The other sports thread

[Hoss]

no Cinderella, but some of the games have been great.

Sure. There are great games every year. They've been fewer this year, though. Cinderellas is what March Madness is all about. This was a very boring year. It's going to take some crazy fireworks in the Final Four to make this year anything other than boring.

[LastPommerFan]

Sure. There are great games every year. They've been fewer this year, though. Cinderellas is what March Madness is all about. This was a very boring year. It's going to take some crazy fireworks in the Final Four to make this year anything other than boring.

 

Agreed. Unfortunately, the lone low-seed that got through to the final 4 is a perennial power.

[Hoss]

Agreed. Unfortunately, the lone low-seed that got through to the final 4 is a perennial power.

 

Exactly. Just like UConn a few years ago. Hard to count them as a Cinderella.

[#freejame]

After many long months, professional baseball begins at the highest level tonight as the Cubs face off against the Cardinals. Any baseball fans going to be watching the season kick off today and tomorrow? Go Nationals!

[Hoss]

After many long months, professional baseball begins at the highest level tonight as the Cubs face off against the Cardinals. Any baseball fans going to be watching the season kick off today and tomorrow? Go Nationals!

I fell out of love with baseball a few years ago but it's a sport and I still end up watching.

 

Also: Go Nationals! Grew up an expos fan and just followed them to Washington. Might hop back on the Montreal train once the Rays move there in a year or two (seems inevitable at this point).

[WildCard]

After many long months, professional baseball begins at the highest level tonight as the Cubs face off against the Cardinals. Any baseball fans going to be watching the season kick off today and tomorrow? Go Nationals!

Count me in that 'Go Nationals' party. I grew up playing baseball watching Harper develop as a 16 year old. All the derbies, highlights...Harper was so exciting to watch. I don't follow teams anymore, I guess I'd be a Yankees fan because they're the team I can watch the most locally, so I really just follow players and story-lines. The Nationals always sucked when I was young, and adding Harper it just makes them so endearing. 

 

I'll be rooting for the Cubs this year too. I would love to witness the breaking of the curse of the Billy Goat. 

[#freejame]

I fell out of love with baseball a few years ago but it's a sport and I still end up watching.

 

Also: Go Nationals! Grew up an expos fan and just followed them to Washington. Might hop back on the Montreal train once the Rays move there in a year or two (seems inevitable at this point).

They had quite the crowd a few nights ago. I want to say 46,000 or so. That's really impressive for an exhibition game.

 

Count me in that 'Go Nationals' party. I grew up playing baseball watching Harper develop as a 16 year old. All the derbies, highlights...Harper was so exciting to watch. I don't follow teams anymore, I guess I'd be a Yankees fan because they're the team I can watch the most locally, so I really just follow players and story-lines. The Nationals always sucked when I was young, and adding Harper it just makes them so endearing. 

 

I'll be rooting for the Cubs this year too. I would love to witness the breaking of the curse of the Billy Goat. 

I'm in the same boat as you with Harper. I've been a lifelong fan of baseball, but until Harper came around I never really had a team, I'd just watch any game I could. I decided whoever drafted him would be my team. Since then, I've been to about 8 Nats games and a pair of playoff games last year. I'm hoping the Cubbies put together a solid season too, they've suffered long enough.

[LastPommerFan]

PECOTA has my O's projected for last place in the AL East and 78 wins.

Last year the projection had them pegged at 73 wins.

 

Pretty sure this means this is the year they break 100!

 

PLAY BALL!!!

 

[#freejame]

PECOTA has my O's projected for last place in the AL East and 78 wins.

 

Last year the projection had them pegged at 73 wins.

 

Pretty sure this means this is the year they break 100!

 

PLAY BALL!!!

 

No way that the O's only win 78 and no way they come in last. I think Boston is overrated and Bluejays are overrated. The AL East has flipped now in my mind and it's yours to take!

[LastPommerFan]

No way that the O's only win 78 and no way they come in last. I think Boston is overrated and Bluejays are overrated. The AL East has flipped now in my mind and it's yours to take!

 

PECOTA just doesn't like the way Showalter plays ball. Swing for the fence and play defense behind average pitching. To much luck involved. I saw an analysis where his teams "buck" (hehehe) the established analytics roughly 15% more than the average team (either up or down). Over 162 games, that could mean +/- 20 wins!

[WildCard]

The Blue Jays are definitely overrated, though I don't think the Sox are. Boston's weakness is their starting rotation IMO, I think they get in the postseason, but I'm not sure they go anywhere. 

 

The O's, IMO, need Chris Davis to have a big year. Losing Cruz was a big blow to their lineup, and Weiter's injuries have got to be a concern. No way they don't eclipse 78 wins; the Rays are the cellar dwellers of the AL East and it's not even close.

[ubkev]

I miss loving baseball. I want steroids back. I want the game of my youth. The game where 4 guys had 50 homers going into September. Man, those were good times.

 

My opinion, of course.

[LastPommerFan]

The Blue Jays are definitely overrated, though I don't think the Sox are. Boston's weakness is their starting rotation IMO, I think they get in the postseason, but I'm not sure they go anywhere. 

 

The O's, IMO, need Chris Davis to have a big year. Losing Cruz was a big blow to their lineup, and Weiter's injuries have got to be a concern. No way they don't eclipse 78 wins; the Rays are the cellar dwellers of the AL East and it's not even close.

