Hot Seat Answers #74 - Providence A's

[HollywoodLeo]

Providence A's, your Hot Seat questions have been asked in this thread. You have up to 7 days in which to answer these questions, should you choose to do so. Once you have done that, please select the next Hot Seat participant. Thank you for participating. The next Hot Seat (#75) will begin on Saturday, May 30th, or when you're done answering, whichever comes first.

[nick]

yeah so prov...


cathetor stories on 3!

[Providence A's]

1. In your opinion, which is the worst form of inferiority complex in sports among the following:

a) A player tugging the front of his uniform to remind viewers to "remember the name". Just in case they had forgotten.

b) The "We don't get any respect" or "Nobody gave us a chance." rally cry made famous by the Patriots and has since been adopted by most every other team, no matter how much the media has fondled them lately.

c) Teams that claim that they just go about their business and leave the talking on the field, yet when given the opportunity, won't ever shut up about how they just go about their business and leave the talking on the field.

2. As a phys. ed. teacher, how do/would you get the scrawny or chubby, unathletic boys involved in team sports when the rest of the boys consider them as a liability?

3. While you were pitching with a partially torn labrum, did you tweak your mechanics (like switching to a delivery that uses less torque) to ease pressure on your shoulder?

1) I would say "b" I guess. I think "a" could be viewed as a show of pride type thing many times. I think "c" only happens because the media presses said players for answers. it's not like they're actively hunting down a reporter and shoving it down their throat. "b" just reeks of trying to get attention and a lame attempt at self-motivation by creating this whole "no one respects us" crap in their heads. almost like a paranoia...no, not almost, it is a paranoia and said players should be treated with anti-psychotics.

2) The appropriate PE answer is to not have your program focus on team sports. Ideally, you want to teach them activities they can do outside of school to get into / stay in shape. It's not always practical to get a dozen or more guys together for a baseball game or whatever. When you do use team sports (because I think it's stupid not to really), you just break them into groups according to skill level. Also, you can spend more time focusing on the process (skills) than the results (playing in a game). Save the actual games for the end of the unit.

3) Not really. It's torn about 50% starting at the top toward the back. The easy way to think of it is as if it were a square with the top and left side being messed up. Bringing the arm back to throw is causing the torn flap to pinch. That's the problem. Throwing like Chad Bradford alleviates that for the most part because the top of it isn't getting involved. For the most part I tried not to throw breaking balls because that hurt more than anything. I rested it, iced, and took a lot of acetaminophen (aka Advil). Throwing fastballs and change ups wouldn't hurt much unless it was already hurting, which I guess would mean that the torn flap somehow got temporarily lodged or something.

I elected not to have surgery for 2 reasons: 1) I wasn't going to be playing pro baseball since I was already done with college anyway (not that I ever had a chance) and 2) because it would take up to 9 months to heal depending on the rehab afterward (rehab to get it into normal shape, not pitching). It's just the nature of the surgery. All they do is go in and shave the flap off. That is the easy part and actually isn't what requires the healing. The issue is that they cut so much just to get in there and that is what takes forever. They damage other stuff just getting to it. I have no other damage. They thought my rotator cuff was torn, but the contrast MRI only showed the torn labrum; nothing else.

1. What annoys you most: Red Sox Fans, Yankee Fans, Tom Brady, or HollywoodLeo?

2. Who were your three favorite GI Joe characters.... AND, what bothers you most about the casting and early previews of the movie coming out later this summer?

3. Based on all of your experiences in OOTP leagues, does TSSL Rich Harden rank as the best OOTP player you've ever um.. "been around" ..?

1) The average Red Sox fan. Yankees fan as a whole seem more respectful (in my experiences) and seem to be in check these days. Red Sox fans are just out of control as whole. Winning only made it worse 100 times over. Brady is irrelevant right now and he'll probably never be the same. Not because of the knee surgery, but because he is married. Leo doesn't annoy me. I probably annoy him I suppose.

2) GI Joes
YOJOE.COM | Fast Draw
YOJOE.COM | Shockwave
YOJOE.COM | Snake Eyes

Cobras
YOJOE.COM | Scrap Iron
YOJOE.COM | Alley Viper
YOJOE.COM | Range-Vipers

As far as casting, it goes more to the script I guess. They changed characters from what they were (Hollywood, I know) to make it an international team instead of GI Joe: An American Hero. They want it to be like a UN team. I'm not surprised though. I'll see it, but I really don't have high expectations from everything I've seen.

