Now this is how I always envisioned Olympic ice skating:
(Deadspin)
Author: Christopher Glotfelty (Page 12 of 67)
Speaking with Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Albert Pujols has intimated that while his future with the Cardinals remains up in the air, he would love to remain part of the team.
Here are the highlights of multiple conversations I had with Pujols this week; some of his comments came during his visit to my radio show on WXOS (101.1 FM).
— On his contract, which is up after 2011:
“People in St. Louis and our fans around the country know where I want to be. And that’s St. Louis. There’s no city like St. Louis to play baseball. And the way the city has embraced me, and my family and our charitable foundation has been unbelievable. I am blessed. So why would I want to go anywhere else?
“I appreciate being a Cardinal. I appreciate wearing this uniform. I appreciate being part of the legacy over the last nine years and I want to continue to do that. I appreciate being around the Hall of Famers. I don’t think there’s many organizations who have that. I think we have the most (living) Hall of Famers, and they come around. You see Stan Musial, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, Red Schoendienst all the time. They spend time with us. You appreciate talking baseball with all of those guys. So why would I want to go anywhere?
“Do I want to do this right now and take care of this so we don’t need to worry about it? Of course. If it happens, it happens. But there are some things I am able to control and there are other things that are out of my hands that I can’t control. And that’s the truth.”
Pujols is entering his tenth season as a Cardinal, the team with which he has spent his entire career. I’m all for Pujols staying in St. Louis, solely because I appreciate when players and their fans maintain a connection. How many current players have spent ten consecutive seasons (at least 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched) with the same team? They are listed below with their respective team and the number of seasons spent with that team.
Lance Berkman (Astros) – 10
Roy Halladay (Blue Jays) – 11
Andruw Jones (Braves) – 11
Chipper Jones (Braves) – 15
Kerry Wood (Cubs) – 10
Jim Thome (Indians) – 10
Omar Vizquel (Indians) – 11
Ken Griffey Jr. (Mariners) – 11
Jamie Moyer (Mariners) – 11
Luis Castillo (Marlins) – 10
Melvin Mora (Orioles) – 10
Ivan Rodriguez (Rangers) – 12
Jason Varitek (Red Sox) – 12
Tim Wakefield (Red Sox) – 15
Todd Helton (Rockies) – 12
Paul Konerko (White Sox) – 11
Derek Jeter (Yankees) – 15
Jorge Posada (Yankees) – 13
Mariano Rivera (Yankees) – 15
I might be forgetting a few, but the supplied data speaks for itself: gone are the days of firmly establishing a collection of players. Oh, and the Yankees find a good thing and stick with it. Yes, they have have the money to make it happen, but they’ve utilized the same strategy since their inception. It’s great for both the fans and business.
Update: I did some more research and found some surprises. While the list has expanded, it’s still disappointing that many teams haven’t kept a player (granted, there are the retirees and those serving the remainder of their contracts) longer than ten consecutive years in the recent past.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Canada defeated the United States 2-0 to win their third-straight women’s hockey gold medal at the Olympics.
From ESPN.com:
Marie-Philip Poulin scored two goals and Shannon Szabados made 28 saves Thursday before a raucous crowd ringing cowbells and waving thousands of maple leaf flags.
After Poulin’s two first-period scores, the Canadians dominated every aspect of the biggest game in this young sport, earning their 15th straight Olympic victory.
Playing with a consistency and passion its men’s team would do well to emulate this weekend, Canada remained unbeaten at the Olympics since 1998, when the Americans won the first women’s gold.
The Canadians kept nearly the entire game in the Americans’ end — outpassing, outshooting and simply outworking the only team in women’s hockey with a chance of standing up to them.
I didn’t even know the U.S. team made it to the gold-medal game. I guess the win would have been nice since chances are dwindling.
Propelled by two goals from Zach Parise and another powerful performance by goalie Ryan Miller, the U.S. men’s hockey team has advanced to the semifinals. The team faced a tough competitor in Switzerland, but found an edge in the last period to earn the 2-0 victory.
From ESPN.com:
But Zach Parise put all that frustration aside, deflecting a wrist shot from Brian Rafalski early in the third period, then scored into an empty net late to seal a 2-0 quarterfinal win that sends the U.S. to the next round against the winner of Wednesday night’s game between the Czech Republic and Finland.
“Relief and excitement, especially in a tight game like that when you are doing everything but score,” said Parise, who failed to score on his first 13 shots of the tournament. “The goalie was great and we did a good job of sticking with it. “We were pretty confident and said just keep putting pucks at him.”
Ryan Miller made 19 saves to backstop the victory and move the Americans within two wins of its first men’s hockey gold medal in 30 years.
For myself, the U.S. hockey team’s run has been the most exciting part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The feeling makes me want to gather up some of my closest friends and head to a fun bar to enjoy the next game. We can drink frothy glasses of beer, share stupid stories, look at pretty girls, and root for our countrymen.
Wait — never mind. NBC is broadcasting the game at 3 PM ET on Friday. Scratch those plans.
After Martin Brodeur gave up four goals to the United States last night, Canada’s hockey team has decided to replace him with Roberto Luongo for Tuesday’s matchup against Germany.
From The Vancouver Sun:
Vancouver’s Luongo will take over in goal for Martin Brodeur when Canada faces Germany on Tuesday for the next matchup in Olympic men’s hockey.
“I’m pumped,” Luongo before the announcement today. “The adrenaline is really going. I can’t tell you how excited I am.”
Canadian coach Mike Babcock made the announcement today at a post-practice press conference.
Luongo will remain the starter as long as Canada is in what is now a single-elimination tournament, Babcock vowed.
Luongo shut out Norway 8-0 in Canada’s Olympic opener, before giving way to national-team incumbent starter Brodeur. But the veteran, who started at the last two Olympics, looked poor on two of the four goals that beat him during Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the United States.
It seems like Team Canada is reeling after their unexpected loss on Sunday, first facing the disappointment of its country and now the bruised confidence of its veteran goalie. Nevertheless, Luongo is a solid second option who should give the Germans a tough time in their elimination game. Unfortunately, it simply looks like Canada is fighting an uphill battle. Assuming the team wins, it will enter the quarterfinals and have the misfortune of playing Russia.
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