CBS, you’re making me very angry.
Why? Well, for those of us who try and watch football games – and only have one CBS feed – watching NFL games can become a real pain. Due to what I imagine was rule that only some madman would think up, you cannot watch overtime games – unless you are in the local market.
And that stinks.
This isn’t the first time I’ve fallen prey to this rule. Last year, when I was watching the Giants play the Vikings in some regular season game the same thing happened – due to that very rule, FOX had to cut away to some other game and I was left waiting for The FOX Game Break (brought to you by McDonald’s) to see who won (As I recall, I’m pretty sure that the Giants won on a field goal).
See, after the Heidi game (When CBS infamously cut away from a Raiders/Jets game to show the movie Heidi – and viewers missed a huge comeback by the Raiders), I thought stuff like this wasn’t supposed to happen. But it does – it’s stipulated in the TV contracts for the NFL. Technically, CBS was supposed to say they were sorry and cut to the next game.
And that’d have been fine – if there was a game to cut to. Unlike the viewers who have DirecTV, my CBS feed (WIVB Buffalo) only had one game today so I got to see … Er, Shannon Sharpe, Dan Marino, James Brown and Boomer Esiason watching the Steelers game, with the occasional clip of game play. Of course they didn’t show the game-winning field goal or any of the overtime (I got to see the first attempted field goal towards the end of regulation, but missed the other two).
So this has got me thinking – what’s the point of a rule like this? Yes, I understand the rule as it stands toward Doubleheaders, but why couldn’t CBS show the game in its entirety for stations that only have one game? How different is it then having bonus coverage, like last week when I got to see the end for a total of four different games? What market are we violating? The Bills game had already ended – so there goes the home market theory. There was no other game to cut to – there goes the contractual obligations.
So why cut away? Didn’t we learn anything from the Heidi incident? Didn’t we learn anything from the days that the CBC would cut to news at 11pm, regardless of overtime? Didn’t we learn that people, such as myself, like to watch the whole game?
I suppose not. See you at the game-break-quick-score-update-highlight.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
Opening thoughts on the 2006 World Series
I guess the last week of the season means nothing. Seriously, does it? The New York Mets and the New York Yankees – the two teams I assumed would meet in the World Series – have both been eliminated in the playoffs.
And teams that seemingly fell apart at the end of the season beat them both.
For the Tigers, it was a huge skid – they lost the AL Central title to a Twins team that ripped off something like 45-3 towards the end of the season (Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but still) to a red hot Twins team. A team that was on such a roll they lost to the A’s in four games. Right. The Tigers have been, well, rather powerful. They embarrassed the Yankees in the opening round and soundly defeated the A’s in ALCS. They deserve to be in the World Series – there’s no doubt about that – but still, this is the same team that blew a huge lead in the AL Central at the end of the season.
The other team – the St. Louis Cardinals – pulled the same stunt, on a much larger scale. They dropped something like 12 games in a row before the playoffs, almost losing their spot to the Houston Astros. And they had a worse record then the two teams they beat – the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets – to boot. Granted, they limped through the playoffs – they only won game seven on the ninth – but still. We now have the World Series for 2006 all set.
And both teams skidded into the playoffs.
I’m not even going to go into what the last week of the season means. Some guy at Baseball Prospectus can do that – he’s about a million times more qualified, actually – and hell, it’s an article I’d read. Right now… Well, I’m going to try and let the idea sink in…
The two teams that I least thought would make it – including one that I didn’t even think would make the playoffs in September – are in the World Series.
Jeez, what’ll happen next? Will the Texan’s whip out a string of victories and win the Super Bowl? Will the Columbus Blue Jackets win a Stanley Cup? Will the Knicks win the Finals? Hopefully not - I'd like to keep my sanity, if I could, please.
And teams that seemingly fell apart at the end of the season beat them both.
