Thursday, September 16, 2010

09/16 Quickie: Jeter, Tulo, VY, Ariel

As you've surely noticed, I am experimenting with changing the blog's font from Georgia -- which it has been since the blog launched 4 years ago -- to Ariel, which is a little more in line with current design trends toward sans-serif fonts. What do you think? Take 2 seconds and fill out the poll on the right: Like/Dislike/Ambivalent.

In one interpretation, Derek Jeter is a "gamer" for pretending that the ball hit his hand when, in reality, it hit the bottom of his bat. In another interpretation, he showcased poor sportsmanship hardly worthy of The Captain.

In the end, it all comes down to whether you are a Yankee fan/Jeter slurper, in which case you see this as the former; if you aren't, you think it was a minor form of cheating. Check out the video here.

(That the Yankees took a 7th-inning lead on the Rays -- with whom they are battling for not just a division title but home-field advantage in the playoffs -- after Granderson hit a HR immediately after Jeter took his base seemed cruel, right up until the bottom half of the inning, when the Rays came up with a 2-run HR of their own -- Dan Johnson's second HR of the game -- to seal the W. With the win, the Rays took back 1st place in the AL East -- and a new layer was added to this nouveau rivalry.)

MLB Stud: Troy Tulowitzki, who had 2 HR and 7 RBI in the Rockies damn-near-must-win over the Padres, to finally take one in that series. Time to bust out my Tulo T-shirt jersey.

Milestones: Jose Bautista tied the Blue Jays franchise record for HRs in a season -- 47, tying George Bell in 1987... wow, I remember him in that season. I was 14. Cripes, I'm old.

The Heisman Trust is lame for not awarding the now-vacated 2005 Heisman to the runner-up, Vince Young. Cripes, it's just an award; it is the Miss America title of college football.

(VY says "Why would I want it?" Well, among other reasons, because you earned it and -- like it or not -- "Heisman winner" IS a big deal, even for a college football immortal like Young.)

The latest BlogPoll Top 25 is out, and of the 30 folks who gave Boise State a No. 1 ranking last week (including me), all 30 abandoned the Broncos. They plummeted to 5th.

College Football Tonight: Cincy at NC State. We're pretty far from my preseason prediction that Cincy was a Top 20 team. But NC State can edge close to the Top 25 with a win.

Mark Ingram will play for Alabama on Saturday versus Duke, at which point it will be even more obvious that Trent Richardson is the superior running back for the Tide.

Is Vincent Jackson headed to the Vikings? Apparently, it comes down to whether he has to sit out only 3 games for his "banned substance" suspension -- or 6 games, if an arbitrator says he owes the Chargers another 3 games sitting out because he is "roster exempt." (The theory is that if the arbitrator says V-Jax only has to sit out 3 games if he is traded, the Chargers will find a willing taker for him -- which everyone assumes is the Vikings. I don't understand why the Bolts still wouldn't find a willing taker even if Jackson gets a 6-game ban.)

LeBron is not popular, and -- in fact -- is the 6th-most disliked player in sports. This should come as no surprise to anyone.

I love Mark Cuban's superlative reaction, saying that LeBron's "Decision" was "the largest public humiliation in sports history," costing LeBron a hundreds of millions in market value.

Everyone assumes Erick Dampier will sign with the Heat, but it sounds like the Rockets are going to be aggressive about trying to claim him for themselves.

Huge congratulations to Clay Travis and his wife on the birth of their second child, Lincoln. (Presume he was not named for late-80s/early-90s Tennessee DB Jeremy Lincoln.)

Steve Martin is on Twitter. Yes.

-- D.S.

6 comments:

pete said...

It's not the font so much as the size. I find it hard to read but I think it's because the characters are so large and the lines are so short. I normally read on Google Reader, so it doesn't really matter to me, and that uses a sans serif font, but it's easier to read.

Steve Sprague said...

Two thoughts on Jeter.

1) He's not a gamer or a cheater. His initial reaction seemed natural, the ball did come close to hitting him, and he pulled away accordingly. The ump immediately told him to take his base. No different than when players pull back on a pitch on the inside corner to make it seem farther inside, or when a catcher tries to pull the glove back towards the plate ever so slightly hoping to influence a call.

2) Score yet another point for replay in baseball. Replay review would have overturned this instantly. Just like replay reveiw would have awarded Brandon Inge a bases loaded HBP during the one game playoff against the Twins last year.

mjteggy05 said...

Arial the font, not Ariel the little mermaid.

Anonymous said...

I'm a Yankee fan and I consider Jeter's move an act of cheating. I don't want to win that way.

BLT said...

The Heisman Trust is correct for leaving the award vacant. Bush earned the award on the field, but violated off-field rules. I doubt the off the field stuff affected his play and therefore was still the best player in college football. Since Bush decided to give the trophy back, it should remain vacant. Vince Young didn't earn it, he came second...

BLT

@aerichner said...

I'm certainly not a Bush backer but I don't see how VY "earned" the Heisman. Bush did. He was the best player that year which is why he was given the award. That he gave it back for accepting money or whatever it was is fine, that did not have an effect on how he played. He played like the best player and VY finished 2nd. I think he should've kept the award simply because it's ridiculous to now NOT have a winner and because I'm sure many other past Heisman winners have done the same thing Bush did.