Your “Happy Hallmark Holiday, Honey” Thursday Evening Open Thread

Being allergic to cocoa, I consider Valentine’s Day to be nothing more than a plot by BIG CHOCOLATE to try & kill me.

NFL News:

• Denver’s veterans seem on board with Joe Flacco coming to town.
  • According to one report, Flacco is a cheaper option than Nick Foles, because Flacco is guaranteed $18 million for 2019, and Foles is likely not going to sign for less than $25 million per.
    • Flacco’s deal escalates to $20 million in 2020 and $24 million in 2021.
  • With $37 million in cap space, the Broncos are expected to use some of that to bolster the O-line, something Case Keenum could have used.
• The 49ers are not picking up the option on Pierre Garcon.
  • Missing eight games & finishing the season on IR will tend to lead to this conclusion.
• Apparently, at least one owner thought about giving up on Roger Goodell.
  • PFT reports that ESPN reports that an anonymous NFL owner reached out to NBA commissioner Adam Silver in August 2017 to gauge his interest in becoming NFL commissioner.
    • He said no, and later that year ol’ Rog was given a five-year, $200 million extension.
  • Meanwhile, Gary Bettman sits by his phone, wondering why no one ever calls.

Finally, the Jaguars have done something right & locked down Lambeau for four years.

Oh, sorry – that’s kicker Josh Lambo.

Doggone good news!! We’ll be in Duval for 4 more years, as I’ve signed an extension with the Jags!! #Duuuval pic.twitter.com/mdJnW7UsBQ

— Josh Lambo (@JoshLambo) February 13, 2019

Still, given his 92.7% conversion percentage, he’s also a very good boy.

I had a bit of a back & forth with Ape today after he tweeted about the National Gridiron League, “America’s Premier Spring Football League”, which is apparently a real thing that is starting its inaugural season on Saturday, March 30th:

The National Gridiron League (NGL), is a professional football league comprised of 12 teams across North America featuring the best-undiscovered football talent in the country. Teams are separated into Eastern and Western Conferences. The Eastern Conference is home to the Georgia Wildcats, Indiana Blue Bombers, Indiana Firebirds, Virginia Destroyers, Virginia Iron Horses and Pennsylvania Pioneers while the Western Conference consists of the Mississippi Mudcats, Arkansas Twisters, St Louis Stampede, Kansas Kapitals, Louisiana Red Sticks and Texas Bighorns.

Games will be patterned after the traditional rules of American tackle football with some variations adapted to accommodate playing the game within an indoor arena versus in a stadium. With each team only fielding eight players on offense and defense with each team having just two timeouts per half, keeping the action both fast-paced and exciting.

With training camps opening March 7th, it appears not all teams have full rosters yet, which Ape noted. It resulted in the following tweets:

https://twitter.com/xmasape/status/1096097382926819331

Further proof that brilliant writing over a laconic photo can sell anything. I just added a qualifier at the front. pic.twitter.com/0YmMwxb9p9

— Official cicerone to King Charles III (@beerguyrob) February 14, 2019

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL: all Canadian teams are regional broadcasts only tonight
  • Stars at Bolts – 7:30PM | Sportsnet
• NBA:
  • Thunder at Pelicans – 8:00PM | TNT / Sportsnet1
• NCAA:
  • Houston at Connecticut – 7:00PM | ESPN
  • Illinois at Ohio State – 7:00PM | ESPN2
  • Arizona at Utah – 9:00PM | ESPNU
  • Murray State at Austin Peay – 9:00PM | ESPN2

The folks over at the John Wick III marketing department get top marks for coming up with their own sly Valentine’s ad tie-in.

BEATS SPENDING REAL MONEY!