Sports

[Bjorn]

Deadspin is running it's annual "Why your football team sucks" series.  The Chiefs entry got some genuine chuckles out of me. 

 

All of this will be in service of a KC fanbase whose loudness is vastly overrated (the Chiefs have nine home wins in the past three years). It's the Chiefs who began the decibel-scale arms race between fans that has led to the Seahawks having the most obnoxious fanbase in the universe. So thanks for that, Kansas City. Assholes. The only way Kansas City makes anything good is by burning it. The best song about Kansas City is about the fear that someone from Kansas City is about to visit.

[Professor Video Games]

I don't really care about the Falcons either way but I liked his dig at downtown Atlanta (from here).

 

 

Apparently all the good parts of Atlanta aren't in, like, Atlanta Atlanta. They are in other Atlantas and thus are a two-mile, 158-minute drive away. Downtown Atlanta has an aquarium, a hotel, a McCormick & Schmick's, and 70,000 TGI Friday's. I don't even know if the buildings are real. The whole downtown may just be a set. I couldn't even find a donut joint. It was like Ebola had swept through the town years ago, instead of just this week. No wonder they did the Walking Dead premiere in that city. You don't have to change anything.

 

There's also a Hard Rock Cafe!

 

More sports related, I'm excited to see the Braves either blow their chance to get the wildcard spot or lose in the first round of the playoffs.

[TheLastBaron]

The Browns one is always the best in a really depressing way. The fan quotes are great.

[Codicier]

The whole US idea of a 'sports franchise', of teams suddenly moving city or appearing from nowhere feels deeply strange to me, Has US sport always been this way? Or was it ever a more organic thing?

[Badfinger]

The whole US idea of a 'sports franchise', of teams suddenly moving city or appearing from nowhere feels deeply strange to me, Has US sport always been this way? Or was it ever a more organic thing?

 

Yes it's been this way forever. The Oakland Athletics? They were started as the Philadelphia Athletics in 1901, moved to Kansas City in the 1950s and have been in Oakland for over 40 years. In fact, two of the most iconic teams in baseball that are synonymous with the West coast, the Giants and Dodgers, were franchises started in New York.

[Bjorn]

Just finished watching what was probably the most intense baseball game I've ever seen.  The Royals haven't been in the post season in 29 years (I was in elementary school when George Brett led them to the World Series).  And they just got through a one-and-done wild card game in a 12 inning heart stopper.  Fucking crazy.  Kansas City is losing its shit tonight.

[Henroid]

OH MAN a sports thread. This isn't me being sarcastic.

 

So being a person that grew up in the east bay my home team is Oakland. The Raiders aren't doing so great this season. If anyone didn't see it, this past Sunday we went to LONDON to play a game against the Miami Dolphins and lost terribly, making our record 0-4 for the season so far. The result though? A last straw. Yesterday our coach was fired (he had two seasons in a row of 4-12 records and just wasn't bringing it), and we have an interim coach in place while the owner finds a new one.

 

Coupled with our starter QB (who wasn't that great) getting injured, the rest of our season is gonna be interesting.

[Bjorn]

I'd apologize for the Royals beating Oakland tonight...but it's been almost 3 decades.  We needed this. 

 

I actually miss having a good Raiders team.  It made the Chiefs/Raiders rivalry a lot more fun.

[Merus]

We finally have a soccer team in the AFC final! It's the Western Sydney Wanderers, who are a fairly new team that basically set the standard in Australian soccer. Good on them, I say.

[Badfinger]

I'd apologize for the Royals beating Oakland tonight...but it's been almost 3 decades.  We needed this. 

 

I actually miss having a good Raiders team.  It made the Chiefs/Raiders rivalry a lot more fun.

 

 

What you should apologize for is the Royals not catching the Tigers, leaving us in a position where instead of everyone happily rooting for Oakland, no one did and now the A's are out but the Tigers are in the damn playoffs again.

[Professor Video Games]

The first NFL game I ever went to was a Chiefs/Raiders game I think 4 years ago (when they were both at their worst). I spent something like $100 to watch two garbage teams fail to score any touchdowns and at the very end of the game some drunk idiot Raiders fans a few rows behind me got in a fight.  I think I want both of those teams to be good now only so no one else has to sit through a garbage game like that again...

[Henroid]

The first NFL game I ever went to was a Chiefs/Raiders game I think 4 years ago (when they were both at their worst). I spent something like $100 to watch two garbage teams fail to score any touchdowns and at the very end of the game some drunk idiot Raiders fans a few rows behind me got in a fight.  I think I want both of those teams to be good now only so no one else has to sit through a garbage game like that again...

The funny thing about football is I see two opinions about what constitutes a good game:

- A game with a low low low score from both teams like the one you described, OR

- A game with a very high score from both teams

 

I'm not sure where I fall in this. I think to me a good game is when you can at least tell both teams are trying, not getting a ton of penalties. Which on that note, the Raiders haven't had a good game in a while.

