Tuesday Links

-More Loria bashing. [Hardball Times]

-Matthew Carruth studies things like this so we don't have to. [Fangraphs]

-Pat Andriola quantifies how much Chone Figgins has sucked this year. [Fangraphs]

-These are Paul Winterling/Wash College type numbers. [Rotoworld & Mike]

-Mike Fast of HBT puts together a nice pitching primer.

-Stewart Mandel predicts how the first-year coaches will do in college football. My initial thoughts: too bullish on Notre Dame and too bearish on Kansas. [SI.com]

-Decent article. Great headline. [Rumors and Rants]

-Courtesy of Deadspin:



video: Icelandic goal celebration

BC 8/31/2010

Monday Links

-Buster Olney blog: Saturday and Sunday. [ESPN Insider; password required]

 

-More Jeff Loria bashing. Yahoo's Jeff Passan trying to single-handedly bring down the Marlins front office. Tailgate tested, tailgate approved.

 

-Insightful piece about Rays' financials by Maury Brown. [BizofBaseball.com]

 

-105. [Big League Stew]

 

-More front office MLB problems: here's a guide to the impending McCourt Divorce. [Dodger Divorce]

 

-Weird. Threets tearing his UCL garnered .0000001% as much attention as that Strasburg guy doing the same. [Rotoworld]

 

-I give this argument a five on the Phillip Wellman-meter. [Big League Stew]

 

-A happy medium to NFL schedule increase? I could be sold. [NFP]

 

-Another writer voicing opposition to an 18 game season. [NFL Gridiron Gab]

 

-Peter King's MMQB. [SI.com]

 

-Lombardi.[NFL.com]

 

-Daily Revis update. [NY Daily News]

 

 

 

 

 

 

BC 8/30/2010

Friday Links

-We mentioned the Rays as a good fit last week for Brad Hawpe. Now, it's a reality. [Twitter / Ken Rosenthal]

-Buster Olney blog. [ESPN Insider; password required]

-Jayson Stark's Rumblings & Grumblings. [ESPN]

-A crushing blow to the Nationals and their fans. Both of them. [Yahoo! Sports]

-A link to Aaron Gleeman's links. [AG.com]

-Awesome individual effort by Gronk to find the end zone. [NFL.com]

-Andrew Brandt (quickly becoming a sight favorite) breaks down the Nick Mangold deal. [NFP]

-More Jets stuff. David Harris, drafted a round later than Darrelle Revis has no problem producing and honoring his contract knowing the team will take care of him later. [Newsday]

-More basketball sabermetrics. If these sabermaticians (or is it sabermatricians?) want us to buy into their numbers, mathematically proving it's not a good idea to call a timeout - and prolong a game - seems like a great start. [HSAC]

-The always entertaining Deadspin mailbag.

-A sick alley-oop to get you ready for the weekend:



Jennings-to-Wall




BC 8/27/2010

Thursday Links

-Investment advice from Mark Cuban. [Cuban Blog]

-I would probably agree with this headline despite the fact is was written by someone presumably in New Orleans. [Nola.com]

-Lombardi. [NFL.com]

-Matt Williamson of ESPN (password required) identifies each NFL team's most indispensable player.

My three strongest points of contention:

1- No Peyton (puts this whole list into question)

2- MJD should rank higher (maybe top 3)

3- Ryan Mathews being on this list (he has never played a down in the NFL).

-Can one or more these guys be bargains in 2011? My guess would be Adam Laroche provides the most value. [The Baseball Analysts]

-Win probability graph of yesterday's Braves-Rox game. [Fangraphs]

-Should the Pirates spend money to win games? [Slate.com]

-Of the ideas listed, I like #5 best, but I'm not sure any improvements/changes to the current waiver claiming process are in short order for MLB. [Walk like a Sabr]

-NBA Sabermetrics: to foul or not to foul when up three. [HSAC]

BC 8/26/2010

Wednesday Links

-Buster Olney blog. [ESPN Insider; password required]

 

-ESPN steals an idea from Peter King and runs it before his annual article: ranking the 200 best NFL players. [ESPN Insider; password required]

 

-Great article by Jeff Passan...unless you live in Florida. [Yahoo]

 

-Chaminade guy signs with old college coach (yes, Mike asked me to link to this story). [NFP]

 

-Q&A with Football Outsiders' Bill Barnwell. [NY Times]

 

-We knocked him yesterday so it's only fair to congratulate Jevan Snead today. [Bucs.com]

 

-(Non-sports) Are these miners collecting overtime? [Fox]

 

 

 

BC 8/25/2010

 

Tuesday Links

-Buster Olney blog. [ESPN Insider; password required]

 

-Great question posed by Joe P at Fangraphs: What happened to the AL shortstops?

