Last Word with j-man
by John Gennaro on Jan 25, 2010 3:46 AM PST
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PrintSorry, j-man fans, for the delay on this. It's not his fault, it's been sitting in my inbox for about a week. I'd like to say I've been too busy to get to it, but what's probably more honest is that I haven't wanted to relive the Chargers-Jets game again. It'll be good for me, and us, to look back so that we can look forward.
Hell Charger fans, sorry for the loss (to the Jets). I watched the whole game and here's why I think San Diego lost:
All in all, the Chargers just had a bad game. Call it poor timing. Keep your head up, Charger fans. You will be back.
- The missed kicks were a killer. I had a bad feeling something like that would happen after he pulled the first FG. However, I think if he had to kick another one he would've made it.
- Too many mistakes/penalties.
- SD's run defense wore down in the 2nd half.
- Philip Rivers was under pressure most of the game.
A little site news before I take off. There will be no podcast this week, because there's nothing worse than talking about the Super Bowl 2 weeks before it even happens. It'll be back next week, although who my cohost will be is currently up in the air.
Also, I've been getting a couple of calls and plenty of text message to the Bolts From The Blue Hotline. For whomever sent me the text letting me know that Quentin Jammer was on your flight from Las Vegas to San Diego: Thank you. That's exactly the type of stuff we're looking for. So go ahead and put BFTB in your cell phone, so you know who to call the next time you bump into Norv Turner at the Championship of Chess. The number is 760-515-BFTB (2382).
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I saw a certain redskins player once getting half drunk 2 hours before a skins home game. I didn’t have the courage to walk up for a picture, since he had 2 big dudes with him…
by Superduperboltman on Jan 25, 2010 7:51 AM PST reply actions
"who my cohost will be is currently up in the air."
What John meant to say was his co host next week is me, your boy Natrone!
by Natrone Bomb on Jan 25, 2010 8:12 AM PST via mobile reply actions
No interest in the podcast
Unless we can talk about this.
Mountain West Connection ::Above the Rest::
Bolts From The Blue "There’s a gleam men. Let’s go get the gleam! Focus and Finish!!! One play at a time!!! Let's Go!!!"
Representing the San Diego State University Aztecs, home of the 2009 College Cheerleading National Champions in the all women's division.
by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jan 25, 2010 10:52 AM PST reply actions
Sam, you should check that link again.
It redirects to an inferior sport.
What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the cheerleaders!
by Neoplatonist Bolthead on Jan 25, 2010 11:00 AM PST up reply actions
You obviously
Don’t understand the definition of inferior.
I'm the first person to admit that I'm wrong about a lot of things, but I'm going to be the last person to admit I'm wrong about what we're currently talking about.
by Wonko on Jan 25, 2010 11:08 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Depends on your objective.
Difficulty doesn’t matter to me. Baseball doesn’t have enough moving parts. Soccer, there’s a great sport. Sadly, less watchable, but still great.
What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the cheerleaders!
by Neoplatonist Bolthead on Jan 25, 2010 11:16 AM PST up reply actions
You obviously
Don’t understand the definition of sport.
Mountain West Connection ::Above the Rest::
Bolts From The Blue "There’s a gleam men. Let’s go get the gleam! Focus and Finish!!! One play at a time!!! Let's Go!!!"
Representing the San Diego State University Aztecs, home of the 2009 College Cheerleading National Champions in the all women's division.
by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jan 25, 2010 11:20 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you? ◔ヮ◔
Uncommon Sportsman :: Absurdity in play
by Axion on Jan 25, 2010 12:00 PM PST up reply actions 2 recs
Sam obviously doesn’t understand that this is a football blog.
"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock
by John Gennaro on Jan 25, 2010 1:26 PM PST up reply actions
When defining "what is/isn't a sport" comes up
I take that as shots fired… in my ’hood.
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you? ◔ヮ◔
Uncommon Sportsman :: Absurdity in play
Definition
Sport is anything you can compete at…..anything that improves your score by drinking is not an athletic sport…bowling comes to mind
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you? ◔ヮ◔
Uncommon Sportsman :: Absurdity in play
That may be.
It might be any of a lot of things. It could be that I’ve got the natural prejudices of a big slow guy. It could be that my perspective is warped because I’m a space-gamer more than a dilemma guy (Go rocks, Mastermind is boring). It could be that I should have included the word “spectator” before the word “sport” because this is in fact a spectator sports forum.
But whatever the case, I joined BFTB to talk about the Chargers, and by extension, NFL football. If it isn’t NFL football related, why is it here?
