Sports general discussion thread

[Zloth]

Hey, a job done is a job done, but you owe as much thanks to SanFran for electing to get the ball first in overtime and settling for a field goal. I just got up and left at that point. I didn't even watch KC's winning drive.

I was SO scared that the Ravens would curse us, and we would lose the ball inches from the goal line! But I guess we survived that earlier with the fumble after the big pass.

All in all, I think we just got luckier. The punt hitting that guy's foot just before it hit the ground, the 49er that got injured just jogging onto the field... crazy bad luck for them!

P.S. Joe Montana showed up but the coverage barely mentioned it. The whole crowd should be able to get behind Joe, he played great for both teams!

 

[Brian Boru]

Can Football learn from the NFL?

Football schedule is not just a health risk but is 'killing the product', says PFA

"61st game of the season"

 

[Zloth]

The KC Royals won 56 games last year. That would have been awesome in soccer. Unfortunately, Major League Baseball has 162 games in the regular season.

 

[ZedClampet]

The KC Royals won 56 games last year. That would have been awesome in soccer. Unfortunately, Major League Baseball has 162 games in the regular season.

MLB schedule is ridiculous, but they refuse to change it due to statistics. No other American sport is as all-consumed with it's stats as baseball. But they really need to finish their season before football starts. They'd get much more attention. Might even revive the sport.

*****

TN Vols won the SEC championship in basketball and should get a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Best TN team I've ever witnessed. They have so many ways to win.

This guy is a primary reason:

His name is Dalton Knecht. Against #11 Auburn, he outscored them by himself 25 - 21 over the last 12 minutes of the game. Will probably be a top 5 NBA draft pick and the first college player selected (many of the people selected in the first round are international players)

 

[Zloth]

MLB schedule is ridiculous, but they refuse to change it due to statistics.

They refuse to change it due to - why would they? The weather is still good, the players don't get injured nearly as often as other sports, so why shut down? As for football - so what? That's on one day a week (or two if you like the college stuff). Baseball is almost every day!

It's a much more laid-back sport, though. With football, you're going to want to watch all the time. With baseball, it's easy to switch it on and then do something completely different. If you're at the game, the sport is great for chatting with the people around you.

 

[Brian Boru]

So if I understand what you guys are saying:

♣ Baseball is therapy;
♦ Football is why it's needed.

 

[ZedClampet]

So if I understand what you guys are saying:

♣ Baseball is therapy;
♦ Football is why it's needed.

No.

American Football is the greatest sport on the planet.
Basketball is very good.
Baseball is good.
Golf is more fun to play than to watch.
Tennis used to be good.
Soccer is not nearly as good as it thinks it is.
Ice hockey is the same as soccer, but fun to watch.
Rugby's official sports drink should be beer. This is not a knock on Rugby, just an observation.
Bowling makes my elbow hurt and is awful to watch.
Women's gymnastics is amazing.
Auto racing is good.
I have no idea what Cricket even is. Looks like an impromptu game of baseball with rules derived from playing the telephone game and played by guys who just met at the symphony
Swimming and diving are entertaining every four years, as are skiing, track, etc.

 

[Brian Boru]

Rugby's official sports drink should be beer

You mean it isn't? Did the badstars change it?

Ice hockey is the same as soccer, but fun to watch.

You really like games with lots of padding, huh. I wonder what that means—Freud.com…

I have no idea what Cricket even is

Not true, you summed it up very well!

 

[Zloth]

So if I understand what you guys are saying:

♣ Baseball is therapy;
♦ Football is why it's needed.

Precisely! There are some other sports, but nothing worth wasting precious gaming time to watch.

 

[Brian Boru]

Ice hockey is … fun to watch

Ah yes, so it is:

 

[ZedClampet]

Tennessee baseball has some serious bats this year. 7 of the 9 starters are batting somewhere between .364 and .414. We beat Illinois yesterday 25 to 1. Guido said they need to up their Super Mega Baseball difficulty.

 

[ZedClampet]

Here's a very short and unusual post-game press conference:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1767068506971914704

View: https://twitter.com/BJRains/status/1767068506971914704

[Mod edit: shortened horrible link.]

