True Fan

Congratulations and Thank You, Andrew Peterson
by j_john

First, I would like to say thank you to Andrew Peterson for introducing me into the world of fantasy baseball and fantasy sports. As a life long sports fan I always looked down on fantasy sports as taking away interest from the real important stuff (team play, competition) and focused too much on nerdy stats that don't equal wins and losses. In my first season of fantasy baseball I have found that to be both true and false. There is a strong emphasis on stats of single players but it also raises your interest in every game by leaps and bounds. I am paying more attention to baseball this year and it is pumping me up. MLB has had quite a resurgence in the last year plus and it really presenting and fun and exciting product these days and fantasy baseball has made me pay more and closer attention.

The man who introduced me to fantasy baseball, Andrew Peterson, is an experienced and crafty fantasy veteran. He has made this clear in his Yahoo Public league by storming to the top of the standings after a month of play. He has taken a commanding league by maximizing every position he has. If a player isn't producing for him, he makes a move (as shown by his league leading 44 transactions already this season). Andrew has provided me with extraordinary insight and advice and I owe him. If you want to see a fantasy baseball star in action check out his league(his team is The Bees) and if you want to see a fantasy rookie learning the ropes check out my league(my team is Uncle Green Lazers).

Posted on May 29, 2004 | Comments (6)

Tennis Uniforms
by j_john

During lunch today at Henry's they had the French Open on the projection screen. While we ate, Serena Williams and Maria Kirilenko battled it out above our heads. Tennis players move quickly, and need a wide range of motion, so I was surprised when Steven pointed out Serena's giant hoop earrings.

I was curious about this, and checked in on Venus, who also had large (almost painful looking) earrings.

Posted on May 27, 2004 | Comments (7)

Vera Wants Portland Baseball
by j_john

Mayor Vera Katz "vowed" to have a plan for getting a baseball team in Portland before she leaves office. I doubt it will be the Expos. In addition to Portland, Washington, D.C.; Northern Virginia; Norfolk, Va.; Las Vegas; Monterrey, Mexico; and San Juan, Puerto Rico are all vying for the team. Is Portland a better home for baseball than these places? Plus Las Vegas is said to be "aggressive" in their pursuit.

Oh if only Gov. Kulongoski would have been more interested in trading a downtown casino for stadium financing. Then we'd have baseball and gambling! Katz is framing the deal so even if we don't get the Expos she won't look like a loser, "The point that we're trying to make," Katz said, "is that we're going to put a plan together that will be sustainable. If it's not the Expos, we will be there for the next possible team." [Oregonian]

Posted on May 21, 2004 | Comments (2)

Experience John Afryl
by j_john

Watching Timberwolves basketball with J John Afryl is one hell of a roller coaster. We've made this movie (1.3 MB) so you can join us on the ride.

Posted on May 20, 2004 | Comments (4)

Untouchables
by j_john

Yesterday Arsenal Football Club of the English Premier League beat Leicester City 2-1 to finish out their season. What is most interesting about this victory is that it enabled the Gunners to end their campaign as not only winners of the leauge, but UNBEATEN winners of the league with a 26-12-0 record. Truly an outstanding event, something that hadn't been done in the top tier of English football in well over a hundred years.

It might be difficult to put this achievement in the proper perspective in regards to American pro sports, considering they only play 38 games. However, I think it's surprising to anyone who watches the highly competetive EPL, especially when you see how much money Manchester United and Chelsea give to their players. I have to admit I'm a fan of the Arse with all their talented Frenchmen, but it might be bad for the game if this type of dominance continues.

Posted on May 16, 2004 | Comments (4)

Watching No Baseball
by j_john

by Alan Harris

We are sitting behind left field,
you and I, alone in the stadium.
We watch home plate where
no batter swings at no ball
that no pitcher has pitched.

Intently we follow no action anywhere.

Continue Reading "Watching No Baseball"

Posted on May 16, 2004 | Comments (0)

Oh please oh please oh please
by j_john

Portland unveiled it's plans for a new stadium today. This was one of the main stumbling blocks preventing Portland from being awarded the soon to be relocated Montreal Expos. I understand why some people don't want a baseball team, but I would love it so much as a sports fan and I think it would up Portland's prestige (Portland is the largest city in the US with only 1 major sports fanchise). Washington DC has been the leader of the pack in the competition for the Expos, with Las Vegas being the subject of a lot of recent rumors.

Posted on May 14, 2004 | Comments (0)

Stats!
by j_john

My two favorite aspects of sports are the business of sports and the incredible amount of stats in sports. Over at Stdev.net they have created graphs of games based play-by-play data at ESPN.com. Really incredible stuff. You can enter a player's name to see the points.

Graphing the course of a game is awesome. Two things Matt plans on adding to his graph: "... it would be interesting to overlay other statistics on top of the game-o-graphs. For instance, I could plot a moving average of field goal percentage on a second axis. if the two curves have a similar shape, or are moving in the same direction for a while, then you could tell the lead was increasing or decreasing because the team was starting to make or miss their shots."

"I'd also like to test a hypothesis that many announcers state as fact. If a player is shooting poorly, and then they get a dunk or a layup, announcers will say the dunk or layup will 'get them going,' as if to say the dunk or layup somehow makes shooting jump shots easier. If this is true, then field goal percentage for shots taken after a layup should be higher then the field goal percent of shots not taken after a dunk or layup"

Posted on May 14, 2004 | Comments (0)

Choose your weapon.
by j_john

Last summer was the summer of disc golf. I learned the sport, played a lot, saw a lot of courses, and had a lot of fun. I just played two very exciting rounds of miniature golf including some very heavy wagering. The traditional version of links golf has always been a really fun day out, and really matches the urbanhonking concept of Class Factor. So, which version of the time honored sport of golf will win out this summer? Maybe something new all together like speed golf. Is anyone up for some golf fun?

