SPORTS BALL!!! v2.0

Xprimentyl

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I don't watch or follow basketball, but I do watch a lot of Sports Center on ESPN, and I saw some clips they showed from that "game," and yeah, from what I saw, it was pathetic. They literally were not playing the game. Besides the game of basketball being too back and forth for me, one of the main reasons I don't like it is that it's chock full of prima donnas and pansies. Those guys are making MILLIONS of dollars, yet they want to "load manage" and sit out games they feel are beneath them despite fans paying a premium to see them play. They flop constantly to the point the league has started entertaining the idea of penalizing them for flopping. They pout until they get their way and get traded, almost to teams of their choosing, if they don't feel their current situation is optimal for them. I just can't respect a team sport where selfishness reigns supreme.

What I saw of that "game" was a bunch of spoiled brats half-assing their "chores." Imagine if you were a CEO of a company who hired a bright talent, gave him the corner office with a view, a hefty salary, a company car, then when you asked him to actually do a little extra for the business, you find him sat at his desk holding his head in one hand a typing with one finger with the other. You'd fire his ass, right?

They should just do away with the All-Star game. They don't want to play it, and no one wants to watch such a blatant, insulting waste of effort, so fuck it! I saw some talking heads talking about perhaps incentivizing the players with more money. NO!! They already have the money!! The NBA is their job, their PRIVILEGE!! If they don't want to do it, and no one wants to watch them clearly not wanting to do it, fuck it off! I'd almost suggest playing the game without all-stars. Call it the "No-Stars Game," the guys who get the least play time, and use it as an opportunity almost like the preseason in the NFL where non-starters get a chance to show coaches and ownership what they're capable of, y'know, guys who'd have something to actually play for, but midseason, no one would want to watch that either, I'd imagine. So yeah, just don't do it; no one involved in any capacity is interested. Tell them "no bonuses this year," and watch them pout about THAT.
 

McElroy

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I love Red Bull. /s Max will win all 24 GPs? The margins are thin enough that RB will maybe struggle to win the Constructor's title unless Perez takes steady podiums and the other teams mix things up. I can't say I'm too optimistic.

Sauber looks like shit and unless Valtteri beats Zhou in every race he's bound to retire from the sport instead of ever driving for Audi.
 

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I don't watch or follow basketball, but I do watch a lot of Sports Center on ESPN, and I saw some clips they showed from that "game," and yeah, from what I saw, it was pathetic. They literally were not playing the game. Besides the game of basketball being too back and forth for me, one of the main reasons I don't like it is that it's chock full of prima donnas and pansies. Those guys are making MILLIONS of dollars, yet they want to "load manage" and sit out games they feel are beneath them despite fans paying a premium to see them play. They flop constantly to the point the league has started entertaining the idea of penalizing them for flopping. They pout until they get their way and get traded, almost to teams of their choosing, if they don't feel their current situation is optimal for them. I just can't respect a team sport where selfishness reigns supreme.

What I saw of that "game" was a bunch of spoiled brats half-assing their "chores." Imagine if you were a CEO of a company who hired a bright talent, gave him the corner office with a view, a hefty salary, a company car, then when you asked him to actually do a little extra for the business, you find him sat at his desk holding his head in one hand a typing with one finger with the other. You'd fire his ass, right?

They should just do away with the All-Star game. They don't want to play it, and no one wants to watch such a blatant, insulting waste of effort, so fuck it! I saw some talking heads talking about perhaps incentivizing the players with more money. NO!! They already have the money!! The NBA is their job, their PRIVILEGE!! If they don't want to do it, and no one wants to watch them clearly not wanting to do it, fuck it off! I'd almost suggest playing the game without all-stars. Call it the "No-Stars Game," the guys who get the least play time, and use it as an opportunity almost like the preseason in the NFL where non-starters get a chance to show coaches and ownership what they're capable of, y'know, guys who'd have something to actually play for, but midseason, no one would want to watch that either, I'd imagine. So yeah, just don't do it; no one involved in any capacity is interested. Tell them "no bonuses this year," and watch them pout about THAT.
As much as I hate the at whiny fuckwad, Stephen A. Smith, he has a point for once or twice in his entire pathetic life.
 

McElroy

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I love Red Bull. /s Max will win all 24 GPs? The margins are thin enough that RB will maybe struggle to win the Constructor's title unless Perez takes steady podiums and the other teams mix things up. I can't say I'm too optimistic.

Sauber looks like shit and unless Valtteri beats Zhou in every race he's bound to retire from the sport instead of ever driving for Audi.
Oh well. Definitely not too optimistic. Though Sauber has a race pace roughly on par with the other mid teams, it's pretty useless if it can't compete as a team and in the qualifying.
 

