#mambaout

Do You Believe in Minor Technicalities?

USA vs Russia in olympic hockey! Remember how that was a crazy important match-up 34 years ago? Tight. Well it happened again. Russia appeared to take a 3-2 lead when this goal was disallowed due to Jonathan Quick knocking the goal slightly off the PEG.  America went on to win in a shootout. In Soviet Russia goal scores you!  (proud of that one).

"Both teams played hard...goodnight and godbless."

Return of the Mac?

The pseudo-tragic tale of Tracy McGrady continues! The 7-time all-star and 2-time scoring champ is undoubtedly one of the best scorers in a generation. Unfortunately his rightful place in the NBA pantheon was stolen by a litany of back and knee injuries. Perhaps the most tragic moment for Mac fans came when he was seconds away from coat-tailing it onto a Spurs championship only to have it poached by a Ray Allen trey. Well the legions Mac fans (looking at you china) can rejoice! He is making a bid as a pitcher! Mac tried out for a minor league bid and apparently was able to clock in around the mid 80s with a fastball. Reasonably decent. If he makes it on the mound his 6'8" frame would definitely be intimidating, you can also tell from the video that he is well on his way to adding all that weight that CC Sabathia lost.

"Both teams played hard...goodnight and godbless." 

Olympics why not?

That's right Ashley Wagner...it is bull shit. Thus far the US skating team has not been crushing it in Sochi. Apparently this is the first time in years that the US team is not expected to score any medals on the ice. Our best hope seems to lie in this ice dancing duo:

They seem up to the task. No follow up questions. At least we still got snowboarding on lock right? In Soviet Russia ice skates you.

"Both teams played hard...goodnight and godbless."

Have you heard about this?

Sherminator: "I'm the best corner in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that is the result you are going to get. Don't you ever talk about me."

Andrews:  "Who was talking about you?"

Sherminator: "Crabtree. Don't you open your mouth about the best, or I'm going to shut it for you really quick. L...O...B*." 

Please note that Sherman is saying "LOB" an abbreviation for "legion of boom" a nickname for the Seattle defense. He is not saying LL Bean as commonly thought on the f-book. 

Sherman's epic manic diatribe has been the subject of endless commentary, twitter battling and punditry. If we are really want to add something meaningful from the sporting nerd side we have to break it down into two aspects:

PART 1: The Fact Check

Anytime someone comes in talking all that noise...ya gonna get a fact check. Fact in question: Richard Sherman is the best corner in the league. Quite a claim! Sherman is a fairly young, third year player. However in each of the past three seasons Sherman has intercepted the ball 4, 8 and 8 times respectively. Good for the most in the league this year, second most last year and also the most total interceptions in the NFL over the span of his career. This is also the first time that any player has had 20 picks in the first three years of their career since Ed Reed did it over a decade ago. Snap! 

Now naysayers will appropriately point out that interceptions only tell part of the story. Perhaps a better stat is passes defended, defined by the NFL as each time a defender successfully deflects a pass thrown to a player he is defending. Well Sherman has amassed 61 passes defended over his career, ranking him...you guessed it....number 1 among players over his career. 

Prior to Sherman bursting onto the scene Darrelle Revis was unequivocably considered the best corner in football, with his 2009 season one of the best statistical seasons ever. Though Revis also had an outstanding 2013, this is his first year back from ACL repair. Directly comparing the two corners this year is tough as Sherman had more talent around him and Revis is likely still regaining function in his knee. Perhaps the better comparison is a head-to-head look at their sophmore seasons:

Revis Vs. Sherman — Sophomore Seasons

	TA	REC	%CT	YDS	YAC	INT	RAT
D. Revis	84	49	58.3	510	204	5	59.1
R. Sherman	87	41	47.1	634	135	8	41.1

 TA= targets — REC= receptions allowed — %CT=percentage caught — YDS= yards allowed — YAC= yards after catch allowed — INT= interceptions — RAT= opposing QB rating when passing into his coverage

Comparing and analyzing corners is notoriously difficult as the better corners get thrown to the least. Many years the highest INTtotals are collected by players that QBs like to go after. Both players were targeted equally, Sherman picked the ball more, allowed a lower completion percentage and held QBs to lower rating. In the argument of Revis Island versus Optimus Prime (Sherman's self-nominated nickname after shutting down Megatron) it would be hard to argue against Sherman. 

