Wednesday, May 27, 2009

26 comments What's Irritating Me Today

I have to admit I am a little bit surprised that Orlando is beating Cleveland like they are. Dwight Howard has played well but the real reason they are beating the Cavs is the guys around him are just shooting the lights out with 17 three point shots last night. All the talk this year has been about how Mo Williams has been found as LeBron's running mate, but the problem is there is no one on the Cavs bench really chipping in at all. I don't know if LeBron is a certainty to stay in Cleveland after 2010 or not. If LeBron had not hit that shot at the end of Game 2 the Cavs would have been swept. The best team in basketball swept by an inferior team (according to many) like the Magic...I did not expect that at all.

Gregg Doyel has a great (meaning: bad) article up about LeBron James and how we need to appreciate him and I was going to cover that, but FJMariotti did a great job of that already (click on the FJMariotti link on the side of the old blog here and you can read it!), so there is no need to review what has already been said by them. So I was looking through a bunch of articles I have bookmarked and decided I would just list the string of words in the articles that are pissing me off today.

-After listing my "dream" baseball team on Monday I started to list my "nightmare" baseball team and then I realized my entire OF would be made of my favorite baseball team's outfielders, began to weep, and then quit. I would still like to do this at some point, but I can't handle the truth right now.

-This also has nothing to do with an article of any type but I am still pissed off that Chipper Jones lost Rookie of the Year to Hideo Nomo in 1995. Yeah, I know he had a great year and the award means nothing, it just irritated me about the media's fascination with him...and yes I know they had a reason to be fascinated and I have no point but I can still complain 14 years after the fact.

Meanwhile, the reigning Rookie of the Year in the National League Geovany Soto is hitting .214 and every player below him in the voting is having a better year. Can't they just call it the "Rookie Who Had the Best Year" Award and give another "Rookie That Will Have the Best Career" Award to someone else? I don't want to care that he had a better year. Bruce, Votto, and Jurrjens will have better major league careers, and I want that to count for something.

-Peter King, shockingly, is irritating me today for various reasons. Most of all because he did not answer my well written and thoughtful email for the 5 consecutive week in his MMQB Tuesday Edition.

I've reached this point in thinking about what Michael Vick should be and how he should be used in his possible NFL reincarnation: I think he should be Devin Hester, at least at the beginning.

Peter, do you mean using modern technology to remove Devin Hester's face and put it on Mike Vick's face and vice versa just like in the blockbuster Nicholas Cage-John Travlota movie "Face Off?" If so, brilliant idea.

I don't know if he can be, but that's what I'd think if I were the Saints, Patriots or Bills, or whoever might be interested in signing him if he is reinstated to the NFL.

Well, if Mike Vick is Devin Hester, then Devin Hester is not a free agent this year so he has to play for the Chicago Bears, so the Mike Vick/Devin Hester person would not have an option unless he forced a trade.

Sarcasm aside, is this idea of Peter's that revolutionary? I thought it was pretty much assumed by everyone that the team he signed with would use Vick in a similar capacity to how Hester is used in Chicago? Vick's clearly not coming back as a fucking fullback or an offensive lineman, everyone has been talking about how he would make a wonderful wildcat quarterback and teams could use his speed to get him the ball on offense. Why is Peter so late to the party on every idea?

"I've been doing some thinking, and I believe the Lions are going to try and get Matt Stafford some good receivers to catch the ball and improve the offensive line. I think that is the best way to help make him successful."

(I know everyone is asking "Who is Matt Stafford?" because we all know Mark Sanchez was the #1 pick in the draft this year. Maybe it just feels that way.)

Maybe he becomes a guy who touches the ball six to eight times a game, 100 to 120 times the entire 2009 season, as he works his way back to an expanded role in 2010 and beyond. He could be a Wildcat quarterback for four snaps, a slot receiver one or two, or a running back taking a pitch.

Holy shit, that is exactly what everyone who else has talked about this situation has said as well Peter. Thanks for bringing up the tail end of journalism ideas on this one. Hey, someone has to be last!

Imagine if the Saints put Vick and Reggie Bush in the backfield at the same time, with the most prolific quarterback of the past three years, Drew Brees, under center.

This would be the first time Peter would notice a team not in the Northeast plays in the NFL. Then, and only then, would Peter move the Saints up to #11 in his power rankings. An underachieving running back AND a quarterback fresh out of jail, in the game at the same time? The world hasn't seen such an enigmatic backfield since...ever. Fuck it, Peter will put the Saints up to #6 in his power rankings if this happens.

