Today is Bo Jackson's 49th birthday, so I thought I'd watch a Bo Jackson video and then I watched about 10. The first video shocked me because I'm never ready for how big he is or how fast. And he was both.
Here are some videos and articles including football Bo, baseball Bo, Letterman Bo, Sesame St Bo, ect. The articles are interspersed with the videos. Make sure to watch the Tecmo Bo.
I don't think the Red Sox should fire Terry Francona so I asked Dave to make a picture I could use to show my support. Dave is awesome. So is Terry Francona. #TeamTito
The Red Sox have had a pretty up and down season. I'm still not sure what to say about it, but there's humor in pain. Especially other people are making fun of my pain. Anyway, I thought these Tweets were good.
The only American League player to hit at least one triple in each of the last 12 season is David Ortiz. I would have never guessed. That's 2 things on the blog today that no one would ever guess.
In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team’s Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender. When former Goldman Sachs colleagues Stuart Sternberg and Matthew Silverman assumed control of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, it looked as if they were buying the baseball equivalent of a penny stock. But the incoming regime came armed with a master plan: to leverage their skill at trading, valuation, and management to build a model twenty-first-century franchise that could compete with their bigger, stronger, richer rivals—and prevail.
Check out an excerpt in GQ, and one on ESPN. Here's a bit about how the Rays missed on Albert Pujols even though one of their scouts loved him and they could have gotten him for a flyer.
They still worried about the player's build, as Jennings had earlier, and wondered what position he would play. This was especially odd, since the player didn't get much chance to try out at third base, his natural position, or first, where Arango thought he could also fare well. Many skeptics also wondered about his age: he was born in the Dominican Republic, didn't move to the United States until high school, and always looked old for the age he was supposed to be. Meanwhile, the player's agent was new to the gig, and that uncertainty raised fears that just signing the guy could become dicey, even in the later rounds. Besides, the Devil Rays had their targeted names up on the draft board, and the draft was flying by. Jennings wasn't ignoring Arango's projection per se. There was just so much other stuff going on that they didn't give it much thought. By the time you get past the tenth round, most players have no shot of ever sniffing the big leagues, let alone becoming productive regulars, let alone becoming the kind of superstar Arango envisioned. No big deal.
This list pretty much sums up my thoughts on the Jay Cutler fiasco. Click through for the rest.
10. Show too much emotion.
9. Show too little emotion.
8. Get injured.
7. Play while injured and make your injury worse.
6. Play while injured and try to avoid making your injury worse.
Somebody shared this in Google Reader, but now I can't find who.
The Baseball Hall of Fame just announced this year's class of inductees, and there were some notable names missing. Here's Nate Silver on the numbers. His point is basically that good baseball players today are better than great baseball players of yesteryear.
If you’re not willing to reserve a place for players who meet or exceed the statistical standards of the average Hall of Famers at their positions, however — players like a Larkin or a Bagwell — the discussion really ought to turn to which players we need to kick out. No Barry Larkin? No Travis Jackson. No Tim Raines? No Max Carey. No Jeff Bagwell? No High Pockets Kelly. No Trammell and Whitaker? That’s fine: let’s boot Tinker and Evers.
Barry Larkin and Jeff Bagwell, 2 players who didn't make it but should have, are indicative of how people vote now. Barry Larkin didn't make it because he was merely spectacular for close to a decade, not eye poppingly amazing, during an era of steroid use. Jeff Bagwell, on the other hand, had amazing stats, also during an era of steroid use. It seems like Larkin is being compared unfavorably in light of ballooning offensive stats, for not doing steroids. On the other hand, Bagwell is being punished for having those stats during the same era, even though there's never been evidence of steroid abuse.
This is a list of the pitchers with the top 10 strikeout rates among starters 22 or younger with at least 50 innings pitched. See Washington National's phenom Stephen Strasburg on there at number 2?
1 Kerry Wood
2 Stephen Strasburg
3 Dwight Gooden
4 Mark Prior
5 Oliver Perez
6 Sam McDowell
7 Mark Prior
8 Scott Kazmir
9 Oliver Perez
10 Rick Ankiel
In the Esquire article about Roger Ebert a few weeks back, Ebert mentioned his interview interview with Lee Marvin as one of his favorites, and now they've republished it online.
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