There’s almost no news value to this at all, but seeing Mets outfielder Jeff Francoeur going fetal in the presence of a fly ball is just so enjoyably bizarre. You know, outfielders have done nothing but catch the ball for so long in this game, it’s great to see somebody trying a different approach. I’m sure the sabermetricians are scratching their heads over how to quantify it. Though if they can work the acronym into something like PUSS, I could totally get down with that. via.
The New York Mets have been amazingly awful this year. Despite only being 4.5 games out of first, they’ve constantly invented new ways to lose each week. And tragically. The All-Star break couldn’t have come at a better time for these guys. Here’s a brief rundown of the games they’ve managed to piss away. Yes, this is only a sampling. From this season. Hey, you can’t upload a video to Youtube longer than ten minutes.
|NESW Sports, via Hot Clicks|
Last night, the Anaheim Ducks (they’re no longer the “Mighty Ducks” since Disney sold the team to this guy in 2006) edged out another win against Detroit last night, but the rub was that Detroit actually scored the tying goal with under two minutes to play in regulation. Only the referee pulled a Hochuli and blew the play dead, thereby disallowing the goal. Even though the NHL has had instant replay since 1991, this play apparently was not reviewable. Which is yet another reason we need to see a team get screwed before any of us care about hockey.
Some of the suspect video direction of March Madness was highlighted on Friday during the Wisconsin-Florida State game when the feed to that came was cut and replaced by another game–while a Wisconsin shot hung in the air. XM’s Chris Russo asked CBS executive VP Mike Aresco about the fuggup, among other things:
On cutting away during the final shot in regulation in Friday night’s Wisconsin-Florida State game:
Russo: “Friday night, ball is in the air, Wisconsin, the ball is in the air…”
Aresco: “That was a control room error.”
Russo: “How do we not see that ball, whether it goes in or not, last play in regulation?”
Aresco: “Yeah, it was just a control room [error]. These things happen. They’re rare but they do happen. It was a control room error.”
I blame the Big Ten. They ruin everything.
This is apparently an infamous clip, but not infamous enough that I've seen it before, of wrestler Mike Awesome – may he wrestle in peace – having some difficulty with laying waste to a referee after losing a match. Not satisfied with powerbombing the guy twice, you have to try to scale the top rope to deliver further poundage? Scripted or not, karma will exact its toll. Just look at Owen Hart. If only he hadn't cut off that lady in traffic on the way to the arena.
Newspapers often create obituaries for public figures long before they actually become worm food. Once completed, the papers then generally refrain from making reference to that person's death until, you know, they shuffle loose this mortal coil.
Not those trailblazers at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, who this morning in a Metro story implied that Muhammad Ali has passed away. Hey, no big whoop, mistakes happen, he's only the most famous person to hail from that town, uh, ever. Why should they be keeping tabs on him?
To their credit, the paper has corrected the error, but only after getting an angry visit from the Grim Reaper. "Hey, quit killing people before I get a chance to do it," Death said. "I like to savor it with famous people. Yves Saint-Laurent was a real treat. Gay people always go out fabulously. Hey, it's all right, I'm sorry. It's just a stressful gig, this reaping. Put 'er there. HAHAHA! They fall for that one every time."