Norm Woodcock, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: "I have a severed biceps tendon and after 18 months rehab have recovered 25 percent of my arm strength. I know Brett Favre is super human but as for being unaffected by a severed biceps tendon, I absolutely don't believe it. Sounds like agent talk.''

Norm, Peter King is about to call you a wimp. Prepare accordingly.

My understanding is Favre has been told that he'll be able to throw the ball without restriction or pain a month or so after surgery.

Translation: You Norm, are a wimp. Brett Favre is statistically 72 times more of a man than you are. He needs one month for full arm strength and you need 72 months for the same arm strength.

All I can go by is what medical sources tell me.

(I have $100 saying Peter's medical sources are Brett and Deanna Favre, PhD.)

Translation: You don't know Brett Favre, Norm. I do. He will be back and he is going to play football gloriously as millions of women and men fawn in adoration at his skills.

There was not a lot of interesting mail this week. Peter wasn't prepared to talk about football, he wanted to talk about mean dogs that bite humans.

-I am not a slave to a pitch count or anything like that, but does Dusty Baker intentionally try to ruin his pitchers?

I realize pitching to one batter is not going to ruin a pitcher, but are managers such slaves to wins that they would have a pitcher warm up for a game, cool down during the delay, then warm up again, pitch to one batter, and then be done for the day? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Yesterday afternoon/evening, he sent Aaron Harang back out to the mound to finish the fifth inning after a rain delay that lasted more than two hours. Harang only pitched to one batter after the delay and recorded a strikeout of Humberto Quintero to qualify for the win.

This is dumb. I know Harang probably wanted the win, but I can't believe it was worth it to put Harang out there for one batter.

"I'm just glad the delay wasn't any longer," Baker said. "He wanted it badly. He wanted very badly."

Baker felt the risk was minimal.

The risk to Harang's arm was minimal but the stupidity of having him warm up to pitch to one batter after throwing 83 pitches is overwhelming in my mind.

Really, this would not be a big story if Dusty Baker wasn't known as the Michael Myers of managers. After trying to kill Mark Prior and Kerry Wood's career by seeing if they can hit 200 pitches in a game, anything he does is going to be over-criticized. I am not criticizing, I just think this is stupid to have a pitcher go out after a 2 hour delay and pitch to one batter for the win.

Baker might have felt the risk was minimal, but I'm not sure anyone in their right mind would agree with him. He put a ton of extra and unnecessary stress on the arm of one of his best pitchers, just so that pitcher could pick up a cosmetic counting stat that he "wanted badly."

That's how I am thinking as well. Baker's job is to manage the team, which means dictate to the players their roles on the team, set the lineups and pitching rotation. Any pitcher is going to say that he wants a win badly because he wants to pick up the win, but the manager's job is to determine whether that stat is worth any other risk to the player. Manage the team and manage what is best for the team. That's what I would do if I were Dusty Baker and I don't know if making sure Harang gets to pad his win column is best for the team. I guess we are just lucky Joey Votta and Jay Bruce are not pitchers...yet.

-Tom Verducci, who I normally like, lists the 10 old players that are breaking through, and does a generally good job...except for a few. I have a very strict definition of "breaking through" as well. If an old player was a good player previously, then he is not breaking through now, he is merely having a career year in my mind. That's not breaking through.

1) Raul Ibanez

He has played his entire career in the American League with the Royals and the Mariners and now he is in the National League hitting behind Rollins, Howard, and Utley. That's a step up. Sure, he is has never hit like this before but I don't know if he is breaking through since he has had 100 RBI 4 out of the last 7 years and has an OBP always hovering near .355 over the past couple of years. He is having a career year in a new league, that's really all in my mind. I also think his numbers will eventually fall down a bit. He can't hit like this all year, can he?

Yes, he did hit 33 bombs and drive in 123 runs while playing in Seattle's airplane hangar in 2006, so he does have some pop.

Thanks for proving your first player choice wrong for me Tom.

7) Casey Blake,

The eighth spot in NL batting orders is notoriously difficult because of hitting in front of the pitcher, but Blake is having the best season of his life out of that spot. His .376 OBP is a huge improvement on his .330 career mark.

