The Ryan Leaf 'American Sports' thread

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 14 Aug 2012, 00:57

I know this thread might not click at all with the fellow Euro-Aussie members here, but if there is threads for almost everything, why not one for those 'american sports', as people say over here.

Just to say, for now, NFL pre-season is on and Dwight Howard will move west to join the 'almighy' LA Lakers

UncreativeUsername37 · Post by **UncreativeUsername37** » 14 Aug 2012, 01:18

I want to know what the Orioles are doing with a .539 record after 115 games.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 14 Aug 2012, 01:38

You on you for making this. I was going to start a "handegg" (I've taking a liking to that dig) thread myself.

What is up with the NFL replacement refs? They're not that bad. But ESPN, FOX, PFT all the major sites keep ripping them to shreads. If you scroll down to public comments at 65% of the people who are actually going to games seem fine with it. I wonder if these writers will call out the regulars when they come back? And the NFL offers a massive pay raise, offers to add three more crews of union jobs, AND wants to make 50% of the refs part time and they turn it down? Let'wm starve I say.

Off-topic but the ryan leaf thread? Really? I know the idea is to name threads after revelant rejects but Leaf is reviled. Really Really reviled. The Jamarcus Russell thread? The Matt Ryan thread? Jusy suggestions. We could keep the name, but we have some massive shoes of rejectitude to fill!

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 14 Aug 2012, 02:04

The Washington Generals "American Sports" Thread. I would enjoy that.

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 14 Aug 2012, 02:11

Wallio wrote:You on you for making this. I was going to start a "handegg" (I've taking a liking to that dig) thread myself.

What is up with the NFL replacement refs? They're not that bad. But ESPN, FOX, PFT all the major sites keep ripping them to shreads. If you scroll down to public comments at 65% of the people who are actually going to games seem fine with it. I wonder if these writers will call out the regulars when they come back? And the NFL offers a massive pay raise, offers to add three more crews of union jobs, AND wants to make 50% of the refs part time and they turn it down? Let'wm starve I say.

Off-topic but the ryan leaf thread? Really? I know the idea is to name threads after revelant rejects but Leaf is reviled. Really Really reviled. The Jamarcus Russell thread? The Matt Ryan thread? Jusy suggestions. We could keep the name, but we have some massive shoes of rejectitude to fill!

Thought that Leaf could be more identified since being for some the bust of the busts... but any bust/reject name could be used...

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 14 Aug 2012, 11:58

As a Red Sox fan, how about the "Bobby Valentine Thread". Seriously, the man is a train wreck, although everything he says is kinda funny, in an "oh my God is he really that stupid" kinda way.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 14 Aug 2012, 19:37

Yes! First European to post in the thread!

I actually don't follow most American sports that much, and certainly have very little knowledge of NBA, NHL and MLB. I have however been following the exploits of the Detroit Lions in the NFL since last season. I chose them partially because of their shocking record in recent years, so they made a good underdog, and I also quite like the Lion emblem and the blue they use in their kit! :lol:

Haven't really been reading much during the off-season, so I'm not really clued up on squad developments and the like, but I'm hopeful that having had a relatively young squad that showed some inexperience at times last season, the Lions can get things together this time around and maybe make some better progress in the playoffs. Conference final would be a lovely achievement.

I'm also hoping Channel 4 continue their coverage of the NFL which they started for the first time in bloody ages last season. They showed the Sunday night game live so hopefully I'll be able to get a fix again this season!

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 14 Aug 2012, 22:53

AndreaModa wrote:Yes! First European to post in the thread!

I actually don't follow most American sports that much, and certainly have very little knowledge of NBA, NHL and MLB. I have however been following the exploits of the Detroit Lions in the NFL since last season. I chose them partially because of their shocking record in recent years, so they made a good underdog, and I also quite like the Lion emblem and the blue they use in their kit!

Haven't really been reading much during the off-season, so I'm not really clued up on squad developments and the like, but I'm hopeful that having had a relatively young squad that showed some inexperience at times last season, the Lions can get things together this time around and maybe make some better progress in the playoffs. Conference final would be a lovely achievement.

I'm also hoping Channel 4 continue their coverage of the NFL which they started for the first time in bloody ages last season. They showed the Sunday night game live so hopefully I'll be able to get a fix again this season!

