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DAndrew
Thee Second Coming...

AGM Fantasy Basketball Champion 2008-09...

AGM Fantasy Baseball Champion 2008...

AGM NCAA Bracket Champion 2009...

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Sportsune Cookie 20090511
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Sportsune Cookie 20090508
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Manny Stiles
Sports is my crack. ArmchairGM is my pipe.

-mannystiles@aol.com

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Shhhhhhhhhh!!!
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Sportsune Cookie 20090417

by DAndrew and Manny Stiles
created April 17, 2009, last edited April 19, 2009
13
Vote

Welcome to The Stiles 02520 Daily Weeklyendingday Column:

"Sportsune Cookie" - Stiles is guest hosting his own show...

Dual Cookie Productions...

Warning: Read the following at your own risk. Possible Probable side effects include brain strain, eye scratching, and a probable cause of perpetual stupidity...

Today's Weather: 50% collaboration, 19% what-ev, 80% workable... 0% invisible.


Sportsune Cookie

Six Legged Turkeys Everywhere Rejoice! by Uncle Manny

So Madden finally parks the bus, eh? We all know what that means!!!

Let's play Name the Replacement!!! (cue:cheezy game show music)

Hosted by Fox's Ryan "there's not a bigger turd in America than me" Seacrest (because NBC will pool it's resources in this search)

We'll take 12 candidates each from across the popular culture landscape and eliminate one a week until the sole remaining contestant gets to replace John Madden as America's lovable slob/iconic sportscaster!

Let's rule out the obvious uh-uh's: Dennis Miller, NO. Rush Limbaugh... yeah, OhhhhKay - didn't we learn the first time?! Joe Theisman, hell to the no. If you even THINK about Frank Caliendo, go smack yourself for me. No holdovers from ER and no current NBC Sports employees at all! If there was already a worthy candidate in NBC - yes, I'm staring right at YOU Bob Costas - there'd be no reason for me to make a mockery about this. Oh yeah... sorry, Chris Collinsworth - we're just not that into you.

One guy makes a lot of sense logistically but it's clearly "too early" - Brett Favre. He'll come in to save the day eventually but I think he and Madden have some things to do together to make up for their time apart...

The contestants, please!

- You know him from Who Wants to Strangle a Game Show Host and Live! with Kelly, Everything About Kelly's All Encompassing Life and Her Irrepressible Ego's Sidekick Regis... you're damned right, it's Regis Philbin! He's got the "talking incessantly" credentials, he's instant market expansion and he can tele-strate his ass off! Plus he can rub it in Kathie Lee Gifford's annoying face that Frank is a dusty, forgotten artifact in the annals of sports culture.

- Any female with sportscasting credentials. Robin Roberts, Suze Kolber, Melissa Stark... I don't care, but a knowledgeable chick needs to be in the competition so we can vote them out early! Someone has to lose the first 11 rounds. Since America isn't ready for a woman to know more about football than they think they do...

- Donald Freekin' Trump. That's right. He's paid by NBC, but he's not their "employee". Cross marketing at it's finest! He'd be no worse than Dan Dierdorf and YOU KNOW IT.

- Condoleeza Rice. If we don't replace the Commish with her, let's get her into a place where she can help America the most. She's good with the media, she loves football, she knows her stuff... and she'll be a sacrificial lamb in week 2 because America would never keep a black woman in a game of popularity for too long no matter how qualified they might be (Just like you, Lil Rounds)

- Puppet/muppet/cartoon character/robot. I'm leaning towards 'robot' because it's 2009 dammit! I know FOX has the inside angle on "robots". But if robots are going to take over anyway, can't we just get it over with already? If not a robot, isn't it time that ALF made a comeback? I always liked Snufalufagus (sp?)

- Denzel Washington. I know he's got better things to do, but you'd love it, wouldn't you? He'd be an instant top 3 candidate in the competition.

- Dane Cook. Perhaps we can add the caveat that whichever round he loses is "The Instant Death Round". That way, we're killing two birds with one stone... replacing Madden and killing Dane Cook once and for all. Amen.

- Stephen King. He's got a decent enough voice, believe it or not. He's a sports freek and come on, he's going to add true "color" to the job of "color commentary". He's never at a loss for words, why not?

