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Tom Backyard

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Posts posted by Tom Backyard

  1. Well, not instant stream like Netflix as for some reason I hardly ever watch.

    Series I enjoy now on TV

    TURN AMC

    SILICON Valley. HBO

    Veep. HBO

    American Experience PBS

    Frontline. PBS

    Vice HBO

    Nazi Mega Weapons PBS.

    Charlie Rose PBS.

    The frontline and American Experience PBS websites have hundreds of hours of streaming content.

     

    Sometimes I wonder why I pay for Netflix, since I spend so much time streaming PBS or TV sports.

  2. Last year, the chance was 75% that we drafted second, which they increased to 80% this year.

     

    So, since they are independent draws, the chance that such a team would draft second twice is:

     

    (.75)(.80) = 0.60

     

    60%

     

    ETA: 35% chance of drafting first once and 5% chance of winning both lotteries.  And, no, losing last year does not affect the odds this year, so conditional on losing it last year, the probability of losing both is 80%.

    Thanks! I was thinking that you'd probably be able to figure that out pretty quickly.

  3. Happened to Tampa Bay in '98/'99. That looks to be the only occurrence.

    http://www2.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=18342

    Thanks.

     

    Ok, so Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Edmonton are the only three in the history of the draft lottery to finish last place in back to back years. Tampa is the only team to have lost the lottery both years (but still drafted first one year because of restrictions placed on number of slots a team could move up).

     

    Can anyone figure out the odds under the current system? Or has anyone seen an article examining this situation?

  4. Just thinking about this, and I am pretty sure there is someone on here with the know how/resources to figure this out...

     

    We all know that if we finish in last place, that there is an 80% chance that we don't pick first overall, but considering that last year we finished last overall and ended up losing the lottery and selecting second....

     

    What are the chances that a team who finishes last overall for two consecutive years loses the lottery both years?

  5. This season has been so bad I have gone out and bought ice hockey equipment and I am starting to play hockey again after a 15ish year hiatus. Watching the Sabres these past years has literally sucked the fun out of hockey for me to the point where I've said "forget this, I'll do it myself."

     

    Instead of watching the game last night I was at a stick and puck session at Prospect Park whacking around pucks and practicing my skating. Looks like I made the right choice.

     

     

    I skate shinny there sometimes. It's nice.. They need to get their scoreboard and benches in though. It was supposed to happen last summer, but they didn't come through.

     

    Hoping that they get leagues set up for next winter. I live 5 minutes from the rink and Would rather play there than Long Island City.

  6. Eating in midtown is going to be more upscale and a little pricey. Quality meats is a great steakhouse which, while certainly not cheap, Isn't necessarily wallet crushing. Burgers at the Parker Meridian are amazing and people wait in line for them.

     

    You could always go to Brother Jimmy's (Southern BBQ) right next to MSG on Eigth Avenue, There's also one on the Upper West Side. It's nothing to write home about, but I have eaten many plates of Brother Jimmy's over the years.

     

    Another Bar/pub that is decent for tying one on with your pals is Beer Authority. Food is pretty good, large beer selection and lots of space. I think they also have an outdoor beer patio, but I usually go in the winter before Rangers games so I haven't experienced the patio first hand. It's a few blocks from MSG.

     

    There are a few Shake Shacks that you could hit up. Just google it. There is one in Madison Square Park, The Theatre District, and one on Columbus Ave near Central Park in the Upper west side.

     

     

    A wildcard out of the way spot would be Chinese Mirch. It's on 23rd and Lexington. The menu is Chinese/Indian fusion. I like it because there are chiles in almost every dish and unlike most restaurants, they can make a hot pepper eater like myself actually sweat it out.

     

     

    Let me know if you need any other info and I'll try to help out best I can.

  7. Girg, Risto and Pysyk looking ahead of the pack there, and rightfully so.

     

    Sam-T looked great along the boards and even had a few good moves to the net. He's 24 though and 4-6 years older than most of the other attendees though. Can't wait to see more of him in Rochester and see how he measures up to a sheet full of professionals.

     

    Baptiste is intriguing.

  8.  

     

    Manual? I don't know if anything other some Jeep models would fill that. My 99 Cherokee had a 5-speed. I'm not sure I'd recommend a Jeep though, mine was starting to show some issues at 75k, although I did a little off-roading in it and it was in a deer accident so I'm not going to 100% blame the brand on that one.

     

    I still have my 99 Cherokee. 13 years and 120K and I haven't had to replace anything beyond regular maintenance.

     

    The last 25,000 or so have been NYC miles, so I know it's days are numbered. I'm no fool.

     

    I love how utilitarian it is. Roll up/down windows, no bells or whistles to go haywire or crap out.

     

    It's real hard to find a plain Jane nowadays. The car makers like to load up the base models.

     

     

  9.  

