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alexking.org » Sports | alexking.org http://alexking.org Alex King's blog - software, photography, sports, etc. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:51:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 en Perspective http://alexking.org/blog/2008/02/05/perspective http://alexking.org/blog/2008/02/05/perspective#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:10:07 +0000 Alex http://alexking.org/blog/2008/02/05/perspective SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Perspective", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2008/02/05/perspective" });]]> In chatting with folks about the Super Bowl, it’s very interesting to see how the one loss is coloring the season for the Patriots.

Had they won, their close games down the stretch would have been an example of their greatness: they “found a way to win” when they needed to. Now that they’ve lost to the Giants, those same close games show that the “rest of the league figured them out”.

I wonder which will be known as the more spectacular collapse, this or the 2004 Yankees blowing a 3-0 lead in the ALCS.

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2008/02/05/perspective/feed Go Rockies! http://alexking.org/blog/2007/10/06/go-rockies http://alexking.org/blog/2007/10/06/go-rockies#comments Sun, 07 Oct 2007 05:08:36 +0000 Alex http://alexking.org/blog/2007/10/06/go-rockies SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Go Rockies!", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2007/10/06/go-rockies" });]]> Wow, the Rockies continue their unbelievable run by sweeping the Phillies to face Arizona in the NLCS. Winning 17 of their last 18 games - amazing! Keep it going boys, this is really fun to watch.

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2007/10/06/go-rockies/feed FedEx Cup Standings http://alexking.org/blog/2007/05/20/fedex-cup-standings http://alexking.org/blog/2007/05/20/fedex-cup-standings#comments Mon, 21 May 2007 01:21:55 +0000 Alex http://alexking.org/blog/2007/05/20/fedex-cup-standings SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "FedEx Cup Standings", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2007/05/20/fedex-cup-standings" });]]> The PGA Tour is trying a new experiment this year with the FedEx Cup, a season long standings race culminating in a big playoff and payoff for the winners. A quick glance at the standings show that Tiger has a slim lead at the top over Phil and Vijay, with the rest of the pack falling in line behind them.

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2007/05/20/fedex-cup-standings/feed Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball Improvements http://alexking.org/blog/2007/04/20/yahoo-fantasy-baseball-improvements http://alexking.org/blog/2007/04/20/yahoo-fantasy-baseball-improvements#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:17:37 +0000 Alex http://alexking.org/blog/2007/04/20/yahoo-fantasy-baseball-improvements SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball Improvements", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2007/04/20/yahoo-fantasy-baseball-improvements" });]]> Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball got a nice upgrade this year. The things I’m particularly enjoying so far:

A Roto-League Standings Visualization

Brilliant!

A great way to see where you are in your league, and particularly what areas you need to make a move in.

Improved Offline Draft Submission

My keeper league does an offline draft every year. In the past, it’s been several hours of agony entering the results for each team. This year, that all changed. They have a slick little auto-complete widget (probably using the same Y! UI library I do in PHP Tag Engine) that made it quick and easy to enter in all of the draft results.

Drag and Drop Roster Management

Now when you make a bunch of position changes, you don’t have to worry about leaving two players in your first base slot, etc.

Thanks for the great improvements, Yahoo!

Now about getting some RSS feeds for league activity…

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]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2007/04/20/yahoo-fantasy-baseball-improvements/feed Overheard on PTI http://alexking.org/blog/2007/02/14/overheard-on-pti http://alexking.org/blog/2007/02/14/overheard-on-pti#comments Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:02:19 +0000 Alex http://alexking.org/blog/2007/02/14/overheard-on-pti SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Overheard on PTI", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2007/02/14/overheard-on-pti" });]]> Michael Wilbon:

Albert Pujols scored a perfect 100 on his citizenship test, are you impressed?

Tony Kornheiser:

I am. Brad Lidge served that up to him.

I can’t wait for baseball season.

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]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2007/02/14/overheard-on-pti/feed Tim McCarver… Ugh! http://alexking.org/blog/2006/10/21/tim-mccarver-ugh http://alexking.org/blog/2006/10/21/tim-mccarver-ugh#comments Sun, 22 Oct 2006 06:19:20 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/10/21/tim-mccarver-ugh/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Tim McCarver... Ugh!", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/10/21/tim-mccarver-ugh" });]]> I’ve said it before and I’m sorry to have to say it again now - Tim McCarver ruins baseball games.

