I’m not going to lie – last night’s sports action was quite delightful. All three hockey games gave us great tension, whether it was Tampa holding on to beat Detroit, Pittsburgh starting a third-string goalie and watching how he held up, or Chicago throwing everything at St. Louis for almost four periods but coming up empty. That’s what makes the first round of the Stanley Cup so much fun. The basketball season ended with two memorable moments – the Warriors getting #73, and Kobe getting his sendoff – and the fact that Minnesota dropped 144 on New Orleans. It sure was nice of Houston to win their game, so the Jazz had nothing to shoot for but being a part of history. People don’t even take 50 shots in All-Star games!
Tonight has just hockey – NBA playoffs start Saturday – but also the thrill of the NFL 2016 schedule reveal. It also marks two weeks until the draft, just about enough time for most prognosticators & Commentists to rework their boards. (More on that soon.)
At least the Rams changed the tone for the next two weeks of draft debate. This one move has already brought today:
“Who will they pick?” questions- “How does this screw with the Browns’ plans?” questions
- “Will the Rams get burned like the [Redacted]s did?” questions
- “How does this affect the rest of the NFC West?” questions
- “How does this screw the Browns?” questions (to be fair, a perennial draft question)
- “How can Jeff Fisher turn all this talent into an 8-8 team?” questions
- “Has Mike Mayock had a stroke?” questions
Really, they are all important topics, and the slightly changed narrative should make counting down to “Chi-Town is once again Draft Town!” a little more tolerable.
I don’t buy the story that the Rams held off on the announcement until this morning, to avoid ruining Kobe’s big day. (FYI: that was actually in 2004, when the charges were dropped and a cheque made the civil suit go away.) Seems a little like ingratiating yourself to the neighbours. All it would have probably merited was a scroll on the ticker, and maybe the 5th or 6th story on Sports Center. It was a big deal today, and that’s what they wanted.
FYI, the Rams (according to Wikipedia), have had four first-overall draft picks since 1960: Billy Cannon (1960); Terry Baker (1963); Orlando Pace (1997); Sam Bradford (2010). Meanwhile, Kurt Warner was originally the backup to Trent Green. (Yay false equivalencies!)
On the other end of the spectrum, Drew Rosenhaus dropped Johnny Manziel as a client, just three weeks after signing on to that mess. An Argos jersey might look pretty sweet to JFF come mid-June.
Tonight’s entertainment!
Like I said, not a lot:
NHL:
- Flyers @ Capitals – 7:00
- Islanders @ Panthers – 8:00
- Wild @ Stars – 9:30
- Sharks @ Kings – 10:30
FX: Archer – 10:00
NFL: 2016 Schedule release – 8:00
I know what most of you will be watching during that Wild-Stars game. I WON’T BLAME YOU!
The Flyers one chance was to get a sucker punch in early.
Caps gonna sweep.
Bodies fl ying in dc. This is gonna be a fun series
That slash was a bit vicious
NOT TOO SMRT SIMMONDS
But he had to do it because…something something…fighting in hockey is part of the sport…
The unfortunate side effect of your best power forward being your best fighter.
The Lexus GS-F: 467 bhp, 4 tons of Toyota sedan.
Of course…the NHL sends the one brother to the penalty box.
Wayne’s had enough of your shit
http://media.new.mensxp.com/media/content/2014/Feb/4_1393501826.gif
If you google “Tom Coughlin Cold” images this comes up as one of the results.
http://a.fn.fncdn.com/images/content/u/201109151614/QzxcqL.jpg
Damned if I know.
I’ll allow it.
Ah shit Islanders
This game became very meh in a hurry
I am reminded why I usually no watch games that don’t involve the Dirt Stillers or a side from Canadia.
Google autocomplete suggests “Tom Collins” then “Tom Coughlin” as the top two “Tom Co” searches. I think it’s a reasonably good bet that Tom Coughlin’s drink of choice is the Tom Collins
No lime rickey?
But more importantly: what would be in a drink named after Tom Coughlin?
Ovaltine with vodka?
