the range of people receiving your complaints to include the Chief Building Official (supervises inspectors), Planning Director (supervises Building Official), City Administrator’s Office (Nuisance Abatement Div), City Attorney’s Office (problem properties unit), and your Councilmember. Not all in one group blast email (because it can make you seem obsessive) but in individually tailored letters with individual follow up calls. Bureaucracies respond when it starts to feel like a bigger pain in the ass not to.
The big caveat here of course is that you only devote this level of effort if you’re willing to deal with the neighbor’s reaction, because the neighbor will notice, and sometimes this can be worse than the opriginal problem.
Yeah – we’re talking with our Council member’s office (McElhaney) and the property owners (J.W.Silveira). It’s tough when its one of three things* going on on the street and you don’t want to come off as crazy/nimby.
*Thing 2: the properties on the other side of the street are businesses with Broadway Row addresses, but they put their garbage out back where it gets collected by 3 separate commercial collection trucks at 4:30, 5:00 and 5:30am every Thursday morning. Everyone – including Waste Management – agrees that this shouldn’t be happening but no-one has been able to prevent it in over a year of trying.
*Thing 3: after the dodgy electrics burned down the grow house across the street, Harry Clarke moved their trenchless sewer services onto the lot, and now move truck loads of earth and rubble to, from, and around the site. Insane noise and traffic problems on the street, and a clear zoning violation for which they were cited. They agreed to desist while the Strategic Planning office came up with a long-term solution, only neither side did. 20 months later Harry Clarke continues to move their spoil, and last week Strategic Planning officially abandoned their efforts, having spent just long enough for the original notice of violation to have lapsed so that Zoning/Compliance has to open a new case.
This might be headed for legal action anyway, so you might think about getting a reference from FK’s team of lawyers and having the person write a few letters to both the city and Silveira on law firm stationery.
Next time I come over…
ptbnl, you might get a kick out of this particular neighbor dispute
Ha!
I remember seeing the treehouse when I was over at Clem’s house for dinner during a collaboration meeting and it’s immediately obvious that the location is crazy. The thing is built directly outside (like 5-10 feet) a second floor window of the neighbor’s house.
The Internet is all-knowing. The article is from September so there must have been some resolution?
Yeah, right, kid.
what’s the owner’s allegiance, and does he know about oakland municipal code 8.23?
42 USC § 1983 is about to get a workout in Chicago.
That’s OK, I’m sure Rahm will make it all better.
Assuming, of course, that he gets reelected.
There’s a lot to learn about this before we know what happens, but I’m sure you’re right that some cases get filed.
The incongruous note is that attorneys all seemed aware of this, and didn’t make a stink. Also, doesn’t look like there are any 72-hour violations, so I’m not seeing bright-line violations that a judge would feel compelled to correct. Will certainly be an interesting story to follow.
My Crim Pro knowledge is pretty poor these days. The cops can hold you incommunicado for up to 72 hours without any problems?
The story says 12-24. I’m not at all sure they have to get your lawyer to see you that quickly (especially if its a PD), though once you request a lawyer anything after is inadmissible. That said, I’ll defer to Ed on this piece.
from that interview i linked below. not sure what she’s trying to say. the language is confusing. seems something is missing where i inserted the brackets.
[at this site]? [when you’re not mirandized]? [in chicago]?
also, i’m not sure how her answer answers the question.
Yeah. If the idea is “people were taken here instead of being booked to be detained off-the-books” the question a court would need answered is “assuming that detention was on-the-books, was anything unconstitutional” and that’s not an answered question in the story (so far!)
I am not aware of a specific time period of holding.
If they are on probation, there are very few time restrictions on how long you can be held.
also weird that, as the ED of the CJP says, they’ve been trying to hand out the story to the press but nobody was interested in covering it. seems like even if the major papers don’t want it, somebody at the (can’t remember the name of) the chicago village voice / SFBG or a thousand bloggers trying to make a name for themselves would have picked it up gladly.
kos points out the story comes out that they may have been detaining black, brown, and poor people since 2006/7, but “it seems that none of this would have become a national story except for the fact that three young white males were were taken to homan square.”
also odd that if the site’s been operating since then, that the story breaks on the day of a chicago mayoral election.
just wondering… does dying constitute a 72 hour violation?
