tigersandjets

Some of you would've downplayed Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in 1947.

There are countless institutions in this country that straight white males have dominated for decades, professional sports is one of them.

It's difficult to see, from a straight white male perspective, how many obstacles non-straight white males have in this country.

Michael Sam clearly faces a barrier, preventing him getting the same fair shake that straight NFL players get. It's a similar barrier that Jackie Robinson faced that prevented blacks from getting the same fair shake that whites got. This is a step in eradicating a barrier that millions of Americans face, and that's why the guy is courageous and worth giving credit to.

Those who are trying to downplay the significance of this announcement, and those who harbor hatred and prejudice against gay people, this thread is not for you. I can't believe how many people there are who want to put this guy down or pretend that this isn't a huge step forward for the historically bigoted realm of professional sports.

This thread is for those who recognize how much of a badass Michael Sam is. It's incredibly difficult to be a gay professional athlete, and that's why so few to this point have come out. I am happy that he felt there was a safe enough environment for him to be honest with his teammates and now the media. He is not only risking his draft stock and financial future, but more importantly he is risking being targeted with hate speech and death threats from fans and players. Michael Sam is a brave young man, and I am proud to have him in my favorite sports league. I hope the league and its fans give him as much support as he deserves.

Everyone needs to read this excellent Grantland piece for the definitive empirical reasons why this was a mistake:

LINK

In short, it's all about pitch counts vs innings counts. And the fact that the Nats had already minimized his injury risk, and this added precaution really doesn't minimize it any further.

I'd like to see some March Madness games in the Supedome, regardless of who's playing. But I'm wondering if I should wait for prices to drop, or if now is the best time to grab tickets.

Right now, tickets are starting at $190 for the two semifinal games, $147 for just the championship game, and $319 for all three games via Stubhub.

I have a feeling ticket prices might fluctuate throughout the tournament depending on what teams get bounced. I'm not a big fan of looking for tickets outside of the game, since I like to have something guaranteed in advance.

What do you suggest for a fan on a budget?

...if we win this year?

Only a handful of players who transferred, or left early for the draft, like Patrick Peterson, never won a NC.

But basically, any LSU player since 2003 has had an opportunity to be on a NC team. And in a 10-year span, more than 90% of our players will have won a NC.

Gus Johnson, y'all

Brian Wilson?

as in espn talked about it for about two hours, until the pacquiao-mostly fight took the spotlight. now of course the lakers and bulls have the sports world's attention. not to mention verlander's no hitter and the kentucky derby. you cant even find a story about rondo on espn.com right now.

I don't think you guys realize but the players will have to get paid for those byes. The owners won't want to pay for another week of salaries that they aren't selling tickets for.

Are we still doing this? It says nominations due today in the title.

Movies

Best Soundtrack - Twilight: Eclipse, Somewhere (soundtrack is unofficial)
Best Writing - The Kids Are All Right
Career Ending Performance
Breakthrough Performance
Best Foreign Film
Best Animated Film - The Illusionist
Best Horror/Sci Fi Film
Best Popcorn Flick
Most Random Duo - James Franco and Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love)
Worst Actress Performance
Worst Actor Performance
Worst Movie
Funniest Performance - Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine)
Funniest Movie - Hot Tub Time Machine
Best Director - Sofia Coppola (Somewhere), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Actress - Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
Best Actor - Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine)
Best Picture - Toy Story 3, The Kids Are All Right

Television

Best Drama Series
Best Comedy Series - The Colbert Report, Onion SportsDome
Best Reality Show
Best New Show (only 1 season) - Onion SportsDome, 30 for 30 (does this count?)
Best Actor in a drama series - Thomas Jane (Hung)
Best Actor in a comedy series - Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
Best Actress in a drama series
Best Actress in a comedy series
Best Supporting Actor in a tv series
Best Supporting Actress in a tv series
Best Reality Show "Character"
Worst Show

because sean payton would be a great offensive coordinator. because urban meyer would be a great offensive coordinator. because nick saban would be a great defensive coordinator. come on man. just because his title was head coach doesn't mean that his offenses were irrelevant. he's an offensive minded coach, and his teams struggled offensively when he was a head coach. he even called plays his last year at louisville. that tells us something. i'm not asking you to look at his win-loss percentage at tulsa or louisville. but their yards and points scored have something to do with him as an offensive coach. that's part of why louisville hired him as hc, and that's why we hired him as oc.