For the Tigers, it was a huge skid – they lost the AL Central title to a Twins team that ripped off something like 45-3 towards the end of the season (Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but still) to a red hot Twins team. A team that was on such a roll they lost to the A’s in four games. Right. The Tigers have been, well, rather powerful. They embarrassed the Yankees in the opening round and soundly defeated the A’s in ALCS. They deserve to be in the World Series – there’s no doubt about that – but still, this is the same team that blew a huge lead in the AL Central at the end of the season.
The other team – the St. Louis Cardinals – pulled the same stunt, on a much larger scale. They dropped something like 12 games in a row before the playoffs, almost losing their spot to the Houston Astros. And they had a worse record then the two teams they beat – the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets – to boot. Granted, they limped through the playoffs – they only won game seven on the ninth – but still. We now have the World Series for 2006 all set.
And both teams skidded into the playoffs.
I’m not even going to go into what the last week of the season means. Some guy at Baseball Prospectus can do that – he’s about a million times more qualified, actually – and hell, it’s an article I’d read. Right now… Well, I’m going to try and let the idea sink in…
The two teams that I least thought would make it – including one that I didn’t even think would make the playoffs in September – are in the World Series.
Jeez, what’ll happen next? Will the Texan’s whip out a string of victories and win the Super Bowl? Will the Columbus Blue Jackets win a Stanley Cup? Will the Knicks win the Finals? Hopefully not - I'd like to keep my sanity, if I could, please.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
The MVP Race - AL Edition
The American League Most Valuable Player award race has been narrowed down to three players: Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox and Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins. One is having a great at the plate, one is having a great season on the field and another has led his team into a fantastic run into the postseason. But only one can win the award - who's it going to be?
Derek Jeter
As far as statistics go, Derek Jeter is having a decent year. He's ranked #5 overall in on-base percentage (.414), 31st in slugging (.481) and his batting average is #3 overall (.340). But Derek's one of the reasons that the Yankees - who, as I recall, have never been lower then second in the AL East this season - stayed competitive throughout the season, even when they were decimated by injuries to key players like Matsui or Sheffield.
Unlike David Ortiz or Justin Morneau, Derek Jeter has shown that he's a catalyst for a great team - a team that came from three games back and decimated the Red Sox in Boston, then went and took a commanding 11 game lead of the AL East. And even though he's posting some not-so-great numbers in fun stats like Home Runs (14) or RBI (96), Jeter has shown that he's still a threat during his at-bats with his on-base being higher then those of both Ortiz and Morneau. If the Yankees win the World Series this year, you can be sure that Derek Jeter will have been a huge part of it.
David Ortiz
Despite falling apart during the second half of the season, Ortiz has been absolutely fantastic at the plate this year - but then again, as the Designated Hitter, he has to be. He's set the record for Home Runs hit by a Red Sox player (52 and counting), he's posted a completely unbelievable slugging percentage (.631) a great on-base (.404) and a Walk/Strikeout ratio of 0.95 - meaning he's just as likely to walk as he is to strike out (always a good thing).
But is batting simply enough? Maybe so - he kept winning games all season long for the Red Sox. Something like 11 times this year alone Ortiz had a game-winning walk-off hit. When the Red Sox were leading the AL East earlier this year, Ortiz had a big, big role. But will voters be able to overlook his team's failure in August? Does Ortiz deserve to suffer due to the collapse of players like Papelbon or Schilling? The answer is simple - no. Is he, however, more deserving then Jeter is?
No. When you take everything into effect - batting, fielding and success of their team - over this season, what David Ortiz does is cool and fun to watch... But he's not as valuable to his team as much as Jeter is to his.
Justin Morneau
The Twins are a great story this year - they roared from third place and fading up to, and on the last day of the season, they clinched the Al Central as the Tigers fell apart, blowing a seven game lead.
Justin Morneau was a big, big part of their success. He's had one of his best years to date in 2006, batting in 130 runs, having a solid on-base (.375) and having a great slugging percentage (.559 ). When the Twins came roaring back into the race (first for the AL Wild Card and finally for the AL Central pennant) Morneau was there. It started in July, when he hit for a .700+ slugging percentage and he never looked back - and neither did the Twins. The Twins first overtook the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox, then Boston Red Sox, who had led the AL east for most of the season, and finally won the AL Central, getting past the Detroit Tigers, on the last game of the season.