Posted on May 10, 2004 | Comments (1)

Don't let me go alone
by j_john

I missed the first round of the playoffs because I was in Europe. Now I'm missing the second round because I don't have cable and no one will go to the sports bars with me! What is the deal here! This is the pinnacle of the season! And the Lakers are down 2-0.

Going to Slabtown alone to catch a game ain't bad, though. Big TVs, and a lot of them. $1 PBR from 4-7. I could do worse.

Posted on May 6, 2004 | Comments (8)

KG=MVP
by j_john

As expected, Kevin Garnett was named Most Valuable Player of the National Basketball Association yesterday. While I am definitely excited to see my favorite player win this award, I'm focusing my attention on the people who say it doesn't mean much, because nobody seems to believe he can take the T-Wolves to the championship.

I'm going to just ignore the critics and not engage in discourse. I am obviously biased and have placed all my faith in KG as the savior of my beloved franchise. He has taken them this far, I have no reason to believe he won't take them to the top.

Destiny creates a Dynasty right?

Posted on May 4, 2004 | Comments (1)

No Chalupas
by j_john

Oh my god, the Nets just scored 56 points in an entire NBA playoff game. How does that happen?! What a statement by Detroit. I will now take any and all bets on the Nets for this series... No one can recover from being embarassed that badly.

Posted on May 3, 2004 | Comments (2)

Football Fever
by j_john

A couple weeks ago, while staying at my parent's house I succumbed to the pleasures of digital cable television. Television, you see, is something I don't really watch. The Hott Denn may indeed be receiving a basic cable signal as I type this, but there is no TV there to make that necessary connection. Since I figured I get enough "tube time" playing videogames or watching DVDs, I don't really miss out on the pleasures of the warm glow, and therefore I don't allow myself to succumb to the guilty pleasures of, say, Monster House on The Discovery Channel.

However, while in St. Paul I figured I better at least check out what I'd been missing, and spent endless hours especially mesmerized by the available footy coverage on Fox Sports World. Not only did I watch the EPL, but German Bundesliga, Spanish Primera Liga, Dutch Eredivisie, Italian Serie A, Brazilian League and so on. It got to the point where I realized that I was watching something I'd already seen and didn't really feel the urge to change the channel. I had to confess to myself that I did indeed miss the television programs that allowed me to keep up on the world of information out there.

All that tele-soccer made it clear that I had once again caught the "footballitis", and the only cure would be more matches. When I found some tapes containing Euro 96 and World Cup 98 action I just had to pop them in the VCR and relive the excitement. Watching taped sporting events is a real weird experience, but I made the most of it, forcing myself not to remember what the outcomes were so I could be frustrated all over again when my team lost. The agony.

Back in Portland, I was out running a few days ago and started to think about how awesome it was that I was able to watch almost every match of World Cup 2002. I even made sure that I stayed-up all night to watch live events taking place in Korea and Japan, and then slept during the bright summer sun and rising temperatures with blankets over my windows. Seeing the US defeat heavy favorites Portugal in their opening match gave me goosebumps, and even inspired me to get back in shape. I knew I had to watch that match again, and hurried it home.

After finding the tape and pressing play it was only a matter of 3 minutes before the US Mens National Team struck for the first goal, sending me into a great mixture of nostalgia, perpetual disbelief, and the slightest, strangest bit of national pride. The next 87 minutes were immensely thrilling--even knowing that the 'Nats would hold on for victory didn't prevent me from experiencing the delight of seeing goalkeeper Brad Friedel jump for joy, pumping his fist in probably the most unihibited display of jubiliation that a man of 31 can make.

Okay, what to do now? I could continue this path of reliving previously held competitions, or I could figure out how to see the next big event, the European 2004 Championships, to be held this June throughout Portugal. Well, as it turns out I would not only have to get that digital cable I have denied myself if I want to see this summer's Euros, I would have to put down a hefty $180 for all the matches! Ouch. Sure, it seems like a huge price to pay, but maybe I need to look at the bigger picture. What if I don't do it, and I suffer from some terrible regret and wonder what I'm missing as I read Web site updates and settle for mere still images? I think it could be a small price to pay to ensure I don't suffer from any negative effects of ignoring my previosly mentioned "Footballitis."

Posted on May 3, 2004 | Comments (0)

Ulama
by j_john

I recently learned about the ancient Mesoamerican game of ulama from an article in the Economist. The game, which is still played today, has a continuous history going back almost 4,000 years. As the article says, "This is not to say the rules of ulama have not changed over the years--ritual sacrifice of the losers is thought to have died out in the 1300s."

From what I understand, you play on a long, narrow field (60 meters by 4 meters), and you have to hit this very heavy (9 pounds!) rubber ball with your hip or thigh toward the other team.

According to the Economist article, "The rules of ulama are still today in flux, and often not even understood by the participants. This is why in a match each team brings a veedor, an elder who is meant to settle disputes over the rules."

That seems like a good idea, but it would have been even more important back when they sacrificed the losers.

Posted on May 3, 2004 | Comments (8)

The Team
by j_john

Who are the True Fans?

The core group is

• J. John: A Timberwolves fan originally from the Twin Cities and Lover of scoccer Real Football


• Liz and Krista: Providing in depth and behind-the-scenes coverage of competitive eating


• Mikey: A wavering attention span that rests briefly on the most obscure of sport


• Curt: Now living in Atlanta and enjoying the world of professional sports fandom


• Josh: Basketball is the name of the game


• Ryan: The other soccer Association Football fan providing insider insights into the game locally and abroad

Posted on May 2, 2004 | Comments (1)