Ryan Restivo

First I want to say, open my image, it proves my recap beat the Times Union Siena recap from Saturday night’s game. Tack one on for Siena Saints Blog!

I also wrote a piece on who’s for real this year in the MAAC for Siena Saints Blog. Iona, Loyola and Fairfield: are they contenders?

The real news though is I’m going to add a new site to the rolls of writing by me.

RushTheCourt.net, a very cool site for college basketball information is letting me be their official Colonial Athletic Association correspondent! So I will be filing stories for them on the CAA every week. Here’s the first story, check it out here and I put it in here just because it was the first piece I wrote for RTC. I will post the links here when I see the article out.

Ryan Restivo of the MAAC-based SienaSaintsBlog is the RTC correspondent for the Colonial Athletic Association.

Standings (as of 1/2):

1. William & Mary (10-2, 2-0)
2. Georgia State (8-6, 2-0)
3. George Mason (7-6, 2-0)
4. VCU (9-2, 1-1)
5. Old Dominion (9-5, 1-1)
6. Hofstra (8-6, 1-1)
7. Northeastern (6-7, 1-1)
8. Drexel (6-8, 1-1)
9. Delaware (5-8, 1-1)
10. James Madison (6-6, 0-2)
11. UNC Wilmington (4-8, 0-2)
12. Towson (3-8, 0-2)

Important Games This Week

Monday 1/4:

UNC Wilmington @ William & Mary — One of the best three point shooting teams (W&M) versus one of the best three point defenses (UNC-W).  Can UNC Wilmington snap W & M’s ten game win streak?

Northeastern @ Virginia Commonwealth — Northeastern has disappointed so far this season amid lofty expectations, will they turn it around against one of the CAA’s hottest teams?

Saturday 1/9:

Hofstra @ Old Dominion — Old Dominion is undefeated at home this season, the Pride and Monarchs are both very good defensive teams.  Expect a battle in the 40-50 range in Norfolk.

Team Reviews

William & Mary is on a Roll. The Tribe have won ten straight, a new school record, and won 48-47 at Hofstra on a Kendrix Brown three point play to continue their historic season.  William & Mary is 2-0 in the CAA for the first time since 1997-98.  The Tribe have not started this well since 1948-49 when they started 14-2.

More impressively, the Tribe never gave up the lead at Maryland after the 4:44 mark in the first half in a convincing 83-77 win in College Park.  After dropping their first two games to Connecticut by nine and Harvard in triple-overtime, the Tribe have racked up impressive statement wins over Richmond, Wake Forest and Maryland.  According to Kenpom.com, their Offensive efficiency is tops in the nation (124.2).

Georgia State is a Mystery.   With no impressive wins on the schedule so far, Georgia State enters conference play at 8-6, and kind of a mystery.  An example:  they took a lead as high as 15 on Saturday against Towson (3-8) only to trail by two with 6:27 to go in the game.  Trey Hampton led the way with 22 points on 9-10 shooting from the field as they showed no rust from a ten-day layoff.

George Mason Starts Off New Decade Right. After posting a one of their worst losses, a 27-point loss to Radford, to close the decade, the Patriots started off the new decade right.  George Mason went on an 18-4 run to take what was a one point game and push it to a 16 point victory.  Ryan Pearson led the way for the Patriots with 17 points and tied a season-high eight field goals made.

VCU…New Decade, No Problem.  Every single VCU player scored at least two points in a 91-57 blowout over UNC Wilmington.  VCU led by as many as 46 and Larry Sanders scored a team-high 16 points in only 19 minutes.  Sanders and the Rams haven’t been tested since grinding out a one point win on December 19th over Tulane.  Sanders has scored in double-digits in every game but one this season and has improved his scoring as well as his field goal and free throw percentages in his junior year.

Defensive Letdown in Fairfax. The Old Dominion Monarchs did not show up in the second half in a double-digit loss to George Mason, and snapped a three game win streak.  The Monarchs have played a tough non-conference schedule and were finally reaping the benefits of their defensive prowess with wins over Georgetown and the Atlantic 10’s Charlotte and Duquesne.

ODU had won five out of its last six entering the game but did not bring the defense that has held opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 42.3% entering Saturday.  They allowed George Mason to dominate inside going 22-41 (53.6%) from inside the arc.  The last time ODU allowed a team to score over 70 points was January 31, 2009 — a span of 28 games.

