Your “How Did I Get Here?” Thursday Evening Open Thread

NFL Nuggets:

• Today’s trade / release rumours:

  

  • Matt Stafford.
    • Unlikely, given that he’s a $21 million cap hit if he plays, but a $32 million hit if he’s released or traded.
  • Josh Norman.
    • He’s just too expensive, and Washington can draft cheaper options.
  • Jameis Winston.
    • Sure, he just had LASIK, but when Bruce Arians asks the double-entendre’d question of “What’s Door No. 2?”, it gets the mind a’ wandering.

• Other, more boring rumours:

  

  • Michael Bidwill “is open” to having the Cardinals be the featured team on the 2020 version of “Hard Knocks”.
  • FYI – there is selection criteria to being a Hard Knocks candidate:
    • if they do not have a first-year head coach,
    • have not been in the playoffs in the past two years, and
    • have not appeared on the show in the past 10 seasons.
    • Teams can also volunteer.
  • Other eligible teams:
    • the Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

• Reinstated:
  • Myles Garrett.
    • He missed six games.
    • Mason Rudolph’s fine was upheld on appeal, which possibly played a part.

• With all the rumours swirling about, here are some important dates to keep in mind:
  • February 25 – First day for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players.
    • With a March 10 deadline.
  • March 18 – a number of things occur, with 4:00PM ET being key:
    • Prior to 4:00PM:
      • Teams must be under the 2020 salary cap
      • All options & tenders must be exercised in order to keep the player off the free agent market.
    • After 4:00PM:
      • All 2019 player contracts expire.
      • Trading & free agency for 2020 begins.

Hi again. It’s my first day back in a few weeks. Oh sure – I’ve peeked in once in a while, just to see how everyone’s doing. I’m getting better, thanks. I’d known the guy over 27 years, so it cut pretty deep. Not quite up to full-speed yet, but improving. No one’s concerned anymore about my drinking, so that’s a positive step at least.

It turns out that when people see you liberally drinking from the bottle it’s considered a “sign”. But the movies make it look so cool!

Anyway, it was a nice service. Attendance exceeded expectations, and family drama was blissfully avoided. So, life started getting back to normal on Monday. We all know my dogs were a solace for me during these trying times, so let’s see how Westminster turned out. Surely, they picked a cool do–

MOTHERFUCKER! A GODDAMNED POODLE?!

They had a perfectly good Golden Retriever right there.

Look – he even carried his Best of Group ribbon! And I’m not alone in my rage – apparently #DanielWasRobbed was a leading trend on the Twitters Tuesday night.

We all know the real MVP was Daniel 🐕🏆 #DanielWasRobbedhttps://t.co/WqaCxMuXyV

— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) February 13, 2020

What kind of inbred, self- centred piece of sh–

Never mind.

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL: (all Canadian games are regional broadcast only)
  • Flyers at Panthers – 7:00PM | NBCSN / Sportsnet360
  • Capitals at Avalanche – 9:45PM | NBCSN / Sportsnet360
• NBA:
  • Clippers at Celtics – 8:00PM | TNT / Sportsnet1
  • Thunder at Pelicans – 8:00PM | TSN3
• NCAA:
  • Memphis at Cincinnati – 7:00PM | ESPN
  • Wichita State at UCF – 7:00PM | ESPN2
  • Colorado at Oregon – 9:00PM | ESPN
  • Washington at Southern California – 9:00PM | ESPN2
  • Arizona at California – 10:30PM | FS1
• Left turns:
  • NASCAR Cup Series: Bluegreen Vacations Duel At Daytona – 7:00PM | FS1 / TSN
    • Back-to-back 60-lap races to determine starting positions 3-40 for Sunday’s Daytona 500.