Tag: sports

So maybe I should have tried out

I was looking up some of the 40 times from the NFL combine and was interested to see where mine fit in the mix. Turns out my 40 was in between Danny Amendola’s and Wes Welker’s. That’s not a bad comparable. Of course, if I’d actually been able to play at the pro level, I’d probably have post-concussion syndrome or whatever now, so it’s probably just as well that I stuck with soccer. And given that Gordie Lockbaum couldn’t make it – I saw him play against Bucknell once – it’s highly unlikely that I ever could have even with an NFL-caliber 40.

Especially since my vertical was a pathetic 28 inches.

This season started great but got a little shaky when I somehow strained that ligament in my leg that nearly ended my playing career about eight years ago. The cold seems to make it more susceptible, but I’ve learned to take myself out immediately when I feel anything, which seems to help, and I managed to play 12 minutes the next game and about 45 the next. I’m still starting, which is something of a surprise since I’m probably the #3 wing in terms of skill when everyone is there, but I do get back better and play considerably more defense than the other two guys, which I suspect is why I usually get the nod over the other two.

On the one hand, it’s nice to be valued and to see your efforts rewarded with playing time. On the other, it’s incredibly frustrating when the team loses and it’s mostly because your substitute simply can’t run with the opposing wing or do much with the ball when he gets it.

Also, as an ex-sprinter, I’m quite happy to come out after 20-30 minutes, then return in the second half all nice and rested, whereas the guys who grew up on 3-substitution games never want to come out and are reluctant to go back in once they’ve come off.

Convergence killing NASCAR

TV ratings are “plummeting” and attendance is down more than 50 percent at some tracks:

NASCAR has seen crowds shrink at virtually every track, many of which have removed seats, and its television ratings have plummeted. At Richmond, which once routinely seated more than 100,000 fans for races in the premier Cup series, only 60,000 seats remain and they were not close to full for Sunday’s 400-lap race.

“We’re not isolated here,” France said. “Every sport is trying to unlock the new consumption levels and fan interest by a younger demographic. Of course we love our core fan and everyone does, but every sport is thinking carefully about how to reach the millennial fan to get them excited about their sport.”

He said NASCAR will convene a summit next month in Charlotte, North Carolina, bringing in experts from various fields, to discuss the issue.

France also downplayed the difficulty that some teams are having securing sponsorship for next season.

Many NASCAR fans warned of this when NASCAR decided to stop focusing on its core audience in order to reach out to the new fans who, as many predicted, proved to be almost entirely imaginary. And if you think NASCAR’s management is going to learn from their catastrophic failure, then you really don’t understand how SJW convergence works.

The NFL is about to go the same way, I strongly suspect. Notice how, whether it is a sport or a church, the desire for growth combined with a disdain for traditional supporters always results in the same consequence, a rapid and unexpected decline.

That’s something that I was discussing yesterday with Markku. Is it better to restrict the comments and only permit the old school Dread Ilk to participate? That could be done through requiring registration, but doing so might be of limited value since others could still read them, unlike the current separate system. Or is it better to go to the other extreme and permit the sort of free-for-all we witnessed yesterday?

Feel free to express your opinion. I’m not currently planning to change anything, but it would be foolish to assume that VP and Castalia House are immune from the same pattern we observe everywhere from the Episcopalian Church to NASCAR.

Of course, it’s also possible that we are several orders of magnitude away from it being even a potential problem.

An epic trolling

I hate Drew Pearson, of course, because he was a) out-of-bounds on 4th-and-17, and b) unquestionably pushed off, committed offensive pass interference, and murdered both Fran Tarkenton’s father as well as the Vikings’ Super Bowl chances in 1975, but his performance at the NFL draft in Philadelphia was downright epic:

How about them Cowboys?! I want to thank the Eagle fans for allowing me to have a career in the NFL. Thank you. I am honored as an undrafted free agent to be selected to make the Cowboys’ second-round draft pick, and on behalf of the five-time world champion Dallas Cowboys, Hall of Fame owner Jerry Jones! … Gene Jones and the Jones family, coach Jason Garrett and ALL THE COWBOYS PLAYERS WHO PLAYED BEFORE ME! … And played with me and played after me! … With the 60th pick in the second round the Dallas Cowboys select defensive back from Colorado Chidobe Awuzie!!!