Hofstra’s Train is Delayed.  What was supposed to be Charles Jenkins’ coming out party this season has been a slight disappointment.  Jenkins has not scored over 20 points in his last three games and was stifled, along with the entire Hofstra offense, in a tough one point loss to William & Mary.  Jenkins scored 23 points on national television at Kansas and followed that up later in November with 38 points against Fairfield at home but otherwise teams have been able to contain him, and the Pride have yet to develop any other threats for their CAA counterparts to guard.  Their next leading scorer, Nathaniel Lester, has two more three-point attempts (24) than turnovers (22) and has regressed from his three point field goal percentage last season.  Hofstra’s best win out of conference might be their four point win over Fairfield, a middling team in the MAAC; they have yet to show that they can compete with the upper echelon of the conference.

Northeastern Managing Expectations. The Huskies entered the 2009-10 season as the preseason #2 team, second only to Old Dominion.  Behind preseason first team all-CAA Matt Janning’s senior leadership, they were expected to rack up quality wins in the non-conference.  The Huskies, however, got on a five game losing streak which included a home loss to Providence and ended with a 15 point loss to Western Michigan.  They were able to recover in Honolulu and win on Christmas over Southern Methodist and showed on Saturday why they have the offense to be a force in the CAA.

The Huskies shot 60% from the floor and scored a season-high 47 points in the first half to blow out James Madison, 73-61.  To put it in perspective, they matched their lowest point total in a game (47 in a two point loss to Drexel) in one half to even their record at 1-1.

Drexel Looking to Rebound.  The Dragons have managed to play many close games but have ended up n the wrong side of all but one this season.  Saturday at Delaware was an enigma.  Having a lead as large as 13 in the first half only to squander it in under six minutes out of the break.  Drexel went cold from the field, shooting 35% in the second half. Leading scorer Jamie Harris scored 11 of his team-high 18 points in the first half.

The Dragons have been on two separate three game win streaks this year for all six of their wins.  They have been led by Harris, who has scored in double-digits in every win but one this season.  Drexel’s offense has not impressed this year and shooting has been the problem.  Shooting less than 30% behind the arc and just over 45% inside it has not helped a team that shoots free throws at 63.3%, good for 303rd in the nation.

Blue Hen Win Streak. Delaware has a two game win streak for the first time since the start of last year.  Led by St. Joseph’s transfer Jawan Carter, who has scored double digits in every game but one, Delaware looks poised to improve on last year’s six CAA wins.  Their problem is that they’ve taken too many three-pointers and shot only 27.1% (324th in the country, last in the CAA) from behind the arc.

James Madison Starting to Come Alive. Texas A&M transfer Denzel Bowles fits the Matt Brady trend of players he can give the ball to and just let them go.  Bowles has averaged over 20 points since debuting in December but sat out a one game suspension for violating team rules on Saturday.  Bowles will probably be given the reins for the rest of the year when he is in the lineup (expected back on Monday night against Delaware).  He has taken double-digit shots in every game but one; he took nine shots in their four-point loss at Stanford.  The proclaimed shot doctor Brady has fixed the Dukes’ two point shooting to where it’s the best in the league (50.7%, 85th in the nation).  They have a chance Monday to snap a two game losing streak against Delaware but then travel to Old Dominion, a team Brady has not beaten on the road in his two tries (0-2 with Marist & James Madison).

UNC Wilmington’s Good and Bad News. The positives for the Seahawks?  They notched an early non-conference win over Penn State on a neutral floor and have one of the best perimeter defenses in the country.  The bad news?  Their offense has struggled mightily, shooting only 16% in the first half and getting down 29-4 in a 91-57 loss at VCU.  The Seahawks have turned the ball over at least 15 times in every game but one this season.  They turned the ball over a season-high 28 times Saturday, 15 in the first half alone.  Monday night doesn’t promise to be any better at conference leader William & Mary, either.

Towson Continues to Struggle.  The Tigers shot a season low 33.9% in losing at Georgia State, 70-61.  The problems this season have been mostly on the defensive end for the Tigers, ranking last among CAA teams in FG% defense and rebounding margin.  Towson will embark on attempting to break some bad trends this week.  Towson has yet to win a road game (0-4) this season and will get two chances at Hofstra and James Madison.  They will also try to break a record against Old Dominion, as eighth-year head coach Pat Kennedy has yet to beat the Monarchs.  The last time the Tigers beat Old Dominion was a 67-55 win in 2002, their only win in the 12-game series history.

