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"the best run league in sports"

metsmarathon Dec 28 2012 09:51 AM

every now and again, when i foolishly tune my radio to sports-yelling, i hear someone describe football as "the best run league in sports". and i just can't help but wonder what kind of outcry there would be if baseball were run the same way as football. even setting aside the strict salary cap, imagine for a second a baseball world where rule changes happen every off-season. where the commissioner can kick any team and any player square in teh figurative groin over nearly any infraction, real or imagined. where every call is purely subjective, and more and more replay comes into play. where the site of the championship rotates between only a mere handful of locations. where the all-star game is damned near relegated to obscurity, and isn't even played in a league stadium. where the preseason is shortened and diminished to near meaninglessness because of hte poor ratings draw. where the owners weild all the power and the players are barely piles of meat waiting to be chewed up and spit out by the league, with the rare exception of a few good throwers. where ped use is almost never discovered, and is shrugged off on the rare occasions when it is. where rules are added to shape the manner of play. where major elements of the game are apt to be discarded or highly modified. football is the best run league in sports only because baseball is held to a much higher standard.

metsguyinmichigan Dec 28 2012 09:57 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

...and where the league doesn't even have a team in the nation's second largest city -- in part because owners are allowed to up and move in the middle of the night!

bmfc1 Dec 28 2012 09:58 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

You're right: most popular doesn't equate to "best run."

Ceetar Dec 28 2012 10:10 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

i guess it depends on criteria, but I suspect that most of this is the circle-jerk that some of these discussions have become. the NFL draws ratings so talking about the NFL draws ratings, so talking about talking about.. and of course maybe of these people get it backwards, things are 'popular' because they're talking about them, they're not talking about them because they're popular. There are admins and bosses telling them to talk about the NFL (and Tebow) and the shear volume of it, and advertising, feeds off each other to raise the sports popularity, especially in the specific metrics they want to use. And that's all the NFL cares about. popularity and attention and the money that comes with it. Does that make it 'best run'? maybe from a business standpoint? But if you want to talk about things like integrity of the game, broadcast, length of game, amount of delays, fan relations, ..hell, player relations. The players are pawns in this buzz generating machine they've created. they WANT these players to act out and lash out. levying fines and beating them back down is good for the buzz as well. inconsistent penalty calling and 'holding on every play' only creates things to rant about during the week inbetween games.

Edgy MD Dec 28 2012 10:20 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

This Junioir Seau story uses the bone-chilling teaser, "Within 24 months of retiring, three out of four NFL players will be one or more of the following: alcohol or drug addicted; divorced; or financially distressed/bankrupt. Junior Seau was all three." Keep up the good work, guys. NFL, NFL I'm just not buying what you sell.

A Boy Named Seo Dec 28 2012 10:44 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

metsguyinmichigan wrote: ...and where the league doesn't even have a team in the nation's second largest city -- in part because owners are allowed to up and move in the middle of the night! Speaking for LA, we don't much give a shit.

Ceetar Dec 28 2012 11:46 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

This Junioir Seau story uses the bone-chilling teaser, "Within 24 months of retiring, three out of four NFL players will be one or more of the following: alcohol or drug addicted; divorced; or financially distressed/bankrupt. Junior Seau was all three." Keep up the good work, guys. NFL, NFL I'm just not buying what you sell. speaking of under-reported so much in fact I'm blanking on his name.. the baseball player that just killed himself.. Didn't he have concussions and similarities to these NFL guys?

Gwreck Dec 28 2012 12:03 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

metsguyinmichigan wrote: ...and where the league doesn't even have a team in the nation's second largest city -- in part because owners are allowed to up and move in the middle of the night! The NFL has made good use of LA as leverage to get new stadiums built (ie. "if you don't, we'll move the team to LA").

