Top 5 M/F Stories of the Month

Hello faithful readers.  It's a new monthly post for the Dick and Bo Show Blog.  In case you were wondering, the M/F stands for Monday and Friday.  Why?  Because these stories are so ridiculous, so boring, so utterly unimportant that you either read them on Monday, when you are trying not to start the work week, or Friday, when you are trying to end it.  These stories are packed full of completely useless information that you will have no need to recall at any point in your life...ever.  I give you the Top 5 M/F Stories of April 2009.

Number 5

Meow 0-16

ROAR!!! 1-15

The NFL's very own Detroit Lions unveiled a new logo this past month.  The team said that, "the changes are consistent with its 'sense of mission and direction'".  Riiiiiiiight, like this new fierce lion really cares what the Lions' mission and direction is.  Obviously, this logo is what's going to help them turn the corner to greatness.  I'm sure the players look at that logo with a sense of pride that they didn't have last year.  When they look at that logo, something tells them that everything will be alright.  Something tells them that, right now, no team has any wins.

Number 4

Any college football fan knows that the University of Notre Dame has been down on its luck lately.  Actually, they have been downright awful, save for a couple of years here and there.  Well, at the end of another horrible showing, Notre Dame took a few days to decide if they were going to fire their head coach, Charlie Weis.  The Associated Press via ESPN wanted you to know that Charlie talked about the possibility of leaving Notre Dame over with his family.

         

         Charlie Weis talking things over with his family

So, anyone out there care?  I didn't think so.  Besides this being completely pointless...it's also a classic case of stating the obvious.  Who wouldn't discuss a huge career move with their family?  The level of newsworthiness deteriorates from here.

Number 3

Everyone has grown tired of Terrell Owens...well, except maybe Buffalo Bills fans.  But, they will.  Soon.  In case you didn't hear, this past off season the Dallas Cowboys released Owens.  A lot was made about meetings that Owens, Tony Romo, and Jason Witten had with Cowboys offensive coordinate Jason Garrett.  Owens accused Romo and Witten of having secret plays that would exclude him from getting the ball.  Blah, blah, blah, right?  Wrong!  Apparently, we can't get enough of this nonsense.  Why do we have to hear about this!?!  Owens is on the Bills.  Witten is going to be catching passes from Romo.  It doesn't matter anymore!!!  Although, check this out.  After seeing this photo I believe that, maybe, just maybe, Owens was on to something about Witten and Romo.  Do you see the look in Witten's eyes?

Number 2

What's more pointless than predicting this year's NFL draft?  How about predicting next year's?  Somehow this guy knows what the draft order is going to be, who is going to have a good senior season, and which players aren't going to suffer career threatening injuries.  Am I missing something?  This is an interesting quote: "Here's an absurdly early look at how the 2010 first round could shape up."  Stating the obvious doesn't make up for the complete waste of time that your article is.  How can this possibly be worth reading?  And now the biggest time waster of last month.

Number 1

If you didn't read enough about their first wedding.  If you need all of the details.  If you stay up at night wondering what colors they wore for their second wedding.  This story is for you.  Yep, Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen had a second wedding.  In Costa Rica.  Awesome.  Congratulations...on your second wedding.  I guess.  Whatever.  The Dick and Bo Show was able to obtain a picture of Tom Brady on his wedding night.  A little scrawny, no?  

Well there you have it, sports fans.  It was a football heavy first edition of the Top 5 M/F Stories of the Month, but, April is the biggest month of the off season.  And it seems that the longer sports are into their off season, the more pointless they become.  Oh, if you were wondering, when we do podcasts...Dick wears a red flannel shirt and I wear a green t-shirt.  Both of us wear jeans.  Check back next month for another edition.  And stay tuned for more podcasts and blog posts to come.

Journalizm Police - 4.24.09

"Journalizm Police is a new segment on the D+B Show Blog where we find glowing examples of the sports media empire's wondrous ineptitude in the field of JOURNALIZM"

Here's some quality journalizm from the Associated Press, via ESPN.COM

In a wide-ranging talk with ESPN's [own] Peter Gammons, [Yankees General Manager Brian] Cashman said he was shocked when he learned that Alex Rodriguez had tested positive for steroids in 2003.