- Jackie Chan. Seriously. You already love EVERYTHING he does. We might not be able to understand the words coming out of his mouth, but that's the charm! Plus whoever hits the booth as the "guest" can do an action-based stunt with him. Oh! The fun!

- Token naked/willing to be mostly nude chick. Anyone but Carmen Electra or the FSU chick (Jen Sterger - I hate myself for knowing her name, Rays fan or not), therefore preferably attractive WITH clothes on, too. But let's hit the demographic HARD (Get it? Hard? Rimshot please?). Any guy watching Sunday Night Football or NFL for that matter, after a long day of drinking needs a special incentive... plus nothing says "going the other direction from Madden" than a Naked Babe.

- Tim McCarver. God knows - as he's told God himself and us many times - he knows everything about everything. He was a catcher and nothing is as close to being a Hall of Fame football player as being a less than average catcher on a succession of above average teams. It gets him FAR away from ruining baseball games and above all else, we can vote him off the exact same round as Dane Cook just to kill three birds with one swift movement!

- Chris Rock. Everyone hates Chris, but everyone is going o hate whoever replaces the bloated, Favre-loving legend anyway. At least Rock can bring the pain before the pain gets him! He's fresh, he's funny, he's a censor's nightmare - that's a recipe for success!

--Just missing the cut: Anyone who ever hosted "Family Feud" (and is still living), anyone who ever played or coached in the NFl - we're American's! We don't care if you knwo what you're talking about, as long as you're popular! And anyone who has ever beenn associated with the four-letter network. Yes, Chris Berman would be a natural fit, if you think about it - endless babbling, incoherent tangents, fat slob, tele-strator heroics... but we don't need another Madden redux. we need the NEXT wave, the NEXT movement... the "future" of broadcasting NOW!

---And then there's the twist, surprise ending "Wild Card" -No One. Who cares who wins? Just let Al Michaels do the whole thing himself. Seriously. This is by far the Wisest Choice available. Don't be stupid, NBC. The only way to replace a legend is to replace him with a bigger, more legitimate legend. Al Michaels IS that legend. Al can handle the whole thing with half a tongue in someone else's mouth. (I don't need to have TMZ photograph it for me to know it's true). Get it done! All Al is better than half-assed!!! I'm talking to YOU, NBC!!!

Now pay me my consultant fee already, bastards!


The previous tiresome rant was brought to you by the deluded minds of Manny Stiles... the self-glorifying creator of this drivel called the "Sportsune Cookie" who geniusly pawned it off on a more popular and more enjoyably soulful writer without a sly name...

Preemptive Maneuvers

The Bruins took a one game lead over the Canadiens. The question is now, "Can Montreal even win a single game?" Detroit rolled over Columbus. The Wings show no reason that they can't hold onto the Cup again this season. Detroit, of all places, could really use the uplift after the downfall of the auto industry. Calgary and Chicago played a great over-time game. Calgary may be down in the series, but they are far from out of it...

Picks for the remainder of Round One:

  • Sharks > Ducks
  • Red Wings > Blue Jackets
  • Canucks > Blues
  • Blackhawks < Flames
  • Bruins > Canadiens
  • Capitals > Rangers
  • Devils > Hurricane
  • Penguins vs Flyers *

* Refuse to pull out a jinx...


Post-emptive Maneuvers

OK NY

When the Boston Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 it did more than what people realize. All the chants and talk of "reverse the curse" was just that, a reversal of the curse. The Babe's curse has turned onto the Yankees. Eighty-six years is the minimum wait for the Yankees to win another World Series. Luckily, the wait started a few years before, back when Luis Gonzalez's broken bat single solidified the Last night of the Yankee Dynasty. The New Yankee Stadium was christened just that way that it should. A blow out loss symbolizes that hardship that the future holds in the House that George Built...

Kershaw

The young stud lefty every scout is high on is the young man Clayton Kershaw. Through two starts this season the young man has a 1.50 era, .67 whip, .081 batting average against, and nineteen strikeouts in only twelve innings. The boy is on a roll, and with a Manny-powered offense behind him, this kid could have a shot at around twenty wins this season (much earlier in his career than most would have thought)...


Unsportsrelated Havoc

Taco Bell Visit...

* These are more fun to do than they are to watch...


Ever Wonder?

Why baseball isn't too popular in Europe?

* It's baffling...


Tossing Pennies

If you could be the General Manager for any major sports team, which team would you want to run?