Frayed Knot Dec 28 2012 01:44 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

every now and again, when i foolishly tune my radio to sports-yelling, i hear someone describe football as "the best run league in sports". Some version of this statement is uttered by just about every sports media guy working today. I'm sure they truly believe it and are certainly free to argue it, but I think they're mostly just repeating now it as if by rote to the point where there's no need to even question the statement anymore than you would question whether water is wet. - One of their biggest reasons is their belief that the NFL creates much more parity than baseball. It's not remotely true but the fact that they believe it is makes it so in their minds. - They also, almost without exception, LOVE the byproducts of the weak NFLPA: things like the limited free-agency (particularly for the major stars); the regimented draft; the restrictive rookie cap; authoritative coaches and commissioners, are considered the hallmarks of a well-run league. - They love the gambling aspect tied to football (doubly so now with the growth of fantasy) which drives fans to seek out advice and knowledge each week from ... well, from guys like them! - And mainly you just have to remember the fact that the highly profitable marriage of TV and football means that most of them were hired to be on TV because they eat, sleep and breathe football. They don't examine the strengths and weaknesses of baseball because most neither pay attention to over even like like baseball. And most of the people they come in contract with (ie. each other) feel the same way because they're there for the same reason which just in turn reinforces their original thinking. football is the best run league in sports only because baseball is held to a much higher standard. The only media guy I've heard with the guts to say this is Joel Sherman at the NYPost. At the time he was talking specifically about the football media punting on the (then) most recent NFL/steroids story as it, once again, got swept under the rug in favor of the latest QB/coach soap opera. But he also expanded his point to other issues as well and basically called out his football counterparts for too often simply accepting and repeating what the league wants them to do.

TransMonk Dec 28 2012 01:55 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I love NFL football almost as much, but in a completely separate way as I do the MLB. I consider the leagues apples and oranges with both of them having positives, but also a whole mess of things that could (should) be fixed. As far as the NFL being "best run", if they mean like the way that organized crime is run, then yeah, I guess so. As much as I love both football and baseball, it has been over a decade since I've voluntarily listened to sports radio. OE: Save the two weeks in April of 2011 when I discovered the WFAN app while running. Two weeks was all I needed before I couldn't listen anymore.

Edgy MD Dec 28 2012 02:06 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I've thought about the parity thing a lot of late. What seems to be rubbing up against the NFL's attempts to enforce parity that MLB supposed lacks is the reality that, despite financial advantages of some franchises it's harder to repeat in baseball because: [list][*]In baseball, top teams win 60% of the time, as opposed to 70 and 80 in the NBA and NFL, respectively, more or less. Top teams playing closer to the mean, gives them less margin for error.[/*:m] [*]In beisbol, until recently anyway, there had been a relative paucity of playoff slots. An injury or slump that hurts a good team's season in a league with multiple playoff slots, could possibly merely knock them to a lower playoff seed, where they could redeem their bad fortune in the post-season. A league with fewer spots has less such opportunities.[/*:m] [*]Baseball features pitching. It's 35% of the game or somesuch. Excellent pitching is ephemeral. If LeBrano James scores 30 points for you at 28, you won't go broke betting on him to do it again at 29. If Chris Carpenter wins 20 for you at 28, you'd be a fool to bet on him to do it again at 29. It's probably not a good bet that he'd ever do it again.[/*:m][/list:u] Oh, and fuck parity. Enforced dismantling of teams for being good is weak.

Ashie62 Dec 28 2012 03:17 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

A Boy Named Seo wrote: metsguyinmichigan wrote: ...and where the league doesn't even have a team in the nation's second largest city -- in part because owners are allowed to up and move in the middle of the night! Speaking for LA, we don't much give a shit. BOC

Edgy MD Dec 28 2012 04:28 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

This Junioir Seau story uses the bone-chilling teaser, "Within 24 months of retiring, three out of four NFL players will be one or more of the following: alcohol or drug addicted; divorced; or financially distressed/bankrupt. Junior Seau was all three." Keep up the good work, guys. NFL, NFL I'm just not buying what you sell. speaking of under-reported so much in fact I'm blanking on his name.. the baseball player that just killed himself.. Didn't he have concussions and similarities to these NFL guys? Ryan Freel, but I feel confident that he's not indicative of three quarters of the league.

The Second Spitter Dec 28 2012 06:11 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Lets see in the last 3 years the NFL has had: 1. A lockout (w/ litigation) 2. Bountygate 3. Replacement referee shenanigans 4. The whittling away of its ASG into a farce. Yeah, definitely the best league. Ceetar wrote: speaking of under-reported so much in fact I'm blanking on his name.. the baseball player that just killed himself.. Didn't he have concussions and similarities to these NFL guys? Not sure if serious.

metsguyinmichigan Dec 28 2012 06:48 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Ryan Freel is the guy you are thinking of. I think he had multiple concussions.

