Tag: Sports

Today’s Poll: Rachel Maddow, Matthew Perry, and Mark Teixeira

Apparently MSNBC host Rachel Maddow looks like a bunch of famous people. On a recent episode of Matthew Perry’s Go On, there was a bit where Perry’s character attended a lesbian wedding and was constantly mistaken for Maddow. My friend Justin has been telling me for years that New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira looks like Maddow. Personally, I don’t see it at all. In my head, Maddow is cool and cute in a way that has nothing to do with Matthew Perry or Mark Teixeira.

What do you think? Please vote in today’s Rachel Maddow poll and explain your choice in the comments section!

[poll id=”166″]

RIP Alex Karras

Some of you knew Alex Karras as a football player for the Detroit Lions. Others knew him from his pro-wrestling days. Lots of people knew him as the dad in Webster. As for me, he’ll always be Mongo, the excellent character from the excellent Blazing Saddles. Karras had a remarkable career, entertaining millions of people as an athlete, an actor, and a comedian. He was awesome.

Continue reading “RIP Alex Karras”

MLB Fans Dig iOS 6 Passbook

When the Passbook feature of iOS 6 was revealed, I thought it had great potential. I was surprised that most of you — the RPadholics that have used iOS 6, anyway — didn’t see the point or didn’t like Passbook. Do you know who likes it? Major League Baseball fans. In a pilot program used with four baseball teams, 12 percent of e-ticket buyers used Passbook to manage their tickets. For a new service that’s available on a limited amount of phones, that’s terribly impressive. Here’s more from Market Watch:

Passbook — which allows tickets and loyalty cards from a variety of outlets to be delivered to one iPhone app — proved to be an instant hit with fans, Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advance Media, tells MarketWatch. In its test run with four teams for the final two weeks of the season, 1,500 e-ticket buyers (12%) chose Passbook delivery. “That adoption rate really floored us — there is no question our fans want digital tickets,” Bowman says. “Fans can use the tickets, forward them to a friend, resell them, or even donate them to charity — and they never get lost or left at home.”

The MLB example shows the flexibility of Passbook and is a fantastic example of why I thought it had potential. That convenience is fantastic and the different things you can do with tickets  is awesome. More and more companies are flocking to Passbook, which is no surprise considering the tens of millions of people that have or will buy iOS 6 devices. Hopefully these companies use Passbook in interesting ways, just like MLB.

What do you think of how MLB is using Passbook? Are you surprise by the relatively high adoption rate? Does this application change your mind about the service?

Source

Ichiro Suzuki’s Nerd Chic Baseball Bat Case

Like many great athletes, New York Yankees outfielder Ichiro Suzuki is a creature of habit. One of his nerdiest habits is the way he takes case of his baseball bats. It makes total sense — of course one of the greatest hitters in MLB history takes pristine care of his bats. Tech nerds will appreciate the great lengths Ichiro goes to in order to make sure his bats are protected from excess moisture. Here’s more from The New York Times:

While most players dump their bats in cylindrical canvas bags when they are not using them, Suzuki neatly stacks his best eight bats inside a shockproof, moisture-free black case that he keeps close by his locker at home and on the road.

The case, which looks like a mini trunk, not only protects the bats from jostling and banging during transports, it also serves as a dehumidifier, drawing moisture out of the bats during the hot, humid American summers.

For Suzuki, a preeminent scientist in the field of hitting, regulating the amount of moisture in his bat is critical to the touch and feel of it. A hard, dry bat with just the right amount of water content has helped Suzuki become one of the best hitters in the game.

I’ve been an Ichiro fan since his Seattle Mariners days. His obsessive and technologically-charged bat care makes me an even bigger fan of his. Honestly though, I’m surprised that this isn’t done by every baseball player (except for Adam Dunn, who will swing at a baseball with anything he can get his hands on regardless of its condition). Wood is a finicky substance and its properties can be drastically altered by changes in humidity. I’m sure that traveling musicians like RPadholic N8R know what I’m talking about; I’ve felt how humidity can change the feel of guitars first hand. Many people consider Ichiro a surgical hitter. Naturally, his precision hitting requires his tools to be in tip-top shape at all times. Props to Ichiro for nerding up his bat care!

