Yes, asking Anderson to make 45 or 50 saves every night can’t continue. But even that stat is misleading, and overshadows how well this team is capable of playing in bursts. As you said yourself, you’ve seen the Sens get “largely dominated two of the three periods”. Those periods are, the two after Ottawa had taken the lead. It’s very rare they’ve gotten slapped from start to finish. Last night and the Buffalo win were examples: over 40 saves again, but fully half of them in the third. This team just needs to figure out that defending a lead does not mean icing the puck between long stretches of clock-watching.

Once you thought the reputation of the franchise couldn't get worse, it turns out it does. It's been a terrible year for the Ottawa Senators, so here's to a better future as soon as the new year kicks in. On the positive side, the players seem to be concerned about the way they play and the way the coaching staff is dealing with it.

Well... I agree with (aspiring public relations manager?) Mark Borowiecki’s response. It’s naive to think this type of conversation doesn’t happen all the time among teammates. That said, of course it just [i]had to be this year’s Sens[i] to be the ones dumb enough to do it on tape.
Ottawa, despite being cast as a band of malcontents and leftovers, sit one point out of a playoff spot and have scored more goals than any other team. But no, we can’t be happy and talk about that, because more new BS sprouts up every week.

The Raiders have failed to score a touchdown in 3 of their last 4 games, and things are somehow still managing to get worse. Martavis Bryant is likely out for the season, and Jordy Nelson is rumored to be retiring tomorrow.

AWWW YEEAAAHH Ottawa’s QB Trevor Harris just turned in the greatest performance in CFL playoff history at today’s East Division final - completing an incredible 29 of 32 passes for 367 yards and an all-time record 6 TD. (This computes to a rating of 154, though I admit I don’t really know how that stat works.)
So Ottawa moves to a third Grey Cup game in the last four years, which this city hasn’t done since 1966-69.

The Raiders coaching staff and management wrote this season off long ago, and that attitude rubs off on the players. They are in "wait till next year till we get our top draft pick and scamper off to Vegas" mode. I don't like the Raiders, but I can't help but feel the frustration of the fans. (The NFL team I follow, the 49ers, really aren't that much better.)

Ridiculous story from England’s Grand Slam of Darts. Gary Anderson, accused by an opponent of farting as an intentional distraction, defends himself in the most unusual way:



“Your opponent says it was smelly on stage.”
“It was bad. Didn’t come from me though. You can put your finger up me arse, there’ll be nothing up there. I thought he’d shat.”
“But he says he thought it was you.”
“Normally if I try to fart on stage, I’d shit myself. I’ve told you that before.”

I suppose he’s telling the truth. Who would admit to previously having soiled oneself in public, as a defense?

The projected total of 63 for this Rams Chiefs game was unprecedented, and they topped it by 40 . I've never seen anything like that.

Aw man, That game last night was frickin' insane! I have never heard of an NFL game where both teams scored over 50 points- I don't think that has ever happened actually. In college it happens every once in a while, largely because of the college overtime rules (no sudden death) and because college defenses are typically not as sophisticated. But yeah- that was one of the most insane NFL matchups I've ever watched- I'm not even a fan of either team particularly but I couldn't tear myself away from it. It was like, there was not much in the way of pass defense for either team, but yet, the defenses were scoring like crazy just like the offenses!

Adrian Peterson is a dumb piece of shit. Someone get these kids away from him.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2534 ... ipline-son

I don't know much about traditional sports betting (im more of a draft kings kinda guy) but apparently it had the largest over under (am I using that terminology correctly?) in NFL history?

Been trying to get into basketball more this year, but it doesn't help that the raptors always seem to play when the Winnipeg Jets do.

Canada’s former Olympic curlers get thrown out of tournament for showing up to a game stumbling drunk:
https://lfpress.com/news/canada/red-dee ... cd681f/amp
“Don’t you know who I am? I wuzzat the fuckin Limpics!”

