ORS

See Red, I couldn't find the FTA vs. OppFTA numbers online, but I was bored, so I went through the game logs for UConn and Duke. I also looked at the average FTA for the Big East and ACC. Here's what I found: ACC - FTA Conf. Range: 21.4 - 27.6 Conf. AVG: 24.7 Duke AVG: 25.7, rank - 4th Opp AVG: 16.9 Delta: +8.8 over OPP, +1.0 over Conf. Big East - FTA Conf. Range: 14.8 - 30.5 Conf. AVG: 22.1 UConn AVG: 30.5, rank - 1st Opp AVG: 20.5 Delta: +10.0 over OPP, +8.4 over Conf. The range in the Big East when you exclude UConn is 14.8 - 24.3, so UConn shoots 6 more FT per game than the next highest team in their conference. I'd say more, but do I need to?

Is there a better nickname than the "Flying Tomato"? That just kills me.

Sox and Yankee games at the Trop are like home games. I'm not even joking. The split is 20% D-Ray fans, 80% Sox/Yanks.

Did you even watch that game? FSU was getting open looks from 5-8 feet all game along on Thornton's penetration when Reddick was guarding him. They didn't go to the line often because a lot of their shots went uncontested. Williams and Reddick combined for 26 of Duke's FTA. Williams was pounding it down low and Reddick scored most of his points by driving to the hole and drawing contact. If you watched the game, the discrepancy would come as no surprise considering how the game was played.

That was two years ago. He's a demonstrably different player now, with a better basketball body, a better post game, and more touch around the basket. Your s***-talking could use some serious work. Oh, and by the way, Duke's playing tonight, so you may need these.... http://www.manorhg.com/store/images/Rec%20Tissue%20Box%201125.1.jpg EDIT: And, Williams fouled out in 19 minutes of playing time in that game. That doesn't exactly agree with your conspiracy theory.

You clearly don't watch a lot of ACC basketball. Those types of plays are very common at the end of close games, and they are rarely called.

As a longtime fan of ACC basketball, I have to say the officiating is very fair and consistent. Certain crews let them play on the inside and call a lot of perimeter stuff. Other crews call it tight inside and allow contact on the perimeter. However, each given night they are consistent throughout the whole game. Take Duke's game against Maryland on Saturday. They were allowing a lot of contact on the inside, and they allowed it all game long for both teams. If there is one thing that pretty much every crew does, it is that they don't call fouls on plays in the paint that will change the outcome of the game when the game is down to the wire unless it is an obvious foul. This isn't something that has been going on for the last few years, it has been going on since as long as I can remember. The plays against FSU and BC that you can't seem to get over weren't obvious fouls. Williams did make contact with the offensive player, but he didn't initiate the contact. He held his ground and was straight up both times. Could a foul have been called? Sure, and it may have been earlier in the game, but those types of plays rarely get called in the ACC at the end of the game. You don't like Duke, that much is obvious, but your incessant whining seems like a bunch of sour grapes to me. As for Coach K's commercial. Do you honestly think he needed that to be an effective recruiter? I seriously doubt that affected his ability to recruit at all. Every ball player knows who Duke is and what they are all about. He landed excellent recruiting classes for the 20 preceeding that ad, and he will continue to with or without it.

Therein lies the problem. You cannot separate your thoughts from your emotions.

Tampa would beg to differ. I always had a low opinion of domed baseball based on the way it looked on TV. It seemed dingy because of the lack of bright natural light. Then, when I moved down here, I went to a game in Tampa, and I must say, the facility and the games are quite enjoyable.

Win % 1993-2005 KC: .440 Pitt: .443 KC had 3 winning season's in there (2 full, strike shortened '94), but they've been every bit as bad a Pittsburg. Of course, MC's cutoff date means that 3 95+ win seasons from 1990-1992 aren't included in the recent history. KC averaged 76 wins those three years. EDIT: And you can probably take this to the bank: KC will lose more games than Pitt next year. EDIT2: TB has only been around for 8 years, but their aggregate WIN% is .400.

I agree, and here's my bench: Snow - good glove, decent stick, spells Youk and allows Youk to spell Lowell Cora - considering the way they both field and hit, will we notice if Gonzalez isn't playing? Stern - he needs to be up for 18 days, and the club has to have a backup CF, speed to PR also Bard/Flaherty - the best bat in ST wins the job (I'm thinking that will be Bard) Graffanino - he can play every position except CF/C, his ABs won't be tantamount to just forfeiting an out (I think Harris' would be) That means 11 pitchers. Someone will get moved in ST, IMO. 700's right about 12 pitchers in April, it's really not necessary.