Phoenixmgs

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I don't watch or follow basketball, but I do watch a lot of Sports Center on ESPN, and I saw some clips they showed from that "game," and yeah, from what I saw, it was pathetic. They literally were not playing the game. Besides the game of basketball being too back and forth for me, one of the main reasons I don't like it is that it's chock full of prima donnas and pansies. Those guys are making MILLIONS of dollars, yet they want to "load manage" and sit out games they feel are beneath them despite fans paying a premium to see them play. They flop constantly to the point the league has started entertaining the idea of penalizing them for flopping. They pout until they get their way and get traded, almost to teams of their choosing, if they don't feel their current situation is optimal for them. I just can't respect a team sport where selfishness reigns supreme.

What I saw of that "game" was a bunch of spoiled brats half-assing their "chores." Imagine if you were a CEO of a company who hired a bright talent, gave him the corner office with a view, a hefty salary, a company car, then when you asked him to actually do a little extra for the business, you find him sat at his desk holding his head in one hand a typing with one finger with the other. You'd fire his ass, right?

They should just do away with the All-Star game. They don't want to play it, and no one wants to watch such a blatant, insulting waste of effort, so fuck it! I saw some talking heads talking about perhaps incentivizing the players with more money. NO!! They already have the money!! The NBA is their job, their PRIVILEGE!! If they don't want to do it, and no one wants to watch them clearly not wanting to do it, fuck it off! I'd almost suggest playing the game without all-stars. Call it the "No-Stars Game," the guys who get the least play time, and use it as an opportunity almost like the preseason in the NFL where non-starters get a chance to show coaches and ownership what they're capable of, y'know, guys who'd have something to actually play for, but midseason, no one would want to watch that either, I'd imagine. So yeah, just don't do it; no one involved in any capacity is interested. Tell them "no bonuses this year," and watch them pout about THAT.
I'm not a very big fan of basketball anymore as the game is super boring to watch, it's just drive to the hoop and get a layup or dish out for a 3. I really just watch some game highlights on Youtube (a game condensed into like 10 minutes basically) during the playoffs. I will say that basically all the players that pout and shit don't end up winning because they are actual good teams and players that don't do that and win because of that. The Warriors and Nuggets for example. Players like Harden don't win any championships. Kevin Durant only won because he was with the Warriors for a bit and he can win when he's like the 3rd or 4th best player on the team, but he's no #1. If you recall the following play where JR Smith of the Cavs blew the Finals game for not knowing the score and Lebron got pissed, it was all because Kevin Durant can't even box out for a rebound, he doesn't play winning basketball that's why his teams never win anything. Same with players like Harden and such.

 
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Xprimentyl

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Well, it appears my much coveted Oath Gin wasn't nearly the boon I expected it to be for my F1 driver this weekend. We did our cheers at lights out, and Bottas got turned around almost immediately. A subsequent slow pit stop (he's famous for them) saw him relegated to P19 by race end.

The gin was still really good at least.
 

McElroy

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The Jeddah circuit is a joke - only the part from the last turn to the second turn matters. Sauber is a joke having the worst pit stops and the slowest car of the race. There also won't be any competition during the whole season unless Perez starts to drive badly like he did last year.
 
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Xprimentyl

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The Jeddah circuit is a joke - only the part from the last turn to the second turn matters. Sauber is a joke having the worst pit stops and the slowest car of the race. There also won't be any competition during the whole season unless Perez starts to drive badly like he did last year.
I thought I'd replied to this already, but here we go:

I agree, Jeddah is a mess of a circuit. Too many opportunities close too quickly to be as competitive as an aerial view would lead one to believe it could be. At 180mph, the serpentine nature of the track really shortens the street circuit, and outside of Monaco, I can't think of another track that demonstrates this better.

And yes, thus far, Sauber is an absolute joke performance-wise. I love the livery, but watching it illuminate the very back of the pack has given me little hope, promise of potential, or much to root for. I used to root for Bottas to win. Then, I was content with his getting podiums. Then, when he went to Alfa Romeo, any finish in the top 10 was cause for celebration. Now with Sauber, I just hope the pit crew can get him back on track in under 45 seconds, and that his car can last until the end of the race. It saddens me to see his talent squandered in a car unbefitting what he's capable of in a decent car. With Hamilton leaving Mercedes after this year, a part of me wished Bottas returning to Merc might be a possibility, but with Sainz out at Ferrari and looking for a seat, and so many rookie drivers waiting in the wings, I highly doubt it's anywhere near the remotest possibility.

No, at this point, my best hope is that Bottas manages a couple (almost typed "a few") points finishes over the next couple of seasons, and that Audi can make an appreciable difference when they take over in 2026. Until then, my "#77 Stake F1" hat is on its way in the mail.

I really think this sport needs a major collapse at Red Bull to shake things up. Between the controversies between Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, and Jos Verstappen making waves on his son's behalf, I hope there's enough there to destabilize their persistent dominance and allow for better parity, at least up at the front of the grid.
 

