- 06:56 AM
- 11/22/09
Maybe. Except Deion.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:54 AM on November 16
I think he was thinking the defense had been sucking for a long time, and giving the ball back to Indy meant a long drive, points scored and no time left.
So, you go for it on 4th, either you win the game or maybe Indy scores quickly and you have a chance to score again (they'd only need a field goal.)
I'm not saying it was good thinking, but I am guessing that's what he was thinking. Why they called those two timeouts though, was baffling.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:52 AM on November 16
I believe the NHL actually retired 99 league-wide.
posted by fabulon7 at 12:42 PM on November 13
So is Cutler the answer to all the Bears' problems or what?
posted by fabulon7 at 09:19 AM on November 13
That was great. I really enjoyed it. I'm always looking to understand why I like football. This helped, I think.
posted by fabulon7 at 11:35 PM on October 20
This was pretty interesting - just watched it. $30,000 on strippers, booze and cocaine in a single evening seems pretty epic to me.
posted by fabulon7 at 11:14 PM on October 20
It would be cool if they did the penalty announcements in four-part harmony. Or the "after review" announcements at least.
posted by fabulon7 at 10:39 AM on October 20
It was probably a drink menu. Or a map to the washroom. I imagine it's easy to get lost in that place.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:59 AM on September 29
Buffalo is enough to make me believe in the supernatural.
posted by fabulon7 at 10:48 PM on September 14
MeatSaber: I didn't realize that - that's really weird.
posted by fabulon7 at 02:22 PM on July 16
The NHL has to figure out how to call penalties in the finals without getting screamed at for determining the outcome of the game. Sooo much obstruction, holding, interference, etc. It made the finals more boring than it could have been. (Not that it was boring, but it wasn't the best series by a long shot.)
posted by fabulon7 at 10:12 PM on June 14
Berezin was awesome. Same move, every time. One year it worked 37 times. Other years, not so often.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:49 PM on May 18
Balsillie might be a little too confrontational about this, but I'd think he's probably guessing that he has no other choice. It's pretty clear that Gary really, really doesn't want him owning anything more substantial than Zamboni futures. So what's he going to do, ask nicely? He's already shown his hand - no one is going to believe he wants to buy a team that's staying in the USA.
Maybe the GTA can't support 3 franchises, but I think it stands a better chance than Kansas City, or whatever. Even so, I can't imagine the Sabres or the Leafs letting this happen. And maybe the league doesn't care so much what the Sabres think, but the Leafs pull a lot of water in this town. Balsillie doesn't pull shit.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:33 PM on May 07
This may be Guy's crowning achievment in disco.
I wish there were a "14 years? 2 minutes for looking so good!" joke in here.
posted by fabulon7 at 06:52 PM on May 01
I hoped the NHL would find a way to assign Don Koharski to referee it.
I was hoping for exactly the same thing.
posted by fabulon7 at 09:38 PM on April 26
So, they're replacing Madden, a guy who seemed to love everything to do with anything related to football, with Cris Collinsworth, a bitter ass of a man who seems to relish in complaining about and insulting everything he covers?
Smooth move.
posted by fabulon7 at 03:11 PM on April 16
I hope this works out for the Chiefs - they probably deserve it, but I have to believe it's a pretty big risk to take a QB who had one good year (under Belichick, with good receivers) at a salary this big.
posted by fabulon7 at 09:12 AM on March 02
I don't know. I think it almost paid off for the Jets. They looked great (often enough), Favre was playing well, people were talking about them and the Superbowl. Then he hurt his shoulder, he and the team played badly for the last quarter of the season, and they ended up barely out of the playoffs.
If he hadn't been hurt, they probably would have at least made the playoffs and the whole deal would have looked a lot more like a success.
Where they totally messed up, I think, was in not benching Favre. Mangini should have sat him. He couldn't throw. I'm sure he didn't want his consecutive game streak to end, but so what? Maybe without him they win one more game in their last 5, they make the playoffs, and he heals enough to play.
But as it stands, it looks like he retired a year too late.
posted by fabulon7 at 01:04 PM on February 13
Did I miss something, or did they exclude Lemieux/Jagr/Francis and Gretzky/Kurri/whomever in favour of a Bobby Holik line and the awesome force of the Sedins & Jason King?