NHL officially approved its 32nd team, which will start playing in 2021. I suggest naming the team the Seattle Hipsters - they’d probably get a kick out of paying $11.50 for a can of Pabst.

Fingers crossed for Seattle Cranes or Seattle Amazons.

That does it, I change my vote! Seattle Cranes would be amazing. Make sure they have one section full of ugly-ass reclining chairs called Marty’s Party Zone!

Red Sox winning the championship. Never thought it would happen last season but it did. I'm glad it happened growing up not really far from Boston.

Yeah I always kinda liked the Red Sox, but they were never really my favorate (I don't really root for many other baseball teams other than the Giants.)

So... the name that hockey team contest... why not Seattle Starbucks? Like, it could be a double meaning, have a mascot of an antlered deer with a star on its nose drinking coffee? Or the Seattle Alterna-Dweebs? (okay, maybe that one will be lost on people who weren't around in the early/mid 1990's!)

Central Florida. I've never heard of this damn college, but they've won like 25 or 26 straight games and gone undefeated two years in a row. Let them play for the damn championship. I mean, two years undefeated in a row, I get it, Oklahoma is Oklahoma, Heisman trophy guy and all, but let someone else new have a chance; Oklahoma has one loss. This Central Florida team hasn't lost in nearly three years. But then again, it's Central Florida, not like they are some "famous" school, basically like some expansion team, so probably nobody really gives a crap about them; I get that.

Right! Let the national semifinals include the winners of the four best conferences. That’s it! The four best teams this year, historical prestige of the schools and “Oklahoma is Oklahoma” stuff be damned. (Nothing against Oklahoma, and they probably deserve a spot due to their play too.) Central Florida plays in the AAC. That’s one of the “power conferences”. They’re not just the best of a group of piddly-ass teams.

^No, the ACC is a Power Five Conference, and, frankly, even Clemson's schedule was pretty meh. The AAC is a mixture of basketball schools, private universities, and a few I'm not really familiar with. They have a bowl game against a serious opponent, LSU, and if they win then they probably do deserve consideration for next year, barring a collapse next season. As it stands, I'm almost certain Alabama would throttle them, and it would not be much closer against Clemson, Oklahoma, ND, etc.

Stuff like this is the main reason I can't ever see myself getting into college football. When you have like 120 teams that play like 11 games per season and are all ostensibly playing for the same championship, there's absolutely no way to make it anything approaching fair. You have to put loads of weight into "strength of schedule" nonsense while pretty much dooming smaller teams to never be set up for cinderella runs because the biggest teams need to play each other every year for maximum hype/revenue, and then the big teams stay big because the best players will always want to go to the teams that have a real chance of winning, and it all just snowballs into the same dozen or so teams being relevant with like a hundred that exist purely to be creampuff games for the real ones. And when a smaller/midsize team does pull together a great season, it doesn't matter because an undefeated season can mean nothing since they're ranked via committee anyway and likely mostly played against essentially neighborhood sandlot crews all year. And even if they did play ranked teams all year and pulled off an incredible season, you better hope they won every game by 40 points or else they'll get bumped for Alabama or LSU or Oklahoma or something because they draw more eyes or some shit.

Abolish college football.

There some pretty good points there. A lot of the problem is, there are just too many smaller/midsize sandlot teams who probably shouldn't be playing at the top level, but do anyway- and then can't really compete with the top teams due to lack of revenue, top facilities, or just being too many teams in the local market. Take San Jose State for example. You got two NFL teams (soon to be just one though) and then University of California-Berkley and Stanford- right in the same general metropolitan area- SJSU's sports news gets buried on the back page. And what chance do Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan have to really draw people in, when you have Michigan and Michigan State (plus the Detroit Lions) who have already cornered that market? And now you have all these Podunk teams- South Alabama, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, and so on- suddenly playing in the top division when these schools really would have a hard time even being competitive (on a consistent basis) in the lower division.

