That Aud Smell

Happy for a reminder that Tage is a good NHL forward - great look to Pysyk.

I dunno. All the tilted ice I saw was 5v5.

I’ve caught some of this game - the first in a long while. The score is pretty strongly against the flow of play.

Shot attempts were something like 24 against and 11 for while he was on the ice. That’s bad. But I’ve learned that raw Corsi is just a stat - in isolation, it is often misleading. @dudacek indicated above that Samuelsson very much passed the eye test - sounds good to me!

But it was executed as practiced.

McCarthy said that they regularly practice that play, and practiced it extra during preparations for the wildcard game. The implication being (or at least my inference being): They ran it exactly as they practice it (including the distance). So I wouldn't even blame Prescott for a lack of SA - he ran the plan that was called and ran it precisely as it was practiced. Only because the ref came absolutely flying in there in an apparent effort to give the Cowboys a chance to get the play off. Why would such a razor-thin margin ever be part of an acceptable play call in a do-or-die situation? Listening again to Romo's colour: A shot to the end zone on that play with :14 to go might have been a really good idea -- if the 49ers had defenders skewing towards the sidelines, the middle may have been more open.

I have been unable to watch Sabres hockey. Which gives me a sad. (h/t to @inkman for that phrasing.) I saw Harrington's headline about how Samuelsson logged a lot of minutes. Then I checked his raw Corsi for the game against the Senators. It was muy no bueno. I sense that I need context. Wasn't/isn't that Johan Larsson's nickname?

Was the best guess that that was for a sports hernia? The history of his injuries this season is so confusing.

What even was his injury? Were his injuries? Sports hernia? Broken wrist?

A youngish NFL beat reporter - for NBC? Yahoo? I can't recall - said he informally polled 20+ offensive coaches in the NFL to ask, in essence, how much time is needed to run that play in that situation. The answers varied a little, but the absolute minimum was 17 seconds (most said 19 is the magic number). McCarthy (or Kellen Moore?) blew it. Actually, having typed Moore's name, it occurs to me that McCarthy, in steadfastly saying it was a good call at the time and in that situation, could just be taking a bullet for his OC. More likely: Moore called it; McCarthy didn't override it; and the Cowboys needlessly lost a chance to win the game. This is the only correct take, IMO.

What a pure, strange bit of joy that corner was when Chuck's bubbles were floating around. Rest in peace, sir.

I might be able to catch some of this one - I can't recall the last time I was able to do that. Let's Go, Buffalo!

Absolutely on the first piece -- a huge (and bad) risk given how much time was on the clock. But, of course, time management has always been one of McCarthy's principal weaknesses. In terms of whether he should be fired over that, I'm less sure. I do think that the Cowboys can, and should, do better at the HC position.

They may sell them, initially at least — but the games will be lightly attended if the weather is rough and the team is out of the hunt.

Please take what I posted in the spirit intended - the idea that @LGR4GM would do something "resently" (not even a word? but, if it were, it would be rooted in resent) was amusing.

modest typo, but i love the added meaning here

Of all the d-linemen that they rotate through the lineup, Oliver arguably has the greatest ability to disrupt a play. That's all I care about. And he had a very good game against the Falcons. My sense is that he does lead the team in 15-yard penalties, though.

That sounds right. Did Nichols have housing it could offer him? Or did he billet with a local family?

And what about Dan Catenacci (sp). What about Peter Ciavaglia?

Are you old enough to recall how the trade deadline acquisition of that guy was -- according to some -- going to put the team over the top in terms of Cup contention?

Yeah - it was Kyle Shanahan. Matty Ice didn't blow that game.

It's an absolute scandal and a shake down. The NFL is a real estate development association that is masquerading as an affiliated group of sports entertainment entities. It also is what it is. I took my oldest to the Falcons game. She looked around the concourse in the 300's at halftime and asked: How many of these people do you think will be able to go to games in the new stadium? I just stood there. It's a really good question. Lord help us. This is precisely why I was just like ... /stupid face and shrugging emoticon/ "IDK ... Wheeeeeee!"

Gotcha. I didn't watch the game, so I have no idea whether he choked it away. Did he? Man, that was almost entirely on the play caller. Who was it? Shanahan? I like this take. Fair deuce, and to each their own. And I amend my suggestion that you get your black socks hiked up knee-high while making such judgments - there are too many fans of your calves around here.

Was he playing defence? The fact that the consensus had him ranked over Josh Allen is a reflection on the risk-averse nature of most decision makers. I give huge credit to Beane and his team (including Terry (?!)) for swinging for the fences, and not just choking up and taking a safe base hit.