No question about where his loyalties remain, anyhow.

Dear white sports fans

Please to go away now. We neither want nor need you.

Love,
ESPN

For comparative purposes, I recently reviewed a few SportsCenter episodes from the past couple of decades, and it is indeed noticeable how little politics and culture intruded into the tsunami of highlights and witty banter that once marked that show. That was reflective of the overall newsier focus ESPN had in those days….

A scan of The Undefeated on most days shows a range of content that extends far beyond sports. When The Undefeated put together its list of the 44 most influential black Americans in history, only five — Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson and Serena Williams — made their mark as athletes. Scanning the list of Undefeated pieces commemorating Black History Month, less than half were about sports.

These observations are not criticisms; they just show how The Undefeated — and, by extension, ESPN — is willing to stray from sports…. There is no denying that culture, sports and politics are fused together more today than at any time in recent memory, and there’s an argument to be made that ESPN is rightfully taking advantage of that trend. But there’s also no denying the presence of a fervent fan base that prefers the ESPN of old, meaning these worlds will continue to collide.

One thing is clear: Those of you who have not held your tongue about ESPN’s move away from an all-sports-all-the-time mantra also should not hold your breath waiting for a change.

ESPN has made it clear: It’s not sticking to sports.

Apparently as many as 90 percent of the 100 on-air people let go this week were white men. Longtime NFL and NHL reporters are gone, while clueless, no-talent SJWs like Jemele Hill are not only safe, but are being increasingly promoted.

It’s a straightforward case of SJW convergence in action. ESPN is no longer capable of fulfilling its primary purpose, because the pushing the SJW Narrative is more important.

I quit watching ESPN a long, long time ago, although I had watched it from the early days of late night World’s Strongest Man competitions and Australian Rules Football. It is somewhat fascinating to observe such a large organization so resolutely commit suicide in this fashion.

Dear ESPN,


Roger that. 


Adios,
America




UPDATE: for those of you who, like me, neither read nor watch ESPN anymore, it’s worse than you imagine. A LOT worse. Believe it or not, this was featured on ESPN yesterday.

Four poets on the new feminism

Apr 27, 2017
espnW Poetry Month Feminism Women

In honor of National Poetry month, espnW asked four poets to reflect on their definitions of feminism, and the importance of movement.

What Leaps from a Storm’s Throat, by Patricia Smith

Postcard from Diana Prince on Themyscira, by Tracie Dawson

Start Here, by Carrie Ann Welsh

My Struggle with Feminism is Black, by DéLana R.A. Dameron

PUNCHLINE: (Editor’s note: An earlier version of “Five Poets on the New Feminism” featured Revolution by Dr. DaMaris Hill. We have decided it is not an appropriate selection for our site, and have removed it from the feature.) 


It only took 18 years to go to that from this.

An almost inevitable end

Former New England tight end Aaron Hernandez commits suicide in prison:

Aaron Hernandez’s life sentence for murder has come to an end. The former Patriots tight end, who scored a legal victory last week, committed suicide in prison last night. The Massachusetts Department of Correction issued a statement saying Hernandez was discovered hanging in his cell at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley Massachusetts around 3:05 a.m. this morning.

I’m mostly surprised that he took as long to get around to it as he did. Few have fallen so far, or so completely unnecessarily. Unfortunately, one of the natural reactions to success, and to being given a lot, is to greedily pursue more, with little regard for the possible costs.

If nothing else, Hernandez’s fate serves as a warning for those tempted to be unsatisfied with a modicum of material success.

Got to go with Lucky 13

SB Nation’s March Madness predictions:

West regional
Gonzaga moves into the Sweet 16 after beating Northwestern (which takes down Vanderbilt).
Notre Dame beats Princeton, Bucknell beats West Virginia, Notre Dame moves into the Sweet 16 with a win over Bucknell.


That sounds about right. I have a bet going with a WVU guy. If the Mountaineers win, he donates $5 to Infogalactic. If the Bison win – and everyone knows they are dangerous come Tournament time – he gets the free Castalia ebook of his choice

Vikes release AD

It’s nothing personal, it’s just business:

The Vikings have decided to let former MVP Adrian Peterson go.

