Sports general discussion thread

[ZedClampet]

Just a quick story that I found kind of cool. Last night, #1 Tennessee went on the road and beat Illinois with a last second shot.

Tennessee's soon-to-be Hall of Fame coach, Rick Barnes, was an assistant coach at George Mason in 1980. To help recruiting, they decided to do a newsletter called "Coaches Corner".

For the first newletter, they went to area coaches and asked them to give them their favorite play. Coach Barnes went to DeMatha Catholic High School to talk to the legendary Morgan Wooten, who was named the Naismith Scholastic Coach of the Century in 2000.

Last night, with the game tied and 6 seconds left on the clock, Barnes called Wooten's play. It worked, and Tennessee won on that last second shot.

 

[Zloth]

Wwhhaaaaaa???

View: https://youtu.be/KMgcRfzZsrA?si=aY7YIv6GSnoT7HGm

 

[ZedClampet]

Wwhhaaaaaa???

View: https://youtu.be/KMgcRfzZsrA?si=aY7YIv6GSnoT7HGm

Then there was the Doug Flutie drop kick

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMfaavF1R3E

 

[Zloth]

I have got NO idea how this game is played!

 

[January's Ghost]

I have got NO idea how this game is played!

Like many games, certain rules were created after the fact to bring a sense of fairness or sometimes even an added sense suspense. In this case I think that rule did both.

 

[Zloth]

View: https://youtu.be/PRDnyK7FYd8?si=BNjWStLqWWBcBh3o

 

[red_5ive]

Looking forward to these match ups for wildcard weekend. Got all my snacks on the ready, and with the house empty I'm cranking up the ol' HT to get that crowd ambience.

 

[ZedClampet]

Looking forward to these match ups for wildcard weekend. Got all my snacks on the ready, and with the house empty I'm cranking up the ol' HT to get that crowd ambience.

We're actually having a snow storm through tomorrow, so I can claim I can't get anywhere and have to stay home. It's a Tennessee thing. Two flakes of snow are a blizzard.

 

[ZedClampet]

The Tennessee Titans play-by-play guy is quitting to become the University of Tennessee play-by-play guy after the current UT guy announced his retirement. This has confused the national media, but in the state of Tennessee, the Vols are king and everything else way behind.

 

[red_5ive]

We're actually having a snow storm through tomorrow, so I can claim I can't get anywhere and have to stay home. It's a Tennessee thing. Two flakes of snow are a blizzard.

I can relate. A drizzle is a rain storm in Southern California. All it takes is a gloomy cloud overhead and everyone's bundled up when it's 65 degrees outside lol.

I still have to make it out to TN. And Nashville at that. Would love to visit the music venues, the Opry, Bluebird Cafe, The Listening Room.

BTW, I didn't get that Letter From A Nut for Christmas, which I had put on my Amazon Christmas List. I'll get it eventually.

 

[red_5ive]

Damn, every time I think this Packers team can't play any worse, they prove me wrong.

I have a feeling if I keep watching, I'm going to have a hard time explaining to my TV manufacturer that the remote lodged into the screen should be covered under warranty.

 

[Zloth]

Damn, every time I think this Packers team can't play any worse, they prove me wrong.

10 to 0? Meh. Tell the 49'ers that they are ahead of the Chiefs 10 to 0 at half time. They'll roll up into the fetal position.

 

[red_5ive]

10 to 0? Meh. Tell the 49'ers that they are ahead of the Chiefs 10 to 0 at half time. They'll roll up into the fetal position.

I was referring to the start of the game. Right off the bat Nixon fumbled the starting kick, and the Eagles got 7 off it in maybe 1.5 minutes into the game.

 

[Zloth]

Yeah, and things didn't turn out so well in the end. I'm sad to see that. Eagles. Blah.

I was hoping for the Broncos or Chargers to win, too. Sad wildcard round.

 

[red_5ive]

Yeah, and things didn't turn out so well in the end. I'm sad to see that. Eagles. Blah.

I was hoping for the Broncos or Chargers to win, too. Sad wildcard round.

I don't want to make any excuses, but something's up with the Packers. Fans complaining about questionable play calls and while there's an argument to be made for that and also with clock management, I really think something is up as to why LeFleur is making the choices he's making, and neglecting stuff like play-action, which was Love's bread & butter last season. I wonder if Love has been playing hurt all season. And damn, after seeing the slow-mo replay on that opening fumble, it looked liked Nixon recovered it... sigh.

Yeah Chargers, too. I'm equidistant between San Diego and Los Angeles and have lots friends that are Chargers fans, so I was rootin' for them. Similarly tonight, go Rams!

 

[January's Ghost]

Eagles. Blah.

Was on tech support with a guy based in Minneapolis and I started talking about the Vikings loss to the Lions and after about 2 minutes of playoff discussion we agreed that it'll be fine as long as the Eagles don't win.

 

[red_5ive]

That was glorious!

SKOL

 

[ZedClampet]

I'm not doing Fantasy Football this year, so I've barely paid attention to the NFL. Maybe we can get enough people to start a small league next year. I know a few people outside of this site who might be interested if we end up needing a couple more.

 

[Zloth]

View: https://youtu.be/3bY0unjZ5Kw?si=I3W1z9dK9kI7Vdk8

 

[Oluwasegunfunmi]

Sports are always a great topic.

 

[ZedClampet]

Mahomes thinks he's playing soccer, flopping around in "agony" like he's going to need an on-field amputation just to survive.