I was able to write a few recaps, previews and all that fun for Siena Saints Blog this week. What I’m most proud of? Is beating the Times Union blog story for Saturday’s game because I had a story ready once the buzzer sounded. I rounded out the edges, made sure it sounded clean, took out the parts where I wrote Siena lost (I prepared just in case) and published right away.

12/31 Siena 64, St. Peter’s 53

Siena used a 7-0 run in just over three minutes to take what was a tie game with 9:12 to go into Siena’s 27th straight home victory, a 64-53 win over St. Peter’s Thursday afternoon.

Led by Edwin Ubiles’ game high 21 points on 6 of 16 shooting from the floor. Ubiles has scored double digit points in five straight games.

After shooting 6 for 28 (21.4%) from the field in the first half and barely leading 27-25, Siena recovered to shoot 11 for 25 (44%) and put away the Peacocks for a third straight double digit win.

Ryan Rossiter led the front court with his second straight double-double. Rossiter (14 points, 10 rebounds) has pulled down double digit rebounds in each of the last four games.

The Peacocks were without the services of Junior Wesley Jenkins because of a mild concussion. Darius Conley led the way for the Peacocks with a double double (14 points, 13 rebounds).

Siena made over 20 free throws for the second straight game, sinking 26 of 35 (74.3%).

1/2 Siena 79, Mt. St. Mary’s 76 (OT)

Despite a sluggish start, the Siena Saints were able to come back and go on a 13-0 run to put Mount St. Mary’s away for a 79-76 overtime win.

The third longest home winning streak (27) in the nation appeared to be in doubt for 39 minutes of regulation. Ronald Moore (7 points), unable to convert a field goal in the last two games, scored all four of Siena’s points in the final minute of regulation to push the game to Overtime.

Siena made only one of their first nine shots from the floor, getting down quickly 18-4 to a Mount St. Mary’s team that has lost its last seven games entering tonight.

Siena was able to close a gap as large as 14 to six at halftime thanks to Ryan Rossiter. Rossiter scored 21 points in the first half, shot 8 for 10 from the field and made 5 of 6 free throws. The rest of the Saints combined to shoot 25% (4 for 16) from the field and missed all four three point attempts. Rossiter finished with a career high 29 points and 13 rebounds.

Alex Franklin (17 points) led Siena with a team-high 16 rebounds. Franklin scored all of his points in the second half and overtime. Edwin Ubiles made clutch shots scoring 11 of his 15 points after the first half.

Kyle Downey (8 points) came off the bench to sink two clutch free throws with 8.7 seconds left in overtime to seal victory for the Saints.

Siena’s held early leads of 2-0 and 3-2 until regaining the lead in Overtime. This was Siena’s second win of the season after trailing at halftime. Siena’s last win when trailing at halftime was their 59-53 win over Northeastern.

Siena failed to make a three point field goal for the first time this season.

Mount St. Mary’s last non-conference win was a November 28th overtime win over Navy 66-56.

1/3 Preview: Loyola (MD) vs. Siena

After a hard fought comeback victory Saturday night, the Saints will have to regroup and travel down to Baltimore to face the streaking Loyola (MD) Greyhounds Monday night.

Loyola is on a four game win streak with wins over Howard, Indiana, Bucknell and Rider. Loyola had a lead as large as 24 at Indiana and managed to hold off the Hoosiers for their first win in school history over a Big Ten team.

Brett Harvey has led the way lately for the Greyhounds performing like a First Team All MAAC player. Harvey scored 25 points at Indiana and has shot very well from behind the arc in their four games at home (12 for 17 70.6%). Harvey has scored double digit points in eight of the last ten games.

Saturday, Loyola went on a 14-0 run and took a 17 point lead into halftime against Rider. Ryan Thompson missed a layup with six seconds to go for the Greyhounds to hold off the Broncs 68-66. Loyola is 4-0 at home this season.

Jamal Barney has scored double digit points in each of the last eight games and typically takes double digit shots per game for the Greyhounds. Barney, a transfer from Providence, has improved on most of his skills in his second year at Loyola.

Loyola’s longest winning streak last year was six games.

