Your “Let The Sports Comfort You” Tuesday Open Thread

It’s days like these that make sports such a great escape.

In NFL news, as ballsofsteelandfury brought you earlier, the owners voted at the annual meeting today to:

• Ban all forms of chop block. I’m stunned how Tom Brady Robert Kraft let this pass.
• Keep the PAT at the 15 yard line.
• A “horse-collar tackle” has been defined as “at the nameplate or above”. Hair is still an acceptable target.

  

They will discuss the ejection penalty for two personal fouls on Wednesday.

The Packers are not going to re-sign James Jones. So now who will Aaron Rodgers overthrow while Eddie Lacy is eating a sandwich?

Free agency is pretty quiet, although Alf Morris signed with the Cowboys, fixing everything that was wrong last year. Plan the parade!

According to ESPN, according to Texans (?) owner Bob McNair said a key to Brock Ostweiler signing there was a “desire” to escape the shadow of both Peyton Manning and John Elway. I don’t know what he’s complaining about – all that grew on him was his legs. He seems to have the forehead and teeth of a normal man.

The news today is (rightly) all about the ISIS bombings. Latest totals have more than 30 dead in the Brussels attacks. All public transport has been shut down, and the airport is closed for three days, essentially isolating Belgium. The Belgium friendly versus Portugal was cancelled, and this now heightens security concerns for Euro 2016.

There are presidential primaries & caucuses today, in Utah & Arizona, plus a separate vote for Democrats in Idaho. Just avoid the news channels, because hearing Republican opinions about the attacks will make you want to punch your TV, especially coming a day after Trump called for a “rethink” on NATO, which is headquartered in Brussels. Ted Cruz is favoured in both Republican battles, because if there’s anyone Mormons love like their own, it’s a fellow millenarian. Trump falls short due to the “Christian of convenience” tag. Kasich might as well embrace Satanism, for all the chance he has.

The Canadian federal budget was this afternoon. The highlight was an announced 2016-17 deficit of $29.4 billion, with most of that a result of the previous government planning on an oil price of $60/barrel, combined with election-promised infrastructure spending & increased government benefits. If you ever wanted to know what a Bernie Sanders presidency would’ve looked like, watch the North for the next four years.

Rob Ford died today. As least when people remember me, there will be a “but” after the “He was a prick”.

NHL: (10 games total)

• Flyers @ Columbus – 7:00
• Red Wings @ Tampa Bay – 7:30
• Stars @ Blackhawks – 8:30
• Blues @ Sharks – 10:30

NBA: (4 games total)

• Rockets @ Thunder – 8:00
• Heat @ Pelicans – 8:00

NCAA: NIT Quarterfinals. They can’t bring themselves to come up with a second-place slogan to “Elite Eight”, so you know you want to watch for sure!

Pour one out for the Belgians. ÊTRE FORT BELGIQUE!