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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2019 15:47:50 GMT -5
Boxing World got hit with two deaths in one week.
Junior welterweight Maxim Dadashev died Tuesday morning as a result of brain injuries he suffered during an 11th-round knockout loss to Subriel Matias on Friday at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Dadashev was 28.
The boxing world is dealing with its second tragedy in one week -- 23-year-old fighter Hugo Santillan died in Argentina on Thursday after suffering injuries during his fight over the weekend.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 31, 2019 15:26:14 GMT -5
The Captain, I know you're a loyal Pirates fan and wondered if you could add some background to the fight last night and the rivalry between the Reds and Pirates. Is this an outbreak of a long-term (as in going-back-many-years) rivalry or something that has flared up recently? And who are the despised characters on both sides? And for you and everyone, are there long-term and/or burgeoning baseball rivalries out there that are obscured by the constant emphasis on Dodgers-Giants, Sox-Yanks and Cubs-Cards? Somehow I can't see the Padres, for example, being involved in one, but what do I know?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 31, 2019 15:50:28 GMT -5
Zack Grienke to the Astros. Looks like they are full bore looking to win it all. -M I like that. The guy above me in my fantasy league has Grienke and he's been traded to the AL. Every little bit helps.
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Post by The Captain on Jul 31, 2019 16:11:05 GMT -5
The Captain , I know you're a loyal Pirates fan and wondered if you could add some background to the fight last night and the rivalry between the Reds and Pirates. Is this an outbreak of a long-term (as in going-back-many-years) rivalry or something that has flared up recently? And who are the despised characters on both sides? And for you and everyone, are there long-term and/or burgeoning baseball rivalries out there that are obscured by the constant emphasis on Dodgers-Giants, Sox-Yanks and Cubs-Cards? Somehow I can't see the Padres, for example, being involved in one, but what do I know? Prince Hal, this goes back as far as the 1970's, when it was the Pittsburgh Lumber Company against The Big Red Machine. The Pirates lost to the Reds in the NLCS in 1970 and 1972, and the rivalry between the two teams was fierce, leading to a game in 1974 where Pittsburgh SP Dock Ellis (who infamously threw a no-hitter while tripping on LSD) hit the first three Reds batters (Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen) in a game to "send a message"; he then walked Tony Perez after missing him on two attempts to plunk him, then was pulled from the game after trying to hit Johnny Bench in the head with two pitches and missing. The current rivalry, while not quite as vicious, is still pretty nasty. For the past few years, the Pirates, under Clint Hurdle, have acquired a reputation as a team that will throw inside and maybe even up-and-in, having been accused of this by both the Reds and Cubs (although in the case of the latter, this is coming from Joe Maddon, who is a notorious douchebag, and has only been happening after Chris Coghlan of the Cubs shredded Pirates' 3B Jung-Ho Kang's knee on a dirty slide, so there's that to take into account). Part of this tactic by the Pirates is that the umpires rarely side with them on anything, and after having watched its own players get hit and injured with nothing being done about it, there may be a little "frontier justice" at play. This year, the issue with the Reds stems from an incident involving Derek Dietrich, who stood and watched a homerun from the plate area a little too long before going into his trip around the bases. His next at-bat, Pirates pitcher Chris Archer threw behind him, in the region of his rear end, and didn't even hit him, but that was enough to trigger the Reds to storm the field and start a fight. Yesterday, Keone Kela of the Pirates seemed to throw a little high (but not inside, and as he is just coming back after two+ months on the IL, may not yet be in full command of his pitches) to Dietrich yet again, and this set things off. Reds pitcher Amir Garrett apparently started mouthing off at the Pirates dugout the moment he reached the mound to begin his pitching warm-ups, which was right after Pirates' OF Starling Marte had gotten hit by Reds' pitcher Jared Hughes (a former Pirate) in the top of the ninth, and it all went to hell. Reds manager David Bell, who had already been ejected for arguing balls and strikes, came back out onto the field and went straight after Clint Hurdle, and Yasiel Puig (who has never been a paragon of stability) was swinging at anyone in black and gold; all told, about 6 individuals got ejected from the game. What makes it worse for David Bell is he flatly stated earlier in the year after the initial incident with Dietrich that his team would never retaliate like that (hitting a batter), but then he turns around and does it yesterday after his guy DIDN'T EVEN GET HIT for the second time this year. So apparently, almost hitting his guy is worth sending out a pitcher to actually hit a guy. As for "under the radar" rivalries, you have things like Brewers-Cubs, Indians-Tigers, Astros/Rangers (now that they are both in the AL), and Pirates-Phillies (the two main cities in this state hate each other with a passion, although it is worse in hockey).
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Post by Prince Hal on Jul 31, 2019 19:56:04 GMT -5
Thanks, The Captain. Excellent recap of a great rivalry. I remember those playoffs from the 70s. The bad blood had disappeared from my memory banks. What I do recall was poor Bob Moose's wild pitch in the 9th at Cincy. A wild pitch walk-off, they'd call it today. A crusher. I have mentioned before that I have long had a fondness for the Pirates; I always had just as much dislike for the Reds. (Lately they hadn't bothered me. This will just rekindle my old dislike for them.) Things must have been at a fever-pitch last night. That was a nasty little brawl they had going. I heard Bell on the news last night before I'd seen replays and he struck me as unctuous. Hurdle, meanwhile, sounded a little like the reincarnation of the great Joe Schultz, of Seattle Pilots and Ball Four fame. He had two favorite vulgarities: "fcksht" and "shtfck". Also a great line after each of the many Pilots losses in 1969, their only season: "Pound that ol’ Budweiser into you and go get them tomorrow.” I'd always thought Indians-Tigers was a good rivalry in the 40s and 50s, when Cleveland in particular had strong teams. The Colavito-for-Kuenn trade was another bone of contention, especially for Indians fans. Red Sox-Rays has had its moments, including more than few good brawls and some beanballing. Right now it's at an ebb. The Sox continue to roll over for the Rays. Some say the Rays derive inspiration from the overwhelming number of Sox fans at their home games. (No one else goes to the worst ballpark in the majors, so the Sox (and Yankees, too) have so many fans there that they sound like home games when you leave the room.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2019 14:08:47 GMT -5
So they do play cricket in the United States, at least in some places?