In short, college football would be better off, I think, if they could "cull" some of these teams from the top division and relegate them back to the second tier. One school, The University of Idaho, has already dropped down a division. Plenty of teams, like North Dakota State for example, are highly competitive playing at that level and can still build a decent fan base at that level- without going toe to toe with teams like Oklahoma, USC, or Alabama.

^This. There are only about 70 or so schools nationally that have the recruiting, pedigree, etc to field a competitive team on a remotely regular basis. The rest should drop down or even drop their programs entirely.

Well, while I understand the argument and agree with it, the NCAA silently crowned Central Florida a share of the National Championship last year, so it's not liked they got totally jobbed. It really comes down to marketing, obviously. Like when they introduced the playoff system to amend the controversial BCS (which they got right the first and only time in its last year of existence, ironically) and put Ohio State in the playoffs instead of Texas Christian University. Even though TCU was objectively the better team and smoked everyone all year by a landslide, Ohio State has the largest market in the country, and one much larger than TCU. Connect the dots: No TCU, but OSU gets a spot. Dolla dolla bills, y'all.

The aftermath? TCU slaughtered Ole Miss (an excellent team at the time) in some meaningless bowl game, while Ohio State won the National Championship. That TCU team getting jobbed like that is one of the most underrated travesties in sports. Can't believe there isn't even a whisper of a ruckus about it these days.

Well, Alabama did about what I expected them to against Oklahoma. OK fought hard, but they could not overcome that 1st quarter avalanche. Clemson, on the other hand, whipped Notre Dame a little harder than I had anticipated. I'm hoping for a good Championship game with a Clemson upset, but I suspect Alabama will have a similar albeit lower-scoring triumph a la the OK game.

The NFL playoffs are set and with very few surprises. My Cowboys have the 4th seed, but home or not, I think Seattle probably beats us by a touchdown or two. The Saints will almost certainly represent the NFC, only the Bears really have a shot in my mind at this point. Kansas City is weaker post-Hunt, but I still think they are the cream of the AFC and with Home-Field they are my favorites to lose to the Saints. Some potential upsets would probably come from the Chargers or maybe Baltimore who would still lose. Obviously, I think Brees is very likely to get his second ring.



I can't believe I missed this post. A big part of what screwed TCU was that they were co-Big 12 Champions with Baylor after losing to them by 3 in their only loss. There was no Conference Championship game for awhile, and it really came back to bite TCU when the last couple games fresh on the minds of voters were the Horned Frogs dismantling pygmies like Iowa State.

I agree that the NFC should be pretty straightforward this year, i.e. the #1 and#2 seeds meeting in the conference final. That said, I almost came down to a coin flip between the Rams and Bears. Really wouldn’t be surprised either way there. But yeah, still leaning to the Rams in that match and then New Orleans will win the NFC.
I’m gonna go a little off the board for the AFC though, and say that the winner of the wild card game between Baltimore and the LA Chargers will win the conference - and ultimately the Super Bowl too!

Congratulations to Kazakhstan for staying up in the top flight of World Junior Hockey, with a great performance against Denmark in the relegation series! Goalie Demid Yeremeyev was heroic, with a shutout in the deciding game, after 41 saves in a 4-3 win Game 1. Someone needs to draft this guy Credit to the Kazakh defence too, for really shutting it down in Game 2.
(Nothing against Denmark, I’m just always happy when newly promoted countries hang on in the top division.)

This is probably the best set of wild card teams in the playoffs in a long time. The Chargers finished at 12-4, which is usually enough to win the division and the other three teams all got hot when it mattered and all look like legitimate threats against their first game opponents. In contrast, all of the bye-week teams started stronger and faded to some degree as the year went on. The 3/4 seeds are more of a mixed bag, but I don't really expect much from the Texans or Cowboys. The only playoff teams Houston beat are Indianapolis (who they are 1-1 against) and Dallas. Dallas did beat the Eagles twice, but Philly really struggled at the beginning of the season. They also got that victory over the Saints, but I still think they will have their hands full against the Seahawks.