The Second Spitter Dec 28 2012 06:52 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Ryan Freel is the guy you are thinking of. I think he had multiple concussions. Yeah, and there's the possibility he was nuts before those concussions.

Ashie62 Dec 28 2012 06:53 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

How well run is professional soccer? I get confused with the multiple leagues...

Frayed Knot Dec 28 2012 07:29 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I've quoted these "parity" stats before, but they can use some updating and repetition since "conventional wisdom" continues to deny their existence. Last 10 years: MLB -- 7 different champions, 36.7% (11 of 30) of franchises have appeared in a WS NFL -- 6 different champions, 37.5% (12 of 32) of franchises have appeared in a SB Last 20 years: MLB -- 12 different champions, 63.3% (19 of 30) of franchises have appeared in a WS NFL -- 11 different champions, 68.8% (22 of 32) of franchises have appeared in a SB [u:339mldfd]TWO[/u:339mldfd] MLB franchises have failed to at least reach a league final over the last 20 years (Mont/Wash & KCR) [u:339mldfd]FIVE[/u:339mldfd] NFL franchises have failed to at least reach a conference final over the last 20 years (Wash, Det, Cinc, Hou, Cleve - those last two being expansion teams that weren't there for the entire period) Not that any of those numbers will stop the talking heads from repeating, with full CAHNfindence of course, that one of the things that makes the NFL the best league is that the parity brings so many more teams into play each year. Consider also that that the above similarities occur DESPITE the one sport having: a hard salary cap; a playoff system which allows (until this past year of MLB) 50% more teams into their post-season*; a shorter and therefore much more variable regular season plus a one-and-out playoff system. * 3 of the last 7 SB champs would not even have made the playoffs using MLB's system

Ceetar Dec 28 2012 09:47 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

This Junioir Seau story uses the bone-chilling teaser, "Within 24 months of retiring, three out of four NFL players will be one or more of the following: alcohol or drug addicted; divorced; or financially distressed/bankrupt. Junior Seau was all three." Keep up the good work, guys. NFL, NFL I'm just not buying what you sell. speaking of under-reported so much in fact I'm blanking on his name.. the baseball player that just killed himself.. Didn't he have concussions and similarities to these NFL guys? Ryan Freel, but I feel confident that he's not indicative of three quarters of the league. oh sure, I was just pondering if/how much head injuries lead to some of that stuff. That's a tag line, but the story of Seau seems to be that he was banged up, probably had concussions that weren't treated if even noted, and now he's dead. the head in the sand bit with it all might go beyond football being poorly run. I know it's the offseason and christmas, but Freel seems to be a very similar story.

Frayed Knot Dec 28 2012 10:04 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

The difference being that while concussions happen in baseball they're pretty much endemic to the sport of football, and that although Goodell and the NFL are currently being credited for virtually discovering the connection between concussions and later cognitive problems, it was only about 24 months ago that they were sounding for all the world like 1980s-era cigarette executives by denying that there was even the slightest hint of a connection between concussions and their sport.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Dec 28 2012 11:31 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Goodell and his folk are only putting the spotlight on concussions and the damage they wreak to avoid talking about that fact that sub-concussive trauma is the real-- and unavoidable-- boogeyman.

Edgy MD Dec 29 2012 07:00 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Yeah, Ryan Freel is a tragedy baseball has to answer in part for. But if he was a football player, there'd be nothing remarkable in his case at all. I try and discuss this with football fans, and I too often get something that more or less amounts to fuck that forgotten mope, he got paid.

Frayed Knot Dec 29 2012 12:53 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

The Second Spitter wrote: Lets see in the last 3 years the NFL has had: 1. A lockout (w/ litigation) 2. Bountygate 3. Replacement referee shenanigans 4. The whittling away of its ASG into a farce. Plus there's that that minor problem of having a few hundred (or is it thousand?) of its former players in a class action law suit against the league.

Frayed Knot Dec 31 2012 10:06 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

So one of the things the MWWF (mediots who worship football) cite in their love for the sport is its "perfect" season and playoff set-up. Well this year that perfect set-up saw three of the eight divisions and eight of the twelve playoff sports clinched with 1/4 of the season left. And this season saw five teams finish with 10-6 records but, for reasons having to do solely with convenience, only four qualified for post-season. At least there weren't this year, although there often are, any playoff teams with .500 or even sub-.500 records.