If your story is “A was arrested and put in an interview room” then “A is later found unresponsive and soon after pronounced dead” you don’t have a whole lot going for you. If he was refused medical care that was obviously needed, could have been saved, but died anyway you have a huge case. If he had a sudden heart attack, you don’t. I’m not saying it’s all above board, but am saying that you have a sensational headline with no meat on its bones.
me?
Chicago Reader
that’s what I don’t get. Clients will talk about these things. they will tell us. I know what cops ask for blow jobs, I know who lies I know who beats people. Whether or not I can prove it is another story.
But this is bigger than “I won’t bring you in if you blow me” thing.
So what do cops ask for blow jobs? Getting a BJ from our men and women in uniform must be quite an expensive treat, right?
Stuff about dads in today’s Chronicle:
* New A’s catching prospect Carson Blair is the stepson of Chicken Stanley. The original one, not the AN one.
* Marcus Semien’s dad was a wide receiver on the 1991 Cal team that finished the season ranked #8 in the nation.
* MLB Dad Rob Manfred likes the Coliseum site for a new A’s ballpark.
It feels like the right place.
(twss)
Thanks, and go As.
Yay, Papa Semien. Boo, Mama Semien:
Got to love minor league promotions … the Akron Rubberducks are having a Brian Williams Pants-On-Fire night.
What happens when the reporter fronting the Alaska TV news item on a local medical marijuana dispensary decides to come out live as the owner of the business too:
Doppleganger alert.
Thanks, and go As.
For a second I thought Lawrie was Barton, but for the tats.
I saw Yonder Mountain String Band last week. Jake Jolliff is playing mandolin for them. The whole night I was thinking, it’s Reddick’s twin brother.
Buried in a very long Bill Simmons NBA column-like substance, on a list of 30 for 30s he wants to do but can’t:
I have never heard this before.
It was off 880 across from the Coliseum, where the Walmart is now. Teams visiting the Coliseum for all sports used to stay there for the convenience, but the drug problem became so notorious that teams went back over to San Francisco in the 80s and have never returned to the East Bay.
Walter Davis was one big-name NBA player who comes to mind for whom a Hyatt visit was the last straw (he went straight from Oakland to rehab) but there were some others.
Another one (also from Grantland):
UH OH
Questioning the beatification of Saint Bud?
Genocide?
All the Syria stamps in his passport gave it away.
What does baseball consider worse than PEDs these days? Betting on baseball?
That’s the only thing I can think of.
he is dipping again
A drug relapse it is. That sucks, but I wouldn’t have thought baseball would classify that as worse than PEDs
Worse for him
Yeah, I truly feel bad for Hamilton, he had (has) so much going on yet seems ready to lose it all to his demons. His first fall, from can’t miss superstar to the crackhouse floor, was downright Shakesperean. And as often noted around here, even when sober he seems to the outside to be profoundly unhappy. I hope he gets some help that’s deeper than god-centered AA platitudes.
Ahh, now I’m re-reading that tweet from a different perspective and it makes sense. Yes, a drug relapse is clearly worse for Hamilton than using PEDs
Yeah, context is pretty important. And apparently because of his past issues, the Commish has added authority to punish him however he’d like (more or less) outside of the actual drug deal with the Union.
He cut the tag off of a mattress
Thanks, and go As.
the night of october 2, 2012, he bet against the rangers winning the division.
•
Relapse of “at least” coke use. Subject to more discretionary penalties per terms of 2006 re-admittance agreement with MLB. Says this.
that sucks. the angels better have to pay him
If they don’t, we know where he got it from.
ouch.
but yeah.
Thanks, and go As.
that’d be angel dust.
LOL the Arse.
That last bit was hilarious indeed.
Oxlade-Chamberlain went from sublime to ridiculous in about 20 seconds.
And since away goals count double in the event of a tie, his net contribution was negative.
Deep dive from Fangraphs on the A’s farm system.
Dave Cameron sure does like Matt Chapman. And Joey Wendle has “a non-zero chance to turn into an everyday option if the bat rebounds.” Yay?
That’s not Dave Cameron, it’s Kiley McDaniel. I hadn’t heard of him much, but he seems to have taken over prospects coverage on fangraphs. Seems like he has more of a scouting background than you might expect for website published out of someone’s mom’s basement.
I think the introduction is McDaniel, but the individual profile stuff is Cameron.
Oh, wait. Cameron just wrote that one paragraph. Confusing is what that is.
