3 years of declining salaries after a 101 loss season that occurred immediately after a major FA signing (Figgins) and a major trade for a frontline starter (Lee), is not indicative of management being unwilling to spend. Clearing salary after that trainwreck is one of the more rational decisions the FO made. And…

By that standard, same time frame, they have ranked: 14th, 11th, 8th, 7th, 10th, 9th, 13th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 9th, 16th, 18th, 24th, and 21st - so again, you are only accurate if by "reducing payroll for years," you mean specifically 2011, 2012, and 2013 - and then they increased it again. Prior to that, they were…

Attendance went up last year. The Mariners have one of the most favorable TV deals in baseball. There are so many things wrong with the Mariners, you should at least try to get the things you are bitching about right.

I am a huge Mariner fan and can't stand what this FO has been doing - that said, empirically, they have not been reducing payroll "for years," unless by that you mean "it went down 3 years (with one of those years actually remaining flat) in a row before rising again this year." Since 1999 (the year after the first…

That is one of the best "accurate but grossly misleading" catches (and, amorally, uses to be honest) of statistics I've ever seen. Bravo.

That is just an insane tweet. The NBA's arrest rate is not higher than other leagues. Their punishments for drug tests are also not weak (the weakness is in the ease of avoiding the tests, so no one actually ever gets caught). Also, I love when politicians make statements like this - the government shut down for…

I haven't.

Is there anything consistent about this? Is he trying to own every teams jersey? At first I thought he was an elaborate version of the friend who buys a hat from every stadium he goes to, but that doesn't seem to work.

Is that not a Heat hat in the picture of him in the Rays jersey?

Somewhat bizarrely, Canada was actually more fucked up in their treatment of Japanese-Canadians than the US was to Japanese-Americans. I know their secret.

Jermaine O'Neal used to be one of the best post defenders in the NBA. If the Warriors can keep him healthy enough to caddy for Bogut (another guy they have to worry about health with), he could be really valuable in the playoffs. Man, really don't understand how GSW or LAC didn't find a way to get involved in that…

I feel like there is no chance someone like Belichek or Carroll sees this guy in the 5th round (or even earlier, where they grab him is irrelevant) and passes on him. Carroll especially has made a career out finding guys who dominated in college and for whatever reason remained off the NFL radar. He'll go to camp…

Honestly don't know the numbers: what percentage of people living in the US are openly gay (and is there a reasonable estimate of how many are closeted?). Depending on that, is it really that unlikely that there are more than 1-2 gay players in the NFL (again, honestly don't know, just curious).

That's why I don't think SI got their quotes from anyone with real power, or from a particularly well managed team. The Presidents, GMs, etc of good teams, have long since realized that if something about a player makes any of their peers irrationally underrate them, it creates an opportunity for them. A homophobic,…

Doesn't this match pretty well with what we know about that age group? Also: least likely to buy health insurance (even when they can afford it). They simply are in that age range where you don't spend money on preventative anything since you spend it all on booze, (wo)men, and traveling.

I believe the ultimate goal would be a metric that takes into account all the other players skills (for example, if a Carmelo shot in a vacuum is worth -1, but all other options on the court are worth <-1, he would receive credit for making the correct play based on his other options).

Umm, LeBron went to an NBA Finals and several conference finals on the Cavs. He won more than Chris Paul ever has.

Assuming you are responding to the guy above me?

What does that have to do with the Seahawks being more marketable than the 49ers, who are up there with the Packers, Cowboys, and Patriots in terms of number of fans across the country. Also, Nike being an Oregon alum? What? What the hell? Nike makes ALL the NFL uniforms, not just Seattle's.

In what world are the Seahawks more marketable that the SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS?