WHO DAT

WIN!


FAIL


Oh Manning Face, I missed you!

Congrats to the Saints for a great year (and for possibly winning me my office pool).

Pitchers and catchers report in 10 days!

And Another San Diego Chargers Season Ends In Epic Fail

When's spring training?

*looking at Jays 2010 roster*

Uh, when's the World Cup?

Catch The Taste Of Harsh Reality: Roberto Alomar Is Not A First-Ballot Hall Of Famer

Two things happened after the announcement of the 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees: spontaneous, poorly-informed debate, and the repeat viewing of this video.

Roberto Alomar missed making it to the Baseball Hall of Fame by just eight votes, drawing the ire of many pundits and fans who felt he should have gotten in on the first ballot.

The "snubbing" even caused a heated debate at The Score; to be fair, the last two heated debates in Newspit 2 involved Jersey Shore, so take that for what it's worth.

Alomar-backers are claiming the infamous Hirschbeck-spitting incident, or more recently the AIDS tabloid rumours affected Alomar's bid. I certainly hope that's not the case, because that would be the wrong reason not to elect someone to the Hall of Fame, given that a few HOF members were described as unlikable jerks and borderline criminals in their day.

The real reason, and the right reason, is that Roberto Alomar is simply not worthy of a first-ballot nomination.

The process of getting into the Hall of Fame is questionable at best, and the biggest factor of all is circumstance. Alomar got close to the 75% threshold in large part because the other candidates were weak; Andre Dawson finally got in on his ninth try, while Bert Blyleven again fell just short after 13 years on the ballot. Did anyone think that Dawson and Blyleven were definitely among the absolute best in the sport? Evidently not.

Heck, even Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, and Rogers Hornsby (the greatest 2B ever) weren't first-balloters. If they didn't get in on their first shot, then clearly factors other than numbers, awards and warm fuzzy feelings are at play here.

Many people are throwing around the best-second-baseman-of-his-generation title, which again is more about circumstance and less about credentials.

Can you really say that Roberto Alomar dominated his position the way Cal Ripken or Rickey Henderson did? You can, if you're a crazy person.

Alomar was undoubtedly the best 2B in the American League in his time, but when you include the National League, Alomar suddenly becomes just the best defensive second baseman.

Jeff Kent holds the title of best offensive second baseman of the era; his 351 homers are the most ever at the position. Kent also won the NL MVP in 2000; Alomar never won an MVP.

And best all-around second-bagger should go to Craig Biggio, who got to 3000 hits (which Alomar did not), and has the hardware and the history to back it up (he is the only player ever with 3000 hits, 600 doubles, 400 stolen bases, and 250 home runs).

Will Kent and Biggio get first-ballot nominations? Probably not, and neither should Alomar.

To be clear: he will get in, and it should happen next year. But putting Alomar in the same sentence as Ripken, Henderson and Tony Gwynn is just foolish.

When you think "bonafide, no-brainer Hall of Famer", you do NOT think of Roberto Alomar.

And if you do, you're either a Jays fan, or an idiot. Or both.

Roy Halladay Finally Gets Traded In 4-Way, Eleventy Billion Player Deal That Apparently No One Understands

You know that moment when you’re stuck in a big thunderstorm and it lets up for a little bit, and you think to yourself, “This is probably the best chance I got” and make a break for it?

We’re at that point in the Roy Halladay trade, a blockbuster the likes of which hasn’t been seen in baseball for several years.

Here’s how the deal works out from the Jays’ perspective: they give up their franchise player and $6 million to Philadelphia for prospects Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis d’Arnaud. The Jays then flip Taylor to Oakland for another prospect, Brett Wallace.

The Phillies then turn around and ship Cliff Lee to Seattle for a few prospects, including Canadian hurler Phillippe Aumont.

The names that aren’t Halladay or Lee have changed every couple hours, so this may not be the deal that ends up happening. But that’s not what this story is about.

This story is about two things: the Toronto Blue Jays losing something they could count on having the last 11-or-so seasons: Roy Halladay pitching every five days, which is a full-length article in itself.

But the second thing is about the American media and notoriously loopy Philly fans not understanding just what the Phillies are getting in Halladay.