Lions can be a good playoff contender, if they keep Suh 'under control' and without doing his 'attacks'

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 14 Aug 2012, 23:00

FantometteBR wrote:Lions can be a good playoff contender, if they keep Suh 'under control' and without doing his 'attacks'

That's the main issue I believe. Poor discipline cost the Lions massively in many games last year, the amount of plays that were ruined by stupid reactions and bad tempers was aggravating to say the least! The fact they came from behind on all those occasions to go on and win in some instances demonstrated the team's potential, they just needed to stop getting themselves into silly situations in the first place.

That's why I'm hopeful that with a season's worth of experience behind them which got them to the playoffs, the Lions can build on that and do a bit better with their temperament under control!

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 14 Aug 2012, 23:32

For a second I thought you guys were talking about the BC Lions of the Canadian Handegg League, but then I realised you were talking about the league which has some of the worst refs in American Sports right now.

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 14 Aug 2012, 23:46

I follow Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL, thats about it for me as far as American sports are concerned

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 15 Aug 2012, 08:13

I would have called it the Luke Walton thread tbh. Every superstar team needs a Johnny Dumfries.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 15 Aug 2012, 12:18

redbulljack14 wrote:I follow Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL, thats about it for me as far as American sports are concerned

As a life long Buffalo Sabres fan, I now hate you intensely. Nothing personal mate.

And RealRacing, how are the replacement refs that bad? I watched several perseason games (I'm a loser I know) and the main mistake I see are them not annoucing the right number and having to correct it. The "real" refs did this constantly. The only major mistake was in one of the early games when they called that ball downed at the 4 a touchback (which is a HUGE mistake I grant you) but otherwise they're not much different that the first tier. In fact coaches have been amazed at how much faster games have been going since ticky-tack fouls like "inducing a false start" aren't called and now that there isn't a holding call literally every five or six plays (like last year). And I sorry, if you turn down a massive pay raise, for a part time job, in this economy, you're just too dumb to live.

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 15 Aug 2012, 12:54

My only connection to American 'sports' is that I once owned a baseball cap :lol:

Pointrox · Post by **Pointrox** » 15 Aug 2012, 15:05

There is one American sport that is gaining popularity where I live, and that is American football.
For a long time it was quite niche, but recently became very popular thanks to an extensive ad campaign for the SuperFinal (our equivalent of Superbowl).
It's fair to say, that they attracted 23000+ spectators on the National Stadium and SuperFinal became one of the biggest American football matches in Europe.
Here's a report: http://eurobowl.efaf.info/index.php?Inh ... ng&ID=1566

You can also watch the final here and see for yourself, how we do it in Poland

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 16 Aug 2012, 03:51

The steroid shadow still hangs on baseball

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... b&c_id=mlb

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 16 Aug 2012, 14:35

Another option for the name could've been JamesOn Curry American Sports thread - that career makes Marco Apicella's look really long.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 16 Aug 2012, 16:15

So now, despite numerous press releases saying how the Refs Union is holding out over more than money, they turn around and say if each team throws in $6,000 per game they're in. So its actually only about money after all. Who's surprised here? (crickets)

And in keeping with their parent company's admitted massive liberal bias (which is good or bad, depending on personal taste) NBCSports website has been banning all commenters who side with the league (which as I said prior is most of them). All of their "expert" bloggers especially Mike Florio, have been writing such scathing one-sided union propaganda pieces, and anyone who calls them out on it gets the banhammer (myself included). I'm sure they'll be shocked when posts that usually get 65-70 comments are getting 15-20, as is the case now.

It's sad about Melky (seriously who names their kid that? At Coco Crisp's parents were admitted pot smokers) but baseball is forever tainted. I think its like cycling, it will never be 100% clean and everyone eyes it suspiciously from now on. It's one major reason why the MLB has fallen behind the NFL and dare I say it, the NBA (which is sad).

Speaking of sad, chances are looking very good that the NHL is gonna have its fouth lockout in 20 years. The one constant Gary Bettman. What kind of blackmail material does he have, as thats obviously the only reason he till has a job.

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 17 Aug 2012, 03:43

I just want to congratulate Felix Hernandez for throwing a perfect game, even if it seems so ordinary these days. Interesting fact: The Rays are now the first team to be no-hit four times in four seasons. Fairly rejectful, if you ask me. Of course, they made the playoffs twice and got to the divisional round twice in those four years.

Maybe this NFL Referee Strike is a clever conspiracy to get fans to stop complaining about refs all the time. Now the refs can always say: "At least we aren't as bad as those replacement refs."

Oh, and the Mets won 8-4 today.