I am going to go ahead and chalk this up to a sample size of 152 at bats. I would look for Blake's end of year numbers to only be slightly ahead of his career numbers. His OBP was .326 for the month of April and the fact he is tearing it up in May really makes Blakes numbers inflated by a good margin. Why can't writers realize we are two months into the season and one good month will give a player inflated stats?

8) Joe Mauer, 26, Twins: Yes, he's a young guy,

I have so many problems with this selection. Mauer is young, he has broken through already and also the fact that because he is hitting more homeruns than usual doesn't mean he is actually breaking through, it means he is absolutely on fire through 84 at bats.

Joe Mauer has absolutely zero business being on this list. Zero. He's not old and he is not breaking through. He has already broken through. He's a great player. Just look at statistics.

This is Mauer with power.

OMFG! That rhymed! Hilarious. It still doesn't take away from the fact that Mauer is absolutely tearing it up right now and hitting for power in the 84 at bats he has accumulated this year, but that doesn't mean he is breaking out. He is on pace to have a career year, but he is widely considered the best catcher in baseball so there is no freaking way he is having a "breakthrough year," and he is not even old. The title of this article is "Breaking through is hard to do for old guys, but these 10 are doing it." Mauer is 26 years old.

-I hate it when writers are right. I don't even want to comment on this article because it was written May 10 and I have been saving it for when the Cavs beat the Magic and make the NBA Finals. I think the evil Gregg Doyel is right. I read the article and he seemed to pretty much have the Cavs team scouted pretty well.

-It irritates me pretty much anytime Woody Paige writes an article like he is a 6 year old.

Hey, Aunty Em, tell your wackadoo niece Dorothy Gale — and her little dog too — that home isn't such a grand and glorious place, after all.

Who reads this shit and thinks that it is top flight journalism? This is how he got on ESPN's "yelling at each other" shows. You actually have to be a complete moron to be allowed on Around the Horn and First Take/Cold Pizza/Whatever They Call It This Week. They accept nothing less than the stupidest journalists in America so they accept him easily as part of their network of nonsense talkers.

Sorry to say this, but this sentence Woody wrote is shit.

Maybe, though, given how the Nuggets played Saturday night (lethargically), they might have considered turning over the local arena tonight to pseudo-sport and playing in, oh, Salt Lake City.

Wherever the Nuggets and the Lakers meet, they are becoming cruder, more brutal and, well, raw. Their first two affairs were the most-watched pro or college basketball games in the history of ESPN. Tonight will be a ratings royale, and even the Cheetos-and-Ding Dongs crowd will TiVo the "wrestling thing."

I tried to read this article and can't even begin to understand it. This irritates me. How am I supposed to make fun of someone when I can't even understand what he is writing? I personally hate wrestling, so maybe it is the fake wrestling WWE/WWF thing he is talking about and I don't know enough to understand it. I was one of five male children in America who never watched wrestling when they were young so it may be above my head. I doubt it, and really think he may just be speaking nonsense.

Psst, George. The series is 2-1 Lakers, so you don't have to win two in Denver and two more in L.A. It's not best-of- nine.

Pay no attention to the coaches behind the curtains. Pay attention to the wizards of ahs — Melo and Kobe.

And, Denver, tap the heels of your ruby slippers together three times and repeat . . .

I can't believe someone read Woody Paige's work at some point in the past and thought, "we have to hire this guy." His writing can be so bad. Of course what do you expect from someone whose entire job on television is to come up with "controversial" points of view and debate them with other idiots who are trying to say something soundbite worthy? To think of him as a journalist may be to give him too much credit.

-It irritates me when Scoop Jackson can't leave race out of one of his columns. This is not a poorly written column and I was able to read it and not hate what it contained. He could have written the entire article without throwing in sentences like this one...

Every time I went to play hockey, and almost always being the only kid of color out there, it took me awhile to figure out why people (including some teammates) were always shooting the puck at me -- especially when I was never the goalie.

I bet at the age of 8 or 9 years of old, these kids had very little control over where the puck went and they were not actually shooting the puck at Lil' Scoop.

He could have easily left this sentence out, it really adds nothing and makes the reader think all of his friends hated Lil' Scoop when he was young.

It just irritates about how he can't write a single article without bringing up race. This article was decent and seemed well thought out, except for the parts where he wanted to make it clear he liked hockey and he was black, which inherently made him different in his own eyes.

-I thought the Hurricanes would lose to the Pens in 5 games, it irritates me that Cam Ward decided he was going to give up prior to Game 3. Last night was the only time in my small hockey history I have seen a goalie lose a puck in the lights.

