It’s the old sabremetrics argument: longevity vs. peak output.

Well, if anyone’s still interested in the accounting and management aspects of US Speedskating: I see from digging into form 990, Schedule B, contributions: $2.3M from USOC and $230k from UnderArmour — both of which are at least partly non-cash (i would assume that’s donations of goods, personnel, services???). When…

I did click on your links. It actually shows about $4 million in annual revenue for US Speedskating, about $1.5 million of which goes back to supporting athletes. Assuming this is really the sum total of support for all speedskaters in the USA, that’s a tiny, TINY amount.

Nils Lofgren, of Bullets Fever fame, you mean!

Even more than other sports, tennis referees seem an unusually odd group. I get that the game needs policing, and most people do it for love of the sport, yada, yada...

Of course, Grunfeld’s roster construction and management is epicly terrible; ultimately it’s on him. But even with these guys that he’s generally lucked into or found under the couch cushions, this team should be winning 50+ and threatening a run in the playoffs.

The great tragic flaw, as I sort of half-remember from some college class, is one that at first seems to be a positive. At first, our hero basks in the glow of his “trait”. Only later, is it revealed to be the very thing to bring our hero low...

Guessing from the size of the kids: if they want to send a little chin music to this kid, they’ll have to move the t-ball stand way up and about 12 inches to the left.

How about Wilt Chamberlin? Great by the numbers, but universally considered a huge disappointment as Bill Russell / Crosby beat him every single time it mattered?

I get that 3>2, but if the defense tries so hard to take away the 3 that they don’t even guard the 12-foot shot, then eventually the midrange will become a decent shot again. Given how open Wall was in the midrange last night, I think this was: a) intentional, on the part of the Raps, and, b) potentially sustainable…

Didn’t he get Caron Butler for Kwame Brown?

Often it’s the 2nd round, but same difference! I don’t take any credit for the Oriole-crushing / Expo-stealing baseball team that is playing downtown for the time being, but they’re pretty bad at winning in the playoffs, too.

Wait a minute! I’m not signing anything until I read it or somebody gives me the gist of it.

I know next to nothing about NHL, MLB and NFL, but it seems to me that in these sports, GMs are generally not worried about the #1 vs. #3 pick as much as they are trying to get lots of picks in the top rounds. So a team can trade away veterans for picks, but still be trying to win individual games, even with a…

I think the assumption is that bad teams wouldn’t have the incentive to get worse, so wouldn’t buy out otherwise useful players.

One way to simulate some of the effects of relegation would be to make teams ineligible for the post season for the next 2 years after receiving a top-6 or top-8 pick. Bans would be served sequentially, not consecutively — so if a hypothetical team, let’s call them the BeventyBixers, is picking top-5 for 4 straight…