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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The Sports Geeks Podcast – Episode 17

1.08.10 10:14 pm by Alex

In our first episode of the new format, Alex and Pat cover the Gilbert Arenas fiasco, Mike Leach’s firing, a possible BCS playoff system, the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the usual NFL picks/analysis.

Let us know what you think of the new format and what we can do to make things better: podcast@thesportsgeeks.com and follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/thesportsgeeks. We’re listed on iTunes so click here and subscribe. Thanks for listening!

 
icon for podpress  The Sports Geeks - Episode 17 [41:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (79)

Current Standings:

Game Picks Regular Season: Alex – 173-83 – Pat – 171-85

Potential NFL Playoff Solution: http://wnst.net/wordpress/glennclark/2010/01/05/a-potential-solution-to-the-nfls-competition-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-13557

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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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The Sports Geeks Podcast – Episode 6

10.15.09 11:00 pm by Alex, Pat and Bernie

Bernie joins Alex and Pat to discuss baseball’s league championship series’ and make their picks for the ALCS, NLCS and World Series. Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/thesportsgeeks. Also, send us your questions/comments/feedback: podcast@thesportsgeeks.com. We’re listed on iTunes so click here and subscribe. Thanks for listening!

 
icon for podpress  The Sports Geeks - Episode 6 [22:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (144)

NLCS: Bernie (Dodgers in 7), Pat (Dodgers in 6), Alex (Phillies in 7)

ALCS: Bernie (Yankees in 7), Pat (Angels in 7), Alex (Yankees in 6)

WS: Bernie (Yankees in 7), Pat (Angels in 6), Alex (Yankees in 6)
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Cal Ripken Jr. and 4 Other Hall Of Famers Who May Have Done Steroids

8.07.09 11:48 am by Will

DISCLAIMER: Most of this post is predicated on the idea that Jose Canseco is telling the truth, which is a pretty dicey assumption. I would like to mention that I am not attempting to cast suspicion upon anyone I am about to list, which has a history of getting bloggers in trouble. I’m not accusing anyone of using steroids, really. I’m just saying that out of anyone in Cooperstown, almost by process of elimination, it would have most likely been these people.  Once again, this is all merely speculation, and I mean no harm. Also, I talk about Bud Selig for a few hundred words before getting to the list, so be patient.

The recent news about Ortiz and Manny was especially painful for Red Sox fans like me. I am going to attempt to be ignorant and believe that neither were juicing in the curse-breaking year of 2004, but that isn’t really feasible. At least I could look forward to the Sox facing the Orioles 6 out of 10 games, and beating them like a rented mule. (I have a irrational dislike for the O’s, for some reason, even though they are perennially under .500 and Camden Yards is like Fenway South. It might be because they were our bogey team during the first half of the decade. Now… not so much.) But anyway, almost as important as this revelation about Ortiz and the 2004 Sox is the comment that Baseball’s Prophet, Jose Canseco, released in its wake: “When you tell me something I didn’t already know, I’ll be surprised,” Canseco told ESPN. “And I’ll tell you this, Major League Baseball is going to have a big, big problem on their hands when they find out they have a Hall of Famer who’s used.”

Uh Oh.

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Were Records Meant to Be Broken? A Look at Baseball’s Big Numbers

7.24.09 11:10 am by Alex

Baseball players, more so than other athletes, are defined by the statistics they accumulate over the course of their careers. Recently, much has been made of impact that the steroid era has had on baseball’s record books. Cheating was involved, which makes the era seem tainted, but this was not the first time baseball has seen a change in playing style. Players in the early and middle part of the 20th century also played under circumstances that allowed them to set records that will likely never be broken. I’ve spent way too much time browsing Baseball-Reference.com’s Leaders & Records Section and in doing so have come across a lot of interesting stuff. Let’s take a look at some of baseball’s records and examine whether or not they’ll ever be broken. This is by no means a complete list of records, just a collection of a few of the interesting and important ones. Warning: the stat geek in me came out in this post, so there are a lot numbers and facts in crammed in here; I tried to break it up with some pictures, but this isn’t for the faint of heart. In no particular order:

Barry Bonds

762 - Career Home Runs, Barry Bonds, Status: Breakable – We’ll get to a few more of Bonds’ records later, but I want to get the home runs out of the way. One of the poster boys for the steroid era, it has never been fully proven that Bonds was using performance-enhancing drugs, but I think it’s safe to say there are very few people who think he was clean. For that reason, there are a lot of people, myself included, who are rooting for someone who isn’t linked to steroids to surpass Bonds, take back one of the sports’ most coveted records and legitimize it once more. But who will that savior be? Ken Griffey, Jr. had a chance but he’s been plagued with injuries and Alex Rodriguez might still get there, but now he’s admitted to using PEDs during some of his most productive years. More than likely, the only active player who has a shot at the home run record is Albert Pujols. He’s on a good pace and is young enough, that if he stays healthy he’ll be able to rewrite the baseball record books.

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