Tom Coughlin’s drink of choice is a stiff piss ‘n vinegar and don’t you forget it young lady.
So an vodka appletini made with Popov vodka and cider vinegar?
No. A literal piss and vinegar.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zQEoEG58p8M/UDFN_Q2_ajI/AAAAAAAAClw/VlX-mgrfLQU/s1600/coughlin.wind.jpeg
Don’t make Mr. Coughlin repeat himself.
Seeing a person whose handle is the name of a fake cocktail commenting about the contents of another fake cocktail is pretty much the best thing I’ve seen all week.
Rusty Nail.
Can someone please explain to me Jeff Fisher’s logic? Who the fuck is going to block for this #1 draft pick? Who is going to make up the defense?!?
WHY DO FUCKING TEAMS KEEP DOING THIS?!?!? YOU CAN’T HAVE ONE POSITION TAKE ALL YOUR DRAFT PICKS!
This is why we keep seeing high draft pick QB’s washing out because they get shell shocked having an offensive line consisting of fucking walk-ons. Other then Pey-Pey…what high draft QB wasn’t a disappointment?
Elisha, THE BEN, Derek Carr for some reason…
Granted, those teams actually had some talent in place. Goff is going to be murderdeathkilled by the Cardinals.
Phillip Rivers should be added to this list. Drew Bledsoe.
Was Joe Flacco a 1st round pick? MAYBE!
But in these situation, you didn’t see the team effectively giving up all their draft picks.
The Rams basically have a 1st and then 4th round draft pick. And they lost a shitload of people on defense.
Donovan McNabb does not get enough respect for the receivers he put up with.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&year_min=1999&year_max=2009&season_start=1&season_end=-1&age_min=0&age_max=99&league_id=&team_id=phi&is_active=&is_hof=&pos_is_wr=Y&c1stat=&c1comp=gt&c1val=&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&c5comp=&c5gtlt=lt&c6mult=1.0&c6comp=&order_by=rec_yds&draft=0&draft_year_min=1936&draft_year_max=2015&type=&draft_round_min=0&draft_round_max=99&draft_slot_min=1&draft_slot_max=500&draft_pick_in_round=0&draft_league_id=&draft_team_id=&college_id=all&conference=any&draft_pos_is_qb=Y&draft_pos_is_rb=Y&draft_pos_is_wr=Y&draft_pos_is_te=Y&draft_pos_is_e=Y&draft_pos_is_t=Y&draft_pos_is_g=Y&draft_pos_is_c=Y&draft_pos_is_ol=Y&draft_pos_is_dt=Y&draft_pos_is_de=Y&draft_pos_is_dl=Y&draft_pos_is_ilb=Y&draft_pos_is_olb=Y&draft_pos_is_lb=Y&draft_pos_is_cb=Y&draft_pos_is_s=Y&draft_pos_is_db=Y&draft_pos_is_k=Y&draft_pos_is_p=Y
Dayum, this is long as fuck.
maybe that’s why they prefer Goff, he’s used to playing with no help and being assfucked by vastly superior conference foes. But he also kinda looked like ass doing so.
Yes, that troika of The Ben, Elisha, and King Laserface was very rare in that all three top guys worked out.
It’s a long con to get fired from the Rams and rehired in Tennessee so he can trot out the players the Titans drafted as captains.
Oooh boy, if I had a banner I’d put this comment on it.
Unbridled Optimism/Journalistic Pity : “Add it all up, and it’s hard to imagine the Browns getting off to a respectable start. Perhaps the No. 2 overall pick can play well enough to prevent a “same old Browns” feel to the season.”
Shocking fact of the day that you won’t believe and Wall Street doesn’t want you to know:
The Browns DIDN’T finish last in the league last year?
So are the Raiders the best team in the California? This thought just crossed my mind, and I believe it to be so.
Be ashamed of yourself, California.
Hey, they were last year.
I don’t think I want to be in a world where this is so. I can’t wait for hibernating Raider fans to start popping up everywhere.
LA Rams @ 49rs for the late opening Monday night game.