What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the cheerleaders!
by Neoplatonist Bolthead on Jan 25, 2010 12:26 PM PST up reply actions
Sorry...I'm still bitter
In case anyone sees Norv at the Championship of Checkers, you mean, right? I couldn’t remember the particulars of the scenario below so I didn’t want to paraphrase. Here is a little anecdote relayed to Bill Simmons by a close friend, in full, that I think has a bit of relevance and may go a long way towards explaining the game-management ineptitude of our feckless “leader”:
“Norv was up about two grand,” Hopper explains. "Suddenly he scaled down his bets from $100 to $25 and started playing conservatively, like he had taken a pill that turned him into a giant wuss. I couldn’t believe it. He stayed on ‘16’ against a (dealer’s) face card three times in a 10-minute span. All three times, he screwed me, and I ended up with his crappy card. All three times, the dealer ended up crushing us. And Norv’s just sitting there with this dumb smile on his face, counting his hundred-dollar chips. Meanwhile, I’m losing a hundred a hand.
“So after the third time it happened, I leaned back, looked at the ceiling and muttered, ‘The coach … is … KILLING me …’ Just like that. The coach … is … KILLING me. Up until that point, he didn’t know that I knew who he was. He stayed for two more hands and bolted. I drove him away.”
The mental image of a failed football coach mangling a blackjack table and driving Hopper insane was just too good … for the next 15 minutes, we couldn’t stop talking about it. How could a man get hired to coach an NFL team when he can’t even play blackjack? We were flabbergasted by this. For instance, would someone like Mike Shanahan ever stay on “16” when the dealer had a “10” showing? I mean, EVER? Of course not.
“Norv seemed like a nice enough guy,” Hopper said, “but there wasn’t anything ‘coach-like’ about him. Can you imagine someone like Parcells just sitting there and taking it while I bitched about him at a blackjack table, right in his face?”
“How many teams has Norv coached?” Mike asked.
“He was an assistant in Dallas and the head coach in Washington,” I answered. “In both places, he lost respect of the players pretty quickly.”
“I can see why,” Hopper sneered.
We started talking about something else. About 10 minutes later, Hopper started shaking his head again. He couldn’t stop thinking about Norv.
“If I owned an NFL team,” Hopper said, “before I hired a coach, I’d take him to Vegas for a weekend and play blackjack with him. That would tell me everything I needed to know about the guy. Everything.”
by Rocket Surgery on Jan 25, 2010 12:00 PM PST reply actions
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you? ◔ヮ◔
Uncommon Sportsman :: Absurdity in play
by Axion on Jan 25, 2010 12:05 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
I didn’t claim it was an original creation, I prefaced the exact opposite before including it. It has to be breaking news in order to remain public?
by Rocket Surgery on Jan 25, 2010 1:23 PM PST up reply actions
Next time you’d be better off simply linking to the story (with a summary/opinion if you wish). We don’t want to lead to a BFTB in which commenters are pasting in entire articles.
Post it again that way and it won’t get hidden. Also, it’s worth mentioning that the story is very old (pre-Chargers), is all hearsay and proves absolutely nothing beyond the fact that Norv is not an expert blackjack player (who cares?).
"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock
by John Gennaro on Jan 25, 2010 1:30 PM PST up reply actions
My favorite part
is that the beginning of the story he sates he’s up 2 grand then later on says “How could a man get hired to coach an NFL team when he can’t even play blackjack”. How do you get up 2 grand if you don’t know how to play black jack? Sounds like he made himself some money, went conservative, and bailed with the cash. Smart man!
by Natrone Bomb on Jan 25, 2010 8:40 PM PST up reply actions
thanks
john
okay i have cereal palsy arhrtis and chronic fatiue as well i have a grea life loveing folks some days are better that other days i got a make a wish in 2001 saw my favorive team the broncos was the trip of the lifetime i wish everyone couild gotten to enjoy that with me i know some of u hate the broncos and that ok but i bleed organ and bule reseident broncos fan for ap lol denver will rise again resident broncos fan for every blog resident broncos fan for stanpleid bule
Thanks for doing it
See you around draft time?
"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock
by John Gennaro on Jan 25, 2010 1:30 PM PST up reply actions
sure
when shouild i do it a week 2 weeks before draft time
okay i have cereal palsy arhrtis and chronic fatiue as well i have a grea life loveing folks some days are better that other days i got a make a wish in 2001 saw my favorive team the broncos was the trip of the lifetime i wish everyone couild gotten to enjoy that with me i know some of u hate the broncos and that ok but i bleed organ and bule reseident broncos fan for ap lol denver will rise again resident broncos fan for every blog resident broncos fan for stanpleid bule
My bad, wasn’t aware of the protocol. For the record, it was a small excerpt from an article (not the entire article-i agree that would be tiresome and unwelcome) written by a journalist who must adhere to journalistic standards and therefore wouldn’t last long going to print with “hearsay”. I also didn’t claim that it proves anything but I think in light of the guys history (which we are not to use when making an assessment apparently?) it does say quite a bit. I didn’t know that EVERYONE already knew the story. I found it amusing and telling and thought others might as well.