I don't know why everyone is sleeping on the Bears this season. The only divisional game they lost was in week 1 and that is only because Aaron Rodgers did what probably only a handful of quarterbacks ever could do and led a crazy comeback. They beat the Rams and played really tough against New England. I wouldn't be surprised to see Chicago make a run this year. I see Baltimore in a similar boat too. They've had a lot of close games against the best teams in the league and they always play well in the playoffs.

I'm just hoping somehow the Chiefs lose their first game so the Pats can play at home in the AFC Championship (assuming they win in the Divisional round, which is far from a gimme, regardless of who the opponent is). The Texans, Chargers, and Colts historically struggle with the Pats in the playoffs, so the only team I'm scared of is the Ravens. I'll definitely be rooting for the Chargers this weekend.

^Interesting that you say the Chiefs and Ravens are the only ones that scare you. Whatever the reason, this year's Patriots look shakier than I've seen them in awhile. I think I'd also take the Chargers over them and only give them a small edge over the Texans and Colts.

Chicago has a great defense this year, but the offense has been inconsistent. Part of that was a couple early bad games by Tru and his injury later, but it does have a way of not instilling confidence in their capability to deliver a playoff-worthy performance all-around. Delving deeper into the first part, Trubisky has a lot of talent, but he's still raw. One game where he just collapses, whether the Saints, Rams, Eagles, etc, and it won't matter what Mack & Co do. Chicago is gonna be scary in another season or two, but I just don't think Mitch is there yet where he can string together 4 strong performances against quality teams, especially considering at least 2 will be road games.

Everybody has been sleeping on my Bears mostly just because we've been awful for most of the last 30 years. The league isn't exactly used to seeing worst-to-first turnarounds in an era when the same teams win their respective divisions every year for 10 year stretches, and in an era where offense is everything, I think people tend to flake on defensive teams. Nobody expected the 2007 Patriots to eventually run into a defensive wall, but everybody expects the 2018 Bears to eventually run into an offense they can't stop, despite having a dominant defensive year and shutting down the Rams when they were red fucking hot. I do think the Saints are a more complete team and they're the only team in the NFC I'm kind of worried about playing (or if Eddie Jackson isn't good to play tomorrow I'm definitely worried about Philly getting hot), but our defense was dominant all year and our inconsistent offense was still on more than they were off. Truby is a million times better than Rex Grossman and I'd say our defense now is comparable/better than they were in 2006, and if Trent Fuckin Dilfer can win a ring on the back of a dominant defense then I definitely have faith in ol' titty-kissing Biscuit Boy to anchor an offense while Mack/Hicks/Fuller/Jackson wreck shit on the other side.

Basically we're playing like a team from an older era where our biggest strengths are defense and rushing, while the rest of the league handwaves defense in order to focus on big money QBs and WRs. We'll see if they wind up matching up well enough to beat the best teams but considering how well we've done all year (even our losses were close and usually thanks to some boneheaded shit Postman Parkey did) I definitely have faith for the first time in a decade.

3 out of 4 of the wildcard games this weekend were nail-biters. I'm of course bummed the Steelers (barely) missed the playoffs this year, but damn if there isn't some great football being played. I guess I'm rooting for the Eagles to go all the way, mostly because I love how Foles embarrassed Brady last year. Still, I am sorry to see the Bears go, as I love seeing teams win with defense, and now with them and Baltimore both out, it's all offense from here.

Also, god, I think we can all agree that a missed field goal is the absolute worst way to lose a game.

Parkey is the most fired man on Earth right now. I have never seen a more absurdly bad season for a kicker in Chicago. I know fans tend to be dramatic when it comes to... well, pretty much anything, but I genuinely think that letting go of Robbie Gould was one of the worst decisions the franchise has ever made.

Yeah, yall and the Chargers had a rough time of it on Special Teams. I'm surprised the 'boys beat the Seahawks, and the Bears game did not go as I anticipated either. LAC should scare the Patriots though I think the other 3 games will not be as in doubt. I would be thrilled if the Cowboys could pull off the upset in ugly, defensive fashion, but I think we already used up that luck in the Saints game. I see a lot of people picking the Colts, but I just cannot see them winning in Arrowhead.