Ashie62 Jan 02 2013 10:33 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Is the 4th major sport Hockey or Soccer?

Frayed Knot Jan 05 2013 11:25 AM Re: "the best run league in sports" Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 05 2013 02:18 PM

So the "best run league" has decided that the best option for playoff time-slots today is that the game in Texas should be played in the afternoon (3:30 CST) and the one in Wisconsin should be played at night (7:00 CST). Probably the difference between being in the upper 20s/low 30s w/daylight vs upper-teens/low-20s & dark for the fans in the stands in Green Bay. The one in Houston is of course indoors so the temp there is no different no matter when you kick it off. The major strength of the NFL is its TV deal but the drawback is that you become beholden to that monster.

bmfc1 Jan 05 2013 11:37 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Frayed Knot wrote: The major strength of the NFL is its TV deal but the drawback is that you become beholden to that monster. Absolutely. The networks had a problem in that the 1 PM games were going past 4 PM which meant that some of the markets that got the 4 PM games had to miss the end of the 1 PM games. The solution was to start many of the 4 PM games at 4:25. It wasn't to think of ways to shorten these bloated games which would have made the fans happy (e.g. fewer commercial breaks, less time for half-time) but to elongate the broadcast day.

Ceetar Jan 05 2013 11:48 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

it's not a drawback to the league, they're more than happy to manipulate the game times. They don't care about the fans (in the stands ) I don't understand why it's okay to have stupid wild card games on Saturday and not the Super Bowl.

bmfc1 Jan 05 2013 12:06 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Ceetar wrote: I don't understand why it's okay to have stupid wild card games on Saturday and not the Super Bowl. The SB on Saturday night makes sense. The networks say that viewership is lower on Fridays and Saturdays than on Sundays but that wouldn't be the case for a Super Bowl.

Ceetar Jan 05 2013 12:11 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

bmfc1 wrote: Ceetar wrote: I don't understand why it's okay to have stupid wild card games on Saturday and not the Super Bowl. The SB on Saturday night makes sense. The networks say that viewership is lower on Fridays and Saturdays than on Sundays but that wouldn't be the case for a Super Bowl. they do Monday Night football all year long, and two games to start the season, why not do that for the first week of playoffs? Seems to fit better to me.

Swan Swan H Jan 05 2013 12:36 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Ceetar wrote: Ceetar wrote: I don't understand why it's okay to have stupid wild card games on Saturday and not the Super Bowl. The SB on Saturday night makes sense. The networks say that viewership is lower on Fridays and Saturdays than on Sundays but that wouldn't be the case for a Super Bowl. they do Monday Night football all year long, and two games to start the season, why not do that for the first week of playoffs? Seems to fit better to me. They don't play a Monday night game the last week of the season. The NFL wouldn't have a team play on Monday and then have them play a playoff game the following Saturday, so that would lock the winner of the Monday game into Sunday. Let's say the Green Bay-Minnesota game is played on Monday. If Minnesota wins they play Atlanta, and the WAS-SEA winner plays SF. If GB wins, they play SF, and the WAS-SEA winner plays ATL. They could not schedule the next games until after the Monday night game. I understand it's just one day more, but there are a lot of implications (not the least of which is one less day to get point spreads set and gambling underway).

Frayed Knot Jan 05 2013 02:14 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

it's not a drawback to the league, they're more than happy to manipulate the game times. They don't care about the fans (in the stands ) You're right in that they don't care about the paying fans in the stands (even though the talking heads will constantly site the GB fans specifically for their heartiness, loyalty, and publicly owned team) but how again does that non-caring attitude NOT clash with the whole "Best run league" label? I don't understand why it's okay to have stupid wild card games on Saturday and not the Super Bowl. The SB on Saturday night makes sense. The networks say that viewership is lower on Fridays and Saturdays than on Sundays but that wouldn't be the case for a Super Bowl. To a certain extent the viewership would be lower: more people make plans for Saturdays; more people work on that day compared to on Sunday; weekend trips wouldn't be over, etc.; which again comes back to the slave to TV part. When your legacy is built on having great TV ratings, slightly below great isn't considered good enough.