Yeah – Cameron always writes the “Organizational Overview” paragraph or something like that and then Kiley writes the prospects.
He use to be BPs international scouting guy.
He worked as a scout for the Yankees, the Pirates and the Orioles
I like Ms. Dolan. I think she wants beef with FSU though:
FSU is only allowed beef outside the house.
actually doolittle prefers Q-tip.
So do you eat the paper too, or what?
Looks like Unicorn has retired.
My Mark Ellis shirsey is the only one I still own (Milton Bradley and Bobby Crosby hit the rag pile long ago). I will rpoudly rock the Ellis at my pickup softball game this Saturday. To which, by the way, any FKers are quite welcome.
For some reason I thought you were EnglishMajor when I read this. Not even sure why.
Way to represent! Funnily enough I saw someone wearing a Dodgers Ellis shirsey today. Unless it was A.J. Ellis, it makes me wonder how they regarded him over there.
A good friend who is a Dodger fan reeeeeaaaallly did not appreciate Mark Ellis. He made me very angry and we bickered a lot about it.
Hmm, interesting. FG says his defense stayed pretty strong over there, it’s too bad your friend didn’t appreciate it. I’ll probably check with the Dodgers fan I know and see if he felt similarly.
the words of the day are par, king.
Liverpool return to the scene of their greatest triumph.
Hard to believe that was 10 years ago.
meanwhile dunkin donuts ignores their saddest day.
I really don’t give a damn about the White Sox, Indians, Twins or Royals, not to mention the Red Sox and the Yankees
First 60-day DL of the season:
Also bait for the first “Who’s ____” comment of the season.
I don’t how good a pitcher Chad Smith is, but he’s easily our best drummer since Jemile Weeks.
and now will ferrell can star in the comedy romp sequel to moneyball, moneyballs.
Who the fuck are these guys?
Taylor Thompson was part of the Shark->White Sox trade. I definitely had to look that up though.
What, are you writing ads for 95.7 now?
‘HAY GUYS CAN THE GIANTS WIN IT ALL AGAIN IN A ODD YEAR??! ALSOW HO THE HELL ARE ALL THE NEW GUYS ON TEH A’S?!??”
Thanks, and go As.
Sorry for Taylor Thompson, but yay, we finally have a new Chad!
i think it’s about the calibration on different people’s screens. i wonder if the same disagreement is possible with two people looking at the same screen.
so they’re digging a hole near the borussia dortmund stadium when they find a 550lb UXB from WWII.
it’s a good thing osvaldo scored in his debut with boca and put them ahead. because the tieing goal from wanderers was fucking embarrassing (0:35).
death from…below?
” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>
I think there are reports of people seeing it differently while looking at the same screen. Both my wife and I see gold/white, so I don’t have any actual evidence of that.
But today’s xkcd puts out a fairly convincing explanation:
The two sides look quite different to me, but my wife sees them as the same. I checked with photoshop that it’s the same color on both sides.
cool
I see blue and brown in both.
This. I don’t see any black, gold, or white, other than in the background.
good explanation. relies on the background contrast, which i’m not sure where the dress photo gets different backgrounds. maybe to the right of the dress and to the left?
i do buy that we’re all seeing the same color (as in photoshop-eyedropper-value same), but our eye is translating the horrible lighting in the photo to what the dress would look like in real life. like blue snow.
That has to be it. Though the dress looks white/gold to me (unlike the XKCD, which looks blue/brown)
the metallic effect is hard to achieve. (i’ve tried.) you have to get the shine and shadows of reflection. but take a photo of a gold coin, eyedropper the value anywhere on it, and you just get a yellow or brown or some other ugly thing that looks nothing like gold.
what xk would want to do here is put an image of foil on a layer behind the dress, then select the brown areas and make them 50% transparent.
I see white and gold too, and so did the person I was with last night. This blue and black talk is crazy
Except the dress is blue and black.
This vine explains the color manipulation (which is not inherently shocking) but not how this single picture ended up being such an edge case.
that’s the blue i’m supposed to see? i thought we were talking sky blue. i can’t get there from that original image.
i get the vine vid. frickin’ auto color adjustment in digital cameras… hate it.
ACK! who slipped me the tab of acid???
i. just. saw. the. dress. change. colors.
thought it was a gif.
it was not.
i saw the blue.
then i couldn’t see the white.
i looked at all the versions of the photo. no white.