3) I suppose he does. A lot of luck involved though. That file was originally created when he was at his peak in terms of hype so he was an absolute stud to begin with. Later versions he was "prone" and rated a little lower. I remember him boosting after I got him, too. And to be honest, looking back that deal never should have passed. If I were voting on that deal today, I'd fail it. He had some bad luck in that all 3 specs fell apart, but it still shouldn't have been enough. Then again, no one knew what to expect because he hadn't had that level of success yet. He boosted, tapped out, stayed healthy for the most part, and held up nicely due to the aging sliders.

1. Next time I am in Rhode Island, what's the beach I should go to? I have heard that you fine folks have some of the best beach's around these parts.

2. Whats the most difficult aspect of living where you are, and not being a Red Sox fan.

3. Riga, Latvia is one of Providence's "Sister Cities". How much do you know about Riga?

1. I'm not a beach guy since I burn quite easily (due to being Irish) and it's just not my thing. The ones in Narragansett and Newport I guess.

2) I assume you mean in relation to sports because otherwise the hardest thing about living here is that it generally sucks. This shitty state is well over $300 million in debt and the economy is terrible. The unemployment rate is over 11% (1st or 2nd highest). And we were 1 of only 2 states to have negative population growth (more people left than came). As far as sports related, I guess just that I can't watch A's games on a regular basis unless I buy MLB.tv like I've done in the past and that it's near impossible to gets tickets to a Sox game at face value. I'm better off going to NY, which we have before.

3) It's a Baltic state. It's in Latvia. Otherwise, not much...I don't keep up on that and didn't know Providence had any "sister cities" I mean, who would want to?

[nick]

latvia sounds so dirty...

[nick]

Oh, if I may add a question and break the holy grail that is Hot Seat Answer vol #74 rules...

If you could go back in time and keep Harden in TPSL, based on his TPSL-career alone... would you? Maybe it's an obvious answer, maybe not... but all things considered (his salary demands, what you did receive in the deal, the success Gomez brought yr team plus just wanting to take a different path... maybe you wouldn't have).

Curious though.

[Providence A's]

Oh, if I may add a question and break the holy grail that is Hot Seat Answer vol #74 rules...

If you could go back in time and keep Harden in TPSL, based on his TPSL-career alone... would you? Maybe it's an obvious answer, maybe not... but all things considered (his salary demands, what you did receive in the deal, the success Gomez brought yr team plus just wanting to take a different path... maybe you wouldn't have).

Curious though.

no, because my plan was to do it differently than I did in version 1.0. Essentially, the deal was Harden for RF Gomez, 3B Zimmerman, and SP Pelfrey. I traded SP Guerra for Zimmerman. SP Pelfrey fizzled and was part of the pack for Madson (went on to win 17, 14, 19, 15, and 11 in his 5 full seasons plus a few more during that half season). So really it ended up being Gomez and Zimmerman for Harden.

Getting rid of Harden hasn't hurt me as I've made the playoffs 8 out of the 10 seasons since his trade. I replaced his pitching with other guys. Obviously, no studs but Hirsh and Asahina (the only 2 with me that whole time) have each won me their fair share of games (136 and 131). Asahina has as many playoff wins as Harden (4) and Hirsh has twice as many (8).

Gomez has given me almost 500 SBs, solid D, and a decent bottom of the order bat (.766 career OPS, almost 1500 hits so far, over 150 homers, and 2 ASG appearances). Zimmerman has given me 7 GGs at 3B and a solid bat over (.795 OPS, over 200 homers, almost 1700 hits, almost 1000 RBIs, and 2 ASG appearances). Both have been cheap compared to their performance and what they would have gotten on the FA market.

Gomez: $2.4 mil arby
$2.4 mil arby
$4.25 mil x 3 years
$3 mil x 3 years

Zimmerman: $1.5 mil arby
$2 mil x 3 years
$3 mil x 4 years
$2.5 mil x 5 years

Both are still young-ish as Gomez (hurt until July or so) is 31 and Zimmerman is 32, while Harden is 35 so they've got more time to pile up their numbers. Overall, I'm happy with it and feel I made out well...as well as can be hoped anyway. Obviously, it would have been nice if Pelfrey hadn't lost some talent and pitched better than he did, but as I said...trading him hasn't exactly hurt me.



edit: I will answer more later.

[HollywoodLeo]

You don't annoy me in the slightest.

Well, maybe a little when you shut down TSSL.

[nick]

id be lying if i said prov hasn't annoyed me in the past and will probably do so again at some point in/down the road, but he's currently one of my favorite posters here for what it's worth.

[Providence A's]

As much as TSSL had ended the way it did, would you ever do it again if you had the chance?

