A baseball only stadium will never fly in Toronto again, but it would be pretty damn sweet. The uncomfortable ice cold seats can die with Exhibition Stadium though .
The Sleeping Giant...
Awakes. Ovie scores. Leafs down 1-0.
Leafs trailing again. Yawn.
But the Leafs actually...
Fight...
Back. Shocked is the apt word here.
Oh no, shootout?
You...
Damn right.
Leafs win. Go Leafs Go.
2-1 victory for the Buds and yet, a steep mountain still to climb. Despite the win, the Leafs continue to reside in last place overall. Without a few lucky bounces (as an aside, FINALLY), Toronto would have lost their sixth consecutive game in a row.
The question begs, “Why do people bother to cheer on for the sad, painful Maple Leafs?” When Niklas Hagman scored the game-winner in the shootout yesterday, an entire arena roared in jubilation and another countless number joined in across the nation. Simply put, you just let go.
Sure, sports is merely entertainment. There’s rarely any vested interest personally, other than being a supporter. But when that one-sided love somehow comes to fruition, even for a brief moment, our escape into fantasy merges with reality. And nothing else matters, but to share and revel in unadulterated bliss.
(Photos via Daylife)
“I am also moved again by a sense of the timelessness of baseball. More than any sport, it summons the past. In football, photos from another era look dated, the helmets too dinky, the players too small; in basketball, the players look too white. But in baseball it is as if there is a linear path. It is where, in our society, yesterday and today collide; the boy is thinking of the power of the young Kevin Maas, the father, looking at Maas, is seeing the same compact stroke and thinking of Roger Maris. The son sees the awesome power of Doc Gooden and thinks there has never been a power pitcher like him; the father sees Gooden and thinks of Bob Gibson, and the grandfather sees the same players and thinks of Bob Feller.”
Alex who?
The Rally buckets works boys, go with it!
Ron Wilson stated it was Matt Stajan’s idea to put on the rally helmets. Result? Leafs finally win in shootout. Captain, amirite?!
(No, not really. But way to contribute!)
As a Maple Leafs fan, I’m not sure what I did to deserve this. But I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry.
(via eyebleaf)
My soul hurts, Toronto Maple Leafs. You’re crushing our souls.
Good summary of his thinking, which basically went, Lincecum was the best pitcher and everyone else pitched three full games more than Carpenter. I hadn’t considered this, but considering defense makes Timmy and Javy look a lot better: Vazquez had a 37-year-old playing third base behind him, and Lincecum’s third baseman weighed 270 pounds.
Carpenter’s innings total was the main reason he ended up off my ballot. He pitched extremely well when on the mound, but not well enough to close the value gap between him and the three pitchers I listed, each of whom threw at least 27 innings more than Carpenter. Both Carpenter and Wainwright received significant help from their defense, while neither Lincecum nor Vazquez could say the same.
As for Vazquez, he ranked ahead of Wainwright in the advanced metrics anyway, but I also gave him extra credit for pitching in the most difficult division in the NL, one in which he had to face two great offenses and only one patsy.
As for the win total of each pitcher: I ignored that, because, as I’ve said for years, it tells us nothing useful about how well the pitcher performed.
Once again, Law brings out sound reasoning in his assessment. Like I said, I don’t necessarily agree with him on Javier Vazquez placing second, but I cant argue the type of bounce-back season he had that went fairly under the radar.
(via lovegifs)
Hah, this robot thinks it can “play” hockey! LOLZ!!1 Stupid robot!!!11
…
So, umm, can the Leafs sign the robot and have him play power forward? Battle of the Basement, Part 2 is tonight. The Blue and White needs all the help they can get, even against the lowly Carolina Hurricanes.
1st 2nd 3rd Points
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants 11 12 9 100
Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals 9 14 7 94
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals 12 5 15 90
Javier Vazquez, Atlanta Braves 1 3
Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks 1 1
Baseball award voters: giving one unqualified pitcher a completely biased first place vote each and every year. You cherish that vote, Javier Vasquez.
For some reason, Sports Illustrated decided that Wendel Clark’s equivalent player in today’s NHL is Alex Burrows. First things first, who was #17?
Rugged winger Clark was beloved by Maple Leafs fans for his skill and abrasive, intimidating play. He fearlessly took on enforcers and goons, and when injuries took their toll, became more of a scorer (he netted 46 goals in 1993-94), but still had a now-classic bout with Marty McSorley in the 1993 playoffs.
Impressive! Obviously, Wendel Clark is swoon worthy. So to justify such a lofty comparison, Alex Burrows must play a similar game to Clark, right?
A gritty pest, Burrows is one of Vancouver’s most hard-nosed and hard-working forwards…
Three words in and already SI has no idea who Burrows is being compared to here. Alex Burrows sounds awfully like Darcy Tucker, NOT one of the most fearsome, scariest, baddest men in hockey. Even in a static photo, Clark and his killer moustache is staring down and holding contempt for the unworthy Burrows.
I thought this would be a feel-good story. Of course, that was before I shook hands with a dead man. Before two heartsick peasants begged me to find their missing daughters. And before I learned the Khmer words for “help me” and “motherf—-er.”
Yes, I definitely thought this would be an elevating assortment of words, a triumph of the human spirit with lots of pretty prose and a bright, happy ending. Sports. Uplift. An emotional shot in the arm. Tonic for a world forever going wrong. But that was before this. Before I ventured halfway around the planet to drink from a half-empty glass of half-curdled joy, before I discovered that a tale too inspiring to be true — Cambodian refugee escapes the Killing Fields, comes to America, takes hope and baseball back to his homeland (and yeah, someone already is filming a documentary) — is probably too deranged to make up.
I guess I should start with the headless chicken.
-Patrick Hruby
a fascinating story: ESPN - OTL: Field of Schemes?
Outside the Lines is one of the few, if only must see features on Big Bad ESPN. It’s unfortunate these sorts of articles are buried and left to be archived without much fanfare or attention.
