Megatron Answers Sports Questions

[Richard Blonoff]

How surprised are you that Bourn remains a free agent and how much do you think Scott Borris is to blame? Honestly he should have won a gold glove last year, he finally gave Atlanta a leadoff threat, which as a Braves fan I loved, and he is a good character guy. Obviously he wanted too much for the Braves to resign him, so they went out and got the Upton brothers, but I have heard no other teams interested.

 

[Harthan]

There's no way anyone signs Bourn for one year unless they've already surrendered their first rounder or it's protected. Which describes a very limited set of teams.

I think the Indians could be one of those teams willing to do a one or two year deal if his dollar value goes down to sub 10 million. We've a protected first rounder and already surrendered our second rounder, so a third rounder for Bourn is paltry. Even then, though, I'd at least want an option for two or maybe three. A really weird market for Bourn unless the Mets get the exception that they deserve.

 

[Megatron]

How surprised are you that Bourn remains a free agent and how much do you think Scott Borris is to blame? Honestly he should have won a gold glove last year, he finally gave Atlanta a leadoff threat, which as a Braves fan I loved, and he is a good character guy. Obviously he wanted too much for the Braves to resign him, so they went out and got the Upton brothers, but I have heard no other teams interested.

Not as much as you'd think. Boras has a rep of longing out the process to get as much as he can and works out more often than not. Fielder wasn't signed till mid January (if I remember correctly) but the market's kinda dry on Bourn atm. I still think he'll get his years, but probably not as much money as he was hoping for.

There's no way anyone signs Bourn for one year unless they've already surrendered their first rounder or it's protected. Which describes a very limited set of teams.

I think the Indians could be one of those teams willing to do a one or two year deal if his dollar value goes down to sub 10 million. We've a protected first rounder and already surrendered our second rounder, so a third rounder for Bourn is paltry. Even then, though, I'd at least want an option for two or maybe three. A really weird market for Bourn unless the Mets get the exception that they deserve.

I'd say the Mets are the favorite but I do think someone like Baltimore could really use him as a CF. He's a good CF defensively which would allow Jones to move over to a COF spot (gold glove notwithstanding, Bourn > Jones in CF) and would solidify their leadoff spot. Can't keep relying on Nolan Reimold and Nate McClouth to man the OF spots.

 

[Moon Knight]

Could, but I would think the regime would want to try to get a young QB that they could have for many years. Smith isn't any better than Palmer and isn't what's gonna take them to the playoffs. Personally someone like Arizona or Philly would be a good fit to me.

They would be, maybe the Jets or Chiefs as well? I am just not a big fan of Palmer.

 

[Megatron]

Jets I don't think are that much in the running because of that money that is still all tied up to Sanchez and you can only invest so much in the QB position. Smith isn't great but he'll get starter money somewhere and they can't really afford to be paying two guys that much when their salary situation is poor to begin with. Chiefs could as well, although their notorious history of not being able to find a franchise QB (I believe it's been like 30 years since a QB drafted by the Chiefs won a game for them. That's ridiculously bad when you look at the laundry list of QB's they've had) makes me believe Geno will still go #1 to them.

Logically I wouldn't suspect them two going after Smith for different reasons (money; history).

 

[Remix]

Cheerleading: is it a sport?

 

[Megatron]

Competitive, yes. Routines and shit take a lot of flexibility and body discipline that I know I couldn't handle. I find it comparative to figure skating, only with more people. It takes athletic skill and you have to have a talent to do it well. It's not something you can pick up right away and be great at.

 

[I Heart Cena]

Should WWE-type wrestling be made into a sport? i.e., have matches, and judge them like figure skating. Top match wins that meet.

 

[Megatron]

No. Wrestling is fine the way it is and you aren't likely to get many people interested in watching it since the story is the main reason people get involved into a show.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Lol, I have a few of these so bare with me.

Do you think that the Ravens will give Flacco that big salary contract or will they franchise him in favor of keeping more players?

Do you think Ed Reed will stay with the Ravens or go to play with the Patriots?

Personally, I'm a Tim Tebow guy. I'm not like hung up on his jock that Skip Bayless seems to be, and I wouldn't call him "elite" or even great... at least not yet. But he's good, real good. His stats don't lie and for him to bring the Broncos back into contention two seasons ago shows his greatness, despite allegedly not knowing how to spiral the football. What are your thoughts on Tebow as a quarterback, and do you think that he could fit in with Miami or some other team that needs to "rebuild"?

