Reader Extra Participation Friday: Go Ahead, Tell It Like It Is
It's late, I'm fucking beat, and I'm in the mood to get made fun of. So let's open up the floor for negative comments. That's right- I want you to let loose and tell me what the absolutely worst part of this blog is. Or the worst five parts. Whatever tickles you. Keep in mind, however, that your criticisms will almost definitely not lead to any improvements around here. This isn't a restaurant comment card where if you put like "why do u carry coke products they stink, get pepsi products they r better" the place will immediately start carrying Pepsi because they're terrified of losing your business. It's really just more of a chance for you to vent. So... tell it like it is. Come on. My life already stinks, it's not like your harsh words will make it any worse.
I'm going to go ahead and take the easiest one right out of the gate- we stole our name, format, and style from another blog. I hadn't realized this until a couple of very keen-eyed commenters last fall pointed it out. But son of a bitch, I went and checked out their site, and it's true! Oops. Our bad. So that's definitely shitty. What else ya got?
23 comments:
You know what I hate? I hate all the fucking applications. What was wrong with the site when it was a simple, user-friendly tool for social networking? Nowadays, I can't read a single post without being barraged with asinine games and personality quizzes.
"Choose your Top FireJay Commenters!" (I mean, how the hell am I supposed to choose between Bengoodfella and Blanco?)
"Find out which Jarrett post you are!" (Turns out, I'm the one about hockey.)
"Join the zombie hunt for Gene Wojciechowski!" (I get enough of that in my day job...you know, my day job of hunting the zombie Gene Wojciechowski. Also Len Pasquarelli. Basically, if your last name is long and you write for ESPN.com, you're probably a zombie, in my experience. Although I still haven't tested my hypothesis on John Buccigross.)
Oh, and I wouldn't worry about originality. Considering I am now ripping you off, I think you're off the hook. Only semi-legit complaint I've got is that I'd love to know who "won" last week's reader participation. But eh...I can live without that. Not well, admittedly, but I can live without it.
Seriously, this is a great site. If you really want me to roast you guys, I guess I can do it, but eh...life's too short.
"we stole our name, format, and style from another blog...What else ya got?"
Well... Ken Tremendous is Mose Schrute, and you're not.
And on that note, this blog needs more professional television writers. Just to make the theft complete.
We may not have Mose Schrute, but it's a little-known fact that dan-bob is actually Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration.
Well, this is a pretty enjoyable site and I'm not the kind of person who looks for things to criticize, so I wouldn't want to nit pick about anything, except, well, there is this one thing that, I have to admit, really can get a little annoying, in fact, it can get pretty damn annoying. I wonder why you have to keep bringing up, over and over and over, this whole thing about "scrappy, gritty little white guys". I don't see anything wrong with a little appreciation of scrappy, gritty little white guys. What's your problem with that? Huh? It just so happens that I AM a scrappy little white guy who aspires to someday also be gritty, and frankly, if your eyes weren't permanently damaged by living in a dark basement, you'd see that the world would be a LOT better off if there were more SGLWGs around. I just so happen to think that I'm ONE EFFING IMPRESSIVE HUMAN BEING, and if you and your pathetic little friends can't see that, then screw all of you! GOT IT???? There. I feel better.
The worst part of this blog is....well....since Larry got his "shift" key fixed, I have no complaints.
The best part of this blog is the pictures and all the residual Firejay groupies who show up at my site. Hello there.
Unlike all you bitches who will suck on Larry B's crooked, sheethed wang -- I'm stepping up to the plate on this one.
First of all, your posts are too long. I don't have all day to sit around and read your witty jokes about Dusty Baker or Boston area sports teams. Some of us have real jobs. You know, jobs that don't involve asking if customers want paper or plastic.
Hey, rest of the Fire Jay Mariotti crew, you guys wanna man up a little? I can only stomach so much of LarryB's shitty, bumbling prose. When was the last time Eriz posted? That guy is funny as hell. Or dan-bob? Jokes about cincinatti? Yes please! And while I'm at it: pnoles- lighten up a little bit, chrisw - nobody cares that you're from chicago, and Jarrett- hockey is dead, give up.
