That Aud Smell

The idea that Eichel doesn’t need a high-end (i.e., jigh-performance) pairing seems misguided to me.

Agree with this to a point. But, as for 28 and 29: Perfect complements? I'd definitely say "serviceable" and even at times "good." But if this team is going to accomplish anything, they need to find Robin to Jack's Batman. Hot Daniel was sure that Reinhart could be that Robin. There had been hope for that Swedish prospect whose name, honest to God, I can't recall right now (I ate a big lunch). And if not either of them, perhaps Casey?

Jesus. 43+ weeks? I believe that'd be referred to as post-term. As I understand it, after 42 weeks that glorious temporary organ known as the placenta starts to break down.

Holy smokes - 4 weeks early and weighing in over 6#?! Oof. Had your mom gone full-term, I'm guessing ... I dunno. 9-ish, at least, I think.

Yeah - if you're into that 35-36-week range, complications tend to be far fewer and far less serious. Although boys will tend to have a rougher go of it. Our preemie was earlier than that 35/36 threshold, although in the realm of preemies she was "a giant" (just shy of 34 weeks and weighing a bit over 4 lbs.). I've since read that the Thomases were about 17-18 weeks along in this pregnancy -- well before the range of a viable premature birth (but so painful and sad just the same, we can be sure).

Dear God. I'm blessed to be the dad of a healthy, vibrant young woman who was born quite prematurely. My heart brakes for the parents.

I feel badly for Flacco, of course, but dammit all if I didn't see that hit as a close call. Flacco slid late, Alonso was trying to prevent a first down. It looked awful, but it was not a predatory hit.

Very much agree. I'll admit, I'm still working through this unpleasant feeling: I'm not sure where I'll end up, or where the team will be, by mid-December.

I can't help, and won't apologize for, how happy that .gif made me when I first saw it.

Agree with the last two posts. I watched a good portion of the game. CLB looked absolutely terrific. And the Sabres looked engaged. That was a brutal stretch in the 2nd. Sh1t happens that way sometimes.

It's a word that means something specific. Why jettison it? Were we to do so, I fear we'd needlessly risk conf--. Well, you get the idea. +10

As I recall, nor do you consider the Sabres a privately owned business.

You gotta love how the banished P thread has a way of rearing its ugly head.

And, yeah. I don't think anyone is ever going to make headway with the contention that people who work dangerous jobs in industries like logging, construction, and fishing are as equally deserving of public gratitude as those who take an oath to serve and protect.

It's a real problem. For some, it's unwanted. For a majority, I think, it's accepted and/or welcomed. And that dynamic distorts the perspectives of a great many -- those who serve(d) and those who are buying into the idolatry. Oh, I hear you on the PR angle. (We can leave aside the debate regarding the authenticity or desirability of pro athletes' very public involvement with sick kids for now.) As for the original purpose of playing the anthem at sporting events, I'm too lazy to look up why it was started. I thought I read once upon a time that it was done to honor those who'd died in service? Anyway, in a PSE-controlled pro sports franchise, you can bet your overly-twanged-sangin'-voice that the purpose of playing the anthem is to honor our men and women in uniform. Re the above, below

Very true. The Jacobs folks at Delaware North commissioned a whack-a-doodle research project to envision what the business of professional sports will be like in 50 or 100 years. One common recurring theme: Spectating as we have come to know it may fall by the boards. A similar thought had occurred to me. Largely, I think Eleven's responses are about right -- the manner in which he disappeared, the involvement of so many different agencies. OTOH, your skepticism and cynicism regarding what's going on here resonate with me. Several times, I've caught myself feeling badly for having vague feelings of ... ambivalence (or worse) over the production levels associated with this funeral. The term "stunt" is overly harsh, since these things are rarely binary -- it's this or it's that. But there's something that's crept in here that has left me ill at ease. In other settings, I have come to struggle greatly with what I call the monopoly on virtue that is implicitly staked out by the universe of first responders and military veterans (there's a healthy overlap in those two cohorts). What's been going on in the past several days for this, yes, heroic young man has triggered that in me. The people you identified above don't work in a position that is, at its best, a matter of public service where people selflessly place their lives at risk in order to ensure the safety of others. Logging and iron work are dangerous jobs, sure. But those jobs aren't in the nature of public service. There is something naturally attractive and inspiring about what cops, fire fighters, and soldiers do. The problem comes when the pendulum swings too far.

Holy Christ - hadn't realized that. I'm not sure whether it's casual or indecisive, but the net effect is the same.

They played a good road game last night. At home. Do it again.

I saw the same. It called back to mind the discussion re what ROR does relative to "playing a heavy game." I (still) don't know that ROR plays heavy. But he can be so tenacious around the puck and smart with his stick -- he can win most of his puck battles. It makes such a difference when he's doing that.

Yep yep. In this regard: ROR seems to have come around.

I searched for this thread to revive it. What the hell's going on with that guy? I want him to settle down and be good, if only to stick Hamilton's words about him back down his jowled pie hole.

Shoot. Lost out on him and Butcher. We need help back there.

^ It was a winning brand of hockey. Yeah, just the 1-0 score. But not a dull game The thing I thought I noticed was more of that proverbial urgency on and toward the puck. There were a few times where I saw out players coasting when they should have been engaging, and it popped out at me. Because they were not doing a lot of that. They were mostly going toward, into, and through the flow of play. I'm hoping they can figure out how to play that sort of game more consistently. Also, Scandella was terrific.

Good win.

Please no more Moulson.