What are you thoughts on Bill Simmons as a columnist/podcast person?

Does Billy Beane have to make the World Series to validate him being one of the best longstanding GMs around?

1) I don't know, maybe...but I wouldn't want to start a league from scratch and I've since used the file so I would probably just pick it up where it ends up if that were possible. I haven't touched it in a while. I don't really have the desire to run a league again right now though. It's a huge time commitment as well...if one wants to run it right. I wouldn't want to run it half assed. I'm not really sure what else to say about it.

2) I don't follow him too much because he comes across as too homer-rific for all things Boston. Sometimes I read the mailbag if I'm bored.

3) I think he needs to win a World Series to be validated with the average fan. I think most A's fans, and from what I've read, many people in the business (writers, other GMs, etc) think he is one of the better GMs. But he'll never be universally accepted until he wins one.

What hidden talents do you have that you think people overlook?

If you could have 3 people over to dinner who would you invite over and why?

Government conspiracy theories, do you believe in them or no? For example: 9/11, landing on the moon etc.

1) Well, I would just say that some people assume that because you teach PE that you don't really know other stuff as well or that you somehow aren't smart. I'm not sure exactly how to word that...just that teaching PE is all you can do. It's weird. I had to take quite a few classes that nursing student had to and I beat most of them grade-wise in said courses. I graduated with a 3.88 for undergrad (Summa Cum Laude). I also went back and got my masters in exercise science / kinesiology. The majority of those courses were very science focused. I could do cardiac rehab if I wanted with that degree (among other things). So yea, I guess that's what I'll say...that people make assumptions without really knowing just based on your job.

2) I assume you mean people I don't know and that this would happen with no real life consequences...I guess I'd pick 1) Billy Beane just to pick his brain, 2) Trent Reznor for the same reason I suppose, and 3) Jennifer Love Hewitt just because it can't be a sausage fest and I always thought she was cute since her Party of 5 days. I know, nothing Earth shattering there...oh well. There are guys from bands I'd consider along with Seth McaFarlane off the top of my head.

3) sure, why not? I'm sure they've covered up stuff in the interest of national security and whatever else. it wouldn't surprise me. It may not be the specific things you mentioned or the obvious things, but I'm sure there are things we'll never know about.

1) Do you miss TSSL as much as I do?
1a) What are the most and least rewarding parts of running a sim league?

2) Who are your favorite teams in the other 3 "major" sports - and any other leagues you follow closely?

3) Name the 3 best and 3 worst things about Rhode Island.

1) It depends on how much you miss it I guess lol. Somewhat I guess.
1a) It's rewarding when you've run it long enough and to the point where most everyone accepts it as a solidly run league. It's unrewarding in the sense that it takes up a lot of time almost to the point of consuming you without much in the way of real life reward / without really accomplishing anything.

2) I don't really watch hockey or basketball except for the playoffs sometimes. I watch football, but I don't follow anyone to the point where I'd say I'm a hardcore fan. I root for the Bills because they made all those Superbowls without winning and because they haven't made the playoffs in a while, but not to the point where it bothers me if they win or lose.

3) The 3 best things? I guess Federal Hill (sort of like Little Italy), the beaches supposedly, and the fact that you can drive through the whole state in about 40 minutes or so.

The 3 worst things? Inept government (almost $400 mil in debt), the economy (unemployment over 11% among other things, and the drivers (left turns from right lane for example...seems to be a patented move by Rhode Islanders. I'm proud to say I wasn't born here and I hope I don't die here.



more later.

[nick]

I'll be honest... I thought I was the only person who thought lowly of Simmons for the same reasons. Nice to know someone, somewhere doesn't think he's a walking god because he has the mind of a 10 yr old with some grammar, and a stupid sense of wit.

Someone give Chris Rock or some other nigga a collumn on sports... guarantee it'd be funnier than that ****wit Boston homer.

[Providence A's]

1. Being a former pitcher, how impressive do you think the NAIA pitchers feat of 21 shutout innings in 26 hours

2. Will Billy Beane ever win a title? Do you wish he had left for the Red Sox if you could do it all over again?

3. What is the best/worst parts of S3F?

1) I had to look it up because I hadn't heard about that. Certainly a ridiculous accomplishment. It makes you wonder about what kind of "program" they have there though. Is NAIA division I lower than NCAA division III? Either way, I assume NAIA is a lesser version of the NCAA...sort of in between NCAA and intramural / club sports. It doesn't lessen the accomplishment, but I'm sure some of the competition isn't exactly top notch to put it nicely.