What else do I hate about this site that nobody forces me to read? Oh yeah. Tons! Stop hating on Bill Simmons because he has the job you so desperately wish you all had. Stop acting like you're the cats meow because you read Moneyball and can look up stats on baseball-reference. We're all very impressed. I also hate your new site format. Why'd you change color schemes? Decided that Douche-Orange would fit your personality better?
Also, your mascot Jeff Pearlman, is racist and hates the great state of South Carolina. Which means you hate it too. F that.
God damn it, I hate you guys so much.
Archie, choose me as your favorite! If you do, I will make sure there are no more quizzes on the site and also I will always be the first to tell you who won the Reader Extra Participation Friday event. That's why you should vote for me as Top Fire Jay comment poster. Thank you for your time.
If they ever stopped mocking Simmons I would copy and paste any reaction I had to Simmons in the comments box and let everyone have to sift through it to read the other comments. I live for Simmons bashing.
My only complaint is that I don't like hockey, so I drudge through those posts. I stop at the curse words and chuckle though. I am sure I talk about shit no one else cares about (see above), so it is no big deal.
Choose me Archie!
Ha ha, I think we have a winner, that is some serious hatin by chris hart up there. Expertly done. Douche-Orange - is that available in gallon paint cans?
Chris Hart, well, what is there to say?
*GOLF CLAP*
Seriously, that is some strong haterade you are mixing right there.
Also, I'm glad that a throwaway joke has turned into a competitive election. Thank you, Bengoodfella, for your civic participation.
Though this won't come close to Chris Hart's anger, the one legitimate beef I have is the recent use of batting average and RsBI as legitimate stats. I understand if some people (especially Chris W, it seems) aren't as sabermetric as others, but those are just terrible stats. Can't we use on-base and slugging at the very least?
The one thing I hate about this site is when Larry B starts a post that starts something like "It's late, I'm fucking beat" cause it means his mommy is making him go to bed or simmons wrote an article about a funeral so you can't make fun of it and instead now I gotta do some shit instead of blowing off work.
Why can't we make fun of a Simmons article that talks about a funeral? Bad journalism is bad journalism, I just may skim through it and see if I can mock it. Then I will go straight to Hell for sure.
After those two comments, I think I favor Blanco due to his pro-more-Larry-B posts stance, but then I also have to favor Bengoodfella for his pro-mocking-funerals stance.
Hmm...this may come down to superdelegates. Who would that be? Jeff Pearlman? Eriz's significant other? Murbles and Coach? (Frankly, I always hope it's Murbles and Coach. You know, just for variety. Sorry to bring the other FJM into this.)
the worst part of this blog is how racist you all are.
HOW CAN YOU HATE JEMELE HILL AND STEVEN A. SMITH - THEY ARE SO VERY IMPORTANT. ESPECIALLY STEVEN A. HE IS IMPORTANT. EVERYTHING HE SAYS CARRIES IMMENSE WEIGHT, THOUGH IT MIGHT BE THE SHINGLES FROM ALL THE SPHINCTER-CLENCHING GOING ON OVER AT THE 4-LETTER NETWORK.
also larry b needs to stop using goddamn capital letters. giving in to peer pressure, larry? saaaaaaaad.
Oh knock it off [LarryB] you're the fattest one in the car!
I am not necessarily encouraging a stance of mocking funerals, more a stance mocking articles attempting to be dramatic and Rick Reilly-esque but lacking the journalistic integrity and the ability to be taken seriously.
Simmons writing an article on a funeral is an attempt to be a legitimate writer. It's like US Weekly trying to write an expose on the Iraq War.
Good submissions by everyone, except Chris Hart. I'll post a review/rundown of them sometime tomorrow. Until then- ZOMG, bubble, the whole nation is captivated by whether or not Villanova and Ohio State get the opportunity to get crushed in the first round by a 6 seed.
articles attempting to be dramatic and Rick Reilly-esque lacking the journalistic integrity and the ability to be taken seriously.
Wait, how is that "Rick-Reilly-esque"? Isn't that pretty much just...you know, Rick Reilly?