Is it wise to derp this much, this early?
California Derpin’
Rams n’ 9ers knows how to fuckup, Rams n’ 9ers knows how to fuckup
In the city of big smog, in the city of Francisco
In Pasadeeeeeena, n’ the Rose Bo’
We keep on derpiiiiiiin, we keep on derpiiiiiiin
Fuck, that’s a game that actually MERITS Berman and Dilfer.
DONKS/CHEFS on Xmas Day WOO!!!!!!!!!!
The NFL on Xmas: Because fuck your family, that’s why.
“You’re goddamned right.”
– David Stern
Hey, it ain’t like it’s gonna be on in the MORNING ,, smh
The good news : I figured out that the pizza place I really like, but tends to mix up toppings actually isn’t at fault, the order form on Foodler is messed up, so I just had to decipher the transpositions to get the toppings I want!
The bad news : When I was doing side stretches this morning I managed to cramp my intercostal muscles on my right side, and now they’re annoyingly sore.
In my brain, all I hear is, “Less room for pizza”.
Thanks Zymm, I just impulse ordered pizza.
You’re Welcome. Pizza is frickin delicious.
Solves my dinner problem.
Juicy goal for Los Panteros
All right lets see.
Week 1: @ NY Jets: Seven straight away games to start season. Fuck you, NFL.
Week 2: @ Pittsburgh: Well, at least we get it out of the way early.
Week 3: Denver: Perfect. This gets better and better.
Week 4: Miami: TNF. Light Blue on Orange. (shudders)
Week 5: @ Dallas
Week 6: @ New England: This schedule is getting better and better.
Week 7: Cleveland: Talk about talent whiplash.
Week 8: Washington (UK): Please don’t create an international incident, Bengals.
Week 9: BYE: Good bye.
Week 10: @ NY Giants MNF: Wow, two primetime games with a bye week in between. What could possibly go wrong.
Week 11: Buffalo
Week 12: @ Baltimore
Week 13: Philadelphia
Week 14: @ Cleveland
Week 15: Pittsburgh: Good. Should have plenty of time to recover from the annual “Lets Cripple Each Other and Ruin Our Seasons Game”
Week 16: @ Houston Saturday Night Football, Christmas Eve: Me: ♪ Silent Night. Holy Night. All is calm. All is…♪ God damn it, Dalton!
Week 17: Baltimore
Predicted Record: 9-7 to 11-5
Wild Card: TBD: COME ON, BRATBURGER!
Who’s your Mount Rushmore of most unsupportive city fanbases in sports
Miami/South Florida
Tampa/St. Pete
Atlanta
Los Angeles
Nailed it. With Phoenix Glendale a strong 5th due to transplants.
I stand by the Florida markets, but you could swap out Phoenix with either Atlanta or Los Angeles. The latter two make the list due to the fact they’ve lost teams.
Tripoli
Damascus
Wichita
Atlantis
Raleigh only has one team, and totes DGAF. To me, that’s pretty impressive. And it’s a bigger MSA than one would expect, so it’s not just lack of people and certainly not a disposable income thingy.
This is the NFL copy for the Week 4 storyline, “Quarterback Homecomings”
It will be a little bit of a homecoming for Robert Griffin III when the Browns travel to Washington in Week 4. In the process, RGIII will face Kirk Cousins — the man who usurped his starting role. Chances are, Griffin didn’t like that.
Unlike sitting behind Josh McCown, which is delightful.
Man is there a lot of empty seats in Florida.
It’s 8:30. Most of the Florida hockey fans have gone to bed.
Because they’re retirees from the colder areas you see.
Canadian spring break was two weeks ago.
Wireless controllers were the best thing to ever happen to the Caps.
They’re going to get North’d?
The NFL is gonna stream on Twitter the games that are also broadcast on CBS, not the ones on NFL Network.
I wish I felt more indignation and less WHY! WHY! WHY!
Eventually, all this derping is going to explode in the Caps’ faces
Watching the Islanders-Panthers playoff game. Empty seats all over and the “fans” just cheered their own team for going offsides.
