CN's sports thread (Yes, I'm as surprised as you are)

[Wolf Fang]

Just wondering if anyone here watches the nba.
I'm excited that the lockout's finally over and the entire season hasn't been cancelled.
I'm a bit concerned at the moment as I'm a big Celtics fan and they haven't really gotten any good free agents and have lost most of their bench. I'm predicting problems at Center and with Tyson Chandler joining the Knicks I think they're going to be overtaken by them in the Atlantic division unless they land someone like Nene.

As far as predictions as to who will win the championship, I'm thinking the Mavs are in a good position to repeat even though they lost Chandler. For some reason the Lakers gave away Odom for next to nothing and they've got Carter who's a brilliant player and might take some of the scoring pressure of Dirk. In essence they've got about 4-5 future Hall of Famers and a massively talented bench.

The Heat are probably going to win the eastern conference again unless Noah and Boozer start doing something for the Bulls or the Celtics manage to get some big free agents this late in the preseason.

Cheers, Wolfie

 

[Grish]

RE: New NBA season

Don't want to jack your thread on the 2nd post but it's nice to know there's some sports fans out there; I am not a Basketball fan, but I had season tickets to a sports team here (Canadian Football; if it only it had money for high production values people would see it as an equally good game game, if not better, to the NFL).

I also watch Hockey obviously.

But Boston is an awesome sport's town, and all three of their big name teams get a lot of love. Go sports!

 

[Bishop]

RE: New NBA season

Don't want to jack your thread on the 2nd post but ...

I also watch Hockey obviously.

If you see a Canada flag under the user = watches hockey That's the only sport I regularly watch.

I have been known to just watch basketball, lacrosse, soccer just because it happened to on.

It's good for ANY game to be playing (over a lockout).. so that's good news!

 

[Wolf Fang]

RE: New NBA season

But Boston is an awesome sport's town, and all three of their big name teams get a lot of love. Go sports!

I'm kinda surprised to hear that from a Canadian after last year's Stanley Cup Finals. :tongue:

If you see a Canada flag under the user = watches hockey That's the only sport I regularly watch.

I have been known to just watch basketball, lacrosse, soccer just because it happened to on.

It's good for ANY game to be playing (over a lockout).. so that's good news!

I don't know much about Canada, but that I did know.
I mainly watch Basketball and rugby but do watch a couple of other sports when I get the chance. I've especially gotten more interested in NFL and NHL since last year, probably because of following the nba more closely and the links posted on the nba website. No real preferences for teams yet in either sport as I've only watched a couple games yet.
Soccer's just about the only sport I immediately switch away from when I come across it on the TV.

I'm just hoping the 2011-12 nba season is as good as last year's. No real big names in the 2011 draft class, but Blake Griffin alone should be spectacle enough.

Cheers, Wolfie

 

[Zhatan]

RE: New NBA season

I think that like NFL it's mostly americans that watch NBA. I could be mistaken though.

I only watch football(soccer to some of you) and hockey and only when the national teams play.

 

[Grish]

RE: New NBA season

But Boston is an awesome sport's town, and all three of their big name teams get a lot of love. Go sports!

I'm kinda surprised to hear that from a Canadian after last year's Stanley Cup Finals. :tongue:

Meh. It's all Canadian players anyways. Boston had 15 Canadian players and 6 non-Canadian players on their team; only 1 was from the US (Tim Thomas, netminder). Vancouver had 6 Americans. Boston was much more Canadian than Vancouver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Stanley_Cup_Finals#Boston_Bruins_2

NFL/CFL is very in-depth in the Strategy. It's hard to just 'pick up' without someone to guide you in what they're doing. Every play is strategy, each move up the field.

 

[Wolf Fang]

RE: New NBA season

Lol, reminds me of european basketball. Most of the starters are nba rejects.
I get the rules for football (mostly due to watching games with a friend who's been watching it for years), I just don't get why they don't rush more. I've seen holes in the defence where even moderate rugby players would smash through for a touchdown, but for some reason they prefer passing it. I get that it's a faster way to get the ball up the field, but they even choose to make awful passes when rushing would've been more effective.

Aside from that it's kind of fun to discover that there are some people who like both sports and board/tabletop games. Each time I start talking about sports in the local gaming community, they just stare at me as if I'm talking about warhammer to some random jock.

Cheers, Wolfie

Edit: changes the topic name as this isn't just about the NBA.

 

[Grish]

In football, you have to designate who can catch on the play. So even if there's a hole and a guy available to go through the hole, he may not be able to receive a forward pass. So he would have to actually be handed the ball.

The other thing to keep in mind in the NFL is that, on each average play, you need at least 3.3 yards (you need to cover 10 yards in 3 plays; if you don't, they will almost always kick).

So not sure what you mean; that a ball carrier running up field has a hole he can go to but doesn't, or that the Quarterback has someone in the clear and doesn't pass to them, or some combination.

 

[Wolf Fang]

I'm actually talking about the QB. I realize they're important to the team, but most of them seem afraid to run out of the pocket. Even when there's a big hole where a fly-half (which I consider the rugby equivalent of QB's as far as responsibilities go) would charge through, they'd still rather make a bad pass than run through.
It might be I'm missing something important though.