 

-Summary of guys that decided to go back to school. [Yahoo]

 

-Shocker! Tiger's divorced. Not really a shocker, but some (intelligent) people are trying to make money off the deal. [The Business Insider]

 

-Actual shocker!! Maurice Clarett is hoping to make a comeback. [NFP]

 

-Speaking of staying in school, I bet this guy and this guy wish they had. [Lost Lettermen]

 

-I hope for Evan Turner's sake this deal turns out better than Stephon Marbury's Steve and Barry's deal. [Darren Rovell / CNBC]

 

 

 

BC 8/24/2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Links

We read all the stories so you don't have to.

 

-John Dewan's Stat of the Week breaks down the MVP races in each league.

 

-Hardwood Paroxysm analyzes which players were most overpaid in 2009-10.

 

-Great Moments in "Drunken Hookup Failure." [Deadspin]

 

-Part two of Andrew Brandt's breakdown of the Darrelle Revis contract situation. [NFP]

 

-Keep telling yourselves everything will be alright, Denver fans. [Wages of Wins]

 

-A guy I always loved rooting for may have seen his last days. [Washington Post]

 

-One more MLB Draft recap. [Yahoo]

 

-Buster Olney blog: Saturday and Sunday. [ESPN Insider; password required]

 

-Dan Pompei's Sunday Blitz. [NFP]

 

-Peter King's MMQB. [SI.com]

 

-Lombardi. [NFL.com]

 

-Jets' P Steve Weatherford is responsible for ~$1m of this. How does Darren Rovell account for the other $39m. [CNBC]

 

-Retweet of the Day.

 

-If I were stuck in this mess, I... I... I... have no idea what I would do. [Xinhuanet via Twitter]

 

 

-Remember to download The Sports Banter app for your iPhone.

 

 

 

BC 8/23/2010

Friday Links

-Joe Pawlikowski of Fangraphs' fame doesn't seem as surprised as I was with the release of Brad Hawpe.

 

-Dave Cameron breaks down this past offseason's good moves. [Fangraphs] Unfortunately for the D-backs, they won't have much to show for their efforts.

 

-Mila Kunis, are you serious? [TMZ]

 

-SI.com begins it's college football preview with the Big Ten, ACC, and Big East.  

 

-Lombardi.

 

-Glad Percy Harvin will be alright.

 

-Insight into the Revis negotiations by Andrew Brandt. [NFP]

 

-Entertaining Matthew Berry fantasy football column.

 

-Laughing evilly.

 

-Yesterday, Deadspin introduced us to Alec Cortez. The Banter does some investigation and finds his stats at prestigious SBVC. We're a full service operation.

 

-The Deadspin link: a mailbag.

 

-Daily Buster Olney blog. [ESPN Insider; password required]

 

-Did anyone watch L&O: SVU on Wednesday night? I just caught it on DVR, and it was the only episode of the show I have ever disliked. Way too many holes in the story. Better not be a sign of things to come. On that note, I'm off to watch some older episodes.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

 

 

-BC 8/20/2010

 

Thursday Links

-Probably not a good sign when your college coach trades you. Probably.

 

-A ridiculous "sport" exists in Italy. My favorite part? Definitely the Roman numeral jersey numbers.

 

-Mike is a huge fan of neck ink. I'm sure he would appreciate this palette. [Ball Don't Lie]

 

-Daily Buster Olney blog. [ESPN Insider; password required]

 

-Here's an update about a name we haven't heard in a while: Cecil "The Diesel" Collins. The good: he's getting out of jail soon. The bad: he will have served 15 years in jail (on one of the creepiest charges you will hear). [Lost Lettermen]

 

 

 

 

Baseball Stats to Ponder

-After striking out two Padres in an inning of work last night, Carlos Marmol now has 100 punchouts in 55.2 innings. Wow.

