My god, what a grim spectacle. I'd looked forward to the game, not just for the point spree it surely contained (it didn't), but for the superior (to FS1's, at least) commentary I would hear.
Ixnay on that too; I had forgotten Ron Darling, a legit insightful vet I get to hear all season, would be pairing with Bob Costas, and I'd also forgotten the kind of eminence-grizzzz, straining-for-dad-joke-poetry patter Costas does now, clumsily dropping factoids from a bullet-pointed sheet of paper. It isn't a good match even in a close or well-fought game, IMO -- it's too much "cerebrally corny" at once; Top Chef's Gail Simmons would say that the dish needs some acid -- but last night, as one of the generation's greats imploded on the hill, then departed the first inning dragging a 162.00 ERA behind him, it really didn't work. Darling did his best to reflect the pitying horror I think many of us felt watching Kershaw flail, while keeping the line moving with the play-by-play. Costas sounded almost gleeful...about that, and about making jokes about how boring the game was.
And not for nothing, but TBS's bug and onscreen animations need to be turned over to a grown-up. More than once in the PHI/ATL game, the number of outs was incorrect; the bug in the second game sometimes didn't update the batter for an entire at-bat; the layout is crowded and last-minute. I get that baseball's not America's game anymore, but don't be so obvious about not giving a shit. It's rude.
"Speaking of that, could you...get to the point/s?" Heard, chef!
Carroll 5
Betts Freeman Martinez Muncy LLC 0
...Yep: 0. No Dodger points; no Dodger game until Monday, because see above re: not America's game anymore. Until AL play resumes this afternoon, your complete standings, after the jump...
24 Crase
21 Wonsetler 1
19 YOLO Joe
17 Tormey
15 Fell 2 and SDB 1
14 Cayenne 2
13 Bingham 1, Stempel, and SDB 2
12 Dunn, O'Reilly, and Yuhan
11 MArbour 1 and Bauer Spoon
10 MArbour 2
8 Bingham 2 and Quinn
7 Cameron 1
6 Winklepleck and LyonCorn
5 Richardson
4 Cayenne 1
3 Shotwell 2 and Brady
2 Cameron 2, Chalky Joe, and Fell 1
1 Shotwell 1, Bauer Spice, Wonsetler 2, Stuart-Hodges, and Wakefield's Ghost
Yeah: it's not great! But this is what it looks like when almost all of the most popular picks, which come from bye teams, don't do squat in Game 1.
Today's games could change that somewhat starting at 4:07 ET (TEX/BAL); MIN/HOU starts at 8:03. Both of these games, I regret to say, are on FS1, so...mute is your friend, good luck, and I'll see you for the evening update!
2 comments:
It's amazing how unsuited Costas is, who you know I love, for play-by-play. More factoids than actual play calling. Bob, we know you have a big baseball brain. Call what's on the field, not what's on/in your fact sheet/baseball brain, please.
Exactly this. I think he wasn't always this poor a fit, but it's not a muscle he uses that much anymore, and it shows.
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