"It caught us all off-guard," Cashman said. "But at the same time I'm not shocked about anything any more."

so....Mr. AP, is Cashman "shocked" or not?

The D&B Show: Where Waiting Until The Playoff Brackets Are Set Happens

Hello fans of The Dick and Bo Show.  We have a new podcast up.  It actually went up yesterday.  I didn't get a chance to let you know...my apologies.  It's an NBA Playoff extravaganza show.  We break down all the playoff matchups, series by series.  If you want to know which series you should mark on your calendar and which you should forget about, you've found the right place.  We go into greater detail on the podcast but, here are a few suggestions: watch Miami vs. Atlanta and avoid (at all costs) Orlando vs. Philly.  You've got to listen to hear the rest of our suggestions.  We'll be back soon with more commentary on the NBA Playoffs.

In other news...The Brett Favre Minute has returned.  One last hurrah.  I know that we've retired The Brett Favre Minute numerous times before but, we mean it this time.  This week legendary NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden retired so, we obviously had to bring out The Brett Favre Minute.  We suspect Madden's retirement had a little bit to do with this.  Don't quote us on that...we weren't on the guest list.  Alright.  That is all for now.  We'll be back soon.

So Bill Simmons just came out with a new "column" today.  It's front page, big-dollar making news down at ESPN.com.  BS also has a fresh new file photo on display, but this isn't TMZ.com, so we won't be talking too much about how fantastic he looks.

Anyway, the column is a discussion of the the NBA's 2009 Most Valuable Player (MVP) race.  Mr. Simmons uses the very effective "countdown" format to list the NBA's best players of 2009, from "Least" valuable to the "Most" valuable.  While normally I find his opinions on sports and pop culture utterly viable, (he lives, breathes, and eats sports/TV/magazines/movies/some literature constantly), there is one topic, rather one NBA player, of which I find his constant ragging on reprehensible.  I'm talking about Yao Ming.

BS had this to say about Yao, ranking him #14 overall in the league as far as MVP candidates go:

"#14.  Yao Ming - The good news? He stayed healthy. The bad news? You're getting a 20-10 and two blocks from him and that's it. He is what he is."

Well Bill i've got a little e-mail for you,

In defense of Dork Elvis,

Yao simply isn't getting enough touches this year to do better than  20ppg.  He averages 13 attempts a game.  On a weaker, less deep team he'd be getting 18 shots a game, and averaging 25+pts.  So he's no Shaq-in-his-prime on the offensive end, but don't penalize him because his teammates are so good. 

In the past, it was Yao/Tracy McGrady taking ~50% of Houston's attempts. Now, they have more talent, with Yao only taking 16% of the team's shots, and Scola/Landry, Lowry/Brooks, and Artest/Wafer combining for 70% of Houston's shot attemps.

If anything, Yao has gotten better, healthier, stronger, his FG% has gone up, he can hit a jump shot, is skilled in the high and low post, makes his free throws, and the most important stat of them all:

Houston is 32-3 this year when Yao scores 20 or more points.  Meaning, Yao doesn't need to do much more than he's doing right now.  The Rockets are winning.  And he consistently plays well against other "great" centers in the league, including his 2-0 record v. Dwight "The Best Center in the League" Howard, not just team, but head to head:

Nov.22 @ORL, Rockets win 100-95

Yao: 22pts, 13rb, 2stl, 1blk, 2a, +13(+/-)

4-4FT, 9-15FG

Howard - 13pts, 9rb, 0stl, 2blk, 0a, -13(+/-)

3-5FT, 5-10FG

---and---

Apr.7 vsORL, Rockets win 93-83

Yao- 20pts, 16rb, 1stl, 2blks, 1a, +15(+/-), 4-5FT, 8-13FG

Howard- 13pts, 10rb, 1stl, 3blks, 1a,  -1(+/-), 3-9FT, 5-11FG

Frankly, I'm pretty tired of the rampant Asian discrimination not only in the way games are called in this league, but also amongst the sports media.  This country is pretty damn prejudiced. Howard gets lauded with praise because he dunks a lot, swats balls into the stands, and can bench 365. But head to head, this year, it is no contest. Yao SCHOOLED Dwight Howard TWICE in 2008-2009, and NOBODY (in the national media) is talking about it. Look at the stats. Look at the record. D.Ho isn't even DPOY in this man's opinion, Lebron James is. But whatever. Give it to the ball-swatter...but either way, he can't guard Yao one on one.