 

(Actually not true; their season opener this year, they had NO penalties in the first half and I was proud as hell of them even if they lost the game in the end)

[Bjorn]

I consider it a good football game when both teams are performing competently (not dropping catchable passes, not missing a bunch of makeable tackles, not making dumb penalties, etc). 
 
Back to baseball, the KC police tweeted this out last night:

[Professor Video Games]

No, sadly this was just a straight up shit game. I found the writeup for it...bits like "the overall No. 1 draft choice of 2007 completed only 7 of 24 passes for 109 yards" and "It's as poor as I think you can play offensively and still find a way at the end there to win a football game" sum it up pretty well. Guys who remembers JaMarcus Russel....anyone?

[Dewar]

The funny thing about football is I see two opinions about what constitutes a good game:

- A game with a low low low score from both teams like the one you described, OR

- A game with a very high score from both teams

 

I'm not sure where I fall in this. I think to me a good game is when you can at least tell both teams are trying, not getting a ton of penalties. Which on that note, the Raiders haven't had a good game in a while.

 

(Actually not true; their season opener this year, they had NO penalties in the first half and I was proud as hell of them even if they lost the game in the end)

I like hard fought defensive games with lots of fumbles, interceptions, sacks, etc.

[Badfinger]

I consider it a good football game when both teams are performing competently (not dropping catchable passes, not missing a bunch of makeable tackles, not making dumb penalties, etc). 

 

Back to baseball, the KC police tweeted this out last night:

police.JPG

 

Literally the only non reprehensible thing any Missouri police have done in an unfortunately long time.

[Bjorn]

Speaking of former Raider's quarterbacks, Rich Gannon went off on his former team. I always liked Gannon, losing him was one of the poorer decisions the Chiefs have made (and there are a bunch to choose from!).

 

They got this sign in front of the building that says: 'Commitment to Excellence.' They ought to take it down. It's false advertising right now. There's no commitment to excellence. There's a commitment to mediocrity right now. And that's the problem. You need to change the culture and the environment.

[Henroid]

Speaking of former Raider's quarterbacks, Rich Gannon went off on his former team. I always liked Gannon, losing him was one of the poorer decisions the Chiefs have made (and there are a bunch to choose from!).

Holy crap he was unrelenting.

[Bjorn]

The Royals are a freaking heart attack in baseball form.  5 post season games, 5 wins, 4 in extra innings.  I've never seen anything like this before. 

 

And this is worth reading for any fan, of any sport.  Chris Plante (of Polygon/Verge) tells the heart tugging story about his birth, childhood and his relationship with the KC Royals. 

[Codicier]

The three words I don't think anyone with a healthy fear of the future ever wanted to hear

DRONE STOPS PLAY

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/14/serbia-albania-euro-2016-flag-halted

[undermind9]

holy smokes, another win (KC). at first i was excited because i wanted detroit to lose (white sox fan) and KC go further, but this has been wild.  Good time of year to be playing their best baseball

 

if they get the brooms & STL starts fighting back KC will be in great shape with a few days rest on all pitchers, and there are no stupidly cold venues left to play in so late October play wont be in snow

[Henroid]

So Sunday. The Raiders played the Chargers (NFL).

 

Oakland has a new coach, and while we still lost there was a huge difference in performance. We still need to work on receptions and penalty bullshit, but I can see positive growth in the near future. It was bad luck that we had to play the team with the top-rated defense in the league this season, but at least we gave them a run for their money (it was a REALLY close game). Plus, their whole deal of not allowing any points in the 4th quarter for four straight games was broken by the Raiders.

 

Next week will be interesting.

[Bjorn]

holy smokes, another win (KC). at first i was excited because i wanted detroit to lose (white sox fan) and KC go further, but this has been wild.  Good time of year to be playing their best baseball

 

if they get the brooms & STL starts fighting back KC will be in great shape with a few days rest on all pitchers, and there are no stupidly cold venues left to play in so late October play wont be in snow

 

The boys in blue just keep getting through these games, one after another.  It's the most fun I've ever had watching baseball.  I lost my shit with that catch by Moustakas:

 

[Professor Video Games]

My prediction is that the Royals get swept in the World Series. To be clear, I would love for them to win it all, but this sort of thing just can't keep up, right?

 

Right?

[Bjorn]

My prediction is that the Royals get swept in the World Series. To be clear, I would love for them to win it all, but this sort of thing just can't keep up, right?

 

Right?

 

I wasn't going to acknowledge this post until today's game was over.  8 wins in a row, two sweeps in a row of excellent teams, multiple postseason records set already, 2nd all time consecutive post season wins at 11 (if you go back to the '85 series).  This fucking team.  They don't stop.

 

Also, a double sporty thing.  A buddy of mine was at the game, and Bill Self (Jayhawk basketball head coach) was sitting right in front of him.  Got a picture with him at the end of the game.  #sosuperjealous