I've griped about this before, but this has to be the only major sport in the US that seems to have a taboo about putting young players in the professional arena, even if they appear ready for it.
Well I think you don't have a race anymore in the US after this year, but still... is there really a lot of teenage F1 racers? I'm seriously asking, I don't know, I just imagine I'd be hesitant in hiring an 18 years old driver and putting in his hand my 10M$ car...
(I know, I just hijacked this thread, but it was a terrible one anyway)
I've griped about this before, but this has to be the only major sport in the US that seems to have a taboo about putting young players in the professional arena, even if they appear ready for it.
To be fair, it's really only an issue with goaltenders, a position that the other major sports don't have a comparable for. I suppose that the closest is that of pitcher in baseball. Have there been that many successful teenage MLB pitchers in history? I'm guessing no, but I don't know, as I don't follow the sport.
To be fair, it's really only an issue with goaltenders, a position that the other major sports don't have a comparable for. I suppose that the closest is that of pitcher in baseball. Have there been that many successful teenage MLB pitchers in history? I'm guessing no, but I don't know, as I don't follow the sport.
Doc Gooden is one but his career spiraled faster than Cloutier's.
Well I think you don't have a race anymore in the US after this year, but still... is there really a lot of teenage F1 racers? I'm seriously asking, I don't know, I just imagine I'd be hesitant in hiring an 18 years old driver and putting in his hand my 10M$ car...
(I know, I just hijacked this thread, but it was a terrible one anyway)
Well I think you don't have a race anymore in the US after this year, but still... is there really a lot of teenage F1 racers? I'm seriously asking, I don't know, I just imagine I'd be hesitant in hiring an 18 years old driver and putting in his hand my 10M$ car...
(I know, I just hijacked this thread, but it was a terrible one anyway)
There's not a lot, but it is becoming more popular.
Well I think you don't have a race anymore in the US after this year, but still... is there really a lot of teenage F1 racers? I'm seriously asking, I don't know, I just imagine I'd be hesitant in hiring an 18 years old driver and putting in his hand my 10M$ car...
(I know, I just hijacked this thread, but it was a terrible one anyway)
There's alot of teenage drivers in car racing in general, but they generally progress through a number of lower driving leagues before making F1, to make it at a young age you would truly have to be an incredible talent. Lewis Hamilton is the youngest driver in the F1 at the moment and he's 22 (or he was last time i checked, haven't really followed F1 this year, thanks Frolovfan), although he was signed to the Mclaren development program when he was 14.
Sorry for steering it further OT.
Last edited by CycloneLaunch: 10-06-2007 at 09:38 AM.
Reason: lulz
Well I think you don't have a race anymore in the US after this year, but still... is there really a lot of teenage F1 racers? I'm seriously asking, I don't know, I just imagine I'd be hesitant in hiring an 18 years old driver and putting in his hand my 10M$ car...
(I know, I just hijacked this thread, but it was a terrible one anyway)
Sebastian Vettel scored a point in June in his first F1 race. He was 19. Does that count?
When I saw that this thread had been bumped, I thought the odds on favorite culprit was Conan O'Brien's huge helmet
It's getting harder and harder to be one of the "just wait for a few more games to form a final opinion" guys on this topic. Paraphrasing my GDT post, the lack of confidence in JLB seems to have permeated the way the Kings play in front of him, which is very, very, very bad news.
I was/am still a strong advocate for JLB getting a 10-15 game shot at being at least a platoon starter, but his current uninspired play is hurting the team. I haven't felt this level of dissappointment at a Kings player bumbling his opportunity since maybe Steve Duchesne... and that's saying something.
When I saw that this thread had been bumped, I thought the odds on favorite culprit was Conan O'Brien's huge helmet
It's getting harder and harder to be one of the "just wait for a few more games to form a final opinion" guys on this topic. Paraphrasing my GDT post, the lack of confidence in JLB seems to have permeated the way the Kings play in front of him, which is very, very, very bad news.
I was/am still a strong advocate for JLB getting a 10-15 game shot at being at least a platoon starter, but his current uninspired play is hurting the team. I haven't felt this level of dissappointment at a Kings player bumbling his opportunity since maybe Steve Duchesne... and that's saying something.
bumbling his opportunity is probably the best way i've heard anyone put it... and quite frankly, it's still putting it mildly.
change that #35 to #1, put Doug Houda's face on #6, and put the name "Hogue" and #33 on the back of the Stars jersey, and WHO exactly does that remind you of?
a) I thought JLB's second game was an improvement from the first. He had a great side-to-side save in the first period.
b)Also, three of the goals came off of bad turnovers
Negatives:
a) On the two non-turnover goals, you could've driven a tank through his legs.
b) Since they weren't unstoppable shots, I have almost no doubt that Bernier (or any other legitimate NHL goalie) would've stopped at least two of the three turnover goals
Bottom line: Still too early (2 games) to say he has no business on the Kings or in the NHL. The second game was an improvement IMO becasue I think a "starting NHL goalie" should've stopped at least 2 of the goals that were given up in each game, but at least there were moments in the second game where I felt JLB made higher quality saves. Just the same, IMO it would have been hard to have a worse game than the first JLB start.
If he continues to improve at a rate equal to the change from game 1 to game 2 I'll be grabbing my pitchfork and a torch after 10 8-10 games!
Bottom line: Still too early (2 games) to say he has no business on the Kings or in the NHL.
I think you forgot the 3 games in the preseason where he pretty much sucked as well. Including giving up 6 goals to a non NHL team in the Red Bull tournament.
He's off his game. Nobody should dispute that in good faith.
What can the Kings do about it? Keep Bernier up here? Give Jason time? Replace him with Aubin when Aubin is healthy (what is up with that by the way, I thought it was a "fake" injury)? THAT is the real topic.
Bashing Jason accomplishes nothing. It's as irrelevant as bashing Cloutier for last season.
Bashing Jason accomplishes nothing. It's as irrelevant as bashing Cloutier for last season.
The focus should be on the solution.
I usually agree, that bashing accomplishes nothing and takes up a LOT of this board. But, for me, I'm actually shocked, bordering on "amazed" that JLB has played at the level he has. So that's what I'm relaying here when I talk about how poorly he has played thus far.
You nailed it on the "solution" though. But what is it?! It isn't Bernier in the short term (the next 50-100 games), there's a <5% chance at it being Dan Cloutier, and about the same odds at Aubin suddenly playing 2 levels above his career path.
So, what do we do? "Stay the course" and tough it out w/ JLB and Bernier splitting starts, hoping trends reverse? Acquiring Cujo is a lateral (at best) move. Do we inquire about the resurgent Gerber? Pick up Toronto's trash in Raycroft? Go down the road for Bryzgalov? I challenge everyone to follow Zad's advice and go on record here with your solution.
He's off his game. Nobody should dispute that in good faith.
What can the Kings do about it? Keep Bernier up here? Give Jason time? Replace him with Aubin when Aubin is healthy (what is up with that by the way, I thought it was a "fake" injury)? THAT is the real topic.
Bashing Jason accomplishes nothing. It's as irrelevant as bashing Cloutier for last season.
The focus should be on the solution.
Well, with LaBarbera demonstrating he's nothing more than a backup at best, the solution is to find a veteran starter. Bernier is going to be hung out to dry and it is too much of a burden to place on his shoulders to expect to carry the team and to bail out the escort defense.
Get a veteran such as Curtis Joseph and have Aubin and LaBarbera duke it out in a knife fight to see who deserves the privilege of warming up a seat next to the equipment staff.
