Official Vent Thread

  1. Astros fans on social media should just STFU for a while. Sure, the Yankees, Red Sox and some other teams probably did something at least vaguely similar at some point. But until they get caught winning a World Series because of it, and it is all officially verified, it's not the same and your deflecting and whining doesn't help. Your team won a WS, partly by cheating, and nobody is taking either part of that away forever, but the winning part will always be in the books and in Baseball Reference. It's not a bad deal. Shut up and be a grown up about it for a while and let the other fans vent.
  2. Baseball needs to get in front of the 2019 buzzer scandal with a new investigation. Claiming it was thoroughly vetted in the first investigation won't cut it even if that's true and you have clear evidence the buzzer stuff is just rumors and conspiracy BS. The video of Altuve clutching his shirt after that walk off HR and then going into the dugout to change into his championship t-shirt is too compelling even if in fact everyone is misinterpreting it. I will always call out sports conspiracy BS but every now and then some weird theory gets verified, like signalling pitches with a trash can, and once that happens everything else seems more plausible and we have to deal with that.
  3. That baseball lacked the organizational ability to punish one single player is evidence that the league has reached clown show levels of being run by its employees' union. Combine that with the NBA's exposure as a wholly dependent vassalage to China, and the NFL almost seems like an ethical, competently run league by comparison. MLS would be a model league believe it or not if enough people paid attention.
 
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  1. Astros fans on social media should just STFU for a while. Sure, the Yankees, Red Sox and some other teams probably did something at least vaguely similar at some point. But until they get caught winning a World Series because of it, and it is all officially verified, it's not the same and your deflecting and whining doesn't help. Your team won a WS, partly by cheating, and nobody is taking either part of that away forever, but the winning part will always be in the books and in Baseball Reference. It's not a bad deal. Shut up and be a grown up about it for a while and let the other fans vent.
  2. Baseball needs to get in front of the 2019 buzzer scandal with a new investigation. Claiming it was thoroughly vetted in the first investigation won't cut it even if that's true and you're convinced the buzzer stuff is just rumors and conspiracy BS. The video of Altuve clutching his shirt after that walk off HR and then going into the dugout to change into his championship t-shirt is too compelling even if in fact everyone is misinterpreting it. I will always call out sports conspiracy BS but every now and then some weird theory gets verified, like signalling pitches with a trash can, and once that happens everything else seems more plausible and we have to deal with that.
  3. That baseball lacked the organizational ability to punish one single player is evidence that the league has reached clown show levels of being run by its employees' union. Combine that with the NBA's exposure as a wholly dependent vassalage to China, and the NFL almost seems like an ethical, competently run league by comparison. MLS would be a model league believe it or not if enough people paid attention.
Awesome. Especially #3.
 
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i think the problem with punishing the players was the fear of suspending an entire team. Almost a “too big to fail.”
I thinks fans would actually appreciate a totalitarian response to the cheating. Ban an entire team - it’s impossible to believe that those not partaking didn’t know it was taking place, it was just too widespread across multiple positions/roles. It’s kinda like a compliance office in a company - speaking up about the bad apples keeps the organization running despite infractions, or at least limits the fallout so people’s careers aren’t upended by being drawn in with guilt by association.
 
How does Villa not make this list? League MVP and consistent contributor and talisman. Weibe is a dweeb
 
How does Villa not make this list? League MVP and consistent contributor and talisman. Weibe is a dweeb
Lists like these are generally crapshoots and the only purpose of it is mostly to get people riled up. There is always going to be a snub no matter who you talk to, and I'm sure people will have issues with ordering as well.

On that note, I can honestly see a legitimate top 10 list that does not include Villa. I would disagree with that notion as I would absolutely have him there myself, but I could see an argument.

The problem I have with Wiebe's list, is the mix he includes in there at several spots. Mostly the mixture of Kaka, Drogba, and Giovinco along with the absence of Villa.
  • Kaka was a massive signing and showed decent quality here, but he really never was all that dominant. Across three seasons, he scored 25 goals and had 22 assists.
  • Drogba was also a massive signing but only played in 33 league games, scoring 21 goals and tallying 5 assists.
  • Giovinco was a bit more of an under the radar signing. Even though he had a high salary, not many thought he would have the impact he did while he was here. He played the same amount of seasons which Villa did and scored 114 goals with 41 assists.
Kaka and Drogba were huge signings from a global soccer perspective. Big names coming to the MLS, selling tickets and they were each fairly successful on the field. Villa was also a huge signing from a global soccer perspective and had a much more massive impact on the field than either Kaka or Drogba. I could see arguments that Villa was not quite as huge of a signing (at signing) as Kaka or Drogba, but again, would probably disagree.

