MLB Predictions

Originally posted by uzless
All that matters is i'm winning the baseball pool...AGAIN....

And I know zip about the players other than what yahoo tells me. I guess this means Yahoo is smarter than you guys?

I'll bet you $50 I finish better than you this year.

Originally posted by darvlay
I'll bet you $50 I finish better than you this year.

those aren't fair odds. you know more about baseball than i do. Seems Odds would be more of a fair bet.

Considering I only know 1 team in baseball and you know all of them, that would make the odds somewhere in the neighbourhood of what...30:1?

Originally posted by uzless
those aren't fair odds. you know more about baseball than i do. Seems Odds would be more of a fair bet.

Considering I only know 1 team in baseball and you know all of them, that would make the odds somewhere in the neighbourhood of what...30:1?

That's what I thought.

Originally posted by darvlay
That's what I thought.

funny, i was thinking the same thing.


Do you only take bets where you know more about something than the other guy?

Originally posted by uzless
funny, i was thinking the same thing.


Do you only take bets where you know more about something than the other guy?

Don't posture for the folks at home. You know I'll bet on anything and everything, especially in instances where you have to pony up. 😛

Originally posted by darvlay
Don't posture for the folks at home. You know I'll bet on anything and everything, especially in instances where you have to pony up. 😛

then make it a fair bet. You know more about baseball than i do so you should win any bet about baseball.

I gave a guy at work 100:1 odds that the leafs would not make the playoffs. Now since he was a leaf fan i knew he didn't know anything about hockey and since I was a MTL fan i therefore knew alot about hockey so the odds needed to reflect that.

Give me decent odds and you'll have your bet.

Originally posted by uzless
then make it a fair bet. You know more about baseball than i do so you should win any bet about baseball.

I gave a guy at work 100:1 odds that the leafs would not make the playoffs. Now since he was a leaf fan i knew he didn't know anything about hockey and since I was a MTL fan i therefore knew alot about hockey so the odds needed to reflect that.

Give me decent odds and you'll have your bet.

No odds. I don't buy the BS you're selling seeing as you won the league last year and were following the players intently. We've had personal discussions on many fringe players that most run-of-the-mill baseball fans have no clue about. Regardless if Yahoo is your only source of info, you are informed enough not to be considered a beginner.

I consider you a very competent fantasy baseball strategist, not the mook you're trying to sell yourself as.

I am giving you credit here.

Now man up and take the bet, son!

Originally posted by shortcircuit
When you can't back up your arguements, you always seem to start throwing out nebulous accusations and pounding your chest like a gorilla in heat. You consistently doubt evryone who disagrees with you.
You start mincing words just as you are here and now.

You know damn good and well what you intended when you made your initial claim. You danced aro our chops. Probably because I don't like how you attack everyone who doesn't kiss your ass.

Let's try to return to basic civility.

IF Oswalt pitches the entire year in games against the Reds like he did in the first game, I'll be wrong. IF the Reds win all the games anyway, I'll be happy but wrong. But Oswalt wasn't dominant and I think the game shows that these Reds can hit him though they have to do so in the clutch and not get guys thrown out on the bases.
But, IF they don't start scoring more than an average of 4 runs per nine innings against him, I'm wrong. I've been wrong on these forums before and have no problem admitting it when I am. Nor have I shied from betting on my predictions. However, we couldn't come to any agreement on what was a fair wager. So be it.

Whether you know more about baseball than me is debatable and not really resolvable on an internet forum. Your knowledge was not sufficient to enable you to make more correct picks in the last MLB post season than I did, however.

Originally posted by uzless
those aren't fair odds. you know more about baseball than i do. Seems Odds would be more of a fair bet.

Considering I only know 1 team in baseball and you know all of them, that would make the odds somewhere in the neighbourhood of what...30:1?

You claimed to know enough baseball to take a stab at Jackie Robinson, or was he on your team recommended by Yahoo as well? 😕

Originally posted by no1marauder
Let's try to return to basic civility.

IF Oswalt pitches the entire year in games against the Reds like he did in the first game, I'll be wrong. IF the Reds win all the games anyway, I'll be happy but wrong. But Oswalt wasn't dominant and I think the game shows that these Reds can hit him though they have to do so in the clutch and not get o enable you to make more correct picks in the last MLB post season than I did, however.

I can agree with your statement regarding Oswalt and the Reds.

Now, a smart guy like you surely must realize that winning sports bets is not necessarily indicative of the level of sports knowledge one has. There are a lot of people in the game sharper than you and I together who don't win sports bets or pick team outcomes correctly.

I have no doubt that you follow basketball far more closely than I do and I have outpicked you twice. Granted, I have some knowledge and some intuition, but how can this happen? If you want to call mine luck, then I can call yours the same...right?

Originally posted by shortcircuit
I can agree with your statement regarding Oswalt and the Reds.

Now, a smart guy like you surely must realize that winning sports bets is not necessarily indicative of the level of sports knowledge one has. There are a lot of people in the game sharper than you and I together who don't win sports bets or pick team outcomes correctly.

I have no dou ...[text shortened]... but how can this happen? If you want to call mine luck, then I can call yours the same...right?

If you're referring to March Madness, I don't follow the regular season at all and have picked miserably the last two years. I've had better "luck" with sports I follow closely. It's of course true that sports knowledge doesn't necessarily equate to predictive success however.

Originally posted by shortcircuit
You claimed to know enough baseball to take a stab at Jackie Robinson, or was he on your team recommended by Yahoo as well? 😕

I used to follow baseball (the whole league, not just the jays) when i was younger. Used to love watching TWIB with Mel Ott.."How about that?"