Frayed Knot Jan 05 2013 02:25 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

The major strength of the NFL is its TV deal but the drawback is that you become beholden to that monster. Absolutely. The networks had a problem in that the 1 PM games were going past 4 PM which meant that some of the markets that got the 4 PM games had to miss the end of the 1 PM games. The solution was to start many of the 4 PM games at 4:25. It wasn't to think of ways to shorten these bloated games which would have made the fans happy (e.g. fewer commercial breaks, less time for half-time) but to elongate the broadcast day. Not just elongated games, but the playoffs games used to be slotted in the 1PM & 4PM EST timeslots. The whole window has shifted 3+ hours later for TV in addition to blocking out 3-1/2 hrs per game rather than the previous 3-even. On top of that they will hold up the kickoff of the later game if the earlier one hasn't finished yet; potentially more good news for the actual paying customers in GB.

Frayed Knot Jan 06 2013 05:43 PM Re: "the best run league in sports" Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 06 2013 06:09 PM

Just a thought about kickball in wake of the success and turn-around seasons of top draft picks Robert Griffin & Andrew Luck -- Yeah, even though both of them lost their very first playoff chance this weekend, they were still in large part responsible for turning teams that won [u:10n4gusj]a combined 6 games[/u:10n4gusj] last season to 20 this year. My question is that since the MWWF (mediots who worship football) were so unanimously in favor of a rookie salary cap based on the idea that not all of them reach their (supposed) potential, we should be hearing from them any minute now about how these two are underpaid and should be given new deals now that they clearly met and surpassed expectations. Guess I shouldn't hold my breath on that one, huh? btw, I love the fact that Seattle QB Russell Wilson (another rookie earning far beyond whatever his rigged contract calls for) is succeeding despite being 5' 11". The poobahs who run & comment on that sport have been adamant about the "fact" that the position can't be played properly by anyone under at least 6' 3". What closed-minded thinking that is!

MFS62 Jan 06 2013 05:52 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I liked the U-turn the announcers made about the Redskin- Seahawks game. Leading up to the game, all we heard about was how hot Washington was (winning their last 7 or something like that). I caught the end of the game, and one of the talking heads told us "The Seahawks have been hot lately". Feh. Later

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 06 2013 07:35 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

MFS62 wrote: I liked the U-turn the announcers made about the Redskin- Seahawks game. Leading up to the game, all we heard about was how hot Washington was (winning their last 7 or something like that). I caught the end of the game, and one of the talking heads told us "The Seahawks have been hot lately". Feh. Later The Seahawks DID win 7 of their last 8 (including shellackings of playoff-bound Minnesota and San Francisco), and the Redskins talk might have just been the people you happened to hear-- the 'Hawks were Vegas 3-point road favorites coming into the game.

Swan Swan H Jan 06 2013 07:43 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I'm glad MLB doesn't do any of these things, like scheduling virtually every Yankee playoff game during prime time, or colluding on free agent salaries, or starting WS games at 8:40 PM Eastern and extending commercial breaks so they finish at midnight if you're lucky, or rigging salary structures such that even if D'Arnaud were fully ready to start the season at Citi Field he's going to start in Las Vegas to delay his free-agent clock (or arbitration clock, or whatever) a year, or playing games in unbearable weather in order to get them over with and get the next round started. I'd hate to think that baseball would do anything like that. I liked the U-turn the announcers made about the Redskin- Seahawks game. Leading up to the game, all we heard about was how hot Washington was (winning their last 7 or something like that). I caught the end of the game, and one of the talking heads told us "The Seahawks have been hot lately". ESPN - 11 of 14 predictors had Seattle. Both Grantland writers had Seattle. I don't listen to sports talk radio, but everything I read this week noted that Seattle was on fire and as good a pick as any to get to the Super Bowl from the NFC. Washington was hot - they had won seven in a row - would you have preferred that no one mention that?

Edgy MD Jan 06 2013 08:08 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Frayed Knot wrote: Just a thought about kickball in wake of the success and turn-around seasons of top draft picks Robert Griffin & Andrew Luck -- Yeah, even though both of them lost their very first playoff chance this weekend, they were still in large part responsible for turning teams that won a combined 6 games last season to 20 this year. My question is that since the MWWF (mediots who worship football) were so unanimously in favor of a rookie salary cap based on the idea that not all of them reach their (supposed) potential, we should be hearing from them any minute now about how these two are underpaid and should be given new deals now that they clearly met and surpassed expectations. And now Griffin's career is at risk.

