193 replies to this topic

[CantonJester]

OBJ is the type of signing the Browns would make, just 4 years later.

This is what happens when you let Lamar run your off-season.

 

I felt that OBJ was a bad decision. Obviously he’s not as mercurial as Antonio Brown (who is?), but he’s not the guy you needed in that locker room. The guy they needed was Mike Evans. I’m not saying the Bucs were interested in shopping him, but this past offseason the Bucs were looking at cap hell and they were turning their lonely eyes to Baker Mayfield to keep them afloat. 

 

They probably could’ve been talked into punting this season and taking a mid round pick in the ‘24 and ‘25 drafts. 

[jamesdean]

You guys all feel how you feel, and I'm not saying you are 'wrong'... you are all great fans.
You wouldn't be hurting if you weren't fans.
You spend a lot of time here talking sports, and you spend a lot of time going to games, watching games, etc.

In some ways I respect that you care as much as you do.

I'd be lying though if I told you these losses impacted me for more than 30 seconds.

Orioles - You won 101 games, and you've lost 2 games in a short-series. Post-season baseball is flipping a coin and these short-sample series tell you basically nothing, but narratives write themselves win or lose. O's haven't been swept in a long time. They played great on the road this year. Won't be surprised at all if Kremer and Gibson get the series back to Baltimore. Either way, the window is wide open, and imo this will be the worst O's team for sometime (records probably won't be as good, but there will be better teams).

Ravens - Most games are close in the NFL. When you don't step on the neck when you have a team down, you'll often get bit. Especially if you give away points. Good chance to win the North, but yesterday was a missed opportunity. Probably one of the worst Ravens losses I recall. Gave the game away.

Terps - The program continues to have annual incremental growth. Nobody had them leaving Columbus with a win. If there's any irritation, it's that MD wasn't out athleted... competed on both lines against a perennial National contender... but they made some errors, and also left points on the board.


The O's might come back and win the series... but even if they get swept out tomorrow, fully believe they'll be a post-season fixture for years.

The Ravens are probably in the 8-12 range in the power rankings, which can feel like purgatory, but they've got a punchers chance to do something of note in January. We'll see.

MD has a decent chance to end the regular season with 9 wins, in the Top 25, and looking for a 3rd straight bowl win.
Need to win the games they are favored in, and show-up in the games they're not. Do that, and do some damage recruiting wise and with the portal.



Ultimately sports are a diversion for all of us.
From our lives, and the bs that we're all dealing with as individuals and collectively.
I'm sorry any of you are hurting.
Hopefully that hurting and having something to care about - is enjoyable to you at some level.

Very well said, Chris. I wouldn't use the word "hurting" to describe how I feel today. I'm just pissed because I genuinely look forward to football all summer and especially each Sunday when its game time and then have to deal with the day being ruined by how lousy the Ravens play. I'll take responsibility for that and I know logically, I shouldn't let it get to me like that but it still does. It would be easier to accept if they were a bad football team and you knew 3-4 wins was best case scenario. But they're not a bad football team. They could be one of the five best in the league if they would just play like one. 2006 and 2019 were the two years where I could kick back and pretty much enjoy the whole season without wanting to choke somebody. Even the two Super Bowl years were littered with aggravation at some point. Who knows, maybe one day I'll reach your level of perspective and be free of mornings like today.

[SonicAttack]

Crowd was electric on Saturday, Most hyped crowd ever. Despite the crowds everything ran smoothly. Getting in, getting out, concessions, bathrooms, etc. The only thing that sucked was the result.

 

Yeah, the crowd was great on Saturday, really loud, could be heard clearly over TV.  Seriously, best playoff crowd in all of the games so far!  Too bad the O's lost both as more games at OPACY are warranted as the B'More crowd is the best!

[SonicAttack]

Look I think the players like playing for him and have learned a great deal from him on how the play the game. But we are past that. This cub needs a baseball manager now.

 

 

IDK, if Elias is unhappy then I could see a change, but no reason to think Elias is unhappy.  

[Slidemaster]

The Ravens game bothers me but it's almost calming knowing that this isn't the year, they're not a real contender, and we can safely just wait until next season to see what changes.

The Orioles loss hurts worse. This has been the best season in my lifetime and it's going to end with a pathetic whimper.

I wish they hadn't won the division. I'm ready to move on to the off-season to see what Elias doesn't do.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Of course you can let things go too far. But now that said.

 

If you aren't emotionally involved with your sport/team then why bother in the first place!

[BSLSteveBirrer]

This is an excellent read:

 

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[85Knight]

This is an excellent read:

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MLB needs to look at this. The data is building that this a real thing with the new format. Rest vs. Rust. Starting to look like rust is a bigger factor.

[BobPhelan]

Maybe they can do the three game series Monday-Wednesday and start the ALDS Thursday. Earn a day off by sweeping the wild card series.