2009 A Review

• Part One: MAAC Tournament, Marist Alumni Weekend 2, Citi Field trip, June Vacation, Recap on my Connecticut experience
• Part Two: O’s Game, Meeting Zack Hample
• Part Three: Mets game with Keith & met Zack again, 2 more Met games to end the year, Postseason Baseball, Trip to Yankee Stadium, Marist Alumni Weekend
• Part Four: Thanksgiving, December fun and Christmas.

Also links to all the posts are previously chronicled on my web site or others. I tried my best.

Baseball Games

• 5/10/09 at Citi Field (1, Jenna: 1)
• 7/27/09 at Camden Yards
• 9/8 & 9/10 at Citi Field (4, Keith: 2; 7, Adam: 1)
• 9/22/09 at Citi Field (4, Danny: 2)
  

Reading List

• Watching Baseball Smarter
• As They See ‘Em
• Founding Brothers
• Losers: The Road to Everyplace but the White House
• Next
• Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity
• Power and the Presidency
• Season of Life
• The Audacity to Win
• The Men Who Stare at Goats
• The New New Thing

I’m not going to lie: 2009 was a great year. However, it’s almost over so I’d like to recap it. What better way than through blog posts and photos?

Unfortunately, I’m going to start to try to tell stories about how well the year went fully knowing that my awesome girlfriend Jenna is probably way better at telling every single story than I am.

November

This was the first month I ever found out that I was going to be an Uncle. We got to watch Kim and Justin reveal it to the world at Thanksgiving time.

Last year my parents moved Thanksgiving to Connecticut at Matt’s house but this year we changed it up. For Thanksgiving, Jenna and I got to spend it with her family in New Hyde Park where we got to watch Jenna’s brother Keith’s performance in the band event at Hofstra. We also got to have dinner there and man, I’m still full from eating there. They had a whole lot of food and it was a great time! Then we went down the road to Westbury to see how my family was faring. We met Kim and Justin there for dessert as well and had a fun time. After dessert, there was a sudden urge to shoot thousands of our family photos at their house. This led to a few off the wall statements and then led to a few nice pictures.

December

December was busy. People got sick after Thanksgiving but got better after a week. Then it snowed.

Okay well maybe this wasn’t a good idea. However I took care of my Christmas shopping and finished 10 days before Christmas. Here’s what I gave:

• Mom: Digital Photo Frame
• Dad: Massage Gift Certificate for 1/2 hour massage
• Matt: iPod nano running band. iTunes gift card.
• Justin: Sports Authority Gift Card (that’s what he wanted)
• Kim: Saphora gift card.
• Mom & Dad: Wine Glasses
• Jenna: Gold and Diamond Necklace, Bath and Body Works, iTunes Gift Card, it goes on like this.

And here’s our Christmas Card!

I’m not going to lie: 2009 was a great year. However, it’s almost over so I’d like to recap it. What better way than through blog posts and photos?

Unfortunately, I’m going to start to try to tell stories about how well the year went fully knowing that my awesome girlfriend Jenna is probably way better at telling every single story than I am.

September So on 9/8/08 I took Jenna’s brother Keith to a baseball game with me. Little did I know… I’d meet Zack Hample out there with Keith. So we got to go see Zack at work and we were able to grab a few baseballs ourselves. We also got to see Zack pull off the glove trick which I swear took under 30 seconds. I snapped three shots not because I could but because that was as many as I was going to get.

Oh yeah and Zack got the lineup card… Also covered at Zack’s site and here on my site.

Two days later, I went with Adam and Chris, and I got 7 baseballs and Adam caught one. Chris met up with us after batting practice. I still am short a Citi Field baseball but I’m supposedly not missing much.

Later in the month Jenna and I made a fun trip, up to the American Museum of Natural History. We went to the Planetarium show, Jenna’s favorite, as well as saw all the dinosaur exhibits they had. It’s a nice little museum but we underestimated the fact that since it was a school off day, there would be so many kids roaming and screaming around. Plus the place is big, it’s a long walk around the exhibits.

October

October was time for a lot of postseason baseball. This meant I got a little busy at work. I got to go to Yankee Stadium for the first time to record some entertaining video on a flip cam. The Yankees opened up the stadium for the fans to watch game three, here’s some video. I learned two things: flip cams work really well, I thought they would be bad with the lighting and audio (a very small mic) but they were able to capture everything I shot very well. I also learned how nice the seats are at the new Yankee Stadium. I made a mission of it to get to the row behind the dugout and I sat in the row. It’s a nice view and I know I won’t be paying for it anytime soon.

