What SPORTS are you following?

dysjunct wrote: I have found myself watching the Cubs-Nationals game. Thanks to whomever recommend Channel Pear on the Roku many moons ago. Shellhead, I think.

I am not that much into baseball, especially since Vin Scully (the voice of my childhood, second only to Chick Hearn) retired, but damn I love the idea of baseball. One of my game nerd buddies is a huge Cubs fan; I got to watch them win the series last year with him and that was a great friendship bonding experience. He is occupied tonight, so I feel I have to hold it down for him. I am torn, because if they win then they play the Dodgers. My dad died over the summer and he was a hardcore Dodgers fan from the Brooklyn days. So I have fierce and really unexpected attachment to them going all the way this season.

Edit: I should start a twitter feed or something with nothing but out-of-context quotes from sports analysts. They sound so, so dumb. “Be that as it may, Jim, but at the end of the day he needs to throw strikes.”

When I was young I cared about the sports themselves, but now that I'm older I find that they are one of the most consistent connecting points between my dad and I, and that's what I find myself caring about when my own sons show any interest in sports. That was also true of my grandfather, with whom I watched MANY Ohio State and Cleveland Indians games. Watching Cleveland come so close to a WS win last year was a pretty emotional thing for me, because I knew how much he would have enjoyed watching them. He did live long enough to see Ohio State win the CFB playoff in 2014. He died like two months after that game, I'm glad he got to experience that.

This article about Target investing in US youth soccer includes some good points about the lack of development in US soccer among disadvantaged youth:
www.whatahowler.com/targets-move-nascar-...-face-youth-game-us/

And this about MLS salaries compared to other leagues: www.americansocceranalysis.com/home/2015...sualizingmlssalaries

MLS's low salaries (for professional sports) make playing soccer professionally really unappealing. Sure it's very comfortable money if you're coming from a poor, disadvantaged background but compared to the money you could be getting as even a benchwarmer in the NFL or NBA, it's just a no brainer.

Of course the current MLS owners have no desire for pro/rel, but I think it could really be in the league's best interest. There the success stories of soccer booming in Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, Kansas City, but then you have the duds like Colorado, New England, Philadelphia, etc. Owners who are more than content to just have ho-hum to even terrible teams so they can collect TV money rights. I think pro/rel would boost TV ratings more than anything else MLS could do. In the early MLS season I'm not paying attention because the European leagues are coming to a close. Then in the summer I tune in a little more because there isn't any other soccer to watch, but it's also some pretty meaningless games at this point. Then things start to ramp up as the season starts to close, teams are playing for play-off spots and the Premiere League comes back on so I can watch soccer all day on a Saturday (potentially). Anyways, it means meaningful games all season long.

And then there are so many cities that want MLS teams, but how many teams can the league sustain? It would incentivize more investment in the league and the sport if the cost to entry was lower, you build or buy a franchise in the lowest level of the pyramid, but you have the carrot of making it all the way up to MLS.

What’s going on there? Was that called safe?

Happy YED !

Black Barney wrote: What’s going on there? Was that called safe?

Third baseman threw to home in the only spot that would have caused an out. The catcher is both catching this ball and tagging the player at the same time. Ball lands pretty much anywhere else...Yankee is safe. Not sure if the toss landed there by design, but it was exactly what the Astros needed to prevent a rally.

Also looks like a possible broken wrist!

I'm Astros all the way for this Series. I'm always a fan of a new team winning the World Series.

The Cleveland Browns have already won two games this season, and I am beyond happy. Is this what it's like to believe your team can win any game? Because it's weird.

I have not yet made the shift to happy. The only reason Baker Mayfield hasn’t already spontaneously combusted is the “Fortuna’s Wheel” of Cleveland sports: the Indians are going down tomorrow and the Cavs lost LeBron.

The Browns’ defense though! Apart from last week they’ve been amazing. They’re my fantasy football defense and they have treated me pretty well.

A lot of people thought they reached by drafting Denzel Ward, but the kid has been an absolute stud.