Ask The Ladies…: Turning The Girlfriend Into A Sports Fan

Welcome to the first edition (of hopefully many) of “Ask the Ladies…” in which you, reader of our lovely little piece of the internet, ask us any question regarding sports or relationships or whatever strikes your fancy. It’s like “Dear Abby” only with multiple responses and more practical advice. If you would like to ask us a question just send hit the email link to the side and send us your question(s). If you want to remain anonymous please state so otherwise all names/nicknames/commenter names will be used.

Our first question comes from the comments of ChiTown Chick’s post last week on what’s it like being a female sports fan. From Rockabye:

I’m a sports fan. The girlfriend, amazing in pretty much every way but this one, is not.

How do I go about turning her into one?

Rockabye and the Mrs. 30 years from now. Maybe.

So how do you turn a non-sports loving female into one? Well, let’s ask the Ladies!

The Ladies… This Week

Hey all, it’s time for a new weekly feature: The Ladies… This Week. Pretty simple — It’s new stuff from the Ladies’ other websites this week.

Sorry for the extremely belated-ness of this post; the intrawebz was being mean to me.

It was TV sweeps week this week, and as many shows– especially of the “reality” variety– came to an end, Ladies… was there.

I scrolled through Lady Andrea’s Survivor Finale Report over at Keeping Up Foreign Relations, and the first phrase I saw? “Pixelated Natalie Side Boob.” Sounds like an… interesting… show. (“Snake. Giant lizard.” and “Big scary bat. James leaps out of the bushes, kills it and eats it.” also stuck out.)

Meanwhile, on the “interviews with athletes we both idol worship and lust after” front, Chitown Chick bestows Gerald Harris with a new nickname over at Chicks Heart Fights. He approves.

And on the ever-popular “atheltes needing therapy but instead getting Punk’d” front, Dame of Extra Time goes to see a psychologist. And some Heroes jokes.

The “this is a sports blog… right?” front presents is with Miss Minda’s musing on the Royal’s bullpen at Baseball and Other Things.

Whew! Well, adios to last week, and let’s all get ready for the week of May 19, 2008. Should be a party.

Goodnight Lou*

It’s that time of year again.

When I avoid sports news for weeks because it’s just too painful, lose a whole section (309) and row (L) of comrades until the fall, get my fix from a crummy little arena where my brother and cousins like to play, and– gasp– have to start paying attention to baseball.

For me, and the rest of these teams and their fans, hockey season is over.

So join me in lamenting and saying goodbye to four fine teams. Because there was nothing worse than seeing Henrik Lundqvist cry.

Come back, Jaromir!

Your 2008 NHL Semifinals Preview

Call me crazy, but it really amuses me that the seeding is exactly the same in both conferences. That is, the 1, 2, 5, and 6 seeds advanced in both cases.

More amusing, though, is that over the last seven years, the playoffs exits of the Ottawa Senators look like this:

00-01: Lost in 1/4 Finals
01-02: Lost in 1/2 Finals
02-03: Lost in Finals
03-04: Lost in 1/4 Finals
05-06: Lost in 1/2 Finals
06-07: Lost in Finals
07-08: Lost in 1/4 Finals

That’s absolutely amazing. It thrills me to a pattern-based degree such that next year, even if Ottawa doesn’t make the playoffs, I will pick them to lose in the semis. Just on principle. Oh, no one cares about this stupid stuff except me? Alright. There are hottie matchups after the jump among, you know, some more numbers.

Sabermetrics 101: Part 1 of Some Number

There’s a good chance you’re not looking at baseball in the best of lights.

What I mean to say is: Is the ‘best player’ the one with the highest batting average?

Yeah, the answer is no. And if you said yes, boy do I have work to do. Tell me, what’s your opinion on wins? It better be that they suck.

Chi-squared FTW!

When Sean Avery Is The Bigger Person

Hey there, all. I’m Act, and I’ll be typing mercilessly about hockey (mostly) and baseball (when the hockey season ends; hockey players tend to be better looking). I back the Rangers and Mets respectively, but above all am a fan of both sports. And sabermetrics. I love my statistics.

I’m also one-half of your Friday posting team.

Anyway, a time-honored NHL tradition is that after every playoff series, no matter how brutal or long, the players put aside their grudges and adrenaline, and line up on the rink and shake each other’s hands. Usually, players who have played together before will embrace. The whole thing is really very nice, and what sportsmanship is all about.

(Somewhere on the internet there is a picture of Henrik Lundqvist and Jaromir Jagr after Sweden beat the Czech Republic in Turino looking like they’re about to kiss during the handshake. I lament that I cannot find it. But imagine it here.)