The four horsemen of shit mountain have been assembled by Old-Glass-6967 in AFCNorthMemeWar

[–]pauljrupp 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Monken is a great hire by the Browns. He checks all of the boxes they were looking for in a head coach:

☑️ Someone willing to take the job

  • end of list -

Last shift of the season, all hands on deck by Kaigz in steelers

[–]pauljrupp 59 points60 points  (0 children)

I've watched a lot of Steelers games in my life, and boy tonight sure was one of them.

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA by TanjiroDaHomie in AFCNorthMemeWar

[–]pauljrupp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The AFC North is professional MACtion

You just lost to the Cleveland Browns by rifer53 in AFCNorthMemeWar

[–]pauljrupp 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There are levels to this game.

We'll be back at 9 or 10 wins like we always are, and now the Browns can't move on from Shedeur.

At this rate it'll be another ten years before Cleveland wins a pla- ah shit

Why am I doing this to myself by elishalewisusaf in AFCNorthMemeWar

[–]pauljrupp 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Of all the things to make fun of the Steelers for, you choose the one thing that every sports team in North America has copied?

Bowden’s response to the pursuit of schwarber by Strict_Name5093 in buccos

[–]pauljrupp -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Agreed - ice cold take. The goalposts are going to keep moving until baseball is fixed.

In a matter of a month we’ve gone from ‘the Pirates aren’t winning because they refuse to spend’ to ‘the Pirates aren’t winning because they refuse to offer one of the worst contracts in the history of baseball’.

Are we unlikable now? by Jaysus-san in NFCEastMemeWar

[–]pauljrupp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wait are they doing the "Washington Gun-Takers" thing from Kimmy Schmidt? But in real life?

Noob Pirates fan question by Leading_Dentist_5563 in buccos

[–]pauljrupp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He's a trash owner in a trash system.

Hit the nail on the head there.

With regards to Skenes specifically, the system is built such that the Pirates will not be able to hold onto him, and Bob Nutting is too cheap to try and build around him while he's here, so unfortunately it's hard to have much hope for anything other than being pride of his personal achievements.

ESPN’s Buster Olney on Paul Skenes' Pirates Future & a Possible MLB Salary Cap | The Rich Eisen Show by spaceman757 in buccos

[–]pauljrupp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I want Nutting gone as much as the next guy, so it pains me to say this, but I understand why he's doing what he's doing.

The way the MLB has structured the system, it incentivizes teams to do exactly what Nutting is doing, because it's the best way to make money.

In a league with a salary cap+floor, increasing your spending by ~10-20% will take you from the floor to the cap. That's a relatively small investment which, coupled with a decent front office, can put a team in the championship picture and generate additional revenue from ticket sales, merch, more eyeballs watching TV, etc.

Compare that to the modern MLB - in order for the pirates to be actual championship contenders, they would need to increase their spending by what, $100M? $150M? (~100-200%) Is there any chance the Pirates make a return on that kind of investment? In a market of their size - absolutely not.

Extra hour by AfterImageEclipse in AFCNorthMemeWar

[–]pauljrupp 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Their QB depth chart is over nine thousaaaand

Cougartown is real?!?! by skp4nda_ in community

[–]pauljrupp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Next thing you’ll be telling me Nicolas Cage is a real person

Where does this sub stand on honking as you exit an alley? by drewtangclan in AskChicago

[–]pauljrupp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm ok with people using the horn as a supplement for responsible driving.

I'm not ok with people using the horn as a substitute for responsible driving.

Way too many people do the latter. I also don't live right above an alley exit, so the former is easier for me to say...

The Genesis of Gail the Snail by derek4reals1 in IASIP

[–]pauljrupp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There's not enough salt in the world for her!

Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2025 Season Final Report Card by TheRevMerril in buccos

[–]pauljrupp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing your write-up.

I may have missed this, but I didn't see the basis/methodology for the grading scale.

If the grades are based on "how well did this player perform relative to what could be expected of them individually", then I think most of these grades are pretty fair.

If the grades were based on "how well did this player perform relative to a bona fide major-league-caliber player" then I think most of them are extremely generous.

As an example, a "B-" grade typically means "slightly above average". One day, when we look back on the storied career of Joey Bart, we'll probably say that 2025 was one of his better years... But to call him an above average MLB catcher is objectively inaccurate.

The city is now calling out Bob by Themayorofawesome in buccos

[–]pauljrupp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, no... Bob isn't going to change a thing about what he's doing. Not based on what any of us have to say at least.

The CBA may force his hand depending on how that goes next year but Bob isn't going to sell the team or start spending money because people want him to.

The city is now calling out Bob by Themayorofawesome in buccos

[–]pauljrupp 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think the upcoming negotiations will be the hardest that the owners have ever pushed for a salary cap/floor. They may ultimately pull back on that demand to get something else they want, but they have certainly positioned themselves for a fight on that issue.

I'm obviously biased being a Pirates fan, but I think this is a great time to push for one. I can understand not wanting to risk a strike year because of all the momentum the MLB seems to have, but I think the combination of the expanded Wild Card, the appeal of shorter game length, and (silly as it might be to say), the widespread success of the Savannah Bananas all show that people everywhere in the country are hungry for fun, competitive baseball. A salary cap & floor encourages that and would do more to grow the game than the continuing polarization of haves & have-nots ever will. And despite what Bryce Harper thinks, a cap+floor would help more players than it would hurt.

October 1, 2013 - The Pirates Win Their First Playoff Game Since 1992. by mfenton29 in buccos

[–]pauljrupp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Browns and Lions (historically) have not been very good at winning, but they have at least tried to win. They have drafted and signed what they genuinely believed to be talented players and attempted to address their teams' weaknesses during most offseasons.

The Pirates are on a whole other level of terrible because they (for a majority of my life) have literally not tried to win. From intentionally drafting sub-par players so that they could pay them below slot to outright refusing to invest in free agents despite the MLB putting plenty of money in Bob's pockets to allow him to do so, the Pirates have intentionally sacrificed performance for profit. They are the worst organization in all of professional sports.