However the baseball season would soon end, in November. With the baseball season over, I can show these photos of my baseball collection so far. Click to enlarge the images.

Also during October, we went back up to Marist for homecoming. That let us have these funny photos as we walked around Marist. I got to watch some football with our friends, we went around to talk to Jenna’s friends still in the band. I’m sure if I understood this story, I’d be laughing too. It was good for us to see most of her suitemates from senior year and we got to see the usual team of Danny, Chris & Erin. Before the game, I made a point of it that we had to go to the Everready Diner so I could get some pancakes and their strawberry butter. In a complete surprise move, we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. Then it was back home, driving home was easier than finding a place to stay, especially there.

Finally this funny photo to wrap up October. I have no idea when it was taken but it is a funny photo.

I wrote a bunch of things for Siena Saints Blog recently.

Yesterday the MAAC announced a press conference for their tournament site selection to be now in Springfield. This led to everyone leading to the quick conclusion that the winner was Springfield.

I wrote a quick piece making sure I used the language that it appeared likely to happen as to not infuriate the MAAC.

Then my Around the MAAC piece came out near 7pm last night. Marist’s chances of going winless still leading the story.

After that, I posted a recap story now that it seemed all but official that the MAAC Tournament will be in Springfield with site specifics I didn’t see with any other story.

Springfield, the home to the National Basketball Hall of Fame, has distinguished itself as an ideal candidate to host the tournament and has an intimate setting of just over 6,000 seats. The MassMutual Center currently hosts the AHL’s Springfield Falcons and the NBA Development League’s Springfield Armor.

The MassMutual Center hosts various UMass Basketball games and is set to host the NCAA Division II Championships, the Elite Eight, in the next two years.

I’m not going to lie: 2009 was a great year. However, it’s almost over so I’d like to recap it. What better way than through blog posts and photos?

Unfortunately, I’m going to start to try to tell stories about how well the year went fully knowing that my awesome girlfriend Jenna is probably way better at telling every single story than I am.

July:

So I took the 23rd off of work? Where were we off to? Camden Yards.

That’s right, there for the epic Royals-Orioles battle!

This is about how close we can get to the action for only about 19$ a ticket. Where does that get you at Citi Field? Obstructed view.

It was that night, after a bunch of e-mails back and forth, I met Zack Hample. Nice guy and I was trying to get him to sign a copy of his book, of course I didn’t figure to bring it with me to Baltimore (oops) so he let me know if I was ever around where he lives in the city that I should stop by and he’d show me what’s hes up to.

August: So I stopped by the Upper West Side in August. Zack was nice enough to show me what he was working on for his book project and how he had a whole pile of old articles. I saw his 200 pound rubber band ball and I couldn’t even tell you what we talked about for a while but it was just nice to talk to someone who has that appreciation for baseball just like I do. And I got him to sign his book for me, Watching Baseball Smarter.

So it reads:

For Ryan, from one deeply serious baseball fan to another. Dont’ lose the passion even when working for MLBAM drives you crazy. Your friend, Zack Hample 8/3/09

How cool is that?!

So now I know two authors! I love to write and I love to read but I know there’s no way I’d ever be able to do what they do: write books.

And then August flew by, mostly because it was the thick of baseball season: when I wasn’t near home I was working watching baseball, obsession over my fantasy baseball team or hanging out with my girlfriend.

On Siena Saints Blog of course. In my new extra article I posted on the odds that Marist goes winless this season.

Ken Pomeroy (Kenpom.com): Just for the Marist faithful, I’ve added the chance of going winless for all teams. Looks like Marist leads the nation with their nearly 3% chance! Seems like yesterday they were owning the league.

I’m not going to lie: 2009 was a great year. However, it’s almost over so I’d like to recap it. What better way than through blog posts and photos?

Unfortunately, I can’t remember much from the beginning of the year so I’m going to start to try to tell stories that my awesome girlfriend Jenna is probably way better at telling than I am.

March: I got to run around and cover the MAAC Basketball Championships for SienaSaintsBlog.com. Which was fun because we got to go stay with our great family friends up in Niskayuna and got to watch a lot of MAAC Basketball. I got to write lots of articles, including this one as the game ended. Got to do many previews for the NCAA Tournament game, then after watching the game, fire a quick recap out on the game.

