Josh please expound

The picture is from Reuters.

Also for an interesting write up on the economics of the Olympics:

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/02/14-year-commercial-real-estate-supply.html

Someone sent out a slide show a while ago, but basically the Olympics weren't financially profitable until 1980 in LA (if I remember correctly). But since they did it in LA the rest of the games have been profitable. But I don't know if it'll prove true for China this round. And I don't know if you heard the Bama is pulling for Chicago to win the bid for 2016. Anyone on the odds? What's more likely that or NCAA football playoff? :)

Oh and Chris I'm still waiting for the first post... :)

Operation Scheyer Face

I was browsing washingtonpost.com and just happened to see this on the home page, with accompaning caption:


(Photo: Toni L. Sandys/Post)
CAPTION: Maryland fans taunt Duke player Jon Scheyer as part of Operation Scheyerface during the game at the Comcast Center.

I don't know much about Duke's squad this year; nor about Maryland's. I don't really follow College BBall until March. But I want to know more about Operation Scheyerface.

Couldn't Have Imagined a More Bizarre Matchup

Could someone please explain this to me?

Copied and pasted (in part) from here:

"Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz (you know, as opposed to Sacremento-based performance artist Lou Holtz) is fielding a team of Notre Dame alumni to play against the Japanese national team in football. That’s American football, not this futbol shit that some emo soccer player feels obligated to explain every time he hears a conversation not about the World Cup."

...But really. I have no words on how to explain this.

Stats & Sports

If you have some time on your hands, this article written by Michael Lewis ("Money Ball," "The Blind Side" [the book I recommended a couple months back]) for NY Times magazine is very interesting. Sports will never be completely predicted by stats, but the new statistics that are being applied to sports I care about (see www.footballoutsiders.com/info/methods and their explanation of DVOA; to a lesser extent, basketball) are making the role of statistics in determining the "value" of players and the possible contributions they can make to a team absolutely fascinating (to me, at least).

I acknowledge that boiling sports down to pure numbers takes away from much of the human factors that make it great -- passion, drive, will, discipline, inspiration etc -- so I'm not saying stats are the end-all, say-all. But they provide some nice insight.

Anybody have thoughts on this? Are stats taking over too much of how sports / players are judged? Do they need to be more of a factor?

Keep Those Dispensers Well-Stocked

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Jeff Reed is in trouble with the police over some towels, but not the Terrible kind waved by his fans. Pennsylvania state police say Reed threw a temper tantrum at a Sheetz convenience store in New Alexandria, a tiny borough about 35 miles east of Pittsburgh, because its restroom didn't have any towels.

Reed has been cited for disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, offenses similar to traffic tickets that carry a maximum fine of $300 and 90 days in jail each. Police said he broke the towel dispenser then used profane language to an employee and also outside the store.

"Reed caused damage to a towel dispenser as he was infuriated at the fact that there were no towels in it," according to a news release by Trooper Shawn Askins, who issued the citations. The incident occurred Saturday about 2:50 a.m.

A message left on an answering machine at Reed's home was not immediately returned.

Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett said the team wouldn't have any immediate comment.

"We're still gathering information right now," Lockett said Saturday.

Reed made 27 of 31 field goals and 36 of 37 PATs for 117 points in his seventh season with the Steelers, which was capped by Pittsburgh's 27-23 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl.

Reed has made nearly 83 percent of his field goals (162 of 196) and scored 733 points for the Steelers in his career.

A Different Take on the A-Rod Scandal

With the media beating this dead horse, I love how "The Onion" provides satire. Headline from their website:

"Kobe Bryant Shouts 'I Have Been Taking Steroids' As Sports Media Gallops Past Him"

Mt. Rushmore of Sports

ESPN started an interesting little contest, having fans pick their state's "Mt. Rushmore" of sports icons.

"Can I Have the Country of Origin, Please?"

I'm really sorry. I just can't get enough.

Big Ben

Absolutely love this commercial.

As an up and coming fan of the NFL, wanted to see what everyone else thinks after Roethlisberger's performance in the playoffs/Super Bowl. Where does he rank among the modern era of quarterbacks? Brady? Manning? Brees? I understand the myriad of factors that you need to take into account with QBs, but the guy knows how to win.

Thoughts?

Ouch

Found this at the Washington Post. That looks painful.