NFL Nuggets:

• Well, Bruce Arians got his “bullshit response” from the League. Bobby Wagner’s leaps were legal because the contact was considered “incidental”.
  • According to NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino, had he made direct contact with the player – a hit, or landing on him – then it would have been fifteen-and-a-first. Because it was Wagner’s shoe and the center’s lower back (first time) and the player grabbed Wagner on his way over (second time), it didn’t constitute a penalty.
    • Just another one for the “Seattle gets away with murder!” pile.
  • Arians’ response? “I’ve already talked to the league, and it’s illegal to comment on officiating,” Arians told reporters. Methinks someone was threatened with a fine.
• LeSean McCoy was kept out of practice Wednesday as he continues to work through the hamstring he aggravated on Sunday.
  • Good thing for the Bills that the Seahawks cut C.J. Spiller this afternoon.
• Jim Harbaugh is now the highest-paid college coach, earning about $9 million. In response, Jed York went down to the Union Pacific railyard and yelled at hobos for an hour.
  • The joke was on him, though, as Jim Tomsula was already on the 7:00 Amtrak “Trails & Rails” Zephyr to Chicago, hiding in the luggage car.
• I guess taking fewer shots does improve your aim, because Russell Wilson & Ciara announced they are expecting their first child.

Finally, the best long-form story of the day goes to the Seattle Times and their collection of teammates’ stories about Marshawn Lynch. It covers a wide range of encounters, from Thomas Rawls’ rookie season to Lynch covering all expenses for Ricardo Lockette’s family’s vigil in Dallas after his career-ending hit.

So I went and got my 80s on Monday night.

And it was a wonderful two hours.

The evening started with dinner & drinks. The friends I was going with wanted to meet at a bar across the street. Given that the “Library Square Public House” is a sports bar and they are all Jack from “Will & Grace”, I anticipated quite the dichotomy. Well, I guess there had been a meeting earlier in the day, because the football fans kept to one side and the PSB fans stayed to the other; the culture clash I expected wasn’t coming from them.

The age difference became the issue as the server, a lovely 21 year-old named “Dallas”, asked about the concert, and had no idea who the Pet Shop Boys were despite the many attempts by my friends to explain. Finally, I settled on this explanation:

Rob: “Dallas?”

Dallas: “Yes?”

Rob: “You know those guys in high school who were way into drama or fashion design? It’s the music they’d listen to if they were our age (motioning to my group of friends).”

6 Gays: “GASP!!!”

Dallas: “Oh, okay. I get it now. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

Joseph: “Rob! That was….”

Rob: “Accurate?”

Vince: “Yes. But ‘fuck you’ anyways.”

**All laugh**

Given the band and the expected audience, entry was a breeze – not even a pat-down. Once inside, overlooking the makeup of the crowd, I felt dreadfully overweight and out of shape. Fortunately, and for once, none of those guys were sitting in front of me.

Because there was no opening act, the show started right at 9:00.

The concert itself was two hours of non-stop music; the pause between the ‘end’ and the encore was only three minutes. It was a solid mix of old and new, with a couple of deep tracks thrown in for good measure. People only sat down when their legs got tired; since most of the crowd doesn’t skip leg day at the gym ever, the majority stayed upright & dancing.

There were fewer artistic flourishes than previous shows – on the “Pandemonium” tour, they had dancers dressed like Tetris blocks; for the “Electric” tour, the dancers were dressed like bulls – but the lights & lasers were all there as usual.

Please enjoy this version of “Go West”, recorded while people kept insisting on talking to me. I still preferred it to watching Brock Ostweiler make John Elway look smart.

Here’s a review, if you are so inclined. If you like their music, I highly recommend this show.

Tonight’s sports: they moved the Series start due to potential storms

• World Series: Game 2: Cubs at Indians – 7:00 PM | FOX/Sportsnet
• MLS Soccer Playoff: Conference knockout round
  • Toronto FC at Philadelphia Union – 8:00 PM | ESPN2/TSN2
  • LA Galaxy at Real Salt Lake – 10:30 PM | TSN2
• NBA Basketball:
  • Pistons at Raptors – 7:30 | TSN
  • Thunder at 76ers – 8:00 PM | ESPN
  • Rockets at Lakers – 10:30 PM | ESPN
• NHL Hockey:
  • Montreal at NY Islanders – 7:00 | Sportsnet1
  • Bruins at Rangers – 8:00 PM | NBCSN
  • Washington at Edmonton – 9:30 | Sportsnet 360

If nothing else, there’s a new South Park at 10:00. LOOKS LIKE A SOLID NIGHT ON THE COUCH!