What surprise trades or signings of top athletes do you think could come of the off season?

 

[Megatron]

1. Have to give him that contract. He got you a ring and while he doesn't deserve Brees type money he's got the leverage and someone would overpay if Baltimore doesn't.

2. He'll be gone. Just not enough money for Baltimore to spread all around.

3. If someone sold out into a Tebow centric offense with a bunch of RBs and a ball control style type offense, I would say that team wouldn't be awful. However, I don't think anyone's willing to take a chance on him. Especially not someone like Miami who has Tannehill there as the guy. He wasn't great, although he did close out the season well. You don't blow up your 1st round pick from a year ago on Tebow. Jacksonville really seemed like the only fit, and that doesn't look like it will happen. So I think he'll have to reinvent himself as a fullback or tight end, as much as he might fight against it. Teams just don't want to take that chance and find out what most execs believe is the truth - that he isn't fit to be an NFL QB.

4. Miami will pick up a receiver, Reed goes to NE, and Alex Smith goes to KC.

 

[The Bearded One]

Jacksonville really seemed like the only fit, and that doesn't look like it will happen.

Even if he's released.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I think the pistol/option offense that Washington and San Fran ran will have a longer shelf life than the Wildcat, but eventually I see it being phased. What do you think about it?

 

[Megatron]

I don't think a team can base its offense around the option, but what works for those teams is that their Qbs are quite accurate as well. If it's continued to use as a package rather than the top priority I don't see why it can't be run well 10-15 times a game.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

World Baseball Classic, Love it or Hate It?

 

[Megatron]

Love it. I'd rather watch some guys play meaningful baseball for their country in March than Spring Training, but that just might be me.

 

[Remix]

Why is it that American sports seem to take at least two minutes for a minute on the clock to be played?

What the fuck is a down?

 

[Megatron]

Advertisements, mainly. That's where the $$$ rolls in.

And down = play. First down = first play of series. They reset after every first down gained.

 

[Remix]

That just makes matches without adverts dull, drawn out and overly long. Why build that into a game?

Great, that just leaves me questioning what calls for a resetting.

 

[Megatron]

Every game has time outs specifically for TV. Basketball has it every 4 minutes in college and every 6 or 8 (don't quote me on that) minutes in the NBA. NFL typically has one after changes of possession or after scores. NHL does as well but I don't watch enough of it to realize when they occur. And again, it's for $$$. Since sports are mainly DVR-proof, those ads will get aired and seen instead of skipped over by DVR.

As for what leads to a reset, gaining the amount of yards needed for a first down. So say someone begins their drive with a first and 10. They gain 5 yards on first down to make it 2nd down and 5 yards to go. They gain 6 yards on second down which accomplishes their yardage needed, thus the downs reset and they begin with a first and 10 once again. If that's a load to understand, just watch some games. After a bit it should make sense.

 

[Harthan]

Not as much as you'd think. Boras has a rep of longing out the process to get as much as he can and works out more often than not. Fielder wasn't signed till mid January (if I remember correctly) but the market's kinda dry on Bourn atm. I still think he'll get his years, but probably not as much money as he was hoping for.



I'd say the Mets are the favorite but I do think someone like Baltimore could really use him as a CF. He's a good CF defensively which would allow Jones to move over to a COF spot (gold glove notwithstanding, Bourn > Jones in CF) and would solidify their leadoff spot. Can't keep relying on Nolan Reimold and Nate McClouth to man the OF spots.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8938263/michael-bourn-gets-4-year-deal-cleveland-indians

OH SHIT

WHAT NOW BITCH

I'm fucking stoked. This lineup, plus Francona...if the pitching staff can just hold its shit together, this team can go places.

 

[Megatron]

It's CleLOLand. They can't have nice things.

 

[Harthan]

It's CleLOLand. They can't have nice things.

We'll see who's laughing in October.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Probably not Cleveland fans

 

[Megatron]

We'll see who's laughing in October.

Can't be laughing in October if you keep collapsing by July. Their pitching still doesn't come close to the Tigers (Verlander > all and I would even dare to say nobody on Clevelands staff would crack the Tigers rotation except MAYBE Masterson). Their offense should be better but lets not forget they were one of the worst run producing teams in the league. You'd really have to be an eternal optimist to think they've even come close to the Tigers in the division. I'm not saying that as a cocky Tigers fan. I'm saying that as an objective fan. This team has a huge mess and their offseason additions surely made them better, but 20 games better? Eh. And that was with some luck in 1 run games.