Gary Barnidge and how the Browns dodged the Jordan Cameron bullet
October 13, 2015Listen: Iman Shumpert raps over “Hotline Bling” with “Highlight Reel”
October 14, 2015Happy Wednesday, Blawg Pound. We’re now three days removed from the Browns’ win over Baltimore and about two weeks away from the start of Cavs season. It’s a great time of year to be a Cleveland sports fan. Try as we might to predict and prognosticate, you never know what’s going to happen out there. If you told me before the season that Gary Barnidge would trail Rob Gronkowski by one receiving yard after five weeks, I would have sooner assumed that Gronk broke his leg after a one-yard catch than Barnidge turned into the most productive tight end in the AFC North.
It’s just fun. I battle with the culture of prediction that surrounds sports because, frankly, I rarely care what other people think is going to happen. It’s fine that people do it, and I understand that there’s a market for it. It just ain’t for me, and that’s fine. I care much more about the how of sports than the what. We watch to see who wins, yes, but isn’t watching how games unfold — especially when a relative nobody Josh McCown chucks it to the tune of 450 yards — the fun part? Who coulda seen that coming?
The NFL is the best at being the worst. This qualifies is a not-fun part of sports. The latest bit of PR brilliance from the most loathed league of America’s most beloved sport1 is a campaign against sharing GIFs on Twitter and other social media.2 Deadspin and SB Nation both had Twitter accounts suspended — @SBNationGIF still is — for violating the cuddly-sounding Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Per Forbes, the act “forbids the repurposing of copyrighted material without a license to do so.” GIFs and Vines apparently qualify as copyrighted material, and it seems that the NFL wants to control all the league-related content it can.
More from Forbes’ Alex Reimer:
It’s true that many leagues and organizations, including the NFL, also distribute game videos on social media. But they don’t share content with the same frequency as these unaffiliated Twitter accounts, and they almost solely just tweet out highlights as well. It’s unlikely the NFL’s official Twitter handle, for example, would promote a video of a Jaguars player blocking for the wrong team. In other words, they take the fun out of the practice.
Taking the fun out of something?! That’s not the National Football League I know!
I get why the league is doing it. It’s a gigantic business, and gigantic businesses want to control their product as best they can. Fish gotta swim. I just hate it is all. Maybe I’m just a bleeding heart hippie yearning for a utopia that will never be, but my god NFL, just cool it. Take a powder. Put out the fires that are already burning — two sacks for that Greg Hardy on Sunday; boy, what a player! — before pulling a fresh match out of the box. I understand that making money is how the whole economic wheel keeps turning — C.R.E.A.M. and all — but does being completely tone deaf just not matter if there are enough zeroes trailing the dollar sign?
In lighter news, the impending return of the NBA season means the return of some of my favorite basketball writers, one of whom is Grantland’s Kirk Goldsberry. I don’t consider myself an advanced stats buff — words > numbers in my book — but Goldsberry lays out his findings and theories in handy graphics that, if you’ll pardon the word choice, illustrate his points very clearly. His latest work, which went up Tuesday, explores the impact that assists have on shooting efficiency.
The two teams that show how the NBA has evolved over the past couple decades are run by former teammates: the Michael Jordan-owned Charlotte Hornets and the Steve Kerr-coached Golden State Warriors. The offensive bonafides of Kerr’s Warriors are well known at this point. They often go small, dotting the perimeter with threatening shooters, using all sorts of drives, cuts, and passes to get high-percentage looks, ideally from beyond the arc or at the hoop. They rode those tactics — along with sound defense and generally stellar play — all the way to the title last season. Last year’s Hornets, on the other hand, relied too heavily on unassisted midrange shots that only work if you have a player like, well, Michael Jordan.
Midrange shots have long since fallen out of vogue, and midrangers that aren’t set up via pass are even worse. The unassisted midrange jumper has become to the NBA what withdrawal fees are to ATM machines: something that should be avoided if at all possible. There are times when you just have to bite the bullet — like when the shot clock is ticking down or you’re thirsty for another crack at the blackjack table, respectively — but if better avenues are available, they should be taken.
