SB Nation User Blog: tcon125

Taking Sides

tcon125 — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:34:38 -0000

Taking Sides

So guys, I've been noticing that certain people seem to argue a lot. No matter what the subject there seems to be, a line in the sand is drawn and people seem to agree with the same group. I don't think this is a bad thing, or there is really any hating going on, but I just thought of an idea. Royalsreview had in the past talked about buying tshirts to help support the site, well why not make 2 new shirts. Something like Royals Review's Posse, and NY Royals Gang (names subject to immediate change when a better one comes up). They are the two that always seem to be getting into it, and its become THE inside joke (IMHO) of the site. So why not embrace it and pledge blindly to your leader. This is prolly a stupid idea, but I've been thinking about it for awhile.

Ok....Help me watch the royals

tcon125 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:48:58 -0000

We've all bitched and moaned about poor royals coverage in the past (especially in Iowa) but I want to resolve this issue (i want to watch games).

Here is the cliffnotes version of past notes.

1.The royals aren't on tv in Iowa, FSN carries cards and twins games instead.

2. This is bad, but would be ok if royals fans were able to buy MLB.tv...but in Iowa the Royals are in the "local market" and therefore all their games are blacked out.

3. I would pay for the service if it was availabe to me...but it isn't. Therefore i need a black market royals fix. Does anyone know of a website which streams royals games online?? I'd feel bad, but if MLB is too stupid to take my money then they don't deserve it.

Anyone have some ideas?

Remember to tip the waitress, thank you and goodnight.

"that's a bad omen." -me I was getting up out of my desk in my apartment today, when something...

tcon125 — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:52:06 -0000

"that's a bad omen."
-me

I was getting up out of my desk in my apartment today, when something happened which can only be thought of as a bad omen. I got out of the chair (i have a desk chair that sinks slightly when I sit, and rises as soon as I get up) and the arm was underneath the desk. Since the weight was no longer in the chair, the chair shut up shook my desk, and a bunch of things fell off the top.

The only thing that broke was my Royals shot glass. It was a double shot too. :(

Recent mood seems to have shifted. Even men, smart men, who once had grander predictions have even...

tcon125 — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:36:05 -0000

Recent mood seems to have shifted. Even men, smart men, who once had grander predictions have even come on record to state that they felt the 2009 team would be worse than the 2008 version.

I vote for a recount, a January 2009, RCI. And this is in no way related to anything going on in DC.

Team Local Number 54 (all-grit team)

tcon125 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:19:06 -0000

Pretty ridiculous topic, I know, but who are your all-grit players. The picks can be arbitrarily based, and without logic, but I think it would be fun to see everyone's picks.

Local 54, for those of you who do not attend ISU football games or mock announcers with my friends and I, is the name of the fictitious union of gritty players. It started with the metaphor used by many announcers that the player was like a steelworker who had grabbed his thermos/hardhat/lunch pail, and had punched in for work. This morphed into the player being a "card carrying member of Local Number 54".

So have at it. If I get enough entries I'll tally the teams and give an official Royals Review "Local Number 54 team" with a bio for all the players. Maybe one of you smarter statisticians could run some analysis on the players to see how this Local 54 team would actually perform.

Maybe this is dumb, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'll start with my picks. (players do NOT have to be active)

1b- Mark Grace

2b-Bill Mazeroski

3b-Gary Gaetti

SS-David Eckstein

C- Jason Kendall

CF-Jim Edmonds

RF-Pete Rose

LF-Raul Ibanez

SP-Jeff Suppan

M-Sparky Anderson

P.S.

I googled all-grit after struggling to find a left fielder, and came across a similar article by the Brew Crew site. http://www.brewcrewball.com/2008/7/14/571285/the-all-grit-team And here was the team he put together. Not surprisingly we both liked the players who don't wear batting gloves/ are sub 5'5".

C Jason Kendall

1B Platoon: Doug Mientkiwicz / Kevin Millar

2B Mark Grudzielanek

3B Ryan Freel

SS David Eckstein

LF Scott Podsednik

CF Aaron Rowand

RF Eric Byrnes

HAHA Matt Stairs after he hits his homerun in the playoffs. He got his ass hammered.

tcon125 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:22:07 -0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqZDe4364BI

HAHA Matt Stairs after he hits his homerun in the playoffs.
He got his ass hammered.