Personally, I'd like to take a team from the MLB. The Angels or Dodgers could be fun because of the SoCal location. Although, starting up a team in North Carolina could be fun too...


WTMF Sports

Channel Manny Presents:

W.T.M.F. Sports with your guest-host, DAndrew...

Brought to you social security...

"John Maddon qualifies for parts of whatever is still left..."

Reporting on Friday, April 17th... Manny Stiles

Stiles - "Six Legged Turkeys Everywhere Can Rejoice!!!"


The Adventures of ManRays

Today's "Ray of the Day" is Carlos Pena...

Moving up from yesterday's honorable mention, Pena jacked another home run on the season. His season total is up to five already and four of them have been in the last five games. Too bad the Rays are on a three game slide...

Honorable Mention: Jeff Niemann

Six innings with only two earned runs is a decent outing. With little help from the bull-pen and the offense, he drops his second game of the season. He showed that he has the potential to hold down that number five spot in the rotation until David Price is ready...

On Deck - James Shields needs to be the stopper here. A three game slide at home is something that isn't expected for the American League Champion Rays, espically at home. The offense and bull-pen need to start helping out everyday. The Rays won last season based on "balance" and we are about to see if they can do it again...

Go Rays!


10

Nobody guessed yesterday's ten correctly. So here they are again...
Cy Young
Pud Galvin
Nolan Ryan
Walter Johnson
Phil Niekro
Gaylord Perry
Don Sutton
Jack Powell
Eppa Rixey
Bert Blyleven

* Clue: They are listed in order from the most to the tenth most...

Anagrambunctious

"Manny Stiles" is an anagram for "Name Isn't Sly"... "DAndrew" is an anagram for "Nerd Wad"... Then again, "Falcon" was an anagram for "No Calf". So, there you go... That's your "I wonder what anagrams really tell us" tip for the day.

A Picture is worth BOOM


Strike a Prose

From Chemland's 1998 smash(ed) album Dues Paid or Bust: it's "Aliens @ Wal-Mart"
written and performed by Manny Stiles

There's aliens... at Wal-Mart
You'll see them shopping in the aisles.
Their wigs don't deceive me.
Sunglasses can't hide the shapes of their eyes enough.'
I know there's aliens,
Oh, I know there's aliens,
I know there's aliens shopping at Wal-Mart!

I seen 'em with mine own eyes.
(rest)
And they have fake skin.

Those aliens they have fake skin on 'em at Wal-Mart.
Oh, yeah. They're so facking smiley.
Yeah, right. Smiley.
With their bigs eyes and fake skin.
I guess they could have been in the witness protection agency,
or were really bad burn victims but no...
I'm not fooled. Who wears fake skin?
Who wears sunglasses inside Wal-Mart?
And their wigs don't deceive me!
Sunglasses can't hide the shape of their eyes enough
I know there's aliens.
Oh, I know there's aliens,
I know there's aliens shopping at Wal-Mart!!!

I seen 'em with mine own eyes...
(ad lib fade to rest)
And they had fake skin!


Answering the Questions

ATQ - n/a


Notes From Apostrophe

Thanks much Stiles...

  • MS - No, thank you, D(Apostrophe)Andrew! For reviving this monumental pile of Crapustermafunk called "the Sportsune Cookie" in the first place!

Until Next Week...

As always, leave 'em below...

Disclaimer: Written as always in IMO font...


Wanna crack open another Sportsune Cookie?
Sportsune Cookie 20090511
v 14 votes c 32 comments
Sportsune Cookie 20090508
v 12 votes c 15 comments
Sportsune Cookie 20090507
v 13 votes c 16 comments
Sportsune Cookie 20090506
v 13 votes c 21 comments
Sportsune Cookie 20090505
v 14 votes c 22 comments


Enable Comment Auto-Refresher
Anonymous Fanatic #1
207 days ago
Score 1+-
All time career leaders in losses.
Permalink | Reply
DAndrewJV Squad
207 days ago
Score 0+-
KD?
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
They're all righthanded something or other...
Permalink
JuTMSY4Legend
206 days ago
Score 1+-
they're all pitchers... Boom!
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
Not all of them are pitchers... Some of them are dead. Dead pitchers throw no strikes.
Permalink
Anonymous Fanatic #2
206 days ago
Score 5+-
Neither does Oliver Perez.
Permalink
JuTMSY4Legend
206 days ago
Score 2+-
More plusses if I could...
Permalink
Tmil42AAA-er
206 days ago
Score 0+-
Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have him than Kyle Kendrick, but he is infuriating sometimes.