2) I think he will someday unless he retires or something soon, which is a possibility as there has been talk of Forst taking over in the near future. Beane would still be involved, but wouldn't be the GM officially I suppose. He does own a small part in the team though. No, why would I wish he left for the Red Sox? He did what was best for himself and his family. He resisted the lure of the beast. I probably would have hated the Sox even more if he had left for them to be honest.

3) The board itself or the experience of being on the board? The new layout is fantastic. I wish there were more people overall, but I feel we have more of sense of community than some of the bigger blogs and the schmucks that post on ESPN or MLB. More people would mean more idiots, too...but growth is the goal so if/when that happens, it will still be good for the board.

1. What is the most difficult thing about being a die-hard fan of a team across the country?

2. Do you think I was on the brink of bringing Toronto back from obscurity in TSSL? Or do you think it just wasn't enough to turn the page?

3. Tell a story in which you laughed possibly the hardest you ever have.

1) Not being able to actively follow them as much as if I were out there. I could actually go to games for a decent price. Imagine that, what a concept! I'd probably go to at least a game a week if I were out there. I'd buy the cheapest tickets and go more even.

2) I've run 1 full season (2022) and currently sit at 06/01/2023 since it ended. In 2022 they won 93 games, but lost in 7 games to Detroit. They made 1 major off-season signing of Delmon Young. Leif won the MVP Award in 2022, hitting .327 with 34 HR, 127 RBI... Currently, they're in 3rd place 2 games behind the Yankees. I'm sure they would have had at least a few years of success depending on how the other GMs managed their teams and how you managed yours.

If you made a lot of crazy moves like you usually do, then they may not have made the playoffs again like they did with the CPU. The CPU made that 1 FA signing and traded away Cintron for a prospect. That's it really (a couple minor FA signings during the season, but nothing major). I haven't touched it in a while except for today to see what happened. LAA won the World Series in 2022 against Pittsburgh, which knocked out the defending champs (Padres).

3) this is not a question, but I'll tell a somewhat funny story anyway. I didn't really laugh until the 2nd part of it, but you have to know the build up first. I'll try to just keep to the main points as it could be really long if I let it:

Summer of 2003. I went with a friend and his friends to a summer home in the Hamptons (I know lol). We were there for about a week I believe. We had one of those crappy little portable grills. The charcoals wouldn't stay lit and the flame kept dying out so we overused the lighter fluid quite a bit to keep it going. I jokingly referred to the burgers as kerosene burgers because you could literally taste the lighter fluid in them as if it were seasoning. Just keep that in mind because it's integral for the end.

I was newly single at the time, but wasn't looking to hook up or anything. In fact, I hate the whole bar scene. At any rate we went out to bars just about every single night there. The first night we went to a bar that wasn't too far from the house (a long walk, but not impossible). I ended up talking to this girl and her two friends. She was a science teacher from Louisiana IIRC. Well, my friend and some of the other guys were talking to some other drunk chic and her friend at the same time. All of the sudden said drunk girl comes over, interrupts our conversation, and says "why are you talking to these girls, you told me I could have your babies?!?" Needless to say, the girl I was talking to and her friend walked away and I was like WTF?! Then I see the other guys laughing. I told him I'd get him back for that douche move.

A couple nights later 3 of us (there 5 on the trip) went to a bar that had ladies night (they got in for free while we paid double the price). Well, said friend bought 3 separate girls a drink at 3 different times during the night...each time the girl got the drink and walked away immediately. It was hilarious and I said to him at the end of the night that it was punishment enough for what had happened 2 days before. Nope, I was wrong...the best was yet to come.

A couple days after that we went to yet another bar. Said friend must have had about 14 shots of goldschlager along with a couple other things. Needless to say, he was ****ed up majorly. When we got back to the house he lost it. He was vomiting like crazy in the bathroom. At one point he was like kneeling with his head in the sink and put the faucet on full blast spraying water everywhere since he was putting his arm through it. Then he crawled into the bathtub puking and shit. It was hilarious. I've got 2 pictures of it, too.

The next day, he says "Something was wrong with that steak I had before we went out. It tasted funny. That's why I got sick" He was trying to blame the kerosene, which we all laughed at. We were like, dude...it was the 14+ shots you had. He still insisted it was the steak because it came up during the first round of vomiting. It was really funny to me because I didn't have to do anything to get him back for that dick move he pulled before. It all just happened; buying drinks for girls that walked away and getting hilariously ill due to over-consumption. Kerosene steak or karma? you decide

hey prov, sup.

1. slurpees or the big gulp
2. 7-11 or walgreens
3. has a cathedor ever been used on yo wing wang?

thanks brotha, pce out!

