This gave me a chuckle

by yurizanow on Oct 9, 2009 12:53 AM EDT Comment 30 comments

I found this on Deadspin.

http://deadspin.com/5377099/the-most-hopeless-franchise-in-football--jamboroo-week-5

It's about Dan Snyder and the Washington Redskins, but there was one paragraph that resonated with me as an Orioles fan.

"There are many bad franchises out there in the sports world, but there is a distinct difference between a franchise being shitty and a franchise being utterly hopeless. Even historically bad teams like Arizona are able to shine on occasion. No, I'm talking about the Raiders, Clippers, and Orioles of the world. I'm talking about franchises that have no hope of turning things around because the man who owns the team refuses to relinquish his cold death grip upon it. Those are the truly hopeless teams out there. The teams that refuse to pull themselves out of their own dysfunction. Teams for whom there is no future, just an endless cycle of building up shaky scaffolding and then tearing it back down again."

Despite my displeasure with Dave Trembley's return, I hold out hope that Andy MacPhail has managed to remove Peter Angelos' cold death grip. So far it seems like MacPhail is in complete control, so maybe the Orioles can get off of that list.

As for the Redskins, I grew up in Baltimore after the Colts were gone, but before the Ravens arrived. I was taught by the local grownups that the Redskins were not an appropriate football team to root for in place of a local favorite, so I'm kind of happy with the Snyder regime. That said, I still feel vaguely bad that what was once a great franchise has been brought so low.

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and yet as bad as the snyder regime has been

they still seem to make the playoffs every three years or so. i couldnt really care less about the nfl, but you’ve got to respect the pairity when even the shittiest of owners cant keep their teams out of the postseason.

"you know what the orioles could use right now? a day off." - joe angel

by swilhelmross on Oct 9, 2009 5:43 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I blame Todd Collins.

Ray Rice is so agile. He's a whole new breed for agile you need a new word to describe his agility... UBER-AGILITY!

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Oct 9, 2009 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hes gonna be starting in two weeks for the skins

by twistedlogic on Oct 10, 2009 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

about Snyder

at least the guy seems to legitimately want to win. I hate the Redskins, dont get me wrong, but its obvious. He throws TONS of money at all the big names trying to win games. He just doesnt seem to know much about how to build a winning franchise.

by daveh873 on Oct 9, 2009 9:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As a Redskins fan, this also gave me a chuckle

…a chuckle of rage.

It’s a lot like what Angelos did to the Orioles — completely dismantle and demoralize an organization that had been one of the best in its sport, purely for the sake of his own ego. The difference is that we can see (or at least imagine) the light at the end of the tunnel for the O’s. For the Redskins, there is no obvious path forward at this point.

by Joltin Joe Orsulak on Oct 9, 2009 10:02 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m having fun trying to imagine what a chuckle of rage would sound like.

by O Nina on Oct 9, 2009 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Eh, that writer is funny

but never has any insight not related to football.

It is all too easy…and lazy…to blame Angelos for the Os troubles. I think Angelos got rightly suspicious of his GM’s acumen sometime after the Syd Thrift era; Syd Thrift was, and will hopefully always remain, the worst GM the Os have ever had. He was awful. His incompetence still resonates. Yes, Angelos probably went too far following Syd’s time here, and sure, he deserves blame. But it’s the knee-jerk hack reaction to simply say “it’s all Angelos’s fault.” I mean, I’ve heard fans complain (before the steroid revelations, mind) that “that piece of shit Angelos drove Palmeiro away!” As I recall, Palmeiro went to Texas because it meant “going home” or some nonsense. There’s an inescapable and uninformed perception out there that Angelos is the root of ALL the Os problems…and it just isn’t true.

"Might as well just win this game." - Adam Jones, 4/17/2008

Adam Jones is the tits.

by KenDixonFanClub on Oct 9, 2009 10:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Syd Thrift was Peter Angelos' Vinnie Cerrato

He loved Syd Thrift until he suddenly he didn’t. Thrift was the behind-the-scenes man who undermined Pat Gillick and Frank Wren (not that he needed much help). He’s been gone since 2002, so this current mess can’t be attributed to him.

by yurizanow on Oct 9, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, I’m talking about the Raiders, Clippers, and Orioles of the world. I’m talking about franchises that have no hope of turning things around because the man who owns the team refuses to relinquish his cold death grip upon it.

And it’s obvious that this guys doesn’t follow baseball closely. No hope? Give me a break. A lot of smart baseball analysts have said the O’s have a fighting chance given the strength of young guys coming up. No hope franchises in baseball include the Royals and Nationals. These are guys with limited resources and no farm system. Not to mention, the Royals are run by idiots.

"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap."

by birdman on Oct 9, 2009 12:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think what this guy means . . .

is that the Orioles were destroyed by Angelos’ deliberate actions after being somewhat successful in the mid-1990’s.

by yurizanow on Oct 9, 2009 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah sure, but to lump the O’s with “truly” hopeless franchises is silly and ignorant.

"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap."

by birdman on Oct 9, 2009 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BDD makes no bones about the fact that he doesn't care about baseball

I was kind of annoyed by that paragraph, but he’s a football/humor writer, and good at that. So I let it slide. I don’t go to KSK for baseball writing. Honestly, I don’t even go to Deadspin for good baseball writing now that Leitch is gone.

by pipkin on Oct 10, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think it's appropriate the Orioles get completely removed from those kinds of lists until . . .

they do something to get off of them.

