From the Bowels of YouTube: Why Sports Should Be on A 5-Second Delay

3.03.10 7:12 pm by Alex and Pat

If you’re like me, you’ve certainly experienced a “YouTube loop” – that is to say, a time when you find yourself on YouTube for much longer than you’d planned, having clicked on video after video, and wondering, “How did I get here?”. This is our weekly segment where we share some of our favorite sports highlights that you may not have seen (or haven’t in a very long time). Feel free to share your favorites in the comments or tweet us and we’ll consider them for next week. Check back every week for the latest edition.

Just this past week, one of my favorite ESPN personalities, Scott Van Pelt, accidentally let a profanity slip before they were all the way to commercial. We’ve decided to commemorate the occasion with a post about sports TV censorship failures. (It should go without saying that you should be careful who’s around when playing these clips) These are just a couple:
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From the Bowels of YouTube: An LSD No-No and the Cocaine Super Bowl That Wasn’t

2.24.10 3:02 pm by Alex and Pat

If you’re like me, you’ve certainly experienced a “YouTube loop” – that is to say, a time when you find yourself on YouTube for much longer than you’d planned, having clicked on video after video, and wondering, “How did I get here?”. This is our weekly segment where we share some of our favorite sports highlights that you may not have seen (or haven’t in a very long time). Feel free to share your favorites in the comments or tweet us and we’ll consider them for next week. Check back every week for the latest edition.

This week, we’ve completed a not-so-extensive study of the effects of drug use on the performances of professional athletes.
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The World Series of Wage Supremacy

11.05.09 12:32 pm by Pat

Before the 2009 Major League playoffs officially started, I was listening to ESPN Radio and Bud Selig was being interviewed on the Mike and Mike in the Morning show about the season and the upcoming post-season action.  At one point he was asked about a salary cap as well as an international draft to prevent the inevitable bidding war that takes place between Boston and New York on the top international prospects.  He was all in favor of the international draft which would allow all teams a shot at those players.  He, however, was still opposed to a salary cap and said that it was not necessary to keep the league competitive and pointed out that since 2000, 23 of the 30 MLB teams have made a post-season appearance.  A few weeks later on ESPN Radio I heard Colin Cowherd go on a rant on how a salary cap won’t help MLB and how more money just leads to more problems.  Colin lost me somewhere between comparing team spending to income levels for families and how teams (if a salary cap were put in place) would just spend the money on scouting, coaching, facilities, etc.  I could go on all day on how much I disagree with the sentiments of both Bud and Colin, but that isn’t the point of this article.  I have always been a believer in leveling the playing field in professional sports and think that spending limits are needed to keep “small market” teams competitive.  Hearing the stat about 23 out of 30 from Bud made me think about my stance on the salary cap.  I decided that I needed to do a little more investigation into the numbers behind it to help support, or perhaps debunk, my thoughts on the salary cap and MLB.

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Steroids, We’re All to Blame

10.28.09 12:25 pm by Bernie

Philadelphia Phillies fans will have their say again on Halloween when Alex Rodriguez steps into the batter’s box. As they did in Game 3 against the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez, they will chant “Steroids” in that long, drawn out way that fans have started using in recent years. It started with Barry Bonds, and is now carrying onto the likes of Manny, A-Rod and David Ortiz.

While I, or anyone else for that matter, cannot stop the Phillies fans from chanting it, it does point to the growing hypocrisy amongst fans these days. Lenny Dykstra admitted to his steroid use and even talked to the Commissioner’s office about it after his playing days were over. So they are not above having a player who used performance-enhancing drugs on their roster either. I am willing to bet that every team in Major League Baseball has, at one point or another, had a steroid user on their team. It wasn’t until recently that MLB finally decided to do something about it, and that was only when the federal government stepped in.

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2009 Fantasy Baseball All-Surprise Team

9.07.09 12:49 pm by Bernie

Last week I highlighted some players that when drafted this year in fantasy baseball were expected to put up good or possibly great numbers, but have failed to do it this year. This week, I’m going to look at players that may or may not have been drafted in some leagues but now are worthy of being owned and started. This could be a rookie, a player with a couple years experience having a break out year, or a veteran showing that he still has it.

Kurt Suzuki – C
Projected: .269BA/10HR/56RBI
Actual: .276/11/62 30 doubles and 5 stolen bases.

Coming into the season, Kurt Suzuki was the 20th ranked Catcher in fantasy baseball. Matt Wieters was ranked higher than him and he had not even played 1 inning in the majors. He is currently the 6th rated Catcher in fantasy baseball. Now he will not put up numbers, for those of you in head to head points leagues, like a Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer or Jorge Posada, but he will give you a consistent week for a thin position, in any league. He has surpassed his career highs in home runs, doubles, steals, RBI, and runs. He has done all of this on an offensively poor Oakland Athletics team. While I would not keep him, I would start him if I needed a fill in for injury or a terrible slump. In 2010, Suzuki could put up better numbers, so consider taking him late in next year’s draft.

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2009 Fantasy Baseball All-Bust Team

8.28.09 5:41 pm by Bernie

With the Fantasy Baseball season nearing its end and Fantasy Football taking hold of many men and women, it’s time to take a look back on the 2009 Fantasy Baseball season. There was a new number 1 overall player coming into the season and did he live up to the billing? Not quite. I’ll explain in a bit. I’m going to list my team of busts and what to expect for draft position in 2010 or if they should be kept in keeper leagues.

First let’s discuss, Mr. #1 Overall himself, Hanley Ramirez. He was expected to go almost 30HR/30SB. He will get one of those categories, barring injury. He is however leading the National League in batting average at .365. Which is outstanding, but I have to ask where’s the power? 19 home runs are all he can muster right now? Not looking like power speed threat we all imagined. Now I know there is still a month left in the season and Hanley could go off in September to get to the 30 home run mark. But I think until he consistently proves himself capable, that he is not #1. This may not apply to Rotisserie leagues though, as he is a threat in all 5 categories. In head to head point leagues, Albert Pujols is still the man. Some might even say that he should be #1 in Rotisserie leagues as well as he can help in all 5 categories too. But that is another topic for another article, maybe for the beginning of the fantasy season.

Now onto the 2009 Fantasy Bust Team!

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