Between his idiotic babbling and Fox missing half the game to show random close-ups of people’s faces, it’s really hard to enjoy the postseason so far. And that’s a shame.

The comments are open, throw your own log on the fire.

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]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/10/21/tim-mccarver-ugh/feed Go Tigers! http://alexking.org/blog/2006/10/07/go-tigers http://alexking.org/blog/2006/10/07/go-tigers#comments Sun, 08 Oct 2006 06:20:52 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/10/07/go-tigers/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Go Tigers!", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/10/07/go-tigers" });]]> Wow - seeing the Yankee offense shut down so thoroughly was both surprising and impressive. Tigers - A’s for the AL crown, should be a good battle. If Zito pitches well, the A’s have a good chance.

Yankees 2006 payroll: $198,662,180
A’s + Twins + Tigers 2006 Payroll: $208,434,171

No additional commentary needed.

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/10/07/go-tigers/feed Choo-ing out the Mariners GM http://alexking.org/blog/2006/08/27/choo-for-broussard http://alexking.org/blog/2006/08/27/choo-for-broussard#comments Mon, 28 Aug 2006 02:23:34 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/08/27/choo-for-broussard/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Choo-ing out the Mariners GM", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/08/27/choo-for-broussard" });]]> The Mariners made another “stupid” trade this year - dealing Shin-Soo Choo to the Indians for Ben Broussard.

Choo basically spent the entire year in AAA, and had very good numbers, compiling an .893 OPS. He’s had good numbers (especially his OBP) at every stop along the way in the minors, and is only 24 years old. This is exactly the kind of guy a rebuilding team like the Mariners should be promoting and letting play every day.

Had the Mariners brough Choo up and committed to him, they could have used him in left field and as the DH, letting Raul Ibanez see more at bats at DH and first base (letting Sexson DH while Ibanez plays first). The Mariners had just brought in lefty-killer Eduardo Perez to be the right handed half of a DH platoon, so bringing up the lefty swinging Choo accomplishes that platoon nicely - and upgrades our outfield defense at the same time.

Of course, the Mariners didn’t do this.

Sometimes it seems like they don’t trust players out of their own farm system. Scott Podsednik is another good example.

No, instead of bringing Choo up and giving him the at bats he needed to succeed, they dealt him to Cleveland for Ben Broussard. Now, Broussard isn’t a horrible player, but he’s already 29 this is his 4th full season in the major leagues. Broussard is a “known commodity”. He’s going to give you an OPS around .800, with 15-20 home runs. While he’s not a bad player to have, at first base he’s pretty much the definition of a “replacement level” player.

So the Mariners traded a young player who was inexpensive with upside and some speed for a player already in his prime that earns $2.5M/year and has very little upside or speed. This is the very definition of a “bad deal” in my opinion.

Granted it is a small sample size, but since the deal here are the stats for each player with their new teams:

          G   AB  R   H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB  K   SB  CS  AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS
Choo      23  76  10  23  7   1   2   17   8   21  1   2   .303  .376  .500  .876
Broussard 24  68  7   14  2   0   5   11   1   16  0   0   .206  .222  .456  .678

This kind of write-up isn’t really my bag. Why haven’t the guys at the USS Mariner been all over this? Do they all feel this way?

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/08/27/choo-for-broussard/feed Out of Shape http://alexking.org/blog/2006/06/29/out-of-shape http://alexking.org/blog/2006/06/29/out-of-shape#comments Fri, 30 Jun 2006 06:57:32 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/06/29/out-of-shape/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Out of Shape", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/06/29/out-of-shape" });]]> If I hadn’t already realized it during the season, the three nights of volleyball playoffs this week were definitely enough to tell me I need to get back on my workout routine. Lots of work plus travel make it easy to come up with excuses - I need to make the time like I was doing last fall.

For those of you with a competitive and curious nature, we came in 3rd on Monday, 3rd on Tuesday and 1st tonight.