[CantonJester]

Maybe they can do the three game series Monday-Wednesday and start the ALDS Thursday. Earn a day off by sweeping the wild card series.

 

This is the most realistic solution. I'm a fan of forcing them to play two on Monday and one on Tuesday if necessary, and then start the DS on Wednesday. If you really want to penalize the WC teams, that's the way to do it. 

[mdrunning]

Or just eliminate the wildcard series altogether. 

 

I know. Ain't happening.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Yes eliminate the WC series and go back to 4 teams and a 7 game series. The current format is really dumb. Other than time to recover from and injury zero, and I mean that literally, athletes that I ever played with or knew wanted an extended time off. Sitting around waiting is dreadful.

[CantonJester]

WC round should be 3 games in 2 days or 3 games in 3 days, and then the next day starts a 7 game DS. Then the 7 game CS, and finally the 7 game WS. Best of five promotes too much variance. 

[BSLSteveBirrer]

WC round should be 3 games in 2 days or 3 games in 3 days, and then the next day starts a 7 game DS. Then the 7 game CS, and finally the 7 game WS. Best of five promotes too much variance. 

Agree with the variance .....so you are ok having a WC series be 3 games? Makes no sense. Everybody says the playoffs are a crap shoot. So why piss on a 162 game season by gifting more teams shots are a crap shoot?

[McNulty]

You’ll always have the Lakers sir.

Hey who is top of the table? COYS

safe space

[russsnyder]

I can never remember a weekend where both teams made such memorable boneheaded coaching/decisions on the field. The missed hit and run and the screwed up snap on fourth down play still have me scratching my head. Also, can the Ravens receivers please stop soaking their fingers in butter? Lamar needs to start smacking these guys in the head when they drop passes. (My oldest brother used to do that to me when I dropped a pass in a neighborhood pick up game.) Maybe it will do some good.

[russsnyder]

I also truly feel like none of us are ever seeing an Os title. Hell, OPACY opened in 1992 and it’s never even hosted a WS game!

Since the 1983 title the Os are 3-12 (I think) in the ALCS

Sometimes you just have to accept your fate. Millions of Red Sox and Cubs fans died without ever seeing a title. That’s us. If you remember ‘66 and ‘70 and ‘83 I’m jealous. I was alive in ‘83 but I was crapping in a diaper.

We ain’t ever seeing a title. God dislikes us.

I think my boys in Slayer said it best: With that abysmal playoff record GOD HATES US ALL!

[Mike in STL]

Is the hit and run even a thing worth doing in that situation? Lets say Hicks swung the bat, what are the odds he makes contact?

With swings and misses and K's way up thanks to harder throwing pitchers with harder breaking stuff, and emphasis on launch angle, and maybe a few players out there choking up with two strikes, how many hit and runs are executed perfectly? How many are luck where the hitter swings away while a runner is stealing, but it's not a hit and run? Like the one base hit that went through where Gunnar vacated his position to cover the bag. They weren't like "great hit and run by the Rangers." it just, happened that way. Guys aren't up there trying to hit a ball in a certain place. Or able to make a controlled contact swing because the signal is to hit this ball. Righties trying to go to right field to move runners up is a lost art.  

 

Sure, call a hit and run. If Hicks whiffs, it's still a CS. 

[makoman]

Hicks' whiff% is 25.6%, slightly worse than average. But Leclerc's is 35%, 96th percentile. 

 

Leclerc is 2nd percentile in GB so you're not terribly worried about a DP. High walk rate and very low % of pitches in the zone. Very low expected stats against. Seems like batters don't hit him well at all but he has control issues that can get him in trouble.

 

This was a very superficial analysis but seems to me like this is not a guy to H&R against. Forcing your batter to swing against him doesn't seem great.

[russsnyder]

Is the hit and run even a thing worth doing in that situation? Lets say Hicks swung the bat, what are the odds he makes contact?

With swings and misses and K's way up thanks to harder throwing pitchers with harder breaking stuff, and emphasis on launch angle, and maybe a few players out there choking up with two strikes, how many hit and runs are executed perfectly? How many are luck where the hitter swings away while a runner is stealing, but it's not a hit and run? Like the one base hit that went through where Gunnar vacated his position to cover the bag. They weren't like "great hit and run by the Rangers." it just, happened that way. Guys aren't up there trying to hit a ball in a certain place. Or able to make a controlled contact swing because the signal is to hit this ball. Righties trying to go to right field to move runners up is a lost art.

Sure, call a hit and run. If Hicks whiffs, it's still a CS.

I agree overall.

The fact that Gunnar peeked back could have been a tell that the hit and run was on. I find the call very curious for a variety of reasons, the biggest one being that Hicks really hasn't shown a propensity for handling a bat. I think only guy that I would trust to make contact in a hit run situation is Frazier. The other poor outcome of the hit and run is a caught line drive that becomes an easy double play.