Swan Swan H Jan 06 2013 11:11 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Oh, and MLB is about to enter year 43 of the DH. Sometimes. It depends on where you are playing. For several recent years teams have not all played the same number of interleague games (some 15, some 18), so teams competing for the same playoff spot have played unequal numbers of games under real baseball and AL baseball rules. The abomination of the DH, and it's application under the horror of interleague play are equivalent to any five fiascoes in any other league.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jan 07 2013 05:42 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: MFS62 wrote: I liked the U-turn the announcers made about the Redskin- Seahawks game. Leading up to the game, all we heard about was how hot Washington was (winning their last 7 or something like that). I caught the end of the game, and one of the talking heads told us "The Seahawks have been hot lately". Feh. Later The Seahawks DID win 7 of their last 8 (including shellackings of playoff-bound Minnesota and San Francisco), and the Redskins talk might have just been the people you happened to hear-- the 'Hawks were Vegas 3-point road favorites coming into the game. I'd still like to know what the heck the Seahawks are doing in the NFC. They're the Brewers of the football for me.

Ceetar Jan 07 2013 05:50 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: MFS62 wrote: I liked the U-turn the announcers made about the Redskin- Seahawks game. Leading up to the game, all we heard about was how hot Washington was (winning their last 7 or something like that). I caught the end of the game, and one of the talking heads told us "The Seahawks have been hot lately". Feh. Later The Seahawks DID win 7 of their last 8 (including shellackings of playoff-bound Minnesota and San Francisco), and the Redskins talk might have just been the people you happened to hear-- the 'Hawks were Vegas 3-point road favorites coming into the game. I'd still like to know what the heck the Seahawks are doing in the NFC. They're the Brewers of the football for me. We're months away from the Brewers being an NL team for longer in my life than an AL team. I think you mean the Astros of football. (that one probably hasn't even registered in your/our brains yet)

TransMonk Jan 07 2013 05:54 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Edgy MD wrote: And now Griffin's career is at risk. I'm a Skins fan and would have preferred to see Kirk Cousins in the second half. It's a tough call and I can only hope there is no ligament damage. I know the situations are not exactly the same, but the Washington fan base sure has had the "he's the future of the franchise/we're in the playoffs/shut him down/don't shut him down" roller coaster with Strasburg/Griffin over the past 6 months.

Edgy MD Jan 07 2013 06:19 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I'm more concerned with his rights, and with the rookie salary cap and the difficulty in securing a guarantee in a contract, there's a real possibility that Griffin just got incredibly screwed.

Frayed Knot Jan 07 2013 06:26 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I'm glad MLB doesn't do any of these things, like scheduling virtually every Yankee playoff game during prime time, or colluding on free agent salaries, or starting WS games at 8:40 PM Eastern and extending commercial breaks so they finish at midnight if you're lucky, or rigging salary structures such that even if D'Arnaud were fully ready to start the season at Citi Field he's going to start in Las Vegas to delay his free-agent clock (or arbitration clock, or whatever) a year, or playing games in unbearable weather in order to get them over with and get the next round started. I'd hate to think that baseball would do anything like that. Yes, baseball does all of that - or, as in cases like collusion, has done some of it in the past. The difference here is, and the reason the thread was started, is that while baseball regularly gets cited for these things by the sports media, the NFL gets a total pass on all of it and more from a press corps which often seems more interested in acting like a pr firm. In addition to the things cited here, the NFL never had a steroid problem, they never had a period when black players were banned, never used replacement players or counted the games with those scabs the same as the same-season games with regular players, etc.

Edgy MD Jan 07 2013 07:41 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Looks like Griff was able to get a big chunk of his salary locked into his signing bonus.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 07 2013 07:46 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Edgy MD wrote: Looks like Griff was able to get a big chunk of his salary locked into his signing bonus. That's basically the only way most NFL signees get any money locked in, what with the nonguaranteed contracts. /Thumbs up to the late Gene Upshaw

bmfc1 Jan 07 2013 07:47 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

How about the field conditions yesterday at Snyder Stadium? For all it's faults, MLB wouldn't permit field conditions like that for a playoff game. The Seahawks lost a player for the remainder of the playoffs because of the condition of the field.

