That Aud Smell

Fair deuce. The story that's since emerged makes it sound pretty shady. I did enjoy the take of contrarian media types who theorized that this was concocted by Belichick to motivate his team ("us against the world!"). I think that this is overblown. I mean, I hate that team -- and that dynamic duo -- as much as I can. But they are the best of all time. I like it! I also enjoyed how HEATED he got when ... the Ravens? ... had too many players in the huddle but were allowed to avoid the penalty by calling a timeout (something that is not supposed to happen).

Who’s with Steve Belichick there? Not the shadowy Ernie Adams...?

Ha. It was the Pats. Steve Belichick no less.

Ooooh. Yeah. Maybe not a film crew ...? But McDermott definitely lit into some people affiliated with an opposing team for some on-field pre-game shenanigans.

^ Interesting. There are tiers (ha) there, of course. I'd be interested to see how others would tier those no-Cup runs. I'll grant that the Leafs have the worst of it.

Hmm. That's a good theory.

Beats me. p.s. I started saying this in my early 20s, and it's now just a middle-aged dad joke, but I have long said that my hip-hop stage name would be DJ Beats Me. It'll leak. Bank on it.

That much I gathered.

What the hell's going on in Dallas? Dallas fires their HC. Team statement: "The Dallas Stars expect all of our employees to act with integrity and exhibit professional behavior while working for and representing our organization. This decision was made due to unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.”

I’m seeing that too. Yeeeeah. Eeesh.

White posted to Instagram that he thought those papers contained Pro Bowl voting information, and he wanted to see what was up. He really is a treasure.

So that you can actually say stuff, and not spit all over your teammates.

^ I read a bit about that. Something doesn't add up. The crew from New England had credentials from Cleveland? And they were in Patriots gear? Why on earth would Belichick & Co. cheat in such an obvious manner? ... Concerning the Bengals, no less!

That's fair - there is a young core. Guys like Gore and Alexander bring up the average age, I reckon. I think the Bills are among the league's 10 older teams, fwiw.

Also: Aren't the Bills one of the league's oldest teams?

Ah, I see. You were being earnest. Okay. I do mean it, generally speaking: Moral victories and $4 (is it $5 now?) will get you a fancy cup of coffee. But, I do agree ... They certainly did compete! Shoot - if the Ravens d-back hadn't made a (very) good play on that last pass - the game's tied. (After a marvelous acting job by Beasley, btw.) I trust that the Bills got the look they wanted with John Brown there -- essentially one on one coverage, no help coming from the other side. Really good play by the corner there. Also bear in mind: If the Bills send that game to OT, they would have at least secured a point for the wild card race.

IIRC, there were 2 or 3 sacks that seemed mostly like Allen's fault. These were instances where he waited too long (needed to dump it off or somehow throw it away), moving laterally toward pressure rather than stepping up in the pocket, and such. Moral victories are largely meaningless, but the Bills somehow hanging in there against the class of the league is somewhat encouraging. Also, I'm not going to read through it, but lulz at the fact that there's some sort of debate over whether the Bills did the right thing by going for 2 when they did.

there is a specific circumstance in which that is ... well, a clear sign that you and yours are having a fine time.

Correct. It does looks ugly. Still, what's a goon to do? Holy hell is that glorious.

Lit's geaux, Beau Fleu!

FTFY. Hells yeah.

Fair enough. Likely a blend, depending on the distance of the away team's city.

Do Ravens fans travel much? I'm asking. I think of traveling fan bases, I think of the Steelers, Jets, Eagles ... the Pats (I guess).

And, in fairness, that was a bad mofo who did the bad thing. Even so. Tom Wilson was out there.