THEN THE BLACK WENT GOLD AND I NOW SEE BLUE AND GOLD.
which is ugly for a dress.
and everything is so MEANINGFUL!!
And this is what the big deal is.
Nope, still seeing white and gold. I’ve messed with the angle, resolution, etc. and still white and gold the whole time. I could maybe be convinced of the blue, but definitely do not see where the black comes in
Let me clarify that I believe people have found the right dress online and that the actual dress is blue and black, but that being said, I cannot accept that that dress is blue and black. It is white and gold and shut up
it’s crazy. i was where you are. then i could just see blue black and only blue black. now i’m all over the place, but i can’t predict which one it will be. and i’ve been checking through the day.
also, have you ever looked at your hand? i mean, really looked at your hand?
Weird. I’m the only one who sees blue/brown on the actual dress as well it seems.
No, that’s what I have seen since the beginning too.
Me also, more or less. To be more precise:
– the light part looks like a very light blue. I would call it blue, but I can sort of see how you might say white.
– the other part I would call gold (not A’s yellow, more like niners gold but even darker), but could be talked into brown. No way in hell can I see how that could be black though.
Yeah, it’s hard to tell if it’s just a tan/brown or gold, but something in that neck of the woods. Calling it brown feels more accurate than calling it gold.
ceci n’est pas une actual dress…
Republican Senate environment chief uses snowball as prop in climate rant
Meanwhile, in other news, The Siberian crater saga is more widespread — and scarier — than anyone thought
Man, walking down the highway took a lot out of me yesterday.
With the fucking pigs chasing you like you’re on a farm or something.
i read that without the comma and thought you got mugged.
Needs MOAR Android.
Lily’s school’s auction fundraiser includes 2 tickets to the Warriors/Clippers game on March 8th with a reserve of $110 if anyone is interested.
RIP Mr. Spock.
there’s still prosper, i guess.
83 strikes me as living pretty long
Funny how that doesn’t seem as long to me as in years past.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Zj7OJeyhq2Q%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>
Looking forward to many happy years of wondering what the matter is with Timmy.
he’s a douche!
no wait, the douche is his morning drivetime show partner once his team contract is up.
He’ll be the Frazier Crane of the Bay Area, with his show “‘What’s the matter?’ with Timmy”
Excellent
ha!
I heard Haberkauff and Middleman announce it this morning and they managed to sound fairly enthused, and didn’t even mention the Giants for ten minutes or more.
i think thats a new record
Thanks, and go As.
I can’t believe they stopped talking about football and demeaning women long enough to announce it.
I have faint hope that the place will get a little better with the departure of the current meathead program director, but that’s probably in vain.
From the comments of that link:
What the actual fuck? Bruce is possibly the worst guy on the entire station.
Thanks, and go As.
Bruce is an odious d-bag these days, but he does seem brighter than everyone else on that air other than Papa.
I think this is great news. As I’ve ranted often, prior to landing on 95.7 the A’s on radio were like the Jews in the Egyptian desert, wandering aimlessly to a new place every year or two, usually some tiny backwater shithole that half of the chosen fans couldn’t tune in at all. Now it’ll be, what, seven years in a row on one signal that comes in clearly? Halle-fuckin-lujah.
A’s reclaim anagram all-star Alex Hassan on waivers.
HASSAN CHOP!
PSA: According to my email, MLB.tv subscriptions auto-renew “on or about” tomorrow.
And, it looks like mine already renewed, so whatever.
I canceled mine ages ago. Woo me!
:(
Thanks, and go As.
Crap.
If you don’t want it this year and MLB.com won’t cancel it, you could call your credit card company and have them invalidate the debit.
Too late to move the next World Cup?
Not exactly subtle, are they.
geez. what’s with all these suicides?
This Cleveland Browns redesign thing has to be an premature April Fools joke. They didn’t do anything other than change to an uglier, and less brown, shade of orange.
I have a coworker who is a lifelong Browns fan. She is aghast, of course, but still trumpets the fact that the Browns still have a simple classic uniform scheme, no mascot, and no cheerleaders.
I love the Browns uniforms and no logo look. Simplicity is all too rare in sporting aesthetics.
Agreed. This is why I believe the Raiders have the best uniforms in American pro sports.
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
It is when the wind is out of the south.
I’m just so happy to have Tom Ridge back fearmongering. It makes me feel 10 years younger.
Yes, that is quite amusing.