And my apparent inability to sign in before commenting is similarly maddening.
Permalink
AmphibiousSportsDuoVarsity
206 days ago
Score 0+-
I thought you retired Manny?!? Please tell me when we can quit feeling sorry for Detroit? They failed to address the same problems for years and yet we're supposed to feel bad for the city and reward them for some of the country's biggest sporting events. It's like people on reality shows that say they're on the show for their kid, as if irresponsibly pro-creating is supposed to entitle you to sympathy. Invariably, those people get eliminated from the shows... ya know, cause they don't love the lil bastards enough.
Permalink | Reply
AmphibiousSportsDuoVarsity
206 days ago
Score 0+-
reward them "with"
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
Retire? Eh, that's soooo 2008 (and 2006)...
Permalink
Steel TownDraft Pick
206 days ago
Score 3+-
Perhaps, and I know this is a crazy thought, we feel bad for Detroit because no one, except for you of course, likes to hear about people losing their jobs. If the Cup is in Detroit this year it only be reward for great play. They looked unstoppable again last night.
Permalink | Reply
CheezerAll-Star
206 days ago
Score 4+-
If it's gonna be a robot, I recommend that it, at least, be Crow T. Robot?
Permalink | Reply
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 2+-
Well, I'm partial to Bender from Futurama... He'd be great!
Permalink
CheezerAll-Star
206 days ago
Score 2+-
Bender would never show up sober and would passed out by midway through the second quarter. Come to think of it, with many of the games over by then, listening to him snore would probably be an improvement.
Permalink
CheezerAll-Star
206 days ago
Score 0+-
Sheesh, first I add a "?" and then I omit the word "be".

Time to go home.
Permalink
Oh No RomoDraft Pick
206 days ago
Score 3+-
Fine, you take Crow, I'll take Tom Servo!
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
MST3K_Crow_Color.png
Permalink
SSreportersLegend
206 days ago
Score 2+-
"Why baseball isn't too popular in Europe?"


Not really. They already have a game where they use a big stick to hit a ball and get maximum points in hitting it out of the grassy area of the stadium.


They also have a game that's even more popular that involves kicking a ball into the opposition's net.


Let's not forget the other game similar to the one I mentioned above that involves putting a cylindrical object known as a "puck" into the opposition's net.


Those 3 alone mean baseball ain't going anywhere in Europe. ;-)
Permalink | Reply
SSreportersLegend
206 days ago
Score 0+-
points = runs....but you get the idea.
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
Yeah and we'll never see a penny they owe us for rebuilding their continent after 1945 either. Keep your precious feetball, I want the damned money back!
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 4+-
I don't know why, but I feel like a Simpsons quote here.


horst.jpg


"Beware, us Germans aren't all smiles und sunshine"
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 3+-
You could have gone with anything from "The Trouble with Trillions"... Now we will be snooty and rude to Americans FOREVER!
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
So very true. That would have been more relevant. Although I did use that episode a few weeks ago when a discussion came up about Fidel Castro. When "borrowing" funniness, it's important to sprinkle variety.
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
You quoted it, I didn't! Quoting De Gaulle vs. quoting Castro - same episode or not, is not variety?

Fine. Long live Grounskeeper Willie.

"Bon Jouuuuurrrrr, you cheese eating surrender monkeys!"
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
Why Europeans don't like baseball?


Some do, and it seems as though baseball is more popular in Europe than American football.


But Europeans seem to like sports with fewer pauses. The clock in soccer literally never stops, hockey is a flowing game, and basketball doesn't slow down until the ends of games. Even Formula 1 racing rarely has full-course cautions. These are all big sports over there. Baseball (and American football) is the King of Stoppage. It's also expensive to play, is difficult to play with two people, requires a specialized field to play properly, is immensely complicated, requires its own special equipment.
Permalink | Reply
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
Fewer pauses? Ummm... have you WATCHED a cricket match? It is a GAME of stoppages. Hell, they take tea breaks!

Tennis is big in Europe, too. Tennis has more non-action in it's span of time than an NFL football game.