Best corner in the league. Fact Check. 

Part 2: Is this tight?

Most critics of Sherman's rant cite a lack of class and an unwillingness to win with grace. Tom Brady commented that "we win with graciousness." Justin Verlander even said that Sherman would get a fastball "high and tight." (YAY Detroit matters!). And its hard to argue with that sentiment. Any time a player is brash and arrogant in victory it definitely does not look classy. (Maybe brady is still mad though.)

But "is it classy?" is a different question from "is it tight?" Sherman's rant though decidedly not classy is mos def tight. Its tight in the way that this is tight and this is tight. 99.9/100 post game are completely uninteresting: We gave 110%, we had a good game plan, gotta thank my teammates, much respect to [opponents]. DONT CARE! If this is anything it is definitely interesting. It is the best corner in the game (see above) throwing it in your face like an aggressive WWF-style hype man and it is awesome. The major caveat here is that if you are a Niner's fan then you had to suffer through a game with rough officiating, where your probowl linebacker has a career threatening injury...only to have Sherman take away your trip to the Superbowl and then throw it in your face. So yah you probably hate him then. Sucks.

"Both teams played hard...goodnight and godbless."

BRACE YOURSELF: Content is coming.

To the sprawling multitudes of Sporting Nerd fans, we apologize for the recent down tick in blog activity. Both primary authors have been somewhat occupied by responsibilities related to our side job. In addition we have been in an ongoing legal battle with the authors of http://thesportingnerds.wordpress.com/. Who are not only ruining our brand but are also posting analysis of the Bruins games every night for no apparent reason. Rest assured that greener pastures are ahead! And content is coming.

"Both teams played hard...goodnight and godbless."

Hyun-Jin Ryu "Sings" and Struggles in "Smile Again"

The Dodgers' Korean teddy bear / rookie sensation Hyun-Jin Ryu made his K-Pop debut today, teaming up and "singing" with K-pop stars to raise money for charity. While it's great to see Ryu act all awkward in the Dodgers dugout (see below), it's a little painful to see him act like a seventh-grader at his first junior high school dance when standing next to his K-pop costar. She's doing the obligatory flirting... and he is having none of it. Unless he's playing the "ignore her" game to make her want him even more. In that case, playaaaaaaaaaa!!



Nevertheless, famously stoic on the field, Ryu finally gives us his emotional struggle face (credit: Chad Moriyama):

Hopefully we'll see a lot more of that face in 2014. And hope to see a lot more of this as well...

Swaggy P in One Play

The essence of Swaggy P, captured in one play...



Credit to kennycity for finding this clip.

The Sixth Swag

And the legend of Swaggy P continues..

Since Mike D'antoni relegated him to a role off of the bench in early November, Nick "Swaggy P" Young's productivity has improved markedly, and he has been a key component of the Lakers' exceeding expectations thus far this year (granted, the expectations were quite low - Vegas predicted they would only win ~34 games this season).

As a starter during the 1st 3 games of this season, Young averaged a meager 8.3 pts per game, shooting 27.3% from the field.

As the sixth man, he has been markedly more productive: 15.3 pts per game, shooting at a 46.1% clip while also averaging 1.1 steals. These numbers are near career-highs for Swaggy P, and if they continue, he may very well make a surprising run for Sixth Man of the Year.

Most impressively, in a league filled with egos more inflated than Bitcoin, Swaggy P handled his demotion rather well it seems. His laid-back demeanor just rolled with the punches, and it looks like his play has benefited from it. How laid back is he? Check out Laker legends doing ridiculously good Swaggy P impersonations:



In the clip above, you may have noticed the "#SwaggyD" banner in front of the studio desk. Young is apparently aspiring (albeit jokingly) to be the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year, hence the switch to Swaggy D. I am vehemently against the name change - Swaggy D just makes too much sense.

And speaking of undeserved awards, he was recently named one of GQ's Most Stylish Athletes . Just like his game, this outfit is primarily offensive.



Long live Swaggy P!

.JJ