But, once again, is he better then Jeter? Kinda-sorta-not-really. Where Morneau's managed to out-hit Jeter in home runs, Jeter just missed the AL batting title, and had a combined OPS (on base + slugging) of .900 this year; Morneau had an OPS that was just higher, with .934. Jeter led his team through injuries to key players whereas Morneau led the Twins to a second-half surge.
Although they're pretty close, I'’m going to go with my gut here: which player would you like to play against the least? As good as Morneau is, I'’d much rather see him during a crucial at-bat then I'’d like to see Jeter. Why? I dunno, I can'’t really explain it. I know they are pretty similar in quality - but for Jeter, we know he's a good player. For Morneau... … Well, I'’m just not as sold on him - yet.
We'’ll see in 2007.
Derek Jeter
As far as statistics go, Derek Jeter is having a decent year. He's ranked #5 overall in on-base percentage (.414), 31st in slugging (.481) and his batting average is #3 overall (.340). But Derek's one of the reasons that the Yankees - who, as I recall, have never been lower then second in the AL East this season - stayed competitive throughout the season, even when they were decimated by injuries to key players like Matsui or Sheffield.
Unlike David Ortiz or Justin Morneau, Derek Jeter has shown that he's a catalyst for a great team - a team that came from three games back and decimated the Red Sox in Boston, then went and took a commanding 11 game lead of the AL East. And even though he's posting some not-so-great numbers in fun stats like Home Runs (14) or RBI (96), Jeter has shown that he's still a threat during his at-bats with his on-base being higher then those of both Ortiz and Morneau. If the Yankees win the World Series this year, you can be sure that Derek Jeter will have been a huge part of it.
David Ortiz
Despite falling apart during the second half of the season, Ortiz has been absolutely fantastic at the plate this year - but then again, as the Designated Hitter, he has to be. He's set the record for Home Runs hit by a Red Sox player (52 and counting), he's posted a completely unbelievable slugging percentage (.631) a great on-base (.404) and a Walk/Strikeout ratio of 0.95 - meaning he's just as likely to walk as he is to strike out (always a good thing).
But is batting simply enough? Maybe so - he kept winning games all season long for the Red Sox. Something like 11 times this year alone Ortiz had a game-winning walk-off hit. When the Red Sox were leading the AL East earlier this year, Ortiz had a big, big role. But will voters be able to overlook his team's failure in August? Does Ortiz deserve to suffer due to the collapse of players like Papelbon or Schilling? The answer is simple - no. Is he, however, more deserving then Jeter is?
No. When you take everything into effect - batting, fielding and success of their team - over this season, what David Ortiz does is cool and fun to watch... But he's not as valuable to his team as much as Jeter is to his.
Justin Morneau
The Twins are a great story this year - they roared from third place and fading up to, and on the last day of the season, they clinched the Al Central as the Tigers fell apart, blowing a seven game lead.
Justin Morneau was a big, big part of their success. He's had one of his best years to date in 2006, batting in 130 runs, having a solid on-base (.375) and having a great slugging percentage (.559 ). When the Twins came roaring back into the race (first for the AL Wild Card and finally for the AL Central pennant) Morneau was there. It started in July, when he hit for a .700+ slugging percentage and he never looked back - and neither did the Twins. The Twins first overtook the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox, then Boston Red Sox, who had led the AL east for most of the season, and finally won the AL Central, getting past the Detroit Tigers, on the last game of the season.
But, once again, is he better then Jeter? Kinda-sorta-not-really. Where Morneau's managed to out-hit Jeter in home runs, Jeter just missed the AL batting title, and had a combined OPS (on base + slugging) of .900 this year; Morneau had an OPS that was just higher, with .934. Jeter led his team through injuries to key players whereas Morneau led the Twins to a second-half surge.