Frayed Knot Jan 07 2013 07:53 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Edgy MD wrote: Looks like Griff was able to get a big chunk of his salary locked into his signing bonus. Sure, but the overall size of the contract he was able to get was artificially capped so, even if the guaranteed pct is fairly large, the total package is about half of what a player of his draft status would have received just a few years earlier. But even more important is that he's locked into that deal for, what?, three years?, four? five? and then a year or two beyond that because his team will simply "franchise" him to keep him from negotiating a true open market deal until sometime around the end of the decade ... assuming he lasts that long.

Ceetar Jan 07 2013 07:59 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

bmfc1 wrote: How about the field conditions yesterday at Snyder Stadium? For all it's faults, MLB wouldn't permit field conditions like that for a playoff game. The Seahawks lost a player for the remainder of the playoffs because of the condition of the field. no no, baseball players are wusses and cancel games at the first raindrops. Football players are MEN that laugh at things like weather and messy fields.

Edgy MD Jan 07 2013 11:19 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Frayed Knot wrote: Edgy MD wrote: Looks like Griff was able to get a big chunk of his salary locked into his signing bonus. Sure, but the overall size of the contract he was able to get was artificially capped so, even if the guaranteed pct is fairly large, the total package is about half of what a player of his draft status would have received just a few years earlier. But even more important is that he's locked into that deal for, what?, three years?, four? five? and then a year or two beyond that because his team will simply "franchise" him to keep him from negotiating a true open market deal until sometime around the end of the decade ... assuming he lasts that long. Yeah, pretty screwed.

Swan Swan H Jan 07 2013 11:32 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Four years, $21.12M, fully guaranteed.

Ceetar Jan 07 2013 11:34 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Swan Swan H wrote: Four years, $21.12M, fully guaranteed. for doing absolutely nothing. I weep for him, truly.

Edgy MD Jan 07 2013 11:40 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Your sarcasm suggests you miss the point.

Frayed Knot Jan 12 2013 06:24 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

So how long is the league prepared to hold up the start of the 2nd game while the first one heads into its 4th hour? At least it's only San Francisco where it's not going to be ice cold for the fans, but that's merely a fortunate happenstance. It could just as easily be a cold weather site and they're already 20+ minutes past the scheduled kick-off time.

Swan Swan H Jan 12 2013 06:30 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Both games are on now.

Frayed Knot Jan 12 2013 06:53 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Yup, I think they kicked it off about a minute after I posted. I think they actually have a specific time (20 minutes?) that they will delay a game in order to try and avoid the dreaded TV overlap, but if the early game is still dragging on past that point then they'll go ahead regardless. First game was long as hell even before they reached OT (and then a 2nd OT) and was sloppy all over the place to boot, but when it wasn't being delayed for penalties, replays, time-outs, and ref conferences, it had its moments.

Ashie62 Jan 12 2013 08:43 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Two excellent games...

Frayed Knot Jan 12 2013 09:51 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Like I said earlier, the first one was more than a bit too sloppy to be tabbed as "excellent" even if the back and forth nature of it made it interesting at times (particularly early on). By the time I turned on the second game it was just as SF was pulling away early in the 4th Q so I suspect I missed most of the good parts.

Mets – Willets Point Jan 12 2013 10:12 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

This is turning into a football thread in the baseball forum.

MFS62 Jan 13 2013 10:23 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Maybe Denver will want Tebow back. Later

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jan 14 2013 12:06 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Frayed Knot wrote: Like I said earlier, the first one was more than a bit too sloppy to be tabbed as "excellent" even if the back and forth nature of it made it interesting at times (particularly early on). Yeah, the high-scoring, lead changes, numerous comebacks and momentum switches caught my attention a little. Briefly. Sort of. I love our game, too, but if you deny that Baltimore-Denver wasn't wildly entertaining and a fantastic matchup... well, if perfect execution is your thing*, you could always watch bowling. *Please do keep in mind that they were playing in sub-freezing (at times, sub-zero) temperatures and running slightly more complicated schemes/making marginally more intricate reads/on-the-fly adjustments than in, say, the Ice Bowl days.

Ceetar Jan 14 2013 12:16 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I haven't even turned on any of the playoffs. I feel downright unamerican. I'm probably not going to drink the Bud Black Crown they're going to advertise at the Super bowl either.

