That Aud Smell

Also: The hell is going on with Zay Jones? His name is all over my Twitter TL, but I can’t divine why.

This is about where I landed. It was regrettable but somewhat understandable that several hundred (maybe 1000+?) diehard fans (they were still in the stadium during the walk off of a preseason game) would, in the moment, boo the face of the franchise for unexpectedly retiring on the eve of a Superbowl or bust season. Beer may have had a role too. Now, if Indy fans continue to boo Luck going forward? That’s gonna be a real problem.

Dude. That was awesome.

Having read the piece, it certainly has a certain angle and agenda about it. But it's fair game for the columnist to read body language and in between the lines. It's also sort of interesting to think that McDavid and Eichel are in somewhat similar spots --- max term deals with teams that have not become good around them. At least McDavid had a playoff run.

That dude who wrote the piece ... Cathal Kelly. His name and picture ring a bell with me. Has he written hack pieces in the past? Or do I remember him because he's good?

Where would he play? 3rd line?

^ Sheesh

@PASabreFan: I could not find any of the old threads where we discussed the nature of an owner's ownership of a pro sports club -- maybe they're gone forever? These were the threads where you talked about the Sabres as a community asset not unlike the BPO, etc. I was fairly contrary to that position. Anyway, this was the best match I could find, so I am plunking it here. The inimitable Arlo White and the good fans of Bury FC in England are of a mind with you. Thank God for subtitles.

they apparently did such a bad job that none of the fans would smile for the photos that were taken for the promotional campaign. ha. honestly, i don't have a take on what the canucks did for their 50th.

Metallica was at CMAC?!

Also: Your sitting neighbours are in-line with my gripe about the vibe there.

That would be a band worth seeing. They cranked out hits, but those guys were also serious musicians and songwriters. In fact, Hall messed around quite a bit with experimental musicians like Robert Fripp, Brian Eno, etc. CMAC is a lovely venue. I've seen a couple of my favourite acts there over the years, on several occasions. I often find the crowd to be a bit *meh*, as a whole. Not a huge complaint, admittedly.

That alternate 50 kit is right spiffing. Full marks. There's a fair amount of cross-pollination that's happening between NA and Europe in terms of pro sports. Almost all of the elements being borrowed and adopted have to do with increasing revenues. I therefore expect some NA leagues to get into that business of tweaking the kits every year, and going crazy with a 3rd kit every year as well. Too much money to be made to avoid it.

I was gonna say. In this case, there's good reason for calling out who had the call ahead of time. It informs how you're apt to receive information going forward.

Chatter heating up with the blue check marks on Twitter re Clowney coming to Buffalo. I also saw talk about how that tackle that the Bills signed from ... Washington (?!) didn't practice today, for unexplained reasons.

In fact, it tends to render the word meaningless.

Well, wait a second. A "bust" is, by definition, a prospect who didn't play at a level commensurate with where the player was selected. 3rd round picks become NHL players at about a 30% rate. Thus, 70% of 3rd round picks never become NHL players. By extension, a player chosen in the 3rd round who does not become an NHL player is performing in a manner consistent with the super-majority of his peers. That kind of prospect/player is not a bust. I'd suggest that the word you wanted there is -- at most -- something more along the lines of "detriment" or "disappointment." Filatov (sp?) as chosen by CBJ in the top-10 was a bust, for example.

Calling a 3rd round pick a bust? Brayton Wilson needs to calm down.

^^ That's a mostly unhelpful way of reporting what Prescott has been offered and what he is demanding. It's all about guaranteed money in the NFL. "AAV," or whatever, doesn't mean a blessed thing in NFL contract talk. What did Carson Wentz get when he signed? IIRC, his guaranteed money was, as a practical matter, more than $100M.

"redneck JaMarcus Russell." So good.

He has a history of them, right? Also, I saw a Tweet that the pass-pro was awful without him in there.

As noted here and elsewhere upthread, that's what I saw on the Tweeter: There was a uniquely, weirdly low morale under this guy's leadership. In a short amount of time. Haha - that is awesome. Not for nothing: I think some guy recently got a big ol' ugly ticket from the DEC for having his large dog catch, take down, and kill (!!!) a white tail at a park in Tonawanda.

I saw a Tweet - can't track it down now - to the effect that "things" were just bad within the organization - something about dark clouds looming over the locker room, etc.