Having a plan that they’re following to become a legitimate franchise is a huge step in the right direction and maybe they shouldn’t be spoken of in the same breath as the Raiders, but they were still 64-98 last year. I think it’s fair that they don’t get regarded as non-hopeless, at least until they have a winning season.

by yurizanow on Oct 10, 2009 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think it’s appropriate the Orioles get completely removed from those kinds of lists until . . . they do something to get off of them.

Then the author isn’t being fair to the English language. He said franchise with “no hope” not the franchise with the most enduring losing streatk. There’s a important conceptual difference. If he would have said the later, I would have agreed whole heartedly.

"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap."

by birdman on Oct 10, 2009 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yuri doesn’t like to fret over simple things like the actual meaning of language when bitching and moaning about how bad the Orioles are.

by O'sFan21 on Oct 12, 2009 11:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why am I being brought into this?

The author of that article was Drew Magary, not me.

by yurizanow on Oct 12, 2009 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ummmm...

Maybe, just maybe, BECAUSE YOU POSTED IT HERE?

by O'sFan21 on Oct 13, 2009 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I just said it gave me a chuckle

If you read my orignal post, I wrote that despite my misgivings about Dave Trembley’s return, I hold out hope that Andy MacPhail has removed Angelos’ death-grip on the Orioles.

Bird wrote that the author isn’t being fair to the English language. I think it’s safe to assume that if he writes “the author” he means Drew Magary rather than me (in which case he would’ve written “you”).

You responded to Bird’s post about Drew Magary and wrote “Yuri doesn’t like to fret over simple things like the actual meaning of language when bitching and moaning over how bad the Orioles are.” That’s just a non sequitur since I am not the author of the article and the article doesn’t bitch and moan about how bad the Orioles are, it’s about Dan Snyder and the Redskins. Your statement of dislike of me is gratuitous Which brings us to why you probably don’t like the article – it says mean things about the football team you like and I posted it.

by yurizanow on Oct 13, 2009 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My statement of dislike of you???? Where exactly do I say I don’t like you? I said you don’t care about the actual meaning of language, which is reference to a statement you made in an earlier thread where you were bitching about the O’s in a series of factually absurd arguments and when I destroyed them you tried to say I was talking about rhetoric/language rather than the substance of your argument, which wasn’t the case.

by O'sFan21 on Oct 13, 2009 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What? Do you like me or something?

OK, I’m in Towson. Let’s get a drink tonight. You name the time and place.

by yurizanow on Oct 13, 2009 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Beer diplomacy!!!

Do it, O’sFan21! There must be peace in Birdland, and if Obama has taught me anything, it’s that beer diplomacy is the way to go.

by O Nina on Oct 13, 2009 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I became chummy with zknower and Jonny Pops that way

by yurizanow on Oct 13, 2009 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

There’s a teachable moment somewhere in this conversation.

"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap."

by birdman on Oct 13, 2009 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And I don't know if this would apply to either O'sfan21 or yuri

But Jonny Pops is much less prickly and much more charming in real life ;-)

Some Day, Matt Wieters Will Make The Cooperstown Crowd Laugh By Talking About The Time He Batted Behind Melvin Mora And Luke Scott. -Keith Law via Matt Wieters Facts

by Stacey on Oct 13, 2009 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ahhh Towson is kind of far for me to go for a drink.

Next year before a game some time will work though. Hopefully the O’s will be somwhere near .500 at the time (first 2 weeks???).

by O'sFan21 on Oct 13, 2009 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'll go into Baltimore if that's more convenient

by yurizanow on Oct 13, 2009 4:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bird wrote that the author isn’t being fair to the English language. I think it’s safe to assume that if he writes "the author" he means Drew Magary rather than me (in which case he would’ve written "you").

Well, you said, “I don’t think it’s appropriate the Orioles get completely removed from those kinds of lists until . . . they do something to get off of them.” And I’m saying it’s very appropriate to get off of “these kind of lists” (i.e., no hope lists) because the O’s have made one huge step towards improvement (i.e., building a young crop of strong talent). If this was a “longest losing streak kind of list,” then you’re right, the O’s shouldn’t get off until they win. But that’s not the type of list the author is talking about.

"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap."

by birdman on Oct 13, 2009 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would also say there is hope in Baltimore…I couldn’t say that five or ten years ago, but the makeup of the team and organization is way different now than it was then. Of course, I don’t really blame anyone in the national media for not knowing this…I’m sure they see the 64 wins and don’t see progress.

It’s funny though how many bad organizations there are out there: Pirates, Orioles, Reds, Nationals, Royals (ranked in terms of consecutive losing seasons). That’s a lot of teams that have sucked for a long time…

Librarians are hiding something

by dfa on Oct 9, 2009 1:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

At least the Reds and Pirates have a nice core of young players. I’m not saying they’ll be good soon but they won’t be laughable.

"Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap."

by birdman on Oct 9, 2009 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

plus they are in the NL Central

So I’m not sure why they can’t back into a winning team somehow. Both teams do have a nice stable of young players, but I don’t really know either situations well enough to figure out why they suck (well, I’m assuming Bonifay/Littlefield/Bowden/Krivsky) had a lot to do with it. But I do like the Reds young players. But between Dusty and their ballpark, I’m not sure how a fly ball pitcher can ever develop confidence…

Librarians are hiding something

by dfa on Oct 9, 2009 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs