Vladifan

Amazing! Oz is awesome and obviously, any attitude adjustment, as always, is aptly aimed at any angst-oriented acrimonious agitators imbedded in our open-ended exposition .

Whew!

And thanks Pokemon! Helluva'n idea!

Help me here....Is he saying if either of them still hasn't signed by that time, they will move on, whether they want to or not? Thenk yew.

Eoooh gawd. These are all priceless. I personally can't thank you all enough for taking the time to put them on here. And this thread will no doubt help save my sanity this summer, whatever happens with the Wings in the playoffs. THANKS to all of you. And for those that are yet to show up here!

Oh, woe is me, eh? I have watched all kinds of sports and along the way I have formed my opinions from my experiences. Check the skies. The nerve, huh?! Even though I have not played a whole lot of them, somewhere along the line I felt I had a right to voice my opinions on the subject without being ridiculed for it. And who says NASCAR fans aren't uppity? Certainly not moi! So rather than kid myself that this conversation is open and democratic and one involving shared opinions I think I'm just gonna say byebye? Oh, how I'll miss it all. And yes. I understand I will have to live with that the rest of my days.

The money thing nor the macho thing weren't the basic points and you must know that. YOUR point was that race car drivers are athletes just as athletes are in other sports. I simply do not agree. The same amount, depth and range of training is not required of them to succeed, ALL parts of the human body have to be in top form for a pro to make it in most sports. I don't care how you word it. I repeat. If a driver chooses to breathe in carbon monoxide fumes (respiratory conditioning or not); sit strapped in a car trying not to get killed with the heat at physically intolerable levels with the noise at deafening decibels, honestly - more power to him. But the same demands are not made on him/her that are made on other athletes. Ignorant or no, that's my take. I don't look down on them. But the argument remains - should they be considered athletes as in other sports? I say no. Peace out.

Offhand I would say the main ability NASCAR drivers have to have is hand-eye-feet coordination. They indeed have to react at lightning speed. But that also is true of every major and minor sport in the world. Some sports are just played slower than others, i.e. golf, curling, etc. Except in every other sport I can think of, these athletes are making large-muscle moves with their bodies at the same time. EVerything is physically involved in all other sports. ALL parts of the body are required to be in top shape for most sports. They have to work at keeping their bods tuned from their toes up. In essence, the more that is demanded of those in sports, the more they should be considered athletes. As an example, I liked what Puckloo said about defensive skaters skating backward. I cannot imagine the kind of training that takes, but it would be a helluva lot more than hand/eye/feets stuff...

How do you know? You ever seen me drive? What did you think the shoulders were for? Huh?! Don't know 'bout you, Bubba, but in Texas almost anything goes. :hockeysmile:

Of course you're right. But that sure as hell doesn't make them a whole lot smarter than me. Just richer. At least when it's 95 degrees here with 200% humidity, I know enough to get my butt off the highway as soon as possible and go home. Just look at all the specs you listed above. It's still not prowress we're talking about here. It is mostly a macho thing that requires choosing to breathe deadly fumes, deafening noise, heat up to 170 degrees and traffic from hell even if it is (hopefully) one-way. If that's what they want to do, fine. But that doesn't mean I would ever call them athletes.

Agreed. This also happened last night to the side and almost behind the Flyers' net. At least once, late in the game, one of our guys (?) was knocked down after the puck left that area and there was no call. Maybe there should have been but it happens all the time with no calls to speak of. It seems that only the blatant ones are called.

It sure did last night, eh?!

What the hell game were you watching? Meanwhile, my first question to you is when you use the word "most" that's a pretty big number of posters here. About what percentage of us do you think that applies to? I'm curious because even those of us who are pro-Oz have wide-ranging views on him and the team. It is indeed a helluva lot bigger range than you black-and-white Ozzie bashers have who think he should pretty much go back to GR and/or be hung at dawn. As for the differences never being greater I assume you're saying our goalies suck and the rest of the team has what it takes to get the Cup, given a really good goaltender. Now, who's delusional? Here's a repeat of a post I put on this thread during the game and it still applies to what you've written. (The rest of you who've already read it, feel free to skip to the bottom. ) < Amen. For months now, posters here have been saying that the Wings don't trust Ozzie. So where does it say that can't work the other way around? When does Oz get a consistent chance to trust his own frickin' teamates? Stuart and Kronwall especially have scared the crap out of me with their iffy play and have been absolutely spatially absent. None of the Wings are really passing well. And what's the blocked shot ratio at the end of two? 15-2?? Whaaat? Are the Wings too good to get down and block shots? Uh, wouldn't that HELP?? The only creatively aggressive Wings right now on the ice are Maltby and Datsyuk (and Hossa). The WHOLE team has to start playing as a unit or there's no chance they will beat the Flyers. > Lastly, I don't care how long you've been a fan or how many games you've watched. Oz doesn't have to prove jack to you. He has to prove it to himself, his teamates and Babcock.

Yeupp. He and Hossa and sometimes Malts.

oh myee gawd I just turned back to the Sharks/Coyotes game and saw the Yotes score with...whaat?...26 seconds to go?! And of course the Sharks' announcers are bitching about the penalty call.... YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Now don't mess it up! They did it! They did it!

Class, candid response. Keep up the good work.

Ba dum CHHHHHHHH. And Oz really REALLY should have helped out his team on the 5 on 3, ya know?

The least he could have done was rip off his helmet and stop it with his teeth. No guts.

Oh, Homer, where are ya when we need ya...?!

Amen. For months now, posters here have been saying that the Wings don't trust Ozzie. So where does it say that can't work the other way around? When does Oz get a consistent chance to trust his own frickin' teamates? Stuart and Kronwall especially have scared the crap out of me with their iffy play and have been absolutely spatially absent. None of the Wings are really passing well. And what's the blocked shot ratio at the end of two? 15-2?? Whaaat? Are the Wings too good to get down and block shots? Uh, wouldn't that HELP?? The only creatively aggressive Wings right now on the ice are Maltby and Datsyuk. The WHOLE team has to start playing as a unit or there's no chance they will beat the Flyers.

That was exactly my reaction. I saw one of 'em (?) pinch in and I tensed up....with good reason as it turns out.

Malts is looking especially aggressive tonight.

This is what absolutely drives me nuts about network monopolies. Espn does the same thing. They cut to whatever they damn please and if you're watching the scheduled game, forget it. You're outta luck. There really ought to be an FCC law that says if you're going to do that you have to show the scheduled game SOMEwhere.

It's nice to know how many great minds there are on this board, 'cause I too figured Cheli would be #1. I was thinking of the criteria differently. Like, who's still really active and playing in their sport. I can't think of anyone who trains as hard as Cheli does at his age, even now. Most of 'em on that list are overweight. Nuthin' against that but it looks to me like part of the qualifications should be the Training Thing. Oh well. They didn't call, so pee on 'em. And I agree about race car drivers. Hell, I drive about that fast on our central Texas highways and nobody's recognizing me.

I think our boyz will win. But it will certainly help if Franzen and Cleary are willing to take a pounding in front of the net.