The glove I had when I was a kid (still use to this day) was a rawlings signed by Mike Schmidt and I used to go down to Spring training with my father and also go to those charity celebrity softball tournaments they used to have near my house. I was the MVP of my league so I actually got to play SS in one of those celebrity games for one inning and my happiest moment as a kid was throwing to Guy Lafleur at first base to get Rick Vaive out by 5 feet.

To get to the point, i understood and understand the HISTORY of baseball. My interest has wained over the years, especially after the strike and the distortions in team payrolls which for the most part see the same group of teams in the playoffs year after year (with the odd one year wonder team tossed in for good measure for the idiots to point to to say there is no problem). Lately, I've strictly become a Blue Jays fan (and not much of one at that).

As for Jackie, that thread was meant mostly as a tongue in cheek comment to counter the idology that was on wall to wall tv about "heroes" with JR day. The point, although not explicity stated, was that heroes are NOT baseball players. They are CELEBRITIES. There is a difference. Perhaps I gave too much credit to the reader that this would have been self evident...or perhaps uzless is just not afforded that level of commentary license.

If anyone wants to meet a real hero, I am more than willing to take you down to our Hospital for sick kids and meet some of the doctors and nurses there. If hospitals aren't your thing, I can send you a Powerpoint slide show a friend of mine uses at his corporate fundraising functions for a poverty stricken village in Peru. His group flies down and builds homes and schools for the villagers.

Stack these people up against a guy who caught fly balls and decide for yourself. Was he a hero or a celebrity?

Originally posted by uzless
The point, although not explicity stated, was that heroes are NOT baseball players. They are CELEBRITIES. There is a difference. Perhaps I gave too much credit to the reader that this would have been self evident...

Who are you to say who can and can't be heroes? He may not be a hero of yours but that does not mean he wasn't a hero to somebody. I agree with you that often times society holds celebrities up on a pedestal they don't deserve, but your attempt at satire here was off base, in my opinion.

The Civil Rights Movement was extremely important to all Black Americans and Jackie Robinson was the prototypical hero for that movement before it arrived in full force - he had the courage, will and determination to help bring change to baseball and he was the idol and hero of many black persons who were treated with prejudice and denigration all across the country. Jackie turned the other cheek for 3 years (as per a personal agreement with Branch Rickey) and received non-stop abuse from fans and even team mates to the likes of which you, or any other white person, can't imagine.

If there is anyone in Sports who can credibly be called a hero and idol, it is Jackie Robinson, and your lazy criticisms of him and millions of young and old black Americans who looked at him as a symbol of strength and perserverance during a time of intense racism fail on all tests.

Originally posted by darvlay
Who are you to say who can and can't be heroes? He may not be a hero of yours but that does not mean he wasn't a hero to somebody. I agree with you that often times society holds celebrities up on a pedestal they don't deserve, but your attempt at satire here was off base, in my opinion.

The Civil Rights Movement was extremely important to all Black as a symbol of strength and perserverance during a time of intense racism fail on all tests.

well well well, a worthy opponent. let me get my mask.

Who are you to say who can and can't be heroes?

I don't. Heroes are well defined in the dictionary as, "A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes in an unpopular war"

Nobility of purpose i think is the key. Was his purpose to stand up for civil rights or was it to play baseball? Was he playing baseball just to make a civil rights point? No, at best one can argue he was doing both. But this disqualifies him from the status of hero since he has an element of self interest here.

The Civil Rights Movement was extremely important to all Black Americans and Jackie Robinson was the prototypical hero for that movement before it arrived in full force - he had the courage, will and determination to help bring change to baseball and he was the idol and hero of many black persons who were treated with prejudice and denigration all across the country.

You are getting at where the distinction really is. He was viewed as a hero not because of what he did (playing baseball). Rather, he was viewed as a hero because of the IMPACT he had on OTHER PEOPLE. Non-white people (blacks in particular) began to believe in what was possible. Non-white people began to believe that it was possible to make it in a white man controlled world. The change in other people's thinking is what was so great about JR playing baseball...But,

A doctor is a hero because he saves lives. His ACTIONS, (saving lives), make him a hero. Jackie just played baseball. But this action (playing baseball) doesn't make him a hero.


Jackie turned the other cheek for 3 years (as per a personal agreement with Branch Rickey) and received non-stop abuse from fans and even team mates to the likes of which you, or any other white person, can't imagine.

Not true, as a white guy growing up, I have seen first hand what some white people are capable of. I have seen raw racism and hatred for people. I have seen asians hate other asians, I have seen reverse racism. I have seen blow-up dolls painted black, hung from a tree in front of a high school by a noose and lit on fire. I grew up in a city that was full of racism and had to listen to friends and teamates (ex-jock here) spew their garbage about different races until I was old enough and smart enough to find new friends. To say that white people don't know what non-white people go through is off the mark.

If there is anyone in Sports who can credibly be called a hero and idol, it is Jackie Robinson,

True, but the IF part is the key. I would absolutely agree with IDOL though.

and your lazy criticisms of him and millions of young and old black Americans who looked at him as a symbol of strength and perserverance during a time of intense racism fail on all tests.

Not really sure where I criticized him or millions of young and old black americans. You've extrapolated into uncommented upon territory and put crazy words in my mouth. Please quote for me where I have done this. All I said was that Branch Rickey doesn't get mentioned enough. Branch had to put up with a tonne of crap too when he signed JR.

Originally posted by uzless
I used to follow baseball (the whole league, not just the jays) when i was younger. Used to love watching TWIB with Mel Ott.."How about that?"

Wrong Mel.. That was the HOF announcer Mel Allen, not the HOF hitter, Mel Ott.