 

-Of the 11 "lifers" - a 10-year vet that has only ever played on one team - currently playing in the Majors, four could conceivably leave/retire at year's end: Chipper, Helton, Varitek, and Chavez. Jeter's not going anywhere, and the Blue Jays only wish they could deal Wells.

 

-Matthew Berry of ESPN has popularized this sort of thing, and I always enjoy it as perceptions are not always in touch with reality. Check out the stats of these two rookies:

 

Player 1: 428 ABs, 12 HR, .287 BA, .453 Slg, .352 OBP, 74 K

Player 2: 359 ABs, 12 HR, .256 BA, .437 Slg, .369 OBP, 92 K

 

Player 1 is Gaby Sanchez. Player 2 is Jason Heyward. 

 

What can be gleaned from these numbers? Probably not a ton, but it's food for thought.

 

-The first year of Target Field has not been kind to home run hitters. Drop the Twins down your fantasy boards accordingly next season.

 

-Whatever happened to Minute Maid Park being a hitter's haven?

 

-Lastly, a link that has nothing to do with baseball- Tara Reid (predictably) fell off quite a bit, as did Shannon Elizabeth (not so predictably). Everyone else really hasn't changed.

 

 

BC - 8/18/2010

Wednesday Links

MLB

-Has it really come to this for Brad Hawpe? I know he's struggling this season and can't play defense, but his triple-slash the previous four seasons was .288/.384/.518. He can be a useful DH for a team willing to take a chance on him. White Sox? Rays?

 

-Daily Buster Olney blog. [ESPN Insider; password required]

 

-Insight from Paul DePodesta a day after the day after.

 

-An interview with my favorite player from the 2009 MLB Draft, Tyler Matzek. [Baseball Beginnings]

 

-"The Double Rainbow, what does it mean" Stat of the Day: Aubrey Huff has set a career high in walks, and there are still 42 games left in the Giants' season. 

 

 

NBA

-I admit I'm not that in touch with celebrity gossip but two things about this story shocked me:

     1- Court cases like this actually happen, and

     2- Gabrielle Union dated Jason Kidd (and Derek Jeter, and former NFLer Chris Howard among others) [TMZ]

 

Dwyane stay away from GU. She's 37. You are 28. For different reasons, you do not want sloppy seconds, thirds, or fourths after the guys she's dated. You want no part of her. Trust us here. 

 

 

NFL

-After a scare on Monday, it appears Rams' OT Rodger Saffold will be fine. Sam Bradford can exhale. [NBC Sports]

 

-As long as he keeps competing, we'll keep rooting for Stafon Johnson. [Fox Sports]

 

-Ever wonder what Al Cowlings has been doing since the OJ chase? Me either, but I found it entertaining anyway. [Lost Lettermen]

 

-A glossary for the sabermetrically-inclined football fan. [Advanced NFL Stats]

Tuesday Links

-Lou Gehrig may not have had ALS. [NY Times via Baseball Musings]

 

-One of my new favorite sites in my never-ending search for "what might have been" as it relates to the MLB Draft. [MLB.com]

 

-Because marathoners on flat ground aren't difficult enough... [WSJ]

 

 

Links on a Rainy Monday Night

-It's postings like this that will help generate sabermetric interest in football. Most amazing to me is that the play with the biggest positive WPA in Super Bowl history(!!!) - Warner to Fitzgerald - didn't lead to a victory.  [Advanced NFL Stats]

 

-Incredibly, the Bengals might pay Antonio Bryant over $8m to NEVER play for them. [NFL Network]

 

-Sorry Sam Bradford, a long year is about to get even longer. [NBC Sports]

 

-The Reds, one of my big winners this offseason, have come to terms with their top pick, Yasmani Grandal. Things continue to look rosy in Cincy. [MLB.com]

 

-Retweet of the Day from ESPN's Jayson Stark: "If Felix had won all his Criminally Unsupported Starts (pitcher goes 6+ IP but team scores 1 run or less while he was pitching) he'd be 19-3. Cliff Lee would be 17-1, Hamels 15-4, Johan 18-3"

 

-If convicted, the Pacers should cut him. Zero tolerance for this, Lance. [CBS Sports]

 

-I would REALLY prefer if this happened before October 30th. Do whatever it takes to swing a trade and fill the Garden, Donnie. [CBS Sports]