Of course, perhaps the new Inglewood stadium could be the first in the nation with a Patriot missile battery included.
ah. that explains all the attempts on the coliseum.
Yep, those buildings in NY were definitely in the flight path of the local airports. That’s why it got hit.
you don’t get it. the trade center got his because the terrorists were trying to get to giants’ stadium.
Fuck the Homeland Security Industrial Complex. We have always been at war with Eastasia.
Turns out that scaremongering report was commissioned by AEG, backers of a rival LA stadium plan.
This is the least surprising thing ever.
i was with an organization that was opposing a means of transporting oil that commissioned a report on whether that means was vulnerable to a terrorist attack by hiring a military man to survey its weaknesses terrorism. Im surprised we didn’t get called ecoterrorists.
I’ll bet you a dollar you can’t guess who is starting the A’s first cactus league game
Best (most A’s-player-ish) quote:
You almost have to admire the tenacity of whatever editor told this writer: “Go write something about the Blue Jays, but make it about Jeter.”
(Also, could the anecdotes about G’s P be any more boring?)
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, white bread, crusts removed. Choosy Jeters choose Jif
“Anecdotes about G’s P” had me stumped for a bit. I was thinking “G” as in “Jason G” and was wondering, what boring anecdotes about his P am I about to read in a NY Times article, and how on earth has the Times stooped so low as to include such anecdotes in the first place.
H like an A star, P like an R star, F like a P star?
I could not agree more with this. College basketball has become painful to watch, and there are some very easy fixes to nudge it back in the right direction that have nothing to do with forcing stars to play for free longer.
Aces bait
Is it too late for us to sign that pitching machine?
But did he at least take a pitch or 2?
@Mundy 11:11: I also agree, especially About the overuse of timeouts and that extending the 3-point line world create space for better flow. I think the fundamental answer To the physicality problem is to reward coaches/systems that play a more fluid offensive game.
All the timeouts really aggravate me. God forbid these tyrannical coaches trust their players to make decisions on their own in the last two minutes.
The Merc’s Warriors beat writer really knows how to get the inside poop
that’s one way to be a regular player.
Before knocking down some deuces in the game, you gotta drop one first.
nice episode for sports fans.
http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-sound-of-sports/
Average penis size revealed to be less than six inches
I’d believe it. Hell, I see it daily at work.
Since you apparently have a decent sample size, would you care to comment on that point?
Our population is probably 90% Caucasian. The few non-Caucasians I’ve worked with have been have been “average”. Nothing breathtaking.
One encounter that sticks out in my mind vividly is an African American male with a complaint of priapism. I couldn’t see it. Literally.
Are you seeing these penii erect?
No, I meant the 3″ flaccid.
That definitely won’t be a creepy party.
Probably will have a lot of really nice cars in the parking lot though.
just a bunch of these:
Thanks, and go As.
We just call those frat parties in the US
Do they have to prove their membership before being allowed in?
How in the actual FK is it possible for a single song to make that much money in this day and age?
The guy arguing for the bad guys in the Obamacare case sounds pretty cool.
It’s no Bohemian Gravity, but it’s still a fun account of BICEP/Planck
” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>
Surprisingly accurate too!
Yeah – he knows his physics.
Bank of Canada urges ‘Star Trek’ fans to stop ‘Spocking’ their fivers
he is a national treasure
Just wait until the Captain dies and everyone starts to shat on their money.
Dave Brubeck would suggest you Takei Five.
And you can almost guarantee if they were shot, it was with Chekov’s gun.
Nerds!
that’s saying something, coming from the real mccoy.
I’ve been biding my time …
indeed. I am sort of honored.
feels good, huh?
U hu r a nerd yourself, saying this?
According to the LA Times, Josh Hamilton could be classified as 4th-time MLB drug policy offender, meaning a suspension of “at least one full season.” That sounds like the wrong thing to do, and not just because of this:
It seems wrong on all levels. With the panel hung, MLB will probably appoint Moreno as an arbitrator
Not sure how I feel about that. Obviously he needs to get himself help. I honestly don’t care about the suspension side of things because they’re more recreational drugs rather than performance enhancing. I don’t know if playing baseball is really the right thing for him though. He was able to get his shit together outside of the game last time.