Goldsberry coined a term for these unassisted shots between the restricted area and the three point arc: the “on-my-own midrange field goal,” a.k.a. the OMFG. About 20 percent of all NBA shots last season were OMFGs. Such shots were not a particularly effective means of scoring. As the chart above shows, teams averaged 0.67 points per OMFG, well below the league average of 0.99 points per shot attempt. With that in mind, have a look at how many F-ing OMFGs the Hornets took last season, and how poorly they converted them.
I just love this stuff. Welcome back, NBA.
Last, a piece of writing that got really good to me. Some among you may know that I spent three years teaching English in South Korea. It’s now been over 18 months since I’ve departed, which feels strange and has given way to some wicked nostalgia. Asia was nowhere near my radar as a potential travel destination growing up, and yet Korea became my home. I arrived with no idea of how to speak or read the language, properly hold chopsticks, drink soju according to custom, or do much of anything beyond walk and breathe.
I remember buying my first meal on one of my first nights there. It was late and I was hungry, wandering around looking for a building with pictures of food inside. I finally found one, one of the many mom-and-pop places dotting the country that I would come to know as a 식당.3 I walked in, bundled up against the December wind, and found the proprietors sitting down to their own dinner. It was closing time, or at least close to it. My expression — that unmistakable look of confusion that can only be inspired by one’s first days in a foreign country — told the tale as I gestured to a picture on the wall.
This was in Uijeongbu, a city between Seoul and the North Korean border. There’s a U.S. Army base in town — the TV show M.A.S.H. was set there — but the folks at this restaurant didn’t speak English.
“That,” I said, pointing to a photo of some sort of meat, “To go?”
I spoke slowly, as though that would somehow make my foreign tongue more easily understood. I learned more informal sign language than anything in those early days. The kindly restauranteurs understood. There were four people seated at the low, sit-on-the-floor-style table, as I recall and one woman jumped up and back into the kitchen. I heard a burner fire up and the clanging of utensils against pans. Another handed me a cup of instant coffee and invited me to join them. I set down my backpack and did, groaning a bit as I folded my legs underneath me.
We sat and stared for a bit, both at the wall-mounted TV and at each other. We exchanged smiles when our eyes met, and I sheepishly drank my coffee. They asked what I assume were basic questions in Korean. I couldn’t answer. We kept sitting. We kept smiling. We kept drinking coffee.
After just a few minutes, my order was up. I had unwittingly ordered a family-size plate of pork and vegetables. They wrapped it up, handed it to me, and sent me on my way.
It’s an unspectacular story in many ways — Man Orders Food; Receives It — but it’s one of my favorite memories from Korea. With few exceptions, I was treated with exceptional kindness and courtesy there, especially in those first months when I knew the least. I remember staring at a subway map once, and a stranger came up to me, unsolicited, and asked in his very best English if he could help me. There was a palpable desire to welcome, to help, to include. Things weren’t always so sunny, but they often were.
This is all a longwinded introduction to a piece by Noah Lederman for New Republic: “The Woman Who Taught Korea to Surf.” Korea never struck me as a surf-friendly place despite being on a peninsula. It’d be oversimplifying things to lean on the stereotypes of East Asian countries valuing work over play…though I found said stereotype to be at least semi-true in my time in Korea. That’s why this story jumped out to me. The fact that its subject is a woman who began surfing in the 1980s — hardly the most equal-rights time and place — made it jump out even moreso. Reading about how surf culture manifested itself in a place decidedly different from Southern California made for a fun bit of dissonance.
An excerpt for you:
In the water, [Mi Hee] Seo paddled through the lineup. Her presence granted her instant respect, and every other surfer bowed as she slipped past. I’ve surfed hundreds of breaks in a couple of dozen countries, and whenever the crowds got heavy, a tense vibe tends to brew in the seas. But in the waters of Song Jeong—at least with Seo on patrol—it was all smiles.
…
“More than anything,” said Cheryl Kim, an expatriate who had re-learned the sport from Seo after a long hiatus, “I enjoyed watching her surf. It was like watching someone dance on water.”
Even if the waves in Song Jeong were mediocre, the vibe in the sea that day was contagious, everyone febrile from the initial stoke. Two decades ago, it was a different story.
