The way they do it in at least one of the Asian leagues is:

If you finish with the better record of the 2 wildcard teams, you only need to win one game. If you are the lower seeded wildcard team, you have to win twice. Both games are played in the higher seeded teams park, on back-to-back days. I think that is a super fair and exciting way to keep the format going without it being a full "series".

I dunno, that all seems pretty weird imo. Let both teams compete for the same result. Best-of-three is hardly a "full series". I wouldn't think that's adding too many games; and besides, if you like baseball, shouldn't you like more baseball?

In other news, the CFL has given Ottawa our bye in Week One. Again... ordinarily I would complain that it's useless and why can't we ever get the bye when the team really needs rest? But this time, with our only experienced quarterback gotten hurt in the pre-season, the early bye might end up helpful!

(Still, the notion that CFL stands for Conspiracy Football League and they're always trying to torpedo competition in the East Division in favour of their constantly-floundering flagship Toronto Argonauts hasn't diminished.)

The MLB playoff format is just yet another horrendously outdated aspect of the sport. Honestly, in my opinion, they should just adopt a similar seeding format as the NHL and NBA and get with the goddamn 21st century. Yeah, I get that the sport is weather dependent and with 8 teams from each league making the post-season, this would certainly run it well into November. However, cutting off 10-14 games of the already egregiously long regular season (and this is coming from somebody that's been watching about 120 or so Yankees games annually for the better part of a decade now) would pretty well just nullify this in exchange for an extra set of 5 or 7 game sets. Not to mention end the suffering of tank teams that are completely out of it come the 80-90 game mark and save them from having to host games in near empty stadiums (let's be honest, who the fuck's gonna be going to White Sox/Orioles/Reds games come July their attendance is already embarrassingly low). It would probably increase the attendance and overall revenue of a lot of current fringe teams that finish around the 80-85 win mark and give 'em a better chance at actually competing as well. Anyway, that's my take on it and yeah, I doubt anything will change anytime soon if Manfred can't even be fucked to give the NL a DH and dump that stupid century+ old rule of having the pitcher hit and increase risk of injury for players out of their element (Chien-Ming Wang, Adam Wainwright, and Masahiro Tanaka anyone?).

I like that winning an MLB regular season division pennant really gets you a useful advantage though. In contrast to the NHL, where the Florida Panthers' 2012 Southeast Division banner really represents bugger all as they were out with the other eighth-place quarterfinal fodder.
The three division system makes it tricky; but if there was a big-ass realignment to two divisions per league, the MLB could maintain the prestige of division champions while also expanding the playoff pool at the expense of the dregs of the regular season.

I was just getting over my anger over the CMW injury and then Tanaka gets hurt.

Well, one thing that I wouldn't mind seeing that would make some of those late-season games interesting: Allow tiered mobility within the divisions as they do in the English football (soccer) leagues.

In other words, each year, the two teams with the lowest winning percentages (from the National and American league) get relegated to the lower division- triple A, or whatever it's called, while the champion and runner-up of that division get bumped up into the MLB level. I'm not sure of the logistics of this, as the way it is now, most of the lower division teams simply serve as "farm teams" for the MLB level teams. But it would give a lot of incentive for struggling teams to play well, and add more interest in the bottom feeder teams. While at the same time, it could boost attendance for AAA-level teams in places like, say, Omaha, Las Vegas or Tucson, where those teams have a chance of moving up to compete in the big leagues.

It's still VERY early, but I'm really starting to feel something special with this year's Yankees. They probably need a starter + a lefty from the bullpen (I wouldn't feel comfortable with Shreve in big spots Left on Left in the Post season), but they are SO talented and young. I guess the argument against acquiring a leftie would be, the big righties out of the pen (Betances, Green, Robertson) get out lefties as well.

I just hope they don't have to give up Andujar to get a pitcher. I'm fairly certain Gleyber Torres isn't going anywhere.

This has likely made international news, but did anyone see the unbelievable brawl in the basketball between Australia and the Phillipines? Crazy scenes. (The commentating here is obviously biased to Australia, but what are your thoughts?)