Source via Daring Fireball

McKayla Maroney is Impressed With Hart of Dixie

The adorable and not-easily-impressed McKayla Maroney is making her acting debut in Hart of Dixie. For those of you not familiar with the show, it’s a Rachel Bilson drama/comedy on The CW. McKayla will be playing Tanya, Rose Hattenbarger’s best friend on the show. While she has acting aspirations, Maroney noted that she’s not done with her gymnastics career. Check out the full Access Hollywood interview below for all the details, including why she and her Olympic teammates are cooler than Justin Bieber. Continue reading “McKayla Maroney is Impressed With Hart of Dixie”

NBA Cracking Down on Flopping With New Rules

Flopping — dramatically overacting in order to draw foul calls — has been part of NBA basketball for decades. The league has had enough and will start cracking down on floppers in the 2012-2013 season. The penalties for flopping will be:

  • Flop 1: Warning
  • Flop 2: $5,000 fine
  • Flop 3: $10,000 fine
  • Flop 4: $15,000 fine
  • Flop 5: $30,000 fine
  • Flop 6: Possible suspension

The NBA’s official definition for flopping is, “Any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player.” Due to the subjective nature of the act, it will be a reviewable offense similar to flagrant fouls. The league has the right to review flopping calls in order to upgrade or downgrade them.

As a fan of the late ’80s Detroit Pistons, I can’t say too much about flopping since those teams featured The Godflopper, Bill Laimbeer. I’m totally hypocritical when it comes to flopping; I love when it’s done by a player that I like and hate it when it’s done by a player that I loathe. Some basketball fans believe that it’s nothing more than cheating. Others believe that it’s a clever art form. Either way, it involves fooling the referees in order to get a foul call.

To poke some fun at RPadholic Iceman, I will jokingly question whether the Miami Heat would have won a championship if these flopping rules were in place last year. LeBron James is probably the best player in league history that’s also known as a serial flopper. 70 percent of Shane Battier’s game is flopping. Would the Heat have been as good without their deceptive acting?

How do you feel about flopping? Is it a clever ploy or cheap cheating? What do you think of the NBA’s new rules? Please leave a comment and share you stance on flopping in the NBA (please!).

NFL Replacement Refs = WWE Refs

The game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers ended with a questionable officiating call. The NFL released a statement saying that even though the call was wrong, the referees’ decision is final. Here’s a clip from the press release:

The NFL Officiating Department reviewed the video today and supports the decision not to overturn the on-field ruling following the instant replay review.

The result of the game is final.

This totally reminds me of pro-wrestling. I remember several matches where Ric Flair beat Dusty Rhodes / Lex Luger / Sting / Ricky Morton / Any NWA Face through questionable means. He’d be using the ropes for extra leverage on the pin or pulling his opponent’s tights or deftly kicking his foe in the groin. The referee didn’t see it and Flair would win by cheating, but the “NWA Commissioner” would release a statement saying that the result of the match is final.

Hell, the same thing is happening in the WWE. Last week John Cena pinned CM Punk while the latter’s foot was on the rope. The referee didn’t see it, but this week general manager AJ Lee let the decision stand.

The referees in the WWE are supposed to have a certain level of incompetence and are supposed to blow certain calls. It’s a huge problem when real referees in professional sports are tarnishing the game for the fans, creating an unsafe environment for the players, and chipping away at the integrity of sports gamblers across the nation. You know there’s a problem when professional referees are behaving like their sports-entertainment counterparts. There’s something wrong when the league office sounds just like fictional authority figures in pro-wrestling.

It’s kind of funny and kind of sad that the NFL replacement referees are just like WWE referees.