 

From a WAR standpoint, everything they lost in Markakis and Cruz can be recovered with a healthy Weiters and Machado and a Davis with the proper adderall paperwork on file with the league.

 

And as long as Adam Jones is on the team, they will be one of the most fun in the Majors.

[Eleven]

After many long months, professional baseball begins at the highest level tonight as the Cubs face off against the Cardinals. Any baseball fans going to be watching the season kick off today and tomorrow? Go Nationals!

 

I'm not watching tonight, but hell yeah, go Nats!

[Samson's Flow]

The Blue Jays are definitely overrated, though I don't think the Sox are. Boston's weakness is their starting rotation IMO, I think they get in the postseason, but I'm not sure they go anywhere.

 

The O's, IMO, need Chris Davis to have a big year. Losing Cruz was a big blow to their lineup, and Weiter's injuries have got to be a concern. No way they don't eclipse 78 wins; the Rays are the cellar dwellers of the AL East and it's not even close.

And here I thought we were friends. Why you hating on my Jays? They will have a top 5 offense with the addition of Donaldson and Martin.

 

They just have to win every game 6-5... :lol:

[TrueBlueGED]

PECOTA just doesn't like the way Showalter plays ball. Swing for the fence and play defense behind average pitching. To much luck involved. I saw an analysis where his teams "buck" (hehehe) the established analytics roughly 15% more than the average team (either up or down). Over 162 games, that could mean +/- 20 wins!

 

:angel:

Edited April 6, 2015 by TrueBluePhD

[#freejame]

I'm not watching tonight, but hell yeah, go Nats!

Nationals don't play until tomorrow afternoon. All you're missing tonight is the Cardinals beating the Cubs right now. 

[WildCard]

And here I thought we were friends. Why you hating on my Jays? They will have a top 5 offense with the addition of Donaldson and Martin.

 

They just have to win every game 6-5... :lol:

Good luck with that :lol:   :nana:

 

My buddy's a big Jays fan, we go every year to see them in Toronto. It'd be great to go see them in August when they're in the playoff hunt 

[Randall Flagg]

Good luck with that :lol: :nana:

 

My buddy's a big Jays fan, we go every year to see them in Toronto. It'd be great to go see them in August when they're in the playoff hunt

Can you do me a favor when you go to Rogers Centre?

[WildCard]

Can you do me a favor when you go to Rogers Centre?

Name it

[Randall Flagg]

Name it

Okay, so climb up the ramps to the 300 level, go around the big circle concourse thing, you know, the main hall, and find where the little hallway opens into the stands in section 315. Go to where the ramp opens right across the concourse/hall thing from that section's opening, and at the top of the ramp, just after the downward slope starts, there's a column holding the structure up, located just over the edge of the railing, and where your hand can reach there is a bracket holding a beam that goes out horizontal to the ground. Bring a toothpick or something like it with you. Slipped in the little crack between the bracket and the beam there is a Pokemon card. Could you wiggle it out, take a picture of the card, and post it here? Then just throw it away or whatever. That would be much appreciated. 

 

 

Full disclosure, we were the official marching band of the Bills for a while in high school and they took us to Toronto for the preseason game in the summer of 2009, and we put it there figuring they'd bring us back again up until senior year, when we'd retrieve it again, but our bus got into an accident on the way back to the hotel that cost tens of thousands of dollars in damage so we stopped going up there. My friends and I would get a kick out of seeing that card again. 

[WildCard]

Okay, so climb up the ramps to the 300 level, go around the big circle concourse thing, you know, the main hall, and find where the little hallway opens into the stands in section 315. Go to where the ramp opens right across the concourse/hall thing from that section's opening, and at the top of the ramp, just after the downward slope starts, there's a column holding the structure up, located just over the edge of the railing, and where your hand can reach there is a bracket holding a beam that goes out horizontal to the ground. Bring a toothpick or something like it with you. Slipped in the little crack between the bracket and the beam there is a Pokemon card. Could you wiggle it out, take a picture of the card, and post it here? Then just throw it away or whatever. That would be much appreciated. 

 

 

Full disclosure, we were the official marching band of the Bills for a while in high school and they took us to Toronto for the preseason game in the summer of 2009, and we put it there figuring they'd bring us back again up until senior year, when we'd retrieve it again, but our bus got into an accident on the way back to the hotel that cost tens of thousands of dollars in damage so we stopped going up there. My friends and I would get a kick out of seeing that card again. 

That's awesome, I will most certainly do that for you  :thumbsup:

 

I don't have a smart phone, only a flip phone, so I can't really take a picture of it and post it here. I can mail it to your town or college if you want, or I could probably bring a regular camera with me and take a picture.

[Randall Flagg]

That's awesome, I will most certainly do that for you :thumbsup:

 

I don't have a smart phone, only a flip phone, so I can't really take a picture of it and post it here. I can mail it to your town or college if you want, or I could probably bring a regular camera with me and take a picture.

You da best. Either one of those works for me, just PM me when the day of the game gets closer and I'll give you my school mailing address.

[rumblefish]

first day to a new year in MLB, spring in the air, there is nothing in the world like opening day, here's hoping "old blue eyes" will be singing at the end of the game

[Eleven]

Nationals don't play until tomorrow afternoon. All you're missing tonight is the Cardinals beating the Cubs right now. 

 

I know.  I might actually try to catch the late innings today.