People of Oregon:
All Titans games are the Sunday early game. Except the Week 9 visit to San Diego, and the Classic Thursday Night With Jacksonville on Week 10.
I bet you’d rather watch baseball. Whatever.
6-10. Please.
Becky Lynch!
http://deadspin.com/titans-trade-first-overall-pick-to-rams-for-a-buttload-1770932031
HOLY SHIT! The Titans did something cool for once! I might actually pay attention to them again.
(Remembers how the [*Redacted] s wasted their picks from the Ricky Williams trade)
(Remembers how the Browns wasted their picks from the Julio Jones trade)
(Remembers how the Rams wasted their picks from the RG3 trade)
Never mind.
As a SEA fan, I do appreciate the Titans fleecing the Rams.
$5 says Burfict’s first game back is @ Pittsburgh
Do Bengals fans really like that guy?
He singlehandedly cost the Bengals that game.
No. He just played unrestrained. If he can play smart, he’ll be a hell of a player.
Pacman cost us that game. It was only a 50-yard field goal in the rain so they had to move the ball forward with 18 seconds left. It was no margin for error, but it could have happened.
Jones running in like an idiot cost us that game.
No game for Pacman to cost them if not for Burfict.
STOP TRYING TO MAKE THE F DIVISION HAPPEN LEXUS
http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Its-Not-Going-to-Happen-Mean-Girls.gif
I realize I am one of the few people that watch British soccer here…but the ending of this season is going to be fucking insane.
Basically a minor league team, filled with castoffs from other leagues, with an Italian manager known best for getting fired for fucking up are about to win the championship with a team payroll about 1/10th of the top clubs.
At the start of the season, the bookies gave better odds for the team firing the manager and getting relegated than winning the championship.
I need the Foxes to beat West Ham.
God I fucking hate West Ham.
As I Fulham supporter I endorse this sentiment.
Oh and even better, Randy Lerner has now run two separate football teams in to the ground with both the Cleveland Browns and Aston Villa FC.
Seriously…one of the original teams of the Premier League, and one of the better supported ones, is going down…and they are so shitty right now that the expectation is for them to struggle in the lower league as well.
Welcome to life as a Southampton supporter c. 2005–2012.
I also need Aston Villa to beat the ManUre.
http://memesvault.com/wp-content/uploads/Hysterical-Laughing-Gif-07.gif
I hope you don’t “need” that like you “need” oxygen, because if so you are fucked.
http://www.gifbin.com/bin/072012/1342637706_burning_van_explosion.gif
Why you gots to be careful when shake n’ baking in a car.
Kids, never smoke when making meth.
http://media.giphy.com/media/vJKeu2upniCSk/giphy.gif
Three hours to release the NFL Schedule. What a lazy, pathetic attempt to get NFL starved fans to watch!
.
..
…
Are they doing week-by-week or by team?
Shut up! I’m watching the schedule release show and I don’t want to miss a thing.
http://image.slidesharecdn.com/scenorys-140408170607-phpapp01/95/scenorys-2-638.jpg?cb=1396976806
I know that Steamboat Willie is considered the start of the Golden Age of Animation, but I personally believe that it (along with modern animation as a whole) started with The Three Little Pigs, and the creation of the storyboard.
STRONG TAEK
That’s only 1% of my true power.
(Ahem)
Everything Hanna & Barbara made after Tom and Jerry was crap!
That…. was 50%.
Holy shit, shows the coverage out here, I had no idea Okposo was African-American. I watch a shit load of Ice football and did not know. I feel shame.
WHAT!? BLACK PEOPLE PLAY HOCKEY??? Next you’ll tell me that Black punters exist.
http://cdn.theshadowleague.com/images/images/6611/photos/large/marquette-king-raiders.jpg_24e3509717105716a465dedb370762cc?1384311257
…….oh
Sticks are a bit Helter Shelter. Someone’s losing an eye
Wait are there digital ads on the glass boards?
http://media.giphy.com/media/PFDKWUsh5auQg/giphy.gif
Notice the dumpster is untouched.
http://valentivisionfilms.com/bio/behind/Car-Explosion.gif
A new classification: Dumpster Fire-Adjacent.
An example of this: the Dolphins.
He’ll do that, yep
I would like the Commentariate’s opinion on an employment manner…
So you hear me bitch about my crazy job all the time. Out of the blue, one of our customers contacted me with a job offer. Its basically $85-125k a year, based on the price of steel. Right now, steel is in the toilet. But its one of the best steel companies in the world. No more travel. I get to just worry about one particular place. I basically get to become the asshole.
Downside…its rural northeast Arkansas. There is literally nothing there. The local town has a higher murder rate per capital than my home city of Baltimore because there is no real employment opportunities other than the illicit drug trade for the locals. The single biggest event every year is the Friday night high school football game in the fall.
The other downside is that my family is still based in Baltimore. My parents are getting older. Right now, its a 5 hour drive one way if its an emergency. That turns into a 14 hour drive one way. I currently make about $76k a year, assuming no overtime. Cost of living would actually be higher just because finding doctors, dentists…fucking grocery stores are harder. I now have a 12 minute drive to work. I would end up having a much longer commute everyday.
Thoughts?
Let the client court you (fly you there all expenses paid, get the rural AK junket treatment), be coy (“I need a personal day to go traveling. Where? I’ll tell you when I get back”), and leverage a raise in your current job.
Bottom line is a $9K increase in salary…considerable, but is it worth the headaches involved for you & your family?
Yeah I kind of agree. I already know their 401k is terrible compared to my current one.
I also kind of have tremendous loyalty to my current manager. About 6 months ago, I had a nasty mental breakdown at work. Virginia, they could have fired me for it. Instead, the company rallied around me, got me help, and honestly…it was the worst period in my life…
I kind of can’t imagine taking any offer while my current manager is still working here.
Right now….with the oil/gas industry in the toilet, along with the steel and shipping industry, my current employer is just letting people walk rather than match offers.
Bottom line: how sick of the travel are you?
That’s the thing…my travel rate has dropped considerably. I’m mostly an office worker now. My job is frustrating at times, but its more…manageable now.
I’m conservative on these matters, but I’d say stay from what you’ve said. Arkansas would not be worth the extra money to me. I like where I live and also feel loyalty to my company (unlike yours mine is misplaced). It sounds as if it would be temporary until you either got completely fed up or made enough extra bank to quit.
My dad was an engineer and worked for a variety of contractors over the years (GE, PDM, Universal, Lampson, Rockwell…a few others) and when he retired he did regret it. The pay was good at each one, but his retirement was pretty messed up with all these little packages rather than one (or even two) decent ones.
I don’t know if that’s something that’s on your mind (although you did mention the 401K), but it’s something to think about.
Also my dog would hate the heat/ humidity; would not move.
I have zero fucking clue how I would find a parrot doctor in the middle of Arkansas….
Pretty sure that’s a popeyes or kfc situation down there.
From one of my clients; another market that is down: explosives for construction and mining.
http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/552ed85b6bb3f7d42ecbe065/rocket-explosion.gif
At first, I read the location as northWEST instead of northEAST Arkansas and would have made a good case that the former isn’t a bad destination. Anyway… I can offer a few thoughts.
I’ve lived in a place where high school football was pretty much the biggest event in town to be close to a job and I can say it got old within a year or so. Not having interesting things or people nearby to do really got to me after a while. If you’re okay with solo, inside activities, you can get around this: I am not.
I current have a long (2+ hours per day) stressful commute via car. It’s one of the things I absolutely despise about my job because it’s just lost time. It too has gotten old within a year and I dread it daily.
I find it surprising that the cost of living is actually high because real estate is dirt cheap in places like rural Arkansas (rent was something like $400 a month when I lived in the middle of Missouri for a decent place) and you can basically bank that cash (I’ve basically stayed in my current job due to money and I’ve banked a lot because of it). There’s definitely value if having tens of thousands of extra dollars per year that you can save but that trade, to me, only makes sense if you plan on leaving within a few years. I don’t know how you feel about that.
tl:dr: It sounds like too much to give up and I’ve come to appreciate that a higher compensation package doesn’t go as far as it used to with me.
