Boasty McBoasterson: The Husker football edition
September 28, 2009 at 10:16 pm | Posted in Football, Minda's Take, NCAA football, Sports fans | Leave a commentThis weekend, my Huskers won in dominating fashion over Louisina-Lafayette. The 55-0 victory was fun, but not as notable as the action IN the stands: It was Nebraska’s jaw-dropping 300th consecutive sellout. No one else is even close, and obviously the number is an NCAA record.
A few people have been singing praises about the home crowd since their visits on Saturday. The Lafayette play-by-play announcer blogged about how Lincoln is “college football Nirvana,” and marveled at the friendliness of the home fans. “…when the band played ‘There is no Place Like Nebraska,’” he wrote, “I knew that the statement was true.”
The Cynic at Hugging Harold Reynolds was also impressed with the crowd in Lincoln. “Congratulations, Husker fans. Your reputation as one of football’s nicest and most loyal fan bases is well-deserved. I look forward to seeing you all again in October 2023 for the 400th sellout. Anybody wanna bet the streak will be broken before then? I didn’t think so.”
I don’t think it will be broken before then, either. In general, Lincoln isn’t my favorite place to be, but when it’s game day this is a city I’m proud to be a part of, and I’m glad visitors continue to be treated like guests instead of enemies. I hope both those writers know they’re welcome back in Lincoln any time.
Yankees’ champagne showers: OK? Not cool yet?
September 27, 2009 at 7:29 pm | Posted in Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minda's Take | 3 CommentsThe Yankees, who have known since Tuesday that they would be in baseball’s postseason in some form or another, clinched the AL East title this afternoon against Boston.
And they celebrated with champagne, as you can see in a slide show over at Big League Stew.
I do love champagne celebrations. It looks like fun. But are the Yankees really justified in celebrating under bubbly now? Why not wait until they’ve won at least a divisional series, or maybe the league championship…or even the World Series? Do they think this is their last shot at locker room celebratory shenanigans?
Today’s win also happened to be New York’s 100th win. No other team will reach that mark, now that the Dodgers have lost to the Pirates today.
Chiefs Fan Experiment: Week 3
September 27, 2009 at 6:01 pm | Posted in Chiefs fan experiment, Football, Idiocy, Minda's Take, NFL | Leave a comment
"Rawr! I am throwing a football!"
I accidentally became a Kansas City Chiefs fan last year. Two of my brothers, who formerly had no NFL allegiance, decided to start rooting for the Chiefs this year since they’re already die-hard Royals fans. This is how it’s going.
The Chieves got slaughtered at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles. It was kinda close for a while, and then Kansas City responded by…continuing to RUN the football? So…they’re trying to lose. That has to be it, right? No professional football coach could possibly think that the most efficient – or possible – comeback strategy was to punch little 3-yard runs across the line of scrimmage.
Really? That might have been OK in the brief time when the Eagles were only up 14-7. But when Philly pulled away by one more, then two more touchdowns, it was time for Matt Cassel to air the ball out, and he did not. It didn’t make any sense today, and it makes even less sense given that the Chiefs lack a superstar running back who can maybe carry the team on his back if the passing game isn’t working. They don’t have that kind of RB, and they didn’t even TRY to get a passing attack going.
Yes, both of KC’s touchdowns were through the air, but Cassel only managed to amass 90 yards total passing. The Detroit Lions, who won today, by the way, went a historic 0-16 last year. Three weeks in to this season, it looks a little like the Chiefs could match that.
Side note: DeSaun Jackson is sort of a jerk, no? What is the sense in showboating against the CHIEFS? Act like you’ve been in an endzone before.
George Brett was such an awesome second basem–what?!
September 25, 2009 at 6:51 pm | Posted in Awkward, Baseball, Idiocy, Major League Baseball, Minda's Take | Leave a commentVia the KC Star’s Sam Mellinger, here is a(nother?) big goof-up from the Kansas City Royals.
Tomorrow, the team will be giving away figurines honoring legendary third baseman George Brett. That’s third base, the one on the left side of the infield. Got that? Third.
So then…why does the box say this?
This is an understandable error, I mean, Brett played sometimes at seco–oh, no. He actually never played a single Major League game at 2nd base.
I remember a similar thing at work two summers ago, with the Omaha Royals. We were giving away figurines honoring another Royals third baseman, Alex Gordon. Only, the little nameplate on those statues was missing one of the O’s, so they said Alex Gordn.