Yao is a fantastic basketball player, a global ambassador of the sport, unique in his ability to be 7'6'' and not turn into Shawn Bradley or Manute Bol, a veritable All-Star...yet he's the butt of your jokes all the time.  Mr. Simmons, who would you have taken with the 2002 #1? Amare? Boozer? Both headcases, and just as injury prone as anybody.  Who else? Caron Butler? Dunleavy Jr.? Just curious.

He deserves more respect, sir, not just from you, but the American public.  Why are we so anti-Asia? Yea they make cheap plastic crap by the mega-ton-load, but they are generally nice, hard-working people. Ridiculous.  And I'm Puerto Rican, why should I care? I just do. (Go J.J. Barea! Caliente!)

-Dick

Nerd Alert!

As fans of sport, we all like stats.  We enjoy seeing how our team is doing in the standings.  We like to see how many points our favorite player scored in the last game or how close a player will be to batting .400.  To be a fan of sports is to crave stats, at least on some level.  It keeps it all organized.  It allows for arguments over who the greatest player was or which team is the greatest of all time.  Home runs, strikeouts, points per game, triple doubles, touchdowns and interceptions are examples of "fan friendly" stats.  They are the ones that make the highlights.  Check out the videos...full of "fan friendly" stats.  

Yet, recently the media has been harping on how professional teams are using advanced statistical analysis to show who is the better player or help decide who should be resigned or let go.  I am all for teams improving their player tracking.  This could ensure that we get quality players in their prime, instead of overpaying past their prime players based on their name.  These new metrics that teams are using and, for the most part, keeping a secret are good for the overall game.  Anything that cuts down on the potential for human error is a plus when it comes to analysis.  

On the other hand, how can fans get excited about these stats?  Stories about these new stats keep popping up as a great new tool for teams to use.  The Sports Illustrated article (linked above) talks about how in baseball, "There will be...a day when a player's plus/minus carries as much weight in a Rotisserie league as his offensive statistics".  And that may be a true statement...someday.  I have to believe that these statistics are going to appeal to a very small group of fans.  The fans who are in serious fantasy leagues are going to really get into these stats.  And they should.  The stats are interesting...to them.  The majority of fans are still going to follow the "fan friendly" stats and that is it.  Those stats are very measurable and give them instant gratification.  A game winning home run is much more easily viewed than the events that set it up.  That home run, and events like it, are what draw most people to the games.

Another issue I have with this new system is the holier-than-thou impression that I am getting from everything that I read and listen to.  It seems to me, that the people who are developing, deploying, and are excited about this strategy feel that they are in an exclusive fraternity.  True, they are some of the cutting edge developers of these stat metrics but, don't write and talk like these are the last pieces of the puzzle.  These stats, added to the other stats, are not going to make every personnel decision the absolute correct one.  So don't act like they are.  They are an improvement...not the end all be all of player judgement.  Plus, they will never be able to judge what a player has in him.  How would the new stats have measured players like Jerry Rice or Scottie Pippen?  Would they even have been given a shot?  Or would the new stats have eliminated them from getting a chance?  Some will argue that those types of players will be noticed more often when all the stats are factored in.  It just seems nearly impossible to get player evaluation into a perfect little box.

Again, it is great that teams are developing new ways to grade players.  Hopefully this new way of evaluation will improve every professional sports league.  While it's good that this idea continues to get increased media coverage, let's just make sure we keep it in perspective and view it for what it really is...a supplement to the current system.