At the end of the month I participated in our (Matt & I invested money) fantasy baseball league which took another 8 hours after work, leaving an office at close to 3am is interesting. (The Fantasy Baseball adventure is recapped here)

April: There was an April where we went to Spring Alumni Weekend at Marist to experience all the fun of running around, trying to meet people and going out to places. I already feel old being out of Marist but then I realize people are all moving on. One of the people who I worked with a lot for Marist, Steve Gritti, moved on to Kents Hill School in Maine to be a high school coach/teacher and start a family. But now that I know that, it was a quick Google search and an e-mail to see how things are going.

May: In May we made our first trip to Citi Field. Apparently I refused a haircut for a short time. We both did get one baseball though. That’s good news! So I set a modest goal of trying to get ten for the year, I needed September to get my next one and then get to a good number. Then I got a haircut, one word: oops.

June: Vacation and transition. I took a break from working to go cruising across the Atlantic. We went to Half Moon Cay, home of painful heat. And on the last night I did well at the Casino, making up all the money I lost over the week. Then I do something stupid like go buy flowers to surprise Jenna on the last night even though she can’t bring them off the ship. Oops.

Also, the photographers always made us make weird poses. So many weird poses for one photograph, I’m okay with it now because we got what we wanted, but we had to narrow it down from what appeared to be around 50 pictures.

Speaking of pictures, here’s a compilation I did of the trip:

Then it was back to reality. Reality then, quickly, suddenly (I’ll take another adjective if you want) included a new job opportunity in New York. Before I knew it I was leaving Connecticut and a shared apartment for what I knew best: home.

But this seems like the best time for an aside, I haven’t really said it yet but I really did enjoy the time that I did have in Connecticut. I got to meet a lot of new people and work alongside a bunch of people I would have never knew existed if it were not for the position I was put in.

I had a lot of great experiences up in Connecticut too. I met a bunch of nice people and if I felt like name dropping I could. The only thing I feel bad about is that I haven’t kept up with a lot of the people I worked with at ESPN since I left. I’ve been in a whirlwind of activity since I got home.

I was able to run around and play a bunch of basketball to try (the key word) to improve my skills and I was able to play some softball for a team whose team name belonged to an inside joke. The team name was the Fighting Geese because of the geese that populate ESPN’s parking spots (which was surreptitiously covered on Deadspin). True story, I’ve been told that geese have been known to poke at people’s tires and fight people so the foxes are for “protection.” We won a few games and were mercy ruled but I liked it and had fun. Plus I got to watch Matthew Berry slow pitch and then accidentally cut him off in trying to play a short fly ball on the infield playing first base.

And how could I forget, true story. Our softball team decided to practice in Bristol after everyone got out from work. Needing a pitcher, of course, and we all took a few practice swings. Well it didn’t take long but it’s hard to forget seeing someone who got hit in the face by a softball.

Part Two: On to July… What adventure would I embark on next? Find out next time.

I’m reading my own writing. I did an interview with Steve Amedio of Keepin’ Track of the MAAC and it’s really good stuff. My brother Matt has put forth a great long term plan for SienaSaintsBlog.com and we hope you check out everything we have to offer for the rest of the basketball season!

I also wrote an Expensive in 2010 column on Brian Fuentes for RotoSavants:

Fuentes led the league with 48 saves last year, but that is more a factor of the LA Angels of Anaheim getting into save situations. Fuentes pitched less than an inning in 9 of his 48 saves.

I’m trying out the new Google Chrome now. My brother Matt says he loves it and I am starting to like it too. I have used 4 browsers in the past: Mozilla’s Firefox, Camino and Apple’s Safari other than Google Chrome. I’m finding Chrome to be a very good experience and performing really well so far. It is still a Beta for Macs though but it has done everything I’ve asked of it so far in a few days.

I’m working on the draft kit project as well, mostly updating all the player movement that happened at those Winter Meetings in Indianapolis. A lot of players moved which makes for some fun time in Excel.

This one site is probably getting more than it asked for by writing that Baseball Prospectus Jumps The Shark. He brings up an interesting argument which made me think of a comparison. He must think that it is like Saturday Night Live in the old days, which had so much more talent, and move today where it pretty much is unwatchable.