Monthly Archives: October 2011
Freese Play
By one measure, David Freese on Thursday had the greatest game in postseason history. Freese had a Win Probability Added total of 0.969. Here’s how that works: In the ninth inning, when the Cardinals trailed by two with two outs and men on first and second, they had an 8 percent chance of winning; after […]
Who Writes This Stuff, Anyway?
Of the roughly 201,000 major-league baseball games over the years, none have been any more compelling than Thursday night. But they screwed up the script. After the Cardinals’ riveting comeback in the ninth inning, Josh Hamilton belted a two-run homer in the top of the 10th and had Hollywood producers calling scriptwriters and pondering who […]
Scores Of 77-0 And 70-0 Just Aren’t That Exciting
Sunday’s column about the epidemic of blowouts in Clark County high school football generated a ton of response. Apparently, people aren’t enamored with games that end 77-0 or 70-0 (despite a running clock after the margin hits 40 points). My idea: Divide the 4A and 3A leagues in terms of competitiveness rather than enrollment, and […]
Scores Of 77-0 And 70-0 Just Aren't That Exciting
Sunday’s column about the epidemic of blowouts in Clark County high school football generated a ton of response. Apparently, people aren’t enamored with games that end 77-0 or 70-0 (despite a running clock after the margin hits 40 points). My idea: Divide the 4A and 3A leagues in terms of competitiveness rather than enrollment, and […]
Washington Is No. 1 In Pac-12
It often has been said that college football has little to do with college and really is just big business. Now somebody has quantified that. Ryan Brewer, a finance professor at Indiana University, has looked at each college football program and placed a value on it — as if it were a company up for […]
Nobody Can Be This Perfect, Can They?
Our resident Blazer fanatic in the newsroom sent me this link with the subject line: “Shut up shut up shut up JUST SHUT UP” Yes, he’s had his fill of Kevin Durant. Durant is the cover subject of this month’s ESPN The Magazine. The gist of the article: Kevin Durant doesn’t need the NBA, but […]
By The Numbers: Lance Berkman Is Really Good
Lance Berkman has delivered the first blow in the 2011 World Series, not that anybody is paying attention to this World Series. Berkman hit a two-run double to get the Cardinals on the board, which brings up this question: Does anybody realize what an outstanding career Lance Berkman has had? For example, he has 358 […]
Suck For Luck? Not So Fast
There has been much talk about NFL teams engaging in a “Suck for Luck” campaign. Considering that three teams are still winless and five have one win, there seems to be a spirited competition for the right to draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. But here’s what nobody has mentioned: Luck doesn’t have to come out […]
A Game Of Inches
They say that football is a game of inches. This referee does his best to prove it — in favor of Wake Forest.
Me? I’d Probably Go With Zeppelin
What will be your at-bat music? When you make it to the major leagues, and you’re introduced as the next batter, what song will blare over the P.A. system? I’ve been thinking about this during the playoffs; goodness knows, there’s plenty of time to think. I’m not sure when baseball decided it needs to be […]