04/19/24
October 02, 2015
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Apropos of nothing: I went to the Blues/Blackhawks preseason game last night which was pre-selected as one of the games that the NHL had the teams try out the new 3-on-3 OT format (regardless of the score, which was 5-2 STL - including two shorties!).
I'm not saying it's definitely going to be god awful because A) it was preseason and B) the game was over so the OT period was meaningless, but wow, was I underwhelmed. With only six skaters on the ice, everyone basically just seemed terrified to make a mistake that would lead to a one-on-one breakaway. A lot of tepid passing and standing around, what few shots were taken were slapshots from about a foot inside the blue line, etc. It was a stark contrast to what had been a pretty spirited preseason game. I hope it doesn't suck that much in the regular season, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:34 AM on October 02, 2015
Big men, big... waste?
posted by billsaysthis at 10:30 AM on October 02, 2015
Major milestones for the NFL: first calendar month without a player being arrested since 2009 (second such month in Goodell's tenure) and first during a season since the last century.
posted by Etrigan at 11:33 AM on October 02, 2015
I hope it doesn't suck that much in the regular season, but I'm not going to hold my breath
I've watched a few 3 on 3 OT's as well ... that isn't hockey, it's similar to what one would see in a no contact beer league game where a few guys had already hit the showers to get an early start on the post game rituals.
Don't get me wrong, nothing is as bad as the "shootout", but what is wrong with simply awarding teams that tie with a single point? Both the shootout and 3 on 3 will have teams changing their rosters to add specialists to grab regular season points. Then the playoffs arrive and the specialists become a liability, as there is no longer any 3 on 3 and extra emphasis on 2 way play.
Do we really want to risk eliminating the best teams from the playoffs in favor of the teams with the best gimmicks?
posted by cixelsyd at 12:15 PM on October 02, 2015
nothing is as bad as the "shootout", but what is wrong with simply awarding teams that tie with a single point?
This and this. I blame Fox and the '90s in general. Unless the shootout came to being in the '00s in which case I blame Fox and the '90s in general. Also: screw Rob Liefeld.
posted by yerfatma at 02:06 PM on October 02, 2015
A fund-raising effort to get Steve Bartman to a Cubs playoff game has been dropped after Bartman cut it off.
posted by rcade at 07:58 PM on October 02, 2015
Come on, Kevin. Stop showing off in centerfield. You're just making everyone else look bad, now.
posted by grum@work at 09:56 PM on October 02, 2015
How do you feel about Chris Sale breaking your 107-year-old Chicago White Sox record for strikeouts in a season, Ed Walsh?
posted by rcade at 12:27 AM on October 03, 2015
I don't think I can ever be convinced that's not Tom Hardy.
posted by Ufez Jones at 03:24 PM on October 03, 2015
One if by land, two if by sea...
The Jets are bringing 350 rolls of toilet paper with them to England for their upcoming game against the Dolphins.
...to replace the thinner version used in England.
"Some may say that's a little over the top or whatnot, but it didn't really cost that much, so why not?" Degerness said. "We're basically trying to replicate everything that we're doing here over there."
The men of Bowles are expected to venture forth and go boldly where other travelers have failed to go. For a 53 man roster, the paper supply works out to roughly 2 1/2 rolls per man per day for the amount of time they'll be on British soil.
The fabled London sewers, immortalized in legend and threatened by various calamities over the centuries, may now be facing their most daunting challenge.