What story is this?
Per John, please re-post.
What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the cheerleaders!
by Neoplatonist Bolthead on Jan 25, 2010 1:52 PM PST up reply actions
It’s been unhidden as an example.
Bill Simmons is not a journalist and therefore does not need to adhere to any journalistic standards. He’s an opinion columnist, or an ESPN-backed blogger. The story is not fact, it’s a story that his friend told him.
Also, as I said, the way somebody gambles proves nothing about how they coach. I know homeless people that are the best blackjack players you’d ever want to meet…..doesn’t mean they’d be great coaches. The fact that Norv is not a good blackjack player doesn’t say anything about his nerves, but rather shows (to me) that he spends his time doing constructive things like watching films and coming up with a gameplan. Also, the story just states that he had a couple grand in front of him…..he could’ve started with that. Norv could, realistically, not know much about blackjack and just wanted to kill some time.
"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock
by John Gennaro on Jan 25, 2010 3:52 PM PST up reply actions
Agree with all this. But it’s kind of annoying to be in a room with a bunch of people talking about a story you’ve never heard. And if this room happens to be on the net, and the story happens to be short enough to post….
What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the cheerleaders!
by Neoplatonist Bolthead on Jan 25, 2010 4:43 PM PST up reply actions
I wasn't making a judgment about whether or not people knew the story
Like John said, it would be best to provide a link and then add your own commentary/opinion. Posting the whole thing, especially without at least blockquotes, was bordering on plagiarism.
Mountain West Connection ::Above the Rest::
Bolts From The Blue "There’s a gleam men. Let’s go get the gleam! Focus and Finish!!! One play at a time!!! Let's Go!!!"
Representing the San Diego State University Aztecs, home of the 2009 College Cheerleading National Champions in the all women's division.
by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jan 25, 2010 5:12 PM PST up reply actions
Cool. I get it. I’ll link to it next time. But plagiarism? did you read the lead-in to it?
by Rocket Surgery on Jan 25, 2010 5:17 PM PST up reply actions
You got to be really careful when posting entire or large sections of other people's work.
If you use the block-quote feature, its a really nice and easy way to be unequivocal about to whom the thoughts belong.
Mountain West Connection ::Above the Rest::
Bolts From The Blue "There’s a gleam men. Let’s go get the gleam! Focus and Finish!!! One play at a time!!! Let's Go!!!"
Representing the San Diego State University Aztecs, home of the 2009 College Cheerleading National Champions in the all women's division.
by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jan 25, 2010 5:20 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Re: podcast topic
We could talk about Wonko.
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you? ◔ヮ◔
Uncommon Sportsman :: Absurdity in play
Am I really that entertaining?
I'm the first person to admit that I'm wrong about a lot of things, but I'm going to be the last person to admit I'm wrong about what we're currently talking about.
Hasn't listened to that yet
But now I did. Dex and jbox would get a kick out of my “clean” commenting. I had multiple warnings over on GLB. Open threads can get a little ridiculous over there. Eastbaysd got me in trouble when I got mad at her for thinking Diamondbacks players were cute in 2007. We worked that out though. I think some Khalil discussion got out of hand when I started impolitely claiming that people couldn’t do math. I think I had one other warning for some bad joke I attempted. They have trained me well now over there.
I'm the first person to admit that I'm wrong about a lot of things, but I'm going to be the last person to admit I'm wrong about what we're currently talking about.
One of these days
I’ll figure out who your programmer is. I’m really curious how you achieved sentience.
"I aim to misbehave." - Mal Reynolds
by Zach (maestro876) on Jan 25, 2010 10:05 PM PST up reply actions
Dude...
…I wasn’t trying to “prove” anything beyond the idea that removing my comment for it being old news is bemusing and a bit Draconian. I wasn’t firing off obscenities and I didn’t say anything untoward about Kevin Acee so I didn’t understand why anyone would censor it. You said something about chess which made me laugh and think about that blackjack anecdote. I agree that one’s card game acumen doesn’t necessarily translate to success in any other sphere yet there are some things in there that are kind of revealing, I think, namely the part where Norv keeps staying on 16 while the dealer shows a face card. I don’t know anything about blackjack but I know that is ridiculous. And I know it is not breaking new ground to show, with football-related evidence, that Norv Turner is, at best, an under-achiever, so I thought people would get a kick out out of this different angle. I guess not. Sorry.