Although they're pretty close, I'’m going to go with my gut here: which player would you like to play against the least? As good as Morneau is, I'’d much rather see him during a crucial at-bat then I'’d like to see Jeter. Why? I dunno, I can'’t really explain it. I know they are pretty similar in quality - but for Jeter, we know he's a good player. For Morneau... … Well, I'’m just not as sold on him - yet.
We'’ll see in 2007.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The NFL prediction
Meh.
That's pretty much all I can really say this year - I've been reading way too much; I bought two magazines - two more then I usually do - and I've worked on this for much too long, something like two weeks.
And still, I don't think I'm anymore sure about any of these then I was in August. Or in May. Hell, I don't think I'm any more sure then I was the minute after Super Bowl XL ended.
But here it all is - typed lovingly by division by a college student with less time free then he has to sleep.
AFC
AFC East: The Patriots
This division was the one that was the toughest of them all for me to choose: I like the Dolphins this year - more on that later - but I can't help but to choose the Pats, once again. They haven't lost any key players other then their kicker and a linebacker... And if that was all it takes to kill this team it's a bad sign for Brady's Hall of Fame chances.
The Dolphins improved by signing a QB and it'll be a good race - although I'm not quite sold on the Dolphins defense. The Bills will tank fast while the Jets will pull a Barbaro and break a leg out of the gate.
I'm going to say the order will be like this:
AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers haven't done much other then cutting the fat in the offseason: they lost Tommy Maddox and Randel El - which means that their WR passing stats will go in the toilet. And hurt or not, Big Ben keeps getting better and better. If this team wins less then 11 games it's time for a new coach.
Otherwise, the Bengals are still good - but, thanks to the new rules on touchdown celebrations, a lot less fun to watch. Baltimore's gotten worse during the offseason (Brain St. Pierre? Mike Anderson?) and Cleveland is, well, bad. Really bad.
ARC South: Indianapolis Colts
Er, when you have ha;f your games against teams like Houston, Tennessee and Jacksonville and you're one of the best teams in the NFL's recent history, you're going to win the division, no matter who your running back is.
Other then them, Jacksonville is a decent team who hasn't convinced me that they're better then either Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Denver or Miami; Tennessee made a few changes but I don't see them getting ahead of either of the previous teams in the standings and Houston... Well, if nothing else, there's always next year's draft - maybe then the Texans can draft a running back.
AFC West: Denver Broncos
Why not? They have a revolutionary two-tier running back system (trust me, this is like when they introduced the Relief Pitcher), a solid QB in Plummer, a good defense and they added a few good parts (Javon Walker, Mike Bell) to replace what they lost (Mike Anderson). They're a lock to win their division.
And, again, why not? Kansas City still doesn't play defense; Oakland's still a coach away from being a contender and San Deigo's QB situation looks worse then it did last year. It's not going to be a breeze, but it's not too much to ask for the Broncos.
NFC:
NFC East: New York Giants
Sure, the Giants fell apart in the playoffs last year - but they added bulk to their defense with LaVar Harrington and kept some of their big playmakers with Plaxico Burress and Eli Manning. And sure, Tiki Barber is getting old - but he's still doing a lot better then most running backs that are his age. It'll be close, but I think the Giants have what it takes to win this division this year.
Philadelphia's Eagles look good - last year they were marred by injury and locker-room disputes - but I'm not sold on their offence; will McNabb rebound? Did TO truly carry the team like he thought he did? It's too many questions for me. Dallas will self-implode over TO, Parcells and Bledsoe before week five (I would be surprised as hell if both TO and Bledsoe can successfully work together over the course of the season; it'd be like Larry the Cable guy successfully co-hosting The Daily Show for half a year) and Washington will have a tough go at it - they have a great running back with Clinton Portis, two solid receiving backs... But their offense is still led by Mark "Bledsoe Jr." Brunell.
NFC North : Chicago Bears
Remember the Bears of the mid 1980s? They had a killer running back in Walter Payton, sure, but who else? Jim McMahon? Willie Gault? No - they won because of their defense, which is exactly what the 06 Bears are planning - and will - do. Thanks to their powerful defense, the Bears can get away with just having a couple weapons - they have a solid running game - in a seriously weak division.
