[Gotham Dark Knight]

Okay this thread is going to be about gripes...anything you want to get off your chest but just wouldn't make a decent thread on its own.

Here's mine...One of my friends that I play church basketball with has tickets to all the US Soccer games in Germany. Good for him, but now I am jealous... ...I did get to see both the 1996 Nigeria men and USA women gold medal Olympic team play in Orlando though...and this was a place for one of the 1994 Cup groups in round one....Still...my friend actually got the tickets thorugh e-bay for a fraction of the $400 per ticket that some of these games are fetching....okay, so as far as gripes go, its petty...but...hey...this is the thread for petty gripes...

[legend]

Ted Williams was right when he said "All pitchers are stupid". Why would anyone throw a fastball to Willy Mo Pena or even David Ortiz for that matter. What kind of reports do these scouts give these teams? And I have never seen a player that is supposed to be the "best player in baseball" swing and miss as many times as Alex Rodriguez!

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by legend

Ted Williams was right when he said "All pitchers are stupid". Why would anyone throw a fastball to Willy Mo Pena or even David Ortiz for that matter. What kind of reports do these scouts give these teams? And I have never seen a player that is supposed to be the "best player in baseball" swing and miss as many times as Alex Rodriguez!

Legit gripe...but pitcher do have egos...soooo they try to sneak one in...

[Lefty Noob]

Tony LaRussa being called one of the smartest managers in baseball bothers me. I recall in the playoffs a few years back where the Cards were facing the Mets, and he barely had anyone run against Mike Piazza. I forget who all was on the Cards roster at the time, but the only guy I can remember who should not have had a green light was Will Clark.

Oh, and the whole NFL bias against short QBs. That irks me too.

[blueandwhite]

my gripes?
* cheerleaders anywhere but especially in hockey - let the crowd take care of themselves - most of them know how to spell
* people who say baseball is boring - 4 words: You Don't Get It
* people who think hockey should be played with no hitting - it's an inherently rough game and it rocks because of that
* curling and golf are sports, and the people who think they aren't are just wrong - try curling for the first time - you'll ache like a...sore muscle the next day

[Lefty Noob]

* curling and golf are sports, and the people who think they aren't are just wrong - try curling for the first time - you'll ache like a...sore muscle the next day

Yeah, and this reminds me of another gripe of mine. Texas Hold 'Em, competitive eating and the like are NOT sports and as such they have NO BUSINESS on my ESPN!

[blueandwhite]

Competitive eating? honest?

[Lefty Noob]

No lie... they usually show at least a few events, and every year they run the 4th of July Hot Dog Eating contest. They even made a commerical with that dude Kobiyashi or whatever his name is... the guy who can eat 50 hot dogs in 10 minutes or whatever, but still looks like he's 98 pounds soaking wet.

[legend]

The funny thing is this. Kobyashi is so dominant that he is the equivalent of Secretariat in his sport. The only person that can even push him a little is another Japanese, a woman they call the Black Widow!

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by legend

The funny thing is this. Kobyashi is so dominant that he is the equivalent of Secretariat in his sport. The only person that can even push him a little is another Japanese, a woman they call the Black Widow!

You guys have lost me on this one...

[Wizard of Os]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Oh, and the whole NFL bias against short QBs. That irks me too.

You nailed it, Lefty. I was going to say simply "the ridiculous way Doug Flutie was disrespected in the NFL."

I have more gripes obviously, but Flutie got screwed so many times...

[Souporscotty]

I hate the bias against tall people in midget wrestling

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Souporscotty

I hate the bias against tall people in midget wrestling

Aaah come on now...there has to be a bias...everyone wants to see the littlest little guy win...

[cjg11582]

Jon Stewart had a great joke about Kobayashi (not to be confuse with the guy from The Usual Suspects) and his dominance in competitive eating. It went something like, "unfortunately for Kobayashi, winning a competitive eating contest is the only thing in Japan one can win, and still bring his family dishonor". Never the less, he does continue to impress me in the most glutinous manner possible. I could never eat eighteen pounds of cow brains, much less in fifteen minutes.
And as to curling being a regarded as a sport... I have always and still contend that if curling is an Olympic event than so should table shuffleboard. Seriously, the field of competition is much larger (I am pretty sure you have to kill a man to get on a table in Columbus) and it would have more fan appeal because people are more familiar with it. Really, how many of us have ever curled?
Other gripes:
-The NFL's overly stringent policy on, well, everything.
-Bud Selig
-The ridiculous disparity between payrolls in The MLB.

[Lefty Noob]

The NCAA's continued refusal to compensate athletes, anyone?