-I am going to go ahead and apologize to Fred Trigger and Ivn, for this one. It annoys the shit out of me when a baseball player does dances and gets emotional after getting out of an inning (think John Rocker, Chamberlain, or any other closer who acts like he just dismantled an atomic bomb when he completes a save or gets out of the inning) and then when he blows the save gets pissy as the cameras watch him. I am talking about my dream team closer, Papelbon.

If you are going to act like you just saved the world and let the cameras pick up your antics after being a hero, you have to accept that you will look like an ass when you blow a save. Don't act like a bitch. Just look at that picture of Papelbon beside the story in the link. If you do shit like that, you can expect a camera on you after you fail also.

according to Causi, before throwing his towel at him It should be noted: Papelbon missed Causi. "I guess he missed with two pitches that night," Causi cracked.

Though to be fair, the camera man, based on that quote seems like an asshole so at some point in the future he should have something heavier thrown at him.

26 comments:

KentAllard said...

I'm still trying to figure out what PK meant with his opening paragraph. Sonia Sotomayor once heard a case involving football and is a Yankees fan. Is that "OMFG! SHE'S NOT QUALIFIED TO BE ON THE SUPREME COURT!" or is it "OMFG! SHE'S QUALIFIED TO BE ON THE SUPREME COURT!"

I still remember 1998, when Bret Favre had his right arm severed in mid-season in a threshing accident. It took him four days to grow a new one, and he didn't miss a snap. A detached tendon is unworthy of notice.

Fred Trigger said...

I'm not a big papelbon fan. Hes an epic douchebag. I think I commented on it here before.

When he was on a baseball show and they had a viewer quetion from a 14 year old. The question was: "which batter in the league do you most fear to face?" To which papelboner respnded:"First off, thats a stupid question! Because Cinco Ocho fears no man!"

Bengoodfella said...

I ignored the beginning part about Sotomayor. It didn't really make sense to me as to what it had to do with her nomination. I don't know if he meant it as a qualifier or disqualifier for the position. I think his point was that she heard a case that dealt with sports at one time. Maybe he was saying that she is pro-union, I am not 100% sure.

Yes, a normal person would take months to have a detached tendon heal but Brett Favre only needs a month to regenerate a new tendon. I think I remember that threshing accident, but if I am not wrong didn't he throw the ball left handed for a few weeks, and did not throw an interception once? I also that was the week he helped a child out of a burning building by lifting the building with his left arm.

Brett Favre: Where Amazing Happens

Fred, I don't remember you did not like Papelbon that much, but I do now. I will remember that. He does seem like a douche, but he is a great closer.

I can't believe he actually responded to the question from the viewer like that. It's a good thing he can back up this talk with his play because otherwise he would be widely mocked. I don't mind the theatrics after a save, but when he blows a save he should expect the cameras to still be there.

He does seem like a bit of a douche doesn't he? He will never be John Rocker though.

AJ said...

Papelbon is a tool, there really is no debate about that.

I for one do not believe Scoop ever played hockey, does anyone else believe that? The thing is, you can't prove he did play, and you can't prove he didn't play. You can choose to believe him or not, and I don't believe him. I also don't believe an 8 year old is raciest and would hit the puck at him on purpose. If that is the case, the kid probably just didn't like Scoop. I can not believe someone the age of 8 would be effected by race. The kid can barely tie his own shoes and count to 10, but he is a raciest. Ya ok.

I laughed about the 10 breakout old players when i saw someone the age of 26 on there with 2 career batting titles and highly regarded as the best catcher in the bigs. And is it only me, or is he implying that some of those guys may be on some sort of PED? Why not label the article, 10 Breakout Players Using PEDs?

And yes, I can imagine the Dog Killer and Bush in the same back field...i can see it now, both RB's suffering season ending injuries on the same play. And I'm not sure why Brees being the QB has anything to do with anything...I mean he is one of the best passers in the game despite having Bush as RB. Seriously, has any QB done more with so little?

The Cavs sure are showing their true form, aren't they? I mean its not over yet, its not like they couldnt steal game 6 in Orlando (and I don't believe they will lose game 5 or 7), but they sure are showing just how bad those guys around James are, not to mention how bad Brown is as a coach. Nice 3rd quarter there Cavs. I didn't see one play to James, in fact, I didn't see many plays at all. A little hint Brown, keep Wallace on the bench, he can't contribute anymore. Go back to what made you an elite team, letting James run the offense and create open looks for the shooters. I mean its clear that these guys can't make contested shots, so get them open looks. Oh, and don't allow Z to shoot the ball from 18+ feet away.