You guys don't use the "doyennes of dirt" label enough.
Are you sure they didn't steal the title of your blog using precognition...or maybe they used a time machine to go into the future, steal your blog title and then returned to the past, that works too...
"the one legitimate beef I have is the recent use of batting average and RsBI as legitimate stats. I understand if some people (especially Chris W, it seems) aren't as sabermetric as others, but those are just terrible stats."
three things
1.) When a post is about the HOF, 2 of the 6 main categories for position players (along with MVP's, AS appearances, hits, and HR's) bear mentioning regardless of their perceived relevance because they are the only truly relevant stats in the minds of voters.
2.) BA and RBI aren't completely irrelevant since they do measure something that is a direct result of offensive performance? Are they slightly overrated? Sure. As are wins, SB's, and reliever ERA, but they certainly tell you something extremely relevant about a player's performance.
3.) I don't see any posts on this board which rely solely on BA and RBI while ignoring OPS and I doubt that I would be able to find any.
Chris, I'm going to back off most of my points because I don't like confrontation, but really quickly...
1) This is true. I just didn't see that disclaimer that you were trying to approximate the thinking of voters, not actually measuring their real performances. Hence my confusion.
2) I'd argue they're at best indirect measures of importance, considering the statistical noise created by the amount of luck that affects BA and performance of other players affects RsBI.
3) You're right, your Verducci post does quickly mention OPS+, although it was arguably used far less essentially for the purposes of your argument than the 162 game AVG stats.
So yeah, I was probably just paranoid due to the recent PECOTA backlash (another argument which I also almost certainly misunderstood the nature of...I tend to be defensive about Sabermetrics, although I try to keep the stridency to a minimum). Point is, we were asked for complaints, this was one I had recently had, and I thought I might air it.
No worries though - any post that simply ends with the impossibly pithy "Fuck you Verducci" is all right in my book.
Every stat is reliant on outside factors and most stats have a corrective to account for that
BA is reliant on luck factors, which is why Batting Average on balls in play is a relevant factor
RBI is reliant on runners in scoring position which is why BA with RISP is a (debatably) relevant statistic
but even OPS is reliant on stadium and opposing pitchers, etc, which is why adjusted OPS (OPS+) is a relevant statistic.
The bottom line with BA is that it is a measure of something a hitter has actively done. Are walks as "good as hits"? Yes, to a certain extent. Is working the count, in many cases, more valuable than getting a first pitch single? Absolutely. However, OBP measures a player's "Ability to take a walk", an ability which it is debatable to what extent a hitter can possess it...
That is to say, it's undeniable that certain hitters are better at walking than others, and that to say that it's entirely dependant on the umpire or the opposing pitcher would be lunacy. However, even the world's greatest "walker" (Barry Bonds, for one) can't really MAKE a player walk them. But the greatest hitters (Ichiro, Vlad) can MAKE a pitcher surrender a hit...
Put it this way: The best pitchers in baseball are the ones with the highest k/9 and k/bb. These pitchers are going to favor hitters with a lower BA/OBP differential. Certainly it's relevant what a hitter can do against the pitchers with lower k/9 and k/bb, as those are who they will play the bulk of their games against, but in crunch time this is why it's infinitely preferable (IF SLG were equal) to have a player who will consistently hit .350 with a .380 OBP (Ichiro, say) than a player who will consistently hit .260 with a .380 OBP (Swisher).
"duh" you might say, "that's elementary...all things being equal and they rarely are" but my point remains: BA is a relevant statistic, but is not one to be used in a vacuum.
RBI? Well, I would very rarely weigh RBI as anything but a glamor stat, but the bottom line is it measures an important part of the game: driving in runs. The player drove in those runs credited to them, and whether they benefited from high OBP guys in front of them or not, they still drove them in.
That said, RBI doesn't "prove" anything about a hitter, but it is relevant in MVP and HOF discussion because it is a criterion voters have relied on in years past and it makes up a major component of how we define HOFers and MVP.
We don't ask "who should we take out of the HOF or who do we take MVPs away from" so we have to define our concept of HOFer and MVP by what HOFer and MVPs in years past have been inducted on the strength of
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