Clearly written by a billiards fan, or something.
posted by fabulon7 at 10:01 PM on January 21
But I've always liked a "franchise" player who spends their whole career with one team. Yeah, I like that too. Yzerman being the best example, I think. But it seems kind of forced when you lock it in with a decade-long no-trade contract. (Is Lecavalier's deal no-trade? I assume so. Even if it isn't, I imagine it's hard to deal that contract.) It seems more genuine when the team and player have to renew their vows every few years, you know? Plus, this is rife for backfiring (not Lecavalier, probably, but these kinds of deals.) Imagine if Vancouver had have done this with Bertuzzi the year before the infamous neck-snapping. At the time, it was looking like he was going to be a superstar for a long, long time.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:13 PM on July 14
Has anyone seriously considered the possibility that Favre is a little punch-drunk? Like maybe one too many hits to the head has impaired his judgement some? I am a fan, as comments elsewhere will show, but seriously Brett, you're making yourself look like an idiot here. Retire now -- they've already got a ceremony planned for you at Lambeau. You deserve it.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:07 PM on July 14
This is only about $7.7 million/year against the cap for 11 years. For a superstar, that's not bad. And they're probably banking on the fact that with inflation and the cap increasing every year so far, $7.7 million won't seem like such a big hit for an old man in 2019. (And/or that he'll probably retire before then.) I think all of these ultra-long term deals suck, but mainly because they preclude the possibility of stars every being traded to other teams. But in terms of salary cap, I don't see how this is a big deal.
posted by fabulon7 at 10:09 AM on July 14
That was hyperbole. Obviously there are several Argos fans in and about Toronto. And if you go to Hamilton, you'll find Ti-Cats everything all over the place. (But they'd kill you for referring to them as part of the GTA, I expect.) But unlike the rest of Canada, the CFL just doesn't seem to draw in and around Toronto. It's the league's dead zone. (Which is why they are extra-worried about the Bills playing here twice a year.) It's strange -- every other CFL city seems to do well. Not Toronto. That was my whole point. The Grey Cup generates some interest if the Argos are in, but otherwise, deadsville. Which is too bad.
posted by fabulon7 at 01:57 PM on July 02
Let's not forget French Toast and the French Horn.
posted by fabulon7 at 10:03 AM on July 02
They Grey Cup doesn't unify Southern Ontario. I don't think half the people in the GTA know it exists.
posted by fabulon7 at 09:54 AM on July 02
Kelly H. Rudy should win some kind of "most improved" award. He was awful when he started this "Behind The Mask" business, but now he's pretty good. I like that he talks trash a little, and doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. The CBC needs to take the opportunity presented by the loss of their precious theme song to clean house. Cherry needs to go. MacLean needs to be told to stop being such an arrogant prick. Scott Oake needs meds. Bob Cole should probably retire before complete is his transformation into Yoda. And the whole thing needs to stop reading like every show was produced from the same stock MS Word template. OK, rant over -- I hope Canada keeps Hrudey. I am hoping ESPN decides to lure Pierre McGuire away from my eyes. He's done American TV before.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:42 PM on June 24
Looks like TSN bought the rights. CBC loses.
posted by fabulon7 at 02:58 PM on June 09
I am totally going to enter the contest. I am totally not going to win.
posted by fabulon7 at 07:55 AM on June 09
If they have a Nickelback theme song, I'm not watching until the start of the second period, just to be safe. As an added bonus, I'll get to miss Windbag S. Cherry that way too.
posted by fabulon7 at 01:39 PM on June 06
I think I heard somewhere some captain from the 30s was born overseas and moved to Canada when pretty young. So maybe that's the distinction?
posted by fabulon7 at 09:50 PM on June 05
That was an entertaining series, despite Detroit looking unbeatable roughly 90% of every game. And I'm glad this European-captains-can't-win BS has finally been proven wrong. It seems you don't need 20 Canadian grinders to win the cup. Hallelujah!
posted by fabulon7 at 09:09 AM on June 05
During the regular season, when this happens, it was regular practice to disallow the goal and not call a penalty. There were some goaltender interference calls during the reg season, but players have typically been allowed to bump into the goalie if it was part of their drive to the net and wasn't intentional. Exactly. They must have thought Zetterberg was Holmstrom or something. The officiating in that game was awful. Super inconsistent. And I say this as someone who's not really pulling for either team. As mentioned though, at least it was an obvious call for the game-winning power play.
posted by fabulon7 at 11:10 AM on June 03
Zetterberg was phenomenal. That penalty kill was unreal. Unless something weird happens, he seems a shoe-in for the Conn Smythe.
