SouthernWingsFan

Not as much as hockey but yeah I like it. Prefer college over NBA, but the Hornets are doing extremely well where I am from right now so that has rejuvinated my interest in professional basketball. I just get a kick of how so many people take ESPN way, way, way too seriously in terms of how members in here get upset at them, that's all pretty much.

Do you have any kids? I don't have any of my own, but I have a nephew and a 2nd nephew on the way soon. My brother definitely thought nothing much of kids one way or the other before his first child but it's not too hard to tell that his son is one of the most important people in his life right now, and I have no doubt the 2nd would be as well. FAMILY is more important than sport.

Velvet Revolver - Slither

Quoted for truth to the extreme if people seriously think this. I know pretty much any/every team has rabid fans and such, but if you can't set your pride aside for something like this, you've got problems. As important as your career/profession is, or in the case of the fan, rooting for your team is, FAMILY should always come first. And witnessing the birth of your child definitely qualifies for that.

It never ceases to amuse me how much people in here get their panties in a bunch with the mention of ESPN. Ah well, I guess it is easy to feel this way when I usually just watch it whenever live games are on and I pay very little attention and barely care about in-depth commentary and such.

I'm pretty sure I am assuming correctly, but I want to confirm with locals and others with Direct TV or Dish. In all likelihood I will be buying and moving into a new house in a few weeks, and in all likelihood I'm going to order Direct TV service with their sports package offering (i.e. all FSN Sports Channels, CBS College Sports, Comcast, Sun, et al). FSN Detroit broadcasts pretty much Wings game that isn't on any national broadcast right? Basically I don't want to purchase Center Ice next year unless I absolutely have to. I can live with missing a Wings game here and there and if I'm mostly covered watching Wings games on FSN Detroit just ordering the Direct TV Sports Package, then I'm not going to get Center Ice (Direct TV has a general offering that includes Versus and NHL Network independent of Center Ice, which is the general package I plan to get). Also, if I don't get Center Ice but this sports package, the games aren't blacked out because of no Center Ice right? Can anybody with Direct TV (or Dish Service) confirm or am I failing to consider something?

Apologies in advance to all for bumping a quiet thread back up and whoring my thread, but I'm curious to this response. I thought that you had to purchase NHL Center Ice (or MLB Extra Innings/NBA League Pass) for games to be seen in just about most instances when a team isn't in your local market. Am I not mistaken in assuming that you can have all of the FSN Sports channels for instance, but they cut off right before the game starts then cut back on at the conclusion of them? Regardless of that, after some coaxing from my parents and brother who I will be moving near, and some number crunching, I'm probably just going to go with the local cable provider in the area I am moving to, which is actually different than the one I am currently at despite only moving about 30 miles away. Even with the benefits of "saving" in the first year of Direct TV, I still would have to get separate Internet access which would be more expensive by itself, and it would still cost more the first year than the cable provder + their Internet services bundled together. I lose the NHL Network by going with this cable provider (I have it at current residence), but I have backup options. I know of a few bars that have pretty much every Direct TV sports station, plus my parents have Direct TV at their place. Even if I didn't luck out with it being slightly "inconvenient" to see it, it still wouldn't have killed me missing maybe 5-8 games a year that might be blacked out, especially if I'm saying nearly $600 a year with cable + Internet involved. Thankfully they do offer NHL Center Ice still, and Versus is actually a local channel where I'm moving, which is also cool b/c if my college's games don't have the option of coming on ESPN. Just CSTV and Versus and their own sports network (will have to go somewhere with Direct TV but got that covered).

Years ago, without question. Saying Mac is better than Downey now, that's pushing it until we see what McCarty does on the ice. Babcock sets up the lines as well, not the GM.

The Wings were on a pretty bad snag in most of February when they won only once in 11 games. Lidstrom was injured for a good bit of those games. The team is definitely more than just Nicklas Lidstrom, but you are really downplaying his importance to this team in terms of results on the ice and statsheet, as well as his "quiet" leadership.

I'm all for either goalie to start. Osgood has definitely earned the chance, but we also have Hasek who we all know has had it throughout his career and minus one recent bad game against Columbus (2nd to last one), has really played pretty solid since the All Star break. I'm comfortable with either one. On the flu... The last time I had the "flu" was sometime over the fall and for just a day roughly. I barely had any fever and a body temperature "only" in the low 99 degree range, so on the surface I could have probably worked or eaten a normal meal or be involved in sports in some capacity, right? I'm no professional athlete, but I couldn't do squat that day. I felt like s**t. I could barely speak aloud, I couldn't even eat any liquid meals for most of that day, I had headaches, and I threw up a fair amount of times after trying to eat or moving out of bed. Next day I was fine by the afternoon. And I certainly didn’t do any retarded stuff the night before or drank too many glasses of wine or beer, so it certainly wasn't deserved and I didn't ask for it. Whether it was food poisoning the night before perhaps, or just a 24-hour flu bug, who the hell knows. There are many forms of the "flu" and for different lengths. Lilja and Lebda and Downey have been sick recently. It happens, and it sometimes happens beyond one's control. Unless somebody acts like an idiot the night before purposefully drinking too much or taking drugs or whatever else, it's a wee bit harsh to get on somebody's case for "accidentally" being sick, even though it is probably frustrating for Hasek and us fans. I know he has an easier chance of being brittle due to past injuries and being older, but the backlash he has received over the past few days for being sick, generally speaking, has been pretty ridiculous when it seems like he didn't deserve or ask for this or do anything obnoxious. With McCarty playing on Friday... I'm not getting my hopes up on him. Out of action in the NHL for roughly a year et al, I just don't know how much of a contribution he will make. I am looking forward to seeing him back though like everybody else and hope I am proven wrong. For people with the NHL Network problem...if the game isn't too early in your time zone, bar with Direct TV that shows all the sports channels. Don't tell me some of you with this problem aren't savvy enough to find a way to watch this game (if you have the time of course).