It was awkward, sure, but the team handled it gracefully, by welcoming Ryals fans to Rsenblatt Stadium, and leaving all the O’s out of players’ names in the lineups. I wonder if the big-league Royals will handle this gaffe with as much good humor.
The Chiefs Fan Experiment, week 2
September 21, 2009 at 5:18 pm | Posted in Chiefs fan experiment, Football, Idiocy, Minda's Take, NFL, Sports fans | Leave a commentYep. That pretty well sums it up, Mr. Cassel. [Jamie Squire/Getty Images![Yep. That pretty well sums it up, Mr. Cassel. [Jamie Squire/Getty Images]](http://gettingtofirstbase.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/sadcassel.jpg)
My brothers must be insane, or they wouldn’t have adopted the Chiefs* as “their” NFL team. Or if they had, they would have done it 15 years ago. Not this year, when it sort of looks like the gang from Arrowhead Stadium won’t win a single game.
*or Chieves, as we like to spell it.
We’re trying. The stream of text messages between my brother and me contains all the language of people who are trying to be fans – and who realize it’s probably the dumbest idea we’ve ever had. “Are you watching our Chieves?”
“Our Chieves need to score, yes?”
“[This game is] an epic clash of suck. Sort of like the Huskers yesterday, but with fewer field goals.”
“TOUCHDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!”
…and so on. We’re stubborn, or “loyal” if you want to be nice about it, so none of us will be abandoning “our” new team any time soon. But we’re also aware that we are in for much more garbagey football. CBS referred to yesterday’s game as a “snoozer” in their headline. It most certainly was a struggle between two awful teams, and the Chieves proved to be more awful than the Raiders.
So that’s 0-2, on our way to 0-16 or so.
Note: I’ll be heading to Kansas City tomorrow to see Zack Greinke face the Boston Red Sox. Some cotton-headed ninnymugginses in sports media keep trying to say that Greinke’s case for the Cy Young award is weakened because he hasn’t faced the Red Sox or the Yankees. Hopefully he’ll shut those people up with a standard Greinke performance tomorrow. Either way, I’ll be there, and I’ll come back with pictures.
A day later, Husker hearts still disappointed…in Bo.
September 21, 2009 at 1:22 am | Posted in Football, Minda's Take, NCAA football, Sad panda | Leave a commentTags: Husker football, Huskers, I feel violated, Nebraska Cornhuskers, what the heck, wtf
Outwardly, I was nervous for yesterday’s game against Virginia Tech. I knew Nebraska, as a team, had holes. I knew Nebraska had not won a road game against a ranked team in 12 years – a nugget of knowledge that makes me ill – and I knew that Virginia Tech’s quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, has had all kinds of hype around him.
So yes, I was nervous. I had a knot in my stomach before the game. But on the inside, I had this grand vision of the Huskers bursting forth with some sort of talents they hadn’t yet shown. I pictured Ndomakong Suh tearing Taylor and the rest of the Hokies apart while a national audience watched, and Zac Lee rifling passes downfield to stun Va Tech and vault upward in the rankings. Whether I admitted it out loud or not…I had hope.
Alex Henery had FIVE field goals. Think his back hurts?
And then, the first quarter passed, and Nebraska did not have a single yard of total offense. And then it was halftime, and the Huskers still hadn’t put any points on the board that didn’t come from the foot of kicker Alex Henery. Throughout the game, I was texting a few people, and I kept wondering when the Huskers would maybe score a touchdown.
And then, in the 3rd quarter, they DID score a touchdown, but no one ever counted it, or even looked like they wanted to. Despite the fact that receiver Menelik Holt had not one, not two, but two feet and a knee down in the endzone and had control of the ball, a pass from Lee was ruled incomplete.
I do not understand why coach Bo Pelini neglected to review that catch. Sure, he only had one timeout left but it was SO CLEARLY a touchdown he would have gotten the timeout back anyway. Or at the very least, why didn’t officials elect to review it? They reviewed the Virginia Tech touchdown at the end of the game, so it’s not like they had vowed not to use official reviews that afternoon.
Nebraska scored more points than Virginia Tech, but lost. The Huskers are still ranked, mind you, but barely, and that’s not good enough. They should be 3-0 and knocking on the door of the Top 10. They should have sent Hokie fans home dejected instead of onto the field in a delirious swarm after the game. But nothing that should have happened, actually happened, and I still don’t get why. I just feel let down.