The team announced they were not picking up the option on his contract for next year, making the veteran running back an unrestricted free agent next week.

“Adrian is an important part of the Minnesota Vikings organization,” Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman said in a statement. “We will continue to have conversations with his representatives and leave our future options open while determining what is best for both parties moving forward.”

It’s the right call. That being said, I hope they’re able to work something out to bring him back less expensively so AD can retire as a Viking. Fortunately, All-Day is handling it well.

“It’s been a great 10 years with the Minnesota Vikings. They know what I bring to the organization as a player, with my work ethic and dedication. I spoke with Rick Spielman this past weekend. The door is still open to find some common ground.”

Shape is a social construct

If a man can become a woman because he believes it, there is no reason the Earth can’t become flat for precisely the same reason:

As a football player, I’ve been a fan of Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs from the moment he made his first impact on the NFL as a rookie in 2015. As a potential social-media troll, he may have even better chops. Unless he’s really not deliberately riling up his followers when he suggests that he agrees with NBA player Kyrie Irving’s view that the Earth is flat.

Yes, whether the Earth is flat has recently become a thing in the sports world. Irving may be trolling, too, and the ultimately genius of the approach (if it’s all an act) is that it points out the nature of the age in which we currently reside. Given the ridiculous factual claims that people are willing to blindly embrace as true, maybe it’s not ludicrous to think someone genuinely rejects the long-settled notion that the Earth is round.

The Big Lead has items on both Irving’s comments and the tweets from Diggs. My own assessment is that Diggs is having fun with the issue, but that Irving actually may believe what he’s saying.

Irving would hardly be alone regarding the lingering notion that the planet is pancake-shaped; a few minutes with Google unlocked plenty of evidence of others who reject the evidence that the world is round. The argument hinges on the notion that the spherical theory emerged as a way to supplant religion with science, since the Bible suggests that the world is flat.

The claim is less stunning given that the flat-or-round world generally has morphed into a place where the line between fact and opinion has been obliterated, and all that matters is what you believe.

I believe I now need a nap.

The real question is: Bruce Jenner, brilliant troll or transgender truther?

MSESPN

Outkick the Coverage describes ESPN’s slow-motion seppuku:

The only sports fans with a large fan base in this country that skew liberal in their voting are NBA fans. And that’s because of black voters who, guess what, are actually more socially conservative and religious than many white voters. As business plans go ESPN going all in on liberal sports fans is the rough equivalent of Outkick saying that henceforth we will only write articles about hot girls in Saudi Arabia….

The first time I noticed ESPN’s new liberal slant was when the network decided to give an ESPY for courage to Caitlyn Jenner for making the decision to become a woman. Look, I’m all for people pursuing their own individual happiness, but there was nothing courageous about Jenner’s decision. To me true courage requires an individual risk either life or liberty. Jenner risked neither.

And, remarkably, just about everyone in sports media was afraid to point out how transparently about ratings this decision was. Hell, they even moved the ESPYS to ABC SO MORE PEOPLE COULD SEE HOW INCLUSIVE ESPN WAS.

It was a blatant attempt to gain viewers for the network.

And that was the jumping off point, the moment ESPN ceased to be about sports and became a mouthpiece of the farthest left reaches of the Democratic party. I’m all for political discussion, but when you ally yourself with one political party and your business ostensibly is to talk about sports, you lose viewers who see what you’re doing. That’s why I call ESPN MSESPN now, the network is desperate to prop up its ratings and has decided that becoming a shill for the left wing in the country is its best option. Sadly, this is just going to lose more viewers.

Not surprisingly, ESPN’s ratings are tanking. Ratings for opinion shows the Monday after the Super Bowl this year, a day that is generally one of the most viewed in the country, were down a whopping 33% on average for PTI, Around the Horn, SportsCenter and others.

Turns out that alienating a large segment of your audience is bad for business.

This is nothing more than basic SJW convergence in action. And the more that ESPN’s ratings tank, the more they will double-down, unless the SJWs are purged. Given that Disney is arguably the foremost SJW corporation, that would appear to be highly unlikely.