That Aud Smell

I just can’t.

It was the era of the Merseyside Beat!!

very true. pele' became the best in the world after training with a wrapped ball of rags in the slums of brazil. this is why basketball, at times, seems destined to become the planet's sport. very accessible. and is it true that "hockey" (aka field hockey) has more fans and participants than ice hockey? i could look it up, i suppose.

Ha. No worries. YNWA is, hands down, full stop, the greatest song associated with a pro sports team. Nothing touches it. To me, there's something moving and significant about the fact that the song isn't from the band that Liverpool is most famous for exporting -- rather, it's from a band (Gerry & The Pacemakers) that was in the same scene as The Beatles but did not ascend to international superstardom like The Beatles did. But for those who are from, or of, Liverpool, it's Gerry's anthem of love and solidarity that is the song to sing.

Sometimes I’m tempted to say, in response to people saying the sport is boring, that “4 billion people can’t be wrong.” But then I realize that the second most popular sport globally is cricket. And that sport funking blows. So, whatever. To each their own.

To each their own. It’s the greatest sport in the world, IMO. One thing I love so dearly about it is how people of all shapes and sizes can be excellent at it. Oh, and up the fuc*king Reds. #YNWA

Pilut may have made Risto look better, but Risto was an absolute anchor on Pilut's 5v5 shot rate metrics.

Probably right. But maybe ...? We'll see what happens in the finals -- good test case.

in the most literal sense, those 2 teams last night were playing a style of playoff hockey, since they were playing the first game of their conference finals. perhaps more seriously: query whether there's a change a(dam)foot(e) with regard to what qualifies as "actual playoff-style hockey."

Looking forward to these games.

That MacKinnon goal was phenomenal. What a combination of skill, grace, and power.

The AR15s used in the two recent mass shootings were legally purchased. Setting aside whether it's good or even practicable policy to have more "good guys with guns" in the schools, the fact is that, in Ulvada, the cops were there when the gunman emerged from a disabled vehicle in order to access the school. The cops did not stop him, could not stop him. The cops. In the case of Buffalo, we had a retired cop on the scene. A good guy with a gun. He could not stop the bad guy. And as I think @Weave noted: These bad actors are now customarily clad in body armor. Setting aside the question of policy: Good guys with guns are not part of the solution. That's been borne out by the facts. This remains fair and accurate. An awful and ugly truth.

Crudely speaking: This is the difference between a feature and a bug.

A college buddy of mine is an egghead sociologist. After Buffalo but before Uvalde, we were texting and he explained, in some detail, that the United States is the only country that exhibits a statistical propensity for mass shootings to occur. I'll caution anyone who goes looking: There are, of course, ways to skew statistics to support another position. The outlier events in places like New Zealand can make that country seem more prone to mass shootings than the United States. But it just isn't true. The recent role of the AR15 can't be over-stated. I'm sure those are valid concerns, to varying degrees. But, honestly, let's just start by limiting access to assault rifles. Shotguns? Rifles? Handguns? Keep 'em. You can have 'em. Guns that are militarily designed to obliterate and destroy? Not so much, please.

my general feeling is that, for the most part, people are people. the sorts of people who may, will, can commit these sorts of atrocities are distributed fairly evenly throughout the whole of earth's human population. then it becomes a matter of whether and to what extent they will have the means to carry out those acts, and perhaps, to a lesser extent, whether and to what extent the culture in which they live will exacerbate whatever sociopathic tendencies they have.

they are aberrations in those places. they are endemic here.

The police were on scene when he crashed his car and "engaged" with him before he entered the school building. good place to start, imo.

True. But they were on the road. No personal reporting obligations.

Maybe? It’s Tampa. There is a strip club industry there.

That reporter has the best sources in the strip club industry. Fascinating.

OTOH, Cuomo's situation isn't normal nor is he any person. He resigned in disgrace. Yet again OTOH: I suppose disgraced people can continue to use titles as well.

Great take. I have lots of love for Myers, and it is 100% clear that he is devoted to his family, his hometown region, and his heritage. And I'll say: If you have not watched "So I Married an Axe Murderer," do yourself a favour and give it a watch. His send-up of the parental characters is just astonishing comedy. In a weird effing irony: Several of the dad's conspiracy beliefs from this movie are echoed in the document that the Buffalo mass killer published. This is an absolutely brutal take. But it is far from unfair. There are truths worth pondering there. On reflection following your post, I do not have a problem with what Myers did. Yes, he's out there promoting a project. It's what he does for a living. In the course of what he would normally otherwise be doing, he chose to send some love to a town that he considers part of his hometown experience. Not so different from anyone else choosing to wear a Buffalo-themed top in order to show some love. He just happens to have a life that is public. I'm good with it. Andrew Cuomo, OTOH, is f*cking depraved. Shamelessly working to rehabilitate his public image by trading on the 5/14 tragedy. Absent a constitutional amendment, no.

Came here to post about this guy. Florida getting swept is deceptive given how incredible he was. This stat blew my mind. The border between the "edge" and utter recklessness (which, imo, counts as an intent to injure) is so blurry as not to exist. I would celebrate if either of those players -- or a player comparable to them -- were on the Sabres.

Fwiw - local sports talk show has source who reports that "lots" of the Panthers were partying until the wee hours of the morning on the day of Game 3, which was a 1:30 start.