Hockey takes more equipment (such as ICE) and has more rules than baseball.

Europeans don't like baseball because when it gained popularity, it was a devoutly ANTI-European game. While the Europeans were colonializing under the guise of religion, Americans were stepping away from the moral weights of religion and seeking more leisurely respites. Plus, it was a game for drunks, dirtbags and the lower class Union soldiers. (see: King Kelly to Babe Ruth)

Like any group of people, Europeans do stuff because "that's the way they've always done it". For the same reason, Americans generally don't give a damn about soccer. Rare is the individual in a society who has ever stopped to wonder "why?" social traditions are they way they are.
Permalink
Oh No RomoDraft Pick
206 days ago
Score 2+-
Did you say....TEA!?
Permalink
SSreportersLegend
206 days ago
Score 2+-
Oh I forgot to mention rugby as well. The clock rarely stops in that sport too and I consider it just as tough as American football. Although I think some of those players are giving quick kisses in the scrum.
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
I may have said tea. I don't know. Lots of people were saying things. I got caught up in the moment. Maybe it just slipped out. I'm not taking this abuse! Who are you calling crazy? I don't care if you you're related to the Duke of Essex. Yeah, I know what the price of tea is in China... well, just one town in China, but that counts. Ridiculous? What gives you the right to accuse me of anything? Who am I talking to? No. Who are YOU talking to? What do you mean, am I paranoid? You're paranoid, I'm not paranoid! The whole damned system is paranoid! One lump or two?
Permalink
Oh No RomoDraft Pick
206 days ago
Score 1+-
Jokes on you. I'm not related to the Duke of Essex.
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
No but you're the Earl of Dork. Ha ha! I'm rubber and you're glue! You smell dead horses!
Permalink
Oh No RomoDraft Pick
206 days ago
Score 1+-
D'OH! Can't argue with that point.
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
Well, I could. But it's not pretty when I argue with myself. It always ends up in the same vicious cycle: Shouting, Violence, then the make up sex, a bit of cuddling that is never long enough then I act like super casual like I'm not even there just to get myself all riled up again.
Permalink
Oh No RomoDraft Pick
206 days ago
Score 1+-
You win this battle Stiles, but next time...I'll probably lose that battle too...But eventually we'll end in a draw and that's when I will declare victory!
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
A Draw? You're going to shoot me? Aw shucks, pardner. Shoot, I reckon I always done figgered I'd be fixin' to catch a lead pill plumb in the gullet, but I ne'er had the notion in tarnation it'd be by a soaplock blackleg like yerself, not by a jugful.
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
How big is cricket in continental Europe?


Tennis does have pauses, but not every 4 seconds like baseball and football


Ice in Finland and Sweden isn't equipment, it's your front lawn.


The history is certainly a reason, and baseball's age doesn't help it. But Europeans do like North American sports like hockey and basketball. And basketball, in particular, has surged recently. Michael Jordan deserves an assist on that one. Maybe if Babe Ruth, or a a celebrity/athlete of his stature played in the age of satellite TV, baseball would be big in Europe, as well.
Permalink
JuTMSY4Legend
206 days ago
Score 2+-
Dwight may have won the battle. But I will win... the next battle. - Andy Bernard
Permalink
SSreportersLegend
206 days ago
Score 2+-
The difference today though Manny is we've managed to equate soccer to some of the most insane things ever.


When is the last time you've heard a European guy say baseball is played by terrorists? Or that it leads to communism? Or it is played by 3rd world countries and therefore it sucks?


I don't like baseball because it's monotonous, you don't have to be in shape, and it lacks any form of fluidity but I don't equate it to a game that is played by terrorists.


@ Rawb, well NFL Europe sure worked out didn't it? ;-)
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
Actually, US football seemed to be a hit in Germany. Maybe because of their affinity for blitzing?


Sorry...
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
Wait a minute, Rawb... let's get back to this tea thing.

Ugh. What are you going to resolve with this literal traipsing and gallavanting over the merits of... Aw! Who cares about what Europeans think about baseball? They're too good for us, fine!? And for some reason you think you can speak for all Europeans because you wnet there once and you like feetball. I'm a redblooded, arrogant, 100% meat-loving, gun-toting, tobacco chawing, bourbon swigging, Baseball-in-my-DNA American. And I speak for myself when I say - We're not ridding the world of slanted opinions blabbing about cultural differences between continents on AGM.com any time soon. I'm sorry I hit the ball into the forest and all you see is the trees.