Hi,
Can someone can recommend me headphones for running?
I'm asking here because you are also metalheads so what we expect from sound is similar.
I want to buy something with Bluetooth a both "plugs" connected with wire (I supposed it's harder to lost them).

Any advice?

Gotta feel sorry for Johnny Manziel. True, he washed out of the NFL due largely to his own indiscipline. (And partly due to being, as quarterback, the obvious fall-guy for the Browns’ perennial butt-uselesness.)
But heading to the CFL really seemed like a chance to turn his career around, and he has by all accounts acted like he’s serious about it.
Then in his first start in Montreal*, he throws FOUR interceptions, and I believe a total of minus-14 yards of offence in the first half. At one point Hamilton had run more scoring plays than Manziel had run total plays.
*Dude didn’t make it easy on himself coming to the Montreal Alouettes. They are literally Canada’s Cleveland Browns, without a road win in two years and only marginally better at home. If Manziel can salvage respectability for this dumpster fire, it would be one of the all-time greatest miracles in sport.

All indications are that the Raiders are trading Khalil Mack. Feeling absolutely gutted.

Josh Donaldson’s gone Pretty soon it will be easier to list the Blue Jays’ who haven’t been traded this year.

The Raiders may be in a "cost cutting fire sale" mode in anticipation of their move to Las Vegas. There are also some team owners who are skinflints, in other words, they try to operate the team as cheaply as possible while maximizing the profits. Which means, trading their star players away so they don't have to pay them.

There's got to be another Australian around here that'll be watching the AFL and NRL finals over the next month.

My teams the Swans and Dragons both made it to the finals but I don't see either team making a dent. Swans have more of a shot if they get their shit together, but the Dragons are on the slide. They'll be out week one, I can see it.

It's pretty well-known that Jon Gruden is basically acting GM at this point.

As a Bears fan, thanks for Mack

On paper he is exactly what could be the X factor towards making the team respectable again, assuming of course our backs stay strong and Trubisky blossoms the way everybody seems to think he will. Frankly, I haven't had cable in years (and I work overnights so I'm pretty much always asleep when games are on anyway) so I haven't been able to really watch a game in a long while now, so I don't know for sure how close we actually are to pulling ourselves out of the perpetual dumpster fire that Trestman started, but I'm not exactly a hopeful fan in general. Far too many years of disappointments (since I started watching football ~22 years ago we've had a whopping six seasons with a winning record (for added trivia, I'm pretty sure the first game I ever watched was the one where Rashaan Salaam more or less snapped his leg in half so that should've been an omen)) and far too many big trades/pickups that didn't really pan out. The only one on the top of my head that was an unequivocal success was what... Julius Peppers? I guess Brandon Marshall put up some good numbers but he was a locker room cancer who couldn't stop challenging trolls to street fights on Twitter. So I'm cautiously optimistic for Mack but realistically I've been hurt too many times to throw my hat in the ring with too much enthusiasm.

Letting Khalil Mack destroy your gameplan by consistently leaving him 1-on-1 is idiotic and embarrassing. That they still came back and won is owed more to the Bears second half offesive playcalling and execution being absolute trash.

Eugene Melnyk, with almost certainly unwilling “interviewer” defenceman Mark Borowiecki, send out completely bizarre video message to Ottawa Senators fans: http://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nhl/news ... awnncs5536

It’s meant to look like two friendly colleagues talking casually about the team; but is so awkward and half-ass scripted it’s ridiculous.

So Ottawa has dumped the best player we’ve ever had, in return for... uhhh... some potentially good stuff. I guess. Now, some say the Senators (read: obnoxious unpredictable meddling dictator Eugen Melnyk) have taken up long term residence in the dumpster, but I think it might not be such an appalling disaster on the Ottawa blueline going forward. We have:
Cody Ceci: time to accept he’ll never morph into Wade Redden, but he’s not terrible.
Thomas Chabot: maybe better than Karlsson was at the same age. Think about that!
Dylan DeMelo: can’t score, but is a competent defenceman.
Chris Wideman: the Sens were a playoff team with him in the lineup, then crapped their pants after he got injured. Hmmm...
Mark Borowiecki: +15 is his first full, non-injured season 2014-15. Taken a couple steps back, but at his best is something to be feared.
Ben Harpur: at 6’6, if he ever starts playing like the giant rather than the beanstalk, watch out. This could be a crustier shutdown pairing than Ottawa’s had since Phillips and Volchenkov.

Who are the Raiders, really? They can apparently hang with anybody until the 4th quarter, and then suddenly they can't get out of their own way! So unbelievably frustrating.

Sens humiliate Zack Smith, the team’s longest-serving veteran, by waiving him and watching nobody else pick him up. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/amphtml/new ... 42420.html

Two things: first, to the rest of the league, why not take him? He’s only 30 years old and just two years ago he scored 25 goals. With freakin’ Ottawa!
My second point, this is to the Senators organization*: What the hell, man! Zack Smith has stayed with this floundering team for 10 years, and only reached one measly conference final. Yet he hasn’t complained or asked for a trade. You don’t reward that loyalty by telling him to get lost. Yes, he had a lousy 2017-18, but he has earned the right to a graceful exit. Quietly tell the guy he’s up for trade, and if applicable, ask where he might like to go. Then make it happen!

*That mostly means iron-fisted Melnyk, but also shame on Pierre Dorion by trying to paint this as a hockey decision and not anything other than a salary dump.

The things that have been happening in Ottawa over the past few months are deplorable to say the least. Melnyk has led a team that was one goal away from reaching the Stanley Cup finals to a bottom feeder with a serious image problem. Yet, a true fan sticks to his team through thick and thin. I will attend the home opener against Chicago Blackhawks next Thursday and continue to support the team. Everything but a humiliating defeat would be a surprise but you never know and can always hope. I hope Melnyk will sell the team to someone who is truly dedicated at keeping professional ice hockey alive and well in Ottawa. Furthermore, the organization needs to build a new arena downtown. Travelling ninety minutes to attend a game and another ninety minutes to get back home gets exhausting, especially on weekdays.

Absolutely couldn’t agree more! I dunno, maybe the recent Golden Age of Ottawa Sports, with 4 championship appearances - two of them victorious! - between the Redblacks, Fury and Champions since 2016 has spoiled Ottawans’ patience for a losing team.
But that was never a problem for the 90s Sens, who filled their (admittedly small old) arena despite an NHL record 224 losses in four years. Nor for the always beloved Rough Riders and Renegades, who went decades without a winning season. I think this city can support a struggling team; it’s the shameful incompetence and apparent lack of any serious plan to improve that has soured us on the Sens.

That said, I really don’t think the Senators will be that bad this year I’ll admit a lot of my optimism depends on unproven players, but Thomas Chabot’s rookie stats were almost identical to Erik Karlsson’s. I’m also a huge fan of Chris Wideman and expect a breakout season from him. As for the forwards, Mikkel Boedker and Chris Tierney together replace Mike Hoffman’s offence; and either of them are better than Hoffman defensively. Injuries to Pageau and, to a much lesser extent, Marian Gaborik, leave holes; but if even one of Tkachuk, Chlapik and Colin White turn out decent, that’ll cover those losses and then some. The organization might also be forced to play Zack Smith more, if only to showcase him as trade-worthy. That’s a shameful way to treat the guy, I know. I hereby personally guarantee 15 goals from Smith this year.
And, does anyone really expect Anderson and Condon to both be that piss-poor again?

Raiders over Browns, 45-42. Football is crazy.

I still think that the NFL should change their overtime rules. Allow both teams an equal number of possessions, barring a defensive score. Otherwise winning the coin toss takes on too much importance.

And I agree with this- the way the overtime works the NCAA in the college game works on exactly that principle. Each team gets one possession starting at the 25 yard line. If the score is still tied after two overtimes, then the teams MUST attempt a 2 point conversion after a touchdown. The NFL should adopt this as well. (of course the Browns being what they are, they always find SOME way to lose no matter what.)

Speaking of the NFL- CJ Breathard- worst quarterback ever. Discuss. Where did this guy come from? Wherever it was can't they send him back there?