 

[Zloth]

(looking for the appalled reaction, but can't find it)

 

[OsaX Nymloth]

Nobody watched Arsenal's game from yesterday?
Was quite entertaining!

 

[ZedClampet]

Great video on the mystery of scoring a tennis match.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uye168yvsrE


To me, the obvious solution is that if the Jeu de Paume court was 90 feet long, then they couldn't have moved 45 feet for the last point or they would have been standing on top of each other, so instead they moved 40 feet and were 10 feet apart.

 

[Brian Boru]

Great video on the mystery of scoring a tennis match

Saw that a few days ago, he's a great presenter of weird but interesting stuff

I've often meant to research tennis scoring, but never did—now I can rest at ease.

 

[ZedClampet]

Saw that a few days ago, he's a great presenter of weird but interesting stuff

I've often meant to research tennis scoring, but never did—now I can rest at ease.

I used to watch him all the time, but it's been at least a year since the last time I watched, so now I have many episodes ahead of me.

I can't watch TV. I can't watch movies. I can't watch YouTube, but apparently I can watch Thoughty2

 

[ZedClampet]

My wife asked me to complete men's and women's NCAA tournament brackets for her. They are having a competition at work. I know about as much about women's basketball as I know about cricket. I started to adapt my football algorithm for basketball, but decided that wasn't necessary for the women's bracket, as there is no parity in women's basketball. The team that is supposed to win almost always does.

I didn't want to just pick the higher seeds every time, though. She would think I didn't put any effort into it, so I did look at the stats a bit.

 

[Brian Boru]

apparently I can watch Thoughty2

If you like him, you might also like the recently semi-retired Tom Scott—another interesting and personable Brit [who knew there were 2 of them?]. He has a decade's worth of weekly videos

 

[Brian Boru]

Six Nations rugby championship 2024 kicks off today in little over an hour—on Peacock in USA, yay!—with a ~90% chance of being decided in the very first game

All's well that ends well:

Shame we missed out on a second clean sweep in a row—never been done in 6N, so it would've been a lovely piece of history. Lost by 1 point away to England after being ahead at full time—the game isn't over until the ball goes dead, and England scored with last play. They deserved it tho, played their best game since the 2019 World Cup semi-final.

Ah well, there's another history chance next year—the championship has never been won 3 times in a row in over 100 years, so that would be something. We have this year's 2nd & 3rd at home next year, so here's hoping.

 

[Brian Boru]

I love stories like this, gotta admire the players who stick with it thru thin and thin.

La Serenissima—San Marino, world's worst national football team chase first win for 20 years:

World's worst national team chase first win for 20 years

San Marino are the lowest-ranked national team in the world and have won only once in their history - but that could be about to change.

www.bbc.com

Rootin' for you guys!

 

[ZedClampet]

In the state of Kentucky, idiocy is their version of the Force from Star Wars.

Exhibit 1

https://twitter.com/x/status/1771010425334685796

View: https://twitter.com/Austin_Vols/status/1771010425334685796?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1771010425334685796%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=


Relevant scores from day 1 of the tournament:

Tennessee 83 - Saint Peters 49
Oakland 80 - Kentucky 76

 

[Brian Boru]

3 minutes of coaching excellence:

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

 

[Zloth]

There's a good boy!

P.S. Baseball season starts today. I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't been taking my staycation. I haven't seen a single advertisement about it. Nothing popped up on YouTube. My dad and I used to go to lots of opening day games, but the sport has all but vanished now. The only way to watch it seems to be to pay for streaming or listen to it through my old clock radio.

 

[ZedClampet]

There's a good boy!

P.S. Baseball season starts today. I wouldn't even have known if I hadn't been taking my staycation. I haven't seen a single advertisement about it. Nothing popped up on YouTube. My dad and I used to go to lots of opening day games, but the sport has all but vanished now. The only way to watch it seems to be to pay for streaming or listen to it through my old clock radio.

All I've heard about is the gambling scandal with the Japanese guy.

I just remembered we have a soccer team now in Knoxville. Not a top league team, of course. I think it's 3rd tier. But they must be doing well because they are building a new soccer stadium for them.