This is Bob Harrison. In 2008 USA Today did an article on him and he's probably still going. I love spring training baseball because there are many of these older fellows in the stands with their notepads and in their favorite spots. (Spring training is a wonderful place, attend if you ever get a chance. I once spent about an hour listening to this older gentleman before a Giants game, and the only time he stopped talking about the olden days came when he whistled Roger Craig over and motioned for the SF skipper to sign his baseball. Craig did it without saying a word).Scouts don't talk to people at baseball games, and I've never run into any of them at a hockey game. I'd love (and I mean LOVE) to spend a couple of hours with a hockey scout. I don't really care about specific players, but would like to know the process they go through in deciding which players are better than the others ones of similar talents. I'm not one of those who believes scouts have no value, in fact most people would have to give great credit to the 30 NHL scouts for getting it right year after year. It is extremely rare for a true impact player to be drafted outside the top 6, to the point where when it happens the player becomes so famous for that one thing that it remains a top bullet point on the resume for the entire length of their career. I'd love to know what they see, the nuance, the separation.
The Oilers are meeting in Kelowna this week to make the list. Someone in that room is going to sway opinion in Hall's direction or in Seguin's; most of all, I'd like to know how you win an argument when the two talents seem so equal. It's a dangerous game, this scouting team may end up being known as the one that "let ------ get away"; but there is also glory in getting it right.
Godspeed, gentlemen.
I wouldn't want their job I tell you that. I personally am leaning towards Seguin but if its Hall I'm effing Thrilled, I also hope we trade up another first rounder since I take draft day off work.
ReplyDeleteA good friend's dad has been a scout for NHL teams. He's worked in Europe...only a little stint I think...and has seen countless JR and pro players. To be truthful, I have never found anything he says that mind blowing. He's a hockey guy...looks like one, talks like one and he seems to use minimal amounts of assessment tools to evaluate players. Maybe other scouts are more insightful or interesting to talk to. Two things I do know about scouts (or at least about this scout):
ReplyDelete1. He knows talent when he sees it
2. The jobs sounds more glamorous than it really is.
Ultimately, I think these 2 guys may be so close that (bad) luck has more to do with the success of the pick than anything.
ReplyDeleteThis pick can not be made correctly, only incorrectly. Unfortunately, we can't know if its incorrect until time passes.
Deano: Agree completely. Which is why (imo) getting upset over one pick or another doesn't make a lot of sense. The things that will separate these two are out in the ether (unless the Oilers find something out about one of them during their due diligence).
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain to me, how that overhead camera proved it was a goal?
ReplyDeleteThe angle of the camera has the crossbar about a foot behind the goal line. If the puck is off the ice, and theres an inch of ice showing, shouldnt that angle mean the puck is probably still above the line? The crossbar is above the line. We KNOW that much.
I sat next to a Pro scout at a Habs game. A TB one.
ReplyDeleteBasically what he did was taking notes of the lines (Like 12-30-46) on a white sheet and making notes next to them.
Stuff like ''Good skating, shaky hands, goes in traffic'' Etc.
And i also sat next to one in spring training.
I saw Elijah Dukes (Which i didn't know at the time) swing at a pitch in that hit the plate for a K and commit two errors. He made a big X over his name, and then procedded to write something i don't remember, but he wasn't too impressed.
And what did you know he made the starting lineup.
I really love the McLean/Bettman interviews. They're fun.
ReplyDeleteDanny,
ReplyDeleteYou'd think the NHL would insert camera in the underside of the cross bar for a definitive view.
I can purchase a camera that can get a high quality picture that fits in the bellybutton of a teddybear (nannycam), surely Bettman could send someone to radio shack and hire a welder.
Maybe Milquetoast is on the committee and is still evaluating.
And hook up some shiny lights to it while you're at it!
ReplyDeleteDo they still do that?
Woodguy. That could deflect the puck in or out of the net. That's a no-no.
ReplyDeleteI think the best position would be in the lower corner of the net, just past the goaline. It would give a perfect angle, and at the same time, if a puck hits that thing it's a goal.
