shrader

So what should I call Sherman for that act? It really doesn't matter what word anyone used because it was eventually going to be turned into the "you're racist" response. He's a smart guy and he knew exactly what he was doing. He acting like a fool and he damn well knew it. So he calls the response racist and suddenly the focus is off of him. Brilliant. He's an arrogant ass, but he's a smart arrogant ass. As for the thug league comment, that was a post made by someone who continuously shows off his idiocy in nearly every post. Some people are best ignored.

Syracuse grad.

I may just be naive, but I was completely unaware of it having racial connotations until Richard Sherman told me about it. I guess it doesn't matter in the long run because a new word will eventually pop up and inevitably be removed from our allowed vocabulary. Soon enough we won't be allowed to talk at all.

Let's not leave out McNabb from that deal. It seems like he's been a forgotten component of the trade as of late.

Apparently it doesn't matter what your intended use is. All that matters is what someone else thinks your intended use is. All I know is that I have to now be very careful what words I use when describing action movies. "Hans Gruber and his team of rent-a-goons" doesn't sound anywhere near as good as "Hans Gruber and his team of thugs", but I guess I'll have to go that route from now on since the hacker guy was black. edit: And now for some reason all I can think of is this: John: Homer, what have you got against gays? Homer: You know, it's not...usual! If there was a law, it would be against it! Marge: Oh, please, Homer, you're embarrassing yourself! Homer: No, they're embarrassing me! They're embarrassing America! They turned the Navy into a floating joke. They took our best names, like Bruce, Lance, and Julian. Those used to be our toughest, manliest names, but now they're just... John: ######? (seriously, the Q word that rhymes with steer gets blocked?) Homer: And that's another thing — I resent you people using that word. That's our word for making fun of you! We need it! And on that note, I can never go to a steel mill ever again.

Wasn't it both of the picks that we originally got from them for Regehr?

The word thug has been thrown at countless hockey players. Go ahead and google just about any fighter's name and thug and you get an endless list of links. To say that it is rare is ridiculous.

I have no doubt that initial use of thug in this thread was in fact the racial version, but I hate that this word is now one of those suddenly forbidden words. I threw out the word thug when Sherman taunted Crabtree. I have also used it several times for Milan Lucic and when talking about mafia shows/movies. I associate it with jackass behavior meant for intimidation. Now I'm suddenly racist because I applied it to the wrong person. The double standards that have evolved when it comes to race have gotten way out of control.

I heard a comment this morning that Biden talked with someone. I didn't catch who it was though, possibly someone from the PA. But anyway, the politicians have absolutely nothing to do with this decision. Regardless of who they talked to, this was how the NBA was going to react.

For whatever reason, Montreal seems to bring out the worst hockey from Boston. They over-focus on the sideshow crap, played undisciplined games and as a result, finished the year 1-3 against them. To a lesser extent, it happened against us too.

That may be one of the greatest last names of all time.

I'm right there with you. This thing has gone way out of control. You can't tune into any sports programming right now without I just want to turn on the TV and find out who scored some goals and who hit a couple home runs. It is next to impossible to get that information right now. I miss the days where the most serious sports talk you would get was "look at this crazy mascot fight".

Even if she only has $5, she'd much rather have that instead of $2. And is there any legal issue with having this kind of recording? Criminal charges sure would hurt.

It wouldn't be about assets though. It would be about destroying her.

The other one I've heard a lot of randomly is that he's a racist and he likes having a team full of black employees. That one is just plain hilarious. "I want to live out the fantasy of being a slave owner so I will pay multi-million dollars to five people so they can play a game every single day". It doesn't get any more racist than that! The man is pure evil!

I do wonder how many of these people whining about free speech are the same ones who cry about censorship when they get a message board post deleted. All of them I suppose. Those are always my favorite internet people.

I'm just not a basketball guy, so from my point of view, its something that takes time away from hockey. And actually, the more I think about it, it's not really the league that looks bad right now, but just about anything that is remotely close to this story. The whole story comes off as "racism is bad.... now look the other way while we use that racism to line our pockets". It seems pretty clear now that people have been well aware of this guy for a long time, but not much ever happened because hey, he's giving us money. And now that shining beacon of journalistic integrity known as TMZ is the one that finally takes this guy down. :wallbash:

And now he's got a plaque outside the stadium, so there's still hope for Sterling. They better use the whitest metal they can find though. Ultimately, I still have no idea what a ban like this truly means. He somehow can't "manage" the team yet he can still sit back and watch his wealth increase. He still holds all the cards. I hope he fights the push to sell because the NBA will look even worse and I'm all for that.

I'm not willing to call a long period of drafting a success based on one year alone. They've been downright miserable except for 3-4 picks. Their fortunes came significantly from other areas. Hell just look at 2007-2009, and maybe even 2010 (where other than the gift they were handed, their results were bad). You'd be hard pressed to find ANY team who drafted that poorly. Their only salvation in your system is that one single draft pick produced two of those players. I also get my former Boston players named Stuart mixed up.

How can you actually ban someone from walking into a building where he's the one paying the lease? I would love nothing more than to see the NBA implode, so I hope he shows up for the next game. This thing is nothing more than a paper transaction by the NBA meant to save face.

This year's Presidents' Trophy winner immediately breaks from your theory. There are ways to account for horrible drafting. Hopefully we will get to a point where we can productively build a team through multiple fronts.

Stop the presses! There's an 80-something year old guy who is a racist! Next ESPN will be telling me about the ever so rare tree that has pine cones. The only good thing to come from this is that this punishment is going to cause a whole hell of a lot of legal trouble for the NBA. I'm sure it's just a PR punishment and they've already got something worked out to expedite a sale of the team, but if by some chance they don't, this thing has ****storm written all over it.

You probably shouldn't mention Seabrook as a defense for your argument. ;)

In the 5 years between the Vanek and Weber offer sheet signings, only four other players signed one. Two were directly tied to another offer sheet signing: Edmonton turning around and going after Penner, and St. Louis' offer to Bernier as a direct retaliation for Vancouver's offer to Backes. Those offer sheets were not as common as you'd think. As Blue stated, the Vanek and Weber situations were about as similar as you'll ever see.

I hope you still have your research hat on. How many of these so called "elite forwards" were selected within the pick window of the guys you've mentioned here? None of these were exactly what I'd call early picks. I scan through those drafts quickly and I don't see any real jaw dropping talent up front going anywhere in that span. I just don't see swapping out a couple crap shoot draft picks as being the magic cause for where this team is right now.