posted by fabulon7 at 11:50 AM on June 02
I just meant the schedule had improved -- at least each team will not only play four other teams all year, which is what it seemed like for the past few. (How many Toronto-Boston games do I need to see in a year?) As for TV coverage, I agree, it all sucks. But I live near Toronto, and I get TSN, so I'm not personally hurting for hockey coverage. I feel for you though.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:53 AM on May 27
I don't know -- Detroit without the lead still has a good chance of catching up and taking the lead. They have five or six legitimate goal-scoring players. The Devils were way more of a 2-1 or 1-0 kind of team.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:49 AM on May 27
This discussion about the crappy schedule is moot. It has been changed, I think. Every team in the league should see every other team at least once, starting next season. Or was I hallucinating a couple months back when I read this?
posted by fabulon7 at 09:58 AM on May 26
I hope S.I. or ESPN does a feature on Favre in about 10 years. I'll be curious to see the effects of his consecutive game streak on his body/health. I was watching some pregame thing this year, and he was walking onto the field to talk to somebody. He looked really, really stiff and very uncomfortable. I remember wondering if he was going to be able to walk in ten years. As for the interceptions -- that number is fairly meaningless for most quarterbacks. How many were random bounces or tips? How many were the fault of the receivers? How many came in situations where the score was heavily in the opponent's favour with time running out? Man, I know Aaron Rodgers is supposed to be good (for three games until he breaks his ankle), but I have a feeling I'm not going to be too pleased with the upcoming season...
posted by fabulon7 at 12:05 PM on March 04
Yep, if they click, that's going to be one stupidly good first line power play in Pittsburgh. Plus, they got Hal Gill. A nice slow, slow, slow defensive pylon to counterbalance all the speed and skill they have up front. If only they'd got Belak too... But the Leafs had to go and trade him to Florida. That would have been the final piece of the puzzle right there.
posted by fabulon7 at 09:53 PM on February 26
I would rather him analyze the game, than fall flat on his face. Some (me) would argue he's currently doing both.
posted by fabulon7 at 01:42 PM on February 21
So, does anyone still think it was a bad idea for the Giants to actually play against the Patriots in that last regular season game? I'm guessing they learned some things from that game that they wouldn't have learned with Eli, Plaxico, Strahan, etc. on the bench.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:44 PM on February 04
I see it as the opposite: it's a professional and strategic play by the Patriots. Teams that notice the small things tend to win more often. I agree, but I think the rule sucks. The refs should be able to call it like too many men in hockey -- if the guy is clearly headed to the sideline and having no impact on the play, no flag. I hate it when Peyton (and others, but he's the prime offender) rush to the line to snap the ball just to catch some breathless fat lineman a few steps short of the sideline. It's cheap. It's unsportsmanlike. But yeah, the rule is there, so good on the Pats for taking advantage. No argument there.
posted by fabulon7 at 09:01 AM on February 04
Yeah, but I don't think whomever they put in place now has a chance. Fletcher got to do what he did right after Steve Stavros bought the team and seemed to have an interest in making it good. I could be wrong about this, but I don't remember him having a bunch of high-priced no-trade players to deal with either. He also worked without the constraints of a salary cap. (Which is arguably bad, but Stavros was willing to spend some money at the time.) Fletcher, and whoever takes over for him this time has the dreaded Richard Peddie to deal with, a lot of virtually unmoveable contracts, and no possibility of simply spending your way out of the hole that's been dug. I agree -- any GM who could take the Leafs and make them a contender would be worshipped like an Emperor in this town. I just don't see how that's a realistic possibility for anyone right now. At least not in the short-term that Toronto's fans and media demand.
posted by fabulon7 at 07:39 AM on January 23
I can't imagine why anyone with any skill would possibly want the job of Maple Leafs' GM, unless that person was a masochist. Or, I suppose, the world's most naive optimist. Who wants to deal with a bunch of overpriced no-trade clause contracts, and a board of directors that seems to insist on micromanagement, despite what they claim in public? Alternately, like grum says, who wants to come in to take the heat for a bunch of contracts you didn't sign -- probably a bunch of contracts Fletcher got hosed on because that was the only way to unload them? (I'm looking at you, McCabe, Tucker, Blake, Kubina, Toskala, Raycroft.) And Fletcher? When was the last time he did anything useful? Two years before the Leafs canned him last time?
posted by fabulon7 at 08:37 PM on January 22
I'm hoping Cliff can lure Khristich out of retirement.
