NFL News:

• Tracy Porter has been waived by the Bears.

• Backup QB news:
  • Matt McGloin has been signed by the Eagles
  • T.J. Yates has been signed by the Bills.

• The Bills also signed Ian Seau, the undrafted free-agent nephew of Junior and proof the Spanos family wouldn’t know a good PR move if it came wrapped in a box with a pretty bow.
  • of course, justice would require BOLTMAN to emerge from the box to reap their souls.

• LeSean McCoy & Kiko Alonso are having a very sad Instagram fight.

• The pre-season schedule has been released, “highlighted” by a Week-3 “Battle of Los Angeles” no one should rightly care about.
  • This one, however…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0kJLW2EwMg

Finally, in “you’ve got to be fucking kidding me” news, the League is investigating an arm-wrestling tournament that took place in Las Vegas.

• “The Pro Football Arm Wrestling Championship” took place at the MGM Grand, and participation put the players in violation of the league’s policy against gambling bars, which players from taking part in promotional events at casinos.
• According to PFT, Steelers linebacker James Harrison, Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills, 49ers linebacker Navorro Bowman, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, Raiders punter Marquette King, Raiders defensive end Mario Edwards, Patriots safety Patrick Chung, and Cowboys receiver Lucky Whitehead took part in the event.
  • Marshawn Lynch was also there, but because he is currently retired, he would/will not face punishment.
    • no matter how much Roger want to.
• The contest, which took place April 5-9, is scheduled to be broadcast on CBS on May 27-28, with the championship round shown on June 3.

NHL News: The regular season ended yesterday, so it’s Black Monday for coaches.

• FIRED!
  • Lindy Ruff – Dallas
  • Willie Desjardins – Vancouver
  • Tom Rowe – Florida
    • technically, “removed” from his interim position.
  • Daryl Sutter [Update – thanks Sharkbait!]

So, I had the a bad weekend. Thursday was a non-layoff, but you’re on the cutting block, notice from my school board. They’re going to consolidate the division from three locations into one. The place I work at is a satellite location from one of the two proposed closure locations. If they close my site, I lose my 4 days/week gig. If I lose my spot, I leave my desk job and go back to teaching a regular classroom-lecture class 5 days/week – which is fine. But due to seniority, I would be relegated to teaching the ESL & ELL Level 1 & 2 classes, and in the afternoon & evening – not fine.

So, to calm down, I spent the evening at the brewery down the street. In the process, I made a new best friend.

Isn’t it handsome? I should have combined it with a chocolate stout, to see if it tasted like a s’more, but it was too damn tasty on its own.

Saturday, I had to go for an MRI, to determine if they could repair the torn sphincter muscle (long story) that occurred when they removed the abscess (old story) last year. Halfway through the procedure, just before they injected the contrast fluid, they determined that my bloodwork wasn’t current enough, and that I had to get that done before they would continue the scan. So, a four-month wait to get a 30-minute test had to be stopped after 15-minutes because no one had taken five minutes to ensure my paperwork was up to date.

So, my lovely wife took me for lunch, where I had another 3-4 of these

Now, I sit at work wondering if I will have a job or be the proud owner of a Seton Drain by the end of the month.

Good times.

NHL Playoffs start Wednesday.

So, like last year, I’m writing series previews but taking requests for people who want to write about/aboot specific teams. Call your shot & email me your write-up, and I’ll include them in the Open Threads or separate Team Preview posts on Wednesday & Thursday. Make sure to include your first-round prediction for that series as well.

Tonight’s sports:

• WWE: Monday Night Raw – 8:00PM | USA / Sportsnet360
  • apparently, it’s “Brand shake-up” week, so expect some faces to change shows

•  NBA:
  • Cavs at Heat – 7:30PM | Sportsnet1
  • Wizards at Pistons – 8:00PM | TNT
  • Rockets at Clippers – 10:30PM | TNT / TSN1
  • Jazz at Warriors – 10:30PM | Sportsnet1
• MLB:
  • Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs – 8:00PM | ESPN / TSN2
    • the Cubs raise their banner tonight, while the Yankees pick their noses in disgust.

Thor:Ragnarok trailer?

THOR:RAGNAROK TRAILER!