Tool.

Don't take this the wrong way, but there is a Jacoby Ellsbury thread. A newspaper pasting about him doesn't warrant it's own thread. Please try and cut down on the clutter.

It's not pointless if he's the backup.

I only have one nitpick Plump. You have to try really hard to hit .300/40 HR and not SLG at least .600. In fact, I think you'd have to intentionally stop at 1B on all non-HR to make it happen.

I thought that was the case. That means he can refuse assignment, which would make the FO have to release or trade him. I doubt he attracts much attention on the trade market, and it would outright suck to have it mean that we only get Crisp and Riske for Marte, Shoppach, Mota, and potentially another prospect + $$.

I'm not suggesting that he catch every game. What I'd like to see is him able to catch Wake so that they don't have to weaken the lineup if Wake is starting a playoff game. Let the backup catch whoever is left in the rotation of Clement, Wells, or Arroyo.

I think Bard handles the bat better than either of the other two, and I like the youth aspect. Huckaby probably has no shot to get the job since he's on a minor-league deal, so I don't see him as more than injury insurance. It's between Flaherty and Bard, IMO. RS, good point about Tek playing in the WBC and that affecting his chances to work with Wake in ST. I don't know when the tourney ends, so I don't know how much time they'd have to work together before opening day. I doubt it happens anyway, but I do like the thought of it happening.

And here are the 4 starts prior to Mirabelli's injury.... April 29 @ Tex (7-2 loss): 6.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K May 4 @ Det (4-3 win): 7.0 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K May 9 vs Oak (13-5 win): 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K May 15 @ Sea (5-4 loss): 7.0 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K So it wasn't like he was red-hot going into Tek's 4 games; he just happened to get hot after. It kind of strikes me as coincidental. And, of the 4 teams that Tek caught him for, 3 of them were top-10 run scoring teams last year (NY, Atl, Stl), and the game against Baltimore was before their collapse. Of the 4 games after Mirabelli came back, only 2 were against top-10 scoring teams (Phi, Cle), and Cleveland hadn't started their hot streak yet. Of the 4 games pre-Mirabelli injury, 2 were against top-10 scoring teams (Tex, Oak), and he gave up 5 ER both times. I really don't see the connection between Wake's performance and the guy behind the plate.

Relax, I know you are just giving your opinion and I am merely retorting. This type of discussion is what message boards are all about. As fas as Wake's performance with Tek catching, I can't seem to find a good online resource that tells you pitcher/catcher splits, so I don't have the data to look at. If forced to guess, since Tek rarely catches him, I have to assume that the sample size is very small and very random. In most statistical studies, you want a completely random sample, but in sports you need some continuity to the sample because players have up and down performances, which can affect the quality of the sample as I mentioned in another thread. Do you know of a good online resource for pitcher/catcher splits?

Flaherty's last game with Boston was in '93, so I'd hardly call him familiar with the system since it has undergone 12 years of personnel changes, minor league affiliate changes, and is under new ownership. Bard is young and still has some ceiling, so if he holds his own in ST, I think the job will go to him. About who will be catching Wake. I've seen this speculated elsewhere and it makes sense to me, so I guess you can put me in the "let's have Tek start catching Wake" boat. If Tek starts catching him (say, 1/2 his starts next year) and gets used to catching the KB, then he won't have to be a bench player if Wake is making a postseason start, which would allow them to put the most potent offensive lineup into the most important games.

Another SH goal, 6-0 with 2:00 left in the 1st period. Good game.

Canada is up 2-0 on the sea-donkeys half-way through the first period. It seems like they have a good scoring opportunity every 12 nano-seconds. EDIT: 3-0, on a short-handed goal.

I know, and I agree with you too SFoC. The human factor is why no statistical models are absolute. I think 3/4 of his post agrees with you, but that last sentence... ...is the one that I take issue with.

Since I'm most guilty of looking beyond the raw numbers I'll assume this is a shot at me. I'll have to say I'm pretty unapologetic for trying to glean some useful information by analyzing the numbers. I would much rather spend the time needed to gain some insight into statistical relevance than just pull some projected numbers straight from my ass. Maybe it's just me, but I find predictions with some evidentiary support to be much more credible than those extracted from thin air.