     

    Agree fully with that. For a supposed $10 million player, he doesn't make enough good plays...he makes weak passes and takes bad shots from the point. He seems demoralized.

     

    716, I love the Jimmy Finlayson avatar.

     

    I have had an appreciation for Laurel and Hardy since I was a kid.

  10. Havent ever posted this idea before, but since today is the last day that it's relevant I will now.

     

    I always felt that Ryan Miller understood what bringing a Stanley Cup to Buffalo would mean.

     

    I think he understood, in a different way than most NHL'ers, that winning a championship in this town would bring immortal legend status.

     

    We are dying for a big time trophy, and the guys who make it happen will be Gods in Buffalo, and Miller got that.

  11. Make sure you take route 17 all the way between Charleston and Savannah. It will take a little longer, but you'll see some interesting small southern towns and some great live oak trees draped in Spanish moss by avoiding the 95.

     

    Savannah is the sort of place that you would do well with an afternoon, a night and a morning. Charleston is worth two full days/nights in my opinion.

     

     

  12.  

    Another question is, will it effect the HarborCenter?

    I'm surprised they didn't cut out a couple of rinks and make them Basketball courts. Its not like they don't have the space to remove a rink or 2 and put some courts in there instead and appeal to everyone

     

    I think it's more likely to compete directly with the Schwan's Super Rink in Minnesota rather than the Harbor Center.  Schwan's is currently the largest in North America with 8 rinks.

     

     

    As far as basketball courts and making everyone happy the development group is contributing $8 million toward a 50,000-square-foot space within the armory for the community to build out any way it wishes.  So if they want a basketball facility they can have that too.

  13.  

    I bet 4 of those rinks get turned into parking. Riding the subway with a hockey bag and sticks sucks.

     

    Pretty excited about this. It's going to do a lot for hockey in NY.

     

    It was pretty controversial during the planning phase (it's being built in a decommissioned armory). Local residents wanted retail and basketball facilities. People from greater NY saw the potential of a National Ice Center.

     

    I spoke with a couple of City Council members about this project, and reminded them of the success of the Ice Hockey in Harlem program has had in exposing kids to hockey who would never have had the chance to play, or even been introduced to the game.

     

    Hopefully this works out on an even larger scale. I'd love to see kids from the Bronx playing in the NHL in 20 years.

     

     

  14.  

     

    I expect them to be mediocre all year.

     

    They are in a decline, while the Bills and Fins are heading in the opposite direction. The division will be a dogfight of mediocrity all season.

     

    Well, they're 2-0 now. As much as I want to believe they aren't as good as they seem to be, their record continues to prove me wrong time and time again.

     

    The problem is, the Patriots don't need to be Super Bowl Legend material to win the AFC East and get into the playoffs.

  15. It gets better. Barclays was originally going to pay $400M dollars for the naming rights for 20 years (a world record for an indoor arena), but renegotiated down to more than $200M dollars. Barclays does not have or even plan to have any retail bank branches in the US and did not put any of its own ATMs in the building.

     

    Zany.

     

     

    While they don't have any retail banking locations, I believe they're growing within the credit card industry.

    Don't see many going to Nets Basketball games either

     

     

    Barclay's Center is the highest grossing arena in the United States. Nets games are usually full and concerts are highly attended. The place sits in the heart of NYC and is accessible by almost every subway and the LIRR. In its first year, Barclay's is beating the pants off of MSG.

     

    The developer, Bruce Ratner didn't build that place to be a basketball arena, or a hockey arena. It's meant to be a world class entertainment venue. Their business model is to fill that place on as many nights as possible, whether it's Barbara Streisand or the Islanders doesn't matter.

     

    Th hockey community in NYC is really excited about hockey in Brooklyn. The isles devils game next weekend has great buzz right now, and I don't know anyone who's a fan of the game who won't be attending.

     

    As far as naming rights, Barclays dos retail, corporate, Investment banking and personal wealth management. They may not do retail banking in the US, but they have attached their name to the highest grossing arena sits right smack in the center of the nation's finance capital. It makes sense.

     

    The scoreboard, seating arrangement, and sight lines seem screwy for now, but they are supposed to reconfigure the floor of the arena before the Isles make the final move there in 2015.

  16.  

     

    Surprised that he hasn't heard of Hull and Mikita.

     

    Oh, I am sure he has.

     

    Those guys were giants in the 1960's before Hull ran off to Winnipeg. Mikita continued to produce, but it wasn't the same one-two punch. They won their only cup together in 1961.

     

    I think Bowman was referencing Kane and Toews cause they were a huge part of the teams that brought the cup back to Chicago for the first time in 49 years. Twice in Four years. Hence, "back on the map."

     

    Compare that to the quiet days before those two came along During which the Hawks only made the playoffs once from 1998-2008.

     

     

     

     

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