The Casey said...

So, do you think Simmons will conveniently "forget" that he spent that whole mailbag before the ORL-CLE series making sure everyone remembered how "bad" Orlando is and how Dwight Howard is the worst great player ever?

AJ said...

I personally don't think Orlando is a very good team, even if they do win this series and make the finals.

But yes, I believe he will forget all about his article if they do make it there...ORRRRRR when Orlando gets swept in the finals he will talk all about how he said they were bad and that they are the worst team ever to make the finals. One of those two things will happen.

ivn said...

re: Papelbon, if the guy's emotional when he wins why wouldn't he be emotional when he loses? not that I'm a fan of overemotional athletes (one of the few things I dislike about basketball is all the overdone gesticulating, eye rolls, and grimaces) but it would make sense that someone who overreacts after pitching well would overreact after pitching poorly, no? plus it was a New Yorker getting in his face, so I can't blame him entirely. maybe if it was in KC or Toronto I'd get on his case more.

/rationalizing
//almost as big a homer as Simmons

Bengoodfella said...

I don't know if I can believe Scoop ever played hockey as a child. There is no way to prove it or not, but I do know there is a 4% chance the kids were chucking pucks at him because of the color of his skin.

I didn't get the implication they may be on PED's but I know that is on a lot of people's minds when they were reading the article. The article should have been called, "How One Month of Great Baseball Can Inflate Numbers When a Season is Less Than Two Months old." Casey Blake was not good in April but he has torn it up in May and his numbers reflect that.

There is no reason Mauer should be on that list. He is hitting homeruns at a crazy pace right now, he is not breaking out. I don't want to throw superlatives in the argument but he is an All Star and batting champ, I am pretty sure he broke out a while back.

If Bush and Vick (old school Vick) were in the backfield together, that would be a pretty formidable lineup of guys, but I don't see that ever happening. It would be embarrassing if Vick came in after two years in prison and three away from the game and had a higher rushing YPA than Bush. Brees did a lot with not a little last year. He turned Lance Moore into a stud receiver. I always thought a lot of him coming out of college and he is a great quarterback. I wonder what he could do if he had all his weapons together for more than just a few games.

I don't want to bash the Cavs too much because I do believe they could make a comeback, certainly not the way they are currently playing, but I would not put it past them. What they have shown is that there needs to be more than just role players around LeBron because he really can't do it all on his own. Mo Williams is helpful but the bench has been completely inept this year. I know he is still very young, but I would be tempted to give Wallace's minutes to JJ Hickson. At least give someone who isn't playing with a fork in his back out there.

They are not playing perimeter defense either. The Magic are hitting their three point shots but the Cavs are also not contesting them all that much. I guess it is pretty clear that the Magic are the superior team right now. Once Van Gundy realized Courtney Lee needed to be starting I think that was a big help also. He played so well at Western Kentucky and that is one of the things that irritates me about the NBA. They care so much more about potential over production. It was pretty clear if you watched any Hilltopper games that he could play in the NBA, he had the size and was ready to contribute now. I am not saying he has the most potential in the world, but I remember thinking the Cavs should have taken him instead of Hickson. Hickson wasn't ready to play right now and the Cavs had a team together that could use him. He may not have fit in with them, but that is beside my point I guess...

Casey, I am very interested to see what Bill says about the Magic. I have a feeling he won't give them credit and blame the failure on the Cavs not being ready for the big time or something else. It won't have anything to do with the fact he was wrong about Van Gundy and the Magic.

Bengoodfella said...

The Magic have impressed me in this series. Howard is still not quite the offensive force that I think he should be developing into, but it doesn't really matter when they are hitting their three point shots. He is a great help shot blocker and he takes up a ton of space in the middle but when the Magic went to him last night, his offensive game was bad. The announcers were even talking about how if he wants the ball, he has to step his game up.

I am with you AJ, I think one of those two may happen. I think the Cavs get the blame and the Magic don't get credit.

