Oscar Gamble Society

Perusing the Boston Globe this past Sunday, and saw a little chart showing each team’s average home and road attendance.  Not surprisingly, the Yankees are the top road team (35,612).  Reigning WS champs, a number of well-known players, hated by so many yet also have fans everywhere… you know all the reasons.  The Red Sox are #2 (32,667).  They are not WS champs, but have won recently enough.  More to the point, they have a number of well-known players, are now hated by many yet also have fans everywhere… again, you know the reasons.  But while the Yankees are #1 in MLB, the Sox are only #2 in the AL.  The #2 team in MLB average road attendance - and #1 in the NL is… wait for it… the Houston Astros?! (more…)

I haven’t watched Wimbledon in about 20 years.  But last week I was transfixed by the first-round match between USA’s John Isner and France’s Nicolas Mahut.  It took them parts of three days to complete it.  For the tennis ignorants among you, men’s tennis generally is played to a best 3-of-5 match - first to win 3 sets wins the match.  To win a set, you must be the first to win 6 games in that set, but you must win by 2.  If the score is 6-5, they play an additional game.  If someone wins 7-5, fine.  But if it is then tied 6-6, it goes to a tiebreaker - where instead of 15, 30, 40, etc, the points are simply 1, 2, 3… up to 7… again, you must win by two.  Wimbledon is one of the few tournaments that I know of that does *not* have a fifth-set tiebreaker.  In other words, in any of the first four sets (regardless of whether it’ll end the match or not), they will go no higher than 7-6 in terms of games… and the 13th game is a tiebreaker.  These can go long (see Borg/McEnroe almost 30 years ago now), and can be quite riveting - but they don’t go for… three days. (more…)

For those of you who haven’t followed the World Cup, or tuned into SportsCenter for at least the past week, Uruguay’s Luis Suarez saved his team from a certain World Cup exit against Ghana - when he deliberately used his hands, while standing on the goal line, late in a tie game with Ghana in the quarterfinals, thereby preventing what would certainly have been the winning goal… at least for a few moments. (more…)

So last weekend, my father-in-law and I go to The Travelers, a PGA tournament held in northern CT each year.  Been around a long time, good tournament.  They don’t get all the top players, but do get a fair sampling.  I believe I hear 8 of the top-20 (something like that) - not bad for what is fairly considered more of a “lesser” tournament on the Tour.  We decide not to follow any specific group, but rather take a route that covers several of the better holes on the course - and in so doing, expect to see many (if not all) of the golfers on the day.  Fine.

We’re sitting off the 2nd green (good spot - as you can also see the 4th green, and the 3rd tee).  Right in front of us walks this hot… check that, really hot… check that, ab-so-lutely sa-moke-in’ hot young lady.  Being males, we both noticed immediately (as did the rest of the gallery, one would assume). (more…)

Last week, Jonathon Broxton of the Dodgers came into a game with the Yankees in the 9th inning with a 4 run lead. The Yankees scored 4 runs to tie it up. (Yankees won in extra innings) Broxton did not get a blown save.  It wasn’t a “save situation” originally, therefore there was no “save” to officially blow.

So even though he blew the game for his team in the ninth inning, he still “only” has 2 blown saves on the season.  Yup… makes perfect sense to me.

So apparently there is great debate over whether Strasburg should go to this year’s All-Star Game or not.  Given the givens, I don’t understand why.  He clearly should go.  Let me ’splain: (more…)

So Lebron, Bosh and Wade may or may not have had a “Summit” in Miami last weekend and/or they may or may not have spoken/met previously and/or since.  The papparazzi are all abuzz because it appears as though these top FAs may be colluding and conspiring to play together and form a “superteam”.  What amazes me is some folks seem genuinely upset about this.  To wit: (more…)

“Who fucking cares?”

http://bit.ly/aNPlnz

If there was ever a gimmie pounder bet, it would have been that USC football would be suffering some NCAA sanctions.  This is a true tragedy ONLY in the sense that Pete Carroll will not suffer any consequences from his misbehavior.  I heard talk this morning that we should feel for the current student-athletes at USC because they are absorbing the penalty from former athletes/coaches, but that is such a lame argument.  First, it is likely that some if not all of the current team participated in the violations, and second, after the Reggie Bush scandel, it was quite clear that the potential for probation existed.  Carroll should be fired from his NFL job immediately, and be forced to pay back some of his salary from USC.  If the University is going to forfeit $$ from BCS appearances, then the coach who caused the situation, and benefited from it should also participate in the penalty…

I was walking down the street today and saw a young lady wearing a concert t-shirt from the Hall and Oates 1983 H2O tour. I recognized the shirt a block away, having purchased one myself when I saw them on that tour. They’re easily mocked, but for my money they had a great, soulful sound; not on the same plane as Muscle Shoals, but at least the equal of “The Sound of Philadelphia.”Anyhoo…

Hypothesis A - I have been transported back to the 1980s in some kind of - wait for it - hot tub time machine - has been disproved to my satisfaction. Which leaves Hypothesis B - the H2O tour t-shirt represents urban hipster douchebaggery run amok, or Hypothesis C - through some combination of merit and camp value, Hall and Oates have acquired young fans in the vein of the Tony Bennett renaissance a decade ago. Can anyone help me out on this?