betterREDthandead

Again and again and again until the point gets driven home: What the hell do you think the Boston Celtics and Notre Dame Fighting Irish are, if not cartoony, stereotypical, and racially motivated???

It's never too early for Chicago fans to display their usual class and humility.

I don't care about any of that stuff. I care about beating Ohio State. Period. That's what matters. All this what-if, what-if....totally, completely irrelevant. Beat Ohio State: Big Ten champs, Rose Bowl. Period. That's the way it was before the Wisconsin game and that's the way it is now. I could give a flying f*** about Wisconsin. Beat Ohio State. Looking ahead? You bet. BEAT. OHIO. STATE.

Gonna step outside of the UM-OSU chatter for just a bit here. WAH-HOO-M****RF*****G-WAH. Most dominant performance I've ever seen out of the 'Hoos. Defense was absolutely unbelievable. Offense was brilliant. Mikey Groh is a damn genius. His playcalling was impeccable - Jameel Sewell was 20-for-25, because he was either throwing screen passes that let Mikell Simpson roll for about 15 yards, or tossing it to a tight end with a zip code all to himself. Miami was covering passes like they had 9 men on the field. So how's this for a little Orange Bowl history: Worst shutout the 'Canes have ever had at that field. I think it's something like the 4th-worst whupping they've ever had in their history. Isn't it funny the way things turn out? First week of the season, Michigan had lost to you-know-who and UVA had gone to Wyoming - Wyoming! - and gotten blown out of the water. And I said to myself, this season is over before it begins. The next game for both my teams is the big rivalry game of the year, and both are playing for the conference title (well, UVA's playing for a berth in the title game, but, close enough.) And Groh and co. have two full weeks to scheme for Virginia Tech. BTW....I hope nobody gets suspended for OSU. I don't want Buckeye fans to whine that they would have won the game otherwise

Not very much. No Hart, no Henne. Mario got shut down by Ike-whatsit, but OSU doesn't have a shutdown corner like that. This game, as has been the case all week, is totally meaningless. It's next week that matters. Got to lay it all on the line.

Tomorrow's a bit of history. Last Miami game - and probably, last football game ever - in the Orange Bowl. And UVA's in town to spoil it

Michigan and the Poison Nuts only play once a year. The Wings and Jackets will play 6 or 8 every season, and would need several Wings-Avs-style playoff series to even approach that level. And even then, Wings-Avs flamed out somewhat. Michigan and the Horse Chestnuts play for Big Ten supremacy damn near every year - the parity in the NHL will definitely prevent that kind of dominance from the same two teams for 60 years the way it is in Big Ten football.

So would the Leafs. Don't get your hopes up.

So have the Aztecs, but San Diego State hasn't escaped the long arm of PC either, as seen earlier in the thread.

Well, the Blackhawk helicopter, like the Apache and the now-dead Comanche program, were also named after Indians. No help there. Here's the question. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a cartoony, stereotypical logo, as do the Boston Celtics. Why are those OK and not cartoony stereotypical logos of Indians? The USC Trojans have a guy dressed up in full Trojan gear. Why is that OK, and not Chief Illiniwek? Michigan State has a goofy stereotypical Spartan mascot. Why is that OK, and not an Indian one? We don't have "offensive" nicknames relating to black people or Asians or what have you because at the time these Indian names came about, these weren't considered offensive terms. "N****r" has always been offensive, as has "Darkie", "*****" or just about any other word you've been suggesting. The Cleveland Indians, on the other hand, were named in honor of their first star player, Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot. When the Washington Redskins were originally named that, they were actually coached by William "Lone Star" Dietz, who was part Sioux. Instead of reflexively changing names on a whim to fit what appears to be contemporary sensibilities, a little education is in order. Looking at these names in the proper perspective is more realistic. Tigers are extremely endangered - should any team named the Tigers be forced to change so as not to encourage people to get tiger pelts? Maybe we can never put a hockey team in New Orleans, otherwise the Carolina Hurricanes will have to play there and good lord knows what Katrina victims might feel about that. Let's change the name of The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, because of 9/11. (Somebody did propose that idiocy.) Atheists shouldn't be forced to coexist with the Los Angeles Angels. I could go on here. I'm offended by a lot of stuff I see, but I don't have the right to demand others change their behavior to fit my own sensibilities. (P.S. - Calling a black person a buffalo or water buffalo is one of the most egregiously offensive things you can do. Yet Howard University - a "historically black" school - has the Bison as their mascot.)