Ivn, I am not blaming Papelbon, I am just saying he needs to understand the camera will be in his face if he blows a save or gets a save. He did not seem to deal with it too much, and I am sure the camera man was a Yankees fan who loved getting that shot. That's why I think he needed something heavier thrown at him. I would personally have left Papelbon alone because he is so emotional. I just don't think he can expect to be left alone when he blows a save in New York. They tend to be assholes about stuff like that.

It's not rationalizing or being a homer, I would expect him to be emotional, he just needs to take the good with the bad.

KentAllard said...

I meant to mention this earlier, but I have the attention span of a gnat. I've coached youth hockey for years, and I can tell you from experience, if the puck hits something, they weren't aiming for it. That includes the net. They are concentrating on not falling down, and terrified of the puck. If L'il Scoop got pelted with pucks, it means they were making a conscious effort NOT to hit him.

ivn said...

re: Dwight Howard, that one stretch where they tried to feed the ball into the post two or three possessions in the fourth quarter was pretty brutal. even LeBron and Delonte West seemed to get better shots down low than he did. that being said I think he's been better on defense than I gave him credit for in the Boston series. although I have to repeat what I said in round 2 and insist that Lewis needs to continue to get his touches. if LeBron's not guarding him no one on Cleveland matches up with him well.

it's also funny to see that Turkoglu seems to get away with as much travelling as the usual suspects.

WV: "papersub" (just like the Cavs bench...ba-zing)

Bengoodfella said...

Well there we go. I think Scoop will be very happy to know his friends were racist and attempting to maim him with hockey pucks. I have to say in my extensive career playing rollerblade hockey, I was so focused on making sure the ball did not go down a storm drain, I barely had time to even aim at the goal.

Bengoodfella said...

I think we are talking about that same stretch when Howard could not score several times down the floor and then West went and posted a Magic player up and scored. He hasn't blocked nearly as many shots as he did against Boston, but he is playing some good defense. Of course he is also not having to go up against Kendrick Perkins in this series. I think it is easier to play Big Z, Joe Smith, and Ben Wallace than Perkins.

Lewis is a major matchup problem for nearly every team with his height and ability to shoot. It's good the Magic can recognize this. They need to get Lewis the ball when he has a smaller guy on him.

Orlando and Denver have complained about the calls but I really haven't seen too much one sided officiating, though I would like for them to swallow the whistle a little bit more.

Unknown said...

There's a couple of reasons why no one should sign Vick. Can you imagine all the media that will swarm the team during the off-season? They will ask every player and coach every day about Vick. This will piss everyone off. Coaches have a couple of months to get there system, plays, etc. in place for a season and don't want such a ridiculous distraction.
Vick on the other hand will probably say anything to a team such as, "Sure, I'll play KR, WR, etc." Then as soon as he's signed the trouble will begin and he and the media will push the coach to play QB. I can't see any team, except maybe the Bills and their circus, signing Vick.

Bengoodfella said...

That's a great point. Vick will have to show that he is of more benefit to the team than the cost of having him around as a distraction. You are right in that the coaches and the players don't want to always talk about him. The Cowboys got so tired of talking about T.O. and every question is going to be about Vick and whether he looks the same and exactly how they plan to use him.

It will have to be a brave coach and GM that takes him on, simply because of the distraction he will cause off the field. Of course, if he goes to a team that is pretty stable and can stand the distraction, and if he is still in playing shape, he would be a great benefit to the team.

You know he still wants to prove he can play quarterback though. I am sure he wants to play it still. We will still to see if he is open to playing other positions, because as far as I have heard he has never actually said he would play another position outside of QB.

AJ said...

I just listened to Peter on DPs show this morning (it was from yesterday). He was talking about Brady and said something along the lines of this:

"I live in Boston now, you know. And every time I open up the paper there is a piture of Brady in Brazil eating ice cream, or Brady on a beach in Cali, or Brady out with Giselle. And you wonder, does this guy still have the passion to be a great football player?"

Really? Questioning the guy for hanging out with his wife? For going on vacations? Seriously? Who doesn't want to spend time with thier wife (I mean there is a reason you married the person...probably cuz you like to spend time with them and go places with them)...who doesn't like vacations? Give the guy a break, he is doing what any normal human being should be doing.

Oh Peter also used the word, and I don't even know how to spell it since I don't beleive its a word, "tangengly". I'm not making this up, he used that word. I couldn't even pronounce it again, let alone try and spell it. He was using it to describe how he knows Brady...like who is he (King) to judge Brady since he only knows him tangengly. You know, doesn't know him personally, just knows him from a distance (or in this case, a tangent).

