Picking on stupid things that sports commentators say is the ultimate “Fish. Barrel. BLAM!” sort of activity, but this morning on the way to drop SteelyKid at day care, Mike and Mike kept repeating one of the absolute dumbest things that football commentators say. They were talking about Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, and… Continue reading Idiotic Football Physics: The Highest Point
Category: Sports
Is Frank Wilczek Making Us Look Bad?
Today is Question Day when it comes to post topics, I guess. Over at Fine Structure, Nick asks about the effect of spotlighting brilliant scientists: I can’t help but think about the repercussions of looking at his clearly above average career as something that’s normal in physics. It’s a deterrent, I think, for all those… Continue reading Is Frank Wilczek Making Us Look Bad?
Tiger Woods Can’t Win
I mostly try to avoid stupid celebrity gossip stories, but the last two weeks, it’s been impossible to escape the sordid Tiger Woods thing. I still don’t care about his personal life, but there’s one thing that keeps coming up in the media coverage that’s annoying me even beyond the stupidity of the whole business.… Continue reading Tiger Woods Can’t Win
David Stern, Eliot Spitzer, and Bernie Madoff
… walk into a bar. No, wait, that’s not what I want… In the interval before this morning’s Mike and Mike show became the Tiger Woods Scandal Hour, they were talking about Tim Donaghy and his allegations about the NBA, which basically amount to the league being just a few steps up from the WWE.… Continue reading David Stern, Eliot Spitzer, and Bernie Madoff
November Basketball: SU-Cal, UNC-OSU
Kate and I went to the two games of the “semifinals” of the 2K Sports Classic Supporting Coaches vs. Cancer, Your Name Here for a Prince pre-season “tournament” last night (the scare quotes are because the four teams playing last night were guaranteed to be playing last night, regardless of what happened in the earlier… Continue reading November Basketball: SU-Cal, UNC-OSU
I Can Haz Books!
It’s not often that I regret having a cell phone that is just a phone, but this is one of those occasions– I stopped by my publisher today to talk about marketing and publicity, and record a video for the web, and got a stack of finished copies of the book, hot off the presses.… Continue reading I Can Haz Books!
Creepiness Is Contagious
It’s always kind of distressing to find something you agree with being said by people who also espouse views you find nutty, repulsive, or reprehensible. It doesn’t make them any less right, but it makes it a little more difficult to be associated with those views. So, for instance, there’s this broadside against ineffective math… Continue reading Creepiness Is Contagious
There’s No Cloning in Football
Sunday night, the Patriots lost a heartbreaker to the Colts 35-34. The talk of the sports world yesterday was Bill Belichick’s decision to go for it on fouth-and-two on his own 28 yard line when he was up by six with just over two minutes to play. They didn’t get the first down, and turned… Continue reading There’s No Cloning in Football
800
Syracuse head basketball coach Jim Boeheim won his 800th game last night. Fittingly, it was a thirty-point win over an overmatched New York school. Since winning the NCAA tournament in 2003, Boeheim has finally started to get some respect in the college basketball world. Before that, he was regarded as a choker who couldn’t win… Continue reading 800
Poll: A Question of Character
“It’s a question of character, of friendship. Hell, Leo, I ain’t afraid to say it, it’s a question of ethics.” –Giovanni Gaspari I’m back to lunchtime hoops after a two-week layoff due to teaching responsibilities. And this has reminded me of one of the great character tests that sports provide. Imagine that you’re playing basketball,… Continue reading Poll: A Question of Character