Just look at some of these headlines:

“Lee-Halladay deal doesn’t feel right in Philly”

“Halladay/Lee: Makes No Sense At All”

Are you kidding me? I mean, Jays fans were used to Doc’s relative anonymity south of the border, which was all well and good when he was still a Jay. But ask people who actually know baseball, like Joe Torre, or Derek Jeter, or anyone who’s had to face Roy Halladay on a regular basis: he is THE best pitcher in the game. Better than Johan Santana. Better than Cliff Lee. Better than C.C. Sabathia. And the Phillies are locking him up to a long-term contract extension at an affordable price.

Add in that there was no progress with Lee on signing a similar extension, and that the Phillies managed to get top prospects back for Lee, cushioning the blow to the farm system of losing Drabek and Taylor, and this should be seen as a huge win for Ruben Amaro and the Phillies brass.

So far, that’s not how it appears, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that after Halladay makes two or three starts with Philadelphia and absolutely carves up the opposition, that you won’t be hearing from these morons again.

Make no mistake: Roy Halladay pitching in the National League is a scary proposition. The Yankees, Red Sox and Rays are uncorking champagne bottles at the news that Halladay is out of their division.

I would be shocked if Doc didn’t add another Cy Young or two to his resume in Philly, because he just so happens to have the best offense in the NL behind him, which should provide him with those extra wins that may have robbed him of further hardware during his time in Toronto.

So farewell, good Doctor, and I wish you nothing but the best. You deserve this perhaps more than any player in Major League Baseball.

Oh, and Phillies fans; you’re welcome. This should make up for 1993.

OH JOY OF JOYS

It's true, Jays fans! The worst baseball play-by-announcer in history has finally been relieved of his duties.

And replacing him? Buck Martinez! FUCK YES!

"I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to call play-by-play, and living up to the great tradition that has been established by Tom Cheek, Jim Hughson and Dan Shulman."

BUT NOT JAMIE CAMPBELL! THAT COCKZIPPER SET OUR PROFESSION BACK FOR YEARS!

No longer will I have to watch the Jays on mute. There is no way on God's green earth that Buck could be worse at play-by-play than Jamie fucking Campbell.

Buck's colour guy has yet to be determined, but Pat Tabler, Rance Mulliniks and Darrin Fletcher - aka the Terrible Three - have not had their contracts renewed as of yet, which is promising.

I'll tell you who it won't be: Gregg Zaun, because Milwaukee paid that pile of crap $2.15 million to be their starting catcher!

BAHAHAHA this is the greatest day ever!

Bitches Be Crazy

Apparently that old adage (OK, it's not old really, just something me and my roommate made up) applies even to mega-stars like Tiger Woods.

As you've probably heard by now, Tiger was involved in a minor car accident. He was treated at a local hospital for facial lacerations and released.

What is still up for debate is just how Tiger got said lacerations.

As usual, TMZ was on the story first, and continues to invade my life whether I like it or not (my co-workers LOVE the site):

The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.

Wow. I was just in Sweden this summer; didn't realize how loco their women are. I guess I'd be upset too if my meal ticket was crashing itself into a fire hydrant.

Anyway, the alleged affair story broke only a couple days ago, so it's highly unlikely that this is a coincidence, no matter how much the popular sports media tried to spin it as an "accident" or as a slanderous attack on a golden athlete.

Look, it's pretty obvious what happened here: Tiger "got it in the hole" on someone else's putting surface. Guess what? He's a rich and powerful man! Rich and powerful men do shit like this all the time; just cause he plays golf for a living doesn't mean he's not a weaselly weasel.

Sure, he married a Swedish model, and that should be enough. For most people. But not for Tiger, evidently.

This further proves my theory that superstar athletes should never get married. You can have all the Scandinavian bikini girls you want, with none of the eventual backlash when you wanna upgrade to the newest set of clubs, as it were.

The real winners in all this? The PGA. A bonafide scandal involving the most popular player in the history of the sport that has nothing to do with racism or sexism? Amazing! Cheating on your wife? John Daly calls that a Tuesday!

Dwyane Wade With No Regard For Anderson Varejao's Life

Move over Carmelo Anthony, we got a new dunk of the year!



Wow. Also, the French judge gave Varejao a 9.8 for the perfect jackknife somersault into the back of the net.