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/06/29/out-of-shape/feed Seventy Nine http://alexking.org/blog/2006/06/17/seventy-nine http://alexking.org/blog/2006/06/17/seventy-nine#comments Sun, 18 Jun 2006 04:55:38 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/06/17/seventy-nine/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Seventy Nine", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/06/17/seventy-nine" });]]> I reached a personal milestone today.

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/06/17/seventy-nine/feed SportsOasis is Open (again) http://alexking.org/blog/2006/05/15/sportsoasis-open http://alexking.org/blog/2006/05/15/sportsoasis-open#comments Tue, 16 May 2006 05:04:01 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/05/15/sportsoasis-open/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "SportsOasis is Open (again)", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/05/15/sportsoasis-open" });]]> I played sand volleyball tonight for the first time since the SportsOasis closed up back in January. They re-opened about a month after they’d planned, but I’m just glad to be back playing on a regular basis again.

I was huffing and puffing a bit tonight¹, and wasn’t clearing the net the way I should be. I’m in three leagues this season, so hopefully by week 2 or 3 I’ll be back in playing shape.

Partly due to not being completely over the cold I caught in Florence last week. [back]

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/05/15/sportsoasis-open/feed Phil Mickelson, Masters Champion http://alexking.org/blog/2006/04/09/mickelson-majors http://alexking.org/blog/2006/04/09/mickelson-majors#comments Mon, 10 Apr 2006 01:25:10 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/04/09/mickelson-majors/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Phil Mickelson, Masters Champion", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/04/09/mickelson-majors" });]]> Congratulations to Phil Mickelson for winning his second green jacket in convincing style this afternoon. Jim Nantz noted that Phil has won 3 of the past 9 majors, which made me curious to look back at the major winners over the last few years and see how he’s done compared to Tiger and the others at the top of the golf world.

Here are the major winners since 2003:

The Masters

2006 - Phil Mickelson
2005 - Tiger Woods
2004 - Phil Mickelson
2003 - Mike Weir

The U.S. Open

2005 - Michael Campbell
2004 - Retief Goosen
2003 - Jim Furyk

The Open Championship

2005 - Tiger Woods
2004 - Todd Hamilton
2003 - Ben Curtis

PGA Championship

2005 - Phil Mickelson
2004 - Vijay Singh
2003 - Shaun Micheel

Though I think most would agree that Tiger has still been the dominant force in golf during this time, you’d probably pick Phil Mickelson as the top player in golf since 2003 if you were looking solely at this list. Only Phil and Tiger have won multiple majors in that time span, with Phil winning 3 and Tiger winning 2. Pretty heady stuff for someone who “couldn’t win the big one” before the 2004 Masters.

With his win at the PGA last year, Phil is also halfway to completing the Tiger Slam - wouldn’t that be something!

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/04/09/mickelson-majors/feed The Masters in HD http://alexking.org/blog/2006/04/08/masters-in-hd http://alexking.org/blog/2006/04/08/masters-in-hd#comments Sat, 08 Apr 2006 20:17:30 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/04/08/masters-in-hd/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Masters in HD", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/04/08/masters-in-hd" });]]> Golf in HD is good, the Masters in HD is fantastic.

I don’t know that I’ll ever be satisfied watching golf without HD again (at least on the big screen).

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/04/08/masters-in-hd/feed Draft Live http://alexking.org/blog/2006/03/30/draft-live http://alexking.org/blog/2006/03/30/draft-live#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2006 03:44:34 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/03/30/draft-live/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Draft Live", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/03/30/draft-live" });]]> We’re drafting now.

]]> http://alexking.org/blog/2006/03/30/draft-live/feed Draft Tonight http://alexking.org/blog/2006/03/28/draft-tonight http://alexking.org/blog/2006/03/28/draft-tonight#comments Wed, 29 Mar 2006 01:52:41 +0000 Alex http://www.alexking.org/blog/2006/03/28/draft-tonight/ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Draft Tonight", url: "http://alexking.org/blog/2006/03/28/draft-tonight" });]]> My fantasy baseball draft is in about 10 minutes - follow along live if you like.

UPDATE: the draft has been postponed, tune in on Thursday @ 7pm PST to watch the carnage.

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