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Post by Rob Allen on Aug 22, 2019 18:47:07 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2019 5:26:44 GMT -5
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 25, 2019 9:40:51 GMT -5
Andrew Luck shocked the football world and announced his retirement from football tonight at age 29. -M Good for him. Get out while he’s young and before his brains are scrambled.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2019 6:45:03 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2019 8:48:56 GMT -5
Look at this: Tony Jacklin Slates Modern Day Golf – “In A Sorry State”This is a narrow view I'm expressing, but I think there are a *lot* of sportsmen who pine for the past or claim things were better. I am sure you could find a boxer/F1 driver/golfer/wrestler/footballer who would talk about how the game was better years ago. And they are entitled to their view. And Jacklin does make some good points, e.g. about technology. But time stands still for no man. Things change. I mean, I was reading about how some want golf to relax its dress code. Some are criticising it and talking about sports having dress codes. That is true, but remember that the likes of tennis made its participants were trousers decades ago. That changed. Things do change.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2019 2:13:54 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2019 14:04:10 GMT -5
Oakland released Antonio Brown
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Post by The Captain on Sept 7, 2019 14:42:23 GMT -5
I don't care a thing about the NFL, but living in Pittsburgh, I've gotten a front-row seat to the colossal cauldron of cray-cray that has been Antonio Brown's existence the past few years. When the initial trade went down between the Steelers and Raiders, in which the Steelers "only" acquired 3rd- and 5th-round picks for him, the national sports media were quick to tear them apart, saying they got fleeced in the deal and that the Raiders instantly moved up to "contender" status by adding someone of Brown's caliber to their roster for so little.
So, pundits, how you feeling about it now? The Steelers knew EXACTLY what type of both player (incredibly talented) and person (complete whackjob) that Antonio Brown was, having witnessed his antics for years up close and personal, and they cut bait and dealt him to the only team that may have been arrogant enough to think they could tame his diva personality. Getting anything for him was going to be a "win" and now, the Raiders are the ones with a pterodactyl-sized egg on their face.
As for Brown, this is just about par for the course. He's about himself and himself only, not the sport of football and certainly not about the other 44 guys in the locker room, and he proved it yet again here. Prior to training camp, he had burned the bottoms of his feet using cryotherapy, then he started a fight with the NFL over his helmet, both acts causing him to miss major amounts of training camp and leading the Raiders to fine him a small amount of money (originally, it was just around $54K). After receiving the letter from the team, Brown took to social media to blast the Raiders on TWITTER for doing him dirty, leading to a confrontation with team GM Mike Mayock, during which he called Mayock a "cracker". He apologized and appeared contrite, but when the Raiders told him he was being fined $215K due to the incident, Brown showed all the maturity of a 13-year old girl, posting a private phone conversation with his boss (Raiders' HC Jon Gruden) on YOUTUBE and then asking for his release from the team on INSTAGRAM, costing himself a guaranteed contract of $29.125MM because he couldn't act like an adult and professional. Even now, after getting what he asked for, he's playing the victim card, as though the Raiders are the ones at fault in all of this.
Whomever is giving him career advice (oh, look, it's noted asshat Drew Rosenhaus) is failing miserably, with Rosenhaus issuing a statement this afternoon reading that with Brown now a free agent, they are "focused on the future" and that Rosenhaus "will immediately work on signing him to a new team." Good freaking luck with that, Drew. What team in their right mind, after witnessing this monumental fudge-up of the situation with the Raiders, is going to throw millions of guaranteed dollars at a ticking time bomb like Antonio Brown? Oh, sure, some desperate team with delusions that they will be the one to keep him under control might give him a one-year, veteran minimum deal loaded with incentives, but is that going to be good enough for the lunatic man-child, who obviously has zero sense of self-awareness?
At the end of the day, the Steelers and Pittsburghers were absolutely right in their wanting rid of him after his off-field performance here the past few years. Mike Tomlin was blamed for the deteriorating atmosphere in the Steelers locker room, but this off-season, with malcontent Brown and fellow idiot Le'veon Bell disappearing, there hasn't been one peep of discontent or strife coming from the team. Maybe, just maybe, no matter how talented a player is, at some point, they just aren't worth the headache. The Steelers learned it and moved on, the Raiders gave up two draft picks to learn it the hard way, and somehow I feel it might be a while until a third team rolls the dice on seeing if they are the exception rather than the rule.
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Roquefort Raider
CCF Mod Squad
Modus omnibus in rebus
Posts: 16,359
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 7, 2019 17:37:41 GMT -5
19-year old Bianca Andreescu just beat Serena Williams... No lie, that’s like beating Galactus!!!
Considering she was rated something like the 150th player last January, that’s quite an achievement! Those young athletes never cease to amaze me.
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