That Aud Smell

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.

You're gatekeeping what's an acceptable dance and what isn't? I'm curious to hear more about your criteria. Baker's interpretation of the Walk It Talk It dance was in-line with how the young folks were doing it at the time. (There's no one way to do it - not unlike Digital Underground's The Humpty Dance ("no two people will do it the same; you gotta get down when you appear to be in pain").

Ideally, your black socks were knee high when you made that decision. C'mon. There's nothing wrong with the guy dancing and goofin' around. That said, my take: The executives and pundits who pegged him as the #1 QB prospect in that draft identified a player who looked so NFL ready that they failed to consider that, maybe, what they were seeing was all he was ever going to be. He was at his ceiling. And then they failed to reckon with his average physical measurables - size, speed, etc. I still think he could be a decent NFL quarterback, if healthy. One thing that seems to be weighing more heavily against him is that he has had a good to very good running game to support his play at QB. You'll often hear that: This guy could be good or even great, but he needs a strong run game to support him (e.g., Russell Wilson). Anyway. I wish him well, except when he plays the Bills or plays in a game where the Bills need his team to lose.

He was super fun. I know I’ve asked it here before: Didn’t he tussle with Ray Bourque and win in a split decision?

Not necessarily - maybe not at all. See @Norcal’s point about decoy routes. Brown seems crazy - but he could be crazy like a fox when it comes to his money. If he knew he was getting sent in for packages not designed for him … that could’ve been the straw that broke the camel’s back … or the straw that stirred the drink (?) 😜.

Thanks. So it was 8, not 3 or 4. Seems safe to infer that the tension was tied to the incentives. Brown may have interpreted a lack of targets for him, and the coaching staff's indifference to whether he reached those incentives as the coaches plotting against him. And, honestly, it is IMO totally possible that the coaching staff was working to cap those incentives and save the owner a few bucks (and the GM some cap space (?)). So when Brown was busting his butt to play through pain, but was not getting targets (and his cash), and then was told to go back in ... maybe he made a different sort of business decision? Like, "nah, man, I'm good. I can play through this pain if there's a million dollars at stake ... but if you're trying to keep me from that money? Funk you. I'm hurt. Can't go." To which the coaches may have reasonably responded: "Okay. If you're hurt and can't go, then go to the locker room for treatment." Which Brown would have heard as: "You're fired. Leave."

Ian Rapaport carrying water for A. Brown, for sure. The truth is at the bottom of a bottomless pit.

Story emerging is that he was ~3-4 good catches (for ~50 yards) and a TD away from ~$1M in bonuses ($333K for each item), and that he understood the coaching staff as actively keeping him out of the game plan so as to avoid him hitting those incentives. Which, by the way, is totally plausible.