That Aud Smell

The OP reflects a good take. I think there's a fundamental mental fortitude in him. I'll stay tuned, and post as able.

Waaaaaaaayyy off. Maybe his girlfriend is still refusing to take out the trash? Not sure what the second parag. is about.

Waaaaaaaayyy off. Maybe his girlfriend is still refusing to take out the trash? Not sure what the second parag. is about.

Well, they're predictive, not determinative. For sure. Paid less, but a good org treats all employees largely the same.

Pragmatic may be a mite more charitable than the teams deserve. I do think there's something to the removed nature of the owners. They can turn screws on their FO and coaches to get results, while also thinking themselves as the magnanimous patrons of these fine athletes. You still hear about that -- players professing love and loyalty for owners (calling them "Mr. so-and-so"). I have memories of Lafontaine saying he was quite close with Seymour and Jean Knox. (As to Jean, by the way, her Facebook is fairly open and she is a LOON. Edit: Her profile is actually fairly closed. But she regularly posts on public pages with Buffalo-related themes. Look for her!) I agree more than I disagree, though. Pro athletes, to varying degrees, will often get treated like so much livestock. Well-compensated livestock, sure. But still.

That mos def was a sucker punch. I hope that idiot gets 10 games.

You have a point to make. But you're undermining it by overstating the case.

I had the same reaction. There is something to the idea that the teams' care for the players' health is utilitarian in nature. I think there's much more to the idea that coaches and even GMs take a pragmatic approach to their concern with player safety. (I especially think of football coordinators, who can be infamously nasty about players nursing injuries.) Being more removed from the day to day effects of injuries, I think owners would profess to having a more genuine concern for their players' well-being. Of course, the proof is in the pudding of the policies that a league adopts, the terms that are negotiated in a CBA, etc.

I’m not saying destructive behavior should be condoned.

That sounds like a path to division. Which, go for it. That seems to be de rigueur.

I think you’re taking too narrow a view of love, and you’re probably misinterpreting what I’m saying. No one is bound to tie themselves to people who actively hate, reject, or abuse them. But love can and will still prevail over such hate, if you let it.

I'm not sure when that point comes. I suppose it varies for everyone. For the people I'm talking about, we mostly don't talk politics. Every now and then a surplus of beers will prompt someone to say something, but mostly we avoid the subject. Instead, we talk about stuff like getting my mother-in-law's deck fixed (it's sagging from some kind of underground erosion issue), what joint trip the young cousins want to plan for next year (a tradition), baseball, football, and so on. Oh, and there are a number of rootsy Americana acts on which we can agree when it comes to listening to music. When I feel the need to, I communicate my views in ways that are perhaps more oblique. Oh, and love is always enough. Sometimes we falter, break down, or quit as its messengers, but love itself never fails.

Is that true? Damn. When I was a young turk, we listened to Tribe Called Quest and "sport[ed] New Balance sneakers to avoid a narrow path."

Watching Melnyk's brutally awkward interview leads me to conclude that I don't want to hear more from the Pegulas.

https://twitter.com/Senators/status/1039334041219084289

Interesting.

I think those are all fair criticisms. For my part, I just don't care. As long as his voice is accompanying the game, I'm good. FWIW, I suspect the broadcast team has a spotter (?), or someone who operates in that capacity (saying things into the headsets). I'm not sure if this decline will become a problem for the broader fan base, though.

had someone here posted the video where the team's 6/7/8 d-man interviewed the owner for ~5 minutes? brutal.

hat tip to you, @Ducky

Seems look a good deal, at least insofar as the fans are concerned -- manageable cap hit and a motivated top-6 forward. I have to believe that the holdup was Reinhart looking for more term. So, did he blink? I tend to agree.

So good.

Language is hard, especially when dashed off between this and that. Alex Smith? Hmmm. Maybe I think Josh Allen's ceiling is like a much more explosive, somewhat less accurate Alex Smith? The love child of Alex Smith and Big Ben? Mostly, I think he tops out, if he does, as a poor man's (maybe economy class?) Big Ben. Which I think could get the job done.

And I don't totally disagree. But there's honour in what D-Lo does/was doing.

As proffered upthread: So as to make the roster. And earn an NHL paycheck. Setting aside how one feels about fighting in the NHL (I'm pretty ambivalent, I guess), there's honour in what a hockey-pugilist does.