Semantics here, but, yes, Bill Simmons is a journalist.
See above comment. Had nothing to do with it being old news.
Mountain West Connection ::Above the Rest::
Bolts From The Blue "There’s a gleam men. Let’s go get the gleam! Focus and Finish!!! One play at a time!!! Let's Go!!!"
Representing the San Diego State University Aztecs, home of the 2009 College Cheerleading National Champions in the all women's division.
by Sam (sdsuaztec4) on Jan 25, 2010 5:14 PM PST up reply actions
Bill Simmons is less of a journalist than I am. He doesn’t cover any particular teams, doesn’t go to practices and never gets quotes (or interviews with anyone besides his friends). He is very open about what he is, and that is “a writer writing from the fan’s perspective.” There’s a reason he doesn’t break stories and why he shows up on Page 2.
"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock
by John Gennaro on Jan 25, 2010 6:09 PM PST up reply actions
Huh?
Just because Bill Simmons doesn’t show up to practices with a tape recorder and his media badge sticking out of his fedora doesn’t make him not a journalist. The term “journalist” is a fairly large umbrella that covers a wide range of disciplines. Furthermore, the guy wrote a thick book about the Red Sox entirely comprised of columns that he wrote about the Red Sox for a publication. He also recently wrote a piece that was published about a sporting event he attended (the very definition of journalism, even yours), interviewed Landon Donovan (not a friend, among numerous other non-friends) and broke a story regarding the exact departure date of Conan O’Brien before anyone else (not sports-related but news-breaking journalism nonetheless).
I’ll be the first to admit that this is getting to be reductive. I was just wondering why someone is censoring me and all that I got was, “because it is an old story and you copied it verbatim from another website” (when I cited my source right before I included the passage, just not without first consulting my AP Stylebook or using the little blocky-quotey things, I guess) and a bunch of other flim-flam that doesn’t hold up or make sense. Now I love the site, think you contributors do a great job with it and I come here regularly for my Chargers fix and will continue to do so. Sorry if no one wants to hear anymore Norv bashing but for f*%k’s sake, like all of you I just got gut-punched by San Diego sports for the umpteenth time and I feel like this jabroni bears a lot of the responsibility for it. I wanted to do some light venting and this seems to be the proper forum for it, or so I thought. My bad everybody.
by Rocket Surgery on Jan 25, 2010 9:21 PM PST up reply actions
Half of that Red Sox book came from a blog he wrote on an AOL page.
Journalists typically go to games, sit in press boxes and look for stories. Bill Simmons, like the rest of us, sits in his season ticket seats and just watches the game. If he finds something to write about, he does. He’s a blogger.
"I did not invent the wheel, I was the crooked spoke adjacent." - Aesop Rock
by John Gennaro on Jan 26, 2010 2:43 AM PST up reply actions
as you said, he is an opinion columnist
by definition, those are journalists. Reporters are a type of journalist as well. Acee=reporter, Simmons=opinion columnist, both are journalists. I just looked this up on wikipedia, so it must be true :-)
by Stephen (shaynes41) on Jan 26, 2010 7:27 AM PST up reply actions
and farmers typically plow a field but they don’t cease to be farmers when they are in the bathroom.
it’s ok to be wrong. i’m wrong all the time, just not about this.
by Rocket Surgery on Jan 26, 2010 8:15 AM PST up reply actions
I'm on the "technically, he's a journalist" side.
Genus: Journalist.
Species: blogger*, opinion columnist, reporter.
- Caveat: bloggers are journalists only if they blog on empirical observations in a manner intended for public consumption: the term “blogging” involves a lot of activities that aren’t journalism. But this is not one such activity.
What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of the cheerleaders!
by Neoplatonist Bolthead on Jan 26, 2010 8:57 AM PST up reply actions
He's not a reporter.
But he could be classified as a journalist.
"I aim to misbehave." - Mal Reynolds
by Zach (maestro876) on Jan 25, 2010 10:06 PM PST up reply actions
bill simmons
is subpar at best way to in to boston and the 1980’s if u not from boston u do not count in his eyes poor poor jorurnalist i know more sports in 5 perent of my brain then he does in his body
okay i have cereal palsy arhrtis and chronic fatiue as well i have a grea life loveing folks some days are better that other days i got a make a wish in 2001 saw my favorive team the broncos was the trip of the lifetime i wish everyone couild gotten to enjoy that with me i know some of u hate the broncos and that ok but i bleed organ and bule reseident broncos fan for ap lol denver will rise again resident broncos fan for every blog resident broncos fan for stanpleid bule
by j-man on Jan 25, 2010 6:51 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
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