On the other side of this thing, I’d like to see a change to the agreement that requires suspended player’s salaries to still be paid, if not to the player, than to a charity that the Union & MLB can agree on. If you want to risk signing these guys, you have to take the full risk and not get off having zero responsibility.
right? the needs to be more incentive on the team to actively keep people off drugs/PEDs
Exactly. It seems like their is really a disincentive on most of these contracts. Hell, that could be a new efficiency: sign players and figure out how to get them hooked when the burden years start to hit.
not that I care about either, let them play
Yeah agreed. That’s one of those technical letter of the law things that goes against common sense and a sense of what feels like “the right thing to do.” Even putting aside the fact that he’s on a terrible contract for a team I dislike, I would feel uncomfortable with that ruling if he were on any team for any contract
thoughts?
My general feeling is that this criticism is wrongheaded. Yes, the players didn’t get full free agency, but they moved things in that direction, which is a hell of a thing in a league that has been organized around the principle of avoiding it. And it only “locks in” this structure for five years, at which point the owners won’t be able to argue that free agency is simply unthinkable for MLS because they already opened the door to it.
And it’s not like other American professional sports leagues don’t operate on a principle of free agency only for established players. The NFL and NBA have their draft rights and rookie salary scales, and MLB still has has the freaking reserve clause until you stick it out for six or seven years plus your time in the minor leagues. Josh Donaldson isn’t going to be able to choose where he plays until his mid-30s, and that’s after Curt Flood and a strike that wiped out a World Series.
Add to that the fact that MLS is still a relatively fragile operation compared to other leagues, and that most of these players are living paycheck to paycheck, and it becomes pretty hard to fault them for not going to the mattresses here.
both sides made concessions
Owners didn’t want any form of free agency at all. Then they offered age 32 with 10 years (literally ONE player met that requirement). They wanted the CBA to be 8 years, it’s only for 5.
minimum salary went from 38,500 to 60K.
it’s also leaking out that there is some sort of mechanism for players “outperforming” their contracts to negotiate raises regardless of free agency etc.
Thanks, and go As.
OK, you guys seem OK with it. i just read a bunch of indignation so i wanted to check.
32&10 seems out of hand. but 28&8 seems to favor +20yr old players joining, over 18yr olds, who might look elsewhere to start (and may perhaps find momentum elsewhere and stay there, weakening MLS over time). i wonder if the requirement might have been better stated with no minimum age but 10 yrs service. kinda does the same thing, but enticing younger players to start in the MLS, or am i counting/thinking wrong?
I think OR instead of AND would have made it much, much better.
As it is now, the 1st pick in the MLS draft will be a free agent 2 years before the 2nd pick, just because he’s 19 and the 2nd pick is 21.
I expect it to change again quite a bit in 5 years though.
both sides appear to not be completely happy with the deal, so I assume that means it’s actually pretty good overall.
Thanks, and go As.
did you say that backwards, or am i counting wrong?
1st pick: 19 + 8 = 27, has to wait one more year
2nd pick: 21 + 8 = 29, is eligible right away
i think you’re getting at that a young (projected) star would have to wait longer than someone who’s not quite as good?
Yes, I was backwards.
Younger players will have to play more than 8 years, but older players will be closer to 30 instead of 28.
Thanks, and go As.
Nerd
If we’re allowing 775GeV to be a “prediction” of 125GeV, then sure.
OK, which MLB team bought a Cray?
Since they rule out the Astros, I’d have to go with the Cubs. Theo probably sold management on it as also being capable of demand pricing their beer sales.
I’d go with the Cubs, too. Especially because of the hint (“Five years ago you wouldn’t have guessed the team”)
It’s us, but Lew is just using it to mine for bitcoin.
A Cray is absolutely the wrong machine for that – you’d spend more on power than you’d make mining, especially with the plummeting price.
So it’s the Yankees then. They spend much more on power than they can ever make mining prospects.
Gotta be a northern team. They call them Craws down south
Good read
I wonder how long before he goes Desme way…
When does he join the A’s. That’s when.
That’s awesome, what a cool sounding dude. I hope he’s able to stay so grounded and have a strong big league career.
OTOH, if he’s committed to that 1978 Westfalia it make take his entire signing bonus. Horrible, awful cars, whose operating costs are worse still due to devoted VW acolytes willing to pay any price to keep their POS’s alive.
For the first time, I have a chance to have both of my universities in Madness that is March.
I’m not sure I would be able to resist doing something like this if I had courtside seats.
Someone make a new grill, scrolling on phone to bottom of this one is hard.