posted by fabulon7 at 12:53 PM on January 22
I was wondering if Grant got hurt, the Pack gave up on running so quickly. Their passing wasn't working, their timing was totally off, their receivers dropped some easy passes and gave up on some obvious routes. But - they have a guy who was probably one of the top five RBs for the second half of the season, and who rushed for 200 yards in their first playoff game, but they totally refuse to use him after what, five minutes? Seems fishy.
posted by fabulon7 at 12:44 PM on January 21
Did anyone notice that Favre (and most of the Pack) looked like they were about to die of exposure the whole night, while Eli and Plaxico looked almost comfortable? Eli was great. I hope he gets a ring so Peyton stops having permanent dibs on shotgun in the Manning family minivan.
posted by fabulon7 at 10:45 PM on January 20
It is weird to me that this is news. The school down the road has female coaches for Junior/Senior boys volleyball and basketball, and junior boys soccer, at least. The junior girls volleyball has a male coach. No one thinks twice about it. And it seems to be the same at most schools in the province -- when you go to tournaments and such, the coaches are about 50/50 male/female, regardless of what sport/age level you are watching.
posted by fabulon7 at 10:24 AM on January 14
Weedy's right. This deal totally reminded me of Washington and Jagr. Or the Islanders and Yashin. Or DiPietro. Or whatever. I just can't get over it. The owners lock out the players and sacrifice a season, begging to be saved from themselves. But the minute they force a deal through, they start systematically hosing themselves again. Maybe next time, they should lock themselves out.
posted by fabulon7 at 02:15 PM on January 11
A classic. Wrestling has the weirdest signs. (I know. Not a sport. I know) So weird as to make me wonder if there is some underground contest.
posted by fabulon7 at 01:54 PM on January 11
Didn't Charles Wang sign a sumo wrestler some years back? Seriously -- I think the Islanders had a sumo wrestler on contract for just this reason.
posted by fabulon7 at 04:31 PM on December 13
I think the chances of this working out are about one in a trillion. To be on the Leafs, he has to sign now with the Marlies, wait until he is drafted, refuse to play for whoever drafts him for three years, then sign with the Leafs. (Or have that team trade his rights to the Leafs beforehand.) Or, he could wait until 2009, get drafted, and play in the NHL.
posted by fabulon7 at 12:53 PM on October 25
You know what? Watching a team run out a clock by not ever passing is boring. Kudos to the Patriots for refusing to bore the crap out of me for the last fifteen minutes of every game. And in terms of Sunday vs. Miami -- didn't they only score 7 points in the second half? That's not exactly running up the score, is it?
posted by fabulon7 at 09:54 AM on October 24
Suppose New England's version of events is true -- that Belichick is a fine person who made an honest mistake about rules that seemed clearly written to everyone else but somehow were confusing to him and that he regrets his honest mistake. If this were so, wouldn't Belichick be attempting to convince the world he is a good guy by showing sportsmanship at every turn? Umm, nice attempt at logic there, Gregg. Back to school with you. Also, this guy is a lunatic.
posted by fabulon7 at 08:53 AM on October 24
Wasn't the salary cap put in place to keep things competitive? You know, so the teams with all the money, like NY, Philly, Detroit, Toronto wouldn't get to sign all the free agents? Looking good, Bettman!
posted by fabulon7 at 09:12 AM on July 03
Brett Favre's destruction of Oakland right after his father died.
posted by fabulon7 at 12:17 PM on June 27
If Mark Bell can suck on Thronton's wing, I'll bet he can suck on Sundin's wing too. And Toskala -- good, maybe, but maybe a goalie that looked good playing for a really good team. I hope he's the next Hasek and all, but maybe he won't look so good behind the newly signed for $1.3 million per year Colaiacovo.
posted by fabulon7 at 01:17 PM on June 23
Muckler is old, and more importantly, old school. He had several years to try to make them win. If they didn't do this, he stays and Murray goes, and in the opinion of almost everyone, Murray is better. Besides, look what Muckler did. Lalime? Gerber? Hasek? (OK, it wasn't his fault the Swiss killed Hasek's hip.) He let Havlat and Chara go. He kept Redden over Chara. That looked like a collosally bad move these playoffs. He swapped Heatley for Hossa - that's arguably a wash. Heatley's probably better, but put Hossa on a line with Spezzzza and Alfredssssson and maybe not... I can see why Billionaire Owner wanted a change.
posted by fabulon7 at 07:54 PM on June 19
SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle
Naslund has un-retired to play with Forsberg for Modo. Apparently both of them have turned down salary offers and are playing for free. How Swedish!