The Casey said...

I would assume that PK meant 'tangentially'.

The Casey said...

Woot! English minor came in handy. Now I can retire it for another 5 years.

Bengoodfella said...

I remember DJ Gallo wrote an article that I put on here a few weeks ago, and I think it was supposed to be tongue in cheek, but it said nearly the same thing.

I don't get why hanging out with your wife means that you don't have the passion for football anymore and to be great? I thought we would encourage athletes to hang out with their wives and go on vacations, not question whether the sport they play is not important to them anymore. I think hanging out with Gisele is a well adjusted thing to do for Tom Brady.

Did he mean tangently? That really makes no sense I don't think in the context of what he was talking about. Maybe it is a big word I am too dumb to know. When I read what Peter said on the radio it reminded me of when Bill Simmons bemoaned the fact he was going to get to hang out with Tom Brady after the Super Bowl victory against the Giants, but he couldn't because they lost. It came off as so self important and yet pathetic, I almost felt bad for how bad he wanted to do it. I think that was Bill's "I'm Keith Hernandez" moment where he became starstruck and wanted to let the world know the connections he had. I don't think he would say anything like that again...maybe.

Bengoodfella said...

There we go. Tangentially, that is how Peter knows Tom Brady.

It must be defined as "I sit outside his house through all hours of the night hoping he notices me and doesn't call the cops."

Unknown said...

Bengoodfella, how long ago was King's article describing one of his dumps he took? I told my friend about this and he doesn't believe me. Now I can't find it. Thanks a lot to you and FirJayM for pointing all the crap spewing from these "elite" columnists. I've been reading you guys a for a year now and find comfort that there are people out there that also can't believe what's passed off as journalism today.

Bengoodfella said...

I am trying to remember what he said a few weeks ago. He made a reference to using the bathroom at an airport but I don't know if he described it or not. I will have to look to see if he has done that. If he has not, he has come pretty close to convince your friend that it will not be long before we get it.

This link has a whole story about Peter having to take a crap, it's right near the bottom and then the rest is on the other page...It's a lot of information, just no description of the bowel movement.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/peter_king/03/27/mmqb/1.html

Here is another one and the comment is at the bottom...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/08/17/august/3.html

Journalism seems to have taken a nose dive, there's no doubt. A lot of it, I just agree with and the rest is just not good at all. I will try to find if Peter ever actually described an actual bowel movement or not, but if not, tell your friend to hold on for another year and we will get it.

KentAllard said...

He also had a column a while back about starting his pre-colonoscopy prep right before boarding an airplane for a long trip, which I thought was awfully considerate for his fellow passengers.

Bengoodfella said...

I think that may have been one of the ones I linked, though I only hit on the first two links when I googled "Peter King colonoscopy" so there is no telling what else was out there.

Unknown said...

Why would you not want to go on vacation with your wife during the off-season....espescially when it's GISELE for f's sake?? I admit I'm weak in comparison to "Coffee-Nazi" Peter King, but I'd vacation with Gisele in Brazil.

And as Ben and I have mulled over the idea of which of the three is worse, Simmons once in awhile drops a decent article like he did today about reffing in the NBA. He even calls some of his own ideas ridiculous, while exposing some of the absurdity of how the NBA handles officials and offciating. $550 to apply to become a D-League ref. That's hooorrrr-uh-bull!

So coming down the stretch, it's TMQ in the lead by a neck, followed by P.King as Simmons brings up the rear. Reilly was scratched on account of not writing an actual original column since he moved to ESPN.

Bengoodfella said...

I really hope Peter was just throwing that out there as a stupid idea and he did not actually believe that going to Brazil with Gisele for vacation...and eating ice cream, means that he is not focused on football. That's stupid. Wait, no, that is beyond stupid. I really hope he didn't believe that.

Martin, I read Simmons article today and enjoyed it. He did not annoy me and made some really good points. Most of all, it was well researched and thought out.

The problem with Simmons is that will drop a redeemable column every once in a while that tends to make me think he is not so bad, and then he tends to do the chats and write other columns that make me think he is the worst. He is all over the map for me.

I have to say TMQ is first for overall stupidity and Peter King is in there for consistent stupidity and because Bill Simmons surprises me with good stuff, I have to put him in last place. I think those rankings will hold. Few people can beat TMQ. It has useless information, ignorant information about the NFL, and comments and sentences that are inaccurate.