Where's my tea already, dammit? I'm getting thirsty talking about all this unfunny nothing.
Permalink
Steel TownDraft Pick
206 days ago
Score 2+-
"When is the last time you've heard a European guy say baseball is played by terrorists? Or that it leads to communism? Or it is played by 3rd world countries and therefore it sucks?"


I also can't remember the last time I heard someone say these things about soccer. That is what you are implying right? That these things have been said about soccer?
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
SSR - You don't like baseball because you either don't understand it (it is a cerebral game) and/or can't play it very well.

Some people are just not good with moving their bodies to compensate for orbs moving through the air. I completely undstand how you could be one of them.

Hey, there's nothing that's made for everyone. Some people don't like sex, drugs or rock n'roll, either. I'm not here to judge.
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
I don't think Europeans dislike baseball because it's American, otherwise, why would they fall in love with basketball so easily?


I'm not trying to speak for Europe, just my opinions on why, as a general rule, they do not like a particular sport. The popular sports in Europe (soccer, cycling, basketball, F1, ice hockey in some parts) have monumental differences to baseball from an entertainment standpoint. Kids in Europe aren't going to play a game they're not entertained by, and adults aren't going to watch one they're not entertained by.


I'm on an e-mail message board list thingy with a bunch of Arsenal FC fans from around the world. Every year or so, a discussion of US sports comes up. "Why don't Yanks like footie?" "Should Arsenal market to the US?" "Why don't Brits like American football, or baseball?" When that question comes up, it's usually answered that baseball and US football are too slow, with too many pauses.


Now, this is hardly a good polling of all Europe, HOWEVER it does make perfect sense when you look at the popular sports in Europe, what they have in common, and what they lack when compared to baseball and US football.


Just because I disagree with you on this broad and vague discussion doesn't mean I think I'm the AGM Ambassador to Europe.
Permalink
SSreportersLegend
206 days ago
Score 2+-
I'll find some links for you ST and send them to your board.


Manny, soccer is a cerebral yet simple game and I understand it quite well. Baseball is a game where the David Ortiz's of the world can not see a gym for years but earn millions of dollars. It's a sport that outside of the odd freak collision in the outfield for a fly ball or a play at the plate has little contact.


I don't play soccer very well and my free throw shooting parallels Ben Wallace levels in basketball. But those fast-paced games that get my blood flowing as opposed to a game where most of the time you're standing still.


I am not too high on cricket but the ball comes at you faster and you don't have these huge leather gloves to catch rockets from the batsman. In many ways it is a more complex game and tougher to play than baseball.
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
Why can't SSR like baseball, Manny? Some people don't like a sport that stops every 4 seconds. For me, I love the pauses in a well-played game. I love the tension of a hard-fought at-bat, it's like the tension of a Western movie when two guys are in a showdown, about to draw. and it happens like 60 times a game! I love it.


But not everyone HAS to love what you love.
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
^^^Why can't SSR not like baseball?
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
And SSR, David Ortiz lifts... a lot. He's a strong dude. He's not fast, or agile, but he could crush you with one hand.
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
I don't care what anyone likes or doesn't like. What would I gain by caring about such menial shit?

I simply stated that SSR has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to baseball.

Obviously he's never pitched, caught ran down a fly ball or went first to third on a single through the hole. I used to lose ten pounds a game in sweat when I pitched (even on cold days) and more when I caught. It's TOUGHER than you think to run full speed when you don't know when you'll need to and those moments between pitches that are boring to fans is the anticipation of "what am I going to do with the ball if they hit it to me?" wearing you down more than you think.

As for "collisions": I personally collided a hell of a lot of dude's ribs and hips, and one douche's helmet got cracked (and one unfortunate dude who ducked, in his jaw) with my 2 seamer.

I still have floating bone fragments in my left ankle from a come-backer in 1990. I saw a my catcher get a double compound fracture in his leg blocking home, I had a friend get a broken humerus "trying" to throw a curveball, I saw my buddy get his eye socket smashed into smithereens from a pickoff attempt, I saw a guy die in batting practice shagging flies when he collided with another guy! And how many people have been spiked on takeout slides? Baseball is not for pussies or out of shape. There's LOTS of quality athletes lugging beerguts around, don't be fooled...