The most I have done at that site is a month…and I wanted to drink myself into oblivion by the end of the first week. Its Blytheville, Arkansas.
http://www.arkansas.com/images/photos/large/blytheville_002_l.jpg
I pretty much end up eating out of the walmart every day because its either that or fast food. I mean land/rent is cheap, but everything else would be a hassle.
Guh. That’s about the size of the town I went to undergrad in. It was fairly miserable and it had a university there to prop up the community.
I looked at that picture and immediately drafted your “thank you but no thank you” letter for you.
So Fayetteville?
That’s not the worst place in the Arkansas.
Think of it as Dumpster Fire-Adjacent.
Plus you must have a zillion frequent flyer miles–just drive to Little Rock and fly where you need to go.
Duh, you said northEAST Arkansas.
Reading is FUNdamental!
Fayetteville is northwest Arkansas, which is actually decent due to all of the money and talent attracted by Wal-Mart.
Northeast Arkansas is probably about as bleak as southern Missouri is, which I can is pretty fucking bleak.
yep
My father had the same dilemma (kids two years from finishing high school, elderly parent) but was offered job in NC. Passed on the job.
He was then laid off in his job after 25 years with the company (don’t worry, it tanked three years after he left – HA!). He was also offered another job to work in IL, but passed b/c kids were in college and same elderly parent.
He now works in a thankless job where he’s the smartest person surrounded by assholes.
Moral of the story: Don’t think about the changes if you take the job; think about the changes if you pass on it.
There’s research that pretty strongly shows that quality of life items like the longer commute, shitty location and such have a larger impact on happiness than even a fairly large salary increase. If you would be able to save enough that it would move up your retirement significantly, that might be a trade off worth making, but that has to be a personal evaluation.
MELTDOWN COMMENCED
http://media.giphy.com/media/agdLoEQC3IChW/giphy.gif
I was bummed that I didn’t get to use this last night.
http://cdn1.bloguin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2015/09/Hot95Dog9501.gif
I didn’t think he could let go of a hot dog.
I will never understand why wins and GAA get more attention than SV%
but is sv% a elite golie stat
All I care about this series is that it goes to seven games and that every game goes to triple overtime.
Caps looking to karma to get them through the playoffs this time
Nice touch by the Craps there.
In no way was my pregame show a Rocky marathon
How hard do you think Jeremy Klump is when he sees Wentz?
“In my eyes, former North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz is not only the top signal caller in the draft, but the top player overall. I believe he has every trait you look for in an NFL quarterback and then some.
For starters, Wentz has NFL size, he stands at 6’5″, weighs in at 233 pounds and also has ideal 10″ hands. With the size, Wentz still was able to run a 4.77 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
He is a tall athletic quarterback, but his arm is his best trait.
Wentz can sling it all over the field and can do so with accuracy. He is able to put touch on the throws that need it and when they don’t, Wentz has plenty of arm strength to make all of the others. One thing I love about Wentz, and something people can’t take away from him, was that he can beat perfect coverage with a perfect throw.
People argue that his level of completion was poor, but level of competition has no impact on Wentz’s ability to put the ball exactly where it needs to be. His arm is great and he uses his athletic ability to his advantage as well. Wentz is able to extend plays with his legs or pick up first downs when he tucks and runs.”
From Wentz this came I know not.
WHAT ABOUT THE HANDS KLUMP
http://www.worstpreviews.com/images/headlines/headline313.gif
I can see it now:
Cowboys – 5 prime time games
Giants – 4 prime time games
Last year Divisional Playoff teams -3 prime time games each (including flex & mandatory Thursday game)
That sounds about fucking right.
There are a bunch of playoff rematches this year, so I expect we’ll see a ton of those in prime time or as national games.
Anybody else ‘batin’?
Sorry, misspelled that.
http://www.bassfishingandcatching.com/images/hookingbaitfish1.jpg