Brownie19

It really is. One thing that's just come to light for me is how awful public school sports have become. When I was a kid, if you played on the school basketball and volleyball teams, you practiced 4-5 times a week, either before or after school. We had relatively good coaches, were taught how to play the game and played against good competition. Teams were rep teams, in that they only took the best 12 and players were cut. This circuit didn't really interfere with hockey or other winter sports and thus you could "do both". Now it's a bit of a joke. Practices are often held during recess a couple of days a week and while they still do cut kids, they don't cut them based on ability per say. Sometimes you get cut so someone else can "have a turn". Teams have 20 kids on them, so playing time is minimal and they don't even play by the rules (volleyball referees don't call lifts and teams were getting upset that one kid was spiking it?). So now, if you want to really learn and excel in those sports, you have to play for a local rep team and of course that directly competes with hockey and kids are forced to choose which sport they want to play.

I have 3 boys. They all play AAA baseball and single A hockey (youngest may play AAA). It is simultaneously amazing and terrifying all at the same time. We're lucky enough to be able to afford it, but it certainly puts a large strain on us. Then again, you see the life lessons the are gaining, the hard work, dedication, fun and long term friendships they are creating and that seems to justify it for us. I think we will have competed in a total of 36 tournaments in 2023 between the 3 boys in 2 sports.

Registration is down significantly in my area. All the small organizations are now struggling to offer rep and local league teams at each age group and you're seeing amalgamations throughout Ontario as a result. That approach is creating more AA/A centers that can offer 'better' hockey for local kids, but of course a lot of the population doesn't like that because it costs more and involves more travel. The AAA options in my area are terrible. Both centers (Highlanders and Predators) are 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours from my house. Barrie is closer (30-45 minutes), but we aren't located within their region.

How many tickets are you buying for $3,400 USD?

What an incredible start to his career for Bedard...PPG and 9 goals in 13 games. I'm not sure anyone could have expected anything better for this young superstar.

I think you're spot on. Do you think it's had an impact on the sport within Canada? The opposite effect the Raps winning has had on Canadian Basketball? or Mike Weir had on Canadian Golf?

Hazel is pretty reliable too.

You know why you get mocked and it has nothing to do with you question why the team has had issues translating regular season success in the playoffs. Stop with this BS narrative.

Built for the regular season, not the post season amirite?

https://www.mlb.com/news/where-every-mlb-team-starts-the-2023-24-offseason Interesting. Jays are ranked 4th...

Pretty crazy that we're in an era where some of the best players to ever play their sport (Trout, McDavid, even Ohtani) are all rotting on s***** teams that can't win s***.

Repeat what? His career high 2.1 WAR season? LGJ simply isn't very good people. I also like the idea of adding a big bat like Hoskins, but let's remember this is a 2 WAR player coming off a missed season. Belt's 2023 season was essentially Hopkin's career year (let that sink in). I love the 1 year option for him. I could do 2 years, but I'm not sure you want to lock him up at $15M+ AAV. FWIW, I do agree with your first 2 points. Tough to balance that desire to push all your chips in and "go for it" with the option to potentially take a small step back, that might keep you in a solid position over a longer period.

I'm not sure it is - unless you're including the playoffs. The value and wins in April matter just as much as the ones in September. Oh and he wasn't abysmal for 5 months. He was very good in July. The reality is that when you get hot and cold skews the fans perspective. Hit like s*** in April & May? Everyone notices and hates you. Hit like s*** in June and August? Nobody notices.

I think he's being facetious...

But you can't just do that. If we could, we'd remove Moreno's July/August and everyone would think he's a limp dick batter with no upside and we wouldn't have 70 pages talking about the trade for Varsho. Chapman had 2 VERY good months last year (April and July) and 4 s***** month with the bat. Did anyone notice he basically did the same thing in 2022 (June + July were huge months)? Not that I remember. He's a streaky hitter. Lots of players are. The guy is a career 118 wRC+ hitter. Arenado is a career 120 wRC+ hitter.

People are talking about wanting to bring in Suarez and Arenado - both of whom were shittier with the bat than Chapman was last year. The guy has come to Toronto and give us 4 WAR/155 games for 2 straight seasons. That is "star" level in the major leagues. Don't get me wrong, I'm not comfortable locking up Chapman for 6 years $150M - but that's not because he's not a really good, valuable player, it's an age/commitment thing for me. Make no mistake, there's a very good chance we're going to f***ing miss Chapman at 3rd base next year, no matter how much you hate how streaky his bat was last year.

We needed a long term CFer. I don't think Nootbar is that guy. Also, his power really dropped off last year. I do love his approach at the plate though.

I tend to agree with this. Cooch is coming off a really good year. I'd love to swing a little higher than O'Neill.

Again - difficult to sign FA pitching depth. If you get Liberatore, he has options and can start in AAA. That's the type of depth we need. He's also help fill the void once Kikucci and others reach the end of their contracts.

Could you get Matthew Liberatore + Carlson? That would really help with our SP'ing depth. Still so hard to wrap your head around the reality that this is what Manoah is now worth...

Interesting. Carlson would seem like another Varsho situation, where we'd have to play him in LF, which may not maximize his value. He also hasn't developed like the Cards expected. What other piece do you think would make the deal fly?

Can't disagree with this. But I think he's so cheap because there's a high probability the injuries have affected his abilities. The guy has thrown 209 innings since the end of the 2018 season. Just such a high probability you get absolutely nothing out of him. That said, still an interesting risk/reward signing. The lower the price you pay, the lower the risk too.

Can't expect people to do much more than read the headline these days.

Phillies report they are leaving Bryce Harper at 1st base permanently going forward...

I think Ron Washington is a fantastic assistant/infield coach. His love and passion for the game are undeniable. Not sure how he'll do as a Manager though, but I do wish him the best.