Cool Hand Lucroy

Tough day for the offense. Some hard hit balls find gloves, only managed to put together one real inning, Rays got the big clutch hit against Megill. That 2-1 pitch to Perkins kind of illustrates the issue with ABS. Who the heck actually knows if that pitch was a strike. The umpire says no. The box says yes. It's probably within the system margin of error, and so now we defer to the robot instead of the human. Even had the roles been reversed, I'd feel the same. It just forces the question of what you're gaining with this system. I don't think it was designed for pitches like that, where a seam clips a computer-modeled corner. It's just a little bit uncanny valley for me, but you can't really fight it, I guess. Us Luddites are losing everywhere, so why should baseball be any different? I was too optimistic about the challenge system, I think. Totally agree with the lack of PHers in the ninth. Letting Mitchell hit against the lefty and then going with Perkins over Lockridge against the righty was the weirdest possible platoon advantage.

Like to see the offense back him up! Been a well-pitched game so far, both ways. The difference is just that Diaz is seeing the ball ridiculously well.

So far, I'm not liking it too much. I think part of it is that they ARE keeping those boxes on the screen for broadcast, and the boxes are the official ABS boxes. So, as a viewer, I know the outcome as soon as the catcher taps his headgear. Then, there's a delay that's probably like 5-7 seconds, but it feels like forever because I already know what's going on. I'm still giving MLB time to work this out (and myself time to get used to it), but I'd like either the system to be faster (theoretically, it should basically be instantaneous) OR for the broadcast to not actually show the strike zone box on the screen. I'd prefer this second option. Part of the joy of the system is that it tests everyone's understanding of the strike zone. But that's only interesting if it implicates the viewer as well. We should be watching these games wondering whether our instincts about balls/strikes are correct. Just giving us the answer immediately kind of spoils it for me. I say that as a big fan of the challenge system in theory, over the fully automated ABS. I advocated pretty fiercely for it in one of these threads. These first three games are only three games, and MLB still has time to figure some of this out. BUT I'm getting closer to adjusting my priors a bit. If we can't either reduce the wait time on these challenges OR give viewers the same information the catcher, umpire, hitter, batter, and everyone watching in-person has, then I might rather have full/no ABS than a challenge system. Possible it's just a matter of getting used to it as a fan, but it feels more intrusive than either the pitch clock (which I was mostly fine with) or banning the shift (which I hated a whole lot and still don't like in theory but can confidently say has impacted my enjoyment of baseball not at all).

I'm really surprised it took them so long last year to have a big comeback. For the past three years, this team has just felt like one that's going to keep coming at you. Woodpeckers fits. I didn't expect them to win today, but I was not at all surprised when then put up 2 in the first and then kept traffic on the bases all afternoon. There are A LOT of guys on this roster that can give you quality ABs. Regifo's single in the 8th today was the hit of the game for me. Just a great AB, fouled of a tough 2-2 pitch, took a close sweeper to get the count full, ripped the next one.

Man, today is what's so awesome about baseball. It's an early season series against an opponent everyone expects to be bad, the first two games were blowouts, the Brewers' starter wasn't very good (and had to suffer some subpar defense), the offense kind of hung around but didn't look like TOO much of a threat, and then all of a sudden Yelich is hitting a three-run bomb to give them a last AB win. I don't know that I've gone from feeling so meh about a game to being so excited so quickly in a long while. Sweeps matter. Even in March. Even against bad competition. Fun day!

I've never heard of half these guys! And the ones I have heard of are way past their prime.

I thought Vaughn's exit was weird, though it was like 11-1 at the time, so easy to chalk up as blowout decision-making. Has Quero played first? Just going with Bauers/Contreras there? Yelich? Outside of Bauers, I think William has like 2 games at first? I don't remember Christian ever playing there. Maybe they are confident this will be short-term for Vaughn? Kind of a weird situation, but maybe I'm missing something. Black can play first, right? I trust all will become clear.

Should be a fun game against MSU for the Badgers. Fun Final 8. 3 Big Ten teams, plus the old WCHA group of Duluth, Denver, and North Dakota. Throw in Quinnipiac and Western Michigan, and that's a nice mix. Hockey seems to have come through conference realignment okay, though I absolutely miss the days when every weekend featured Wisconsin-Minnesota or Gophers-St. Cloud State or UMD-Mankato. Hard to beat those atmospheres. Bet nobody misses the trips to Alaska, though.

I think you're right. Philosophical difference, and to each their own. It would obviously suck if we lost Chourio for the year. But that's a really low risk, and some things aren't about how they might impact my team. Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch has a great line about sports teaching one to appreciate blind, irrational loyalty. I love that. But sports also have taught me that it has limits. I think international competition is a clear one. If your primary reaction to watching England make a deep World Cup run is "this is super risky for Arsenal," I think that misses the soul of why I love sports.