Xprimentyl

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Ugh, this is nasty. Talk about an abuse of trust. This interpreter would speak English to the team in front of Ohtani, and tell bold-faced lies; poor guy had no clue. Now the situation is muddied by the fact there must be an investigation to confirm that Ohtani was not willingly involved in any way because sports gambling by athletes is a MASSIVE no-no; just aske Pete Rose.

In his statement yesterday, he said he's just ready to start the season and focus on baseball, but there's no way this story isn't going to make it nearly impossible to focus as well as he should. The last thing he needs now is to be distracted or be a distraction for the Dodgers with that $700M contract hanging over his head. God forbid it's found out he WAS involved in the scandal...
 

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Ugh, this is nasty. Talk about an abuse of trust. This interpreter would speak English to the team in front of Ohtani, and tell bold-faced lies; poor guy had no clue. Now the situation is muddied by the fact there must be an investigation to confirm that Ohtani was not willingly involved in any way because sports gambling by athletes is a MASSIVE no-no; just aske Pete Rose.

In his statement yesterday, he said he's just ready to start the season and focus on baseball, but there's no way this story isn't going to make it nearly impossible to focus as well as he should. The last thing he needs now is to be distracted or be a distraction for the Dodgers with that $700M contract hanging over his head. God forbid it's found out he WAS involved in the scandal...
This story keeps changing so much that I'll wait until the smoke clears on this. As long as he didn't bet on baseball (or is even alleged to have bet on baseball), I don't see this being that big of a ongoing story. I'm assuming baseball doesn't care if you bet on other sports because that would be kinda ridiculous if they did. I don't think it'll affect Ohtani too much considering he does seem to be the guy that can just dedicate himself to something like baseball and not care about stuff like social media and everything. If it is true that his interpreter fucked him over and they were close, that will be the thing that affects him vs the media circus. For the Dodgers sake, I think he'd be fine by the end of the season and playoffs roll around, and if the Dodgers need a 100% productive Ohtani all season to get to the playoffs, they got bigger issues then.
 

Xprimentyl

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This story keeps changing so much that I'll wait until the smoke clears on this. As long as he didn't bet on baseball (or is even alleged to have bet on baseball), I don't see this being that big of a ongoing story. I'm assuming baseball doesn't care if you bet on other sports because that would be kinda ridiculous if they did. I don't think it'll affect Ohtani too much considering he does seem to be the guy that can just dedicate himself to something like baseball and not care about stuff like social media and everything. If it is true that his interpreter fucked him over and they were close, that will be the thing that affects him vs the media circus. For the Dodgers sake, I think he'd be fine by the end of the season and playoffs roll around, and if the Dodgers need a 100% productive Ohtani all season to get to the playoffs, they got bigger issues then.
It's just that Ohtani is notoriously private, and this scandal is a huge attention magnet. It took days before we heard from him regarding this, and it was like a 10 minute press conference yesterday wherein it was understood he wouldn't be taking questions after his statement. The pressure will be on him as the pundits speculate and suggest what "could" be going on and what devils are in the details they're not getting. Could wear on him. Not saying he's going to be a bust, but if this doesn't resolve itself quickly or if it gets worse, it could take its toll on him mentally.
 
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Phoenixmgs

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It's just that Ohtani is notoriously private, and this scandal is a huge attention magnet. It took days before we heard from him regarding this, and it was like a 10 minute press conference yesterday wherein it was understood he wouldn't not be taking questions after his statement. The pressure will be on him as the pundits speculate and suggest what "could" be going on and what devils are in the details they're not getting. Could wear on him. Not saying he's going to be a bust, but if this doesn't resolve itself quickly or if it gets worse, it could take its toll on him mentally.
He kinda seems like Ichiro to me where he lives and breathes baseball and probably doesn't even care about speculation and stuff. I personally wouldn't let that shit bother me and it would just be an opportunity to figure out who might not be real friends honestly.
 

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F1 is back in China. Nice! Looks like a good pace for Sauber and for Bot-
Alright then.
Lance Stroll should change his name to Lmao Stroll. It sure was a Really Bad day for RB, but neither retirement was the driver's fault.
 
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Xprimentyl

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F1 is back in China. Nice! Looks like a good pace for Sauber and for Bot-
Alright then.
Lance Stroll should change his name to Lmao Stroll. It sure was a Really Bad day for RB, but neither retirement was the driver's fault.
Yeah, Sauber actually looked somewhat competitive this weekend, then, as always, that potential demanded its price. But Bottas DNF’ing aside, I really like the Chinese course, and I hope they put it on the calendar more regularly.

As for RB, *sigh*, Tsunoda and Ricciardo look like two siblings fighting for the affection of a stepparent.