This shouldn't have to be repeated or even said, but yes natalie portman is hot. Cute, hot, pretty...

tcon125 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:45:38 -0000

This shouldn't have to be repeated or even said, but yes natalie portman is hot. Cute, hot, pretty whatever your fetish attractive word is she fits.
You would kill yourself if she was your pretty friend because that means you are just on the friends ladder and can't get off. (ok dual meaning there...but see this link for the ladder theory.)
www.theladdertheory.com
no back to the regularly scheduled programming

Using the closer in none close situations

tcon125 — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:13:02 -0000

Using the closer in none close situations

Hey NY Royal and others, I know it was mentioned by someone (i thought it was NY that's why i mentioned you) that the team's best pitcher should come in in the hardest situations of the game, regardless of inning. We were talking about soria at the time and trying to figure out a way to max his positive affect on the team. I know this was a couple of days ago but did you see Papelbon come in in the 7th against Tampa, shut them down, and the Sox eventually came back and won. That was a great move by Francona, and I'm not just saying that because they came back and won. Papelbon, the best pitcher on the team came in the pressure situation and closed the door. I don't think Hillman would ever do this but I wish he would.

"This is Iowa State's superbowl. I mean Iowa can lose this game and still go win the big 10 like...

tcon125 — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:34:31 -0000

"This is Iowa State's superbowl. I mean Iowa can lose this game and still go win the big 10 like they have in years past. Iowa State can't go win the big 12!"

Some Hawkeye fan on that local sports show on sunday nights.

If that doesn't say that the big 12 is way better than the big 10 i don't know what will. ISU regularly beats Iowa, because Iowa isn't that good. And the big 10 is TERRIBLE.

The Big 12 is year in and year out is stacked! 3 top ten teams. 5 top 15. Colorado, Nebraska, ISU, KSU, OSU all looking at bowl games. Ha one of these years Iowa fans will take a course on logic and comparing strengths, until then they will continue to make our points for us.

Go State!

Royal Reduction and MLB.tv blackouts

tcon125 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:06:49 -0000

As it has been stated, probably more than needed, the royals used to be popular, and now aren't so much. Well most of this has to do with the fact that they are not winning like they used to. But there are other major major factors in my mind.

The unusual radio stations post sparked my memory on some things and also lead me to the Red's article linked in that piece.

This quote was given as to why the Red's radio affiliates have dwindled. He contributed it to the fact that the Red's radio network was no longer run in house.

"When (Reds broadcasting director) Jim Witers was alive, it was all run in-house," Brennaman said. "The teams with the biggest radio networks in baseball were the Reds, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals. "

Notice our club was on that list of biggest radio network?

Those three teams were three of the most popular teams in the country. Why because of winning and mainly exposure. They were on the radio and were easy to follow. Families planned trips down to KC to see their favorite team play.

Which teams are the most popular now? I'd have to say Cubs, Braves, Red Sox, Yankees. The first two primarily because of their large tv network. People like the teams they are familiar with. People support the team they are familiar with. People travel and pay money to see the team they are familiar with. More exposure, more people tuning in is a good thing for mlb.

Which brings me to my single biggest sore spot with MLB.

Obviously I am a Royals fan. I go to school in Ames, IA. WGN has the Cubs and White Sox. FSN has the cardinals and sometimes Twins. TBS has/had the braves. ESPN has the Red Sox/Yankees. So realizing I couldn't see my favorite team I got on MLB.tv only to find something horrible out.

The White Sox, Cubs, Royals, Cardinals, Brewers and Twins are in Iowa's Local region. Meaning that all their games are blacked out from MLB.tv. How dumb is that? Does MLB expect me to drive down 4 hours for a weekday game? They claim allowing these teams to be on mlb.tv hurts their ticket sales because people will stay at home and watch instead of go. But who the hell is making up this theory.

1. People who know the players and watch the team play on tv will be MORE likely to go down to KC and watch. Therefore there would be a net gain in ticket sales if they allowed the Royals to be shown.

2. Who cares if they watch instead of go to the game. The service is still over a hundred dollars a year, take the money as a source of revenue and move on.

If that doesn't piss me off enough, here is the real kicker. The emergence of the tv network structure and mlb.tv blackout has KILLED royals support in Iowa. Iowa is home to tons of gereral baseball fans who want teams to follow and know about. When the Royals were the easiest team to follow the state had a large contingent of KC faithful.

But now the Royals are screwed because they are no where near easy to follow as compared with other teams or otherwise. They aren't on tv, over the air or cable, which means they attract no new fans just looking for a team and baseball on the tube. They are doubly screwed because fans they already have are not able to watch the Royals, but are able to see 3 or 4 other teams. What do you think a large number of these fans do? They switch favorite teams. I know it has been much harder to follow the royals with no tv games, and nothing on the news. And I can see how a much lesser man would make the switch to the cardinals after such prolonged torture.

MLB has way to much power over tv networks and is extremely unfair to fans and teams. Let fans have the ability to see their favorite teams. This is fair to the fans, makes the playing field more level for teams to attract fans, and for God's sake is good for the bottom line of MLB franchises. How can they be against that.