Enjoy the day, gang.
- Both descriptors are arguable, I suppose. [↩]
- It should be said that other sports entities including UFC and major college conferences side with the NFL on this matter, but Uncle Roger’s league is just too juicy a target. [↩]
- Pronounced sik-dang, they’re basically small family restaurants that serve staple dishes including kimchi soup, fried rice, and bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables) [↩]
26 Comments
Just have to say that Goldsberry for the NBA is everything Barnwell wishes he was for the NFL writing at GL.
I think the NBA has it right with respect to sharing game clips on the interwebs.
The NFL has grown too full of itself. Has there been another sports league with more public gaffes over the last 3 years? But don’t tell the NFL that! (Tom Brady still needs to be brought under the Shield’s heel, dammit!) This is one of the first years where I have started to notice large-scale public fatigue with the NFL. They would be smart to…ya know…quell that, instead of banning gifs.
Since, I want to continue baseball talk and WWW is somewhat open-forum? (sorry Will)
3 hours to kill, sitting in DFW with 3 kids, myself, and my wife all weary from just the machinations of air travel. Postseason baseball saved the day. My sons picked different squads to back (one Cubs, the other Cardinals) and sat enthralled watching the last 3 innings. The excitedness of one at Kris Bryant’s triple with 0 outs, the over-the-top goading upon Bryant still standing on third to end the inning. And, just enough excitement, but the Cubs nailing down the clinching win in the 9th. They were also amazed at Kershaw for 3 innings, but it was the Cubs v. Cardinals that demonstrated why baseball is so fun to watch. Every.Pitch.Mattered.
ok, back to work in a moment, but surfing is incredible and that was a great piece. waking up before dawn to go and fish was never my schtick, but I did it to surf on many occasions when I lived in NoCal. just a fun, relaxing-yet-exhilarating experience.
I think this anti-GIF/Vine thing by the NFL is a big mistake.
I’ve complained about this before, but I’ve pretty much given up on watching MLB clips online because I don’t want to watch a 15 second ad (which always works fine) every time I want to see an 8 second highlight (which usually doesn’t load). The NFL does this too.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, I’ve probably seen more NBA in the last year than in the previous ten and all thanks to GIFs/Vines, many of which are up the day after the game. It hasn’t turned me into an NBA fan (yet), but I know players I wouldn’t, I see plays I would never have seen, and have cultivated a rudimentary interest in the league that wasn’t there before. If I had to watch an ad or go to NBA-approved-Vines.com or something, I wouldn’t even bother.
Pigs get fat; hogs get slaughtered.
The NBA seems to get social media. Of all the sports leagues, I think they’re in the best long term position.
I was just talking to a non-baseball fan who went to the last two Astros games here in Houston. He had a similar epiphany about the thrill of the game. There’s so much baseball throughout the course of 162 games that I think even the most diehard fans forget how enthralling it really is.
I know none of those 162 games are going anywhere, but I wonder what baseball would be like if it had a drastically shortened schedule. Maybe not 16 games like the NFL, but something like that. One game every Sunday from April through September. Honestly, I don’t think I could handle the stress. In the ’07 ALCS, I had to stop watching at some points. The tension can be unbearable.
NFL, I will use your gifs with wanton impunity.
Come and get me, Goodell.
http://www.fantasyfootballfools.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Goodell-as-McMahon.gif
Double-header every Sunday. You only “need” 2 starting pitchers. Maybe some teams go with 1-starter & a “bullpen game”
Possibilities are endless, enthralling, and ulcer-inducing.
The good old NFL when the fall comes man it’s gonna hurt!
And since we’re talking about pro sports hubris, am I the only one who sees this daily fantasy thing ending badly? We as a society have become pretty accepting of gambling, but there is a reason why professional sports have drawn a line in the sand over the issue for the last hundred years or so.
In the past decade or so, that has changed. “Well, it’s only fantasy, which really isn’t gambling. So what’s the big deal?” And thanks to that mindset, we know have millions of dollars being wagered daily by companies owned and condoned by the leagues themselves.