ReplyDeleteFPB,
ReplyDeleteObviously you install it flush or recessed into the bar with a fine grid/plexiglass cover and do not change the shape of the bar.
In 2008 I believe, Edmonton hosted the Top Propsects game. There were tons of scouts there, and my buddy talked a a few.
ReplyDeleteI talked to Don Meehan, who stated it's a 'long story' about Smyth. Scott Howson is a great friendly guy to chat with too.
Those scouts pretty much gathered in the corners of the upper bowls and ''saw them good''
WG: Fair enough. Tough it should have the closest density possible to the metal in the pipes. That's a good idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Sportsnet article Lowetide.
ReplyDeleteNO PERFECTO! Imortality erased for Gallaraga. than again it will be talked about forever.
ReplyDeleteTambelleni from the Sportsnet article:
ReplyDeleteI do have a vote in this but I have a lot of confidence in Stu MacGregor (Oilers head of amateur scouting). He's had a couple good drafts the last couple years."
I agree with that evaluation.
I had an intermission once to talk to Lorne Davis -- I've mentioned this before -- and it was exciting just to be able to do so. If I went to a Red & White Game this year, I'd probably have better questions to ask, but I do remember him mentioning Sam Gagner as a guy to watch for that day (we were watching the U18 R&W, this would be summer 2006). I didn't figure we had a chance at him; little did I know...
ReplyDeleteThe angle of the camera has the crossbar about a foot behind the goal line. If the puck is off the ice, and theres an inch of ice showing, shouldnt that angle mean the puck is probably still above the line? The crossbar is above the line. We KNOW that much.
ReplyDeleteThe puck wasn't in the air; it was on edge. I see what you're saying about the slight angle required to see the line for the crossbar (parallax error is a bitch; anyone who's taken analytical chemistry can tell you), but I'm comfortable with that being a goal, in this case; it's the best decision to be made given the limitations we have available. Still, I like the idea of embedding a couple of iSights or whatever they're called (the little fucker at the top of my MacBook screen) in the posts or crossbar or something to see what we can see at a zero-degree angle.
Doog - iEyes?
ReplyDeleteOk, so that call in the Tigers/Indians game might be the most untimely blown call that I've ever seen in pro sports.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this will force the issue with the dinosaurs who run MLB and maybe we will see an expanded replay system similar to what the NFL has (2 challenges per team, booth review in the 9th inning) for things such as safe/out calls. The time has come, I say...
HBomb: Milwaukee lost a World Series on a blown call, I don't think baseball will ever change.
ReplyDeleteLowetide: I'm aware of the famous Derkinger call that screwed the Cards in 85, but I did not know the Brew Crew met a similar fate. Enlighten a guy whose baseball memories don't extend back further than Dennis Martinez's no-no in 1991....
ReplyDeleteIt was a spectacular fuck up on the missed call but I still don't like instant replay in MLB. I'm a fairly progressive person but there is a beauty in the traditions of baseball and considering the increasing length of each game, prolonged instant replays could make the games unwatchable. Of course if this happened to the Red Sox, I'm sure I would have a slightly different opinion.....
ReplyDeleteI've watched scouts fairly closely at training camp a few times and came away less than impressed. I'm almost as into things as they are, and would probably say/write more. Not saying "I'm better, haha!" just was surprised.
ReplyDeleteThank gawd it wasn't the Red Sox last night, the whining and BS and inevitable t-shirts etc would have made life unbearable. Poor guy probably won't come even close to another one in his career. Talk about screwed.
In Baseball it's so close often.
ReplyDeleteActually i wouldn't be surprised if the refs turned a hit into an out, or called a strike 3 on a 3-2 which should have been a walk.
Eberle seems to just have that extra something and MPS has a deadly combination that you can't teach -- speed and size -- not to mention that I'm excited for Seguin.
ReplyDeleteI could watch the Hawks now and think "what if" in 2013 if I could be convinced that Kevin Lowe's influence has and/or will continue to wane.
But until that day colour me wary.