1) I don't get either to be honest, but if I had to choose a big gulp of Diet Pepsi? I don't drink regular soda...at least that won't give me diabetes I suppose lol.

2) Of those 2, Walgreens...but I usually go to CVS around these parts. I did go to Walgreens this morning to get a Sunday paper though.

3) nope, I've been catheter free since 1980.

[nick]

you ****in lucky dog. cathetors suck needle dick, but when you're strapped down to a gurnee it's impossible to pee

[Providence A's]

What would you do if your doctor told you that you have less than two years to live?

1) make sure I spent all my money before I died since I can't take it with me and I have no one to leave it to really. I'd spend it doing things I've wanted to do I suppose. I'd have to make a list and such, but I'd travel to a few places and do a few things...maybe hire a hitman or two because, hey why not, right? I might donate some of the leftover money though. I'd probably sell a lot of my stuff and give away some stuff.

Who was your favorite Smurf?
Where would you like to live that you have visited before?
What is your funniest teaching story?

Bonus: What does missionhockey mean?

1) didn't really have one. I watched it somewhat, but it wasn't really something I was into. It seemed more like a "girl's cartoon" to me.

2) near Oakland/SF I suppose. There's a lot to do and the weather was real nice. I never would, but maybe in an alternate reality or something.

3) short version: Puberty lesson for 4th grade. I had the boys and the nurse had the girls. It was a joke for the boys as it was essentially only body odor related. We weren't allowed to discuss anything else and I couldn't even give them the pamphlets. They watched part of a video, had a few questions answered, took a B.O. quiz, and were given a small sample of Old Spice. We always finished before the girls because they had more to go over...in more detail, too. While waiting for the girls to finish one time a boy said to another "Wow, I wonder what the girls got." The boy replied, "I bet they all got bras!" I said "Uh, I don't think so." As if the school district could afford to do something like anyway. I told him they got deodorant, too...they also got a tampon, but I wasn't going to tell them that.

bonus) MissionHockey is like MissionBaseball or MissionFootball...hell, it's even like MissionComputers. It's like a name brand and it's part of some huge conglomerate. It's whatever the hell you want it to be. It's MissionImpossible and MissionPossible at the same time.

1. Right now, who do you think is the most annoying male celebrity and why? Most annoying female celebrity and why?

2. In the Simpsons episode when Sideshow Bob gets out of jail and Bart is freaking out about it, Bart tells Lisa that he's only 10 years old and already has two mortal enemies. Do you have any mortal enemies? And if so, who and why?

3. Which reality show would you most want to appear as a contestant on? You have to pick one and can't say "I hate reality television."

1) Celebrity? Do you think I watch TMZ or something? I can't stand that shit. I'll never understand why people follow and/or are obsessed with celebrities. So many of them are annoying and uninteresting. I don't even know where to begin. I guess reality "celebrities" get the nod because they haven't done anything to become famous.

male: tie between Spencer and Brody
female: that octomom...she's crazy

2) I don't think I do. Obviously, there are people I genuinely dislike in real life. They're not people that are active in my life though. I'm sorry I don't really have a clever answer to this. If I do, it's unknown to me

3) I guess this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasur...ers_(TV_series)

it would be one of the least embarrassing and no one would probably even remember.

1. How did you become an A's fan living in Providence, Rhode Island?

2. Are you happy with the Bills signing T.O.? Do you think he will help or hurt them more?

3. Do you think the TSSL Padres had a real shot of building off their championship and winning even more with actual management? (As opposed to the computer management that apparently prevented them from defending their championship.)

1) I don't know. When I got into baseball I sort of just picked a team and stuck with them ever since. I wasn't born in RI or the north east so I never felt like a hometown, Red Sox fan.

2) Meh. I think it smacks of desperation and wouldn't at all be surprised if they cut his candyass at some point. I mean, they needed to do something to make a splash, but ultimately I think he'll bring them down in the end (not right away, but eventually).

3) They won 96 games in 2022 to your 87 in 2021 and they're currently on pace to win 100 so I'd say they're doing fine with the CPU. Anything can happen in the playoffs. Pittsburgh won 90 games and was a strong team. They beat the Padres in 7 games in the first round. And technically, they did defend their championship; they made the playoffs and lost.



That's all of them. I will pick someone in the next few days. If you've never been on or it's been a long time, then post here asking and I'll consider it.

[HollywoodLeo]

You tore a hole in my soul when you took TSSL away from us.

And now I'm stuck trying to deal Jake Peavy in its replacement league.

[browntown653]

Good answers...I'll throw my hat in the ring if nobody else wants to go on.