I mean, this just feels like a way less enjoyable way to look at sports. I care quite a bit about how players feel. They're human! Venezuela winning was cool. The risk of significant injury is no different than any game, and what the WBC meant for that team puts the stakes right up there with playoff baseball. I know it doesn't feel that way to domestic fans focused solely on their team. But it felt that way to a large part of Venezuela and the Venezuelan diaspora, and trading that to shave a few measly risk points off a position player (even a pitcher, but definitely a position player) just feels like it borders on joyless. It just ain't up to us to decide how players and teams risk manage the WBC. Nobody seriously makes this argument about international hockey players or World Cup qualifying or summer Olympic basketball. I really don't see why this is any different. We can hope our players put the Brewers above everything, but making that a stringent requirement is asking them to trade a whole lot, even in exchange for a lot of money and fame.

Nice to see the Badgers win. I'm a Minnesota State grad, so hoping they can upset WMU tomorrow. As a friend said, if you're emotionally invested college hockey playoffs are the most intense sporting experience you can have, save maybe World Cup penalties. All the drama of the NHL playoffs, with single-elimonation stakes.

Fun game. Good settle from Miz. Yelich with a couple hits. Good ABs up and down the lineup. My favorite moment was Hamilton's bare hand play at third. That guy fits right in already!

Absolutely knew Rock was going to talk about Yeli cutting bags, lol. He ain't wrong, though!

For sure. There's definitely a theatrical element to it. That's why tennis did it too. Hawkeye knew the call instantly, but the electro-video display added a showmanship element. To each their own. I'm just not super into jazzing up sporting events with computer animated graphics when we know the result, but I completely concede that there are advantages and that some people dig it.

I'm not into that for a bunch of reasons. Probably not the best thread to delve into why. I do wonder why we need the video display, though. That just seems odd. I'm willing to give it time to get a little better and more smooth too.

Super small sample, but I don't really like this so far. It does delay the rhythm of the game. Hopefully, it gets better. Definitely impressed by the Sox catcher going 3 for 3, though. Cool to watch players with a strong command of the strike zone. Illuminates a difficult to see skill.

Appreciate it! Good calendar shift for the sport. Was a bad look to have the portal officially open prior to the Sweet Sixteen.

It's an awful spot when an institution like the NCAA maintains what (to me) was an absurd position about "student-athletes" for decades, and then the courts strike down everything and basically make any type of regulation impossible. I think this era will be short-lived. Either we'll get full breakaways by the upper-echelons (which would be awful, but we've been steadily heading there for a while, and I'm becoming more and more resigned to it), or we'll have something like a CBA, either by sport or by division. Maybe this will come with full-on unionization, or maybe it'll just come via the NCAA enforcing very strict rules around allowable spending (and those rules standing up in court). I think the genuine NIL model that most folks thought was reasonable and fair is so far away from what this has become, it'll be hard to get back there. I hope we do, but... In the meantime, not only are we in weird, pseudo-regulated space, but the regulations change every time someone files a court case. It's bonkers. Sigh. No such thing as the good old days, but we've definitely traded one absurd situation for a different absurd situation. It just seems to me there has to be an actual balance of power in college sports, rather than the old system (the NCAA and the schools make the rules) or the new one (where the players and the boosters run the show).

We're not that far from teams basically just being offshoots of the university. It'll be like the club system in Europe, only with the jerseys of the schools. If we ever really had the "Michigan State University Independent Athletic Collective," would I yell about it? I don't know. It would be far from my preferred sporting system. It would also be more honest than what we had for most of the last century.

Are other coaches/programs selling ad space on the sleeves? I know that kind of branding is everywhere, so maybe it's just my impression of Gottlieb that leads me to think this feels more extreme. As for the clip itself, it feels real on-brand. Big-time talk radio energy there. Thanks for sharing!

I mean, High Point's guards were better. Blackwell had 5 turnovers. Martin 23 pts, 10 assists, 1 turnover. Boyd was good, but I don't think there's a question that High Point's guards won them the game. The matchup was a lot worse than I thought it would be, that's for sure.

You're absolutely right about the difficulty of teaching defense in the portal era. I think two guys that can do it are Pitino and Otzelberger. Granted, both the guys have a lot of returners to complement some transfers. But I don't think it's coincidence that they'll both get second weekend games. Grant Mccasland got run pretty good yesterday, but he might be in that category as well. Juries out on McCollum, since he's had this roster core for a while, but he's also proof that you can win A LOT playing what's basically Dick Bennett ball.

Kentucky looked like they'd never seen guys actually try to defend before. That roster looked so so limited.

Some great games today. Three close finishes with three games still to go. Huge credit to Iowa. Playing slow still works! They just ground Florida down and won without even shooting that well from three. Stirtz played one of the worst games I've ever seen from him, and somehow Iowa won. The South region is now Thursday of the Big Ten tournament. Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. It's also probably the most fun regional from a storyline perspective. Illinois-Houston is an absolute delight of a matchup. Euroball versus guys who will fight you every possession. Awesome. And Iowa has been a really, really tough matchup for the Huskers this year. Nebraska beat them in OT at Pinnacle Bank and lost by five in Iowa City, in a game played in the 50s. Glad this tournament got a big surprise. It needed it.

Stephen F. Austin had Thomas Walkup, who was Brayden Smith before Brayden Smith. That team was awesome. Or the kid from Oral Roberts whose name escapes me. Gotta love guards in March.