As for the game of baseball which actually revolves around "contact" more than any other sport - round ball, round bat, hit it squarely. Hand eye co-ordination is a natural born skill, not an achievement.
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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score -2+-
"soccer is a cerebral yet simple game" You better ask Santa for a new dictionary.
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SSreportersLegend
206 days ago
Score 1+-
Yeah Manny, and I saw a guy's leg shatter in half on live TV because of a rough challenge in a soccer game. I also see a certain goalkeeper who plays for Chelsea wearing a rugby skullcap because he got clattered in the head. I saw another goalkeeper get broken ribs because a player looking to get to the ball before he did slid in with the cleats going straight towards the ribs. Try running up and down a field and shooting with those same legs with full power for 90 minutes. That's tougher than baseball ESPECIALLY since there are few "stoppages" per se.


"Baseball is not for pussies or out of shape."

Prince Fielder. Raul Ibanez fielding (the pussy part). End of story.
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 3+-
Why can't both of you just like the sports you like, and let the other let the sports they like?


I love soccer, but I get sick of people trying to proselytize the sport and convert non-believers. And I get sick of people who don't understand the game of soccer in any way, trying to convince people to NOT like soccer or to belittle a sport they know nothing about.


Just live and let live.
Permalink
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
The difference is... I played soccer. I went to a school where there was not football, only soccer - so I played soccer. That's the difference between what I'm saying and what SSR is attempting to prosthelyze. And I played baseball a lot longer. I LOVE baseball, of course. BUT I'm not trying to convert anyone. But soccer is about as basic a game as there ever was. O!F, there's a lot of running in soccer!!! Woo. Hide the women and children!!! And as long as David Beckham is the world's most recognized soccer star - or the very fact that he ever was - NO ONE is going to convince me that soccer players are tough... Never ever ever ever, uh-uh.
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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 0+-
And SSR, I was talking about injuries I witnessed - in person - not on TV. I never saw anyone die playing soccer - unless it was in a riot or getting crushed in a stampede.
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DAndrewJV Squad
206 days ago
Score 1+-
Golf is pretty popular in Europe too. They stop alot in golf...
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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
205 days ago
Score 0+-
Well, all I can say is that top flight soccer in Europe is just a little bit different than amateur soccer in the US. Sort of like the difference between high school baseball, and Major League Baseball. Better example might be the difference between high school basketball and the NBA. In high school it might seem like a bunch of running, jumping, and shooting; in the pros, it's much more evolved.


You can try to win every argument with "I played this sport, so I know," but honestly, your argument with SSR about soccer vs. baseball is so unbelievably unwinnable for both of you.


They do love golf, and many other individual sports, probably more than Americans do. Watching golf, however, you get to see dozens of golfers in an event. Imagine just watching two golfers, and how many empty pauses there'd be (about 130 to 140), half as many as a baseball game.
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RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
205 days ago
Score 0+-
And as long as David Beckham is the world's most recognized soccer star - or the very fact that he ever was - NO ONE is going to convince me that soccer players are tough... Never ever ever ever, uh-uh.


This logic made me laugh, though, because Derek Jeter was once the world's most recognized baseball star.
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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
205 days ago
Score 0+-
I despise Derek Jeter. And even I will admit - he's tough.


derek-jeter-dive-into-stands.jpg
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Anonymous Fanatic #3
206 days ago
Score 3+-
"And SSR, David Ortiz lifts... a lot"

Let's see. A can of beer is 12 ounces. Maybe takes him four sips to finish one can, probably good for a dozen or so after each game, that's four 12 ounce reps x 12, 48 ounces per can, 576 ounces per day, comes to 36 pounds.

No wonder he's so strong.
Permalink | Reply
Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
206 days ago
Score 1+-
Your math is faulty. After the first sip, the beer is no longer 12 oz... Come on, Anon! You know better than that!
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Oh No RomoDraft Pick
206 days ago
Score 1+-
How did we get to math?
Permalink
RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer
205 days ago
Score -1+-
There's also a difference between fluid ounces (volume) and dry ounces (weight).


mrwizard.jpg
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Categories: Opinions | Opinions by User DAndrew | Opinions by User Manny Stiles | April 17, 2009 | April 2009 | Sportsune Cookie Opinions

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