What he refers to as a pessimist, I don't see that as much. At least the pessimist according to him talks about potential flaws/weaknesses in some detail instead of just saying, "WE'RE F**KED" or "WINGS ARE LAZY AND THEY SUCK" without explaining why. Those are usually a select few, but when things go a little down south, it rains and pours with those stupid select few.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association Around the middle of the page under the "Regular Season" section... I guess you rotate 3 and 4 games b/w your non-divisional conference opponents each year. I'm all for definitely playing all/most non-conference teams in the NHL twice. Here's how I would break it down if we want to do that, or play divisional teams even less. 4 games against divisional opponents (2 home, 2 road) - 4 x 4 = 16 games 4 games against non-divisional conference opponents (2 home, 2 road) - 10 x 4 = 40 games 2 games against two of the three divisional non-conference opponents (1 home, 1 road) 10 x 2 games = 20 games 1 game against one of the three divisional non-conference opponents - 5 x 1 game = 5 games Unfortunately this leaves an even amount of games and road/home games a little bit out of whack, but still roughly the same amount of games played in 81. At least what they seem to be going back to is a good start, playing everybody at least once. If I'm not mistaken, it'll be 6 games vs. division teams, 4 vs. other conference teams, and 1 against non-conference teams (2 in different/unique scenarios).

I guess I'll find out soon enough, assuming I do move, during summer time and MLB games (FSN Southwest for Houston Astros games, FSN Detroit for Tigers, FSN Bay or West I am assuming for Dodgers, Padres, Angels etc.). I'm probably still going to get this package though because the conference that my college is in has it's own network, pretty much like the Big Ten Network, and as of now it will only be broadcasted on Direct TV starting next college football season, and hopefully on the sports package or the amount of channel package I plan on buying. EDIT: 'Tis is the case unfortunately, I just called my parents for a few minutes who also have Direct TV (of course I figured this out way after the thread creation ) but don't have Center Ice or NBA League Pass or MLB Extra Innings or any of that stuff, and they couldn't find the game either on FSN Detroit or FSN Midwest for the St. Louis Blues. Ah well, sucks to be forced to spend more money but I can certainly understand why they'd be blacked out in this situation.

Lauryn Hill - Doo Wap (That Thing)

First time popping in this thread so I apologize if I have rehashed the opinions/points of others. I'd like to keep the rule as is. I like to see the skaters turn on the jets and hustle to either ice the puck or prevent an icing call.

Lidstrom's fifth eh? Lazy bastard.........

LMAO!

Not me. I'll ruin parties when it is absolutely necessary.

I love these conspiracy theory type posts towards Hasek being injured after Lilja, Lebda, and Downey have had recent bouts with flu-like symptoms. They are entertaining. I think some are reaching too deep in the cookie jar looking for more problems than necessary. DISCLAIMER: I don't care who starts in the playoffs, I trust both goaltenders and have no over-the-top positive or negative bias towards Osgood or Hasek or Howard or *insert goalie name here*

Not me. If I don't shave for about 3 days, I pretty much have a full-grown beard. It's pretty sad. I typically shave every other day, last time I shaved was yesterday morning, and I already got a ridiculous amout of growing facial hair. I work your 8-5 office job and go out to new business or existing client meetings, so I have to look somewhat respectable. I got tired of growing facial hair years ago though, I can't ignore scratching, the facial hair gets itchy, and if I scratch enough I'll eventully get scars/cuts behind the facial hair. So no beard for me.

Sad but true. :nonono:

You're all nuts.....

Boy he's gonna get it now! He's not my favorite, but he's far from a public enemy at least by general fan consensus across the NHL. He's shown some solid offensive upside this season.

People who play only 82 games a season now are lazy and they suck.

A perfect medium for right now I think. Something that annoys the dickens out of me is the doom-and-gloomers the Wings are just screwed on end or will be dead eliminated in the first round, without giving reasons why or when things, for the most part are going fairly well like right now I think. And I am nowhere close with lumping people who express their doubts of the team, potential weaknesses in the playoffs, and so forth with some detail, basically more than "WINGS SUCK AND ARE SCREWED" like we occassionally see. On the flip side though, I cannot stand when the positive police come out and say people must be positive ALL THE TIME and chew people out that are in this middle ground and who basically are nowhere close to saying these guys stink and are going nowhere. That is just as much being out of line I think.