 

[isleepinabed]

Every year I'm surprised how the Superbowl, in a sport that is really only very popular in one or two countries (including Canada, and even there it is not the most popular sport, to my knowledge) is so huge and, it feels like it's constantly getting bigger.

The Champions League final in soccer, of course, has a lot more viewership due to the global audience. But that only makes it seem weaker. With almost double the viewership it still generates less revenue.

Perhaps its the ingrained spectacle with many decades to refine the formula, or the relevance it holds in terms of the prime sporting event of the year in the world's leading economy and cultural trendsetter, whereas in Europe it's a centralized body of many nations, many TV networks, different sensibilities...

I asked my mother who taught English at high school but is otherwise uninstered in sports if she could say any American football team. She couldn't, but she knew about the Lakers and the Bulls. She said the Dallas Cowboys rung a bell but she wasn't sure and she even had some idea about the NY Rangers (I'm sure she must have been confusing it with something else). Perhaps because basketball is more popular in Europe (although still not very popular, and the NBA was much more popular in the 1990s here)... It's still somewhat curious that an event that can attract so much attention yet the sporting side of it is unknown to non-americans, where teams and players are just names and nothing else.

At the same time, while the NFL has indeed tried to branch out into other markets it's still slim pickings apart from the hardcore base. The NBA did benefit from having players around the world and it didn't hurt homegrown players. But with no infrastructure in place to develop football players here it's very likely that even one would ever become a major star in the US.

 

[ZedClampet]

Every year I'm surprised how the Superbowl, in a sport that is really only very popular in one or two countries (including Canada, and even there it is not the most popular sport, to my knowledge) is so huge and, it feels like it's constantly getting bigger.

The Champions League final in soccer, of course, has a lot more viewership due to the global audience. But that only makes it seem weaker. With almost double the viewership it still generates less revenue.

Perhaps its the ingrained spectacle with many decades to refine the formula, or the relevance it holds in terms of the prime sporting event of the year in the world's leading economy and cultural trendsetter, whereas in Europe it's a centralized body of many nations, many TV networks, different sensibilities...

I asked my mother who taught English at high school but is otherwise uninstered in sports if she could say any American football team. She couldn't, but she knew about the Lakers and the Bulls. She said the Dallas Cowboys rung a bell but she wasn't sure and she even had some idea about the NY Rangers (I'm sure she must have been confusing it with something else). Perhaps because basketball is more popular in Europe (although still not very popular, and the NBA was much more popular in the 1990s here)... It's still somewhat curious that an event that can attract so much attention yet the sporting side of it is unknown to non-americans, where teams and players are just names and nothing else.

At the same time, while the NFL has indeed tried to branch out into other markets it's still slim pickings apart from the hardcore base. The NBA did benefit from having players around the world and it didn't hurt homegrown players. But with no infrastructure in place to develop football players here it's very likely that even one would ever become a major star in the US.

The NY Rangers are an ice hockey team in the NHL (National Hockey League).

The NFL is considering relocating a franchise (the Jacksonville Jaguars) to England. I honestly don't know why they care about bringing other countries on-board. They already make an ungodly amount of money, and the travel for teams would be terrible.

Right now, the NFL has three programs outside the US to try to develop players. In England, Australia and Japan (where they already play American football). Every year, it seems like a rugby player decides to try his luck in the NFL, and they first have to go to these programs the NFL runs. Sometimes these guys actually make it in the NFL, but usually they don't. It's just hard to learn the sport that well as an adult when Americans start playing Pee Wee football in kindergarten.

Japan is pretty far along, though. Their pro league is not that bad.

But American football is by far the #1 sport in America. Even American college football games get as many TV viewers as the Premier League does. Of course, America has a few hundred million more potential viewers.

 

[isleepinabed]

The NY Rangers are an ice hockey team in the NHL (National Hockey League).

The NFL is considering relocating a franchise (the Jacksonville Jaguars) to England. I honestly don't know why they care about bringing other countries on-board. They already make an ungodly amount of money, and the travel for teams would be terrible.

Right now, the NFL has three programs outside the US to try to develop players. In England, Australia and Japan (where they already play American football). Every year, it seems like a rugby player decides to try his luck in the NFL, and they first have to go to these programs the NFL runs. Sometimes these guys actually make it in the NFL, but usually they don't. It's just hard to learn the sport that well as an adult when Americans start playing Pee Wee football in kindergarten.

Japan is pretty far along, though. Their pro league is not that bad.

But American football is by far the #1 sport in America. Even American college football games get as many TV viewers as the Premier League does. Of course, America has a few hundred million more potential viewers.

I didn't know about Japan. They have a good rugby team too. I think Germany also has an american football league. But even though those are big countries, their better athletes would probably choose to follow something else before choosing american football.

Regarding college football I was amazed when I saw their attendance records (in the stadium, not on TV). It's insane that some stadiums have close to 100,000 every match, considering it should be an amateur sport at that level.

 

[ZedClampet]

It's insane that some stadiums have close to 100,000 every match, considering it should be an amateur sport at that level.

Unfortunately it isn't amateur anymore. The Supreme Court ruled on 2 different things, which you probably don't care about, so I won't explain them, and now these college students are making good money. The school I root for is paying its quarterback more than some NFL quarterbacks get paid. And to make matters even crazier, the courts are getting ready to rule on whether the schools can force people into only having 5 years of eligibility, so we may get to a point where players are playing college football for 15 to 20 years.