 

[Grish]

Quarterbacks are too valuable to chance on something like that. They are THE main guy on a football team. They are responsible for learning the entire playbook, calling audibles, coordinating the play, and throwing the ball. Quarterbacks make and break teams.

If you ever watch a backup or third string quarterback play, you'll see a ridiculous difference. It's not worth it unless you really need the yards. For QB sneaks, they always sub out their main quarterback to a more expendable one.

QBs also have special rules to protect them from getting hit/injured. Such as once the QB throws the ball, you can't hit him. You pay your main QB anywhere from 5million - 20+million. Your second string QB might make 1-2million. 3rd string makes 400k.

For all these reasons, you don't want to risk your QB for the gain of a few yards. In big games, you will see some of them going for it if it's truly important.

Also, usually the QB is snapped the ball 5+ yards back, and then occasionally fades (moves back even more) into the pocket. So to actually gain yards, he has to make it 10+ running yards up the field. So he would need a HUGE gap to actually gain any significant yards, and you'd be risking the most important player on your team. Many times it's better to just get rid of the ball. The size difference in football is huge too. In rugby all players look really beefy.

 

[Danceman]

Formula 1 and European handball for me.

Used to be into NFL from my hockey-days. Football(soccer) as well. Indeed, pretty much played every team sport where there are two goalposts and a net. My main sport was euro handball though, played for well over 10 years before quitting(today working as a referee).

 

[untitled_musketeer]

I would love to go to a baseball game as well as the superbowl. Unfortunately we don't get much coverage of NBA or American Football over here.

I am madly passionate about Forumla 1 and have been a Mark Webber fan for a long time (so it's great to see Red Bull Racing winning yet another championship ). I am also a keen sailor and love winter sports. I like the weird sports, I'm a bit unconventional really!

 

[Wolf Fang]

Been to a baseball game in San Francisco when the Giants won the World Series and it was boring as hell. A 3 hour game means about 20 minutes of actual play and is basically just an excuse to scarf down a couple chilly dogs while watching tiny dots miss the ball for most of the game.
And for some reason, everybody left before the game was over.

I like racing as long as I can do it myself. I go karting once in a while and have done a couple of trackdays and it's so much better than watching someone else drive. That being said, I do understand why some people like watching it.

My main sport's always been Basketball which I recently started playing competitively again and it's still the one I like to play most. I'm mostly a defensive player though. Rugby's a close second, but there's a lack of opponents round here.

Cheers, Wolfie

 

[Pietr Von Carstein]

Im not much of a sports man but I do somewhat like rugby. I kind of have to care about that though seeing as I have friends who play for leinster and some who played for ireland a few times.
If it counts, and I generally dont count martial arts besides boxing as sports, I like mma, ufc and participating in the odd tournament and Im not too shabby either, even if I do say so myself.

 

[Danceman]

I am madly passionate about Forumla 1 and have been a Mark Webber fan for a long time (so it's great to see Red Bull Racing winning yet another championship ).

I hope the rest of the top drivers find some pace to seriously challenge Vettel. Lewis definitely has it in him and I think Alonso is going to be a serious threat if Ferrari delivers a better car next year.

I'm not really a big fan of a particular driver. All I want is an intense race. I find myself cheering on Lewis, Button, Kobayashi, Schumacher and Di Resta. Also, it is hard not admire the driving and performance of Vettel.

 

[TMS]

I never was much for sports but I like to catch a good youtube clip of sport fencing, kendo or any other competition involving people with close combat weapons. I practice historical european martial arts with weapons which, even though it differs a lot from sports, shares many core principles. Skilled fencers and kendo practitioners are often great athletes with a lot of experience, and they can pull off some tremendous stuff with minute precision and rock-solid focus.

 

[Bravo_10]

I'm from Pittsburgh, PA. Hence, football is the only sport that I'm truly fanatical about. I'm somewhat of a stats guru, and I've played Fantasy Football for quite sometime. Oh, and of course I'm talking about the kind of football that you don't actually play with your feet. I do also quite like hockey as well, it's very fast paced and wickedly exciting, especially near the end of a close game.

Baseball is the one sport that I'm kinda iffy about. If my team (the Pittsburgh Pirates) does well, it can be interesting. But um...they've had a losing season for every year I've been alive. And I'm 19. So yeah...

 

[Wolf Fang]

I never was much for sports but I like to catch a good youtube clip of sport fencing, kendo or any other competition involving people with close combat weapons. I practice historical european martial arts with weapons which, even though it differs a lot from sports, shares many core principles. Skilled fencers and kendo practitioners are often great athletes with a lot of experience, and they can pull off some tremendous stuff with minute precision and rock-solid focus.

I have to agree there. I've done about 5-6 different sports and the basic principles are the same. No matter which sport it is (basketball, rugby, volleyball,...) the movements and body mechanics are the same. That's why most top athletes can just pick up a different sport, learn the rules and be instantly good at it.

Cheers, Wolfie

 

[N.I.B]

I love MMA and fighting, so I'm following the main organisations. Pride (sorely missed), K-1, UFC and a few swedish events.

I'll be cheering for my boy Alex in the pic above, next weekend.