How about the Minnesota Vikings? You should see some of the stuff their fans dress in. What about the Michigan State Spartans or the USC Trojans? I guess there's nothing wrong with a little stereotyping as long as it's white people.

I don't really buy this theory at all. And even if there's a grain of truth to it, following to the conclusion that the playoffs should be expanded would be a horrible idea.

Jiri Fischer: BUST.

Friday: Toronto @ Buffalo Atlanta @ Florida Columbus @ Detroit St Louis @ Chicago Colorado @ Vancouver San Jose @ Anaheim Saturday: Montreal @ Ottawa Buffalo @ Boston NY Rangers @ Toronto New Jersey @ NY Islanders Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia Tampa Bay @ Washington Carolina @ Atlanta Columbus @ Nashville Edmonton @ Calgary Dallas @ Los Angeles Phoenix @ San Jose Sunday: Detroit @ Chicago Minnesota @ Colorado

Well, that changes everything.

Anyone drafted #1 overall as Nolan was is supposed to be a franchise-saving, game-changing player. Those are the expectations that come with the territory. No, Nolan wasn't hyped as much as Lindros. Then again, he also accomplished less.

Never dominated the league?? Bulls***! Do you remember the '90s at all? If he wasn't a dominant player, why would the Wings, when faced with the prospect of trying to beat him in a seven game series, assign their toughest, nastiest defenseman to shadow him all game, every game? Lindros was easily one of the most feared players in all the league in the '90s. I don't care whether or not he's Hall of Fame worthy. That's a debate that goes beyond Lindros because there are other players in that position. But calling him a bust is ridiculous. Even remotely mentioning "biggest bust ever" is plain ignorant. Hype is not the same as potential. Most players never are the "player they could have been." Is Mario Lemieux a bust because he could have done better, what with that back injury and the cancer? Is Owen Nolan a bust? Same draft position, therefore, same expectations - but no Cup and worse stats. And reverted to same when Lindros left. By the way, if a Cup is what makes you not a bust, Boyd Devereaux will be happy to hear the news.

OK, then. What should he have done to not be a bust? Of all the players selected #1 overall (or highest forward selected in case of goalie) since 1980, only 5 have outscored him: Dale Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux, Pierre Turgeon, Mike Modano, Mats Sundin. Lindros' "pretty solid" PPG numbers are better than all but Hawerchuk and Mario, and that includes such "non-busts" as Joe Thornton, Dany Heatley, and Ilya Kovalchuk. In his prime, Lindros was absolutely the premiere power forward in the league. He was anything but a bust. We forget how he was in the '90s because the eight or nine concussions derailed his career and he didn't play at that high level in this decade. Even then he was a big threat. Bust? Ridiculous.

Any GM would kill to get the kind of production out of a #1 pick that Lindros provided. Especially the one that drafted Alexandre Daigle.

OUCH. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=Ai...p&type=lgns All I can say is......BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! On the one hand, it was only an exhibition game. On the other hand, at least App. State plays Division I.

I've read that Grand Valley admin has absolutely no desire to move up to D-I. Honestly, I think they could compete in I-AA, but they wouldn't get the same national exposure because they wouldn't be regulars in the championship game. It'd be fun to think that if South Florida can pull it off, Grand Valley could, but there's already five D-IA schools in Michigan which is more than the state's talent base can support.

The default answer at this point of the season is no. Let's see how they do during the grind and the dog days of January and February before we put them on quite so high a pedestal.

Purdue has Saggy Valley coming up, I looked that up. They better not disappoint.

Good thing Michigan beat Ferris State

Hmmm... Better?