My picks were Texans, Cowboys, Chargers, Eagles. I'm disappointed that the Texans didn't even show up to play. A lot of odds makers were picking Colts, but not by two TDs fer chrissake. Also the Eagles finale was fucking absurd. I'm glad they won, but they sure played sloppy. Foles only went 25/40 and threw two picks. They barely had a run game.

I feel bad for the Bears kicker, who ends up being the goat here, but also was the only reason the Bears had any points at all for a while there. The post-game did him a disservice by running a montage of how many times he has hit the upright. Eagles fans in the booth I guess.

For next week, I pick Chiefs, Rams, Chargers, and Saints.

Considering he was 76% on the year and hit the post four times in one game, I'd wager they were actually Bears fans.

Nobody hates Cody Parkey more than the population of Chicago right now.

Well apparently going by some of the replays, one of the Iggles got his fingers on the ball as it passed over. Parkey doesn't have a good record, but it's apparently not 100% his fault this time. I also feel your pain, Chris Boswell was amazing last season, but this season made something less than 70% of his FG attempts. He'll also be lucky to keep his job for next year.

Patriots will be done after next week- I don't think Brady has anything left in the tank and the team isn't as good as they once were in past seasons. Saints should take care of the Eagles, and I have nothing against the Eagles other than they squeaked in with only 9 wins, and I'd rather see a decidedly better team with a better record advance, as I feel they are more deserving. Rams should mop up the Cowboys (again, the better team wins here) and the Chefs should "cook" the Horseshoes. Rams defense isn't all that good, but neither is the Cowboys offense. There is too much talent disparity between the Chiefs and the Colts for them to pull the upset.

Speaking of better teams, wouldn't it be funny if they had a college football championship game and Alabama didn't show up? Oh wait...

Yeah, the NCAA Championship was shocking to say the least. Clemson's defense played phenomenal as did their QB.

The reason I say that is purely because the Ravens have always played really well at Gillette Stadium, particularly in the postseason. I think the Chargers are a scarier team in most other places, but not in New England.

I can perfectly understand why people are taking the Chargers to win, given they are one of the best #5 seeds in a while, but I think there is too much for them to overcome in this game. Brady is undefeated against Rivers, 21-6 at home in the playoffs, has been in 7 straight AFC championships, and is coming off of a bye. And Brady's drop-off isn't nearly as significant as people are making it out to be. I've watched pretty much every minute of all 16 Pats games this year and he really does not look that different. Sure, he's been inaccurate at times and made poor decisions, but not at higher rates than the previous few seasons. The biggest difference on the offense is Gronk is a shell of his former self, allowing defenses to focus more on the other weapons, which admittedly aren't great either. Throughout the season Brady has had Gordon (who had to learn a new system and was still struggling with drug problems as the season was going on), Edelman (who came off a torn ACL), Patterson (who is more a kick returner than a receiver) and Hogan/Dorsett (neither of which are #1 or #2 receivers) and still finished 7th in passing yards this year. He's always been fine with below average talent around him and so far there is no reason to believe that won't continue.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is this has been a classic Patriots season by pretty much every measure. Take out one of the dumbest plays in NFL history in Miami and some really poor decision making in Pittsburgh and the team would be 13-3 with the #1 seed. Until I actually witness the team start to look bad, I find it really hard to pick against them.

I've been watching alot of the Rockets and Warrior games. Stephen Curry and James Harden are beasts! James Harden is probably the most intelligent basketball player that I've ever seen. Stephen Curry can shoot the three very well, also.

I’d say the Chargers, with their 7–1 road record, are the only visitor the Patriots’ perfect home season should be worried about. Also New England plays in the NFL’s most bumbling division which doesn’t do much to prepare a team for the challenges of the playoffs.