GREAT photo from the AP. Rickey Thenarse shares fans' pain.
How Freudian was this MLBN slip of the tongue?
September 19, 2009 at 12:21 am | Posted in Awkward, Baseball, Major League Baseball, Minda's Take | Leave a commentDuring ‘MLB Tonight’ Friday night, the practice of referring to Arizona’s team as the D’Backs finally backfired when an anchor let the colloquial term “D’Bags” slip in. WHOOPSIE!
[Video uploaded - and soon to be removed by the League, I'm sure - by ME!]
The most adorable Daddy-and-daughter moment you’ll see all week
September 16, 2009 at 12:11 pm | Posted in Baseball, CUUUUUUUUUUTE, Major League Baseball, Minda's Take | Leave a commentJust go watch this. Your heart will melt into adorable heart soup.
[Via Big League Stew]
Briefly: Why strikeouts ARE a bad thing, and some links
September 15, 2009 at 11:53 pm | Posted in Baseball, Football, Major League Baseball, Media, Minda's Take, NFL | Leave a commentThis should be quick, because I have to go read a bunch of legal briefs for a class. And as you probably know, there’s nothing brief about a legal brief.
- How did I miss this quote from strikeout-machine Mark Reynolds? We looked at Reynolds’ record-setting strikeout tendencies here a few months ago, and Reynolds talked to the media about his strikeouts this week. From Yahoo!:
“If I break it again, whatever,” he said. “Doesn’t matter to me.”
An out’s an out, he figures.
“I don’t see how it’s such a bad thing,” Reynolds said. “Whoever made that up, that it’s such a bad thing to strike out, is full of crap.”
Emphasis mine. Yeah Mark, striking out isn’t so bad. I mean, your team has 27 outs to work with ever day, so what’s the harm in using a couple of ‘em to swing and miss three times? Sure, you’re not moving any base runners, and you’re doing the opposite of getting on base, but it’s not so bad. You’re right. I’m full of crap.
- What’s better than a highlight-reel catch? A highlight-reel catch re-created by a gerbil and a tree frog. Duh. [Deadspin]
- Remember in the spring when Aaron Boone had open-heart surgery? Hall-of-Famer Hal McCoy shares that Boone is apparently a pretty classy guy. [Dayton Daily News]
- One of the New Guys at the Rookies guesses what’s been written in the diaries of some NFL quarterbacks after their Week 1 performances. [The Rookies]
- Some coverage of The Machine at MLB.com.
The Machine: Behind the scenes extra bonus stuff
September 15, 2009 at 6:26 pm | Posted in Baseball, Major League Baseball, Media, Minda's Take, Nerdery, Writing | 3 CommentsAfter what seems like 15 years of waiting, Joe Posnanski’s new book, The Machine, is finally out.
And, well…my name is in it. I’d be lying if I said I did not immediately flip open to the Acks page right there in the aisle at Barnes and Noble. And if I said I didn’t show the random strangers who were browsing the same aisle. Dorky? Duh, it is. But hey, my name’s in a book. That’s never happened before.
See? (click image for full-size version
Poz writes: “I must thank research assistant Minda Haas for…almost getting an interview with George Clooney — we’re hoping he’s still available to play in the movie.”
Why Clooney? Lots of people have asked. Clooney, apparently, was a huge Reds fan and a fairly athletic young man back in the day. He even tried out for the Reds as a teenager, but didn’t make the cut. His input would have been a fun addition, and Joe and I figured he’d enjoy sitting down to talk baseball for a while.
Whether he would actually enjoy it, we never did find out. I only “almost” got the interview, and “almost” doesn’t go very far when you’re trying to put someone’s words into a book!
It wasn’t hard to find Clooney’s publicist. Google and a quick phone call took care of that. But every time I’d call, I was told Clooney was in this place or that, but never available. Clooney was promoting a movie, then vacationing for three months in Italy and 100% unavailable, then shooting in the Caribbean, and yep, you guessed it, not available.
So we gave up. Deadlines come fast, and Joe was already staring down a dreadfully busy summer – working on the book, and sending back daily columns from the Olympics in Beijing (even though he was originally not planning on going there).
And then, within mere weeks after it was definitely too late to get his input….Clooney was in Omaha. Where I LIVED. Grumble grumble.
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Sales pitch: The Clooney-less book is now available at a bookseller near you. Or here’s that Amazon link again. I’ll be reading and reviewing very very soon.
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