Otherwise, the Packers should continue their general decline down towards irrelevance - you can thank their aging QB for that - while Minnesota enters a rebuilding stage, thanks to the recent losses of their major offensive stars (Culpepper, Moss, et al). And Detroit... Well, the Tigers are doing pretty well this year.
NFC South: Carolina Panthers
The Panthers are a real threat this year - nobody seemed to notice that they had a great defense and that there was more to the team then just Steve Smith. Not that it really matters; Smith is fantastic and, if healthy, carry almost any team. The Panthers will make easy work of everybody.
On the other side of the NFC South coin, the Atlanta Falcons will have a decent season - nothing special, I'm afraid - while the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have fun at the bottom. Sure, both of them have some great running backs - but neither of them have what it takes to get past Carolina.
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
I hate myself for this - no Super Bowl loser has repeated in ages and the Seahawks have a tough schedule and Sean Alexander is a ACL Tear waiting to happen. But still - they play in a division against the St. Louis Rams, the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals. You can pretty much chalk up 6, maybe 7 wins right there.
Speaking of the Cards, I'm not buying this "They're a sleeper" nonsense. They have Kurt Warner, a QB who's too green to be a starter right now and a great running back who I suspect will be bad with the Cards line in front of him. St. Louis will surprise people, but to do that they'd need to do what, win six games? And the 49ers... Well, they're rebuilding. Still.
Playoffs:
First a lesson: I've always enjoyed playing games on both computers and on consoles - but my experience is pretty much limited to sports games or RTS games. So tonight, when I got invited to a Halo party, I assumed that I could just switch from one to the other. After all, how different can it be?
Turns out it's a lot different.
The point here is that some things don't transfer over too well - and sometimes what cuts it in one place doesn't in another. That said, here's the playoffs (But first, a quick recap):
That's pretty much all I can really say this year - I've been reading way too much; I bought two magazines - two more then I usually do - and I've worked on this for much too long, something like two weeks.
And still, I don't think I'm anymore sure about any of these then I was in August. Or in May. Hell, I don't think I'm any more sure then I was the minute after Super Bowl XL ended.
But here it all is - typed lovingly by division by a college student with less time free then he has to sleep.
AFC
AFC East: The Patriots
This division was the one that was the toughest of them all for me to choose: I like the Dolphins this year - more on that later - but I can't help but to choose the Pats, once again. They haven't lost any key players other then their kicker and a linebacker... And if that was all it takes to kill this team it's a bad sign for Brady's Hall of Fame chances.
The Dolphins improved by signing a QB and it'll be a good race - although I'm not quite sold on the Dolphins defense. The Bills will tank fast while the Jets will pull a Barbaro and break a leg out of the gate.
I'm going to say the order will be like this:
- New England Patriots
- Miami Dolphins
- Buffalo Bills
- New York Jets
AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers haven't done much other then cutting the fat in the offseason: they lost Tommy Maddox and Randel El - which means that their WR passing stats will go in the toilet. And hurt or not, Big Ben keeps getting better and better. If this team wins less then 11 games it's time for a new coach.
Otherwise, the Bengals are still good - but, thanks to the new rules on touchdown celebrations, a lot less fun to watch. Baltimore's gotten worse during the offseason (Brain St. Pierre? Mike Anderson?) and Cleveland is, well, bad. Really bad.
- Pittsburgh
- Cincinnati
- Baltimore
- Cleveland
ARC South: Indianapolis Colts
Er, when you have ha;f your games against teams like Houston, Tennessee and Jacksonville and you're one of the best teams in the NFL's recent history, you're going to win the division, no matter who your running back is.
Other then them, Jacksonville is a decent team who hasn't convinced me that they're better then either Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Denver or Miami; Tennessee made a few changes but I don't see them getting ahead of either of the previous teams in the standings and Houston... Well, if nothing else, there's always next year's draft - maybe then the Texans can draft a running back.
