(Get) A Sporting Life

Jeezus H. Christ. What exactly does it take to write for Slate ? Charles Pierce (who is NOT, I repeat NOT to be confused with Charles P ei rce) single handed proves it doesn't take a whole hell of a lot. The Cardinals' presence in the Super Bowl is fluky and disgraceful. [W]e are going to be inundated with mendacious swill over the next two weeks on the subject of what a great story the Arizona Cardinals are.... We're going to hear about how they magically transformed themselves at the end of the season. We're going to hear about the remarkable comeback of Kurt Warner. We're going to hear about how marvelous it is for the National Football League that a Super Bowl championship is within the grasp of a team so thickly dripping with obvious mediocrity that it's a wonder Charlie Sheen isn't playing left guard. We are going to hear all of this because the NFL and its broadcast partners operate on the very simple premise that everybody who reports—or follows—thei...

Sheer mind-numbing stupidity is what ya call it: Salary dispute could be first chapter in Howard's end The Philadelphia Phillies face the first big challenge in their attempt to build a long-term relationship with powerful first baseman Ryan Howard. In the past two seasons, Howard led the majors in homers with 105 and RBIs with 285. Among National Leaguers, Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals was second for homers in that span with 81, and Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies was second in RBIs with 251. Howard did the damage at a super-bargain rate. Without the leverage of arbitration rights, Howard was paid $1.255 million for the past two seasons combined. The system dictated that. Howard's service time meant more than his performance. That changes now. Howard has the hammer of arbitration rights, and the Phillies will pay. How this plays out will go a long ways to determining what happens with Howard and the club. The Phillies and Howard face the largest gap of the ar...

I've noticed, belatedly, that someone else has picked up on how bad Kara Yorio's rant against playoff overtime in the NHL was. (I covered the issue here ). From Greg Wyshynski at the AOL Sportsblog : Keith Jones and Brian Engblom of VERSUS have proposed different variations of a plan in which OT would drop to four-on-four after one or two periods; they appeared close to throwing a tantrum last night as an entertaining Detroit/Calgary game crept deeper into OT. In an editorial in the Globe and Mail, Steve McAllister floated the idea that a regular-season skills competition could one day determine the Stanley Cup champion. (Is this what happens in Toronto when the Leafs miss the playoffs?) Whoever was wearing the antlers for The Bellowing Moose column on NBCSports.com last week agreed that it was time to consider a shootout: "Here's a suggested compromise for the NHL: play one overtime period five on five. If the game is still tied, play another period of four on four. I...

I hate fucking moronic drivel, espoused as some sort of "idea" because there is always some asshole who will take it seriously. Case in point is this silly little exercise by The Sporting News's Kara Yorio : And here they come for the fifth overtime. Aren't they warriors? Aren't they courageous? Isn't this the best part about the NHL playoffs? No, no and no. Hockey players are not warriors, and they are not courageous. They are incredibly skilled, strong-willed, athletic professionals who can make their bodies do outrageous things, such as play 140 minutes of hockey or more in a night. But they shouldn't have to show us that mental and physical strength. It shouldn't be allowed. End it now. OK, next playoffs, to be fair. But end it, already. Give the teams two 20-minute overtime periods, then go to the shootout. Even two extra periods might be too much, but this is called a compromise. The shootout isn't real hockey, you say? The bastardization of ...