Maybe I’m just being paranoid and overreacting. But it just seems weird that we went from “Never bet on baseball” to NFL players openly talking about their fantasy teams. But hey, it’s just fantasy, not gambling, so it’s all cool. Seems like a recipe for disaster.
McMahon learned a lesson I think Mr. Goodell and his league will as well one day and when they do, look out.
http://s1022.photobucket.com/user/lazzzym/media/Hellinthecelldrop-slower.gif.html
Great stuff today, Will.
The NFL trying to squelch GIFs is so typical and so 20th century. Information is flowing freely and there’s no putting that toothpaste back in the tube. But worse, they should want everyone promoting their product for them, for free. Reminds me of how almost a century ago baseball team owners worryied that radio broadcasts would decrease their attendance and revenues.
Daily fantasy took the traditional fantasy leagues and turned it into gambling. The shame is I wish I’d have “capitalized” on this idea back in the early 1990’s out of high school but I severely lacked the technical side plus as well all know the Internet was a little different even then.
Anyways I still play fantasy sports but it’s the old season long traditional type. The daily fantasy will lead to government intervention because as a society we are pigs and cannot put limits on ourselves. It’s why we need so many laws. Then once there are laws (if Republicans don’t stop it) we can complain about it. So on and so forth.
In my dream scenario, rosters are dramatically reduced. So you couldn’t even go with a true bullpen game. Maybe two relief pitchers at max. And if a pitcher is legitimately injured and has to be taken out, he can’t pitch again for X amount of games. Or something.
The 40 man roster in September has to go.
I think it’s more than just internet know how too. If John Doe came up with this idea, the entrenched powers would have shut it down in an instance. The difference with these sites is that they have Fox Sports, NBA, MLB, NHL, etc. behind them.
“The daily fantasy will lead to government intervention because as a
society we are pigs and cannot put limits on ourselves. It’s why we
need so many laws.”
I like this point of view. When I wake up in the morning, I’m a laissez faire libertarian. Then I go out my door and interact with all the idiots whose decisions affect my daily life. By the time, I get home, I’m a fascist.
You said it, brother. No sport does the exquisite slow build of tension and release like playoff baseball, nothing stays in your head years later like that. In ’95 I was at the pivotal Game 5 where Assenmacher came in to try and protect a 1-run lead in the 7th inning with runners on first and third. The next grinding 8 minutes or so, during which he set up and struck out Ken Griffey on a high fast ball and Jay Buhner on a high curve felt like a 2 hour rollercoaster ride. The stadium was so unbearably tense that during this I asked my buddy, “So, is this fun?” And to this day I can still feel my heart almost stop as Lofton lunged to grab Edgar Martinez’s screaming, hooking liner toward the gap to end the game.
That freakin’ game is till in my head because … Every. Pitch. Mattered.
Very true but at least I would have still had the idea as worthless as it would have been.
As for the point of view just my opinion as my time on this rock has progressed. I just see/hear/read things and think to myself if people had just acted within reason would there have been need for outside intervention/supervision/etc etc etc.
I remember laissez faire from my history books. As for the rest reminds me of last night listening to Bernie Sanders have to explain what a Democratic Socialist was in the debate. Once upon a time I believe in all of this stuff but then again I was younger and naive. Now I just wanna be left alone to my rat sized piece of the pie to die in peace. LoL
Social media is talking. Futuristic talking, but talking nonetheless. Why would you want to stop people from talking about your product?
Revenue numbers suggest otherwise, and that’s why I, despite being fully in support of their social media policy, am not so sold they have it right.
MLB for a long time locked down their highlights, and now MLBAM is a premier service, so much so that they do all the back-end stuff for WatchESPN and the NHL just said “you do this for us”. Yeah, it’s not the most fan-friendly, but sports league stop being fan-friendly a long time ago. They’re big businesses, and should be expected to operate like them.
Fantasy has always been gambling. Whether you threw some serious cash into a pool/league or played over who bought beer/takes a good ribbing next weekend, it’s about putting something extra on the line for the people who can’t just sit back and enjoy a game without anything at stake.
Is the NFL, of all entities, even in the slightest need of promotion? It’s not about taking the fun away from the fans today, but making sure the cat’s not already out of the bag when they can make some real money off the format tomorrow.
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