- Indianapolis
- Jacksonville
- Tennessee
- Houston
AFC West: Denver Broncos
Why not? They have a revolutionary two-tier running back system (trust me, this is like when they introduced the Relief Pitcher), a solid QB in Plummer, a good defense and they added a few good parts (Javon Walker, Mike Bell) to replace what they lost (Mike Anderson). They're a lock to win their division.
And, again, why not? Kansas City still doesn't play defense; Oakland's still a coach away from being a contender and San Deigo's QB situation looks worse then it did last year. It's not going to be a breeze, but it's not too much to ask for the Broncos.
- Denver
- San Diego
- Kansas City
- Oakland
NFC:
NFC East: New York Giants
Sure, the Giants fell apart in the playoffs last year - but they added bulk to their defense with LaVar Harrington and kept some of their big playmakers with Plaxico Burress and Eli Manning. And sure, Tiki Barber is getting old - but he's still doing a lot better then most running backs that are his age. It'll be close, but I think the Giants have what it takes to win this division this year.
Philadelphia's Eagles look good - last year they were marred by injury and locker-room disputes - but I'm not sold on their offence; will McNabb rebound? Did TO truly carry the team like he thought he did? It's too many questions for me. Dallas will self-implode over TO, Parcells and Bledsoe before week five (I would be surprised as hell if both TO and Bledsoe can successfully work together over the course of the season; it'd be like Larry the Cable guy successfully co-hosting The Daily Show for half a year) and Washington will have a tough go at it - they have a great running back with Clinton Portis, two solid receiving backs... But their offense is still led by Mark "Bledsoe Jr." Brunell.
- New York Giants
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Washington Redskins
- Dallas
NFC North : Chicago Bears
Remember the Bears of the mid 1980s? They had a killer running back in Walter Payton, sure, but who else? Jim McMahon? Willie Gault? No - they won because of their defense, which is exactly what the 06 Bears are planning - and will - do. Thanks to their powerful defense, the Bears can get away with just having a couple weapons - they have a solid running game - in a seriously weak division.
Otherwise, the Packers should continue their general decline down towards irrelevance - you can thank their aging QB for that - while Minnesota enters a rebuilding stage, thanks to the recent losses of their major offensive stars (Culpepper, Moss, et al). And Detroit... Well, the Tigers are doing pretty well this year.
NFC South: Carolina Panthers
The Panthers are a real threat this year - nobody seemed to notice that they had a great defense and that there was more to the team then just Steve Smith. Not that it really matters; Smith is fantastic and, if healthy, carry almost any team. The Panthers will make easy work of everybody.
On the other side of the NFC South coin, the Atlanta Falcons will have a decent season - nothing special, I'm afraid - while the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have fun at the bottom. Sure, both of them have some great running backs - but neither of them have what it takes to get past Carolina.
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
I hate myself for this - no Super Bowl loser has repeated in ages and the Seahawks have a tough schedule and Sean Alexander is a ACL Tear waiting to happen. But still - they play in a division against the St. Louis Rams, the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals. You can pretty much chalk up 6, maybe 7 wins right there.
Speaking of the Cards, I'm not buying this "They're a sleeper" nonsense. They have Kurt Warner, a QB who's too green to be a starter right now and a great running back who I suspect will be bad with the Cards line in front of him. St. Louis will surprise people, but to do that they'd need to do what, win six games? And the 49ers... Well, they're rebuilding. Still.
Playoffs:
First a lesson: I've always enjoyed playing games on both computers and on consoles - but my experience is pretty much limited to sports games or RTS games. So tonight, when I got invited to a Halo party, I assumed that I could just switch from one to the other. After all, how different can it be?
Turns out it's a lot different.
The point here is that some things don't transfer over too well - and sometimes what cuts it in one place doesn't in another. That said, here's the playoffs (But first, a quick recap):
NFC
East: New York
North: Chicago
South: Carolina
West: Seattle
Wild Cards: Philadelphia, Atlanta
AFC
East: New England
North: Pittsburgh
South: Indianapolis
West: Denver
Wild Cards: Cincinnati, Miami
Championship games: New England over Indy; Carolina over Chicago
Super Bowl XLI: Chicago over New England
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