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 17 Aug 2012, 05:34

tristan1117 wrote:I just want to congratulate Felix Hernandez for throwing a perfect game, even if it seems so ordinary these days. Interesting fact: The Rays are now the first team to be no-hit four times in four seasons. Fairly rejectful, if you ask me. Of course, they made the playoffs twice and got to the divisional round twice in those four years.

Maybe this NFL Referee Strike is a clever conspiracy to get fans to stop complaining about refs all the time. Now the refs can always say: "At least we aren't as bad as those replacement refs."

Oh, and the Mets won 8-4 today.

At least the NFL strike is only for the referees, because the NHL is in a bad way with a "huge gap" in terms of Collective Bargaining between the owners and the players. This will be the fourth work stoppage in twenty years for my beloved Hockey league. It feels like the series is back in 2004 before the lockout with the absurd contracts nowadays, isn't this what we were trying to avoid after the whole season lockout?

I just want to see the Vancouver Canucks crumble under the burden of Roberto Luongo and my Colorado Avalanche pick up the pieces and be best in the North West.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 17 Aug 2012, 22:31

Well, at least the NFL season looks good. I might play in a fantasy football league this year. Eventually people will notice these strikes and either rally against it or at least tell the NHL to piss off. And whose bright idea was it to hire Donald Fehr anyways?

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 18 Aug 2012, 00:30

JeremyMcClean wrote:Well, at least the NFL season looks good. I might play in a fantasy football league this year. Eventually people will notice these strikes and either rally against it or at least tell the NHL to piss off. And whose bright idea was it to hire Donald Fehr anyways?

An F1 rejects fantasy football league would be epic. It would be one of those leagues where you pick the worst performances of the week.

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 18 Aug 2012, 01:58

tristan1117 wrote:
JeremyMcClean wrote:Well, at least the NFL season looks good. I might play in a fantasy football league this year. Eventually people will notice these strikes and either rally against it or at least tell the NHL to piss off. And whose bright idea was it to hire Donald Fehr anyways?

An F1 rejects fantasy football league would be epic. It would be one of those leagues where you pick the worst performances of the week.

Two trophies at the end: Reject of the League and Champion of the League. I may be down for it, but I don't know a lot about handegg.

EDIT:

Gary Bettman is the worst commissioner in sports.

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 18 Aug 2012, 02:47

tristan1117 wrote:
JeremyMcClean wrote:Well, at least the NFL season looks good. I might play in a fantasy football league this year. Eventually people will notice these strikes and either rally against it or at least tell the NHL to piss off. And whose bright idea was it to hire Donald Fehr anyways?

An F1 rejects fantasy football league would be epic. It would be one of those leagues where you pick the worst performances of the week.

And who are the HWNSNBM, Inoue and Andrea Moda from NFL anyway?

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 18 Aug 2012, 17:30

I'm more than game for a F1rejects Fanatsy handegg league. I can set it up if needed. Being F1 rejects, the winner has to use an avatar pickex out by the last place guy, for a whole year.

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 19 Aug 2012, 01:05

Wallio wrote:I'm more than game for a F1rejects Fanatsy handegg league. I can set it up if needed. Being F1 rejects, the winner has to use an avatar pickex out by the last place guy, for a whole year.

If we have at least 8 people, I would be all for it.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 24 Aug 2012, 03:13

Despite passing nearly 1000 drug tests and raising over $500,000,000 for cancer research, Lance Armstrong was just stripped of his Tour de France wins and World Championships and banned for life, by an agency with no legal authority to do so, who provided no evidence. Only in America......

DOSBoot · Post by **DOSBoot** » 24 Aug 2012, 03:36

I'm a little lost here. How does someone get stripped of his titles, by an organization who doesn't have the athority to do in the first place?

Sounds like a bunch of this to me.

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 24 Aug 2012, 03:37

Wallio wrote:Despite passing nearly 1000 drug tests and raising over $500,000,000 for cancer research, Lance Armstrong was just stripped of his Tour de France wins and World Championships and banned for life, by an agency with no legal authority to do so, who provided no evidence. Only in America......

Doping....and Cycling? There is a thread for that.

http://www.f1rejects.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5089&start=40

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 24 Aug 2012, 03:41

I'm still trying to figure it out. A judge over here ruled that USADA doesn't have the right, and openly wondered why they were going after a retired athlete, but said they can still investigate. USADA admits Lance never failed a test (which rendered them meaningless) but says it has "evidence" which it refuses to reveal. Meanwhile, the news is too busy talking about Prince Harry's junk. I hate this country sometimes......