Giovinco was a very good signing for TFC, one of the league's best in terms of production they received out of him. He wasn't really known around the world, his name didn't initially sell tickets until likely after TFC fans saw what he could do here.

There was really only one other individual that had similar production to Giovinco over those four seasons and that was Villa. Probably a bit behind Giovinco, but his quality was undeniable.

I don't see how those inclusions above can be reconciled along with Villa's absence. Either Giovinco goes, or Kaka and Drogba should probably go.

Twellman tweeted out his astonishment with the absence of Villa and Wiebe responded with that who was the "biggest at signing" or had the largest "profile".


This is where I did decide to respond back to him on this, because if that is indeed the criteria, then no way in hell does Giovinco make the top 10 list when guys like Villa, Lampard, Pirlo, Vela, Schweinsteiger, Keane, and probably others aren't on there.

 
Lists like these are generally crapshoots and the only purpose of it is mostly to get people riled up. There is always going to be a snub no matter who you talk to, and I'm sure people will have issues with ordering as well.

On that note, I can honestly see a legitimate top 10 list that does not include Villa. I would disagree with that notion as I would absolutely have him there myself, but I could see an argument.

The problem I have with Wiebe's list, is the mix he includes in there at several spots. Mostly the mixture of Kaka, Drogba, and Giovinco along with the absence of Villa.
  • Kaka was a massive signing and showed decent quality here, but he really never was all that dominant. Across three seasons, he scored 25 goals and had 22 assists.
  • Drogba was also a massive signing but only played in 33 league games, scoring 21 goals and tallying 5 assists.
  • Giovinco was a bit more of an under the radar signing. Even though he had a high salary, not many thought he would have the impact he did while he was here. He played the same amount of seasons which Villa did and scored 114 goals with 41 assists.
Kaka and Drogba were huge signings from a global soccer perspective. Big names coming to the MLS, selling tickets and they were each fairly successful on the field. Villa was also a huge signing from a global soccer perspective and had a much more massive impact on the field than either Kaka or Drogba. I could see arguments that Villa was not quite as huge of a signing (at signing) as Kaka or Drogba, but again, would probably disagree.

Giovinco was a very good signing for TFC, one of the league's best in terms of production they received out of him. He wasn't really known around the world, his name didn't initially sell tickets until likely after TFC fans saw what he could do here.

There was really only one other individual that had similar production to Giovinco over those four seasons and that was Villa. Probably a bit behind Giovinco, but his quality was undeniable.

I don't see how those inclusions above can be reconciled along with Villa's absence. Either Giovinco goes, or Kaka and Drogba should probably go.

Twellman tweeted out his astonishment with the absence of Villa and Wiebe responded with that who was the "biggest at signing" or had the largest "profile".


This is where I did decide to respond back to him on this, because if that is indeed the criteria, then no way in hell does Giovinco make the top 10 list when guys like Villa, Lampard, Pirlo, Vela, Schweinsteiger, Keane, and probably others aren't on there.


Yea weibe shot himself with that criteria. Giovinco is a nobody compared to Villa and Schweinsteiger among others.
 
At least he got Valderama, but left off a lot of big names from the first season or few, like Jorge Campos or Luis Hernandez, and then there was Donadoni. Him coming to MLS was massive, especially in the first season.
 
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Don't really know where to post this but pretty bummed about the Kobe news. Just sad sad sad.

He was and is my favorite basketball player. Captain Kobe. He had so much left to give to the game and the world. NBA Champion, MVP, Oscar winner.

His daughter, who could have made it to the WNBA also passed away today. So tragic and terribly sad.
 
Don't really know where to post this but pretty bummed about the Kobe news. Just sad sad sad.
I'm not really into the NBA anymore, but I was when I was in middle school and had a poster of Kobe on my wall in 6th grade, back when he was still wearing #8.

I don't typically get sad or really upset about these types of headlines. Not that they aren't heartbreaking or anything, I guess I've always just felt removed enough to recognize that it's awful and carry on. But this one did hurt a bit. Especially watching Doc Rivers' interview.
 
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For me it wasn't the passing of Kobe that got to me, because I don't follow basketball and don't really have any connection to him. For me it was what he stood for, all the people who looked up to him, and all that he still had to give to the world. Beyond that, the fact that his daughter plus the other coach and his wife/daughter etc were all taken as well. It's just devastating :( Helicopters suck.