This Image Sums Up the Vancouver Riots

After their team dropped Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Boston Bruins, 4-0, on Wednesday night, a large mob of rabble-rousers attempted to burn the city of Vancouver to the ground. I watched it all unfold online for over two hours before finally giving up. There was looting, smashed windows, numerous flipped (and burning) cars, explosions, pepper spray, fights, boobs, large clouds of smoke rising over the downtown skyline and people aimlessly wandering the streets trying to figure out what to do and where to go.

This is perhaps the most amazing image to come out of the entire evening, as this jackass attempted to jump over a burning BMW only to fall into the fire.

An Up to Date Look at Neal Huntington’s Major Trades

Assuming he hasn’t already received a secret contract extension, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington is working in the final year of his deal and sparking discussion as to whether or not he deserves a contract extension. Dejan Kovacevic, in his first column at the Tribune-Review, argued that Huntington should — and will — receive an extension based not only on comments from team president Frank Coonelly, but also because of the players he’s brought to the organization.

With that in mind, here’s a look at 11 of the biggest trades, both in terms of players involved, and the overall impact (good and bad) that they’ve made, even if a lot of them are still incomplete.

Sports in Japan: Awesome

I’ve never visited Japan, but after seeing what they do for sports and entertainment I’m tempted to head over just to see it all unfold in person.

First, we have the amazing game of Botaoshi which appears to be nothing more than packs of people defending a giant pole — with people hanging onto it for dear life — while another screaming mass of humanity attempts to pull it down.

And while that’s certainly insane, here’s what it looks like, via Deadspin, when 100 youth soccer players attempt to play against a professional team.

This is a culture that clearly understands entertainment, and dammit, I want to be a part of it.

A Look at the ‘Small Ball’ Strategy of Clint Hurdle

When Hunter S. Thompson was writing his Hey Rube column for ESPN’s Page 2, he once came up with an hilariously absurd new set of rules for baseball. The first rule involved eliminating the pitcher because they were, in his words, “pampered little swine with too much money and no real effect on the game except to drag it out and interrupt the action.”

The rule should have replaced “pitchers” with “managers.”

A Position-By-Position Look at the Pirates

Nearly two months into the season and the Pirates find themselves with a 22-24 record and are five games out of first place in the National League Central. As I argued a couple of weeks ago I’m not convinced that means much at this point, mainly because I’m not sure they’re going to be able to maintain this level of play for another four months. This team simply isn’t good enough.

Back on May 12 I asked how many players on this roster would start for a team that was a contender for a playoff spot. My guess was definitely two (Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker) and perhaps a third (Chris Snyder or Ryan Doumit). With that in mind, here’s a look at the level of offensive production (using something as simple as OPS) the Pirates have received from each position and how they compare to the rest of the league.

On the Pirates…

The Pirates dropped their second game in a row to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night, 2-0, as Hiroki Kuroda, Matt Guerrier and Vicente Padilla combined for a surprisingly effortless four-hit shutout. The loss brings the Pirates record to 18-19, a mark that has been lauded both locally and nationally as signifying some sort of turnaround, as if it were some unexpected improvement for a club that lost 105 games a year ago. The only problem with that is this is where the Pirates always are at this point in the season.

Foo Fighters: A Blast From the Past

At this point I’ve only heard a handful of songs and clips from the new Foo Fighters album, Wasting Light, but I’m liking what’s out there so far, especially after coming away disappointed with some of their most recent albums. Granted, I still own all of them and listen to them off and on, but the past four were a far cry from the awesomeness of their first two releases.

What I’ve heard from Wasting Light (April 12 release) sounds like, at least in part, a return to the sound that was featured on their self-titled debut album and its follow up, The Colour And The Shape.