That Aud Smell

Yep. Thanks - that makes sense.

Re Sam: I thought I saw the same last night (although I was watching with no sound while doing some work stuff). He is looking stronger, smarter, and harder on the puck. As for Eichel, I guess I see where the frustration comes from. There are plenty of instances where it seems like he could make a "hard" play on or toward the puck (lean on an opponent, even throw a check, or simply take the body), but he pokes around for the puck to no avail. I can't say that I'm seeing him float or fail to skate when he should. OTOH, he picked a d-man's pocket to set up the first goal; created a dangerous odd-man rush on the PK (yes, that he flubbed); set up Girgensons for what should have been a goal (but was shot wide); and selflessly (maybe unwisely) tried to get an assist on the EN rather than shoot. I thought Eichel was just fine, thank you very much. But he can be and has been so much better than that.

What is the CHL and, dear God, did Dan Paille just die playing there? https://twitter.com/HockeyWebCast/status/928012262597677056

That's a commonly stated truth. I do not think it's one that is borne out by the data. There's good, sound research out there demonstrating that the incredible rises in college tuition actually correlate with large increases in public spending to support post-secondary education, and that the high-point of inflation-adjusted public spending to support colleges came right before the Lehman-induced recession of ~2008-2009. And I hear you on faculty compensation. I've read that it's been quite flat for a long time. But I've also read that the sheer numbers of faculty, administration, etc. have grown at a pace that has contributed to the rise in the cost of college tuition.

Thassa big idear you get there, son. I'd be dead set against that level of federal intrusion into how universities run their businesses. /Silently begs for there to be no political tangent on the subject. As for why the cost of post-secondary education has ballooned, I would not imagine that hefty spending on revenue sports would be a leading reason -- at least not in the large majority of situations. I'd venture that bloated faculty and administration positions would be a more likely culprit. And, echoing a criticism I often level at NFL franchises, the amount of money that colleges and universities spend nowadays on their facilities, their real estate improvements is just staggering. I'd also wager that the manner/method in which sporting competitions are "consumed" by customers would change dramatically before the sort of uncoupling you're talking about could occur.

Hahaha. Dude. I'm about 50-50 on seeing Muni when I go to games. He's frequently lurking around the alumni lounge in the 200s.

I'd argue that the length of the games is worse than the NFL. Yeah. I don't know how you go about unwinding the tradition and brand of the various schools from their teams.

No. But he can be the QB of a playoff team.

Aye. Fair point. I think that's been a rule forever. My bad. My sense is, though, that having many, many more plays (and dozens more first downs) is partly what's behind the slow progress of the games. That and their replay review system.

I'm fascinated by the rise and fall of each QB class. Last year's class: Widely judged as not worth mortgaging anything for. And yet Deshaun Watson looked like an all-world talent before his injury. This year's class: Widely hailed in the preseason as having several top-level talents, and now being slowly, steadily undermined and relegated to not-so-great. The Garappolo trade is said to be a sure sign that NFL teams don't want to draft a QB in 2018. And yet we can be sure there will be good-to-great QBs that are selected in the 2018 draft. It's a maddening matter of finding the right one and matching him to your team, system, etc.

Inside? The predicate was immediately upthread!

Just popping in to say: I used to love college football. But then some combination of rule changes (clock stops on 1st down, I presume) and style changes (moar plays!) gave us these 4-hour games on the regular. That's gotta change.

was just having a little fun with 3putt's mkbile keybkard wkes.

welcome to the club. my #1 priority with fandom nowadays is to refuse to give that part of myself over to what the team is or is not doing. it's an effing waste of time. i've got lots to do in life, and i can't have my loyalty to certain sports teams compromising everything else. i still have fun with it, mind you.

See - I had wkndered whether there was a backstkry tk this. I'll allkw it even mkre nkw.

Zach effing Redmond. Welp. Let's Go, Buffalo!

I'll allow it. Mostly because it was frickin' funny.

I share these concerns. Mightily.

Thanks for sharing. I think your post gets at something fundamental that I resent about the dynamic that's created. I just really, really don't like being led by the nose in any circumstance, and then being made to feel like I'm out of line if I don't want to ape what thousands of other people are dutifully doing. None of which has anything to do with whether I respect what people in the military are doing. (I do, btw.) It's more a function of not liking what pro sports teams are doing to brand, monetize, and homogenize that service and sacrifice.

this is a really fair point. and, man. is the hockey ever effing ugly. I'm not clear on how much irony or sarcasm was intended here, but I do think that we are seeing evidence of what FGMTM and Hot Daniel were hedging against with their chip and chase small ice approach. The painfulness that this team is exhibiting may be a case of the fans having a "be careful what you wish for" situation.

I seen what you did there. I've grown more than uneasy over this rote exercise at sporting events. At this point in time, I mostly tune it out. Not unlike Radar, I think the adulation is over-done and, on balance, tends to worsen military-civilian relations rather than improve them. And I've had it with the way these sports brands want to wrap themselves in that cloak. Hard pass on all of it, tbh.

Really good post, and I agree with all of it. Especially the bit about Jack. He projects as a great player, but is likely not quite the impact player that Matthews is. But, salary cap issues aside, Eichel is not among the team's problems or issues. Swinging and not getting solid contact on Reinhart and Nylander are both far larger issues, as you note. well chosen.

Ahhhh. I see that now. Yes. Well, I'll submit that both things happened. He received it less than cleanly, and then intentionally gave a little unnecessary woop-woop before passing it back.

yes - quite good.

I only saw the highlights and that's absolutely what I saw. Call it the not-quite-all-the-way-around-the-world (a la Vanek), something intended to freeze the goalie a bit.