DOSBoot · Post by **DOSBoot** » 24 Aug 2012, 03:49

Wallio wrote:I'm still trying to figure it out. A judge over here ruled that USADA doesn't have the right, and openly wondered why they were going after a retired athlete, but said they can still investigate. USADA admits Lance never failed a test (which rendered them meaningless) but says it has "evidence" which it refuses to reveal. Meanwhile, the news is too busy talking about Prince Harry's junk. I hate this country sometimes......

Not so much the country, but the stupid politics that revolve around it. Are fasists running this show?

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 09 Sep 2012, 14:32

The Handegg League has just started, and well, it will be time for Cowboys again (to fail)?

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 09 Sep 2012, 14:56

FantometteBR wrote:The Handegg League has just started, and well, it will be time for Cowboys again (to fail)?

Considering they beat my beloved New York Giants on Wednesday, they've started out well.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 10 Sep 2012, 16:18

People who say parity in Handegg is a myth, I give you the Redskins over the Saints, the Bucs over the Panthers, and the Browns losing by only 1 to the Eagles, despite their QB having a rating of 5. Anyone can beat anyone anyweek.

In college handegg, Vegas put up the biggest line ever for a game, favoring FSU by 70 1/2 over Savannah State! Savannah covered losing 55-0 but only because the game was called due to lighting with 10 minutes left........in the third quarter!

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 10 Sep 2012, 16:47

Wallio wrote:In college handegg, Vegas put up the biggest line ever for a game, favoring FSU by 70 1/2 over Savannah State! Savannah covered losing 55-0 but only because the game was called due to lighting with 10 minutes left........in the third quarter!

Can some kind American explain to me how college handegg so big? How do the schools afford such big stadiums? Are the players as good as in normal handegg?

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 10 Sep 2012, 20:48

pasta_maldonado wrote:
Wallio wrote:In college handegg, Vegas put up the biggest line ever for a game, favoring FSU by 70 1/2 over Savannah State! Savannah covered losing 55-0 but only because the game was called due to lighting with 10 minutes left........in the third quarter!

Can some kind American explain to me how college handegg so big? How do the schools afford such big stadiums? Are the players as good as in normal handegg?

CCollege handegg is especially big in the South and on the West Coast. Schools actually make money off of it despite the huge stadiums because of TV revenue. Most big D-1 schools make at least 10-12 million off of their TV revenues, plus another 8-10 milliion from their conference's bowl cut, plus another 8-10 million in sponsorships. This is all before they play a single down and sell a single ticket! Many schools use football revenues to pay for other varsity sports especially now after Title IX came in. Savannah State was THANKFUL for the beating FSU put on them, as it made them $868,000. Not bad for three hours work.

Are the players that good? Yes, at the top level anyway. Most kids from the SEC and Big 12 make it pro, with kids from the PAC-12 and ACC not far behind. The Big 10 and Big East are ok, and the other conferences......well. There are often debates if the current College nation champ could beat a bad pro team, and I believe they could. Most schools players are "pro" anyway in they they get paid with an education, and handegg itself leads to parity.

RealRacingRoots · Post by **RealRacingRoots** » 16 Sep 2012, 04:02

The NHL has just entered another lockout. :cry:

Bollocks.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 03 Nov 2012, 14:59

Am I the only one who totally missed the world series this year? I guess not, as it was the lowest rated in modern TV history.

The NHL lockout continues with the awesome winter classic being cancelled and another missed season looking more likely by the hour.

And the National Handegg League continues and I still think the Falcons are overrated. (I've also taken to calling it Handegg, which gets me quite a few looks over here)

FantometteBR · Post by **FantometteBR** » 03 Nov 2012, 15:09

Wallio wrote:Am I the only one who totally missed the world series this year? I guess not, as it was the lowest rated in modern TV history.

The NHL lockout continues with the awesome winter classic being cancelled and another missed season looking more likely by the hour.

And the National Handegg League continues and I still think the Falcons are overrated. (I've also taken to calling it Handegg, which gets me quite a few looks over here)

I saw it. Surely that Sandoval really knew how to put the ball far and the big Triple Crown Man and his big fella friend surely didn't

tristan1117 · Post by **tristan1117** » 02 Jan 2013, 03:26

Handegg playoffs begin on Saturday! The New York Giants are out, inexplicably, after choking like Lewis Hamilton c. 2007 so we will have a new Super Bowl champion this year. I'm expecting Broncos/Pats and Seattle/49ers in the AFC and NFC Championships, respectively. As for the Super Bowl winner, I have no idea.