That Aud Smell

The Phantom Thread, from Paul F. Tompkins. https://twitter.com/pftompkins/status/959192605924864000 Be sure to scroll through for sublime progression.

Didn’t get to see this one. Honestly unsure what to make of the 15/90 “thing” at this point.

Penguins (principally Crosby) do nothing in response to Dustin Brown's dirty cross check.

What grade to the Kings get here? I'd say a passing grade. Done posting for now. It's interesting to note: I think the Bruins have been the victims of three dirty hits that resulted in supplemental discipline this season. In two instances, Schaller responded by dropping the gloves. The Bruins get an "A" grade, I think. OTOH, I'm not sure what this does to the notion that prompt retaliation discourages future reckless acts.

Full marks to the Bruins here. Not a hit that warranted a "reply," but ... Eichel cares.

Over in the Devils game thread, pi posited that teams that care about each other will (consistently) stand up for each other when an opponent takes liberties. So I took a look at the wiki for this year's suspensions and fines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017%E2%80%9318_NHL_suspensions_and_fines and picked out one out that sounded nasty, to spot-check the assertion. The Avalanche have been terrific of late. Do they not care about each other? I'll add other clips here as time allows, and invite others to do the same. The Lightning jumped up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HIhcE2JUGM

Same. I no longer place the same stock in it that I used to, but, really, where's the downside to just bear hugging the other guy (Taylor Hall, btw) in that situation and grappling for 20 seconds? It'll be a meaningless scrum, rest assured. I used to be. Not as much anymore. But still .... I'd be interested to see actual data (footage) on this point. My mind is pretty open on the subject. But I'm skeptical that there are teams that reliably get after it when one of their own gets cheap-shotted.

Ha.

Excellent point.

Relegation games are incredibly exciting. And there's a ton of money at stake, to boot. That's a fair observation on how the NA system differs from Europe. I hear you on capping costs for the richer clubs, but, really -- if the Yankees were at liberty to spend $350M on payroll, would they? They probably would. I don't think the ultra-rich clubs really want to be constrained in what they spend. Part of the difference lies in the reality that, with soccer, there are multiple top-flight leagues and top-flight clubs competing for the same talent. If "Sidney Crosby" had started out with Tottenham Hotspur, he'd have long since jetted for Real Madrid, or whatever.

Interesting. But, with that brutal phantom PI in mind from the JAX game, I still think that the refs are, at times, unwittingly influenced by the Pats' aura.

I think the business of "how did the team react" is over-played. Cooke damn near killed Savard years ago, and the Bruins' on-ice reaction was pretty tame.

^ It's a shame. I'm still becoming accustomed to the very hurly-burly (sp?) ways in which international footballers move, rise, and then fall among clubs of different tiers, quality, and resources. It's a persisting irony to me: The USA fancies itself a bastion of free markets, but our professional sports associations are very much influenced by principles that are, well, the opposite of how free markets work. Lots of monopolies and other permitted anti-competitive conduct, for starters. OTOH, Europe is often referred to as a network of declining socialist states. Yet, their pro sports associations are governed by very cut-throat free market principles. Are you a good player who's become a great player? Okay, then, you leave your role as a Chelsea reserve (or whatever) and go to Liverpool. Are you a great player who's become an elite player? Okay, then, you leave Liverpool and go to Barcelona. Oh, and are you a club that's bleeding cash and unable to maintain payroll? Okay, well, then - you fold. Or you topple down from the top flight into the second division. It's amazing, really. North American sports can't hold a candle to the intrigue that comes out of international soccer.

Mahrez is apparently on strike at Leicester.

Haha - fair deuce Cool map on this page. I can't say I think of Erie, PA as being part of Appalachia, though.

Good call on the Southern Tier being the Southern Tier. I would submit that there are regions that have dual identities. Chautauqua County, for example, is definitely part of WNY, imo.

I'd been curious about the post as well, as my response indicated. I'm not sure what "shackled" added to "stapled" relative to the issue you wanted to highlight, but I certainly take you at your word. I also agree with what NS offers above -- some words in some contexts are loaded with connotation.

Just looked at a map, and, yeah - Rte 14 is a helpful line.

Fair. Wikipedia says it’s really 17 counties. And there’s a treaty-based “preemption line” that runs north/south through or near Geneva and marks off WNY.

Sorry on the 490. I meant that exit on 90 where you access 490. Is that where WNY is demarcated? But I take the point of Rochesterites thinking they’re in/of WNY. Otoh, the common phrase is “the 8 counties of WNY.” Monroe ain’t among them.

I'll add: The practice of invoking and applying ethnic and/or racial stereotypes upon meeting a new individual person is where stereotypes go bad. Very bad.

Maybe just semantics here. I think of ceiling as something reasonably attainable, and I don't think there's a realistic chance that Wilson becomes as useful as either of those guys. But I'm all for being wrong on that score.

Joke.