Chicago fuckin shellacked Tampa, holy christ. It was 35-3 before the two minute warning in the first half! It's been 69 (nice) years since any Bears QB threw that many touchdowns. It remains to be seen if that was Trubisky's coming out party or if he's gonna be like Grossman where he has like five good games and eleven awful ones but succeeds anyway based on a great defense, but hell I'm not gonna put a damper on the first great win we've had in years.

Guys, give me a reality check... for the first time in like eight years I'm actually pretty excited for the Bears' season.

As a Saints diehard and married to a Chicagoan, we both rejoiced exuberantly over that beatdown. Any time Tampa loses is good.

As sad as I am that Mack isn't playing for my Raiders anymore, watching what he can do with some help around him is nothing short of incredible.

Hey, that is almost the same as CFL overtime, except that here, we start at the opponent’s 35, are always required to try a 2-pt convert, and we call it a tie after two possessions each.

And about Beathard... hmm... too early to tell if he’s the worst QB ever. He might still turn out better than Tim Tebow.
EDIT: Terrell Pryor. Good lord...

The Raiders are somehow the worst team in the NFL, and it doesn't look close right now. Despite having a decent QB, a solid (When healthy) offensive line, and a plethora of weapons on offense, they're an absolute dumpster fire.

that's weird, considering everyone thought they'd be pretty good with Gruden coaching. I wonder if Gruden may actually be a liability? Like, perhaps stuck using outdated offensive and defensive schemes, and stubborn about doing so. I don't know, as I don't really follow the Raiders. It may be that the whole franchise moving to Las Vegas has caused some internal turmoil that has trickled down to the coach and the players, and as a result they don't have as much inspiration, or whatever.

It may be the fact that Gruden's playbook has always been notoriously, legendarily complex. The defense and special teams have both been trash as well, so the offense has been stuck with terrible field position constantly. Add in an offensive line that's now wracked with injuries, and you get a recipe for terrible, no fun at all football.

As a Bears fan who toughed through the Trestman/Fox years, you have a mixture of my condolences and a healthy Nelson point-and-laugh.

After 10 games - 11 for the Sharks - Erik Karlsson has 7 points and a minus-6. While for Ottawa, Chris Tierney and Dylan DeMelo have 15 points and a plus-9. Trade might not have been a bugger-up after all!

I've been watching the Raiders for almost 10 years, and this might be the worst iteration I've seen. Absolutely putrid.

Looks like the Calgary Stampeders are at it again, folks! After running off to an unstoppable 12-2 start, the Stamps are now just one loss away from losing their seemingly locked-up bye to the CFL West Final. All signs point to yet another baffling collapse in the playoffs. These guys are pretty much the 1990s Atlanta Braves of Canadian Football.

Two really bad teams beating up on each other and one of them had to lose. The Raiders look to have packed it in for the year though, probably in anticipation of leaving town next season and rebuilding through the draft. They have traded away most of their top talent. The 49ers, while still incredibly bad, look to at least be making an effort to play decent football, even if they fail to do so most of the time. They have just had way too many injuries on both sides of the ball, where they were already pretty thin on talent to begin with.

Speaking of injuries, what happened to that Mustard guy, where his arm looked like it had a second elbow in the middle, was fucking grim. He was having a pretty decent game, too.

Goddamn Senators fucked it up again. Have only played fourteen games, and already five of them have seen Ottawa bugger away a lead. Holding those leads would translate to a record of 10-4-0, rather than a piss-poor 5-6-3. This team should be sitting in first place!

I have attended the games against Chicago, Montreal and Tampa Bay and the Sens were very lucky in each case to get away with any points at all to be honest. Tampa Bay have largely dominated two of three periods tonight and almost had twice as many shots as the Senators. It's only thanks to the surprisingly brilliant performances by goaltender Craig Anderson and the energy of the young guns that have everything to prove like Chabot, Lajoie and Tkachuk that the team doesn't sit at the bottom of the table as we speak. What I see is promising for the future if Melnyk is willing to build a strong team around these convincing young guns but it would be a surprise if the team were actually competing for a playoff spot this season.