Frayed Knot Jan 14 2013 05:09 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Like I said earlier, the first one was more than a bit too sloppy to be tabbed as "excellent" even if the back and forth nature of it made it interesting at times (particularly early on). Yeah, the high-scoring, lead changes, numerous comebacks and momentum switches caught my attention a little. Briefly. Sort of. I love our game, too, but if you deny that Baltimore-Denver wasn't wildly entertaining and a fantastic matchup... well, if perfect execution is your thing*, you could always watch bowling. Sure it was fun to watch*, I was just trying to make a distinction between a game being exciting automatically making it one that was well-played. Besides, my purpose here (or of this thread) isn't to knock the sport of football itself. Sure, the game and the NFL's presentation of it drives me nuts at times, but I am trying to keep this to just a comparison between the media treatment of it as compared to baseball. As an example, only one of this year's final four teams (Atlanta) wasn't also in last year's N/AFC championship games. Nothing wrong with that but if this were to happen in baseball it would be dismissed by most mediots as not just a coincidence or a sign of strong teams bouncing back but of a fundamental flaw in the sport and a reason for for not paying attention. Here not only are we not going to hear that but it'll be viewed as a good thing (REMATCHES!!!!) while the salary cap they all love and claim is a guard against exactly that sort of thing will go ignored. * And, again, it was exciting when it wasn't being delayed for one reason or another. That match was up over 3-1/2 hours before they even got into OT and, when that happens in a timed game, every added minute is, by definition, a minute when something is NOT happening.

Mets – Willets Point Jan 25 2013 03:30 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Best run league in the world.

Ashie62 Jan 25 2013 04:49 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Ceetar wrote: I haven't even turned on any of the playoffs. I feel downright unamerican. I'm probably not going to drink the Bud Black Crown they're going to advertise at the Super bowl either. Just decrease the amount of blood in your alcohol stream...

metsguyinmichigan Feb 03 2013 06:56 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

A power outage in its premier event! Yikes!

SteveJRogers Feb 03 2013 08:12 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

metsguyinmichigan wrote: A power outage in its premier event! Yikes! To be fair, rain and snow have delayed World Series games, some years for a couple of days. Hell Game 6 got followed by a rain out!

Edgy MD Feb 03 2013 08:45 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Securing enough power to present your show at an indoor stadium and guaranteeing clement weather at an outdoor one seem like two different expectations.

metsguyinmichigan Feb 03 2013 09:29 PM Re: "the best run league in sports"

That's what I was thinking. Baseball can't control the weather. Maintaining power is a whole other ballgame.

Frayed Knot Feb 04 2013 05:53 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

I liked all the close-up shots during the blackout of a befuddled Roger Goodell looking helpless to deal with the situation. Oh wait, this wasn't baseball & Selig, it's the NFL so that turned out to be the one time when the cameras were seemingly unable to find the commish.

Ceetar Feb 04 2013 06:14 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Frayed Knot wrote: I liked all the close-up shots during the blackout of a befuddled Roger Goodell looking helpless to deal with the situation. Oh wait, this wasn't baseball & Selig, it's the NFL so that turned out to be the one time when the cameras were seemingly unable to find the commish. The cameras were unable to find much of anything. You got the same angle of the lights, little of the crowd and only the players in direct view. I guess they didn't have much access to the other cameras? or were just completely befuddled on what to do.

metirish Feb 04 2013 06:18 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

Frayed Knot wrote: I liked all the close-up shots during the blackout of a befuddled Roger Goodell looking helpless to deal with the situation. Oh wait, this wasn't baseball & Selig, it's the NFL so that turned out to be the one time when the cameras were seemingly unable to find the commish. I bet this is true too, I can't remember one shot of him during the whole debacle.

Frayed Knot Feb 04 2013 06:30 AM Re: "the best run league in sports"

metirish wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: I liked all the close-up shots during the blackout of a befuddled Roger Goodell looking helpless to deal with the situation. Oh wait, this wasn't baseball & Selig, it's the NFL so that turned out to be the one time when the cameras were seemingly unable to find the commish. I bet this is true too, I can't remember one shot of him during the whole debacle. And while it's certainly possible that Goodell was 'below decks' somewhere at the time and truly unable to be on camera, I think it's much more probable that the network, being wary of doing anything that could possibly be construed as offensive towards 'The Shield', simply chose not to show him at a time that wasn't going to paint him in the best light.